The woman was even more enticing close up. Her dark hair spilled forward, shielding her face as she kept her eyes down from Colby’s. She was wearing a simple black bra and panty set—standard issue for an unclaimed sub who didn’t bring her own fetish wear. Jace allowed his gaze to travel down—creamy skin, breasts that looked to be the perfect handful, and legs . . . shit.
“What’s your name, sub?” Colby asked.
“Sasha.”
Andre cringed and leaned toward Jace’s ear. “The no-ménage chick.”
Jace’s mouth had gone dry as he stared at the faint jellyfish scars that striped “Sasha’s” leg. What in the hell was Evan doing here? Then the words from the bio sheet came back to him. Ah, fuck. The engaged chick with the vanilla fiancé.
Evan thought she was a sub?
His burgeoning erection turned into a raging hard-on. God, how he’d love to find out if that was the case. Be the first to draw out the submission if it was really in her. But complicated didn’t even begin to describe getting involved with Evan. Not only was he doing business with her fiancé, but she’d made it clear in South Padre that she wanted nothing to do with him, couldn’t even bear to have lunch with him. And hell if he could blame her.
Plus, even if she had been open to him and ménage, sleeping with her again would be ten kinds of stupid. Especially after how he’d felt when he’d walked away from her the last time. She’d been his first lesson in heartbreak. Even way back then, they’d always had this dangerous vibe between them—one that had scared him shitless. She wasn’t a fuck ’em and forget ’em kind of girl, and he was a cut and run kind of guy.
Colby’s lazy Houston accent snapped Jace from his thoughts. “What makes you think you could be a submissive, sweetheart?”
Evan dipped her head a bit, like she was afraid to answer the question.
“Answer, sub,” Colby said, his accent not hiding the natural authority in his voice. “Now’s not the time to be shy.”
Jace stepped closer and had the urge to tell Colby to back the fuck off even though the guy was doing exactly what he would’ve done in the same situation.
Evan cleared her throat. “I’ve, uh, had fantasies about being dominated.”
Jace nearly groaned aloud. He should’ve been disturbed. At one time he’d seen this girl as a little sister, had promised his parents he would protect her from the dangers of the world and from guys like him. A promise he’d fucked up royally. And there was still a deep protective urge that rose when she was around. A possessive one that had been there from the beginning.
But God, somewhere along the way his view of her had warped into something entirely different. He knew the night she’d come to him at sixteen that his feelings toward her were far from familial. But now that the barrier of the strange situation was lifted all he could see was a beautiful woman there for the taking. A beautiful woman who wanted to be dominated.
Colby glanced up at Jace, noticing him now that he’d stepped next to Evan’s table. “Better move on, J. The lady isn’t looking for what you guys want to dish out.”
Jace’s jaw clenched. “Fuck off, Colby.”
Evan’s head snapped up, her eyes going wide when she saw Jace.
Colby’s brows lifted. “What’s your problem?”
Jace eyed Colby. The guy was his friend, an excellent dom and one of the trainers here. Evan would be in safe hands. But hell if he didn’t want to choke the guy at the thought of him touching her, bending her to his will, drawing out her submission. His fists clenched.
Andre shot Jace a don’t-do-this look. “No, Colby’s right, man. She’s not down with ménage.”
Jace clenched and unclenched his fists, an urge he hadn’t had in as long as he could remember surfacing. The words were out before he could stop them. “Maybe I’ll go solo tonight.”
Andre’s eyebrows rose, but before Jace could respond, Colby was pulling out a collar and laying it on Evan’s table, letting her know that he was offering to take her on. Jace’s hand, as if acting on its own accord, yanked the strip of leather from his own back pocket. He squeezed the collar in his hand, inches away from laying it down and making his first solo claim in two years.
Colby stared at him, waiting to see what Jace’s move was going to be.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Anxiety rose in Jace like a tidal wave, drowning the surge of bravado. What the hell was he doing? He didn’t do jealous or possessive. Not anymore. The fact that he was feeling either was a glaring sign he should back the fuck off. Now.
His good sense screamed for him to bail. To back off. His body and mind warred, but finally, he forced himself to step backward, leaving Evan to Colby, the concession almost physically painful. He had to give her up. Do the smart thing.
But before Jace could take another step back, Evan looked down at his clenched hand and looked . . . disappointed.
NINE
Evan tried to wet her lips, but her mouth had gone arid the minute she’d seen Jace. What in the hell was he doing here?
“Sasha, do you accept my offer?”
Her gaze darted to the man standing closer to her—dark brown hair and hazel eyes, a friendly smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. Handsome. And built like a brick shithouse. The collar on the table meant he was offering to take her on, which meant . . . Her focus returned to Jace and the collar he gripped in his hand. He was offering, too?
No, Jace had stepped back and was half-cloaked in the shadows at the edge of the singles area.
“Jace, what are you doing here?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
The other man turned to Jace with a questioning look.
“I’m a member,” he said, his voice tight.
Oh, fan-frigging-tastic. This was so not what she needed right now. The whole point of coming to a place like this was the anonymity, the privacy. And now not only had she run into someone she knew, but Jace, the last person in the world she needed to be around.
