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  While Haley enjoyed watching some of the more intense experiences, usually threesomes or foursomes or some male anal fisting, I doubted she’d want to play there with Jensen.

  But I still headed down the hall toward the next one, intent on finding them.

  I was just outside the second room when a woman’s scream echoed into the hall. It sounded like my name.

  Outside the room, bouncer and security guard Zeke spun on his heels and shoved the door open.

  Another scream filled the hallway. “Simon!”

  What the hell? I ran down the hallway and burst into the playroom.

  I shoved a man away from the blonde strapped to the St. Andrew’s cross before I recognized Chloe.

  A thick mane of braided blonde hair whipped around while she flailed, trying to escape her bindings. She screamed again, chanting my name repeatedly. “Simon! Simon! Simon...” A sob wracked her and she turned her head.

  And holy shit. I froze, took in Chloe’s tear-stained cheeks, mascara running tracks down her face.

  “Simon,” she breathed as her glassy gaze grabbed hold of me. “Help me.”

  “What the fuck is going on here?” I shouted, and moved toward her. “Zeke, help her out of the bindings.”

  “Little busy, sir,” he said.

  My hands shook as I crouched and unlatched her ankle bindings.

  Above me, Chloe was completely naked. Long, thick red lashes crisscrossed over her back, droplets of blood forming. What in the fuck? Anger boiled inside my veins and I whipped around.

  Zeke had a man in a chokehold, pulling him out of the room as the man sputtered, tripping over his feet, unable to walk by himself. Which explained why he didn’t help me.

  “It’s okay, Chloe,” I said, running my hands down her legs to try to comfort her. God damn, this girl. What in the hell had she been thinking and what had happened? I jumped up after releasing her bindings and did the same to wrists held and shackled high above her head in a V-shape.

  “It hurts,” she cried. “So bad, Simon.”

  “I know.” Stunned at the quietness in the room, I whipped around.

  Gabby hurried toward me. She was the slave to Dylan, the club owner. In her hands, she held a thick, gray blanket. “I’m so sorry, sir,” she said, her voice quick and hoarse. “I’m so sorry this happened. Everything was just fine a few moments ago. Dylan and Zeke have that asshole contained.”

  “They better,” I growled. “And I want a fucking turn at him before he’s let loose.”

  It was clear to anyone in the room Chloe didn’t want this, not to be lashed until she was bleeding. How could no one have stopped it in time? The major requirements of BDSM and playtime were having it be safe, sane, and consensual. Dylan prided himself on running a club firm on rules and expectations. All members went through background checks, whether Dom or sub, and instances like this never happened.

  At least, they hadn’t before.

  “Come here,” I whispered to Chloe. She sobbed again, holding onto the wooden cross with her hands. Gently, I lifted her braided hair from her back before it could get stuck on her sweat or in one of her bloodied, caned lashes, and draped it over her shoulder.

  I ran my hand along her shoulder, fury seething inside me. She needed medical attention and care. Carefully draping the blanket over her shoulders, another sob poured from her. I turned her gently until her head collapsed against my chest and her knees buckled.

  She was in my arms, and I was cradling her, as she continued to cry. “Be still, Chloe. I’ve got you. I’ll take care of you.”

  Chapter Three

  Chloe

  Burning fire seeped through every pore of my body.

  I was in Simon’s arms. Finally, the place I always wanted to be and it had only taken a sadistic Dom totally ignoring my safe word to get it to happen. I couldn’t even enjoy the moment or the way his lips continued brushing over the top of my head.

  His strong arms surrounded me, every jolt of his quick movements pushed me tighter against him and with every bump, I whimpered. I’d cried so hard I couldn’t form any more tears.

  “Simon,” I whispered. “Help me.”

  Warm lips ghosted over my forehead again. “I’ve got you. Be still until I get you to the medical room.”

  He turned a corner and opened a door. Light switches were flipped and a low glow illuminated the room. I forced my dried eyes open further and glanced around before Simon laid me down on my side.

  “Let’s get you to your stomach, Chloe.”

  I leaned into his hands on my shoulders and followed his movements.

  Every shift made me cringe. My skin pulled and burned and I squeezed my eyes closed, shivering from the onslaught. “It hurts.”

  “I know.” He brushed wisps of hair off my cheeks and crouched down until he was in my line of sight. “I’ll get you cream for your wounds, clean you up, and have someone look at you. Then, we’ll talk about what in the hell happened to you tonight. Hear me?”

  “Okay.”

  His thick, sandy brown eyebrows pulled together and he adjusted his glasses. “And why you were shouting my name.”

  He flashed me a look, daring me to argue with him or refuse, but I wouldn’t. I was in too much pain. He’d heard me. I’d already humiliated myself once around Simon. And now this. I’d never be able to look at him again.

  “Safe word,” I muttered and closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see his look of surprise. “It apparently didn’t work.”

  Because what freaking moron chooses a man’s name, a man she’s always wanted and had a huge crush on, as her safe word?

  This moron, that’s who.

  A heavy silence filled the room, and Simon pushed away from me, the rustle of his jeans as he backed away. “I see.”

