On Friday night, after a hellishly long day, Garrett headed to the club. He was lucky he’d been able to get away from the resort at all. They had a destination wedding booked this weekend and his crew was working double time to make the bride’s day ultra-special. It was past ten and at this time of night on a Friday, the place was packed, with barely a seat available in the full house.

Garrett exchanged greetings with his friends and spied Cole leading Mia into one of the scene areas. He noted that Carter and Jenna were here this evening, too, and mid-scene. It looked like Carter had broken out the bull whip for his wife. Garrett didn’t see Alex or Spencer and knew that Jackson was on patrol tonight.

He scanned the room to discover which section was Cora’s this evening.

Gotcha! She was working the bar top tables once more and, lucky for him, he was able to snag the last open table in her section. He didn’t even bother to remove his black and white flannel, only unbuttoned it down the front as he sat.

His strategy was two-fold. Garrett had every intention of getting Cora to come work for him. He needed—or he should say the resort—needed a yoga instructor; his clientele demanded upscale amenities of that kind. Plus, it seemed to him that she needed the job.

He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Whatever he might need to offer her, to sweeten the pot, so to speak, he would do.

And then, his other objective—and, if truth be told, the real reason he was at the club tonight—Garrett had not been able to stop thinking about her. He had replayed, more than once, their night together. And he wanted more. He craved to feel her writhe beneath him again. Yearned for another taste of her honeyed nectar. Before the night was done, he would entice her, tempt her into another scene with him. He didn’t care if they had an audience, if they used one of the private rooms, or perhaps headed to one of their places, where they could spend the bulk of the night sating their desire.

Garrett realized that on a Friday, she likely worked until two, but he could wait. He was patient, for the most part, when he was in pursuit of what he wanted.

Cora looked downright delectable with her wealth of dark hair in a high ponytail once more. He remembered the feel of the silken tresses in his hands. And her outfit only accentuated her killer body. He watched her stop by every table in her section but his. Garrett could wait her out. The woman was clearly avoiding him.

When she finally dropped by his table her smile was tight and placatory. “What can I get for you, Sir?”

“Have a drink with me,” he ordered, the inherent need to show her who the Dom was in this relationship at the forefront of his mind. Garrett wasn’t unreasonable and didn’t want a doormat. He liked her fire, her spirit, and didn’t want to break her of that, however, he wanted to be the one she gifted her surrender to willingly. Like she had done the other night.

“Can’t, I have other customers to wait on,” she replied, barely sparing a glance his way, and walked away from his table. Garrett seethed. Her little display of defiance was enough for him to want to tan her fucking hide. Even as he thought it, he knew he couldn’t discipline her, not when they hadn’t established what their relationship was yet. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fantasize about taking his hand to her ripe, bare bottom. Considering the way she’d enjoyed the nipple clamps the other night, he had a feeling she would enjoy being disciplined too.

Cora filled drink orders and carted trays of food to the surrounding tables. She made waiting tables look easy, like she’d been doing it her whole life. Her body moved through the crowd with a supple grace. She didn’t bat an eye at the scenes taking place or the display of flesh.

She dropped off a Corona at his table without saying a word and slipped away before he could stop her. What was her game? Why wasn’t she talking to him? Perhaps she’d not enjoyed the other night. He nearly choked on his beer at the thought. He’d never gotten any complaints before but with Cora, she didn’t give anything away.

Garrett watched her all night, not paying any attention to the other subs. Mason and Emily arrived and stopped by his table for a bit before heading over to one of the scene stations. Garrett had to give Mason credit, Emily had become one hell of a sub, and he was looking forward to their wedding next month. The other couples he knew, Carter and Jenna, and Cole and Mia, left shortly after they’d finished their scenes. Derrick had been relieved at the front door and was currently playing with Paige in the nearest scene area. Derrick was quite skilled with the flogger. He and Garrett both were. But Garrett always liked to study his technique, see if he had any new tricks up his sleeve.

Tibby, who looked like a reincarnation of a Viking goddess, was in attendance and eyeing him. They’d performed scenes together before. She was quite the hot number and he’d enjoyed being with her. But she didn’t make his blood pressure spike like Cora did just being near him, nor did she make him want to see her outside the club.

Out of everything, that was a rather startling revelation. Cora was a puzzle. An erotic, confusing puzzle, and one he wanted to examine more closely, uncover what made her tick and discover the reason behind the shadows in her eyes that she tried to hide. It had been an awfully long time since he’d been this interested in a woman.

The next time she brought him another beer, he tugged her close, slipped a hand around her slender waist and commanded, “Stay.”

Cora opened her mouth, he could see the refusal on her face. To hell with that! Garrett yanked her body against him so that she was wedged between his thighs and kissed her. He knew he was going against protocol and breaking rules when it came to the waitresses at the club. Spencer might ban him for a month for this, but he didn’t fucking care. Garrett kissed her, seducing her with his mouth.

He felt it. Her surrender. The moment she stopped fighting him and melted into his kiss. He growled into her mouth when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back until he felt like he was the one drowning—in her.

Garrett finally lifted his mouth. Cora’s lips were swollen, her cheeks flushed pink, and she appeared soft. Gone was the wary standoffishness. “You’ve been running all night long and I know you get a break. Sit and talk to me. Please,” he said.

He’d added the last bit to appease her. He was the first Dom she’d been with, which meant he’d have to bend a bit to draw her into his world.

