Author: Roni Loren

I can do this, Kelsey reminded herself.

Surprisingly, despite the trauma with Davis, fear wasn’t at the forefront of her mind. She knew Colby wouldn’t physically harm her. There wasn’t even a doubt there about that. She was more knotted up about what this submission could open in her. She tried not to think of all the men she’d yielded to in her life. None of those relationships had been D/s based, but the blind trust had been there all the same. When she let her guard down, she could lose herself in a guy. Each time thinking this was going to be the one who didn’t fuck her over. And time and time again, she’d picked the wrong guy to grace with that hope.

Growing up, she’d thought it was her version of rebellion against her mother’s sour view of men. Her mom had told her and her sister to trust none of them, that men only did what was good for their dicks, their wallets, and their ego. But Kelsey had trundled along, reading her fairy tales and believing that she could create her own one day. And that silly girlish hope had only led her right down the path scarily close to the one her mother had ended up on. Kelsey had been used, taken advantage of, and belittled more times than she cared to remember. And now she was going to let another guy have control over her.

Even though logically she knew it was temporary and that Colby would rather cut off an arm before he ever hurt her, she was having trouble keeping her dread locked away.

She glanced at the clock and realized she had three minutes before she was due in the training room. I can do this, she repeated silently, and took a deep breath. In an hour, it’d be done. The hurdle crossed. All she needed to do was get past this first session, then it would get easier. Gathering up all the iron inside her, she straightened her spine, slipped on a silk robe and ballet flats, and headed out into the hallway. Reluctant or not, she wasn’t going to dare to be late.

Once she made her way down the hallway to the training area, Kelsey let herself in, shucked the robe and shoes, and kneeled down in the middle of the quiet room. Colby had left a kneeling pad on the floor and had made sure the temperature in the room was comfortable. Both were subtle messages to her that he wasn’t going to push her too hard this first time. But there was a blindfold sitting in front of the mat, proving that he wasn’t going to be that easy. She slipped on the blindfold, sat back on her legs, and laid her palms up on her bare thighs. Now she waited.

* * *

Grant Waters crossed his arms and eyed Wyatt before looking back to Jace. “Kelsey’s in a training session right now.”

“With who?” Jace asked. “Wyatt just needs to talk to her for a few minutes.”

“And Wyatt isn’t a member here,” Grant said, ignoring Jace’s question.

Jace groaned. “Come on, man. I signed him up for a membership a few months ago. You already have all his information and approved him back then. He just never took advantage of the gift. And you know I wouldn’t send anyone in who I didn’t trust to follow the rules. Wyatt knows how this works. He’s the one I learned from.”

Grant hooked his thumbs in his pocket, stared both of them down for a moment more, then softened his stance. “You’re lucky we’re friends, Austin. Because I would normally throw out a member for trying to pull this kind of last-minute shit.”

Jace smiled his most winning smile. “Aww, is that your way of telling me you love me best?”

Grant shook his head. “Poor Evan and Andre. How they put up with your cocky ass is a wonder.”

“They both happen to love my ass. And I, theirs.”

Grant let out a long, God-give-me-the-strength sigh and cocked his head toward the big door on the far side of the lobby. “Kelsey’s supposed to be working with Colby. If he left the viewing window open to the room, you’re welcome to observe. But don’t interrupt.” He looked to Wyatt, his gaze all business now. “If you want to talk to her, you wait for the scene to be done.”

Jace clapped Grant on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. ’Preciate it.”

Wyatt shook Grant’s hand and thanked him, but Wyatt could barely get the words out. They could go watch? Fuck. That. The thought of seeing Kelsey touch some other guy or worse, having that guy touch her, had a sick feeling gathering in Wyatt’s stomach. No way would he be able to stand by for that.

He caught up with his brother as Jace walked through a door that led from the main lobby into a hushed hallway. The dark maroon walls and soft scone lighting gave Wyatt the sense of entering into some other realm. He leaned over to his brother, keeping his voice low. “Jace, I can’t watch her with some other guy. I’ll want to—”

Jace gave him a knowing look. “That bad, huh?”

“Fuck.” Wyatt raked a hand through his hair, the wave of possessiveness more concerning than anything he’d felt about Kelsey thus far.

“Don’t worry,” Jace said. “I’ll look in first.”

Jace led him down another hallway and up a set of stairs until they ended up in a corridor lined with doors and windows. Jace walked ahead of him, peeking in and then waving Wyatt forward. “Come on, the rooms are soundproof, so no one can hear us.”

The first two rooms were empty, the third had two men and a woman in it—one guy fucking the girl from behind, the other guy fucking him. All their faces were twisted in the throes of ecstasy, and the lack of sound gave the sense of watching some porn flick on mute. Wyatt had never considered himself a voyeur, but the scene was kind of hard to turn away from. All that flesh.

“You all right, brother?” Jace asked as he turned to see what Wyatt was looking at. He smirked. “Ah, nice. Don’t think too hard on that one, though. I don’t want you traumatized.”

Wyatt looked back to his brother. “Why would I be— Ah, hell, never mind.”

