“Stephen also handles some of our joint ventures.”
“You and Stephen are friends?”
“We grew up together. Our family over generations had started the exclusive clubs. My father went through it all when I was younger.”
She was eating her pasta as the waiter came back with the wine bottle. Prudence covered her glass shaking her head. James took some.
“You own the BDSM club at the bottom? You’re a Dom?”
“I don’t know if they are questions or statements of facts,” he said.
“Do you own the BDSM club under Ravage?” she asked, slowly.
“Yes.”
“Are you a Dom?” she asked, slowly once again.
“Do you know what a Dom is?”
“Answer the question, James.”
He glared at her. James wanted to pull her over his knee and tan that ass with his palm. The full round globes would be shining red with his hand print the moment he was through with her.
“Be careful, Prudence. I don’t like being spoken to like that.”
She placed her fork down, linked her fingers, and stared at him. He felt her assessment right down to his soul. Prudence saw past the layers he’d built up to the man beneath. He didn’t know how he knew this, only the way she made him feel as she looked at him.
“Forgive my impatience. Are you a Dom, Sir?”
James was taken back. Michael must have shared more with her than he anticipated. Did she have any idea what the title meant to him? From the glazed look in her eye, James could only imagine that she did.
His c**k thickened. Her gaze lowered to her plate, her head bowed in obedience. To anyone who was looking at their table, she looked like she was saying a small prayer. James knew the bowed head meant so much more.
“You’re forgiven. Yes, I’m a Dom.” James reached over and tapped her hand. She looked up at him then began eating when he nodded his head.
“What do you know?” he asked.
She smiled. “More than you realised, Sir.”
He watched as she forked a piece of pasta and popped it into her mouth. She wasn’t running. Prudence stared at him as if she was waiting for something.
“Aren’t you afraid?” he asked, needing to know the answer.
“I have nothing to be afraid of, James. I was showing you that I understood your lifestyle and respected it.”
“You’re too young,” he said. Proper words evaded him. What could he say to her?
“I’m twenty-three, James. There is no age limit for this. I’ve not been in the lifestyle. I’ve experimented a little.”
James was intrigued. “What have you done?”
“Tell me about your link to Possession, and I’ll tell you about what I’ve done.”
He smiled. Prudence knew a lot more than he gave her credit for. James wished he’d been the one to teach her.
“Possession is designed for men who feel possessive towards their woman.”
“Isn’t every man supposed to feel that for their woman?” she asked.
“This kind of possession was for men—”
“With money,” she said, interrupting him.
“With money to be around like-minded people. I’ve seen it, Prudence. The way the men act around their woman. Stephen, for example, he didn’t believe in it, but he became obsessed with his woman. He needed to know where she was, and when another man was near her, he wanted to do harm.”
“That sounds very stalker-ish to me.”
James laughed. “I agree. It sounds it, but when you see it, you’d never think of a stalker. There is a consuming love sparking between them. I’ve seen Cadeon and Stephen with their women, and it is like little lightning bolts surging between them and their woman. It is amazing to witness.”
“And Possession provides these men with an outlet for all those feelings. They can take their women and feel at ease because the men who go there know to leave the women alone?” she asked.
James nodded. “The press made out we were forcing women to be taken in some kind of f**king orgy fetish. I’ve seen the way these men are with their women, and Possession is perfect for them. I believe in it.”
“Have you ever felt the consuming need for a woman, James?” she asked.
Chapter Ten
Prue felt a new yearning inside of her. She’d watched and listened to the way James described it. On the outside it sounded like an extreme stalker, but she craved to be completely taken by a man. She wondered what it would be like to have a man so completely possessive of her that he phoned her just to hear her voice.
She waited for him to answer her last question. Her thoughts were drifting off to what he’d told her. The rumours where she’d worked about Cadeon had been similar, with the way he’d been with Violet up until she married him. Cadeon had been described as a demon possessed with keeping the other woman.
Staring down at her food, she wondered if there would ever be a man out there like that for her.
“No, I’ve never felt a possessive need for another woman.”
His words hung in the air between them. She picked up a piece of pasta and ate it.
“It must be nice for the women who get that,” she said.
“What?”
“The women who know their man adores them that much. It must be nice.” She felt a lump forming in the back of her throat. “Could you excuse me? I need to use the bathroom.”
Prue left her seat and followed the directions the man gave her to the toilet. The room was empty. She walked up to the mirrors and moistened her hands with the water. She shook off the excess then pressed her fingers to her neck.
She needed to calm down.
Her pulse raced in her neck, and her body was in turmoil at what she’d just learned. How could she ever think of finding a man to love, knowing there was someone out there who’d possess her?
A pair of hands wrapped around her waist. She gasped, opening her eyes and seeing James behind her.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” she said.
“I’ve made sure the waiter won’t let anyone inside.”
His hand moved up against her neck. She bit her lip from the image she saw. His larger hand covered a great deal of her neck. His fingers glided over her pulse.
“Tell me what is wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“I just want you to be sure, Prudence. We name ourselves ‘The Owners’.” He whispered the words against her ear. The possessive way he held her neck was making her ni**les tighten and her cunt clench for so much more. “We own our women. They are ours to keep.”