Page 116 of Their Ruthless Sadist (Office Intrigue Duet 5)
My gaze swung over to the pretty boy and the cowboy. They were standing by the bar talking to two other male submissives. I didn’t recognize them so I figured they were new. Not that I would be able to tell either way because the masks were obscuring everyone’s faces.
No, now that I’d found exactly what I’d been missing, I wondered if it was possible they’d be willing to keep me if I did decide to make this more than temporary. Could I? Would they want me for more than some interesting scenes?
That empty space in my chest ached at the thought. The last thing I wanted was to go through the hell of watching them walk away when they found out I was merely human.
Making that known seemed to be the fastest way for me to let someone down.
*
Brax
(The cowboy)
I HAD NO IDEA WHO this one guy was—aside from his name being Matt—or why he was following me and Case around like a lost puppy, but no matter how hard we tried to shake him, he wasn’t getting the hint.
The other submissive with him—Gary—was a regular here. He seemed quite content to give Matt the lowdown on what was going on.
“That girl over there, she’s a masochist,” Gary explained. “Not hard-core like Case, though.”
Case didn’t look at either of them, but his eyes cut to me briefly. I knew he was getting tired of having an entourage.
“Hard-core, huh?” Matt prompted.
Case didn’t respond.
“So, how long have you been members here?” Matt asked.
“I’ve been here a year,” Gary informed him. “But I just recently was collared by my Mistress.”
Matt nodded, then cast a quick look my way.
“A while,” I replied, aiming for casual, uninterested. I was hoping he would take the hint.
“Interesting.”
Why? Why was that interesting? He’d said that after nearly every answer we’d given him. If I didn’t know better, I would think this was some sort of interrogation. And it was getting old quickly.
Unfortunately, Gary took that opportunity to excuse himself. That left me and Case with Matt and I knew the questions were going to keep coming.
Matt touched his neck. “I see you’re both collared. By the same Dom? Male or female?”
“Yeah. And he’s a Sadist,” I answered, leaving the what’s it to you? unspoken.
Matt turned his attention to Case. “So, you’re a masochist, huh?”
Case didn’t respond, simply glared back at the man through his mask. It was clear he was as sick of playing this game as I was.
“I think Zeke’s tryin’ to get our attention,” I told Case. “It was nice to meet you, Matt.”
“Zeke?” he asked, the whites of his eyes glowing through the mask. “Zeke Lautner? I’d heard a rumor he was a member here, but I didn’t believe it.”
Okay, this was going too far. I nudged Case away before Matt could launch another question at us. I knew Zeke wasn’t trying to get our attention, but the least we could do was seek him out. It seemed a logical way to get away from the guy who had latched himself to our sides.
Zeke must’ve seen something that bothered him, because as soon as we approached, his mouth turned down in a grimace. “Something wrong?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Just thought we’d check in. See if you needed anything.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Son of a bitch. I spun around to see Matt had followed us. “Look, man, I—”
“Long time no see, Zeke,” Matt said, his voice deeper than before, his tone holding a condescending edge to it.
Zeke didn’t say a word and I turned back to see him staring. In an instant, his mask was off and he was glaring at Matt.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Matt?”
Holy shit.
That wasn’t a hi, how are ya? greeting. In fact, I was pretty sure there was steam coming out of Zeke’s ears. Apparently they knew each other, and if that was the case, I didn’t think it had ended well. And I suspected this wasn’t one of those one-and-done scenarios where Zeke had beat on him, then dismissed him for someone else to take care of.
“Of all the kink clubs in all the world…” Matt stared at Zeke, leaving the sentence hanging.
I couldn’t breathe for the amount of animosity pouring off Zeke. His back was rigid, his hands fisted at his sides
Matt glanced over at Case. “For a masochist, you sure don’t have high standards, do you?”
Case spun to face Matt, his chest puffing up as he took a step closer to Matt. “Excuse me?”
I put my hand on Case’s arm to hold him back. The last thing we needed was to throw down in the middle of Dichotomy. That was the fastest way to get booted out of the club. Forever.
Matt glared back at Case, going toe to toe with him. “With a reputation as a hard-core masochist, I’m surprised. That’s all.”
