Judging by the deep bite mark on her breast that she so proudly wore, there definitely was some deviancy in her already that she most likely has not let herself explore yet. He had seen Jett at work in other clubs. He was tall, sexy and as cool as an iceberg near Antarctica. Jett also had a reputation for being the best and most experienced dominant around, having been trained by the best in the country. He had been told several times that Jett always took great care of those he was in a scene with. Everyone who had that pleasure, gushed about him. And yet, he was vastly different around Mandy. They were both good for each other and needed each other, they just did not know it yet. They also had one hell of a turbulent ride ahead of them.
Hunter sighed, pulled from his thoughts when the two pitiful amigos came over and ordered enough alcohol to kill a horse.
Nicole and Emmitt completely ignored Mandy and Hunter, turning their noses up at them.
After the pair walked away on already unsteady legs, Mandy sighed and turned to Hunter. "There is more going on here than just self-pity isn't there?"
"Yes." Hunter hated to tell her the truth, afraid it would ruin her night, he would always be brutally honest with her just as he once promised to. "They are both insanely jealous that you get to go into the VIP area tonight and they can’t. They just assumed they would get to follow you in, that is, until Jett told them otherwise. He told them they would only be allowed in next weekend with your approval and only after you deemed it safe for them, which is completely understandable. It shows you are still looking out for all of us and love us enough to want us to play safe. But they don’t see it that way. In their drunkenness, they see it as a betrayal and that you let Jett's power go to your head."
"Hunter, Jett’s club is vastly different from the one you guys often go to. He has exceptionally strict rules and if anyone is found breaking even one of them, they are banned for life from the whole club, not just the VIP section. He makes damn sure it stays a safe, friendly and fully accepting environment for everyone with a strict consent-only policy. Plus, anyone who plans to go in there to play is prohibited from drinking any alcohol whatsoever. You have to pass a breathalyzer test with a 0.0 level to get past the security crew." Mandy explained to Hunter.
"Is that why you are drinking so much?" He joked.
"I am not going in to play, I am only getting a quick tour from the owner himself in what he calls the hall of windows. No amount of alcohol being consumed by me will keep him from ordering me in there." She smiled again as she imagined Jett ordering her in that place.
"Please tell me if it’s none of my business, but––are you his––submissive, Mandy? Is that the reason for your expensive and absolutely amazing collar?"
"Yes I am and loving every single minute of it. But please keep that between the two of us, okay?"
"Well, I’ll be damned. You go with your bad self, sweetheart. You have my full support, no matter what, you know that."
Mandy stood to give Hunter a tight hug of thanks when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up in an all too familiar and not good at all way. Cold shards of ice ripped at the inside of her body. It is the same feeling she used to get whenever David was near. She used to think of it as her internal alarm that became more precise as the years passed and the abuse escalated.
She spun on her heel and frantically searched the club. It had filled up with patrons in short order while she’d been in her private world talking to Hunter. She scanned every face she could see in the crowd and dismissed them just as quickly. She tried to keep her fear pushed down and in check, so she could focus on pinpointing which direction the sensation was coming from, but her mind kept bringing up the nightmarish memories that only served to accelerate her level of panic and fear.
Mandy was in the battle of her life with her emotions and physical reactions while she tried to overrule them with cold hard rationality. There was no way David was there, in Jett’s club and at the same time she decided to move on with her life. It would be one hell of a eerie coincidence. He was still in prison where he belonged, she was sure of it. She believed she still had two weeks before he was released. She tried to calm her wildly pounding heart and the chills of icy fear racing up and down her spine. But this was a battle she was afraid, she was going to lose.
Hunter watched Mandy's face turn from a flushed red due to alcohol consumption and excitement to the pale white of the dead. She appeared to be searching the crowd for someone. He worried the alcohol had caused her to slip into a flashback as she spun back and forth on her heels searching, endlessly searching. He gently reached out and put his fingers to her wrist. He grew alarmed that her pulse was out of control and racing too damn fast. She was on a one way road straight to heart attack land. He tried to break through her fear and get her to answer him and when he couldn’t, he explained the severity to the bartender and told him to ring Jett now, stating it was an emergency situation concerning Mandy's well-being and safety.
