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"May I speak to Anwyn? Yes, ma'am. My name is Rand. She met me recently."
It only took a moment for the phone to transfer and Anwyn to answer. He remembered her sultry voice, the Mistress quality sending a shiver down his spine. Not because he wanted a Mistress, but because it reminded him of Cai when he was in that Dominant mode.
"Rand?" she said, her tone torn between frost and courtesy. His vampire had tried to kill her servant, and though she knew Rand was a different animal--no pun intended--it would still make her wary. "Why are you calling?"
No friendly chitchat. He could handle that. "Yes, ma'am. I have a problem, and I thought you could help me. You heard that we uh, took care of the problem with the girl?"
"I did." Her voice warmed slightly. "Gideon told me that you and Cai worked well with him and Daegan...when it mattered. Which means I should forgive him. I might, sometime in the next several centuries. Is he with you? Can I interest him in a forced demonstration of an anal probe?"
Rand choked on a chuckle, feeling a little more at ease. She was feisty, like Sheba.
"Uh, he's not. But that's why I need help. I...um, I'm new to all this, but here's what I'm trying to do. First, I need some expert advice to know if it's a crazy idea. Second, some more advice, to know how to pull it off."
He explained the details, more than a little relieved that he could do it over the phone rather than face to face.
He wasn't sure how to interpret the long pause until she spoke. "Oh, hell yeah," she said mildly. "He might not be listening in, but if he really didn't want to give up the connection, I'd bet good money he stays tied in to your state of mind. If you go down the road you're laying out, you'll get his attention. But are you willing to take this all the way?"
"I want to take it as far as I need to get an answer, one way or another. So, if I get nothing...I guess I'll have my answer." His gut tightened unpleasantly at the thought. "I can handle seeing it through if that happens. Hell, it won't really matter then, will it? It'll just be sex with a stranger, which is what I'd eventually do anyway, if he's really done with us."
"Men are such idiots." She sighed. "If he'd left you a cell phone number, this wouldn't be necessary."
"Well, doing it this way is kind of like a rom-com," Rand said. "With a bondage twist."
He was channeling Cai again. Anwyn chuckled. "All right. Let's set up a night and time, and I'll put the details in place. I just need to ask you a few more questions..."
She'd asked him a lot more questions, many of which had him blushing even harder than he had with Lynn and his pillow case. Anwyn's Mistress side came through more strongly during the interrogation. It ran even deeper than the vampire part of her, if that was possible. But since she owned and operated a BDSM club, and had apparently identified as a Domme well before she was turned, he guessed that made sense.
The date and time set, he turned to the other things on his to-do list. Over the next couple days, he went out and splurged some of his carefully saved money. He bought a new pair of jeans and a good aftershave. A better quality razor.
The night he was going to go to the club, he donned the silk and cotton maroon shirt he'd worn for the Council meeting. The fabric lay like a thin, soft fur against his flesh. His stressed jeans had the right kind of fit on his lower body. He had the frayed cuffs pulled down over his motorcycle boots.
When he was human, he pretty much always had stubble, even if he shaved twice a day, so he shaved a third time. He'd visited the barber, so his long hair was brushed and trimmed.
It lay in waves on his shoulders, though the wolf in him still gave the texture some coarseness. He didn't want to be taken for a model in one of those girly shiny hair commercials. But looking in the mirror, he admitted it looked thick, touchable, and Cai really liked tangling his fingers in it. That was what mattered.
He took a cab to the club, so he wouldn't mess it up with a motorcycle helmet. He was amused that he had an army of frogs in combat boots marching through his stomach. Thank God Anwyn had handled his follow-up vetting with another phone call last night, bypassing all the orientation stuff. Rand knew what to expect, mostly, and what was expected of him.
As he recalled parts of the conversation, his slightly damp palms curled on his splayed knees.
"When you get to the club, you'll be on the guest list. Go to the bar, order a nonalcoholic drink and hydrate well. You'll know the Dom I've assigned to you when you see him. I decided the best way to do this is with one of my staff."
Her cryptic tone gave him a spurt of anxiety, but not necessarily the bad kind. "Did you tell him I'm trying to bait a vampire?" Rand asked wryly.
