Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Audrey
Watching the interplay between Zeus, Noelle, and Mason, Audrey couldn’t deny that she was more than a little disturbed. She drifted to where Cassidy and David were. Both of them were frowning at the trio near the front door and talking quietly, and she wanted to know what they were saying.
Yeah, she was nosy like that.
Both of them looked up when they saw her coming.
“What’s up?” she asked quietly, glancing over to where Zeus and Noelle were now walking out the front door, Mason closing it behind them.
Cassidy sighed, keeping her voice low, even though Zeus and Noelle had left the room, indicating she didn’t want everyone else to hear what she was saying either. Most of them had gone back to their own conversations now, anyway.
“You heard what she said about the club she was kicked out of?” Cassidy asked, and Audrey nodded. “That’s my old club, too.”
“Ooh, so you know what happened?” Audrey had to admit she was curious. She might not entirely understand this whole kink thing, but she was fascinated by it. And she wanted to know more.
To her surprise, Cassidy shook her head.
“That’s the thing, I don’t. When everything was going on with her, I was dealing with Don.
I wasn’t going to the club much, and I definitely wasn’t paying much attention to any gossip or anything.
” She glanced at David again, her concern clear on her face.
“I do know that there was a whole bunch of drama around her eloping with a friend’s fiancé, but I don’t think that’s the same friend she’s talking about.
The thing is, when I saw her up here, I thought maybe she needed a fresh start.
Like me. So, I never asked anyone back home what happened. Now, I’m wondering if I should.”
“I’m sorry, back up, she eloped with her friend’s fiancé?” Audrey was horrified. That sounded like something straight from Reddit, not something that would happen to someone she actually knew in real life. Even with all the drama that sometimes occurred in her parents’ social circle.
Cassidy made a face.
“Yes. Apparently, it didn’t work out, so they got the marriage annulled, and she moved up here, looking for a fresh start.
Just like me. It’s a crazy coincidence that we happened to move to the same place, but stranger things have happened.
” Cassidy shrugged. “There haven’t been any problems with her until now, and I don’t know that this is any of my business, but this is the first time she’s said anything about being kicked out of the club.
If she really got kicked out, instead of moving up here to start over… well, I’m wondering why.”
“Well, I’m wondering now, too, and I’m not a part of any of this.”
David’s hand was on Cassidy’s back, and she could see his arm moving as he rubbed her soothingly.
“It’s up to you,” he told her. “Or, if you want, I can talk to Gavin and have him reach out.”
“Gavin?” Audrey asked.
“He owns the Outlands, the club up here, but he’s got a good relationship with Master Patrick, who owns Stronghold, the club I came from.
” Cassidy glanced at David, biting her lower lip as though she was trying to figure out what to do.
“That’s the thing. I know if someone gets blacklisted at Stronghold, Master Patrick sends out a heads-up to everyone else. He sent one about Don.”
It was really weird to hear Cassidy call someone ‘master’, but Audrey did her best to keep her expression neutral. She didn’t want to accidentally kink shame someone. She loved the idea of not being judged, but that meant participating in being nonjudgmental.
But her list of questions was piling up higher by the minute.
“To be fair, Don was a possible danger and a definite abuser,” David pointed out. “If her stuff was just relationship drama…”
“Master Patrick would never kick someone out for relationship drama. You have to break one of the rules. Relationship drama isn’t that.
There’s been plenty of people with relationship drama, with his closest friends, who didn’t get kicked out.
” Cassidy sighed. “It feels like I’m intruding into her business, though. ”
“She kind of shouted her business out to everyone here,” Audrey pointed out. “It wasn’t like you went looking for it. And she said something different from what she’d said before, or you wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”
“That’s true.” Cassidy glanced at David again. “I’m going to think about it.”
“I don’t think she’s a danger to anyone, or you would know,” he said. “Well, maybe dangerous to Zeus emotionally if he’s falling for her, but I don’t think she’s physically dangerous.”
“Yeah.” Cassidy didn’t look entirely convinced, but she put a smile on her face as Mason came over to them.
“Sorry for abandoning you,” he said to Audrey with a grimace. “I wanted to make sure Zeus knew he had backup.”
That just made her like Mason even more. Thoughtful. Caring. It was amazing to her that he’d needed someone to arrange his marriage. He was a bona fide catch.
