Legal Heat (2 page)

“Why don’t you stay for a drink? It’s Friday night, and you look like you need to unwind.”

Katy hesitated. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had been in a bar for purely social reasons. Work and life as a single mom kept her too busy to waste time on leisure activities. But a fetish club…?

“This place isn’t really me,” she said. “Plus, I’m a bit overdressed…and I don’t know anyone…unless…maybe…you could have a drink with me?”

Trixie shook her head. “I’m on duty at reception tonight.”

“I’m sorry.” Katy rushed her words. “You’re working. I totally forgot.”

“But…” Trixie gave her a wink, “…I could get someone to cover for me if we had a new
member
who needed me to introduce her around.”

Katy took another look around the club, taking in the sea of fetish wear, whips, chains and assorted torture devices. “Actually, maybe not.”

Trixie gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Not everyone here has a kink. Some people just like to hang out at the club or are friends of members. We have a private area in the back for people who are into serious play. So, how about it? Should I go get the application form and ask someone to cover my shift while you find us a table?”

Trixie’s warm smile and the temptation to do something for herself—something outside her narrow world of contracts, kids and conservatives—were impossible to resist. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

Katy found a quiet table in the corner and Trixie joined her a few minutes later with a handful of papers and two glasses of white wine. Katy filled in the forms and they chatted about Trixie’s work at the club until they were joined by a few curious members and then a few more. Their table soon became a revolving door for Trixie’s friends and acquaintances, all eager to welcome a new face to the club.

Several glasses of wine later, Katy slipped off her jacket and pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair. She hadn’t enjoyed herself as much in years. Good company. Great music. Interesting people. Awful wine. But it was her turn to buy the next round.

Katy looked over at the huge bar curving out from one corner of the wall. With its black granite counters, tan leather bar stools and huge, mirrored bottle display, it would not have been out of place in a fancy hotel.

And behind the counter, cleaning glasses, stood her mystery man.

He winked, a casual gesture, but beneath his hooded lids, she caught a glimpse of power. Her cheeks bloomed. He had to be well over six feet of sexy, mouth-watering muscle.

“What’s the story with the hot bartender?” Katy caught another glimpse of him from beneath her lashes. The bartender gave her a curious smile, partly amused, partly intrigued, definitely interested. Katy lowered her eyes and her cheeks flamed.

“Trixie!” The deep, booming voice drew her attention away from the bar.

“Uh oh.” Trixie grimaced as Tony bore down on them, his face taut with anger, his whip slapping against his thigh.

“I need you at reception. Now. Rick had to deal with a security issue and there’s no one at the front desk. I don’t know why you asked him, of all people, to cover for you.”

Trixie gave him a contrite smile. “Sorry. I was trying to be sociable. Keep the clients happy and all that.”

“Go.” He pointed toward the door. “You’ll be getting a formal warning notice at the end of your shift, if you’re lucky. Fired, if you’re not.”

Katy swallowed. “It’s my fault. I asked Trixie to stay and keep me company.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Tony snapped. “We’re busy tonight and Trixie knows shift changes have to be pre-approved.”

“Sorry, Katy.” Trixie pushed herself away from the table. “Next time I’ll make sure I have all the necessary forms and approvals before we have a drink. Is that okay with you, sir?”

Tony’s nostrils flared. “Don’t take that tone with me, Trixie. You know how I deal with disrespectful behavior.”

“Which is why I’m using that tone.” She muttered so quietly only Katy could hear. “Seriously. What does a girl have to do to get a little discipline around here?”

Katy pushed herself out of her chair and stood toe to toe with Tony, her hands clenched by her sides. “You can’t reprimand her for something that isn’t her fault. I was going to leave. She encouraged me to stay. You benefited because I spent money in the club.”

Tony’s face tightened. “I told you not to interfere.”

“It wasn’t her fault.” Resolve gave her the courage to face him down. “I won’t let her take the blame for something I instigated.”

Red flushed Tony’s cheeks and he narrowed his eyes. Pulling himself up to his full leather-clad height, he leaned over Katy. “Last chance to make a graceful escape.”

Katy trembled but damned if she was going to back down. “Not without your assurance she won’t suffer the consequences of my actions.”

Tony grabbed her wrist and his voice dropped to a low growl. “Time for you to go, sweetheart.”

“I don’t think so.” A deep voice intruded on the conversation, washing over her like smooth bourbon.

Katy caught the familiar, heady scent of sandalwood. She turned to look over her shoulder.

Oh, God
.

Her mystery man stood only a foot behind her. Devastatingly handsome, sinfully erotic and very, very amused.

Katy flamed. She had been wrong about him. He wasn’t just hot. He was sex personified.

“I’ll deal with her, Tony,” he said, his voice calm and even. “She’s right about Trixie. I overheard their conversation. Katy is the troublemaker here.”

Heart racing, Katy shook off Tony’s hand. “I’ll…get going.”

“Stay,” her mystery man whispered.

Her body froze in place before her mind had even processed it was not a request.

Mark put his hands on Katy’s shoulders. Electricity jolted his body at the simple touch.

What would Tony do now? He didn’t like a challenge, and he clearly hadn’t expected Mark to get in his way. And why should he? Except for the occasional one-night fling, Mark didn’t get involved with women. No relationships. No entanglements. No dating. It had worked for him for ten years. Ever since Claire. Ever since he had discovered the one disadvantage of his upbringing he could not overcome. The one need he could not fill.

But ten years of resolve had crumbled in a heartbeat when the feisty brunette from the alley had so fiercely challenged one of the most formidable litigators in the city. Not even Tony’s imposing bulk or the whip in his hand had deterred her.

