Today had been a weird day. Just all-around strange. I’d told Addison more about my family than I’d told any of my co-workers. In fact, Pansy was the only one who knew anything about my family, or anything personal about me, and that was mostly because we’d gone to college together. I’d spent so much time tutoring her that, inevitably, those sorts of things had just come up.

Maybe that’s what’d happened with Addison. Outside of times when I was working with a team during an outbreak, I didn’t spend extended amounts of time with anyone. It made sense that having someone in my lab would make me want to fill the silence.

Except that wasn’t what happened. I hadn’t been talking because things had felt awkward without either of us saying something. I’d talked to her because I’d wanted to. I wanted to know who she was, how her brain worked. She interested me.

Professionally.

I certainly didn’t wonder what it would’ve been like to turn those platonic touches into something else. To feel her mouth under mine…

My dick gave an interested twitch.

That was just unfair. I’d been in the club for ten minutes, and a dozen half-naked women had walked by, but none of them had struck my fancy. It wasn’t a physical thing. They were beautiful, sexy. I could see ways their features would be considered by many to be superior to…others.

“Hello.”

A soft female voice caught my attention, and I looked around for a moment before looking down at a petite Asian woman I recognized. I’d talked to her a few times before. She was a waitress here, though I couldn’t remember her name. I thought I remembered someone mentioning that she was dating one of the bouncers.

“I’m Codie.” She stretched up on her toes, as if trying to make it easier to hear her. “Can I talk to you about something?”

I nodded and followed her a couple feet away to a shadowed corner. “How can I help you?”

She smiled in a way that made me wonder if I should’ve worded that differently.

“Have you found anyone to play with tonight?” she asked.

Dammit. Were my people skills really that bad?

“I thought you had a boyfriend.”

“No,” she gave me a shy smile, “a girlfriend.”

She was dating Dorly, then, the only female bouncer in this place. But if Codie and Dorly were dating, then…

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Or, rather, I was hoping I didn’t understand, because I really didn’t want to have to break it to Codie that I didn’t want a threesome with her and her girlfriend.

I didn’t share well.

“Don’t say no until you hear me out.”

This was sounding better by the minute.

“I have a friend who’s looking for a nice, anonymous encounter with someone who knows how to be in control.”

I folded my arms. This wasn’t getting any clearer. “What’s the catch?”

“She’s a virgin.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say hell no, and then go back to looking for someone to take to one of the back rooms. But something about Codie’s request gave me pause.

“Why would she want to lose her virginity to a stranger at a BDSM club?”

“She wanted to feel safe,” Codie explained. “But she also doesn’t want a commitment. You know how it is, picking up someone at a club for casual sex.” She gave me a probing look. “Or maybe you don’t, being a large, strong man. But, for some of us, it can be…dangerous. Dorly and I told her that she’d be safe here.”

“Then why me?”

She met my eyes. “Because I’ve seen you here. You’re polite to everyone. Even though you’re a Dom, you don’t treat anyone like less. You don’t go the humiliation or degradation routes. She needs someone who can take control and make her feel good, and everything I’ve heard about you says that you can do that for her.”

Codie seemed genuine, and for once, I didn’t want to be cynical about a person’s intentions. Still, I had to ask.

“Did you tell her my name?”

She smiled. “I don’t know your name.”

Why wasn’t I walking away?

Maybe because this was the first time since I left work that I hadn’t been thinking about Addison.

“I would have conditions,” I said. “No names. No personal details.” I thought for a moment and then added, “I want masks. And no kissing.”

“I’ll talk to her, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with that. She’s not looking for anything beyond this one encounter.” She gave me a quick list of some of the definite don’ts, and then glanced toward the back of the club. “Next to the last door in the back. Be there in fifteen minutes.”

It was the longest quarter hour of my life. I was torn between wanting time to hurry up and thinking I’d made a mistake. That little voice in the back of my head kept getting louder until I finally started walking toward the room Codie had pointed out.

She was waiting next to it, a mask in hand. “She agreed to everything.”

I took the mask and put it on. “Thank you.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt like an idiot, thanking her. Fortunately, she’d already gone back to her girlfriend and didn’t see my cheeks growing hot.

I gave myself a few seconds to calm down and then went into the room.

The lighting was very dim, taking away the room’s harsher angles. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and then I saw the figure on the bed. She was tall and slender, her face almost completely covered by a mask, her curls a glittery bronze that I assumed was some sort of coloring.

“Your friend said you agreed to my terms.” I pitched my voice lower than normal, not wanting to frighten her. Domination didn’t mean I needed to shout or scold. She was new to both sex and BDSM, which meant I needed to change my approach a bit.

“I did.”

Her voice was soft, pitched so low I had to strain to hear. Like she was scared. Or maybe she didn’t want to scare me away.

I was half-way through unbuttoning my shirt before I remembered that I rarely undressed for sex. Then again, I was here primarily for her. I always made sure my partners left satisfied, but this was different. Being a Dom meant taking care of the needs of my sub. During the time we were in this room, she was my sub.

I finished taking off my shirt and set it aside. “You may call me ‘Sir.’ What would you like me to call you?”

She hesitated for a moment, then said in a voice that was very near a whisper. “May.”

“Very good, May.” I toed off my shoes. “I want you to listen carefully because I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings. I’m going to explain how things will go tonight, and if you have any questions, please ask.”

“All right.”

For a moment, I thought she was going to say something else, but instead, she folded her hands in her lap and waited.

“The first and most important thing you need to remember is your safe word. Unless you have something else you’d rather use, I would like us to use one that I’m accustomed to hearing. Watson.”

James D. Watson was a scientist whose work I admired, and his name wouldn’t be something I’d likely hear in a sexual situation. Not that I’d ever had a woman know whose name it was. Most assumed it was either Sherlock Holmes’ partner, or actress Emma Watson.

It didn’t matter which one she thought I’d gotten my safe word from, as long as she didn’t forget it.