A Real Page Turner

by Rita Lawless

  Before April could ask more questions, the waitress was back, this time with food. Wouldn’t you know it, she thought, that food would come quickly when you didn’t want it to, and it would be late when you were starving. Right now, what she wanted was to know why Titan was so interested in April’s death. After the meal had been delivered, Titan dug in like he hadn’t eaten in months. April stared at her plate. All she could think about was her friend, someone she didn’t know that much about, really. Just that she liked to read Regency romances, and she liked to submit to her lovers.

  “What were you doing at the store?” April asked. He set down his burger and wiped his mouth as he swallowed what he was eating. To her, it seemed as if he were stalling, so he could form an answer that would make her happy.

  “Well? Did you come to see me, or did you come to probe about Virginia? And, if you did come about her, how did you know I knew her? And why were you there at the same time the cops were? Are you a cop? Is this some sort of undercover thing where they send in the ‘official’ guys, and then send in someone else to probe me?”

  She hated the grin that appeared on his face. “Sweetheart, the only probing I want to do with you involves both of us being naked.”

  Heat rushed through her, warming her cheeks and other pertinent parts of her body. “I’m not talking about sex,” she said when she’d managed to get herself back under control. “Are you a cop?”

  “Nope.” He started to eat again.

  “Then why are you asking me what I told them?”

  “Curious,” he said between bites.

  “Curious my Aunt Fanny!” she said, realizing too late that she’d screamed the words. People from several tables over turned around to look at them, to see what was happening.

  “Sorry, sorry,” she said to the other diners. Their waitress approached to make sure everything was fine. Titan assured her it was. When she was gone, and people were only glancing at them and not openly staring, April leaned toward him like he’d done to her and Misty earlier.

  “How is it that you just happened to be at the store when the cops were there, and you just happen to ask me what I said to them about a murdered woman?”

  “Something like that.” He wiped his hands on his napkin. After he tossed the used paper on the table, he drummed his fingers on the surface. Something about the quick movement of his fingers told her he wasn’t a happy camper right now.

  She glanced at Misty, who was looking at her plate as if it were a priceless work of art, and she wanted to memorize every line and color.

  “Tell me the truth,” she said. “Why were you there?”

  “I wanted to see you,” he said, shrugging slightly. “Is that so hard for you to believe?”

  April wanted to believe it, but she knew that, if that were the truth, he wouldn’t have started the conversation the way he did.

  “Then why didn’t you ask about me? Why did you immediately want to know what I said to the cops?” She knew she should believe him, but right now it wasn’t an easy thing to do. She was still too freaked out by the whole situation.

  “Because I figured that’s why they were there, and it brings us right back to my original statement. I was curious. It’s a state of mind that happens to a lot of people.”

  April pushed her untouched plate toward the center of the table. Somehow the thought of putting anything in her mouth made her sick. All she could think about was Virginia, and the way she smiled the last time she’d been in the store, happy that she’d met someone who might make a perfect Dom for her.

  “You need to eat something,” Misty said.

  “Who could have done this to her?”

  “The cops will figure it out,” Titan said. He actually had a smile on his face, one that she was pretty sure was meant to reassure her that things would be fine. “And I’m telling you the truth when I say I don’t carry a badge.”

  “Who are you?”

  Once again, he leaned toward her. “Someone who wants to spank your ass tonight. And do that other thing too.”

  April couldn’t help but smile, despite the turmoil going on in her mind. A spanking would be great. She had read somewhere that the birth rate went up after tragic events, because people used each other’s bodies for comfort.

  Arguing with him about “that other thing” wouldn’t do any good. A spanking would be nice; but sex, no. Instead of voicing her thoughts, April stared down at her untouched food.

  “I just don’t understand how this could have happened,” she finally said. Even as she spoke, April’s thoughts centered on the man she’d seen Virginia with at Charlie’s. It seemed strange to her that this man would come into Virginia’s life, and days later, it would be ended.

  “Titan?” She glanced at him. He was leaning back in the booth, his gaze inquisitive as he studied her.

  “Yes?”

  “You knew Virginia?”

  “I’d met her, yes.”

  It was a pretty innocuous answer. “But you weren’t exactly friends, is that what you’re saying?”

  “I never had any intimate contact with her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  April cleared her throat. “Do you know anyone who did?” She had to find a way to discover who Virginia had been meeting with at the club the night April had seen her.

  “Yes.”

  She wanted to scream at him. Was she going to have to pull answers from him one by one? “Who?”

  “Doms.”

  The urge to yell intensified. “Okay, let me ask this. Recently, I saw Virginia at the club, meeting with a blond man. I couldn’t see his face. Do you know who he might be?”

  Titan’s brows knitted together in a frown. He looked as if he were mentally going through all the men he knew, trying to find a man who had blond hair among them.

  “No,” he finally said. “That doesn’t ring a bell. But she met him at Charlie’s?”