  He didn’t. He could never know how much it had hurt when I first laid eyes on him the night I turned twenty-one. I’d desperately wanted to go after him. Instead, he saw Cassie first.

  Claimed her instead. For the years they were together, I always tried to ignore the crush I had on him. I took what I could get from him, a friendship of sorts when we were around each other. I enjoyed talking with him when he spent time with my family, and I liked even more when I made him laugh. Never, did I ever think I would throw myself at him in such an embarrassing way.

  I was just the little sister, after all. I was too wholesome to be sexy, too many freckles across the bridge of my nose to be beautiful. Cassie was the one who stunned men to stupidity. She wrapped them around her perfectly manicured, thin fingers in minutes. And who could blame them? She had the super model frame and features along with an unparalleled intelligence. I got the short end of the stick, literally, considering I was only five feet two inches, with all of it.

  “I’m going to rub the opened wounds on your back with antibiotic cream, okay?” His hand ran over my shoulder in a soothing gesture. I jumped from the feel of his skin on mine, warming me. It made me tighten instead of relax. Simon was touching me, but by the gritted tone in his voice, he wasn’t thrilled about it. “Relax, Chloe.”

  “I can’t.” I groaned as he massaged my shoulders.

  “You can and you will.”

  Deep pressure pushed into me by the strength of his thumbs. He started with small circles until his hands were doing large circles with little pressure along the top of my back and spine. He kneaded my flesh as if he had all night long to do nothing except touch me. The stress in my shoulders melted away like the low tide, rolling out to sea.

  Relaxing like this around Simon was dangerous to me, and I had to stop it. I could too easily get lost in the feel of him, thinking it was more than the simple motions of taking care of a girl he used to know. I couldn’t allow my emotions to get twisted up in a fantasy.

  “I’m relaxed no
w,” I muttered, my eyes growing heavy. The pain had begun to dissipate. The sting of my wounds no worse than the prick of a rose thorn. “Can you please get on with it?”

  He laughed once, huskily and coolly at the same time. As if he sensed my irritation with him and my desire, and found it cute. Which was how men tended to see me.

  I despised it.

  “Your wish is my command,” Simon said, laughing again. “Which isn’t something I say very often.”

  My back tightened at the sound of his laughter, so beautiful and free and genuine. Pain shot down my spine at the movement and I cringed, crying out in pain. “Oh, God. It hurts.”

  His hand curved around my shoulder and squeezed. “Sorry. I’ll get back to work. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly. It might hurt until I get you patched up.”

  As the first breath left my lips, he pressed the ointment to my lash marks.

  “Ouch,” I hissed, squeezing my eyes closed. “Please hurry.”

  “Now, that’s not something I hear often.”

  Another shot of pain rolled across my flesh as he continued cleaning my wounds and covering them. The snip of scissors sounded as he cut gauze and covered me.

  “These aren’t so deep,” he said. A knock hit the door. “That should be the doctor. Would you like me to stay?”

  “You don’t have to. I’m sure you’re busy.”

  “I was bored, not finding what I wanted tonight. But I’m still curious why you chose my name as your safe word.”

  He stepped back and moved toward the door.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered, hating the scratchy tone in my voice. I was pathetic. Hanging on to a crush from a man who never wanted me, and even if he did, would never have me. What I’d done six months ago was a mistake. Not only was it humiliating, but it cemented the fact I would never have a chance at him. I should have given up the idea long ago but now, after our kiss it was so much worse.

  Him being so nice to me, taking care of me, hurt almost as much as the pain in my back.

  For months, I’d tried to erase the memory of our kiss, the moment he held me tightly to his chest, but it was futile. For five years, I’d wanted him, enamored by his confidence and rich voice, and the way he laughed easily, joked with my dad about football and hockey. He could listen to me discuss politics with my family, me the lone liberal surrounded by a group of wildly stuffy conservatives. When my dad would roll his eyes, Simon always smiled indulgently as my dad said, “That girl of mine. I have no idea where I went wrong.”

  The more serious Cassie and Simon became, the more I stayed away. But his smiles, the way he’d bring me to his side and hug me, let me rest my head on his chest a moment too long when he greeted me, those I remembered the most.

  Until that kiss.

  Now, memories of the taste of him and the feel of him haunted me in my dreams and fantasies. Regardless of how often I tried to brush them away, envision someone totally different like actor Taylor Kinney or quarterback Jimmy Garropolo, Simon’s glasses appeared in my mind, his full lips, his gray-blue eyes.

  “Hi Simon,” a woman said. “I hear we’ve had an incident.”

  “Yes. Chloe, this is Dr. Marie Stanton. Marie, this is Chloe.”

  Marie stepped toward me, her gaze sweeping my exposed back as she did so. She flashed a kind smile toward Simon before settling her hand on my shoulder. “Looks like Simon’s been taking care of you.”

  “Yes,” I mumbled. Embarrassment seared my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid as to get mixed up in this? This wasn’t my first time at Luminous. Until Simon wrapped me in his arms, I had no idea he was a member. When Jared, approached me earlier, I’d gone over a quick list of my preferences. I hadn’t gotten an inkling of fear from the burly Dom until he’d slashed me with a cane without warming me up properly. “You can go, Simon.”

