My Addiction (Club Desire #2)(6)
Dex watched the movement of Kate’s slender throat as she swallowed. He wondered what her skin would taste like, and what her moans would sound like if he nipped at that sensitive flesh. He reined in his thoughts. “You said you’ve been turning Balkins down for months, but I assume you have another Dom?” From her dossier, he knew she had more than one, but which one she chose to speak about would tell him a lot.
She gave a small sigh and swallowed again before she spoke. “Since I joined The Dungeon, I’ve ended up playing with several.”
Her manner turned wary, as if Dex would somehow judge her for having more than one Dom. But that was in no way unique inside the lifestyle.
He wondered if she’d received that kind of judgment in the past. Although he had to admit, there was a slight twinge of Dom territorial instinct going on inside him. Not only was he attracted to her, but he felt protective even though he’d known her for only just under an hour.
You’re here on a case, and she’s a possible suspect, he forcefully reminded himself.
He watched her trace the rim of the white porcelain cup with her fingertip. “Is there anyone in particular right now?” he asked, trying to find out more about her current Doms.
Her expressive green eyes narrowed as she raised her chin and met his gaze directly, making him think of a warrior queen. “Mark Stanton and I have played off and on for the last month or so.”
Dex immediately recognized the name. Stanton was the very wealthy owner of a media conglomerate, and there already was an extremely thick FBI file on him from other cases Dex had worked as an analyst. Clearly, the man was a scumbag. One with lots of high-priced lawyers.
Those lawyers couldn’t protect Stanton forever, though. Things would catch up with him eventually.
Dex nodded to Kate, as if he didn’t already know what kind of a man Stanton was. “I’m sure he won’t be pleased with Balkins when he finds out what happened.” Dex gestured toward the lobby, where he’d first seen her standing with Balkins’s arm around her waist, her body tensed for a blow the man didn’t even know would come.
She huffed out a breath. “Stanton was the * who told Balkins I was his gift for the evening.”
Anger surged through Dex, searing his chest and stomach. He tried to mask it by picking up his cup and taking a long drink. But when he met Kate’s calm gaze, he could see he hadn’t hidden anything. She was perceptive. He’d have to be extremely careful to get the information he needed without letting her see too much of what he should keep hidden.
“What about you?” She leaned forward. “I know Master Ralston introduced you as a new Dom to The Dungeon. But I would be extremely surprised if you’re a brand-new Dom.”
Her words were calm but confident, as if she knew she was right and was merely stating a fact. Dex was attracted to intelligent, intuitive, independent women. As an added bonus, this one was gorgeous and enjoyed kink.
Warning bells were going off in his head like a firehouse siren for a five-alarm blaze.
Danger ahead!
He would definitely have to be careful where Kate was concerned. To get her to open up and reveal all she knew, he would have to play scenes with her. To do otherwise would raise suspicions and doubts, not just from Kate, but from the entire dungeon. Even knowing she was the type of woman who could be his Achilles heel couldn’t make him stop looking forward to their first scene.
She smiled at him, her entire face lighting with the action. “What brings you to L.A., Master Dex? Work?”
Her question only confirmed his thoughts, and he pulled from the cover story that his support team had built for him. “I’m here on business for an undetermined amount of time.”
She studied him as she sipped her latte. “?‘Undetermined.’ What type of work do you do? Or is that too personal to ask?”
He raised a brow in question. Subs had asked him that quite a bit in the past, and he had a standing generic answer of “business analyst.” Not too far from the truth since before his recent promotion to field agent, he had spent several years as an analyst for the FBI. So he could speak intelligently on the subject when needed. Beyond that, he kept things vague.
He studied Kate. “Why would you think that’s too personal to ask?”
She shrugged. “Around here, most of the Doms are already well known for whatever line of work they are in and would be offended if you didn’t automatically know what they did, as well as most of their accomplishments and general net worth. So, honestly, I’ve never had to ask, and wasn’t sure if that would be considered rude or not.”
Dex laughed. “That makes sense. I hadn’t thought about the demographic here, but I know Master Ralston has always tried to cater to the moneyed crowd and the higher-visibility professions and personas.”
She chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly.”
He hadn’t answered her, so rather than make her ask again, he offered, “By day, I’m a business systems analyst for an efficiency expert.”
Her gaze intensified, showing he had both surprised and intrigued her. “For an efficiency expert?” She bit her bottom lip, not so much a nervous gesture as one she probably used when gathering her thoughts. “Is it for help with their clients, to analyze their processes?”
Dex smiled, glad he had talked this through with his friend Brent Weston before he left Phoenix. He knew very well what Brent did when he wasn’t running Club Desire but wasn’t sure how a business analyst would fit into that, so they had brainstormed a good cover story and cleared it with Dex’s boss, Jason Tanner.