by Lexi Blake
How could he pull her into his arms and play with her when she didn’t know who he was? She thought he was some guy without his baggage, some guy who wouldn’t drag her down into the mud with him.
He’d promised he would join her after the game and he’d walked out. Again. He’d texted her and said something had come up and he would see her tomorrow. She hadn’t replied.
“What are you going to do?” JT asked. “I think I’m going to do what the doc here says and have fun. Maybe he’s right. I think I’m ready for something I’m not, and I need to go with the flow for a while.”
“You think I should go out there and not tell her the truth?”
“I think your brother knows what he’s doing, but the decision has to be yours,” JT replied.
“It does, Jared. You have to live with it and anything that might come from it.” Kai stood up and opened his locker. “But know that no matter what you do or what happens between the two of you, I’m always your brother.”
“If Sarah doesn’t choose me, I need you to know that I’ll stay away for a while. She needs you and Kori. It’s more important for her to be comfortable.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her being alone.
“You need us, too,” Kai said quietly.
He’d been thinking about this all day. “I think I need to know she’s okay more than I need to be okay. Does that make sense?”
Kai turned to him, putting a brotherly hand on his shoulder. “It makes perfect sense and I’ll always take care of her. I would do it because she’s my wife’s best friend, but know I’ll also do it because my brother loves her. I think my brother could be very good for her.”
It was as ringing an endorsement as he could get. His brother thought this relationship could work.
Jared reached for the mask. He would start the evening off with the truth and pray things went his way.
* * * *
Sarah liked the costume for the evening. It was incredibly dramatic, with a flowing skirt and a top that barely covered her breasts. The hip scarf she’d been given had a whole bunch of coin thingees on it, and they made tinkling sounds every time she moved. Everything but her eyes was covered with a pretty veil that she had to admit brought out the color.
She didn’t want to wear any of this crap since she was only going to walk into the dungeon, explain the situation to Sir, and then walk back out again, but the Taggarts were serious about nothing but fet wear on the dungeon floor, and no one would take a note to her Dom.
Jared was out there and he was alone and something bad had happened. She’d heard Alex telling Eve that a trollish jerk had shown up and said all kinds of bad shit that made Jared walk away.
She knew what he’d been doing. Jared wouldn’t want a confrontation in front of their friends, and especially the kiddos. He’d led the guy away and Kai had gone to save him. She should have run after him, too, but Kori had convinced her to let the men handle it.
She couldn’t do that anymore. She’d given him some time and space and now she had to talk to him. He’d texted her that he was okay and he’d apologized for having to leave early and not getting those cookies, but she’d known that was bullshit. He’d left because he hadn’t wanted that ugliness to invade their nice day.
He should have let Big Tag handle things. And honestly, the kiddos were used to blood. Kala Taggart would likely have helped her dad out.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kori hurried behind her as she pushed through the locker room door. “I thought you kind of liked this guy.”
She did like Sir, but she couldn’t leave Jared out there alone tonight. Kai was here at Sanctum. Who was with Jared? Who was talking him through this and holding his hand? Who was distracting him with hugs and long kisses? Kai wouldn’t have done that, but he would have done something. Was she going to do that? “I do like Sir. I do, but Jared’s more important.”
It had hit her squarely in the chest as she’d stood there and watched him, saw his shoulders slump and then straighten again as though from sheer will. She knew that stance. It was the stance a person took when they had to decide if they would break or stand tall. She’d known in that moment that she wanted to be the one standing beside him.
Could he handle what she needed to tell him? Or should she hold fast and be his friend and watch him one day fall in love with a woman who could give him everything he would need?
Or was she being a little bitch by not telling him what was going on? It wasn’t shameful. It wasn’t her fault.
Didn’t she need things too?
“You really think you can give him a second chance?” Kori stepped in beside her, the bells on her hip scarf jingling.
She didn’t know. Did she have to know right this moment? “I want to talk to him, to make sure he’s okay. I’ll figure out the rest later.”
