D on’t look back , I told myself .

She was…intriguing .

She was sexy as hell, but I knew plenty of attractive women. I’d noticed her even before that disaster in the restaurant. Who wouldn’t notice her? Her hair, her eyes—that ass ?

But I knew any number of beautiful women .

There was still a bruise on her cheek from where she’d inadvertently been hit. It infuriated me to see a bruise on a woman, but it wasn’t like it had been done out of cruelty. Carelessness yes, but cruelty, no .

It was the bruises in her eyes that were really twisting me up .

That dick of a manager .

As I climbed into my car, I gave my driver an absent greeting, but my mind wasn’t on him or even on the rest of the days’ business. But her .

I’d tried to diffuse the situation between her and the dick, but it hadn’t worked .

It hadn’t been her fault, but you couldn’t tell it by the way that asshole had acted .

I’d left there feeling like a hero. Now I felt like a heel. It wasn’t a feeling I cared for .

“Will you require your usual pick-up, Mr. Snow ?”

The driver’s question cut through my thoughts and I looked around, realizing we were already at my office .

“Six o’clock,” I said. “I’m thinking dinner and then heading out to a club .”

“Very good, sir .”

Sighing, I said, “Dominic , Mike .”

“Yes, sir.” A faint smile flashed across his face .

I shook my head as he stopped at the curb and opened the door before he could get out to do it himself. He’d been my driver for four years and he still wouldn’t call me anything but Mr. Snow or sir .

For a moment, I stood there, staring up at the jet-black spire that housed Trouver L’Amour .

What an irony .

Or maybe not. I believed in love—for others. I just didn’t see it in the cards for myself. All the more reason not to think about a certain gorgeous, green-eyed sweetheart who was clearly cut out for forevers .

It was ironic, I thought, standing there in front of the office of Trouver L’Amour. It was marketed—and indeed built—for the rich, jet-setting crowd, where we promised to help you find the ideal match for you .

I helped people find a forever of their own, but it was something that just wasn’t in the cards for me .

Love just wasn’t going to happen .

It was an emotion that had been all but destroyed…years ago .

Before the darkness of those memories could swim through and overtake me, I started inside .

The interior decorator who handled my other businesses was scheduled to come in tomorrow and we were going to be officially opening the first week in February. The open house on Valentine’s Day would mark my official foray into the business of match making .

Winding through the workers who were busily getting everything into place, I found my office and settled in. My own work area was still relatively bare, just the essentials for now. The other furnishings would be brought in by Annette Shale, one of New York City’s top designers. I didn’t mind working like this. The excess wasn’t for me, anyway. It was for the clients. Apparently, whether I preferred Van Gogh over some no-name artist meant I was better equipped to find them their ideal mate .

Not that I would be the one matching people up. It wasn’t all going to be done on a computer, either. We were promising a human touch. None of the clients needed to know that the detailed interview would be plugged into a computer, taking into account the myriad personality types. Those details would be combined with all the factors a real human being was needed for. It was the best of both worlds. The computer’s efficiency, the human’s empathy and intuition .

Tomorrow’s open house was also looking for matchmakers .

While Aleena didn’t have the qualifications for that, I wondered if there was something else here she might qualify for, but even as I considered it, I frowned .

She was sweet and kind, but she exuded an innocence and naiveté that would have too many people flocking to her like sharks scenting blood in the water .

Oh, not all of my clients were like that, but too many of them were. No matter how she dressed, no matter what she did or said, she would stand out .

I’d contact those handling the hiring and put her down as a top placement, but she wasn’t to be put here .

Even as I made the decision, though, disappointment welled inside me .

Trouver L’Amour was just getting started and for the next many months, this was where I’d be spending most of my time and energy .

No matter where she was sent, it’d be one of the family businesses, but I probably wouldn’t see her again .

Don’t think about it, Snow .

