Chapter Five

Chapter FiveRocking back and forth on my heels, I watched the flow of water gush out of the waterfall tap and into the massive freestanding tub. The bath was almost ready, thankfully.I loved my bathroom. Luxurious it might be with all the gleaming marble, spacious walk-in shower, and heated flooring, all its personal touches gave it a homey feel. There was the pretty teardrop-shaped mirror, the nature pictures, the little plant pots on the windowsill, and the free standing ladder that not only doubled as a shelving unit but had artificial ivy vines twined around it.The shelves and long counter were lined with all sorts of bottles and tubes and jars that contained everything from makeup supplies to hygiene products. My blow dryer and heating irons also rested on the counter, close to the wall-mounted mirror.Usually, I’d shower on Fridays to get ready for an evening at the Vault, but I’d be skipping that tonight. I was dog-tired, thanks to my muse’s nocturnal habits. I’d woken this morning at an ungodly hour, my mind buzzing, and had spent hours writing lyrics and tinkering with melodies. I hadn’t had a chance to nap throughout the day, so now I was exhausted.I couldn’t be bothered taking the time to get all dolled-up for an evening at the Vault. I just wanted to take a bath, pull on some pjs, and maybe watch a movie. And do my best not to obsess over who Kaiser might be playing with tonight.It would be exactly three weeks ago tomorrow that he and I catered to his fantasy of fucking in a limo. Later that very same evening, he’d given me a ride home in his chauffeured town car. I’d told him it wasn’t necessary, but he’d claimed that there was no sense in my using one of the Vault’s exclusive cabs when we both lived on the same street. And, well, he’d had a point.He hadn’t touched me throughout the car journey, other than for when our fingers grazed as he reluctantly handed over my underwear. There had been no goodbye kiss, nor any suggestion that we might ever repeat the night’s … experience. But I hadn’t expected that there would be.Did I tell Judy that I’d slept with him?Hell, no.Nor did I tell her when it happened the following Friday night either. I’d been talking to some guy in the lounge when a hand slammed onto the bar either side of me, startling the shit out of me. Kaiser’s voice had then rumbled into my ear, “Say goodbye to your new friend. You’re coming with me.”Not impressed by how he’d so presumptuously assumed that I’d do as he asked—no, ordered—I’d intended to brush him off, even if it would have been cutting my nose off to spite my face. Maybe he’d sensed that, because he’d started whispering all sorts of filthy promises in my ear that neither my libido nor my pride had stood any chance against.Caving, I’d let him lead me away. And I hadn’t regretted it, because he’d fucked me like he’d die if he didn’t.A similar thing had happened the Saturday evening.And the weekend after that.So, all in all, we’d played together on five separate occasions. But we’d never made plans to meet up at the Vault, it had just … happened. He’d appeared out of nowhere each time while I was either dancing, talking with my girls, or chatting with a guy at the bar—well, there was no way I was going to ignore other men on the off-chance that Kaiser would show.Sex between us was never anything but rough and raw and downright filthy—just how I liked it. I’d always challenge his dominance, and he’d always not only rise to that challenge but come out on top. Then later, he’d give me a ride home.None of that would be happening tonight, though.Seeing that my bath was ready, I turned off the tap and shed my clothes. Naked, I sank into the hot water, sighing as the steamy air whispered over my face. Yes, this was what I needed.Closing my eyes, I leaning back into the bath pillow. I concentrated on the feel of the soft bubbles and silky water stroking over my skin. Or tried to. My mind went right back to Kaiser.I bit out a curse and dipped further into the water to soak my hair. It was hard to shove him out of my mind when jealousy curdled in my belly. A jealousy that hounded me because I knew he’d find another woman at the club to play with tonight once he realized that I wouldn’t be there. He’d hardly do without sex merely because I wasn’t available.Really, for all I knew, he played with other women regularly. The Vault was open twenty-four/seven; he might well go there on weekdays too. He could be sleeping with different women on different nights. After all, he’d recently gotten out of a relationship—a lot of guys in such a situation liked to go drown themselves in pussy for a while.Resurfacing from the water, I leaned back against the pillow again. I couldn’t lie, it made my stomach hurt to think that I could be one of many women Kaiser was sleeping with. I was entirely too possessive of him, and I tried my best to hide it.I wasn’t sure how I’d act if I saw him with someone else. Maybe a little similar to how he’d acted last Saturday, when he’d materialized at my side in the dome just as a guy had reached out to touch my hair.Kaiser had caught his wrist fast and said, “You don’t want to do that. Not unless you want me to break every finger you have.” He’d then taken my hand and led me away, leaving my friends gawking.I hadn’t interpreted it as a proprietary display, though. Nah. It hadn’t felt territorial. It had felt more like the kind of thing you’d see with