Bound to be Tested: Emergence, Book 3 (2 page)

He was six foot two, and even in her high heels, Lori stood only about five six.

“Your wrist will flick better if you don’t hold it so tight.” He took the flogger from her hand now and held it out in front of her, his enormous body brushing against her back as he demonstrated his objective.

Lori couldn’t breathe. She stiffened. Emotions welled up inside her and threatened her very existence. Damn him to hell. Damn him for showing up at the club uninvited and interrupting her scene. Damn him for touching her. He had no right. He’d given up that right two years ago when he’d walked away, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her life without him.

And damn him for making her pussy wet and her nipples hard at the sound of his voice. The memories he evoked made her tremble. It was all she could do to keep from kneeling at his feet and ducking her face to kiss the ground in front of him.

His hold on her had been that firm. It still was.

Fuck him.

She needed to be strong. Shake herself out of the trance he’d woven in the past few minutes and regain control of her scene.

Before Lori could open her mouth to speak, he handed her the flogger, released her and stepped back. Again she wanted to slap him. Her traitorous body begged him to wrap her in his warmth. His scent had tormented her and she could smell his distinct maleness from a foot away.

“Try again. Aim higher, across the top of her cheeks. Don’t be in a hurry. She isn’t going anywhere.” He stepped behind Margaret, and Lori whipped her gaze to her sub’s face. She stepped closer to Margaret and ran her hand down her sub’s butt.

Margaret had angled her head only a fraction in the direction of the interruption. Curiosity no doubt ate a hole in her. Lori wasn’t about to stop for introductions. She needed to get through this scene with her dignity intact. She circled her sub, trailing her fingers across Margaret’s skin until she reached her front. Crouching to line up their faces, she stroked Margaret’s cheek. “Don’t worry, pet. He’s harmless.”

Lori didn’t believe those words, but she hoped she conveyed them to Margaret. Nothing about Jude was harmless. Not where it concerned Lori anyway.

She turned her face to glare at Jude, still holding Margaret’s chin. “I’m in charge here,” she said for both Jude’s and Margaret’s benefit.

She righted herself and petted her sub to soothe her. Or maybe Lori was the one needing the soothing. Her heart pounded and she had trouble keeping her hands from shaking. Smoothing her palms over Margaret helped ground her. She needed to regain control of her scene.

Her mind warred with itself to turn around and tell Jude to get the fuck out of Emergence. It wasn’t something she could quite muster.

She needed to keep her chin high and perform her scene, and then she could leave Emergence herself and suck oxygen into her burning lungs.

She struck Margaret again, her wrist looser, the flogger landing just above her sub’s butt crack. A squeak escaped Margaret’s mouth this time.

Lori paused to catch her breath. She felt winded. Light-headed.

“You can’t let her get away with that,” Jude instructed. “You told her no noises.”

Lori lifted her gaze to his, her nostrils flaring now. She narrowed her eyes at him, seeing him clearer.

His head had been shaved recently, within a few weeks. The dark stubble invited her to run her hand over the short growth that extended to his stubbly beard. He was darker than she’d ever seen. Tanned. His bare chest rose and fell with his breaths, begging her to run her tongue over it. Whatever he’d been doing, it had been outside.

He was wider too. His shoulders broader than she remembered, or maybe he was just larger than life right at that moment. And he sported a tattoo now, something she couldn’t see clearly from this angle on his bicep. He winked at her, making her angrier.

“Jude, you’re not in charge of this evening,” she managed.

His smile disappeared in an instant, and he leaned toward her as though she were his. For a split second she
was
his again. She wasn’t the only one who felt it. He lifted a hand and opened his mouth as though his next words were going to put her in her place—at his feet. His pointer even extended. She’d seen that stance before. Many times. He would command her to front and center when she didn’t perform to his expectations, and she would scamper to kneel at his feet, knees spread, arms behind her, forehead on his toes.

When she was in that position, she was totally his.

Not today, buddy. I’m
not
yours anymore. You gave that up when you told me not to let the door hit me in the ass on the way out
.

Nevertheless her brain scrambled and she couldn’t form the words she badly wanted to say to him.
Get. The. Fuck. Off. My. Scene
.

