Club X-Dare (Siren Publishing Allure) (4 page)

She glared at the receiver. “Is everyone going to hang up on me tonight? I should call him back and curse him out. Damn you, Condor, you are infuriating.”

He was also intriguing as hell, and she considered him as she finished off her salad and then went to switch the clothes into the dryer. Seal flashed into her thoughts, and she was tempted to call him back. It was a stupid thing to do, and she knew it. She chose instead to get packed, leaving the suitcase open for the clothes in the dryer. It was almost eleven when she finally managed to get into bed, setting her alarm for 3:00 a.m.

Her sleep was broken and restless, and Sam climbed out of bed feeling as if she had wasted her time even lying down. She took a shower and threw on some light makeup to hide the darkness under her eyes. Sam was dressed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt when the car pulled into the driveway. Her suitcase was by the door, and she slid it onto the stoop, checking to make sure everything was locked up and unplugged.

Condor was waiting for her. “Good morning. Sleep well?” he asked as she slid into the car.

Stifling a yawn with the palm of her hand, she shrugged. “Not particularly. Do you enjoy hanging up on me?”

“Not particularly. Did I?”

“Well, normally a person says good-bye and waits for the other person to return the conclusion of the phone call.”

“Oh really?” he replied in a cocky, amused tone. “I am sorry that I failed to be politically correct. I will try harder next time, Your Majesty.”

“Fuck you!” Sam said, opening the opposite door. “I am not spending the next week with Jekyll and Hyde. This is ridiculous.”

Condor grabbed the collar of her shirt, hauling her back into the car. He leaned around her, shoving her feet upward and slamming the door. His laughter caused her to glare at him as she struggled to get upright. “Drive,” Condor said before shutting the glass partition between them and the driver. Sam heard the snap of door locks and tried the door anyway, knowing that it wouldn’t open.

She turned her fury on Condor. “What the fuck do you think you are doing? Are you going to hold me captive until we get to Florida? You can’t force me to work for you.”

He tore her T-shirt off, dropping it on the floor of the limo. Sam remained cool, her eyes narrowing to slits as she glared at him. He reached around and slid off her bra, letting it fall to the seat as he moved his hands down her sides and unzipped her shorts. Before he could get them off, she became a fireball, punching and kicking at him until he finally backed off. “What is your problem, Condor?”

“Man, you have a nasty right hook. I think you broke my jaw,” he replied, rubbing at his cheek.

“Good!” she replied as she watched him take some ice from the small bar in the limo. There seemed to be a total shift in his demeanor as he leaned back with the ice on his face. “What was that about?” she demanded.

“That was a test, and you passed with flying colors.” His expression was smug, a half smile on his lips. “I had to catch you off guard and see what would happen if you were attacked. It is likely to happen at the club. We have some real wild boys, and I wanted to make sure that could defend yourself. You can.”

“You should have asked. Scarab suggested that I take a self-defense class and I did,” she replied, the anger going out of her voice as it softened.

“He didn’t mention it.” Condor slid down in the seat, wincing and slowly lowering his head to the leather.

“You ruined my favorite pink shirt.”

“Sorry, I will buy you ten more when we get down to Florida.”

Sam shifted nearer to him, sliding up beside him. “Let me see your face. I also took advanced first aid.”

Condor let her remove the bag of ice and jumped as she prodded his cheek. “I hate to say this,” she teased with a slight chuckle of obvious amusement, “but you are going to have a nice shiner. Consider yourself lucky. I didn’t knee you in the balls. Did I hurt anything besides your pride?”

He chuckled, the motion painful. “My ribs don’t feel so hot, and I have a massive cramp in my right thigh.”

Sam set the ice back on his face and began to rub his leg. Her mind took conscious note of the muscular feel through the fabric of his khaki pants, and she realized with perverse interest that the experience had aroused her. “What?” asked Condor as he heard her release a long, almost wistful sigh.

“Oh, nothing.”

“You promised that you would never lie to me.”

“True. I just found out that the idea of being raped still turns me on. What a sick thing to be aroused by.”

“It may get you hot and bothered, but it won’t happen. I think more likely the idea of fighting me off turned you on.”

“If you want the honest truth, I feel bad for hurting you. I just reacted. I was already angry because of your call last night and then because of your cocky attitude this morning. You do owe me a shirt.”

“There is a T-shirt in the cabinet.” He tugged it open with his finger, gesturing inside. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am in pain, and I’m going to get a little sleep.”

Sam felt unprompted tears welling in her eyes as she stared at him in disbelief. Any other man would have taken advantage of the fact that she was half-naked and admittedly aroused. Grinding back the unwanted emotions, she snatched the shirt from the small storage cabinet next to the refrigerator. Condor didn’t move or open his eyes as she glowered at him, sliding back across the car to sit by herself on the seat.

Condor spent the entire flight sleeping and then showed her to a small guest room to unpack as he listened to his answering machine. When she came out, he asked, “Do you want to go see the club or take a look around here? I have a message that there was a problem while I was gone, and I need to go.”

“Should I dress in club garb?”

“That is up to you. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in action.”

Sam went back into the bedroom, coming out in clinging spandex pants and tightly laced shirt with flared sleeves. A long cape-type jacket was slung over her arm. “Let’s go,” she said, slipping on a pair of short leather boots.

Condor gestured to the door, watching the sassy sway of her ass as she walked down the stairs. Her entire demeanor suggested a woman in command.

Sam was still slightly angry at him, and she remained silent, fiddling with her wristband during the short drive. As Condor opened her door, he asked, “Nervous?”

“No, should I be?”

“A normal person might be. A new club with people you don’t know.”

Sam slid out and shrugged. “It’s a club. Larger than the others, but still a club. Are you going to introduce me to the staff or just turn me loose on the bar?”

