Unable to form a reply, she simply nodded and padded off to stand in the corner. As she silently counted to one thousand, her breathing stabilized and her body relaxed. By the time she finished, she felt reenergized.
Danielle handed a good-looking man working with ropes a cup of water and headed back to pour additional drinks for the members. Waitressing sure beat cleaning bathrooms.
Bending to retrieve ice from a small cooler, she felt a shift in the club’s energy, and her body shivered as if she’d submerged herself in ice. She sensed someone watching her, and she intuitively knew it wasn’t Cole. She slammed the cooler shut and twirled on her bare feet, scanning the room for the threat.
At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. A Domme pegged her sub while another man slapped his face with his cock. From her front and her back, Ryder and Morgan flogged a blissed-out looking Gracie, who was clearly floating in sub-space from the beating. A woman dressed as a cat licked a man’s feet. There were several other scenes, but none of the individuals paid Danielle any attention.
A large man led a skinny blonde by a leash that was attached to her metal chain collar. She crawled across the floor, red welts and perfectly round bruises covering most of her body. Recognition slammed into her as he steered the woman toward a hallway. This was Rinaldi’s bodyguard. That meant . . .
Rinaldi stepped out of the shadow, his gaze planted on Danielle.
Even as the naked blonde passed him on her knees and he spoke to the bodyguard who then took the slave inside a private room, he never took his eyes off Danielle.
He smiled at her, a smile filled with promises of pain and suffering.
He obviously wanted her to know he was watching her, but why? It was as if he was waving a red cape to entice the bull, but who was the bull?
Cole had warned Rinaldi to stay away from her, and though he’d brushed it off when she’d pressed, she couldn’t help thinking Cole knew more than he’d said about the sadistic man. Although it was possible she was overacting, her instincts encouraged her to tell Cole about . . . what exactly? That he’d stared and smiled at her? It sounded so silly in her head, but then she remembered how enraged Cole had become when Rinaldi had spoken to her. Besides, this gave her the excuse she needed to go upstairs and see him.
She scoped out the room and spotted Master Michael by the women’s lounge. Requiring approval of a dungeon monitor, she sidled up to him. “May I be excused from my duties for a few minutes while I go upstairs? I need to speak with Master Cole.” When he frowned, she added, “It’s urgent.”
He glanced at his watch. “Fifteen minutes. You’re to go to his office, and if he’s not there, you must immediately return to the dungeon. No running around Benediction looking for him.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right back.” She headed for the stairs. Unease slid down her spine as the feeling of being watched continued. But when she looked over her shoulder to where Rinaldi had been standing, he was gone.
Chapter Sixteen
NIBBLING ON HER thumbnail, Danielle passed the full den of mingling members and headed toward Cole’s office. She rounded the corner of the hallway and stopped short at the sight of Cole hugging and kissing the cheek of a woman she didn’t recognize. A heaviness settled in Danielle’s chest, and her stomach burned as if she’d swallowed acid.
Like a spy, Danielle hid her body behind the wall and peeked to ascertain the stranger’s identity. She was a knockout dressed in a modest off-white pant suit that accentuated her flawless mocha skin and feminine curves. Around her neck, she wore a stunning triple-stranded diamond choker. In her hand was a black duffel bag, similar to the ones the Doms carried with their toys and equipment.
Cole ushered the woman into his office and spoke on his cell as he shut the door. “Elena and I will be upstairs in my residence. Please ensure I’m not disturbed for any reason.”
The engagement of the lock on his door sounded like a boulder dropped from a mountain.
She stopped short at the recognition that she was jealous. So jealous she wanted to storm into his office and lay claim to him. Which of course would be ridiculous and foolhardy, since not only did she not have a claim on him, he belonged to everyone and no one. He could have almost any submissive in Benediction, but they could never have him. His boundaries had assured him of that. But then who was the woman?
Someone poked her in the back. “Gorgeous, isn’t she?”
Startled, Danielle flipped around and found Sedona and Cassandra standing behind her.
Had they been there the whole time? “Who is she?”
Cassandra rolled her eyes. “She’s Master Cole’s collared submissive, of course.”