Page 108 of Big Daddy Christmas
Cheeky brat. It really was a shame she wasn’t interested in him that way. They could have had some fun together.
“I like her,” Titania declared, practically beaming at them. “About time you found someone to keep you in line, Master C.”
“Indeed,” he drawled, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her.
From their seats on the other side of the table, Desmond and Bastian eyed him with the same wariness they’d guarded him with for as long as he’d been a member of the club. “O’Rourke.” Desmond’s greeting was stilted, stiff as always.
It gave him an itch between his shoulder blades, one he never could quite scratch. As much as he enjoyed poking them, he hated the constant reminder that even here, he would always be on the outside. They’d take his monthly fee, let him spend his money on food and drink, but they’d never actually welcome him into the fold.
Annoyed, with himself and with them, he turned to Naomi and offered up another smile of apology. “It seems I’m more tired than I realized. We should catch up later, have a drink.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flickered in her eyes. “I was hoping we could go down to the pit.”
“Another night.”
“You can come with us.” Emily turned her head, looking up at her husband. “Can’t she, Daddy? We were planning to go down in a bit anyway.”
Damian hesitated, his gaze shifting to Killian. “If it’s all right with Master O.”
Beside him, Naomi snorted, then lost the battle and doubled over with laughter. “Master O? What, are you the Master of Orgasms or something?”
“O, for O’Rourke.” He let a small smile curve his lips. “But the other interpretation isn’t far off. And Naomi isn’t… We aren’t together, that way.”
“We definitely are not.” One corner of Naomi’s mouth kicked up in a smirk. “Cordelia is much more my type, though she seems to have her hands full.”
“In that case, you’re welcome to come and observe,” Damian said with a crooked smile of his own. “And if you ask nicely, Cordelia might even give you a personal demonstration.”
“Really.” Despite her earlier judgments, Naomi perked up at that bit of news. “I am here to learn. Lead the way!”
“I really, really like her.” Slipping out of the booth, Titania hooked her arm with Naomi’s and tugged her along toward the stairs.
Another little prickle of guilt in his stomach as he watched her go, but he tried to ignore it. He really wasn’t in the right headspace to play host, and Naomi was perfectly safe with the Elliotts. They might be thorns in his side, but they’d take care of her.
Still…
Reaching out, he snagged Desmond’s arm as he passed. “Naomi may not be mine, but she is still very much under my protection.”
Translation: I will hunt you down and rip you apart piece by piece if anything happens to her.
Clearly, he didn’t need to translate, judging by the twist of Desmond’s lips and the single, sharp nod he gave in response. “Noted.”
“Thank you.”
He let go of Desmond’s arm, nodded to Bastian as the other man placed a proprietary hand at the small of his husband’s back, and watched them all disappear down the stairs.
As he turned to leave himself, he caught sight of the gleaming wood of the bar, and the bottles lined up neatly behind it.
A drink, first. And then he’d be on his way.
Chapter 2
Aria
“Ow! Goddammit, Beckett, that thing hurts!”
Up on a wooden stage, Ruby was locked into what appeared to be a set of stocks, naked as the day she was born, her red and welted ass on display for everyone to see.
Aria had never been so fascinated by anything in her life.
