Bind Me Before You Go (Entangled Brazen) (Serve) (7 page)

They broke away from each other for just a moment, gasping for air, ready for more—

A blaring sound, like a vintage car horn, came from his pocket.

“Shit!” He let her go and dug in his pocket to retrieve his phone. He looked up at her, a contrite apology in his hangdog eyes. “Fuck. I wouldn’t usually get it, but that’s the ring for people to get me in case of an emergency.”

“Take it,” she urged. “It’s okay.”

He nodded but still looked pissed. “Cavill,” he answered. He paced toward the windows, staring without seeing—it seemed—the view. “Leo, are you fucking
kidding
me right now…he said that? Yeah, I see why you called… Nah, don’t sweat it… I’ll be right over.”

He hung up the call and turned back towards her.

“What’s wrong?” she said.

“Leo needs me at the club to give a demo some other guy was scheduled to do, but the guy’s sick and cancelled. And if he doesn’t get a proper fill in, it’s his ass on the line.”

She didn’t respond, just absorbed what he was saying. “I guess that means we need to cut this short.”

Then he met her eyes and, suddenly, a light went on within them. “Not cut it short. Just put it on hold. Feel like coming with me? I won’t be long. Have a drink at the bar and I’ll be back for you within an hour.”

She kept it to herself, but Cassidy thought it was funny he was even bothering to ask her. If he knew how she felt, he would realize there was no need. She’d come here with a purpose, and she’d be damned if she let him out of her reach before the night was over.

“Well, when you put it
that
way, how can a girl refuse?”

Chapter Six

“That’s twice in the last month you’ve saved my ass, Cavill,” Leo said as soon as they walked into the club. “Appreciated, man.”

Cassidy glanced over at David in time to see him returning his buddy’s gratitude with a slight nod. “Anytime.”

“And look at you, representing the newly initiated,” he teased Cassidy. She couldn’t miss his glance over her shoulder.

“Allie’s not with us, Leo,” she said.

His usually radiant smile dimmed slightly, but then he shrugged. “I’m surprised you came along.”

“Well, I am most
definitely
swimming in uncharted territory, that’s for sure.” She took a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Coming to a place like this as a wingman for a friend had been easy for her. As Cassidy was growing up, she saw her mom run through a long string of loser boyfriends, short-term, dead-end jobs, and endless drama. Often. So she was accustomed to being the observer or the one who served as impartial mediator. Always on the outside looking in, only participating enough to make others feel comfortable, but not enough to have to engage any real parts of her soul. She wasn’t sure what demo David was here to perform, but at least this way, being here with him, she wouldn’t feel completely left out.

Leo hit David on the shoulder. “Thanks for coming. If you hadn’t filled in for Ethan, I don’t know what Jonah would have done.”

“Not a problem.” David, who was standing behind her, looped his arm protectively around her waist.

As he pressed in behind her, she could feel his heat on her back, so hot like he had a fever. But she knew it wasn’t that. There was something kinetic that passed between them when they were this close to one another.

It also didn’t hurt that he looked totally off the charts hot tonight. She’d been wary of what he would wear to the club for this demo. Some of the men at Serve wore some really outrageous stuff. To each his own, she always said, but she had to admit that she wasn’t too hot to see him in something resembling a Speedo or some kind of bondage suit with metal rings.

To her delight, all he wore were leather pants and a simple T-shirt—the latter of which he now took off. It was a very early seventies, Jim Morrison from The Doors look, although David had a more muscular build than the Lizard King.

And good Lord, was he built. The man didn’t have a six-pack. He had an
eight
-pack and those pelvic V-shaped muscles she’d always admired but never seen on a lover. He had a smattering of dark chest hair, neatly trimmed, and an inviting trail from his belly button down past the waistline of his leather pants. He was tanned and golden and completely gorgeous.

“I won’t be long,” he told her. “Leo, who did you get to do the demo with me?”

“Uma said she’d be happy to—”

Cassidy’s eyebrows shot up. “Hold on. You’re doing a demo
with
someone?”

“Well, yeah. Rope play isn’t usually a solo kink.”

“Okay, but…” She could taste the idea before the words left her mouth, but she couldn’t help herself. The thought of David in there with someone else, who got to touch him the way she was hungry to do herself. “Couldn’t you do the demo with
me
?”