Mere seconds later, Hunter saw Jett shoving his way through the crowd with a contingent of body guards and looking as fierce as the devil himself. He rushed to Mandy’s side, took one look at her face and listened as she whispered only one word, "David," in his ear. It was all it took for him to sweep her off her feet and into his arms. He gave Hunter a grateful look of thanks and then turned his attention back to Mandy.
"It’s alright baby, I’m here now. The club is being searched as are all of the patrons as a precaution. Shh. I’ll never let any harm come to you just as I promised." He murmured in her ear and tried to reassure her. She was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, her eyes rolling around in her head frantically.
"It’s me, may be overreacting."
"If I know one thing for sure, it is that you don’t overreact, ever." He said as they body guards surrounded them in a circle and guided them both toward the northern gold door, through it and into the safety of the well hidden panic room.
The guards entered with them and walked up to the wall, a security panel of several large screens and watched every area of the club while remaining in constant contact with every other security team member. No one found David or any of his well known associates inside the club. But then again, when word traveled lightning fast around the club that people were being searched, several high-tailed it out of the exit door before the security team could efficiently block it.
Mandy felt terrible and wanted to cry for putting everyone through so much trouble on her behalf. She didn’t deserve their diligence at all. She turned and walked away to the window but not before Jett read her like a book. His instincts told him there was something they missed and he wasn’t letting her out of his sight from here on out. He was deeply grateful to Hunter for his quick thinking and actions.
"Don’t you dare cry, tigress. You have nothing to feel bad about. I believe in your senses and your gut instinct. Please stay here with my guards and just relax. I will be right back, I need to speak to the men and assure Hunter that you are safe." Jett spoke softly and walked away. But before he could press in the code to leave the panic room, Mandy called out his name, in a voice laced with pure terror and fear of the likes he’d never heard before.
"Come here, tigress." Jett held out his arm for Mandy, wanting her to feel safe beneath its heavy weight and warmth. He smiled when she came to him without hesitation and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist as if he was her only lifeline.
"Let us be done with this, so we can commence with the fun, my delectable playmate." He said in a deep voice that almost had her forgetting her fear as she shivered.
Jett and Mandy went back out into the club and paused for a moment. He wanted to see if her feeling would come back and watched her closely.
She shook her head no. She didn’t feel it anymore. Whoever caused it was gone now, that is, if she hadn’t been imagining it. She walked under his arm, forcing herself to stand tall and wiped away before putting her mask of cold indifference back on. It had served her well in the past and she praye
d it severed her well once again.
While they walked, instinct once again told her that every woman in the place had one of three things on her mind: be her, be with her or had already killed her and taken her spot with Jett in their minds. She knew she should feel flattered that they felt her worthy of such envious attention, but all it did was put her back up even more. She still felt the fear crouching in and mixed with it was a possessiveness of the likes which she had never felt before. Jett didn’t even notice any of them. He gave her his unabated attention when he wasn’t discussing business and even then, he kept a close grip on her at his side.
"Security is now on full alert and all members will be thoroughly screened before they are allowed entry into the club. VIP members will pass a second checkpoint for their security and for yours. If he tries to come back again, we will catch him, I promise you that, tigress." Jett smiled genuinely. "Oh, security just told me that Hunter left with your two friends. He was going to drop them off at home and search your old haunts with one of my guards as a precaution. He will call me tomorrow with any news." His look said he was all business but with a suddenness that made her head spin, it changed to one of sinful sexiness. "Shall we go and introduce you to my world now?"
"Yes. Please take my mind off the path it is travelling down. I can’t go there, not ever again Jett." Mandy begged him to understand. He nodded in understanding.
Mandy audibly gulped and murmured, "I need a stiff drink first, please master?"
