Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(44)

“Was it?” Ian was suddenly in the lobby, his massive body taking up most of the space. He was in his leathers, and Charlie fought hard not to actually drool.

She had just taken another one of those liberties Ian tended to object to. Sinking to her knees, she decided to play it safe. She let her head fall forward, her hair brushing the ground as she placed her palms up.

“Now you choose to obey me.” Ian’s boots came into view. God, even his boots were sexy. They weren’t polished or new. They were lived in, with little creases here and there. “Charlie, I want to know what just happened.”

She brought her eyes up. “I just took out the trash, Sir.”

He was so serious for a moment that she worried she might join Amanda on the outside looking in. And then his head fell back and he laughed. “God, I’ve been waiting for the subs to toss her on her ass. I should have known you would be the one to do it. Derek, this is my…” he sighed before continuing. “This is my submissive, Charlotte. She’s also a pain in my ass.”

“All the good ones are,” Derek said.

“Come on then.” Ian held a hand out, helping her up. “I need a drink. Finish up in the locker room and meet us in the bar.”

He turned and walked away, but she could tell by the way his head shook that he was still laughing a little.

That went better than expected.

“So have you really taken apart a body using acid?” Serena asked. “Because I would like to interview you about that. How much did you have to use? How messy does it get?”

God save her from writers. Charlie followed Eve back in to get ready for the evening.





Ian stared out at the dungeon, trying not to think about the sub at his side. Trying not to think about just how right it felt to have her there. From his seat in the back of the bar, he could see everything that was happening, but they were far away enough that their conversation wouldn’t interrupt the scenes. “Should I assign a Dom to your sister or is she all right negotiating for herself?”

He’d been surprised at how comfortable the little sister was in the dungeon. He’d kind of expected tears and recriminations from the girl. He’d expected to have her hole up in the locker room or the conference room, but all she’d requested was something that covered her legs. He’d found some PVC leggings and she’d turned and walked away from him without another word.

“Chelsea?” Charlie asked from her place on the floor. She was sitting on one of the large fluffy pillows many of the Doms used when they had their subs kneel or recline at their feet for long periods of time. From this angle, Ian could see the curves of her breasts, perfectly pushed up by the tight corset. He’d picked green, an emerald color that set off her hair. She wore far too much black. She looked pretty in greens and blues. Vibrant colors, like the woman herself.

He liked the fact that she was flustered. She’d been an Amazon queen when she’d hauled the mean girl out, but she’d seemed a bit lost ever since. Like she didn’t trust anything he was doing. They had sat and talked with Derek Brighton for a good thirty minutes, or rather he’d talked to Derek while Charlie had sat at his feet and allowed him to feed her little snacks. She’d kept looking up at him like he was about to poison her. It was kind of fun. “Yes, unless you have another sister you haven’t told me about.”

“It’s not her first time in a dungeon.”

So they had been playing. That didn’t sit well. “So you were lying about not taking a Dom. It shouldn’t surprise me.”

Her head shook. “No, I didn’t have a Dom. I promise. I haven’t played in years. I just found a couple for Chelsea. Most of the time I hired them to come out to wherever we were living at the time, but a couple of times we were invited to dungeons.”

“I wouldn’t take her for a sub. If I had to make the determination, just glancing at her I would say she would prefer to top someone.” Chelsea Dennis wasn’t an unattractive woman. She was actually quite lovely, but she didn’t smile. There was a tightness to the way she held herself that let Ian know she wanted to be in control.

But maybe that wasn’t what she needed. Charlie had the same tightness in her bones all those years ago until that first week they were together. He’d watched as she’d fought to let go, to trust him. When she had, she’d fully let go, giving him everything she had.

Well, of her body. She’d never really trusted him or they wouldn’t be in this position. Adam was trying to track the known assassins, but they were damn good at their jobs. They had disappeared. There were definitely times Ian wished Dallas had more CCTVs. They would come after her again. The only question was when. He had to sit back and hope one of them took the bait. So far all he’d had was a text from Liam that all was quiet and he’d lost a hundred bucks to Karina while playing poker.

“I can’t imagine her flicking a whip.” Charlie stared at her. “But she does love the flogger. Actually, I should probably be the one to negotiate. She’s not that great with Doms.”

Up on the stage, Alex was using a four-foot whip on Eve. He and the whip moved with the grace of long use. The cracking sound the whip made belied what Ian knew was nothing more than a sting along her skin followed by a lovely warmth. Charlie used to love the whip. He’d felt like a real Dom the first time she’d subbed out while he was working on her. He felt like he finally truly understood why he’d been attracted to this life. It wasn’t for the kink or because he wanted the control. It was because when she relaxed, he felt necessary. He felt like something beyond a highly paid piece of cannon fodder.