Lincoln was sitting behind his desk, facing the monitor and intently jiggling the mouse in a vain attempt to navigate the screen when he felt someone walk in, and he glanced up.

Rowen’s eyes were serious, but he cracked a smile and pointed toward the desk as he shut the door behind him. “Who’s winning? You or the mouse?”

Lincoln released the gadget he’d been close to throwing across the room and leaned back in his chair. “Needs new batteries. I’m just too lazy to go find a pair in the supply closet.”

“Dude, that is lazy.” Rowen ambled toward the desk and plopped down in the chair facing Lincoln.

“What’s up with you?” Something was off. For one thing, Rowen looked like he’d like to hurl the mouse himself given the opportunity. And for another thing, he rarely shut the door behind him when he needed to speak to Lincoln.

They were business partners, but they didn’t have many secrets that couldn’t be shared with Carter or any other staff member who might wander by the open door.

Rowen tipped his head back, stared at the ceiling, and ran a hand through his hair. “Have a problem.”

“Okay. You want to tell me about it, or shall I guess?” Lincoln teased, reading in his friend that some level of humor was going to be needed to diffuse his frustration. “I’m betting it has something to do with Sasha. I saw you downstairs arguing with her a bit ago.”

Lincoln hated when Sasha sauntered into the club. He was pretty sure she did so to piss off her brother, but it got under Lincoln’s skin too. She wasn’t a member, so technically she needed to fill out paperwork and be approved before she could come into the main rooms, but Sasha seemed to think she was above the rules because she knew the staff and the owners.

She didn’t come in often, at least not during business hours, but when she did, she caught the eye of half the room. Tonight was no exception. It wasn’t simply because she was a beautiful woman with long brown hair that hung in ringlets halfway down her back. Hair that turned any man’s head and gave him an instant hard-on. Nope. It had more to do with her choice in clothing and the way she presented herself.

Tonight she was wearing a pale pink sundress and tiny silver sandals. She held her head high and walked with authority. He had mixed emotions every time he saw her, including a half hour ago. Half of him rolled his eyes that she had the audacity to come to the club looking like she belonged at a sorority tea party. The other half smirked with pride that she was so confident that no one dared to fuck with her.

Everyone looked, including the women. The regulars knew exactly who she was and stayed clear. The newcomers and guests tended to size her up from head to toe with a bit too much interest for Lincoln’s taste.

Sasha had no idea what she did to a man’s libido. Either that or she thought it was all a game. In both cases, she was playing with fire.

Rowen sighed and lowered his gaze, pinning Lincoln with it. “Sasha wants to join the club.”

Lincoln’s entire body jerked. “What? Fuck no.”

Rowen lifted his brows. “That’s what I said. She’s digging her heels in.”

Lincoln shook his head. “Well, I’m the one who gets final say on anyone who wants to become a member, and you can tell her not to bother filling out the application because it would be a waste of her time. The answer is no.”

Rowen chuckled. At least his anger was dissolving. “Have you spoken to my sister lately? She isn’t the sort of person who takes no for an answer. When she wants something, she goes after it until she gets it.”

“Do you want her to join the club?” Lincoln asked. He was fairly certain he knew the answer, but just to make sure they were on the same page…

“Hell, no. And I told her so. But she’s headstrong. Says if we don’t let her join Zodiac, she’ll go to another club in town.”

This time Lincoln jumped out of his seat. He set his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Wish I could.”

Lincoln spun around to face the window. The sun was dipping behind the horizon, but there was no way he could appreciate the purples, oranges, and reds tonight. He set his palms flat on the glass a few inches above his head, drew in a deep breath, and closed his eyes. “She can’t join Club Zodiac, Rowen. It’s out of the question. Let’s call her bluff and see what happens.”

It was the only option he could think of.

* * *

Sasha was smiling as she walked into the preschool where she’d been a lead teacher for the last year. She’d taken a short lunch break to run and grab sandwiches. She’d also used that time to call Marcus Pierson, owner of another local fetish club, Breeze.

She’d met Marcus a few times in the past. Rowen, Lincoln, and Carter were friends with him. They didn’t have a rivalry between them as some people would expect. Instead, they got together often and shared ideas.

Sasha had several options when it came to choosing a club to join, but she thought Breeze was the most logical first choice—after Zodiac—since she knew the owner was a stand-up guy. What she had feared was that Rowen or Lincoln would have already gotten to Marcus and blackballed her.

Apparently they had not. Thus the smile on her face.

Marcus hadn’t balked at her request to visit Breeze. She was set for Friday night.

