Obeying Rowen: Club Zodiac, Book Two Read online

  They had a standing arrangement. When Sasha was going to be at Zodiac with the intention to scene with Lincoln, Rowen would take the rest of the evening off.

  He could handle his best friend dating his sister. He could even handle knowing his kid sister was submissive. What he couldn’t handle was watching her in any state of undress. So they had an agreement. Tonight he’d broken it. He rushed to straighten up the pile of paperwork on his desk.

  She tapped the top of his desk with her fingers, cocking her head to one side. “You’re out of sorts. Is something wrong?”

  He winced. “No. Of course not. Just wasn’t paying attention to the clock is all,” he repeated, tucking files into a drawer as if it were imperative he get them put away immediately.

  “Hmmm. I heard you saw Faith in action tonight. I can see how that would be distracting.”

  Rowen winced. “Carter’s a snitch.”

  She giggled. “She’s gorgeous when she gets in the zone, isn’t she?”

  Rowen avoided looking directly at his sister, instead pretending to organize his desk and tuck things away that didn’t need tucking. “I suppose.” She’s gorgeous even when she’s not in the zone.

  “Have you officially met her? I could introduce you.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  She laughed again, the sound grating on his nerves. Sometimes he hated how well she could read him. They were close. They had always been close, but after their mother died when Sasha was only twelve, they grew even closer. Rowen was ten years older, and he practically raised her.

  “It’s been three months since you and Rayne broke up. It’s amicable. You’ve both proven you can remain friends and still be members of the same club. I’m quite sure she doesn’t care who you scene with.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” He pushed his chair in and glanced around, completely out of ways to avoid looking Sasha in the eye. And why did he have to go and ask such an open-ended question?

  “Don’t be coy.”

  At the insult, he lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Don’t you have a scene to prepare for, twerp?”

  She sauntered across the room and took a seat on one of the armchairs in his sitting area. As she crossed her legs dramatically, she leaned one elbow on her knee. “So now you’re going to resort to name calling?” she teased. “I must say I’ve never seen you this flustered over a woman.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m not flustered over any woman.” He stepped closer and pointed at the door. “Now get out of my office so I can lock it and get home.”

  Making no move to leave, Sasha narrowed her gaze. “I don’t get the feeling she was always a Domme, you know. As amazing as she is to watch as a top, I can only imagine how she must be as a bottom.”

  Okay. Now she was going too far. Rowen didn’t want to picture Faith as a sub. As it was, his dick had been hard all evening. He didn’t need any help. What he needed was to go home, take a long shower, and go to bed. Although admittedly that shower would include wrapping his fingers around his cock and jerking off to visions of Faith.

  His palms were so sweaty he wiped them on his jeans. And then he closed the distance, grabbed his sister by the arm, and hauled her out of the chair. “Out.”

  She was giggling again as she let him lead her to the door. “I’ve gotten to know Faith a bit. I first met her when I visited Breeze a few months ago. I could talk to her,” she proposed.

  Rowen jerked her around to face him as they reached the hallway. “Don’t. You. Dare.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “I swear to God, Sasha. Do not interfere. I’m not interested in starting something with Faith Robbins. Stay out of it.”

  She smiled huge again. “You know her last name. How cute.”

  He rolled his eyes and groaned. “Sasha…” he warned.

  She shrugged and turned to saunter down the hallway toward Lincoln’s office, wiggling her fingers over her shoulder.

  Rowen couldn’t sleep. He’d gone through the usual nighttime motions—came home, showered, took himself in hand, had a beer. Now he was in bed staring at the ceiling. His dick was still hard, and his brain wouldn’t stop the running reel of Faith.

  What was wrong with him? He knew nothing about the woman other than the fact that she was sexy as hell, used to belong to Breeze, and could flog a sub’s rear end like nobody’s business. Oh, and she had money.

