Chapter One

“He’s going to fire me,” Rainie Kuras muttered. The noise of hammering rain on the car roof drowned out her voice as she peered through her streaked windshield. The streets were filled with standing water in a special Florida trap for the unwary. She glanced up at the heavens where indubitably lived a whole slew of annoying gods. “Do you think I have extra time to waste? Really?”

Her grip on the steering wheel dented the faded blue padding. She mustn’t be late to her job at the towing company. Not now, thanks to dear Cory, the owner’s jerk of a son who’d taken over the business last week. What an excruciating beginning to the new year.

Since then, each day had been a misery. Rainie’s sigh sounded bitter, even to her own ears.

But she couldn’t afford to quit. Not after wiping out the last of her savings. She didn’t regret spending the money. Miss Lily had been as comfortable as possible before she’d “gone home”—as the fragile old woman termed death.

Rainie blinked back tears. Why did it seem as if it had been raining every day since her passing, as if the world itself mourned?

A horn blared behind the Civic, startling Rainie into the present. After a glance in the rearview mirror, she veered toward the curb to let the let-me-drive-up-your-ass BMW with Boston plates zip past. Cell phone in one hand, the driver used his other to hit the horn again.

“Idiotic, irritating ignoramus.” Rainie rolled her eyes. Better slow down, dude.

The speeding car reached the flooded intersection. Alas, no passage miraculously opened for Moses. As water sprayed outward, the vehicle hydroplaned, fishtailing violently.

“Foot off the gas, don’t panic,” Rainie whispered, cringing inwardly.

As the Boston car’s tires caught traction, the rear pendulumed to the other side. A high yelp sounded. A brown animal was flung to the curb. The BMW kept going.

Oh no, no, no. Rainie’s already clammy hands slid on the steering wheel. She didn’t know how to fix injuries, especially non-people ones. Move, dog. Move. The little body lay motionless.

God, please let the dog be okay. Carefully, she drove across the flooded intersection, turned on the hazard flashers, and jumped out. The heavy rain flattened her hair and soaked her suit.

Blinking through damp eyelashes, she saw the dog was breathing. “God, you poor thing.” With its fur matted down, the dog wasn’t much bigger than a cat. Terrified. Panting. Trembling.

“I’m so not good with animals.” How could she be? She’d lived in apartments. Never had a pet. She squatted awkwardly, trying to check for bleeding and broken bones.

Brushing aside the fur, she scowled at the blood oozing from a scraped shoulder, but kept her voice smooth and easy. “Jessica’s cat likes me. Does that help? Is there an animal letter of recommendation I should get?”

The dog’s tail beat once against the pavement.

“I need to take you to a vet.” She couldn’t really determine if anything was wrong—not in the rain. “Okay, baby, if you don’t want a doctor exam, you have to tell me you’re all right. Can you—can’t you get up?” Tears blurred her vision. Don’t die, little dog. Please.

It whined, looked up at her with pain-filled, dark brown eyes, and sealed her doom.

* * * *

Exhaustion sat heavy on Jake Sheffield’s shoulders as he stared at the impossible schedule…and considered the merits of murder. He’d start with his partner, Saxon, for taking a scuba diving vacation in Cozumel.

After disposing of his best friend’s body, he’d execute the so-called office manager of their veterinary clinic. Yes, most definitely—Lynette had to die. He studied the schedule a second longer.

Or maybe he’d kill himself instead.

“You knew a month ago that Sax would be gone, and you still scheduled surgeries for him?” Jake asked in a low tone. He was thirty-one, a veteran, a veterinarian, and a sexual Dominant since his first year in vet school; he’d had ample practice throttling back anger. “I have a full load of exams. Sax isn’t here. Who exactly is going to perform those surgeries, Lynette?” The first appointments would start arriving in a few minutes.

“I…guess I messed up, huh?” Lynette’s blue eyes shimmered with tears.

Amateur hour in the damp eyes arena wouldn’t cut it with him. In the dungeon, women were always crying. He’d caused more than a few appealing sobbing fits himself. Deliberately.

Lynette could save herself the trouble of squeezing out some salt water.

And now he knew why Saxon had been pressured to give Lynette a job—and why her sole job reference had been so noncommittal. Because she couldn’t spell, forgot assignments, and took garbled messages. Even basic receptionist tasks were beyond her. The slender blonde was about as useful as dewclaws on a Chihuahua.