Instead of finishing his signature, point-to-heel move, he flexed his palm and stepped around Lori to her bag.
Her
bag. Not his. Even though he’d bought her the duffle and most of the accoutrements inside had been chosen by him, it was hers now.

Before she could utter another syllable, he returned, holding a ball gag she knew well. He lifted her free hand and set the toy in her palm. When she angled her narrowed gaze at him, he held his brows high as if to say, “Well, get to it. You know where it goes.”

Lori snatched the toy from him and tossed it back toward her bag. It hit the floor, almost making its target. Burning anger mixed with lust. She met his gaze dead on, something she never would have done in the past. “This is my scene, Jude.” She kept her voice low, trying not to involve the entire room in her altercation.

“And it looks like you could use a few pointers.”

She gritted her teeth and glanced around. At least a dozen people were watching, paying close attention. They were frozen. It wasn’t often someone interrupted a scene. That sort of behavior was strictly forbidden.

As Lori turned to face Jude again, Carlton stepped through the crowd. The front door manager at Emergence didn’t tolerate any violation of the rules. But would he exert his power over his long-time close friend, even though Jude hadn’t been around for over two years? “Jude.” He shook his head. “What’re you doing, man?”

Lori stepped back and turned her attention to Margaret. She leaned in and kissed her ear, and then she whispered to her, “It’s okay, pet.” She stroked Margaret’s lower lip. “Ready for more?”

“Yes, Mistress.” Margaret didn’t lift her gaze.

Lori kissed her sub’s ear again, breathing into the space behind her lobe until Margaret shivered and emitted a low moan.

When Lori stepped back to resume her scene, Carlton stood to the side, his brow furrowed, his arms crossed. “You want me to escort him out?”

Lori considered the idea for a moment. Jude was on her last nerve. Finally, she shook her head at Carlton and glanced at Jude. Fuck him. He wasn’t going to bully her. Not if she didn’t let him. She lifted her head and shook off the intimidation she’d felt.

The cocky bastard stood his ground, legs apart, head held high. As if he owned the planet and all its inhabitants, he tipped his head and addressed Lori again. “Are you opposed to a few pointers?”

Lori stared at him again. What she wouldn’t give to have the last two years erased from her memory and filled with Jude loving her the way she’d dreamed about in the darkest hours.

“Let me help you out. Just for a few minutes. And then I’ll leave you in peace. For old time’s sake.”

The last thing she wanted to do was make this a big deal—one that involved her now. People were watching, so many of them it seemed the entire club had gathered by now. They’d probably heard about Jude’s reappearance and joined the party like magnets.

He had that effect on people. Even when he wasn’t engaging in a scene. It had always infuriated Lori for women to plaster themselves all over him while she subbed for him. If she was with a man, on a leash no less, then she damn well felt she deserved the respect of others around her to allow her to absorb his attention.

For his part, he’d never allowed anyone to interrupt, nor had he turned to the right or left to look anyone in the eye when he was with her, but it had niggled her to no end.

Margaret squirmed.

Lori turned toward her and grabbed her chin again. “Stay still. You’re still my pet. You don’t have permission to break from this scene no matter what.” Lori released her and stepped behind her. “Whatever I do, you know you’re safe. And you have your safe word.”

She had no idea what else might happen in the next half hour, but she’d bet her last paycheck it wouldn’t be directed by her any longer.

Damn infuriating, sexy son of a bitch.

She couldn’t decide if she wanted to slap him or kneel at his feet.

And that made her angrier.

Poised beyond her imagination, she took a deep breath and inspected one of the lines she’d made on her pet. It was in fact, perfect. Even. Raised. Pink. It would last several hours but not leave Margaret cringing tomorrow.

Not that it was any of Jude’s goddamn business.

She flinched when Jude set a hand on her forearm and whispered for her ears only, “You need to strike again before she starts to come down. It’s been too long.”

She turned on him but just managed to rein in her aggravation to keep from hitting his face with the flogger instead of Margaret’s fine flesh.

Carlton stepped closer, joining them on the mat. “Lori?”

