Surrender to Me (4 page)

“That man at the bar?”

“No.” Roxy looked in the direction Ari stared in, but quickly lowered her head. “I meant Master M.”

“Interested in Martin?”

“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business, Ms. Covington.”

“Please call me Ari.”

“I’d have to ask Master M if that’s acceptable.”

“Okay, but it’s perfectly fine with me. May I call you Roxy?”

“Yeah.” Roxy smiled again as she lifted her head. “I haven’t had an opportunity to make many friends since Gracie left.”

“Why did Gracie leave?”

“She was in love with a man named Cade. He was her first love, but they had problems so Gracie came to New York. I brought her to the club and she ended up subbing for Master M. They were together for over two years, but Master M released her to Cade.”

“Is that usually what happens? Does a Dom release his sub to another?”

“They were a unique—”

Ari had been so caught up in finding out about Martin and Gracie she hadn’t seen Mr. Sex-on-Legs leave the bar area and approach them. She wondered how long he’d been standing behind her.

“You’re quite the chatterbox tonight, aren’t you, Foxy Roxy?” the tall, dark, handsome stranger said. “Does your Master know how talkative you are?”

Roxy shook her head, but she wouldn’t look at him.

“I’m Nico Cimino. You’re new here.”

“Arianna Covington.” She extended her hand to formally introduce herself but he didn’t take it, so she quickly retrieved it.

“Would you like to go to a booth with me?”

“No,” Roxy said, louder than Ari had heard her speak before. The sound of her voice warned Arianna something was off.

“No one is talking to you,
sub
.” Nico stared at Roxy. “What gives you the right to intervene?”

“I’m sorry,” Roxy said. “I meant no disrespect, but Ms. Covington isn’t—”

“Do I need to find your Master? Tell him how disobedient and disrespectful you are to another Dom? I know Martin wouldn’t approve if he found out you were talking about Gracie.”

“I wasn’t.” Roxy continued to stare at the floor. Ari sensed she was different around Nico than she had been with Martin. When she obeyed Martin it was out of respect and admiration. With Nico she appeared afraid. “Please, I don’t want any trouble.”

“So, I didn’t overhear you speak Gracie’s name?” Nico waited for Roxy to answer. “Did I imagine it?”

“I was just—”

“Answering my questions,” Ari intervened. “Roxy has done nothing wrong. It was my fault.”

“You’re new here,” he said. “Roxy knows better, and I’ll be sure to tell her Master.”

Roxy bit her lip and Ari noticed the tears welling up in the woman’s eyes. Ari remembered the other night when Martin had wiped her tears away. She was already serving out a punishment, and she looked so relieved when Martin told her he’d send her to Boston to visit her friend. Had Ari ruined that for this poor girl?

“Find me a booth, Roxy,” Nico said. “I’d like to get to know Ms. Covington a little better.”

“That won’t be necessary. I was just waiting for my cousin. He’s right there.” Ari pointed across the room.

“Hunter?” Nico said. “He’s your cousin?”

“He’s expecting me. Roxy, I’ll talk to you soon.”

Roxy didn’t say anything.

“I hope to see you around, Ms. Covington.” Nico pushed a stray hair from her face, causing her to cringe.

Don’t count on it.

“I need to go,” Ari said as she turned and headed for Hunter.

“Arianna? What the hell are you doing here?” He took her hand and led her down the hall to one of the secret rooms. It was dimly lit and empty of any people. It almost looked like someone’s family room. There was a huge flat screen TV and leather couches. Nothing like she expected.

“I wanted to drop something off for Martin.”

“On a Friday night?”

She nodded.

“You know he’s out of town. What are you really doing here?”

“I already told you.” She rolled her eyes, because she wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation. “I wanted to give him a contract on a new property. I was in the area so I stopped in. I didn’t realize his office would be locked.”

“You’re a horrible liar.” He smirked. “I’d love to go up against you in court.”

“You’d be forced to settle before we even made it through the courthouse doors.”

“Always so confident.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, wondering how much time her cousin spent there.

“Observing some scenes.”

“What does that mean?”

