Once Is Never Enough: Delta Heat, Book 5 Read online

  It’s time for this Dom to learn he may not always know what’s best.

  Delta Heat, Book 5

  When his four Memphis PD friends needed to let off steam, Mondo helped them all navigate the BDSM world—his world—and find the women of their dreams. Now the vice cop and La Forge Master/Dom is the last single man standing. And he’s feeling a little like the odd man out.

  He’s been waiting a long time for the right woman, one strong enough to match his dark passions. A timid grade school teacher definitely doesn’t make the short list.

  Sunny Boudreau was content with her rather prosaic life until a trio of lovers moves in next door. But as she gets to know them and all their friends, she’s drawn to the edge of their ménage/BDSM play. She’s tempted to take the plunge—except Mondo warns her off.

  Her first taste of the club only whets her appetite and ignites her desire to prove she’s exactly the woman Mondo’s been hungering for.

  Warning: BDSM play at your favorite kinky club, group play at home, some fun BDSM, girl-on-girl kissing, an orgy…the usual for our boys in blue.

  Once is Never Enough

  Delilah Devlin

  Dedication

  To the fans who begged for Mondo’s story… You are a kinky bunch!

  Chapter One

  Viewing the submissives beginning to line up like wallflowers at a high school dance, Mondo Acevedo curled his lips in distaste. Not that the women and men weren’t attractive. A few actually were. Any other night, he might have been tempted to take a couple of them to his private room where he’d work them over, giving them the attention they craved while providing himself the escape he needed.

  Not that he was interested in assuaging more than his frustration. Sex wasn’t the goal. Not when one particular woman haunted his thoughts—and such an inappropriate choice for his heart to settle upon, but what could he do?

  Wasn’t he always lusting after someone he couldn’t have? Thoughts of a waif with slanted green eyes and straight, silky black hair that brushed the tops of her buttocks blew through his mind, unsettling him again, and he made another restless circle around the large salon.

  Tonight, the muted lighting and plush red sofas weren’t inviting—not when he imagined draping a pale torso over a sofa back and stroking a firm bottom with his favorite deer-hide flogger. Something that stroked like a caress when laid across an ass with steady strokes but flicked fire with a snap of his wrist. He’d have her cunt dripping honey into the deep upholstery while she rubbed her small breasts on the velvet.

  Mondo’s cheeks billowed around a quick exhale. Why was he torturing himself? He wasn’t one to moon over a woman. He’d never spared a second thought for regret over the path he’d chosen for himself. By his nature, he was dominant. By his training, he was a Dom. No pretty little schoolteacher, no matter how lush her mouth or pink her pretty pussy was, would change his nature.

  If he could have burned from his mind the sight of her sitting in a deep, upholstered chair with her legs spread over the arms and her face suffused with pleasure, he would have. The slick sounds her cunt had made as she’d fingered herself to orgasm and the delicate scent of arousal that had wafted through the open window were never very far from his thoughts since he’d spied on her like a pervert hovering in the shadows.

  As Mondo strolled through the club, he had second thoughts about being at La Forge. Every Thursday the stars aligned and all of his friends shared a rare night off. Five of Memphis PD’s finest, plus their significant others. They started the evening at Marti’s bar and then, as had become habit, they moved the party to La Forge to let off some steam in the privacy of the sex club. There, even those who liked to keep their partnering exclusive could share their pleasure for the others to see—exhibitionism being one of the sexual acts everyone in his tight group enjoyed.

  This night, however, he felt restless, grouchy, unable to make up his mind about what it was he wanted or who he wanted to indulge in. Several attractive subbies looked on hopefully when he strode by, but none caught his interest. So he moved aimlessly, watching scenes on the salon’s three stages. The music playing in the background was jazz—a saxophone—something that grated on his nerves. Or maybe it wasn’t the music but the fact he was alone and didn’t like that it made him feel dissatisfied.

  One by one over the past months, he’d watched his friends fall in lust and eventually in love with the perfect matches for their appetites.

  Marti’s thirst for adventure was only matched by Jackson’s willingness to give her anything she needed—even if what she needed was to experience the pleasures of a blissful orgy. Big, burly Gus had found the Domme he hadn’t known he needed. Craig had surprised them all by choosing to move in with Jenn and her fireman boyfriend, Aiden. Craig’s willingness to submit to a Dom had been no surprise to Mondo, but the fact he’d fallen in love with the couple had been. Not that Mondo judged him. No, love was funny like that.

  Beau had also slipped into a ménage, although not one where the men shared sex. Both Billy, another fireman, and Beau had fallen for Pansy, and because he loved her, Beau hadn’t forced her to choose. Now that Pansy was pregnant, both men had formed an easy alliance, seeing to her comfort and her needs and finding pleasure in their company.

  A flash of red hair caught his attention, and he found himself walking to the edge of the stage where Ash was flogging the ass of a female sub while Gus knelt, hands restrained against the sides of his thighs in a harness while he stood watching Ash work. Gus’s cock, which was bared and turgid, jumped nearly to the rhythm of Ash’s strokes, his gaze dark with jealousy.

