In the Rough Read online

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was here.”

  Enver looked up, recognizing Marcus from the convention. A rush of intense arousal crashed through his system, his cock instantly hardening. Marcus’s disheveled appearance on the trade show floor had been replaced with tall, not so dark, but still deliciously dangerous. His mop of auburn hair had been tamed into a sleek cascade that almost brushed the collar of his shirt. Brown eyes peered out from behind matching tortoise frames. The burned lab coat had given way to tan slacks, a denim-blue oxford shirt and an ivory sweater vest.

  Dear god. Enver’d gotten hard over a guy wearing a sweater vest.

  The scars that had fascinated Enver at the convention were still just as intriguing.

  Enver cleared his throat and stood, offering his hand. “Kochran said he’d added a new geek to his stable of experts. Glad to see it worked out so well for you.” In fact, soon after he’d left Marcus’s booth, he’d trashed all the bags he’d been loaded down with and given Marcus’s flyer to Saint. The instant spark that had lit Saint’s eyes when he’d read the information confirmed Marcus had something the club would be interested in, so it wasn’t much of a shock to see him standing there.

  When Marcus touched his hand, Enver did his best to ignore the clench of his stomach and the immediate rigidity of his dick. Such a simple expression shouldn’t affect him that way. Shouldn’t make him feel as though his world had fallen off its axis.

  The handshake was solid and friendly without all that stupid posturing some men used to assert their position. It was safer to chalk up the reactions to his thoughts about the photo and the recent upheaval of his separation from Bracey. Too much unresolved emotional turmoil still clawing at him even though he knew their separation had been for the best.

  “Just getting started?” Enver asked as he pulled his hand away. He fought the urge to dig his fingers into his palm to erase the residual tingle.

  “I moved in my equipment last week, but I just got everything set up and ready to start the other night.”

  “Airline lose your stuff again?” Enver prayed the inflection in his voice didn’t give away the heat winding down his spine.

  Luckily, Marcus laughed at his comment. “No. Just took me a bit to find somewhere to live while I’m here. Guess this is my new home away from home.” He looked around, taking everything in. “Brighter than I expected.”

  Enver watched him for a few minutes, enjoying the expressions on Marcus’s face as he took in the club from a newcomer’s viewpoint. “Imagine the stereotypical ominous darkness? Basement has some of that.”

  “Nothing about an online BDSM club is typical. The fact there’s also a physical location built from a former military armory is unusual as well. I’ve visited plenty of clubs, but this is...entirely off the rails. Never imagined this kind of place existed for me to even consider working at. Kochran is a genius.”

  “For opening the club or for hiring you?” Enver asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

  Marcus smirked. “Both, of course.”

  Enver watched Marcus with a more critical eye as the man continued to explore. He was an enigma. Most people were an easy read. Enver could usually figure out pertinent details within a few minutes of meeting someone for the first time, but Marcus was proving difficult to pin down.

  He never would have pegged Marcus as someone with an interest in BDSM. Just like he couldn’t get a read if Marcus was dominant or submissive. Switch, possibly? There certainly seemed to be enough of that going around lately. But no, something told Enver whatever side of the fence Marcus stood on, he was that all the way.

  Marcus’s posture changed visibly as he turned and spotted the photo. “Oh, wow.”

  Enver had stopped trying to look at the photo from an outsider’s prospective months ago. No matter how hard he tried, he’d never saw what everyone else raved about. He only saw the flaws. The unvarnished vulnerability of a Dominant and submissive.

  “This is extraordinary,” Marcus continued. “I’m not much of a photographer, just the everyday stuff with my smartphone, but whoever did this has a shit ton of talent.”

  Boyce would appreciate that. “I’ll be sure to let the photographer know.”

  Marcus touched the canvas.

  Boyce would not appreciate that.

  Marcus faced him. “How long have you been with her?”

  Enver winced, then covered it by shifting in the chair. “We’re not. Bracey and I were just helping out a friend. Saint’s husband was the photographer.”

  “Jesus on hot buttered ass, he knows his stuff. The connection between the two of you is remarkable. The comfort you’re giving her after the scene. The gentle way you’re giving her the support she needs after an intense session.”

  Any arousal Enver had toward Marcus evaporated as he broke down every reason Enver hated the photograph. The sort of exposure and vulnerability wasn’t what he was looking for out of sessions. He’d been that once, long ago when he’d thought his life had been heading a different direction. Because of that, he’d made a promise to himself never to allow it again.

  Sessions with submissives fulfilled his need for duty. Helped him patch over the holes living inside him for a few hours before the cement cracked and broke away. He was always safe in the confines of the sanctuary he used to shield himself from the outside world when those breaks finally happened.

  This moment, though...this one had slipped by his shields.

  Enver snipped the threads on the reminder of his weakness. “If you’re looking for the offices, they’re up on the third floor. Except for Kochran’s. His is in the lounge back down on the first floor.”

  “Actually, I was looking for you.” Marcus bounced up onto the balls of his feet, anxious as any schoolboy waiting for summer vacation. “Kochran said you were around when I mentioned needing a hand.”

