Sanctum Read Free Page A

that she might never be able to climb. Ashley wasn’t ready to move out on her own. She had to take care of her baby, and they were both counting on Jill to feed them all. Damn. Damn. Damn. “When do I start?”
    “Tonight. Do you have to give notice at that place?”
    She turned to face him. She would have to do it a lot if he was her boss. God, he was her boss. How the hell was she going to manage that? “No. They don’t expect much there.”
    His jaw tightened and that tic started up again. Did his current sub know how anxious he could get? Did she calm him and offer him peace? Did she sit in his lap and kiss him and hold him? Did she give him his favorite Scotch and rest her head on his chest while he relaxed?
    He nodded. “Good. Fet wear only at night. I ordered for this week, but you’ll have to do an inventory before next week. We do parties on occasion, and we have one coming up for a VIPs birthday. I’ll fill you in later.”
    Ryan sighed heavily and ran his hand across his face, his thumb massaging his left eye. He sat back down behind his small desk and she couldn’t help but wonder again how he was here. What had happened? Why did she still want to go and sit in his lap and comfort him?
    “All right. I’ve worked plenty of parties.” She stood in the doorway feeling more awkward than she’d ever felt. She needed to walk. But she stood there. “Thank you, Sir.”
    The saddest look crossed his face. Pain and weariness and regret were all painted right there. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t go back to that club, Jillian. If you need something from there, I’ll send someone over. All right?”
    The fact that he framed it as a question slammed into her. Somehow, someway, he’d remained her Master in the back of her head, but he wasn’t. He was just her boss. If she had half a brain she would walk away, but she couldn’t. “All right. I was going to clean out my locker.”
    “Joe can do it. Consider it a part of your compensation package. You’ll also have an escort to and from your car every night.” He flipped open his laptop. “That is not negotiable. It will be in your contract. Taggart insists on it for all female employees.”
    Taggart. As in the owner. Not him. “All right. I’ll be back at six thirty.”
    “Five. Staff meeting is at five and it’s catered. Don’t worry. Taggart takes care of that too. No sandwiches. It’s pure five star around here.”
    Her stomach nearly groaned in joy. She and Ashley had agreed that paying the bills and making sure Emily had formula was more important than their bellies. She’d been living off ramen and mac and cheese for months. “Thank you.”
    He nodded and looked to his laptop, obviously dismissing her.
    She turned and walked out, totally sure she’d just made a mistake and completely unwilling to take it back.

Chapter Two
    Jill looked up from her paperwork to stare out at the dungeon. From her little bar home, she could see the stage area of the dungeon, a slightly elevated space where the club ran major scenes. It was dominated by three St. Andrew’s Crosses mounted to the back wall and normally held any number of nasty apparatuses, from sawhorses to spanking benches. But today, all of that had been shelved in favor of folding chairs and a PowerPoint presentation. It was the start of Dom Kindergarten, as she liked to call it.
    “Adam? Do you need some coffee? Because you’re snoring.” Ryan was not amused.
    She couldn’t help the grin that slid over her mouth. Ryan actually looked totally hot when he was not amused. Three weeks into her new job and she was already obsessed with the boss. He was standing there in his leathers and a white T-shirt that he would take off in a few hours in favor of a leather vest, and all she could do was count the hours until she could see his chest again.
    “Damn, that man is hot.” Joe set a case of vodka on the bar. “Too bad he’s celibate. I thought he might play for my team for a while, but