“I was going to introduce you first. Come on.”

They stopped just inside the door, the woman at the front counter smiling. “You are back and with a striking shiner, sweet. In all honesty, it is so nice to see you, Condor. Legs can’t handle being a guide on second shift.”

“I will remember that.” The irritation in the words was pronounced. “Amy James, this is Samantha Bell, otherwise known as Sam or Dragon Fire. She is considering the job as the new third-shift guide when Barbara leaves. Where is Benny?”

“He is upstairs.”

“Are any of the chambers open, preferably a dungeon?”

“Two and seven have just been sterilized. Take your pick. Hot pink hasn’t arrived yet, but she has one on reserve.”

“Give me the keys to seven.”

She leaned back and unlocked a case, taking out a set of keys and handing them to Condor. “It’s nice to meet you, Dragon Fire.”

“Same here,” she replied with a pleasant smile as Condor gave her the keys.

Sam could feel Amy’s eyes on her as they turned and headed up a twisting staircase. They walked down a short hall and into a small room. A man instantly got to his feet. “I’m so glad that you are back. That little punk Danny got ahold of one of the newlings, and before we could stop him, he caned the shit out of her. We have revoked his membership, and the girl is in the hospital. She is pressing charges against him, and because she is keeping her mouth shut as to where the incident happened, we offered her a lifetime membership.”

“Standard practice. How bad is she?”

“He broke her shoulder and took a lot of skin off her back and the backs of her legs.”

“Did you have her sign a standard waiver?”

“Yes, we have one on file.”

Briskly running his fingers through his hair, he nodded. “Good. Is Danny going to keep quiet or run his mouth?”

“I spoke with his lawyer and let him know that if Danny mentions the club we will take legal action against him. We faxed a copy of the standard forms to him and a copy of Danny’s waiver and agreement never to bring any kind of suit against the club. I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

“Do we know the lawyer?”

“Yeah, he is a hard-nosed prick. He is also smart enough to know that we have his client’s balls in a noose. The kid broke every rule there is, and we could sue him for breach of contract.”

Sam cleared her throat, not appreciating the language. Condor laughed. “Benny, this is Samantha Bell.”

“Dragon Fire, do you disapprove of something?” Benny asked.

“Yes, I do. I am not accustomed to hearing such raw terms.”

“I’ll remember that. So, are you coming to work with us? I read your files, very impressive.” He put his finger to Condor’s cheek. “What happened to your face?”

He shot a momentary glace at Sam. “Long story which I would rather not tell. What else has happened?”

“Not much. Dina has asked to leave two to three weeks ahead of schedule. She has early-stage toxemia, and her doctor wants her to quit as soon as possible.”

“Okay, well, I can’t exactly tell her no. She shouldn’t even be here if she is pregnant. What happened with Legs?”

“Nothing, she just can’t handle a prime-time crowd. She was pulling her hair out with Danny.”

“Hopefully what she pulled out was tinted green,” he replied with chuckle of honest amusement. Sam made note that even with the onslaught of problems, Condor seemed not only composed, but well humored.

Benny returned his laugh. “Yeah, well…you know how that goes. Why don’t you go give Sam a tour? I will catch up to you later and go over the new contracts with you.”

“Great. I may need a few days off. Could you handle things? The lady wants to go to Disney World.”

“I think we can manage, although here is much more fun.” Benny winked at her, and Sam grinned.

Condor walked with her back down the hall, stopping to punch a code into a door before opening it. “This is my office. If you decide to stay, I will give you the code to get in. Only personal staff has the combination code.” Sam made note of the comfortably furnished room, done mainly in leather. He shut the door and led her down the stairs and into the bar.

Sam felt eyes on her as Condor introduced her to the bartenders and the waiters. Her entrance into the leads lounge was noted with interest as Condor called out, “Everyone. This is Dragon Fire. She is a lead and may become our new third-shift guide. Please make her feel at home.”

A young man immediately approached her, lifting her arm to look at her wristband. The charms and the color of her bracelet represented the fetishes in which Sam was interested in, and participated in. “Oh, hot shit. A trained dominatrix, who draws blood. Care to play?”

“Aren’t you sweet,” she said, lifting his wrist as he had done to her. His band was black and yellow, and he had no charms. “And versatile. I will keep you in mind. I actually have my sights set on a babe at the bar. But I will be here again.”

She gave a nod of acknowledgement to the other leads. “It has been a pleasure. I will get to know you all at some later point.”

Sam walked back into the main bar, gazing around. “When do I get to look through the files?” she asked in a low voice.

“There is time. I have copies of them at my condo.”

“Good. Are you coming in or watching from the wings?”

Condor didn’t reply as she stopped at a table, looking down at a man with sandy-blond hair. His faded red band said that he was interested in being dominated and the pink charm said that he liked it moderately painful. He also had a crossbones symbol charm that indicated that he wasn’t interested in intercourse afterwards. “Care to play?” she asked, extending her hand to him.

He looked at her band and then stood up, lowering his gaze. “I would be honored. My name is Nyo.”

“My name is Dragon Fire, and you may call me as such. Do you have safe words?”

“Blue for please slow down and Red for stop.”

“Good boy. Where am I taking him, Condor?”

Fear flashed on Nyo’s face, his eyes going round as he glanced quickly at Condor and then dropped his eyes to the floor. In a soft tone he asked, “Why do you ask for a guide, Dragon Fire?”

“Does that bother you?” she replied in amusement.

“Guides don’t usually attend to a well-trained mistress.”

She lifted his head with a finger to his chin. “Are you questioning my colors?”

“No, mistress.”

“Good,” she replied, her voice sounding sharp.