Siren Beloved

Chapter Three

Aidan stood next to Julian, looking out over the dungeon. Preparations were being made. All over the atmospheric space, the staff was cleaning and checking the equipment for safety. Julian was still dressed in his day suit, but Aidan knew that soon the businessman would trade in his thousand-dollar tailored suit for a pair of leathers. Aidan would do it, as well, with one exception. Aidan would cover his face with a mask. Neither Lexi nor Lucas would recognize his ravaged body, but they would probably still remember his face. He’d like a chance to work on them before he got slapped or punched.

“You practiced?”

Aidan nodded. “Yes. I worked with the six-footer, but I would prefer to use the four-footer. It’s more accurate.”

“I think you should consider something a bit more creative in your punishment this evening. The whip can be intimidating, but it’s not very intimate. I believe Lexi will be perfectly amenable to a whip. After all, she and Lucas perform such scenes every weekend. She takes the whip, cries, he holds her, and they begin the cycle again. I didn’t bring you in so they could add a third person to a cycle of behavior that isn’t working for them.” Julian slanted him one of those glances that made Aidan feel like he was five years old and being called to the principal’s office. “Have you given any real thought to this?”

Aidan got his meaning. Come up with something fast, or I’ll call this off. Luckily, he had a little fantasy in his head. It was really an apology and an attempt to bind them all together. It was what he should have done that night years before. “Edging. I’ll do a little edge play and some spanking. I’ll have her begging by the end, and I’ll make sure Lucas is involved.”

“Excellent.”

Aidan’s blood was thrumming through his veins. Edging? He was the one on edge, and he had been all day. Two hours to go.

Leo strode into the room. Like Julian, he was in day clothes, but unlike his boss, he stopped and talked to practically everyone in the room.

“Such a chatty Dom,” Julian said with a long-suffering sigh. “Leo! I don’t have all day.”

Leo grinned and shook hands with one of the cleaning staff before his long legs ate the distance between him and Julian. “Of course you do, Julian. You’re the boss. You have all the time in the world.”

“Naturally. Now, tell me if Lexi is going to be here tonight.”

Aidan felt his gut tighten. He hadn’t really considered the possibility that Leo wouldn’t clear her for play. “Lexi is sane. She’s not crazy.”

“Oh, she’s buckets of crazy,” Leo announced with a laugh. “Seriously, girlfriend has some problems, but nothing that would keep her from here.”

Aidan relaxed. He could handle that. Leo thought everyone was crazy in their own unique way.

“Did she talk to you?” Julian asked.

“In a sense. Did she get to the heart of her problem? No. It will take more than a little simple conversation to get her to give that up.”

“Give what up?” Aidan asked.

Julian turned to Aidan and seemed to consider whether or not he should talk. “I believe Alexis is hiding something. I don’t know if Lucas knows her secret, or if she’s kept it completely hidden. Jackson and Leo believe this as well. According to Jackson, she was sad and somewhat depressed by your departure, but she didn’t go into a deep depression until several months later. She was in a car accident in Austin. Lucas was the only one she called. Shortly after, she left her job at the newspaper and moved to Dallas. From what I can tell, she’s stopped writing all together.”

That made his heart ache. Lexi was always writing on something. She carried a notepad in her overblown bag so she would always have paper. She even kept a dream journal because she said she got story ideas while she slept. Aidan could remember all the times he would walk in with her coffee in hand to find her furiously writing. He loved those mornings. He would sit and strum his guitar, writing songs while Lexi wrote a new story. Lucas would show up on the weekends, and they would sit outside when the weather was nice. Just the three of them. They wouldn’t talk. They had simply enjoyed each other’s presence.

He couldn’t play anymore. He’d accepted that. But, by god, he would never accept that Lexi wouldn’t write.

“What happened?”

Julian’s shoulders moved up and down in a negligent shrug. “I don’t know, but I doubt it’s the car accident that truly troubles her. The other driver was at fault, and he walked away injury free. He was drunk. He pled out and served a little time in jail. He was caught violating his parole about six months after he got out and was sent back to serve his full sentence. So sad.”

Leo’s eyebrows rose on his head as he stared at Julian. “That’s what happens when a man gets a private investigative team following him twenty-four-seven.”

