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Liz stared at her friend as if she’d been speaking in alien tongues. Surely she’d misheard her.

“Are you just saying that?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Because if you are, I don’t appreciate it.”

“Liz, Liz, Liz.” This time Katie picked up her margarita, sipped at it, and set the glass back down. “Let me tell you a little story.”

“A story.”

“Uh huh.” Another sip. “Eleven years ago I was sitting in my apartment in Atlanta with a fresh college diploma and no job prospects. At least none that paid a living wage. Then a friend of mine told me she knew some people who owned three social clubs. They were looking for a bookkeeper.”

Liz lifted one eyebrow. “Social clubs?”

“So to speak.” She smiled. “After the interview, he told me what kind of clubs they were and said I’d need to see them before I could agree to take the job. If I turned it down, he’d completely understand. Imagine my shock when I walked into the first place and discovered it was a fetish club.”

Now it was Liz’s turn to laugh as she visualized the shock on her friend’s face. “You took the job, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I hadn’t planned to use my degree to be a bookkeeper, but the salary they were offering was too good to bypass. I wasn’t stupid enough to turn it down. And benefits they were great.”

“So what happened after that?”

“Well, it’s hard to be around places like that and ignore what’s going on. The various activities began to fascinate me, and I found myself being drawn to what happened in the voyeur rooms. Then…” She looked away for a moment, and something flitted across her face. “I met a guy. I was incredibly attracted to him. He was the one who trained me as a sub. Meanwhile, I ended up managing one of the clubs.”

“So you’ve been in the life all this time?”

“Uh huh.” Katie looked up at the waiter. “Give us another few minutes, okay? We haven’t really looked at the rest of the menu.” Then she turned back to Liz. “But about a year and a half ago, I had a relationship that ended badly. I wanted out of Atlanta. And lucky for me, there was someone looking to hire a new manager. In San Antonio.”

Liz nearly choked on her chip. “Are you kidding me?”

“Not in the least. He owns a fetish club called Rawhide, with a silent partner. At the far north end of the city.”

“That is just so unbelievable. Who are these guys? Do I even know them?”

Katie gave her a sly smile. “You know one of them. His name’s Reece Halliday.”

Liz had just taken a swallow of her drink. She snorted some of it through her nose, choked on the rest, and did her best to get control of herself.

“Damn, Katie,” she said when she could speak again. “Reece owns a fetish club? And he hired you?”

“You bet.”

“But…but I thought you guys knew each other years ago. Maybe even planned to get married. Then something happened.”

“The something was I discovered Reece was an unrepentant Dom, and at that time, it scared the shit out of me.”

“But not anymore,” Liz guessed.

“No.” Katie chuckled. “Far from it.”

“Why did he open the club?”

Katie shrugged. “He got tired of flying around the country for sex, and you know he couldn’t exactly be open about it around here.” Her lips quirked up in a secret smile. “But I’m glad we found each other again, and I have to say, our sex life is beyond wonderful.” She winked at Liz. “Or is that too much information?”

Liz just shook her head. “I thought there wasn’t anything that could surprise me. Shows you how wrong I was. But you don’t still work at the club, right?”

“No. When we got married, we decided that would complicate things too much. But I still wanted to use my skills and the ranch manager was retiring so I just stepped into that slot.”

“Well. Well, well, well.”

“Uh huh.” Katie fished an ice cube out of her glass and stuck it in her mouth.

“You know, I have to keep a tight rein on myself twenty four/seven so none of those yahoos who work for me think I’m the least bit weak. The bedroom is the only place I can really let myself go.” She sighed. “And I miss it. Before John left me the ranch, I took long vacations here and there and always found a club where I could play.”

“No long term relationship?”

Liz felt the chill starting deep inside herself and forced it away. “Bad history. Nothing I can talk about.” She forced herself to relax. “Anyway, now I’m under such scrutiny, and I’m afraid to go to the store without an explanation.”

“You don’t think maybe you’re exaggerating just a little?”

“Oh, no. You come over there sometime and then ask me that question.”

“So. Maybe I can help you with your problem after all.”

“You mean…No. I don’t think so.”

Go to Reece’s club? Where he and Katie would know what she was doing? Oh, wait. They did the same things. She had to deliberately shut her mind to images of Katie and Reece and D/s play. Much too much information.

“Come on,” Katie urged. “You can go when Reece and I are there. Sit around in the lounge and get a sense of things. See if it feels comfortable to you.”

“You still go to the club to play?” Liz was surprised.

“Well…they have a lot more equipment than we do.” She grinned. “And it adds a little more spice. Anyway, how about if I call you the next time we’re going? You can ride with us or follow so you have your own wheels.”

Liz idly crumbled a tortilla chip. “I don’t know if I could face Reece if he knew…you know…”

Katie reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “He’s the least judgmental person I know. Besides, wouldn’t that be kind of the pot calling the kettle black?” She leaned back. “Now, shall we order? All this conversation has me starved. Not for food, but that will do.”

How the hell had she let herself be talked into this? Reece had dropped Katie off so they could drive in together, and he’d acted very normal, very nonchalant about the whole thing. It took the edge off her nerves. Like minds and all that. She’d just known him for so long in another context. Still, the two of them had gone out of their way to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

She’d missed the intimacy of D/s play, the chance to let go of everything, release control for a short time to someone she trusted. But she’d never let it go beyond a few sessions with the same Dom. Never again. She couldn’t risk it.

If she just focused on tonight and its possibilities, she could forget her self-consciousness with the Hallidays as well as the unpleasant memories she kept buried. Tonight would be a fresh start. A private start. And she’d keep it that way.

She squirmed in her chair in a corner of the big lounge area at Rawhide. From where she sat now she had a pretty good view of the activity in the club. Down one hallway were the private rooms, and behind her the voyeur rooms for public viewing. Before Reece guided her to her seat she’d glanced into the first room. A curvy redhead was spread-eagled on a St. Andrews Cross, the base of a large dildo just visible below her pussy. It was obviously working as her body vibrated and shook. Beside her stood a muscular man, who reminded Liz of a football player, wielding a flogger. Striping the woman’s ass. The speakers in the room were turned on so the woman’s cries could be heard throughout the lounge.

Liz immediately felt liquid soak the crotch of her thong and her pulse throbbed with a racing heartbeat. She hadn’t been in a club—or any part of the scene—for so long, and her starved senses were crying for satisfaction. She crossed her legs and adjusted her skirt, squeezing her thighs together against the sudden throbbing in her cunt.