Double Entendre: (City of Steel 2) (The Vault)

by Katherine Rhodes

  “What?” My stomach was filling with butterflies quickly.

  “The nawashi that was working at Sadique decided that she didn’t want to work there anymore after the Northside Sadist became public knowledge and there was an attack in the club. Frankly, she just turned tail and left that night. We’ve been trying to get someone to fill her role.”

  I gasped and literally tried to clutch pearls I wasn’t wearing. I didn’t even own pearls. “Gordon! I’m not a nawashi! I mean Cece’s been training me for a while, and I’m good with ropes, but I’m not a nawashi.”

  “Yes, you are.” He nodded. “You were the only one, aside from Cece, who could figure out how to untangle her mother without killing her. I saw your rope art when they went to New York for their honeymoon. I’ve seen your demonstrations. You’re good with knots.”

  I stared down at the table. I loved playing with rope. “Donny, I’m a sub…”

  “Only in the bedroom, honey.” Laicy laughed. “Only when we tell you there’s a scene or if you happen to feel like it that day.”

  “Everyone keeps saying that!”

  Donny nodded. “Because it’s true. You enjoy playing as a submissive. And certainly, it fills the need for pain that you have. But outside of that, you aren’t. You’re just you. Vanity is the submissive. Vanessa is the nawashi that I want to hire for Sadique House—as both the rope mistress and the safety coordinator. Who better than a masochist to make sure that everyone is safe?”

  “Wait…nawashi and safety coordinator?” I stared at him, with only a quick glance at Laicy.

  “Yes. Full-time position. We don’t have enough of those on staff. There are things that need to be coordinated and they can’t be done in two hours before opening.” Donny smirked. “I have a spot for Mistress Laicy as well, if she’s interested.”

  “Me?” She pointed to herself.

  “Yes. We have need of a scheduling and services coordinator. Someone to control the rooms and keep things like beds cleaned and alcohol stocked. I’m afraid Mistress Dee handled that all herself and we’re feeling her loss.”

  “You want both of us to come work at Sadique?” Laicy asked. “Full-time?”

  Donny nodded.

  Laicy and I looked at each other. Her eyes were as bright and hopeful as mine. I felt almost as if I could hear her thoughts, and they were screaming at me, “Yes, yes, yes!”

  Finally, I nodded. “If Cece thinks I’m good enough to be your nawashi, then yes. I’ll come work for Sadique.”

  Donny nodded. “And you, Mistress Laicy?”

  She smirked and leaned back. “Well, what’s your maternity leave policy like?”

  Simon

  Lys’s eyebrow twitched up, and she smirked.

  “Hey, sailor. I’m not looking to be part of your harem.”

  I coughed and looked away. “Good God. No. Don’t even joke. Two are more than enough for me.” I cleared my throat and turned back. “Sorry. I’m just used to you in the suits.”

  “It’s been a while since I put this bad boy on, but I forgot that I like the way it feels.” Lys pulled the bustline and I rolled my eyes. She burst out laughing. “Right, right. You don’t need to see your partner flaunting the goods.”

  Donny whispered behind her, “They are good delicious goods.”

  “Oh, no, nope. Single and holding steady for now.”

  With a laugh and a shrug, Donny stepped back. “Your loss. There are two of us.”

  Roger folded his arms. “Uh, Don? I’m gay. Remember?”

  “Oh, you could take one for the team.” Donny waved him off.

  Vanity walked out of the office looking incredible. She was wearing a suit, but a leather bustier that perked up her already perky breasts. Her skirt was tight and short. She wore fishnet stockings—I desperately wanted to peel those off her—and bright red come-fuck-me pumps.

  I could oblige.

  “Good evening, Mistress.” Donny smiled.

  “Good evening, Master,” she answered. “I’m reasonably pleased with everything this evening. People are finally starting to get that I’m not fucking around with safety. Dee’s missing presence made everyone lax.”

  Donny lifted an eyebrow. Vanity narrowed her eyes, humorously upset with him. “That’s no reflection on you, jackass.”

