He didn’t feel like he had it wrong. His instincts told him he’d discovered exactly what had happened to her. “Why did you become so frightened at the sound of glass breaking and then just flinch away from me?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I startle easily.”
Lie.
Kyler noticed the flush creep over her face. He wondered if she simply didn’t want to talk about it. While he wanted to dig a bit deeper and show her he dealt with abuse cases and would understand, he also thought it wasn’t his right to push her, just yet. He forced a smile to reassure her. “In my job, I take everything in the worst way sometimes. You seemed scared. I must have been mistaken.”
She laughed shakily. “No. No. It’s okay.” She waved him off with a dismissive hand. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Really.”
Kyler allowed her the escape, not wanting to ruin the night. That reaction was something he’d look into further. A person didn’t startle in fear and look absolutely terrified over a shattered glass. He wondered if maybe her family had a role in this. Perhaps a shattered glass in her home had been a call for punishment from her grandfather. “Tell me about your grandparents.”
She seemed relieved by the change in subject and leaned back into her seat, exhaling slowly. “They were my mother’s parents and were really lovely. Pops was a lawyer and worked for years longer than he should have. Nana was sweet, and did a lot of charity work in Savannah.”
Only warm affection touched her gaze, telling Kyler her grandparents were not the cause of her fear. More and more, he considered the darkness that lived inside her. He only wished Aidan was in Vegas so he could talk to him about it. If anyone had insight into Ella, it was Aidan. He’d normally call or text him, but since Aidan was honeymooning, that seemed inappropriate, at least at this point, anyway.
Kyler smiled, running his hand along the table, finally reaching her hand. This time she didn’t flinch away, though he noticed the slight tremors rattling her, which told him he wasn’t off in his assumption of abuse. “They sound like wonderful people.”
She gave a soft grin. “They were.”
“What of your parents?” he asked, digging deeper.
“It’s hard to remember them, because I was young when they died.” She took a very long sip of her wine. When she lowered the glass, her hand shook before she tightened it around the wineglass. “But my mother loved scrapbooking, so she did leave me with a lot of pictures. Those stir some great memories.”
Family is not the problem.
Kyler pondered this new development. His Dom instincts begged her to let him in. He wanted a deeper look, which could be developed between a Dom and a submissive. Ella didn’t trust Kyler with that dark part in her soul. He knew he had to earn the right to hear her troubles. His cop’s instincts wanted to find whoever had hurt her and damage them in return.
With the challenge she’d given herself exposed, perhaps Kyler had found a way to get her into Club Sin. He knew what he wanted, and that was Ella under his mastery. There was something special about her—something he couldn’t ignore. No Dom could see that pain and walk away. It was a Dom’s way to see her better and healthy, and see her scars bandaged back up again; that was what a Dom lived for.
What Kyler lived for.
The passion between them hadn’t faded. When he’d picked her up at her condominium before their date, the desire had sparked in her gaze. Christ, he’d experienced it, too, becoming rock hard as he drew in her lilac scent.
She was dressed in a short, black dress with buttons down the chest, and he’d never seen anyone look so beautiful. Her light hair was down, and in soft waves with a thick braid pulling her bangs off to one side. And her expressive eyes, reflecting green tonight, drew his need to possess her.
Squeezing her fingers, he enjoyed how the trembling eased under his touch. She held his stare, her pupils dilating. Yeah, we’ve got something special here. “I’ll be back in a minute, all right?”
She gave a genuine smile. “I’ll be waiting.”
Of course you will.
He rose and then pushed his chair under the table, never breaking eye contact. While he knew there was pain inside her, she also recovered well, and he respected that. Ella was a strong woman. She’d been through a lot, and though he may not know to what extent, he was definitely going to find out.
Responsive. Submissive. Emotional. Strong.
She was the right combination of everything he’d looked for in a woman. He couldn’t pretend any longer to hide how happy he was that she’d come into his life. Sawyer was right; he had no patience. Perhaps he should give Ella more time to get to know him and to discuss all this with Aidan, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to protect her, cherish her, and find out all her secrets.