“I didn’t force him into the bar, Leo. I merely made sure my men called it in.”

Aidan kind of loved Julian Lodge in that moment. Still, he’d spent enough time in a hospital bed that the thought of Lexi being in pain just fucking killed him. He should have been there. He should have been the one she called, and then he would have called Lucas. He would never leave Lucas out. He knew now that he needed Lucas. “She was okay? What do her medical records say?”

Julian’s mouth turned down. “I asked her about it. She told me to butt out. As she is not my slave, I have respected her wishes up to this point. If I do something like buy her medical records, she won’t trust me. This is all about trust, Aidan. I’m risking Alexis’s trust by bringing you in, but we’ve reached a point where it’s worth the risk.”

Leo slapped Aidan on the back. “I think it will work. She seems more open than she has in months. Of course, I don’t expect it to be perfectly smooth, but I think eventually she’ll realize that both she and Lucas need you. You should probably start getting ready. Won’t be long now.”

Aidan said goodbye, trying to process everything he’d just learned. As he reached the elevator that would take him to his room, his cell phone rang. He punched the button code for the hotel portion of the building and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Dwight. He sighed. He was about to get a lecture.

“Hey, man, how is the ranch?”

Dwight Creely was his foreman. He’d also been Aidan’s friend in the Army. They had been in the same squad in Iraq. When Aidan had been injured, Dwight was the one who sat by his bedside. Dwight had taken some heavy fire during the mission that almost cost Aidan his legs, but he’d put it aside to check on his friend. When they were both discharged, Dwight had followed Aidan back home to help on the ranch Aidan had inherited, much to Bo’s never-ending dismay.

“Well, the boss is gone, so Bo is trying to run the show.” The complaint came out as a low rumble.

Aidan should have expected it. Bo hated the fact that their father had left the ranch to him and only left Bo some cash. Aidan had been ready to sign over a portion to Bo when Bo had walked out of the lawyer’s office and threatened to sue and hadn’t said a word to Aidan for a month and a half. Aidan was at loss. He knew Bo hadn’t gotten a fair shake, but he needed to keep the ranch whole if he was going to make it work. Bo, for his part, had made a nuisance of himself around the ranch, fighting with Dwight at every turn.

It looked like baby brother was at it again.

“Put him on his ass,” Aidan said. It was what he would do. He’d been forced to, as though it was the only way to prove to Bo he was still a man. Even when he’d been on crutches, learning to walk again, his brother wouldn’t let up. He was a constant little pest buzzing in his ear.

“As long as I have permission, it will be my pleasure. But seriously, Aidan, it would be better if you came home. Bo isn’t the only one causing trouble around town. Karen is telling everyone that the two of you are back together and getting married.”

He nearly threw the phone. Karen Wilcox was rapidly becoming a pain in his ass. She’d been his high school girlfriend. It had been natural. She’d been the head cheerleader, and he’d been the quarterback. Aidan had done what he’d always done—he had played the role designated to him. When he’d left for college, she’d almost immediately married another man. Karen’s husband was older and established, with money to burn on a young trophy wife.

By the time he’d come home, broken and battered, Karen’s husband had died, and she’d been left very little money in his will. She hadn’t decided to visit his convalescent bed until the day it was announced he’d inherited the ranch. That day she’d been full of heartfelt concern for his injuries and talked about how much she would miss his father now that he was gone. Karen had hated his father. He hadn’t bought her crap back then and didn’t buy it now.

“Goddamn it, I haven’t touched that woman. I have no interest in touching that woman.”

Dwight sighed. “I know that, but the people around here are starting to talk, Aidan. You know how it is here. People expect things. She’s talking about a fall wedding.”

He’d escorted her to exactly two events, both charity events where he’d networked all night long. He’d made it plain to her that they weren’t dating. When she had tried to come on to him and invite herself in, he’d been gentle and gracious about turning her down. It looked like he was going to have to be a bit more forceful. “I’ll talk to her when I get home, but that could be a week or two.”

There was a long pause. “Damn it, Aidan, what the hell is so all-fired important in Dallas?”

“Lexi.” He let the name drop like a jewel, his voice getting soft. He steeled himself because he wasn’t hiding anymore. Aidan O’Malley was done playing roles other people tried to force him to play. “And Lucas. I’m getting them back.”

