by Tia Siren
And I wasn’t ready for that kind of shit in my life.
I finished up at the gas station and got in my car to drive home.
I was a hell of a lot more worried about Sam now. I didn’t know where the guy was, but I sincerely hoped he wouldn’t fall back into Mason’s hands. After what I’d seen now—and I was pretty sure Mason had gone easy on me—I was starting to realize what Sam and Dalton had been so terrified of. I would be, too, if this guy was my boss and I had shit that I needed to hide from him.
And they’d both told me that snitches got killed. I believed that now more than ever.
When I arrived at my apartment, Alexa was sitting in her car, waiting for me. She got out, and I smiled.
“This is a surprise,” I said, hugging her. “You have no idea what a rough day I had.”
“I come bearing gifts,” she said, joking about what I’d said that morning with the doughnuts. It was becoming our line.
She lifted a plastic bag with takeout, and I was glad she’d taken care of that. I would have done the same thing. I wasn’t in the mood to even cook a microwave meal.
“Are you okay?” Alexa asked when we turned to walk toward the apartment.
“Fine,” I said. “I’m just tired. It’s been a hard day with…difficult clients.”
“I feel you,” Alexa said. “Sometimes I wish we could cut out the people part of our jobs.”
I chuckled and nodded, although my job wasn’t really what had me on edge. But I wasn’t going to tell Alexa that. I was going to keep the whole conversation to myself. She didn’t need to know what had happened. She panicked easily enough as it was, and it was unnecessary to add to her stress. Part of keeping her safe was protecting her emotions.
“How was your day?” I asked her, trying to get her to talk so that I didn’t have to.
“Oh, it was all right,” she said. “Nothing new. I get so bored sometimes. But I’m looking forward to my night out tomorrow.”
She glanced at me.
“I’m glad,” I said. “If anyone deserves to let loose a little, it’s you.”
I thought about the irony of that statement. I knew what she was going to do. She was going to wait for the stranger she’d met at the club. She was going to lose her virginity to a masked marauder who would dominate her until she trembled and melted.
I didn’t want to think about sex right now. I didn’t want to think about what Alexa was getting herself into. I wanted to eat and relax. I didn’t want to think about Mason and Dalton’s death at all.
Hopefully Alexa could keep me distracted tonight.
“Do you want to watch a movie again?” Alexa asked.
“Yeah. I’d like that,” I said. “This time I choose.”
I couldn’t do another night of corny romance.
“Deal,” Alexa said and smiled. “As long as it’s got nothing to do with murder and loyalty and threats. I don’t feel like something heavy.”
Oh, God. I didn’t think I could handle that either.
Chapter 20
Alexa
I was itching to leave, but I had to wait if I wanted to know if Luke was really following me. I struggled to concentrate the whole day. Questions about Luke swirled in my mind. Why would he hide his identity from me but then do what we had at Blush? Why would he act like we were just friends when we were standing face to face?
None of it made sense, and that just made me more and more curious.
I had sat in my car for half an hour—I’d waited out the day for as long as I could bear—when I spotted Luke’s SUV pull up into the visitor parking bay. It was so inconspicuous that I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking.
I waited a full minute before I reversed out of my parking space and drove home.
I drove the way I usually did, not slowing down or taking any other routes. I watched my rearview mirror to see if Luke was keeping up. Sure enough, there he was, his car weaving back and forth between lanes, keeping up but not too close that I would notice.
He was good at this, which was why I’d never noticed it before. How many times had Luke managed to follow me like this? How many times had he been behind me, knowing where I was going and why?
The further I drove with Luke following me so well that I normally would have missed it, the more upset I got. He could have done this for months. What if this had been going on for longer than I thought? Had he been tailing me since before my brother had been killed?
I shook off the thought. That was impossible. The sound of honking brought me back to reality, and I realized I was about to rear-end someone. I slammed on my brakes and narrowly missed the car in front of me.
When I finally got home, I got dressed to go out to Blush. I considered wearing something different this time, but black or red straps and leather would line up with the theme. They had a dress code I had to stick to.
I’d bought an outfit when I’d started entertaining the idea of being a submissive. I took it out now and put it on. I was pulling out all the stops tonight. If Luke was there—and I had a feeling he would be—I wanted to be irresistible when I shot him down for being a dick and lying to me.
The dress was another black patent leather one, but it had a neckline that was dangerously low and cutouts along my side so that it showed a lot of skin. It didn’t come far down my legs, either. I paired it with knee-high black boots and put on a choker necklace that looked a bit like a collar. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I liked what I saw. I looked fierce, serious about what I was going to do.
I was starting to own the image as well. At first I’d been terrified, but I was starting to get into it.
I left the house. I didn’t see Luke’s car when I left, but I was sure he was around somewhere. I kept my eyes open, and once or twice I was sure I saw his car, although he had fallen back quite a bit. It was almost as if he knew where I was going so he didn’t have to follow me so closely.