a kid at preschool who didn’t want a classmate to play with a toy they liked.In Izzy’s opinion, I nonetheless shouldn’t be so inclined to brand it nothing. But she couldn’t deny that I made a good point when I noted that if he truly was possessive he’d have suggested an arrangement by now. It was better that he hadn’t, really. I was no one to him, but that wasn’t quite a two-way street.There were times I asked myself what the hell I was doing regularly sleeping with a guy who had so much power over my emotions when said guy felt nothing for me. It was stupid, no matter what way you looked at it. But I didn’t have it in me to walk away. Not yet. My sense of emotional self-preservation was faulty when it came to him.I sat upright, annoyed with myself for giving him so much headspace. Needing to give myself something to focus on, I squirted some shampoo onto my hand and then lathered it into my hair. That was what I’d do next, I decided; I’d take everything step by step and try to keep my mind centered on each act. So that was what I did—rinsing my hair, shampooing it again, giving it another rinse, applying conditioner, soaping my skin, and then finally giving my entire body a rinse.My bath was hot and long and bubbly, and it eased the tension from my muscles. But it did nothing for my brain, which was totally wired—the damn organ just kept chewing over what Kaiser might be doing and who he might be doing it with.Calling myself an idiot, I stepped out of the bath and onto the fluffy rug. I snatched my towel-robe from a nearby hook, slipped it on, and then swiped a small rolled-up microfiber towel from a shelf. Once I’d wrapped the towel around my hair, I padded into the master bedroom. With the pastel colors, soft lighting, cool satin sheets, cozy reading nook, and walk-in wardrobe, it was as soothing as it was lavish.After I’d dried off, styled my hair, and pulled on a camisole and shorts, I went downstairs. In the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of red wine and then headed to the main sitting area. There, I settled on the textured upholstered sofa opposite the wall-mounted, huge-ass TV. Bright and airy with a welcoming feel, it was one of my favorite rooms in the house.Remote control in hand, I skimmed through the movies on the streaming service I preferred. In a funk, I eventually settled on Taken, knowing that no comedy would make me laugh right now and that no romantic movie would do anything other than irritate me.I’d planned to go straight to bed after it was over, but my thoughts were still racing, so I threw on another movie. Scream. I was about forty minutes into it when the intercom beeped.I frowned, since people generally didn’t just turn up at midnight unannounced. Grabbing my cell from the coffee table, I used the security app on my phone to check who was at the gate. I didn’t recognize the car. Using the app’s speak option, I answered, “Yes?”Someone leaned out of the driver’s window toward the intercom post, and my breath caught. I knew that face. Knew it far too well.“Let me in,” said Kaiser, all demand.Well, hell.Again using the app, I opened the security gates. I paused the movie, set down the remote control, and then stood. This was … well, I didn’t really know what to make of it. He’d never come here before. I mean, he’d dropped me off at the gate on the way home from the Vault, but that was as far as he’d gone.Painfully aware that I wore only a camisole and shorts and not one scrap of makeup, I made my way to the front door. I didn’t open it until he rang the bell, needing those precious seconds to get my racing heartbeat under control. And there he was—a smoldering sex dream come to life. One that did not look happy right now.His brows drawn together, he strode inside. “What the fuck?”I blinked. “Excuse me?”“You didn’t show.” It was a stiffly spoken accusation. “At the Vault. You didn’t show.”“Well … no.”He swept his gaze over me, his jaw tightening. “Why?”I was about to point out that I owed him no explanations, but he stalked further into the house before I had the chance to speak. “Won’t you come in,” I said dryly, closing the door.I trailed after him as he strode toward the main living area, seemingly following the sound of the TV. Inside, he scanned the large space, his shoulders tense.Confused, I watched him from the doorway. “If you’re looking for my grandmother, she has her own wing.”He didn’t say anything, still glancing around the room. A little tension eased from his shoulders as he spotted my glass of wine. Which I did not whatsoever understand. It was just a freaking glass, there was no reason for … A single glass, I thought. One glass, not more.I took two steps into the room as a thought occurred to me. “Wait, you think I have a guy here?”He turned to face me, his expression hard. “Do you?”My lips parted in surprise. I genuinely hadn’t considered that he’d be bothered by my not turning up at the club, let alone that he’d care to know why. I certainly wouldn’t have thought that he’d give much of a shit if I had male company.“No, I don’t.” I folded my arms. “But if I did, I don’t see why it would be an issue for you.”One brow hiked up. “You don’t?”“No. And don’t be all frowny and surly with me. It isn’t my fault you took it for granted that I’d be at the club tonight. It’s not often that I don’t go, but it happens.”“You could have told me that you wouldn’t be there.”I double-blinked. “It didn’t occur to me that you’d want to know. And it’s not like I have your cell number anyway.”