Chapter Two
Naomi
She saw James the moment she walked into the Outlands, surrounded by a little group of submissives all vying for his attention. Pursing her lips, Naomi studiously kept her gaze averted, smiling at Claudia as if she hadn’t seen him there. As if she couldn’t feel his eyes on her, watching her as she followed Claudia through the club, waving to the people she knew along the way.
Talk about a good distraction – it was a damn fine collection of men Claudia was leading her toward. A diverse one, too. Her own personal “choose your own adventure”.
The man farthest from her, on the opposite side of the bar table they were grouped around, was white—pale white—with red hair, broad shoulders, and a cocky grin that he cast her way as she approached behind Claudia. He wore a leather vest that hung open to reveal an excessively muscled chest.
Beside him was a younger man—at least, Naomi assumed he was younger because he had a total baby face despite his square jaw. His combination of light brown skin and facial features made her think he was probably Filipino. He was not in club wear; he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with the bat signal on it.
The man on the other side of him, who turned to face her and Claudia, was only a little lighter skinned than him, with black hair and eyes. He wore a suit with a crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the neck, his glasses giving him a distinguished appearance.
It was the last man who drew her attention the most, and not just because he was the tallest or because he was also black. There was just something about him. The way his gaze moved over her when he turned to look at her and Claudia, the aura that surrounded him, or maybe just his confident sex appeal. He was the kind of man who just looked like he knew what he was doing.
The kind that said, I can give you multiple orgasms with just one look.
The other men were checking her out, too, but not the same way he was. There was an intensity to his gaze that made her legs tremble and her pussy perk up.
They reached the table as the men opened up to make room for them, Claudia sadly taking the position between Naomi and the hottie whose gaze was calling her name.
“Everyone, this is Naomi. Naomi, this is Mason, Jenson, David, and Drew.” Claudia pointed to each of the men in turn, starting with the one wearing a suit and ending with the hottie. He smiled at her, his gaze still eating her up.
“Hello, Naomi,” he said, reaching his hand across Claudia. Naomi reached out to take his, but instead of shaking it, he bent down to kiss the back of her knuckles. She felt heat flush her cheeks.
It should have been cheesy, but somehow, he made it hot as hell. At least to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Claudia rolling her eyes, but that didn’t stop Noami’s body from responding to his touch.
“Hello, Naomi,” said the man on the other side of her—Mason. He also picked up her hand and brought it to his lips.
Also hot. But somehow, without the same body-tingling effect that Drew had on her.
“Well, that’s not fair. We can’t reach her over here,” Jenson said, scowling, which made her laugh. She pulled her fingers away from the two men, but her right hand still tingled from where Drew had touched her.
“It’s nice to meet you all.” Although she felt a little bit like a gazelle being served up to a group of hungry lions. They were all so totally focused on her. Talk about unnerving.
Thankfully, it didn’t look like Claudia was going to be leaving her side any time soon.
“Can I get you a drink?” David, the redhead, asked, causing the rest of them to all glare at him.
Naomi had to giggle. It wasn’t every day a girl had four incredibly hot Doms competing for her attention.
“Just water, thank you.” If she did decide she wanted to take one of them for a spin around the block, she wanted to be fully sober when she made that choice. And she was thinking it was going to be a ‘yes’ if Drew made the offer.
Possibly one of the others, too… but he was the one she wanted.
Smiling, David turned away to go to the bar and get her a glass of water.
“So, tell us about yourself,” Mason said, jumping in immediately. He leaned one elbow on the table, his focus entirely on her. On the side of Claudia, she could see Drew glare at him for a moment before his expression evened out. “Scary didn’t tell us much other than she’s known you since high school.”
“Scary?” Naomi asked, glancing at her friend, who seemed unperturbed by the nickname even though it didn’t seem entirely complimentary.
“My call sign.” Claudia smirked. “We get in the habit of using those instead of names.”
“It did feel weird to have you call me Jenson,” Jenson admitted.
“What do you all usually call each other?” she asked, just as David rejoined them, passing her a glass of water across the table. She smiled at him. “Thank you.”
“That’s Ginger.” Mason tipped his head at the redhead in leather, who grinned wider. “Jenson is Baby, Drew is Sporty, and I’m Posh.” At her expression of bewilderment, he laughed. “When we first visited a club all together, a sub called us the Spice Doms for some reason, and it stuck.”
Huh. Actually, she could see it. Jenson was definitely the baby of the group. Mason was dressed up and posh. David was both a ginger and had that kind of badass ‘devil may care’ attitude she’d always associated with Ginger Spice. Claudia was admittedly scary when she wanted to be. Drew… well, he kind of resembled a linebacker. It didn’t hurt that he was also wearing jeans, like Jenson, but somehow managed to appear older and more confident, wearing a black t-shirt that fit his muscular body like a glove.
“I’m not sure I can call any of you those names.” Not without laughing every time, at least, which Doms usually frowned on being laughed at when addressed.
“We don’t expect you to. That’s why I introduced them with their real names,” Claudia said, giving Mason a look. He shrugged, unrepentant.
