Bared (10 page)

When Aidan had learned from Cora that she had played with Porter, it made him happy they hadn’t kept in touch. The connection would’ve been too close and too strange. Now Aidan could care less that Cora and Porter had once dated.

Cora had told him that she was with Porter the first year Club Sin was open, which was why Aidan had never met her. She started going to Chains soon after Aidan had left. Heading farther into the dark club, he passed Doms and submissives chatting on the couch.

Before he made it three feet, a submissive dropped to her knees and blocked his way. He stared down at the dirty-blond head, bowed to the floor.

“Sir, may I be yours for the night?” the woman in her early twenties asked.

Aidan tucked a finger under her jaw, lifting her head. Her round, blue, hungry eyes sparkled. He showed her the band on his wrist. “It’s in your best interest to look before you offer yourself.”

The rules had explained that the bands ranged from everything to observing, being a player, and even had colors indicating what a person would or would not do. Sadists wore silver bands. Doms interested in lighter play wore gold. “As you can see, I’m only an observer.”

The pretty blonde, who was dressed in a corset and a tiny black skirt, smirked. “Can I do anything to change your mind?”

Aidan did not miss this part of public clubs. He narrowed his eyes, having no desire to have
this
submissive kneeling at his feet. That right belonged to another, sassy submissive. “Stand up.” Once on her feet, her eyes twinkled. He frowned. “Sub, mind your manners and don’t question a Dom.”

Christ, he’d forgotten how untrained some submissives were. Club Sin submissives understood rules, as in to accept a
no
and go away. While his muscles quivered, his chest lightened. Compared to this submissive, Cora shined. “Take my advice. Do not repeat the error again.” He gestured to his left, his hand flicking out dismissively. “Go.”

She offered him a full-out pout before she scurried away. Disgusted, he shook his head that she had offered herself without any understanding of his desires. A woman without common sense was the most unattractive.

He shook his hands out, shedding the tingling heat in his veins, scanning the club. A dark-skinned woman was bound to a St. Andrew’s Cross, receiving a nicely done flogging. Another submissive was kneeling on the stage with her Dom striding around her.

So far he didn’t see anyone with Porter’s height of six-foot-three. He moved through the hordes of people, focused on the two Doms commanding the one submissive strung up with cream ropes.

Once he cleared the crowd, his gaze landed on Porter, who sat at one of the tables as he drank a beer. An odd sight, since Club Sin didn’t allow alcohol in the dungeon, a rule that Aidan agreed with. To him, a drunk or even tipsy submissive spelled trouble. Though the Dungeon Monitors in Chains were observant to spot such troubles, Aidan preferred a submissive with a clear head.

He approached Porter and exhaled, releasing the lingering tension in his shoulders. He had only been guessing that Porter still belonged to Chains, and Aidan was damn glad he wasn’t wrong. He was one step closer to talking to Porter, and then getting the hell out of this club.

When he drew closer, his gaze roamed over Cora’s ex-boyfriend. The man had a lot going for him. Tall, fit, and good-looking, Aidan had no doubt Porter was a sought-after Dom. And he also hadn’t changed much since Aidan had seen him last. At Porter’s table, Aidan dropped down onto the chair next to him.

Porter leaned against the back of the chair with raised brows. “That’s a face I never expected to see here again.”

“You and me both.” Aidan smiled, offering his hand. “It’s been a long time. How are things—still in the private investigation business?”

Porter nodded, returning to the handshake. “I am—opened up my own office a year back.” Which explained why when Aidan called the only number he had for Porter—his old PI employer—Aidan was told that Porter no longer worked there.

“Glad to hear it,” Aidan said.

Porter shrugged halfheartedly, spinning his beer bottle. “It’s mostly cheating husbands and background details on shady businessmen, but nonetheless profitable.”

Aidan looked at his finger, now drumming out a rhythm on his leg. Where to fucking start? He did feel slightly threatened by Porter. He was Cora’s first Dom, and had shared a year with her. Though Aidan took some satisfaction in knowing that their breakup had been mutual.
Cora hadn’t loved him. Porter hadn’t collared her. That in itself showed their relationship was over.