  “Why thank you, Mistress.” He mock-bowed. “Are you heading out for the evening?”

  “We were actually going to head in,” I said, offering my arm. She wrapped hers around mine. “Is Mistress Laicy on her way?”

  “She will be in a while,” Roger answered, straightening his own jacket. “I’ll keep an eye on the front end so Donny can do his rounds, and you two can…relax.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. You’ve been here since noon. It’s ten at night. Have some time with your boyfriend. And I’ll send Laicy up either when she’s done or in an hour. I won’t let her work too much longer.”

  “Thank you, Roger,” I said. “Thanks, Donny. Lys, enjoy yourself.”

  I wrapped my hand around Vanity’s and headed down into the club. She was smiling, and it was good to see it. I had been a little skeptical about her job here, but it turned out to be a good fit for her. It wasn’t all ropes and kink. There was a real job to be done, and she went all in.

  So had Laicy. She was happy to be using her management skills again, even if she wasn’t in a classroom. She’d found a way to make it work. Laicy’s hours were a little later than Vanity’s, and they had different goals—I had worried it was too much togetherness, but it wasn’t, at all.

  There were some nights, like tonight, when we had some time to wait for Laicy, and Vanity and I made use of the reserved table on the fourth floor of the Stadium. It was something that Donny had established for all of his staff, and I thought it was a good move.

  Holding the chair out for Vanity, the server was over in a moment and put our drinks down. It was the only time I had anything other than a beer—a martini, clean, one olive. And Vanity had a glass of wine.

  I moved my seat right next to her and put my arm over the back of her chair. She dropped her head to my shoulder.

  “Hey, sexy.” I smiled. “You doing okay with the new role?”

  “Mm, yes. I am. I like being in charge.” She nibbled on my neck. “I still love submitting to Mistress and you, Sir.”

  “Oh, I know you do, pretty girl.”

  She leaned into me and we just sat, quietly. Her eyes, I knew, went to Lys on the third floor where she was entertaining a couple. She was helping them learn to be a Dom and sub, and she really enjoyed the casual lessons with them.

  Lys was thrilled we had gotten her into the mainstream of the Pittsburgh community for the lifestyle. She especially liked Club Imperial and Sadique—but more Sadique because the rules were a little more loose. Franz and Emmy ran a tight ship. A more public ship.

  I drifted a hand over Vanity’s knee, and I felt her smile against my shoulder. Her own quiet way of asking for more. As I let my hand make a slow path up her leg, we just watched the people around us.

  I never imagined that the first day I burst into Club Imperial to answer the call for a brutal attack, I’d end up here, my girlfriend not so subtly hinting that she wanted me to finger her while we waited for my wife.

  Total mindfuck.

  Also, something I was really getting used to. The two of them were dirty, dirty birds. Watching Laicy and Vanity in a scene in the basement had been one of the best things I’d ever witnessed. Not just for the sex, but the way they connected and the trust they had in each other.

  I absolutely adored our relationship.

  Halfway up Vanity’s thigh, my fingers discovered that the fishnets were thigh-highs and she was wearing a garter. Which also probably meant—

  No panties.

  She knew what she was doing.

  “Oh, really, Vanity?”

  She blinked at me lazy and hazy. “Hmm? It’s comfortable.”

  “I’m sure that’
s the only the reason.”

  She giggled. “Of course it is. I’m a business woman now.”

  “A business woman? Who plays with ropes and ties people up in a sexual fantasy? Hmm. Something stinks about that explanation.”

  “I think it’s a perfectly reasonable expectation.” She sounded slightly indignant, but it was a front.

  “We’re here to keep a look out for anything strange and wait for our woman. You’re not on duty.”

  She pouted. “We can’t have a little fun?”

  “Fun, eh?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why don’t you find out what kind of fun I have in mind?”

  “Ooh, feeling a little cocky?”

  Nibbling on her ear, I couldn’t stop the stupid grin. “Not yet, you aren’t.”

  Her hand dropped straight to the buckle on my belt, and she got to work. “Ooh, yay. I like to unwrap presents.”