  Rowen had no business letting her muddle his brain. The last thing he needed at the moment was a sub who made his dick stiffen just looking at her. He had worked hard to get himself to a place where he could separate business from pleasure.

  The last woman he’d let get into his head had broken up with him and left him in a funk. He didn’t need that kind of insanity again three months later.

  Not that he was mad at Rayne. He couldn’t blame her for moving on. They weren’t compatible. She was hot. That had been what attracted Rowen to her in the first place. He hadn’t even met her at the club. He’d met her in a crowded bar one night over a year ago when they’d been out with mutual friends for happy hour.

  The truth was, he’d fallen hard for her because he’d been attracted to her, and then he’d let that attraction lead him by the dick for over a year before admitting it wasn’t enough.

  Rayne hadn’t been in the lifestyle at all when he met her. He’d introduced her and slowly eased her into his world in the hopes she would become the woman he wanted her to be. And she had gradually thrived, but her kink didn’t match his.

  Admitting that fact took him a few more months. Finally, they’d had a heart-to-heart one night and agreed to end their sexual relationship. They were friends. He wasn’t sure it would be possible, but it had worked. Rayne had joined Zodiac by then. She was comfortable in the club. She didn’t want to transfer her membership elsewhere. Besides, she liked having the ability to check with Rowen, or Carter, or Lincoln before she played with anyone new.

  Rowen was over her. That wasn’t the problem. He could move on. He’d started doing scenes with other women weeks ago.

  But no way was he going to let himself get led by the balls again over a pretty face. It never boded well. What he needed to do was find a woman whose kink matched his and then let the rest fall into place. As if that would ever happen.

  Two key factors had held Rowen and Rayne’s relationship together—she was hot, and she didn’t balk at his chivalrous need to pay for everything. Even though she made plenty of money and liked nice things, she never challenged him about finances.

  Admittedly, he had a deep-seated old-fashioned belief that a man should take care of his woman in every possible way—including financially. It was ingrained in him. And no matter what people said, it got under his skin when a woman he was dating wanted to split the check or pay for things. Perhaps his mother had instilled this value in him.

  Or maybe his internal thought process about taking care of others had more to do with the fact that his own father had died when Rowen was young, leaving his mother without enough insurance money to care for the two of them.

  And maybe his convictions were further solidified when Sasha’s father took off and never came back. Rowen’s ten-year-old spine had stiffened from witnessing the two examples. He had vowed he’d never leave a woman of his without the means to care for herself. And he would work his ass off to ensure she and any children they had were safe, secure, loved, fed, clothed, and housed.

  Yeah, he was old-fashioned, but no one would ever be able to shake the foundation he had built. He nearly killed himself to get his degree while raising Sasha. He’d also put her through college. But he was financially secure as a result, and so was Sasha.

  He’d lived beneath his means for his entire life, stashing away money as soon as he was ahead of the game. He had plenty of savings now, and he could breathe easier knowing when he met the right woman, she would never want for anything.

  Unless she was rich. And she wanted things beyond his means.

  Rowen was getti
ng ahead of himself. He didn’t know for sure Faith was wealthy. Maybe she simply liked nice things like Rayne. Shaking financial concerns he was totally inventing from his head, he stared at the ceiling and reminded himself once again to concentrate on the facts.

  Faith was fucking gorgeous, and looks weren’t everything. Looks weren’t even some of the things.

  Okay, looks were some of the things. Denying that would be a lie. But no matter what a woman looked like, if she couldn’t be the kind of submissive he craved, there was no point in starting a relationship in the hopes she would change. In his experience, people were pretty much who they were. They didn’t change.

  Sure, they evolved and learned new things, but if he went back in his mind to a year ago, he would have to admit he’d known from the beginning that Rayne was not going to be compatible with him in the D/s realm.

  Lincoln and Carter would say he was a fool and encourage him to play with a variety of women without worrying about whether or not they could be “the one.” And for the most part, Rowen agreed with them. It was a fine policy. He did it often. He scened with someone at least once a week.

