Page 29 of Danger and Dominance
“What can I say?I like a bit of danger.”Mick shrugged again and winked at Cassidy when Jensen made a noise like steam was escaping his mouth.
Pressing her lips together, Cassidy hid her smile as she sat down on the bottom of the steps to put on her shoes.Sometimes, it was hard to tell when Mick was truly clueless and when he was just trying to get under his brother’s skin, but in this case, he was clearly enjoying winding his big brother up.
“Just not so much danger my ballsactuallyget crushed.Anyway, it’s fine.I’m baking tonight to test out some recipes, anyway.”
“Can we taste test them?”Cassidy asked.She’d already found out that Mick was a phenomenal baker.While he worked a regular nine-to-five in the office, he had a side hustle on the weekends with a farmer’s market.
“Absolutely.I’ll leave them out on the counter when I go to bed,” Mick replied cheerfully.“Have fun, y’all.”
With that, he trotted up the stairs.Whatever he was working on tonight, he obviously hadn’t started it yet.Well, no matter how tonight went, there would be baked goods to look forward to, so at least there was that.
“You do look good,” Jensen said, giving her an admiring once over.Cassidy smiled at him as she tied the ribbons on her shoes.He held out his hand for her to take, helping her to her feet.The platform heels made her several inches taller than him, but he didn’t seem bothered at all by the height difference.“Do you know if you want to scene tonight?”
“I haven’t really thought about it… I figured I would go and see how I felt once I got there,” she confessed.“I feel a little nervous about scening with someone I don’t know.”
Such an understatement, but admitting out loud that she was terrified of choosing another abusive Dom was too much.She hadn’t even said it out loud to her friends, though she’d hinted around it.All of them had reassured her that, of course, that wouldn’t happen.
But there were no guarantees.She never thought she would get into an abusive relationship in the first place.
That wasn’t her.
Until it was.
“Gotcha.Mason and David are going to be keeping an eye on you, so if you do decide to scene, you can just let them know.They can make recommendations on who you scene with,” Jensen said carefully.
David was going to be keeping an eye on her?A little tingle rippled through her body.And Mason.
But Mason didn’t make her tingle.
“Um, great,” she said.
Yeah, she didn’t know if she was going to be able to scene tonight if she knew David was watching her.But at least she could go and meet people.
David
Watching the front door of the Outlands, waiting for Cassidy, was making David antsy enough that Master Gavin took notice.The club owner was behind the bar tonight, serving drinks and keeping an eye on things with the help of his wife, Leah.Wearing nothing but a kilt and boots, the Dom was in incredible shape for a man in his fifties.David hoped that he would look as good in twenty years.Even the salt and pepper of his hair and beard looked good on Master Gavin, making him appear distinguished.
“Everything all right?”Gavin asked, coming to a halt on the other side of the bar from David, frowning.He spoke with a light Scottish brogue that had a tendency to thicken when he was emotional.“Should I be expecting trouble of some kind?”
“No, sorry.”David took a deep breath, turning toward the bar, though he positioned himself so he could still keep half an eye on the door.He forced his shoulders to relax.If he was wound up enough to disturb Gavin, he was wound up enough to disturb others as well.“Did Patrick tell you about the guest Jensen is bringing tonight?”
Understanding flashed in Gavin’s eyes.
“Yes, he mentioned she’s fled from a bit of trouble at home,” Gavin said carefully, wiping down the counter in front of him.“My understanding is that it’s highly unlikely to follow her here.Is that not the case?”
“No, it is…” David’s voice trailed off as he tried to find a way to reassure Gavin without making it sound like he was a schoolboy with a crush.“As far as we can tell, she hasn’t been followed, and her ex should still have no idea where she is.I’m on guard duty tonight, though, just in case, especially since this is her first time here.It’s not my usual kind of job, and I’m feeling a bit antsy.”
“Mm-hm.And she’s submissive?”
“Yeah.”David’s head turned back toward the entrance as the door opened.His senses went on alert and then relaxed again as Mistresses Terrin and Amara walked in together, laughing.
“Pretty?”
“Beautiful.”
“And you’re attracted to her.”
“Yeah— I mean, what?Wait, no.”David shook his head, as if he could shake off his answer that easily.He glared at Gavin.The older man smirked at him.“I wasn’t paying attention to your questions.That wasn’t… I’m not…”