  Her nimble fingers had the pants unfastened and everything down and back and out of the way in just under a minute. She wrapped her hand around me and pumped me a few times, slowly, before dipping her head and taking a lick of the pre-cum she’d made.

  “That’s good,” she whispered.

  “I agree,” I managed.

  Without warning she stood up. I was confused for only a moment—just long enough for her to hike up the back of her skirt and straddle me.

  “Guide your cock in so I can ride you, cowboy,” she said, glancing over her shoulder with a twinkle in her eyes.

  Delighted, I gripped myself at the base and let the dirty little minx wiggle her ass and settle down on me. She breathed out as she sank and welcomed all of me inside.

  God. Damn. She always felt so good. “Stay a moment, pretty girl. I just want to enjoy that.” Tight, warm, welcoming, it was always a pleasure to slip inside her or Laicy.

  Wrapping my arms around her waist, I held her a little tighter and let her go as she pleased. She moved very, very slowly at first, just a long draw out of her, and a slow push back in.

  Keeping one hand around her waist, I reached up to her bustier and slipped one cup down. I would never, ever tire of those nipple rings, and I started to tease and play with it as she slid back and forth, front to back.

  She leaned back, her head on my shoulder. She was a perfect fit for me.

  “Simon…” My name on her lips was a taste of Heaven. “I love you. I love us. I’m so glad you’re learning to let your freak flag fly.”

  “My flag isn’t that freaky, considering,” I teased.

  “This feels amazing,” she whispered. “So good. So right.”

  “The only thing that could make this better was if Laicy were here,” I answered. “Wrapping that warm mouth of hers around your tight little clit, and her hand playing with your other breast.”

  Her whole body hitched at the suggestion.

  “Go ahead, pretty girl. I know you want to play with yourself.”

  But even her hand was slow, deliberate. She just wasn’t in a rush tonight, and I was grateful for that. I felt a bit drained of late, but I knew that was the newness of our relationship.

  It was still amazing how good all this felt. How much I no longer cared if my women were heavy on the exhibitionist side. How they didn’t care if we got caught fucking in places such things were allowed. How much more filthy my vocabulary had become.

  “Simon,” she breathed.

  I slid my hand from her waist to her pussy and spread it wider with my fingers so she could play with herself more easily. “Are you ready to come, love?”

  “I could just ride you forever like this. I love the way you feel inside…”

  “I love it too, pretty girl.”

  She turned her head and kissed my cheek. Her hot breath slipped across my cheek, a little faster each time. She was winding up, and I couldn’t wait for her to finish.

  “Si…shit…” Sliding down on me a little faster, I helped her move and I could feel her channel fluttering around me.

  She froze.

  “Hey, no. You don’t—”

  “It’s him.”

  The dirty boyfriend jumped to the back of my mind and the detective shot forward. Her two simple words were terrified, and I sat us up straight.

  “Who?”

  She pointed to the room two over from Lys. “It’s the Baron. He’s in that room. What is he doing here?”

  I pushed her up off me and pulled her skirt down as I shoved myself back in my pants. “Where?”

  She pointed, and I looked, and there was the Baron. He was standing in the small room, with a cane, staring right at us. He blew Vanity a kiss and disappeared into the room.

  Grabbing Vanity’s hand, I ran to the phone mounted inside a door panel. Yanking it open, I dialed the front desk.

  There was no answer.

  “Shit!”

  I grabbed my shoe off my foot and ran to the edge of the balcony and chucked it hard at Lys’s window. She jerked up and I motioned to her. I pointed to my eyes held up two fingers and pointed to her right. I repeated the motion and headed for the stairs.

  We ran down the stairs to the first floor and toward the closer stairwell all that would take us up to the third-floor landing. Bursting into the hall a breathless moment later, Lys was already walking out the door, cell phone to her ear.

  “Yeah. Yup. Definitely her. Ambulance? Excellent.” She pulled the phone away and ended the call. “They’re sending back up. The second floor doesn’t fit her pattern.”