  Work. Something that would take his mind off all this emotional shit he didn’t have time for or want. Enver unbuttoned one of his shirtsleeves and rolled it once. “Airline finally find your stuff?”

  Marcus pointed to the stairwell. “My equipment is already set up in one of the auxiliary rooms downstairs.”

  “So what do you need from me?” Enver asked, confused.

  “I need you naked.”

  * * *

  Marcus smothered a laugh at the abject horror darkening Enver’s stunning eyes.

  “Excuse me?” Yeah, the tone of that husky voice got better every time the man spoke.

  Marcus gestured for Enver to follow him down the stairs, but Enver remained stubbornly in place. Marcus knew he was going to have to do something to convince the other man before he bolted. “Bear with me for a moment, Enver.”

  Marcus pulled out his cell phone, swiped to his notes and located the one that would help him plead his case. He shifted closer to Enver, angling his phone so the other man could see. “To get the most out of the virtual experience, it helps to have a visual aid. The idea is members will come in to see me and get a full body scan.”

  Marcus started the crude animation he’d worked up to help illustrate the idea. He was a bit-banger, not an artist. “That way, when they’re plugged in with their chosen partner, the visual is more realistic. Personal. It’s one of the few things I have that sets my program apart from all the other jerkoffs out there.”

  One of Enver’s eyebrows lifted. “And how long will I need to be sans clothing?”

  “An hour, tops. Two at the most depending on how temperamental the scanners are being.” Marcus locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket. “Kochran said he would help, but he’s tied up for the rest of the day.”

  “Of course he is,” Enver muttered.

  It truth, Marcus had suggested Enver as the perfect model. Not only because he was one of the club owners—helpful to have a familiar face when they opened it up to the members�
�but also for entirely selfish reasons. Marcus wanted to see the man nude. He had a feeling Enver was hiding a sinfully decadent body that would make even the staunchest conservative blush.

  Bottom line, too...it had been a damn long time since Marcus had seen another human in the flesh. The virtual world he’d begun to develop years ago had eaten away at his personal time. And the few attempts Marcus had made toward a sexual connection with anyone had ended disastrously. No one wanted a submissive who wore the kind of scars he did.

  He flashed Enver his friendliest smile. “It won’t hurt, promise.”

  “If that’s the case”—Enver smirked—“you’ve come to work at the wrong place.” He waved him on. “Two hours. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Three

  Two minutes later, Marcus extracted the key Kochran had given him to keep his equipment secure. No doubt this wouldn’t be his permanent home, but he didn’t expect to spend much time in the area after things were up and working. The system was self-sufficient. Brief meetings with Saint, Maddy and Ezra had given Marcus the impression they could competently handle any issues once he got them trained. He could drop by once or twice a year for a tune-up on the virtual reality system he would develop for them, and move along.

  Marcus Holly never stayed in one place longer than necessary. Not since the parole letters had started arriving. The latest had been the most worrisome as the impending date closed in.

  “So where do you want me?”

  Marcus shook off the threads of his past that had shaped him. “By the desk is fine. I need to get some extra electrodes.” The case with the small disks was positioned about ten feet away, but still within eyeshot of Enver. Which meant Marcus could see Enver clearly in his peripheral vision while he collected the items. He paused when Enver grabbed the bottom edge of his shirt and lifted. Delicious lines and planes were revealed as the fabric rose to reveal perfectly chiseled and...lickable abs.

  Real men didn’t have those kind of abs. Gods did.

  “Tell me again why I have to be entirely nude? Why I can’t keep my underwear on until it’s time for you to do whatever you need to do then?”

  Marcus swallowed as he dug through the pile of electronics. “You could, but you’ll risk popping off one of the receivers when you try to remove your underwear. Safer just to start without clothing. Eliminates the risk. And let’s face it, this is a sex club. What would be the point of a virtual model where you don’t get to see the goods?”

  When Marcus turned, he got his first head-on encounter with the full beauty of Enver Furst. He dropped the entire collection of diodes as he sucked in a breath. Enver’s chest had a fine layer of hair across the pecs, the light of the room catching the glimmering strands of gray sprinkled throughout. The last Dom Marcus had been with had chosen to keep his body void of any hair. Though Marcus had no preference either way, he found he liked seeing the natural beauty that made him want to reach out and touch what had been trapped beneath the shirt. The fabric had also hidden a large tattoo inked down the right side of Enver’s torso.

  Marcus recognized the pattern as the same one painted on the wall of the club lounge. Three lions surrounding some kind of shield crest. The emblem was also splashed on one corner of the club’s website that Marcus had perused seconds after ending the phone call that had brought him to the club.

  He studied all that mouth-watering skin. That fine slope of chest and the taper to the abdomen that disappeared under the waistband of a pair of well-fitted jeans. He wanted to take a bite. A great big one that would allow him to experience all the flavors Enver had to offer.

  Enver eyed him. “Anything I can help with?”

  Marcus shook his head, licking his lips as he turned his attention back to the task. Yeah, he’d fully intended to ogle the hell out of the man, but he hadn’t expected Enver to be so...large. The relaxed tee had masked the expansive build. Big physique meant tiny dick, right? Enver had to be packing something that rivaled a Vienna sausage that would shatter the lust coiling through Marcus.

