For The Love Of Sir (Doms of Decadence 3)

Chapter One

She looked like shit.

Tara studied herself in the mirror. Dark circles had taken up residence beneath her eyes and her skin looked pale and sickly. Too much time spent running around after her boss instead of sleeping and eating was really starting to take its toll.

Why had she been dieting all her life? All she’d needed to do was work for an asshole that ran her ragged to lose those ten extra pounds. For the first time in her life she actually looked slender.

Tara sighed and pulled on her short, black skirt.

Coming to Club Decadence usually relaxed her. Even though she had to work as a waitress in lieu of paying the club fees, she always had time to play either before or after her shifts.

So why did she have to drag herself here tonight?

She yawned. Maybe because she was exhausted. She’d come straight here from work. What she really needed was dinner and her bed.

“Wow, you look terrible.”

Tara glanced over as Reagan walked toward her.

“Thanks for the compliment,” she said dryly.

“Oh, it wasn’t a compliment,” Reagan told her truthfully. Tara would have taken offence except she knew the other sub wasn’t trying to be mean. She was just incredibly, sometimes painfully, honest.

Reagan joined her in front of the mirror, checking her appearance. As usual she looked gorgeous. Her skin was smooth and lightly-tanned. Her blonde hair lay in a perfect bob. There wasn’t one hair out of place. Tara felt a stab of jealousy. Her hair was plain, boring brown—she couldn’t afford to put a color through it. Generally, she kept it tied back and out of the way.

Reagan glanced over at her. “Are you, umm, okay?” she asked awkwardly.

Tara raised her eyebrows. The other woman wasn’t usually into small talk. “I’m fine.”

Reagan sighed with obvious relief. “Oh good.”

Tara bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. “What would you have done if I’d said something was wrong?” she asked curiously.

“Ahh…patted your back and said…‘there, there’?” Reagan replied with hesitation.

Tara laughed.

“I’d better get out there,” Reagan said. “I’m going to scene with Jonas tonight.”

“You are?” Tara said with surprise. “I’ve never seen Jonas play with anyone except Lucy.” Lucy, Jonas’s sub and wife had died two years ago. “How did you get him to agree to do a scene with you?”

“He hasn’t. Not yet. But he will,” Reagan said confidently as she turned and strode out of the women’s changing room.

Damn, she wished she had a smidgen of Reagan’s confidence.

Tara glanced at herself in the mirror once more, realizing that she wasn’t feeling quite as tired and sorry for herself.

Reagan had actually managed to make her feel better.

She quickly checked both of her phones before stashing her gear in her locker. Her boss knew she was busy tonight and wouldn’t be answering her work phone. He owed her at least one night off a week.

If he didn’t pay so well she’d tell him where to stick his job. But she needed the money and Tim knew it. She didn’t have any other choice. Her rent was overdue and her bank account was empty. She couldn’t afford to get kicked out of her apartment, it wasn’t the greatest but it was close to public transportation and most importantly, it was cheap.

Tilly popped her head into the room. “Oh good, you’re here. Are you okay? Alex is looking for you. You’re five minutes late for your shift.”

She grimaced. Great, Alex wouldn’t be happy. Not that he would yell at her. No, it would be much worse. He’d just give her the look. The one that said she’d disappointed him. That he expected better. She hated that look.

“I’m coming now,” she said, hurrying.

Stepping out of the changing room, she walked swiftly down the corridor to the main area of the club. The lower level was the public play space with a bar, aftercare areas and play equipment. Upstairs were the private, themed rooms. The club’s owner, Roarke, used to live in the upper levels. But he’d recently bought a house and moved there with his two subs, Sam and Ava.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the main part of the club and started searching for Alex.

Alex managed the staff three nights a week. Another Dom, Mace, supervised them on the three nights. The club was closed on Sundays. Tara hadn’t seen Alex in nearly a month. She’d been so busy with work that she’d dropped down to one night a week at the club. Plus, she’d been swapping her shifts around so she would work different nights to Alex’s schedule.