Reuben Chapter 1 #2
“You should come with me. I have a place you can relax and not worry about anyone bothering you,” Mikhail informed her.
“No, that’s alright. I’m good. As long as he stays away, I’ll be fine. Thank you and your friend for getting him to listen.” Her eyes came back to mine. Her lashes fluttered down, masking them a second later.
“I insist. Come on. Follow me. We’ll get out of the crowd,” Mikhail insisted.
Automatically, I went with them. As he guided her, Mikhail asked her a question.
“Have the two of you met?”
“No,” we both said at the same time.
“Ah, then let me do the honors. This hulking guy is my general manager and friend, Reuben. Most often, he’s the one who conducts applicant interviews, but you came in on a day he wasn’t available.
Reuben, this lovely lady is a patroness whom I approved about six weeks ago.
Her name is Cristiana. Tajah and I interviewed her together, and we’ve seen each other a few times since.
Always a pleasure to see you, Cristiana. ”
“It’s nice to meet you, Reuben. Mikhail mentioned that you usually do the interviews when I had mine. And the pleasure is all mine, Mikhail. You and Tajah have made me feel welcome and answered so many of my questions.” She smiled at me, then him.
Putting out my hand, I waited for her to place her smaller hand in mine.
As she did, I shivered inside. An awareness or something rolled through my body.
Rather than shaking it as she expected, I lifted her hand to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on it.
Surprise flared in her eyes. Her breath caught, and a pretty pink flush stained her cheeks.
Up close, I saw her eyes were the color of cognac, an orangish-golden brown.
The moment was broken when Mikhail cleared his throat and gestured. “Let’s go up and see Tajah. She’s upstairs with our friend Cady. She’s under strict orders to rest. But I know if I tell her you were here and she didn’t get a chance to see you, I’ll be in the doghouse.”
Her soft laugh made the hair on the back of my arms stand up. It wasn’t from fear. No, it was due to how throaty and sultry it sounded.
“Are you sure? She needs to rest. The baby is due soon, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure, and yes, in nine days.”
At the elevator, Mikhail hiked up an eyebrow when I got on the elevator with them.
He wore an amused expression. I knew I’d hear about it later, but I didn’t care.
Scanning his thumbprint on the special screen, the third-floor button lit up, allowing us to go to that floor.
Only those with a stored fingerprint or a special card could access that floor.
Up there was his office, the security office where staff kept an eye on dozens of monitors, and the private apartment that had been his home for years, as well as his and Tajah’s until they rebuilt his house in Culleoka.
Occasionally, they would still stay here, but it was mainly empty or used by friends and family.
The ride took seconds. Exiting the elevator, Cristiana glanced around with interest. Mikhail pointed out his office door, and the opposite end of the hallway from where we were headed.
He explained that it was where security staff monitored camera feeds from dozens of cameras.
Continuing in the opposite direction of the security door, we headed for the apartment.
When we arrived at the door, Mikhail touched another fingerprint scanner, and the lock disengaged. My prints were in the scanners, too.
Opening the door, he called out, “Sweetest Dove, I have a surprise for you. We have company.”
The murmur of female voices grew louder. “Who is it?” Taj called back.
He let our arrival in the living room answer her. Tajah was seated in a comfortable overstuffed chair with her feet up. On the couch at an angle from her was Cady, her best friend. Both women smiled. Surprise then gave way to joy on Taj’s face. She slowly wiggled to get to her feet.
“Oh my God, Cristiana, it’s so good to see you!” she cried.
“Whoa, don’t get up. Let me come to you. It’s great to see you again. You look amazing,” Cristiana told her. Her smile was genuine as she sped up. Mikhail and I stood back.
Taj stayed seated as Cristiana bent over to hug her. While she was in this position, Cady was introduced to her. That answered my question about whether Cady and Hoss had met Cristiana. If they hadn’t, it was a good bet that Cady’s brother, Carver, and his fiancée, Alex, hadn’t either.
Wanting to have Cristiana’s eyes back on me, I cleared my throat as I shifted my expression into a sad one. All three women and my friend glanced over at me.
“What the hell am I? Fishing chum? I don’t even warrant a hello or anything?” I teased Taj and Cady.
“Reub, you know that’s not true. Hug me. You know I love you,” Taj said, as expected.
Of course, Cady’s response was in line with her bratty self. “Damn right you’re fish bait, buddy. What’re you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be working?” she quipped.
As I came over to Taj, I smiled at her as I flipped Cady off. I heard a gasp from Cristiana as Cady snickered and returned the gesture.
“I’ve been working all night. It was past time for me to take a break. What’re you doing, besides being a pain in the ass?” I asked Cady.
“I’m keeping an eye on Tajah for Mikhail, asshole,” Cady snipped.
“You guys, stop it before Cristiana thinks you hate each other or something. Don’t mind them,” Taj told her guest.
