Laughing, Marc set aside his misgivings for now, grabbed her hand, and led her back downstairs. “Darlin’, you’ve already intruded. You may as well stay and enjoy yourself.”
Relieved he wasn’t ready for her to go, she tried not to feel self-conscious returning to the party without panties, but then she remembered that if anything, she was still overdressed. The dimly lit, spacious room reminded her of the club in Omaha she had returned to after her split with Rick. It had been over three months since she allowed new-to-the-club Master Greg to prepare her for seeing Marc again and her response to the charged sexual atmosphere had never been this strong. She credited her intense response with being near Marc again and prayed once again this wasn’t a mistake. By the sixth return visit to the Omaha club, she knew she wanted to embrace her submissive side and knew she didn’t want to do it under another master’s tutelage.
The pretty, full-figured brunette he led her toward now wore a man’s flannel shirt and sat at the bar. Cassie recognized the man the other woman was smiling at as Marc’s friend and partner. Jack Sinclair appeared even bigger than when she met him two years ago, and she still found his rugged good looks appealing. The striking contrast between his light hair and dark beard gave him a rakish look, and it was easy to see why his fiancée gazed at him with such desire. As they neared the other couple, she hesitated and held back, as unsure of her welcome with them as she had been of Marc’s.
“What’s wrong?”
His quick question reminded her how attuned he could be to her every move and look. “Is Jack going to be upset I’m here?”
He might be, Marc thought, but didn’t tell her that. She looked ready to bolt as it was. Though he didn’t know what or how much he wanted from her, now h
is shock had had time to mellow he knew he didn’t want her leaving until he figured it out. “It was a long time ago, Cassie, and we’ve put it behind us. Come on.” Tugging on her hand, he stopped next to Morgan and then grinned at the surprise on Jack’s face. “Jack, you remember Cassie. Cassie, this is Morgan, Jack’s fiancée.”
“Hello,” Morgan greeted her with a warm smile of welcome. “Are you here on vacation?”
“Uh, no. I just moved to Bear Creek. I met Marc a while back and decided to drop in on him,” she answered before shifting her attention to Jack. “Hello, Jack.”
“Cassie. It’s been a long time. How are you?”
Jack’s dark eyes were assessing, but kind, which helped her relax. “I’m good. I hope I’m not interrupting your party. Congratulations on your engagement. Both of you.”
Morgan laughed. “No, the more the merrier. Come sit by me and tell me how you know Marc.”
“Can I get you something, Cassie?” Jack asked.
She asked for another beer and then sipped this one more slowly than the last while she visited with Morgan. Jack and Marc had their heads together, talking in hushed tones she strained to hear but couldn’t. She tried to ignore the way their eyes shifted to her periodically, but with her nerves already shot, it proved impossible to do. A cry from the chain station drew their attention.
“That’s Jan,” Morgan said, grinning. “Jeremy likes to make her wait for her orgasms so when she’s finally allowed to come, she really let’s go.”
“I had a dom who made me wait, and I hated it. That is until I came. Then I understood the advantages of holding back.” Cassie could have bitten her tongue at the startled look on Marc’s face. When his jaw tightened and the light in his eyes dimmed, she knew she made a mistake in not ensuring he hadn’t heard her.
Marc could kick himself for succumbing to her like a lovesick fool, for even considering taking up with her again. That damning statement proved she hadn’t fled the lifestyle all those years ago, only him. Which made a lie out of why she was here. “Fuck this,” Marc said to Jack before stalking back over to Cassie, snatching her hand, and pulling her from the room. Out in the lobby, he dropped her hand as if burned. “What’s the matter, Cassie? Did your last dom ditch you and you couldn’t find anyone local to replace him? What did you think, that I’d be so happy to see you after all this time I’d drop everything and pick up where we left off?” he bit out, not bothering to hide his bitter disappointment and ignoring the threat of tears hovering in her eyes.
“No, it was nothing like that, Marc. Greg, Master Greg, was my only dom since you, and I sought him out because of you.” How could she explain to him the utter failure of her previous relationship, her inability to reach the plateau of pleasure she reached with him, and her need to discover if it was the domination she craved so much or the dom? But the quick fuck against the wall earlier told her everything she needed to know. She hadn’t come like that since the last time he fucked her and now she knew for sure it was him she wanted, and she had made the biggest mistake of her life when she ran from him so long ago.
“Because of me? You ran from me and what I wanted from you only to end up right back there with someone else. You don’t know what you want. Go home, Cassie.” Before he could give in to the hurt shining in her expressive blue eyes, Marc turned and strode back into the club room, shutting the door behind him. Too bad he couldn’t shut her out of his mind as easily.
Returning to the bar, he poured himself a bourbon, straight. Before he could down it, a hard hand clamped around his wrist. Glaring at Scott, he snarled, “What the fuck do you want?”
“Your hide if you sent that girl back to Bear Creek after she’d been drinking and while visibly upset.” Scott’s gray eyes bored into him with combined understanding and accusation.
“Ah, shit.” Marc set the glass down and rubbed a hand over his face. “I was so upset I didn’t think.”
“I’m ready to leave myself so I’ll follow her and make sure she gets home okay. If I’m not mistaken, she’s our new baker and is living above the bakery, so I know where she’s going.”
“Well, you know more than I do.” Guilt and worry twisted his insides as he thought of Cassie upset and driving in the dark along the winding mountain roads that would take her back to town. Even though she wasn’t drunk, she had drunk enough to impair her reflexes if something were to happen. “Call me when she gets there, would you?”
Scott nodded as he pulled out his keys. “Jack told me she’s important to you, which is the only excuse you could have for having your head up your ass.”
“She was important to me at one time. Now, now I don’t know what she is.”
“Well, if she doesn’t make it home in one piece, you’ll never know,” Scott answered with brutal candor. “I’ll call you.”
Chapter Three
Flashing blue lights in her rearview mirror had Cassie slowing down and pulling over as much as she could on the narrow road. Blinded by tears, hands shaking and throat clogged with a lump of regret, she figured she had been speeding without realizing it. Taking a deep breath that did nothing to control her emotions, she rolled down her window and looked into concerned gray eyes.
“Oh,” was all she could think of to say when she recognized the man who she’d watched getting a blowjob from Morgan earlier.