Shadows of Ecstasy

Excerpt

What the hell is she doing here?

Cal stared at the monitors, unable to believe his eyes.

But there it was.

Emma Lake had walked into his club. Her long, black hair flowed in gentle waves down her back. Her green eyes were wide open as she glanced down the hall.

He couldn’t believe it.

Of all the people to walk into the club, she would have always been the least likely. He’d heard she was back in town. It was hard not to hear the gossip. They traveled in the same circles, just on opposing sides.

Thirty years ago, their fathers had declared war on each other by choosing conflicting positions on practically every political platform they could find.

Which made their secret all the more damning.

He walked across the room to stand before the monitors. Images flashed through his mind. The last time he saw her. The way she had cried out his name when he was inside of her, when he was a part of her.

It had been a cruel twist of fate that the one girl he wanted most was the one girl he could never have. For seven months, they’d snuck around sating their desire for each other in the shadows. There were times when the memories were so vivid they hurt. Those seven months had been so intense they’d nearly driven him mad with need.

Never before had he lost control. But with Emma, the rule book had flown out the window. Hell, he’d thrown it out himself. With Emma, nothing else had mattered. He’d been obsessed with her. And he hadn’t wanted it to end. Which made the words she said that night even harder to hear.

Maybe we never had a chance?

But he hadn’t wanted to believe it, even up to the bitter end.

He squinted to get a better look at the girl she was with. Shelby Middleton. She had been a member for almost a year. But what the hell was Emma doing here with her? Didn’t she realize the risk she was taking by coming here?

He had heard the rumors about her recent divorce. According to the headlines on the rags, it had been pretty messy. The tabloids had been crucifying her for the past few months. Which made her sudden appearance at a known sex club even more suspect.

Just what the hell is she trying to prove?

He watched as Maxwell Parrish walked by her. The other man turned his head to study her trim form. Cal’s jaw clenched painfully as he watched the assessment.

He knew that look. He’d seen it many times.

Parrish wasn’t the type of man who’d find another girl for the night. Once his mind was set there was no turning back. He could understand the obsession. It had happened to him once before.

With the woman on the monitor.

Still, the thought of watching her with someone else made him grit his teeth. He turned to walk down the long corridor. It was a dumb move, probably the dumbest he’d made since her last cameo appearance in his life, but he couldn’t watch her with Max. It was a weakness he didn’t like, but would have to accept.

He walked down the dimly lit hall, oblivious to the scenes playing out all around him. His focus was single-minded.

One way or another he was going to find out what she was doing here.

* * * *

Emma Lake’s eyes widened as she watched the scene to her right. Inside the barren room, a woman in a black leather corset stood behind a bare-chested man. She held a riding crop firmly in her hand. The man’s wrists were secured in shackles, his arms pulled high over his head. His chest glistened as his head hung forward. His black plants stretched over muscular thighs, his erection clearly defined beneath the material.

The woman behind him brought the whip across his back. His head snapped back. Emma felt her nipples tighten as she stared at the intensely erotic scene. She couldn’t imagine having that kind of control.

All of her life, things had been decided for her. The perfect car, the perfect school, the perfect husband, the perfect family. At thirty-three, she had begun to realize that “perfect” wasn’t really perfect at all.

It started when the perfect car had broken down, leaving her stranded in the rain. The perfect school where she’d learned that gossip became its own brand of truth. The perfect husband who turned out to be a lying, cheating thief. And the perfect family that was falling to pieces all around her.

The midlife crisis had come late.

The woman came up behind the man to whisper in his ear. He turned his head slightly to the side as he listened. She reached around to grab his cock, stroking it through the fabric of his pants.

What would it be like to control another so thoroughly that all they could do was beg for more?

She watched as the woman slowly undid the button on his pants, before sliding the zipper down. Hooking her thumbs in the waistband, she pulled his pants and boxers down in one move leaving him bare for everyone to see. His cock jutted out from between his legs, obviously begging for attention. Standing up, the woman reached around him to run her fingers up the length of his erection, before leaning in to cup his balls.

Emma felt her panties dampen with arousal. When Shelby suggested that she come here to let off a little steam, she’d had her doubts. If anyone found out she was here, her family would become the laughingstock of town. But Shelby assured her that no one would know. The club had very strict policies about confidentiality, which was why guests had to be accompanied by a member and could only enter once before becoming a member themselves.

Shelby had been adamant that she start living for herself. And she had to admit that her friend made a compelling case. Since she was a little girl, her life had been planned out. Her father had decided what school she’d go to, the major she would study, the man she would marry. And for the most part, she’d followed willingly.

Except for one indiscretion. One secret that no one knew about. One memory that still had her waking up in the middle of the night, burning with desire.

Cal Rutledge. He was her dirty little secret.

They’d circled each other for years before officially meeting in college. His father had been the antithesis of everything her father stood for. As a prominent lawyer in New Orleans, her father had spent most of his life making a name for himself. But the law had never been his passion—it was politics. And he’d taken every opportunity he could to tackle the hard issues in the media in an attempt to gain public respect. Countless times he and Cal’s father had gone head to head in political debates, squaring off on practically every issue.

So, when she met Cal, she’d known to keep her distance. With her father’s sights set on holding public office one day, she knew that any entanglement she had with Cal would only cause problems. But the forbidden fruit had drawn her in. Like Eve, she’d tasted how good things could be, and given in. Walking away from him had been one of the hardest things she had ever done.

But she’d done it.

And ended up marrying a man who thought of her as a stepping stone, a means to further his career. Any passion he possessed had been spent on the women he cheated on her with.

In the end, she was left alone.

He’d taken everything, including her dignity.

Now that she was home, she needed something for herself. She needed to feel her life instead of just going through the motions. That was why she let Shelby talk her into coming tonight. But she hadn’t expected to witness—to experience this hunger, this intense desire to be filled, to control and be controlled.

She watched as the woman behind the glass walked around the man, her hand lingering on his cock. She knelt down, her thumb swiping over the tip before taking it into her mouth. Emma watched them, her eyes adjusting to stare at her own reflection in the glass. A look of desperate need clouded her features.

Then, another figure moved up behind her.

At first, she thought it must be a trick of the mind.

But when she turned around, he was flesh and blood.

Her lips parted on a sigh as she realized she was standing in front of the one man who had taught her what real passion was.

The one man she’d never been able to forget.