  But not anyone who made his dick hard. He stayed away from them. The only thing that could come of that was heartache down the line. When his heart raced and his cock pulsed, it was a sure sign he was going to be disappointed at some point when he got to know the woman better.

  In this case, he already knew too much without even speaking to Faith. He’d bet anything she was not strictly a Domme. Which meant she had to be a switch. He didn’t do switches.

  To be more precise, he didn’t bottom. He could scene with just about anyone. Didn’t matter to him if they were dominant with other people. But there was no sense letting his heartrate increase watching a woman top a man because chances were somewhere down the line she would want to top him. And Rowen didn’t have any interest or inclination to do that.

  Of course, watching Faith perform earlier hadn’t been what made Rowen’s blood pump. Nope. It was a certain something he’d been trying to put his finger on the entire time. And that certain something had been crystal clear when she finished and walked away.

  He had no idea what her story was, but she was also submissive.

  So, if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t lying in his bed visualizing anything she’d so fluidly done in her performance that evening. Nope. He was picturing her on her knees, head bowed, blond hair cascading over her breasts. He was picturing her mouth wrapped around his cock, her hands behind her back, her alabaster skin completely bare to him.

  He was imagining what her tits looked like, what color her areolas were, if her pussy was shaved. Did she scream when she came? How many orgasms could she give up to him in one evening?

  Rowen groaned and flipped onto his stomach, tucking his hands under his pillow and trying to stop the rapid flash of imaginary photographs from keeping him awake.

  He was in so much trouble.

  Chapter 3

  Faith woke up Saturday morning with a headache. She rolled over, glanced at the clock and groaned, burying her head in the pillow. She knew she had a pile of emails to get to, but she needed more sleep.

  Playing the role of Domme always wore her out, but the effects didn’t usually linger into the next day. After the stressful week she’d endured, however, it was no wonder. She was exhausted, mentally more than physically.

  She loved her job working for the city as the event planner for many nonprofits, but some weeks she was slammed with events. This past week had been one of them, and she was well aware the follow-up emails would be jamming her inbox.

  The good news was she hadn’t run into her mother all week. If that had been the case, she would have a full-fledged migraine instead of a pounding headache. Any week that went by without that woman meddling in her business was a bonus.

  Why she bothered to stay in Miami at all was a mystery. She should cut ties with her dysfunctional family and move to Seattle or someplace equally far away. The only thing keeping her in Florida these days was her job, but that was a huge magnet.

  The city council loved her, and she loved them. Leaving them hanging without an event planner put a bad taste in her mouth. They counted on her. Hell, half the reason they adored her was that she kept her mother at bay. The woman stuck her nose in nearly every social event in Miami, much to the dismay of the city’s employees.

  She needed to get up. Coffee and some ibuprofen would hopefully eliminate the pain behind her left eye. A shower would help too. And some breakfast. She couldn’t remember if she’d had dinner the night before.

  As she rolled onto her back and blinked up at the ceiling. She had an appointment that afternoon with a new submissive, Brooke Madden. She was working with the shy woman on off hours when the club wasn’t open.

  Brooke didn’t have the gumption to come into the club when it was in full swing yet, and besides, Faith found a lot of gratification in helping newbies find themselves. She suspected in the long run Brooke was going to need a lot more help than Faith could provide, but for now, she certainly didn’t want to let the skittish submissive down.

  Time to get up, get caffeinated, and get moving.

  Rowen stepped into Carter’s office two hours before opening Saturday night, surprised to find Lincoln in there with him. “Who’s using a private room on the main floor if you’re both up here?” He’d noticed the closed door with the lights on inside, but he hadn’t wandered down the hallway in case Lincoln was in the room with Sasha.

  Lincoln was lounging on the loveseat, his feet up on the coffee table. “That would be Faith Robbins.”

  “Faith? Why?” And why the hell is my dick twitching at the mention of her name?

