Chris Komodo,H. M. Claus,Kannan Feng,Dita Darker,Abby Fowke,Lynn Townsend,Lynn Lake,Wendy Reid,Dee Turner,A. Mitcham

Getting warmer

Chapter 1 — The Maestra

Confirmed. The Maestra. Suite 1701. 8 pm.

Alex looked at his wife sitting out on the balcony of their Central Park condo to see if she’d heard his phone beep. She hadn’t. She was engrossed in reading; not a novel, but the score to her orchestra’s current symphony.

Erin was pretty. Elegant. Bookish. Alex loved her to death. And even more so in the moments he knew he wasn’t giving Erin everything she deserved.

He looked back at the text message. Strange. Usually he told the agency where, and they’d send the girl. But there it was: “ The Maestra.” He knew the historic hotel had some of the most expensive rooms in Manhattan. But the firm would cover him anyway, so what did it matter?

The Maestra. Luxury and elegance intertwine where our guests come to indulge. Expect world-class service inside our walls, and a bottle of Dom Perignon waiting inside your suite.

When Alex entered suite 1701 that night, he was greeted by not just a bottle of Dom, but a dominatrix, too.

He should have known something was up. The agency knew his tastes: brunettes and redheads, no surgery or silicone, and two girls preferable to one. He had never mentioned leather and cuffs.

Still, he thought, when a tall woman in thigh-high boots and a black leather corset tells you to strip naked and get on the bed, it’s hard to argue.

Alex felt the luxurious linens against his back and legs as the Mistress began to tie his arms down with soft, silk rope that could have come off the suite’s nine-foot-tall red velvet curtains.

All our suites feature the finest from the old world, including antique armoires and hand-carved four-poster beds.