She held his gaze, but stepped backward to the front entrance of the office building. “Stay away from me.” Then she booked it into the office, passing by the security guard.
Whatever Thomas saw in her expression had him rising from his seat. The bulky man with the stern dark eyes asked, “Are you all right, Ms. Ella?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She glanced over her shoulder. Rory stood at the entrance, but he didn’t enter the building. Good. Turning to Thomas, she forced a smile. “Thank you for asking.”
Thomas lowered to his seat, glancing to Rory. “Shall I walk you to your car after work?”
She considered, then nodded. “Yes, I’d appreciate that. Thank you.”
Thomas gave a warm smile. “Consider it done.”
Ella refused to give Rory a second look. She made it to the elevators and exhaled when one waited open for her. She got in, hit the button for the fifteenth floor, and the elevator jumped, whizzing up the office building. When the door chimed and opened, Ella hurried through the waiting room and waved to the receptionist.
She made it to her desk in 2.2 seconds and took out her cell phone, scrolling through her contacts. When she found the phone number of Rory’s best friend, Sean Collins, she clicked call, holding her breath as the phone started ringing.
Sean answered on the third ring. “Collins.”
“Hi, Sean. It’s Ella.”
A pause. “Hello, Ella.”
Oh, the contempt in his voice was cold and stiffened her back. Not a surprise. He was the first cop that showed up that night. And he was the reason Ella never pressed charges.
She was a different woman then—wrapped up in the shock and pain of what happened. Sean had talked her out of sending Rory to jail, and at the time, she’d listened. Now was another story entirely. “Did you know Rory’s in Vegas?”
Another pause. “No, I didn’t. Has he been around to see you?”
“Yes, so I’m telling you to get him to go home. Now. He has broken the restraining order. If he approaches me again, even to call me, I’ll notify the Vegas police.” She knew she should call them now, but then all of this would explode in her face. Kyler would learn about her embarrassing past, and seeing Kyler at the police station and having to explain all this was the last thing she wanted to do.
Sean’s hesitation was a little longer this time. “Is he threatening you?”
She snorted. “He’s in Vegas and is breaking the restraining order. That is threatening enough.”
Sean sighed. “Did you know he got himself into AA?”
She didn’t give a flying flip if he was stone-cold sober. “Good for him. But that changes nothing. Get him to go home, Sean.”
“I’ll do my best,” was all he said.
Then the phone went dead.
Which was exactly the same response she had received from all of her so-called friends. They blamed her for leaving Rory. As though she owed Rory a second chance. Now she knew better, even if their coldness stung. She thought Sean would side with her, as a cop, but all of Rory’s friends called it one screwup.
Maybe it was.
It still changed nothing.
Rory was in her past, a place she wanted to keep him in forever. Whatever love she had for him was gone and could never be found again. Turning to her computer, she opened her personal e-mail account and fired off an e-mail to her lawyer. Waiting to talk to Derek was not an option anymore, not with Rory in Vegas.
Derek,
Rory just showed up in Vegas at my work. Please tell me that is enough of a violation of the mediation agreement to proceed with the divorce.
All the best,
Ella
* * *
After his day shift, a hard rock formed in Kyler’s stomach once he’d picked up Ella after work. The tightness had developed the moment he saw her, but now, sitting in the Steak House, his stomach roiled. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the trouble was—only that her smile looked strained and her gaze was unusually guarded.
The clanging of a fork against a plate snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced to Dmitri sitting next to him, and his friend laughed at something Presley joked about. The double date had been his idea, since he wanted Ella more permanently in his life.
In the restaurant with the wood paneling on the walls and black linens on the tables, Ella looked down to her plate. “Oh my God, this steak is to die for.”
“Mine, too.” Presley grinned.
Kyler glanced down to his half-eaten prime rib dinner, but his stomach couldn’t handle it all. He turned to Ella and examined her. What’s wrong, sweetheart? While she laughed with Presley and they seemed to get along well, tension radiated from Ella. Whatever had happened today, it wasn’t good.
