by Diane Leyne
Looking around, she saw that the big stranger had entered the pool room from the other door. He wasn’t watching any of the games, though. He was staring at her as he took a sip from the beer he held. When he caught her eye, he put the bottle to his lips and took a long swallow, maintaining eye contact. She swallowed hard and forced herself to turn away and continue her walk around the bar.
Pretty good turnout for a Thursday. Busy but not crazy. Not crazy was good. There had been far too much excitement in Satisfaction, recently. It was still hard to believe that a dirty cop had tried to kidnap and sell Jess and her drug-sniffing dog to a drug cartel and that Murphy and Cole had helped save her.
She shook her head in disbelief. It was still surreal. That was the kind of thing that happened in novels, not real life. She walked back over to the bar and told Trace she was taking fifteen in the back. He smiled and told her to take her time. He’d text her if things got busy.
Modern technology. She grabbed her phone from her purse under the bar and jammed it into her jeans, then she walked down the hall where the rest rooms were located. There were three doors, the men’s room, the ladies’ room, and a door marked Private. If you entered that one, you found two more doors. One marked Office that contained the office for the bar, and a small lounge for the employees. The other door was marked Storage. The storage door had a scanner lock with two small lights beside it. Right now, it was locked and the red light was lit. All the members of the private club were issued a card. Jules scanned hers and the small light changed from red to green.
She closed the door behind her followed the hallway. The locker rooms were on the left, Doms first and then subs. On the right was the manager’s office which was filled with security equipment, including a full bank of closed-circuit television monitors. Then there was a real storage area and a small kitchen which served water, soda, sports drinks, and snacks which were all free to members.
The club emphasized safe, sane, and consensual, so no alcohol was served and anyone who had made too much use of the saloon out front was not allowed to play. The monitors were to ensure the safety of the members. Nothing was recorded, but someone was watching at all times.
The hallway opened into a large common play area. The place had no windows, so they were able to ring the play area with theme rooms and with private playrooms around the outside walls leaving the wide open central space. She stopped in the office to say hi to Tanner Aronofsky who manned the control room most Thursdays. Tanner owned the local garage and she’d known him since she was a kid.
She walked slowly into the main play area. There were several group seating areas and another for unattached subs. There was also the standard dungeon equipment including several kinds of spanking benches, two St. Andrew’s Crosses and several bondage tables. At the far end was a raised area for those who really liked to be watched when they played or for special festivities such as a formal collaring.
Jules raised her hand to her throat and sighed. She wasn’t collared. Hell, she wasn’t even allowed to play. Besides the fact that it would be weird to play when her brother was around, which he was most nights, the one man she wanted to play with had never shown that he looked on her as anything but a little sister. She’d been in love with Owen Firth since she was a gawky thirteen-year-old and he’d come home from college with her brother to spend a summer in Satisfaction. He was eighteen and the hottest thing she’d ever seen, so tall and lanky with his sandy, brown hair, blue eyes, and pale eastern complexion.
Micah and Owen had been roommates their first year of college and the two of them spent the summer working on the Double S ranch, now owned by Murphy since his grandfathers had passed away. Owen still worked there as the ranch foreman. Even though he was a city boy, born and bred, he was a cowboy down to his bones. By the end of the summer, he was sunburned, his hair bleached blond in spots by the hot Texas sun, and his lanky frame had started to fill out from a summer of baling hay and riding the range with Micah. The two had never been close friends and had moved in different circles after that first year of rooming together, but that summer on the ranch had changed Owen’s life.
He came back every summer after that while he was in college and when he graduated, he took a second degree at the local agricultural college. After college, he started at the Double S full time. By then, Murphy had inherited and was working long days trying to modernize the place. Owen’s first degree was in business and he spent most of his time helping Murphy modernize the operation.
Jules had grown up during that time. She’d finished high school and then went away to Seattle for college to study art and settled there afterward. She lived and loved and even visited the notorious Club Libertine as a guest of her college friend Serena who worked there as a part-time receptionist. She’d never actually played there either, but she’d been seriously tempted as she watched the happy couples and triads. She’d heard from Serena that she was now living happily with two Doms. Jules was happy for her but envious, too. Lucky Serena.
During that time in her life, Jules had convinced herself that she’d gotten over Owen. He was only a high school crush, she told herself, but she never found anyone who compared to him. When she visited Micah and their parents back in Satisfaction, she took care to avoid Owen, although she would never admit it.
And then her folks had retired two years ago. They decided to give both their children their inheritances right away rather than making them wait. They’d signed over the Whips and Spurs bar to Micah along with some cash to help him get started with his renovations, but he’d had to put a lot of his own money in as well as sweat-equity.
They’d given Jules two thousand acres of land that abutted the foot hills. There was a small waterfall and pond that had been her favorite place since she was a child. She leased most of it to Murphy Smith because she knew he’d use it for grazing, and he’d do it responsibly, moving his herds around so no area was overgrazed.
