Page 220 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“Did she see you? So what if she did? I’ve never understood your… Zara, do I need to call Thom back after I take my belt to your backside? No, I didn’t think so. As I was saying, I’ve never understood why you didn’t want anyone at the firm to know you rodeo in your off time.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s all caught up in my sordid family history—the whole drunken cowboy kills championship barrel-racing mother and then himself, leaving toddler in their horse trailer to die.” Thom shook himself. He really didn’t want to get into that right now. “I just don’t want to have to explain my pull to the rodeo every time I want to ride. In any event, it wasn’t just today. I’m beginning to think Avery has known for a long time.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Remember that bullfighter I pointed out to you, Casey the Clown? The one who seemed able to read rough stock like very few others, but never spoke?”

“Yeah, the one with the horn? God, he was a kick in the ass… crazy and put himself in real danger but entertaining as hell to watch.”

“Well, Casey isn’t ahe. Casey is ashe, and I’ll bet you every buckle I’ve won that particularsheis Avery.”

Thom let that sink in. Noah was closer to Avery than anyone. Or at least, she always seemed to tolerate Noah’s interfering in her life far better than anyone else’s, including his own.

“Are you seriously telling me that reckless idiot clown is actually Avery? That’s enough, Zara, it isn’t funny.”

“Oh, but it is,” Zara chimed in, though Thom could barely hear her. “All you big, brawny, studly security operatives might be good when it comes to looking at other people, but not one ofyou noticed that the rodeo clown was a girl. Ha! That is way too rich. Well played, Avery, well played.”

From the tone of Noah’s growl, Thom doubted if Zara would be in for an easy time the rest of tonight. He doubted if his friend had been joking about Zara getting welted before she got laid, either.

“One and the same, I’m afraid. And today she could have been killed. She went one-on-one with one of the most dangerous bulls on the circuit.”

“Why the hell did you let her do that?” snapped Noah.

“I didn’tlether do anything. By the time I knew it was a woman, much less Avery, it was over and done and she’d hightailed it out of here.”

“Then you track her down and jerk a knot in her tail.”

“She doesn’t see me that way…”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but it’s up to you to make her see you that way.”

“She isn’t submissive…”

“You think Zara is? Or Finn? Or Willa?” Noah chuckled, referring to the other women in committed relationships to the men in their firm. “Hell, no, they’re not. But it doesn’t mean they don’t need someone stronger and tougher to take the lead and lift some of life’s burdens from their shoulders. How much do you really know about Avery?”

“I’m a hacker,” Thom dryly reminded. “I know everything.”

“No,” Noah said with a sigh, “you don’t. Shit, you and I should have had this conversation a long, long time ago. Avery has, in my not-so-humble opinion, an enormous need for a good, strong, decent man in her life. You know that she hasn’t been in a relationship in years, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you know why?”

“I just figured she was busy…”

“And doing without? Not without good reason. The last time she got involved, the guy was a wannabe dom with a bad temper and a mean streak. Avery used to play in some of the same clubs Croft and I did. She hooked up with this asshole and got herself in a jam. She eventually got a message out to me, but by the time I located her, she was hanging by her wrists from a rafter. He’d taken a cat-o-nine tails to her. She had open cuts on every part of her body, and he wasn’t the only guy there. He’d shared her. There was cum dripping from her ass and cunt.”

“Jesus, Noah, why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I promised Avery I wouldn’t tell anyone. In exchange, she let me take care of her while she healed, and I was able to get her some help.” Through the phone, Thom heard Zara’s soft-spoken reaction to what Noah was saying. She must have left the corner to comfort the resident badass of the Wild Mustang team, because Noah’s next words were slightly muffled. “It’s okay, baby, it was a couple of years ago.”

“I’m not like you or Croft,” Thom said. “Hell, I’m not like Mac or even John…”

“No, you’re a whole different kind of dominant… the kind that Avery needs. A man who is strong enough to keep her in line, set rules for her, and help her to achieve her dreams and goals. A more nurturing kind of dom—one that will take care of her and treat her right. Hate to break it to you, buddy, but you aren’t the only one we know who’s had an abysmal childhood.”

“You really think she needs a daddy dom?” Thom asked, trying and failing not to let that small flicker of hope ignite inside him at the thought of Avery submitting to his voice and his hand.

“As I understand that term, yes,” Noah said with a sigh. “It sounds to me like Avery needs you to step out of your comfort zone as her nerdy big brother and into what she really wants and needs.”

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