Page 4 of Shadow
“Little one. What the hell are you doing out here in that outfit?”
Carrie bit her lip and let Ripley go as she looked down at her skimpy clothes. “Sorry, Master. Gage let me watch the security feeds, and I got a little excited when I saw you pull in.”
“Well, get your ass back inside. You can say hello to Boomer there just as well.”
“Is he always this grumpy?” Ripley winked at Carrie and slung an arm around her, ushering her toward the door.
She looked back at her husband and then up at him and grinned. “I’m not going to answer that on the basis of I’ve got two on screen interviews tomorrow, and I want to be able to sit.”
“Probably wise.” He pulled the door open and let go of her so she could walk in ahead of him, then held the door for Peter.
He blinked and did a double take when Carrie left his side and hugged a redhead with a remarkably familiar man standing next to her.
Leaning over to Peter, he said, “Is that President Givens’ son and daughter-in-law?”
Peter put a finger to his lips. “It is. Darci is a founding member of this place.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. I was bummed when Givens died. He was a great president.”
“We all were. This is the first time they’ve been back since Darci gave birth to their first baby.”
“I’m surprised the Secret Service lets them come out here.”
Peter chuckled. “Me being a former agent has something to do with it.”
Peter pointed Ripley to the small check-in desk, where he handed over his ID and signed a waiver. It was the first time he’d put his real name on anything in at least two years. He’d existed in the shadows for so long that most of the people he’d interacted with recently didn’t even know his real name. It felt surreal to think about all the old aliases he’d used but wouldn’t be using again. But that wasn’t something to dwell on tonight. So, he tucked his ID back in his wallet and followed Peter through the lobby doors.
In the main dungeon, Peter pointed out the bar, social area, and the hallway that led to some of the other play spaces, but Ripley declined the full tour, figuring he could explore later.
“Boomer, it’s about damn time you showed up around here. I was starting to think you didn’t love me.”
He turned at the sound of the Texas accent and flipped Gage Allard the bird with a huge grin on his face before he pulled him into a one-armed hug. They’d worked together frequently before Gage retired and moved to D.C. for reasons that were still a little fuzzy to Ripley.
“Did you come straight from a job? You stink to high heaven,” Gage said, stepping back and holding his nose.
He grimaced. A shower should have been his first stop. “Got off the plane and came straight here hoping to see Olivia.”
Gage winced. “Yeah, sorry about that, man.” He pulled out a ring of keys and tossed them to him. “My office has a shower. Go clean up and come back and visit. I’ve got some clean clothes in there, too. Just don’t wear my underwear.”
“I’ve given you my blood and you’re telling me I can’t wear your boxers? That hurts, man.”
Everyone laughed as he pocketed the keys and headed for the hallway.
After a shower, he felt much better, and he made his way back to the dungeon to look around. But he couldn’t make himself relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Every time a sub cried out from the strike of a whip or moaned in pleasure, all he could picture was Olivia in his lap or the way she’d clung to him the last time he said goodbye.
As he leaned against the bar, sipping a beer, and watching everything, Carrie climbed up on a barstool next to him.
“Hey short stuff.”
“You only get to call me that because you saved my life, and you rescued Adara,” she said with a scowl.
He went to tousle her hair, but she smacked his hand away.
“How is councilwoman Kent?” he asked, squeezing her shoulder instead.
Carrie grinned. “She’s great. Might consider running for another office soon. But that’s not who you really want to ask me about.”
He sighed and set the beer down. “Your observation skills are annoyingly good.”