“Does she know that the subs call you Mistress Scary?” he asked her.
“I actually did know that,” Naomi said before Claudia could answer. “I just thought it was for other reasons.”
The men all cracked up, though Jenson appeared a little confused as well. Claudia grinned.
“Well, we weren’t all that interested in talking about Claudia anyway,” Mason said. “Tell us about you.”
Talk about a tall order. Naomi regarded him with amusement.
“What do you want to know?”
For the next half hour, she talked and flirted. Mason and Drew were the most engaged. David seemed to realize pretty quickly that the spark wasn’t there, though he enjoyed needling his fellow teammates and undermining their efforts to flirt with her. Jenson tried to keep up, but he was the youngest in more than just age. She could tell he wasn’t as experienced a Dom.
Chances were, even if she was interested, she would end up running right over him. Not a good experience for either of them. So she was not at all insulted when a pretty blonde sashaying by the table caught his eye, and he excused himself. Nicola should be just his speed—sweet, obedient, and not looking for much more than a pleasurable spanking and orgasm.
Not long after Jenson bowed out, David followed, though not for a particular submissive. He seemed ready to go on the prowl. That left her with Mason and Drew competing for her attention while Claudia watched Drew with narrowed eyes. Which Naomi found interesting since she would have pegged Mason for being the bigger flirt.
Maybe that was why. Drew didn’t seem like he was trying to win because he wanted to get one over on Mason or to win the competition—he seemed like he was trying to win because he wanted her. It didn’t hurt that they had more in common, too. Taste in movies, taste in music, taste in books. Mason’s ability to be part of the conversation was waning until he finally sighed and gave in.
“Naomi, it was lovely meeting you,” he said, holding out his hand. He didn’t kiss it this time, just held it and smiled warmly. “I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you have a great rest of the night.”
She smiled back at him. “I intend to. Thank you.”
The appreciation was for more than his wishes to her. He’d helped make her feel good. And if Drew hadn’t been there, she would have had no hesitation in negotiating a scene with him. It would probably have been a really good one, and he was hot as hell.
But there just wasn’t the same natural chemistry that had popped into existence the moment she’d laid eyes on Drew. As Mason moved away, she glanced over at Claudia. They’d known each other for long enough that Claudia knew what she wanted.
Her friend sighed and mumbled something that Naomi couldn’t quite hear. She was pretty sure Claudia said the word ‘dating,’ though.
Naomi wasn’t ready to go that far, but… if he asked, she wouldn’t say no. Had she only intended to find a one-night hook-up? Yes. That was before she’d met Drew. However, she wanted to take him for a test drive first.
“Okay, you two, have fun. I’ll be keeping an eye out, though.” Claudia hopped down from the bar stool she’d dragged over to sit on while they were all talking. She gave Naomi a hug. “Good luck.”
That last bit felt kind of loaded, but Naomi didn’t question it as Claudia moved away. She turned her attention to Drew, who grinned at her.
“Alone at last,” he said, reaching across the table to take her hand in his. His fingers were warm compared to hers, which were cool and wet from where she’d been touching the water glass. Heat sizzled through her from where they touched, straight to her pussy, her chest tightening, nipples feeling suddenly much more sensitive against the stiff fabric of her corset. “I hope you’re okay with that.”
“I am very okay with that.” She grinned at him, moving a little closer. His gaze dipped momentarily down to her cleavage, which he now had an even better view of, then up to her face again.
“I want to scene with you.”
“I would like that, Sir.” Were they moving faster than she normally would? Absolutely. The chemistry between them was not going to be denied, so why bother trying? Plus, who knew how long she had. Sometimes, Claudia and her team deployed really unexpectedly. “Was there anything in particular you were hoping to do tonight?”
Out of all the things they’d talked about so far, they hadn’t gotten to their kinks yet. Naomi considered herself pretty basic. Some bondage, some spanking, lots of orgasms. She liked to submit to a man who knew what he was doing and who was going to take care of her. It was a load off from all the troubles and worries that constantly pinged around her brain.
Drew ran his hand up along her arm, down past her shoulder to her hips, his other hand coming up to slide along her other hip, fingers curving around them so he could pull her against him. Her head tilted back so she could keep looking up at him, heart beating rapidly in her chest as she felt the bulge of his erection press against her lower stomach.
“Right now, I’d really like to kiss you,” he said.
“Are you waiting for Claudia to sign you a permission slip?”
She left off the ‘Sir’ honorific this time to give him a little push. Laughter danced in his dark eyes, though his expression turned to one of admonishment.
“Bratting is a spankable offense, naughty girl.”
Good.
“All I hear is ‘blah, blah, blah, I wanna touch your butt.’”
He stared at her for a moment, then a very slow, very dangerous smile crossed his lips. The kind that said she was in big, big trouble. Naomi’s pussy fluttered in anticipation.
“Oh, sweet girl, you are going to be a handful, aren’t you?”
Before she could answer him, his lips descended on hers, and he devoured her with their first kiss.