It’d be the last time he let Saxon hire anyone.

“Yes. You messed up,” Jake said evenly. “Now call and shift some appointments to later in the week.” They had a substitute vet who might be willing to pitch in on such short notice. Or maybe he could—

The clinic’s entrance door hissed open.

Jake looked up, and his mood lightened. The woman in the doorway was Rainie, a submissive in his and Saxon’s favorite BDSM club, the Shadowlands. “Come on in.”

When he and Saxon opened the clinic over two years ago, they’d been surprised and delighted when the owner of the club had trusted them with his cat. Since then, many of the Shadowlands members had brought their pets to the clinic.

Considering how the trainee avoided him at the club, her presence here was a surprise.

And he’d never seen her in street clothing, let alone a tailored suit. Her streaky brown hair was in an intricate coil at her nape. Even drenched and mud-streaked, she looked amazing. Saxon had once commented she could be a model for a BBW—big, beautiful woman. And that was only the beginning of her appeal.

“I don’t know what to do.” Her carefully even voice couldn’t conceal the underlying panic. The blanket wrapped around the animal showed a growing bloodstain.

Ignoring the office manager’s hissed, “She doesn’t have an appointment,” he motioned to an exam room. “Let’s have a look.”

After Rainie set the animal on the stainless steel table, Jake carefully unwrapped the bundle.

Dark brown eyes, wavy filthy fur. A small dog with an equally small growl.

“He bite?” Jake asked.

“Uh…”

“Never mind.” She might not know, especially if her pet hadn’t been seriously injured before. Jake would simply be careful, as always. Nothing obviously broken. Alert, eyes slightly glazed—probably with pain. Breathing fast. Where was the blood coming from? “What happened?”

“A car. Off Highway 19.” Her wide-set, hazel eyes sparked with anger. “The driver didn’t even stop.”

“Happens more often than you’d think.” Jake moved slowly, letting the dog smell him. A quick glance ascertained gender. “Easy, boy. I see you’re battered and sore, so I’m going to go nice and slow. You’re being a good dog. Your mama will be proud of you.”

Under the measured rhythm of the words, Rainie relaxed. Dr. Jake Sheffield’s smooth baritone projected utter confidence. That he was there to help. That he could help.

She studied him for a moment. Some of the Shadowlands Masters had the bulky musculature of powerlifters. Not Master Jake. He was a couple of inches over six feet with a lean, muscular build. Not too lean, though. The shoulders under his white polo shirt were broad, and the sleeves strained to fit around rock-hard biceps. The man was drop-dead gorgeous, with the chiseled features of a model. Shadowy designer stubble added a dangerous cast to a hard jawline.

Every instinct told her to flee.

A sizzling hot guy she could handle. But not this one. The first time she’d seen Jake had been over a decade ago, and she’d turned so starry-eyed her high school classmates had made fun of her. And…her entire life had been flushed down the toilet that day because of him.

Not his fault, certainly. He’d never even known she existed.

He sure wouldn’t have been her choice of a veterinarian today. But on the phone, Linda had insisted Jake was the best vet in the area. Master Sam, Marcus, and Master Z took their pets to his clinic.

Maybe Linda was right. Dr. Sheffield seemed very competent, carefully checking every inch of the little dog while murmuring reassurances. The ball of fur was shaking less.

Then Jake touched something painful, and the dog yelped.

“Dammit.” Rainie glared at him. “If you hurt him again, I’m going to hit you.”

The sun lines at the corners of his eyes deepened. His warm hand closed on hers. “Let me look under there. Just for a minute.”

Rainie realized her fingers lay on the dog’s neck. She’d been trying to comfort the poor thing, even if she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. “Right. Sorry.” She stepped away.

The dog on the metal table scrabbled in an attempt to stand.

“Get back here.” Iron edged Jake’s quiet order. His voice gentled as he said, “Easy, boy. She’s not going anywhere. See?”

Mouth open in surprise, Rainie resumed her place. When Jake set her hand on the dog’s shoulder, the small body relaxed. Eyes the color of dark chocolate watched her anxiously. Was the tiny dog fearful she’d move away again?