Page 25 of Connor

I wound up looking in every area, dreading the idea of seeing Jared doing a scene with some good-looking sub. I knew it was ridiculous and I certainly had no claim on him, but I felt that way nevertheless. I thought I saw him once, looking broad shouldered and gorgeous on the far side of the room. He was standing in the Dungeon area, not doing anything in particular, and talking with another man, but it was so dark I couldn’t be sure.

I didn’t really want him to see me—well, I did, but it sounded less needy and desperate to say that, at least in my own head—so I agreed to go with Cruz to the bar area to sit at the tables and get a drink.

Right away, we attracted attention. We’d found a place to sit in the bar area in a sofa grouping, and several men wearing what looked like black latex came over and sat down with us. They looked us over like used car salesmen eyeing new customers, but Cruz set them straight.

“Sorry, sir,” he said to one of them who wanted to buy us a drink. “But I have a Dom. We’re just here for a drink.”

“What about your friend?”

“He’s a guest.”

“I’d love to show him around.”

“Master Spencer may not like that.”

I whipped my head around to look at Cruz in surprise. The three men did too.

“Master Spencer? Does this sub belong to him?”

“Something like that. I’d leave him alone if I were you.”

Cruz got up, pulled me to my feet and sashayed over to the bar, with me trailing along after him. “Cruz,” I whispered fiercely. “Why did you say that?”

“To get rid of them. It worked, didn’t it? Stay here while I get us a drink.” He parked me on a stool at the end of the bar and walked down to the end where the bartender was serving some other people. He spoke something to him in rapid Spanish, and the bartender smiled and nodded. Then Cruz leaned over the bar and grabbed a bowl of pretzels to bring back with him.

“I used to work at the bar,” he explained when he sat down beside me again. “It’s where I first met Papi.”

“Is that why you stopped working there?”

“Not exactly. He never asked me to or anything. But I go to college full time at Georgia State to get my master’s degree, and it was getting harder to keep up with my work and have a relationship and a full-time job, so something had to go. When Master Michael asked me to move in, I said yes. He likes me to spend my evenings at home with him when we don’t go out.”

The bartender arrived then with our drinks—a Mojito for Cruz and a glass of Proseco for me. I had just taken a big sip of mine when a voice at my ear said, “How many of those have you had?”

I turned to see Jared standing there, leaning against the bar and looking at me disapprovingly. He was wearing leather pants tucked into what looked like biker boots. He had on a dark shirt and a leather jacket too. He was so beautiful it made my teeth ache just to look at him, and so haughty and cruel he might have been some prince from a Grimm's fairy tale. Or maybe the cruel huntsman, who came to take Snow White out in the forest to kill her. Hell, if the Huntsman looked anything like Jared, she’d probably volunteered.

“Hello? Connor?” He snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Are you having one of your spells again?”

“Huh?”

He smiled at me, and it changed his whole face. “The ones where you seem to go into a trance. How many drinks have you had?”

“This is my first one.”

He raised one eyebrow like he didn’t know whether or not to believe me, but Cruz chimed in and backed me up. “It’s just our first drink, sir. We haven’t been here long.”

“Is Connor here as your guest?”

“Yes, sir. He’s interested in joining.”

Again, the eyebrow rose. “Are you?”

“I can’t afford the membership fee right now. But maybe someday.”

He reached out and tucked a stray curl over my ear. “We can work something out if you’re interested.”

“When you say, ‘work something out,’ do you mean sex? Because, if you do, then sign me up.”

He tapped my cheek. Maybe a little harder than I’d expected. “Behave yourself. And be careful in here. It’s crowded tonight, and we’ve had a recent influx of new members. I haven’t had an opportunity to see them all in action yet. Just stay clear of the back areas, and you should be fine.”

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