by Nadia Aidan
He collapsed against the bed, boneless and satiated, and it was a long while before either of them could catch their breath. When he finally found the strength, he unlocked the cuffs and pulled her into his arms so that her body draped across his.
For a long while, he simply held her, his hand absently stroking her slick back until he remembered she was still in trouble.
“You know I have to punish you all over again.”
She lifted her head. “Wha— Why?”
“You came without permission,” he said with a grin, his lips furling higher when her eyes darkened with passion.
“Oh,” was all she said, and then he rolled her beneath him and took her again, and then again, well into the night, until he was sure she’d learned her lesson.
Chapter Six
The next day at work, Katherine was just wrapping things up and preparing to head home when Seth walked into her office. Dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, his clothes fit him like a second skin, the shirt emphasizing the chiseled muscles of his arms while his pants clung to the thick bulge just behind his zipper. Her heartbeat sped up immediately as a flush of heat crept over her and she shifted in her seat, wincing at the soreness in her backside.
Seth closed her door with a smile. “I take it you’re still feeling the effects of my punishment.”
She returned his smile. “A little.”
He took her breath away when he leaned down to kiss her gently, his hand lovingly caressing her cheek.
They’d woken up that morning, driven into work together, and several times throughout the day he’d come in to check on her, just to see how she was doing. Each time he would treat her to a slow, sensual kiss that would leave her breathless.
Katherine had no idea what they were doing, or even what they were, but she knew she liked it, liked being with him, liked simply talking to him—that was, when they actually talked, she thought with a small smile.
“I just stopped by to let you know I’m headed out.”
“Headed home already?” She glanced at the clock. It was only six o’clock. He rarely left before seven.
“Yeah, I need to talk to Joshua for a minute, then head home and do a few things.” His eyes darkened. “And then maybe if you’re up for it we could go out for a late dinner.”
Tiny butterflies fluttered in her belly—those little girlie butterflies that she swore she never got.
She smiled. “I’d like that.”
He flashed her one of his rare but charming and devastatingly lethal grins. “I’ll see you later then,” he said, before slipping out of her office.
After he left, she spent five more minutes finishing up the project she’d been working on then decided to make a couple of quick phone calls before she, too, called it a day.
Seth had left her door slightly open when he walked out so she got up to close it to make her calls. On her way back over to her desk she noticed a ring of keys in one of the chairs. She picked them up. They were Seth’s work keys. He must have put them down when he came in and forgot to get them when he left. He wouldn’t need his keys tonight, but if he got to work before Joshua, Michelle or herself tomorrow, which he often did, he wouldn’t be able to get in, at least not without a hassle.
Katherine stepped out of her office. If she was quick she could catch him. If she missed him then she would just hold on to them until she saw him later.
“Michelle, can you do me a favor and call down to Joshua’s and see if Seth’s still there?”
Michelle nodded and quickly made the call. When she was done she looked up at Katherine. “Joshua’s secretary said you just missed him. He just walked out with Joshua only seconds ago.”
“Thanks, Michelle.” Katherine headed toward her office. “Can you also try to reach Seth on his cell and tell him I have his keys? I’m going to see if I can catch up with him before he leaves.”
“Sure,” Michelle said as Katherine walked into her office and hopped on her elevator.
Within seconds she was in the garage and was relieved to see she hadn’t missed Seth as she caught sight of him talking to Joshua through the small window in the door.
She hadn’t planned to snoop, but when she went to open the door, she heard her name and stopped. Hunching down so they wouldn’t see her, she pressed her ear to the door.
She couldn’t make out much, but what she did set her blood to boiling.
She tried to hear more, but then Seth’s cell phone rang, ending their conversation. She listened until both men got into their cars and then returned to her elevator.
She was just entering her office when Michelle walked in. “I got a hold of Seth, but he told me to tell you he’d get them from you later.”
Katherine did her best to paste on her brightest, fakest smile. “Thanks, Michelle.”
The woman nodded and then walked out, leaving Katherine to stew in her office.
She couldn’t believe him—that he would actually go to that—that—club, and then tell Joshua he had no intention of telling her about it.
She paced back and forth in her office, her entire body corded with fury. That he would do the things he’d done to her, then go to the Red Velvet Rope and hook up with some stranger, had her fuming mad. But more than that, it pierced her heart.
She’d given Seth a piece of herself, a part she’d never given to any man ever before. The things she’d let him do to her she’d only allowed because she’d trusted him with her very life. She’d thought she could trust him with her heart too.
She grabbed her purse and prepared to leave, the phone calls she’d planned to make long forgotten.
If Seth thought he could play her for the fool then he had another think coming. But as she headed to her car, she experienced a tiny twinge of doubt that she’d already judged Seth before she’d even given him a chance to explain himself. She considered that maybe she hadn’t heard him correctly, that maybe she was wrong. Seth had a strength of character that was enviable. It was hard to believe that he was capable of such duplicity.
As she got into her car and fired up the engine, she decided there was only one way to find out.