It wasn’t like we were friends. Wasn’t like we had anything in common. Wasn’t like —

“Focus, Snow,” I muttered. Shaking my head, I powered up my computer and went to the interview list my business manager had sent me. Robson Findlay had already noted a few names. I added Aleena’s name and sent the email to him, adding in a quick note about her and the background she’d given me .

I never made promises about employment, but I never turned anyone away for an interview either. If she had the qualifications and there was an opening that would fit her, Rob would find her a job .

That task done, I settled down to deal with business, going over the plan I’d developed with a friend—also in the matchmaking industry .

But I wasn’t able to focus .

I found myself thinking about the lush curve of her mouth .

Her ass .

The sweet, open innocence of her smile .

“Innocence,” I said, shoving back from the desk after I found myself distracted by her for the second time in an hour. Restless, edgy energy burned in me. It was the sort of tension I was too familiar with and under normal circumstances, I could have caged it and just waited until evening .

I didn’t know if it was going to work though .

My mind was too full of her .

That innocent smile .

Those beautiful eyes .

Aleena was a sweet girl and that was the entire problem .

Sweet wasn’t for me .

Sweet girls tended to expect things—and they were entirely right to do that .

I couldn’t offer anything more than a night of hard, fast sex .

Besides, I was a businessman and I had to focus on the face of Trouver L’Amour . Any woman I dated needed to help drive the image of my company. It was shallow and I knew it. But it was how business worked .

When it came to sex, I had a different sort of woman in mind and Aleena didn’t fit that, either .

Although…I swore and spun around, driving my fist into the hard, clear surface of the window. Now I had the image of her spread out on my bed, bound and open and ready for me, that innocent curiosity shining from her eyes. It was a picture that brought my cock to full, aching awareness .

It was an erotic thing to imagine, driving her to the brink, having her beg—my hand on her ass, bringing a blush to that golden flesh, hearing my name on her lips, knowing that her pleasure lay in my hands .

And it was about as likely as the sun rising in the west .

I took women to my bed who knew the score—they wanted sex and I wanted their submission .

That wasn’t Aleena .

Miserable and aching, I leaned against the window .

Maybe I should have just given that necklace to her friend .

* * *

T he sun was sinking below the horizon by the time Mikhail dropped me off at the private club I’d chosen for the night. I sent him on home. The club offered a car service for their VIP members .

A cold wind cut through me as I strode inside. The man at the door had it open, giving me a polite nod. Most people were ID’d as they went through, but most of the VIPS were recognized on sight .

Going from the still-brilliant light of day to the club’s dim exterior, I blinked, giving my eyes a moment to adjust .

The VIP section was in the back and I took my time taking the winding staircase that offered direct access. The area was elevated, offering a clear view of the rest of the area .

I walked along the upper level, not even registering the extremes that came with being a part of this world. While I personally never got into the wardrobe aspect that many others in this lifestyle gravitated towards, I’d seen them often enough that they didn’t have much effect on me. Not that everyone here was dressed in leather and chains. One of the things I liked about Olympus was that it had a little bit of everything .

Within a few feet, I saw a female dominant leading her sub by a collar. The only thing he wore other than his collar was a cock ring. They walked past a trio of people in regular clubbing clothes—sexy, but nothing that screamed of the BDSM lifestyle. Two men behind them were dressed as I was, wearing well-cut, tailored suits .

Since it was the middle of the week, and still fairly early, the club wasn’t as packed as usual. I saw only a few people I knew, but it didn’t matter .

I wasn’t looking to meet anybody .

Not tonight .

Only a few others were seated in the VIP section. They sat in shadowed, dark areas, far enough away to make it clear they were in the mood for privacy .

That was good. I wasn’t in the mood to converse with others about shared interests. I was feeling far too introspective for that. I settled in a similar seat and focused my attention on the stage, hoping that tonight’s show would get my mind off of things .

One of the club’s usual players was taking the stage. She called herself Mistress Rose, though I’d begun to suspect she was actually Patty Reimbaum, the personal secretary to the Manhattan DA. She wore a mask that covered most of her face and her light brown hair was always pulled back so it was impossible to tell the style or length .