Right then, a firm kick knocked his leg under the table. Kyler groaned, glancing at Dmitri. His friend gave him a what’s-up-with-you? look.
If only I knew…
Kyler grabbed his beer and took a long swig. The cool, crisp liquid eased his dry throat. While he had assumptions about her troubles, he didn’t know how to broach the subject. So, Ella, is the person abusing you still in your life? Are you running from him or her? Do you have emotional scars from the abuse? Will I harm you further if I take you into a BDSM scene?
Not an appropriate question to ask a woman he was only just getting to know, especially when Ella had been adamant about not wanting a relationship. He held no doubt he could gain her trust to share her most private thoughts inside the dungeon. Out of it, he had no idea how to knock down this wall between them.
It seemed unbreakable.
Of course, he could ask her again, but any talk of her past during their telephone conversations and she shut down. He might care for her and want to fulfill her desires, but he wasn’t blind to her pain. Until she shared more about the abuse, he wouldn’t dare take her too far into a scene, whether she wanted it or not.
How could he take a flogger to her, suspecting she’d been abused? He couldn’t. Not without knowing the effect it would have on her. Not without getting whatever plagued her out in the open. Not without her trusting him first.
Play lightly, he reminded himself.
Dmitri frowned at Kyler before he turned to Ella. “Do you like it here in Vegas, Ella?”
“I do, very much.” She smiled. “It’s a crazy-ass city.”
“I thought so, too, when I first moved here,” Presley said. “But all the lights and dazzle slowly become normal.” She cut into her steak, then asked Ella, “Do you miss Savannah?”
“Not. At. All,” was Ella’s reply.
Why is that? Kyler pondered.
Why had Ella run away from there, and, more important, whom was she avoiding? He knew all her family was deceased, but to hate a place so intensely seemed odd. He asked gently, “Do you not have friends there who are missing you?”
Ella glanced to him for a quick second before she cast her gaze downward. “Not really.” She lifted her head and gave him a fake smile. “Never had super-close friends there, I guess.”
He didn’t like that polite smile. She battled something intense inside her and he ached for her to lean on him. He wanted her to trust him. More than anything, he craved to protect her from whoever had hurt her. Besides, how could she have no friends from her past? She was so personable. Christ, he hardly knew her and she had him smitten.
His thought was confirmed when Presley scrunched her nose and said, “I find that hard to believe. You’re so fun.”
Ella smiled softly. “Well, thanks. I think you are, too.”
Kyler watched the sweet exchange. He believed Presley wasn’t placating Ella. Her face lit up around Ella, which it tended to do around most people Presley liked. She was a caring woman and showed her love for people. Kyler welcomed the idea of Ella and Presley becoming close. She couldn’t have found herself a better friend.
Ella sipped her wine, then asked Presley, “You’re also new to the club, right?”
Presley nodded, glancing at Dmitri
with adoring eyes. “I’ve belonged for a few months now.”
Kyler couldn’t look away from Ella. He noticed the slight arch of her brow in curiosity as she watched Dmitri and Presley. In fact, Kyler had seen interest cross her expression all damn night. He assumed she was trying to understand Dmitri and Presley’s relationship.
From the softness in her gaze, it seemed she liked what she saw. How could she not? Dmitri and Presley were a prime example of what a healthy D/s relationship looked like. That had been one of the reasons Kyler planned dinner tonight.
He wanted Ella to see that outside of the dungeon, Dmitri and Presley were a normal couple. It made the submission element to it all a little less daunting to know it wasn’t a 24/7 type of arrangement. The other reason: He liked the idea of his friends getting to know her.
“Did you enjoy your past weekend in the club?” Dmitri asked, grasping Presley’s hand on the table.
Ella chuckled. “That would be a giant yes!”