“No problem. I thought it was nice of you to support him.”
“Mason, you’re the therapy guy. Thoughts on Noelle? And Zeus?”
Instead of answering immediately, he hesitated.
“I think Zeus is trying to fit into the team. I don’t think he has the most open personality, but he’s trying. I think it’s a good sign he came here tonight.”
“What about Noelle?” Cassidy pressed when Mason stopped there. It was hard to read his expression as he shrugged a shoulder.
“I think… I think she’s hard to get a read on. I don’t really know her, and I’ve only interacted with her a few times.”
“Right. Well.” Cassidy looked at David again and shrugged. “Maybe we’ll hear something from Zeus later.”
Audrey did notice that Cassidy didn’t say anything about asking her friends from D.C. about Noelle in front of Mason, or anyone else, as the night wore on. Not that anyone brought up Zeus and Noelle. It was like there was a silent agreement between everyone not to discuss them.
Poor Zeus. She hoped he had an easier time fitting into the group over time.
The rest of the night passed without incident until it was time to go. As she got into the backseat of their car, she saw Mason a little ways down the street ahead of them, and her stupid heart fluttered again.
If she was going to have a crush on one of her brother’s team members, why couldn’t she have a crush on one who was available?
Or Mick. He was hot, if kind of a himbo.
Of course, the fact that her grandmother had monopolized most of his time this evening would have put a damper on that crush, anyway.
Still. Jensen was hot. Even if he did seem into Jennifer.
Okay, maybe there really wasn’t a good alternative on the team.
Why couldn’t she just not have a crush on anyone on her brother’s team?
“Well, that was fun,” Grandma said brightly as she buckled her seatbelt. She’d taken the seat behind David, while Audrey had gotten in behind Cassidy. She leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder. “Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time. That Mick boy is very cute.”
David glowered at her in the rearview mirror.
“Leave Mick alone, Grandma.”
“Why?”
“He’s too young for you, and I know you’re just… flirting… with him to get under my skin.”
“Maybe I’m flirting with him because I want him to get under my clothes.”
Groaning, David pulled out into the street, while Cassidy and Audrey choked on laughter.
She didn’t know if she was more horrified or amused.
God, she wanted to be her grandmother when she grew up.
She’d forgotten what hanging out with her was like.
The fact that she was actually their step-grandmother wasn’t the only reason Audrey’s mom had stopped talking to her; if she’d been a different kind of woman, the two would have had a different kind of relationship.
But Audrey’s mom would not have been torn between horror and amusement; she would have just been horrified and possibly in need of fainting salts.
“Thanks for throwing me a welcome to my new home party,” Audrey interjected before Grandma could give David an aneurism.
“You’re welcome. I just wanted you to know that we’re glad you’re here.” Even though it was dark and his back was to her, she could tell he was smiling. “I hope we didn’t overwhelm you.”
“You didn’t, it was fun. I hope everyone else had fun, too.”
“I know Mick and I did,” Grandma said with a snicker.
“I think they did,” Cassidy spoke over Grandma, talking a little louder than normal to drown her out. “It’s nice for them to get together outside of work. I’m glad Zeus made it, although I wish he maybe hadn’t brought Noelle and he could have stayed longer.”
“Me, too,” David agreed, apparently on board with Cassidy’s plan to ignore Grandma.
Audrey glanced over at their grandmother, who had narrowed her eyes and was glaring at the back of David’s headrest. She looked like she was plotting.
“Is there something going on between Jensen and Jennifer?” she asked. Maybe some gossip would help distract Grandma from hassling David. At least while Audrey was in the car. Afterwards, David would just have to deal.
“Not really. They like each other, but she started dating the doctor who did the surgery on David after he got shot,” Cassidy said. “I don’t think they’re exclusive, though.”
“Not yet. Jensen needs to make a move if he wants to keep it that way,” Grandma said. “You snooze, you lose. He keeps trying to give Jennifer the wrong pickle. That’s why I make my intentions clear. I told Mick exactly what kind of pickle I want him to give me.”
They were at a red light, thankfully, so it wasn’t dangerous when David leaned forward and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. His shoulders moved as he took in a deep breath. Cassidy reached over and sympathetically patted him on the back.
