Professional Liaison (9 page)

“What am I going to do, Mandy? I can’t be in love with him.”

“Why not? He’s gorgeous, he’s got a good job even if it is working with my husband, and he’s obviously got you wound around his little finger. All he has to do is twitch and you’re practically coming in your pants.”

“Well it’s true, isn’t it?” She giggled again. “Has he taken you to Leathers?”

“The BDSM club. I know he goes there sometimes. Brad told me.”

“Brad mentioned that place. Something about taking me with you after you told him about our conversation at the last barbeque.”

Mandy shrugged her petite shoulders. “What can I say? He asked what we had been talking about so I told him.”

“You’re welcome.”

Mandy smiled and pulled her closer. “We’re going tomorrow night. Why don’t you come along?”

Melissa shook her head. “I can’t.”

She pressed her lips together and shot a glance out the back door. Drew sat in one of the lounge chairs next to the fire with Audrey in his lap.

Bastard.

“What if he’s there?”

“I’m hoping he is. In fact, I’ll be sure to mention it.”

“I can’t go to a place like that, Mandy. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Mandy grasped her hand and said, “Lissa, it’s discreet. You’d be surprised at the people who frequent the club. No one ever mentions who they saw there because then they would have to explain why they were there, too. Come with us, please?”

With a heavy sigh, she replied, “All right. I’ll go, but just this once.”

Mandy squealed and hugged her. “Of course. Only one time. That’s what I said too, at first.”

* * * *

Loud heavy metal music blared when the steel door opened for them as they approached. When Brad and Mandy had picked her up at her house, she stared opened mouth at the attire they wore, but now that she was getting a glimpse of the inside of Leathers, their clothing didn’t seem so out of place.

Brad had dressed all in black from his button down shirt, tight slacks encasing his hips and legs to the chunky leather boots on his feet. Mandy wore a black latex corset with one zipper that went from just above her G-string to barely covering her breasts. Black stockings encased her long legs, held on by garters attached to the bottom of the corset and the highest heeled black shoes Melissa had ever seen.

When Melissa had asked Mandy what to wear, she’d said, “Whatever you are comfortable with, Lissa. No one will judge you for showing up in jeans and a t-shirt. Just because some dress the part doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Good, because I won’t be caught dead in leather.”

“Don’t knock it. The feeling of leather against your skin can be very enjoyable.”

Standing in the doorway of the infamous Leathers, Melissa was taken back at all the people. Darkness shrouded most of the room, making it difficult to see very far, but she did see several people kneeling on the floor on their knees at the feet of someone else, men and women alike.

“Let’s go over here,” Brad said, taking Mandy’s hand in one of his and Melissa’s in the other, and pulling them toward a corner of the club where a leather couch was positioned against the wall. The music wasn’t quite so loud there since the speakers were pointing toward the dance floor.

Eyes wide, she took in the entire area. There were pillars positioned strategically throughout the room with metal rings embedded in the concrete and chains attached to each ring. She could only imagine what those were for.

Several of those kneeling had collars around their throats, much like the one Mandy wore although hers seemed a bit more ornate. Others also had what appeared to be leashes that stretched from the collar to the hand of the person sitting in the chair or lounging against the bar. Most of those in collars were dressed in some kind of mostly see through top or bottom in the men’s case.

When her attention returned to Mandy, surprise zipped through her body as she saw her cousin kneeling on the floor at her husband’s feet, her eyes downcast.

“She doesn’t have permission to speak.”

“Watch and observe, Melissa. You are here to learn, sub.”

What the fuck? He didn’t just call me sub, did he? Drew called me that before, but Brad?

Brad chuckled. “You are a natural sexual submissive, cousin. I knew it from the first time I met you, but it takes a special Dom to tame your wild spirit. Just watch.”

Melissa’s gaze moved from one area to another as she took in everything around her. Others stopped to talk to Brad, but Mandy stayed quiet unless directly spoken to and always was given permission by her husband before she spoke.

