Page 15 of Ruin Me, Daddy

Awesome!! Frankie will be there, too, if that’s okay.

The more the merrier.

Perfect. Meet you at seven?

Sounds like a plan.

Ahhh, yay! I’m so excited. But, um, seriously. Don’t tell Braden. He’ll totally have my ass if he finds out I snuck onto his computer to get your number.

Your secret’s safe with me.

With her plans made, she tucked the rest of her emotional support desserts in the fridge and headed for the bathroom. Even if she wasn’t going specifically to see Ice, he would still be there, and if there was one thing she was almost as good at as drumming, it was making a big fucking impression.

Ice

“Fuck. Are you sure your trainer is even human?” Rolling his head to the side, Ice pressed a hand against the growing ache in his shoulder.

“Absolutely not,” Beckett said with a grin as he rubbed at his stomach. They’d finished their workout an hour ago and were now seated in one of the plush booths at Club BDE, but the aches lingered. “She’s definitely a demon sent from some torture dimension who has a preference for rich little shits like us.”

“Why do you sound so fucking cheerful about it?”

Beckett shrugged. “She gets results.”

There was no denying that. Ice was in the best shape of his life after just a couple months of training with Beckett’s demon-trainer. And that was after he’d spent almost a month binge-drinking himself into oblivion before Beckett had hauled his sorry ass up out of the bourbon lake he’d been rather successfully drowning himself in.

Saying Beckett had saved his life would just serve to piss the other man off. But it was the truth, and Ice made a point not to forget it.

“Hopefully your arm isn’t too sore.” Smirking, Beckett raised his water glass in a toast. “It’s auction night.”

“I already told you, I’m not bidding.” Even if he’d been weak enough to give into Beckett’s needling, just knowing Silver was on the same coast was enough to put a damper on any desire he might have to scene with someone else.

“Spoilsport.”

Ice gave a noncommittal hum as his gaze scanned the crowd upstairs. It was a bit thicker than usual, even for a Friday night, likely due to the auction.

Knowing how much that had to be pissing off Braden brightened his mood considerably.

Right up until his gaze landed on a familiar set of multi-colored curls bobbing through the crowd. She was wearing her hair up tonight, like she did when she was prepared for some serious play. Red crept into the edges of his vision and before he knew what he was doing he was up out of his seat, shoving his way through the sea of people.

He reached her just as she and her entourage claimed a booth. Frankie and Lottie slid onto one bench, but he grabbed Silver’s arm, forcing himself not to think about how smooth her skin felt beneath his fingers as he hauled her to him.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Fear flickered in her eyes, just for a moment, but it was enough to have guilt and self-hatred joining in the riot of emotions churning in his gut. Then the fear was gone, replaced by a fiery defiance that had his cock aching inside his suddenly too-tight leathers. “Having dinner with my friends. Let go.”

She jerked against his hold, but he couldn’t have released her even if he’d wanted to. His fingers were locked tight of their own will. “Why are you dressed like that?”

The fire in her eyes turned to confusion as she glanced down at her dress. The one she always wore to clubs, with the slits clear up to the hips, giving a man access to all those sweet, forbidden parts of her. “Dressed like what?”

“Like you’re ready to play.”

“Ice, I’m wearing the same goddamn thing I wear all the time.”

Because it was true, and the fury he’d felt when he’d first spotted her was slowly giving way to the realization he might have overreacted, he loosened his grip, but not enough for her to pull away. “Your hair is up.”

The look she gave him was full of such feminine scorn he wondered how it didn’t reduce him to ash right on the spot. “If you must know, it’s up because I’m between wash days and the curls were looking a little lifeless this evening. No other reason.”

“Oh.” Jesus. He knew that. He knew everything about her routines. And if he’d taken a few minutes to think about it, he probably would have come to that realization on his own.

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