“Club’s mine,” I said simply.
James nodded, as if getting the club wasn’t the sole purpose of my life for years. “What’s your first move?”
“Clean out some of the members I should’ve removed a long time ago. Sydney and Edward would be a good start.”
James hardly showed he had heard me. We both knew Sydney and Edward had connections, and not just within the clubs. Kicking them out could cause trouble for me down the line, but I didn’t care anymore.
“What happened with the girl?”
“Take a wild guess.”
“She wants to use your hollowed-out skull as a wine glass?”
I grinned. “Was that a joke?”
“No. That was a quote from one of your exes. The one you ghosted in the middle of your second date. At my club.”
I wasn’t particularly proud of that memory. I didn’t realize the girl had gone as far as wanting to drink out of my skull, though. “Anyway, yeah. I’m guessing Andi wouldn’t mind having my skull as a trophy at this point.”
“Actually,” Andi said. “I prefer your skull inside your head.”
I knew her voice the moment I heard it, but I still had to look to confirm it was really her. She was wearing her fuzzy unicorn sweater with the silly little golden horn jutting out of her chest again. She gave me a sideways smile and flicked the horn, making it flop back and forth a few times.
“I’d ask how you got in here,” I said, lowering my gaze to the dildo in her hand. “But I think I am just going to make a mental note to work on securing the secret entrance.”
She rushed forward and hugged me tight. I squeezed her back, then couldn’t help laughing when something rubbery thudded into my neck. “Can you get your dick off my neck, please?” I asked.
Andi tossed the dildo to the side, where it landed, bounced, and nearly hit James in the foot. He stepped back, scowling down at it. He gave the both of us a look like we had lost our minds, then stalked out of the room, leaving us alone.
“You tried to give me everything,” she said, her voice muffled by my shoulder. She pulled back and looked up at me. “The least I can give you is a second chance.”
“I can promise you this,” I said. “It’ll be the last second chance you have to give me.”
Andi squinted, then smiled as she tilted her head. “Well, yeah. Because if you screwed up again it’d be a third chance. Then a fourth…”
I grinned. “Okay. Then I promise you won’t regret this.”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Oh, I probably will. But I think I’d regret it more if I didn’t give you one last shot to woo me.”
I laughed. “Woo you? Is that what Andi Wainwright is hoping will come of this second chance? I could go get some flowers. Maybe a little romantic music?”
“It’s not my place to tell you how to win my heart, Mr. Collins. But I will say, I still haven’t torn up your silly little contract. And, seeing as we’re inside the club, I think that technically means I’m still your submissive.”
The humor I’d felt swirling around in my chest took on a darker, warmer note. I stared, making sure I was following her correctly. She didn’t look away, so I reached for her hand.
“But,” she said, biting back a smile. “Maybe the contract only applies during regular business hours?”
I would’ve laughed at the way she was teasing me if I didn’t want to drag her to a private room so badly it hurt. I knew I’d probably never feel like I deserved her forgiveness. That was something I’d need to come to terms with. But Andi was giving it to me anyway. The best I could do was to make sure she never regretted it. And damn did I plan to start in earnest as soon as I had an opportunity.
“So I’ll see you in a few hours,” Andi said, backing away without turning. “And don’t worry.” She flicked her unicorn horn again. “I’ve got an even sexier outfit set aside just for this occasion.”
My mind filled with images of Andi in sheer dresses or skin-tight, revealing leather. Whatever she had planned, I wasn’t sure I could wait a few hours for it. “I’ll see you then,” I said as calmly as I could.
“You hope,” she teased, then she walked toward the exit. I was glad to see there was a little hop in her steps. The old Andi was back. The one who enjoyed trying to rile me up and test me.
“Hey,” I called before she could get away. “Are you leaving this dildo for later, or did you want to take it for your next break-in attempt?”
Andi awkwardly shuffled back, picked up the dildo, and then tried to slap me on the cheek with it. I barely managed to dodge backwards.
She laughed, then looked suddenly troubled. “Good thing you dodged that. This bad boy is actually Audria’s, and who knows where it has been.”
As if she’d just told me to enjoy my weekend, she waved over her shoulder with the wobbly dildo and left.
Goddamn. I thought I might be in love with the woman. I just wished I knew if that meant I was losing my mind or not.
27
Andi
Bree and Audria met me at a Japanese steakhouse a few blocks from the hotel. I’d promised dinner was on me, which, I supposed I could now afford about as often as I wanted. It was a strange feeling. Not as strange as the idea that I had a BDSM date with Landon tonight—but strange, nonetheless.
Bree and Audria sat with me at an otherwise empty table surrounding the hot cooktop.
“Miss big spender all of the sudden,” Bree said with a suspicious note in her voice. “Either you robbed a bank, or this has something to do with the inheritance. Because I literally can’t remember you ever offering to buy dinner for us.”
I took that as my cue to fill them in on everything that had happened since the wedding. Bree had already figured out some bits and pieces, but Audria was clueless. By the time I was finished, both my sisters looked a little shaken.