"What is your pleasure, tigress?"
"A hellfire drink and a double shot of tequila, straight up please." Mandy told the bartender.
"Color me impressed." Jett chuckled and watched her down the tequila in one gulp without so much as a grimace, only a sigh of satisfaction. Mandy chuckled at Jett's wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "Don’t look so shocked, my master. You were the one who named me tigress after all." she smirked.
"You saucy wench." Jett growled deeply and gave her bum a hard smack then watched with pleasure as the passionate desire grew again in her eyes. He would never get tired of seeing her turn passionate. "Viewing hall. Now. I desire to see what excites your––senses."
With those words, her body turned into molten lava and was ready to explode. She gazed at Jett with hooded eyes and watched him stare at her, his eyes undressed her body with slow agonizing delight. How could she say no when he looked at her like that?
She gave him her sauciest, most sinful smile and purred, "As you wish, almighty master––"
Jett glared, and interrupted with a growl, "Don’t. Finish. That. Sentence. I’m warning you, tigress. Not unless you want to be publicly flogged and naked too."
Maintaining her sinful heated look she leaned forward, pressed her breasts against the front of his chest and whispered in a smoky voice in his ear, "Mm. What if I want you to punish me later?"
"Don’t worry, you will be." Jett growled and leaned his head down, kissed and bit her nipple right through the fabric of the vest, caught her before she collapsed on the floor and chuckled. Jett felt Mandy shiver with delight.
Positive now that the alcohol was rushing its way through her veins, Jett escorted her through the crowd with pride and in a hurry, he needed to sink home within her wet warmth again. His shoulder raised and his chest puffed out when he noticed every man in the club drooling over his woman.
At the locked golden door on the opposite side of club from the one they’d entered before, Jett introduced Mandy to the one in charge of all of his security. "Mandy, I’d like you to meet Mr. Rylan Damian, the man in charge of all of the security in this place and over my apartments. He’s also a veteran police detective on the force who can find anyone who has been reported missing. He’s my best friend and my adopted brother since I turned eight years of age." Jett explained.
Mandy was amazed that Jett gave so much away. It was a sign of trust and warmed her heart. She schooled her face into a warm smile and offered Rylan her hand to shake.
"Nonsense. I prefer to hug beautiful women and you are definitely the most beautiful and the first my brother has introduced me to." Rylan chuckled warmly and stepped quickly toward Mandy.
Mandy’s initial reaction on the other hand, was to jump backward, trying to crawl into Jett’s chest as fear overtook her, mind and body.
"Oh shit. Sweetheart, I’m terribly sorry. I never meant to frighten you, only to compliment. I have two young daughters of my own and a beautiful wife, waiting for me at home. Please forgive me. I truly am sorry."
Rylan’s warm voice and demeanor reminded Mandy of her older brother James. She lost him to cancer six years before. Rylan's handsome and aristocratic face was exceptionally similar to her own and to her brother James's as well.
Mandy sensed that Rylan was an exceptional and caring person, husband and father. Love and pride swam in his eyes when he spoke of his wife and children. It was quite endearing. She further sensed a kindred spirit in Rylan on a very deep level that made no sense to her. Rylan felt strangely like––family.
"It is I, who must ask your forgiveness, Rylan. I fear my eyes deceived me. I could have sworn I saw the ghost of my beloved big brother, James in you. He died of cancer some years ago." Mandy murmured. Tears welled in her eyes and she wasn’t sure why she was blurting out such personal information about her past to a complete stranger. Even if that stranger could pass as her brother’s identical twin. Her mouth blurted out her thoughts before she could stop it.
"You could pass for James’s identical twin, the resemblance is uncanny." Mandy felt a blush creep up her neck and cheeks from her chest at the outburst. "I’m sorry Rylan, I’ve had a very long day, but that is not an excuse for hurting your feelings. Please forgive me." Mandy murmured and frowned at the spot between her feet. She awaited Jett to admonish her for her screwing up so badly. For a moment, she had honestly hoped her brother James had come back from the dead, just for her. She was all alone in the world without him. He was her only sibling and they were as close as two siblings could be.
