She's All Tied Up: Club 3, Book 2 (38 page)

Her voice louder, she sat up. He let her, but his warm gaze remained on her face. Remembered anger boiling up, Carlie didn’t notice. She glared down at him.

“And you own a sex club, for God’s sake, with women running around practically naked all the time, yet you expect me to dress like a-a lady who lunches? That’s
nuts
. I dressed up crazy-sexy, it nearly killed me to do it, but I did it for
you
. And I’m not putting up with your crap about it, Jake Stone. So if you ever speak to me like that again, I’m gonna tell you to take it and—and stick it where the sun don’t shine.”

The bed was quivering. Incredulously, she realized it was because Jake was laughing. Now he gave up trying to hold it in. A roar of laughter burst from his throat.

“You jerk,” she hollered. “Don’t you laugh at me.” Grabbing a pillow, she whacked him with it. He held up his hands to fend her off, laughing helplessly.

Carlie tossed the pillow away and glowered down at him, her arms crossed. A smile crept over her face, because she loved his deep laugh. But, not quite done being revved up, she frowned it away.

Jake grabbed her and pulled her down on his chest. “Baby,” he said, shaking his head. “A lady who lunches?”

She made a face at him. “You can stick that where the sun don’t shine too.”

His eyes narrowed, his hand tightening on her ass. “We both know, I do that, whose pretty ass it’s gonna be in.”

Her eyes widened. He smirked. “But I gotta say, that was real good. No more lessons. Don’t want you to be too good at firing back.”

“I’ll get better,” she said, narrowing her eyes back at him. “I’ll bet Twila knows how to fight with words. And that she’ll teach me.”

“Jesus,” he muttered. “If I wanted a woman who’s a ball-breaker, I wouldn’t be a dom.”

Then he sobered and rubbed his thumb over her lips, watching with his eyes soft. “You think of that safe word, you tell me. You say it, I’ll do my best to stand down. I’m a hard-ass. I was raised rough. You were raised gentle. I want to take care of that.”

She pursed her lips to kiss his thumb. His gaze heated. “Don’t waste those kisses.”

He pulled her close, their lips met, and for the next several moments, the communication was nonverbal. Then he held her, his hands stroking through her hair. That felt good, and doubly so because she knew Jake really liked her hair.

“I thought of a word,” she said, then wrinkled her nose.

“What?” he asked, a smile incipient in his voice.

“You’ll laugh.”

“I won’t. Tell me.”

“Um, pony.”

He laughed. Roared with it, let her push him over onto his back. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.” She sat on him, smacked his chest. “Jerk.”

“Sorry,” he said, controlling himself with an effort. “Baby, can’t help it. Damn, you’re cute.”

“Cute? Eww, that’s for puppies.”

“And ponies,” he goaded and burst out laughing again. But this time he held her close, and the next thing she knew, they were kissing again. Being kissed while Jake was still chuckling was
sweet
.

Knowing that the kiss held the promise of many more was sweeter still.

Finally he drew back, and gave her one last squeeze. “We better get up, if we’re gonna make dinner at your folks’ house. You’ll probably wanna stop by your place for some clothes, huh?”

Carlie groaned. “Oh, I forgot. I wish we could just stay here.”

Jake shrugged. “Your call.”

“I’ll call and tell them I’m not feeling well.”

He gave her a look.

Carlie wrinkled her nose. “I know, I know. That’s a lie.”

“You’ll end up feelin’ bad if you lie to them,” he said. “I know you that well, and I don’t like that. So no lies.”

Huh. Her dom wasn’t going to let her get away with much.

“Or,” she suggested wickedly, “I could tell them I’m…tied up for the weekend.”

He smiled slowly. “Like I said, baby, don’t want you to tell a lie. You make the call, and I’ll see to it that you are—all tied up.”

About the Author

Cathryn Cade lives with her husband in the lake country of North Idaho, where they boat, bicycle, hike and garden. Indoors, she’s usually writing or plotting the wicked doings of her next hero and heroine. She plays hooky to chat on Facebook, read voraciously, try new recipes, shop and sew odd items for hapless acquaintances. She wishes she had time to catch up with her favorite TV series and that she could meet all her readers.

Contact her @

www.cathryncade.com
—
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Look for these titles by Cathryn Cade

Now Available:

The Orion Series

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bryght

Her Commander

Prince of Dragons

Deep Indigo

Hawaiian Heroes

Walking in Fire

Rolling in the Deep

Blooming in the Wild

Burning up the Rain

Club 3

She’s All In

Coming Soon:

Club 3

She’s All For It

For her sexy Dom, she’ll open up…but only love will take her all the way.

She’s All In

© 2013 Cathryn Cade

Club 3, Book 1

When Daisy joins Big Iron Fitness, it’s to get fit and more comfortable in her skin. But what really makes her sweat is gym owner Dack Humboldt. Watching him pump iron sets off an endorphin rush that has nothing to do with exercise.
 

Dack isn’t looking for love, and doesn’t usually waste time on vanilla even when it’s packaged in a bombshell blonde. Until he hears Daisy’s been asking questions about the goings-on at his private sex club. He’ll be happy to show her the ropes…on his terms.

Daisy gathers the moxie to ask Dack out on a date, and gets an offer she can’t refuse. The chance to explore some of her most private fantasies and move beyond her fears about her body.

As Dack leads Daisy by the thong into the Dom/sub world, she feels as if she’s finally in her element…until Dack issues a command that brings her up hard against her last emotional barrier. And Dack must decide how far he’ll go to bring his bombshell back into his arms.

