Unconditional (3 page)

It should have been just another day in his life, but when he’d seen Ashley at Ryan’s house, he’d been hit with a bolt of lust like nothing he’d ever felt.

He hadn’t touched another woman since that moment, hadn’t even wanted to. He’d been celibate for six months, and it was slowly killing him.

Ian Taggart was handing him the keys to the kingdom. He could have her and see that she was just like all the other women in his life, and he could send her happily on her way.

“What about her baby?” He thought the child’s name was Emily, maybe Emma. He didn’t like to think about the baby. Ashley’s youth, her inexperience, her innocence he might have been able to handle, but he couldn’t handle the child.

I can’t believe you didn’t know. You should have known.

A vision flashed through his head. Soft, perfect skin, cold to the touch. How could anything so perfect be so cold?

He forced himself to look back at Ian. He wasn’t going there. He wasn’t ever going there again. Years were between him and the memory, but when he allowed it to, the remembrance came back as sharp and achingly bitter as if it were happening in the moment.

“You want to bring her baby into the D/s relationship? I have to say, uhm, I’m probably not going to allow that. Babies aren’t permitted in the club and when they try to sneak in, I have a long talk with their parents about their very bad behavior.”

Keith rolled his eyes. God, the woman who put up with this dude’s shit probably deserved a medal. “I was wondering how she was going to handle childcare. Club hours are late and her sister works here. She doesn’t have any other family.”

Somehow, he hadn’t thought Ashley would be irresponsible.

“So she should give up her sexuality because she bore a child? This seems to be a recurring theme of the day. It makes me want to have a vasectomy.”

It really wasn’t any of his business what went on with Ashley’s daughter. If she wanted to pawn the kid off so she could play at D/s, that was her problem. “Never mind.”

Taggart sighed. “You’re no fun. She works here three nights a week. She goes to school during the day. I think she’s getting some kind of degree in business. Ryan would pay for all of it, but Ashley insisted she needed to pay her way. This was their compromise. Ryan and Jill pay for her school. She lives in their guesthouse. She pays her car payment and all her household expenses. That’s why she works here. She can work here while Ryan’s mom watches the kid.”

It was a damn near perfect setup, the kind he liked. He could step in with an offer of his own. He could put her through school, take care of her, make her his submissive. Their relationship could be purely transactional. He could probably convince her. She was curious, and he’d been a Dominant for a very long time. He knew how to draw a pretty little sub in. She could be installed in his home by the end of the week, learning how to please her Master.

Except for the problem of the baby. He couldn’t ignore the baby. It wouldn’t be fair to either one of them.

Taggart was staring at him, a deep frown on his face. “If you have a problem working with a woman who has a child…god… This is where I’m supposed to say something about how I’ll find a more suitable submissive, but what I really want to do is punch you in the face because I find you offensive.”

Keith held on to his temper. “I don’t have a problem playing with her. I simply know I’m not ready to be involved with a woman who has a child. It’s a serious responsibility and one not to be taken lightly. If you find that offensive, then maybe this isn’t the right place for me.”

Maybe it had all been a mistake.

Taggart held a hand up. “I misunderstood. I find the idea that a woman has to give up her sexuality when she becomes a mother offensive. I don’t have a problem with you knowing you don’t want to be a dad. Here’s the great news. No one is asking you to. All you have to do is walk a potential sub through the world to see if she likes it. But you seem to prefer someone other than Ashley. I’ll ask Simon to do it. I would ask Jesse, but I can’t handle another wedding. They make me vomit.”

Simon Weston. He’d met the man when he toured Sanctum the first time. Weston was a big Brit. He’d been dressed in leathers, but it didn’t take much imagination to see him in a perfectly pressed suit. Weston was younger than him. He was smooth and cultured. Weston was probably perfect for Ashley.

The idea of Weston touching her silky skin, introducing her to the pleasures of D/s, made him want to rip the fucker’s perfect male-model head off his body and kick it to the street.

“I’ll do it.” He signed his name to the contract before his brain could take over. His dick nearly sang a hallelujah chorus.

But just signing the contract didn’t mean they would have sex. There were plenty of Doms who played with subs without spreading them wide and dipping their cocks into that sweet, soft pussy. Plenty of Doms would just flog a sub without ever forcing them to their knees and pressing their cocks to pretty pink lips.

Yeah, he didn’t have to have sex with her, but he was damn straight going to try.

He stood up and shook Taggart’s hand.

“Welcome to Sanctum,” Taggart said. “And when you walk out, if you happen to see a stunningly gorgeous strawberry blonde about five eleven—she’ll have an anxious look on her face—well, if you see her, do a guy a solid. Lie.”

Keith turned, eager to leave the weird world of Ian Taggart. Two days. He would start Ashley’s training in two days and after the six weeks was done, he would have gotten her out of his system one way or another. He’d either screw her until the need passed, discover she wasn’t the sweet sub he thought she was, or he would realize that he needed to let her go.

One way or another, he’d be free.

He’d barely shut the door behind him when the blonde Taggart had mentioned showed up.

“Was he an asshole? He promised me he wouldn’t be an asshole,” the blonde said, a worried look on her face.

“He was a complete dick.” Keith smiled on the inside as her face froze in a mask of feminine outrage.

“Ian!”

Keith chuckled as he walked away, feeling more excited about the future than he’d felt in forever.

Chapter Two

Ashley touched the small silver necklace that she’d just clasped around her neck. It was a training collar. It marked her as belonging to Master Keith for the duration of their time together. She’d found it on the top of the pile of fet wear that had been placed in her assigned locker. She was to wear it while she was in Sanctum.

She was the slightest bit disappointed that he hadn’t placed it on her himself, but then this wasn’t some grand romance. She needed to remember that.