"You are more than forgiven, sweet lady. I was in fact born a twin from what I know. But my parents kept my twin brother and gave me away, unable to take care of twins." Rylan said and then shook off his melancholy.
Mandy brought her head back up to smile at Rylan's generosity and kindness. His chestnut colored, short styled hair, ice blue crystal eyes, high cheek bones and aristocratic nose and jaw line were all amazingly identical to James's. She wished she had his picture with her but had shown it to James earlier. She could swear on her very life, that Rylan really was James and it bugged her. As Jett’s brother, she was very honored to meet him just the same and hoped they would become fast friends.
Rylan saw the look of severe contemplation on Jett’s face as he watched the exchange between himself and Mandy silently, which was indeed very unusual. Something was clearly off with Jett. Rylan knew his brother’s impatience and short fused temper only too well. He further knew he had to move this along, even if Jett was currently at ease and patient, which was strange in and of itself.
"Miss Mandy, you look lost and I hate being the trigger of such a tremendous loss in your life. May I please––give you a hug?"
"I would love that. Thank you, Rylan." Mandy stepped away from Jett and walked right into Rylan’s open arms. Shock filled her as the connection flared between them. Her soul recognized him at a very deep level. Even his hug felt exactly like one of James's hugs. How strange indeed.
"I would very much love to meet your family one day, Rylan." Mandy said with genuine warmth and reluctantly released him. She moved back into the safe and reliable warmth of Jett’s embrace. Without thinking about it, she laid her head right over his heart. It is her favorite place, his heart beat reassured her and she sighed in contentment.
"I will fax you all of the information I have in the morning, brother." Jett said warmly and a bit shocked that Mandy cuddled up to him the way she did. It was another sign of trust and waited for Rylan to move out of the way.
>
"Jett––she is innocent. What she will see, can never be unseen." Rylan's worried tone caused an instant anger and fire within Jett and yet, warmed Mandy’s heart.
She felt Jett tense up and spoke before the growing tension turned into heated words that could not be taken back. "It’s alright Rylan. Thank you for your concern. It means a great deal to me, but I care very deeply for your brother and that includes all aspects of his life, including his chosen lifestyle. And I insist on being a part of it all. Please Rylan, step aside and let us enter." She begged, needing him to understand that this was her choice and Jett had not pushed her into making it.
Rylan stared intensely at Mandy for a moment, proud of her for meeting it with an unflinching one of her own. He nodded in respect. "As you wish, Miss Mandy. Jett, I deeply apologize for the misunderstanding." Rylan said as he picked his jaw off the floor. He was in awe of Mandy and her resolve to love his brother unconditionally, if she wasn’t already deeply in love with him. She was just what Jett needed in his life. She radiated love, kindness, generosity, and trust. She truly was one of a kind.
Since Jett’s arms seemed incapable of moving away from her body, Mandy prayed the pass code Jett entered on the other door's panel would work for this one as well. She reached out her right hand, entered the code and was delighted to find it was indeed the same code. She opened the door with a smug smirk at Jett.
Rylan chuckled at her side. "Yes brother, women always pay attention to the smallest of details. Don’t ever forget that. It will save you a heap of trouble in the future."
Mandy craned her neck around to glance at Jett’s face and burst into carefree laughter. His mouth was hanging open while he glanced between the key pad panel and her. Mandy gently raised her hand and with the tips of her fingers, pushed his jaw closed. "Are you coming handsome or do I have to go in and explore all by myself. Who knows what mischief I could get into, especially if my tigress comes to the forefront." She taunted with a husky voice while giving Jett the most innocent look she could manage. She smirked as Jett forced his face back to its normal arrogant stoicism and his arms tightened around her waist. He looked at Rylan with his eyebrows raised, shock still in his eyes.
His Every Fantasy Page 15
