Forces, surrounded by men. My knowledge of your problems isn’t as good as it could be. If nothing else, help me for the sake of your less…forthright…sisters.”
A corner of her mouth pulled up. “Fair enough. A lecture you will have.”
A weaker man might quail.
He wasn’t weak.
Or stupid, either. He’d wait a while before raising the topic of her love life again.
After Ghost disappeared with Olivia, Valerie watched the Shadowlands people make themselves at home as if they’d been here many times. But, of course, they had. The owner of the club had lived on the third floor.
Linda might have mentioned it was Ghost’s housewarming she’d be crashing.
Honestly, her heart had almost stopped.
And not only was Ghost here, the place was filled with Dominants who radiated power like high-voltage lines. Here was the top of the Shadowlands hierarchy.
Yet everyone was so nice.
Such unique relationships, though.
Beth was kneeling beside her Master, who she openly called Master Nolan. The mean-looking, scarred-up Master had dropped a cushion onto the paving so his submissive wouldn’t scrape her knees.
Andrea was helping Cullen serve the pizza—and Valerie knew enough Spanish to recognize the rude names she called him when he snuck a bite.
Mistress Anne bossed her giant submissive around but laughed when he pushed her into a chair.
Zuri was bouncy and fun, giggling when her two Masters yanked her down between them on the long patio swing.
Linda didn’t defer to her rancher Master. However, when he snagged her with a long arm, pulled her against his side, and slapped her butt—hard, she simply melted into his side.
Valerie sighed. Envious, much?
Pushing the thought away, she sat at a table beside Natalia, the only other unattached submissive.
A minute later, Olivia and Ghost strolled out from a section of the grounds, chatting about needing more Mistresses since someone named Catherine had left.
After gazing longingly that way, Natalia rose and busied herself getting drinks for the new guests—a Hispanic-looking Dom and his black-haired, blue-eyed submissive accompanied by a gorgeous German shepherd.
Valerie bit her lip as Natalia kept glancing at Ghost and Olivia after they joined Linda and Sam.
Natalia and…Ghost? On Valerie’s first night in the club, Natalia mentioned a relationship not working. Could she have been Ghost’s submissive?
The young woman couldn’t be even thirty. A bitter taste invaded Valerie’s mouth. But really, why was she surprised he’d go for a much younger woman? Look at Barry and his slaves.
Don’t be judgy, Valerie. Natalia was a sweetheart. Any guy would want her, no matter how much older he was.
Valerie sighed. The urge to order Ghost to choose a woman closer to his own age was both shallow and pitiful.
Shaking her head, she rose. “Natalia, I can get the drinks if you want to talk with Ghost.”
Natalia gave her a funny glance. “Why do I need to talk to Ghost? I mean I’m here to help, but…”
“Ah…” Valerie frowned. She’d misstepped, hadn’t she? “You…I saw you watching him, and I guess I misunderstood.”
Natalia turned toward Ghost and Olivia, and the longing look crossed her face again. She saw Valerie watching, blinked, then sputtered. “Oh, noooo, do I have hearts in my eyes? I’m so stupid.” She banged her head on Valerie’s arm.
Valerie rubbed the young woman’s shoulder. “No, c’mon, he’s a good guy. It’ll be all right.”
“No, it won’t,” Natalia whispered. “It’s not Ghost I want. It’s the heartless Brit.”
The Brit. “Olivia? Oh. Oh.” Valerie slung an arm around Natalia’s shoulders. “Well, you might be stupid, but I think I’m stupider. Is that a word? That’s a word, right?”
They started giggling themselves…stupid…and now everyone was watching, which made it worse.
Valerie tried to hold it in, letting out tiny hiccups of laughter. Natalia had her hands plastered over her own mouth, and they caught each other’s eyes and exploded again.
“M-maybe we should—” Valerie waved her hand toward the parking lot. Turning, she bumped right into a hard chest.
Natalia’s giggles grew louder.
“Seems like you keep running into me, Professor,” a guttural voice whispered in her ear. “Now you caught me, what shall we do?”
Heat streaked through her, melting her laughter into pure arousal. Into longing. And she lifted her head. “I…”
Firm fingers closed on her chin, and he held her still enough to plant a kiss on her lips. A perfect kiss—not hard, not soft—just right.
“And there’s how you silence a submissive, ladies and gentlemen,” Cullen announced to a wave of cheering.
Oh…great. Talk about being the center of attention.
Ghost tucked an arm around her, turning to face the group. “Laugh away, fools. When you’ve finished