CHAMELEON

THREE.

Everyone in the room waited for Cameron to answer Marcus.

Though, for all of the experienced Doms in the room, no words were needed. Cameron's anger had subsided into a mixture of shock and confusion. Her perfectly trimmed eyebrows were pulled together in a crease on her forehead. Her small hands were tight fists at her sides, and every muscle in her body had been pulled in tight.

Spot. Fucking. On.

"Are you running from somebody?" Brett demanded.

If she was in trouble, he needed to know.

"Brett works in law enforcement. He is very useful when it comes to protecting people," Marcus said it in an attempt to comfort the girl.

The look she shot Sadie suggested it hadn't helped.

Afraid of cops, little pet? Brett hummed to himself as he thought it over. Not that he was a street cop anymore, anyway. He hadn't been seen in a uniform in many years. Cameron also didn't strike him as the person to be running from the law for illegal activities, and he knew she wouldn't be so important to Sadie if she wasn't something worth protecting. Brett turned his body to Sadie.

"Are you safe, little one?"

He also noted how Damien's expression was no longer amused. He tightened his arm around the midsection of his lover, and Brett couldn't blame him.

"You're not afraid of me," Brett continued. He wasn't really asking a question.

"Of course not," Sadie said with a pout. "You know I love you guys. I wouldn't have brought her to you if I didn't trust you,"

"You trust Sadie," he said to Cameron. She hesitated but eventually nodded.

"Excellent. Was there somebody in the club itself that set you on edge?"

Cameron shook her head. Marcus visibly relaxed.

"Is there anything we need to know to keep her safe? Something that we should be aware of when she is at the club?"

Sadie's heart hurt at the question. Lying to a Dom from the club was not only an excuse for some kind of punishment, it also upset them dearly. Her big eyes silently pleaded Cameron for help. She didn't receive it.

"Not really, no," she gave up.

"Truth, little one," Damien grunted. He seemed unconvinced.

Cameron frowned at the interaction. She knew Sadie never lied to Damien, and didn't want to get between that relationship.

"The club is fine," she spoke up, locking eyes with her friend. "There's nothing for you to worry about."

She meant it. The club was dark, and she couldn't think of many places where anonymity was more important.

"So you'll return?" Marcus said with a smile. Again, as she seemed to notice about these men, he wasn't really asking it as a question.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it," she said quietly. Sheesh, she barely knew the man and even she had a problem with lying to him already. As somebody who grew up being able to lie through her teeth that was alarming.

"What is there to think about?"

"She's not comfortable playing with strangers. She needs to get to know somebody first," Sadie suggested.

Damn her anyway.

"That seems like a reasonable request. You'll return to the club and spend the evening with Brett. He'll be able to introduce you to the lifestyle. You can consider this your gift to me for leaving me fretting for days. Yes?" Marcus was already standing up and drawing the conversation to an end.

"Um,"

"Perfect."

"I didn't say yes!" Cameron balked.

Brett reached out to stroke one finger down her cheek, enjoying the warmth that she instantly flushed with.

"Starting now, pet, not saying no is the same as saying yes."

And hell if she didn't feel her insides melt at that. She watched Damien shake hands with the two men as they left and felt the return of air when their presence had left the room. If that's what she had in store for her every time she was around them she was screwed.

She lunged for Sadie.

Damien shut the door behind his friends and exhaled a sigh of relief. The conversation had gone better than expected. Each time he had met his little lover's friend, he had thought she was guarded but pleasant. His feelings about her being so entangled in Sadie's life had certainly been questioned during her outburst at the club. He knew there was more that they needed to discover, but he was happy to see his Sadie as herself again. He also knew that Cameron's presence would brighten her radiance tenfold. Whenever she was able to reach her long-time friend, Sadie glowed for days.

He wasn't really expecting to come around the corner to a brawl.

Sadie was kicking Cameron in the stomach repeatedly as Cameron brought her fists down onto her friend's scalp. There seemed to be a lot of shouting and hair flying, but Damien could tell they were both pulling their punches.

"You ambushed me!" Cameron was screaming.

"I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T STAY HERE IF WE DIDN'T" his little one screamed louder. In the bedroom too, he'd bet.

"That wasn't your decision to make!"

Damien watched calmly as the two rolled from the armchair to the floor between the coffee table and the sofa.

"I take it you're staying for dinner?"

The brawl stopped long enough for Sadie to look at him with a crazed expression on her face that he hadn't seen before.

"Staying for life, baby!" she shouted like a person who had won the lottery.

They started up again.