by Livia Grant
He crushed his mouth down on hers, grinding his body against her, all finesse went out the window. She had a way of making him feel more like a giddy teenager than the sexual dominant he was. Only the feel of his phone vibrating in his pocket reminded him that Axe was waiting on his call.
With regret, Ryder separated from her enough to peer down at her, loving the look of sexual carnality staring back at him.
"Hold that thought for a minute. I need to call Axe and check in. Why don't you check out the rest of the suite?"
"Really? Do you have to call him right now?" Her hands roamed his body, pulling his button-down shirt from the waistband of his pants to get to his back. She hugged him tighter, trying to stop him from pushing to his feet.
With a chuckle, he answered, "I'll only be a few minutes and then we can resume where we left off."
"Promises, promises," she teased.
Still, when he'd rolled off her, she stood and took off for the other side of the room where there was a dining table and an opening to what looked like a small kitchen. Her hips swayed beautifully in her skinny jeans. Only when she was out of sight did Ryder ring Axe.
His friend answered with a, "I was getting worried."
"I waited to get us settled before I called. What do you have for me?"
"Nothing conclusive yet, but plenty of interesting things to explore. I have a few questions."
"Shoot."
"You told me who McLean and the Kaplans were. I know from the media about Dean Reynolds. I'm seeing the name Ricky Covasse popping up pretty often with a lot of intimate details about her travels."
"I haven't met him yet, but he's her personal assistant so that would make sense, unless the messages are threatening."
"Not so far. How about Apollo Starling and Edward Rivera?" Axe asked.
"The director of her current film and according to McLean, Rivera has produced two movies for her."
"Interesting. He is having some pretty substantial cash flow problems right now."
Ryder had only met the guy for a few minutes, but he didn't seem the type to stalk anyone, unless he was looking at it as a publicity stunt.
"Okay, I'll see him tomorrow at this event. I'll be sure to dig in on him a bit. What about the douchebag, Reynolds? I'd sure love to throw him behind bars if for no other reason than being an asshole."
"The only thing I've turned up on him is closer to my normal kind of job. He's hitting a married woman on the side. Woman by the name of Gloria Mining."
Ryder had heard the story from Khloe, so he wasn't surprised.
"I think he's a dead end."
"Me too," his friend agreed.
"So who does that leave us with? The package to her parents proves to me that it's an insider. Who haven't we looked at?"
Axe agreed with him. "Technically, it could be a fan, but I think you're right. The evidence points more to someone she works with. Did you meet anyone on the set who concerned you?"
Ryder reran the prior day on a loop in his head. "I emailed over the crew names that I collected yesterday so you could run a check on them. There were about twenty names on the list. Now that I'm thinking about it, there was this one guy I didn't have on my original list. I had to ask around to get his name. It's Peter Hernandez. When I asked Khloe about him, she said he's the nephew of one of the producers or something. He's not playing with a full deck."
"I'll check him out. I'm expecting the security camera footage from the studio tomorrow. You did a good job scaring the shit out of the head of security. But the best gift we got was that package to her parents. I dug in and found the service the stalker had deliver it was a custom delivery service. At first, I almost eliminated everyone on the west coast due to the timing of the delivery. It came so soon on the heels of your arrival, that clearly scares them by the way, and just the logistics of physically getting a package to the doorstep of her parents in the Bronx after nine on a Friday night."
"Yeah, whoever is behind this is either stupid or has one big set of balls," Ryder reasoned.
"I'm going with stupid. It didn't jump out at me immediately, but up until now, all of the messages focused solely on Khloe. How they planned to be with her. Professing their love and devotion. This message barely mentions her. It's like all they care about is getting rid of you, someone they clearly see as a threat."
He should be flattered, but he was more relieved. He was used to playing with danger. If his presence drew the danger off Khloe and made the stalker make stupid mistakes, then he couldn't be happier.
"We need to find out where that package was sent from."
"I'm on it. It's getting late there. Keep your phone on."
"Yeah, I will, but we may go downstairs for a bit. I won't be able to take my phone in with me. You still have that number for Spencer, right?"
The men had served together in the marines what felt like a lifetime ago.
"Yeah, but I'd rather not call him," Axe groused.
"It was fourteen years ago. You need to let it go," Ryder urged, remembering how the slightly older Spencer and Axe had always argued like siblings, picking at each other incessantly, but always there to cover the other's back when needed.
"It's not that." Ryder could hear the frustration in his old friend's voice. "Every time I talk to someone from the old days, the first thing they do is tell me how sorry they are for me. I don't want anyone's fucking pity." Axel's voice quavered with pent up emotion.
"I get that. I do, but it's hard to know what to say, man. Cut us some slack if we botch it." Ryder spoke from his heart, his own guilt for not being there for his friend when he needed him crowding in again.
"You're right. Fuck it. I'll call him if I can't reach you."
Axe ended the call without a goodbye. Ryder threw his phone down on the coffee table a bit too hard and looked up to see Khloe watching him from across the room, her arms folded across her chest. When their eyes met, she began her trek across the spacious room towards him. She didn't stop until she'd mounted his lap facing him, her legs spread so that her knees touched the leather couch and her clothed pussy pressed against his flaccid shaft.
