Page 8 of Dance for Me

He lifted one broad shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Been called worse.”

“I bet.”

Braun frowned as his phone signaled a security alert. The doors were unlocked as both he and Liam were inside the club, but he’d left the alerts on so he knew who was on the property in the hours before official opening.

He’d renovated the small farm on the outskirts of Phoenix to his exact specifications. The farmhouse was his personal space and off limits to members, but the rest of the farm was utilized for play purposes. With three buildings and five acres of land designed to keep his clientele happy, he’d had a lot of fun—and frustrations—coming up with fresh ideas.

Like the corn maze in summer. Setting the subbies loose with a headstart into the sheer acreage of twisting corridors and dead ends was great fun, especially when it was booby-trapped with a whole host of Dominants on the inside and a team of pursuing Masters on the submissives’ heels.

Being thirty minutes outside the city limits meant very few visitors just popped by on a whim. Privacy and member safety were his top priority.

“Want me to go check it out?” Liam asked, recognizing the alert.

Braun smiled and wondered if his errand earlier that day had paid off already. He ran his tongue over his teeth and shook his head. “Nope. Door’s open if they want to come in.” He glanced around idly. Most of the hardcore equipment was in the other barns, although there were a few questionable items of BDSM furniture in here if someone looked carefully enough. “The other areas are still locked up tight. If we’ve got a snoop, they won’t find anything to write home about.”

“Your call.” Liam picked up his cloth and resumed polishing the remaining glasses still waiting for attention. “Thanks for the talk, Braun. Maybe I’ll pay Bodie a visit tomorrow.”

Braun’s lips twitched as he heard the main door squeak open. With one eye on the entryway, he waited. Normally the doors to the sign-in area were closed but through the day, he liked to have the main doors and inner doors propped open while his cleaning crew were busy to let fresh air sweep through. The main doors were shut when the crew left in the early afternoon, and the internal doors closed before opening hours.

A small figure eased into view, looking timid and radiating nerves.

“Don’t think that’s gonna be necessary, boy.” Braun lifted his drink, sipped slowly as the woman inched into the club bit by bit. Raising his voice, he called out, “C’mon in, little one. We don’t bite.”

There was a soft gasp as she recognized his voice, clever little minx. “You!”

“Boadicea? What are you doing here?” The love and surprise in Liam’s voice was lovely to hear. No matter what had been said in frustration, the boy’s feelings toward his friend hadn’t changed in the slightest. “I’ve tried calling you, messaging you, but...wait, you know Braun? What the hell?”

Braun didn’t move a muscle, waiting to see what the shy mouse would do next. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she struggled to cast off the nerves and stand tall enough to exhibit some degree of confidence.

Liam was right; she wasn’t a naturally confident individual.

“I-I’m not here to see you.” The words were shaky, but she managed to spit them out. Her footfalls were tentative, quiet on the wooden floor, which told Braun she knew how to tread so she wouldn’t be noticed. Too bad for her she was already on his radar. “I came to find the man who gave me something earlier, and he’s sitting right there.”

“What did you do, Fitzpatrick?”

Smiling quietly, Braun cocked his head. “You’ve been a miserable bastard, William, for a fortnight. Members have expressed their concerns and I decided it was time for one of you two to make a move toward reconciling this shitshow. So, I paid a visit to your ballerina over here and left the rest to chance.”

Bodie had come close enough for the scent of blueberries and lilies to drift on the air. Not strongly, it was quite faint, and didn’t quite mask the odor of despair. “Why did you do this?”

He looked at her then, turning his head to rake his gaze over her. It only took him ten seconds to assess she wasn’t in the best place. He scowled at her, almost pushing off his stool to yank her to him for closer inspection, but the way she shied back triggered his protective instincts. He stayed seated and lost the scowl. “Do what, little one?”

“This!” She thrust out a small hand with fingers he could easily nibble on. In her palm rested the bait he’d hooked her in with. “Is this a bribe?”

“Jesus,” Liam said softly. “How much money?”

Bodie’s eyes glanced toward the blond, Braun noticed, and the pain in them deepened before she wrenched her gaze away and locked it onto his. Pain morphed to feminine anger. “A thousand fucking dollars? What were you expecting me to do for that?”

Oh, she had some fire in her. He liked that. “Say thank you?”

Her mouth dropped open in shock as her eyes flared wide, that delicious blue turning confused. “T-Thank you?”

“Good girl,” he murmured in a praising tone and gained some satisfaction in seeing her blush prettily. Those two words cooled her temper considerably, although it was plain to see she was digging deep to find the source of her anger again. Liam had been correct when he said she had a lot of the damned stuff locked inside her. “You didn’t need to drive all the way out here to say thank you, but I appreciate the gesture.”

Bodie blinked. “I-I didn’t.”

“You didn’t drive? Hell, it’s a long fucking walk.” He masked his grin with his drink as she spluttered, bewildered. “Liam will drive you home when you’re ready to leave. It’ll be dark soon and it’s not safe for a lone female to be wandering the roads by herself.”

“I—no. I drove here but I didn’t come to say thank you. I came to give you this back!” Damn if she didn’t nearly stomp her little foot in a temper tantrum. She shoved the money toward him again, keeping her distance. “Here, take it. I don’t need anything from anyone. I can’t accept this.”

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