  I couldn’t handle him near me. While the doctor moved her hand down my back, lifting and checking beneath the gauze, the room became stifling.

  “I’ll stay.” He crossed his arms over his chest and arched a brow.

  I didn’t have strength left to argue with him. I turned my head so I didn’t have to see the pity in his eyes. “Whatever.”

  “You have small, open wounds. They’re not deep enough to stitch, but they might scar. In addition to the pain, you’re most likely experiencing an adrenaline crash which is heightening sensations. You’ll have some bruising, and you’ll need to take it easy for a few days.”

  “Okay.” I was barely paying attention. Hard to focus on her when I could feel Simon glaring at me.

  She held up a bottle of oil. “This is arnica oil. It’ll soothe the pain from the caning and prevent bruises where you skin isn’t cut. For the rest of the week, take warm baths and soak your back. Do you have someone to help you put this on your back until you heal?”

  Hell no, I didn’t. I lived alone and besides Tyra, I didn’t have many friends in town. Plus, I couldn’t exactly call my family to help.

  “I’ll do it,” Simon said. “Every day, until you’re better.”

  I cringed at the authoritative tone in his voice. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know.” He turned to me, eyes blazing behind his glasses with something I didn’t understand. Wasn’t sure I wanted to. I’d already seen Simon pissed at me. I didn’t want to experience it again. “But I will, and you won’t argue. While I’m fixing you up this week, you’ll be answering all of my questions.”

  I swallowed thickly, words clogging my throat. His eyes seemed to penetrate into the deepest parts of me. I tried to look away from him and couldn’t. He was too beautiful, too confident and commanding.

  Him taking care of me, seeing me naked again, and then still turning me away would be disastrous to my mental health. Answering any question he had for me could potentially destroy me.

  I stayed silent, unwilling to accept what he’d said.

  Another knock sounded on the door and Simon opened it.

  “How is she?” a woman asked.

  I didn’t have the energy to turn my head and see who was there.

  “Bruised and banged up but she’ll be okay,” Marie replied. “I’m done here.” She pulled off latex gloves and balled them up. “You’ll take care of her?” she asked Simon.

  He nodded. “I will.”

  “Hi, Chloe.” Gabby, the owner’s slave, came in. “I brought some comfortable clothes for you to wear home, and I have your other clothes from the playroom.”

  I smiled sheepishly. I’d met her a couple of times but I didn’t really know her.

  She set both on the table next to me as Marie held out her hand.

  Fighting against the pain tightening my back, I let her guide me until I was sitting.

  “Thanks, Gabby.” I wanted to be in a bath with a glass of wine so I could revel in my embarrassment privately. “I’ll just wear my own clothes, though.”

  “You’ll be more comfortable, I think, with the sweats Gabby brought,” Marie said. “Your dress might be too tight.”

  “Okay then.” I scanned the room. “Can I please have some privacy to get dressed? That is if you’re done with me?”

  “I am. Arnica oil daily, warm baths. Get help to change the dressings. You’ll be fine in a week at the most.”

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “Call me if you need anything,” Gabby said. She brushed her fingertips over my knee and smiled. “I’m really sorry this happened to you, but I hope you know Dylan takes this seriously and he’s ensured that asshole will never step foot in here again.”

  After the two women left, I turned to Simon. “Privacy please?”

  He stepped in front of me until his denim brushed against my bare skin. It was only then I realized I’d been naked in front of him. Sure, he’d had m
e half-covered with a blanket, but now it was gone, and I was entirely naked, my breasts and shaved pussy on display in front of him. I covered myself with my arm.

  “I’d like to help you, and I know you want to argue with me, Chloe, but I’d also really appreciate it if you let me take care of you.” His voice. The way he worded it.

  I jumped and shot my gaze to him.

  Big mistake. With his jaw pulled tight, muscle popping on his cheek, and nostrils flared, he was still as sexy as ever and even more so when he slowly arched a brow. “Please let me help you.” Guilt flashed from his eyes.

  I suddenly understood why helping me would be so important to him.

  He looked at me and was reminded of Cassie and how his relationship with her ended. Of course, he’d want to help me. Maybe make some amends with me he couldn’t with my sister. This was so stupid. I was stupid. I never should have approached him. And I definitely never should have begged him for a kiss.

  “Fine,” I muttered. “You can take me home, but I’d like to get dressed in private.” Keeping one arm over my breasts, I reached for the sweats next to me. Every move made the pain so sharp I fought against the growing urge to cry out or puke.

  As much as I wanted to leave in my own clothes, these were better. Heavy enough to keep me warm, loose enough to not put added pressure on my back.

  “Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes, then.” He reached out and cupped my cheek. The move was tender and so brief, I barely registered the feel of his skin on mine before he dropped it and stepped back.

  I was still trying to process the gentleness of his caress and the soft look in his eyes when the door clicked closed behind him.

  Chapter Four

  Simon

  What the hell was I thinking when I insisted on being the person to take care of Chloe, to patch her up and get her home? While she dressed, I hurried down the hallway and through the club, straight to Dylan’s office.