Page 56 of To Catch a Sub

“No. I would never put a collar on someone who didn’t want it.”

“You could have made it part of the uniform.”

“I could have,” Rolf agreed.

“Call it a choker, not a collar.”

Rolf was silent, and Landon could feel the other man watching him.

“Just say it,” Landon snarled after a tense moment.

“You need to scene.”

“I’m working.” Landon uncrossed his arms and rolled his shoulders.

He’d worked eighteen of the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday, needing to get away from Colette for a while, he’d made sure Rolf was watching her and had gone in to the London NCB offices to pick up paper files and an encrypted computer with an equally encrypted satellite connection. He turned a storage room on the bottom floor into a makeshift office and buried himself in work, spending nearly sixteen hours on the Heathrow smuggling case.

“You are, but you don’t need to,” Rolf said. “It’s my week as Dom on duty.”

“You know I don’t mean working as a Dom. I’m working keeping an eye on her.”

“You are certainly watching her.”

Landon suppressed a snarl.

Colette had dropped her empties, recycled the water bottles, and even grabbed a rag and helped wipe down the bar before picking up her tray and heading back out into the crowd. The soft, sheer black skirt floated around her ass and upper thighs with each movement.

He wanted to strip it off her with his teeth.

“You need to scene,” Rolf repeated. “Either with her or find another sub.”

“I told you, she’s been trained as a sub, but she flat out refused to sub for me.”

That had…hurt. It shouldn’t have. She had every right to say no, and a D/s scene required an incredibly high level of trust. He already knew she didn’t trust him—it was why she was still withholding information.

But fuck it still hurt.

Earlier he’d thought she changed her mind. She’d been the one to slide her wrists into his grip. The one to sigh in relief when he cuffed her with his hands.

But she’d pulled away, and that second rejection had been tough to swallow.

“She’s a good worker.” There was real admiration in Rolf’s voice.

“I’m pretty sure Colette Beaumont is good at anything she puts her mind to.”

Colette had taken a drink order from an older man sitting alone in an armchair, and was now headed back in his direction, a glass tumbler perfectly balanced on her tray.

The man watched her with assessing, predatory interest. Master Red, real name Aquilinus Augustus, was a regular here.

And one of their most important members.

Colette returned with his beverage and crouched down, her free hand resting on the arm of the chair as she found her balance.

Aquilinus put his hand over hers, taking his drink from her tray with the other hand.

Landon pushed away from the wall, taking a half step towards Colette.

Rolf caught his arm. “Stop.”