A low whistle came across the line as the elevator doors opened, and Aidan started walking down the hall to his room. “Damn, Aidan, that’s going to cause a stir in this town. I don’t know that Deer Run, Texas, is ready for you and your, uhm, partners. Maybe if it was two hot chicks you were trying to bring home, it would be, you know, eccentric. They would say your time in Austin corrupted you. You know the church ladies here like to blame everything on marijuana and Austin.”

“Let them,” Aidan said sharply. “I don’t care. I love Lexi and I love Lucas, and I’m not hiding it or pretending it’s less than it is. If Deer Run, Texas, can’t handle it, then they can go to hell.”

He was damn sick of living up to other people’s expectations. He’d lost the best thing in his whole damn life because he couldn’t handle the potential fallout. He knew what real pain was now, and he knew that the only thing that healed it was genuine, pure love for another human being. He’d been lucky enough to find two soul mates. He wasn’t letting them go because society deemed he was only allowed one. The world could go to hell as long as he had Lexi and Lucas in his life.

“Well, I admire you for your conviction, Aidan. I hope it doesn’t bite your ass in the end.” Dwight was silent for a moment and then seemed almost hesitant. “Are you sleeping okay, buddy?”

Aidan stood beside the door to his room and felt his soul sag. “Sure.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

He sighed and decided that honesty was the word of the whole damn day. He didn’t like talking about how he’d been injured, mostly because he couldn’t remember anything about the day. “Lately, I can’t seem to stop dreaming about it.”

“The doctors said you wouldn’t be able to remember that day, Aidan.”

“Well, they also said I wouldn’t walk.” They had been firm on that point. He’d been stubborn, and exactly six months after he’d been sentenced to life in a wheelchair, he’d stood up and walked. He’d walked because he loved them. They would never know it, but Lucas and Lexi had been his crutches, the very thought of them spurring him to walk. And they were going to be his reward. “It’s nothing, really. Just flashes of the team and the firefight. I don’t even know if what I’m seeing really happened. Probably not.”

But he wished it would go away. Every night, it was the same dream. Darkness and then that terrible sound. In the dream, he rushed out to see what was happening, and he felt the bullets hit him. Then just Dwight looking down at him. Aidan wanted it to stop.

“The dreams are coming even when you take your sleeping pills?”

Aidan groaned. “I didn’t bring them with me. I’m trying to get off of them.”

He hated the fact that he didn’t sleep well without them. He was going to break free of those pills. It was all a matter of discipline, but he knew Dwight disagreed. There was a long pause, and Aidan was happy when Dwight didn’t argue.

“How long will you be gone?” Dwight asked.

“Like I said, a week or two. Hire some more hands if you need it. The money is there. And tell Bo to keep his hands off the emergency funds. I’m not paying for his drinking binges.”

“Will do, boss. Tell me something, have you given any thought to bringing Lucas and Lexi here?”

He sighed. He would love that. “Only if I can figure out a way to drag them.”

He hung up his phone, opened the door, and started to get ready for the most important night of his life.

Dwight Creely shoved his cell in his back pocket, cursing under his breath as he did it. He’d really thought he could get Aidan to come home. Aidan had explained to him how important these two people were to him. He understood that. When they were in the Army together, he’d talked about his ex-fiancée and their best friend. It was only after the incident that Aidan admitted he was involved with Lucas, too. Something had changed after Aidan had gotten out of the hospital. He had purpose. First, he’d fought hard to get back the use of his legs, and then he’d thrown himself into the ranch.

Dwight had stayed close, managing to get himself hired as the ranch’s foreman. He’d known a little about ranching having grown up in Wyoming. His uncle had a ramshackle ranch where Dwight had spent a couple of years after his father had kicked him out. It was a stroke of luck since he needed to stay close to Aidan. He had to keep a watchful eye on the big bastard.

“Hey!” Bo O’Malley swung down from the horse he’d been riding. It still surprised Dwight just how much the boy looked like his brother. Well, he looked like his brother before he’d gotten shot up in Iraq. Bo was a younger, slightly thinner version of Aidan, with sandy hair and a square jaw. “Have you talked to Aidan? Did you tell him Karen came around again? She tried to get me to tell her where Aidan went, but I didn’t think that was such a great idea. I don’t know what Aidan’s doing in Dallas, but he probably doesn’t want Karen around.”