Cora broke eye contact with a roll of her eyes but slid onto the barstool beside him. “What are you doing, Garrett?”

“That’s Master or Sir and you know it.”

She snorted. “Don’t pull that Dom crap on me. I’m not saying I didn’t have a good time with you the other night, I did, but it can’t continue. I won’t let it.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem for you to come work for me.” That way he could work on seducing her back into his bed.

She looked chagrined for a moment. “Like I told you yesterday, thank you but no. Besides, I already took a position elsewhere.”

What the fuck!

“Where?” It came out a lot harsher than he’d intended, but he’d damn well staked his claim on her.

“Matt gave me a job at Mountain Top Fitness. I appreciate you wanting to give me the position, but you’d be better looking elsewhere.”

Matt. Garrett liked the guy. He was a decent bartender and an outstanding Dom. But clearly he was going to have to make sure Matt knew that Cora was off limits.

“So let me get this straight, you wouldn’t come work for me because you still want me, but you also won’t act on that desire now that you won’t take the position. Do I have that correct?” He hated that her denial of her desire for him was digging up old wounds. The first woman he’d ever loved had called it off rather publicly and acted like she had never wanted him, that he’d been lacking. He’d be lying if he said it hadn’t left scars.

“Why are you doing this to me? Why can’t you just let the other night be what it was and leave it at that?” She looked away, hiding her eyes from him—and her feelings.

“Because I want you. I’d love nothing more than to strap you down in the stockade and cane your sweet ass until you’re begging me to fuck that succulent cunt of yours. Then claim you before the entire club; have you wear my cuffs whenever you are here so no other Dom touches what belongs to me.”

As he’d spoken, she’d shifted her gaze back toward him. Her pupils dilated. The cinnamon color blazed into a fiery bronze. Her hands were clenched into fists in her lap, like she was trying to keep herself from touching him. His mouth watered when he noticed the beaded points of her nipples through her top. She wanted him. There was no doubt in his mind. But she was fighting her arousal, fighting him. What was she so afraid of?

“You want that too, sweetheart.” And he couldn’t stop the pleasure that knowledge provided him. If she truly hadn’t wanted him, he would have walked away. But that wasn’t it at all. She did. For some reason she was fighting her attraction to him.

She shook her head in denial. “No. I don’t.”

Now she was lying. He narrowed his gaze, thinking she deserved a fucking spanking. “Don’t lie to me. Your body is telling me otherwise. The way your nipples beaded at my words, all puckered and begging for my lips. And I bet if I dipped my fingers in your pussy they’d come away drenched.”

“I have to get back to work,” she sputtered, standing up from the barstool just as Matt sauntered over and interrupted them.

“Cora, your sitter is on the phone and says it’s an emergency,” Matt said, ignoring Garrett completely.

“What?” She paled, and her gaze widened in alarm.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, she wouldn’t tell me. Go take it in the office. If you need to jet, we’ve got more than enough coverage tonight. Just let me know what you need,” Matt directed.

She nodded, her entire body rigid, and raced away from his table without a backward glance.

Sitter? What the fuck?

Before Matt walked away, Garrett gripped his forearm and asked, “She has a kid?”

Matt eyed him. And in that moment, Garrett realized he’d witnessed their kiss and that Matt was pissed about it. The fucker would likely tattle to Spencer and he’d be banned. Nor could Garrett decide whether Matt was furious because he’d broken a club rule or because Matt was eyeing Cora for himself. Garrett didn’t back down. Cora was his—or she would be. Finally, Matt relented and shrugged. “Yeah, she has a little boy.”

Garrett released his arm and leaned against the backrest of the barstool, too stunned to react. If there was anything he had expected from her, it wasn’t that Cora had a son. She’d never mentioned having a kid. He wasn’t angry, although he wished she wouldn’t have kept it from him. Then again, he hadn’t asked. But some of her reactions made sense in a way they hadn’t before. The way she’d vanished the other night. He’d thought it had just been a line, that whole story that she had to leave by two.

But was there someone in her life? Was the boy’s father in her life and that was why she had avoided him, turning him down even with the attraction between them? He’d not spied a wedding ring on her finger, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t involved with another man. If there was one thing Garrett didn’t do it was poach on another man’s territory, no matter how tempting the prize.

While he’d mentioned wanting to claim her, he hadn’t realized until he mentioned it how much he did want that with her. He wanted time to uncover all her layers. Hell, he felt rather possessive of her. He was the first Dom she’d submitted to and he believed, with her unfettered passionate responses, that she had the heart of a true submissive.

Not two minutes later, Cora rushed out of the office. Blind panic was written across her lovely face. She spoke to Matt behind the bar. Garrett stood and headed toward the door, buttoning his shirt as he went. There was one way for him to get to the bottom of this mystery. He waited by the exit for her.

As she approached the doorway, she shook her head, her expression mulish and said, “I have to go. I don’t have time for you right now.”

“I’ll drive you,” Garrett replied.

“No. I don’t need you,” she spat.

He could be as stubborn as she and didn’t plan on backing down. “Cora, you’re upset and not thinking clearly. I will make sure you get home all right. A lot of good you will do your kid if you wind up in an accident.” He slid his hand around her elbow and steered her out of the club.

Cora cast a furious glare at him but relented, her worry and fright for her child palpable.