Primal (10 page)

Olivia signed her name quickly, put down the pen, and stepped back so they could get to the counter. The man glanced her way and, even though is look was quick, she felt like he’d noted everything about her. He stepped up and reached for the clipboard Jones once again held out.
 

They’d both nodded, each giving her a smile, but saying nothing. Which was interesting because she could see the questions in their eyes.
 

“Olivia?” The first doorman asked.
 

She turned to him, brows raised. “What’s your name?”

He flushed. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m Chris. I’ll take you inside now.”

Without another word, he pulled open the door, and she followed him into the club.
 

The lights were dim, but the first thing that struck her was how busy the club was. The club still had the warehouse look with exposed brick, high ceiling, and plenty of open space, and it was packed full. Chris urged her to the side, and pointed. “Head up the stairs, please.”

She went up and saw Adam talking to a very large, very good-looking man, but looking at her. He held out a hand, and she went to him, putting her hand in his large one. He pulled her right up against his body, lowered his head, and covered her lips with his. His tongue slid between her lips in a surprisingly gentle move, reaching deep, claiming her unmistakably.
 

Desire hit hard, and her knees almost buckled before Adam lifted his head and shifted her to his side. Leaning against him, she was still trying to catch her breath and calm her heart when he gestured to the doorman. “Thanks.”
 

Chris left them, a bemused smile on his lips, and she turned to Adam.
 

“Hello.” Why she suddenly felt shy she had no idea. Maybe it was because after that kiss, she wasn’t so interested in the club anymore. She just wanted him to kiss her again.

He smiled down at her. “Hello, Beauty. How was your day?”

“Uneventful,” she replied. “Which means it was a good day in my work. How about you?”

“It was a good day. You ready for the night?”

Her insides quivered at the heat in his gaze, and she pressed closer, rubbing against him just a little. “More than ready.”

His hand slid up her back to cup the back of her neck, lifting her until she was on her toes, full body pressed against his. He pressed his forehead against hers for a moment before sliding his nose along her cheek and inhaling deeply. “Christ, you smell good.” He nuzzled at her neck, and goose bumps popped up all over her flesh. She ran her hands up the muscled wall of his chest and over his shoulders, pulling herself even tighter against him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rubbed her chest against him, the friction sending little shocks of pleasure from nipple to groin.

He groaned and sank his teeth into her neck. Not hard enough to break the skin, but not gently either.
 
She whimpered, her hips jerking forward involuntarily. The hard bar of his erection pressed against her stomach, and her sex dampened. Suddenly, she was spun around, her back to his front.
 

“Hands on the rail,” he growled, pushing her forward. “Keep them there while I show you the club, or you’re not going to see it.”
   

It took her a couple of seconds to realize that they were on upper floor viewing level,
in public
.
 

Opening her eyes, she could see everything that was happening on the club floor. “Overwatch,” she whispered.

“Exactly,” he said, his voice husky. His body cradled hers, keeping them in constant contact. “For soldiers, when someone has Overwatch, it means someone has our back. We’re protected while we do what we need to do, by someone who is farther back or higher up. Someone who has a view of the whole picture and not just what’s in front of them. It gives a feeling of safety, and that’s what we give here.”

Excitement and arousal swirled through her body as she took in as much as she could. It was intimidating, but the crowd was what surprised her. Unlike any she’d ever seen. It was a blend of old and young, fit and fat. Some wore leather, lace, and latex, while others wore nothing but a collar around their neck or leather cuffs on their wrists.
 

The music was loud, but not so loud that she couldn’t hear him talk. The sounds of sex, pain, and pleasure blended with the music and called to her in a way that the naked and nearly naked bodies throughout the club didn’t. Of course, Adam’s hardness pressed against her might’ve had something to do with it, too.
 

She wiggled her butt back against him as she tried to focus on what was on the floor below.
 

There was a bar in the middle of the floor, with two bartenders working it. The floor space in front
 
of the bar was full of a blend of round tables with chairs and groupings of deeply cushioned loveseats, sofas, and club chairs. Then there was a dance floor and a small stage. Stations and cubicles with equipment and chains and all sorts of things she didn’t understand lined the periphery of the club, occasionally broken up with club chairs.
 

“For viewing,” Adam said, scraping his teeth lightly across her cheek to her ear.
 
He nipped at the fleshy lobe, and a small moan escaped.

The wall behind the bar, the one they were standing over, had no stations or conversation areas. Instead, it had rooms, four of them, but no ceiling.
 

“Theme rooms,” Adam explained. His hand slid under her shirt, cupping her breasts and squeezing.
 
He pulled down the cups of her bra and played with her nipples.
 

She found it funny that no one else came up the stairs, yet, and said so, gasping the words as she watched a couple below her bump and grind on the dance floor.

“Every member goes through an orientation and training class when they join. They’re told the stairs are off limits.”
 
He shifted, and she immediately missed his heat at her back.
 

“And that stops them? Simply telling them that?” She found that very surprising. People were always testing rules and pushing limits. It’s why people rolled through stop signs and took baskets with twenty items through an express checkout that was only supposed to serve people with twelve items or less.
 

He put a hand on her back, pushing gently until she leaned farther forward, and then he ran it down her spine to her butt. “It’s made clear to every member that if they break the rules, any of the rules, there will be consequences, the least of which is revoking their membership.”
 

