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Natalie had just pulled into one of Teri’s parking spots at the condos when a red pickup truck squealed into the lot and pulled to a stop behind her car. Mase swung down, slammed his door, and stalked around the truck to face her on the walk.
She stood frozen, her heart pounding as he moved in close, looming over her. What did it mean that he’d followed her?
“What were you doing at my club, Natalie?” he demanded, his body rigid, gaze stormy.
Natalie gasped, taking the second blow of the evening. He hadn’t come to explain or even to ask why she’d left the club, he’d come to yell at her.
“Don’t you follow me home and accuse me of—of whatever,” she shot back, her voice finally working. “I have a right to go where I want.”
“Not if you’re fuckin’ stalking me, you don’t.”
Her hurt morphed into rage so hot she felt as if she might fly up off the pavement. She wished she could, so she could land on him with both of her new boot heels square in the region of his heart, and his healing wound be damned.
“Stalking you? That’s—that’s ... I don’t even know how to respond to that, it’s so—no, you are so unbelievable.”
“Really?” he asked, his jaw clenching. “First I see you up in the Ridge, now at my club? You’re the unbelievable one, baby.”
“Saw me in the Ridge?” she repeated. “Sounds like you’re the one stalking me, buster. I happened to be there on business.”
“Is there a problem here?” called a voice.
Both of them turned to see an older couple standing by their vehicle across the lot, both frowning tensely at her and Mase. Oh, God, they thought he was an abusive boyfriend or something. Like he had enough interest in her for that.
“No,” Natalie called back. “No, really. Sorry to have bothered you. We’re just having a disagreement. I’m fine.”
The woman shook her head but the man said something, and the two got into their car.
“Come on,” Mase ordered. “In the house, now.”
Natalie was so flustered she found herself obeying without question.
But once inside, Mase closed the door behind them and then moved toward her. Startled, Nat stepped back against the wall. He planted his hands on either side of her, caging her.
“Now. Tell me why you were in River Ridge.”
“I already told you, I was there on business. I needed to go to the chamber. And as far as I know,” she added sarcastically, “Vancouver people are allowed to visit. But wait a minute, what were you doing there?”
He gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her protests. “I work there. You tellin’ me you didn’t know that?”
“How would I know that, big shot?” she demanded.
“Dave, Teri, lot of people,” he said, his gaze searching hers. “Hell, Google.”
Google, right. She could’ve Googled him. That was sort of embarrassing to realize, considering how much time she’d spent on the internet lately. It would have felt like spying, but then, so had her look at him and that blonde tonight.
“And how did you get to Club 3?” he went on.
“I was invited,” Natalie said. She would not cry, she would not. “I didn’t even know you were a—a member.” Or whatever he was. Did he work there, or something? Get he get paid for what he’d been doing with that woman? Was he a gigolo on the side? She’d heard of professional women moonlighting as call girls, why not men?
“Who invited you?” he went on relentlessly.
“Daisy,” she said. “Now move back. I’ve had enough of your grilling, Officer. This isn’t your precinct, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Daisy invited you?” Mase repeated, his brows flying up. He ignored the rest of her words.
His chest moved as he drew in a deep breath. He tipped his head back and let it out, his warm breath gusting over her hair.
“All right,” he said, his voice gentling. “I’m sorry, Nat. I’m sorry. I had a ... bad situation recently. I thought ... hell, I thought you might be a repeat.”
“Fine,” she said instantly. “Right. You thought I was a stalker, I’m not. I accept your fabulous apology, now you can go and leave me alone. Before I start throwing terms like stalker around myself.”
Mase was silent for a moment, a long moment in which he watched her closely and she tried not to let the tears pooling in her eyes fall, or to breathe him in, because if she got a whiff of that other woman’s perfume, she was going to lose it altogether. All she could smell was shower-fresh man, thank God. Anything else would’ve made her sick to her stomach, or want to claw his eyes out.
His eyes softened, his mouth twisting wryly. That was fine, she hoped he did feel badly. He deserved it and he could go right on feeling badly, for a long time. She looked away, blinking rapidly.
“I meant it, Nat,” he said. “I’m sorry. And I want you to accept more than an apology.”
Her stomach jumped. He waited until she darted a quick glance at him from under her lashes before going on. “I’ve had two great times with you—both of them damn near the best I’ve ever had. I want you to come back to the club,” he said. “With me.”
She looked up so quickly she nearly clipped his chin with her head.
“What?” she gasped. “I don’t think so!”
“I do.” Then, while she had her lips parted, searching for words scorching enough to refute his bizarre invitation, put him in his place and express her fury all at once, he did something so unfair it blanked out all her protests, and indeed everything but sensation—he kissed her.
