Twice the Touch

Twice the Touch

(Previously titled Master's Touch)

Copyright © 2013 by Cara Dee

Edited by Lisa A. Hollett

Disclaimer: This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with others, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and you did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Warning:
This story contains scenes of an explicit, erotic nature and is intended for adults, 18+. Characters portrayed are 18 or older. If you're interested in the BDSM lifestyle in any form, please tread carefully, and don’t dive in headfirst. Research, research, research. And reach out to people with experience for guidance.

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Special thanks to Lisa, Mary, Deb, and Adèle. I couldn’t have done it without your support and help, ladies!

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Chapter 1

Mark
Cooper

Throwing the rag ove
r my shoulder, I survey the bar top, making sure it's clean and spotless. In my periphery, more and more people trickle in for a night at the club, and I grin when I see Nicholas and Kayla, back from Venice. That means Kevin is around, too, since he's itching to give Nick the latest figures.

Expanding the club was a wise decision; now we have people flying in from all over the state to visit Switch, and Nick has Kayla to thank for it. It'd been her idea, and since she has Nick wrapped around her
little finger, there was no hesitation. Granted, Nicholas Ford is one badass businessman, so I doubt he would've gone through with the remodeling if his financial projections hadn't agreed with her vision.

"Welcome back, you two." I shake Nick's hand over the bar and tip an imaginary hat in greeting to Kayla. "How
was your vacation?" Before the last word is out, my eyes have already strayed to her left ring finger.

Someone said yes.
Of course he went with yellow
. It's Kayla's favorite color. A fairly big, yellow diamond surrounded by small, clear ones on a white gold band. Or…knowing Nick, it's platinum.

"Magical," Kayla sings as she scoots onto a
barstool. "We're engaged!" A big smile stretches across her lips. I congratulate them both, happy for them. "Thank you, Sir," she says sweetly. She's looking very pretty in another one of her baby-doll dresses. "It was the best vacation
ever
." Nick is content to let her do the talking, and he sits there, watching his little fiancée as if she's the center of the universe. Of course to him, she is. "I can bring photos tomorrow. If you want to see?"

I nod and pour her a
Sprite. "I'd like that, honey." With a wink, I turn to Nick and ask him if he wants a drink, but he declines.
All right, then
. "Have you spoken to Kev yet?"

"He ambushed us in the lobby," he chuckles.
"But I'm happy it's going so well." He tugs on one of Kayla's pigtails. "This one's more business-savvy than I thought."

"Daddy." She giggles and squirms. "Always pulling my hair."

"You love it." He moves closer to her and lifts her chin, their noses nearly touching. With his free hand, he cups one of her tits. "And I can do whatever I want, can't I?" He pinches her nipple through the ruffles and lace which make up the top of her dress.

"Yes, Daddy."

I smirk at Kayla's blush. She really is too adorable for words. Not really my cup of tea, but I can still see the appeal—obviously. She's experienced despite her young age, beautiful, naturally submissive, but with a mischievous streak that'll keep Nicholas on his toes. She's also a sweetheart, so I wasn’t surprised when Nick told me he was going to propose to her. Now, only four—almost five—months after they met in the beginning of July, they have a lot going on. To some it might seem rushed—moving in together immediately, expanding the club in the span of three months, getting engaged, buying a house…but they happen to know what they want.

My friend is
over the fucking moon, but I'm not envious. I used to have what he has now—sans the clubs—and I barely escaped unscathed. Admittedly, it's left me a little jaded, but whatever. It is what it is.

"Are you on the floor
tonight?" Nick speaks to me, but he keeps his eyes on Kayla. With one stare, he has her shrinking into him, becoming impossibly smaller and very clingy. Their relationship is full of rules and limits, but kneeling and keeping quiet aren't included. Nick wants Kayla dependent, but still bubbly. Like a child.

