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Early November
Raine Kendall knew it was going to be a terrible day when she managed to have her heart broken before noon.
Up and ready for work an hour early, she strode down the hall and lingered outside the boss’s office, juggling a mug of steaming coffee in one hand and a plate with her fresh-baked apple muffins in the other. Macen Hammerman, the owner and Alpha Dom of the private BDSM club, Shadows, wasn’t roaming the dungeon with a devilish smile, barking orders at her, or staring into her soul with those intense hazel eyes. His door was closed.
She paced. Should she knock and see if he’d awakened yet or wait until he appeared? Raine gnawed her lip in indecision.
Then the door opened. Her head snapped up, a warm smile in place. But it wasn’t Hammer who emerged. Instead, a woman stood there, looking like everything Raine wasn’t: tall, blonde, willowy. And totally satisfied. The smile curling her swollen lips belonged to a woman contented by a string of multiple orgasms given by a very capable partner. Like Hammer. Besides his surname and the fact that his word was law around here, Raine had heard the other subs had given him that nickname for a reason.
“You’re blocking the door,” Marlie said with an annoyed huff.
Raine scrambled back as the other woman clutched her black Chanel bag and sauntered closer, wearing a gorgeous pair of Pradas that made her sinful legs look even longer. When had she started spending the night?
Behind Marlie, Hammer appeared in the doorway, his rugged face flushed. He’d thrown his dress shirt over one brawny arm, his thick biceps bunching as he zipped his pants. His salt-and-pepper hair was mussed, as if Marlie had run her fingers through it repeatedly. His lips were red as well. Raine had no doubt he’d kissed the other woman with a hard passion that had made her toes curl. His wide shoulders hung loose, his lean, muscled body fluid. Relaxed. Sated.
As Hammer looked up, Raine’s gaze locked with his. He stiffened. Regret flashed over his face before he quickly banked it.
Pain made her chest implode. The muffins and the coffee fell from her numb fingers to clatter at his feet. Jealousy stabbed her, along with a betrayal she had no right to feel. The cherry on top of the whole shit sundae was the pity in his eyes.
Hammer wasn’t hers. He hadn’t been for a single day of the entire six years she’d lived and worked at Shadows. He never would be. But she wanted him to be. Desperately.
Raine couldn’t look at him now, so she bent and scooped at the soggy remains of Hammer’s breakfast littering the marble tiles, feeling as if she had disintegrated, much like the mess she now cleaned.
Throat tight, she swallowed. Why didn’t the damn floor open up and swallow her whole? Why did she keep humiliating herself over this man? He’d shown her in every way possible that he didn’t want her. He was probably wondering if he was going to have to learn Greek or Klingon to make her understand.
“Clumsy girl.” Marlie rolled her eyes as she stepped over Raine and out of Hammer’s office and private bedroom, into the dungeon’s corridor.
“Marlie,” Hammer snapped. “Your attitude is unbecoming for a proper submissive. I’ve trained you better. Apologize to Raine this instant.”
His stern voice never failed to melt and make Raine anxious to please. Hearing it directed at the other woman crushed her even more.
Marlie murmured a breathy, “Yes, lover. I mean, Sir. Sorry about that, Rai-Rai.”
Raine almost retched on the bitch’s thousand dollar crystal-studded stilettos. Instead, she looked up to see the leggy blonde blow an air kiss at Hammer before striding away. Raine jerked her gaze down again and focused on cleaning up.
What did Hammer see in that bitch? Well, besides a tall, model-thin figure, a perfect tanning-booth glow, and blonde tresses that spiraled artlessly toward her pert ass. Raine blew back a strand of her straight raven hair, stared at her pale hands with their short, capable nails, and wanted to cry.
Hammer crouched beside her. “Raine? Let me get you a towel, precious.”
“Thank you.” Her voice sounded fragile, like glass about to shatter.
He paused briefly before turning away to his private bathroom. Once he’d gone, she choked back a sob, but couldn’t stop a scalding tear from dripping down her cheek and onto the floor.
God, how pitiful was she? He’d never love her. She had to pull it together before she made an even bigger fool of herself. While she was at it, she also had to face a few facts. Hammer had submissives sinking to their knees before him, eager to serve his every whim. He was hardly a monk; she knew Marlie wasn’t the first woman to leave his bedroom with that satisfied glow. Sadly, she wouldn’t be the last.