Dwight hated Bo. Every word that came out of the younger man’s mouth was like nails on a chalkboard to Dwight. He’d been given everything, but he whined about how his brother didn’t pay enough attention to him. Spoiled little fucker. It was fun to come between him and his precious brother. A few words here and there and both brothers thought the other hated them. Dwight was glad he’d never been saddled with a sibling.

“I just talked to him. He’s pissed at you. He says the paperwork you did sucked, and he won’t let you near the business side again.” Aidan had said nothing of the sort, but those two didn’t talk, so there wasn’t a lot of worry that they would find out about his lie. They would simply yell at each other about other things, never getting to the heart of the matter. “You need to watch yourself. I think he’s close to getting rid of you. The only reason he’s kept you around is he doesn’t have money for new hands. You have to understand, your brother is trying to make this place work again. If you get in the way, he’ll cut you loose.”

“He can’t do that,” Bo insisted. “This is my home. He can’t kick me out.”

Actually, Aidan had said just that when Dwight had suggested kicking the annoying pest out. But Dwight wouldn’t admit that. “Look, you have to see where your brother would be pissed off at you. He got the ranch, but you took a decent portion of the money. He had to sell out a piece of his ownership to Barnes-Fleetwood to have the cash to operate.”

“Hell, I offered to buy shares a couple of months back.”

And Dwight had convinced Aidan that Bo would cause trouble. It had been easy. Bo had been pissed about the terms of the will. He had been making trouble. Now he was more reasonable, but Dwight still wanted to keep them apart.

“And Aidan doesn’t want you to have anything to do with the business end.”

Bo’s face fell. He was an easy mark. One minute he was all sad puppy dog, and the next he was pissed off boy. It was a turbulent combo that Dwight had used to his advantage. “Well, if he wanted me to do the fucking paperwork, he should have taught me how. Screw this. I’m going into town.”

Bo stalked off, leading the horse toward the stables.

That was a good thing. If Bo was out getting drunk, he wouldn’t notice that Dwight was gone. Aidan needed to come home where Dwight could watch him.

Dwight sighed as he entered the house. He needed a plan. He wouldn’t be so fucking worried if Aidan had taken his sleeping pills with him. Those pills kept him from dreaming. When he didn’t take them, he dreamt about what had happened the day he was injured.

Dwight couldn’t let that happen. If Aidan ever remembered what happened to their squad, Dwight’s life would be over. He had to get him home and get him back on his pills.

Maybe a little chaos was in order. What if Aidan had a reason to do just what he’d said? What if he needed to bring Lexi and Lucas back home to Deer Run?

Dwight sat down at the computer in the office and in just a few moments pulled up information on one Alexis Ann Moore. He wrote down her address and printed out a map to her house and one to the club where Aidan was staying.

Then he gave old Karen Wilcox a call. Chaos. That girl knew a thing or two about chaos. She was just what he needed. Well, Karen, and a high-powered rifle. He’d have Aidan back in Deer Run in no time at all.

Lexi adjusted her bustier and stared at herself in the mirror. She saw a woman closing in on thirty and utterly unsure of her place in life. What the hell was she doing? By this time in her life, her mother had a career and was raising a child. Sure, she hadn’t planned on giving birth to a bastard daughter, but she’d done it with grace and pure stubborn will. Lexi would have done anything to…

She took a deep breath. Not going there tonight. Tonight was about the future, not the past. She had to move on so she and Lucas could be happy.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

Lexi smiled at Lucas in the mirror of their room at The Club. He was heartbreakingly handsome in nothing but a pair of boots and leather pants. His gloriously cut chest and that ridiculous six pack were on display. She loved his movie star face, and that silky black hair completed the perfect picture of masculine beauty that was Lucas Cameron. “I’m glad you think so.”

“You’re always fucking gorgeous to me.”

She sighed and turned to him. She was wearing nothing but a bustier and a little black thong. Lucas had seen her like this a hundred times, and yet he’d never been overwhelmed by her. She had to think that maybe her charms weren’t what pulled Lucas in. Maybe they had just been close for so long that she was a habit for him. “So you say, babe.”