Tearing his gaze off Ella, he strode through the busy restaurant, hearing laughter and soft conversations around him. With tension riding his shoulders, he headed toward the hallway where the men’s room was located. There, he reached into his pocket, grabbing out his personal cell phone, and dialed Dmitri.
Dmitri answered on the second ring.
“It’s Kyler. How are things?”
“I’m in the dungeon,” Dmitri replied with an amused voice, “and watching Miles flog the hell out of Kenzie. Why are you not here? And why are you calling me?”
Kyler wasn’t surprised Dmitri wondered over his absence and his odd telephone call. Since Club Sin opened four years ago, Kyler hadn’t missed a night. While they were close, it wasn’t often they called each other on the telephone, not when they saw each other once during the week for a guys’ night and in the dungeon on the weekends. “I have no clue if I can pull this off, but I wondered if you’d bend the rules slightly for me tonight.”
“Bend the rules?” Dmitri’s voice tightened.
Dmitri never changed Club Sin rules. That’s what made the dungeon exclusive. Privacy was of the utmost importance to Dmitri and to the other members. Yet the situation with Ella was different than most. Kyler couldn’t go the typical route—asking her to have a physical to confirm a clean bill of health and sign Club Sin’s membership agreement—without scaring her. She needed to be brought gently into his lifestyle.
She had to see what the dungeon meant and understand exactly what she’d do there. Kyler stayed quiet as a man walked by him. Then, resuming his conversation, “I’d like to bring someone to the club tonight. At this point, I have no clue if she’ll want to stay.”
“The vanilla girl?” Laughter lightened Dmitri’s voice. “Aidan’s assistant.”
“That’d be her.”
Dmitri paused, and the music from the club sounded through the speakers, as did Kenzie’s screams of pure, unadulterated pleasure. “You’d like to bring Ella by to test her?”
“I want to slowly introduce the idea to her and allow her the time to understand it all,” Kyler replied.
“She won’t have the medical tests required to join, so no sex in the dungeon—that rule cannot be broken.”
“Ah, so I can have sex in your living room, since that’s not exactly the dungeon?” Kyler mused.
Dmitri chuckled. “I doubt Presley would appreciate you having sex in our living room. However, what she doesn’t see won’t hurt her.”
Keep it private, the message came through clearly.
Dmitri continued. “Aidan talked to me about Ella before, back when she first started working for him. He said she has no family or friends in Vegas, so I doubt she’d talk about the club. But stress the importance of privacy.” He hesitated. “Perhaps we should have her sign that privacy clause of the agreement. She works for a lawyer, she’ll take it seriously.”
Kyler wondered what Aidan had said to Dmitri. He also knew Dmitri wouldn’t tell him. It wasn’t a Dom’s way to speak for others. Aidan was due home next Friday, and Kyler would make it a point to find out a little more about Ella. “Fair enough.”
Dmitri said, “I’ll let the others know about her and the deal we’ve arranged
.”
“Perfect. I owe you one.” Kyler ended the call, placing his phone in his pocket. A warm sensation swept through him. He had good friends, and appreciated them. Dmitri didn’t have to agree to this arrangement, but Kyler was all too pleased he had.
Now to get Ella to agree.
As the man exited the washroom, Kyler followed him out of the hallway. He strode toward the table and restrained his laughter when he saw Ella looking to her plate with disgust. Taking his seat, he grinned at the scrunching of her nose. “What? Stomach linings aren’t what you were hoping for?”
“Oh my God, is that what this is?” She raised her head, frowning. “This looks and smells disgusting.”
He barked a laugh. “It is that.” He waved to the waiter, who watched Ella with concern. “Can we get the same dish as mine for the lady? Please charge me for both dinners.”
The waiter grinned, scooping up her bowl. “Not a problem.” He grabbed up Kyler’s plate. “I’ll keep this warm for you while you wait.”
“Thank you,” Kyler replied.