"So when are you going to tell me what's going on with Axe? You barely told me anything last night when you got back from visiting him." He didn't want to waste their precious time together talking about or even thinking about how fucked up Axel's life was, but one look at Khloe's determined face as she wiggled her ass, grinding against him like a cat in heat trying to scratch their itch, reminded him of her control over him.
"You don't want to know."
"Of course I do. You said he's one of your oldest friends. I know next to nothing about you, Ryder. The only reason I met Aunt Ginny is because I didn't listen to instructions."
He let his hand squeeze her tight ass through her jeans. "Thanks for the reminder. I never did punish you for that, did I?"
She wasn't deterred. "Please. You know almost everything about me. It isn't fair."
Ryder didn't want to be the one to tell her that life was rarely fair in his experience. Considering all of the scary truths he was keeping from her, he decided sharing some of his history with Axe was some of his safest secrets.
"We were childhood friends. Our fathers were in the same motorcycle club. We were in high school when his dad was killed and he came to live with my father and me for a couple of years until we both enlisted in the marines together. That's where we met Spencer."
"Where was his mom?"
"She took off when he was a kid. Couldn't handle the MC lifestyle."
"And she left him behind? That sucks."
Ryder didn't want to get into what it was really like to be part of an MC family. Axel's mother had understood well that she would never be allowed to take her son away from the family.
"That isn't the worst thing that happened to him." He paused, unsure if he wanted to say the horrific things his friend had survived. It somehow made it all more real. She waited expectantly until he continued. "He was ma
rried. They had a daughter. About three years ago when she was twelve, some asshole kidnapped Mia on her way home from school. There were witnesses. He's spent the last three years spending every waking hour and every dime he had looking for her."
"Oh my God, that's horrible! Why is he helping us then?"
Ryder sighed. "Because he needs to move on. As horrible as it is, he needs to find a way to live again."
"His poor wife. I can't even imagine the pain she is going through."
Ryder was uncomfortable talking about such depressing topics, but at the same time, knew it would help him to talk it out with Khloe.
"It killed her. Literally. Yeah, the coroner might have called it an accident, but she wrapped her car around a tree at sixty miles per hour."
Tears streamed down Khloe's cheeks. Genuine anguish filled her eyes thinking about the pain Axe must be going through. "How does he wake up each day and find the will to go on?"
It was a fantastic question. One he wasn't sure he knew the answer to. "Axe has always been the strongest bastard I ever knew. As long as there is a tiny chance of finding Mia alive, he'll keep fighting. I went to him for help because he has always been stronger at technology than I have been, but I also wanted to try to give him something to think about other than losing Mia. The investigation has been good for him."
The ding of a text on his phone gratefully ended the depressing conversation.
"That's probably Davidson with news about dinner."
"I'm not hungry," she complained.
"Liar. You said it yourself. You're always hungry. You just don't want to eat."
"Same thing."
He grinned as he hugged her closer, squeezing her ass through her clothes. "You need to get some calories in you so you'll have the stamina to keep up with me when we get downstairs."
The heat in her eyes melted, turning her glare into pure passionate longing. "Are you sure we should go down to Black Light?" He didn't miss the hopeful hint in her question.
Ryder pulled her closer, nibbling at her neck as he answered. "Hell yes. Your body has a date with your Dom. He can't wait to remind you who's in charge."
Her full-body tremble as she crumbled into his arms like a noodle humbled him. She'd already turned herself over to him. Body and soul. As he pulled back to look into her eyes, he witnessed her slipping deeper into her submissive role, shucking her Khloe Monroe larger than life persona and leaving only his princess in her place.
And just like that, they were in a scene. That suited him fine. His first act of dominance over her for the evening wouldn't be on the medical table or in the dungeon below. It wouldn't be sexual in nature at all. No, it would be her kneeling naked at his feet as he spoon-fed her every fucking bite of her dinner.
Being a dominant over a woman you love sure is different than a sub in a Moscow dance club.
Chapter 20
Khloe couldn't remember feeling so alive. So expectant.
On the edge.
She knew that was exactly Ryder's plan as he took her hand and escorted her from the elevator on the ground floor of Runway, still relatively safe in the private backstage area. As they neared the hallway leading past the perpetual line of partying women waiting to pee, Ryder pulled her body close, wrapping his arm around her waist as she huddled against him to hide her face. It felt sinful to be naked under the oversized robe, the only clothing he'd allowed her to don for their trek downstairs.
He'd already primed and readied her body for the sexual adventure their visit to Black Light promised. Memories of his dominance from months before mingled with this more confusing current version of Ryder, making her uncertain as to what to expect. He was a pro at keeping her off base.
She felt the blush burn on her cheeks as she burrowed closer against him, remembering how it had felt to be stripped naked and made to kneel at his feet where he'd fed her bite after bite of the light dinner Jaxson had had delivered. He'd edged her between bites throughout dinner and she was already desperate to have him inside her.
She was hoping to relax when they got to Black Light, but being a Saturday night, the locker room where they checked membership IDs was already busy. A small line waited to check-in, giving her a chance to take a few calming breaths.