“So …” Porter said and regarded Aidan with a long look. “I imagine you haven’t come for small talk.” He thrust his fingers into his sandy-colored styled hair. “What’s up?”

Aidan’s pride took a blow coming to Porter for insight. But that pain he’d seen in Cora was palpable. He didn’t need his pride. He needed Cora to be better. “It’s Cora.”

“Cora?” Porter’s eyebrows rose quizzically. “Is she okay?”

“It’s why I’ve come.” Aidan sighed. “She’s quite upset about something, but is hesitant to share what’s going on.” He stretched out his legs, folding his arms. “So I’m here to ask a few questions.”

Porter waved him on. “Hit me with them.”

Aidan considered what Cora had told him, then asked, “When you dated her, was she bothered that you didn’t collar her?”

“Collar her?” Porter’s head jerked back with his laugh. “Are you kidding? She would’ve refused me.”

Aidan had suspected to hear that from Porter. He hadn’t believed what Cora told him. Of course, he assumed she craved a collar. He thought most submissives would want that, but there was something else she was keeping from him.

When Cora told Aidan she had dated Porter, a Dom that Aidan had known personally, he’d called Porter. They’d met for dinner before Aidan had taken Cora into her first scene at Club Sin. Not only out of respect for Porter, since he had been her Dom, but also to get some insight into Cora.

They both had told him the same story. Things between them had ended amicably. Both seemed like good friends who wanted only the best for each other. In fact, Porter had seemed genuinely happy for Cora that she’d joined Club Sin and that Aidan would train her. Aidan had walked away from that conversation knowing no lingering feelings remained between them.

Porter took a sip of his beer before lowering the bottle to the table. “What’s this all about, anyway? I knew something was up with her. She called me tonight and wanted to see me.”

Aidan inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth. “Did she?”

Porter nodded. “Yep.”

Aidan shoved away the flare of territorial nonsense. He hadn’t known she still talked to
Porter. How much did he not know about her? “Did she mention anything to you at all that would make you believe she is missing you?”

“Aidan, buddy, it’s not like that between us.” Porter gave a blank look. “It’s been three years since we broke up.” His neck bent forward, his hands carving through his hair. “We talked about random shit. And she certainly didn’t talk about being sad that I didn’t collar her.”

That was what bothered Aidan most. Cora had always been so straightforward, and he loved that about her. He didn’t doubt that if Cora wanted Porter back, she would’ve left Club Sin and sought Porter out. So what was she hiding? “When you were with her, did you feel like she yearned for a collar?”

“No. Never.” Porter stared at Aidan as though he had three eyeballs. “It was Cora who first brought up the idea of ending the relationship. A collar was far from her mind, my friend.” Aidan rubbed his face. “Then why in the hell did she tell me that earlier?”

“Maybe she wants a collar now.”

Aidan’s hands slowly fell from his face.

“Not with me, of course,” Porter said and laughed at whatever crossed Aidan’s expression. “Has she met anyone at Club Sin?”

“She’s played with me for the past two years. How could she meet anyone?” Porter’s brows creased. “You two aren’t dating, then?”

Aidan stared at Porter, hard. Porter had known Lily. He’d seen them together. “I’m not dating, no.”

“Hrmph,”
Porter muttered, pursing his lips. After a long moment of Porter’s eyes searching Aidan’s, he shrugged. “Got nothing else to tell you. I’ve got no clue why she’d tell you that. We might still stay in touch, but she didn’t want my collar, I have no doubt about that.”

Aidan considered his next move and glanced around the club. A flurry of activity had him looking to the left as a Dungeon Monitor wearing a
Chains
T-shirt intervened on a scene where there was a sobbing submissive.

What in the hell was going on with Cora?

If this was any other submissive, things would be very different, but Cora was the most outspoken woman he’d ever met. Porter wasn’t wrong—she knew herself. She had confidence. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.

It didn’t shock Aidan to hear she had the strength to end a relationship with her Dom—that
was so Cora. So what, if she was so interested in a collar, was she doing playing with only him?

His head hurt.

This tension surrounding Cora was like poison in his veins. “I don’t know what this is about. But she’s not been forthcoming with me,” he admitted, all too sensitive to the noise around him and sudden need to get away from it all. “She’s telling half-truths.” That he firmly believed.