* * * * *
Dressed in the same red dress and heels she’d worn the first time she’d been there, and with her wig and mask firmly in place, Katherine returned to the Red Velvet Rope on her secret mission. But from the moment she walked in, she discovered it wasn’t so secret after all.
“Ms. Higgins, we’ve been expecting you.”
Katherine’s eyes rounded. “You have?”
The woman smiled, her eyes kind, and Katherine thought she was one of the most beautiful, most sensual women Katherine had ever met. Sex and seduction practically oozed from the woman, and, Katherine realized then where she’d seen the voluptuous beauty before.
She was the same woman Katherine had seen with Seth and Joshua when she’d spied on them the last time she was there.
“My name is Sonya Montoya,” the woman said, breaking through Katherine’s thoughts. “I can tell you don’t remember me, but we met two years ago. My hair was shorter then.” She smiled jokingly as she extended her hand. “I am one of the owners of the Red Velvet Rope—welcome again.”
Katherine shook her hand. “I’m sorry. I knew you looked familiar.” In more ways than one, Katherine decided, but for once she kept a thought to herself.
“No need to apologize. It was two years ago.” She opened a door then and stepped aside. “Now if you would follow me.”
Katherine shook her head. “Follow you? Follow you where?” The last time she’d visited, she’d walked into the main area of the club, but she could see that this doorway led to another part of the club, a section she hadn’t been to.
“It’s all right, Katherine. As I said, we’ve been expecting you. If you will just follow me, this will all make sense to you in a moment.”
Katherine wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know this woman or who was expecting her, but she was nothing if not a risk taker. She took a
deep breath and let Sonya lead the way.
They walked down a short, dark corridor, and from the opulence of the rooms she passed she could tell this was the most exclusive section of the club, probably where all the VIPs ended up.
Right now the rooms were empty, except one, and she drew up short the moment she entered the room behind Sonya and saw him.
Seth?
Her eyes widened. And Joshua?
Her eyes grew rounder still. And Aaron?
“What the—”
Katherine looked over at Sonya. “I own the club with the three of them,” she said with a wink.
Aaron, Joshua and Seth owned the Red Velvet Rope? She was speechless.
“Since we all know it’s you, Katherine, you can lose that ridiculous wig and silly mask.”
Katherine glared at Seth, even as she took off the mask and then the wig, letting her hair tumble around her shoulders.
She stared at the three men before her, all dressed in dark suits, looking more like Versace or Armani models than the three men she’d entrusted her life and her casino to. She shook her head at Aaron with his close-cropped blond hair, piercing jade eyes and rugged good looks. Hardnosed, by the book Aaron who was a former marine and now a cop. He swore by rules and she’d never met a more straightforward, straitlaced guy in her entire life.
“Even you? But you’re a cop.”
Aaron shrugged with a small grin. “It’s not illegal.”
She couldn’t believe it. She needed a drink—or to sit down—or both.
“Can you excuse Katherine and me?” Seth’s deep voice broke through her jumbled thoughts.
“What? Why?” Joshua’s lips curled into a wicked smile. “I thought we were all going to get to play?”
Play? Katherine stared at Seth with wide eyes. What did he mean by play?
“Katherine’s not ready for that.” Seth’s eyes darkened. “Not yet.”
Joshua let out a loud sigh and he seemed to drag his feet but eventually, one by one, everyone slipped out of the room, leaving her alone with Seth.
“You set me up,” Katherine said when the door finally closed.
“No, you set yourself up.”
She was incredulous. “But you planted your keys, knowing I would come after you—”
“Yes, but I had no way of knowing you were going to snoop.” He smiled then. “Although I was pretty sure you would. You’re too much of a control freak not to, and then, after I knew you were listening—”
“You made up all that stuff about coming to the club and not telling me.” She was furious with him—that he’d played her for a fool.
“I knew your wild imagination would do the rest and then your temper would seal the deal.”
Her nostrils flared. “Why? Why come up with this farfetched plan to make me think you’re going to cheat on me just to get me down here so you could tell me you’re one of the owners? Why couldn’t you have just told me over dinner tonight? Was all the deception really necessary?”
“Deception?” His lips thinned into a hard, tight line. “Why wear this elaborate costume then scheme your way into my bed—”
Katherine’s eyes rounded. What was he talking about? “I didn’t scheme my way into—”
“How could you think I would cheat on you with some stranger here?” He continued as if she hadn’t said a word. “After everything we’ve shared, how could that thought even cross your mind?”
The raw emotion in his voice tore at her heart, and she realized then just how wrong she’d been, how much she’d hurt him by her lack of faith in him.
“You’re here, Katherine, because you don’t trust me—”
“No—”
“Was this all a game to you?” He angrily shoved a hand through his hair. “The sneaking around, the dress-up, pretending to be into submission—”
“No.” She closed the distance between them and curled her hands around his arms, forcing him to look at her. The pain on his face was like a knife slicing through her heart. “Everything I did with you was real to me, I swear.” She glanced down at herself. “The other stuff, the sneaking around, the disguise—I was curious, yes, but it wasn’t a game to me.” She sighed, searching for the right words to make him understand. “I wanted you to do to me what you and Joshua did with Sonya, but how was I supposed to come out and say that? How do I tell the man who has worked by my side for the last two years that I want him to dominate me—that I want him to force me to submit to him?”
