Page 6 of Enthrall Climax

“Changing the subject?” He stared at me intently. “We’ll walk in together. I couldn’t be prouder to show you off as mine, Mia.”

“Soon.” I reached up and cupped his face. “I promise.”

He sat back and exhaled his frustration.

“He runs in dangerous circles?” I repeated softly.

“When I repeat a sentence to trigger the subconscious to respond and garner more intel, it’s subtle.”

“You’ve been at the old smoke and mirrors a lot longer.”

Cameron held my gaze. “I met Lucas in Paris. I was eighteen. I was introduced to him by Danton Belfort. They were…good friends. Lucas invited us to an exclusive club. Then invited me to explore the next level. I declined.”

“Danton was Scarlet’s old boyfriend who died?”

A sorrowful shadow crossed his face, and I recalled a conversation we’d had of how close they’d been. Something told me they had been even closer than he’d let on, but I wasn’t ready to know about all that yet. Cameron’s complexity was as rich as his history. I wasn’t marrying a saint, I knew that. I was marrying a man who’d once run the elite BDSM club in Los Angeles, and with that came a history of sexuality I’d only scratched the surface of.

Debauchery had been withdrawn because Cameron had a conservative reputation to uphold in the Big Apple, his liberal ways only revealed by his passion for the family’s philanthropic interests.

A shiver slithered up my spine. “What’s the next level?”

“You have quite an imagination.”

“Don’t patronize me, Cameron.”

His baleful gaze held mine. “I look forward to fucking that disrespectful mouth.”

“If your intention is to make me wet…” Sexily arching a brow, I held my own.

His expression turned affectionate and then solemn. “Add a touch of sinister and throw in a dash of nefarious and congratulations, your cocktail is laced with the potency that is Hillenbrand.”

“That’s not vague at all.”

“Imagine Satan running Chrysalis.”

“Everyone consents though, right?”

He caressed his jaw thoughtfully. “There are those who like to go too far. Push the boundaries of kink to an inconceivable level. Dabble in what is easily illegal. Lucas is one of those men.”

My flesh chilled as his words sunk in and I recalled that handsome man’s face. He had seemed distinguished despite his ruggedness; he’d resembled a worldly professor, in fact.

“He once had a fight with a warthog. So the story goes. He has the scars to prove it.” Cameron’s eyes widened. “I’m serious.”

“What happened?”

“He killed it with his bare hands.”

“What were you doing there?”

“This happened in Africa. Well before I met him.”

“I mean Hillenbrand.”

He tugged on a cufflink nonchalantly. “I was a member.”

My jaw dropped at his confession.

“I was young. Impressionable. Seduced into what they had to offer. For the first time I explored my kinky side in a safe place. Danton was by my side every step of the way. We were bad boys.” His grin revealed so much.