Danny greeted them by name when they were at the front of the line. "Mr. Helms. Ms. Monroe. We've been expecting you. Mr. Davidson said he'd buy you a drink when you got here."
"Thanks, Danny."
"Of course, sir. You know the drill. Please leave all electronics in your locker. Ms. Monroe will need to leave her cell phone as well.”
Ryder flashed a devilish grin. "We left her phone upstairs, didn't we, Princess? In fact, I think you should demonstrate to security that you're not hiding anything. Let's leave the robe in the locker."
Khloe's heart pounded hard in her chest. She'd thought she was prepared for her return to Black Light, but the idea of stripping naked suddenly terrified her.
Ryder stepped closer, pulling her into his arms so he could talk softly against her ear.
"I've got you, baby. Trust me. Turn yourself over, like back in February."
That night had been magical––right up until he'd ditched her without explanation at the end. What if he tried the same again after tonight? She shook her head as if to chase the negative thoughts away, remembering that at least for tonight, they'd sleep together upstairs in the luxurious round bed.
Her body responded to his dominance. He knew the secret code to tap into her carnality. Her fingers moved to the opening of the robe and she pulled the sash loose, letting it fall open before she shrugged it off her shoulders to pool at her feet. She felt the eyes of the other couples in the small room on her, but she kept her focus on her Dom, swept away by the heat of authority in his icy blue eyes.
Ryder reached into the pocket of his slacks, coming out with a thin black choker that he attached around her neck. Khloe liked the surprisingly heavy weight of the jewelry, as if it was his calling card, marking her for all to see. From his other pocket, he pulled out a delicate chain with a jeweled clip on the end. The last of her reticence fell away with the snap of the clasp attaching to the ring of her collar.
Tonight she was not Khloe Monroe, the actress. She was simply Ryder Helm's submissive, Princess, being led naked by a leash onto the main floor of the BDSM club. To those watching, she suspected she'd appear to be playing her newest part as many who role-played in the D/s lifestyle did for fun. Yet the invisible connection she felt to the man proudly leading her had never felt so real. So unlike play.
Pounding music mingled with sounds of sexual adventures creating a captivating soundtrack. It was impossible for it to not intrude into her jumbled mind. Naughty snippets intersected with naughtier memories. Where would he lead her? What was his plan?
As hard as she tried to tune out everyone but her Dom, it was impossible when she'd catch fragments of conversations talking about her. She tried not to think about being naked and on display, yet if she were honest with herself, it felt a bit like coming home... being here in this place again and with the man who had rocked her world.
She followed a few steps behind, keeping her head bowed, watching her slippered feet pad along the carpeted floor. Stopping when he stopped to chat with other Doms. Following as he wound them through the maze of debauchery in motion, as if she were on parade. With each moment that passed, she relaxed more, becoming accustomed to the crack of paddles and screams of passion.
By the time Ryder sank into a plush leather chair not far from the long neon-accented bar, Khloe had quieted her inner angst, subconsciously slipping deeper into the submissive mindset she'd begun to think had been an exaggerated dream from Valentine's Day. Gone was her Type-A career woman disposition, seduced by the sex-God presently tugging gently on the chain linking them until she was kneeling between his open legs facing him, his right hand reaching to stroke her silky hair as if he might pet a long-haired feline.
His soft petting comforted her, allo
wing Khloe to slip deeper, blocking out the sounds around them even as Ryder chatted with this Dom or shook hands with that Master. Between visitors, he leaned forward, using his dress shoe to tap at her inner knees, wordlessly instructing her to spread her legs wider. Instinctively, she laid her hands on her spread thighs, palms up, chin to her chest.
That earned her a soft, "Good girl,” which melted any final remnants of reticence she had. She tried not to think about why she felt proud, and not embarrassed, at Ryder's chauvinistic show of ownership over her body and soul. She watched the chain linking them sway, a symbol that she was his. But then it hit her. He was hers too, and that knowledge thrilled her.
Only the sound of Jaxson's voice was able to jar her back to the present, cutting through the din of commotion in the club around them.
"I tried to make it over to the bar, but the place is packed. I figured you'd find us here eventually." Ryder was talking to Jaxson who'd nabbed the matching leather chair next to Ryder's as the previous Dom got up to leave.
"I couldn't be happier with the turn out. We've only been open a few months, but already we're exceeding our membership goals," Jaxson answered, setting his rock glass filled with an amber liquid down on the small table between the men.
Only through her peripheral vision did Khloe sense someone kneeling next to her, inches away. A quick glance confirmed a nearly naked Emma was kneeling in front of her Dom, just as Khloe was, only she didn't have a leash attached to her collar. Of the many times she'd met Emma, this was the first time seeing her deep into her submissive role in the trio's complicated relationship. The fact that Jaxson had stretched his long leg out and was presently rubbing the tip of his leather shoe against Emma's pussy while he chatted with Ryder helped Khloe feel less on display when she could share the spotlight with Emma.
But where was Chase? She had to admit that, much like the rest of the world, she was more than a little curious about the sexual dynamics of the trio's relationship, particularly after seeing their unique bed and its accessories upstairs.
