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nothing to ease his worries. “Let me take care of it. I promise you’ll be able to get Emma out of the house to come to my birthday party, but you’ll have to put yourself aside and really serve her.”
    Offense twisted his gut and he sat forward in his chair. “No offense, Moira, I know you’re her best friend, but don’t you for one fucking minute think you get to decide what constitutes serving my woman. That is between me and her, and we decide what works for us, not you.”
    She was silent for a long moment, then sighed. “You have a beautiful cock and a great ass, but you are so damn high-maintenance.”
    A laugh escaped Ryan before he could stop it. “I mean it, Moira. Emma is the only woman’s opinion who I care about. As long as she’s happy, I’m happy.”
    She muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “pain in my ass.” “Look, just show up with her, and do what she wants. Make it worth her while to have left the house by giving her a night she’ll never forget.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    Ryan let out a quick breath when Moira opened the door to the Kiss of Blue dungeon in normal clothes. Well, normal-ish. She wore a short, silky black dress that clung to her every curve with her now burgundy-red hair falling straight to her waist. Add to that a pair of black boots, and Ryan couldn’t help but grin at the thought that Justan would crap himself when he got an eyeful of her tonight. His blue-Mohawked friend had been suckered into coming by Emma, who seemed much calmer when she knew he was driving protection detail behind him. By that point, Ryan would have agreed to hire a small army to protect her if it would get her through the front door, but all it had taken was Justan’s sincere reassurance, for once, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
    A flash of jealousy had gone through Ryan at the thought that Emma trusted Justan, but he’d quickly buried the irrational anger that thought brought. At the time, he’d been more worried about how pale Emma looked in her deep-gold dress paired with some spiky purple heels that were sexy as hell, but he’d been more worried that she’d teeter over in them than anything else. The memory of her standing in the doorway, eyes wide, sweating and shaking, had him pulling her close to his side and throwing a protective arm around her in a totally possessive gesture.
    Moira merely raised an eyebrow as she ushered them in. “Relax, Ryan. I know she’s your security blanket, but you don’t need to hold her so tight. I promise that if either of you aren’t in the mood, no one will pressure you into participating in the after-dinner fun.”
    Soothing classical music filled the air and huge vases of red roses were everywhere in the reception area. People mingled, also dressed in what Ryan could only describe as formal dinner clothes and he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d see them naked and fucking later tonight. He had a feeling Moira had pulled out all the stops to celebrate her birthday, and he knew from some erotic stories Emma had told him that by the end of the night the air would be saturated with the scent of sex. He cast an eye over to Moira and found her watching him with an evil grin.
    Instantly suspicious, Ryan muttered, “What kind of fun?”
    Emma relaxed against him and looked up into his eyes, amusement shaded with desire reflecting back at him. “The fun kind.”
    To his surprise, when they went into the elegant dining room filled with what he was pretty sure was authentic antique furniture, he found Master Chris, Tanya, and two other men who Ryan didn’t recognize sitting at the table as well as half a dozen other people who he didn’t know. As soon as Moira entered the room the two men rose, then dropped to their knees behind their chair. Ryan blinked hard, but no one else seemed to even notice.
    Greetings rose around them, everyone expressing their pleasure that they got to see Emma. Ryan felt better about bringing her