She was beautiful. Her figure was exquisite, her body taut and toned, displayed in what most people would associated with a dominatrix. In one hand, she held a flogger .

The submissive who came on stage with her was young. I didn’t recognize him. He didn’t wear a mask. I hadn’t been here in a while, so he might not be as new as he seemed. He was fit—that was pretty much par for the course in this place—and his body was bare save for a few piercings .

Mistress Rose wasn’t one to waste time or mince words. As the music started to pulse, she led her sub to the X in the middle of the stage and tied him, making a production of it. Her hands glided over him and when she paused to stroke, anybody could see the anticipation that had his body already going to taut .

Others in the crowd watched with varying levels of appreciation .

I wasn’t one of them .

I was…bored .

She was an artist at what she did, but she was predictable. Nothing she ever did was different, save for her clothing and her choice in subs. She broke him almost to the very brink, listened with a smile as he begged and from time to time, she’d pause and smile out over the crowd .

Are you enjoying yourself, she seemed to ask .

No. I wasn’t. Aggravated, I looked away and stared out into the crowd instead, looking for something I hadn’t seen a hundred times, looking for something that wouldn’t add to the frustration building inside me. Something that would pull me out of my head for a while .

Like Aleena .

Immediately, I tried to shove the thought of her away, but she clung .

Thoughts of her clung .

Up on the stage, the domme was flogging her sub, but I felt like I was a million miles away, back in a restaurant, sitting with a wide-eyed girl from Iowa, listening as she talked about some of the silly things that happened during what she probably considered a typical day .

All around me, people were engaged in all sorts of vice, some private, some not. A dozen feet away, there was a man with a women lying face down on his lap, her ass upturned as he brought down his hand in a rhythmic series of slaps. She moaned in a way that sounded a little too forced to be appealing .

Nothing here seemed to be appealing tonight .

My mind tried to wander back to the girl from earlier and in a bid to find something to distract myself, I focused back on the man and his chosen playmate for the night .

Her hair was dark and curling, not quite as lush and thick as Aleena’s. Although her skin was a smooth warm tone, it looked more like the typical tanning bed gold than anything she’d been born with. Still …

I pictured myself in that very position and the woman who lay across my lap was Aleena .

My cock all but stood on end, blood draining straight down as that image coalesced. Her skin would be silken and smooth. She wouldn’t have been spanked before, I already knew it. I’d start slow …

Somebody screamed and the fantasy fell apart .

But it didn’t take much to bring it back to mind. I shifted my gaze to another couple, another threesome, to the woman being bound down below. What would Aleena think? Would she be shock? Shamed? Aroused? Appalled ?

Intrigued ?

The sharp crack of a whip jerked my head around and I found myself staring at the stage, caught off-guard .

Well, maybe Mistress Rose did have something new in store .

She’d traded out the flogger for a whip and, just as she lifted her arm to bring it back down on his back a second time, he spoke .

A man—one of the few who lingered near the stage for just this purpose—lifted a hand .

A slight murmur of disappointment drifted through the crowd, but Mistress Rose immediately lowered her whip and rushed to the sub’s side .

He’d spoken his safe word .

He was done .

I watched as they exited the stage and told myself to stop thinking about Aleena. Mistress Rose, I’d heard, was popular among the new subs. She enjoyed teaching them the ends and outs, and she loved the public aspects .

That wasn’t for me .

This wasn’t so much a lifestyle choice for me .

It was a need .

I craved the dark, driving edge that came with a woman’s sexual submission. It let me lose myself, free myself. But I didn’t have the patience, or the finesse, to teach anybody the ins and outs of this lifestyle. All my partners were people who knew what they liked and how far they wanted to go—and preferably, they preferred to go pretty damn far .

Aleena might not be completely innocent, but she was pretty close .

She deserved to stay that way .