“Formal . . . for what?”
Allie put her hand on his arm. He didn’t pull away this time. His skin was warm, just the way she remembered. She suppressed a shudder as the heat zinged through her system. “For negotiations, Mick. Jamie is going to help you and I negotiate play.”
His pupils widened, his nostrils flared. Then his jaw ground so tight she could see the tick in his cheek. He rose to his feet so fast his chair tipped over behind him.
“Fuck no.”
CHAPTER Two
IT HAD BEEN thrown at him so fast he could hardly wrap his heads around the words. Him play Allie? The one person in the world he’d sworn to protect from that side of himself? Insane. Beyond insane.
“Mick.” He heard a small threat in Jamie’s tone. He didn’t give a damn. Rage was simmering in his system. Rage and a wild, fierce protectiveness when it came to Allie he couldn’t find a damn place for in this mess.
“I was right the first time—you are out of your fucking minds. Both of you.”
Jamie stood, not quite as tall as Mick was, but he had his Dom on. “Mick, sit down and shut up for a minute.”
“Not a chance.”
“Let her have her say.”
“You’ve both said more than enough.”
Jamie stared him down. “I don’t think so.”
“Goddamn it, Jamie—”
Allie shot to her feet. “You two stop it. You’re making a scene. And Mick, I’m telling you right now, if you don’t have this conversation with me, I’ll have it with someone else.”
She grabbed his arm again, and her touch scorched his skin. He had to grit his teeth not to pull away. Not to grab her and pull her in for a long, hard kiss. She moved in closer.
Yep. She still smelled like summer. Damn it.
He started to shake his head.
“Mick, sit down. You, too, Jamie,” she demanded, dropping down into her chair.
He looked down at her. She was so beautiful it almost broke his heart to see the urgency in her big brown eyes. Jamie sat but Mick stayed on his feet, leaning on the edge of the table.
“This is the Goddamn craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“This is reality, buddy,” Jamie put in. “Oh, go ahead and shoot me that dirty look. But you’re going to hear us out.”
“I don’t know how the hell you did it, but it looks like I don’t have much choice.”
“Sure you do. You can walk away knowing Allie means it—if you aren’t the one to bring her into the club, there’ll be a dozen men lined up for the privilege, and we both know it. She can handle the trolls, I’m pretty damn certain. I just wasn’t sure she could handle you on her own. And I wouldn’t have let her. She came to me about this, which makes her my responsibility.”
“Christ, Jamie.”
“You know I’m right. That’s part of the code we live by. She’s under my protection now. Until someone else takes over that role. It could be you. Or it could be some other Dom.”
Mick straightened up and rubbed both hands over his face, dropped them. “Never.” He heard the danger in his own voice. “And that’s what you were counting on, wasn’t it?”
“I was counting on you,” Allie said, her voice soft.
His laugh was ragged. “I don’t know why. You’ve never been able to before.”
“That’s true. And maybe it’s crazy, but I want to give you one last chance to redeem yourself.”
So did he. That was all he’d ever wanted. For what he’d done to her. For what he’d done to his life by being an idiot at eighteen with that damn motorcycle.
A flash of that day—the flashes he had too Goddamn often. The green and gray of the trees shading the wide street whirring by, becoming a watercolor blur as the bike started to go down. The strain in his muscles as he struggled to right himself. Then the world exploding as he hit . . .
Fuck.
But that wasn’t the only reason he needed redemption.
He’d done without Allie—and the motorcycle—since he’d screwed up so badly. Screwed up his life, his future. He’d given up Allie before the accident even happened, but that had been the nail in the coffin of the life he’d once wanted with her. He still felt with utter certainty he’d done the right thing.
But he had to focus on what was happening right now. Such serious expressions on both their faces—his best friend and the woman he’d loved since he was seventeen. Both of them offering him something he’d always wanted. Tempting him with things he could never have.
They had to be fucking kidding. Except they weren’t.
He could not play Allie at The Bastille—or anywhere.
“Jamie, I can’t believe you’d be a party to this . . . this insanity.”
“Someone had to facilitate a conversation between you two.”
“Not this conversation,” Mick ground out.
“Yeah, exactly this conversation. Because you know damn well, if you just calm your ass down and think for a minute, that our Allie is not going to give up kink just because the great Mick Reid is too stubborn to play her. She could have her pick. Hell, I’m her friend—I’d fucking play her. At least then I’d know she’d be in good hands.”
Mick’s hands curled into fists. “You fucking will not.”
Allie tugged on his hand, then released it and crossed her arms over her chest. “All right, I may be the submissive at the table, but you are not going to tell me what I can and cannot do, Mick. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.”
He couldn’t help the grin that crooked the corner of his mouth. There was definitely evil intent behind it. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re asking me to do, sweetheart?”
She huffed out a breath. “You’re impossible. You know what I mean.”
He shook his head. He liked to see her all riled up, her cheeks pink, her eyes blazing. He couldn’t help himself. But he was damn well not going to play her. Even if the idea made him hard all over.
Control.
“The fact is, you’re both impossible,” Jamie said. “But since you’re both my friends and Allie asked me to present the terms, I’m going to do this right. As with any submissive new to our club it’s my duty to see that it’s done correctly, so you’d better settle down, Mick, and let us get started.”
“Christ, Allie. You’d really go and play with some other Dom? Just to irritate me?”
“I’d play with some other Dom to get my needs met. Surely that’s something you understand? But I’d rather it was you.” Her eyes were shining—he wasn’t sure if it was a sheen of tears or the way the café was lit. “How long are you going to think of me as a child, Mick? I’m no innocent kid anymore, not by a long shot. Do you need my references? I can have three trainers contact you by tomorrow. More Doms that I’ve played with in the next few days. I can get you a dozen references that will testify to my experience and my fitness as a bottom, including lists of toys I’ve experienced and the clubs where I’ve played.”
He didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to know about the things she’d done with other men. The idea of some other Dom putting a collar around her neck . . .
His fingers flexed.
Control.
He took in a deep breath.
“Stop glowering at me, Mick. Jesus.”
“What? I’m not glowering, Allie. I’m thinking.”
She sighed. “Can you please think sitting down? People are starting to stare.”
He picked up his fallen chair and sat. “Are you saying exhibitionism isn’t on your list of likes?”
“As a matter of fact, it is,” she said calmly.
Oh, she’d be perfect, tied up in his bonds, her naked flesh crossed with rope and shadows from the dungeon lights.
He had to stop thinking like that.
Fuck it. Maybe he’d better start. Because no one else was going to have her.