Rick slammed his fist on the conference table, startling her. “Use your head. That’s what someone undercover does, Landry! You play along and get what you need through any means necessary.” She’d thought of Anna and the hell the last assignment put her through, lying to the man she loved in the name of justice.
How many lives would this case try to ruin?
She knew the answer to that. One. One life. Hers.
At least Rick had finally answered her question.
Shelby was going undercover in a sex club and would have to sleep with a man who had connections with the company they were investigating. She could fight this assignment and be relegated to a desk job for the indefinite future. Or be transferred out of state like they’d done to Anna and be forced to start over with a new team.
Or she could suck it up and do what she needed to see an end to this case. There was really only one answer, assuming she honestly had a choice. Prostitution was supposed to be illegal, but apparently not if one’s pimp was the federal government.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Chapter One
Mason sat at the bar, looking through the dimly lit room. He wasn’t staring at all the half-naked women—or fully naked in the case of Emory’s sub for the night. He was just watching, monitoring the level of energy in the atmosphere. Some nights, the feeling was subdued, but others, it arced through the air, electrifying his sexual desires. But tonight, as was the case for many weeks now, it was almost dull. He hadn’t lost his sense of need, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to latch onto an honest opportunity to feed his primal hunger either.
Oh, there’d been offers. Mason was one of the four Master Doms who owned the club they’d deftly named Scene, although Rafe was the one who managed it. Jedrek and Emory dealt mainly with ordering supplies, and Mason’s finance background awarded him the dubious honor of handling the books. He’d tried to explain the difference between accounting and investment financing, but it had fallen on deaf ears. It was known throughout the club that all four of them were the owners, the Masters. And every sub in the place who wasn’t attached to a Dom vied for their attention. Yeah, there’d definitely been propositions.
Problem was, Mason was bored. His friends and colleagues would laugh at him if he’d ever verbalized that. Besides owning the club, he was a new executive at one of the largest investment firms in the U.S. To those on the outside, he was already spread thin, but his professional aspirations far exceeded the average man’s. He had every intention of rising up the ranks, getting as close to the top as he could without being blood related to the family who’d founded the company. And he would do just that. He sneered thinking about his new boss. That man was only there because he was in the family, but if Mason had his way, that prick wouldn’t be his boss for long. He aspired for greatness and reporting to the runt of the litter was unacceptable. Mason had worked hard to get where he was today. Nobody handed him anything.
But business was second-nature to him. He’d even taken steps to achieve his latest professional goal at the firm.
He needed a real challenge now, one that he could only find in the company of a woman. He’d thought he’d found one when he’d met Cassie. They’d had a fun night together, but she’d been more into light play. Mason was a hardcore Dom. He demanded and deserved sexual obedience from his partners. If the women weren’t willing to give themselves up to him completely, he just wasn’t interested in anything beyond one night. Some may think of him as controlling, and well, he was in a way. But to him, there wasn’t anything more beautiful than a woman letting herself go and entrusting herself with him. To be submissive required a truly strong person. The real power lay within his sexual counterpart, he merely the maestro to a woman’s sexual orchestra.
“Well, what do we have here?” Jedrek said as he took the stool next to Mason.
Mason looked at him, surprised the man had made it that close without him knowing before now. He must’ve been really deep in thought. “What?”
“By the door. Ten o’clock.” Jedrek pointed, and Mason followed the line of sight.
A woman wearing a leather skirt, stilettos, and a black lace top was talking to the bouncer. She had her hair pulled up, exposing her neck. Her collarless neck. For that to be so brazenly displayed, she was either screaming to every Dom in the room that she was up for grabs…or so new to the scene she was clueless. When she turned, Mason clenched his teeth as he saw her completely.
She was fucking beautiful. He appreciated the beauty in all women, but this one tipped the scales for him. He couldn’t put his finger on what quality it was that made her stand out to him at a distance. Maybe if he got closer to her, he’d figure it out. One thing was for sure. She was someone he’d never seen before. He would’ve damn well remembered her.
“Want me to—“
“I’ve got this,” Mason said, cutting off his partner as he stood. Since he didn’t know her, she wasn’t a member of the club, and tonight was closed to outsiders.
Jedrek chuckled…as much as the usually stoic man could. “Uh-huh, man, I’m sure you do. But you better get over there before one of the other Doms shows interest.”
Mason grunted as he moved, heading straight toward the woman with dark brown hair. As he stepped up behind her, the bouncer grabbed her arm, and he heard her gasp. Mason gripped her hips and pulled her against his body, his dominant side roaring to life.
“What’s the problem?” Mason barked, agitated that the other man would snatch her like that.
“Um, she’s not a member, Mr. Showalter. I was just trying to explain to her that we’re only open to the public on Tuesday nights.” The man wisely released the beauty and took a few steps back.
The woman tensed against Mason. He lessened his hold on her, but didn’t let go. “I’ll speak with her. You can go.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Mason lowered his head and sniffed her hair. Even in her high heels, she was a couple inches shorter than his six-three. God, she smelled just as wonderful as she looked. “What is your name?”
“Shelby.”
She trembled in his arms, and his dick stirred. He tightened his hold on her once again and stepped up against her, letting her feel what she was doing to his body.
“Why are you here, pet?”
“I-I didn’t know this club was members only. I didn’t mean to intrude. I can come back.”
Mason wasn’t sure if her stammering was because he was making her uncomfortable or because she was truly sorry for coming on a night she wasn’t allowed.
“You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”
“I, um.” Her shoulders slumped. “I just need…I mean, I want to try something different.”
At that, Mason turned her slowly to face him. Her big green eyes watched him as he studied her. Her skin looked flawless under all that makeup. She had a ton of it on. He’d have to fix that. The milky complexion of her cleavage revealed her true tone. But then he took what she actually had on and internally recoiled.
“You’re dressed like a Domme.” Why hadn’t he considered she might be into domination before now? He cursed his body for responding to her as quickly as it had. If she wasn’t submissive, she would be off-limits. Mason didn’t switch. She immediately looked to the floor, her cheeks turning pink. His heart pounded at her reaction. Her body’s instinctual reply reassured him she wasn’t a Domme. “But you respond like a sub. Tell me, what is it you want to try?”