sake. Lauren had interactions with our murder victim and I was following a lead. I offered to stay until we had verification that she wasn’t being targeted. She said no. She doesn’t want protection? Fine. It’s no skin off my back. Crest has Ethan doing fly-bys anyway. There’s not much more to be done.”
Connor yanked the door open for another fun-filled evening of questions and answers. He liked it a hell of a lot better when coming to the clubs was a personal choice and didn’t involve interrogating people he’d come to know in an entirely different way. Jax walked in front of him, muttering something under his breath, but Connor ignored him and stayed where he was for just a moment as he tried to loosen his pent up frustration.
Connor looked up, seeing t wo submissives sashaying their way toward him. He knew exactly what those long dress coats covered and decided tonight might be a good time to get back into the game. He was a free agent, after all.
“Hello, ladies,” Connor said, fla shing his best imitation of one of Jax’s famous smiles.
“Aren’t you Master Jax’s friend?” the svelte blonde said, batting her eyelashes. It was as if she’d brushed away any inclination he’d had to play. Her false disposition became more apparent and Connor suddenly wanted nothing to do with her. “Is he here tonight?”
“That I am,” Connor repli ed in succession, answering her first question. “And he’s right ahead of you.”
As he and the women stepped into the club, Connor was hit with the smell of latex, leather, and sex. The same hint of orange soap fragrance wafted his way. Whip was set up totally different than Masters in that it had a separate room for play. The club wasn’t as big and had limited room. In front of them was a sitting area with a small bar, which only contained non-alcoholic drinks. This clientele leaned more toward edge play, since bodily fluids were permitted, making alcohol prohibited.
“Master…” the brunette paused, waiting for him to fill in his name.
“Connor.” He took his time looking around, noticing a couple of people he knew and more that he didn’t. He’d allow Jax to take the lead tonight, since it was obvious any questions coming from him would appear odd. On second thought, seeing Alex Snyder by the bar might be just the thing they needed to give this investigation a kick in the ass. That man was worse than Russell when it came to spreading stories. He looked down at the brunette. “What’s your name?”
“Juliet.”
“Is there a reason you haven’t removed your coat?” Connor asked, lowering his voice to indicate his disapproval.
“I was waiting on you, Master Connor.”
Connor snapped his fingers to the hostess, who’d been flirting with Jax. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized Jax must have been coming here more often lately. Was there something his best friend was keeping from him? The hostess laid a hand on Jax’s arm as she bypassed him and came over to retrieve the coats from the subs.
He raised an eyebrow in question when Jax looked his way. Connor could see that maybe he’d been too caught up in his own drama to notice what had been going on around him. His phone vibrated and he reached inside of his pocket. He’d have to shut it off anyway, since the playroom didn’t allow for electronic devices. Looking at the screen, he saw Ethan had shot him a text saying that Lauren was all snug in her apartment and that he was heading home for some shut eye.
“Anything important?” Jax asked quietly, as he wandered over his way.
“No,” Connor replied and then shut down his cell phone. He wished he could as easily shut down his concern for Lauren. She chose this, though. He also had a job to do. There shouldn’t be any distractions. “What about you? That hostess seemed overly friendly. Have you been playing here a lot?”
“No
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