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  Once he cleared the crowd, his gaze landed on Porter, who sat at one of the tables as he drank a beer. An odd sight, since Club Sin didn’t allow alcohol in the dungeon, a rule that Aidan agreed with. To him, a drunk or even tipsy submissive spelled trouble. Though the Dungeon Monitors in Chains were observant to spot such troubles, Aidan preferred a submissive with a clear head.

  He approached Porter and exhaled, releasing the lingering tension in his shoulders. He had only been guessing that Porter still belonged to Chains, and Aidan was damn glad he wasn’t wrong. He was one step closer to talking to Porter, and then getting the hell out of this club.

  When he drew closer, his gaze roamed over Cora’s ex-boyfriend. The man had a lot going for him. Tall, fit, and good-looking, Aidan had no doubt Porter was a sought-after Dom. And he also hadn’t changed much since Aidan had seen him last. At Porter’s table, Aidan dropped down onto the chair next to him.

  Porter leaned against the back of the chair with raised brows. “That’s a face I never expected to see here again.”

  “You and me both.” Aidan smiled, offering his hand. “It’s been a long time. How are things—still in the private investigation business?”

  Porter nodded, returning to the handshake. “I am—opened up my own office a year back.” Which explained why when Aidan called the only number he had for Porter—his old PI employer—Aidan was told that Porter no longer worked there.

  “Glad to hear it,” Aidan said.

  Porter shrugged halfheartedly, spinning his beer bottle. “It’s mostly cheating husbands and background details on shady businessmen, but nonetheless profitable.”

  Aidan looked at his finger, now drumming out a rhythm on his leg. Where to fucking start? He did feel slightly threatened by Porter. He was Cora’s first Dom, and had shared a year with her. Though Aidan took some satisfaction in knowing that their breakup had been mutual. Cora hadn’t loved him. Porter hadn’t collared her. That in itself showed their relationship was over.

  “So …” Porter said and regarded Aidan with a long look. “I imagine you haven’t come for small talk.” He thrust his fingers into his sandy-colored styled hair. “What’s up?”

  Aidan’s pride took a blow coming to Porter for insight. But that pain he’d seen in Cora was palpable. He didn’t need his pride. He needed Cora to be better. “It’s Cora.”

  “Cora?” Porter’s eyebrows rose quizzically. “Is she okay?”

  “It’s why I’ve come.” Aidan sighed. “She’s quite upset about something, but is hesitant to share what’s going on.” He stretched out his legs, folding his arms. “So I’m here to ask a few questions.”

  Porter waved him on. “Hit me with them.”

  Aidan considered what Cora had told him, then asked, “When you dated her, was she bothered that you didn’t collar her?”

  “Collar her?” Porter’s head jerked back with his laugh. “Are you kidding? She would’ve refused me.”

  Aidan had suspected to hear that from Porter. He hadn’t believed what Cora told him. Of course, he assumed she craved a collar. He thought most submissives would want that, but there was something else she was keeping from him.

  When Cora told Aidan she had dated Porter, a Dom that Aidan had known personally, he’d called Porter. They’d met for dinner before Aidan had taken Cora into her first scene at Club Sin. Not only out of respect for Porter, since he had been her Dom, but also to get some insight into Cora.

  They both had told him the same story. Things between them had ended amicably. Both seemed like good friends who wanted only the best for each other. In fact, Porter had seemed genuinely happy for Cora that she’d joined Club Sin and that Aidan would train her. Aidan had walked away from that conversation knowing no lingering feelings remained between them.

  Porter took a sip of his beer before lowering the bottle to the table. “What’s this all about, anyway? I knew something was up with her. She called me tonight and wanted to see me.”

  Aidan inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth. “Did she?”

  Porter nodded. “Yep.”

  Aidan shoved away the flare of territorial nonsense. He hadn’t known she still talked to Porter. How much did he not know about her? “Did she mention anything to you at all that would make you believe she is missing you?”

  “Aidan, buddy, it’s not like that between us.” Porter gave a blank look. “It’s been three years since we broke up.” His neck bent forward, his hands carving through his hair. “We talked about random shit. And she certainly didn’t talk about being sad that I didn’t collar her.”

