Page 28 of Danger and Dominance
“I’m not sure since I’ve never seen it, but that sounds closer,” Mason said dryly.“If we’re completely incompatible, we don’t get married.But if we seem compatible, we do, then we make it work.Might even fall in love.It happens more often than you think.”
Or maybe people were fooling themselves into thinking they were in love because they were stuck.Not that it was any of David’s business why people did what they did.It wasn’t like he was some paragon of successful relationships.He also would never let his parents arrange his marriage.He’d rather die alone.
Maybe he’d let his sister…
“Anyway, I don’t mind keeping an eye on Cassidy.I’m not really in the mood to scene, and it’ll give me an excuse not to.”
“I’ll hang out with you just to keep an eye on things.If she does want to scene, I want to have a word with the Dom first.And I want to keep an eye on her for her first time in the club.”
Mason nodded in understanding.“Sounds good.We can both keep an eye on her.”
Great.And tomorrow, he’d make sure that he and Mason were on the same page about how to handle the Doms at the club in relation to Cassidy.The others didn’t need to hear about that for now.
11
Cassidy
All dressed up and totally not freaking out.Cassidy hoped.She was really trying not to.She hadn’t realized how much more comfortable she’d felt returning to Stronghold rather than going to a new club.
New club meant new people, new Doms… and some of them might be like Don.It was possible.He had felt like he could go to Stronghold, after all.He hadn’t thought anyone would intervene on her behalf.Abusers didn’t announce themselves.If something happened up here, it would be her word against someone who was established in the club, someone with friends and connections.
She could end up with another Don.Someone who acted like they cared, who pretended they could give her everything she wanted and needed, then eventually changed.
Stop it.Breathe.You have friends, too.
Claudia had already said she’d look out for her.Plus, she didn’t think Naomi or Yasmine would let her get in over her head, either.
Sometimes, it was hard to stop the spiral of her thoughts, the immediate jump to worst-case scenario.
She couldn’t help but think about how this could be a trap.She’d show up at the club, and Don would be there, waiting.He’d maneuvered to get her there, away from Stronghold, and everyone at the Outlands believed him and not her, and they’d drag her to him, kicking and screaming.They’d watch as he whipped her bloody, then cheerfully send her home with him, collared and chained and no longer able to fight back.
Common sense reasserted itself.
Logically, she knew Black Fox Security could be trusted.That Kincaid wouldn’t work for them, much less hand her over to them, if he didn’t trust them.That two of them were related to her friends back in D.C.That her friends would check in on her.That absolutely nothing had been said or done to think that her guards were anything other than dedicated to protecting her.
But her head still went through the whole scenario, a fucked-up little movie on anxiety.
The good thing was that it was so outlandish, so far removed from what could possibly be real, it was very easy for her to dismiss the fear… eventually.After she played it out in her head.After her heart was pounding in her chest.After the metallic taste of terror coated her tongue.
But that was a lot better than back home, where the fear went with her everywhere.Back there, even though her fears were unlikely, they were not impossible.Especially with the way Don had been popping up around her.Knowing that things could get so much worse.
Here, her fears were a lot more easily dismissed because she knew she was safe.
Grabbing her favorite pair of club heels, the only ones she’d kept rather than donating to Naomi’s shelter, she headed out of her room and down the stairs.Even though she was very practiced in walking in the four-inch heels, that didn’t mean she wanted to walk down two flights of staircases in them when she didn’t have to.
“Damn, girl, looking good!”Mick said, coming out of the kitchen as she neared the bottom of the staircase.He let out a low whistle.“Maybe I should start going to this club, too.”
“Absolutely not,” Jensen said dryly, following his brother out of the kitchen.“You’d find yourself tied up and your balls at the mercy of some dominatrix, screaming for me to help you and ruining my night.”
“It was only that one time!”
“One time was more than enough.”Jensen shook his head, glancing at Cassidy.“She hadn’t even touched him.He just didn’t listen when I told him what he was getting into.He told her he was willing to try anything once.That ended up not being true, though he didn’t realize it at the time.”
“She said she wanted to play with my nads, but really, she just wanted to crush them,” Mick said mournfully.He looked at Cassidy.“You wouldn’t crush my nads, would you?”
“Um… no?”She couldn’t help but laugh.Mick was hilarious.A total himbo in some ways, incredibly smart in others, and always a sweetheart.She could see him as a submissive, though she imagined he would drive his top crazy.
“I told you I would find you a dominatrix who won’t want to crush anything if you wanted me to,” Jensen scolded in exasperation.“You weren’t interested.”
