Page 33 of Take Me, Sir

Kyndall

When I leftDean's hotel room, I doubted I'd see him again unless we happened to be invited to the same place, and it'd be easy enough to avoid each other there. It didn't matter how much I'd enjoyed having sex with him, he'd crossed a line, sticking his nose into my business.

I'd never imagined that he'd show up at my apartment a few hours later and apologize. He hadn't struck me as the sort who'd apologized very often, but he'd been sincere. I'd seen that much in his eyes.

And then he'd asked me out on a date. Said he wanted to see if there could be more to us than only sex. He'd looked almost as surprised to be saying it as I'd been to hear it. I still wasn't entirely sure what'd prompted me to say that I'd go...if he took me to the sex club where he and his friends went.

Friends that included my brother.

I'd said that I wanted more than a taste of his world, and that was the truth, but I was still shocked at his request. The rush I'd gotten, having him in charge, had been heady, almost as much as knowing that he'd stop with just a single word from me. For the first time, I understood the appeal of a Dom / Sub relationship, and I wanted to know more.

Going to a club that I knew my brother and his wife were members of, however, wasn't the best idea, and I knew it. That was the part I hadn't thought through. Or maybe I had. Maybe a part of me wanted to see how serious Dean was about this relationship he said he wanted. A good way to prove that was to go in public together.

A better way was to see if Dean would be willing to take me somewhere my brother could see us together and know what we were doing. It was a risk, especially since neither of us knew if this thing between us was worth the possibility of making things more tense between Dalton and me. But Dean seemed to think it was worth the risk, and so did I, which was why I was standing in front of my mirror right now, wondering if what I was wearing was appropriate for going to dinner and then going to a sex club.

A laugh bubbled up inside me, but it was more from nerves than anything else. I was confident in how I looked, and I'd put myself into unfamiliar situations all the time. Hell, I'd walked into a poker game with men a decade older than me, and it hadn't phased me. Now, though, I was going somewhere that all of my brains and abilities couldn't help me.

Damn if I was going to let Dean see any of that though.

I'd chosen one of the few dresses I'd bought for going out, and while it wasn't anything fancy, it showed off all my assets in the best possible way.

Well, the best possible without me being in lingerie or naked. I didn't care what kind of club we were going to, I wasn't into public displays of indecency. Exhibitionism definitely wasn't one of my things. I might not know exactly all of what I'd like, but that was one I'd set some limits on.

There was a knock at the door, so I took a deep breath and picked up my purse. I'd asked for him to do this, and I wasn't going to back out now, even if it meant I didn't eat much at dinner.

* * *

By the timewe arrived at the club, I was glad I'd managed to eat at least a little because I'd also had two glasses of merlot, and while I wanted to be loose, I didn't want to be too buzzed. Dean and my conversation at the restaurant had been light, the sort of things any couple on a first date might've talked about. It felt a little strange to be talking so plainly, to hold hands, after the two of us had already spent quite a bit of time in bed together, but not nearly as strange as it felt to walk through a heavy set of doors and not know what to expect on the other side.

My initial impression was that it was fairly normal. Club music played, a little more sensual and less techno than the clubs I'd been to in the past, but not a jarring difference. The first few people who walked past looked pretty normal too. No leather or chains...

Until another couple passed by wearing nothing but leather and chains, and the fabric covering only the barest of essentials.

Dean released my hand, moving his to the small of my back. His fingers brushed against the bare skin, tracing trails of fire that made me shiver. He leaned a little closer and put his lips against my ear.

“You all right, love?”

I nodded. I could do this. I wanted to do this.

Suddenly, I felt him tense, and I knew things were going to get seriously awkward. I followed his line of sight and let out a small sigh of relief when I saw Cross and Hanna coming toward us. I could tell the moment they recognized me because their eyes widened, and they both tried to act like they weren't sneaking looks at each other, and failing.

“Kyndall, right?” Cross said as he held out a hand.

“Hi.” I shook his hand, then Hanna's. When I had kids, I could only hope I got my figure back as quickly as she was regaining hers. “You look amazing.”

She smiled, increasing the resemblance to her sister. “Juliette mentioned you'd decided to stay in LA.” Her eyes flicked over to Dean, and I knew she was wondering if he was the reason why.

“I'd been thinking about moving back to the West Coast after graduation and decided LA was a better fit than farther north,” I explained.

“I completely understand that,” she said. “Sometimes we just need to get away from all the expectations and pressure, no matter how much we love our family.”

“Exactly.”

I'd forgotten about Juliette telling me how she and Hanna both had felt the need to get away from the town in Ohio where they'd grown up. Juliette had come out west first, with Hanna following last year. I gave her a harder look, wondering if she was just young-looking or if we were closer in age than I'd originally thought. After all, marriage and a child didn't always mean older.

“Speaking of family...” Cross said, his gaze moving across the crowd.

Dean's hand shifted, and for a moment, I thought he was going to move away from me. Then it settled again, his thumb making circles against my spine, as if he was silently apologizing for the hesitation.

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