  Yup. Tiny, tiny penis. Muscles for miles to compensate. Yeah. Perfect.

  Hands full of diodes, Marcus turned and saw that he’d been so focused on wishing what Enver had, he’d missed the fact Enver had stripped down completely. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t...

  The tiny plastic circles in his hands fell to the ground in a cascade and scattered when they hit the concrete.

  It was more like a salami.

  Fuck me.

  The twitch of a smile turned up one corner of Enver’s lips. “Need a hand?”

  “I’ve got it.” Don’t come over and...shit.

  Enver didn’t listen. He crossed the space between them, his flaccid penis bouncing between his muscular thighs as he approached. “What are these things anyway?”

  Marcus focused on collecting the pieces and not the naked man just inches away. “Receivers. They light up when the beam contacts them. In return, they’ll send the information to my machine, and then the computer generates a three-dimensional rendering of the subject that will be loaded into the virtual environment. From there, users can manipulate the avatar however they’d like.”

  “Sorry I asked.” Enver used his wide hands to scoop up most of the fallen items and deposited them into the bucket Marcus normally used for transport.

  Marcus focused on gathering the rest of them and not on Enver’s body as he walked back over to the desk. He had already gotten an eyeful of the front. He’d probably keel over if he saw Enver’s ass.

  “Never seen this room so bare,” Enver said conversationally. “Usually a bunch of equipment here.”

  I have chats with naked men all the time. No big deal. “Not computer equipment, I take it?”

  “This past summer, it was a torture chamber. One of our regulars liked torment scenes and kept a cage over in that corner.” He pointed to that corner first, then the opposite. “Relief area over there. Chair here in the center where your desk is set up. A chest back by the door full of all the usual equipment.”

  Marcus had competent enough visualization skills to imagine this room full of those things. That level of play was well beyond his interests, but the idea of it intrigued him. One of the perks of his work was helping others live out their wildest fantasies. He’d seen more than his fair share of intense scenes during his research to perfect the program for potential customers.

  Enver watched him for a time before asking, “How did you get into something like this?”

  Marcus busied himself with connecting the diodes on top of Enver’s feet. Eventually he’d have to face the inevitable, but for now he would at least focus on the task and the conversation. “By accident. I was always interested in computers, even as a kid. I changed careers around ten years ago and during the transition, I learned about the VR technology.”

  “Hooked from then on, huh?”

  Marcus shrugged, dislodging one of the diodes. He adjusted it and moved on. “Pretty much.”

  “What did you do before this?”

  He didn’t mind Enver’s questions. It kept his mind off the fact a virile man stood just inches away. Under different circumstances, Marcus may have flirted with Enver even more than he had during the convention. “I used to teach high school.”

  “So you’re a masochist too.”

  Marcus chuckled as he painted a swath of spirit gum on the back of the diode. “Evidently.” He had to shake off the phantom threads of a past he would never be able to move away from. Not when he had a constant reminder of it that looked back at him in the mirror every morning. “What about you? What do you do when you’re not attending trade shows you have no interest in?” Silence met Marcus’s questions. He glanced up, worried he’d said something offensive. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s all right,” Enver interrupted. “I don’t talk about my life away from the club while I’m here.
To be honest, not used to people asking. Too wrapped up in their own shit to worry much about mine. Which is how it should be, to be honest—keeping the personal and private separated from one another.”

  Marcus felt his stomach clench. This was a very disjointed man. Kept to himself. Came to the club, did his job and left. Marcus had noticed the distance earlier when he’d commented on the photo. Though Enver had been the subject—was a Dom at the club—Marcus suspected he didn’t relish the spotlight. Odd, given the nature of activities that went on there.

  Marcus focused on aligning the markers around Enver’s knees. “Once I get these in place, I’m going to do a test scan to see where there are gaps. Probably take a few adjustments as I’m not one hundred percent efficient yet. Going to take a few more trial cases before I perfect the locations.”

  “Have you done this before? Or am I really a guinea pig?”

  “Only once or twice.” He continued working, placing the little electronic receivers at even intervals. “Mostly on myself.”

  “A virtual Marcus,” Enver said quietly. “Interesting.”

  Marcus had no idea why, but the earnest tone of Enver’s statement made him warm all over. As though having Enver’s approval meant something. Special. Important. Whatever it was, he needed to nip it in the bud. Men like Enver didn’t go for guys like Marcus who were damaged on the inside was well as the outside. Not when Enver could have his pick of the club’s membership roster.

  Besides, given that enlarged photo Marcus had seen earlier, it was pretty damn clear which side of the fence Enver stood on in the sexuality department. He’d also made it clear he wasn’t interested in talking about himself, so it wasn’t as though Marcus could come out and ask him about his orientation.

  “Don’t mean to rush you, but the temp in here isn’t exactly comfortable.”

  “Shit, sorry.” Marcus set the adhesive to the side and went to adjust the thermostat. “Gets too hot, just let me know. I need to keep it cooler in here because of the equipment, but for a short period of time, it should be okay. I got used to the cold years ago, forget not everyone else has.”