When the waiter hurried off, Kyler brushed his fingers lightly over Ella’s arm. With Dmitri’s agreement to bring Ella into Club Sin and Ella’s challenge to herself strong on his mind, his next move had never been so clear. “I have a proposal for you. Let me help you with this challenge you’ve undertaken and give you something that really pushes your boundaries.”
She tilted her head. “Oh, yeah, how?”
He lowered his voice, keeping the conversation private. “Have you ever been to a sex club?”
“God, no.” She laughed. At his silence, the humor faded from her face. “Wait. You’re serious?”
“Quite serious.” He dragged his fingers slowly over her arm to heat her up some. Ella had shown him through their time together that she liked kink. If she’d been against the idea, he never would have proposed it. But a person open to sexy adventures wouldn’t shy away from such a question.
She leaned in to him and whispered, “What kind of sex club? Like a swingers’ club?”
He liked that she wasn’t horrified by the idea. In fact, Ella’s face flushed and her eyes widened in curiosity. Perfect. Also, not a surprise to him; he doubted he’d be so entranced with a woman who wasn’t matched for him in this regard. “Do you know what BDSM is?”
She hesitated, a flash of awareness crossing her features. “Bondage, submission, and such.”
“Yes, exactly.” He caressed her warm cheek, wondering over the interest in her gaze. Perhaps she’d been piecing it all together. Maybe now he made a lot more sense to her. “So, I ask you, Ella, if you were offered the chance to go to an exclusive club where people live out their darkest desires, would you be brave enough to do it? How far are you willing to go with your dare to yourself before you say no?”
She held his gaze. “I promised myself I wouldn’t say no.”
An opportunity presented itself to Kyler. He wouldn’t let it pass by him. Not with this woman. “Then dare yourself to come with me tonight. To stop doing silly things like ordering terrible food to gain new adventures. Do something that the old you would never have done.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Put that way, how can I say no to such a challenge?”
He dropped his touch and firmed his voice. “That is not a good enough answer.”
Heat stole the twinkle in her eyes. He loved how she reacted to his verbal commands. Her cheeks flushed bright red and she squirmed against her seat before she controlled her reaction with a lift of her chin. When her foot connected with his leg under the table, he groaned, as she ran her bare toe up his calf. Her smile turned devilish. “Yes, Kyler, I’ll go with you tonight.”
A wicked burning coursed through his veins, settling like wildfire in his groin. His cock hardened, and his breath snagged under her sensual touches. Rising from his chair, he erased the distance. “I’m starting to believe, Ella”—he brushed his mouth across hers and dragged his lips over her cheek to whisper in her ear—“this challenge of yours is going to be fun.”
When he moved away, her breath was raspy, and her eyes were dark with desire. “I’m starting to believe you.”
Chapter Ten
Dusk had settled on the drive over to the club, bathing the sky in a soft orange hue. Sitting in the passenger seat of Kyler’s black Dodge Ram, Ella’s gaze locked on the Georgian-style mansion as he drove through an iron gate and up the cobblestone driveway.
Resting on a large lot and set back from the road, the grand house had red brick, with black shutters and white pillars. Trees and flowers decorated every square inch, and she stared at the house with excitement. Of all the places she’d been imagining as the location of a BDSM club, this certainly wasn’t it.
She turned to Kyler. “You’re kidding me. This is a sex club?”
“This is Club Sin.” The side of his mouth arched. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
“It’s beautiful.” Her gaze swept to the mansion, which had a five-car garage off to the side and a circular driveway out front, which also happened to be lined with cars. Apparently, the club was popular.
When Kyler stopped the truck next to a Toyota Corolla, a sense of relief washed over her. At least some of the people inside had middle-class incomes, and they weren’t all stinkin’ rich. No need to ramp up the fact that she was already uncomfortable.
She’d never been to a sex or BDSM club, or anything like it, in her life. Nor could she have imagined herself attending such a place. But Kyler hadn’t been wrong; doing something this crazy was exactly the type of adventure she’d been out to find. She was no prude; she loved sex, and naughty sex at that. Besides, her challenge had led her there.