She arched her back, lifting her butt for him. Thank God she’d gone home and changed. She’d worn the flirty cocktail skirt for exactly this reason, she thought as Adam lifted it and cool air brushed over her bare legs.
 

“Very nice,” he said when her white lace panties were exposed.
 
“White is so damn sexy.”

“Club virgin,” she whispered. “I thought white would be appropriate.”

He growled. “It’s fucking sexy as hell.”

“You’ve got a gorgeous ass, babe.”
 
Adam ran his hands up and down her legs, and then over her rounded butt, lifting and squeezing her cheeks. He slid a hand between her legs and groaned. “And you’re fucking soaked.”

Embarrassment hit when he pulled his hand away and flipped her skirt back over, covering her up again. He reached around, grasping her chin with fingers that smelled of her, and turned her head so she couldn’t hide from him. “I’m only stopping because if I don’t, I’m gonna fuck you right here, and you’ll never see the rest of the club. You want to see the club, right?”

Did she really? It wasn’t as if the club was going anywhere. She could always see it another night, right?
 

“You’re trying to decide if you really want to see the club, aren’t you?” He laughed, low and rough. “Christ, you’re fucking perfect.”

She smiled. “Show me your club, Adam. Then let’s go lock ourselves in your loft.”

He kissed her, hard and fast, then led her to the stairs.
 

It should surprise her, how excited she was to be there. Especially after telling Jazz that sex wasn’t enough to build a relationship on. Here she was, doing exactly that.

No, she glanced at Adam as he led her down the stairs. They weren’t building a relationship on sex, no matter how good the orgasms were. If she hadn’t liked other things about the man next to her, she would’ve left his place after eating dinner on Wednesday and never agreed to go deeper with him.
 

Instead, not only had she stayed and let him do things to her that no other ever had—dirty naughty things—she was back for more.

Although he didn’t speak, she felt him watching her carefully as she took in the happenings around them when they reached the main floor.
 

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” she said softly.
 

“What is?”

She looked to where a nude woman was chained down on a table, and a man holding a candle in each hand dripped wax on her in some design only he could see. “That people can come to a place like this and lay themselves wide open.”

“Not everyone does that. Lets themselves open up, I mean.” His eyes hardened. “Some do though, and it makes them vulnerable. Too vulnerable.”

There was more there. The therapist in her sensed it and wanted to probe, but the woman in her wanted only to soothe.

As if sensing her thoughts, he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her in another direction, both figuratively and literally. “You’ll have to go through orientation and training like every other member, but for tonight, you’re my guest.”

A shiver ripped through her at the thought of training. “Do you do the training?” she asked as they came up to the bar.

A gorgeous brunette in a corset and long flowing skirt of tulle turned from the bar to greet them. “No, he prefers to watch from above and protect all the new lambs like a good shepherd,” she said with a light laugh. “I heard we have a special guest tonight,”

“Oh, my God, I love your boots!” Olivia said when she saw the patent leather thigh-high boots that covered the woman’s legs. The tulle skirt was pulled back, like a bustle that covered her backside, but left the front completely open so people could see her short leather shorts, the bare skin of the tops of her thighs, and those luscious boots.

She laughed, sticking out a leg and showing them off while Adam made the introductions. “Olivia, this is Eden Morgan, the club’s manager and one of the club’s trainers.”

“A woman helps you run it?” Olivia said before thinking. Geez, what was with her mouth suddenly running away on her? Something about this place dissolved her filter. Or maybe it was the lust still buzzing through her veins.
 

Eden smirked, and Adam arched a brow at Olivia. “You’re surprised?”

She laughed. What the hell, it was clear no one else in the club was holding back, so why should she?
 
“I shouldn’t be, but yes, I am. I just can’t imagine you handing control over to a woman for anything.”

He laughed, unoffended. “I need someone here for when I can’t be. The club is only open four nights a week, but between it and the gym, and the occasional outside job for Simon, I can’t be here all the time. I have to have someone I trust to look after things when I’m not here, and Eden can do that.”

“Who’s Simon?”

He glanced down at her. “He’s a friend.”

“And another of the trainers here at the club,” Eden said. “Haven’t seen him here yet tonight, but I’ve no doubt when he arrives, he’ll seek you out.”
 

“Why would he do that?”
 

“Because the boys at the door will tell him about you and the kiss Adam greeted you with, as soon as he gets here.”

She didn’t get it. Why was Adam kissing her such a big deal when there were people having sex on a padded bench not twenty feet away from them?

Her confusion must’ve shown on her face because Eden glanced from Adam to Olivia, eyebrows raised. Adam nodded, and Eden chuckled. “He claimed you, sweetie. And Adam’s never claimed anyone before.”

Olivia blushed, pleasure whipping through her. Claimed? It was so…primitive, and chauvinistic, but it felt so good too.
 

“You do jobs for him?” she asked, remembering what he just said. “What kind of jobs?”

His lips firmed, and she got the feeling he wasn’t going to answer her when he crossed his arms and stared down at her. But he did. “Simon operates a security company staffed mostly by ex-military types who do everything from bodyguard celebrities to black-ops. Sometimes I help him out when he can’t find the right person for a job.”

She took that in, surprised, but strangely not. It was getting to the point that nothing about Adam surprised her anymore because, every time he revealed something new, it was just like another puzzle piece fitting smoothly into place. Only she didn’t have a reference image to work from, so she really had no idea how many more pieces there were.
 

“So, besides running your own two companies, you do the occasional job for him?”