“Rough times are what makes the good times so sweet.”

Before his bar shift ended, Master Dan approached him. “Hey, Knox, you have free time tonight?”

“As of right now, I’m on security for two hours and then I’ll get a break.”

“Can I schedule you?”

“Sure. Just have someone tell me what room you book.” But chances were high it’d be the green room, since he preferred it.

“Great. Thanks.”

Master Dan was a pain slut. Normally he had Master V the sadist work him over, so Master V must not be here.

Soon thereafter Greg relieved him from bar duty and sent him to monitor the orgy. Not his favorite assignment only because watching orgies was too damn distracting.

“Knox?”

He half turned toward the male sub Vic. “Yeah?”

“Are you booked for tonight?”

“I’ve got a couple of things going on. Why?”

“I’d like to book you for half an hour. Just me.”

“What’ve you worked up to now?”

“Canes. It’ll be my first time.”

“Okay. I’ve got one that’ll work. Look for me in the green room.”

After the orgy group took a break, he did too. He prowled the halls, telling himself he wasn’t looking for an exotic woman wearing a mask.

But he didn’t know what he’d do or say if he ran into her.

Any doubts he’d shoved aside about letting her define his orientation had come back stronger than ever.

If he was truly submissive, he wouldn’t have a problem telling people in the club. People outside the club didn’t matter; he didn’t ask for the gritty details on their sex lives, so offering up his own preferences wasn’t an issue.

The other thing that’d been niggling in the back of his mind? Most of the time Shiori didn’t feel like a Domme.

What if when she came to America she’d created this whole new persona for herself? Even her background in the Tokyo clubs could’ve been fabricated if she’d paid the right person enough money. God knew she had plenty of the green stuff.

But his angry mental accusations didn’t ring true either.

Shiori was a Domme. He suspected she’d been an unsatisfied Domme as she tried to find her own way. She was such a sexual woman; how could she take on subs who weren’t fulfilling that need in her? He might still have reservations about how far he’d be willing to follow submissive behavior, but he couldn’t imagine anything he’d rather do than spend time naked with Shiori, catering to her every sexual need.

Yes, sexual incompatibility hadn’t ever been a problem for them.

It wasn’t doing him any good dwelling on this shit, so he cut down the hallway and knocked on the door to the green room.

Master Dan waited completely naked. He wore a different expression from his usual—normally anticipation was etched on every line in his face. Tonight he looked like he’d already been beaten.

That set him on edge. As far as Knox had seen, Master Dan didn’t have any limits for pain play. They’d discussed a safe word one time, and the man had never uttered it—not even the one time Knox had accidentally made him bleed. “So, Master Dan, you know I’m gonna ask what’s up.”

“What do you mean?”

“First, why aren’t you having Master V give you what you need? And second, why have you got more dread going on than excitement? Sets off my warning bells, man.”

Master Dan slumped in the only chair in the room. “You noticed that, huh?” He sighed. “Of course you noticed because you’re damn good at what you do.”

“Thanks . . . I think?”

“You don’t take that as a compliment?”

Knox scratched his head. “I don’t know how to take it. As it’s something I can’t put on a résumé. ‘I excel at beating the fuck out of men with whips, canes, and floggers. I’ve been given excellent recommendations from the masochists on being able to deliver extreme pain without breaking the skin. Sorry. No references are available because of privacy restrictions.’”

Master Dan looked at him sharply. “Having a crisis of faith, son?”

Knox didn’t mind that Master Dan called him son, since he was Knox’s elder by twenty years. “Yeah, I am.”

“Can I help?”

Here was a chance for an unbiased opinion. “How would you categorize me?”

Master Dan scrutinized him to the point where Knox felt fidgety. “Gut reaction?”