His worry was back again because unfortunately, she seemed far too perfect to him.
Chapter Three
Ashley stared at the couple on the stage so she wouldn’t get caught with all of her focus on the man beside her.
Keith was far past beautiful. God, she’d thought he looked good in a suit. He looked ridiculously hot in leather pants and a vest that did little to cover his cut chest. Everything about the man was muscular and lean.
What the hell was he doing with her?
She stared ahead as Simon Weston used a single-tail on Karina.
“Do you see how she relaxed?” Keith whispered in her ear. His arm was around her waist and her skin felt lit up where he touched her.
How long had it been since she’d come alive under a man’s hand?
Had she ever?
“Yes.” She studied Karina. About twenty strokes in, she’d taken a long breath and she’d relaxed on the St. Andrew’s Cross.
But there had been a weird disconnect between her and the Dom working her over. Simon Weston was one of the nicest men Ashley had met since she’d started working at Sanctum. He was always polite and had a ready smile for her. He ordered tea as often as he ordered something with liquor, and when she’d gone out of her way to make sure it had been properly prepared, he’d praised her wholeheartedly. Still, she thought Karina had more of a connection with the detective who seemed to ruffle her every feather.
Even now, Derek Brighton was watching, his face dark as Weston flicked the whip and Karina’s head sagged.
“Do you understand the term subspace?”
She turned to Keith slightly. “I know it sounds like heaven.”
Some subs talked about it the way vanilla people talked about orgasms. It was a place where nothing mattered but the feeling, where safety and pleasure were the only sensations. She was very interested in subspace, even if it was just a way to relax. She never relaxed anymore.
Keith’s low chuckle hummed along her neck. “I’ve heard it’s a little like that. It’s an endorphin rush a sub gets from serving her Master, from pushing herself. I want to help you find that.”
“By spanking my ass.” She was just the tiniest bit sarcastic. It seemed so odd to find pleasure from pain. She’d had so much pain in her life and gotten not an ounce of pleasure from it. It was hard to believe, but she trusted her sister and her sister had flourished in this lifestyle.
“I might have to start now if you decide to get a smart mouth.”
Something about how deep his voice got made her a little hot. More than a little. A lot.
“Step back and let’s have a talk,” he commanded.
She felt his hand tangle with hers and let him lead her back from the front of the stage toward the lounge area.
Hours had passed and she felt more comfortable here on the dungeon floor with him than she had in the months she’d worked here.
But it was easier to be a part of the crowd than to be one on one.
Especially when she wasn’t sure how to talk to him. She’d signed a contract with him that said he had power over her in this club. She had plenty of outs. She had chosen a safe word. Giraffe. It was Emily’s favorite toy. Soft giraffe. Jillian had bought it for her. Yeah, there was something wrong that her safe word was her baby girl’s stuffed animal.
Not that she would need it. Her Dom had been a perfect gentleman.
Keith led her through the club. She passed by a couple of people she knew, including the detective who preferred beer to liquor. The detective had moved back into the bar, though he was still frowning at Weston as he continued flicking the whip on Karina’s backside.
And Damon Knight. The “murder machine,” as her employer put it. He was standing on the outside of the scene area, leaning heavily on his cane. He was thinner than he needed to be, than she was sure he was when he was healthy. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a hungry look, like a lion who had been injured but not killed. He would come back stronger than ever. Eventually.
She also saw Joe manning the bar. He gave her a wink and a lecherous look as she entered the lounge. It was easy to laugh at that because Joe had zero interest in her hot bod. He would likely fight her for Keith, though. She blew him a kiss and gave him a little leg lift. Joe was one of the few people she’d gotten close to since she’d moved to the city. She would have to tell him all the details the next time they worked together.
“Friend of yours?” Keith asked, his voice dark.
She looked up and his eyes were on Joe, who was hiding a grin as he pulled out the expensive Scotch for Ian Taggart. The owner was sitting at the bar with his wife.
“Yes,” she said. “We work together.”
“Are you in a relationship with him?”
“What?”
“It’s a simple question. On your entrance questionnaire you checked that you were single, but you seem to have something going with the bartender.”
She had to shake her head at the thought. “Uhm, he’s just a friend. I was playing with him.”
“You were flirting with him.”
Holy hell. How had she gone from zero to a hundred on the shit scale in two point three seconds flat? His face was shut down, no hint of a smile there now. “Don’t be ridiculous. Do you not have a gaydar, Keith? He’s not exactly drooling over me. Besides, you said you weren’t looking for anything more than a casual relationship.”
“First of all, I don’t know what that means, but it sounds bratty and sarcastic and we talked about your smart mouth, which I actually find quite charming, but gives me a great excuse to spank you. And I really don’t like a sub who is under my protection to flirt with another man.” He frowned. “Oh, it’s gay and radar.”
He was so serious. She had to cover her smile. “Yes. It’s not exactly a new term.”
“I spend a lot of time with lawyers,” he admitted. “Gaydar hasn’t come up in any of my contracts.”
She’d wondered what she could offer him. The contract had seemed very one-sided, tilting toward her. He offered his expertise, his care. She offered the not-so-real possibility of sex somewhere down the line.
But what if she could give him something else? What if she could make him smile?
“I am a font of slang knowledge. Ask me anything. I’ll tell you that the evening has been tots amazeballs and the look on your face is abso adorbs.”