Perception (Club Destiny #6)(114)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Lick your fingers clean.”

Xander glanced out into the club, watching Trent. The man was watching Clarissa, his tongue damn near hanging out of his mouth.

Fuck, maybe Trent would interrupt the scene. The man seemed to have a hard on for Clarissa. If they were all lucky, maybe the arrogant actor would waltz right in and claim the damsel in distress as his own, just like they did in the movies. If he didn’t, Xander wasn’t sure he was going to survive this scene.

In all honesty, it wasn’t going anything like he expected. Well, aside from him being tied up and naked. That was something he would expect from Mercedes. But she wasn’t focused on him. Somewhere along the way, she’d made this about Clarissa.

Was she scared?

Knowing she would never admit to it, Xander forced the question away, looking back down at Clarissa kneeling in front of him. She was using her tongue to clean her fingers had Xander looked up at Shane, noticing the man was on the verge of swallowing his own tongue.

Oh, fuck. That wasn’t going to end well. Trent, Clarissa and Shane.

Right.

“Very nice.” Mercedes’s voice echoed in the small room. “Now I want to watch you suck X’s big, beautiful cock,” Mercedes told Clarissa.

Fuck no. No, no, no. This was not going to happen.

Mercedes turned away and retrieved something from the counter behind her. When she came back, she handed a foil packet to Clarissa.

“Put this on him,” she instructed. “I think you’ll like this one. It tastes like grapes.”

At least Mercedes had the good sense to remember protection.

Oh, fuck. Please let her use her safe word.

Clarissa reached for the condom, but her hands were no longer trembling, they were shaking like a leaf in hurricane force winds. As soon as she plucked the condom from Mercedes’s long, slender fingers, Clarissa dropped it on the floor.

Clarissa reached for it, her eyes darting up to Xander and then Mercedes and back once again. He wanted to shake his head, to encourage her not to go through with it. Before he had the option, the end of the riding crop came up to rest beneath his chin, and Xander lifted his eyes to meet Mercedes’s glowing gray gaze.

“I want you to watch the pretty little sub’s mouth wrapped around your cock.”

The only sound that could be heard was Clarissa’s rapid gasps and the rustle of Shane’s clothing as he moved somewhere in the background.

Xander stared back at Mercedes, praying like hell she’d realize just what was going on here, stop before the damage could be undone. Or maybe that’s what she wanted. Maybe she wanted Xander to be with Clarissa so that she could use it against him.

He saw the battle in her eyes, saw that she was just as tormented as he felt, but she wasn’t going to cave. She was trying to prove something here, but fuck it all. He didn’t give a good goddamn about proving anything.

Not when it came to his love for Mercedes.

The instant she looked away, Xander said, “Red.”

Her eyes darted up to meet his.

“What did you say?”

“Red.” There was absolutely no mistaking the fact that he was using his safe word.

He saw the relief that flooded her face before she quickly masked it, doing her best to cover it up with something else. But no matter what she wanted him to believe, Xander knew the truth.

Xander didn’t see Shane move, but he noticed Clarissa getting to her feet. He looked up at his friend just in time to see the realization on Shane’s face.

Yeah, I went there, he thought to himself. I fucking love her.

Xander was pretty sure Shane knew everything he was feeling.

Without a sound, Shane helped Clarissa slip back into her dress, and the two of them disappeared out of the room.

When the door closed behind them, Mercedes moved over to the wall. She hit a button that released the chains and then another that flipped the glass from clear to opaque, sealing them somewhat from prying eyes. It wasn’t until she hit the button to turn off the microphones that she finally spoke.

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked, pretending to be oblivious to what she was referring to.

“Why did you use your safe word?”

Xander didn’t answer immediately. He waited for her to come over to release him from the chains that still restrained his arms and legs.

He wasn’t about to make the biggest admission of his life while he was in a fucking playroom at the club, chained to the wall. Knowing that Mercedes would likely flee the room and leave him there, he decided to wait.

She must’ve realized it too.

~~**~~**~~

Mercedes was barely breathing. There was a roaring in her ears that had nothing to do with anger and everything to do with relief.