Page 1 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

PROLOGUE

ADRIAN

Fifteen years ago…

T here are thirteen of us gathered around the freshly covered pair of graves.

A baker’s dozen, Lina would have said. Now she’s gone, and all of us here are responsible for her death. Every single one of us.

“We should have done something.” Rafael’s voice is thick with self-loathing, his face lined with grief. “We saw Stephan and Lina scene together. We knew what they were doing wasn’t safe.”

Safe, sane, and consensual. Those are the guidelines, but we were each too exhilarated by the discovery that there were others who shared our kinks. Eager to explore every facet of our desires, we’d ignored caution.

We’d seen the signs. Stephan had a reckless streak. The rest of us were cautious about playing when we drank, but the Californian had laughed at us and called us pussies.

We should have done something when Lina’s bruises didn’t fade.

But Stephan and Lina had been friends of ours.

We’d made excuses for his behavior. He was taking too many classes, hoping to graduate a year early and head to Silicon Valley.

Tech recruiters were constantly calling, wanting to snap up the guy who’d created three successful companies before he’d turned eighteen. He was under a lot of stress.

And Lina hadn’t seemed afraid of him. She hadn’t asked any of us to intervene.

But we’d known. Deep down inside, each and every one of us had known that something was wrong.

It’s too late now. Lina Shleifer is dead. Stephan killed her and then shot himself. The thirteen of us are huddled in a graveyard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, seared by regret.

There’s nothing we can do to undo the past, but maybe, we can change the future. I stiffen my shoulders with resolve and look up at the gathered men. “If we’re going to keep doing this,” I say, my voice overloud in the quiet space, “we need to be better.”

“What are you talking about, Adrian?” Brody asks.

With each word I say, I’m convinced I’m right.

“Being a dominant comes with responsibilities. Not just toward our own submissives. We failed Lina when we didn’t intervene.

I won’t turn a blind eye again. If I think a submissive is in trouble, I will act.

” I kneel on the grass and lay my palm on the tombstone.

The engraved words there are both a reproach and a warning.

Lina Shleifer.

Born November 18, 1983.

Died May 20, 2002.

Never stop smiling.

Never again. “This is my vow, Lina,” I say softly, my vision blurring and my throat tight with loss. She’d been nineteen when she died. “My promise to you.”

“Me too.” Brody puts his palm over mine. “For Lina.”

One by one the others join us.

Xavier Leforte, runs his thumb over the sparse gravestone, tracing each letter of Lina’s name. As hard as Lina’s death has hit us, it has hit Rafe and Xavier harder, because Layla, their submissive, was Lina’s twin sister.

Lina’s dead. Layla has ended her relationship with Rafe and Xavier. I called her yesterday, asking if she was going to be at her sister’s funeral. “Why?” she’d replied, her voice bitter. “Will it bring her back?”

Next month, we graduate. Brody and I have already been recruited by the CIA to join their Special Activities Division. Xavier and Rafael will both head back to Europe, where their titles and vast estates await. Maddox, Kai, Hunter, Nolan, and the others—all of us have plans for the future.

So did Lina.

None more important than this promise we make on this warm summer evening. Whatever life brings us, we are united in our shared sorrow, and in our implacable determination to never let it happen again.