His text came back a few moments later.
Landon: Looking forward to breaking you in.
I made an annoyed face at my phone. Breaking me in? If that’s what he thought—
I angrily tapped out a response.
Andi: Good luck with that.
I found myself grinning as I reread our brief exchange, then wiped the smile off my face. Landon wasn’t a grinning matter.
The door opened, and I was greeted by the frowning demon himself. “Took your time,” he said.
“Judging by the scowl on your face, it looks like I took your time.”
Apparently, Landon didn’t appreciate my blinding wit, because all he did was gesture for me to come through the door. He stuck his arm out to stop me from going any further.
“Before we go in,” he said. “We need to establish some ground rules.”
“You were that kid growing up who had way too much fun explaining how games worked, weren’t you? Everyone would show up for a game of tag, then half an hour later you’d probably still be covering what constitutes a tag and what doesn’t.” I did my best nerd impression, speaking through my nose. “Only if five fingers make full contact! And when I say five, I mean five!”
Landon had an arsenal of annoyed stares, and I thought the one he aimed at me now was of the mild annoyance category. “Are you ready to listen?”
I crossed my arms. “I’m just saying… Contracts. Rules. More rules. How complicated can this really be?”
“Think of it this way: you’re walking across a narrow bridge with no railings. The contract is a safety harness.”
“And the endless rules are, what? The medicine that makes you uncontrollably drowsy, so you fall asleep before stepping foot on the bridge?”
Landon took a calming breath, then, as was his way, he decided to ignore my comment entirely. “Inside the club, you will be my submissive. You will follow me everywhere I go, and you will not walk in front of me. Stay as close as you can, keep your eyes down, and absolutely avoid making eye contact with other men. Do nothing without my permission. Understand?”
I worked my lips to the side. “What if I need a bathroom break? Do I raise my hand? Two fingers? One?”
“You tell me you need to use the restroom.”
“And what happens if you tell me to do something I don’t want to do?”
“You use the safe word. It will be—”
“The geese flew south for the summer.”
“What?”
“That can be our safe word. It’s supposed to be something we wouldn’t ever say by accident, right?”
“It’s supposed to be a safe word. Not a safe ridiculous phrase. And the safe word isn’t up for a vote. Yellow means you’re uncomfortable, but willing to proceed. Red means stop.”
“Boring. But fine.”
“Now come with me. Remember, eyes down and follow close behind me. It’s important that everyone else in the club knows your mine.”
I hated how a little fluttering blast of nerves rose up at his words. Mine. I could make all the stupid jokes I wanted, but inside, I was absolutely freaking out. Despite the contract and the extensive rules briefings, I still had no idea what I was getting into. I hardly even remembered all the things Grandpa Willy read off on his list.
“Red!” I half-shouted.
Landon turned and fixed an annoyed look of the more severe variety on me. “What?” he asked through tight teeth.
“Just making sure it works,” I said, flashing a sweet smile.
When we were out of the little private hallway that came from the wine cellar, the club seemed to thump to life around us. Sensual, porny music was pulsing from a hallway. To complete the picture, a guy was making out with two leather-clad women at the bar.
If only Miss Couch, my second grade teacher, could see me now. She’d always said how I was such a little sweetheart and how she knew I was going to do something special with my life.
Check it out, Miss C. Little did you know, I would be prowling the underground porn club my grandpa sort of planned to leave me as part of my inheritance.
I jumped when Landon’s finger touched my nose. Gently, he tilted my head down, then waited a few seconds to make sure I got the message.
Eyes down. Yeah, yeah.
I tried my best to keep close, but not so close that I got in front of him, but also not so far that people wouldn’t think I was “his” while he headed for the bar. It was all so ridiculous. But just like playing with Barbies way, way past the appropriate age, there was something fun about knowing I shouldn’t be enjoying it.
I sneakily peeked ahead without lifting my head too much and spotted his gloomy black hole of a brother at the bar. A woman was leaning beside him, clearly hoping her massive boobs would get his attention. It appeared they weren’t working. I was fairly sure Landon had said his brother ran one of the sister clubs, so I wasn’t sure why he always seemed to be here, instead.