Page 55 of Under His Command

Chapter 13

Standing just insidethe door, watching Flynn move around one of the small, private dungeons upstairs, Cassie felt a lump form in the pit of her stomach. It shouldn’t be this way, not with the man she trusted more than anyone, who was the love of her life, the only one with the power to make her heart race with a glance and set her body on fire with the anticipation of a kiss.

But it wasn’t him, or even the room, which looked like any other dungeon anywhere. Gray slate-colored tiles on the walls and ceiling gave the impression of a medieval castle. Wrought iron sconces with flickering lights cast shadows around the room, eyebolts protruded from the walls at different intervals and heights for cuffs, ropes, or chains, and a wooden set of stocks stood in one corner. There was even a padded bondage table in the center of the room resembling a rack, but none of that bothered her all that much. No. It was something else.

This was their first visit to the club since their wedding six weeks earlier. She’d become Commander Flynn Dalton’s wife on a perfect spring evening in an intimate ceremony with immediate family and close friends only in attendance. The base chaplain, a friend of the groom from way back, had done the officiating.

Cassie had strung white lights around the arbor where they said their vows, and the only flowers, other than her small fresh-cut bouquet, were the roses in the garden, which through her tender care were fragrant and in full bloom. Except for mowing the lawn and mulching four times a year, she had taken over the gardening—and loved every minute.

A beaming Jules had stood beside her, over the moon with happiness for her best friend, and Eric from the club had been Flynn’s best man. Roscoe, whom she had fallen for even faster than his master, looked dapper in his black bow-tie collar, and watched the proceedings from his place at their feet. Twenty in all had witnessed their vows of love and commitment to one another, including her parents who had driven down from San Francisco. Her dad had tears in his eyes when he gave her away, but they were happy ones. He and her mom were thrilled at the idea of Flynn for Cassie, deciding within minutes of meeting him.

Following the ceremony, they’d had a small reception with several rounds of champagne toasts, thanks to her boss, Director Foster, who sent a full case in congratulations. They served heavy hors d’oeuvres from a private caterer in nearby San Diego and a small two-tiered cake from the only bakery on the island.

It was perfect.

There hadn’t been a honeymoon, not yet. They’d both been too busy at work to take time off. With the success of the training simulators at Coronado, the Navy contracted five more sites around the country. A week after moving in with Flynn, they’d offered her the job as the consultant over all of them. She had graciously declined. It had taken thirty years to find the man of her dreams; she wasn’t about to leave him, or risk what they had in a long-distance relationship. He was in full agreement with her decision, although he’d let her come to it on her own.

With one of his instructors injured during a dive and out for eight weeks of rehabilitation, Flynn had his hands full. This left them even more shorthanded because another was already off on family leave for the birth of his first child—fatherhood coming at the late age of forty-two since he’d been running around the world serving his country during the two decades prior. A scenario Flynn could relate to. He and Cassie hoped to be in those same shoes shortly, since they both wanted to start a family right away.

With all this going on, neither saw any reason to put off making things official while they waited for the right time to escape on a romantic getaway. Besides, they lived on a resort island and could do touristy things anytime they wanted. The Pacific was only minutes away, they had miles of sandy beaches for romantic midnight strolls, and parks on practically every corner to picnic in, tons of seaside cafes to sample, or, they could simply stay home in bed.

With their schedules so hectic, they hadn’t found time to make the trip to LA on the weekends, either. Until now.

“Come here, Cassie.”

His deep voice in the near-empty room startled her from her thoughts so much that she jumped. He angled his head to the side the tiniest bit. His mannerism, a telltale sign of his concern, did not go unnoticed by her. It also was a warning sign the third degree would start in about three seconds.

“Is something wrong?” Flynn asked on cue. “You’re uneasy tonight.”

“I’m a little nervous, I guess.”

He closed the gap between them and gathered her hands in his, bringing first one then the other to his lips for a gentle kiss. Her man oozed charm so effortlessly.

“What’s there to be nervous about? We’ve played together many times.”

“Yes, but not here, not since the first time.” When he frowned, she rushed to say, “Not that it wasn’t wonderful, it was. Memorable, and so freaking fantastic I lost count of the number of orgasms you gave me that night—”

Two of his fingers on her mouth stopped her short. “You’re babbling, baby. What’s going on?”

The knot tightened as her eyes shifted behind him, but she didn’t want to spoil his plans, and said only, “Of course, you’re right. I’m being silly.”

“No. You’re jumpy, which isn’t like you, and I can feel the tension coming off you in waves. I need to know what this anxiety is about. Is it bad memories of a scene at a club you haven’t shared with me? The sights, sounds, and smells can be triggering. Is that what’s causing you to be on edge?”

“I visited a few clubs, but mostly I went to private play parties, and I had—” She stopped before she mentioned her first and only long-term dominant, other than Flynn. Peeping up at him, she noticed the muscle twitch in his clenched jaw. “Now you’re on edge. You don’t want to hear about the others.”

“If it prevents provoking something painful, I need to know whether or not I like it.”

“Nothing traumatic happened with him, I swear.”

It was the truth. In the three months she’d trained with Master Kendrick,they rarely left the house. He wasn’t very active in the community, and they only attended play parties twice.

Laughter drew her gaze to the open windows and the curious faces peering in. There were no panes of glass to muffle the sounds or obscure the view. The observers would not only see everything that went on but hear it, and clearly, since they stood only fifteen feet away. It reminded her of the observation habitats at the zoo, which made her the exhibit.

Flynn’s gaze followed where she looked. “You’ve never done a public scene, have you?”

Perceptive as always, he had figured her out right away. She shook her head.

“Every inch of you is beautiful, Cassie. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

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