There was also a river, so the land was more arable than much of the land in the area. She’d been offered a lot of money from other land owners who coveted the water access, but her father had leased to Murphy. She’d thought long and hard before selling to Murphy. She’d retained ownership of a few acres around the swimming hole and the mineral rights to the rest of it. She just didn’t need the stress of land owning. The money from the sale would give her enough to live on while she pursued her art, but she’d spent much of the last two years helping Micah who couldn’t afford much help when he was starting out. Now that the place was starting to turn a profit, she was going to cut back her hours. She didn’t want to quit outright. She loved coming out and socializing with the customers, but she’d been working six and seven days a week and needed a break. It was time to concentrate on herself and her painting again.
She’d finished touring the play area. Everyone seemed so happy. Even the unattached subs were laughing and chatting while they waited to be chosen. She wished she could join them, but she was Micah’s sister. Even if she stripped naked and draped herself over one of the spanking benches, she knew that none of the Doms would touch her with a ten-foot pole.
Maybe, now that Micah’s business was doing well, she should move back to Seattle and maybe even become a member of Club Libertine and find a Dom or two of her own to make her forget Owen. Turning, she walked back down the hall toward the bar. As she reached for the door handle, it swung open and she had to jump back.
“Sorry, babe.” It was Owen. And the stranger. “Did we startle you?”
“Yes, you did!” Jules realized her heart was beating hard, far harder than being startled justified. It was him. The stranger.
“My, my. If it isn’t the sexiest waitress in the place. You want to play, sweetheart?” That low, gravelly voice went straight to her girly parts, causing her nipples to harden and her clit to throb at the thought.
Owen laughed, killing the mood.
“Her, nah! That’s Micah Durrance’s kid sister. She doesn’t play.”
/> “You sure? She looked like she would be a lot of fun to play with.”
“You are definitely new in town, Dekker. This is Jules Durrance. She’s the sister of the owner and off-limits. Jules, this is Quin Redekker. He’s going to be working for me out at the Double S, working in the stables for a few months. He just has to meet with Murphy to seal the deal, but I have no doubt that he’ll pass the test with flying colors.”
Jules looked down at the big hand that Quin held out to her and automatically reached out to take it. She could feel the warmth of his firm grip, his thumb moving over her wrist. She was sure he could feel her accelerated pulse and saw as he grinned wickedly down at her.
“So, Jules, do you want to play?”
She swallowed hard, but before she could answer, Owen laughed again.
“Told you, Quin. She’s off-limits and no, she doesn’t want to play. Jules is a good girl. Let’s head on back and I’ll introduce you to some very bad ones.”
* * * *
Quin watched as Jules tugged at her hand, but he wasn’t inclined to let go. He could feel her pulse jump under his caressing thumb. He badly wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss that wickedly sexy mouth of hers with her full lips and easy smile that went straight to his cock.
But he was there for a purpose, and that purpose wasn’t to fuck the woman Blake was in love with. Hell, it figured that the woman who got him hot would be the one Doc wanted. Even worse, she was in love with this putz, Firth. He looked sideways at Owen as he let go of her hand and then watched as she fled back to the safety of the bar.
He turned to Owen, raising an eyebrow. He saw a flash of annoyance on Owen’s face. Most people both envied and hated that he could do the one-eyebrow thing and he totally took advantage of that.
“She got a boyfriend?”
“Hell, no. She’s too busy working at the bar and spends the rest of her time painting as far as I can tell. Besides, she’s Micah’s little sister. And before you ask, no one would dare play with her, even if she was interested. How many times do I have to tell you? She’s off-limits, my friend. You remember that.”
“Seriously? Or maybe she’s yours and you’re warning me off in an oblique manner?”
“Mine? Naw. I’ve known her since she was thirteen. She’s like a little sister to me. The thought of seeing her naked or tying her up and spanking her…yikes. It would just feel wrong.”
“Then you don’t mind if I take a shot at her?”
“Me personally? Hell no. Be my guest. But toy with her or break her heart and her brother, the sheriff, and hell, half the men in town, will have your hide.”
“Noted. But I think I’ll take my chances. I don’t start work until a week Monday, so I’ve got some time to kill, and I’d love to kill it in her bed.”
“Yes, well, don’t get yourself killed by a protective cowboy until you accomplish what I’ve hired you to do. You come highly recommended. Don’t let me down.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Owen. I’m very good at what I do, and it’ll be good cover for me if I’m romancing the bar chick. I assume she rides, coming from these parts. I can take her out and use that as an excuse for looking around and getting a lay of the land. And maybe a lay, too. I hope she’s good in the sack, or I may have to charge you extra.” He grinned at Owen as he forced out the crude statement.
“Fuck on your own time, but using her as an excuse to look around is actually a good idea. Maybe you are smarter than you look, Redekker.”
“Right back at you, Firth. And it’s your fault I have so much time to kill. Why can’t I start work any sooner?”
“Because I convinced Smith to hire you on a trial basis to work with that new load of horses we’re getting in. He’s the one who picked the date, and I can’t push for sooner with the horses not arriving for two weeks. It might make him suspicious. In the meantime, your idea is sound. Use Jules Durrance as an excuse to hang around. She even keeps her horse out at the Double S. You can borrow one of the horses and go out and ride the property with her. It’s perfect.” Owen grinned. “Now, you ready to play?”
