He downed what was left of his Glenlivet before turning to face her. Just for the hell of it, he didn’t answer, just nodded his head. The way she cocked her eyebrows almost made him smile, but he managed to hold it back. Just the little act of not verbally responding was enough for her to think about all of the ways she could punish him and quite frankly, Xander was looking forward to seeing her do her worst.

“I want you one step behind me at all times,” she ordered, and he immediately remembered the first theme night they’d attended just a few short days ago. He’d said something very close to that to her.

When she turned away, just because he could, he took a moment to admire her beautiful body. The woman made his blood burn hot, and it didn’t matter if she was wearing the demure silk that he preferred to see her in or in the sexy Domme-wear she sported now. Hell, she could’ve been naked because when she got that air of confidence about her, he lusted after her all the more.

Again, it was all about stirring things up a bit.

He followed Mercedes, knowing full well she intended to head over to Shane because that was going to be her way of punishing him for what he’d put her through the last few days. And since he’d already defied her once since their arrival, he knew she’d be keeping track of his transgressions from here on out.

Considering he knew Samantha and Logan were watching, Xander decided tonight might just be the night to introduce them to what it meant to be a defiant sub. After all, he could be a teacher no matter which role he was in.

“Shane, good to see you,” Mercedes greeted as the pair hugged and kissed one another briefly.

Xander didn’t allow the chaste kiss to upset him, although he had the urge to punch Shane in his too pretty face. Rather than give the man something to remember, Xander stood one step behind her as instructed and glared down at Shane with a smirk on his face.

“Looks like your sub’s a little cocky tonight,” Shane said, unable to disguise his amusement with the situation.

You’re a dead man, Xander mouthed, making sure Shane read his lips perfectly.

Shane laughed, causing Mercedes to turn and look back at him, taking a moment to study him as she did, and Xander made sure the smirk was gone.

“It would seem so,” she said absently. “I think I have a good idea on how to take care of that though.”

Xander cocked an eyebrow as he met her gaze, unwilling to look away. He wanted to know what she had in mind. He’d half hoped she would’ve laid out her plan for the night prior to their arrival, but she’d kept the majority of the details to herself. It appeared she was going to surprise him. That was ok too. He liked surprises. Monotony wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

“Care to watch?” she asked Shane, never taking her eyes off of Xander.

“Depends,” Shane grinned like a fool. “As much as I’d love to see you beat his ass, I’m waiting for someone. She should be here any minute. If you can wait a few minutes, I’d be happy to watch. Or even participate.”

Xander was going to put a serious hurt on the man if he didn’t shut the fuck up.

“We’d like to watch.” The voice came from behind Xander and he did his best not to turn around, but he knew without looking who it was.

Samantha McCoy.

Lord kill him now.

“Is that right?” Mercedes asked, turning to address Samantha with a stunning smile on her lovely face. From what Xander could tell, she definitely liked the idea of Sam watching whatever she had in store for him tonight.

“If that’s all right with you, of course,” Sam amended.

Xander edged around, trying to stay one step behind Mercedes as instructed. He wanted to see Sam as she addressed Mercedes, wondering whether she’d even noticed the drastic role switch they’d done for the night.

“I’ve reserved room three,” Mercedes informed Sam, her hand lifting in the direction of the glass rooms that stood proudly in the center of the main floor. “If you’d like, you can have a front row seat.”

Room three? Fucking hell. He’d been hoping for a private room, but he shouldn’t have expected any less.

“We’ll be in a private room upstairs,” another voice claimed from behind him and this time Xander turned around. He knew that voice.

Shit.

Elijah Penn.

Fuck. Could this night get any worse?

Xander watched as Sam turned to face Elijah, her eyes widening with obvious appreciation as he moved in closer.

“A private room?” Samantha asked.

“That’s right,” the Brit said, his hands in his pockets as he watched her intently. “That is if you’re game.”

Samantha turned to look at Logan, who nodded his head in response. Ok, so clearly these three had something going on between them. Xander was curious as to what, but it wasn’t his business, so he kept his mouth shut.

“There’s my date now,” Shane said and everyone’s attention was drawn to him.