His face turned hard, and he was on her in an instant. He put one hand on her waist and another behind her neck, pulling her close. He pushed his crotch at her so she couldn’t miss his erection. His cock was long and hard and pushing at her belly. “I want you. I want you every minute of the day and twice as much when I’m sleeping. There isn’t a second that goes by that I don’t dream of shoving my cock deep inside you.”

His lips hovered right over her mouth. She could feel the heat of his breath mingle with hers. His emerald eyes bored through her. He was so frustrating. She’d wanted him forever, and he’d held her off. God, she wanted that to change. She wanted to be with Lucas in every way possible. “I want you, Lucas.”

“Tell me you love me.”

That was easy. Now that she’d made the decision to be brave, it was a simple thing to tell him the truth. “I love you, Lucas Cameron.”

“I love you, too. Do you understand why I’ve waited? Why I’ve forced both of us to wait? It has nothing to do with how much I want to have sex with you. I want this to be forever, and you haven’t been ready for that. Tell me something, baby. If we had slept together when you first asked me to make love to you, what do you think would have happened?”

She leaned into his strength. She remembered the night so well. It had been about a month after she’d been released from the hospital. She’d gone to Dallas to see Lucas because she just couldn’t seem to move forward. She’d thrown herself at him. He’d kissed her and held her and he’d gotten her off with his hands. He’d shoved his fingers into her cunt, his thumb worrying the nub of her clit. He’d put his tongue on her and made her quake as she came. But when she urged him to come inside, he’d said no. She remembered how pissed off she’d been at the time. She’d flown into a rage and called him all sorts of names. She’d even flung a coffee mug and caught him in the shoulder. He’d taken all of it, and when she’d calmed down, he’d held her hand.

Do you feel better now, baby? Can we go to bed?

He’d held her all night, and in the morning they were friends again. She’d left her job in Austin and moved to Dallas shortly after. What would have happened?

“I would have walked away,” she admitted. “I wasn’t ready. I probably would have avoided you.”

He turned her face up and kissed her nose, a gentle touch. “I know. I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t handle it if you weren’t with me. I’ll take your friendship if I can’t have more. I was always willing to do that. I haven’t been celibate since I met you, you know that.”

She smiled up at him, relieved to still be close to him. She let her hands wander across the strong muscles of his back. Things were changing, and she was ready for it this time. “I know you have horrible taste in women.”

He laughed, pulling her close to his heart. “I have not been picky about women or men, because I’ve only ever loved you and—”

He paused as though shocked he’d been about to say the name.

“Say his name, babe. He’s not exactly Satan, you know. He’s just a man who was too stupid and uptight to be able to accept the love that was handed to him.”

Lucas took a deep breath. “I’ve only loved you and Aidan. Everyone else was just a body in a bed. I slept with people who didn’t want more from me than sex. But you should know that for the last year, I haven’t slept with anyone. After what happened with Jeremy, I couldn’t touch someone else. I thought you were dead when I walked in that fucking cabin.”

Lexi tightened her arms around him. Almost a year before, Lexi had been kidnapped by a man who wanted revenge on Lucas and Julian. She’d survived the experience because Finn Taylor had shot the man before he’d managed to kill Dani, Julian, and herself. When Lucas had found her, she’d been drugged to unconsciousness. She’d come to in a hospital, and the first thing she’d seen was Lucas next to her. He had fallen asleep in a chair, his hand holding hers.

“It’s over.” It was, she decided. It was all over. The stuff with Aidan was over. The accident was over. The kidnapping was over. It was far past time to move on. “We’re together now, and that means you have to find a way to sleep with me. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m demanding sex, and I won’t take no for an answer.”

His hand was suddenly in her hair, pulling her head back, and a hard look fell on his face. Lexi felt her pulse start to race.

“You’ll take what I give you, Lexi. And I assure you, I have a lot to give.” He pressed his erection against her belly, rubbing himself against her. “But you’ll beg me for it first.”

She curled her lips up. He wanted to play? She could do that with him. “I’ve been begging for years, babe. Begging never got me anywhere with you.”