Although she didn’t move, her shudder betrayed her anxiety. An intriguing mix of self-assurance and vulnerability.

Sexy as hell.

Impossible to resist.

His gaze locked on Tony, his message clear.

Tony snorted a laugh. “She’s all yours. Make sure she stays out of trouble.”

Mark watched his friend weave his way through the crowd. He knew Tony would bring up the incident at the office on Monday and the ribbing would go on for days. But with their law firm’s financial stability now totally dependent on Mark’s relationship with their biggest client, Tony needed to keep him happy. And right now, happiness shivered beneath his hands.

Katy glanced back again over her shoulder, her eyes wide and wary. Beautiful eyes, sky blue, fringed in thick, dark lashes.

“Your hands are on my shoulders.”

Mark caught the undercurrent of tension in her voice, but chose not to take the hint. “So they are.”

“Are you planning to take them off any time soon?”

Encouraged by the glimmer of amusement in her eyes, he leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I like where they are.”

“Do you like having a briefcase slammed between your legs? Because that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t move them.”

He turned her toward him and studied the perfect oval of her face, taking in her high cheekbones and full, sensuous lips. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear before allowing his gaze to drift down to the sumptuous breasts he had admired from his vantage point at the bar. He imagined capturing their warm, heavy weight in his palms as he kneaded and stroked the sweetly curved swells.

She drew in a long, ragged breath. “Um. Hello. I’m up here.”

Mark loosened his grip on her shoulders and tore his eyes away, embarrassed only at his uncharacteristic lack of control.

An azure storm chased through her eyes as she tried to hold his gaze. Long, dark lashes dusted her cheeks when she failed. “I…I’d better get going.” Her words came out in a throaty whisper and his body stiffened in response.

“I believe I deserve a reward. It wasn’t easy to take my hands away.” He ran his thumb gently over her bottom lip, feeling the faintest quiver. Soft lips. Sensuously elegant. Lips that were made to be kissed.

As if she could read his mind, a faint, soft whimper escaped her throat.

God, what a beautiful sound.
Desire ripped through his body, shocking him after so many years of passionless nights.

“Is that a yes?” He shouldn’t have started this. He should never have touched her. Now, he burned with the need to get her alone.

Katy sucked in a breath and stepped back. “It’s a no. You don’t get a reward for doing the right thing.”

Excitement drummed through him. He enjoyed verbal sparring in court, but here in the club, with this sensual creature, it had an erotic edge that fired his blood.

“What do I have to do to get a reward?” The husky rasp of his voice betrayed his desire.

Her lips curved upward before she quickly looked down and away, the sweep of her long lashes hiding the true emotion in her eyes.

Teasing? Maybe. Tantalizing? Definitely. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

“You could buy me a drink,” she murmured. “Isn’t that the way things normally work?”

“Come.” He held out his hand.

She raised an eyebrow and put her warm palm in his. “Just one drink, then I have to go.”

Mark led her over to the bar and took his place behind the counter. He enjoyed working the bar when the club was short-staffed. It gave him a much-needed break from his all-consuming legal practice and a chance to meet people who weren’t in law. The irony of his attraction to one of the few lawyers in the bar did not escape him.

He fought the urge to pour himself a shot of whiskey while she settled herself at the counter. Nothing short of total inebriation would quench the fire raging inside him tonight. Never in his life had a woman affected him this way and he burned to understand why.

“What can I get for you?”

“Trixie and I were drinking white wine. I guess I should stick with that.” Her gaze flickered over the vast display on the wall behind him.

“Anything in particular?” He picked up a glass from the rack and polished it to a crystal shine.

Sinfully plump lips curved into a smile. “I don’t suppose you have any Meursault?”

He knew exactly where he wanted those lips.

The thin, delicate stem of the wine glass snapped in his hand.

He frowned. The glass must have been flawed. He would have to check the rest of the shipment downstairs.

Suddenly he knew how to get her alone without taking her away from the ostensible safety of the bar. “We may have a few bottles down in the wine cellar.”

He opened a door beside the mirrored display. “Come and take a look.”

Chapter Two

“You have a wine cellar? In a fetish club?” Curiosity warred with Katy’s natural instinct to stay out of dark places and away from devastatingly handsome men who could stoke her arousal with one scorching look.

Did she dare go down another rabbit hole? With him?

As if sensing her trepidation, he slipped a wedge under the door. “I’ll leave the door open, although it’ll play havoc with the climate controls.”

Katy’s mouth watered in anticipation. She rarely indulged her passion for wine. A cardiac surgeon, and almost always on call, Steven rarely drank and she didn’t like to drink alone. Since the divorce, work and the kids had taken precedence over nights out with the girls and she had learned her lesson about drinking at client functions as a law student.

One quick look and she would come back upstairs.

She followed him through the door and down a well-lit, stone stairway into the cellar of her dreams. No expense had been spared. Floor-to-ceiling redwood racking housed a vast collection of what she suspected were vintage bottles. Cooling units, flagstone floors and incandescent lighting modernized the room. She breathed in the rich, heady scent of wine and cedar. “This is amazing. Can I look around?”

He nodded and settled himself in a high-backed, red leather chair. “Take your time.”

Katy roamed the wine cellar, randomly pulling out bottles. Shivers ran through her body, but they were not solely from her delight at finding rare and exclusive labels. She could feel his eyes on her, following her every movement, watching her every breath, boring into her soul.

“So what do you think of the club?” His deep rumble filled the silence.

“It’s very intimidating.”
But not as intimidating as you.