“You know where I live.”See, this was what happened when you were surrounded by people like publicists and managers who went out of their way to make your life easier. You were at serious risk of getting so used to such treatment that you expected everybody to do it. He had another thing coming if he thought I’ddance through hoops to keep him happy.“Kaiser, I get that you’re not accustomed to people inconveniencing you, but I’m not someone who’ll center my actions around your wants and needs. You gave me literally no reason to think that you’d wish to be alerted if I’m going to be a no-show at the Vault, so don’t act like I stood you up. It’s not like we have an arrangement.”“That can be rectified.”The fuck? Totally caught off-guard, I stood still, staring at him.“Nothing to say?” It was a taunt.“I’m not sure if there’s anything to say. You said it canbe rectified. You didn’t say that you want it to be. And I really can’t envision you wanting to take on even the smallest commitment, considering you recently went through a breakup.”His brow wrinkled. “Who said anything about commitment? I’m not looking for a relationship. What I want is an arrangement.”My heart skipped an excited beat. He wanted me to agree to an arrangement. He actually wanted that. As much as I reminded myself that it wouldn’t be a good idea, I couldn’t quite remember the reasons why.“Depending on the terms of an arrangement, they can involve a level of commitment,” I pointed out, unfolding my arms and letting them slip to my sides. “Unless you don’t have any conditions?”“I have some.” Setting his jaw, he planted his feet. “Exclusivity, for one thing. I want that to apply both inside and outside the club.”“Both?”“I won’t share you.”My fluttering stomach did a little tumble. This was clearly a night for shocks. Off-balance in more ways than one, I returned to my spot on the sofa, hoping to look cool and casual when I felt anything but.“I haven’t fucked anyone else since I first had you anyway. What about you?”Okay, this was most definitely a night for shocks. “There’s been no one else.”His eyes blazed with something close to satisfaction. “So, can we agree on total exclusivity?”“Yes.” It actually would have been one of my stipulations. I couldn’t have granted him even the smallest claim on me if he’d intended to sleep with others as well. I might have felt differently if it was anyone other than Kaiser but, well, it wasn’t.“That means there’ll be no dating purely for PR stunts either,” he added.I could easily agree to that, since … “I don’t do those anyway.”“Same here.”“What about when you’re on tour, though? I mean, surely you’ll want the freedom to fuck whoever you please during that time.” I didn’t like how that made my stomach hurt.His brows drew together. “Not sure why you’d think that. It’s not like I go on tour for a year or some shit. I’m not on the road for longer than four months at a time. And I recently finished a tour, so I won’t be going on another for a while. Plus, I’m on a break now anyway. All I’ll be doing is writing and recording.”As our arrangement would likely be over before he hit the road again, I supposed we wouldn’t need to reevaluate this at a later point. A thought that made my stomach hurt even more.Shoving all that aside, I cocked my head. “Any other conditions you have in mind?”“Yeah. I got no problem with us having a meal at the lounge before we go play. But there’ll be no dating.”Given his general dislike for social situations, I wasn’t sure I believed that he’d truly have ‘no problem’ with us having meals at the lounge. Whatever the case … “Fine with me. I don’t like going on dates.”His brow creased. “You don’t?”“There’s no way to relax. You know that someone somewhere will be snapping pictures, and you know that the tabloids will build a rumor around the photos. So it’s hard to unclench and be yourself—you feel too much on your guard for that. And I kind of go into dating with low expectations anyway.”“Why?”“I’m so used to things not working out. I’ve never really built anything with anyone. Usually, one of two things will happen—either the guy gets annoyed by how he loses his right to privacy, or he finds it hard to trust me because I’m smack bam in the middle of a world where there’s temptation everywhere. I almost always get accused of cheating, which has never been true. Or fair, since I’ve given them no reason to not trust me.”He gave a knowing nod. “Makes you feel like it’s not worth putting in the effort, doesn’t it?” he said, and a look of perfect understanding passed between us.“Yes, it does.” I paused. “Anyway, yeah, I’m good with us not meeting up outside the Vault. With that in mind … if Judy tries inviting you to dinner, which wouldn’t mean anything, she just assumes everyone who lives alone is lonely”—ha, lies—“don’t be rude about it when you decline.”The line between his brows deepened slightly. “You say it like I get my kicks out of bullying senior citizens.”“I don’t think you get kicks out of being rude to anyone, I think you simply don’t bother being polite or friendly. Mostly because you’d rather not talk to people. Be socially lazily all you want. But if you see Judy, treat her with respect and don’t be mean to her in an effort to make her go away—it won’t kill you.”He grunted. “Fine. Now, back to the terms of our arrangement. We exchange phone numbers, but we only contact each other if the subject matter is the club.”