Page 22 of Steamy Ever After

“Thank you.”

She stepped into the lobby, which was buzzing with activity. Members loved the special event nights at the club, even if they couldn’t participate for one reason or another, and those were the busiest nights each month.

Clarissa greeted several people as she made her way across the lobby to the huge double wooden doors leading into the club. A massive mountain of a man smiled and opened one of the doors for her. Travis “Tiny” Daultry was a former professional football player and was now head of security for the club and the compound. He’d once told her he acquired his nickname as a joke when he was a baby since he’d weighed thirteen pounds at birth. God bless his mother for having a natural delivery. “Good evening, Ms. James. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hi, Tiny. How’s your grandmother doing?” she asked as she removed the long, lightweight coat that covered her new fet-wear. The security guard didn’t even blink at her risqué outfit, but she wasn’t offended at all. In her early forties, Clarissa worked hard to keep her body in shape for the roles she took. Almost all of The Covenant’s staff had seen her and the other subs wearing far less clothing or nothing at all during their tenures there, so they were used to it.

The big man’s grin broadened. “She’s doing well as always. Can you believe she wants me to take her skydiving for her ninetieth birthday this April?”

“Really? Wow! Good for her.”

“Yup. She said that if President George Bush could do it at ninety, so could she.”

Clarissa chuckled. “Well, better her than me. You couldn’t pay me to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.”

“That’s what my dad said when she invited him to jump with us. She stuck her tongue at him and called him chicken. I swear, the woman is a hoot.”

“She sure sounds like it. I hope I’m just like her when I hit ninety, God willing, but I’ll find somewhere safe on the ground to celebrate.”

“If I’m still around, too, I’ll expect an invite.” He gestured for her to enter the club. “Anyway, have a good time tonight. There’s still plenty of time before things start—you have about forty minutes.”

“Thanks.”

After passing the door he held open for her, she turned left and entered the stairwell that led to the locker rooms. She greeted several more people in the women’s lounge as she put her coat, purse, and phone in a locker. No electronic devices were allowed inside the club. She then swapped her high heels for ballet slippers, which most subs wore unless they preferred to go barefoot. Since only plastic bottles of water were allowed in the pit, as the downstairs play area was called, and the garden, which was in a new addition upstairs, no one had to worry about broken glass while walking around.

Leaving the locker room, she returned to the bar where numerous Doms and subs milled around, chatting. Several smiled and waved at her, while others greeted her with a hello and small talk. She acknowledged each person, referring to the Doms by the title they preferred, while she eyed her surroundings, trying to spot Luna. Not seeing her, Clarissa moved through the crowd and accidentally bumped into a man, knocking herself off balance. “Oh, excuse me, Sir.”

He grasped her arm to steady her. “Hello, Clarissa.”

Oh shit. Well, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know he would be there that night. Mitch Sawyer was one of the owners and managed the club. He was also the one who’d threatened her with a suspension if she ever caused another ruckus like she did at the inaugural Slot Scene Spectacular when Landon had pulled her name out of the bucket. She’d gone into a rage and refused to scene with him. It hadn’t been pretty, and she’d regretted her vile words and actions as soon as she’d left the club. Not because of Landon, but all the other members had been subject to and disturbed by her loud ranting.

“Good evening, Master Mitch,” she said sweetly, hoping she wasn’t about to get a lecture. She’d apologized to him and the other two owners the week following that embarrassing event and endured a public punishment for her behavior. Thankfully, Landon hadn’t been there that night. It had been humiliating enough to have every Dom in the club paddle her ass while she’d been strapped to a spanking bench on the small elevated stage in the middle of the pit. She couldn’t sit comfortably for almost three days after that, but she deserved it. Subs were supposed to show the utmost respect for Doms in a club, even if it was a cheating ex-husband.

The handsome, dark-haired man, who was only a few years younger than her, gently tugged on her elbow, drew her to the side, away from everyone else, and lowered his voice. “Listen, I know you’re signed up for tonight’s event. I’m warning you right now—if you cause a scene like last time, you’ll be banned from the club. Understand?”

Her jaw dropped, and her head snapped back at his hardened tone and words. Even though he was a Dom through and through, it was rare for Master Mitch to be that stern and serious without a reason. Usually, it was his cousin Ian who made every submissive in the club shiver with apprehension with his unyielding authority as the head Dom. She thought she’d been forgiven for her actions after her public punishment and hadn’t had any issues with the club manager since, so she had no idea what had prompted his threat. It was like he almost expected her to cause another scene. “What? I?—”

His eyes narrowed. “Is. That. Understood, subbie?”

“Y-yes, Sir, I understand.”

“Good. Remember that in a few minutes.”

He released her arm, spun around, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Clarissa gaping after him. What the hell?

Okay, so she had been out of control at the first Slot Scene Spectacular. But it wasn’t really her fault. Landon had been there, and they’d gotten paired up by a stroke of Fate. Seriously. What had the chances been of that happening so soon after their divorce while she’d still been licking her wounds? At least she didn’t have to fret about that this time since Landon was in New Mexico. The Covenant’s owners had nothing to worry about tonight.

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. She still had time to kill before the event started, and when she spotted a few submissive friends standing together, she headed in that direction. As much as she wanted to have a drink right then, she never had alcohol before playtime because sometimes it upset her stomach. The last thing she needed in the middle of a scene was to puke on some poor Dom’s shoes.

CHAPTER 4

LANDON

Thank God for the vast expanse and thick crowd separating them. Clarissa still hadn’t spotted him from across the balcony that circled the second floor and overlooked the pit below. Landon watched as the club’s manager pulled her aside for a moment. He could see her face, and she was clearly shocked by whatever Mitch had said to her. Probably a similar warning to the one he’d given Landon a short time ago—get into a shouting match with his ex-wife in the middle of the club or cause any other chaos, and he’d be banned from The Covenant.

Damn, Clarissa looked gorgeous. She always had and always would, in his opinion. He’d already seen some of her earlier movies before working on their first production together and thought she was a phenomenal and stunning actress. Pictures of her on screen, the internet, and the front covers of tabloids in the market checkout aisles never did her justice. One needed to be in her presence to see and appreciate Clarissa James’s beauty. The woman lit up an entire room whenever she walked in. In all the time he’d known her, he’d never heard her act snobbish or be mean to anyone, including the paparazzi and blue-collar workers she came across, as some other celebrities could. Of course, if someone gave her a valid reason to be pissed, she would unleash the hounds of hell on them—himself included. But it was rare for that side of her to emerge. The public adored her, and she always remembered where she came from and how she’d once been a small fish in the huge ocean that was Hollywood. Landon had seen her take several actors and actresses under her tutelage and mentor them, asking for nothing else in return but hard work and for them to pay it forward. In fact, she’d served on the Screen Actor’s Guild board for several years and was still active in numerous charities that she’d been involved in long before Landon met her. She was the most generous and humble woman he’d ever known, except when it came to him as of late. Hopefully, he could change that tonight.

While she always insisted she didn’t remember it, Clarissa and Landon were introduced at a big gala before working together. Granted, at the time, hundreds of people were at the event, and she’d already been a well-known starlet while he’d still been struggling to climb the ladder of Hollywood success stories. It was another two years before they found themselves on the set of My Someday and fell in love during the course of filming what would become an award-winning movie. It’d been a whirlwind romance, and Landon was grateful for every second of his life that he’d spent with her. If only he could get them back on track so they could have many more wonderful years together.

---