Perception (Club Destiny #6)(7)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Oh, and he was Trouble with a capital T.

Ok, so yes, saying a man was beautiful, especially a man like Xander, would probably be an odd way to describe him, but in Xander’s case it was true. Beauty, at least in his case, wasn’t just skin deep, and because of Xander’s strength of character, his charm, and his sophistication, he wasn’t just the perfect package on the outside. The man was so much more than that.

For the record, no, she did not have a crush on her friend.

Ok, maybe a little one.

Not that she would ever even allude to it.

Fearful that she was ogling him a little too much, Mercedes forced her attention away from Xander and glanced over to Samantha and Logan, noticing they were both watching her intently.

That raised the question of what had Xander told them about her?

As much as she wanted to ask, she was well aware that she wasn’t going to get that answer tonight, so she opted to greet them rather than dwell on what he’d said to entice them to join them tonight.

“Nice to see you again,” Mercedes called from her spot several feet away. “If you need me, I’ll be…” She turned to look at the St. Andrew’s cross, for the millionth time wondering what the hell she was doing. Looking back at Samantha and Logan, she followed up with, “Uh… yeah. I’ll just be… over here.”

Not surprising, no one said a word in response. Mercedes could tell by the look on Samantha’s lovely face that the woman was both confused and nervous. Definitely an interesting combination of emotions.

If she had no idea what to expect, exactly what was she nervous about? That was a question Mercedes routinely asked of new subs who approached her with the same trepidation in their eyes.

On the other hand, Mercedes knew why she was nervous and confused. Unlike Samantha, she did know what was about to happen. It had everything to do with the damn “X” that was looming before her.

Both the St. Andrew’s cross and the man.

“Have a seat,” Xander instructed Samantha and Logan from behind her.

Mercedes glanced over her shoulder to look at Samantha once more, offering her a tentative smile which was returned. And yes, maybe it was just confirmation that she was a little sadistic because Mercedes was enjoying the hell out of the bewildered expression on the pretty woman’s face.

Being a Domme, long past her rookie stage, Mercedes was familiar with what was about to take place. There was just one slight problem: she was on the wrong end of the domination which wasn’t something she was at all comfortable with.

While this particular situation was one she was familiar with, despite the fact that she was on the receiving end, Mercedes was welcoming the twist in her very mundane routine that she called life.

And this was a three hundred sixty degree turn from what she was used to.

Chapter Two

Being a member of one of the most successful BDSM clubs in the Dallas area, Mercedes was familiar with this scene as well as many others. Demonstrations were a regular thing within the club she attended. No matter how skilled a Dominant thought they were, the mindset in their club was that there was always room for continuing education.

She could easily say that being part of a demonstration wasn’t the issue. Nor did she have a problem with an audience. It was a nightly occurrence for her when she opted to play at Kink.

So when Xander informed her of his master plan to introduce Logan and Samantha to a little bondage and submission, Mercedes hadn’t thought anything of it. BDSM wasn’t for the faint of heart, but she didn’t have to explain that to Xander. When he’d invited her to the opening of Devotion, the new club that happened to be in the exact same warehouse that had provided her original introduction to Xander, she hadn’t questioned him either.

Nor did she think to tie the two together and come up with her somehow becoming the night’s attraction.

Shame on her.

His last and final request had been what sent her over the edge. Tonight, right here in this very room, Xander Boone wanted to give Samantha a lesson in bondage and submission. The kicker of it all was that he wanted to use Mercedes in his demonstration.

“Why me?” she had asked him that night at dinner, but he’d easily avoided her question, in lieu of continuing to explain his reasons.

According to Xander, Samantha was interested in threesomes, or so he’d been told by Logan. And based on Samantha’s explanation as to why she enjoyed them, Xander felt as though she was more turned on by Logan’s natural domination of the situation than the actual inclusion of another man.

Made sense. Sort of.

Her understanding of the situation was that Xander had come to the conclusion that Logan got off by watching Samantha pleasured. By another man. Mercedes understood that.