The man turned toward Jace. “You’ve got history with her?”
“Sure do,” Jace said, the words clipped.
“So are you making a claim or not?” he asked, his words laced with annoyance. “You know I’m not going to overstep if you have some previous connection to her.”
Jace’s gaze darted back to Evan and for a moment, she forgot to breathe. His jaw flexed. “No, I’m not.”
Evan clenched her teeth together, not sure if she was more relieved or insulted. She reminded herself that this was a good thing. Despite the fan club her hormones were forming just from being near him again, getting naked with Jace was a first-class bad idea.
Mr. Hazel Eyes graced her with a sexy smile. “Guess that means you’re mine, darling. That is, if you’re interested, of course.”
Nerves thrummed through her. The guy was hot as hell and he had kind eyes, giving her reassurance that he probably wasn’t some psycho. Always a bonus. But was she actually going to do this? Could she hand herself over to a stranger? Her eyes automatically found Jace again—the only anchor of familiarity in a suddenly fast-moving world of unknown.
Jace shoved his hands in his pockets, his expression softening. “You don’t have to choose Colby. You don’t have to choose anyone, Ev. You can turn around and go home. Back to the guy you’re marrying. This isn’t something to mess around with if you have doubts that you can handle it.”
His gaze dipped down and traced over the oh so faint scars on her lower belly. Ones that no one else would know to look for except him. Shame, hot and fierce, burned within her.
“I’m not that kid anymore, Jace. I don’t need someone to protect me,” she said more sharply than she’d intended. She switched her focus to Colby, her anxiety ratcheting up another notch. “I accept your offer.”
She caught Jace in her peripheral vision, scowling.
“Thank you.” Colby smiled down at her and gripped the back of her neck. “Now stand up, sub. I want to sample what’s mine for the weekend and make sure my friend Jace back there knows who you belong to since he seems to be confused.”
Her eyes widened as Colby helped her from the stool and to her feet. He had her put out her wrists for cuffs, then locked her arms behind her back. “There, that’s better.”
He slipped his large hands onto her hips and stepped in front of her, pulling her close. His hard body pressed against hers as Jace glared at her from over Colby’s shoulder. Colby dipped his face down until his eyes were inches from hers and his lips only a breath away.
Holy shit. He was going to kiss her. Right away. With Jace watching.
Before she could catch her breath, his mouth met hers, warm and inviting. Her eyelids closed automatically, and she tried to give herself over to the kiss. It’d been forever since she’d really kissed someone, and the sensation was something new again. Soft and sensual, his tongue teased hers, testing the waters. He was a good kisser, not giving or taking too much. But despite his skill, the experience felt empty, vacant. All she could think about was the man behind him, standing there watching it happen.
Colby pulled back and stared down at her, running a thumb over her lower lip. “You have a beautiful mouth. I can’t wait to feel it against my—”
Without warning, she was yanked sideways by a firm hand on her upper arm, the jolt nearly causing her to tumble onto her ass. “What the—”
“Get your goddamned hands off her, Colby,” Jace said, his voice full of grit.
Colby’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be an asshole, Austin. I gave you your chance, and you didn’t make a claim. She chose me.”
“She can change her mind. You haven’t collared her yet.” Jace led her a few more feet away from Colby. She didn’t know what else to do but let him. “I changed my mind. I’m offering. Let the lady choose again.”
What? Oh, shit. Evan’s heart jumped into her throat. She pinned Jace with a desperate stare. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you a choice.”
No. No. No. She didn’t want a choice. She couldn’t be trusted with this choice. Especially not after her lackluster kiss with Colby. “Why are you doing this?”
He wrapped his hand around her nape and without any further warning, brought his mouth down on hers. Electricity, sharp and instant, sparked at the contact, waking every nerve ending in an all-encompassing rush. Oh, Jesus. The muscles in her legs quivered, fighting to hold her upright position, and pulsing heat radiated down to her clit.
He kiss was hard, hungry, not at all tentative like Colby’s. It was a proclamation, a claiming. And God, she wanted to be consumed by it. By him.
But as quickly as he’d started it, he pulled back and straightened. “Just choose me, Evan.”
It took her a second to find her voice and her brain. “Jace, I—”
Something flickered in his eyes, and his mouth hardened into a line. “I know you’re new at this, sub, but you’re to speak only when spoken to. And you need to address me as sir or Master J in public. All you have permission to do right now is choose your dom for the weekend.”
She sucked in a breath, the change in his demeanor and stark authority in his voice almost knocking her off her feet. Everything was happening too fast. Her thoughts and hormones were whirling into a firestorm in her gut, and she couldn’t process any of it.
He frowned. “Answer the question, sub. It’s not that hard. You want Colby or you want me?”
Ha. There was the question of the day. Physically, she wanted Jace so bad her arms strained to bust out of the bindings just so she could touch him. She couldn’t remember ever having a kiss affect her so intensely. But how could she risk being with him even in a casual way? Nothing with Jace had ever been casual for her.