  “Yes.” April picked up a French fry and put half of it in her mouth. It had gone cold, and the taste was nasty. She swallowed the half she’d bitten and put the other part on her plate.

  “They check IDs at the door, although I don’t think they keep records. If he was new, though, the bouncer might remember him. We could go tonight and ask him.” He held up a finger. “Although, he sees lots of people, both those who are just curious, and those who are there to play. Unless this man said specifically he was there to meet Virginia, it may be a dead end.”

  “And lots of people are very quiet about who they are at the club to see,” Misty said.

  “Not me,” April said. “They all knew who I was… visiting.”

  “That’s because you were booked into one of the rooms,” Titan replied. “If you were just going to the bar, you probably wouldn’t mention someone by name at the door, unless you were asking if that person was inside yet.”

  “And I’m sure the cops have already questioned the doorman,” Misty added.

  “They just found out she visited Charlie’s,” April said. She didn’t have to add that the information came from her; it was pretty obvious. She still remembered the shocked look on Threadway’s face when she’d mentioned the club.

  Was it wrong of her to want to talk to the bouncer before the cops did? She wasn’t sure, but it was something she desperately wanted. There was every chance they had gone to the club right after they’d seen her, but there was also the chance that they’d had someone else to interview about Virginia.

  “Let’s go to Charlie’s now,” she heard herself saying.

  “I can’t,” Misty said. “I have other plans that can’t be broken.”

  “I can,” Titan said.

  April tried not to shiver at the smile on his face. It was obvious he was thinking about things that could happen at the club between them. She was thinking about trying to find out about the man Virginia had met that night.

  “No funny business,” she told him.

  “Nothing funny about spanking,” he said, “although it can b
e fun. The two words are not always synonymous.”

  It seemed as if he were trying to make her smile, and April appreciated the effort. “We can debate that some other time. Right now, I want to go to Charlie’s and question the bouncer.”

  “And the sub who works the appointment book. Don’t forget her,” Titan said before he drained his glass. The waitress appeared with the check. She inquired what was wrong with April’s meal, and after being told that nothing was, she took it to the kitchen to be boxed while she ran Titan’s credit card to pay the bill.

  As they were preparing to leave, Misty hugged April. “Let me know what happens, and let him spank you while you’re there. It will relieve some tension.”

  April didn’t answer. Spanking was the last thing on her mind right now. She wanted to know what happened to her friend. If she were a detective in a novel, she’d be able to solve the problem long before the police did. As it was, she didn’t even know what questions to ask the bouncer. Titan was right; he did see many different people every night. How was he supposed to remember one person?

  Even before the questioning started, April was sure that it was a dead end.

  ***

  It turned out she was right. The bouncer, who seldom had a night off, looked at her as if she had a third head when she asked him if he remembered a blond man coming into the club to meet Virginia.

  “The cops just asked me the same question,” he said. “I remembered her when they showed me her picture, but I had no information other than that. Sorry.”

  The appointment sub yielded no data, either. Virginia was not listed in her book, which wasn’t surprising. Unless she and her potential Dom had booked a room, they wouldn’t be listed as being in the club that night. One of the waitresses might recall serving them food, or drink, but there was no telling who worked their table. Short of interviewing everyone who worked that night, and hoping they would remember the couple, it would probably be another dead end.

  But April was willing to give it a try. She and Titan found an empty table in the gathering area. Within moments a scantily clad sub was there, asking how she could serve them.

  They both ordered soft drinks, and when she was back, Titan asked her if she knew Virginia.

  “Was that the woman who was murdered? Everybody’s talking about it. The cops were here asking questions, too.”

  We already know that, April wanted to scream. “Did you know her?” she repeated.

  “No. None of us remembered her.” She glanced around the room. April had the feeling she wanted to say something else, wanted to gossip a little maybe. Instead, she looked at Titan before she lowered her gaze. “Will there be anything else, Sir?”

  “Where’s Tom?” he asked.

  “Upstairs, I believe. Should I let him know you’re looking for him?”

  “Yes,” Titan said.

  The sub left after she nodded in his direction. April wasn’t sure what Tom could tell them about Virginia, but she supposed it was worth a shot.

  “You want me to book a room?” Titan asked her after the waitress had left.

  “No.” She toyed with the straw in her drink.

  “Hurts my feelings,” he said, although she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was just joking. “Didn’t my last spanking leave you wanting more?”

  “Oh yes, it did,” she said. “But it’s not really a priority right now.

  “I’ll ask again after we talk to Tom.” Titan was looking at her as if she were lunch. Once again, it made her feel things she’d never felt with Tom. Not having physical contact with Tom, other than a spanking, had been tough, but it wasn’t impossible. Right now, she wanted Titan to bend her over the table, spank her and then…

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Titan said.

  April glanced at him. Was it that obvious? It was time to deny things; if she couldn’t convince him, maybe she could convince herself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He chuckled. “I spank women for lying to me, just so you know. And spanking can be a perfect warm up to that other thing we were discussing earlier.”