  That was what bothered Aidan most. Cora had always been so straightforward, and he loved that about her. He didn’t doubt that if Cora wanted Porter back, she would’ve left Club Sin and sought Porter out. So what was she hiding? “When you were with her, did you feel like she yearned for a collar?”

  “No. Never.” Porter stared at Aidan as though he had three eyeballs. “It was Cora who first brought up the idea of ending the relationship. A collar was far from her mind, my friend.” Aidan rubbed his face. “Then why in the hell did she tell me that earlier?”

  “Maybe she wants a collar now.”

  Aidan’s hands slowly fell from his face.

  “Not with me, of course,” Porter said and laughed at whatever crossed Aidan’s expression. “Has she met anyone at Club Sin?”

  “She’s played with me for the past two years. How could she meet anyone?” Porter’s brows creased. “You two aren’t dating, then?”

  Aidan stared at Porter, hard. Porter had known Lily. He’d seen them together. “I’m not dating, no.”

  “Hrmph,” Porter muttered, pursing his lips. After a long moment of Porter’s eyes searching Aidan’s, he shrugged. “Got nothing else to tell you. I’ve got no clue why she’d tell you that. We might still stay in touch, but she didn’t want my collar, I have no doubt about that.”

  Aidan considered his next move and glanced around the club. A flurry of activity had him looking to the left as a Dungeon Monitor wearing a Chains T-shirt intervened on a scene where there was a sobbing submissive.

  What in the hell was going on with Cora?

  If this was any other submissive, things would be very different, but Cora was the most outspoken woman he’d ever met. Porter wasn’t wrong—she knew herself. She had confidence. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.

  It didn’t shock Aidan to hear she had the strength to end a relationship with her Dom—that was so Cora. So what, if she was so interested in a collar, was she doing playing with only him?

  His head hurt.

  This tension surrounding Cora was like poison in his veins. “I don’t know what this is about. But she’s not been forthcoming with me,” he admitted, all too sensitive to the noise around him and sudden need to get away from it all. “She’s telling half-truths.” That he firmly believed.

  “I’m surprised.” Porter broke eye contact before he slowly shook his head at Aidan. “That’s not the Cora I remember.”

  Aidan rubbed his hands over his face. His arms were barely able to move under the strain. The Cora who had wrapped him in her spell told it to him straight. His pride to personally solve her problems held no weight in ensuring Cora got the help she needed.

  Seeing her unraveling did the same to him. With aches and pains invading every inch of his body, he muttered, “Porter, for the first time since I’ve met Cora, I feel like I don’t even know her.”

  Chapter Nine

  In Cora’s yellow-painted office at the Las Vegas Wellness Clinic, she pressed the phone against her ear, listening to the messages. She never came to work on Saturdays, especially in the evening, but after Aidan left her house she received an e-mail from one of her clients canceling their session for Tuesday.

  She confirmed the cancellation and put it into the computer system. Then she hung up the phone. Leaning back into her modern black chair, she glanced out the window as the sun settled behind the mountains.

  A
idan’s conversation remained heavy on her thoughts. Her hand slid to her throat. She hadn’t lied to him. She had once craved a collar as much as she wanted a wedding ring. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore.

  How important were either?

  At this point, she wanted Aidan. Not even the Aidan she’d dreamed of, just the old Master Aidan in the club. The man who rocked her socks off, without digging too deep or asking too many questions.

  She shut her eyes. Things were messy. They’d go back to normal. Always had, always would. Until Aidan faced his demons in his own time, Cora needed to be the strength for both of them.

  Hell, she got paid to be strong for others.

  Cora had done so for two years.

  She didn’t plan to stop.

  Opening her eyes, she grabbed the mouse on the glass tabletop of her desk and opened her schedule. Just as she thought—with the cancellation, her schedule was clear all day Tuesday. With the new scheduling for the sixteen-year-old group that would start next week, her entire day was also free on the Wednesday.