Son of a fucking bitch.

Clarissa Tinsley.

When the woman approached, she smirked at Xander before placing a quick kiss on Shane’s lips in greeting.

“Clarissa,” Mercedes greeted the woman, moving toward her and embracing her gently. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” Clarissa offered, her gaze once again landing on Xander.

Fuck.

Tonight was going to be the worst night of his life; he could feel it.

Clarissa Tinsley, former assistant to a wannabe submissive Realtor, current Attorney-at-law. And one of Mercedes’s best friends to boot. Ever since that very first night at dinner when Clarissa had sparked Mercedes’s attention with her submissive admission, the two had become rather good friends.

The same couldn’t be said for old Tim Johnson. The wannabe submissive had crossed Mercedes one time too many and she’d kicked him to the curb. That was about the same time Clarissa was finishing up law school. The timing had been perfect.

But Clarissa wasn’t just a friend of Mercedes. She was also a trainee at Kink – a submissive trainee – and for the longest time, Shane had shown a great deal of interest in the woman. Clearly, he was still interested in her if he’d thought to invite her to Devotion.

Fucking hell.

“Well, we’ll likely catch up with you later,” Logan offered, obviously catching the vibe that was now coursing between the four of them. Xander nodded toward Logan, a silent thank you.

He was going to have a difficult enough time dealing with Clarissa and Shane being there, the last thing he needed was for Logan and Samantha to be a witness to this.

“We look forward to watching your scene as well,” Mercedes said to Logan, her attention divided between him and Elijah.

With that, Logan took Sam’s hand and turned away. Xander couldn’t hide his amazement when Elijah took her other hand, leading her away.

Oh, fuck. That was definitely going to be interesting.

When Mercedes moved closer to Clarissa, Xander moved behind her, trying to keep that one step behind rule in mind. The move allowed him to keep Shane and Clarissa in his sights as well.

“So, you’re interested in joining us tonight?” Mercedes asked Shane and Clarissa directly.

“If you’ll have us,” Clarissa said sweetly, her eyes darting up to Shane and then back to Mercedes. She seemed to be ignoring Xander.

Not that he cared. In fact, it would be great if he could be invisible.

“We’d love to,” Shane tacked on, wrapping his arm around Clarissa’s shoulder and pulling her to his side. “What did you have in mind?”

Clarissa was pretty, not mouthwatering like Mercedes, but she wasn’t hard on the eyes by any means. The emerald green silk sheath she wore clung to her body, accentuating her voluptuous breasts and her flared hips. The woman was small. Much smaller than Mercedes and Xander wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.

He was a big man. Not just tall either. Weighing in at two-seventy-five, Xander worked diligently to build muscle and to maintain it. Based on how slight Clarissa appeared standing before Mercedes, he had to wonder whether she’d even be able to handle him if things headed that direction.

And he got a sinking feeling that was exactly what Mercedes intended to do tonight. It might not have been her initial plan, but it was just something she would do.

Mercedes turned her attention to Clarissa directly. “Do you understand what’s going on here tonight?”

 “I’m sorry?” Clarissa asked, clearly confused by Mercedes’s question.

“Tonight isn’t what you think,” Mercedes stated clearly. “I know that you’ve always known Xander to be a Dom.”

“Two Doms?” Clarissa looked incredibly curious, and maybe a little confused.

“Not tonight, no. Tonight Xander belongs to me.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“We’ve been,” Mercedes looked up at Xander with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, “experimenting lately.”

Yeah, experimenting his ass. The woman was submissive, even if she was in denial.

He kept his mouth shut.

“What does that mean?” Clarissa asked, biting her lower lip as she glanced between him and Mercedes.

“It means that tonight, I’m in charge.”

“Oh.”

“But, I’m all for having you participate if it’s something you think you can handle.”

Clarissa stared at Mercedes as though she’d just been tossed down a rabbit hole, and she had no idea what was reality and what was fantasy.

“Can you handle it, Rissa?”

Clarissa glanced over at Shane, who was clearly amused by the situation. Xander did his best not to fist his hands at his sides. He was here to play along. That was the agreement and by God, if it fucking killed him, he would play along.