  No doubt, Ash would reward him for his patience with a blowjob by the sub, but Mondo couldn’t stay to watch. He’d trained Ash and had fallen a little in love with her. The sting of loss was still a little too fresh for him to detach and watch with impartiality.

  Mondo continued walking until he found an empty sofa and settled into it, arms extended across the back to discourage anyone from joining him.

  “Master…you don’t have to be alone.”

  Mondo glanced sideways to find Jenn standing beside the couch. Lovely and tall with dark-brown hair that moved like silk as she moved, she was nibbling her bottom lip as she gazed at him.

  He sighed before giving her a smile. “I don’t need you to hook me up with a sub.”

  Her eyes were alight with excitement. Her lips pressed together for a moment. Was she hiding a smile? “That’s not why I’m here, Sir. But I do think you should take a closer look at the new crop of subs.”

  The way Jenn said it, her gaze sliding away, her mouth crimping again, raised his suspicions right away. As the manager of La Forge, she oversaw the inductions of the newbies, which occurred only as needed to introduce fresh blood, and never more than once a month.

  Mondo had no interest in fresh, untrained subs. Something Jenn knew all too well. What was going on? “Jenn, come here,” he said, pitching his voice low so no one standing near the plush sofa could hear. When she stood in front of him, he pointed toward the floor.

  Yes, she was on duty tonight, but she wore a leather harness around her upper torso, thin flat straps arranged in concentric circles over her breasts, but with the nipples left bared. They were engorged and a pretty, deep rose. Aiden had left her black leather skirt and thigh-high PVC boots in place. So long as she was tricked out like a sub, Mondo would treat her like one.

  When she knelt, he bent forward and twisted a nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.

  From the corner of his eye, he noted Aiden, who stood
near the bar raising an eyebrow but otherwise not objecting to Mondo’s handling of his sub. No one else would have dared because all the club’s Doms were aware that subs from inside Mondo’s circle of friends were off-limits to anyone outside the circle.

  He pinched Jenn’s nipple, listening for her soft whimper. No doubt if he reached beneath her skirt she’d be wet. Jenn liked pain. Just one of the many things about her he liked as well. “So tell me,” he said, gently cupping her cheek as he twisted again, “why should I be interested in looking over the new crop?”

  She gave small groan, and her eyelids dipped before she focused on his face again. “Sir, someone you know is among them.”

  “Who?”

  She slipped her tongue out and wet her bottom lip. A glint of mischief gleamed in her gray eyes. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  “Sir, this one will...interest...you. I promise.”

  She didn’t say he’d be pleased. But the amusement flirting with the corners of her pretty mouth had him curious. “Why don’t you bring her to me?”

  Gasping at another strong twist, she shook her head. “Master Ravi’s already inspecting them. You might want to hurry.”

  Ravi’s inspections were physical caresses and proddings, while he and those watching gauged the hopefuls’ reactions before assigning them to Doms to shadow. If Jenn thought Ravi shouldn’t inspect this particular hopeful, there was a problem.

  Mondo grunted. “I’ll have a word with Aiden later about your lack of honesty. No doubt he’ll think punishment is warranted.”

  Her mouth parted, pleasure pinkening her cheeks.

  Mondo pushed off the sofa and walked around the edge of Ash’s stage, heading toward the center of the salon where the hopefuls were standing in a row, Ravi pacing in front of them, the sly curve of his mouth the only indication of his mood.

  There were six hopefuls. All wearing masks. Something that helped their embarrassment because some were nude and some were dressed in shiny, new gear with plenty of skin revealed. One at the end of the line made Mondo’s steps slow. She looked completely out of her element, dressed in a silky sleeveless top, black slacks and tall slinky black heels, a cat’s eyes mask not doing a damn thing to obscure her identity.

  Sunny. Mondo’s stomach tightened. His breath caught and held. Shock shivered deliciously through his body. He stood still for a long moment, willing his reactions to the sight of her standing in his club to quiet. The throb in his chest and his groin slowed.

  Ravi, dressed in leather pants, his chest bare, walked down the line, tapping a riding crop to his calf and pausing in front of her slender figure. “Why are you here?”

  Even behind the mask, her eyes were wide. “To learn. I’ve never been in a place like this, but I’m…curious.”

  Ravi canted his head. His mouth curved with approval. “Pansy,” he said over his shoulder, “place the others as you see fit.” He lifted the hand of the woman he still stood in front of and placed a kiss in the center of her palm. “This one,” he said, his voice dipping to an intimate growl, “this one, I’ll keep a while.”

  Like hell. Mondo strode forward and clamped a hand on Ravi’s shoulder. “Thank you, Ravi,” he said, narrowing his gaze when Ravi glanced back and frowned.

  “You have no claim.”

  Mondo looked past Ravi at the woman whose breaths had shortened into shallow pants.

  “She’s mine.” His glare dared her to deny it.

  Sunny’s mouth tightened, and she gave a swift nod. “What he said.”

  Ravi laughed. “As if. No sub of yours would be this unschooled or answer like that.”

  Mondo slid his fingers around her narrow wrist and tightened them like a manacle. “Ravi, back off.”