“Wow,” Audria said. “And you forgave him?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Bree asked. “What else can a guy do to say he’s sorry?”
“I don’t know,” Audria said. She paused to thank our waitress, who set down bowls of hot clear soup and lettuce with ginger dressing. “Maybe something romantic, like a helicopter ride. A pilot writing, ‘sorry I was such a piece of dick,’ in the sky?”
“You mean a bunch of expensive stuff he couldn’t afford?” Bree asked.
“Okay. I don’t know,” Audria said. “I just don’t think I would’ve forgiven him. How are you supposed to ever trust him again?”
“I won’t know unless I try,” I said. “And think about how hard it must’ve been for him to get past hating me. I pretty much stood for everything that went wrong in his life. So it’s a little more forgivable that he wasn’t immediately looking out for my best interests.”
Audria scoffed. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
I felt unexpectedly annoyed. I had thought my sisters would simply accept the story and be happy for me. “You know? I hope someday you find a guy you actually fall for. Because maybe then you’ll realize it’s not as simple as just doing what makes logical sense. Yeah, logically, I should’ve probably kicked him to the curb. But I feel something when I’m with him—when I think about him. Like that’s the whole reason we’re all here in the first place. To feel something like that. It’s like being alive, and everything after or before it was just this sort of gray, bland comparison.”
Bree was smiling stupidly.
“What?” I snapped. “Are you going to join in and tell me I’m an idiot, too?”
“No,” she said. “I was just thinking how that sounds an awful lot like love.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re like five years old. What would you know about love?”
Bree pegged a crouton at the side of my head. It bounced off and landed back in her salad bowl. We all stared at it in mild confusion for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Even Audria was laughing, although it was a mild—don’t worry, I’m still a stone cold bitch—kind of laugh.
&
nbsp; “Well,” I said. “Whether you two agree or whatever you choose to call it, I’m happy. Really happy. And the happiness didn’t come when I found out he’d left me everything or when I watched grandpa’s second video. It came when I knew I was going to forgive him. So…” I lowered my head.
Audria sighed. “If he hurts you again, I’m going to make him regret it. Got that?”
I grinned. “Fair enough. But what if it’s just a little hurt. Like if he uses one of his pervy little whips or paddles on me tonight?”
Bree made a ridiculous sound between a cat purring and a motorcycle revving up. “When did you turn into such a hoe?”
I laughed, but Audria was making a disgusted face.
“If he does that, then I’ll scrap my thesis and change the topic to forcing the repression of memories. Because Andi’s goofy ass getting spanked with a paddle isn’t an image I want to live with.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to snap a selfie for you if things get wild.”
“I wonder if there are going to be videos for us soon,” Bree said. “Not that I’m particularly in a rush, but it has been weeks now and we haven’t even heard what grandpa left us in his will.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking back to the contents of his second video, which I had decided not to fully explain to my sisters. I couldn’t say why, exactly. Maybe I just couldn’t help admitting how his insane plan for Landon and I had actually worked. If he had something similar in the works for my sisters, I didn’t want to ruin it for them. “I have a feeling there’s something coming for you guys. Soon.”
28
Landon
I knew Edward and Sydney wouldn’t be likely to agree to meet me unless they thought they were about to get something they wanted, so I made sure my invitation was appropriately vague.
Sydney was the first to arrive. She was wearing something provocative, as usual. She smirked when I looked up, as if she’d caught me admiring her.
“I’m looking forward to this,” she said. “My leading theory is that you’re going to ask me to help you squash all these rumors in exchange for… something. I just can’t figure out what it is you think you have that I’d want. Your body, maybe?” She made a show of looking me up and down. “Tempting. But I don’t think that would do.”
I really was going to enjoy this.
“I’ll explain what’s going on once he’s here.”
Edward arrived a moment later. His hair was slicked back, and he looked as pale and ominous as ever. He surveyed the room more cautiously than Sydney had, almost like he was expecting some sort of ambush.
“What is this, exactly?” Edward asked.
“No,” I said. “I just wanted to tell you both personally.”
Sydney set down the glass of liquor she was holding with a clank. That had earned her attention, it seemed.
“The club is mine,” I said. “And my first act as the sole owner of The Golden Pecker is going to be stripping your memberships. Both of you are done.”
Edward’s face was dark. “You realize what this will look like, don’t you? People will think you’re outing me because you’ve got a problem with kinks you don’t agree with.”
“Anyone who thinks that is welcome to leave. Everyone else won’t have trouble figuring out you’re gone because you were an asshole who wanted to bend the rules.”
Sydney was smiling cruelly. “Did you forget who my father is? Do you think he won’t crush you for this?”
“This is my club now. If I have to rebuild it from the ground up, so be it. But I’m not going to let the fear of what might happen stop me from doing what needs to be done.”
“Very noble,” Edward said dryly. “I hope those principles of yours are going to pay the bills when this place is empty in a few months.”
