Jackson was trying to wrap his head around all the questions he had. He strode over to the full size bar in his suite to pour himself a drink. He didn't fucking care if it wasn't even nine o'clock in the morning yet. He sat in an oversized chair by the balcony door and stared at Lexi.

She had scurried over to her clothes and was currently putting her black jeans and tank top back on her lithe, fit body. With any other sub, he would've demanded her nakedness while they had a talk. But not with Lexi. Honestly, he didn't trust himself not to throw her back down on the bed. 

Or paddle her ass.

He was probably going to do both. But first he wasn't going to get some damn answers. She sat down on the bed he'd just fucked her on and folded her hands in her lap, twisting them nervously.

“How are you even on this ship? Unless you legally changed your name to Alexandra Silver or something?”

“No, my name is still Durham. And that's what I'm sure the ship's passenger manifest says on it. People tend to overlook my last name when it's immediately followed by SilverSystems. They assume the Alexandra belonging to SilverSystems is a Silver.”

“So you work for her?”

She shrugged one slim shoulder. “We're partners. We met three years ago, just after I finished college. I had ideas and knowledge about programming. She had money to invest and business savvy. And we were both named Alexandra, and that sort of gave us an instant bond, although she goes by Alexandra and I go by Lexi.”

Lexi had always been good with computers. Had spent all her time in front of them when she was young. Younger. She'd even started, and evidently graduated, college earlier than most people her own age. 

“You’re the one who developed the SilverSystems operating systems and software?”

She nodded. “Yes, there was a need in the market, I saw it, and our company filled it.”

“You not only filled it, you created some damn near impeccable software for the hospitality industry. You should be proud of it.”

“I am. It's definitely some of my best work.”

Jackson scrubbed his hand across his face. What the hell had she been doing coming out of that server room an hour ago? It was the most important question, but he wasn't going to ask it until he had other answers first. Like...

“What the hell have you been doing at a BDSM club, Lexi?” A thought shook him. “Looking for me?”

Her eyes narrowed before one trim eyebrow raised. “No, asshole. Looking for myself.”

He supposed he had that coming, but that didn't mean he wouldn't spank her for it later. “I just meant—”

“You left and I was devastated, Jackson. I was young, but that didn't mean my feelings for you weren't real. Weren't authentic. I threw myself into work, first college, then SilverSystems.”

“How did that lead you to BDSM?”

She averted her gaze. “I dated. Not right at first, but later. None of the normal vanilla guys interested me. At all. Hell, I even tried going out with a couple of vanilla girls. Nothing. Not enough heat to even get past kissing. Then Alexandra encouraged me to explore. She and her husband had been into some kink and she thought it might help get me out of my head. That I had natural submissive tendencies.”

Sweet mother of fuck. Jackson was instantly hard. Submissive tendencies? Had he missed that four years ago? Misinterpreted submissiveness and lumped it in with innocence instead? 

Virgo. It made so much sense. He should’ve seen it. “Part of your need to submit is because you’re a Virgo. It’s written in your stars.”

She nodded. “Just like your need to dominate is partially because you’re an Aries.”

He couldn’t argue with that.

“Okay, so you went to a club and what? You used a different name? Lied about who you were?”

“Once again a case of mistaken identity that I didn't correct. Didn't have to because I was only there on mask nights. Alexandra is the face behind our company. We both have similar builds and blonde hair. When I put my name on the application, it was mine. But people heard 'Alexandra' and 'SilverSystems' owner and assumed I was Alexandra Silver.”

Jackson was still trying to wrap his head around all this. “So you went to a BDSM club, with a plan not to have sex. No green bead. It was one of the first things I noticed. I'm sure it was the first thing every Dom noticed.”

Her green eyes flitted away, refusing to look at him. 

“Lexi?” Now she looked up. “There are people who join BDSM clubs with no intent to have sex for different reasons — some of them just want pain or domination. Some have been sexually abused and want relief in another way. Was that the case for you?”

Eye-contact gone again. She stood up. ”You know what? I don't have to answer your questions. Just because we had sex, doesn't mean—”

“Sit down.” His tone allowed no refusal. The submissive in her responded instantly.  ”Did you have the no-sex rule when you first entered the club? Answer me.”

“No, Sir.” 

Her response was instant and so sweetly submissive it was all he could do not to push her back down on the bed, throw her legs up on his shoulders and fuck her senseless. But the answers were more important. Barely.

“So you planned to have sex or had at least thought about it, but something changed your mind.”

She nodded. 

