Page 20 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

David

A new guest to the club, outside of Newbie Night, always drew interest in large part because it was presumed they were there with someone.

Nosiness in the club abounded. The fact that Cassidy appeared to be unattached—since the Dom who brought her immediately went off to flirt with other submissives—only created more interest. Especially from the other Doms.

David did his best to thwart them by taking up space near her, watching her intently, and glaring at anyone who looked like they might make her an offer.

This was her first night here; they could all give her some damn breathing space.

No need to circle her like a pack of wolves trying to decide who was going to get the first bite.

No one was biting her while he was around.

Yasmine wasn’t helping either, pointing out various Doms and giving Cassidy a rundown of their preferences and her opinion on their skills.

Though, at least she wasn’t pushing Cassidy toward any particular Dom.

She was just giving her a general overview of the club Doms—and including occasional bits of gossip.

“That’s Master Lucas. He’s fun, but you can’t expect anything serious from him.

He and Eben have this on-again, off-again thing.

They’re terrible for each other, but they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

” Yasmine shook her head sympathetically.

“Oh, and that’s Master Aiden. He’s Mistress Cyana’s submissive now, but we still call him Master Aiden. ”

“Oh… so he’s a switch?”

“Only for her,” Yasmine said cheerfully. “He used to be the club’s biggest playboy. He was a really good Dom, too. Some of the subs were hoping they would start tag-teaming, but so far, they’re staying fully monogamous and not even scening platonically with anyone else.”

“It’s been fun to watch,” Claudia put in, grinning as she watched the unlikely pair across the room. “Put the fear of God into a lot of the Doms, wondering if the same thing could happen to them.”

“Do you have a Dom you’re interested in?” Cassidy asked Yasmine. “Like, someone I shouldn’t play with?”

“Oh, no.” Yasmine shook her head emphatically. “I have sworn off getting involved with anyone any time soon.”

“Because she’s the queen of bad dates,” Naomi put in with amusement. “I have never met anyone with worse dating luck.”

“It’s true.” Yasmine sighed. “Have you ever heard the saying ‘always a bridesmaid, never the bride’? That’s me in the club.

If I start dating or agree to start scening more regularly with a Dom, he’s pretty much guaranteed to find his perfect submissive before he and I can really get started.

And if I try dating outside of the club…

” She made a ‘kaboom’ noise, her hands moving in front of her to indicate an explosion.

“I have been on the worst dates known to man.”

“Like what?” Cassidy leaned forward with interest.

“Like that time her date brought his mom,” David said before Yasmine could respond.

It wasn’t because he wanted Cassidy’s attention on him for a moment.

Not at all. It was just that the incident was burned into his brain because he happened to be at the same restaurant that evening on a pretty terrible date of his own.

Though, at least she hadn’t brought her dad.

He and Yasmine had hung out at the bar afterward, comparing notes and comforting each other.

It had never gotten physical between them, they just didn’t have that kind of spark, and that night had cemented their brotherly-sisterly relationship.

“No!” Cassidy gasped, turning to look at Yasmine, who nodded somberly.

“He did. David saw it, so I have a witness. Though, he wasn’t as bad as the guy who spent the entire time talking about his ex.

He ended up drunk, crying, and calling her while I patted his back and offered moral support.

They’re engaged now.” Yasmine shook her head.

“I’m invited to their wedding, but I’m not going, obviously. ”

Cassidy’s mouth dropped open, and David’s brain immediately went to a dirty place despite the conversation. It wasn’t his fault that he saw her open lips and immediately wondered what his cock would look like between them—he wasn’t trying to; it just happened.

“What about the guy who only matched with you because he thought you were a model, then was pissed you’re actually in finance?” Claudia asked, snorting. “He was literally mad you had a brain.”

“Oh, and he had the worst-smelling breath, too.” Yasmine made a face. “Not that we kissed, but I could smell it across the table. He was taking garlic pills for hair loss for some reason. I didn’t question it because I didn’t really want to know.”

“So, you never make it past the first date?” Cassidy sounded both appalled and sympathetic.

“Sometimes, I do, but it always goes downhill pretty fast.” Yasmine sighed. “Best boyfriend I ever had lasted a year. It ended when I ran into him with his wife and two children at a grocery store.”

“No!” Cassidy’s hands actually flew to her mouth to cover it, much to David’s simultaneous disappointment and relief.

“Yup.” Yasmine smiled, but it was obvious to David that this one still hurt.

It had only happened about two years ago, and that was when she’d sworn off men.

David had tried to get her interested in one of the guys on his team, to no avail.

Again—no spark. “The good news is, when he tried to come to the Outlands about six months after that when his wife left him, he saw me, turned beet red, and hightailed it out of here.”

Mason sidled up to David’s other side, drawing his attention away from the conversation.

“Hey, do you know if Cassidy is up for scening tonight?” Mason asked, causing David to immediately go on high alert.

“I don’t know. Why?” He didn’t mean to bark out the question, but that’s how it came out. Mason eyed him with some curiosity and suspicion.

“Roger is interested in asking her to scene, but he noticed you watching over her and assumed she’s under your protection.”

Good. That was exactly the vibe David had been doing his best to give off. He pressed his lips together.

He couldn’t answer for her unilaterally, as much as he wanted to. Roger was a good Dom, a steady one, who was one of the club sub’s favorites. He was a deft hand at the whip, generous with aftercare, and a generally good guy.

Right now, David kind of hated him.

Clearing his throat, he nodded. “I’ll check and see if she wants to scene.”