Several moments later, Lissa noticed another couple sitting nearby. The young woman had on an almost see through blouse and a tight plastic bright pink skirt barely covering her ass. The collar gracing her throat was connected to a clamp on each of her nipples. She, too, kneeled at her partner’s feet and kept her eyes on the floor, but what really surprised Melissa was when the man holding her leash ordered her to crawl to the man sitting next to him and lick his boot until he told her to stop. Without a word, the woman did exactly what she was told to.

It’s one thing to enjoy Drew smacking my ass when he fucks me from behind, but lick someone’s boot? I don’t think so. I’m not into this stuff that much.

Brad looked over her shoulder and then met her gaze again. “Ah. The one man who has managed to tame your spirit a bit, just walked in.”

Her body tingled from head to toe and the hair on her arms stood on end. She didn’t even have to look behind her to know whose gaze fixed on her back and headed in her direction.

Gathering her courage around her like a shield, she turned to face the wicked grin and twinkling brown eyes of the one man she couldn’t forget. “Drew.”

Chapter Six

Drew smiled as he approached the one woman who managed to turn him upside down every time she glanced his way. He’d snuggled up to Audrey at the party the day before, but only to see how she would react. After their tryst in the corner, he had left her alone only to keep an eye on her from a distance.

Now she was on his turf — in his club.

Brad stood and shook his hand. “Hey, Drew. Good to see you.”

“You, too.” He tipped his head in silent communication, asking permission to speak to Mandy. With a quick nod, Brad gave it.

Drew reached out a hand and helped Mandy to her feet before he hugged her. “Nice to see you too, Mandy.”

After the pleasantries were finished, he finally turned his attention to Melissa and where she sat in stunned silence. He almost laughed at the expression of shock on her face when she’d turned to meet his gaze across the expanse of the club when he’d entered. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet before he brushed his lips across her cheek and whispered, “Little sub. I’m happy you’re here.”

She pushed against his chest and leaned back as she hissed, “I’m not your sub.”

With a soft chuckle, he replied, “Oh yes you are, and if you don’t want some other Dom trying to take you under his wing, I suggest you play the part.”

“What do you mean?”

He moved around her and took her seat before he pulled her into his lap and bound her hands together with one of his. “Let me explain the way things work here. You are either a Dom or a Sub. You, sweetness, are a Sub. I, on the other hand, am a Dom. A Sub chooses her Dom in most cases. Now, either you can choose to be my Sub or you can select someone else in this club, but I’ll warn you, most everyone here wouldn’t take the time to train you as I will.”

“Train me?” she whispered so low he almost missed it, but he smiled at her words.

“Yes little sub, train you, but first things first. Do not look a Dom directly in the eyes. Some of them take offense to a sub meeting their gaze. Every Dom or Dominatrix will be addressed as Sir or Madam in the case of the latter.”

She struggled to be release from his hold. “Let go, Drew.”

“I already owe you ten swats. Shall we make it twenty?” He brushed her ear with his lips. “I know where a riding crop can be located or a flogger, but I enjoy my hand on your bare ass.” She stilled in his arms. “You, little sub, need to learn who your Dom is.”

He lifted her from his lap and stood beside her before he took her hand and started for the stairs. Brad owned a suite here and he’d already told Drew he could use it anytime it wasn’t already in use, like now.

“Where are you taking me?”

Refusing to answer since she hadn’t addressed him correctly, he shot her a glance and continued down the hallway until they reached their destination. Fishing a small key from inside his pocket, he quickly unlocked the door, gently pushed her inside and shut it behind them.

“You will address me properly, little sub. Any time you address me, you will end the statement or question with, Sir.”

A soft chuckle left his mouth and he shook his head. “Not until you beg me to.”

She grasped the doorknob and jerked but nothing happened. “Let me out of here.”

“Oh no. We have some things to work out between us and we aren’t going anywhere until we do.”

