She gave Julie and Abby a thumbs-up and darted to the kitchen door. Too late, she wondered what they were going to do if the door was locked, but it opened up to an empty kitchen.
Certain at least the first part of the escape plan was clear, she ran back to the maze.
“All good,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They all three ran together and she didn’t think any one of them took a breath until they were safely in the kitchen.
“I don’t like it,” Julie said. “It’s too quiet. They have to be somewhere.”
“Maybe they decided to finish the game,” Sasha said.
“Right.” Abby stuck her head out into the hallway. “And they just decided to ignore the fact that we ruined their fun. No, I agree with Julie. Something’s going on.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Looks clear. Do we go through the pantry or down the hall?”
“Pantry leads directly to the ballroom. Hallway’s more exposed.” Sasha checked to make sure the pantry was empty.
“I vote we stay in the kitchen and bake something to say we’re sorry.” Julie pointed to her left. “Sasha, I think those are carrots over there. Why don’t you get started on them and we’ll make a carrot cake?”
“You’re lucky I don’t throw one at you. Pantry, you think?” Sasha asked.
“Pantry,” Abby and Julie said together.
They stepped into the pantry. It was only a short walk to the back entrance of the ballroom. But as soon as they stepped into the large room, Sasha knew something was off. The room was pitch-black, which didn’t seem right. Normally, the front double doors were open to let in light.
“Uh-oh,” she said, right at the exact moment the room suddenly lit up.
When her eyes finally adjusted, all she could focus on were the three men in the middle of the room. She froze, trying to decide if she should turn back and run into the pantry or stay where she was.
“You know,” Cole said, and she couldn’t hear any emotion in his voice, “if you look out from the upstairs office, you can see directly down into the maze.”
“Damn it,” Abby muttered behind her. “I didn’t think about looking up.”
“Rookie mistake,” Sasha agreed. “We’d suck as spies.”
“The hallway’s exposed. Go through the pantry.” Julie glared at Sasha. “Brilliant plan.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t hear you come up with anything other than a carrot cake,” Sasha reminded her.
Daniel was trying to hide his grin. “Carrot cake sounds pretty good.”
Julie perked up. “I’ll go make one!”
“No,” Cole said. “You ran off together, you can deal with the consequences together. Besides, Sasha doesn’t cook. Especially with carrots.”
“Damn,” Julie said.“You brought it on yourself.” Nathaniel crooked finger at Abby. “Come here, Abigail.”
Abby didn’t hesitate. “Yes, Master.”
She seemed to almost glide as she crossed the floor to where her husband stood, holding up the blindfold she’d unwrapped earlier. She knelt down before him and he wasted no time covering her eyes.
He stood back. “You look very, what’s the word? Bewitching. Yes, you look very bewitching like this.”
“So bewitching,” Cole said. “I think Sasha and Julie need blindfolds, too.”
Julie and Sasha exchanged an uh-oh look.
Cole lowered his voice. “Now.”
They both hurried to their respective Doms and knelt.
Cole’s hands were quick and efficient as he blindfolded Sasha. “Now, my naughty girl, you won’t able to see what’s happening or who’s doing it.”
Her mouth grew dry. Who? Did that mean either Nathaniel or Daniel might touch her? She wasn’t sure she liked that, and even though playing with others wasn’t a hard limit, she thought it was for the other two women.
“Stand up and undress,” Cole said. “I have a tank top I’m going to put on you to cover your back.”
Everything was quiet. Sasha assumed the other guys were preparing Julie and Abby the same way Cole was preparing her. She heard a small yelp from Julie and then Daniel saying, “I knew they’d look good on you.”
“Use your safe word at any time.” Cole’s voice was thick in her ear. “Unfortunately for you, you didn’t pull anything out of the box. Fortunately, for me, I get to pick. But first . . .”
Something covered her ears and all she could hear was rain. Had he put headphones on her? She shook her head. That’s what it felt like. Because she couldn’t hear, for a minute she panicked thinking Cole couldn’t hear, either.
“Yellow,” she said.
The headphones came off. “Sasha, are you okay? What’s wrong?” His gentle voice was back, tinged with worry.
“I panicked, Sir. Thinking you couldn’t hear me. Which makes no sense because I said yellow. It’s okay. I’m fine to continue.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely, Sir.”
He ran his hands over her, and her body relaxed into his touch. “Are you okay for me to put the headphones back on or should I leave them off?”
“I’d like to wear them, please, Sir.”
He pressed a kiss against her shoulder. “My strong, fierce, Sasha.”
It was almost as if her body hummed with pleasure at his compliment, and this time when he put the headphones on, she felt only calm. She had no idea what to expect or what or who was going to touch her. The waiting about drove her wild.