“Cristiana, have a seat. Can I get you ladies anything to drink? I’m gonna have a whiskey. Dove, do you and Cady need refills? Are there any of those cookies left, or did The Mouth eat them all?” Mikhail asked.
His jab made Cady flip him off, causing him to chuckle.
“Just for that, no cookies for you guys. Don’t touch the container on the island. And I’ll have a refill on my Dr. Pepper. Taj? Cristiana?” Cady asked.
Seeing that the rest of us were drinking something, Cristiana asked for water, while Taj asked for more iced tea.
I helped Mikhail prepare the drinks. In short order, we were all served up and seated in the living room.
We had the cookies with us despite Cady’s narrow-eyed look.
I managed to end up on the loveseat with Cristiana somehow.
Mikhail had eased Taj to her feet long enough to sit down in her chair before bringing her to rest on his lap.
“I thought Hoss would be here by now. Is he still at work?” Mikhail asked, answering my unspoken question about where he was.
It was unusual not to find the two of them together if they weren’t working.
The same was true for Alex and Carver, as well as Mikhail and Taj.
All three couples were deeply in love with their partner.
“He’s on his way. The issue took him longer to fix than he had planned. He should be here any time,” Cady answered.
“And your brother and Alex? I’m surprised they’re not here tonight,” I responded.
“They had dinner with some of his clients tonight who’re in from out of town. They’re planning to come next weekend. Cristiana, how are you liking Lustz so far? I haven’t seen you before, so you must be new,” Cady asked.
“It’s been good so far. Tonight is my fourth time here. I’ve come on Tuesdays before this.”
That explained why I hadn’t seen her. Monday and Tuesday were my days off.
“Well, it was good until tonight,” I muttered.
“What does that mean?” Tajah asked.
“Just that I had a tiny hiccup,” Cristiana explained.
“It was more than a hiccup,” Mikhail countered.
“What happened?” Tajah asked her man.
“One of the patrons, Rhys, didn’t seem to want to take her refusal of a drink and conversation.
She was in the process of telling him off for a third time, right?
” He paused to clarify. When their guest nodded, he continued, “Reuben and I reminded him of the rules and what would happen if he did that or anything else out of line again. We’re hoping he’ll learn and stay away from her and any other ladies who catch his eye who aren’t interested in him.
Again, I’m sorry you were exposed to him. ” My friend apologized to Cristiana.
“Mikhail, no need to say you’re sorry. It wasn’t your fault, and he seemed finally to get the hint. Can we forget about him and talk about something else?”
The way she twisted her mouth up into a moue of distaste, I saw she was uncomfortable with the topic.
“Sure can. What would you like to talk about instead?” Tajah answered for them.
I sat there, occasionally contributing to the conversation, but mostly content to listen and soak up Cristiana. From the conversation, I learned several things about her.
One, she was new to Nashville. She’d moved here four months ago from the Memphis area. Secondly, she was Tennessee-born and bred. Thirdly, she worked a fascinating job. She was a forensic accountant. I’d heard the term, but wasn’t exactly sure what it entailed.
Cady asked her what that meant, and I, along with everyone else, got educated.
A forensic accountant was a specialist who utilized auditing, accounting, and investigative skills to review and analyze various financial records and transactions.
Often, it was used for legal purposes, such as cases involving the discovery of irregularities, disputes, and fraud.
She occasionally appeared in court as an expert witness, presenting information that helped recover assets or prosecute those guilty of committing fraud and abuse.
Her job was all about financial trust, transparency, and integrity.
Thirdly, to my immense satisfaction, it was revealed that she was single and had no kids.
I was still enjoying that knowledge when the next question soured it.
It seemed that Cristiana had been a member of a club back in Memphis.
I wasn’t sure why it bothered me, but it did.
Quickly, I scanned her bracelet —the one worn so everyone knew what each individual was looking for during their visits.
It revealed which kinks they were into and whether the person was open to playing with others.
Disappointment hit me when I saw that she had only a single bead, which showed she was an observer at the moment—no hints about her desires or whether she had someone.
A burning began in my gut due to my growing desire to know what Cristiana wanted from Lustz and the type of play and kink she was into.
I took another drink of my scotch to prevent my mouth from opening and blurting it out.
Besides, I could look up her application.
We asked extensive questions about what our potential patrons and patronesses were into.
That didn’t mean those wouldn’t change over time, and new ones wouldn’t be added or some dropped.
A brief knock at the door, followed by the opening of it and Hoss calling out that it was him, cut off that train of thinking.
I knew later, when I was in the privacy of my bed, I’d return to this topic.
Cristiana had lit a flame in me. I wondered what it would take to fan it or snuff it out.
I had a feeling the latter wouldn’t happen, which was scary yet exhilarating to think about.
Was it possible that I’d found a future play partner or, even better, a permanent life partner?
The thing that my family and I had been waiting ages for?
I fought not to go there at this early date, but my mind kept returning to that idea.