Page 46 of Tested
“In a way, it was fucking amazing.” I catch my bottom lip in my teeth. “By the time they were done I mean, I was pretty fired up, or I would have been except for the bad parts.”
He’s looking at me carefully. “Do you want to play that way?”
Connor has never said much about the club, but now his reserve seems significant, so I throw the question back at him. “Do you?”
“Nah, I’m too old school for that. I like you and me and Trajan in the same bed, and that’s about as exotic as I get.”
“Did it bother you to see Trajan…like that?”
He leans against the table like he wants to dodge my question all together. “Not really. I mean, I understand why he needed more blood than we could provide.”
I verbalize the “But?” he’s leaving unsaid.
He scowls as if that one word cornered him. “Trajan had the club before he had me, you know? He asked me once if I wanted to go with him. I did, and it was….awkward. He’s never asked me again, and last night was the first time I volunteered.”
Okay, that’s weird as fuck. “You two were soulmates for how many years? And the whole time he runs a BSDM club and you’re not into it? How did that even work?”
“He didn’t have much to do with the place, except to write checks and sign off on the occasional order, and I was busy with—”
“With a job that you lied about to keep him safe or whatever. You two.” I give the towel a yank to keep it from sliding off my ass. “Here I’ve been freaking out over sticking myself in the middle of your true love sitch, and you two didn’t know each other at all.”
His expression shifts through several stages of surprise and anger and settles on something I can’t read.
“You’re not sticking yourself anywhere, David Collins. Right now you’re the glue that’s holding us together.”
I don’t know what the hell to do with that, so I leave it alone. I mean, I’ve known Trajan occasionally plays at his own club. Hell, he’d damned near jacked me off in public the first time we went there. I also sensed that it was sort of an unmentionable topic with Connor.
And…I slide a glance at Connor. Curious about how he’ll react, I push him a little. “I might like to hang out there some.”
He startles, like he’s forgotten I’m there. “You want to get tied up?”
“Oh no.” I let my grin turn feral. “I might want to be the one tying guys up, if you know what I mean. Sheena and Trajan were sexy as fuck.”
Fortunately/unfortunately, his phone chirps with an incoming text. It’s probably a good thing, because while teasing Connor is fun, I’m not sure what I’d do if he decided to tell Sheena I want to be a Dom when I grow up. I mean, never say never, but I’m pretty good with the deal we have now.
So I file Connor’s unspoken disapproval and my own potential interest away in a place I can examine them later. For a guy who’s always on us to discuss our relationship, Connor sure keeps a lot of secrets.
“It’s Smith. They’ve found another victim, and he wants us to meet him there.”
I check the time. “I want to be back before Trajan rises.”
For a second I wonder if Connor’s going to argue with me. He’s giving his phone a tight frown, but after a moment he meets my gaze. “Sure. Cut out whenever you need to.”
“Can we take an Uber?” If he’s in a humor-David mood, I may as well work it. “I’m not riding in that cheap-ass Taurus rental.”
Connor rolls his eyes. “Get dressed. I’ll get us a ride.”
I mock-glare at him, shaking my finger. “It better be something decent.”
“It will be.”
I head for the stairs, sniffing my pits as I go. I could probably stand a shower, but I’m not sure if there’s time.
Besides, the murder victim won’t care if I smell.
In less than an hour, our Uber – a late model Honda Accord saturated with the smell of cigarettes and fake pine air freshener – drops us on the campus of UCLA near the botanical garden. I’m basically wheezing by the time we get there, and Connor has the good sense not to point out how much better the Taurus smells.
We enter the garden through the main entrance and, according to Smith, it’s a short hike to the pavilion.
