Club X-Dare (Siren Publishing Allure) Read Free Page A

eyes with him for a moment and then broke the visual embrace as she glanced at the restaurant. “Caliar, nice choice. Their food is excellent.”
    “So I was told. Shall we, Fire?” he asked, offering his upturned palm to her.
    Sam placed her hand daintily into his. “I prefer to be called Sam outside the walls of the club. Samantha is acceptable, but it is also very formal.”
    “I don’t think Sam fits you, but I will honor your wishes.”
    They walked into the restaurant and were instantly escorted to seats. Caliar was by reservation only, and they never kept their patrons waiting. The menu was small, and the prices exorbitant, but Sam didn’t hesitate to order. “I will have the venison in burgundy sauce, steamed squash sautéed in garlic, with no butter, wild-greens-with-pecan salad, and a large glass of sparkling water with lime. Please go sparingly on the ice.”
    “Yes, madam, and for you, sir?”
    “I think the lady has good taste. I will take the same, but put butter on my squash.”
    The waiter gave them a polite nod and headed toward the kitchen. “Do you have a problem with milk?”
    “No, I just don’t care to load my food up with a bunch of worthless calories. I have the genetic background to become obese, and I refused to do so.”
    “Do you belong to a gym?”
    “Yes, but I never find the time to go. Most nights I work late, and I try to get to the club two or three times a week. On the weekends I find it very relaxing to go hiking and work in the garden.”
    “You sound as if you spend a lot of time alone.”
    “I do. But it is by choice. I’m really good at casual relationships, but not so hot on long-term ones. After a day or two I tend to lose interest if someone makes a nuisance out of themselves by hanging around.”
    “Have you ever been in serious relationship?”
    “I tend to terminate things before they get too serious. What about you?” she asked, turning the conversation off herself.
    “I’ve had my share of ‘honey, I’m home.’ Women tend to be a bit intimidated when they find out what I do for a living. They are all into the passionate sex and the sweet talk until we have that fatal discussion. It is weird, but after that, everything that happens has some kinky undertone. They start seeing me as Dracula or maybe Caligula. I am not giving up the club, so I gave up on happily ever after instead.”
    “How old are you, Condor? You seem kind of young to be running an X-Dare.”
    “Twenty-six. My uncle got me a job on one of his cleaning crews in X-Dare South Carolina. I saved every penny and then, after I graduated high school, got a second job doing landscaping during the daytime. I was living with my parents, and I never spent a dime except to help out with the bills. I took some classes in business management and did a lot of home study on the computer. While most of my friends were in college or working in places around town, I was checking out how to finance an X-Dare. I got a job as a freelance application reviewer and got my foot in the door. I managed to weasel myself a free membership, and I spent every spare moment at the club, learning. My mother was killed in car crash when I was twenty-one. My father had a stroke a year later, and it left him in a near-vegetative state. He couldn’t do anything for himself, and it was impossible for me to be with him twenty-four hours a day. I was lucky because he had purchased insurance that paid for his care until he died last year. Anyway, I was twenty-two when I got wind of a franchise being considered in the Orlando area, and I jumped at it. I took all the money I had and put in a bid on the offer. I have never been so nervous or excited in my life as I was while waiting for a reply. When they asked me to submit plans for a new establishment, I worked nonstop to put all my ideas down on paper. It was everything I had dreamed, and I only had one shot to get it right. I did. A month later the place went into construction.