Jaz’s tingling thighs pressed together, her own panties moist with arousal. Her pulse raced, the room suddenly feeling too hot. Too everything. Sensation rose inside her, climbing higher and higher, a climax threatening to take over her senses. No. Not here. Not now. Jaz yanked against Liam’s restraint.
This time, he let go immediately. “What are you feeling?”
“I need to use the restroom.” Scurrying away as fast as she could, Jaz wove between the club patrons to the women’s room on the other side of the floor. To her relief, the place was large and well lit, with stalls, showers, and lockers lining the space. Dropping onto a bench, Jaz closed her eyes and breathed through the arousal still coursing through her. She couldn’t shake it. Couldn’t make her body calm. Couldn’t stop thinking about Liam’s strong body and the clean male musk that she breathed in as he held her in place. As he’d whispered, “Consider yourself punished.”
The night was supposed to be easygoing fun, not a hostile takeover of her senses.
“Are you all right?” Solana, the woman from the front desk, settled on the bench beside her. She’d changed her Shadow Cove T-shirt for a sexy low-cut number that made the most of her already large breasts and held a pair of high-heeled pumps in her hand. Setting the pumps aside, she focused her attention on Jaz. “What happened, sweetie?”
“I—” Jaz realized she had no idea what to say. I got aroused when I wasn’t expecting it, and now I’m freaked out even though that was the whole point of coming to a sex club, didn’t exactly sound rational. “It’s my first time here. It’s just a lot to take in.”
Solana gave her a pity-filled look. “I bet. And I’m sure coming here with Liam Rowen isn’t helping any.”
“What does Liam have to do with it?” Jaz asked.
“Well, I mean, you look new to this whole thing, and—” She stopped, her brow furrowing. “Look, talking about other members isn’t usually allowed, and I work here. So, I need your word that what’s said in the women’s room stays in the women’s room.”
“Of course. Cone of silence.”
Solana nodded and leaned closer. “Well, what I wanted to tell you is that Liam is a hard-core sadist—that means he gets off on pain. Lots of pain. There are very few women who can take what he needs to give to feel satisfied. I personally think it’s irresponsible to expect it of a newbie.”
Jaz shook her head, which was slowly clearing. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
Solana snorted. “Of course it doesn’t. If you haven’t noticed, most of us don’t exactly advertise our lifestyle outside the club. But listen, I like you and I’m telling you this because I don’t want to see you hurt. Liam has been coming here a lot, and he goes through women like single-use dishes. And unless you can take what he wants to dish out, you aren’t even going to last the meal.”
“I don’t—”
“You want proof?” Solana tipped her head. “You look like you want proof.”
“Proof?” Jaz’s arousal was fully gone now, and something unpleasant was filling the void.
“Yeah.” Solana lowered her voice. “All right, did Liam tell you the club rules before you came?”
Jaz nodded. “No cell phones, no interfering with other people’s play, that type of thing.”
“Right. So you know what happens if you accidentally slip up?” Getting off the bench, Salena pulled down the waistband of her skirt to display an elongated puckered scar across the fleshy part of one butt cheek. “You get a choice—get thrown out of the club forever or take the punishment. And Dior—that’s the owner—has Liam mete it out. Dior says he figures at least one of the two parties should enjoy it.”
Jaz’s chest tightened. “Liam did that? Beat you hard enough to leave scars?”
Solana pulled up her skirt and nodded solemnly. “And he loved the hell out of it. The only good part was that because I took it so well, he started respecting me. I’m actually the only one Liam does scenes with regularly.”
“So you enjoyed it?”
“The punishment? Hell no. But otherwise, yeah, I’m a masochist.” She shrugged. “Anyway, unless you like pain, I would stay away from that one. Just my two cents.”
As Solana finished changing, Jaz leaned back against the wall and studied the ceiling. She had trouble coalescing Solana’s claims into what she knew of Liam Rowen, but she was also the first to admit that there was a great deal she didn’t know about him—that much had been clear since meeting Patti. Was this why Liam had been so insistent that he didn’t do relationships? Why didn’t he want to bring Jaz to the club? And back there in the California mountains, why did he give her pleasure without taking his own? Was it because he knew he couldn’t find it with Jaz? Was the best orgasm of her life his pity fuck?
Solana put away her lipstick and offered Jaz what was probably meant as an encouraging smile. “Do you want me to introduce you to some of the other guys?”
Jaz declined Solana’s offer and found Liam waiting outside the door the moment she stepped out. His jaw was tight, his penetrating gaze boring into her. “What happened?”
Jaz forced an irrelevant shrug. “Nothing. Everything just got a little overwhelming, and I needed a moment.”
“Hmm.” Standing with his legs wide apart and shoulders spread, Liam emanated power from every gorgeous pore of his body. As he shifted himself slightly to block her view of everything but him, Jaz felt that hypnotic arousal spilling again into her blood. Making her toes curl.
With an effort of will, she shoved the feeling away. Jaz had promised Solana not to repeat their conversation, but one thing was clear—she needed more information. She needed to know who Liam was before she decided what she did and didn’t want to explore with him.
“Liam. It’s good to see you back, my friend.” The man from the erotic scene they’d watched came up to them, his arm around the woman he’d been tormenting. Now dressed, she had a happy glow around her and leaned happily into the man’s shoulder. The man nodded to Jaz. “And it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Dior, and this is my wife, Tiffany.”
Dior. The man Solana said owned Shadow Cove and—if the woman was telling the truth—knew about Liam’s preferences. Well, wasn’t this fortuitous ? A grin rose inside Jaz, which she caught and reined into something appropriately reserved just in time. “A pleasure to meet you both. I’m Jaz.”
“Welcome to Shadow Cove,” Dior said courteously before returning his attention to Liam. “I hope you both will find a chance to join us for a drink later.”
“Not tonight—” Liam started to say.
“Absolutely,” Jaz said over him. “In fact, why don’t we all grab something now?”
23
Jaz
Liam said nothing during their drive home, each moment of silence thickening the air more and more. By Jaz’s best guess, he was holding his tongue simply because he wanted to watch her face as he strangled her, and he couldn’t strangle and watch the road at the same time. All bets would be off once they were back in his penthouse, however.