by Sara Brookes
She’d angle her head back against the mattress to expose the column of her throat in a tilt that illuminated the fine network of veins. He’d be relentless, continuing to torment her despite her pleas. In fact, those appeals would only spur him on so he could experience each and every one of her struggles. He’d work and work to drive her higher. Enjoy the delicious torment that would grip the base of his cock because he wanted to position himself on his knees between her thighs and drive into her tender heat.
He knew he wouldn’t deserve such a treasure. He was an average guy with an average job. In fact, Ezra Snow was the epitome of the law of averages. He just happened to wrangle code for the tech side of a kink club at an abandoned military base. But in this second, in his fantasy, Ezra was the man he used to be long before illness, death and heartbreak had stolen everything he’d loved.
“Ezra?”
He jolted, upending a full cup of coffee he’d placed next to his keyboard into his lap. “Shit.”
He surged up, wincing against the burn soaking through his shirt and pants. Maddy sprang into action, grabbing a roll of paper towels off the top of a nearby cabinet before crossing the room to where he stood dripping. He extended his hand to take the handful of sheets she’d torn off, but she evaded and tugged his shirt free from his waistband. She wiped at the liquid dotting his abdomen. The sudden shock of the heated coffee had caused his erection to ease, but it roared back with a vengeance as soon as her fingers brushed against him.
A sudden rush of cool air grazed his skin, and he was shocked to realize that she’d wrestled the button of his pants free.
“I can do that.” He covered his wet crotch with both hands and canted his hips to the right so he wouldn’t flash her any more than he already had.
“You need to get those in the wash before they’re ruined.”
Even with the exasperation in her voice as he evaded her again, Ezra would take ruined clothing over wrecked pride any day.
* * *
Kochran looked up from the folder he’d been studying to find Ezra shutting his office door. Stains mottled the button-down shirt that hung open. Kochran stripped away his reading glasses and used them to point to the front of Ezra’s pants. “Unfortunate incident?”
“Nothing wounded but my ego.”
Ezra’s biting tone caught Kochran’s interest. He hadn’t been worried about Ezra pairing with Madeline in a working environment, even though the woman was quite a spitfire. He’d thought they’d complement each other nicely, both in matters of tech and sex. Though he hadn’t heard their conversation after he’d left, he’d noticed an instant spark had flared between the two as they’d traded those initial barbs.
“Say something to piss her off further? If that’s the case, you’re lucky she only threw liquids at you.”
Ezra frowned as he brushed at the stained fabric. “Just my carelessness.”
It was Kochran’s turn to scowl. Ezra wasn’t usually so clumsy. He also wasn’t like ordinary men. He’d been to hell, greeted the devil and fought with him on more than a few occasions. A fact Kochran respected.
He had hired Ezra when he’d expanded into the online footprint in order to give the man something to do with his time and his hands. Given the situation, the fact he’d made a few blunders wasn’t out of the question. After the crack in their system had been exposed, he’d given Ezra a stern lecture about attention to detail and knew the situation would be handled. While he knew it was a fluke, he wouldn’t tolerate another blunder.
Then there’d been the fact Kochran had had to work hard to shut his brain up when Madeline had been shrieking in a language he hadn’t understood. Databases and mark ups and front ends and...something about server breaches. He’d wanted to snatch her over his knee and give her an unrestrained spanking, both for speaking to him so rudely and for her actions that had brought her to the club in the first place.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he’d shut down his instincts and focused on the swirl of heat she stirred in his gut. It appeared as though Ezra wasn’t the only one experiencing a connection.
“Think it will take long to patch?” Kochran tipped his reading glasses back to the end of his nose, took one look at the numbers that needed sorting for the accountant and promptly closed the file. As he stood, he tossed his glasses onto the pile of paper. The chaos of numbers wasn’t going to sort itself out any faster if he spent another hour staring at them. “Or whatever it is you geeks do.”
“A few days and nights of hard work should take care of everything.”
Which meant the sweetly soft woman wouldn’t be at the club for long. No more than the time it would take to educate the webmaster about his mistakes. A few nights, tops. Then she’d disappear like smoke. Too quick for Ezra to do anything about the obvious attraction he had toward her.
Sometimes Kochran wondered if the man was a fucking monk.
Chapter Six
Maddy groaned loudly as she stretched her aching back. Long hours hunched over weren’t great for posture, but damn was it fun. So had been sniffing out the jerk who had tried to assert himself during her break-in of the simulated Noble House. Ezra hadn’t argued when she’d insisted on taking the guy down, and she’d happily ejected him from the membership roster. Okay, she may have also sent a dozen vibrators to his house, but no reason not to use her power responsibly too.
Her glee in the task had started to wane when she realized the room had gotten warm and stuffy. She didn’t remember ever being this confined. A quick glance down at the notebook she’d been scribbling showed she’d stopped midstream. Her brain was so addled she couldn’t make heads or tails of the messy handwriting.
