Page 19 of The Player's Club

I watched Elodie out of the corner of my eye. She was transfixed, her cheeks turning bright red when the dominatrix began to whip her sub. The man whimpered and moaned, which only made the dominatrix whip him harder.

“Make any more noise, and you’ll pay for it,” she said.

The man shivered. But when the woman yanked him up by his hair, he let out a sound of pleasure/pain that resounded throughout the room. Soon, he was being tied up to hang from the ceiling to serve his punishment for disobedience.

The whipping continued, from hard to soft and everything in between. Red marks littered the man’s body.

I only had eyes for Elodie. It took all of my self-control not to touch her, but these rooms weren’t for touching other people. They were just for watching.

When the dominatrix thrust a large glass butt plug into the man, Elodie shivered. She caught my gaze, and she licked her lips. “I need a breather,” she mouthed.

I escorted her out of the room, internally freaking out. Had I pushed her too far? But when I had her drink a glass of water, she let out a little laugh.

“Sorry,” she kept saying.

“Was it too much?” I asked, feeling like a complete piece of shit. When was I going to stop being ashamed of something I enjoyed?

Her eyes widened. “No. I mean, it was a lot to take in, but . . .” She looked at a loss for words. “I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“Try me.”

Her dark eyes flashed with something that made my own body respond. “I think it was sitting there with you,” she finally whispered. “I didn’t have this kind of reaction the last time I was here.”

It was me. I was the reason for this reaction. I was affecting her, which was everything I’d hoped for. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to push her against the nearest wall and fuck her mouth until she was putty in my arms. What I wouldn’t give to hear the sound of her choking on my cock.

But I restrained myself. I clenched my jaw until it ached. “So you liked it?” I finally ground out.

“I’m not sure. I think so.”

She thinks so.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said.

Her lashes fluttered. “So are you like that guy?”

It took a moment for my brain to compute what she was asking. Then I let out a chuckle. “Do you mean a submissive? No. Far from it.” I touched her cheek. “Baby, I’m a dominant all the way.”

ELODIE

Roy stared at me, looking as disgruntled as ever. “Wholesome? The guy who likes to screw married women?”

I had to restrain myself from squirming. “Apparently, Mac’s turned over a new leaf.”

Roy got up from his office chair and went to pour himself a cup of coffee. His coffee maker was probably older than I was, an ancient dinosaur of a machine that made the bitterest, blackest coffee you could imagine. I once tried a sip of whatever noxious brew Roy enjoyed and nearly blacked out. It was so gross.

“You’re sure there’s nothing interesting about him?” Roy repeated. He drank a long sip of his coffee, his mustache twitching. “Nothing at all?”

I refused to break eye contact, even as my palms started sweating. Could Roy tell I was lying? Considering Roy had worked at getting the truth out of people for decades now, I knew he was no idiot.

But he also had no reason to distrust me. I was normally very honest. Too honest, really. He’d reamed me more than once for being a Goody Two-shoes who needed to pull the “stick from my ass.”

“Nothing,” I replied.

Roy grunted. “Fuck. Well, I can give you another assignment, then. We don’t need to waste any more time on this guy.”

Relief washed over me. I no longer needed the assignment to get closer to Mac. I had my ticket into the club whenever I wanted. And now that I was part of that whole story in my own way, I wanted nothing to do with an exposé on Mac Mackenzie. At this point, I mainly wanted to protect him. That was the one thing I definitely knew. As for anything else I wanted? I couldn’t be sure.

I also knew that if Mac ever discovered that I’d wanted to meet him because of my job, he’d never trust me again, let alone talk to me. We’d be over and done with.