Page 49 of Crave Me
Chapter Seventeen
Simon
I’d finally gotten her to relax, to understand the lure of seduction pulsing in your veins when you enter Luminous. From the music, to the shimmering gray walls, the clink of glasses and crystal everywhere, Luminous was more seduction and desire than lust and sin. It lulled inhibitions and whispered of fantasy.
Chloe tightened beneath my touch, and I scowled at Dylan’s teasing tone.
“You need something?”
His expression as severe as always, Dylan glanced at Chloe before moving his gaze back to me. “I wanted to see how your sub is healing.”
I dropped my hand from Chloe’s back to her hip, brushing my lips against her hair. All the calmness in her had dissipated when Dylan strolled up to us. “You may speak to him, sub.”
Dylan’s eyes crinkled at the edges, the only proof he was enjoying this moment. I nodded at his slave, Gabby, the woman who had helped Chloe the night she was hurt. “And your slave, she’s well?”
“Ask her yourself,” he replied. “I’d like a few minutes with your sub, if you don’t mind.”
I trusted Dylan explicitly so I gave Chloe a tiny shove in his direction. “Just a few, we have a date on the St. Andrew’s cross soon.”
Dylan led Chloe away to the far end of the bar. It was to give them privacy so he could see how she truly was doing, but I still ground my teeth together. He didn’t touch her. Despite owning the club, Dylan always followed the rules and since I’d made it clear she was mine, he wouldn’t.
I still didn’t like seeing her talk to him, though. Especially when he said something that made her lift her gaze to his head-on and a smile stretched her glossy pink lips.
“Is she truly doing okay, sir?” Gabby asked, stepping up next to me. “I was so worried, and my Master’s been beside himself knowing someone was hurt so badly here.”
I ran a hand down my face. While I’d been instructing Chloe to forget everything from her last visit, I still remembered the blood-curdling sounds of her screams. “She’s training well,” I responded.
Gabby’s eyes flickered to mine and she pressed her lips together. “Which isn’t what I was asking.”
As a slave, she shouldn’t have questioned me in the first place, but I’d known both Dylan and Gabby for years. I’d been one of the early members at the club and had spent uncountable nights at their house enjoying dinner and football and hockey games. Dylan and I were friends, Gabby was one too, by extension, and outside the club, she was as tough as nails, owning her own bar that tended to get more than rowdy on the weekends. We went well beyond acquaintances at a sex club so I allowed her question.
“What are you getting at, Gabby?”
“She’s new to the life, obviously, and has already experienced what can happen. I simply want to know if she has someone to talk to.”
“She has me.”
She fought an eye roll, barely, and for a moment, I considered grabbing Dylan to discipline her. Friends or not, she still owed me the respect I was due as a Dom.
“I apologize, sir,” she said. The teasing glint in her eye told me she knew she’d pushed a boundary. It was one I wouldn’t tolerate for long. “And I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but Dylan has told me you’re simply training her. I’d like to get together with her and Haley so we can answer her questions. Just to make her more comfortable when you’re through with her. Sir.”
An unfamiliar pain squeezed my chest. “Be careful, slave, unless you’re itching for a punishment from your Master tonight. I don’t think Dylan would appreciate the tone you’re using right now.”
She smiled back, unaffected by my threat, but why would she be?
“I’m simply asking for your permission to take her out for lunch this weekend so Haley and I can talk to her.”
I took a drink of my water, having ordered it when I’d gotten wine for Chloe. There was a two-drink rule at Luminous but tonight I didn’t want to be affected by anything other than Chloe’s trust in me. “You have my permission.” I drained the glass of water, seeing Dylan leading Chloe back to us. “Call her tomorrow, after ten in the morning. She’ll be busy before then.”
My intention clear, I reached for Chloe as she returned and pulled her to my side. “You okay?” I asked, tugging on her hair so she was forced to look at me.
“I’m well, sir. Dylan just wanted to ensure I was healed and okay.”
She wasn’t nervous and she didn’t have an attitude. Whatever Dylan had said to her had calmed her again and she was back, leaning against me like she needed me to hold her up.
“Then are you ready to play?”
Her eyes moved toward the bar. I chuckled at the sudden look of nerves in her eyes and pulled her against me, my hand at the back of her head. “Finish your drink, sub. We’ll play only when you’re ready.”