David looked at Leo, then back at Cassidy. “That’s not…”

“Not possible,” Leo said. “You haven’t put in your application yet.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out the application she’d finished but never turned in. “Here you go.”

Leo paused then took it from her, but still he said, “It’s not that simple. Even if I approve your application, I have to interview you. We’re very careful about who we let into the club. That’s what makes it so safe.”

“I’ll vouch for her,” David said.

They both turned to him.

“That’d be highly unusual,” Leo said.

Cassidy met David’s eyes. She could read the question in his expression.

Is this what you want?

And she was ready with her answer, a short nod.

Yes. Yes, I want this.

“It’s on me,” David said. “I’ll take care of her. She won’t go anywhere in the club beyond the stage. Besides, this demo will suck unless I do it with someone I trust.” He took Cassidy’s hand. “And I trust her.”

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “Assuming she’s okay being bound in front of a bunch of strangers.”

David turned to her and took her other hand in his. “It’s up to you, Cass. I’d love to tie you up in public, but only if you’re into it. Otherwise, it won’t be good for you. So you need to be sure, whichever way you decide.”

She couldn’t read his face. All she was getting was that impassive mask of his, the one she couldn’t yet decipher. She wanted to please him. They’d agreed for him to bind her in his home, but the idea of getting tied up for her first time in front of an audience completely overwhelmed her.

Well, Cass, didn’t you just tell yourself how exciting this kind of thing might be?

As if reading her mind, David said, “Cass, be clear, it’s not just about being tied up. You’d need to be nude. If you had a different kind of outfit on, then I could work around it. But with what you got on?” He shook his head, perusing her complicated top. “No, it won’t work. No way.”

Oh crap, that’s right. She’d come here in the same clothes she’d worn to his house.

Nope, that was settled. If she was participating in David’s demo, she was showing off the girls, in front of a filled-to-capacity New York club. Her stomach tightened, but part of her remembered the pleasure David had already brought her.

“I don’t know,” she drawled, biting her bottom lip and scratching her head. “I’m not really into flashing my rack to a bunch of strangers.”

He placed his hand around the back of her neck and peered into her eyes. His delicious, kissable mouth pressed into a hard line.

“Nah, not gonna happen tonight,” he declared. Then, turning to his friend, he said, “Tell ’em the demo’s off. It won’t work with just anyone, and there’s no way I’m making Cass do something she doesn’t want.”

Leo’s face fell, and his eyes darted off to the side, in the direction of Jonah’s office. He let out a loud exhale and looked at David. “Listen, I don’t want to put pressure on you. It’s just that when I told Jonah that you’d replace Ethan tonight, he immediately started calling a bunch of people, all on some kind of fucked-up phone-tree waiting list, wanting to know when you—and
only
you—would be back at Serve, teaching your thing. Seems you’re the only dude in the tri-state-area teaching Shibari with this new flavor. They can go anywhere to learn how to do Shibari and dominate someone old-school style, but the way you teach it…”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble just because I’m being a chicken shit,” she said.

David just stared, taking in his buddy’s dilemma. Cassidy could see he was trying to figure out some sort of solution.

“I can still get Uma to help you,” Leo said.

“Who is this Uma, anyway?” Cassidy said.

He nodded over to the other side of the club. “Uma’s the redheaded bartender over there.” The room was already teeming with patrons, but since the bar was elevated, she was able to catch a direct view of her.

Gorgeous red hair held back by barrettes on each side of her temples, an hour-glass figure out of a pin up calendar…yep, your basic nightmare. And this Uma must have felt them looking at her because she made eye contact, broke out in a sweet, wide-eyed smile, and actually waved at them like an excited school girl.

“Like
hell
you will!” Cass said.

Her head was now spinning. Was this really happening? Was she
actually
going to watch David tie up and touch the hot redheaded bartender? The thought of his warm, calloused, and incredibly skilled hands on the other woman’s alabaster skin, wrapping rope around her waist, between her breasts, made Cassidy sick with longing. She had no claim over him, no matter what their arrangement, but if anyone was going to be put in his ropes, she wanted it to be herself.

“Cass,” he said. “Tell me what you want.”

She knew it was just a demo, but damn it, she felt possessive about the man. Even if he was leaving in two weeks, those two weeks were hers and hers alone.

“I came here with you. You’re with me. And if anyone is going to be tied up or touched by you, it’s
only
going to be me. Got it?”