  “It wasn’t her,” Vanity said. “It was Baron Grand.”

  Lys looked at me, shocked. “That’s impossible. Even the Dom in there said it was a woman that knocked him out. He was shoved in the closet.”

  “Holy shit, what is going on here?” Vanity asked.

  “Oh fuck,” I hissed. “No one answered the phone at the front desk!”

  Lys and I were sprinting before Vanity could say a thing. We pounded through the club, shoving members out of the way, collecting security personnel as we did. At the top of the broad, marble staircase, I slid to a halt.

  Illuria was out cold.

  The door to the office was kicked in and swinging wide. Lys and I both pulled our guns and edged our way in, scanning the room for anyone hiding.

  “Roger,” she hissed, dropping to the floor with the man and feeling for a pulse. She nodded when she found it.

  A weak voice came from the right. “Pistol whipped.”

  Spinning around, Donny was slowly sitting up.

  I leapt over to him. “Holy shit, man, no. Don’t move.”

  “They pistol whipped me too,” he mumbled, putting a hand to the massive gash on his head. His eyes went wide, searching for Roger.

  “He’s alive,” Lys said. “We have backup on the way and an ambulance.”

  “Shit.” He gasped. “Where’s Laicy?”

  Vanity

  “Where’s Laicy?”

  I skidded up to the door just in time to hear Donny gasp the words.

  I crumbled to floor. “No! NO! Baron took her!”

  “Rewind the security footage,” Donny managed, pointing up at the console. “Rewind it. I didn’t see who came in. They brained me before I could turn.”

  Lys managed to pull up the camera and rewind the footage—and we all watched the scene refolding itself so we could watch it unfold.

  Baron strolled up the stairs, twirling a cane. He was wearing makeup and his winged eyeliner was perfect. Without a second thought he knocked Illuria on the side of the head with the cane, dropping her instantly.

  He pressed the door unlock button, and three men strolled in with him. They had only hand guns, and one had a sledgehammer. The hammer made quick work of the door to the offices and two of the men walked in and from the hall camera, they could see Donny, then Roger hit the floor.

  Baron walked in a moment later holding the gun out.

  And a long, terrifying minute later, he walked back out with the same gun pressed to Laicy’s back.

  “Fuck!” Simon swore.r />
  “You’re off this,” Lys snapped.

  “You’re no one to tell me I can’t be on this!”

  “Simon!” I cried.

  He turned and saw me and melted. Running over, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. Heaving a breath, he looked back at Lys. “You’re right. I’m off. But you’re going to keep me posted.”

  She patted his shoulder and nodded. “I wouldn’t dream of keeping you in the dark.”

  Several cop cars came screaming up, all labeled for the neighboring county, and Lys blanched. I pointed to the closet. “Pants and shirts for the staff, grab a jacket too if you need it.”

  Tossing me a relieved and grateful nod, she ducked behind the door and pulled them on. I held on to Simon, trying not to cling to him, but not wanting to let go.

  His wife, my girlfriend, had been kidnapped.

  By Baron Grand.

  Jesus, I thought I had completely left him in the past. And now he was here, at Sadique, my new business, and had kidnapped the woman we loved.

  The county cops swept in, and Simon and Lys smoothly made up a lie about why they were there—for the stakeout again. They started gathering information, and it was painfully clear, again, that they didn’t know what they were doing without their detective.

  “Where’s Polanski?” Simon barked.

  “You’re not on this…” Lys hissed.

  “No, you’re right. I’m not. But I’m also kind of keen to not fuck up the entire scene without Detective Polanski!” His voice rose as he neared the end of the statement.

  “Here,” Polanski said, strolling in. She barked a few orders to the officers who suddenly started to reorder themselves, and do actual police work instead of just futzing around, dragging their feet and hands through the evidence.

  “Lys Stathopolis here can show you the room,” Donny said. “She was in pursuit.”

  Brigyd sighed. “Stilton, do you need the hospital?”

  “No, I’ll be fine,” he said. “Roger does, though. He’s really got a gash in his head. I need to stay for the investigation.”