Warning: Body builders showing off their physiques, blondes looking to have more fun, and members of a private club sharing more than conversation.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
She’s All In:

“Hey, Dack, what’re you doing chatting up my girl?” It was Mason, appearing at Dack’s elbow, a frosty salted margarita in each hand. He was scowling.

Daisy blinked. His girl? She’d agreed to have a drink with the guy, that was all.

Now Dack was scowling. At her. “Daisy?”

She could only handle one disgruntled male at a time. “I’m not sure why you’re upset,” she said to Mason.

He gave her a what-the-hell look. “Because you accepted my key,” he bit off.

“What? She took my key.” Oh, great, now the blond guy, Kevin, was back at Dack’s other elbow, and he was looking daggers at her as well.

“Hey, I don’t know what all this fuss is about,” she protested, her voice quavering embarrassingly.

“Daisy.” Dack cut her off, his deep voice full of authority. “Explain.”

She wanted to quail before the three alpha males glaring at her. Stiffening her knees, she faced them, glaring back defiantly. “Explain what? I don’t even know what you’re so mad about.”

“Yeah, right.” Kevin shook his head in disgust.

Mason eyed her, his head cocked to one side. “No, hold on. I think she’s telling the truth.”

“Daisy.” She looked at Dack, willing the tears clogging her throat not to fall. She’d finally gotten the courage to follow through on her fantasies, and now her exciting adventure was going to hell for reasons she didn’t even understand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pretty blonde sitting with her arms crossed, watching. She shook her head as if unable to believe how much trouble Daisy was in.

Dack took her hand in his, lifting it so the key hanging from her arm was displayed. “You don’t know what the keys mean? Rochelle didn’t explain that to you when you came in?”

“No. Wait, she mentioned keys, but she—she wasn’t feeling well.” Daisy didn’t want to get the receptionist in trouble. Seemed like she had enough. “She didn’t finish whatever she was going to say. I thought she was going to faint. She waved me in and ran for the restroom.”

Dack grimaced. “I’ll deal with that in a bit. Now, where are their keys?”

Daisy handed him his sunglasses and dug the other keys from her purse. They lay in her palm.

She tried to hand them to him, but he shook his head, shoving his sunglasses on the top of his head. “Daisy, when someone—a guy or a gal—offers you their key, it means they’re a dom. And they’re asking you to be their partner, to submit to them for the evening.”

Her breath froze in her throat, her tears forgotten. He held her gaze, his quizzical. “And when you take it, you’re agreeing.”

“Oh.” The work came out in a squeak. Holy crap, all three of these guys thought she’d agreed to—to let them do stuff to her, with her?

Dack rose, towering over her. “Now choose. And hurry your ass up about it. I’ll be back in a minute.” He turned and strode away.

Oh God. Daisy watched him go. Was he coming back? Did she even want him to? Well, one thing was for sure, she had to deal with these two guys first.

She turned to Mason and held out his key. “I’m really sorry.”

He nodded, looking as if he were trying not to grin. “’S okay. Put it in my pocket, eh?”

She looked at his tight jeans and blinked at the size of his male package. She was not going there. Instead, she tucked the key in a small pocket of his vest.

“You’re not getting one of my margaritas,” he teased, waving the drinks enticingly.

Daisy smiled back, feeling a twinge of regret. “There’s a blonde behind you who looks like she needs a drink.”

His eyes gleamed. “Good idea.” He turned away.

Daisy turned to Kevin. He gave her a cocky grin as if sure she’d choose him. He was handsome, but he was not someone Daisy would consider actually hooking up with. With an inward shudder, she held out the black key to him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I, um, hope you have a great night.”

“Oh, I will,” he said, grabbing the key from her. “Hope you can say the same.” He turned his back on her.

Well, okay. So he wouldn’t be forgiving her anytime soon.

She sank onto the sofa, leaned her forehead on her hand. Geez, what a night. Was this going to work for her? She felt like there was a whole secret rulebook someone had forgotten to show her.

The music started again, a bluesy number with lots of saxophone. Daisy leaned her chin on her hand and looked around. Mason was perched on the arm of the blonde’s chair, his back partly turned to Daisy. They were sipping margaritas and smiling at each other. The woman’s eyes were sparkling as if her dreams for the night had come true.

Daisy felt Dack’s presence before she saw him—a kind of electric awareness. She sat up straight as he resumed his former perch on the arm of the sofa. He said nothing, and her nerves sizzled with anticipation. Finally, she could stand the wait no longer and looked up at him.

He was looking down at her over his crossed arms, like a potentate regarding a recalcitrant harem girl. His sunglasses had disappeared. Oh, man, the pose highlighted his huge shoulders and gorgeous biceps. She wanted her hands all over those arms.

“Still here, I see,” he rumbled.

She shrugged. That was a no-brainer.

“Stand up.”

Scooting forward off the sofa, Daisy rose and turned to him. Was he going to ask her to dance?

“So, now that you know what my key means, you gonna wuss out?” he asked her, one corner of his mouth pressing in, as if he was trying not to grin.

She scowled at him, planting her hands on her hips. “No.”

“Good.” He uncrossed his arms and crooked his forefinger. “Then c’mere.”

Daisy took the single step that placed her between his spread knees. He took his key from her wrist, stretched the choker with both hands, and lifted it over her head. The warmth of his big hands ruffled her hair, ghosted over her cheeks.

The choker settled into place around her throat, a light caress, the key dangling in the hollow of her throat. He eyed it with satisfaction, his hands spread on his knees.