Page 41 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

Cassidy

Waking up and stretching in her bed, Cassidy winced.

Everything hurt.

Inside and out.

Deliciously so.

Sore. Satiated. And a little lonely.

Being wrapped up in David’s arms last night after the scene had been very, very nice. Unfortunately, she’d been too insensible afterward to do more than be packed away in Jensen’s car and taken home. Jensen had been the one to help her get to bed, not David.

Hashtag: Disappointment.

But they’d agreed—keep it in the club.

She sighed.

Getting up, she winced some more. Certain parts of her were a lot more sore than others. It had been a while since she’d had sex, much less sex like that. Master David fucked like a God.

Putting on some comfortable clothes, she wandered downstairs.

It was late enough that Mick was probably already going to be gone to the farmer’s market, so she was surprised when she heard Jensen talking to someone in the kitchen.

Frowning, she picked up her pace, not daring to acknowledge the little kernel of hope that had sprung up in her chest.

That hope was rewarded when she heard David respond to Jensen.

Why he was here so early, she didn’t know, but she hoped it was for her in a good way.

That or Don finally surfaced somewhere. Crap.

She wished her brain didn’t work the way it did, but it was better to be prepared for bad news and take it on the chin than to think David was here for her only to find out that it was for the bad way.

Taking a deep breath and inhaling the glorious scent of coffee in the morning, she hurried down the last few steps and into the kitchen rather than torturing herself, waiting to find out.

David stood on the other side of the island, sipping from a large mug of coffee that had a large black mustache near the brim, comically making him look like an old-timey cartoon villain when held up to his mouth.

Cassidy couldn’t help but smile—then immediately tried to dim her smile because she didn’t want him to think she was expecting anything from him.

Unless, of course, he wanted her to expect something from him.

But she didn’t know what he wanted.

“Good morning,” she said, trying to sound normal and not over eager or too shy. The fact he didn’t look stressed out or worried helped her relax a little. If this did have to do with Don, it wasn’t an emergency. That was good.

“Good morning,” both of the men chorused, and she made sure to look at Jensen, too, so he didn’t feel left out.

Jensen looked the way he always did in the mornings, his plaid pajama pants slung around his hips, showing off his chest. Despite the fact it was a very nice chest, it did absolutely nothing for her, whereas David, in his fitted black t-shirt and jeans, made her body quiver.

Didn’t matter that he was covered up and Jensen wasn’t; the hormones wanted what the hormones wanted.

Maybe a little bit of her heart, too, although she refused to think about that.

We’re keeping it to the club.

“How are you feeling this morning?” David asked, putting down the cup of coffee he was drinking and turning to get her a mug without asking. Why that made her heart flutter, she couldn’t say, but the darn organ was doing a little butterfly dance in her chest.

“Good.” She managed to get the word out with no stuttering and only minimal blushing as he poured her a cup of coffee, turning to push it across the island along with the sugar cup and creamer. “You?”

His smile would have been enough to make her go weak-kneed if she hadn’t already been sliding onto one of the barstools. Good grief. It was like being in high school all over again. Her body throbbed in remembrance of the night before. Okay, maybe not exactly like being in high school.

But it was like having a high school crush.

“Good.”

She ducked her head down again to fix her coffee without having to meet his gaze.

Jensen cleared his throat and straightened up from where he’d been leaning against the counter a few feet away from David.

“I’m just going to let you two chat… I’ll be in the living room.” He maneuvered his way around the island and past Cassidy, heading toward the front of the house. Cassidy pressed her lips together.

If he was trying to be subtle, he’d failed miserably.

David had been taking another sip of his coffee while Jensen moved.

Now, he put it down on the counter with a little clink.

It was just the two of them in the room, but the island was between them, which might be a good thing.

For some reason, it made the tension in the room seem thicker, yet the fact they couldn’t actually put their hands on each other without effort might be a good thing.

Something in David’s eyes made her think he was having similar thoughts.

Her breath hitched, and she lifted her own coffee cup to her lips to hide it.

The first hit of bittersweet mocha hit her system, making her feel a little more awake and a little more human.

