“No, no. Wait.” He was following her.

What in the world? She stopped.

He held his hand out. “Kneel—am I supposed to kneel? Can I give you my number? Will you call me? Please?”

Oh, dear heavens, someone just found his inner submissive. She patted his cheek. “I’m afraid I’m taken, sweetie. But I’m sure you can find a nice Mistress.”

From the look in his eyes, he’d be doing just that. She knew the feeling. Pretending to be a Top left her craving Sam’s dominance.

On the stairs, she spotted Jessica near the dance floor, trying to convince a man to bend over. When Linda wiggled her hips in a victory dance, the little blonde sent her a sizzling glare.

The women on the balcony greeted her with laughter and high fives. Dara slapped her back, and Rainie handed her a prize of lubricant, saying, “Gabi said you should have this flavor.”

“Orange?” Linda took it. Why orange?

On the couch, Kim hadn’t stopped laughing. She finally hauled in a breath and pointed at Linda. “Your expression when that puppy tried to follow you?”

Shaking her head, Linda sank down next to her. “I felt guilty, leading the poor baby on.” She picked up her drink and took a couple of good swallows, savoring the underlying bite of tequila. “It was amazing he couldn’t tell I was pretending. Bet a Dom would see right through the act.” Sam would have.

“When I met Dan, I told him I wasn’t submissive.” In the adjacent chair, Kari wrinkled her nose. “He laughed at me.”

“It’s nice when a guy sees who you are.” Sally leaned back against the railing. “When I’m dating vanilla guys, I feel like I have to pretend to be someone I’m not. Gets to me.”

“Yeah,” Linda said under her breath. Letting Lee go had been the right decision.

And Sam? Sam definitely saw her for who she was…and liked her that way.

* * *

The chauffeur was hauling people home in two batches. The ones who wanted an early night left on the first run. The last few remained, waiting for the chauffer to return for them. Linda, Sally, Jessica, Gabi, and Kim. After getting more margaritas—strawberry, this time—they’d pushed the two couches over to the railing so they could crowd together and watch the dance floor.

Sitting between Gabi and Kim, Linda sipped her tangy, sweet drink. How many had she had now? She felt nicely blurry and very happy. It was wonderful to be with women again. I miss my girlfriends.

“You lost touch?” Gabi asked softly.

Realizing she’d spoken the thought, Linda frowned at the glass in her hand. Definitely over your limit, girl. She set her drink on the railing. “I had two BFFs, but one moved to Oregon, the other to California. You know how it is when you meet someone who just clicks? We clicked.”

Gabi tilted her head toward Kim. “We met in college, and then no matter how long between visits, we could just take up where we’d left off. I feel that way about this crew now.” She patted Linda’s arm. “And that includes you.”

Warmth filled Linda as she realized Gabi meant it. Sally and Jessica on the other couch were both nodding in agreement.

Then Jessica gave an annoyed sniff. “Only I’m going to hold a grudge because you beat me at Domming.”

“After you and Z have children, you’ll be able to intimidate anyone.” Linda grinned. “Trust me.”

“Look at that guy.” Kim pointed. A man with a beer belly, weak chin, and pompous expression strutted across the dance floor. “The creep has been doing that ‘Oh dear, the floor’s so crowded. Did I rub against your tit?’ maneuver. I’m going to rank him at the TNTC level, maybe midway.”

“Rating men is so shallow. You should be ashamed.” Linda tsk-tsked at Kim. Besides, Kim had the ranking wrong—someone who groped women should be at the bottom level.

“Sally and Rainie invented it,” Kim pseudowhined, sounding so much like Brenna in a pout that Linda laughed.

Jessica pointed a finger at Linda. “Hypocat…hypercrat…hypo…hell with it, you faker. I heard you give that cutie a ‘tie me up, baby rating’.”

“A TMUB? Really?” Kim popped upright, spilling her drink as she craned her neck. “Where?”

Gabi snickered. “You are so drunk. Raoul’s going to have a fit.”

“Nah.” Kim held up her sack. “I’ll just show him my new toys.”

“You’re such a sneaky brat.” Gabi opened her sack and peered inside. “I don’t remember what I got…except that I won a gag. Marcus is never going to see that one.”

A second later, they were all checking their bags.

“Aw, poor baby,” Sally said to her bag. “Do you want to come out and play?”

Jessica was giggling. “Mine does.”

As Linda leaned forward to speak to Jessica, she noticed a balding man on the ground floor staring up, eyes bulging.

Linda followed his gaze, and her mouth dropped open.