Which meant he’d followed me more than once. How many places had he followed me to? I had to work out something if I was going to see Sherry. I couldn’t afford for him to follow me there and stop what I was planning to do. I would have to think it through a little bit and make it happen.
I parked close to the club and got out, walking toward the entrance. The walk there always felt a little weird. I wasn’t dressed in much at all, and I’d never grabbed a coat. Maybe I should have. I hadn’t seen anyone around any of the times I’d been here, though. I hadn’t seen anyone else arrive or leave, either.
Once inside, I walked to the bar and sat down. I ordered a drink and waited. I watched the plays on the floor, but mostly I kept an eye on the entrance.
A woman close by was being restrained and dominated, and it was a turn-on to see. It was nothing too intense—just a bit of powerplay—and that was what I wanted to do. Maybe I would get into the more intense things later, but for now that seemed like plenty.
I envied how comfortable she seemed with the loss of her own control, how implicitly she trusted the man she was with to not hurt her or do anything she didn’t want done to her.
When Hunter, or Luke, had told me it was about trust the last time I’d seen him, I hadn’t quite understood what he’d meant until he’d taken me to that private room and shown me what it was like to give in. The only way to truly submit was to trust the other person.
Movement at the entrance caught my eye, and he walked in. I recognized him as Luke now. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it before. But if you weren’t looking for someone in a specific place, your mind allowed itself to be tricked.
I watched him move in my peripheral vision, coming toward the bar. He didn’t seem to be interested in what was going on around him, but I couldn’t be sure.
He stopped at the bar, and I recognized him as Hunter with the mask and as Luke. I was angry. I wanted to demand to know what the hell he was doing following me here. But I had to play it cool.
“Well, if it isn’t my little princess alone at the b
ar again,” Luke said in a voice that was deeper than his own. “Did you come back for more?”
I smiled shyly at him, putting on an act, trying to be how I would have been if I hadn’t known. It was harder now because I did know, and that made me more confident and assertive than I’d been the last time I was here.
“I thought I would take a chance and give this place another shot.”
He nodded. “Well, you sure look like you fit in tonight.” He looked me up and down, and I flashed back to what he’d done to me.
My stomach turned a little and heat washed through my body and pooled between my legs. Everything he’d been last time had been a lie, but God, the way he’d made me feel had been fantastic. There was no two ways about it. Those orgasms had been the best I’d ever had.
“Are you still set on losing your virginity?” he asked. “Or have you managed to seal the deal already?”
I couldn’t tell if he was asking to fill the role or if he really wanted to know.
I shook my head. “I’m saving it for the right moment,” I said.
Luke stepped closer, and I had to admit he was damn hot, lies aside. He wore a shirt so tight that it showed off his muscles, and his jeans hung off his hips just right. I hadn’t seen him in something like this at home at all. He wore the same mask as before. Maybe it was to stick with the persona.
“Well, why don’t we take care of that, princess?” he asked.
I shivered when he called me princess, memories of the last time I’d been in the private room flooding back and making me wet. I swallowed and nodded. Luke held out a hand to me, and I took it. He led me like a lamb to the slaughter, heading toward the private rooms, and I followed because it was exactly what I wanted.
But I had to catch him out first. I had to find a way to get that mask off. Last time he’d kissed me before he’d stayed behind me. I’d thought that had been because he’d been dominating me. Now I wondered if it had to do with the secret he was keeping.
Either way, it had been fucking hot. It had been orgasmic.
We entered a different private room, with Luke paying for it again. They had themes from the looks of it. This one was decorated all in black and deep purples, complete with purple lampshades trimmed with black lace.
The moment Luke locked the door behind us, he was on top of me, pinning me against the wall, kissing me. He made me forget myself. I got lost in the feel of him, the strength of his taut body pressing me up against the wall, his hard cock grinding against me through his jeans. I gasped into his mouth as he nibbled on my lip, pushed his tongue into my mouth, and pulled me so tightly against himself that it felt like he was going to physically absorb me.
“Tell me what you want,” he growled against my lips.
I gasped, breathing hard. He was still grinding against me, and it made it hard to think about stringing words together.
“I gave you an order, my little whore,” he said.
His voice was more demanding, and the word shocked me for a moment, but arousal coursed through me when he talked dirty to me.
“I want you to fuck me,” I said in a thin voice without thinking about it. It was what I wanted.
He flashed a menacing smile. If I hadn’t known it was Luke, if I hadn’t felt what he’d done to me before, I would have been scared.
There was still fear, but it was the thrilling kind. I could taste it on my lips, roll it around on my tongue, and it was laced with a desire that only made me want him to take me, dominate me, and do whatever he wanted with me.
“That’s better,” he said. “When I ask you to do something, you do it, or I’m going to punish you. You don’t want me to punish you, kitten.”
He was so much more forceful than the previous time, and God help me, it appealed to me. I was dripping wet after how he spoke to me, and a thrill went through my body when I thought about him punishing me. It made me want to defy him just to find out what would happen.
“Do you understand, princess?” he asked.
