by Measha Stone
“I don’t—”
“I’m Jamison Croft. When you order a drink, tell the bartender to put it on my tab. Unless you had other plans?” His left eyebrow arched.
“No—but I came with my friend, and I think I should stay with her.”
“Oh. Of course.” His gaze swept over to Jade then back again.
“It’s fine, Carissa,” Jade said. “I deal with my nerves better on my own anyway.”
Carissa nibbled her lower lip. She didn’t know him, and it was a little arrogant of him to walk up to her and claim her. Yet that little sensor inside her that warned her when a douchebag approached remained quiet.
“I really do need to get this crowd issue taken care of. If you’d like to have a drink with me, I’ll look for you over in the lounge.” He looked around once more and gave her shoulders a little squeeze.
Before he walked off again, he leaned down and whispered. “I’d prefer you didn’t have any liquor.”
She felt her brow crinkle. Presumptuous to boot!
“It’s of course up to you. I hope you’ll be there.” He gave her another squeeze and pushed through the crowd, heading toward what seemed to be the main offices of the club.
Once he disappeared into the offices, her feet moved. She mumbled to Jade she’d be at the lounge, but with the crowd of people and music starting up, she doubted Jade heard her.
The bartender scooped up an empty glass and took it behind the bar as Carissa stepped up.
“How can I help you?” Another handsome man smiled at her. Was it a requirement for the club? Though she’d met the bartender a few days back, when she’d taken it upon herself to check out the club before bringing Jade.
“A Shirley Temple, please.” Jamison had said to put it on his tab, but she pulled out a few bills from her small clutch and handed them over.
“Coming right up.” He went about making the non-alcoholic drink while she watched. She’d met men at the clubs before. Almost every kinky boyfriend she’d had she’d run into at a club, but this meeting felt different.
Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of any fanciful notions. Her type of relationship wouldn’t last long. They never did. And not just hers, but all the kink relationships she’d seen barely made it out of the gate before the shine wore off.
“Here you go. And here’s your money. Jamison said it’s on him and to go sit at the far table in the corner.”
She plucked the bills from his outstretched hand and looked over her shoulder. She noticed Jamison right away. His eyes made contact with hers, and he smiled, waving his little walkie—talkie in the air and making a pointing gesture. Where was her anger at his behavior?
“Thanks,” she mumbled to the bartender and found the table Jamison had mentioned.
He’d been right. The lounge wasn’t crowded at all. The sign hanging on the wall stating that in order to sit at a table you needed to have purchased a drink probably had something to do with it.
After only a few sips in, Jamison arrived, wearing a wide grin. He handed the walkie—talkie over to the waitress who passed by and took his seat across from her.
“A Shirley Temple.” He nodded at her glass with another approving grin. “Good choice.”
“Did you want to order a drink?” She pointed at the bar when he leaned back and unbuttoned his jacket.
“Not right now. I already had one, and I don’t overindulge…” His sentence fell off into the rumblings of the crowd starting to move.
“They opened the doors.” She looked over his shoulder, trying to find Jade.
“Yes. We were supposed to wait a bit longer, but the crowd was too tight in the waiting area, so I had them open early.”
“You?” She twisted her neck. Where had Jade gone off to?
“Yes—” he reached over and captured her hand in his. “If you’re looking for Jade, don’t worry about her. Garrick is planning to take care of her tonight, so you are off the clock.”
Her eyes snapped back to him. “Garrick? You know Garrick?” Garrick and Jade had been close friends since near childhood. Jade wouldn’t like running into him, and how did Jamison know him?
“He and I do business together.”
Apparently, he read minds as well as owned kinky nightclubs.
She looked at him again, closer this time. “I think I’ve heard him mention you.”
“I was a little surprised Jade didn’t recognize me. We’ve met a few times,” he said.
“She’s a little preoccupied—did you say Garrick is here?” She started to stand, but Jamison tugged her back down into her seat.
“Yes. And you’ll stay out of it.”
And the twist in her chest began. “Oh, I will? And who exactly do you think you are to go ordering me about?”
The corner of his mouth twisted up, and his eyes sparkled with glee.
“Did he send you to babysit me?” Garrick would do something like that if he wanted to get Jade alone. She’d always known he was into kink, little things he said and did, but she’d never broached the subject with him.
“Do you need a babysitter?”
The way he said the words, the little bit of levity mixed with the heaviness of curiosity made her gulp back her initial irritation. His eyes narrowed in on her, as though taking stock of her reaction to his question, and if the slight heat of her cheeks was any indication—she had a full blush starting to take over.
“I don’t need anything.” She gave her standard response when putting up the brick wall, but even she could hear the weakness in her tone.
He nodded and gave a chuckle. “Oh, I’m sure you need a few things.”
“Why is Garrick here?”
“Why wouldn’t he be? He’s part-owner, like myself.”
Garrick owned several properties and shares in different businesses, but she’d never heard him speak about Dark Lace before.
“I’m not going to answer any of your questions about Garrick. You’ll have to ask him yourself. What I am going to do”—his thumb caressed her palm—“is spend as much time with you tonight as you’re okay with.”
She swallowed. How could a finger cause so much excitement to run through her body?
“Fair enough, I suppose. I’ll ask him tomorrow.” She pulled back, breaking the contact with him so her mind could focus more easily on the conversation. Picking up her glass, she took a sip of her Shirley Temple.
“There’s a room back there where I generally like to play.” He looked over his shoulder then back at her.
“You want to play?” Of course, he did. It was a fucking club, after all, and exactly why she’d shown up for the party to begin with.
He gave another laugh. “If you’re up for it. But we have to finish our talk first.”
“Okay.” She shrugged and took another sip of her drink. Negotiations weren’t foreign to her and meant he was a serious player. No newbie.
“I typically play in the nursery.” The sentence dropped on the table like a bag of oranges. Her heart instantly picked up speed, and her breath hitched.
“The nursery?” She’d seen a sign for the room the last time she’d been at the club but hadn’t gone inside. It had been a quick visit, more to scope out the place.
He folded his hands on the table and gave a slow nod. “Yes.”
“You’re into age play?” She tried not to sound judgmental, or hopeful. Her desires were somewhere in that general area of play, but most men who were into that wanted more than she could give them.
“A bit, not as seriously as most. If we play tonight, it will be in that room. Are you okay with that?”
Not as seriously as most? Exactly how she described it to men she talked with online or when she bumped into them in the clubs, to the few she found interested in her particular brand of kink.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think I’ll start carrying around my list of limits. It would make this part less awkward.”
He laughed. “It doesn’t have to be aw
kward. If we play, I won’t go any further than a bare-bottom spanking. No fucking, but if you’re a good girl, I may be nice enough to give you an orgasm. That’s all. So, no need for laundry lists of limits and wants.”
A simple scene?
“You don’t want to fuck me?” She clamped her mouth shut after asking that question.
He laughed again. “Oh, little girl, I want to do way more than that, but we just met, and that’s more of a second or third date sort of question.”
Little girl. Fuck, how that phrase made her panties wet.
Also by Measha Stone
EVER AFTER
Beast
Tower
Red
GIRLS OF THE ANNEX
Daddy Ever After
Obediently Ever After
DARK ROMANCE STANDALONES
Valor
Kristoff
OWNED AND PROTECTED
Protecting His Pet
Protecting His Runaway
His Captive Pet
His Captive Kitten
Becoming His Pet
Training His Pet
BLACK LIGHT SERIES
Black Light Valentine Roulette
Black Light Cuffed
Black Light Roulette Redux
Black Light Suspicion
Black Light Celebrity Roulette
WINDY CITY
COMING OCTOBER 2019