“Why not? She’s pretty.”
He looks amused. “Are you jealous, Sophia?” he teases. He hands me my glass. “This is a new side of you.” His expression softens. “I only have eyes for you, sweetheart. Surely that’s obvious by now.”
It’s not obvious at all. “Why wouldn’t you sleep with her?”
“Apart from the fact that you’re the only woman I want to sleep with? Brooklyn has student loans and needs this job. I’m very rich. Consent gets murky under those circumstances. If I asked her out, she might not feel that she can turn me down.”
“You gave her your business card.”
“Sure,” he says easily. “If she calls, I’ll grab coffee with her. It’s a basic professional courtesy. Brooklyn wants to work in media, and I have several contacts in the field. I’ll connect her with the relevant people.” He takes a sip of his water. “People like me, we already have a built-in network. I went to the right school and the right university. I know everyone. Brooklyn doesn’t. I do what I can to help.”
Oh. I thought Damien was unaware of his privilege, but he really isn’t. That’ll teach me to form snap judgments.
“You’re staring at me, Sophia.”
“Sorry.” I hunt about for a different topic of conversation. “Why is breath-play against the rules?”
“Ah, that’s a long story.”
“Julian’s still working out the details of the scene. Should I be concerned about that, by the way?”
He laughs. “You said you wouldn’t know if you were interested in something or not until you try it out. Knowing Julian, he’s preparing a smorgasbord of options for you to try.” His expression turns serious. “I was at college with Xavier. So were Julian and some other people. We were very young and very cocky, and we all liked control. We all got into BDSM in a big way.”
Julian joins us just then, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“My friend Stephan really liked this girl, Lina. He was reckless; they both were. They liked to push limits.” His lips twist. “One day, a breath-play scene went wrong. Lina died. When Stephan realized what he’d done, he shot himself.”
“How old were you?” I whisper.
“Twenty.”
“That’s why Xavier founded the club,” Julian says soberly. “It affected all of us, but it hit Xavier on a different level. Layla, the girl he was in love with, was Lina’s twin. It's his way of asserting control over uncertainty.”
“You're not a member of the club. Neither of you.”
Damien shrugs. “I like domination. I like control. I enjoy sex when the opportunity presents itself. But I spend all my time working. My life is really not that exciting.”
He’s not lying; he does spend all his time working. His phone rings constantly. I don’t know why I assumed he’s a player—more snap judgments, Soph—but he doesn’t seem to be. He’s just a guy.
A really good-looking one.
“And you?” I ask Julian. “Why aren’t you a member?”
“I’ve thought about it,” he replies. “It's a good place to have casual sex with somebody who's on the same wavelength as you. But like Damien, I have other things going on.” A slow smile forms on his face. “Of course, when I’m at the club, I’m going to take full advantage of the facilities.” He runs his fingers down my arm, and goosebumps erupt on my skin. “Finish your drink, Sophia. Our room is ready for us.”