Up ahead she saw Charlotte Taggart about to climb the stairs. It was time they had a talk. She hustled to catch the queen.
“We need to talk about why your pit bull of a husband didn’t defend Jared today,” she said without preamble. There was no time for small talk.
Charlotte was dressed in harem pants and a beaded top that showed off her pretty phenomenal breasts. Sarah wasn’t sure how the woman kept them so perky since she knew damn well she usually had a baby hanging off one. Her eyes widened and then she shook her head. “He didn’t understand the situation until Jared hustled out of there. Alex came to let us know what was going on, but by the time he got to us, Jared was gone. I assure you we already know who the guy is. Adam had his name and address within twenty minutes. Ian went out to his place with Kai and according to him the dude peed himself and won’t bother Jared again. But honey, you have to know Ian can’t scare the shit out of every troll who decides to target Jared. No matter how much he wants to.”
“I can make it a fun weekend project.” Big Tag slid an arm around his wife’s waist and dragged her close. “Hello, my gorgeous concubine. I think this sultan is going to need a little attention tonight.” He dropped a kiss on his wife’s lips before rubbing his cheek over her hair and breathing in deeply. “And some anal.”
Yep, they were definitely goals. “So you took care of it? Because if you didn’t, I’m going to.”
Big Tag’s hands were all over his wife. He wouldn’t pretend to be civilized in the club. He would let his possessive caveman freak flag fly high here in Sanctum. He glanced up from where he wasn’t even trying to pretend he wasn’t smelling his wife’s hair. “I got it, Stevens. The boy is safe. And if you happen to find out the email addresses of the other assholes harassing him, send them along. I’ll let Adam figure out where they are and Kai and I will pay a visit. I never thought about how good a shrink would be at threatening people. He knew exactly where to slide that knife in. It’s been a long time since I was nothing but muscle.” He grinned. “Though I’ve got some really good muscles I’m going to use on Charlie Concubine here tonight.”
Charlotte looked like a woman who was used to having a six-foot five-inch hottie all over her most of the time. “I’ll hold you to that, babe. So does this mean you’re back with Jared, Sarah? You two looked super cute at the game today.”
“Don’t mention the game. Lodge cheated,” Tag said with a lion’s pout. “McNamara hasn’t been at The Club since he moved to Colorado.”
“Yeah, because Jared’s been in Sanctum so many times in the last few years,” Charlotte replied. “You got played by the original player.”
“I don’t see it that way,” Tag replied. “Just because Lodge is older doesn’t mean he’s better. Does he have a movie franchise based on stories Serena stole from his life? I think not.”
If she let them, they would start making out, and in the club that could lead to actual sex right in front of her. They were a couple of total exhibitionists, and while she did not mind watching, she had other things to do. “I need to tell my Dom that I can’t play tonight. Probably not tomorrow either. I’m sorry, but I need to talk to Jared.”
> Big Tag stood up straight, focused on something other than his wife’s boobs now. “You’re leaving the party? Because if you don’t dance for your sultan tonight…Charlie, baby, that sounds so douchey. Seriously?”
She turned and stared him down. “Whose birthday is it? Did I sit at your feet and blow you while you watched Marvel movies for your birthday? Did I complain?”
“No, baby. You couldn’t. That’s why I had you blow me.” He frowned. “Fine. I was just saying if Concubine Princess here decided to leave her Sultan Sir alone and sad tonight, he can’t chase her down tomorrow. That’s the rules of this game.”
“She knows what she wants,” Kori said, stepping up beside her. “If you’ll point out the Dom she’s been assigned to, I’ll let him know she’s heading out.”
Tag and Charlotte managed to shake their heads in tandem.
“Nope. She’s got to do it,” Tag said. “And I want to be there when she tells him she’s giving him up for…”
Charlotte elbowed her husband right in his ridiculously cut abs. “For the chance at true love.”
