But there was some angerforher. He wasn’t sure any of them saw how they marginalized Kenzie, but he wasn’t going to do it, and he wasn’t going to joke about it.
“Hi, Ben.” Lou rushed by, her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll be right out, babe.”
TJ strolled up, an indulgent look on his face. “Sorry, she got caught up working with Lucy on the op. They found some stuff about deliveries or something and now Lucy and Sami are heading to Northern France to do surveillance.”
“I thought none of us were going for a few days.” Ben didn’t like plans changing. He didn’t want to get stuck with Oliver. He might kill the fucker.
“Like I said there was some kind of shipment. Apparently Lucy’s been tracking equipment that could be used in producing the anthrax variation, and one of the addresses matched a property on the list from Nepal. They want to check it out. They haven’t left if you want to go with them.”
Hell yeah, he wanted to go with them.
Hey, Kenz, I know we’re in a delicate place but fuck playing. I want to work.
Somehow he didn’t think that would go well for him.
She needed this in a way he was only now starting to understand. In a club she could shed all the weight she carried on a daily basis. She could shine all she liked because she kept it there. She could unleash the part of her that longed to be the center of things, the part she sacrificed because she loved her family.
If she loved him, would she mold herself around him? Would she choose him? He would make her the center of his world, his reason for existing. He could give her that. He didn’t have a family. She had too much family. Could they be enough?
“Hey, we need to talk because Ben is under the mistaken impression that Kala hates him,” Cooper was saying to TJ.
TJ chuckled. “I don’t know if that’s mistaken.”
They started to argue but the door Lou had walked through opened and Kenzie walked out.
Completely naked.
Her hair was down, curling around her shoulders, which were back as she walked with careful pride. Her eyes were on him, no one else, and he could feel the heat from where he stood. It threatened to burn him up.
But there was also a coldness to her. Like she was half expecting him to reject her, and she would handle it like the queen she was and move on to the next Dom.
He felt his jaw drop and then the most compelling need to cover her the fuck up. He kind of wanted to tackle her and wrap her up in long skirts and turtlenecks.
“Oh, shit,” TJ said, his face falling. “Ben, if she’s doing this it’sbecause something hurt her.”
“Damn it.” Cooper ran a hand through his hair as Kenzie brazenly walked toward them. “Something’s going on. I need to talk to Kala.”
He’d picked out her fet wear from what she’d brought. He’d been clear what he wanted from her.
Was she being clear about what she needed from him?
“Well, hello, gorgeous,” a deep voice said. “Kenz, you are looking supremely sexy this evening.”
Oliver. Ben watched Kenzie’s lips turn up as though the compliment did something for her.
She was feeling vulnerable, and her beauty was one thing she was confident in. Or maybe it was her skin she was comfortable in. Maybe without clothes she wasn’t playing any part. She was Kenzie not Kala, because Kala would never walk through a club naked.
She needed this, needed him to play his part as her Dom because this was a place where she could toss off those clothes and be perfectly safe. Her chin was up like she was daring him to act on his impulses. To prove he was one more man who was going to put her in a cage and not let her shine the way she wanted.
He hadn’t grown up in the lifestyle, but he’d learned some of its tenets. There was a challenging look in her eyes, and he needed to soften her up. He wouldn’t do it by punching Oliver. He would do it by proving he could be what she needed. “Oliver, my sub is the single most beautiful woman in this club. I don’t mind you looking. She’s a fucking work of art. But we should talk about what happens if you touch.”
Kenzie stood before him, and he could sense some of her tension go when he said the words. She was still brittle, and it was obvious all the work he’d done on her when they’d cuddled and talked was gone.
So he would use his other skills to get his sub where he wanted her to be.
Purring and content and thinking about him.
“Absolutely not. I would never misbehave on a dungeon floor. I know this is my father’s club, but I’m in charge when he’s not around, and it might surprise you but I’m a stickler for rules. You have a contract in place?” Oliver asked.
