On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(21)

She kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her jacket, folding it and putting it on a table. She pulled out the pins in her hair as she stared at Ian.

Ryan was watching her with his arms crossed. “The other subs tried.”

“The other subs don’t love him. That man has basically been my big brother for most of my adult life. I’m not going to offer him my body, Ryan. He would vomit. But I can offer him something else. Now get them out of here. You should leave, too.”

Ryan frowned. “I don’t know about that. He might be the boss, but I’m the Dom in Residence and I’m responsible for the safety of every sub here.”

And sometimes she just couldn’t be submissive. “And I own a piece of the club. It might not be the biggest chunk, but I’m still a founding member.” She softened a little. “Ryan, I appreciate it, but Ian Taggart, for all his bluster, wouldn’t hurt a sub. Never. And he definitely won’t hurt me. Please. You called me here for a reason. Let me do my job.”

He gestured to the three women huddled together, and they moved toward him like a small herd of baby chicks. God, they were young. When the hell did everyone get so young?

One of the girls was crying, her mascara in streaks down her face. “I’m sorry, Sir. I tried.”

Ryan shrugged. “I guess he wasn’t in the mood for a lap dance.”

“But the music really lends itself to dancing,” the blonde said. “I just wish every Dom was as nice as Master Alex. He would never call a woman a skank.”

“Well, in Master Ian’s defense, he had asked you to stop and then you took off your top,” Ryan argued.

“I was just trying to help.” She turned her eyes to Eve. “I don’t know what the Ice Queen is going to do that I can’t.”

“Amanda!” Ryan shouted over the music.

Amanda, who might look like a baby chick, but who obviously had kitty claws, pouted. “Well, everyone knows how she uses Master Alex when he’s the best Dom in the world. One day he’ll wake up and he’ll see he needs a real sub.”

Eve took a long breath. She should be patient. The girl was young and obviously handicapped by her innate skankiness. Ian had nailed it. It was just part of her personality. “It’s all right, Ryan. Just take her out of here, please.”

Amanda walked past, a sullen look on her pretty face.

Did Alex look at the young subs and wonder what he could have if he wasn’t saddled with her? He was known as the huggy Dom. He was the Dom all the whiney subs went to when they needed a cuddle. And he gave it to them because she wasn’t willing to take comfort from him. Alex needed to give comfort. It was his primary purpose as a Dom, and she hadn’t accepted a hug from him in years, much less allowed him to kiss her. Sometimes she wondered if guilt and need was all that was left between them.

No. She wasn’t going to think that way. They were moving past that. Years separated them from the time after her kidnapping. Alex was a different person. He’d stood by her through everything. He wasn’t looking for some twenty-something playing at submission.

Axl Rose started wailing again, and she prayed Ryan managed to get the subs out and turn the volume down.

She stepped up the three elegantly placed stairs that led her to the stage. The music volume went down by roughly twenty-five percent.

“Hey, turn my f*cking music back up!” Ian shouted.

“Axl Rose called. He wants his record back, babe.” Ian was one of very few men she felt perfectly comfortable calling by pet names. Ian had been at her wedding. Ian had done his damnedest to save her. Tears blurred her eyes briefly because she realized just how much she loved him. He was a friend. No. He was her family.

“Go away, Eve. I’m in the mood to tear someone up, and I don’t want it to be you. I’ve made enough subs cry today.”

She stepped in front of him. He was the very picture of decadent beauty. Ian Taggart was a Viking of the first order. He was roughly six foot five and had not an ounce of fat on him, but she could see the weary set of his brow. Blond hair and startlingly sharp blue eyes didn’t make him any less of an actual man. He still had his sorrows. He still needed comfort. He just didn’t always take it. Ian Taggart was practically a demon, and even demons needed friends. “Well, if one of them was that little skinny blonde, I’m okay with it.”

He chuckled a little. “I wondered when you would notice that Mandy has a thing for your ex.” He shook his head. “You go and defend your Dom. And if you wouldn’t mind doing it in a vat of Jell-O while wearing a bikini, that would really liven up the day.”

She sank to her knees before him, a sign of respect. “I can’t leave you, Sir.”

“Fuck.” He took a long drag from his glass. “I didn’t expect anyone to be here. Church is too serious about his job.”

But Ian’s pride wouldn’t let him retreat. She totally understood that. “Want to talk about it?”

“Want to talk about what happened between you and Alex?” It was a challenge.

“If I don’t, I’ll have to walk away, right?” This was the way Ian played things. He was a great believer in making bargains. She was sure he thought she wouldn’t live up to her side.

“Yeah. So just go now.”

“But if I do talk, you’ll tell me why we’re reliving the eighties?”