“Something must’ve prompted your interest,” Case implored. “Did you see something on TV? In the movies? You have friends who are in the scene?”
“I’ve been reading some books,” she admitted, draining her apple juice. “And I’m curious.”
“What sort of books?” Zeke asked, his full attention on his sister.
She offered a one-shoulder shrug. “You know. BDSM.”
I grinned at Case and he smiled back. I was sure he was remembering the one girl we’d met at Dichotomy a while back. Sweet kid, very naive. Apparently, she’d started reading about BDSM and she’d decided to explore her kinkier side because it had captured her interest.
Zeke groaned as he leaned back in his chair. “Are you serious?”
“Well, yes,” she practically shouted. “You’re not the only one who’s into this stuff, Zeke. I’ve always been … curious. And there are tons of books about it, so I read them.”
“You know that shit’s romanticized, right? It’s not all about spanking some sweet little girl’s ass while she giggles and laughs, then cuddling her close and telling her how wonderful she is.”
Jamie glared at her brother again. She was the only person I’d ever seen look at him that way. And based on Zeke’s reaction to her, they were close. It was interesting to see the dynamic between the two. I had a close relationship with my brothers and sisters, too. I could recall many times I’d been in the same room with them, engaging in conversations similar to this one. Well, not quite like this. My family wasn’t aware of my kink side. However, we could give each other shit for days because we were close, always had been. Oh, sure, we’d had our falling-outs over the years. What siblings didn’t?
“But it’s not as scary as you make it out to be,” she argued.
“Depends on who you ask,” he countered.
“Okay, fine. We’ll ask an impartial party.” Jamie turned her attention to me and Case.
Shit.
My eyes remained fixed on her, but I didn’t miss the warning look Zeke sent my way.
“I’m still curious as to what interests you about the clubs,” I said, hoping to deflect. “I mean, are you interested in dominating someone? Submitting?”
“Submission,” she said quickly. “And I don’t know what the appeal is exactly, but when I read those books, I can relate in a lot of ways. Like I said, I’m curious.”
Couldn’t blame the girl for being curious. A lot of people were.
“Not just from a psychological perspective?” Case asked.
Good question.
“No, although I can’t deny that’s part of it.” Her eyes shifted to me. “When did you start going to the clubs?”
“Not until I met Case,” I admitted.
“But you knew on some level you were submissive?”
I shook my head. “No, actually. I didn’t know anything about it before him.”
“So, you didn’t want to be roughed up by one of your sexual partners?”
Case choked on his juice and I sat stone-still, staring at the woman. How the hell was I supposed to answer that? Especially with Zeke glaring holes through me.
“I … uh…”
“Plead the Fifth, man. Plead. The. Fifth,” Case mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
Surprisingly, Zeke chuckled.
“You stay out of this,” Jamie bit out, pointing her fork at her brother. “But you went to a club anyway? And you liked it?”
Son of a bitch. She backed me in a corner there. I could feel the heat coming out of Zeke’s ears.
“Yeah.” I dropped my gaze to my plate.
Case, on the other hand, seemed to be quite content to watch the verbal volley. He hadn’t said a word to help defuse this situation. I could understand Zeke’s desire to keep his little sister out of the club. I wasn’t sure what I’d think if one of my sisters wanted to venture into the world of BDSM.
“My brother’s a hypocrite,” Jamie said, her eyes swerving back to Zeke.
“No, your brother’s protecting you,” Zeke said roughly.
“From what? I didn’t see anything wrong with Razor Wire,” she said. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t get inside.”
Okay, so she’d evidently caught Case’s attention with that one, because he put his forearms on the table and faced off with her. “Jamie, I’m not on anyone’s side here, but I have to agree with Zeke on this one. You do not want to go to that club.”
“Have you been?” she questioned.
“No. But I’ve talked to a couple of people who have. Submissives at Dichotomy. That place is bad news,” he explained. “If you’re interested in kink or whatever, I can assure you, that’s not a place to learn about it.”
She huffed and I suspected Zeke had already given her this spiel.
“Is that why you came over here?” Zeke asked. “To bitch at me for protecting you?”
Jamie sighed. “Yes. I did. And to tell you what an asshole I think you are. Why won’t you just let me go to Dichotomy? That way you’ll know where I am.”