It did absolutely nothing to ease the soreness of her body.

“So.” David tapped his finger against the side of the mug. “I came over early today for a few reasons. The first of which was to see how you felt about last night.”

Direct and to the point. Cassidy blushed, but she was determined to rise to the occasion.

“I really enjoyed the scene,” she replied baldly. “It was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Though I would not object to more impact play in the future, I liked trying new things, and that was a lot of fun.”

He studied her intently as she answered, as if he was weighing his words. As often happened with him, she found herself wondering what he was thinking, if her answer matched what he’d hoped.

“When we first started scening, I told you it needed to stay in the club.” He paused, and Cassidy felt a little tingle of anticipation, a little blip of hope on the horizon. “That’s still the case for right now, but I felt like I should tell you that I…”

He hesitated, and Cassidy felt like she was literally hanging in air.

“You…” She prompted after a long moment, despite how uncomfortable he looked.

Taking a deep breath, David frowned at her, but it wasn’t a disapproving frown exactly. More like he was trying to think of what he wanted to say, and he wanted to chide her for her impatience without actually saying it out loud.

“I would like to take you out on a date. At some point. In the future.”

The staccato way he said it, like the words were being yanked out of him, didn’t diminish the joy that she felt at hearing them.

“You do?”

The look he gave her was incredulous, as if he couldn’t believe that she was questioning the fact.

“I do,” he said firmly, shifting uncomfortably in place. He started to lift the coffee mug and then set it back down again. “I know it’s not professional and?—”

“Yes.” Interrupting was rude, but she didn’t really want to hear him list all the reasons why they shouldn’t date. If he thought too hard about it, he might change his mind.

He stopped and stared when she cut him off.

“Yes?”

“Yes, I would like to go on a date with you.” She smiled. “Sometime in the future.”

“Okay, well. Good.” He took a deep breath.

There was something so adorable about a strong, confidant, dominant man who was just a little unsure of himself for a moment.

Especially because she knew if she sassed him right now, he’d probably take charge of her immediately, bend her over the counter, and…

Well, maybe not with Jensen only a couple rooms away, it being his island and all. But a girl could dream.

David

That wasn’t the complete disaster he’d been afraid it would be. Was he really too hard on himself, the way Jensen had accused him of being just before Cassidy had come down?

Maybe.

Lincoln had said something similar when David talked to him last night after he’d gotten Cassidy to Jensen’s car. He’d wanted to be upfront with his boss about his plans for the future with their client.

But he felt the pressure of being team lead in more ways than one.

It was harder now that they were all civilians.

The rules were looser. The expectations not as strict.

There were more shades of grey and room for interpretation and all the things he hated trying to navigate.

New relationships were at the top of the list.

He was incredibly out of practice when it came to romance.

Point in fact—the way he was going to change the topic of conversation right now.

“Great. Well. Okay. I look forward to that.” He took a sip of his coffee, gearing up for the switch. “The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was your flat tire. Naomi mentioned it last night—is there a reason you didn’t tell me about it?” He did his best not to sound accusatory.

“I… I wasn’t sure it was something worth mentioning.” She said the right words, but her gaze averted, flickering away from him as she lifted her mug to her lips, both hands wrapped around it. “And since Drew knew, I figured if it was, he would say something.”

Suspicion rose up inside him.

“Well, Naomi said something to me.” She hadn’t been worried but had just wanted to mention it.

Drew hadn’t, though he had probably written up a report about it that would be on David’s desk on Monday.

He would tell Drew to let him know verbally, immediately next time anything happened with Cassidy.

“Is there anything else you haven’t thought was worth mentioning? ”

“I’ve been tailgated a few times, but it was by different people.” The words came out in a rush, and she made a face as she said them, like she was judging herself for thinking it was a problem.

“Tell me about it.” David wasn’t going to judge until he’d heard the details.

She went over the incidents—three of them, including one when Naomi had picked her up. That one was less suspicious, other than the fact that it had been after she’d gotten her flat tire.

“Did you get a look at any of their license plates?”

She shook her head.