Reluctant Surrender (3 page)

“What?” she shouted as panic set in. What if she was deaf? “I can’t hear you.”

Suddenly his voice penetrated the vibrating hum. “Asshole’s got a gun. Stay here.” He spoke calmly, pressing her back against the pillar. “Stay right here. I’ve got to find out who’s packing before someone gets killed.”

He took a step and she stopped him. “I can’t find Casper.”

Something caught his attention. “Stay here.” She nodded and a split second later he catapulted over the porch banister, heading toward the drive. Without thought she rushed to the railing.

That’s when she saw him. “Casper.
No.
”

Some bald guy with a tattoo on the back of his head was trying to take the camera from him. Casper refused to give it up and the guy hauled back, ready to swing. Ethan made it there just in time and launched himself between them, blocking Casper with his big body just as the blow landed, catching him between the shoulder blades. Colin winced, but Ethan didn’t take any notice. In a flash, he was facing his assailant, lips pulled back in a cold smile. He head-butted the guy with one snapping thrust, cleanly knocking him out.

It wasn’t over, though. Baldie had friends. A wiry young guy had just snatched Casper’s tool bag and was going to take off with it when he spotted his bud’s dilemma. He let loose a cry, dropped the bag and ran full tilt at Ethan. They went down fast and rolled a few times before Ethan had him pinned. He didn’t hesitate to use the advantage. His powerful fist crushed the guy’s nose, forcing it into a grotesque angle as blood streamed out of both flattened nostrils. Judging by the force of the blow she wouldn’t have been surprised if the fool were missing a few teeth.

Ethan got up and dusted himself off as if the two fights had been nothing more than an inconvenience. When he gave Casper a lopsided grin and Casper returned it, relief flooded her.

Anxiously she waited for them to join her on the porch. When they came within earshot, she was a little shocked to discover that Ethan was in the middle of a pep talk. “Come on, buddy. I checked the camera. It’s not damaged. You need to let it go. We all nap on occasion. It’s not your fault. No harm, no foul. You saved the most expensive piece of equipment and you’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

Those kind words made her smile and spying the relief on Casper’s haggard face, she melted.

He gave Casper one last pat on the back and said to her, “You can go out the back way. The way you came in. Do you remember?”

She nodded.

“Good. Gag clause, remember? If anyone asks you about what you saw you say nothing.”

“Understood.” She’d signed that paperwork, she knew the drill. This wasn’t her first event catastrophe. After all, she worked mainly with families so emotions usually ran high at times like these. Hadn’t her own attempted wedding ceremony turned into a nightmare? “Are you sure things won’t settle down enough to get back on track?”

“I’m positive. At this point I’m hoping the local police don’t show up after the gunfire. We were trying to keep this low-key.” He stalked to the stairs and had one foot down a step before turning back. “Go home, Ms. Reneaux. Go before trouble follows you.”

She gulped and draped a protective arm around Casper. She knew what, or more precisely, who, the trouble was he was referring to. Searching his dark eyes, memorizing the lines and chiseled perfection of his face, she nodded, grateful that one of them had some sense.

She was still following his form as he weaved through the crowd when Casper whistled, low and long and shook his head. “You don’t do mild and meek for anyone, girlie.” He grinned. “But The Hypnotist certainly got you all mesmerized.”

She blinked and gave herself a mental shake. Pulling Casper along with her into the mansion, she halted just inside the doors. “Wait, what did you say?”

“He’s the one they call The Hypnotist. The Dom with special powers around women.”

Her mouth dropped open and it took her a second to collect herself enough to snap it shut. Well, that certainly explained why the instant she’d met him she’d been hooked. Why when she was locked in the room with him all she’d wanted was his hands on her. The guy was a master of seduction. He oozed testosterone and pheromones like most guys sported post-workout cologne.

“Is something wrong, Collie?”

“No, no everything’s fine.” A huge splash and a couple of cracks sounded and she winced. “Let’s get out of here.”

She wasn’t going to think about her vow and how close The Hypnotist himself had come to seducing her into breaking it. Winding through the halls, she tried to convince herself to be happy. She should be ecstatic. She’d been saved from making a complete fool of herself with the one man who was purported to be able to make women climax with words alone.

