Page 30 of Under His Command

“Ah, Red, how disappointing,” he drawled, leaning in closer, his gorgeous eyes twinkling mischievously. “I was hoping for a different answer entirely.”

That’s when it hit her. Flynn didn’t know who she was. The wig and mask were doing their job, just as Colt and Jules predicted. Not to mention he probably never considered the computer geek from the simulator at work would ever dare set foot in his club. While she sighed inwardly, her relief palpable, she also felt a sharp pang in her chest. He was hitting on her in disguise, but as herself, hadn’t so much as flirted.

Cassie quickly averted her gaze, to be sure he wouldn’t recognize her eyes. Softly, she snorted at her immense ego as if anything about her were so memorable.

“Would you like to dance with the teacher, pet?”

She wanted to, badly, but didn’t dare risk it. “Um, I’m not a very good dancer, sir.” As she gave her excuse, she pitched her voice lower to disguise it, just in case.

“I saw that mishap earlier,” he said without pause. “That was his fault, Red, not yours. And you don’t have to be a good dancer if you have the right partner. Besides, it’s almost midnight, and you need a fifth.”

Her head came up with a puzzled expression.

He lifted her wrist, and with a head tilt, indicated the remaining ribbon on her bracelet. Claiming the last one for himself, he tucked it into his jacket pocket and, without waiting for her consent, took her hand, and pulled her out onto the dance floor.

Turning her into his arms, he pulled her in close, his body pressed against hers from chest to knees, as a slow song started to play. She should have known by the way he moved, fluid and self-confident, that he would dance the same way. He made it seem effortless, swaying and turning her in sync to the seductive beat.

Once, he spun her out to arm’s length then rewound her, catching her against his hard body, pressed together so tightly, daylight wouldn’t pass between them from breast to groin. Later, at a perfect point in the song, he dipped her low, his face hovering above hers so close, their lips almost touched.

It was something out of a dream, only the reality of it was so much better.

She absorbed every moment, should it never come again, which it wouldn’t. It couldn’t. Not at the risk of her job. Or worse, the look of disappointment on his face when he learned the curvy, naughtily dressed, redheaded submissive in his arms was merely Cassie, the girl genius, his strictly-in-the-friend-zone lunch partner every other Friday.

Blinking back tears, she swayed in sync with him, her face buried in his neck, feeling his pulse against her temple. She savored the roughness of his scruff-covered jaw against her cheek and breathed in his clean, masculine scent.

He guided her through a turn with his hands low on her back and one of his legs between hers. In her short skirt, his black, denim-clad thigh rubbed against the thin cotton barrier between him and her pussy. It would be so easy to give in to her desire, especially with the thick length of his arousal pressed against her lower belly, proof he wanted her.

She tried not to get caught up in the masquerade, telling herself to guard her heart. He’d had ample opportunity to show an interest in the real Cassandra Hardwick, but hadn’t. This one dance would have to be enough.

And despite the Flynn-induced sexual fog surrounding her, a question—a big one—kept nagging at her. What about his girlfriend? The game was for available doms and subs. His participation implied he was free and looking. Perhaps she’d been wrong about the black-haired beauty, but if she was right, what did it say about the man she thought she knew?

She never imagined the upstanding, trustworthy commander being dishonest, or a cheater. But here he was with her, only two days after being cozied up with another. She imaginedevery available sub in the dungeon would jump at the chance to be with him. If he only wanted a submissive for one night, why go to all this trouble? Her mind reeled in confusion, and although she had a million questions swirling in her head, she couldn’t ask any of them.

As the slow song melded into one with a faster tempo, he kept pace, moving them across the floor in a series of intricate steps. She followed without knowing how and found he was right. With him as a partner, she didn’t need to know how.

When the next tune bled into another, she barely noticed because as the minutes passed, his hands became bolder. They left her hips to stroke up her sides to the curve of her breasts then swept down her back, moving over her skirt. Without reservation, his fingers slid lower, tracing the lace edge of her stockings and the bare skin above them. Her heart nearly stopped when he dipped her again, and one hand curled around her knee, bending it high on his hip. Once propped there, his fingertips moved beneath her hem and traced along the edges of her ruffled panties. Before she could think, or speak, or contain her runaway heart, his hand slipped beneath the elastic at the leg, and he palmed her bare bottom.

Cassie almost orgasmed on the spot. He didn’t linger, however, and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe because the music changed, or he wanted to tease her more, or because it was unseemly to make your first-time partner come in the middle of a crowded dance floor, even in a no-holds-barred sex club like Decadence. But he only curled his fingers and gave her ass cheek a firm squeeze before he stood, bringing her up with him.

Their dance resumed. With hips aligned, Flynn in a half crouch and bringing her up on her toes, making it possible. As such, his erection nudged the gusset of her panties, which in her aroused state was so much worse than having his hand on her bare ass.

Her already hard nipples tightened even more and her clit, which had been tingling since he’d first taken her hand in his, throbbed with need. This close, he must be able to feel her heat and the dampness of the thin cotton. Cassie ground her hips against him, not caring in that moment about crowds, or the roles they played, or beautiful girlfriends, or work on Monday. She was mindless to everything other than Flynn, and her need to come.

“Your attention, please.”

The music ended abruptly at the interruption. Cassie bit back a scream of frustration. She was so damn close.

He relaxed his arms and turned them toward Master Eric, the tall, blond dominant who welcomed the newcomers in the entryway earlier. He now stood before the massive set of gothic doors that took up half of one wall.

“The moment you’ve all been eagerly awaiting has arrived,” he announced, sparking a murmur of excitement in the crowd. “Will the players in our masquerade please come forward?”

As the sheiks and harem girls, teachers and students, Tarzans and Janes made their way to the stage, cold reality sank into Cassie’s bones and quickly squelched her unsatisfied yearning. Like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight, her fantasy was nearing an end.

Frantically, she pulled away and began searching the faces around her for her friends. In the middle of the dance floor, and as short as she was, finding them would be next to impossible.

“Is something wrong, Red?”

“Yes,” she replied, still searching and deliberately avoiding looking at him. “I came with someone.”

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