Page 60 of The Boss

I didn’t owe Ashlee anything. We weren’t in a relationship. We weren’t even in an arrangement. We’d fucked, and I wanted to keep doing that, but she didn’t seem to get how this worked. I told her what she was supposed to do, and then we were supposed to do it. Maybe she’d get a little snippy, and I’d have to spank her or punish her in other delicious ways.

But to have her flat-out refuse to join me, to act like I’d done something wrong? No. Too much drama involved in that.

My phone dinged with a message from Angus saying he was here. I pushed thoughts of Ashlee out of my head and made my way to the elevator. Just because she didn’t want to go out to a club with me didn’t mean I had to stay home. She had no expectation of monogamy. For all I knew, she was out with someone else right now.

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath.

Why couldn’t she stay out of my head?

“Where to, Mr. Lexington?” Angus asked as soon as he got back into the driver’s seat.

I’d told him he could call me Nate, but he always refused, saying it wasn’t appropriate when he was working.

“Club Privé.”

Tonight wasn’t a special event at the club, but it was a Friday night with decent weather, which meant the place would be packed. I knew most of the regulars and had been with a handful of them. They were just fun. New ones could be that too. I wasn’t going to be picky tonight. All I wanted was someone who could make me forget.

* * *

A manin an expensive suit walked by, a woman in a latex bodysuit following close behind. Her head was bowed, hands bound in front of her. Only her mouth, eyes, and part of her nose were visible, but the bodysuit conformed to every dip and curve, showing off the bars through each of her nipples and the hoops through her labia.

In the corner across from me sat one of the city’s best defense attorneys getting his cock sucked by his wife. They’d been one of the club’s regulars since it had re-opened with its new design and owners.

I’d been fascinated with this place since I first learned of it a couple years ago, and I often wished I could’ve been a part of the story of how it had come to be. I also wondered how different it would’ve been for me if I’d had a place like this back when I’d first been exploring the BDSM world. It had taken me a while to accept that just because I liked kink didn’t mean I was some sort of pervert.

I emptied my glass, and before I could raise my hand to wave over the pretty waitress who’d served me my last one, she was there. When she smiled at me, her teeth flashed bright white against her rich brown skin. She was dressed in one of the club’s more risqué uniforms, one that showed off plenty of that gorgeous flesh and signaled to patrons that she liked to play. No one here was paid to have sex, but any employees who wanted to schedule ‘playtime’ within their schedules were allowed.

The gleam in her ebony eyes told me she’d be up for whatever I might suggest, and the possibility appealed to me…but not enough to make me take her up on her offer. I already knew that if I went with her, I’d be picturing Ashlee, and I wasn’t bastard enough to think of another woman during sex.

Three people walked by, their identical masks doing more than simply hiding their identity. Matching masks were one of the ways people made their exclusivity known without having to say a word. No one would approach a couple or group with a proposition if they had masks that said they were already with someone. Only a member of the couple or group could do the approaching as they would know their particular selection guidelines.

I’d been a part of a few groups and threesomes when I was in my early twenties, but it hadn’t taken me long to realize that I preferred to be the one calling the shots in those situations. Joining an already existing couple or group didn’t appeal to me. I wanted to be the primary focus, whether it was me and multiple women or if it was my submissive having sex with other men.

What would Ashlee think of sharing me with another woman? I sipped my drink and let my thoughts continue along that path. Would she refuse, and if so, what would her excuse be? Would she say that she wasn’t interested in women sexually or would she say she didn’t want me to be with another woman, even if she was there?

The possessiveness of that last one should have made me uncomfortable, but it didn’t. Mostly because I understood it. I didn’t want to share her with another man. Actually, I realized, I didn’t want to share her with another woman either. Considering, talking, or even spinning a fantasy about those sorts of things didn’t bring with it the same gut-churning sensation that came when I thought about another person touching her. I wasn’t even sure I could have another person touch me when she was watching. I could imagine the hurt on her face, and it was enough to make me stop thinking about the subject altogether.

I tossed back the rest of what was in my glass. Between the drinks I’d had at home and the ones I’d consumed here, I was starting to get buzzed. Not drunk like I’d been the last time I’d been here. The staff at Club Privé were really good at keeping their patrons from getting too plastered, but I was good at hiding how much alcohol affected me, which was how I’d ended up at Ashlee’s, drunk enough to say a whole lot of shit that I shouldn’t have said. Shit that I didn’t even completely remember.

I wasn’t going to do that tonight.

Except the more I drank and watched everyone else, the more I wanted to see Ashlee.

A pretty blonde with a leather corset and collar doing a scene with a statuesque brunette wasn’t enough to capture my attention for more than a few seconds. When a waitress in a barely-there mini skirt and a sheer bra walked past with a smile, I gave a polite nod but had no interest in asking her to play.

I kept seeing that long, henna red hair as it brushed against my thighs. Turquoise eyes darkened with lust, pupils wide. Porcelain skin flushed. Curves the perfect fit for my hands.

Dammit.

I set down my glass and stood. As much as I liked this place, this wasn’t where I wanted to be.

I’d had Angus wait for me, even though I hadn’t known when I’d be ready to go, and now I was glad that I had. In the time it took me to reach the front door, Angus had arrived. If he was surprised by the destination I gave him, he didn’t show it. Merely nodded and started driving.

When I found myself standing in front of the same apartment door as I had less than a week ago, I had a moment of doubt. What if I’d read her wrong? What if she didn’t want me the way I wanted her? What if, despite what she’d said to me in my office, she did want something from me and was only waiting for an opportunity like this to demand it?

I had to know.

I knocked, then realized I had no idea what time it was. If she was already asleep, I was going to feel like a complete idiot. I knocked a second time, telling myself that if she didn’t answer this time, I’d leave and never talk–

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