“Because you’re a bad little sub. You want everything, but you don’t want to earn it. Let me tell you something, baby, that’s about to change. Our play is about to change. I told Julian I want in on your punishment. You want to see what it would be like if we brought in a Dom, well, we’re going to find out. Julian says this Master A is hard, but fair. I’ve negotiated terms with him through Julian. He tops me, but we both top you. He won’t make a move sexually unless I indicate it’s all right. You have your safe word, and I expect you to use it if you need to.”

“Would we want that?” This was the only part that made her nervous. Could they bring this other man into their sexual relationship? Lucas was bisexual. He would enjoy having a man now and then, but could she really share him? It had seemed natural with Aidan. She’d loved them both, but a stranger?

The hand on the back of her head eased, and he was back to tender, his role tossed away the minute she faltered. “Not if you don’t. Not at all. Baby, this is all about you.”

But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. It had been all about her for the last couple of years, and she needed to give back to him. “Let’s just see what happens.”

There was a light knock on the door, and when Lucas opened it, Leo walked in.

“It’s time, you two. Julian is almost finished with Dani and Finn. Master A is getting ready. He would prefer to not meet you beforehand.”

Lexi thrust her hand in Lucas’s, and he immediately threaded their fingers together. “We’re ready.”

She walked beside Lucas, nervous, but sure that this was the right path. They needed to break free. Lucas led her from the private room Julian had designated for their use for the evening into the dungeon.

Julian’s dungeon was a rich mix of torture and elegance. Lexi had never been in another dungeon before, but she couldn’t imagine one quite like The Club. The four-inch heels she wore clicked neatly against the hard wood of the floor. She normally didn’t wear heels, preferring comfortable shoes, but she knew the sexy stilettos did something for Lucas. Aidan used to love her legs in heels. He loved her in a pair of red shoes and absolutely nothing else. He would prop her ankles up against his shoulders and press his dick into her pussy.

Why couldn’t she get Aidan out of her head? Maybe it was this Master A person. She wondered what his real name was. Probably Adam or Alan. She wished it was Barney. Then he could be Master B, and he wouldn’t make her think of Aidan at all.

“Julian’s been having a fun night.” Lucas pointed out the front of the raised stage where Julian held his public punishment scenes.

There was a St. Andrew’s Cross and various torture devices across the stage. Lexi could see Julian was already into his scene. Danielle Lodge-Taylor and Finn Taylor were strapped to side-by-side whipping chairs, their naked asses in the air. Dani’s was a delicate pink, but Finn’s had a red sheen to it.

“Why is he always so much harder on Finn?” Lexi asked, shaking her head. Julian could be slightly brutal with his male partner. She turned her face up to see if Lucas was outraged by the treatment of his friend.

He was staring at the scene almost in rapture. Lexi followed the line of his sight. He wasn’t watching Dani. He was staring at Finn, and it had nothing to do with whether or not he found Finn attractive. He was watching the way Julian struck Finn’s flesh with the flogger. He was watching the way that line of red lashed across Finn’s skin.

Lucas’s eyes had an almost dreamy quality to them. Lexi felt her heart clench. How long had it been since he had gotten what he needed? How long had he suppressed his own needs for hers?

He came out of his little trance and looked down at her. “I’m sorry. Did you ask me something, Lexi?”

She managed to not smile at him. “I did, babe, but you got a bit distracted by the show. I asked why Julian is so hard on Finn when he barely spanks Dani.”

Lucas’s face softened, and his hands found her hair again. His voice was quiet in deference to the scene. “He needs it. Finn enjoys the pain. It frees something in him. You should understand that.”

“You are never that hard on me, Lucas.” Lucas had never broken her skin, but she would admit that sometimes the pain allowed her to cry about things she wouldn’t allow herself to release. She always felt unburdened after a session.

“You couldn’t handle it. Finn can. And don’t get pissy at Julian for treating Dani differently. They aren’t the same. Julian might be punishing them, but I assure you they enjoy it, too. The real punishment comes later, when he doesn’t allow her to come. That’s when Dani will feel the burn.” Lucas whispered in her ear, his breath a soft caress. “I’m afraid you might be in for a bit of that, too, baby. The word edging came up in my negotiations with Julian.”