  Cora smiled, opened an e-mail, and hammered off a message to her boss. She had a week left of her holidays and only the change in groups was giving her these days off. An opportunity not to be missed, and who knew if another coworker would come in after the weekend and book the time off. Cora wanted a couple days to herself. Those days were open for someone to take vacation, and she was taking it.

  “And I thought I was the only one who worked too hard.”

  Cora laughed, spinning in her chair to face her coworker, Sandy-Lynn. Her auburn curls were perfect atop her head, as always. Cora had never seen her not perfectly put together. She had round brown eyes and a kind face. One of those faces that Cora could picture as a grandmother surrounded by grandchildren.

  “I had a cancellation and just wanted to confirm my schedule was clear.” While she always checked e-mails to make sure no teenagers were trying to reach her, she really hated bringing work home. “I’m taking Tuesday and Wednesday off.”

  “Good for you,” Sandy-Lynn said.

  Cora smiled. “Um … why are you here?”

  “I received an attempted suicide call tonight. He’s at the hospital now, but I wanted to stop by and document it while it was still fresh.” Sandy-Lynn drew in a deep breath, and as they’d been trained to do, she shook off the darkness in her gaze. “Any exciting plans for tonight?”

  “I’m going out with the girls.” That was Cora’s go-to answer. If someone asked who Cora felt guilty if she didn’t invite them to join her, she went with “Dinner with the family.” But Sandy-Lynn was in her forties with four children. After her evening, Cora suspected she wanted to go home and be with her family.

  Everyone had their thing they did on their weekends to unwind. Cora’s was to go to a BDSM dungeon and orgasm until she couldn’t possibly orgasm anymore. She loved that she wore sexy lingerie under her clothes—her dirty little secret. That tonight she wouldn’t be looked at like an everyday woman who counseled teens, but that she was a woman to be admired.

  “Enjoy,” Sandy-Lynn said with a genuine smile.

  She was a good woman. Her arriving tonight only proved how thoughtful she was to her clients. She wanted to make sure she remembered every little detail to help the person later. “That client’s lucky to have you, Sandy-Lynn.”

  She gave a sad smile. “Thanks, Cora.”

  Cora supposed most people in her line of work had a natural nurturing part of them. How could they not and do this job without having a breakdown themselves? “Okay. Now go home to your kids. I’m sure they are missing you.”

  “I’m sure they are making a mess.”

  Cora laughed as Sandy-Lynn gave her a wave and left her office.

  Too bad for Cora her mess wasn’t something so easily picked up and put back together. With thoughts of Aidan on her mind, she left the office and got back on the road. At a few minutes past nine o’clock, Cora drove through Club Sin’s wrought-iron gates and headed up the cobblestone driveway.

  When she spotted Aidan’s motorcycle resting near the front entrance, she heaved a sigh and parked next to him. She cut the ignition and stared at Club Sin, which was also Dmitri and Presley’s home. The Georgian-style mansion with its red brick, black shutters, and white pillars stood proud on its large plot. Set back from the road, private from the lives of others, the club offered much consolation to many people.

  After a deep, long breath, she exited the car. Her muscles twitched with each step as she approached the house. When she reached the dark hardwood front door, she swept her hand through her curled hair before she turned the door handle.

  Her gaze settled on the huge balcony that curved the entire upper floor and the grand wooden staircase. Cora wrapped her arms around herself as she took it all in. From the art on the walls to the decorative pieces, the home exuded wealth.

  Lucky Presley.

  Cora wiped her feet on the mat in the foyer and inhaled the citrus scent coming from the kitchen. As she headed down the long, wide hallway, she strode by an oval-shaped dining room, and then continued on past Dmitri’s home office.

  Her mind raced with thoughts of tonight and of Aidan. Would he be back to his normal self? Would he have forgotten about what he saw in her eyes? Her skin prickled as she reached the end of the hallway. She journeyed down the basement steps and her breath caught as the stone walls led her to the dungeon’s door.

  She wrapped her hand around the handle, chewing on the side of her lip. He came to her house today—did that mean he was finally opening himself up to her? Did he finally see that all of this was simply because she loved him?