So far, with her new challenge, fate hadn’t led her in a wrong direction. Life brought her to Club Sin. She would walk through those doors.
Simple.
Or so I hope.
Once Kyler cut the engine, he asked with a mischievous grin, “Ready?”
Ready to meet with Club Sin’s owner, Dmitri Pratt, was what she thought he meant. Kyler had already explained some of the inner workings of the club. How men sexually dominated women, and those women willingly submitted to their Doms. He told her about the privacy agreement and that she’d need to sign documentation to go into what he called a dungeon. Not that she worried about telling anyone—who did she have to tell? She suspected she’d have a hard time believing it herself, anyway. “Yep. Ready.”
He chuckled softly as he exited the truck. She drew in a long breath and followed him. Once he reached her side of the truck, he took her hand and led her toward the mansion. She couldn’t begin to wonder what would happen once she walked through the doors, because she had nothing to base it on.
Would women be wearing collars?
Did they wear leather?
Wasn’t that what people involved in BDSM did?
She took each step in curiosity and wonderment. Kyler had reassured her that she couldn’t take part, even if she wanted to, and that brought relief. No one will touch you or approach you in a sexual manner, he had told her. To sit and watch at a sex club wasn’t all that worrisome.
Taking part in it, that was another story.
When Kyler reached the dark hardwood front door, he opened it with no hesitation. Ella figured he had to come here often if he didn’t knock. But her thoughts stuttered the moment the door whisked open and she discovered two people she’d seen at the wedding.
Aidan’s best man and the woman she suspected was his girlfriend, since she’d seen them kissing, smiled at her. That point became moot when Ella fought against gawking. The woman was dressed in black lace lingerie with dark purple accents, and nothing else but shiny black heels.
“Hello, Ella,” the man with the crystal-blue eyes said. “I’m Dmitri Pratt.” He had a presence Ella had seen many times in lawyers. Proud and powerful. Though his gaze was gentle when he gestured to the woman. “This is Presley Flynn.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” El
la’s smile felt awkward as she attempted not to look at the woman in her underwear.
Presley’s emerald eyes twinkled as she flicked her long blond locks that curled at the ends over her shoulder. “I’d hug you, but that might make you feel weird, since I’m not wearing any clothes. So, we’ll save the hugs for another day.”
The men laughed around her, as did Ella, and she replied, “True. Maybe a bit weird.”
Kyler squeezed her hand, and she noticed she had his hand in a death grip. Smiling at him, she loosened her fingers twined with his. As his woodsy scent dragged through her nostrils, his strong gaze held hers. The flicker of warmth in their depths settled her worries. He was there with her. For the oddest reason, that made her feel better.
Dmitri turned to Presley. “All right, doll, go down to the dungeon. I’ll join you shortly.”
Presley nodded at him before she smiled at Ella. “It’s great to have another woman around here. Testosterone oozes in this house. Come find me later, so we can talk a bit more.”
“Okay, I will. Thanks.” Ella didn’t know what it was about Presley that comforted her, but Ella had the feeling that it wouldn’t be so bad to get to know her. Presley seemed like one of those people you couldn’t help but love.
Though, now in the presence of two powerful men, she happened to agree with Presley. The more women the better, since the air seemed too thick with the men around. She watched as Presley headed down the long hallway, which led to a set of stairs she assumed went to the dungeon.
As Presley disappeared, Ella took in her surroundings. A huge balcony curved around the entire upper floor, leading to a grand wooden staircase. Geesh, Dmitri Pratt had to be a millionaire.
She leaned in to Kyler, and he wrapped an arm around her. She liked that Kyler wasn’t super-rich. That he had a job that put him in the same tax bracket as her. Not that she thought the wealthy were any different than her, but she was almost afraid to touch anything. Everything looked expensive, from the art on the walls, to the decorative sculptures, to the fancy-looking carpet.
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