When he was with that other woman—I've forgotten her
name—he rarely showed up here, and when he did, his face was drawn and his mind was fucked. Now is a different matter; he brings Kayla here several times a week, and he is always smiling like a man who just got laid.

"Yeah
," I answer eventually. Studying people has always been interesting to me, and many tell me I'm a man of few words. I watch instead. Actions, expressions, posture… A simple look can tell me so much more than a sentence spoken out loud.

Nick tilts his head in my direction as Kayla snuggles against his chest. Even seated on a
barstool, he can have her on his lap. "Playing or working?"

"Work, I'm a
fraid." I grin then nod at Dante a few feet away who asks for a beer. Now that Nick has created a big scening area for Switch, more regulations have been instituted for the guests. If you want to scene, there's a drink limit, and anyone who plans to partake in any type of play wears a blue rubber wristband. After giving Dante his first drink for the night, I scan his ID into the system so he's on the list for tonight. I then return to Nick, who knows I'm usually all for participating in these events. "Liam called in, and he can't make it because his daughter's sick," I explain.

"Ah. So, you'r
e manning the bar in the Cave?"

"Yep." Unfortunately
.

When
Nick bought the place next door—it used to be a restaurant—he decided to keep the circular bar in the middle of the new space. Four new bartenders were hired, and Liam was supposed to work tonight. I wouldn’t mind covering if it wasn’t for tonight's theme, but no one else is available.

Seeing as Nicholas
has left me in charge of the bartending staff, it means I have to pick up the shifts that no one else can cover. Luckily, it doesn’t happen often at all. But tonight of all nights…yeah, I'm a little ticked off.

"Are you and Kayla playing?" I ask and grab a soda for myself.

"We are," he chuckles as Kayla grins widely. "I promised my baby girl."

I have a feeling she's going to give him a run for his money. The
new part of the club is fairly big, and when the lights go out, it's only going to make things more difficult for the Doms. But worth it in the end. So fucking worth it.

Looking up, I scan the area, noticing the growing crowd.
Some are playing before the main event, and some are just socializing.

Half the wall on the other side of the club has been removed, so I c
an see straight into the Cave. Tearing down that wall was basically the only thing that needed to be done—aside from a paint job and refinishing the floor. Exactly like the original club area, the new section is perfectly square. The only difference is that the ceiling isn't as high in there as it is here; it creates a more intimate atmosphere, which is why we refer to it as the Cave.

I
nstead of another dance floor or seating area, dividers are lined up with the walls, each one making up a scene room. And in the middle of the floor, there's the circular bar, the one I'll be working in a couple hours.

There's still the kitchen
and the staff lounge behind the Cave to be dealt with, and I think Nicholas is planning to create private rooms for that space. Though that will take some time. So, for now, that area has been sealed off.

"Speaking of, we should probably put on our wristb
ands, little one," Nicholas murmurs, handing Kayla a white one. Everyone who's participating in tonight's Hide & Seek has to wear one, and they happen to glow in the dark. The ones who don’t wear them will remain in one of the two seating areas once the game has started. "And I should go tell Cade to turn on the floor lights, too."

Ah, yeah. The bars, scening stalls,
each wall, and the seating areas are lined with tiny lights in the floor that will help the participants to stay on the makeshift playground. Those lights are only bright enough to give the Doms and the subs the ability to see contours, but it will ensure safer play. No one wants anyone to walk into a wall or something and hurt themselves. This game is all about thrill—predators hunting down their coveted prey.

"Cooper
!" Simon, one of the dungeon monitors, runs over. I jerk my chin in
what's up?
and get started on a drink order from a waitress.
Miranda
. Pretty sub. I've topped her before. "Is there any way you can help with a scene?"

I give the vodka bottle in my hand a pointed look before I meet his questioning gaze again. "
A little busy here, man." This early into the night, there's only one bartender in each bar. I'm here, and Max is in the Cave. Facing Miranda, I ask, "Are there any IDs I need to check in?"

"No, Sir." She flutters her eyelashes at me. "They're just here to meet people."