  Did he finally want to move past Lily?

  When she entered the dungeon, the sounds of erotic pleasure washed over her in seductive waves. Her muscles loosened and she shut her eyes, basking in the low hum coursing through her veins.

  “Hi, you,” Presley said.

  Cora snapped open her eyes, discovering Presley wearing a beautiful mauve-and-silver corset and dark silver boy-cut underwear. Her long, dirty-blond hair flowed over her shoulder with a slight curl at the ends. “Hi, sweets.”

  Presley’s gaze searched Cora’s before her brow wrinkled. “Still doing okay?”

  “Oh my God, stop asking that. I’m not dead or holed up in my house.” Cora squeezed Presley’s arm. “I’m fine.”

  Presley gave a tight laugh with a crisp nod. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop asking.” Though her smooth, placating voice indicated she didn’t believe Cora.

  Cora added, “Just so happens, I booked off Tuesday and Wednesday to veg on the couch, so life is great.”

  “Lucky you, I’m jealous.” Presley grinned. “Well, I wanted to say hello, but I better get back to Master Dmitri. Come find me later, okay?”

  “Okeydokey,” Cora replied, ignoring Presley’s concern.

  Their worry will pass.

  As Presley hurried away, Cora removed her jeans and blouse. She placed them on the bench by the door, leaving her in the lingerie she’d purchased earlier—black lace, boy-cut underwear, and matching shelf bra. The warm air brushed across her flesh, causing her nipples to pucker.

  She scanned the dungeon, and in seconds she found Master Aidan leaning against the far wall, watching her every move. By the slight curve to his mouth, she was sure he’d seen her enter the club.

  His hooded eyelids indicated he approved of her attire.

  When she approached and settled in front of him, she inhaled his woodsy scent. His smoldering gaze regarded her from head to toe. Moisture slid into her expensive panties and she squeezed her thighs together, easing the ache his stare caused. She yearned for those sinful looks to turn into hot-as-hell touches.

  More than anything, she craved to fall into his command. She needed him. She wanted him to take her out of her mind and to quiet her thoughts. She was desperate to forget that he didn’t keep her at a distance and touch her without restraint. Her insides quivered to lose herself in the safety of h
is hold, to experience nothing but pleasure. He held his hands loosely behind his back, and with a strong posture, he circled her.

  Under his examination, Cora’s mouth dried and body flared with a seductive burn. Master Aidan slid his fingers over her skin from hip to hip, and she shivered. Her mind raced with images of his fingers touching her wet and warm places.

  His finger slid up her spine and the heat of his body radiated against her. Cora’s mouth parted with a soft sigh. The study of a Dom wasn’t a quick, passionate fuck like a one-night stand. It was a slow, sensual regard, a deciding of what to do with his submissive for the evening. Every touch, each look, and the seconds within that dance made her ache with desire.

  He made her feel special, as if no other woman mattered but her in this moment. That she was a woman worthy of such devotion. As if she held a power so heady that could command all of his focus. Within one moment, Aidan owned her, yet she owned him all the same.

  When he returned to her front, he slid her hair off her shoulder and dragged his finger along her arm. Her eyes fluttered closed as one touch, so simply made, seemed like a direct assault to her hormones.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured.

  At his low voice, Cora opened her eyes and spotted the flare of dominance in his stormy gaze. A tremor slid through her, pulsating in her lower half. “Thank you, sir.” Her gaze drifted over him in his black T-shirt and jeans. “You’re …” She winked. “You’re so damn sexy, sir.”

  He chuckled, deep and low. “I’m glad you think so.” Leaning in toward her, his scent consumed her and increased the hard thud in her chest. “Even happier you’re this aroused.” He dropped his hand and softness reached his gaze. “Do you trust me, Cora?”

  With lightness in her limbs, she smiled. Thank you, Jesus, he wasn’t asking unnerving questions. Good. He got the hint. Let’s play! “You know I do, sir.”

  A visible flush crept over his cheeks, and his expression became stony. “Please keep that trust in mind.”