Sighing, Sydney shook her head. “Oh, girlfriend, we have got to get you out more.”
She let that comment slide; there was no use arguing when she couldn’t give a reason for the argument. They went to dinner at a small Italian restaurant and while she enjoyed the evening out, and the food, the reminders of everything missing in her life kept her edgy, especially when talk turned toward Sydney’s pregnancy.
“I was hoping to make a trip back home before winter,” Sydney said after they’d given their orders to the waitress and she had passed on alcohol. “I’m due in March and after another long winter, I’ll be ready to take up drinking again.” She turned to Caden. “Will you have time to make a trip to St. Louis for Thanksgiving, if the weather holds?”
He reached over and squeezed her hand, an indulgent look softening his face. “I’ll make time,” he replied before turning a probing gaze on Leslie. “Do you get the chance to visit home much, Leslie?”
Once again, the unexpected personal question jolted Leslie. Since she’d kept to herself so much since relocating to Billings, she lacked practice in getting comfortable with her fake past and her mind still automatically conjured up her life in Reno. As she struggled to get her thoughts in order, suspicion began to form a tight knot in her belly. That made one too many pokes into her private life for her comfort.
“No, I don’t. There’s nothing there for me anymore.” Pushing back from the table, she stood as she fought against the mistrust entering her head. “Excuse me, I need to find the restroom.” She spun around and wound her way through the tables toward the lit-up bathroom sign before they said anything. She placed the blame for the subterfuge solely on Kurt, admitting it didn’t surprise and irritate her. From their first encounter he’d shown too much interest in her beyond the sex for her peace of mind, and she was well aware there were Doms who insisted on seeing to sub’s emotional needs a
s well as their physical. That’s why she’d stayed clear of them after just one scene or two.
Master Kurt left her no choice but to back off from this relationship, but before she did, she craved one more night with him, yearned to wrap her arms around his larger, harder body one more time and experience the mind-numbing pleasure of his thick cock pummeling her depths again. Just a few more hours to relish the contentment of being taken over completely before she turned away the only man she couldn’t forget.
Kurt stood as she returned to the table, his eyes sharpening as she sat down. “Problem, sweetheart?”
Schooling her features, she forced a confident smile as she saw their food arriving. “No, I’m fine.”
He nodded and the conversation remained on neutral topics as they ate, but Leslie still thought it best to end this after tonight. Sitting next to him in the truck, her body hummed in anticipation of submitting to him one more time. But just like the two times they’d gotten together this week, he pulled her in for a kiss that fired her up on all cylinders and then walked away without giving her what she wanted most. Himself. He left her aching after a long, thorough, panty-dampening lip-lock and a promise to call the next day.
Standing inside her open door with her damp thong clinging to her skin, pining for his touch, she glared at his swaggering retreat, refusing to call him back and beg. He paused after opening the truck door and looked back at her with a taunting grin that made her grit her teeth in frustration. “I’ll call you. Behave, Leslie.”
“Maybe I won’t answer,” she muttered as he settled behind the wheel, her disappointment a palpable throb deep inside her. She didn’t see his satisfied grin as he drove away.
Kurt drove back to the ranch happy with the progress he’d made tonight with Sydney’s help. His girl liked animals but had only owned one pet. She wasn’t an only child, as he assumed, and he didn’t believe her when she said she and her sister weren’t close. The reason for that evasion remained to be solved. After living in Montana for several years, she still hadn’t sat a horse. That could be rectified easy enough if he could get her out to the ranch.
All in all, this affair had been going his way nicely until she returned from the restroom and remained aloof during dinner, her eyes revealing the wariness he thought they had gotten past. She likely didn’t understand why he was putting off fucking her again, and planned on remedying that problem tomorrow night at the club. His plan to show her he was interested in exploring more than the physical side of a Dom/sub relationship would have to wait so he could appease her mind about the depth of his desire for her. His only concern was once he did, she would start pulling back, and he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
Chapter 8
Reno, Nevada
Edwin Glascott ignored the softly uttered condolences as people he didn’t give a shit about filed by him in the cemetery. Standing over his youngest son’s grave was a place he’d never imagined he would find himself. His boys had been his legacy and everything to him, and there had been and still was nothing he wouldn’t do for them. Now, he would leave one burial to plan for another, having gotten the call that morning informing him of Jake’s death. Hadn’t he warned them off the drugs? When they’d ignored him and ended up offing that pathetic store owner, hadn’t he cautioned them to lay low and give him time to get them out of that mess?
He’d never loved anyone until he’d laid eyes on his infant sons. Their bitch of a mother walked out when Jason turned two and Edwin hadn’t cared. In fact, he remembered watching her drive away with a sense of relief and gladness it would be just the three of them from then on. Money, as he’d discovered after earning his first million, had its uses and opened doors that would otherwise have remained closed. His boys had gone to the best schools, wore designer clothing, drove top of the line cars. So what if they got into scrapes now and then? They were young, just sowing a few wild oats, nothing he hadn’t done in his youth except shooting someone. After he learned about the witness, his livid temper with the entire fucked-up situation nearly exploded, and his rage only intensified when she refused to be cowed by his threats. When threats didn’t work, his hired thug botched the attempt to silence her and then she disappeared, driving his fury to new heights.
As he watched his son’s casket lowering into the ground, white-hot fury burned inside him, a smoldering rage unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He could think of nothing except revenge, wouldn’t accept any other outcome but the death of the woman responsible for his sons’ fate.
Spinning away from the grave, Edwin stomped toward the limo. There was one more funeral to get through, and then, by God, he would enact his revenge.
I’ll be a little late tonight, but I’ll meet you at the club.
Leslie read Kurt’s text as she entered her apartment the next day after school. She wasn’t going to stay away from the club just to avoid him, even though it was tempting to hide out at home for a few weeks until he got over this idea of an affair. No, she needed to move on, go back to playing the field at The Barn and that, more than anything else would get her over this infatuation. She should have considered that during the weeks she’d stayed home, unable to forget the stranger who had come to her rescue one night in more ways than one.
I’ll be there.
The simple reply didn’t commit her to spend the evening with Master Kurt and she left it at that as she got ready. Rifling through her closet, Leslie wished she owned some fetish clothing like Nan always wore. She’d never wanted to dress to catch as much attention as possible like she did now. There were enough Doms to go around and she wasn’t picky, at least she never had been before. But as she reached for a silky, thigh-skimming sheath, she found herself considering Master Kurt’s hot gaze as he stripped it off her instead of any of the other Doms still free of a commitment.
Bemoaning her idiocy, she tossed the dress onto the bed and took a quick shower. By the time she fixed a light dinner, dressed and made the thirty-minute drive to the secluded club, it was close to nine o’clock and she breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see Kurt’s truck in the parking lot. Walking inside, she stowed her shoes and hung up her light coat, eager to hook up with someone before Kurt arrived. Once he saw she had moved on to another Dom, he should be happy to let go of the whole idea of an affair.
So why did her palms grow clammy and her heart slam against her chest as she entered the playroom and scanned the crowd? Forcing a mental head shake and adjustment, she spotted Avery and Nan seated at the bar and padded over to join them. At least Sydney wasn’t around to say anything about her and Kurt. That was a plus. Avery waved her over with a welcoming smile and patted the empty stool next to her.
Leslie hopped on the seat, returning her smile. “Hi. What are you drinking?” She nodded toward the half-filled glasses in front of them.
“A new white wine they just got in. Here, try a taste, you’ll like it.” Avery handed Leslie her glass
“Oh, you’re right,” she agreed, taking a sip as Master Grayson strolled over from behind the bar.