Chapter 3
Dex smiled at the beautiful woman across from him. Kate wasn’t anything like he’d expected when he had been given this assignment. He knew she was a submissive to the rich and powerful, so he had pictured a vain, easily led woman looking for a sugar daddy. This vibrant, independent woman was anything but.
The combination of her long black hair, vibrant green eyes, and beautiful, pale skin made her even more striking. It was no wonder she was a much-sought-after sub.
He had read her dossier put together by the FBI, but after meeting her, he would bet she didn’t have anything to do with the plot to funnel money to terrorists. But he would have to prove it.
“How about you?” Kate asked, pulling the direction of his thoughts back to the present. “How long have you been in the fetish community?”
Dex fell into her effervescent green gaze. “Nearly eight years.” He cocked his head to the side as he studied her. She was a puzzle he needed to make sense of.
He could never leave anything unsolved. It made his FBI career perfect for him, but also drew him to the ever-changing equation of the D/s power exchange.
He smiled when he thought about his first sight of Kate. “If Master Ralston and I hadn’t interrupted, would Senator Balkins be in the ER right now having his broken nose taped?”
A pretty blush stained Kate’s neck and cheeks. He had expected her to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about, but she surprised him again when she met his gaze squarely.
“That was the plan.” She sipped her latte as if ordering her thoughts and deciding how much to tell him. “I’ve been turning Balkins down for months. Today, when I came through the front doors, he grabbed me and told me I had been ‘gifted’ to him for the night. I lost my temper.” She raised her chin. “If Master Ralston had spoken even two seconds later, Balkins would have already been squealing like a stuck pig, with blood gushing from his nose.”
“I figured as much.” Dex couldn’t help a small smile at the thought of Balkins receiving such instant karma. Although a man like Balkins would have found a way to make Kate’s life a living hell, no matter that he had accosted her and broken the club’s rules in the process. Something Dex still wanted to discuss with Master Ralston when he had the chance.
A flash of anger made Dex clench his teeth as he pictured Balkins with his arm around Kate’s middle, holding her back against him. He would save an equal measure of that displeasure for the idiot who had tried to “gift” her to the senator. When Kate’s manner became guarded, he realized his expression probably betrayed his true feelings. “Do all the Doms here treat women like Balkins does?”
Kate shrugged before taking a dainty sip of her latte. “Many of them do, but not all. Over the years it has eroded my love of the D/s lifestyle, and The Dungeon, and made me start to think about a change of venue.”
Dex bit back the urge to tell her to come to his home club in Phoenix, Club Desire. He was here to do a job, not reform an entire dungeon. Although the thought was tempting. As was the idea of having Kate come to Club Desire. He could already tell he would enjoy getting to know her. He hated for the lifestyle to be misrepresented in this way and didn’t like to see people become disillusioned with such a beautiful thing as the power exchange—especially for false reasons.
He mentally switched gears back to the topic at hand.
Dex watched the movement of Kate’s slender throat as she swallowed. He wondered what her skin would taste like, and what her moans would sound like if he nipped at that sensitive flesh. He reined in his thoughts. “You said you’ve been turning Balkins down for months, but I assume you have another Dom?” From her dossier, he knew she had more than one, but which one she chose to speak about would tell him a lot.
She gave a small sigh and swallowed again before she spoke. “Since I joined The Dungeon, I’ve ended up playing with several.”
Her manner turned wary, as if Dex would somehow judge her for having more than one Dom. But that was in no way unique inside the lifestyle.
He wondered if she’d received that kind of judgment in the past. Although he had to admit, there was a slight twinge of Dom territorial instinct going on inside him. Not only was he attracted to her, but he felt protective even though he’d known her for only just under an hour.
You’re here on a case, and she’s a possible suspect, he forcefully reminded himself.
He watched her trace the rim of the white porcelain cup with her fingertip. “Is there anyone in particular right now?” he asked, trying to find out more about her current Doms.