Purported? Now that she’d met him? There was no purported about it. She was positive he could do this with very little effort. Because he had something. Something deeper than dreamy good looks. Sure, his thick, black hair, piercing green eyes and to-die-for sculpted with a capital “S” body helped, but it was the calm power. The confident and self-possessed attitude that made a mere guy a man. A real man. A desirable man. And that’s why she needed to stay the hell away from him.

“What’s Rita going to post about this? Her followers will be looking to see how the new owners made out.”

Colin ushered him to the back exit, threading through the cars in the staff parking lot until she found theirs and said, “Not to worry. She’ll think of something.”

But she feared she wouldn’t because all she could think about at the moment was how easy Ethan had made her forget her vow. How quickly her ex-fiancé’s betrayal was replaced by the feel of Ethan’s hand between her legs. How the heat of his breath in her ear calmed her. The scrape of his teeth along the column of her throat excited her.

And when she remembered the promise she made to him and would have kept had they not been interrupted, she groaned.

“Are ya sure you’re all right, Collie?”

No. “Yes.”

Chapter Two

“I’m surprised you weren’t arrested.”

Ethan accepted the snifter of brandy from David and sat down. “Thanks to Decklan. He was the one who had the place secured before the police showed up.”

“What the hell were you doing there to begin with? I thought we’d agreed to leave the staff in charge for the ‘unofficial’ day.”

He waited for David to sit before answering, “I went to save an innocent.”

“Ah.” David took a sip of his cognac and nodded. “That I can understand. Was she in the wedding party?” Lowering his glass, he speculatively examined him. “She wasn’t the cause of the brawl was she?”

Ethan wasn’t surprised by David’s candor. His friend called it the way he saw it. Honest and abrupt was his thing. “You know that’s not my style.”

His friend and partner shrugged. “You’ve been uninspired in the Dom department for quite some time. Even before you and Jade called it quits. She was a good cover for your lack of passion, but now that she’s been out of the picture for nearly a year, I thought you’d snapped out of whatever the fuck you’re going through. Shoot me. I’m worried.”

Ethan had been wondering when the topic was going to come up again. He knew his friends were curious. Hell, he’d worried himself. Until the other night with Colin, his instinct to control and totally possess a woman had all but vanished. His time spent trying to do right by Jade that last year had nearly ruined him. “I’m good. Things are different. I’m different.” He thought about his interest in Colin Reneaux. Really different. “Jade is no longer an issue.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Now, why were you there?”

“Because of you and Ted and the ridiculous bet you made.”

“Bet?”

“The woman I had to call and talk into changing where to start the venue, remember? You and Ted failed in that endeavor. That’s why you guys made the wager. Truthfully, I was curious about her.”

When David scowled Ethan thought he’d said too much so he added, “Yes, I didn’t think she’d stand a chance against you two. Although once I met her in person I changed my mind.” He put his drink down and stretched out his legs. “I could see the attraction.”

“To Miss Reneaux?”

David’s incredulous tone had him scowling now. “Yes. The woman we hired to cover the event, remember?”

“Sure, but I don’t recall making an actual bet.” David swallowed some brandy and added, “Sure as shit there was no attraction. As I remember, she was like a little mouse. All buttoned up and distant. No wonder she hides behind that caricature avatar and is more stringent about anonymity than we are. Do you know how long it took Ted and his guys to connect the dots on her?”

Ethan waited.

“Four months. Ted said he’d never been so impressed. She buried her identity behind LLCs and dummy domain names so deep, he never would have known for sure if he didn’t call her bluff and fake her out the day we contacted her for hire.”

Ethan was surprised to hear this because Ted was pretty sure he knew exactly where Hoffa was buried, he was that good at digging. “He tricked her into admitting it?”

“Yeah. Her followers would fall over if they knew who Rita really was, I’d wager on that. The seeming wild child is the proverbial wallflower.”

Ethan recalled Colin’s sexy little moans and the feel of her cotton panties against his fingers and shook his head. His friend was dead wrong about her, but he wasn’t going to point out the fact. “It doesn’t matter now.”