When Sasha reached the front desk, the school’s receptionist—Ella—nodded at her. She was on the phone. Sasha lifted the bag in her hand and shook it to let Ella know she had returned with her requested sandwich. Sasha continued to the breakroom, knowing a starving Ella would join her as soon as she could get off the phone.

Sure enough, Ella came around the corner two minutes later and slid into the chair opposite Sasha. She grabbed her wrapped sandwich and then hesitated. “Where’s yours?”

Sasha shrugged. “I had so many snacks this morning, I’m not hungry.” Sasha lifted her water bottle and took a long drink, hoping Ella would leave it at that.

Ella narrowed her gaze. “You’re lying. Nobody goes out to grab someone else food when they aren’t getting anything for themselves. You gave it to that homeless woman who’s always at the corner two blocks down, didn’t you?” Ella’s lips turned up in a slight grin.

“She needed it more than me. I have plenty of granola bars and pretzels in my desk. I’ll be fine.”

Ella laughed, shaking her head. “That’s like three times this month. You do realize you can’t save the entire world by giving away your food every day, right?”

Ella was wrong. Sasha had actually given the woman a sandwich about ten times in the last month. Ella didn’t always know. Sometimes Sasha bought extra. She sobered a bit to answer Ella’s question. “I can’t help it. It could have been me. If my brother hadn’t taken me in when I was twelve, I could have been that woman or hundreds like her right here in Miami.”

“You’re the most kind-hearted person I know. But here’s what I really want to know: Why the huge smile? You’ve had a shit-eating grin on your face since you walked in the door. Did you get a better-paying job somewhere else while you were gone? Because if you did, I’m quitting and going with you.”

Sasha laughed. “No. Don’t be silly. I love it here. Can’t a person just be happy?” She wasn’t about to tell Ella how excited she was about her upcoming visit to Breeze. Not that Sasha was worried about what her friend thought, but she wasn’t even sure how she felt about BDSM yet herself. What she knew was that she’d lived on the fringe of the lifestyle for ten years, and it was time to break out of her perfect little mold and explore the aspects of BDSM she was curious about.

Maybe it would turn into something. Maybe it wouldn’t. But she would never know if she didn’t try.

Ella pushed away from the table and leaned over to give Sasha a hug. “Gotta get back to the front desk. Talk to you later.”

Sasha smiled at her friend’s retreating form. What would the woman think if Sasha decided to join a club and make it part of her life? Some of her trusted co-workers knew her brother was part owner of Club Zodiac, but probably none of them expected Sasha to come out of her shell and follow in her brother’s footsteps.

She tapped her empty water bottle on the table, staring at it without seeing a thing. What was Rowen going to say when he found out she went through with her threat to visit another club? More importantly, what would Lincoln say?”

She chuckled softly, secretly hoping he flipped his lid. At least that way she’d know he gave a shit. In the recesses of her mind, she had to admit half the reason she was doing this was to get a rise out of Lincoln. Or at least attempt to.

She’d had a ridiculous crush on the man for five years. In return, he’d usually scowled at her. In fact, it wasn’t until a year ago at her college graduation that she’d ever seen his face light up. Her knees had almost buckled when she caught him clapping, a huge grin wrinkling his eyes as she stepped down from the stage carrying her degree.

Had he been proud of her? It was the first time she’d allowed herself a glimmer of hope she might ever get him to notice her. He’d also handed her a huge bouquet of flowers later that evening at her graduation party and even congratulated her.

The memory of his hand pressed into her lower back for the brief second he’d given her his time was burned into her mind for eternity. Firm pressure from all five fingers. His palm resting right above her butt. The heat from that contact had lit a fire in her she’d forced to remain dormant from the moment she’d first met him four years earlier.

Her body had reacted the same way it had that first day. Nipples hard. Clit throbbing. Wetness dampening her panties.

He’d ruined every bit of progress she’d made in forgetting about him with that touch and his smile and his words and his flowers. He’d caused her to visualize him every time she masturbated. No, that wasn’t true. She’d always used him as her source of inspiration, but after that day she’d begun to do so with more frequency.

Did other women masturbate as often as she did?

Lord.

Sasha jerked her head up, realizing she was sitting in the breakroom of her preschool daydreaming. Her face was flushed. Shit.

She hurried to get back to her classroom, but her mind wouldn’t stop wandering. Would this experiment of hers work? She hadn’t told Rowen why she wanted to join the club so badly. He would have freaked. But Sasha had multiple goals in mind.

