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“Remind you of...” She trailed off the same way he had. There was a long pause, one of his fingers drumming on the wooden expanse of the bar. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
For some reason, those were so often the magic words. Andrew gave her a half-hearted smile which didn’t make it up to his eyes. “I was going to say you kind of remind me of my ex.”
He said it without heat or even anger. Angel reached out her hand and put it over top of his. Partly to comfort, and partly because the incessant tapping of his finger was starting to drive her crazy.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
There was another long moment of Andrew studying her again. She met his gaze calmly, sensing this was a strange moment for him. But she truly wanted to know. No one had been willing to talk much about Andrew’s ex, although she knew enough to know the break-up had been bad. Bad enough he hadn’t had a relationship since, nothing more than club play with submissives who understood the score. She didn’t want to increase his pain by reminding him of his ex if it was a bad thing.
“You know... I think it might be a good thing,” he said, his half-grin spreading a bit. “Kathy would always say ridiculous shit too, but she did it because she knew it would make me laugh. You say shit and it’s ridiculous.”
“Yeah, my verbal filter’s kind of like Swiss cheese,” she said a little ruefully, and was rewarded with another chuckle from Andrew.
It wasn’t the same as his laughter before, but at least it was genuine.
Then his eyes flicked over her shoulder and he pulled his hand away. “Hey man.”
Hands slid around Angel’s waist, over skin and straps, and Angel twisted her head around to look up at the man whose heat was suddenly surrounding her. “Hey you.”
Adam
Adam hated the twist of jealousy he’d felt seeing Angel’s hand on Andrew’s. When he’d come in, they’d been in the middle of what looked like a serious conversation, with her hand over his, and Adam had felt some of his stupid doubts rising up again. After all, she’d wanted to experience BDSM and he’d taken over completely, not allowing her to try anything with anyone else.
Was she craving something rougher than Adam could give her?
Fortunately, he had enough brains to take a deep breath and stamp on his doubts before they welled up and overtook him completely. Angel wasn’t that type. And Andrew would have been an extremely poor choice for her even if she was. Besides, if she wanted a session with a sadist, all she’d have to do is ask Michael. There was no doubt the man would oblige, with or without sex as part of the scene.
Looking down into those gorgeous, golden eyes, which were so obviously filled with pleasure at seeing him, he couldn’t doubt she’d been nothing but friendly to Andrew. Angel was a tactile person and he would have to get used to that.
“You look stunning,” he told her, lowering his head to hers for a searing and possessive kiss.
Kissing Angel in the bar, outside of a scene, let everyone know she was spoken for far beyond the Introduction and second scene Adam had done with her. He heard some of the surprised murmurs behind his back and when he came up for air again, Andrew’s eyes were glinting in appreciation.
“You kids go have fun,” he said, clearing away the glass of water Angel had been drinking. The look he gave Adam was indecipherable, something intense and complex enough Adam wasn’t entirely sure what Andrew was feeling. “Hold onto this one Adam, she’s a keeper.”
It wasn’t unlike Andrew to say something like that, but the tone in which he said it—there wasn’t any laughter or teasing in his voice at all. Not quite a warning but... something.
Andrew turned his back and walked down the bar to a couple of Doms who were sitting down there, obviously deciding whether they wanted to drink and socialize or head over to the Lounge area where a couple of the submissives were gathering. Adam felt nothing but relief he no longer had to do that.
No, instead he got to spend his evening with the delightfully enchanting little submissive in front of him. Who was wearing her leather straps again. He stifled the impulse to take off his shirt and cover her up. In the past he would’ve said he liked it when a submissive showed off her body, that he enjoyed the spectacle, but Angel seemed to bring out the worst of his possessive qualities.
“What were you two talking about?” he asked, his curiosity aroused by Andrew’s unusual intonation.
A little line appeared in the center of Angel’s eyebrows, she swiveled around on the bar stool to face him, tilting her head back and to the side, somehow simultaneously being both cute and sexy. “He said I reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, Kathy.”
Incredulous, Adam shot a look down the bar at Andrew, but the man was fully involved in the conversation he’d started up with the two Doms down there.
“He what?”
“He said it was a good thing,” she offered up. Which only made Adam feel even more off kilter.
He muttered under his breath and Angel poked him in the stomach. “What?”
“I can’t remember the last time Andrew said Kathy’s name.”
“Oh...” Angel seemed to think it over for a minute, chewing on her lower lip, while Adam tried to gather his thoughts. “He said it was because I made him laugh by saying silly shit, and she used to try to do that.”
“Yeah, she did.” He was shocked Andrew was willing to remember anything good about her. They’d all liked Kathy and the outrageous comments she’d made, right up until the day she’d ripped Andrew’s heart out and made him out to be a monster. But no one talked about that, or her, anymore. Least of all Andrew.
