Finding Master Right(42)

“Ah, that’s rough. She’s here with someone else?”

Damn, he’d forgotten about the girl. “Yeah. I fucked things up, and now she’s collared to my best friend. We were never really together, exactly.”

A more adventurous couple had claimed the biggest piece of equipment, and the man buckled the woman’s wrists and ankles to the solid wooden X. Watching kept him from oversharing all of the words that fought to free themselves from his mouth. This girl didn’t need to listen to his problems. She was there for a party. He refused to be the guy who got drunk and talked about his unrequited love all night—not that Ambrose served alcohol at this type of party.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you around. Nice to meet you.” Gwen nodded politely and walked off toward the kitchen.

He didn’t bother to watch her retreating back, or even check out her ass. Maybe he should just go home.

“What the fuck, man?” Ambrose was suddenly there, looking pissed. “That girl has been waiting to meet you for days. Did you blow her off?”

“She’s . . . not my type.”

“Is she too hot for you? Too submissive?” Kate was two steps behind Ambrose, which meant his friend couldn’t see the strained awkwardness on her face.

Ambrose followed Banner’s gaze to Kate. “Oh, for fucksakes.” He fished in the pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out a leash, then clipped the end to Kate’s collar and glared at Banner. “Don’t stare at my girl, unless you want a black eye. You had your chance.”

He led her away, and Banner noted the way she walked. Graceful, submissive, proud to be on Ambrose’s leash. Fuck, had he been wrong about her? The back of her little black dress was cut away, leaving her skin bare right down to just above the cleft of her ass. Ambrose slid his hand up her back. The small sign of affection seemed so much more intimate when it was skin on skin. She leaned into him and Banner groaned.

“You know, just because you’ve never asked for her back doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.” Konstantin was watching them, too.

“You’ve been talking to Ambrose?”

“Ambrose picked me up at the airport. I know all of it. Maybe more than you.”

Of course. They didn’t keep many secrets from one another.

The noise was starting to give him a headache. Kate was leaning against Ambrose like a woman in love. He pulled her to where the girls were dancing and started to move suggestively with her.

“Look at her. She really likes him.”

“I don’t know about that. She really liked you more, from what he’s told me.”

“So what? I’m supposed to stroll over there and ask him to give her back? Like she doesn’t get to have an opinion?”

“Why don’t you try asking for permission to play with his sub, to start with? She is wearing his collar. Just because it’s Ambrose, doesn’t mean the rules change.”

“I never should have let her go. What the fuck is my problem?”

“I think you spend too much time worrying about other people.” Konstantin draped an arm around his shoulder and watched the two girls he’d been with earlier as they danced together provocatively and cast sidelong glances at him. Like always, Konstantin had an audience trying to keep his attention. “If you want something good in your life other than Rook, you can’t wait for someone else to hand it to you. You gave up art to be a good son. Ending things with a girl because you think you’re no good for her isn’t giving yourself, or her, much credit. Trust me—I’ve been watching her stare at you. I think you broke her heart.”

Fuck. Trying to be suave about it, Banner glanced back at Kate. Ambrose spotted him, then grabbed Kate by the back of her hair and kissed her, hard.

Bastard. Ambrose was mocking him.

When they broke away from each other, Kate stepped back and crossed her arms.

The two girls Konstantin would likely fuck later came over and led him onto the dance floor where they made a show of kissing and groping him to the throbbing beat.

What would be worse—letting Ambrose have Kate or admitting that he’d been wrong? Did she actually want him though? Ambrose’s words about Kate being a grown woman who could make her own decisions repeated in his head.

The next time he looked over, Ambrose was taking Kate into the hall that led to the bedrooms. Banner booked it across the room, then followed their retreat down the hall, determined to ask to play with her, even if he was cock-blocking his best friend.

“You have a lovely little thing on your leash,” he called to Ambrose’s back.

Ambrose turned and measured him with a neutral gaze. “Thank you. She was a gift from a friend. One of my two best friends, in fact.”

“Konstantin suggested I talk to you.” Smooth had deserted him this evening. The hallway was dim, making it difficult to make out Ambrose’s expression.