Her last words came out on a whisper and she dipped her gaze to the floor but Seth cupped her cheek, forcing her gaze back to him. He stared at her, his heart hammering in his chest. For two years he’d stood in the shadows watching Katherine, wanting her—how could she ever think he’d want another? It was wrong to test her, to trick her, but he’d devised his plan on a hunch, nothing more. He hadn’t truly been certain she was the same woman who’d run away from him that night months ago until she’d entered the club. And when he saw her on the camera, when he’d caught sight of her as she’d walked into the club today, dressed in her silly disguise, he’d been furious.
Her very presence spoke of her lack of trust in him, her lack of faith. And it made him question everything they’d shared together. If she couldn’t trust him, then how could he possibly trust her? From the moment he’d left his keys and set his plan in motion, he’d questioned Katherine’s interest in him. Had this all been an act—a game to her? Had she purposely taunted him all those times just so she could get him into her bed and try out this whole bondage thing with him? This was neither an act nor a game to him. He’d let Katherine into his world, given her a glimpse into his soul, shown her a part of himself he’d never shown another. If she wasn’t into submission—if this was just a passing amusement to her, he didn’t know what he’d do.
He recognized the depth of his feelings for Katherine for what they were, and if she rejected him after everything they’d done… He let out a shaky breath to ease the furious beating of his heart.
He ached to tell her how he felt, but not here, not now. He wanted to take her home where he could love her all night, where he could show her just how much she meant to him, so that she’d never have a reason to doubt him ever again.
“I was wrong to set you up,” he said finally, “But to be honest, I wasn’t even sure it was you until you walked into the club and I saw you on the monitor. After what you said the first night I spent at your home, I figured you’d overheard me and Joshua and then followed us to the club.” He shrugged. “I was simply following a hunch.”
“It’s okay. I deserved to be set up.” She smiled shyly. “You never would have had to do it in the first place had I just come out and told you I followed you and Joshua here once before.” Her brow wrinkled into a frown then. “But tell me this. How did you suspect it was me?”
Seth grinned good-naturedly. “For security reasons, there are cameras in discreet locations throughout the club that protect the privacy of our guests, while still providing adequate security. I went through hours of tape until I saw you. The image wasn’t clear so I didn’t recognize you but then I remembered how you ran away as if you knew you didn’t belong here.” He cupped her cheek. “Besides, most of our guests don’t wear disguises, and the only person who would is someone who is desperate to keep their identity a secret—which left me wondering why?”
She sighed. “I knew the whole costume thing would come back to bite me in the ass. It was overkill, wasn’t it?”
“A little, but I think it’s sexy.” He wagged his eyebrows. “Boss lady by day, femme fatale by night. It’s like I have two women in one.”
She laughed at that and her eyes twinkled, but he didn’t miss the slight flash of uncertainty in the depths of her gaze. “So am I to assume that means you won’t need to entertain the company of other women here—not even Sonya?”
His brows lifted. The statement was made jokingly but he knew her too well to miss the subtle layer of jealousy just beneath
her playful façade. He bit back a smile; she had no reason to be jealous, not in the least. He wasn’t in love with Sonya, nor did he desire her in that way, or any other woman for that matter. Before the night was through, he would be sure Katherine understood that—completely. But for now he just gave her the most obvious reason why no woman was a threat to her, not even Sonya, especially not Sonya.
“From the moment I claimed you as my sub you became mine, and you, Katherine, are the only woman for me, no one else, and especially not Sonya. Sonya is my business partner and friend, nothing more. Besides, she has always belonged to Joshua.”
Katherine’s eyebrows lifted. “They’re lovers? I didn’t know Joshua was seeing anyone seriously.”
Seth frowned. “Not quite. They share a purely sexual Dom and sub relationship.” For now, he thought to himself. Sonya was tired of being just Joshua’s sexual sub. Seth knew she wanted more and so did Joshua. And if Joshua wasn’t careful, he was going to lose the one woman who could see through all of his bullshit and still loved him in spite of it. “The only reason why you even saw me with Sonya is because from time to time, Aaron, Joshua and I will share our sub if everyone is comfortable with it.”
“Oh.” Her eyes rounded. “So you would share me?”
“Eventually, if you’re fine with it, but only then.”
“And what about Aaron? Does he have a sub too?”
The image of Katherine’s pretty secretary flashed before him and he smiled. Michelle. Whenever Aaron visited Katherine’s office, he always freaked the young woman out, made her nervous, but Seth knew his friend had a thing for her and that Michelle’s unease around Aaron had less to do with fear and more to do with her physical response to the domineering man every time he walked into her office. “Not yet, but he has his eye on someone very close to you, actually.”