“What happened? Did nothing turn you on there either? Still feel as bland as you did when dating the vanilla?”

“Something like that, yes.”

She was lying. He could tell by the set of her jaw and the way her eyes shifted.

“Remember how your ass burned last night just from my hand? I can use my belt on your lovely ass if that's what it takes to get the truth from you.”

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him, but her nipples hardened against her tank top. She could act like she wasn't turned on by the thought of him punishing her, but her body didn't lie.

“The truth, Lexi. What happened to make you decide not to have sex at the club?”

“You happened.”

“What?

“I spent the first few times at the club as a guest. No bracelet so no one to push any agenda on me. I wanted to see what I liked for myself. Or if I liked any of it at all.”

“Smart.”

She shrugged. “I liked it all. A lot. “

He had to know. “What did you like about it? What did you see that turned you on?”

Her breathing hitched, nipples became more pronounced against her shirt. He wanted to demand she come kneel between his legs as she told him. Get her to stroke her own breasts as she did it, while he palmed his own cock. But that would not lead them deeper into the conversation. 

“I saw a woman tied to a St. Andrew's cross being flogged on her stomach, breasts and thighs.”

“And you liked that?”

“Yes.” Her word came out on a breath.

“Was she being flogged for punishment or for pleasure?”

She gave a knowing little smile. “Then I thought it was punishment, but I know now it was pleasure.” 

“And if I told you I plan to get you on the St. Andrew's cross soon? Would that turn you on or make you wary?”

She stared hard at him. “Both.”

He chuckled. “Smart girl. What else did you see that night?” 

“I saw a woman naked over a spanking bench. She was being paddled. Then her Master stopped and made her hold her ass cheeks open while he plugged her. She was being punished.”

He wondered if she knew her hips were shifting restlessly on the bed as she described the scene. The thought of it definitely turned her on.

“Did her Dom say what she was being punished for?”

She looked directly at him. “She got caught masturbating when her Dom had gone to the gym.”

Jackson felt his own breath hitch. Sounded familiar. “Seems like someone had been a bad girl. Did anything else happen in that scene?”

She nodded her breathing a little more ragged. “After he plugged her he paddled her again, then made her suck him off and apologize for attempting to steal orgasms that rightfully belonged to him.”

“Did you see anything else that night?”

“Bondage. A medical scene. Hot wax.”

“And did it turn you on?

“Not the medical scene. But yes, everything else. By the time I left I was dripping. I couldn't wait to go back. Wait to try things.”

“And you did. Tell me what you've done at the club.”

She fidgeted. “I've been spanked. Plugged. Flogged. Bound. Double teamed, as you know.”

“And you enjoyed it all? Orgasmed?” 

“Yes, Alexandra was right. I needed the extra stimulation to get me out of my own head. To help me concentrate on feeling rather than overthinking everything.”

He moved over to sit next to her on the bed. “And you didn't think regular sex would help you with that? Why no sex?”

“I had planned to. From the first time in the club, I had planned to. But then I saw you. I wanted you to be my first. If you and I were both there, and you were an option, then I wanted it to be you. Honestly I had no idea you were into the lifestyle when I first joined, but I wasn't surprised when I found out you were. I kept the mask on because I thought you would run again if you knew it was me. And then I started sending you the letters, and now here we are.”

Jesus. She'd grown up and become every single possible thing he'd wanted in a woman. He'd wanted her when she was nineteen but knew it was wrong, she was too young. He still believed that was true.

But now here she was sitting in front of him: smart, successful, beautiful and into the same dark, kinky stuff that had always turned him on. He wanted to fuck her and spank her and tie her up and down in ways she'd only even dreamed of.

The only question remaining now was whether she was a criminal. He'd hurt her when he'd walked away from her before. Had she decided to get her revenge by stealing from him?

He was about to demand answers when his phone rang. Jackson grabbed it from the counter. Donovan.

“You were right, it looks like Alexandra is stealing from you,” Donovan said by way of greeting. “The programs she set up in the wee hours of the morning in the server room were definitely financial skimmers. I don't know details yet, like how much or how long yet.”

“Thanks.”

“That's not all, Jackson. You're never going to believe it. Not in a million years. When I found out what she was doing I looked further into her booking here on the ship, her cabin, her info.”

He stared at Lexi, knowing she couldn’t hear what Donovan was saying. “Let me guess, there’s no Alexandra Silver on the ship, but there is an Alexandra Durham, who works for SilverSystems. You and I fucked her last night, not Alexandra Silver.” 

“How did you know?”

“Because little Lexi is sitting on my bed, right at this minute.”