“Mason seems happier now that he’s engaged,” she said, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from pickles. “He was smiling a lot more tonight than he usually does.”
“He doesn’t usually smile?” Since today was the first time she’d ever met him, Audrey didn’t really have a baseline.
David had described all his teammates to her in the past, and he’d said Mason was serious, but that could really mean anything coming from David.
Especially in comparison to some of his other teammates—Jensen seemed to never stop smiling, and Drew was usually smiling as well.
“When he’s watching other people do something, not usually in the conversations he’s having with other people,” Cassidy explained.
“If that makes sense. He was definitely smiling more tonight, even when just talking. I noticed it while you two were chatting, right before Zeus and Noelle arrived. He wasn’t just smiling, he was laughing. ”
“Maybe being engaged has him loosening up a little,” David said, straightening up and glancing over at Cassidy. With the light of the streetlamp from overhead, Audrey could see the sappy smile on her brother’s face. “I know falling for you loosened me up, and now I feel like smiling all the time.”
Aw. Well, that was adorable.
“Good line,” Grandma said approvingly. “You’ll definitely get laid tonight.”
Audrey snorted, reaching up to cover her mouth with her hand and stifle her laugh. Poor David.
At least this was distracting her from the little bit of hurt that she felt that Mason hadn’t been smiling at her, necessarily. He was just more smiley because he was engaged.
Which is good. He shouldn’t be smiling because of me. He should be smiling because he’s engaged.
Right.
She really needed to get her head on straight.
Just because it was an arranged engagement didn’t mean he wasn’t really happy about it.
She was probably just on the struggle bus because she was new to Pittsburgh, she hadn’t had a chance to meet many men yet, and when she’d met him this morning, she’d thought he was single. It made sense that she’d felt an immediate attraction.
Now that she knew he was engaged, her little crush would go away quickly. She was just getting over the shock of that discovery, and her brain and emotions were catching up with the reality of his unavailableness.
After David dropped her off at her apartment building, Audrey went straight inside to her new home, feeling exhausted now that the evening was over. It wasn’t entirely unpacked yet, but she had all the basics. She definitely didn’t have the energy to do more unpacking tonight.
But she couldn’t fall asleep right away, either, when she got into bed. She tossed. She turned. Her thoughts kept whirling around the whole evening.
Mason.
Mason and Yasmine.
Hucows.
Mason.
Kink.
Mason.
Zeus and Noelle.
Mason.
Eventually, she decided she might as well get started on her new book if she wasn’t going to sleep.
Grabbing her phone, she rolled onto her back and turned it on.
Within half an hour, she was wide freaking awake and more turned on than she’d ever been in her life, but also more horrified by her arousal than she’d ever been. She shouldn’t like this. Right?
Human cows. Not something that she would have ever thought she’d find sexy. Though she didn’t think it was the cow part she found sexy. It was the couple. The way the hero was so bossy but caring. The way he made the heroine feel when she submitted to him.
The way he took charge of her completely, and she let him.
Dammit.
There was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep when she was feeling like this. Her nipples were hard, her pussy was wet, and she had an itch between her legs like never before… and she had no idea where her vibrator was. Somewhere in one of the boxes.
“Fuck,” she muttered, as she kicked off her covers and shoved her hand down her pajama pants and underwear.
Slick wetness met her fingers the moment they got past her mound. She’d definitely never been this turned on before. She dipped her fingers between her folds and circled them around her clit, which felt like it was throbbing.
Closing her eyes, she shuddered as she started rubbing hard and fast, too turned on to try to take things a little slower. She just needed to come.
Thinking about a man who tied her into place and ran his hands all over her body. Who took control of her completely. Who pinched her nipples until they hurt, then used her for his pleasure, causing her own as he did so.
A man with Mason’s face.
She cried out as she came, shuddering and clenching, panting for breath as the strongest orgasm she’d ever had rolled over her in a hot wave of pleasure. And as soon as the sweet ecstasy receded, the guilt set in.
But it wasn’t like he or Yasmine knew who she was picturing while she got herself off. Audrey let out a long breath as she lay there in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would get her head on straight. Focus on her bakery. And maybe think about dating. Clearly, she needed to do something about lusting after a taken man. That wasn’t who she was, and she refused to be that girl.