Her arms crossed over her breasts and she leaned against the still locked door.

He turned his back to her and walked toward the spanking bench strategically placed in the middle of the room. “Brad keeps this place well stocked with instruments of punishment.”

“Instruments of torture, you mean.”

“You enjoyed my hand on your ass, Liss. The slickness of your pussy when I did, gave away the thrill you felt. I’m sure you remember the consequences of lying to your Dom.”

She clamped her lips together tightly.

Reaching for the riding crop carefully displayed in the rack on the wall, he took it down and studied it with a keen eye and rolling it between his fingers. “Things such as this can be pleasant without leaving marks. A good Dom never marks his sub permanently. He or she only leaves a stinging red welt to remind a sub what she’s done wrong. The feeling can be very erotic.” He walked purposefully toward her and took her hand, stroking her thigh with the end of the crop. “Shall we see if you enjoy the crop or my hand more?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand why my little sub is so upset.”

She jerked away from him and moved deeper into the room before she spun around, eyes blazing. “Shall we start from the beginning? You used me to get the key to my security system so the competition could steal our secrets.”

He took a chair next to the wall and let her rant.

“I let you fuck me, for God’s sake!”

“You enjoyed it.”

With hands planted on her hips and her hair caressing her shoulders in long waves, she looked fantastic. He’d seen her in her element at the office, taking down his brother-in-law and putting him in his place, but he knew exactly how much she liked a firm hand and his dick hardened in his pants.

I’m going to enjoy taming her immensely.

Her breath came out in a forced exhale and he smiled at her obvious frustration.

“You spanked me!”

“And you’re wet right now, just thinking about it.”

She shifted her stance and he knew he’d guessed correctly as he attempted to hide his smile behind his hand.

“I don’t believe you! Are you so full of yourself and your high and mighty attitude that you can’t see past your own wants?”

Coming to his feet, he moved toward her and her eyes widened with a slight bit of nervousness reflected in her gaze. Anger reverberated through him.

“Listen to me.” He pulled her hard against his chest, let his mouth hover over hers and bent her backwards so she was helpless against his strength. “I did what I had to do to protect Caroline, you know that.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat for anyone I cared about, including you.”

Her eyes widened to almost round saucers.

“If I must pay for doing what I did, then so be it. The consequences are mine to take and I’ll do that willingly to protect those I love.”

He tapped the crop against his leg before he let it slide up the inside of her thigh.

Her breath caught in her throat.

“Right now I would like nothing more than to strip you down to bare skin, bend you over that bench behind you and make your ass glow red, but I won’t.”

“Because a Dom never takes his sub when he’s angry and right now, I’m so furious with you, I’m afraid I’d hurt you. You have to trust me, Liss, and from the words you said, you don’t.”

Releasing her quickly, she stumbled back but caught herself against the spanking bench. He leveled a frustrated stare on her before he turned around, threw the crop across the room and headed for the door. With a quick flick of his wrist, he unlocked it and left it hanging open as he moved toward the front entrance of the club.

He pushed the steel door open and let the hot July air caress his face as he stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. Grumbling under his breath, he headed for his truck and a stiff drink.

* * * *

Melissa watched him leave with a heavy heart.

Why did I say those things? I know he only did what he had to do for his sister.

She sighed and left the room. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Brad and Mandy sitting in the same spot, but now her cousin sat in her husband’s lap and his hand caressed her bare thigh.

“May I speak, Sir?”

“You may,” Brad answered and Melissa winced.

Is that what I really want with Drew?

“What happened up there?”

“Nothing, why?”

“He left in a pretty big hurry.”

“I think I made a huge mess of this.” Melissa sat down heavily in the chair she’d been sitting in before.

“Maybe you two needs some time apart.”

Tears burned the back of her eyelids and she dropped her gaze to the carpet under their feet. “I guess.” The next moment, Mandy’s arms went around her shoulders and she felt a tear slip down her cheek.

“You have to trust him, Lissa.”