Jessica was bouncing her oversize cock-like vibrator along the railing toward where Sally was moving her vibrator in circles.

“You two. What are you doing?” Linda sputtered.

“Hey,” Jessica said with a grin. “It’s a rabbit. It wants to hop.”

“Mine’s searching for the G-spot. It knows there’s one around here somewhere.” Sally crossed her eyes. “I’ve been with guys like that.”

“How ’bout the ones who couldn’t find your clit if it bit them?” Gabi asked.

“You are so—” Jessica’s rabbit hopped, missed the railing. She fumbled, secured it before it fell.

Giggling uncontrollably, they all stared down at where it would have landed…on the balding man.

He leered at them and cupped his crotch.

“Ew. I wouldn’t have him. Not even after a bottle of tequila.” Jessica shoved her poor rabbit back into the bag.

“That’s pretty harsh.” The “not even” rating was the lowest of all. Linda considered, then saw the guy licking his lips, rubbing his pelvis vigorously. “Well, maybe not.”

Kim looked down at the floor, and her nose wrinkled. “Not even if he had a cock piercing.”

After putting her vibe into her bag, Sally said, “Not even if he killed a palmetto bug for me.”

“Ouch,” Linda said. “But you’d think there’d be a better class of male in this establishment.” She looked around hopefully. “A few older ones—you know—for my enjoyment? I haven’t spotted an AYW-ID yet, and I wanted one for my record.”

Gabi studied her glass. “I’m so trashed I can’t remember what an AYW-ID is.”

“Anything you want,” Sally started, and Jessica sang along for the last part, “I’ll do. AYW-ID.”

“Oh. Right.” Gabi took the last swallow of her drink. “I knew that.”

Linda gave up checking the dance floor. Maybe, like cream, the better guys rose to the top. She turned her attention to the balcony on the far wall. The waiter over there wasn’t bad. He was serving a skinny young man who didn’t look old enough to be in a bar. Past that table was a group of men seated in a cluster of chairs. They looked older. She tried to focus.

The one on the left looked over. Pale eyes in a darkly tanned face met her gaze…trapped her gaze. Knocked the bottom out of her stomach and her drink out of her hand onto her boot. Sam. “AYW-ID,” she whispered. “AYW-ID.”

“Really? You found a hottie?” Gabi half stood, froze, and fell back onto the couch, moaning. “Marcus is over there. They’re all over there.” She pulled her policeman’s leather jacket closed.

“Seriously?” Jessica scrambled to her feet.

“Oh, God, they’re staring at us.” Kim balanced herself on the couch. “You think we could go out the back?”

Jessica’s hands were over her mouth, trying to stop her laughter. “Girl, you can’t even stand up.”

“Damn chauffeur should have picked us up sooner.” Gabi scowled. Then her eyes widened. “How long do you suppose they were there?”

Linda risked a quick glance. “However long, they’re headed over here now.” Exhilaration bubbled in her blood. Sam is here.

“Here! Noooo, Z mustn’t see these.” Jessica frantically shoved her wealth of toys in her oversize bag.

“The gag! And I didn’t bring a purse.” Gabi staggered over to the couch, dumped her sack of toys, and tried to force them into her jacket pockets. A bright red ball gag hit the floor and bounced under the couch. She dropped to her knees with a painful-sounding thud and tried to retrieve it.

“Can’t even stand? Now that’s downright pitiful.” The deep voice was as slow as the Mississippi and held a faint Southern drawl. The man’s sharp blue eyes were several shades darker than Sam’s.

Gabi’s head jerked up, eyes wide.

Linda tilted her head. Would this be Gabi’s Marcus?

“Have to agree. Better get them home.” Sam tucked his thumbs under his belt, drawing her attention to where his long sleeves had been rolled up, revealing his muscled forearms and powerful hands. She knew how those hands felt on her body. And those fingers sure didn’t have any trouble finding her clit—or G-spot either.

Jessica shoved her blonde hair behind her shoulders. “Hey. You don’t get a say in this. It’s my bacher…balorette…bachette… It’s my party.”

Master Z put his hand on Jessica’s shoulder and then tilted her head up. “Kitten, you make an adorable drunk.”

She beamed at him. “I do?”

“Indeed.” He hooked her purse on her shoulder, scooped her up in his arms, and headed for the stairs. “Let’s see how good you are at drunken sex.”

“Sumisa.” Raoul pulled Kim to her feet and caught her as she tipped sideways.

“I’ve got bribes to get out of trouble.” She held up her bag.

“Planning ahead, are you?” When he lifted her into his arms, she buried her face against his shoulder.