She chuckled. "There's only one human staff member here, other than Gideon, who knows what I am, and that's my security head, James. He's second marked. But Wolf..." She paused. "I've told him you want to be pushed kind of hard, that's your thing. But if you say 'sunset,' he's to immediately stop what he's doing, and call off the session."
"Wolf?"
"That's his scene name. Worked out well, didn't it? Gideon appreciated the coincidence." She sounded amused. "And my safe word choice. But seriously, though Wolf's only been with us a short time, he's already one of my best. And if Cai is listening in, Wolf is exactly the kind of red flag you're seeking."
Another little spike, especially since she sounded a little too satisfied with that thought. Rand cleared his throat. "What happens if I don't call off the session?"
"You'll get the workout of your life, and be very pleasurably and thoroughly spent. Wolf's not doing this as a staff member, so though he'll stay as conscious of your intentions as I'd expect him to do with a client, you'll be interacting as member and guest. If you don't call it off, he'll fuck your brains out. He's a plow horse and thoroughbred, all in one."
Rand felt his loins tighten and pushed that down. Damn third mark libido. Or maybe it was too many nights, missing and thinking of Cai. "Why would Wolf do this for nothing? Did he owe you a favor?"
She chuckled. "Not hardly. Even when they're on the clock, they go with their preferences. None of them fake it for money."
Her voice dropped to a purr. "Nothing gets Wolf going like the challenge of an alpha male. So when I told him no holds barred, and primal play accepted, he was all over that. And totally good with it being on his own time."
More dry throat, more clearing. "Great. I don't expect Cai to show in person, because he's probably not anywhere near Atlanta. But my hope is he'll open up in my head."
"Which accomplishes what you want."
"Hope so." Envisioning Cai appearing at the exact right moment was right in line with that rom-com illusion Rand had half-joked about, but the reality was a different matter. Having Cai show up was too much to want. It filled Rand up too hard.
They hadn't been apart more than a couple weeks, so it shouldn't seem so dramatic. However, if Cai came to Rand because of this, it would be a game-changer neither one could deny.
"Okay, unless you have any other questions, I'll see you tomorrow night," Anwyn finished. Rand hoped he hadn't missed something important, caught up in his own head.
"I'm good. But..." Rand paused. "I know Cai will probably never say he's sorry
, but I wanted to say it for him. I think he understands why Gideon did the things he did to vampires. It's just...Lodell was his friend."
"I know. Gideon is my servant, and one half of my heart. Daegan is the other. It doesn't beat without either one of them." Her voice had an intriguing way of being warm, and yet resonating with authority. "So Cai and I will remain amicable enemies for a time. It doesn't mean I don't understand, or support your desire to reunite with your Master. You can trust me."
"I do. I just felt badly about how things were left."
"Ah." He could almost see her dismissive wave. "Vampires. We're never an easy bunch. Throw the Dom factor in with the egos and insane need for control, and a few bumps in the road happen. Don't worry over it, Rand." Her voice softened. "And don't be nervous about this. Wolf will take very good care of you. Or I'll put his superlative ass in a meat grinder."
So here he was. Rand paid the cab driver and entered the club. From the outside, Club Atlantis looked like many of the buildings in an industrial area. Big, box style, painted brick. Only a few scattered windows at the upper corners, all dark tinted glass. But the silver sign over the arched doorway, Club Atlantis, was classy and expensive-looking, and there was a glassed-in viewing room perched on the very top of the multi-storied building. Rand suspected it was a fancy pool area, something rentable for parties. Or maybe it was part of the private residence he assumed was below ground, since Anwyn and possibly Daegan lived on the premises.
Once inside, he was greeted by James, head of security for the club, instead of a hostess. The strong-looking male with short hair and steady eyes had the look of former special-ops or Secret Service. After James gave him a close once-over, he provided him a basic layout to the club and directions to the bar.
As Rand moved deeper into the club, a world of shadows, glitter, and people absorbed by one another in a variety of distracting ways, he had to block a lot of the input. He'd overlooked his lack of fondness for crowded human venues. It wasn't really crowded here, the layout one that provided plenty of opportunities for intimacy, even in the public spaces, but the scent feedback was overwhelming. He focused on the bar, pointing his feet there.