Dmitri and Presley laughed with her, but Kyler couldn’t find any amusement. He hated the façade that Ella put on. He detested that something was weighing on her, and that she hadn’t shared it with him. Or that she had no one to share it with at all.
He would’ve preferred that she had friends in Savannah. Friends she could talk to about her problems. More than ever, he wanted her submission to prove how safe she was with him. But her lack of sharing was exactly what stopped him. Until he talked to Aidan and got a little more insight into how to broach the subject with Ella, he’d tread lightly.
He cared for Ella.
That brought caution.
A warm hand pressed against his under the table. He turned to Ella, and her brows furrowed as she asked, “Are you okay? You’re pretty quiet tonight.”
“Of course I am.” He squeezed his fingers around her hand. “I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
Her face brightened and her smile was a little more honest. This he wanted for her: that free expression without hints of the tension or deep-rooted pain she kept bottled inside.
“Well, I’m glad,” she said. “This past week I’ve had more fun than I’ve had—”
Her words cut off and her eyes widened. As if she’d nearly said something that she would’ve regretted. So close. Yet not close enough. Leaning in toward her, he brushed his fingers over the soft edge of her cheek. “In a long time, I know.”
The side of her mouth arched. “It’s all because of you, you know that, right? Thank you for letting me be a part of all this and sharing your friends with me.”
He grinned and then lightly pressed his lips against hers before he whispered across them, “Ah, sweetheart, it’s all because of you, believe me.”
—
A dreary and rainy Tuesday morning came and went with a mountain of paperwork and e-mails. Aidan was due home from his honeymoon on Friday, and Ella began counting down the hours. Not to say she didn’t hope he was having a nice time with his new wife, but keeping the impatient lawyers and clients at bay called for some serious dodging techniques. Besides, she anticipated Friday for an entirely different reason.
She enjoyed the dinner with Presley and Dmitri, but last night, a stirring developed deep inside her. Which only increased with her late-night reading when she finished the BDSM book. She was starting to understand how the D/s relationship worked.
Somehow, seeing how normal Dmitri and Presley had been outside of Club Sin made it all a little easier to accept. Giving up control wasn’t so scary, knowing she wouldn’t have to do it all the time.
The biggest thing she noted between Dmitri and Presley was the happiness they shared. It was like they mirrored each other. They seemed so in tune with each other in a way that she’d never seen before in a couple, not even in her family, who she thought loved each other beyond words.
Ella might not want a boyfriend or be on the hunt for love, but something that magical needed investigating. She smiled to herself and began cleaning up the paperwork on her desk. Her thoughts spun back to Kyler and this whole submission business. She couldn’t identify the need behind it, only that she wanted to learn more, and that for all he’d done for her, she wanted to do a little something for him. She wasn’t blind to the fact that submission was important to him. The obviousness of it was there in the flare of his gaze every time they talked about it.
He liked control.
He wanted to own her pleasure.
That was clear cut in his behavior when they were together.
One thing was certain: She was curious, and wasn’t that her dare to herself? Don’t think. Just act. Go with it. She believed Kyler wouldn’t ask her to join the dungeon and become a submissive; he simply wanted her to make the decision on her own. Even if she’d only read the textbook version on submission and didn’t know firsthand what she was getting herself fully into, she trusted Kyler.
More to the point, she desperately ached to go into one of those BDSM scenes. She couldn’t possibly sit and watch all that fascinating sex and not take part in it. And he couldn’t take her into a scene unless she became a Club Sin member. Accepting commands and letting him be in control of pleasure wasn’t so frightening when she knew he could deliver.
Firm in her decision, she picked up her cell phone off the desk and texted Kyler, Can you meet for lunch?
He replied a few seconds later, I can, but not until 1. Does that work?
Yep.
Where?
The coffee shop on the corner by the office.
See you soon.
Ella grinned and placed her phone on her desk. Then, with a long sigh, she dug back into her work, wishing her time away.
* * *
Hours flew by quickly, since she ended up taking four phone calls that simply annoyed the hell out of her. She couldn’t wait to give Aidan a notepad with all the calls he had to make and say, “Here. You deal with them!”
