Page 2 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

FIONA

“ A s birthdays go, Fiona,” I say out loud, looking down at the large marinara sauce stain on the front of my formerly pristine white shirt with a rueful shake of my head, “This one sucks ass.”

I lift my hand to catch the attention of the waiter. With my other, I dab at the stain with my napkin, but I only succeed in making matters worse. After a couple of minutes, I give up. There’s a spare shirt back at my office, kept just for emergencies like this one. I’ll change when I get back.

Let’s face it. I’m not having a good day.

This morning, Mrs. Morales told me that a security outfit was moving into my Georgetown office building.

As if I need the extra competition. I do well enough with my small private investigator firm, but I’m certainly not growing wealthy by any means, and things are about to get a lot harder.

Then there’s the other reason for my grouchiness. Today’s my thirtieth birthday, and, well, milestone birthdays suck.

The young, good-looking server comes up, his eyebrows rising when he sees the stain on my blouse. “Our marinara sauce seems to have gone astray,” he says, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “Can I get you something else?”

“Just the check, please.” His smile is friendly and a little flirtatious, but he’s got to be ten years younger than me. If I flirt back, I’ll definitely be entering cougar territory.

I pay my bill and stroll back to my office, ignoring the smirks my sauce-splattered blouse draws from almost everyone I pass.

It’s been two years since I ended things with Raymond Downing. My lover and my dominant. Since then, I’ve dated other men, willing myself to get back on the horse, but every unsatisfying and brief relationship since then has been vanilla.

I push open the doors to my office building.

I pay an arm and a leg for the M-street address, but it’s so worth it.

The office suites have exposed brick walls, wood-beam ceilings, and massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

There’s a courtyard in the lobby, and the sound of the fountain in the center, calm and soothing, always improves my mood.

Then I look up and see two tall, good-looking men walk toward me, lost in conversation.

My heart stops.

Because they’re part of the past, one I’ve kept firmly locked away for the last two years. Adrian Lockhart and Brody Payne.

My pulse racing, I duck behind the fountain, too terrified to face them, yet aware that if someone’s watching me, I’m going to look like the world’s biggest fool.

As I watch them walk toward the exit, Adrian’s dark and neatly cropped hair a contrast to Brody’s blond, spiky mess, the years fall away, and the past, the one I thought I’d buried deep in my psyche, comes roaring back to life.

I've been Raymond Downing’s submissive for two months, and all I want to do is please my master.

Tonight, Raymond can barely contain his excitement.“I've been trying to meet these guys for a very long time.” He paces back-and-forth in front of the big picture window in his apartment. “If I land a job at Lockhart & Payne, then my father can’t give me grief about how I’m wasting my life.”

Raymond and his father have a very contentious relationship.

His father pays for the apartment that Raymond lives in, but the two of them have screaming arguments about Raymond’s lack of ambition at least once a week.

Theodore Downing wants his son to take life seriously and follow in his footsteps.

Raymond’s not interested in a career. He prefers to take advantage of his father’s connections and money to party in DC.

Adrian Lockhart and Brody Payne run a very profitable security firm in DC. They are also active in the lifestyle, and because of that, I want to be on my best behavior. I haven’t been the easiest submissive to train, but tonight, I want my master to be proud of me.

The corset I’m wearing digs into my flesh. My breasts spill out from the too-tight bodice, my pussy and ass barely covered by fabric. I feel like a cheap hooker, but Raymond was insistent that I wear the outfit he picked out.

There’s a small part of me, a small, terrified part of me, that wonders if he means to share me with the two men tonight, even though it’s on my hard limits list.

Raymond stops his pacing and pivots toward me. “I want this evening to go well, Fiona,” he warns. “Don't fuck it up.”

His tone sends a pang of fear through me.

“Yes Sir,” I reply instantly, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor.

My stomach churns. Don’t fuck what up? My nails dig into my palms as I fight to hold the words back.

If I question my master, I’ll earn a beating, and I’m still marked from last night’s display of anger.