He cocked his head and moved in fast, using his soft lips, clever tongue and wicked facial hair to hypnotize her into a long moment of spiraling bliss, her mind a heated blank, her body melting into his while she opened her mouth to him and let him take possession, tasting her, caressing her, gentling her with his tongue, his lips and all that was Mase.
Until she remembered he’d been doing that and more with another woman that very evening. She jerked her head back, banging it on the wall, and shoved him away, hard, her hands on his chest—although she remembered just in time not to touch the area of his wound.
“I’m not interested,” she said. “Better go back to your bare-naked blonde, I’m sure she’s ready for round two. Or maybe three, since you’re good for that, even if not so great with mornings after.”
“You’re not interested,” he repeated. A slow smile took his face. His eyes twinkled, infused with a tender warmth that, before tonight, she would have given anything to see. He leaned close again and framed her face with his hands.
She yanked at his wrists, quivering with outrage. “That’s right. I watched you with her, Mase. Is she—is she the one you’ve been using me to cheat on?”
He froze. “What the fuck? Cheating on?” His brows drew together in a scowl that sent the temperature plummeting between them. “You think I’ve got another steady woman and I’m having you on the side? What the fuck, Natalie?”
She refused to quail, even as she struggled to process that she was seeing truth in his gaze. He was clearly outraged that she thought this about him.
“Well, how would I know?” she demanded. “Are you saying she isn’t your girlfriend?”
Mase let out a huff of laughter, and gave her a wry look. “Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’. Nat, believe what you want about me, I would never pull shit like that on you, or any other woman. That is wrong.”
She frowned, bewildered. “But you were—” Doing the things he’d done with her, and even saying the same things. A memory that made her sick and miserable all over again.
His gaze softened, and his thumbs caressed her cheeks. “Aw, Nat. Baby, she’s just a club member. Wanted a spanking and some vibrator play, so I gave her that. Didn’t even kiss her, except when she thanked me for getting her off. I thanked her for letting me. Shit like that happens at the club. It’s not the same as what you and I had, at that party and all night in your bed. Or even upstairs at Dave’s. You and me—we’re different.”
“Yeah, I thought we were different too,” Natalie said, steeling herself against the urge to lean into his caressing hands. “You showed me we weren’t, when you left without even saying goodbye, and then when you blew me off the second time. And tonight when I saw you with her.” And heard him use the same words.
His eyes darkened. “Baby, what we had, what we did that first night was great, but it happened pretty damned fast. I didn’t know then that the two of us were worth a morning after. And by that I don’t mean you, I mean us together. We fucked, but we didn’t talk. It was hot, but it was fast. We should’ve spent more time getting to know one another—not that I could keep my head straight long enough once we got goin’.
“The second time ... I admit I screwed that up—badly. That was all on me.”
“You still don’t know we’re worth it,” she said through her teeth. “Since you didn’t bother to stick around. And now, thanks to your jackass behavior then and now, you never will know, so I repeat, go back to your blonde.”
His eyes narrowed, and he let her go to plant one hand on the wall beside her head, the other dropping to her hip.
“I repeat, I didn’t stick around then, but I’m here now. And if you’d quit giving me the sharp edge of that sweet tongue and listen, you’d hear me trying to set that right.”
“All I hear is you making outrageous accusations one minute and then propositioning me the next,” she insisted. “The first night was too fast for you to keep up? Well, this is too fast for me.” And it was too close to what she craved to let herself have it. If she gave in, what if he turned away again? It might break her, and she couldn’t afford that right now. She had too many balls in the air.
“Then I’ll slow down,” he said. “Give you time to catch up. And I’ll start by trying to explain about last Friday night.”
She shook her head and pushed at his chest, then let go because he felt too good under her palms, warm and broad and solid. Touching him only tempted her to do more. “No. You can’t explain, you can’t do anything. This is—this is all too weird. You need to go.”
“I need to go?” He shook his head and moved back a step, his hand still on her waist, where it felt so good she pretended it wasn’t there instead of pushing it away. He gave her a little squeeze.
“You and I both know I could have you right now, Natalie,” he said. “If I worked at it.”
Nat sucked in a breath at his sheer nerve. He had not just said that. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t think so.”
He smiled again. “But while I’m a Dom and I get off on tellin’ a pretty woman what to do and makin’ sure she does it, I’ve never forced a woman to do anything, and sure as hell not before she was ready. So you make up your own mind. And then you come back to the club, and you come to me. I’ll be waiting, Natalie. You know and I know—now that I’m ready to quit being a dumb fuck and quit letting the past rule what I do with you—there’s somethin’ between us. We’ll explore it, see how good we can make it.”
