Chapter One
Alan Rainer was driving home from Club de Fleurs. He was feeling good. He had finally convinced the little receptionist from the Club, Theresa, to sit and have a drink with him. He had had his eye on that girl since the first time he saw her. His friend, Evan, the security chief for the Club, had called him on a DEA matter and that was the first time he had been to the Club and the first time he saw Theresa. She was fantastic.
Theresa Gomez was twenty-five years old, five foot three inches tall, one hundred twenty-five pounds, with wavy dark-brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and golden-brown eyes. Alan fell for her the minute he saw her. He had spent the last few months trying to get the little spitfire to go out with him.
She had always had an excuse. Finally tonight he had worn her down and she had allowed him to buy her a drink at the Club after it closed and she was off duty. It was just one drink, but he had spent twenty minutes looking into that beautiful face and those mesmerizing eyes. He had fallen and fallen hard. For a forty-five-year-old man, he was acting like a lovesick teenager.
Alan and Evan, one of the owners of the Club, had gone to school together and kept in contact. While Evan was in the Air Force, Alan had chosen the Army. They had both ended up in Denver after their service was completed and kept in touch.
Alan had been into BDSM for several years, but had stopped practicing when he got married. His wife, Val had not been into the lifestyle and he gave it up for her. Something had been missing in their relationship, but he had loved her so much, that it didn’t matter. Val had passed away in childbirth five years ago, taking their son with her.
Alan had been devastated, but as they say, life goes on, and it did. He slowly recovered, and started seeing women again. Nothing was ever serious, a few dates and he was done. Theresa was different. She was no one-night stand. Alan had a feeling she would not tolerate that. With her it would be all or nothing. The age difference concerned him. Could he be enough for a twenty-five-year-old girl? Only one way to find out, and tonight as brief as it was, was a good start.
Alan was a good looking man for forty-five. He took care of himself and kept in shape. Six foot four, two hundred thirty-five pounds and all muscle. He had dark-brown hair, with just a touch of gray which he wore collar length, his moss-green eyes had mesmerized more than one sub. He could take on someone much younger and win when he needed to. Not that he liked to fight, but he didn’t run from confrontations. He could and did hold his own.
His phone rang and he looked down to see who it was. The name on the number came up Theresa Gomez. Well, w
ell, well. “Rainer here,” he answered.
“Alan,” a small voice said. “It’s Theresa from the Club. I hate to ask, but could you do me a favor?”
“Sure, honey, name it,” he said, wondering what could be up. She sounded upset.
“I need someone to come over here. My stepbrother is trying to break into my house and I don’t want to be alone. Will you come and stay with me? There’s no one else I feel safe calling and you’ve been so nice to me.” She was sobbing.
“Yes, honey, I’m on my way, give me your address and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are you safe? Do I need to call the cops to meet me?” he asked, concerned.
“No cops! Please, just come.” She was really sobbing now.
“Okay, no cops, just stay on the phone with me. I’m on my way.” He hit the gas, wanting to get there as soon as possible.
He wasn’t far from the address she had given him, and got there quickly, talking to her on the phone the entire time and trying to calm her.
As he pulled up in front of her house, he saw her open the door and wave frantically for him to come in. He jumped out of the truck and sprinted up the stairs to her door. She pulled him in and slammed the door behind him, locking several locks on the door.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She panted. “I didn’t know who else to call. He said he’d be back with friends. I couldn’t be alone and I can’t call the cops on him. Oh, God, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She was frantic.
“Here, let’s get some water, then we will sit down and you can tell me what’s going on.” Alan slipped an arm around Theresa and let her lead him to the kitchen. He had to get her calmed down and find out what was happening.
Alan grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge and guided Theresa into the living room. Sitting her on the couch, he crouched in front of her. Handing her a bottle of water, he said, “Here, drink this, then we’ll talk.”
She gulped the water and took a deep breath. “My stepbrother Joe…” was all she got out before a pounding came at the door.
“Theresa, I know you’re in there, open this door now!” a male voice screamed.
“Oh shit, he’s back!” Theresa was shaking. “What do I do?”
“I’m here now, let’s see if we can find out what he wants and get rid of him. We’re going to open the door and talk to him,” Alan stated matter-of-factly.
“Ok,” Theresa said and took another gulp of water.
They walked to the door, and Theresa opened it a crack. “What do you want, Joe?”
“Hey, Sis, who’s with you…you got a new boyfriend? Big one, huh?”
“Joe, it’s none of your business who he is. What do you want?”
“Sis, you know what I want. I’ll let you buy the house for one hundred thousand. It’s a good deal, you should take it,” Joe said, leaning against the doorframe.
“Joe, I own the house. You can’t sell me something I own,” Theresa said, exasperated, like she’d said it before.
“Sis, you know the house is mine, why are you fighting me on this?”
“Joe, the deed is in my name. I own the house,” she stated firmly.
Alan stood behind Theresa watching and not saying anything. He was not going to get involved unless she needed him. Wrapping a protective arm around Theresa, he stood there listening.
“Who’s this joker, you find you a bodyguard, Sis?” Joe asked, laughing.
“It’s none of your business, Joe, you need to leave now,” Theresa told him firmly.
“Don’t be fucking him in my bed, Sis, you know this house and everything in it is mine and it’s just a matter of time until I get it back, unless you come up with the money.”
“Good-bye, Joe, don’t come back. If you do I’ll get a restraining order,” Theresa sounded defeated as she tried to get Joe to go.
“You can’t keep me out of my house, Sis, but I’ll go for now. Just because I want to. This is boring.” Joe turned to leave. “This isn’t over.”
Theresa turned and slammed the door. God, what did Alan think of her now. He was so sexy. She’d only known him a short time, but he was at the Club every night she worked and when she wasn’t busy, he had spent lots of time talking to her.
She’d hated to call him tonight, but couldn’t call the cops on Joe and didn’t know who else to call. He’d been so nice to her. Now he probably thought she was some head case. Not the first friendship Joe had lost her. He was most of the reason she had no one else to call. Joe and his drug and drinking buddies had scared off all her girlfriends. No one wanted anything to do with her.
He had lost her several jobs. It was just a matter of time before he found out she was working at Club de Fleurs and started harassing her there, too. It was the best job she’d had in a while. She was actually making enough money to pay all the bills for once. She only worked four nights a week, but it paid well.
Alan was standing there looking down at her. He made her mouth water. He was tall, good looking, and just rugged enough to be sexy. He was a few years older than her, but that didn’t matter. Men her age usually drove her nuts, some of them could be so juvenile. Not what she was looking for. She wanted someone mature that knew how to treat a woman.
Joe was six years older than Theresa, but he still hadn’t grown up. Theresa didn’t want to deal with someone like that for the rest of her life.
She hadn’t dated much. When her parents were still alive and Joe still lived at the house, he had run off every boyfriend she had ever had. Him and his buddies. She had never had a second date. Never been kissed, never knew the feeling of being held in a man’s arms. She longed for that. She wanted the intimacy she found in her erotic romances. Even though they turned her on, the BDSM novels scared her a little.
She knew that was what Alan was into, why else would he come to the Club. She didn’t know if she could do some of those things for him. Just imagining doing some of those things with him made her wet. What kind of Dom was he? Could he be gentle and loving like Master Dave and Master Evan, the owners of the Club, were with Sadie, their sub/wife? Would she get the chance to find out?