I looked at him without answering. His eyes—hard and icy and so familiar now—bore into me, and a part of me wanted to concede, to answer him, to obey.
I didn’t.
Luke lifted his hand and cupped my breast. He started massaging me through the material of my dress, and I moaned. His fingers found my nipple, and he pinched me through the material, hard enough to hurt but not so hard that it killed how fucking horny he was making me.
“Don’t test me, kitten. I wasn’t joking about punishing you.”
He squeezed my nipple until I whimpered and nodded.
“I’m going to try again,” Luke said. “Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I do,” I said.
He smiled at me. “Good girl,” he said.
I didn’t have a chance to do anything before he pinned me again, his hips against mine, his cock grinding against my crotch. I was practically melting into my panties. Luke’s hands were on my breasts, and he massaged them, pinching the nipples, giving me just enough pain that it translated into pleasure.
“What a coincidence that we’re here together again,” he said, breaking the kiss. His face was so close to mine, I could feel his breath on my lips when he spoke.
“I guess it was fate,” I said.
He grinned.
“Like you knew I would be here,” I added.
Luke hesitated just a fraction of a second when I said that, but it was enough for me. I grabbed his mask and ripped it off.
Chapter 21
Luke
The mask tugged at my hair when Alexa ripped it off, and I swore.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Luke?” she asked, and she didn’t sound at all surprised it was me. Which meant that she’d known. Fuck.
“I was doing what you wanted me to do,” I said. I was breathing hard, and my cock throbbed in my pants. She looked furious, her eyes spitting fire at me. It made her so fucking hot. I wanted to pin her down and fuck the insubordination out of her.
“I didn’t ask you to lie to me about your identity and follow me around,” she said.
I sighed and took a step back. “How else was I supposed to make sure you were safe?”
She raised her eyebrows at me. “Don’t act like you’re Prince Valiant. You lied to me. Telling me the truth wouldn’t have put me in danger.”
“No, but it wouldn’t have made you come here and act out your fantasy, either.”
That pulled her up short, and she narrowed her eyes at me.
“I wanted you,” I said. “Badly. When I realized you were coming here, I pretended to be someone else because you were telling people you wanted to be dominated and that made me so hot for you, and I didn’t know if you would push me away if you knew it was me.”
She didn’t answer me. Her mind was working through what I’d said.
“You’ve always wanted me or since I started coming here?” she finally asked.
I blinked at her. Was that even possible? Not to like her right away?
“I’ve been fantasizing about you for a while,” I admitted.
“How long?” she asked.
I sighed. If she didn’t like what she heard now, there was nothing I could do about it.
“Since you turned eighteen, just about. I was away with my family that summer, remember? Your birthday was just after I came back, and when I saw you, somehow you’d changed from a girl into a woman. A woman I’ve wanted ever since.”
Alexa shook her head, but I didn’t think it was at me. Her hair was loose around her face, and I wanted to pull it, bend her head back, and bite her neck.
“So you decided now is the time?” she asked
“I didn’t want you to fuck someone else,” I said, “especially not if it’s your first time, but I’m selfish that way.”
She looked at me, and her face changed. I couldn’t read her expression.
“I wasn’t sure with everything going on if you would want to do that with me. With Dalton…” I didn�
��t want to say more. I didn’t want to kill the mood. “Anyway, that’s why I lied,” I said.
I wasn’t going to apologize for it. I wouldn’t apologize for having good taste and for taking charge of the woman I’d always wanted.
“I’ve had a crush on you for years,” Alexa said.
“What?” That caught me by surprise.
“You heard me,” she said. She was sassy when she wasn’t being dominated. I wanted to change that. I wanted to wash her mouth out with my dick. “I’ve had a crush on you ever since I can remember. You’re hot. But you’re my brother’s friend.”
“And you didn’t tell me,” I said. Not a question.
She shrugged. “You were Dalton’s friend, and I’m so much younger than you. I didn’t think you would like me.”
“Well, you’re wrong,” I said. I wanted to fuck her. I didn’t add that. See? I could behave.
My dick was still uncomfortably hard in my pants, and I wanted a place to put it. I wanted to bend her over and shove it into her pussy. Now that she’d told me she wanted me, too, what the fuck were we waiting for? But women wanted to do the whole emotional thing.
It wasn’t that I didn’t feel emotions toward her, but confessing them over and over again just wasn’t going to make an erection go away. I could only think of one way to take care of that. Or rather, a few different ways.
Alexa was the one who made the next move, and it surprised me. She stepped toward me and kissed me, pressing her lips against mine. Her hands were on my face. I pulled her closer to me and pushed my tongue into her mouth, tasting her. She wanted this. She wanted me.
I held her and kissed her. We were in a private room at Blush, I wasn’t wearing my mask, and Alexa was kissing me.
“What gave it away?” I asked, breaking the kiss.
Alexa ran her hand down my arm and pushed up my sleeve, fingering my tattoo. She traced the letters that spelled the word “Determined.”
“It showed when we were here last time, and I saw it the other night at your place. It wasn’t rocket science to put the two together.”