“Somehow,” I said. “I think I’ll manage. Put your coins on the bar and leave, or I’ll call security, and have you dragged out. Actually, I’d prefer the second option much more if you wouldn’t mind.”
The clink of their coins hitting the bar was the kind of satisfaction money couldn’t buy. They both left, and for all I knew, they were right. Cutting them out from the club might very well ruin me. It could cause a chain reaction of influential members leaving until I was left with nothing but my name on a piece of paper and an empty building. But just like trying to sign the club and hotel to Andi, it felt right.
For now, that was good enough.
29
Andi
Landon met me at the secret entrance just after midnight.
He stopped, as if noticing my shirt for the first time. “Oh,” he said quietly.
I grinned. I was wearing a black sweater with a little plush version of the alien from the movie Alien bursting out of my stomach.
“I’m not walking you through the lobby of my club with that thing on,” he said. He was trying to sound serious, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. “Take it off.”
In what I could only describe as a wild combination of stubbornness, willfulness, and a dedication to be just downright being irritating, I pulled the sweater off and let it fall to the ground.
Of course, I also wasn’t wearing a bra.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I expected, but Landon practically lifted me off my feet in his hurry to kiss me. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.
It was everything I remembered.
Fire.
Energy.
His lips found mine in a hungry flurry of kisses. His palm found my breast and cupped. He ran his thumb across my nipple, drawing a gasp from me that he swallowed up with a kiss.
I broke off from the kiss, biting my lip. “As much as I don’t want this to stop, I don’t think… this in the hallway is going to help me finish the list.”
Landon’s eyes smoldered. “If you want me to take my hands off you, put those away.”
“Is that a command, Mr. Dom?”
Landon looked like he was searching for the right words. Finally, he just laughed, shaking his head. “Teaching you to be a submissive is going to be more difficult than I imagined.”
“What?” I asked. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Landon said after a short pause. “I actually prefer you exactly the way you are.”
“Topless?” I asked.
He grinned. “Yes. But that’s not exactly what I was talking about.”
Once I had put my sweater back on, I followed behind Landon after a brief refresher course on the rules of submission. Eyes down. No looking at other men. No talking unless spoken to. Yada yada.
I more or less played by the rules as we made our way through the lobby. I did peek around, just taking in the sights as we headed for the tangle of hallways that led away from the room. As usual, music thumped loudly, handsome men led scantily dressed women from place to place, and others lounged at the bar. I still felt far from comfortable inside The Golden Pecker, but more and more, I was coming to appreciate it.
I’d always enjoyed books as a kid where the characters found some secret passageway in a closet or a basement that led them to another word. In its own, leather-clad way, the club was like one of those doorways. Nothing down here felt quite real—like the world was being held at bay by a thin barrier.
It helped me to see what Landon meant when I’d said I felt dirty in the sensory deprivation tub. He’d told me society couldn’t reach me down here, and that I didn’t need to feel guilty for enjoying myself.
I could see that’s what this place was for the members. They were all probably businessmen and women, influential figures, and they probably all lived very normal, professional lives. But down here, they could let go. They could indulge without fear of being judged.
I’d been so hung up on the idea that I should be mad at Landon after he told me who he really was. Being here reminded me how easy it was to stop worrying about what I should do or what others might think. I could just do what I wanted.
And right now? Rig
ht now, I wanted to enjoy tonight. I wanted to give this whole crazy, wild, submissive thing a shot. And I wanted to hand the reins to Landon Collins.
He glanced over his shoulder at me and caught me looking around. Landon stopped, touched my nose softly, and lowered my eyes. I stole one last mischievous look at him and caught him grinning.
“I’m going to enjoy punishing you for that,” he said in a low, growly voice.
I thought about what he might mean by that while we made our way deeper into the club. Eventually, we reached a door where Landon slid his coin in a receptacle like we’d seen outside the sensory deprivation room. It clinked in and the lock disengaged. Landon led me inside what appeared to be a bedroom.
For once, I decided to play nice and kept quiet, even though a dozen questions were swirling around my mind.
Landon closed the door, locked it, and then started walking a slow circle around me.
“Not completely submissive, but getting there,” he said in an almost appraising kind of voice. “So there’s at least potential that you can be trained.”
I looked up.
He clicked his tongue, but the grin he wore was wicked. “The good news for you is I’ll enjoy training you.”
“What now?” I asked quietly. I would’ve continued trying to play my role, but it felt like he was waiting for something.
“Now,” he said, “I give you one last reminder because you’re still new to all of this. Yellow means we’re nearing your limits. Red means stop, no questions asked. Understand?”
I nodded. There was a slight difference between the Landon I had come to know and the Landon I saw when he was playing the role of my dom. His voice was sharper. Things that might’ve seemed like suggestions carried the weight of command. I thought I understood what he was doing, because I also had to change slightly to even try to fill the shoes of a submissive. The normal me was so far from submissive that it was almost laughable. Landon might not have had to stretch as much to be dom-like, but in some way, it helped me better understand it.
The Golden Pecker Page 18