Choice time. Did he say he had to leave, or did he man up?

“Why? Is Kon the next one in line for Kate? Line forms to the left. Mind the velvet ropes.” Sarcasm made the statement bitter and ugly.

“I was just wondering if you’d be interested in . . .” The pause hung clumsily in the air. “Loaning her to me.”

The request seemed to surprise Ambrose. “As soon as these people leave, I’m going to fuck her. Do you think you can get her back to me before then?”

He didn’t need that visual, but there it was. “Yes.”

“I don’t know. You never did return my Metallica CD in tenth grade.” Ambrose leaned against the wall, almost bumping the framed print of the dogs playing pool. It went well with the velvet Elvis farther down the hall.

“I won’t leave her in a Discman at the park.” Banner kept his words light, trying to cut the hostility he could feel coming from his friend. “I promise.”

“No sexual contact.”

Banner winced. He never would have taken such a liberty with anyone else’s collared sub, and Ambrose knew that.

His friend unclipped the leash from her collar. “Go with Banner. But don’t give him one of your hot, nasty blow jobs, even if he begs.”

Jealousy and irritation streamed through Banner, and he held out his hand to Kate. She took it, even though she was frowning in confusion.

“What do you want from me, Sir?” Her gaze shifted uneasily between Banner and Ambrose. “Where are we going?”

“You’re going to come play with me in the other room. Are you okay with that?”

She nodded, but her hand shook in his. Ambrose went up the back stairwell, leaving them alone.

“Have you and Ambrose done any impact play yet?” There wasn’t much he could do with her BDSM-wise that didn’t involve sexual contact. Impact play seemed the most impersonal. He could get through that without losing control. Couldn’t he?

“No, Sir.” Her eyes were luminous even in the dim light of the hall.

“Take off those damn shoes.”

Her whimper as she kicked them off gave him an instant hard-on, and he let himself crowd her, but only slightly.

Not mine. Not mine.

Kate turned her face aside, exposing her neck. The scent of her shampoo, mixed with her own scent, coy and teasing, made him want to pick her up and fuck her against the wall—party be damned.

“What’s the matter, Kate? Do I make you nervous?” He growled, not quite in her ear, but apparently it had the desired effect. She melted against the wall, her posture abject submission.

“Yes, Sir. Well, maybe. But it’s not just that.” She was so close that he could feel her breath on his face when she spoke. Minty, warm.

“What, then?” He caged her between his arms, his dick begging to be pressed against her, if nothing else. Even that was against the rules though. He wouldn’t betray Ambrose.

“You’re not allowed to touch me,” Kate whispered. “But I need to come.” She begged him with her eyes.

He frowned. “Ambrose said no.”

She sagged. “I know. He doesn’t let me.”

“Fuck other men? Of course not.”

“No, I mean he doesn’t let me come.”

Anger rose, even though it was none of his business. “Why?”

“I don’t deserve it, I guess.” She shrugged.

He wasn’t above using a girl for his pleasure, but to never let her get off? That didn’t sound like Ambrose’s kink. And was it affecting her self-esteem? He could almost hear it in her voice—doubt mixed with frustration. His heart twisted. What was Ambrose thinking? Maybe he’d talk to him about it later, if he could figure out how to ask without seeming like an interfering ex-boyfriend.

Not that he wanted Ambrose to touch Kate ever again. The statement about fucking her later nagged at him. It had been crass and obviously designed to bother him, and it had worked.

“That’s between you and Mr. Fabulous,” Banner grumbled, then walked away. What he wanted to do was hold her, tell her how perfect she was, then make her come all night so she knew it without a fucking doubt. He pushed those thoughts away. This was going to kill him.

He could feel her walking two steps behind, like a good girl. Everything she did now was just fucking perfect. Almost as though she’d been trained to suit his preferences.

Damn it, Ambrose.

The great room had turned into a different party. People had begun shedding clothing while he’d been down the hall. A few women walked around topless now, wearing only underwear, and Banner was one of the few men still wearing a shirt.