Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
She hadn’t intended to, but it seemed like a way to shake the curious Harlow.
“There is, and I’m pretty sure Josh gave you a robe and a shower kit.” Harlow stared for a moment longer. “Well, I guess I should go. I’m actually working a little tonight. I’m waiting on a phone call, so I’ll be in the lounge until I clear it up. Case is cool, but the man does not allow business calls on his dungeon floor.”
“I hope it goes okay for you.” Nicole pulled out the shower kit which was stocked with luxury brands. She also caught sight of her “clothes” for the evening. Well, they didn’t take up much space.
Harlow stopped at the end of the lockers, looking back. Nic could have sworn her eyes went hard. “Yeah, I hope it does, too. Have a nice night, Nicole.”
Nic watched the other woman stride away and wondered what kind of trouble she was going to cause.
* * * *
Grim’s whole body felt alive as Nic leaned back against him, but his mind wasn’t in synch. Something was going on in Nic’s head. She said all the right things, but there was a tension he couldn’t deny. They stood in front of the main stage, watching as Case Taggart sweetly tortured his wife with a flogger.
The good thing about Subversion was Josh hadn’t grown up with Case Taggart or the Lawless clan. There was no one here who’d helped raise him like there was at The Club or Sanctum.
Of course the same was true of The Hideout, but Josh was too fancy for that particular club. Grim kind of liked it. It was stripped down and raw. Kind of like himself.
But this was their home club, and he’d become comfortable in it. Now he had to work to make Nicole see she belonged here, too.
“How are you feeling?” He whispered the question in her ear.
Her head turned slightly. “I’m okay.”
Josh was ensuring their semiprivate space was set up properly because he was a heinous control freak. It was semiprivate because there was a two-way mirror. It was sort of the best of both worlds. His sub could pretend they were alone, and his perverted exhibitionist partner could know someone was probably watching their gorgeous sub.
He took her hand and led her away from the main stage. Perhaps they should start their first official scene with some talking. “You’re stiff as a board, baby. You’re not okay, and you know lying to me in this space isn’t cool.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’m not lying. At least I’m not trying to. I don’t want to wreck this for you and Josh. I know it’s important. So I’m okay, and that’s all I want to say about it.”
“Not how this works.” He needed some backup. He did what came naturally. He leaned over and hauled her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.
He glanced over and saw Harlow at the edge of the lounge, a martini in her hand. She sat alone with her cell phone on the table in front of her. Which was odd because Harlow was usually surrounded by friends. And she was usually in Dallas.
What was she doing here? He knew Josh had brought her in to try to figure out what was wrong with Nicole, but she could do the investigation from Dallas.
She tipped her drink his way and Grim acknowledged her with a wave before starting down the hallway leading to the semiprivate rooms. There was another floor with privacy rooms, but they wouldn’t need them tonight. They would be taking Nic back up to their suite when the scene was over. That was where they intended to take her together for the first time.
“You can’t pick me up and move me whenever you want, Grim,” Nic complained.
He brought the flat of his hand down on her ass. Hard. “In this club I can. Unless you want to safe word out, and then I should go and get Josh because he’s spent the last hour getting our rooms ready.”
Josh was the planner in this case. He’d tricked out the suite with roses and champagne and the perfectly romantic plug they would use on her ass. Then he’d come down to ensure their scene space was ready.
“I’m not using my safe word,” Nic protested. She was perfectly compliant as she lay over his shoulder. “I just…I just don’t feel comfortable here.”
So he’d been right. He passed the big Dom who was acting as a monitor for the evening. The man waved him through, holding up three fingers to let him know what room they were in.
He stopped in front of the door marked three because he was fairly certain this was a conversation Josh wouldn’t understand. He set her on her feet. “Why don’t you belong here?”