Heated(58)

“I’ll expect you to follow me,” he said, then smiled, slow and easy and seductive. “You recall our arrangement, don’t you? You’re mine, remember? You know what I want from you.”

“A collar,” I repeated, as my gut twisted with nerves. But even as it did, I couldn’t deny the prickles of heat building between my thighs, or the way my now erect nipples rubbed provocatively against the silk lining of the jacket.

A collar.

And nothing else.

Oh, my fucking god.

I let it all sink in. We were in a dungeon, a playroom, a BDSM parlor, whatever you wanted to call it. He wanted to take me inside, and I didn’t have even a clue what he intended to do in there.

I was nervous. Hell, I was terrified.

But I was also wildly turned on.

“Yes,” Tyler said, as he watched my face. “I think we’re going to have a very good time.”

Tricia came back and handed him a black leather collar with a single silver ring onto which was attached a leash.

Tyler took it, then crooked a finger beckoning me forward. I went, tentative, then held my breath as he brought the collar to my neck.

“Wait,” I said, then paused until he was looking me in the eye. “Just for here, right?”

He brushed a gentle kiss over my lips. “Just for here.”

He hooked the collar behind my neck, loose enough that breathing was comfortable, but still tight enough to stay in place. “The jacket,” he said. “Give it to Tricia.”

I considered arguing, but I knew I wouldn’t win. And though I’d teased in the car about misbehaving, at the moment, I really didn’t want to test the spanking waters.

I shrugged out of the jacket, folded it, then laid it on the counter in front of the girl. Her eyes skimmed over me, then she turned to Tyler. “Lovely. Do you share?”

“Not tonight,” he said, leaving me wondering what might happen on some other night. “I want the circle. Unless it’s not available.”

“Nope, you’re good,” she said, then pressed a button that caused another set of doors in front of us to swing inward. “Have fun.”

“With me,” Tyler said, and tugged gently on the leash, leading me down a dim hallway lit only with sporadically placed candles. After a few twists and turns, I started to see alcoves off the hall, some with plush furniture like a Victorian sitting room, some with much more interesting paraphernalia like sex swings and latex beds and tables crisscrossed with leather straps.

In one of the more plush rooms I saw a tall brunette dressed in black leather gently stroking the cheek of a petite blond woman with the end of a riding crop. We passed quickly, but I knew where I’d seen her before. Destiny. She was the woman who’d been with him at the bar.

“This place,” I said to Tyler, tamping down an unwelcome rush of jealousy. “Do you come here a lot?”

“I don’t, no.”

I frowned, something in his voice sparking my curiosity.

“We just passed a woman,” I said. “I saw her earlier. At Destiny.” I hesitated, then added, “You were talking with her.”

“That’s Michelle,” he said, and the name rang in my memory.

“Michelle.” I remembered the note on his computer and the conversation in his office. “Wait. Isn’t she Cole’s girlfriend?”

He stopped, then turned to me with a questioning expression. “You were in the hall,” he said, remembering.

“She’s his girlfriend, right?” I’m fucking her, Cole had said.

“No,” he said, with a touch of amusement in his voice. “Cole doesn’t date.”

“Oh.” I considered where we were and what that meant. Cole didn’t date, so what exactly did he do? “So, um, is Cole here now, too?”