The phone on Dale’s desk rang, and based on the way he answered, the call had come from inside the office. He hung up and glanced over. “Zeke will see you now. His office is downstairs.” He motioned toward the hallway.
“Thanks,” I offered as I pushed to my feet, my back cramping. I needed to be horizontal for a while.
“Good luck,” Dale said with a smirk as we passed by.
I allowed Case to lead the way, following him down the wide hallway that opened up to the offices belonging to Landon, Langston, and Luci.
While I desperately wanted to play it cool, I wasn’t sure that was possible as Case and I headed down the stairs leading to Zeke’s office. My exhaustion disappeared as did the pain in my back. There was a strange buzzing in my head, as though I was walking the plank, and any second now, the floor would be ripped out from under me, leaving me at Zeke’s mercy.
Strange, huh? Yeah. My brain tended to do shit like that when I was nervous. Conjuring up nonsense.
I glanced around, noticing all the closed doors. The place was a ghost town today. The only warm body we’d encountered had been Dale back in the reception area, and from what I could tell from all the dark rooms, no one else was here.
While my imagination worked overtime to get away from me, I tried to remind myself that we were in an office building. Not a club. I seriously doubted I had anything to worry about with Zeke. Not like he was going to command us to strip naked in his office. Right?
Granted, that hadn’t stopped him on Trent’s personal jet during our trip from Dallas to Chicago. In fact, Trent had been in the next cabin. Not to mention, Troy, Clarissa, the pilot, and the flight attendant. They’d been on either side of the room where I ended up stripping buck-ass naked and kneeling for the big Sadist.
But this was an office building. A professional place. Nothing kinky should be going on here. Then again, I did recall the time I walked through, serenaded by the cacophony of Luci’s squeals while she was getting her ass paddled by one of her Doms. That was just last week sometime. They certainly hadn’t cared that anyone had overheard them.
Maybe I should be worried.
Once we made it down the stairs, I took a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. I’d noticed how Case was breathing a little roughly for someone in such good shape. The guy was built like a Mack truck, but he had the cardiovascular system of a damn runner. Which meant he was getting worked up from the mere prospect of seeing Zeke again.
For some reason, I was no longer worried what Zeke would do, I was worried he would do nothing at all.
I was depraved, no doubt about it.
I felt like a teenager being called to the principal’s office for something. I wanted to shove Case in front of me so I could hide behind him as we approached the open door to Zeke’s office.
“Hey, Zeke,” Case said in a ridiculous attempt to sound casual.
I wanted to laugh because the man nearly choked on his own words. I stifled it by squeezing my lips together.
“Pretty boy,” Zeke acknowledged from where he sat behind that massive desk.
I stepped around Case and took a good long look at the Sadist who plagued my thoughts. His bald head gleamed in the fluorescent lights above him, his dark eyebrows shadowed those piercing black eyes, and his thick beard framed the lips I’d fantasized about. Yep. I was a fucking mess because this man, who wasn’t attractive in the traditional sense—he was too aggressive-looking for that—made every cell in my body come alive.
“Cowboy,” Zeke smirked. “Nice hat.”
“Thanks.”
“You ever ride a horse, cowboy?”
“Yes, Sir.” I swallowed. “I mean, Zeke.”
“Ever ride a bull?”
For fuck’s sake. I actually started to sweat from that simple question.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Actually, yes. I have.” However, I got the feeling Zeke wasn’t referring to the four-legged version.
Tank chose that moment to wander over and sniff my hand. I couldn’t resist petting the dog, even as I wondered how a beast like Zeke had ended up with the cutest damn dog I’d ever seen.
“Hey, Tank,” I greeted softly, letting my gaze naturally shift to the floor.
“We came by for the keys to the apartment,” Case said, his voice stronger than before.
I was impressed.
“Did you now?”
“Yes, Zeke,” he said obediently, a slight tremble making an appearance.
I’d bet money Case’s cock was as hard as a steel pipe right about now. Mine was, which was weird because I was still petting the dog.
Stop petting the dog, you dumb ass.
Standing up straight, I glanced over and noticed two keys sitting on the top of Zeke’s desk. Were those ours? Was he wanting us to grab them and turn around? This could’ve been a simple in and out, but Zeke made no move to get them.