After she sent off one last e-mail, she looked to the clock. Twelve-forty-five. Perfect. She quickly tidied up her desk and then grabbed her purse out of her drawer. On her way through the receptionist area, she waved to the receptionist. “I’m out for lunch. Just send all calls to voicemail.”
Christine, the receptionist, grinned. “Enjoy.”
I plan to! “Thanks.”
She wasted no time getting into the elevator; making it outside into the dry, hot air; and hurrying down the street to the coffee shop. When she entered the small café, she took in the warm atmosphere where people were drinking coffee and talking quietly. Then her gaze landed on the man standing by the counter.
Lord Almighty!
She scanned Kyler from head to toe, and tingles sped through her. She’d never seen him in his police uniform, and holy shit, he was hot! When her gaze slid back up his tall, muscular frame, she found a full-blown smile on his face.
One brow arched. “Ah, so she likes a man in uniform.”
“Um, no.” She cleared her throat. “I like this man in uniform.”
He barked a laugh, then placed a warm hand on her back, ushering her into the booth on the right by the big bay window. Once she sat, he asked, with his smile intact, “Coffee and a sandwich sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.”
He turned and approached the counter, and her focus went straight to his fine ass in his blue uniform. Really, it was just the whole package: The gun, the uniform, it all spelled power.
He exuded sex.
Within a few minutes, he returned with a tray and placed it on the table. She smiled when she saw he’d ordered two sandwiches for himself, as well as a coffee, too. The man had proven he could eat, and then some. But she supposed that made sense; to fuel that hot body, he needed more food than she could possibly imagine eating.
Ella grabbed her coffee and sandwich off the tray, and then dug right in. As she bit into the sandwich, the honey mustard all but exploded in her mouth, being both sweet and slightly spicy.
A little like Kyler, she mused to herself.
After she swallowed, she said, “I’m surprised you can meet me in your uniform.”
Kyler stopped midway from taking a bite of his sandwich. “The force actually encourages it. It’s nice to get out in the public on happy terms and to make those around us comfortable.”
“Makes sense.” Then she winked. “Good for me, too, since you’re some damn fine eye candy.”
He gave a low chuckle, then took two huge bites of his sandwich before he grabbed his napkin to wipe his mouth. Without taking those gorgeous eyes off her, he asked, “Were you just missing me? Is that the reason for our lunch?”
Nerves made her throat thick, but she pushed past them. While she liked being around Kyler and enjoyed this friends-with-benefits arrangement, she also wanted to experience his dark-and-kinky world. Before she lost her courage, she blurted out, “I want to submit.”
Kyler snorted a laugh, placing his sandwich down on the plate. He glanced around the café and grinned to the couple watching them. Then he turned to Ella and said loudly, “You are welcome to submit those documents anytime you’d like.”
Her cheeks warmed. “Oops.”
“A quieter voice might serve you better.” He leaned against the booth, studying her. “Now, to this new development, what made you decide this?”
“Well, it’s a few things.” She hesitated, wanting to get it right. “But I like what I see in the club, and I like what I saw between Dmitri and Presley. I want to see what else I might like. And I’ve been reading about it.”
His brows rose. “Researching?”
“BDSM 101,” she whispered.
A smile grazed his kissable mouth. “Quite smart of you.” He cocked his head, rubbing his chin. “You know what’s expected of you?”
“I got the gist of it all, but reading it and doing it I expect will be different,” she admitted, and then added with a smile, “But I’m willing to learn.”
Something dark and oh, so seductive filled his eyes, giving them a bit of spice. “All right, Ella. We’ll get the doctor’s appointment arranged. And we’ll get your local police checks for Vegas and Savannah. In respect of your privacy, and since we’re playing together, I’ll have another officer print out your reports. I won’t read what’s on there. All good?”
The Club Sin Series 4-Book Bundle Page 56
