He didn’t give her time to question him before trotting upstairs and disappearing from view. Shaking her head at his abrupt departure, Avery clasped the cold bottle Caden set in front of her and sighed. “I swear, that man keeps sending out mixed signals until I don’t know what to think.”
“Then I’d say he’s doing his job well,” Caden drawled before shifting down to take another order.
“Caden did that when we met. I knew he wanted me. He was just too stubborn and rigid with his rule of not mixing his pleasures with his employees to admit it or act on it,” Sydney said with a twinkle in her eyes as she watched her fiancé.
Avery took a sip before asking, “And how long did it take you to wear him down?”
Her friend’s smile turned wicked. “Not long after Connor volunteered to help.”
Looking around, Avery didn’t see Sydney’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. “Is he not here tonight?”
A look of worry crossed her face. “No. All he said at dinner was he had something else he needed to do. He’s been distant since having to put that calf down last week and Caden’s worried he’ll do something rash. He’s always been one to stick up for the underdog, including animals it seems.”
“That’s an admirable trait but I hope he’s careful,” Avery replied, concern coloring her tone.
“Who?” Nan asked, inserting herself between their seats.
“C
onnor.” Sydney sighed and scooted over.
“Yeah, I noticed his distraction the last time we played, and that is so not like him. It’s these rustlers, isn’t it? I don’t know why they can’t find the bastards.”
Avery frowned at Nan. “Grayson is trying. He and his deputies are out every night looking.”
Nan flicked her a teasing grin. “Sticking up for our sheriff, are we? Relax, I know that. I was just saying.”
“Who was sticking up for me, and why?” Grayson demanded from behind Avery, startling her with his sudden reappearance.
She jumped, swiveled and lost her balance, sloshing beer on the bar top as he reached out a hand to keep her from toppling off. “Me, but I won’t do it again if you sneak up on me like that again,” she groused, pushing her glasses back up.
There wasn’t a hint of repentance in the curl of his lips as he plucked her off the stool and took the half-empty beer from her hand. “I’ll remember that. Come with me.”
Stumbling behind him, Avery responded to Grayson’s urgency with a thrill of expectation. Between the tormenting use of the beads and her craving for more of what he’d introduced her to already, and of him, she vowed not to hesitate at whatever he had planned.
That promise lasted until he led her upstairs and over to a secluded corner and a dangling chain bearing two cuffs on the end, tossing over his shoulder one word, “Strip,” with a backward wave of his hand.
Avery cast a quick glance around the loft and saw no one not engaged in their own scene. Okay, I can do this. Keeping one wary eye on Master Grayson as he padded over to a cabinet against the wall, she pulled her long-sleeved tee over her head. Her stomach muscles contracted when he turned holding several objects that sent her pulse leaping. Her hands flew to the waist of her jeans as he eyed her clothes and approached her with a scowl.
With her eyes on the objects, she shimmied out of her pants, asking, “What are those?” even though she had a good idea.
Grayson wiggled two fingers at her bra and panties and then held up the blindfold. “Self-explanatory. This,” he dangled the three-foot bar with cuffs on each end, “is a spreader bar for your feet. And this,” he twirled what looked like a hand-held massager, “is a Hitachi wand.”
He didn’t offer further explanation as he took her bra and panties and turned to lay them atop her jeans and shirt on a chair and Avery noticed the black, multi-leather strands swinging against his thigh for the first time. The wicked looking flogger sent another ripple of unease slithering under her skin, but she refused to cave to the cowardice itching to take over. She wanted him, and that meant giving him the trust he kept asking for and his proclivities a try.
That proved much easier to do when Master Grayson faced her again and Avery’s entire body flushed under his intense, molten stare. Excitement intertwined with nerves to start her trembling as his eyes lingered on her naked folds before he beckoned her to stand under the dropped chain. Her nipples pebbled into taut peaks as her breasts swayed with each step, her buttocks clenching as she imagined the eyes of others behind her shifting their way.
“Wrists.” Master Grayson held out his hand, his dominant persona having taken over the minute they’d entered the club.
Avery kept quiet while he secured her arms into a taut stretch above her head, the lined cuffs comfortable and somehow lending her a sense of security as he cut off her vision of the activities and people around the loft with the black silk swath. His clothed body brushed against her skin as he knelt at her feet, the brief contact tingling and warming her exposed flesh. He tapped the inside of her right calf, issuing a silent command to spread her legs she didn’t think to disobey.
“Sheesh!” she gasped, swaying in the restraints as he finished securing her ankles.
“Deep breath, sugar. You’re okay,” Master Grayson soothed, his voice a deep rumble as he ran his hands down the insides of her arms until he cupped her heaving breasts. “I do like your tits. Soft and so fucking squeezable.” His thumbs rasped her nipples, the calloused touch drawing the nubs tighter, his warm breath blowing in her ear as he pressed against her with a warning or a promise, she wasn’t sure which. “Time to play.”
Avery didn’t know what she expected him to do next, but it wasn’t to trail the supple leather strands of the flogger over her quivering breasts and nipples as he tugged the band at the bottom of her braided hair off. He sifted his fingers through the mass of thick, unruly waves while tickling her abdomen with the narrow strips next, the dual pleasure of soft tugs against her scalp and caresses along her body lulling her into leaning toward him with a relaxed sigh.
“There you go,” Grayson murmured, brushing the leather up between her legs, that simple graze against such sensitive flesh enough to pull a low moan from her constricted throat.