God, he hoped she said no.

Cassidy

A flare of awareness tingled along her skin, sliding up the back of her neck, and she turned slightly to see David suddenly standing much closer to her.

He’d been part of the group conversation but hanging back a bit and definitely not invading her personal space until this moment.

She had almost been able to pretend like he didn’t affect her.

Almost.

Now, he was standing so close to her that if she just leaned a little, they would touch.

Not leaning was suddenly an effort.

“Are you interested in scening tonight?” he asked gruffly.

Immediately, Cassidy straightened to attention.

“With you?” She didn’t know why she asked because who else would he be asking for, but she needed a moment to get her brain back on track.

That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.

She sounded a lot more breathily hopeful than she would have liked, considering she wasn’t sure what her answer should be.

David blinked, a little furrow appearing between his eyebrows.

“Me?”

Oh. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong to ask.

“Who else?” Flustered, she drew back from him slightly.

“Ah, well…”

“This should be interesting,” Claudia said, softly laughing. “Yeah, David, who should Cassidy scene with?”

Looking over Cassidy’s shoulder at Claudia, David scowled at her before returning his focus to Cassidy.

“Maybe we should step away from the table for a minute to talk.”

“Sure,” Cassidy said, despite the round of protests that rose up behind her. Everyone was nosy. Which she appreciated on one level, but she also wanted David to be comfortable, and stepping away would help with that. Plus, she wasn’t sure she wanted everyone listening to him reject her.

They didn’t go far, only a few steps away, which gave them enough space to talk privately as long as they stood closely together. Very closely. With his head bent toward her in a manner that made her whole body flush. She tried not to squirm under his focused attention.

“Let’s start with… do you want to scene in general? Then we can move on to who you’d like to scene with,” he said, which sounded eminently reasonable, but there was a problem.

“I won’t know if I want to scene unless I know who I’d be scening with.” She wasn’t going to scene with just anyone. Especially when she was surrounded by strangers. “Claudia also said she’d give me the okay on whether or not she thought a Dom would be good for me to scene with.”

“Claudia, Yasmine, and Naomi will probably all weigh in,” David admitted, his mobile lips twitching in something reminiscent of a smile before it faded again.

His expression went completely blank, so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all as he studied her face. “Um. Did you want to scene with me?”

Yes.

But only if he wanted to scene with her.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to scene with me.” Because how utterly humiliating would that be? She’d only been interested because she’d thought he was offering. She would never presume to ask.

“I know I don’t have to, but did you want to? You seemed interested when you thought I was offering.”

“Yeah, but then I found out that you weren’t actually offering,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. It wasn’t defiance so much as wanting to feel like she had some kind of defense against him. Maybe a little bit of a self-hug.

“I wasn’t not offering.” His expression was still decidedly neutral, but he was examining her very closely, as if he was trying to read her mind.

If only she could read his.

“Well, if you’re not offering, then you don’t have to scene with me,” she said, trying not to sound irritated, even though she kind of was. Well, not irritated, exactly. Feeling rejected. Like he’d gotten her hopes up, then it turned out to be false.

His stone-faced expression was slowly giving way to a frown.

“I just said I wasn’t not offering!”

Cassidy blinked, trying to put together the double negative.

“So, that means you are offering?” She just wanted to make sure she understood what he was saying because right now, she was very confused about whether he actually wanted to scene with her.

“If you want to.”

“You’re the Dom, you’re supposed to decide!” There was no way in hell she was going to admit she wanted to scene with him if he didn’t want to scene with her.

Had he just growled?

Cassidy squeaked, starting to step back as he stepped forward, reaching for her. His hand caught her around the back of her neck, halting her retreat, and her breath caught in her throat. A heated flush went through her whole body, flaming her cheeks and making her sensitive parts tingle.

Behind her, she could hear a chorus of feminine “ooohs”, proving the other women were definitely paying attention, even if they hadn’t been able to hear the full conversation. Since none of them were jumping in to stop what was happening, she could only assume all three of them approved.

“Cassidy, I would like to scene with you, but we need to lay a few ground rules first.”

Staring up at him, wide-eyed, she nodded her head. Well, nodded it as much as she could when he was holding her by the back of her neck. And why was that so freaking hot? She’d never liked being choked, but no one had ever held her by the back of her neck before.

It was intimate, but more than that, it made her feel safe. Protected.

Part of her wanted to melt against his grip, but the other part of her was on pins and needles, waiting for the rules.

His eyes were jade with little flecks of gold, his gaze boring into hers.

“Rule number one, this is a scene only. Since my team is guarding you, it would be a conflict of interest for me to be involved with you in any way outside of the club.”

Did that mean that he would want to be if there wasn’t a conflict of interest? Moot point. She felt a little flare of anger for yet another thing Don had stolen from her. If she and David had met in another way… and yet, they might not have met at all if it wasn’t for Don.

Either way, what he was saying was the most sensible route for them. It wasn’t like she was trying to jump into a new relationship. She was still trying to get rid of the old one.

“Rule number two…” He stopped for a moment, as if he’d forgotten rule number two, before he cleared his throat and kept going.

“Rule number two, we are going to go over everything that might trigger you before we start, and rule number three is that if you feel uncomfortable or unsure at any point in the evening, you are to say your safe word. And rule number four is that nothing that happens inside the club affects us outside of the club. Agreed?”

Cassidy relaxed because none of that was unreasonable, and all of it made sense to her. She nodded.

“Agreed.”