Yvonne held up her hand. “I get the picture. That isn’t a bad idea.”

“You see? I know you like to deal with your problems by yourself, but you’re only human. You need to make sure your needs are met in any relationship.”

“What Ruby and I have hardly counts as a relationship.”

“She’s your submissive, isn’t she?” Madison asked.

“Yes, but that’s all. I’m paying her to play my wife. I have no feelings toward her.”

“No feelings? Yvonne, you’re not that heartless.”

“Fine, I care about her. Of course I do. But not in the way you’re suggesting.”

Madison studied Yvonne’s face. “Did it ever occur to you that you’re experiencing this drop for the first time because this is the first time you’ve had a submissive you actually care about? Having that genuine connection really heightens everything. It makes all those feelings and emotions that come with BDSM play even more intense.”

Was there some truth to what Madison was saying? Normally, Yvonne kept herself emotionally detached when it came to these kinds of relationships. They were physical and psychological, nothing more. But she couldn’t deny the connection she felt with Ruby. With Ruby, Yvonne found it easier than ever to let go, to lose herself in the sensual experience they were sharing.

However, that didn’t mean there was anything romantic there. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have those kinds of feelings toward Ruby,” Yvonne said. “I care about her as my submissive. That’s all.”

“If you say so,” Madison murmured.

Yvonne narrowed her eyes. “You were never this smug until you and Blair got engaged.”

“What can I say?” Madison’s expression grew wistful. “Love changes a woman.”

Yvonne resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Since Madison and Blair had gotten together, Madison had gone from being just as disinterested in relationships as Yvonne to being completely lovesick. Although Yvonne was happy that Madison had found love, one of the irritating side effects of Madison’s transformation was that she kept trying to fix everyone else’s love lives. Yvonne’s love life didn’t need fixing. She didn’t have one to begin with. She wasn’t interested in relationships. She was perfectly happy being alone. She’d been alone her entire life, so she was used to it. It was easier that way.

But wasn’t she happier now that Ruby was in her life?

“While we’re on the subject, is Ruby coming to the wedding?” Madison asked.

“I haven’t asked her yet,” Yvonne said. Would Ruby be able to handle such a task? Playing happily married couple for a handful of Yvonne’s friends at a club was one thing, but the wedding of Madison Sloane, the billionaire founder of Mistress Media, was a huge event. There would be hundreds of people there. “I’ll talk to her and get back to you. Now, let’s get started with this wedding business. What do you need my help with?”

Chapter 16

“God,” Brooke said. “I’m so relaxed I could drown.”

Ruby murmured in agreement, breathing in all the scents wafting up from the spa they were sitting in. She wasn’t quite sure what was in the water, but it included tea, flowers, and all kinds of heavenly things. Between the spa she was soaking in and the earlier massage and body scrub, Ruby was feeling more relaxed than she thought possible.