She tipped her head up to meet Carlton’s gaze. “It’s okay. He’s barely a distraction.” She didn’t believe that for a second. What she did know, however, was that dozens of people were watching her and judging her, the crowd growing as word spread that a new man had stepped onto the scene and taken over. It was unheard of. It seemed more prudent to save face by playing this out as though it were planned rather than potentially causing a total disturbance by kicking Jude to the curb.

Besides, the damn man was under her skin. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted answers. And the only way to get them was to finish the scene out and ask the hard questions.

Carlton lifted both eyebrows, clearly not buying her attempt at nonchalance, but he wandered back to the front of the club anyway.

Trying to ignore Jude’s presence, she let the leather swish through the air once again. This time she struck her sub along the backs of her thighs.

“Again, two more in quick succession.” He hadn’t waited for her consent. He just took over.

Lori glanced to the side to find Jude nodding at her. Encouraging her to continue.

She turned back to her sub and swatted across her ass again and then her lower thighs. Perfect pink welts rose in both spots.

“Soothe them. Stroke her skin,” he commanded.

Lori switched the flogger to her left hand and caressed Margaret’s ass and her thighs, running the flat of her palm over the pink lines and massaging them to ease the discomfort.

Margaret moaned.

“You should have gagged her, baby.” His tone was low, deep, only loud enough for those very close to him to hear.

Lori twisted her face to Jude’s again and shot him a glare. Against her will. She didn’t want to look at him. Every time she made eye contact, she melted a little.

Jude shook his head. “Okay. You don’t like the gag.”

Lori stuffed the flogger under her arm, conscious of the way it made her corset press out. She stepped up to her sub on feet that held much less confidence than ten minutes ago. She held her sub’s chin. “Do you want me to gag you?”

“No, Mistress. I’ll keep quiet.”

Lori glanced down at her chest as she got a hold of the flogger’s handle again. She had goose bumps and her nipples were barely covered by the front of the bustier. She couldn’t adjust now. It would look awkward.

She took a deep breath before lifting her gaze to Jude once more. He might have a hold over her she could barely control, but she wasn’t about to lose the battle with him over the gag. Even if her only reason was purely based on principle.

“Another three strokes, baby.” He stepped closer. “Keep them on her ass this time. Three distinct spots.”

Lori swung again, coming close to nicking Jude’s leather-bound legs. She almost wished she’d been less accurate and cut his skin beneath the damn tight, fucking sexy pants.

Instead she hit her mark precisely. Three quick strikes that made her pet lean forward, putting too much weight on her shoulders.

Lori eased her back into position, holding her steady.

“She’s fine. Rub the new marks. Squeeze her cheeks. I want to see you make them pink.”

As if she were a puppet, Lori fell under his spell. She held a very fine, thin balance between being in control of this scene and feeling like a marionette.

To the innocent bystander who wandered onto the scene late, it might have seemed she’d specifically asked the Dom to aid her tonight. She could play that off. Her closest friends and those who’d been members for years knew better, but the majority were probably confused.

Lori straddled Margaret’s legs, tucked the flogger under her arm again and smoothed her palms over her sub’s cheeks. She squeezed and molded her hands to the delicate flesh, rubbing her thumbs lower with each caress until they were perilously close to Margaret’s sex.

“She’s rocking with your movements, baby. Stroke through her folds. Show me how wet she is.” Jude stepped closer and leaned toward Lori. “So pink and sexy. I love your work.”

Lori glanced up at him.

He nodded at Margaret’s spread thighs. “Go ahead.”

Lori turned her attention back from the rock-hard, naked chest of her former Dom to the submissive she was supposed to be caring for. She released one warm butt cheek and reached between her pet’s legs, stroking through her folds with one finger.

Margaret bucked into the touch, as much as her bound figure would allow.

When Lori lifted her finger, glistening with Margaret’s juices, Jude gave a low, barely audible whistle. “Suck it clean, baby.”

Lori flinched. She wanted to lick Margaret’s moisture and had intended to, but it didn’t feel the same having Jude demand it of her.

She wanted to kick herself for falling under his spell as though time had stood still for two years. Where the fuck had he been, and who the hell did he think he was waltzing into Emergence and directing her to his bidding?