Sure, she was curious about BDSM. Had been for years. But jumping in with both feet at this point in time was a last-ditch effort to prove to herself if she could ever be the kind of woman Lincoln could be interested in. And the side bonus of this exploration? Seeing his reaction.

* * *

On Friday, Lincoln was seated at his desk again before opening the club when Rowen walked in. This time Lincoln had summoned his friend. He wasn’t looking at his computer, and he didn’t give a fuck if he even had a mouse.

Rowen sighed as he walked into the room.

“Shut the door,” Lincoln growled.

Rowen’s head lowered, along with his shoulders, as he eased the door shut with a snick. He came across the room on heavy feet and lowered into the chair across from the desk with a stiff jaw. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Lincoln shook his head. “I got a call from Marcus Pierson.”

“Shit,” Rowen hissed. Marcus was the owner of Breeze, their main competitor a few miles away. “Please tell me it was a social call.”

Lincoln wished he could. “Hardly.”

“Fuck,” Rowen shouted. “The only thing worse than my sister joining my own damn club is my sister joining another club across town where I can’t even keep an eye on her.”

“We took a risk… and lost.” Lincoln swallowed his frustration.

“So, I’ll go over there tonight and drag her out.”

“Nope. I’ll go.”

Rowen looked surprised. “You don’t have to do that. I appreciate you making the calls to see if she followed through on her threat, but I can’t ask you to go after Sasha.”

“You didn’t ask.” Lincoln inhaled long and slow. “This way, you don’t take the heat. She’d never forgive you if you embarrassed her in public.”

Rowen’s brow furrowed, then he slowly nodded. “Thanks, man. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. I just want her to be safe. I don’t think it’s wise for either of us to blow in there tonight and drag her out by the hair. She’d kill us. But I do want to watch her and see what she does. She’s so green. She can’t possibly know what she’s getting into. Hopefully she just wants to watch and see what all the hype is about.” He was banking on it.

“You think if we let her dabble, she’ll realize how stupid she’s being and stop pestering me?”

“That’s what I’m hoping. I don’t want her to test the waters without one of us keeping an eye on her, and I know you don’t want to watch your sister playing at a kink club.”

Rowen visibly shuddered. “It’s not even the submission I’m worried about, but you’re right. I don’t want to see any part of her naked.”

Lincoln smiled. “That’s my point.”

“Am I being unrealistic? She says I have a double standard. After all, I’m a Dom. You’re a Dom. We enjoy submissive women on a regular basis. Neither of us views them as somehow weaker or less valued. Perhaps I should back off and let my sister make her own decisions.”

Those thoughts had gone through Lincoln’s mind over and over lately, even before Sasha had made her ultimatum. He’d known her for five years. He could easily believe she was intrigued by the lifestyle. After all, she’d been coming to the club since she was twelve.

Twelve.

It still pissed him off that John Gilbert had let an innocent young girl spend her formative years in a fetish club. Granted, he’d calmed down about the subject significantly after every employee assured him Sasha had never been inside the actual club. He’d also relaxed his view when he heard about her mother dying and her brother not wanting to leave her home alone at nights. Rowen should be commended for taking care of her.

Nevertheless, he wished at least one of the many adults involved in the decision to let her hang around in the breakroom three nights a week had figured out an alternative solution.

She’d been so young. Influential. How much did she learn about BDSM before most people ever heard the term? He feared she was desensitized at an early age and now wouldn’t be able to form normal relationships with men.

Lincoln had watched her curiosity grow over the past several years. He’d seen this coming. There was no denying she was titillated by the concept of dominance and submission.

On more than one occasion when the club wasn’t open, he’d caught her wandering through the main room, touching the edges of the equipment. The time he’d found her running a delicate finger around the inside of a pair of metal cuffs, all the air had sucked out of his lungs.

There was no denying she had submissive tendencies, but how much of who Sasha believed herself to be was authentic, and how much of it was learned from overexposure?

“Lincoln?” Rowen yanked him from his thoughts.

He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re being unrealistic. I think your sister wants to sow some wild oats or something.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk. “You handle things here tonight. Carter will be at the front door. I’ll go to Breeze and see what she’s up to.”

“And if she decides to do a scene with some stranger? What are you going to do?”

Lincoln considered that possibility. “I’m going to stick close by and make sure she’s safe. If she wants to try out some apparatus with a knowledgeable Dom, I think it would be prudent to let her get it out of her system. Hopefully she’ll realize it doesn’t suit her and the subject with be closed without her ever knowing we intervened.”

Rowen cringed. “I don’t think I could stand by and watch her scene with anyone.”

Lincoln forced a smile that was wider than he felt inside. “That’s why I’m going instead of you.”