She wasn’t sure about that. She understood why he’d done what he’d done, but it didn’t change the fact that Jared had run again. He always walked out on her when times got tough. He hadn’t found a way to stick with her. He hadn’t let her try to help.
How could she ask him to help her when he hadn’t done the same?
She didn’t know what the hell she was going to do, but she knew she had to be with him right now. “Fine, take me to Sir so I can get this over with and find Jared.”
Big Tag took his wife’s hand. “I think we should definitely do that. We’re about to get started. Maybe Sir can find some other concubine to play with tonight. Either way, I think it will be entertaining.”
“This isn’t entertainment,” Kori complained.
“Oh, I disagree, and don’t you get hypocritical,” Charlotte shot back as she followed her husband up the stairs that led to the main dungeon. “You know damn well we can feel for our sisters and be deeply interested in how their love lives are going. Or our brothers. Should I remind you of Vince and his two mistresses?”
Okay, so she had a point. Her friend Vince was Mistress Jackie’s sub, but then Mistress Althea had proven to be very good at ball torture, and for some reason Vince was totally into that. He’d had the two mistresses at each other’s throats until they decided they could punish him together. She was pretty sure Vince was never procreating.
Nope. She wasn’t going there. She shoved that thought out of her head.
It was suddenly easy to not think about it because the whole dungeon had been transformed into a posh harem. Someone had draped the walls in sheets of silk, and a lush carpet covered the floor. There were scene spaces curved around the center, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the main stage and its plush seating areas. The other subs were on one side of the stage, a curtain draped across their space. They lounged on overstuffed pillows or luxurious couches as they waited to be called.
The Doms were on the other side of the gauzy curtain, seated and waiting.
From her vantage she could easily see all of them. It looked like exactly the kind of fantasy night she adored, and she hated to miss it. She wished Jared was here, that he was the one waiting for her instead of Sir. But Jared always ran when the going got tough.
And she was still going to skip her chance with this man for him. Because she couldn’t not do it.
She was an idiot.
“You want to make a guess?” Big Tag stood beside her, looking out over the Doms. “I know they’re wearing masks, but those come off tomorrow night. I’m wondering if you can even come close to the guy you were with last night. By the way, according to Kai, the two of you are damn near a perfect match. You really want to give that up?”
She looked at the Doms, each hot in their own way. And then she saw him. He was standing, facing her direction, but he wasn’t focused on her. He was talking to another Dom.
He was such an idiot. The man had literally spent seven years of his life wearing a mask on TV. Oh, this one was bigger than the little green mask he’d worn on Dart, but did he honestly think she wouldn’t know that jawline anywhere? She’d watched every flipping episode about two hundred times. She knew exactly what Jared Johns looked like in a mask.
“Is that…” Kori began.
“Hey, no talking,” Big Tag interrupted.
“It’s Jared.” He was here. He might have walked away this afternoon, but he was here tonight, and he’d obviously gone to a lot of trouble to “trick” her into seeing him.
Was she supposed to be mad? He had tried to manipulate her. Not tried really. He had manipulated her into seeing him the night before. The idea that he didn’t know who she was barely crossed her mind. Kai had put them together. He potentially could not have told either of them, but then Jared hadn’t mentioned coming to Sanctum this afternoon. She’d talked about it, but he’d been silent. Nope, this was one big play to get her back.
She could only be mad at that if she didn’t truly want him.
“Well, I didn’t have high hopes of it working,” Big Tag said with a sigh. He stepped in front of her, his blue eyes grave as he looked down. “Do you want me to throw him out? This is your home, Sarah. He’s the interloper here. You should know he was very adamant about leaving if you didn’t truly want him here.”
“Don’t tell him I know.” She couldn’t make herself stop looking at him. She leaned over so she could see around Big Tag’s body. He was so beautiful and he was here. Was that all she’d really needed? The acknowledgment that he would work to get her? “I don’t know what I want from him.”
“Then find out,” Charlotte said quietly. “He’s put you in a position where you don’t have to talk about the future or the past. You can live in the now for a few days. You can pretend there’s nothing but what’s going on today.”
