Perception (Club Destiny #6)(51)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Holy shit. Clarissa and Shane. That was an interesting combination. Then again, Clarissa was an unattached submissive, and she had known that her friend thought rather highly of Shane.

“Are the two of you…?” Mercedes couldn’t get the words out.

“We’re just playing,” Shane assured her. “Nothing serious.”

Maybe not for him, Mercedes thought to herself. She made a mental note to call her friend first thing tomorrow. As much as she loved Shane, she wasn’t at all sure he was the best man for Clarissa to be playing with.

“So who’s your victim tonight?” Xander asked, his tone gruff.

When Shane looked over his shoulder, Mercedes glanced in that direction. There, on the other side of the room was a pretty blonde and an equally pretty brunette staring back at them.

Yep, that’s the way Shane played. It wasn’t surprising to see he’d set his sights on two women for the night. It took a lot to hold Shane’s interest, and although he was a fun loving, laid back charmer most of the time, when he went into full Dom mode, his entire demeanor changed.

He liked a challenge and subs loved him for it. He didn’t play around, didn’t entertain the notion of relationships any more than Xander did. In fact, he made that point clear up front, and surprisingly, women still flocked to him. No doubt hoping they would be that someone special who could change his take no prisoners approach.

God, she prayed Clarissa wasn’t thinking she might be the one to change him.

Mercedes would’ve warned them if she could. But it wasn’t her place. And honestly, she enjoyed watching Shane and his inane ability to bring even the most defiant of subs to heel.

Then again, she had more than enough to think about. Like her own submission, and how, if at all, she was going to pull that off.

She glanced around the room as she waited for Xander’s next command or for Shane to make another snide comment.

It seemed most of the people she’d been introduced to the night before were also there tonight.

Off in one corner, she caught a glimpse of the incredibly handsome Luke McCoy, his husband Cole Ackerley talking to Trent Ramsey, and Sierra, Luke and Cole’s wife, cozied up to Luke’s side. That wasn’t surprising, especially after the impromptu ceremony they’d had the night before.

While Xander and Shane’s conversation echoed around her, the memory of that ceremony came to the forefront, still having the ability to bring tears to her eyes. She hated that underneath it all she had a soft heart, but witnessing the three of them pledge their love for one another like that had been beyond anything she’d ever seen.

Before she had a chance to linger too long on the memory, Mercedes spotted Samantha and Logan McCoy making their way through the club. She glanced up over her shoulder to see Xander was watching them as well. Turning back, she noticed that they’d stopped to talk to a couple she didn’t recognize, but she purposely looked away, hoping they wouldn’t feel her eyes on them.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to interact with them, but if she was going to have to endure what she’d been through last night – although likely on a much grander scale – she wasn’t sure she wanted such an intimate audience this time. Because no matter what she tried to tell herself, this time wouldn’t be a demonstration.

Unable to help herself, her attention was drawn back their way, watching Samantha as she interacted with her husband and the other couple. Yes, Mercedes could definitely see the woman’s allure. Not to mention her very blatant submissive tendencies. That thought reminded her that she’d told Xander he should take on Sam as a submissive because she was clearly more his style.

She swallowed the rest of her drink in one gulp and then turned to set the empty glass on the bar behind them. She needed to get her head on straight and thinking about Xander with another woman, sub or otherwise, was so not helping.

“Are you ready?” Mercedes asked Xander abruptly, interrupting his conversation with Shane.

Shit.

His eyes landed on her, hard yet slightly amused, and she immediately realized her mistake.

This was not her show, and she’d promptly fallen into her usual routine of directing the evening to the way she expected it to go.

Without a word, Xander downed what was left of his drink and then placed the empty glass on the bar before turning to face her fully.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

She’d well and truly fucked up that time. She knew earlier that she’d pushed her boundaries with her sarcasm, but now she could see the retaliation in Xander’s glimmering gaze.

And the chill that raced down her spine didn’t have anything to do with the temperature in the room.