He leaned in and kissed her again, and despite everything, it was so good Natalie leaned into him, kissing him back, and made a little sound of disappointment when he was the one to draw back. Then she flushed hotly at her slip.
Looking extremely pleased with her and himself, Mase smiled down at her, patted her hip, and then removed her hands which were somehow back on his chest. He pressed a kiss to each palm before letting her go.
“G’night, baby. You think of me when you’re getting yourself off with that vibrator of yours. And by the way, I love your outfit. ‘Specially the boots.”
Then, before she could ask him how the heck he knew she had a vibrator, and luckily before she could break down and beg him to stay, he let himself out of the condo.
Natalie walked over to the sofa, grabbed a pillow, buried her face in it and screamed with frustration.
Then she went into her room, undressed, washed her face and brushed her teeth, lotioned and put on her nightie, got into bed and used her vibrator.
She thought of Mase as she came ... both times.
Then she lay in the darkness, remembering every moment of the evening—both horrible and wonderful, over and over again. And thinking about how she could have more of the good parts—only with another man, because no more Mase.
He was too dangerous to her heart.
* * *
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2ND
Nat woke the next morning twisted in her sheets, after a hot, frustrating dream in which she had pursued Mase through Club 3, hearing his voice just ahead of her speaking in that intimate, dirty way. But each time she reached the room where she’d heard him, tried to see if he was waiting for her or with another woman, he was gone. She pressed on, knowing she had to find him, to see if he meant all those things he’d said to her, about exploring what they had between them.
Now she flopped onto her back, kicked the sheets away and glared at the ceiling. Damn it, it wasn’t fair. Why did she have to want him? Why not Trev or some other nice, vanilla guy? Although of course Trev was taken, and she liked Nicki so she would never try to go there.
Nat curled her fingers into the soft cotton sheets to curtail the urge to lean over, grab her phone and call Daisy for his phone number so she could tell him she’d do anything he wanted if he would just take her one more time. She could let him tell her what he wanted and then do that, and know that she was free to fly, safe in his strong arms.
Right. Like that was an option that would get her anything but more lonely nights in her bed afterward, wondering who he was with next ... and next ... and next. ‘Step right up, ladies, an experienced man with fabulous hands, a filthy mouth and the cock every woman dreams of. And he can be any woman’s ... if all that’s needed is an hour of his time and attention.’
She squirmed, her panties abrading swollen, damp flesh ready for him.
“Shit,” she muttered, and rolled over to reach for her vibrator again. Pinching her nipples by turn, she slid the vibrator into her pussy and flicked it on. She came imagining him standing at the foot of the bed, watching her, his beautiful eyes full of naughty approval as she came for him.
Nat sank back in the sheets, damp and flushed, her body satisfied but her mind whirling. Emotion flared, and she found herself blinking rapidly against the hot ache of tears.
“I am not a quitter,” she whispered fiercely to the quiet room. “If I can move back here, re-open and run Rambles by myself, I can stop running from the past. I can try one more time, not just with my dream but with my personal life.”
She scrambled out of bed with determination steeling her spine. She was going to fill out the final paperwork and apply for membership at Club 3. And as Daisy and Teri had said, there were plenty of other men around.
She could get along just fine without one incredibly hot, beguiling, dominating cop.
* * *
LATER THAT EVENING
Mase stalked through the front doors of Club 3. The cool and quiet of the richly paneled room and traditional furnishings did nothing to calm the storm of irritation working inside him. He’d had the pisser of all days at work including nagging worries about more pictures surfacing, a new wrangle with his Lieutenant over yet another upcoming public appearance, this one in the neighboring town of Battle Ground, then gotten caught in the bottleneck of traffic across the I-5 bridge into Portland. His usual twenty to thirty minute drive to the club had taken nearly an hour, which had given him way too much time to remember his last, frustrating encounter with a certain strawberry blonde.
Why hadn’t Natalie called him back? She could’ve asked Daisy or Dack for his number. He’d damn near asked for her phone to program it in, but she’d been so skittish, he felt he needed to wait for her to come to him.
He walked toward the men’s locker room, ready to have a cool shower and don his clean club wear, when a deep voice caroled his name over the club loudspeakers.
“Oh, Ma-ase,” Dack called. “Come to the office. Got somethin’ for you.”
“What, it can’t wait thirty seconds?” Mase grumbled, but he turned and headed into the office, which was as plush and dignified as the rest of the old house, but also contained modern computer equipment and a bank of video monitors.
Dack grinned at him from the desk, and to Mase’s surprise, the other two owners were there as well. They all had such varied careers and schedules they were rarely in the club at the same times, at least before it opened.
