He was a stranger, nothing more. And one she didn’t have to see again after tonight if she chose not to.
Still, when he smiled, he would be glorious.
“They’re done.” Lucas whispered in her ear as Julian began taking his loves off the chairs and preparing their aftercare.
It was time. Master A was already supervising the change of the scene in a deep voice. Nothing at all like Aidan’s musical, lyrical voice. She wouldn’t hear that voice again.
“Are you ready?”
She turned a smile up to the man who was her future and nodded her assent.
Chapter Four
Lucas felt his cock pulsing as he walked Lexi toward the stage.
What the fuck was he doing?
He needed to keep it together. He needed to pretend like he wasn’t responding to the man in the mask. He didn’t want to. He wasn’t going to get involved with another man. He was with Lexi. Lexi was the only person who mattered now.
But god, that fucker reminded him of Aidan. It was the smile that did it. Aidan had the sweetest “aw-shucks-ma’am-weren’t-nothing” smile on the planet. He would look at a person, that one lip would tug up, making the smile all the more perfect for its lopsided nature, and Lucas couldn’t help but melt a little. Aidan was masculine perfection, and when he sang, no one could help but stop and listen.
God, as much as Lucas loved Aidan, he hated him now. Lucas hated him for the coward he was. He hated him for showing Lucas the edge of heaven and walking away. And he hated Aidan for leaving Lexi. So many times, Lucas wondered if she wouldn’t have been happier if she’d gone with Aidan.
She certainly wouldn’t be in this position. Even though Aidan hadn’t acknowledged it, he’d been the dominant partner. Aidan had been indulgent, but when he’d put his foot down, Lexi fell in line. So had Lucas, for that matter. Lucas had enjoyed having a partner to curb some of Lexi’s more wild tendencies. If Aidan had been around, Lexi wouldn’t have gotten into this trouble.
Dani winked at Lucas as she was carried off the stage in Julian’s arms. The curvy blonde looked perfect cuddled against her Master’s chest. Finn walked behind them, his body covered in a robe. Lucas remembered a time when all of Julian’s aftercare, including sex, occurred right there on the stage. Not anymore. He jealously guarded both Dani and Finn.
Lucas shook Finn’s hand. He felt a bit guilty. He was the reason Finn’s ass was red as hell. “Sorry I got you got in trouble, man.”
Finn shook his head, his face still flushed. “No way. I wouldn’t have missed that for the world. Julian has gotten to be a big old softie since we got married. Now I know how to get him to give it to me good. The next time I need it, I’ll just gossip a little. I moaned and cried enough that he won’t even withhold the sex. I’m looking forward to the evening.”
Lucas shook Finn’s hand, but he only half heard what Finn said because Lucas was staring at Master A. Two club employees were moving the whipping chairs off the stage in favor of a padded sawhorse. Finn waved goodbye and jogged after his lover and their shared wife.
“What are they doing, Lucas?” Lexi’s voice had the slightest shake to it. Lexi hated the sawhorse. Lucas would never put her over one.
“I’ll find out.” Lucas gave her hand a squeeze.
Lexi preferred the comfort of the whipping chair or the St. Andrew’s Cross. When he’d started playing the role of Lexi’s Dom, he’d introduced her to all of the equipment in the dungeon. Some of it hadn’t appealed to her at all, and he’d never pushed her on it. He had the handcuffs he’d had made for her. They were lined with faux fur so her wrists never chaffed. He pulled them out as he approached Master A.
The enormous mountain of a man picked up a strap and tested it against his own hand. He had a table full of torture implements. None of them were the ones Lucas had brought.
“There seems to have been a miscommunication, Sir.” Lucas was exceedingly polite. He was suddenly intensely aware that he’d agreed to sub for this man. At the time, it had seemed like an afterthought, something incidental. BDSM scenes required a chain of command. When he’d signed his name to the bottom line of the contract, he’d been thinking more of Lexi than himself. Now, as Master A turned and his dark chocolate eyes pinned him, Lucas suddenly thought it was pretty damn serious.
“What’s wrong, Lucas?” His voice was like gravel, as though something had damaged it, but a lyrical quality still held. Up close, his scars were like rivers crossing his powerful chest. Some were thick and wove across his skin, others a mere whisper, but together they were a map of the man. “Why aren’t you waiting with Lexi?”
Lucas felt that voice deep inside him. It was much more than mere sexual attraction. He could be sexually attracted to any number of people. He’d learned to ignore it entirely. His cock didn’t have the best of taste, but it had stopped ruling his life long ago. This was more. This was the instant, soul deep recognition of someone he knew could top him. Master A was a true Dom.
But he wasn’t Lexi’s Dom. He might be for the evening, but that was Lucas’s full-time role. Though he’d signed over control of the punishment to Master A, surely the man would take advice from the sub’s permanent Dom. “We need to move that sawhorse out of here. Lexi prefers a whipping chair. Actually, it would be better if we just used a whip. She’s very used to a St. Andrew’s Cross.”
There was a long pause as Master A stared a hole through him. There was no hot dimple in his cheek now. There was only a simple stony silence emanating from the man. Lucas fought not to fidget under his stare. This was how he’d felt when he’d done something stupid at the ranch, and Jack wanted him to know he was a dumbass.
“So, should I set up the whipping chair?” Lucas asked. Master A was obviously not amenable to the cross for some reason. Lucas silently cursed himself. He should have tightened that contract, but Julian had been negotiating, and Lucas placed a lot of trust in Julian.
“Lucas, you should take your place beside Lexi. I’ll let you know when I need your help. We’ll be using a sawhorse. If Lexi has a problem with it, she can use her safe word. Leo is waiting in case she requires assistance off the grounds.”
Lucas felt his face flush. Bastard wanted to play rough? “So, it’s your way or the highway?”
Master A took a slow step forward, his boots thudding across the hard floor of the stage. “Yes, it is, sub. Welcome to D/s. I was told you weren’t a tourist, but every word that comes out of your mouth is proving to me that you are.”
Lucas’s heart started to pound. He hated someone questioning his seriousness. Years and years he’d spent under his father’s disdain. He’d been compared to his siblings and found lacking in every way possible. Lucas had never been good enough for the great Senator Allen Cameron. Looking down on him was the one button sure to set Lucas off, and Master A had firmly pushed it. “I’ve been in the lifestyle for years, asshole.”
He’d been in the lifestyle since the day he’d met his half brother, Jack Barnes. Everything about his brother’s life fascinated him, including his D/s relationship with his lovers, Sam Fleetwood and their wife, Abigail Barnes. Lucas had emulated his brother from the day he’d met him.
Master A’s head shook. “No, you’ve played at it for years. You’re no Dom, or you wouldn’t be over here telling me what she will or won’t accept and expecting me to change my plans for her. You agreed to allow me to top both of you, and here you are making demands. Here is the bottom line. She will accept her punishment meted out my way with respect to her hard limits, or she will leave. And you will cease cursing at me, or we will have some trouble, you and I.”