“You look good, hon.”

Ashley started at the words, turning around like someone was about to kill her.

A gorgeous woman with black hair and brilliant blue eyes stifled a laugh. “I take that back. You look like a deer caught in the headlights. Did you piss off your Dom? Are you about to get your ass smacked?”

The woman in front of her was stunning. Roughly five and a half feet, she managed to be fit and womanly at the same time. She looked amazing in her corset and tiny undies. Her legs were sleek, running down to some killer heels that added like five inches to her frame. Ashley could barely walk in flats.

What was she doing here?

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I mean, I haven’t actually met him. Well, I met him but he wasn’t a Dom. Well, he was, but I didn’t know it. He was like an undercover Dom. Though I’m pretty sure that’s not his job. Undercover Dom. He’s not. He’s an investor guy. And a Dom.”

The dark-haired woman’s eyes widened and her lips curled up in a smile. “Oh, honey. Come here.”

She stepped up and pulled Ashley into a hug. Weird. She didn’t know the woman, but now she almost had her face in her boobs. And it was okay. Better really. She gave great hugs. Ashley hadn’t been hugged by an actual adult since her sister went on vacation. Tears threatened, but she finally wound her arms around the other woman and let herself settle in.

“There’s nothing to be scared of. Ian does a good job of picking the men he lets into the club. So if this guy tries anything on you, you just talk to Ian.”

“I would be happy to never talk to Ian again. He scares me.”

A chuckle went through the woman’s body as she pulled back. Closer now, it was easy to see she was older than she’d seemed at first. Very likely in her mid to late thirties. There were tiny lines around her eyes and something in the way she looked that spoke of long years of caring. “Alex, then. There’s nothing scary about that big teddy bear Dom. Or you can talk to me. I might be submissive here, but outside this club I can take on anyone. I’m Karina, by the way.”

“Ashley.” She had to get it together.

“You look lovely, Ashley, but now your mascara is a little runny. Come and sit down and let me fix it.”

Ashley sniffled a little and let Karina move her to one of the dressing room vanities. Behind her she could hear the pregnant ladies talking and laughing. There were two of them and they seemed to always be together when they were in Sanctum. Serena Dean-Miles and Avery O’Donnell were married to founding members. They were also pretty far along in their pregnancies, so they spent most of their nights at Sanctum in side-by-side loungers, talking away while their husbands helped run the club. Serena worked on her laptop and Avery knitted.

They were calm and peaceful and looked so happy.

“There’s a wistful expression. What’s that about?” Karina asked.

“I was just jealous. They seem so happy. I wasn’t happy when I was pregnant. I was scared out of my mind. I was ashamed. I was everything but happy.” She gasped a little. Why didn’t she ever think about what came out of her mouth? She just vomited up anything that went through her head. “I’m sorry. That was probably more than you wanted to know. You don’t have to help with my makeup. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

The older woman stopped and stared for a moment. “Do you want me to go away?”

The question startled her. “No. I wasn’t being rude. I just know I can be obnoxious sometimes.”

“Oh, you are going to get spanked. So you’re completely new to the lifestyle, huh?”

“Not exactly. My sister’s been in it for a long time. Her husband is a Dom. I’ve been working in the bar for a while.”

“Well, I’ve been on a case for the last couple of months. This is the first time I’ve been here in weeks. And you’re not obnoxious. I didn’t mean to be rude, either. When I asked you if you wanted me to go, I really was asking. Sometimes people try to get around saying what they really mean to say by phrasing it in more polite terms, like you being sure I must have something better to do. It could be your way of getting rid of a nosy woman who has zero sense of boundaries.”

Ashley shook her head. “No. No. I guess I just didn’t want to bother you.”

“Like I said, you’re in for a few spankings. Here, let me brush out your hair. You shouldn’t pull it back unless he asks you to. Most Doms I know love their submissives’ hair down.” Karina grabbed Ashley’s brush and with a practiced hand began smoothing it out of the fussy bun she’d put it in.

“Why will he spank me for that? For saying I’m obnoxious, I mean. I’m not being rude to anyone by saying that.”

“You’re being rude to yourself. Doms don’t like submissives to insult themselves. It’s more than just that. When you told me you were sure I had something better to do, you weren’t being honest. You have to say what you mean in this lifestyle, honey. Communication, trust, honesty, they’re very important here. It’s why I come here to relax. No one is going to lie to me. I spend all day with people lying to me. It becomes tiresome.”

“I wasn’t really lying. I guess I just didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say. I don’t even know what I wanted to say.”

Karina stared at her in the mirror. “Sure you did. Think about it.”

She forced herself to still, to really think for a second. What had she meant? She certainly hadn’t meant to drive Karina away. She was nice. So what should she say to someone nice? When she shoved aside all her self-doubting crap, what was really in her heart? “I guess I wanted to say thank you. For the hug. I needed it.”

“There you go. And you’re welcome. See? Isn’t that better than playing some game?”

It was actually. She had a running commentary of the world around her in her head twenty-four seven, but it wasn’t until she really thought that she realized what she wanted to say. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to people being so kind to me.” She sighed a little. “That feels really nice.”

In the mirror, she could see the way Karina smiled. “Well, I think Charlotte Taggart got rid of the last mean girl, so you should be good here.”

She let her eyes drift closed as Karina ran the brush through her hair in long strokes. Her mother hadn’t spent time with her like this. Only Jill had ever really shown her affection, and she’d left for Dallas after Ashley graduated from high school. Maybe if someone had brushed her hair when she was a kid, she wouldn’t have turned to Trevor for affection. She often thought she should have taken Jill up on her offer to go to the city with her, but by then she was dating Trevor. “So why do people lie to you at work?”