  Carter was sitting at his desk, flipping through a pile of papers. “She’s working with a newbie. It’s sensitive. They’ve been using a private room when we’re not open.”

  Both of Rowen’s brows shot up before he could stop them. Maybe he had pegged Faith wrong if she was so dedicated that she was spending that much time with a new submissive. Unless, that wasn’t what Carter meant at all… “Is she training a new Domme?”

  Carter chuckled. “Hardly.” He lifted his gaze, brows furrowed. “You still haven’t met Faith yet, have you?”

  “No.” Rowen lowered himself into the armchair across from Lincoln, facing both men.

  Lincoln laughed now. “Are you avoiding her?”

  Rowen flinched. “What? No. Why would I do that?”

  Carter spoke next. “Because she’s fucking hot and she makes every man’s dick hard watching her, even those of us who aren’t submissive. I get it. She’s intimidating. She makes me question my refusal to bottom every time I see her.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We simply haven’t crossed paths yet.” And it would be best if we didn’t.

  Lincoln leaned forward. “Faith is working with a woman. Brooke. She’s skittish to say the least and most assuredly not dominant. She needs guidance, and she’s not ready to make a public appearance.”

  Carter sighed. “She may never be.”

  “That’s dedication,” Rowen acknowledged. “How did Faith meet her if she doesn’t come when we’re open?”

  “Here, actually,” Carter said. “Brooke works for our cleaning company. She happened to be here off hours while Faith was practicing one day. They hit it off, and Faith’s been working with her.”

  Why couldn’t someone point out an inherent flaw in Faith that would make Rowen stop visualizing her as perfect every time his mind wasn’t focused on work or the club? So, in addition to not being a rich bitch who has no idea what she’s doing in the BDSM world, she’s also gracious and helpful?

  Awesome.

  Not.

  Rowen had concerns nevertheless. “And you’re both sure the arrangement is safe? How well do you know these women? Either of them?”

  Lincoln chuckled. “Jeez, when did you start doubting my ability to vet new members? Faith’s been coming on and off for two months.
I’ve spoken to her many times. Besides, I called Marcus Pierson at Breeze where she used to be a member to ensure she wasn’t a psycho lunatic. He highly recommended her and told me I had nothing to worry about.”

  “And the other woman? Brooke?” Rowen asked.

  Carter fielded that one. “She has signed all the paperwork. Faith explained everything to her before she ever touched a piece of equipment. They’re fine.”

  Rowen nodded. Unease still crept up his spine, though he suspected it was due to his compelling interest in Faith more than anything.

  This was perfect, really. Gave him a chance to rein in his attraction. Obviously if Faith was this dedicated to performing with a new submissive when the club wasn’t open, she had to be a true Domme.

  Right?

  No, asshole, she could still be a switch.

  And I still don’t do switches.

  He felt rather foolish that he hadn’t met Faith and hadn’t known a thing about Brooke. The truth was, he’d been rather scarce lately. He still kept up his end of the bargain doing the payroll and maintaining the books, but he’d been busy with the clients of his private accounting practice too and hadn’t had much extra time to come into Zodiac earlier than they opened.

  Perhaps it was a good thing he hadn’t been around much if the mere mention of Faith Robbins had his hands sweating and his cock stiff. He wished he were a fly on the wall in that private room downstairs.

  Four hours later, Faith’s hands were shaking.

  She was super glad the women’s restroom had a sitting area with a few lockers so she could relax in relative privacy. She sat on the plush red armchair and leaned her head back, closing her eyes while she took deep cleansing breaths. Tucking her hands under her thighs, she focused on debriefing herself after the intensity of her recent scene.

  It was always hard when she dominated someone. It took a lot out of her and left her needing aftercare almost as much as the sub. It was exhausting. So much concentration. Precision. Responsibility.

  She knew she was good at it, partly because everyone told her so, but also because a crowd surrounded her scenes in hushed silence.