Quin looked at Owen and then into the playroom, and suddenly he had no desire to play with one of the unattached subs who were looking longingly at him and Owen. They were all beautiful and, no doubt, knew the score, but even though his cock was aching, it was aching for a certain pocket-sized blonde who was no doubt serving drink and flirting with the cowboys out front. He suddenly realized that what he really wanted to do was go out front, throw her over his shoulder, and carry her away from all those other leering men. He wanted to take her over to Doc’s so the two of them could spend the rest of the night fucking her brains out.
“Sorry, Owen. Time for me to start my campaign to get in Jules’s pants. You have fun and play safe.”
Turning, Quin walked back the way they had come in, not waiting to hear Owen’s reply. From the sounds behind him, Owen had wasted no time in heading over to the unattached subs area. The man was a giant douche. He didn’t deserve a woman like Jules. He just hoped that when this was all over, she’d forgive him for lying to her.
Chapter 3
Jules watched Quin working the room. Damn, he was sexy. She was hot for him. She could admit it. She found him sexually attractive and it had been far too long since she’d looked at any man but Owen, and far too long since any man had looked at her that way. Thanks to Owen and her brother, the men in Satisfaction had all kept their distance. Until Quin arrived.
He’d come back out into the bar that first night far too soon to have played with any of the subs, which pleased her, although she couldn’t say why. In fact, he spent the next hour leaning against the wall in the pool room, half-watching Ellie hustle another sap and half-watching Jules. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved around the bar, serving customers.
He’d come back Friday night as well, and now it was Saturday and he was at Whips and Spurs yet again. He was out front in the bar area again, not in the club in the back. He’d visited her in her dreams as well, but not alone. He’d been with Blake, and together they’d driven her crazy with lust before she’d woken herself up when she’d come. Hell, she wasn’t dreaming of Owen anymore. No, now there were now two sexy men replacing him. Even her subconscious was ready to move on, it seemed. Could conscious her do it, though?
In Whips and Spurs, Quin had flirted a bit and teased her, but mostly he watched her when he wasn’t mingling. He wasn’t a big talker, but he seemed to have made himself at home and she’d seen him chatting at various times with Sheriff Dace Lowe, Blake Adams, Cole Reacher, and others.
Owen seemed to be the only one who didn’t hang around him, preferring the club in the back. Tonight, Owen didn’t come alone. He brought Murphy Smith into the bar with him and Murphy and Quin had chatted alone in a booth for about half an hour before Murphy left, seeming satisfied about something. Owen had come over and clapped Quin on the shoulder before heading back to the club on his own. Quin had turned and met Jules’s eye and then walked over to her and swept her off her feet, twirling a quick circle before setting her back down.
“Seems like I’m going to be gainfully employed starting a week Monday, which means I have the wherewithal to ask you for a date. Tomorrow. Candy’s. Noon.” He leaned down and kissed her hard and quick on the mouth. “Don’t be late.”
Then he’d turned and walked back into the pool room where he’d beaten Ellie at pool, which had earned him the admiration of pretty much everyone in the bar. He’d won decisively but with class, winning over Ellie, too. In fact, Ellie had sought her out later that evening to give her a big thumbs-up and a conspiratorial wink.
“I have no idea what you are grinning about.”
“Oh, come on. Everyone in the bar saw him sweeping you off your feet and kissing you. Spill, Jules. Are you two an item? Are you dating? Sleeping together? He’s damned cute.”
“Yes, he is. But no, we are not. I mean, he just asked me out, but we’re not involved. You kn
ow my heart belongs to Owen.” She knew her tone was less than convincing. She said the words out of habit, but she realized that she no longer truly believed them.
“For the last time, you’ve wasted two damned years pining for that lothario. He’s banged or tried to bang every woman in the country over eighteen and under forty.”
“Except me.”
“Except you. And that’s a good thing. The man’s a horndog. You’ve been so obsessed with him you’ve kept poor Doc Adams in the friend zone. Hell, even if you didn’t want to marry him, you could have let him into the friends-with-benefits zone. You know he’s been head over heels for you for years.”
“Is not!”
“Is so!”
Jules found herself giggling and then the two friends were hugging and laughing. There was nothing like the friends you made mud pies with when you were three, she thought. They know you inside and out and you can always count on them to tell it like it was.
“But he never said anything.”
“Would you have listened?”
Jules pondered. Finally, she had to say, “No.”
“And that’s why he didn’t say anything. He’d rather be your friend than nothing to you at all, and you know that if he’d asked you out and you’d turned him down, you probably wouldn’t hang with him anymore.”
“Am I the only one who didn’t know?”
“Yup!”
Jules laughed and hugged Ellie again.
“So, I’m basically an idiot?”
“Yup.”
“But why are you only telling me now?”
“Because you are finally looking at a man not named Owen as if you’d like to eat him up.”
“Am not!”
Ellie stared her down.
“Okay, so I am, but that’s Quin, not Blake. But Ellie, I have a confession…”
“Ooh. Can’t wait.”
“I’ve been dreaming about Blake lately. Hot, sexy dreams.”