Trace lounged in one of the chairs before the monitors, while Jake leaned against the wall, arms crossed. They were also grinning at him.
“What is this, a meeting of the board or a shakedown?” Mase asked, his usual good humor asserting itself as he looked from one man to another. Something was up but it looked more like a practical joke than anything. From these guys, it probably included a new vibrating dildo or other sex toy. Maybe one of the spanking benches Dack had been talking about building.
“A gift, that’s what this is,” Dack assured him. He leaned across the desk and handed Mase a printout that Mase recognized as one of the club applications. “Read and smile, my friend.”
Mase stared at the name on the top line.
Natalie Cusco. Here it was. Natalie’s name on a club application. “Fuck yeah.”
After the way she’d looked at him, indignant and hurt and embarrassed, her brown eyes shooting daggers at him, then soft and sweet after he’d kissed her, he thought he’d hooked her, but as the day dragged on and she didn’t call him or show, the leaden certainty that he’d instead driven her away had weighed him down hard.
He could’ve had her then and there, but no, he had to go and make a grandstand play, telling her it was his way or nothing. He’d alternated between telling himself he’d done the right thing, because if he waited for her to come to him, he could have it all instead of just one more interlude, and depression as he considered the frustrating mess his life was in lately, and the realization that if he lost her for good, he didn’t care about the rest of it anyway.
But this, this was like a reprieve. A sudden gift when he’d expected another slap upside the head from fate.
He read on. ‘Do you like to be told what to do during sex?’ Eight.
On the scale of one to ten, ten was a resounding yes. Eight was right up there. His heart gave a hard thump and beat faster, elation surging up through him.
Are you gay, lesbian or bisexual? Zero. Hell, he could’ve answered that. Nat was all girl, and she’d liked cock way too much to be gay or bi.
Do you find pain arousing? One. Yeah, she’d enjoyed the sting of his spanking. That was fine, he wasn’t into giving or receiving pain, except that light discipline led to even hotter sex as she accepted his domination.
And the one that interested him the most. He held his breath as his gaze darted down the page.
‘Do you enjoy public sex?’ Fuck him. Fuck. Him. Yes. Six.
Like she was nervous, but she’d thought about it and found it exciting. Or maybe she’d come real close to public sex on a back porch at a party, and when he reminded her they might be discovered, she’d come so hard her pussy had squeezed his cock like a well-trained little fist.
His cock twitched and began to stiffen in his snug jeans.
“I think he’s happy,” Jake rumbled. “But I can’t quite tell. What d’you think, Dack?”
“I think he’s real happy,” Dack said, his voice rich with satisfaction. “Fuck, Daisy was right.”
Mase’s head snapped up. He met Dack’s twinkling eyes. “That’s right, Natalie said Daisy invited her to visit the club. How the hell do they know each other?”
“They have a mutual friend, Teri,” Dack said. “Look, I know this was pushy as hell, and I told Petal I’m not gonna argue if you wanna give her a few smacks on the ass for it, or have her bring you drinks for a month or somethin’.”
Mase grunted. “Good, cause I just may be up for that. Jesus, I already accused Nat of stalking me here. Should’ve known it was your sweet but mouthy little sub all along.”
Dack’s brows went up, and then he scowled. “Shit, was this a mistake, buddy? ‘Cause we can recall the app, tell Natalie we’re full or something. Daisy thought you’re into this woman, and she you. But if that ain’t right—”
Mase held up a hand. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “I got this. I’ll take it from here.”
Trace nodded, his handsome face calm. “Good, then she’s in. The baby doms have been complaining we need some new subs.”
Mase stiffened, and anger burned upward through his chest, emerging in a low growl. “Over my dead body, the baby doms are gonna touch her. Natalie is mine, until I say different.”
The three other men stared, Dack clearly fighting a grin. Trace, it was hard to tell. He was capable of stirring shit without giving away anything.
“He’s into her,” Dack said.
Jake merely shrugged. “Hear you, my friend, but she gets a choice too.”
“Sure she does,” Mase said, rocking back on his heels. “I’m just gonna see to it she makes the right one.”
“You get your key around her neck, you can make all the decisions,” Dack reminded him, his eyes twinkling.
Mase nodded. He would, oh he would. He waved the application at them. “Thanks for this. Now I got to shower and change, so I can have a celebratory drink.”
“Damn straight,” Dack shot back. “I can smell you from here.”
Mase waved his middle finger over his head as he exited the room.
Behind him, he heard laughter. It echoed the swelling joy inside him. Natalie was coming to Club 3, and this time he was gonna be ready for her.