“You probably don’t want to know. You shouldn’t come here, especially on a Friday night without Martin.”

“Why especially on a Friday night?”

“The place is crawling with Doms looking for subs. There are a lot of weekend warriors in here. If someone asks you to go to a booth with them, don’t go. As a matter of fact, you should leave before you get into a mess I’ll have to bail you out of.”

“I think I already got Roxy into trouble.” Ari felt horrible. “She told Nico no when he asked me to go to a booth.”

“Nico? Shit, Ari, you always were a danger magnet. You couldn’t attract the attention of a more laid-back Dom? Someone like me?”

“I don’t want to attract the attention of any of you. No offense, but if you’re like Nico, that’s gross. He was so degrading to poor Roxy. Where is her Dom? I need to get her out of trouble.”

“No, you don’t,” Hunter said. “This isn’t a courtroom. Roxy doesn’t need an attorney. You need to get the hell out of here before someone else tries to pick you up. Martin isn’t going to be pleased you caught the eye of Nico.”

“Excuse me, but when did Martin get a say?”

“Come on, Ari.” Hunter sighed. “Go home and don’t come back here unless you’re with me or Martin. I’ll walk you to your car.”

“I’m a big girl. I can find my way out. I don’t need a
Dom
to escort me.”

“Let’s go.” He guided her out by her elbow. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. You can’t hang out here if you’re not into the lifestyle. You’re no one’s submissive, so don’t lead anyone on.”

“Fine.” She pulled out of his hold. “I’ll go, but make sure Roxy doesn’t get any flack. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“She’s a collard sub. She talked to a Dom without being asked a question. That will warrant Martin’s involvement. This is the second time she’s done that this month.”

“I’ll call him and tell him it was my fault.”

“Ari.” Hunter softened his tone. “He’s been waiting to visit Gracie for months. Please don’t ruin it for him.”

What is it with Gracie?

“I won’t call him,” she said. “If you promise me you’ll look out for Roxy while he’s gone. There’s something off about Nico.”

“I’ll speak to Alex, her Dom. I’ll let him know there was a misunderstanding and Roxy was trying to help you. You’re Martin’s attorney so that will carry some weight.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Roxy seems like a sweet girl. I don’t want her to catch shit because of my stupidity.”

“You are stupid.” Hunter laughed.

“Screw you.”

“Ah, you hurt my feelings.”

“I’m going to hurt more than your feelings if I find out you treat any of these girls the way Nico does.”

“Ari.” Hunter’s voice held warning. “Don’t speak about what you don’t know.”

“It’s all safe, sane, and consensual. Martin reminds me every chance he gets.”

“He takes this lifestyle very seriously. If you can’t respect that you should stay away from this club and stick to managing his real estate.”

Hunter’s words rang true, but the problem was she didn’t want to stay away from the club. Martin’s dominate side called to her. She wanted to learn more about his way of life. Maybe after she satisfied her curiosity she could leave things alone.

Chapter 4

Monday afternoon Martin returned to his office. He’d had a wonderful weekend visiting Cade and Gracie, but he wasn’t pleased to learn his not-so-submissive attorney had gone to his club on a Friday night without him.

What the hell was she thinking?

In the two hours he’d been back, he had to diffuse a situation between Roxy, Alex, and Nico, make sure Roxy wasn’t unfairly punished by her Dom even though she had disrespected Nico, and explain to Nico that Arianna was his attorney and not up for the taking. He made it perfectly clear Ms. Covington was off-limits to anyone in his club.

“Knock, knock.” Arianna stood in the doorway of his office with what appeared to be a picnic basket. If he wasn’t so annoyed with her he might have thought it was cute. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.”

He took in her casual appearance. She wore black yoga pants and a tight fitting gray tank top. He hadn’t realized just how well-toned and in shape her petite frame was when hidden beneath those power suits.

“I brought you something to eat from the deli up the street. I figured since you traveled all day that maybe you’d be hungry?” She placed the basket on the table across from his desk.

“That was very thoughtful of you.” He flipped through the stack of papers in front of him, trying not to reprimand her. She was his lawyer, not his sub, and he’d do best to remember it.

