The sound of glass shattering echoes all around the club.

“Dammit! This damn pregnant stomach of mine is getting all up in my way!” Winter cries.

You can’t even tell she is with child. She is only four months along. Hell, you can’t even call it a stomach. It is like a small kangaroo pouch.

“You’re barely showing, Win. Shut up.” Piper snickers.

“Barely showing my ass. I’ve already gone up two pant sizes. My ass has its own zip code!”

Own zip code. I snort. She is still so tiny. After a few moments, I look over at Storm and frown. She is dazed, staring at nothing. I know she is thinking about the child she lost and it breaks my heart.

I reach over and place my hand on hers. I don’t say anything because words aren’t needed. Nothing I can say will ever make this okay. She handled it well when it happened, but I think as Winter’s pregnancy furthers, Storm’s pain is surfacing. She talks a big game, but I know she is hurting and hell, my dad still hurts, too.

Storm nods her head for me to get back to work, letting me know she is okay and that is when he enters.

I sense Shadow even before my eyes land on him. The club isn’t open yet so I don’t know why he is here, but he is, and now I want to get up and leave.

Shadow has a way of making me feel like I am still a child and I don’t matter. And yet, I still find myself incredibly attracted to him. It plays hell on my emotions. How can you want to be with someone who makes you feel like that?

“Oh, hey, Shadow. Give me a minute and I’ll be ready to go.” Winter tells him.

“Where’re ya going, Win,” Piper asks as she stocks some more beer bottles.

Yes, I would love to know.

“Shadow has the ungodly task of taking me to the OBGYN.”

I giggle. Shadow in an OBGYN office. That shit is hilarious.

“I’m not staying there,” he murmurs, irritated.

“What? You don’t want to see them squirt cold shit on my stomach?”

All right, so maybe not running away was the smart thing to do. It is super fun to watch an uncomfortable Shadow squirm.

“No, ma’am.”

Ah, hell.

“Shadow!” Winter whines.

He said it on purpose to irritate her. Everyone knows all the women hate being called ma’am. The only one that allows it is Grandma Berry and that is only because she is getting older.

As Winter scrambles around to gather her things to leave, I take the opportunity to look at Shadow. I don’t get many chances to do this. He is the watcher, not the watched.

He looks as good as he always does. Tall, dark, and handsome, all wrapped in a leather cut. Shadow’s dark black hair spiked at the tips, his cologne smelling fresh, his black club bracelets tugging tightly against his wrists. His light blue jeans hang off his body enough that you can still see his thigh muscles through them. His lips stretch in a dark scowl and yet it still looks incredibly sexy on him. His whole demeanor screams ‘fuck me hard’, and hell if I don’t want to jump on him and do that.

I know the kind of lifestyle Shadow is in. I’ve been practicing, studying, and adopting it as my own for the past several months. I may not know the very extent of his particular trade, but I do know a little about it. Pain. He loves to inflict pain. He needs to cause harm to another in order for him to cum.

One night, I followed him to a BDSM club. Shadow wouldn’t touch me at all, and I figured out why. He is afraid he might scare me off.

So I made the choice to walk into the club unprepared and not knowing zip. The first few times I practiced, it was fantastic. I tried the light restraints and being gagged. It wasn’t until Shadow told me he’s a Sadist and loved to inflict actual pain that I dug a little deeper. That is when I messed up. I messed up horribly.

I met a guy outside the club. Instead of going inside, we decided to go to his place. Taking my practice and learning outside of the club playspace was my first mistake. My second was leaving with a man I didn’t know and practicing bondage and autoerotic asphyxia with him. He beat me as I was bound, and not lightly, I might add. He caused extreme bruising to my face, and he choked me so hard that I was unconscious for too long. The man was obviously a very sick Sadist, or he had no knowledge of what the hell he was doing. I may be new at this, but even Shadow made it clear that erotic asphyxiation was not to be practiced like that. A little too late did I find out about edgeplay. It was by far the worst thing I have ever felt and done. I still study and practice the lifestyle. So far, I am leaning more towards sadomasochism, and a little bondage interests me.

At first, I did this so I could be with Shadow. After all, this is his way of life. This is what he needs, but as time has gone by, I’ve decided to see it through, with or without him. It interests me, and I find myself craving more. But since the club won’t allow me to go back there right now, I read and try to understand everything that I can while Shadow sits in denial.

My eyes drift closed as he moves behind me. God, why does he do this to me? He leans over and deliberately places his lips to my ear. The fucker knows what he does to me. He likes to play this sick game and rile up my emotions.

“Whatcha doin’, darlin’,” he asks.

“What does it look like I’m doing, Shadow?”

I’ll play head games right back. I’ll act like I couldn’t give a crap about him whispering behind me. Bastard ass!

“Tea, what’s with the hostility?”

Seriously?