  “Fine,” the other Dom said, raising his hands in surrender. “But if you need a second…”

  Mondo snorted. Then, without looking at the woman, he strode through the crowded salon toward the corridor where his private room was located. He swiped his card, pulled her behind him and then flung her forward so that she teetered on her heels for a moment.

  She tugged off her mask, perhaps to have something to do while she thought fast. She watched him warily. “I take it you’re upset.”

  Upset? He was a lot of things, but upset wasn’t anywhere in the range of emotions flooding him at the moment. “You have no idea,” he said, his voice grating.

  She cleared her throat. “I know more than I did.”

  “Stop,” he said, raising a hand, “if you mention fifty shades of any damn color, your ass’ll be a brilliant shade of red.”

  “And that’s supposed to discourage me?”

  His jaw dropped an inch and then ground closed.

  “So, I’ve been reading…” she said, lifting a hand to examine her nails. “And Pansy has been telling me…stuff.”

  “Pansy needs to mind her own business. I’ll be sure to let Beau know.” Although his friend wasn’t much into punishing his woman these days since she’d become pregnant. “This isn’t the place for you.”

  “Why?” she asked, jutting her small pointed chin higher. “I have every right to be here. I was invited.”

  “By which of my friends?”

  “Aiden made arrangements. He put my name on the list.”

  “Mierdo. Bastard!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Pansy tell you what could have happened? That Master Ravi could have taken you, stripped you and paddled your bottom in front of the room?” Ravi wasn’t a patient or discerning Dom. He tended to push hard, and if a prospective sub balked, he showed her the door.

  Her cheeks flushed, but her head remained tilted at a defiant angle. “She said he only picked those he sensed were exhibitionists.”

  “So why the hell would he pick you?”

  Her gaze fell away. “Maybe he has a better sense of what I am than you do. I didn’t think I could make my desire more clear.”

  Mondo rocked back on his heels. “You meant for someone to see you through that window?”

  “I meant for you to see me,” she said softly, swinging her gaze back to nail him to the spot.

  Mondo sucked in a deep breath. He’d thought her innocent. Too innocent for his tastes and predilections. “You teach kindergarten,” he said, his voice grating.

  “And I fingered myself with the window open and the curtains parted—the only open window in the whole house. And with track lights turned so that they illuminated me sitting in that arm chair.”

  She stepped forward, coming so close her spicy cinnamon perfume tickled his nose. The throb in his groin returned as she tilted back her head and her pitch-black hair sifted over her shoulders.

  “I waited beside the window in the dark for the sound of you saying your goodbyes to your friends, and when you walked toward your car, I hurried to my chair and made sure I moaned loudly.”

  He swallowed to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth but narrowed his eyes. “I thought someone was hurt.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I had to make sure you heard me.”

  “You allowed a man you didn’t know to stand in the shadows and watch you. What if it hadn’t been me?”

  Sunny shook her head and shrugged. “Did you see how wet I was?”

  His jaw tightened. Her fingers had gleamed with moisture that spilled from her channel.

  She came up on her toes and leaned toward his ear. “I knew it was you.” When she lowered to her heels, she kept her gaze on his face.

  Mondo knew better than to indulge her curiosity. For that’s all this was. She thought she wanted to take a walk on the wild side, play with a puma, but she wasn’t equipped. Seriously hadn’t a clue. Perhaps she needed a wakeup call.

  “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he said, his voice pitched low. “That’s why he chose you. So
many layers protecting your modesty. So many layers to peel away. He would have pushed you to bare more and more until finally you refused. Not to humiliate you—because you’re too fresh and he wouldn’t want to put you off the game—but to test your limits. You would have found yourself naked and splayed so the crowd could inspect your dripping cunt.” He paused, studying her expression.

  She swallowed but otherwise gave away no signs of shock. “Should I undress?”

  Mondo drew in a swift breath at her bold suggestion. His gaze bored into hers, looking for any hint of hesitation. Part of him wanted her to balk, so that he could send her on her way. Another part began to hope. He’d been waiting for a very long time for someone who would challenge him, make him work for the privilege of dominating her. Not simply a bratty sub. Someone who would hold his interest beyond a sexy session. This woman had intrigued him from the start, but he’d dismissed her because he knew he couldn’t give up certain aspects of his life. And he’d known the moment he met her, in his gut, that she wasn’t cut out for this.

  Despite the fact she admitted to letting him watch her diddle herself, she didn’t have a clue what he wanted.

  And yet the temptation was there—to lead her deep into his world and see whether it might work. Maybe she could learn. Maybe he’d read her all wrong, although he really doubted it. If she was here because of him, then shame on him for letting her think she stood a chance simply by being here. “You should go home.”

  “I can’t.”

  Not any of the responses he’d expected. “Do you need a ride home?”

  Her mouth pouted. “I can’t go. It took everything I had to come here tonight. I’m not leaving just because you think I’m being foolish.”

  “You told Ravi you were here to learn.”

  She dragged in a deep breath and nodded.

  “Not because of me, I hope. If you think that learning to act like a sub will change anything…”

  Her eyebrows lowered. “Not everything is about you, Mondo. I know I’m not to your taste. You should have left me with that other guy. I doubt we’d still be talking.”