“Did you get the contracts I left for you this morning?”

“Would these be the same contracts you tried to leave for me at the club on Friday night?”

“You heard about that?” She reached in her bag and retrieved a hair clip.

“I usually hear about everything.”

“I was in the area.”

She gathered up her hair, but before she could secure it Martin said, “Leave it loose.”

“What?”

“I like when your hair is down.” He’d been fighting the urge to run his fingers through it ever since he’d met her.

“Oh.” She removed her hand from her hair and dropped the clip back into her bag. Her obedience intrigued him. He hadn’t expected it to come so naturally for her.

“Exercising?” He glanced down at her body.

“I went for a walk.”

“And you found yourself in the area again?”

“I left some papers on the desk in the back office.” She sat down on the leather sofa across from his desk.

“That’s your office.” He’d given her space to work when she complained the apartment she’d been renting was too small.

“I’m still getting used to having my own office in New York City.”

“Don’t get too comfortable. We’re leaving for Connecticut in a few days.”

“Connecticut?”

“That’s where my primary residence is. I need to attend a few meetings in New Haven, so I thought we could work from there next week.”

“You want me to come with you?”

He nodded.

“It’s customary to ask. That’s one of those things non-submissive women like.”

“Really? I probably don’t have to remind you that I’m paying you a great deal of money to be where I tell you to be.” He stood from his desk and walked over to where she sat. “But since you brought it up, would you mind telling me what my
non-submissive
attorney was doing in my BDSM club without me?”

“I was dropping off—”

“Bullshit! You could have dropped the papers off here. What were you doing there?”

She shifted on the sofa, but she never looked away from his eyes. He liked her boldness. It was unfamiliar territory for him.

“I, well, I wanted to see—”

“You wanted to see what?” He sat down next to her, sitting close enough that he could feel the heat of her body against his. If she wanted to learn, he would be the one to teach her.

“I’m inquisitive, okay.” She let out a breath. “I didn’t think I’d be interested in what goes on there, but I am. I want to know why those women kneel to you. I want to…” She looked away from him.

He wanted to grab her face, hold her in place, and make her speak, but he had no right to command such things from her. “You want to what?”

“Nothing. I didn’t mean to get Roxy into any trouble. I hope I didn’t.”

“Look at me.” This time she didn’t obey. He needed to soften his approach. “Please.”

She looked up but not directly into his eyes. He’d have to work on gaining her trust before he could expect anything else. He knew the rules didn’t just apply to BDSM relationships.

“I handled the situation this afternoon, but that’s exactly why you can’t hang around there without me.”

“You gave me access. I thought I could go there.”

“You can, but I need to know when you’re in the building. If I’m not there, security needs to know so they can protect you from certain elements.” Martin’s stomach churned when he thought about Arianna sharing a booth with Nico. She would have had no idea what he would want from her, and if she was curious enough perhaps she would have gotten herself into a situation she wouldn’t have known how to get out of. He vowed to protect her now that he knew she wanted to observe.

“What kind of elements?”

“There are Dominants who aren’t interested in long-term relationships. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes a submissive can get caught up in certain charms or promises. No matter how much I try to educate and warn, people can get hurt. If you don’t know what some of those men are looking for, you could inadvertently send them the wrong message. If you’re
inquisitive
, you could end up in a situation you won’t know how to get out of.”

“Like accepting an invitation to go to a booth with someone.”

“Exactly.”

“What does it mean?”

“In my club, when you accept a Dom’s invitation to go to a booth, you are agreeing to an evening of consensual play. There are boundaries in place, but the rules aren’t always followed, and I can’t police everyone. These are consenting adults, but I try to keep the environment as safe as possible.”

“What kind of boundaries?”

“If the top and bottom find that their session in the booth was successful and they’re compatible, they can go to a playroom the Dom has reserved in advance. They’re not supposed to leave the club without having this test evening together. Some couples choose to leave anyway. In most cases, it all works out, but not always. There are people who get off on taking a virgin sub home to play.”

“Nico thought I was a virgin sub?”