Distraction (Club Destiny #8)(34)

The night… It could definitely get worse.

Much, much worse.



DYLAN HADN’T KNOWN EXACTLY WHAT to expect when he arrived at Devotion, but he’d heard enough about the place that he wasn’t surprised.

In fact, it was exactly how he’d envisioned it. That was probably due to the fact that he knew Luke McCoy rather well. The man seemed to have a certain taste and this place reflected that. Underneath all the chrome and glass, there was a fetish club. A classy, high-end sex club that didn’t attempt to hide what they were all about. At least not once you were past the prim receptionist and the two massive guys guarding the entrance.

As he looked around, Dylan realized it wasn’t all that different from Luke’s original fetish club, simply named The Club. Dylan had only been twice many years ago, back when the darkness was closing in over his head. He’d enjoyed himself—as a natural voyeur, that wasn’t hard to do in a place like this—but hadn’t been able to bring himself to go back. When that one closed and this one opened, he had resigned himself to never getting to see the inside.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, Dylan slowly toured the main floor until he managed to make his way to the other side, seeing several people he recognized. When Xander Boone waved him over, Dylan pasted on a smile and joined the group.

“Good to see you again,” Xander greeted, his deep baritone warm and friendly. “You remember my wife, Mercedes.”

“Of course.” Dylan nodded toward the beautiful brunette at Xander’s side.

Taking a step back, he glanced at the others standing around, chatting and smiling.

“Dylan!” McKenna Murphy called out, stepping up to him when he turned. Her arms embraced him, her fiery-red hair tickling his chin. “So good to see you.”

“Thanks,” he replied, hugging her back and looking up to see her husband, Tag, staring back at him.

“We missed you at the wedding,” she said, stepping back and looking up at him.

Tag and McKenna had tied the knot a while back on a cruise ship. He’d been invited, but Dylan had had to refuse. He hadn’t been in the right frame of mind, and the last thing he’d wanted to do was bring the party down.

“Congrats, by the way.”

“Thanks.” She took a step back, positioning herself beneath her husband’s protective arm.

Dylan shook Tag’s proffered hand. “Good to see you.”

“Surprised to see you here.” Tag’s tone was cordial. “We thought you’d never show up.”

“First time for everything,” Dylan said, glancing around. He nodded at a couple of other people he recognized.

“Well, I think you’ll fit right in,” McKenna said with a smirk. “We know beneath that rough cowboy exterior there’s a devious kinky side.”

Dylan laughed. She was right about that, but he doubted many people knew that about him. That was a side of himself that he’d buried more than two decades ago, when he’d finally convinced Meghan to marry him. She hadn’t been into that scene, and he’d loved her too much to risk losing her, so he’d opted to pretend that part of him didn’t exist.

A waitress appeared. “Can I get you something to drink, sexy?”

“7-Up,” he said.

The woman’s dark eyebrow lifted. “That’s it?”

“Yes, ma’am, unless you’d like to toss in a lime.”

She nodded, then took drink orders from the others before disappearing again.

A hand came down on his back, and Dylan turned to see Cole Ackerley-McCoy standing beside him.

“So good to see you, man,” Cole greeted. “Welcome to Devotion.”

“Nice place,” Dylan said, glancing around.

“Thanks. We’re proud of it.”

As they should be. Dylan knew that Devotion was a highly coveted fetish club—one of the few in the area. After Luke had abruptly closed the doors on his last one, he’d opted for something slightly different. Thanks to a blackmail attempt—someone looking to leak the names of the club’s members—Luke had done what he had to in order to protect everyone involved. He’d shut the doors and opened Devotion. Needless to say, every member signed an iron-clad nondisclosure agreement as well as paid a hefty fee to attend.

“You bring a date?” Cole asked, stepping back and studying Dylan.

“Not tonight.” While he waited for his drink, he looked around, took it all in. There were quite a few single people there. More than he’d expected, actually. To hear Logan, Trent, Tag, or even Xander talk about it, couples seemed to make up most of their clientele, which made sense.

Maybe tonight was an exception. It did seem to be themed, though not many people were in costume, but there were quite a few masks worn. He figured that could’ve been for anonymity as well.

Once the waitress returned with his drink, Dylan took the glass, clutching it tightly in his hands.

“I don’t wanna keep you,” he told the others.

“We’re just here to hang out. Who knows where the night’ll take us?” McKenna said.

“Sounds like the perfect plan to me,” Dylan said, nodding toward them. “I’m just gonna…”

“Talk to you later,” Cole said, still watching him closely.