As she turned, she realized she was alone. Ezra’s screen had gone dark and was cool to the touch. A sign he’d left some time ago. He hadn’t left a note, and she didn’t remember him telling her that he was throwing in the towel for the night. Didn’t mean anything, though. She’d worked plenty of times oblivious to everything around her. She checked the clock hanging askew on the wall and saw it was close to five in the morning. Which meant she’d been at this for seventeen hours straight.
“No wonder I feel like I’ve eaten sawdust.”
Hours upon hours of uninterrupted work wasn’t unusual for her. But this wasn’t her desk. Wasn’t her preferred setup. It was functional at best, like the rest of Ezra’s office. Plain and unassuming. Nothing like the man himself. She massaged her back as she stepped out into the hall. For shits and giggles, she tried those double doors again just like she had yesterday. This early in the morning was the perfect time to explore, right?
Still locked.
Were they ever open?
When she didn’t feel like her head had been wrapped with bandages, she’d give that lock the attention it deserved. The only other open door on the third floor was a vast closet filled to the brim with every piece of clothing imaginable. She wasn’t much of a clotheshorse, but a selection this exhaustive almost made her drool.
Since she didn’t know her way around, she returned to the front entrance area. From the looks of everything, the club had closed up shop for the night. Wait...morning. Shit, she’d hit the stupid-tired phase. As she turned, she saw a set of doors she recognized. They led to the massive space that was the focal point of the club. Stupid-tired meant she had an excuse to walk toward, and through, those doors.
Surprisingly, none of the rooms she’d been in had reeked of sex. Expected for the office suite, perhaps, but the main room smelled...comforting. There was a pleasant aroma that permeated the spaces, even the workplace on the top floor. Like...her mother’s kitchen when she baked. No, that wasn’t it. A sex club that smelled like a bakery? She really was losing it.
The room was also cooler than she’d expected, and had a different atmosphere now as everyone had gone home. Well...almost everyone. A soft glow illuminated a corner
on the far side and she headed for it, thinking it was Ezra. As she drew closer, she found Kochran balancing a laptop on his thigh.
She wasn’t embarrassed for her outburst, but she wasn’t proud of it either. Emotion had clouded her judgment, making her act as though she’d lost her flipping mind. As she stepped closer, his gaze flicked to her and he closed the computer with a snap.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she offered with a sheepish smile.
“It’s all right.” He scribbled something on a slip of paper with a shiny pen before he set the laptop to the side and rose. Unfolded himself was more accurate. His full form had been compacted down into the small chair. With all the places to sit, the rust-colored piece of furniture seemed an odd choice.
“Finished for the night?” The paper and pen disappeared into his breast pocket.
“I guess so. I came looking for Ezra.”
Kochran gestured toward the doors. “He left a few hours ago to get some rest when he realized he couldn’t keep up with the workhorse he’d hired.”
Maddy blinked. “I didn’t even realize he’d gone.”
“He said you were in a zone.”
“You could have come to get me so you could leave.” Great, now she was the flaky geek who’d gotten so caught up in her work, she’d made the big boss stick around. He probably had way better things to do than sit and wait for her.
“I don’t have anywhere to be and I hate to interrupt hard work. I hear you cleaned a rat out of our membership roster. Thank you for that.” He advanced toward her as he spoke. A sudden lance of panic stabbed at her gut as she stepped back. She wasn’t afraid of him just...unsettled. The last time she’d seen him, she’d been riled up and snappish.
She bumped into a piece of furniture behind her.
“Watch out.” He grabbed for her waist, setting his hand around her hip to keep her from falling.
“Sorry about that.”
He released her once she had her balance. “No problem. It’s dark in here.”
Cold too. More so than she’d expected. “Where is here anyway?”
“This is Court, the main play area for the club. Most of the scenes take place here.” He smirked. “Though I suspect you’ve already guessed that since you made such a memorable impression last night.”
“The room is huge. Place is huge,” she muttered. “Why the hell do people need such a big space to have sex?”
Kochran grinned. “We weren’t at full capacity the first night you were here. Drop by on a Saturday night and you’ll find out just how effectively the members use the space.”
Maddy snorted. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Ezra didn’t give you the ten-cent tour?”
“We got to work as soon as I got here.” The weight of the day settled around her again as she remembered the number of hours hunched over the keyboard.
“Would you like one? Unless you need to go...” He trailed off, leaving the question to hang in the air between them.
She wanted to leave, but also wanted to spend more time with him. Kochran was the kind of man who made her blood zing in her veins. Had to be because she was tired and had been staring at the computer for too long. That was the only explanation she could think of for how she kept fantasizing about his mouth. The way his thick hair curled against the edge of his collar. Where it brushed against his brow. And the way he looked at her with a proprietary gleam that signaled he could feast on her for days.
“I think I should get home so I can shower and change.” She wavered as she tried to turn, her balance still awry.
“You need some food.”
A flush crept over her cheeks as his voice wove through her. Everything about Kochran was bold and unexpected. Enchanting in a way she wasn’t usually attracted to. She certainly liked it in him, though. Silly, really, because Kochran wouldn’t be too interested in her. Besides, he was in charge of a whole club. He had his pick of women or men to choose from. A man—a Dom—with those kinds of skills paired with his devastating good looks could have anyone he desired.
