“For both of us.”
“What are you doing at my club, Mr. Navy SEAL? I know it’s not Fleet Week. I have Fleet Week marked on my calendar. And my underwear.”
“It’s Mr. Ex–Navy SEAL. And I’m here because I was told to come tour the place, enjoy myself and see if I liked it.”
“You do like it, don’t you?” Nora rested her chin on her hand and waggled her eyebrows at him.
“It’s definitely...entertaining?” He turned the word into a question. She didn’t blame him. Hard to find the right word to describe The 8th Circle. Most days she just called it home. “Nice floor show.”
“I’ll be here all week.” Nora held out her hand. “I’m Mistress Nora. Nice to beat you.”
Instead of shaking her hand, he took it delicately and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
“An honor to serve you, Mistress Nora. I’m Lance.”
“Would you like to serve me, Lance? I haven’t been served all week.” She gave him a wide smile, a smile with a promise, a promise she fully intended to keep.
“Someone should serve a woman like you every single day, or as often as you desire, of course.”
She took her top hat off and set it on the bar. Without pretense or shame she perused his body. One good thing about being a Dominatrix—she got to have as much fun as the men of this world did. Dominatrixes weren’t just allowed to treat men like sexual objects, they were expected to. Hell, they were even paid to. Down here the Dominatrixes were treated like queens. Even the male Dominants usually gave them wide berth. Every male Dominant except for a certain arrogant six foot four blond she’d like to see on her cross one of these days. Kink or crucifixion, either one worked for her.
“You’re good at this,” she said, impressed by his attitude.
Lance leaned in a few inches and lowered his voice.
“I’ve had a little practice, Mistress.”
The Mistress raised her chin.
“Only a little? You need a lot more practice than that. Wanna go practice?”
“We just met.”
“Are you calling me a slut because I asked you to play?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
“No, ma’am. Never.” His laugh reached all the way to his dark blue eyes. She loved a man who could laugh.
“Am I calling you a slut by asking you to play?”
“You can call me anything you want.”
The Mistress placed a hand on Lance’s thigh and felt the hard muscle under the denim.
“You looked troubled when you came in here. And your entire body is tense. I’d like to flatter myself that you’re hard all over because of me, but you looked uncomfortable before you saw me. What’s up?”
Lance nodded at the bartender who brought him another beer.
“I haven’t played in a long time. I’m not even sure if I should be here.”
“Should you be here? Or did you sneak in?”
“I just got a job working for Kingsley Edge.”
“Never heard of him.” Nora kept a straight face. Kingsley tried to keep employees from fraternizing with each other too much, a hopeless cause where Nora was concerned. Lance must be the new house manager he’d hired. It would take someone with a military background to keep Kingsley’s coterie under control.
“He’s some rich kinky bigwig. Owns this place. Club membership is one of the fringe benefits.”
“You like it here?”
“I feel a little out of place. My first time in a club like this.”
“A club full of rich and famous perverts?”
“Exactly. I’m neither. Well, not the rich and famous part, anyway. Pervert maybe. This is definitely not my usual crowd.”
A congressman on the leash of a Domme crawled on all fours past the bar.
“Don’t worry. They’re not my crowd, either. Don’t be intimidated.” She leaned forward and crossed her legs. “I’ll let you in on a secret. The top Dominant here is a Jesuit priest, and he comes here in his clerical collar all the time. Jesuits take a vow of poverty. Everyone defers to him even though he’s not rich. He earned that respect. No one has ever ratted him out.”
“That’s a comfort, Mistress. Nice to feel safe.”
“You are safe down here. And you’re with me. I’ll protect you from the rich and famous perverts.”
“My hero,” he said, turning toward her so that their lips were only an inch apart.
“Come on, Lance,” she whispered. “Come play with me. Submit to me. You know you want to. I know you want to. You’re not on duty right now, are you?”
“No.” He shook his head. She could see him trying to bite back a smile.
She moved her hand from his thigh to his crotch and felt his erection.
Lance closed his eyes and inhaled sharply.
“What do you want to do, Sailor?”
“Anything you want, Mistress. Anything at all.”