That sounded perfect.
“I’ll stay.”
All three heads turned her way.
Kori’s jaw had dropped. “Isn’t this the point where you flip your shit about him tricking you? You need to know I had nothing to do with this. Kai didn’t tell me a thing.”
“Or I can view it as he worked really hard to get me here and I was a little on the stubborn side, and maybe I should take this chance and see what happens.” She knew her bestie hadn’t tricked her. Kai had been smart not to tell his wife because Kori wasn’t the world’s best secret keeper. “I think I want to dance tonight.”
“Now that I did not expect,” Big Tag said.
It was good to know she could still surprise him.
Chapter Eight
In which our heroine dances…and our hero discovers a magic wand…
Sultry music thudded through the dungeon, the signal that it was time to begin.
Frustration was the only thing that thudded through Jared’s system. He hadn’t been allowed to go behind the filmy curtains that separated the Doms from the subs and find Sarah. He’d been told he had to wait and that to do anything less would make him a drama llama douche bag, and he didn’t want to be that, did he?
He bet Big Tag would walk right through those curtains, find his lady and…do what? Break her heart again? Tell her “hey, I’m a douche canoe liar who forgets what Me Too means and won’t take no for an answer.”
His stomach knotted because he was afraid this would be his last time with her. If she got pissed—and that would be a reasonable reaction—he would have to walk away. He’d promised Kai.
“Sit down.” Big Tag sank onto the largest of the big throne-like chairs. He gestured to the one beside him. “Relax. The key is to act like everything is working out exactly like you planned. Even when you fuck up. Trust me. I’ve accidently pulled pins on grenades before. You lob it somewhere and act like you meant to blow that shit up.”
“It’s my life I’m blowing up,” Jared complained.
“Nah.” Tag waved the thought off. “Your life is
a mess already. You’re just trying new shit. Nothing shameful about that.” He clapped his hands and the room went quiet with the exception of the sensual music. “All right, we’re going to get this party started. Now my Charlie is explaining the rules of this game to the lovely concubines and I’m going to give it straight to you sultans. First of all, a piece of advice. When you get married, don’t let your wives read that romantic crap because that’s why we’re here pretending to be sultans. Just keep ’em away from it. Women who read science fiction…well, we’d probably be aliens or some shit. Let’s face it, women who read are creative and kinky as fuck, so just marry one and understand you’ll be doing some weird shit. Now, tonight the sub you were with last night gets to make the decision on whether to move forward. He or she will be brought out and shown to you and then they will either dance for you or explain sweetly that they’ve chosen not to move forward. You’re then free to take off the mask and go party like you’re single again. The other half of the dungeon is open for free play, and the lounge is fully stocked and ready for drinking. If you’re sad and don’t want to play, Li and Simon are down in the locker room watching soccer, and no I won’t call it football. If your partner dances for you, feel free to do any and all of the above, except the soccer part. Do not do that. The sub will realize he or she made a mistake. There are several scenes ready to go once the selections have been made, and there are privacy rooms for the super horny, I-want-to-do-it-with-a-person-in-a-mask crowd. Or you can free-range fuck. I don’t care. Just clean up after yourselves.”
Charlotte Taggart popped up from behind the curtain. “Seriously? I thought we were doing this in character.”
Big Tag shrugged. “Do you doubt this is what I would be like as a sultan, baby?”
She sighed and stepped out. “Nope. But let me show you how good I am at playing the concubine.”
She started to dance, her hips moving in time to the music. She was followed by a line of subs each dressed in sexy costumes, every one of them taking the game seriously. It was apparent she’d lined them up so they would end up standing in front of the tops they’d been paired with. Some of the subs had no rhythm at all, but there was still a joy in their movements. This was what he adored about the lifestyle. No one would make fun of the subs who couldn’t dance. They would be praised for the energy they put into their offering, for the sheer happiness they were bringing the people around them.
