Perfectly Too Far by Regina Button

fix, she finally
opened up her closet. The mask was where she had left it, sitting
among the others and watching her with empty eye holes.
    Turning, she scanned the racks for something else to wear, thinking
about how Roseli had shown up in something other than black.
    There doesn't seem to be any
rule about what I can wear, I guess people just tend to choose dark
stuff. Mulling it over, she grabbed an emerald green dress that hugged her
body, tight as the way Onyx had gripped her jaw.
    Tying
her hair back, still worried the red color might give her away if she
left it down, she painted her lips with shiny gloss and left her
room.
    She had estimated that everyone seemed to show up after eight, and it
didn't take more than half an hour for them to finish filtering in.
Peering down from the railing, she saw the foyer was empty, so she
skipped down the stairs.
    Gripping the handle of that crimson wood, she felt herself shaking. Is it from fear, or anticipation?
    Deciding it didn't matter, she had already come this far, Judith
slipped through and into the dim passage. At the bottom, she slowed,
her heart racing the closer she got to the purple curtain. Though she
was readying herself for it, she still nearly bolted when she saw
Corbin.
    There wasn't a line like last night, one or two people were finishing
up, exiting through the drapes as she approached. The chauffeur
glanced up at her, that face neutral and impossible to read.
    Does he know, did he figure it out somehow? No, impossible, calm
down!
    Gripping
the pen on the clipboard, she paid attention this time to the page
she was signing. She didn't need to add herself again to a new list
of some kind and repeat the surprise of last night's role call. With
one more glance at Corbin, she slipped through the curtain and into
the strange underground world hidden beneath the Hollywood mansion.
    She could see the room was emptier than last night, drawing the
connection between there being new submissives joining up. They
were all here to watch us get called, so they'd know who we were, for
the auction. And now...
    Now, she realized, that the members were all off enjoying themselves
elsewhere in the tunnels. Turning in place, she almost walked right
into Onyx before she even had a moment to wonder where he might be.
    The noise she made was a small, squeaky breath of air. The appearance
of him, sudden as it was, called to her mind the way he seemed just
as much a part of this place as the red door itself. His outfit was
tight, charcoal. The shirt was open, displaying his glistening rows
of ivory muscles.
    Still,
always with those gloves.
    Hugging his long fingers, the smooth material caught the light,
displaying the texture for a moment. Onyx linked his hands together
behind his back, wordlessly staring down at her with an aura of pure
confidence. It filled her, made her knees weak and her tongue
swollen.
    Kneel,
kneel, she reminded herself as
she fought the distracting fog in her brain. Carefully, trying to be
more elegant than last time, Judith folded to the floor and bowed her
head. With her legs bared as they were, she was grateful for the
plush rug.
    “ Hello,
little Sparrow,” he mumbled, sounding like he was more pleased
than he wanted to admit. Something touched the top of her head,
curling down to trace her jaw. It was clearly his hand when he tilted
her head up, smiling into her anxious face. “Did you miss me?”
    “ Yes,
Master,” she whispered, knowing it was true.
    He only chuckled, rich and dark as molasses. “Follow me,”
he said, letting her go and turning to walk. She could feel where he
had touched her, it left her skin scalding with anticipation.
Standing quickly, she followed behind him down the tunnel.
    From behind, she watched how he moved, enjoying the gentle sway of
his wide shoulders. He had a powerful grace, it reminded her of some
giant jungle cat. Not paying attention to where they were going,
Judith almost didn't recognize that she had been down