“Dude, are you trying to give her the upper hand?” Brighton pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Fuck.” He turned quickly because she would probably run away if she saw how massive his dick had just gotten.
“Hey, it’s okay. Unless she doesn’t like big cocks. Then you’re in trouble. Sorry, it’s kind of hard to miss. You might want to get that under control.” Brighton turned with him, a smirk on his face. “I don’t know many women who run at the sight of a big cock these days. Hell, women these days can be just as aggressive as a man. I got hit on during a murder investigation a couple of months back. Seriously. I was glad I turned her down.”
“She was the murderer?”
“Oh, yeah. Killed her boyfriend with a pickaxe. Pretty girl. Crazy as shit. Sometimes I love my job. It’s fun.” He took a drag off his beer. “Joe?”
The bartender stepped up. “Sir?”
“Who’s she playing with tonight?” Derek’s mouth tightened, letting Keith know he was really interested in the answer to that question.
“Really, Lieutenant? You ask that every single night. Why don’t you play with her yourself?” Joe rolled his eyes.
“Do you need some discipline? I didn’t ask for advice. Come on, man.”
Joe sighed. “Weston. You have got to stop this thing with her. It’s sad. You two watch each other with pathetic puppy eyes but you never talk.”
“The last time we talked she damn near took off my head and I threatened to get her run out of the state, so no, we don’t play together. And I don’t have puppy eyes. I have full grown dog eyes, thank you. Like pit bull eyes. Yeah.” Derek put his beer down. “Well, I can pay the Brit back. I’m scheduled to work on Charlotte’s sister. Now the Brit’s got puppy dog eyes for that one.”
Sanctum seemed to be a little soap opera, but then he’d never been to a club that wasn’t. It paid to know who was sleeping with whom, who wanted to sleep with whom, and which Doms were most likely to throw down. In his job, Keith dealt in information. Despite the fact that this wasn’t work, he’d never been able to shut down that part of himself that liked to know everything.
Like the fact that Ashley was living with her sister in a guesthouse. She was trying to juggle school and work and a baby.
She was vulnerable and had zero idea of how to protect herself from a man like him.
She’d signed the contract and if he walked away because his conscience was bugging him, she would find another Dom. Yes. He could play it that way. He should handle her or someone else would.
Ashley walked into the bar with the woman Derek had called Karina. She wore sky-high heels and towered over Ashley, who was barefoot.
“Hello, Sir.” She didn’t quite meet his eyes.
Keith reached out to touch her chin, tilting her face up so she was forced to look at him. Such clear eyes. She wouldn’t know how to lie to him. “Hello, Ashley. We’re going to be casual tonight. In the future, I will expect a much more formal greeting.”
“The knees thing?” Ashley asked, biting her bottom lip in a way that made his dick twitch.
She was so innocent. She’d had a baby, but there was still an innocence to her. He’d married Lena when she was younger than Ashley, but he doubted either one of them had been quite as naïve as she seemed. Or maybe he was just fooling himself because they’d both been idiot kids who hadn’t been able to handle the truth.
He went a little shaky at the thought. He never let Lena in anymore. And absolutely never let…
“Why don’t you show her?” Derek said, stepping up. He put a hand on Keith’s shoulder, an obvious show of support.
God, had he gone green or something? Whatever, he was grateful to the detective for giving him a minute to get his composure back.
Karina frowned the detective’s way. “What? Do you really expect me to get on my knees in front of you?”
A single brow climbed on Derek’s forehead and his eyes narrowed. “I understand you don’t have a lot of respect for me in the real world, but you could show a little decorum in here. I didn’t ask you to submit to me. I simply asked you to show a woman who seems to be your friend how a submissive properly greets her Dom in this club.”
The temperature had dropped about twenty degrees and Ashley absolutely wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. She was staring from Derek to Karina and back, her eyes wide.
Karina turned to Ashley, giving her a wink as though to defuse the very tense situation between herself and the detective. “Okay, so you and Master Keith will want to go over his particular preferences, but when you first greet him, you’ll want to show you give him your submission.”
She gracefully fell to her knees, her legs spreading wide. Her breasts looked lovely as she squared her shoulders and allowed her head to dip submissively down, her hair falling in long, glossy tresses.
And the detective was suddenly very happy to see her, too. Keith quickly averted his eyes. Even in a club, it was kind of rude to stare at another dude’s erection, but the detective had been right. It was hard to miss.
Derek frowned and readjusted his leathers, muttering under his breath. “Hey, you’re not the only one with problems.” He stepped forward. “I prefer your hands on your thighs and knees a bit wider.”
Keith smiled, happy to not be the only one with issues. Karina’s whole body tightened, her anger plain, but she spread her legs wider and her hands moved to her thighs, balancing her neatly.
Despite her calm, it was easy to see that she was one pissed-off sub.
It was suddenly easy to reach out to Ashley. He offered his hand.
Ashley hesitated for a moment and then placed her palm in his. He drew her close, letting his free hand find her waist.
“I don’t know if I’m as flexible as Karina,” Ashley said, her eyes not leaving the other sub. She leaned into him as though affection was her default state.
It wasn’t his. In the twelve years since his divorce, he’d had very little affection. He’d had sex, for sure, but no one had cuddled up to him and rested her cheek against his chest because she was nervous and he was supposed to provide her with support.
“We’ll work on it,” he promised. “I don’t expect perfection ever. I’m far from it.”
Her face turned up, a grin lighting her lips, and he had to catch his breath. “Good, because I’m not real great with perfection.”