Down the Aisle Read Free Page B

right guys?” she asked, sending Courtney a pouty face.
    She nodded, although reluctantly. “Sure.”
    Lacey hated making her feel like the fifth wheel, but maybe if she played her cards right, she and Rafe could find some common ground.
    “So, Rafe, I hear you like to tie women up?” Courtney said, an innocent expression on her angelic face. She popped a maraschino cherry into her mouth and chomped down. So much for playing cards right. That sounded downright confrontational.
    Rafe reclined back on his chair, and a slow smile spread across his lips. “Did you, now?” He spared a dead-eyed glance at Cat, and she shrugged.
    “What? You didn’t say it was a secret, and it’s way too juicy to keep to myself.”
    Shane tugged at a red curl hanging over her eye and shook his head. “It makes my blood run cold imagining what you tell people about our sex life.”
    Cat grinned and leaned in to kiss him on the mouth. “It shouldn’t. You should be very proud. They’ve heard nothing but good things, right ladies?”
    Galen was rubbing Lacey’s back in slow circles and she was too mesmerized to answer properly, so she held up her index fingers, gauging about eight inches apart.
    Courtney cracked out a laugh, and the guys all groaned.
    “I knew you shared notes about that,” Galen said, shaking his head. “It’s a man’s personal business, you know. A lady shouldn’t kiss and tell.”
    “I think the saying is that a gentleman shouldn’t kiss and tell,” Courtney said, taking a long gulp of her mai tai. “Nobody ever said anything about a lady. But back to Rafe.” She pinned him with her clear, hazel gaze and asked him again. “What’s the deal with you and the BDSM chatter I’m hearing tonight?”
    The others got quiet, and Lacey wondered what the heck was going on. They’d been joking around about it, but suddenly Courtney’s interest seemed like more than just idle curiosity and tipsy conversation. She was a confirmed bachelorette and had insisted that she wasn’t in the market for any kind of relationship with a man. So why the sudden concern about Rafe’s sex life?
    Rafe gave her a long, hard look and even from the sidelines, Lacey found herself wriggling in her seat. The two had only hung out in the group a handful of times, and Lacey didn’t recall this tension between them before, but maybe she just hadn’t been looking for it. Now, even Galen and Shane were paying attention.
    “What do you want to know, Court?”
    The words were spoken softly, like a challenge, and for a second, it looked like her friend might back down. But she threw her shoulders back and met him head on.
    “Does it make you feel more like a man to dominate your lover?”
    Cat winced with a whispered, “Day-um,” and the rest of them waited silently for Rafe’s response.
    “No more than it makes my lover feel more like a woman when she submits to me.”
    Courtney’s mouth formed an “o” before her eyes narrowed. “That’s what you like to tell yourself, I’m sure. But don’t you worry that doing things to a woman when she’s helpless and fantasizing about hurting her is a gateway to abuse? I have to wonder if it starts with a spanking in a bedroom and leads to a beating out of one.” Her questions were harsh, but the way she licked her lips nervously when she delivered them took away some of their fire.
    Rafe seemed to consider her words but then shook his head. “Nope. You can wonder all you want, but if I deliver pain, it’s only to intensify the pleasure later. I would never harm a woman, and I spend a lot of my work day hunting down men who do.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Now, if you’re through grilling me about my sexual practices, which you have no understanding or knowledge of, then I’m going to get myself a drink. Unless what you’re really asking for is a lesson? In which case,” he glanced at his watch and then locked gazes with a shaken Courtney. “You can pick up that hood and