  She certainly hoped so. “I don’t do the physical contact thing, remember?”

  He drummed his fingers on the table. “Let’s define physical contact, shall we?”

  Damn you, she wanted to scream. First you want to dicker between fun and funny, and now this?

  “You know what I mean. No sex.”

  “But that’s not what you said. You said physical contact. Spanking is physical contact, and usually it brings the need for more contact.” He stilled his fingers, which was a bad thing, because April had been staring at them, trying to keep her gaze from straying to his face and the sexy grin that she knew was there, one that made her want him, even before he’d spanked her.

  “Having your ass spanked makes you hot.”

  April fought back the ‘We know that,’ remark that formed in her mind. “Yes.” She finally looked at him. “But I’m able to control those feelings.”

  “Why?”

  “Practice,” she replied, knowing he was asking her why she did it, and not how.

  “Don’t be obtuse,” he said. “Tell me why you do it.”

  Before she could answer, Tom was at the table. He and Titan shook hands, and then he rubbed April’s shoulder before he sat in the empty chair.

  “Been a little busy around here tonight,” he said as he waved his hand to attract the waitress’ attention. He ordered a soft drink when she arrived. “The cops were here, asking questions of all the staff. I hear that’s what you’re interested in, too.”

  “Virginia was a friend of mine,” April said. “Well, more like a customer who I was friendly with. I saw her the night that… the last night…”

  “I spanked you?” Tom finished for her.

  “Yes. She was meeting with a blond man.”

  Tom nodded. “The police were asking about him. I have no clue who it was.”

  April sighed. It was a dead end.

  Or it seemed that way, until Titan spoke up. “Did she tell you how she met this guy?” He was drumming his fingers again. “If she was seeing him here as a get to know you meeting, there is every chance someone introduced them. Did she say who?”

  April searched her brain, trying to remember the conversation she’d had with Virginia that evening. Had she met this guy on the computer, or… “She met him through a mutual friend, although she didn’t say who it was. They had met before, but this time they’d decided to meet on neutral ground.”

  “But she didn’t say who the friend was?” Titan asked.

  “No.”

  “Shouldn’t be too hard to find out,” Tom said. “I know a few people who knew Virginia. I can ask around and see if they introduced her to someone new.”

  It wasn’t much, but maybe it could get them somewhere. Before she could say anything, Tom continued, “A few of the Doms here tonight might provide some answers. Titan, why don’t you take April up to the green room and redden her ass while I ask some questions?”

  “Works for me,” Titan responded.

  April held up a hand. “Do I have a say in this?”

  “Nope,” the men said in unison.

  “Use a crop on her,” Tom said. “It makes her really wet.”

  He was gone before she could respond.

  “Which brings us full circle on our conversation,” Titan said. “Why don’t you do something about that wetness? Sex is a great way to keep your body in tune. It burns calories and makes you smile afterward. Mix it with spanking, and you’ll be smiling for days afterward, I can guarantee you.”

  “Sex complicates things,” she said. “It might be nice for a while, but after a few months, things can go sour.”

  “Your negative attitude bugs me.” Titan frowned at her. “Let’s go work on it.”

  There was no sense arguing with him, and truthfully, a spanking would be nice. So when Titan stood, and then started moving through the crowd, April f
ell into step behind him.

  She hated to admit that she was excited about the thought of him slapping a riding crop against her ass. She and Tom had used the green room some, but it wasn’t her favorite. There was a chair in there she could bend over, or Titan could take her over his knee while he sat in that chair.

  But if he were going to use the crop, she would probably be doing the former. She watched Titan speak to the man guarding the entrance to the rooms. The man nodded, then pulled out his phone as he waved them back.

  At the room, Titan opened the door and indicated she should go in before him.

  Once inside, April could see the room hadn’t changed since the last time she’d been there. There was the one chair and—there was something new. She stared at a new contraption: two sawhorses welded together with what she guessed to be a three-foot space between them. There were shackles on them, top and bottom. She imagined a sub being chained between them while a Dom took a crop to her ass.

  She didn’t enjoy being bound, or at least she hadn’t liked it before. Somehow the thought of Titan doing it made her wet, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

  “I’m not going to tie you down,” he said, as if he could read her mind. “There has to be a lot more trust between us before that happens. But I look forward to the day I tell you I want to tie you down, and you say, ‘Yes, Sir, I would like that.’ ”

  So many different denials could come out of her mouth right now, but April didn’t say anything. She continued to look at the sawhorses, wondering what it would feel like to be between them while Titan whipped her.

  April waited for his instructions, and when nothing came, she glanced at him. He was watching her, his expression unreadable.

  “Where do you want me?”

  “That’s a loaded question,” he answered, just as the door opened. Two men appeared, carrying a spanking bench between them. “And there’s your answer.”

  They deposited the furniture in the center of the room. When they were done, they left.

  “Get undressed and kneel on it.”

  Her eyes widened. “Undressed, as in naked.”