Dungeon Master by Golden Angel

 

Prologue

Gavin

The club was busy, on both floors, as always. Looking around, Gavin felt nothing but pride at what he had built. The Outlands was a safe haven for kinksters, tucked away under what was a bar by day and a popular nightclub for the college students at night. None of them had any idea there was a secret basement full of whips, chains, and an assortment of other toys beneath them while they partied away on the floor above.

His eyes scanned the room. There were plenty of Dungeon Monitors, but Gavin liked to keep an eye on things. The club was set up as one very large room, but when it got crowded, as it did on the weekends, it was impossible to see everything going on. That was the only flaw. If he had to do it all again, he’d design this room with a balcony so he could survey the entire floor from one position.

Control freak.

Maybe a wee bit.

“Master Gavin.”

The soft voice made him turn to look down at Brianne, a sweet submissive who had a monumental crush on him. Since she was respectful about it, Gavin tried not to hurt her feelings, but she was becoming more and more forward in her requests.

“Yes, lassie?” He kept his voice short and clipped. Despite his years in the states, he’d managed to maintain his original Scottish burr, but he tried to damp that down now. He knew the submissives thought it was sexy, and he didn’t want to encourage her.

“I was wondering if you would like to play tonight, Master Gavin. I would be happy to be of assistance.” She peeked up at him, though her head remained down, trying to gauge his reaction to the offer.

Clever girl. She’d chosen a night when his ex-wife, Leah, wasn’t here. Despite being divorced, he and Leah scened at Outlands on a fairly regular basis. Their marriage hadn’t worked out, but neither of them had been able to get over the other. The bedroom had been the one place they’d always gotten along, and that had continued even after the split.

Gavin never scened with anyone else when Leah was there. He also didn’t have sex with any of the submissives he scened with other than Leah, but that didn’t seem to stop some of them from hoping. As long as Leah wasn’t wearing his collar, he knew this would keep happening.

Raising his gaze away from the young submissive next to him, Gavin didn’t feel even a little tempted. Brianne was, what, twenty-five? Less than half his age. It didn’t make him feel virile or manly to have young women interested in him. It made him feel old. Their hopes and dreams were still intact. They hadn’t been beaten down by life yet, whereas he was cynical and jaded.

Except…

His eyes were drawn to the couple across the room—the ones who had come in for the first time yesterday.

Logan had his wife, Felicity, tied to a square wooden column and was flogging her. The two of them had come to Pittsburgh for the weekend, and he liked to keep an eye on any newcomers, but that wasn’t the entire reason why his eyes were constantly drawn to them. To be honest, he wasn’t sure why. Something about them had tickled his interest.

“Master Gavin?”

The right words, said in the wrong voice.

“Not tonight, lass.” Gavin shook his head, turning his attention back to her. “Would you like some help finding another Dom to scene with?”

“No, thank you, Master Gavin.” She sighed heavily before walking away.

Gavin’s mouth twitched. He wondered if the sigh was supposed to make him feel guilty. If so, she’d underestimated what an ornery bastard he was. It didn’t bother him to turn her away.

He looked back at Logan and Felicity. Logan was setting up a Hitachi against the column. Gavin grinned and moved closer. He enjoyed watching a good scene as much as the next man.

* * *

“Thanksfor the ride back home and the help,” Logan said as Gavin parked the car in front of the hotel where Logan and Felicity were staying. The pretty submissive was tucked up next to her husband, lightly snoring. She’d been flying high in subspace after their scene, and Logan had needed some help with her.

“No problem. I didna have anything better to do tonight, anyway.” That and he hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to learn more about the couple, even though it meant leaving the club on a busy night. The DMs would have things well in hand, as well as his assistant manager, but it still made him itch to be away on the weekend. “Did you get everything out of the club you wanted?”

He helped Logan slide Felicity out of the backseat. She stirred slightly, moaning a little, but didn’t wake.

“We did.” Logan grinned, the expression lighting up his face. When Gavin had first met the couple yesterday, Logan had been far more tense, like something was weighing him down. Now he was much lighter. A good scene could do that, but this felt like something more. “I’m sure we’ll be back in the future. It’s been a long time since we’ve scened, and it’s hard to do at home with the kids around.” He shrugged. “We got into a bit of a rut for a while, but we both want to try to stay out of another one.”

A rut.

Those were familiar words. Gavin slung one of Felicity’s arms over his shoulders while Logan did the same on the other side, allowing them both to support her. He was impressed, Logan didn’t seem bothered needing help. Not all men were so secure, but then it was a bit of a way to their room.

“So, this weekend was about reconnecting?” Normally, Gavin wasn’t so nosy, but he couldn’t help but see the parallels between Logan and Felicity and himself and Leah. Except he and Leah had only had one kid, and they hadn’t reconnected. They’d split up instead.

“Sort of.” Logan smiled down at his wife, who seemed to have woken up a bit. She was still out of it, but she was moving her feet as they walked her along. “We’ve been doing the reconnecting thing for weeks now, just working on our relationship. This was more intense, of course, but I don’t think it would have gone as well if we hadn’t been talking more and spending more time together.”

“That was always the part I was bad at,” Gavin said, surprising himself with the confession. Logan’s words made his chest hurt, stirring up long-dead memories of Leah telling him she was leaving him and trying to explain why. He’d been so young and stupid, so convinced if they’d been ‘right,’ everything would be easy. It wasn’t until he’d gotten older he’d realized how wrong he’d been, but now it was too late… right?

“What?”

“The talking and spending time together,” he said, shrugging. They walked through the front door of the hotel, and Logan waved at the man behind the front desk to indicate they were okay. Gavin could only imagine how this looked, but the man waved back. “Sorry, I was thinking aloud.”

“Find the right woman, and it becomes easier. We still had to work at it, though.”

“Sometimes even finding the right woman doesn’t make a difference.” Gavin laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound.

Then again, had he really worked at it, the way Logan and Felicity were?

We’ve been doing the reconnecting thing for weeks now, just working on our relationship.

Gavin hadn’t done that. He’d refused to admit there was anything wrong with their relationship. They’d been mostly happy and had plenty of hot sex, so whatever was bothering Leah couldn’t be that bad… That’s what he’d thought until she’d announced she was leaving him. Looking back, he was able to see how hard she’d tried.

She set up dates for them, which he’d often been late to or had to cancel because of work. She invited him along to all sorts of outings she’d taken with their son, Mitch. Eventually, she asked to go to couple’s counseling.

She hadn’t made a fuss over the dates, or when he wanted to stay home and relax while she and Mitch were out, or when he’d said no to counseling, so he hadn’t realized he’d been driving her away. Not until she finally said she’d had enough and was leaving. Then he’d been ticked she hadn’t spoken up for herself before if all those things were so important to her. He’d been convinced he was right, and she was unreasonable. He’d wanted another chance, once he’d known how much it all meant to her, but she hadn’t been willing.

I already gave you every chance.

But I didn’t know that’s what you were doing!

He’d ultimately come to the conclusion while she’d always have his heart, they weren’t good in a relationship. Later, he realized he might be more of the problem. Yes, Leah should have made it clear when something was important to her, but on the other hand, he could have tried harder. Part of him felt as if he should have known if she was willing to bring something up, it must have been important to her. Leah wasn’t one to ask for things, and Gavin had taken that to mean she didn’t want anything.

In other words, he’d been a right cunt, and she’d been right to leave him.

Saying goodbye to Logan and Felicity, Gavin wandered back out to his car. The couple was younger than him, but it wasn’t too late for them. Maybe it wasn’t too late for him and Leah, either.

Something to think about.