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long breath, and considering how the world spun around her, she didn’twant to know what she looked like to cause Presley’s surprise. Inside she was a jumbled mess. The thought of the future if this secret came out turned her blood to ice. Not only that her playing with Aidan would cease, but she didn’t want Aidan to remember his pain, she wanted him happy.
    It had taken her a year to see an honest smile cross his face. The thought of that going away made her nauseated. It’d taken another year to stop seeing the dark hurt in his eyes. Aidan was mourning a great loss, and Cora did not want to make it worse. She shut her eyes and focused inward.
    This, too, will pass .
    “What’s wrong?”
    Her eyes flew open on a sharp gasp.
    Oh, fuck!
    Master’s Aidan’s chin dipped, and he looked Cora directly in the eye. “Even from across the dungeon, you looked upset.” At her silence, since her voice caught in her dry throat, he frowned. “Now I see I’m not imagining things. Answer me.”
    Dammit!
    Tightness formed in her chest and the world spun faster. He was the one person she wanted far away from this conversation. She placed a hand on the leather couch to support her and forced a quiet laugh. “Nothing’s wrong.”
    His eyebrows raised, eyes blazing hot. “Is that so?”
    She froze, feeling rooted to the spot. Hell, no! Run! She pushed up on shaky legs. “Yep, that’s so.”
    His dark gaze narrowed. “You know I don’t like lies, Cora.”
    Uncontrollable flushes of heat weakened her knees. Holy hell, how had this happened? “I … um … err …” Everything moved too quickly around her, and an empty feeling stormed into the pit of her stomach.
    Run!
    “Wow”—she glanced to the clock on the wall above the couch—“look at that, it’s late. I better get home.”
    Images of what could be began to flash through her mind if the conversation went any further. That was all it took. She freaking booked it. As far as she was concerned, whoever said avoidance wasn’t the answer was a person who didn’t have anything worth avoiding.
    It certainly worked for her.

Chapter Three
    Aidan watched Cora drop her blanket and race toward her clothes by the bench near the dungeon’s door, where she’d left her clothes. While typically such a view of her bare ass might’ve amused him, it didn’t stir a smile now.
    Her pain was palpable.
    That dark misery in the depths of her eyes gutted him. It was all too familiar. The same raw agony had once lain inside him. Her gaze held a haunted soul. And she’d given him a look so shattered it’d pinned him to the spot.
    When he watched her dress, he fought his desire to go to her and demand answers now . He appreciated Cora’s strength and respected her for it. Her choices were solid and her decisions were made without regret. Never, not once in the years he’d known her, had she shown a moment of weakness, until now.
    As Cora rushed out the dungeon doors his thoughts spun out of control and his breath became shallow. What had happened to make the strongest submissive he’d ever known turn into a woman consumed with a shadowed soul?
    Aidan’s Dom instincts flared to life, not only because Cora hid something, but because she’d never shared parts of herself with him. He had no idea there was a barrier between them. When had this happened?
    His jaw tensed and he turned to Presley. “Care to explain that?”
    She flinched. “Okay, you look mad.” She straightened in her seat and looked to her lap, fiddling her hands. “And that sucks for me.”
    “Answer my question and this won’t suck.” His fingers twitched to command her gaze, not that he’d act on it. Presley wasn’t his to touch. “Lie to me like Cora did, then this will suck for you.”
    What he’d seen in Cora’s face, even from a distance, stirred sudden chilliness. He tightened his legs, forcing his knees to lock. One look had changed everything. One second took what he believed as true and