As he approached, Brandon grinned. “I’m not quite ready yet, but I’m sure I can whip you up something.”
Taking a seat at the bar, Daniel waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m good. Just killing some time. Is Ali still upstairs?”
Brandon nodded. “She should be down in ten minutes or so.”
Daniel spent the next fifteen minutes chatting with Brandon as he prepared garnishes and stocked the bar. The click of heels on stairs drew his attention. He watched as Ali eased her way down the staircase, her steps more tentative than usual.Why the hell is she still wearing those damn heels?
She glanced toward the bar and met his gaze. Daniel quirked his finger, beckoning her to him.
Ali made her way over, and he could have sworn he saw her wince a couple of times. She came to a stop in front of him and he wasted no time with pleasantries. “Take off your shoes.”
Bracing herself on one of the bar stools, she stepped out of her shoes.
Daniel was keenly aware of their audience, but he didn’t care. “Put them in your locker with the rest of your things. You won’t need them for the rest of the night.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She bent, picked up her shoes, and headed toward the locker room.
“Well, now. That’s a new development,” Brandon said once Ali was out of earshot.
Daniel figured this was going to be a reoccurring theme throughout the night. He didn’t have time to discuss it with him, though. “Is Cooper here yet?”
Brandon chuckled, not missing the dismissal and not bothered by it. “Yeah. Upstairs.”
Nodding, Daniel stood and made his way to the second floor. One of Ali’s jobs was to set up any rooms that had been reserved for the first half of the night. He’d reserved room number four, but he’d given no instructions as to how he wanted it set up.
Cooper, the dungeon monitor, was making some adjustments to a pair of chains hanging from the ceiling in room three when Daniel found him. The other Dom noticed him as soon as Daniel appeared in the doorway. Cooper finished what he was doing and removed his keys from his pocket. “I’m guessing you need supplies. I saw you had room four reserved.”
Daniel followed him to the storage room at the end of the hall. It had enough toys to supply a club twice the size of Serpent’s Kiss, which meant there was never a shortage of implements to choose from. All of them had been cleaned and sanitized, ready for the evening’s play.
“What were you needing?” Cooper asked.
“Wax.”
Cooper went to the far end of the room. “Body or pussy?”
“Both. In a variety of colors.”
A few minutes later, they exited the room, their hands full of supplies. Ali had marked wax play as something she’d done before. However, he was guessing it had been a while. He knew all the men she’d played with for the last two years and none of the scenes had involved wax.
Of course, it was possible she’d played with someone outside of the club, but he didn’t think so. One of the reasons Ali had joined the club was for safety and because she knew Katrina vetted every member.
Cooper placed the supplies on the table along the far wall and left Daniel alone. One of the downsides to playing at the club was they couldn’t have open flames. Having a bunch of mini crockpots lined up wasn’t exactly as sexy as holding a burning candle over his submissive’s body while the wax dripped down, but it still got the job done.
Once Daniel was satisfied everything was the way he wanted it, he headed downstairs. He scanned the large room for Ali, but she was nowhere to be seen. There were a few members beginning to filter in and Brandon had turned on the music. One couple was already on the dance floor, and he had no doubt they’d be making their way upstairs soon.
“Looking for your girl?” Brandon asked with a smirk when he approached the bar again. “I think she’s out front.”
“Has Bridget arrived yet?” It wasn’t quite six thirty, but it was getting close.
“I haven’t seen her.”
Daniel nodded. “Four bottles of water, please.”
Brandon opened the refrigerator and removed four bottles of chilled water. He placed them on the bar in front of Daniel. “You playing tonight?”
“Yes.”