My mouth was dry now, so I swallowed again as we reached the end of the stairs.

"Good, we aim to please. But wait, there's more!" She stepped to my left, and I twisted to see a dark doorway behind the stairs. There was no light on inside, but I moved slowly closer, waiting for my eyes to adjust until finally I saw a glint of metal ahead of me, hanging from the ceiling.

Astraeya waited by the bench as I stepped inside the dark room, my arm outstretched. Metal clinked as I found the chains, my breath rushing in and out of my lips as if I'd been running, fingertips sliding into cold links.

"Your partner has your brief. He knows everything you're interested in and everything you're not willing to do. He'll start slow, take cues from you, ask questions, that sort of thing. It's totally up to you where you'd like to be when you meet him. It can be upstairs at the door, in the bed, or down here," Astraeya said, her voice so deceivingly simple, as if there weren't an enormous world of options, scenarios, mysteries in what she was saying.

"When does he get here?" I asked, a tremor in the words.

"Ten minutes. Do you have any questions, Sonya? Anything you need from me?"

I needed to know what would happen next. Would I enjoy myself? Did my fantasies only make me wet and wanting when they were safely tucked away in my head? Was I strong enough to go through with this?

Astraeya couldn't answer any of those questions. I wrapped my fingers around the chains and turned slowly. There was more in this room, more I couldn't see in the dark. It seemed to go on endlessly. And there in the doorway was the little blue smart screen, waiting if I needed help, or if I was too scared.

"No, I'm ready," I said to Astraeya, forgiving myself for not really sounding so.

She smiled at me and nodded. "I'll leave you alone. You know how to reach us. And, Sonya…have fun."

CHAPTER 3

Khell'ar

I waited under the shade of one of the great old oaks in the woods, staring at the front door of the cottage. I'd watched Astraeya arrive with the woman—average height for a human female, with bright gold hair. A new client booking me for five days was surprising, if not strange, and I expected her to look more…prepared. There was no rule of thumb on what kind of person wanted an orc to hunt and ravish and fuck them until they couldn't stand. The lusty ones came in all appearances.

Still, the little cotton sundress, peachy pink against sun-flushed skin, was refreshing.