Her breaths came hard and heavy, but when she saw a smile at the corner of David’s mouth, she felt it had been worth the risk.

“Okay, hey, no problem,” Leo replied, both hands up in surrender. Then he started cracking up. “Damn woman, you were ready to go all Ike Turner on my ass. Since when did you get so bold?”

Cassidy smirked and shook her head. “Leo, I’m from a white trash trailer park in the middle of swamp-country-Central-Florida. I was
born
brawling.”

They started laughing…well, except for David. He wrapped his arm around Cass’s shoulders and pulled her away.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this, honey?” His eyes darted up and down, scanning her face. “I know you wanna help, but this isn’t your responsibility. Leo can figure this out without us.”

She put her arms around his taut waist. “I’ll admit, I didn’t picture us in front of a roomful of people the first time I’d be getting tied up by you.”

“Fuck, babe. If you’ve got a problem with—”

She brought her fingers up to his mouth, effectively shushing him. “That’s not what I meant.”

He breathed an audible sigh of relief, and she moved her hand from his mouth and rested it on his firm chest. “Okay,” he said.

“I know I was apprehensive before. Hell, I still am, but I hate the idea of you touching anyone but me.”

“Cass, honey, I don’t even
want
to touch or fuck anyone but you.” He pulled her into his body and laced his fingers together on the small of her back. “So this is how this is going to go. We’ll get up there. I’ll do my thing. And if at any time you’re not feeling it, you tell me and it stops. We’re in this together.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“I mean it,” he said, putting his forehead onto hers. “I get that you’re new to this whole scene. Usually I don’t deal with newbies, but for you? Fuck, honey. I couldn’t turn away from you if I tried.”

“David,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

He moved his head back. “I can’t make you a lot of promises, but I can promise you that as long as you’re with me, I’ll take care of you. Make you feel safe to do or say whatever the fuck you want to do. Understand me?”

It wasn’t quite the happily-ever-after promise she’d dreamt of as a little girl. But then again, he’d told her from the beginning that he wasn’t boyfriend material.

“Yeah, I get you.”

Leo touched his shoulder. “Hey man, it’s time.”

David looked away from Cass and gave Leo a slight nod, but he didn’t break the hold he had around her. He turned back and brought his face closer to hers.

“I want you to remember something before we do this.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“It’s just you and me up there. No one else matters. Got it?”

She nodded, unable to respond with words. Her emotions were too close to the surface, and she needed a moment to quell the rising wave.

He took her by the hand, grabbed a bag that Leo gave him, and led her through the crowd, up the elevator, and to a private room with a small stage toward the back end.

People had already gathered around, standing room only, waiting for David to do his thing. Except for a single spot light, the room was dark.

As he led her to the stage, the crowd parted for them, and a hush descended over the room. She’d never experienced a room become completely silent so quickly. As they got to the stage, she noticed a large wooden ring was suspended by long rope hooked to the ceiling. He dropped the bag and had her stand in the middle.

With the light shining down on them, she realized she couldn’t make out anyone in the audience, and with everyone being so quiet, it was as if they were in a large, empty, blackened room. The only way for her to tell otherwise was the heat. She could feel their collective body warmth surrounding her.

She blinked a few times and stared out into the dark, trying to find a bit of air. Just then, David turned her around so her back was to the audience.

He whispered in her ear, “Forget they’re even there, honey.”

“I know, but it’s so…hot in here. I don’t want to faint on you.”

He pressed his hand to her forehead, neck, and back. “You’re fine. A little warm. We’ll cool you off.”

She gave a half-smile.

He offered her his water, and she took it and drank. Its coolness cascaded down her throat, totally refreshing and renewing her. Meanwhile, David took the cloth and ran it over her body—the back of her neck, the pulse points of her wrists, and down her spine.

“Better?”

“As good as I can be without knowing what to expect.”

“That’s a fair answer,” he replied, then offered her a wide and genuine grin.

Damn, watching him smile made her feel melted and squishy inside, and she knew she would do almost anything to make him smile like that more often.

“I’m really happy you’re here, Cass. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

“Really?” Her voice betrayed her joy at hearing his small confession. They’d spent so much time focused on what she wanted that she only now realized she’d barely gotten a glimpse into his own hidden desires.

“Oh yeah. Absolutely.” He gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.