Lexi groaned. She hated that. Edging. Edge play. It sometimes referred to a variety of play that tested the boundaries—blood play, knife play, wax play. That wasn’t what Lucas meant. He knew her hard boundaries better than she did. He was referring to the practice of keeping a sub right on the edge of orgasm and pulling back every time. It was frustrating, and Lucas could never do it. When she pleaded and begged, he would take out the vibrator or dildo and get her off quickly, as though he couldn’t stand to hear her frustrated. More than once Lexi knew the other Doms had taunted him for his lack of control. She had to hope this Master A was a softie.

Finn was counting out his punishment in a strong voice. The crowd watched in rapt attention, but Lexi couldn’t get her mind off the coming scene. Her heels gave her a little more height, and Lucas hunched over so it was easy to whisper to him.

“Why didn’t Master A negotiate the contract directly with you?” It was odd. Julian might sit in on contract negotiations, but he rarely butted in. She should have been there, but she preferred to leave it to Lucas. She’d had to work this afternoon despite her hangover. Her boss hadn’t been happy with her, but she’d let it all slide away the minute she entered The Club.

“I don’t know. You know he doesn’t consider me your permanent Dom because you aren’t wearing my collar. Possibly Julian did it because Master A is new. Julian is such a control freak. He considers you part of his family, and he’s trying to look out for you.”

And Lexi was fond of the man, too. Over the years, Julian had proven to be an amazing friend to her family. Lexi stopped watching the scene in front of her. A little frisson of heat sparked across her skin, and she was utterly certain that someone was watching her. She glanced around the crowd.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know. I just…feel like someone’s watching.”

She heard him chuckle in her ear. “Well, baby, that’s what happens when you’re a gorgeous woman wearing very little clothing. People tend to watch.”

But it was more than that. She looked to the left of the stage. Everyone else in the room was watching the punishment scene playing out, but one man faced the opposite direction of the stage. One very large, very built hunk of masculinity was staring right at her. His dark eyes were visible under the mask that covered the top half of his face. He looked like a man perfectly capable of all manner of dirty deeds.

“Oh, god,” she groaned. “I think that’s Master A.”

Lucas followed her line of sight. Suddenly she felt his hand tighten on hers. “Holy fuck, look at that.”

He was amazing. He was at least six foot five, maybe six. Lucas was tall, but this man had a couple of inches on him. He was corded with thick muscles, every inch of skin seemed sun-kissed, but something was wrong with it. Not wrong, exactly, but white wispy lines marred his physical perfection. Scars. He was covered in scars.

“What happened to him?” Lexi heard herself ask. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Some sort of accident.” Lucas’s voice was hushed, smaller than it had been before, as though he was worried the man across the room might be able to listen in. “He was in the Army. He was injured in Iraq. The way Leo explains it, he’s lucky to be alive.”

Something about the huge man called to her. Seeing that man standing and staring so intently in their direction made her feel nervous. She wasn’t scared of him exactly, but she wasn’t calm at the thought of meeting him.

“Why the mask?” Lexi asked.

She wanted to see his face. All she could see from here was the hard, unrelenting line of his jaw. His hair was cut so short she couldn’t tell if it was blonde or brown. Everything about him seemed severe and unmoving. And then the corner of his lip ticked up just slightly. It wasn’t much, but that tiny little smile caused a dimple to form in one cheek.

Beside her, Lucas’s breath hitched. Lexi knew why. It was the same reason her own heart had skipped a beat. Aidan had the most perfect dimples. They had teased him about his smile. But Aidan was utterly unlike the man in the mask. Perhaps he’d been as tall, but Aidan had been lean. This man had at least fifty pounds on Aidan, all of it muscle. Aidan had been a slave to his music, not the gym. Aidan had been all-American handsome. This man just looked like sin.

He was a stranger, nothing more. And one she didn’t have to see again after tonight if she chose not to.

Still, when he smiled, he would be glorious.

“They’re done.” Lucas whispered in her ear as Julian began taking his loves off the chairs and preparing their aftercare.

It was time. Master A was already supervising the change of the scene in a deep voice. Nothing at all like Aidan’s musical, lyrical voice. She wouldn’t hear that voice again.

“Are you ready?”

She turned a smile up to the man who was her future and nodded her assent.