Unfortunately, David wasn’t ready to let it go. “Attraction? Really?”

Damn, how could he explain other than to make the same excuse he’d be clinging to himself for the last three days? “Maybe I’m just sick of having my pick of naked, willing women.”

His friend choked. “You can’t be serious.”

He was. That was the problem. He leaned forward and retrieved his glass. With his elbows resting on his knees, he swirled the amber liquid around, admitting, “I think I am.”

“This is why you’ve been noticeably vanilla? You’re refusing to Top because you—” He stopped, scowled and then looked away. When he looked back he’d collected himself enough to say, “You do realize willing and naked is a prerequisite in a good submissive. Are you going bottom on me? Craving the switch?”

“Hell, no. I’m just— I was burnt out for a bit. With Jade, and trying to get her settled took a lot out of me. I wasn’t feeling it, you know?”

“But you are now? With?”

“Colin Reneaux.”

David’s jaw dropped. “No.”

Ethan nodded.

“Get the fuck out of here.”

“It’s true,” Ethan assured.

“We’re talking about the same woman? The one with the…” He did an air circle over his head.

“Yup.”

“But she looks like the female version of Clark Kent. You know, before he takes off his disguise to become Superman. She sports the same glasses for fuck’s sake. And don’t get me started on her skirt suits.”

Ethan tried not to react. Taking a deep breath, he held it in a moment before he let it out slowly. David’s description of a female Clark Kent was an apt one, because for the last three days all he could think about was what she looked like without her disguise. At first glance he’d likened her suit to that of armor, but the closer he’d gotten to her the more he’d been convinced the glasses, the bun and those God-awful shoes were worn to lessen her appeal to the opposite sex and distance herself from the zany Rita. That hunch mushroomed into an all-out certainty until he could think of nothing else but how soft her edges would be with her hair undone and just how high those panties went before he’d connect with skin.

“She’s special.”

David nodded in wholehearted agreement. “Yes she is, if by special you mean she’s a modern day Wizard of Oz who hides behind a curtain. She’s the incognito geek who handles an event or situation to satisfy a huge crowd of frightened misfits who have no idea who she really is. Worse, she gets handsomely paid by the cool crowd to do this. By people like us. There’s something not right about that.”

“Why did you decide to hire her instead of just a regular photographer?”

“Ah, I did mention ‘huge crowd’. They might be misfits, but even geeks can get their kink on. The resort is going to need the traffic. And after that last collaring ceremony she covered at Christmas, a fair number of people in our community jumped on her bandwagon. I won’t deny she’s got a certain rustic flair to her writing but that doesn’t change the fact that she lives vicariously through that blog of hers. Why else would she have invented the Riling Rita persona instead of going by her real name?”

Ethan glared and David held up his hand, saying, “When she turned up at my place looking nothing like her Jessica Rabbit avatar, hell, quite the opposite, Ted and I joked about us unwrapping her iron.” He put his now-empty glass down and shrugged. “But hey, even if we wanted to play with her she’s off-limits. She was hired to work for us and you know how many so-called respectable folks are dying to get a piece of us. One whiff of sexual harassment and we’d be writing checks from now until doomsday.”

That was true. Their lifestyle was a blessing and a curse. Blessing because it was one hell of a ride and a curse because the road was strewn with hazards. One wrong move and everything they’d worked for over the last ten years could be taken from them…and he’d made more than just one wrong move with Colin Reneaux three days ago.

He couldn’t hold back his grimace and David’s eyes widened incredulously.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” David shot out of his chair. “You put your hands on her?”

What could he say? He was ready to come clean when Ted walked in.

“Hang on to your leathers, boys, we’re totally screwed and I don’t mean in a good way.”

Ethan figured he had this coming. He shouldn’t have touched her, but he did and he was going to be man enough to own it. Calmly, he handed his glass to David and motioned for him to refill it. Turning to Ted he asked, “Screwed?”

Examining the jagged scar that ran from the corner of his friend’s right eye to the middle of his cheekbone, he determined, whatever the news, it was going to be dire. The puckered gift left by a devastated sub became more prominent when Ted was stressed.