I smirk at the redhead but say nothing and turn back to Simon again.

"What's the problem?" Nick inquires
.

Simon
huffs a breath; he looks just as winded as the guys who are pushing big EVA foam blocks onto the dance floor and the floor around the bar in the Cave. They're not very heavy, of course, but there are a lot of them—all of them needed to give the subs plenty of options for where to hide later. Several are hollow and big enough for two or three people to hide inside.

"A new couple," he replies a bit sullenly. Simon has been with his sub for over fifteen years, so
patience doesn’t come easily for him. He's a very skilled and experienced Dom and has worked as a monitor in other clubs before, but newbies aren't what he prefers. "The Dom—and I use that term loosely—has his sub restrained to the St. Andrew's, and he's actually asking her what to do next."

I cock a b
row and laugh. "So, tell them to come back when they know what submission is about."

It's not an uncommon occurrence that we have guests who
think
they're into the lifestyle, when all they really want is a little extra spice in their vanilla sex life.

"Is the sub topping from the bottom?" Nick asks.

Kayla, still in his lap, snuggles deeper into his embrace and starts
sucking her thumb, her free hand playing idly with Nick's tie.

Simon shakes his head. "She doesn’t want to. I paused the scene to come here. Thing is, I don’t trust either of them to continue." He eyes me. "That’s why I don’t want to send them home."

I frown and pour a glass of red, the last drink before Miranda's order is complete.

Nick frowns
, too. "You don’t believe the sub will safeword?" An educated guess. If this couple is already in a committed relationship, sometimes the trust comes
too
easily.

"Basically." Simon nods.

"Well—" Nicholas faces me "—you like a challenge. Go with Simon; I'll tell Kevin to man the bar for a while."

I gr
in but nod in consent. Kevin, Nick's right-hand man, is a Suit with a capital "S," and it's difficult to picture him behind a bar. However, I know he worked as a bartender when he was in college, and he's the only option at this point. Damn Liam for having a kid who's sick. I mean, it happens, but it sucks that it's on a night like tonight.

"Lead the way." I wave a hand for Simon and
round the bar to follow.

Entering the
Cave, the smell of lemon comes on a bit stronger. It's from the cleaning supplies, and I wink at a sub who is sterilizing the straps on a bondage chair.

There are a tot
al of twelve stalls in the Cave, each one approximately twelve by twelve feet. Three stalls along the western wall, three on eastern wall, four on the northern wall, and two—slightly bigger ones—on the southern. There is also one cleaning station for each wall, and I head to the eastern one to wash up first.

"I'll be by the cross
." Simon points toward the room on the other side of the big area, and I see that the stall in question has its curtains closed. Some prefer privacy, usually ones who don’t have playrooms or any equipment at all at home, but most come here because the
lack
of privacy generates another thrill.

When a curtain is closed, only dungeon monitors are allowed to enter, which they do frequently to make sure everything is all right.

With a sigh, I step in front of the sink and lather up my hands. My reflection in the mirror shows me I could use a vacation, but that will have to wait 'til January. That’s when I'll drive down to the beach house in La Jolla that I inherited from my grandparents ten years ago. Three weeks every year, I go there to unwind.

I'm glad my ex-wife never cared for the place. Otherwise, maybe she would've fought for it in the divorce.

I shake my head just thinking of Alexa. I spent seven years married to her, and that was six years too many. Damn woman was a skilled manipulator.

In the beginning,
she was all for being my sub, but as the years passed, I began to hear more whines and complaints than "Yes, Master." Not to mention how she abused her safeword.

She changed so gradually that it took time for me to notice. I didn’t notice how she wore me down, either—not until much, much later. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I lost myself, but I did end up ignoring what I wanted in order to please her.
And I guess I clung to the image and impression of how she was when we first met. I thought I'd found perfection—a woman who could be both my submissive and my wife. A woman who I could order around, then dote on, and eventually, start a family with. But that didn’t happen.