“Good. I don’t need you sending me funny memes and kissing emojis because you miss me. Oh my God, you nearly smiled. That’s like, wow, I didn’t know you could do that.”He gave me a stony glare that was ruined by the light of humor in his eyes.“Any other demands, old timer?”“Yes. You can stop calling me ‘old timer.’”I gave him a sympathetic smile. “That’s not gonna happen, sorry.” I leaned forward. “I have a couple of conditions of my own. One, what happens between us, any personal stuff we share with each other, stays between us.”That perceptive gaze narrowed slightly. “Used to guys from your past blabbing to tabloids, are you?”“Far more acquainted with that shit than I care to be.”“I’m fine with this condition. I like my personal business to remain private.”I’d noticed that in the past, but I’d wanted to stipulate it anyway. “My last condition is simple.” And an absolute deal breaker for me. “You said you don’t share. Neither do I. By that, I mean I’m not interested in asking other club members to come play with us.”I had nothing against group sex. I had something against watching Kaiser with another woman. There were rumors that he was into threesomes, so I wanted to be clear upfront.“If that’s a problem for you, say so now,” I told him.“I got no issue with it. I don’t want to involve anyone else.”Relief tumbled through me. I sank back into the sofa. “Then it’s settled.” And now, wow, now I had a claim to this man. An actual, honest to God’s claim. Gah, it was just … again, wow.He gave a slow, satisfied nod. “And you’ll be at the Vault tomorrow night?” He looked at the clock, noted the time, and amended, “Well, tonight.”“Yes. The only reason I didn’t show up earlier is that I’m shattered. I wanted to have a lazy evening that consisted of a bath, wine, and a movie.”He gave the TV a sideways glance. “What are you watching?”“Scream. I need something to help me relax.”He frowned. “Slasher movies help you relax?”“We all have our quirks. You can stay and watch the rest of it with me if you want,” I offered. “I get that all we have is an arrangement, but it doesn’t have to be cold and impersonal, right?” And I wanted a chance to get my fingers in this man’s mind. I’d been curious about him for more than half my life. Satisfying at least some of my curiosity would be awesome.But he looked uneasy about agreeing, as if he thought that to stay would be to send the wrong message; like I’d interpret it as him being interested in something more than casual. There was no danger of that, but I did understand. Still, that didn’t mean I couldn’t dick with him.I gave him an understanding smile that was all mockery. “Hey, it’s okay if you’re scared to spend time with me outside the club.”His frown deepened. “Scared?”“Yeah, it’s all right to worry that you’ll get attached.”His head jerked. “I don’t worry I’ll get attached.”“Okay,” I said, my eyes wide with innocence.His mouth tightened. “I don’t.”I raised my hands in a placatory gesture, pointing out, “I just agreed with you.”“But you didn’t mean—You know what, forget it.” He crossed to me, whipped out his phone, and then tossed it to me. “Need your number.”Shoving aside my girly excitement that I was about to exchange numbers with none other than Kaiser, I punched mine into his cell. “There.”He took back his phone and called my cell, letting it ring for a few seconds. “Now you have my number.” He pocketed his phone. “You good to meet me at seven at the Vault?”I stood, ready to walk him to the front door. “Seven works.”“We’ll eat at the lounge before we play. I’ll book a table.”I hid a smile at how he proclaimed we’d have a meal first with the authority of a damn royal. It wouldn’t do good to let him sense that I found it amusing when he got all high-handed like that. “I have to admit, I didn’t think you were serious about being fine with us eating at the lounge.”“Why not?”“Because you’re, you know, you.”“Which means what?”“Well, you’re a person who prefers their own company and doesn’t seem to have patience for others.”He gave a slight shrug. “You don’t irritate me as much as other people do.”My lips canted up. The matter-of-fact statement wasn’t really anything close to a compliment, but it hit me right in the feels all the same. “That’s unfortunate. I like annoying you.”He fired me a look of exasperation. “I’ve noticed.”After using my phone app to unlock the electronic security gate, I walked with him to my front door and then opened it wide.He gave me a pointed look. “Don’t forget to wear something red. I’m fucking sick of finding guys drooling over you every time I track you down.”I stifled an amused smile, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate it. “I won’t forget.” There was no chance that I could. “Make sure you don’t either.”His gaze lowered to my mouth, staring at it with such focus that it promptly began to dry up. I thought he’d kiss me. Hoped he’d kiss me. But he took a step away from me, his eyes snapping back to mine.“Later,” was all he said, and then he stalked out of the house.Letting out a quiet, disappointed sigh, I watched him get into his car. I wasn’t surprised that he’d left without giving me so much as a peck on the forehead. Keeping all the physical stuff confined to the Vault would stop any lines from blurring. It was better that we kept our hands and mouths to ourselves at other times.Still, it was a damn shame.