“I’m surprised.” Porter broke eye contact before he slowly shook his head at Aidan. “That’s not the Cora I remember.”

Aidan rubbed his hands over his face. His arms were barely able to move under the strain. The Cora who had wrapped him in her spell told it to him straight. His pride to personally solve her problems held no weight in ensuring Cora got the help she needed.

Seeing her unraveling did the same to him. With aches and pains invading every inch of his body, he muttered, “Porter, for the first time since I’ve met Cora, I feel like I don’t even know her.”

Chapter Nine

In Cora’s yellow-painted office at the Las Vegas Wellness Clinic, she pressed the phone against her ear, listening to the messages. She never came to work on Saturdays, especially in the evening, but after Aidan left her house she received an e-mail from one of her clients canceling their session for Tuesday.

She confirmed the cancellation and put it into the computer system. Then she hung up the phone. Leaning back into her modern black chair, she glanced out the window as the sun settled behind the mountains.

Aidan’s conversation remained heavy on her thoughts. Her hand slid to her throat. She hadn’t lied to him. She had once craved a collar as much as she wanted a wedding ring. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore.

How important were either?

At this point, she wanted Aidan. Not even the Aidan she’d dreamed of, just the old Master Aidan in the club. The man who rocked her socks off, without digging too deep or asking too many questions.

She shut her eyes. Things were messy. They’d go back to normal. Always had, always would. Until Aidan faced his demons in his own time, Cora needed to be the strength for both of them.

Hell, she got paid to be strong for others.

Cora had done so for two years.

She didn’t plan to stop.

Opening her eyes, she grabbed the mouse on the glass tabletop of her desk and opened her schedule. Just as she thought—with the cancellation, her schedule was clear all day Tuesday. With the new scheduling for the sixteen-year-old group that would start next week, her entire day was also free on the Wednesday.

Cora smiled, opened an e-mail, and hammered off a message to her boss. She had a week left of her holidays and only the change in groups was giving her these days off. An opportunity not to be missed, and who knew if another coworker would come in after the weekend and book
the time off. Cora wanted a couple days to herself. Those days were open for someone to take vacation, and she was taking it.

“And I thought I was the only one who worked too hard.”

Cora laughed, spinning in her chair to face her coworker, Sandy-Lynn. Her auburn curls were perfect atop her head, as always. Cora had never seen her not perfectly put together. She had round brown eyes and a kind face. One of those faces that Cora could picture as a grandmother surrounded by grandchildren.

“I had a cancellation and just wanted to confirm my schedule was clear.” While she always checked e-mails to make sure no teenagers were trying to reach her, she really hated bringing work home. “I’m taking Tuesday and Wednesday off.”

“Good for you,” Sandy-Lynn said.

Cora smiled. “Um … why are you here?”

“I received an attempted suicide call tonight. He’s at the hospital now, but I wanted to stop by and document it while it was still fresh.” Sandy-Lynn drew in a deep breath, and as they’d been trained to do, she shook off the darkness in her gaze. “Any exciting plans for tonight?”

“I’m going out with the girls.” That was Cora’s go-to answer. If someone asked who Cora felt guilty if she didn’t invite them to join her, she went with “Dinner with the family.” But Sandy-Lynn was in her forties with four children. After her evening, Cora suspected she wanted to go home and be with her family.

Everyone had their
thing
they did on their weekends to unwind. Cora’s was to go to a BDSM dungeon and orgasm until she couldn’t possibly orgasm anymore. She loved that she wore sexy lingerie under her clothes—her dirty little secret. That tonight she wouldn’t be looked at like an everyday woman who counseled teens, but that she was a woman to be admired.

“Enjoy,” Sandy-Lynn said with a genuine smile.

She was a good woman. Her arriving tonight only proved how thoughtful she was to her clients. She wanted to make sure she remembered every little detail to help the person later. “That client’s lucky to have you, Sandy-Lynn.”

She gave a sad smile. “Thanks, Cora.”

Cora supposed most people in her line of work had a natural nurturing part of them. How could they not and do this job without having a breakdown themselves? “Okay. Now go home to
your kids. I’m sure they are missing you.”