Jace laughed. “Come on.”

Wyatt’s brother had revealed to him a few months ago that he’d fallen in love with not just a woman, but his best friend, Andre, too. Wyatt had been happy for Jace even though he knew a three-person relationship would be a tough journey to walk. And he’d been around the trio, saw the shared glances, the affectionate kisses. It’d been odd at first to see his brother kissing another guy, especially when Jace had been such a womanizer all his life. But the three of them were all so easy together, so loving, that it’d quickly become normal to Wyatt. However, he’d purposely not allowed his mind to travel to what all that involved behind closed doors. There were some things you didn’t want to imagine, and his brother having sex was one of them.

At the last door on the left, Jace peeked in the window and sent Wyatt a quick thumbs up. “Bingo. Found your girl.”

“She’s not my—”

“And you’re in luck, brother. She’s all alone. Looks like she’s still waiting on Colby.”

Relief sprung up in Wyatt like fucking daisies popping up around him. God, he was so damn screwed with this girl. “Can I get in?”

“Sure, the doors don’t lock here. But if she doesn’t want you in there, you’ll need to leave.” He nodded toward the other end of the hallway. “I’ll look out for Colby and explain what’s going on.”

Wyatt glanced back over his shoulder, expecting the other man to appear any second. He didn’t need to waste any time. Kelsey wasn’t going to like that he’d tracked her down here, but he had to see her again. And he hoped he could offer her a solution to both their problems.

But as he walked by his brother and saw the view through the window with his own eyes, all semblance of rational thought leaked out of his head into a puddle on the floor. Kelsey wasn’t in the domme position at all. She was kneeling quietly on a cushion with her head bowed and her long blonde ponytail hanging down her back, a blindfold covering those pretty blue eyes. A scant pair of panties curved over her slim hips, and her breasts were framed by a demi-cup bra that barely covered her nipples.

His cock nudged against his fly, all the blood in his body charging south. He’d imagined her so many times, what she’d look like stripped out of that waitress uniform. But the fantasy wasn’t even in the same zip code as reality. She was absolutely, unequivocally breathtaking. And though he’d beat the urges down for so long, the old dominance inside him rose up like a phoenix from the ashes—ravenous and seeking.

He wet his lips. “How do you block out these windows?”

Jace frowned. “Don’t go there, Wy. You’re only supposed to be talking to her. If Colby comes down here and sees the window darkened, he’s gonna come in.”

“Then keep him busy.” Wyatt turned the knob on the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him before Jace could say anything else. Deadly quiet surrounded him, augmenting the little catch in breath Kelsey gave at the click of the door.

Her lips parted as if to call out to whoever was there, but then, apparently remembering her role, she clamped them shut. She shifted her position slightly, her nerves evident. Wyatt glanced back through the window to find Jace sending him a warning look, but Wyatt ignored him and caught sight of the switch next to the window. Wyatt smiled, gave Jace a little finger wave, and flipped the switch. Instantly, the glass darkened, eventually reflecting only Wyatt’s image back at him.

He turned back around to look at Kelsey again, savoring the sight of her there on her knees. She looked so pristine, so lovely and lush. The stark overhead light caressed sun-kissed skin that called to be touched, tasted. A perfect gift perched there just for him.

No. Not for him. For some other guy, he reminded himself. The reality check made him flinch. This wasn’t fair to Kelsey. She hadn’t given her consent for him to see her this way. He cleared his throat. “Kelsey?”

She startled, her entire body stiffening. “Who’s there? Where’s Colby?”

Before he could respond, her hand went straight to her blindfold, yanking it off.

He held up his palms. “Kelsey.”

She blinked once, twice, then her eyes went round. “Wyatt?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to burst in on you like this.”

She glanced downward, as if remembering how little she was wearing, and scrambled to her feet. She reached for a robe on the bench behind her and wrapped it around herself with hasty movements. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?”

He stayed on the far side of the room, not wanting to make her retreat further. “I was worried about you, and no one could tell me where you were. I needed to see if you were okay. So I called in a favor to Jace.”

“Goddammit. He shouldn’t have told you anything.” Her whole face was flushed now. Part of it was clearly anger, but he also sensed shame there, embarrassment. “I didn’t want you to . . . This is not your business.”

He frowned, rubbing a hand over his jaw and feeling like a jackass for putting her in this position. “You’re right, it’s not. I’m overstepping bounds all over the place, but I had to see you. And God, to see you like this . . .”

Her expression turned pained, and she looked away. “Right. Like this. Guess you can let whatever shred of respect you had left for me go now.”

He took a tentative step closer, unable to resist the magnetic pull she always seemed to have on him. “Is that what you think? That I’ve lost respect for you? Kelsey, it’s taking everything I have not to haul you off to a private room and tie you to something so I can spend the rest of the night showing you exactly how I’d like to respect you.”

Her face whipped back his way, surprise morphing her features. “What?”

He peeked back at the closed door, hoping he still had a few minutes before being interrupted. “You’re not the only one with secrets.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and he could almost see when the awareness dawned.