Terms of Desire: Tempt Me Twice, Part One (5 page)

“Is there a costume party or something tonight?” The feathers and sequins remained, but there were now just as many people
dressed in black leather, fishnets, and rubber.

I felt as if I had walked into a movie and didn’t know my lines. Turning, I eyed Liam, but he didn’t appear to see anything out of the ordinary.

“Are you uncomfortable?” I noticed that he had sidestepped my question, but I didn’t push. I was too fascinated by the people around me.

“No. No,
I’m not.” Liam raised an eyebrow at my answer but said nothing. I was telling the truth, since I suspected that he wouldn’t let me get away with anything else.

I wished that I wasn’t so damned conscious of the three fingers that he still had resting at the small of my back. We walked in silence for a moment, down the concourse, before he spoke again.

“
Callie, did you do much research into The Last Temptation before you came here
?
Or did Austin make
all of
the arrangements?
”
We had stopped in front of a sign that
small and bland compared to everything else in the casino. In small black lettering it read “Lead Me Not”.

Though I wasn’t religious, I filled the rest of the sentence out in my head.

Lead me not unto temptation.

“Is this your office?” Unease settled over me. Something was going on here, with Liam, with the casino, and it was going right over my head.

I suddenly wished for Austin to make an appearance.

“In a way.” Liam studied my face, read the worry etched there, then lifted my face with a gentle yet hot touch on my chin.

I jerked away from the touch, for the sole reason that I wanted to lean into it.

“Don’t do that.” My voice was sharp, and danger sparked in Liam’s eyes.

“It can be a dangerous thing to say no to me, pet.” His words were mild, but layered with steel. I shivered, my muscles rigid, and debated running away from him.

I found that I didn’t want to. Though Liam made me incredibly nervous, when I searched deep down, I found that I wasn’t truly frightened by him.

“I say no a lot.” I glared at him, and Liam’s nostrils flared.

“So your husband has said.” I stared at Liam, feeling as though I had been punched in the stomach.

“Austin spoke to you about… us?” Betrayal left a bitter taste in the back of my mouth.

I stepped away, and Liam let me. Even with the added space, I wasn’t able to breathe any easier.
Liam had a way of invading space, and it wasn’t merely a matter of being close to me physically. It was more that his… well, I don’t know what to call it besides ‘aura’… invaded mine when he was near, stealthily twisting and turning and working its way in until my own sense of self was firmly clutched in its fingers.

Liam studied me with every bit on intensity in his being. I felt adrenaline begin to shoot through me.

“The people in the lobby, pet, they are all here for the club. The club that I
own and run
.” His face was a study in patience as I blinked rapidly, trying to gain my bearings.

“He hasn’t spoken to you about any of this.” I read disapproval in Liam’s tone, and found myself even more horribly confused.

“Liam, cut the crap. What the hell is going on?” I wanted to back away rapidly when Liam closed the space between us, cupping a large hand around each of my upper arms and moving in so close that our lips almost touched.

“Austin is an old college friend of mine, pet. Though he has only just realized that the problems in your marriage might stem from his frustrated dominance, I have always had a strong distaste for vanilla.”

He might as well have been speaking Greek, for all that I understood. My brow furrowed, and I saw in my peripheral vision one of the latex clad couples from the lobby.

I only now noticed that one was leading the other on a leash.

My stomach rolled as my mind rapidly began to put things together.

“He was supposed to talk to you before he left you with me.” I gaped, astounded at the words.

“Before he left me with you?” My fists curled, my nails biting deeply into my palms. “And where in this do I get a say?”

“That is the entire point, pet.” Liam waited quietly. I was frozen in place.

“The point of what?”

“This club, this casino, cater to those with a taste for kink. As manager, I help those new to the lifestyle to explore their needs.” Kink? Even as I shivered and backed away, I felt my nipples contract with need.

What was
wrong
with me?

“Austin thought that I could help to bring out the dominant in his nature, and your true self, as well.” His lips curled with the slightest hint of amusement, even as dark need shimmered in the air between us.

“And I suppose that you are going to tell me who my true self is, stranger?” I was angry, and more than that, embarrassed. Austin had contacted an old friend, discussed our marital problems, and then left me in the hands of someone who ran a kink club without having the guts to tell me any of this first.

I could have killed him, and his actions only caused half of my anger. No, despite the situation, I was drawn to Liam like a moth to flame.

“Discovery of yourself is a journey that only you can ta
ke, Callie.” I was feeling—

oh, I was feeling too much. I wished for an outlet, because I felt like I was going to explode.

“In preparation, you might want to start thinking about why you deny to yourself that you are a submissive.”

What happens next?

Follow Callie, Lia
m and Austin’s story further in

Tempt Me Twice Part 2-
Terms of Surrender, available now!

Other works by Lauren Hawkeye:

Harlequin Nocturne Cravings:

The Darkling's Desire

The Darkling's Surrender

Harlequin Spice Briefs:

Taking the Heat

Let Me In

Lead Me On

Tie Me Up

Take Me Down

Wet

Avon Red:

Hot and Haunted (anthology with Megan Hart and Saranna DeWylde)

My Wicked Gladiators