The doorbell rings. “Take your position,” Raymond snaps as he strides toward the entryway.

Just in time, I sink to my knees. The men enter.

My eyes are lowered, so I can’t see their faces, just their expensive handmade shoes.

They walk into the apartment, then stop dead as they notice me for the first time.

“Who’s this?” one of the men asks, sounding as smooth and dangerous as silk flowing over a sharp knife.

“My submissive.” Raymond sounds dismissive. “She’ll be waiting on us tonight.”

“Is that so?” The other man drawls. “I didn’t know you’d taken a new submissive, Downing. Weren’t you with Brittney?”

“I kicked that worthless bitch to the curb,” Raymond bites out. I know his moods well. Right now, he’s struggling not to lash out at the two men. Inwardly, I wince. If Raymond is this angry already, then nothing I do this evening will please him.

You promised your submission.

I had. I just hadn’t expected to be so on edge all the time. Other submissives spoke of tranquility when they submitted, of the trust they shared with their masters, of soaring through sub-space, confident that their dominants would take care of them.

So far, that hasn’t been my experience at all.

It would be if you were a better submissive.

“That’s not the version I heard.” My eyes are still on the floor, so I can’t see the man’s face, but he sounds as cold and hard as ice.

To my shock, Raymond ignores the provocation. “Fiona, coats,” he snaps.

As gracefully as I can, I rise to my feet. “Please may I take your coats, Sirs?”

To my eternal relief, both men hand me their jackets. “We do have business to discuss,” the dark-haired one says. “Shall we get to it?” Their voices fade away as they make their way to the study.

I'm in charge of serving dinner. As soon as I hang up their cashmere coats, I head toward the kitchen. My head’s still bowed, and I'm not looking where I'm going.

I run into a broad, hard chest. It’s the dark-haired man again. “I'm so sorry, Sir,” I gasp out. Raymond warned me to be on my best behavior. “Please forgive my carelessness.”

“Call me Adrian.”

I can feel the weight of his stare on me. Finally, my nerves reach snapping point, and I look up into his chocolate brown eyes. “May I help you, Sir?” I ask, realizing as soon as the words leave my mouth that he just told me to call him Adrian.

My master is right. I'm hopeless.

If he's irritated by my lapse, he doesn't show it. “Talk to me for a minute,” he says, his gaze etched with concern. “How long have you been with Downing?”

“Two months.” At the last minute, I remember how he wants to be addressed, but I balk at saying his name aloud.

“Is he your first dominant?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

Shit. He's noticed. “Yes, Adrian.”

“Fiona.” He sounds troubled. “Submission is a precious gift, and there are men in the world that aren’t worthy of it. Downing is one of them. He’s an abusive bastard.”

Dominant or not, I’ve heard enough. “I love my master,” I say stiffly.

“He doesn’t deserve your love,” Adrian replies bluntly. He pulls a business card out of his wallet. “This has my personal cell phone number on the back. If you ever want out of this relationship, please call me. I will make sure you’re safe.”

Even the act of taking the card from him feels like disloyalty toward Raymond, but those eyes are boring into me, insisting I comply. “Thank you.” I shuffle my feet. “I’ve got to set the table now.”

“Of course.” He steps aside, and I almost run away from him, seeking the sanctuary of the kitchen. The card, I crumple up and throw in the trash.

I love my master, and all I want to do is please him.

Adrian had been right, of course. He’d known Raymond Downing’s reputation. He’d tried to warn me, but I’d been so eager to please my master, so happy that I finally had found someone who would give me the dominance I craved, that I hadn’t listened.

Hidden behind the fountain, I watch the two men leave the building.

I’d only seen them two more times after that, both while I’d still been Raymond’s submissive. They’d always been polite to me, and their eyes had always been watchful.

Stop being dramatic, Fiona. Raymond was two years ago. You’re perfectly fine.

I’d started to think of them as my guardian angels. Seeing them now, my pulse is racing, and I have no idea why my skin is damp with sweat.