“Madeline?”
Oh man, that sounded exquisite coming from him. Velvety and smooth. Like her name was suddenly an obscene word. It made her feel vulnerable.
Her whole body gave a shiver she couldn’t contain. When she looked up, heat flushing her cheeks, he simply waited for her response. The man was as dominant as they came, something that normally turned her off. She should have run from a guy who wanted that much control, but instead, she found herself completely and utterly intrigued.
Goose bumps erupted on her arms, and it wasn’t entirely due to the way he made her feel. “Why is it so cold in here?”
“Bodies generate a lot of heat when they’re having sex in a big room.”
Her head spun as her mind flashed back to things she’d seen while working earlier. “I think I do need to eat.”
What she needed to do was keep her head focused on the work she’d been asked to complete. More importantly, she wasn’t a member. Feeling this way about a man she only vaguely knew—a man who owned a fetish club and was the son of one of the richest families on the West Coast—no matter how much he turned her on, was out of line.
Way, way out of line.
“Would you like some coffee? I made a fresh pot about a half hour ago.”
Despite the little voice pinging a warning that staying was a Really Bad Idea, a shot of caffeine would help her on the drive. A quick buzz and she’d be on the road to her comfy, fluffy bed. Where she could fantasize about the two gorgeous men who’d made her feel sexy and...wanted.
“Actually, coffee would be great.”
When he turned, she noticed the broad expanse of his back. Immediately, she wondered what it would be like to dig her nails into those muscles, have them ripple and bunch under her finger as he plunged his cock...whoa. Express ticket to horndog highway.
While it was obvious she and Kochran were the only occupants, Maddy knew exactly what went on inside these walls thanks to her cyber skills. Had seen with her own eyes when she’d barged past the dude guarding the door, her access granted because of her faked membership. People had sex in full view of others. And they enjoyed it. In fact, they even paid for the privilege.
In some small way, she admired the members. They had a thirst for life she certainly didn’t possess. She wasn’t hardwired for that level of kinkiness. Sure, she’d had a few adventures with handcuffs and blindfolds—what inquisitive human didn’t? But her adventures inside the bedroom were unquestionably vanilla compared to some of things she’d seen during her forcible takeover of the club’s website.
She swallowed hard and followed him, expecting they’d go back to the upper floor where she’d been working, but instead he entered a small area that resembled a lounge. Tall café tables dotted the floor while booths lined two walls. The wall behind the booths was decorated with a large mural of the same logo she recognized from the club’s website, three lions around a shield. A door with a heavy-duty lock was nestled in the far corner.
“How do you take it?” he asked as he stepped behind the waist-high bar.
She thought back to the conversation she’d had hours ago with Ezra about this very same subject and gave a quiet giggle. She smothered it with the back of her hand and gave him a sheepish look.
“I didn’t realize coffee preference was so amusing.”
“My mind is wandering. Lack of sleep, I guess.” She wrapped her hands around the mug to warm her suddenly cold and aching fingers. The first sip of the fragrant liquid made her cough. “This stuff will put some hair on your chest.”
“I certainly hope not in your case.”
She suddenly became aware of the fact she’d worn a low-cut V-neck tee. Sometime during her work, she’d stripped away her sweatshirt. When she’d accepted the coffee mug, the position had pushed her breasts to
gether. Paired with his comment, and her exhaustion, her skin grew flush.
“How does one decide they want to own a club for kinky people anyhow?”
He grinned at her subject change. “Have to do something with my free time.”
“I have to confess...there’s a good chance our families rubbed elbows at the country club about fifteen or so years ago.”
“Is that so?” Like Ezra, Kochran worked efficiently cleaning up the grounds he’d spilled during the coffee prep. Her revelation didn’t give him pause. “I haven’t been there in years. Much to my mother’s displeasure.”
“What do your parents think about this place?”
He leaned against the counter, ankles crossed, empty coffee mug with a faded bakery logo dangling from one finger, gaze thoroughly snagged on hers as he gave her a mischievous smile. “A man has to have some secrets.”
Easy to imagine Kochran aiming that charming grin at a willing submissive who opened her legs for him in two seconds flat. He’d kneel between her spread thighs to bury his face in her pussy, his mouth and tongue working her until her cries carried to the rafters. He’d feast as though he needed to have her in order to survive. They’d be surrounded by the club’s membership, performing and enjoying the audience. The submissive would open wider for him, allowing him to enjoy his fill as he pleased. He’d lift his hands to her breasts to tug and play with her nipples as he worshiped her.
A pull deep in her belly made it seem as though she was right there, experiencing the power and beauty of the moment. A dark thread of something Maddy didn’t recognize hummed through her as her imagination kicked into overdrive. Took her to a place she hadn’t expected. Now it wasn’t a faceless submissive on her back, legs spread for the attentive Dom. It was Maddy. Naked and writhing under a man’s attention while a group of strangers observed. And the man wasn’t a stranger to her either.
