Chapter Three #2
have Doms you’ve never met before.”
And Nathan Carter, who hadn’t seen her in years. He’d
probably seen pictures of her, but she didn’t take great pics most of the time.
It was why it had hurt to dump the one with the cartel. She’d gotten in the
right light… She was drifting.
She had seen pictures of Nate. She followed his mom
and sister on social media, even though the gorgeous weirdo didn’t have a
single page of his own. He was still the most beautiful man she’d ever seen.
He might know her. He might take one look at her and laugh.
But she was curious. There was only one problem. “I don’t
have any fet wear here. It’s all at the cleaners.” She didn’t own much in the
first place. “I wasn’t expecting to play anytime soon, much less attend a
masked party.”
Carys seemed to think for a moment. “I would loan you some
of mine, but…”
“My boobs are way too big. My hips, too.” She was a curvy
girl, and there wasn’t anything she seemed to be able to do about it. She
worried her ample curves were one of the reasons the Doms weren’t rushing in to
play with her.
Carys’s eyes narrowed. “Sure. They’re too big. Like I said
you’re gorgeous and sexy as hell. I don’t know what’s going on. But you’re
right. What I have on hand won’t fit you, but the twins were planning on
attending so I would bet they’ve got fet wear in their lockers. Let me check
real quick. Kenzie is smaller than you, but she wears a lot of stretchy
fabrics.”
“I thought they were…on assignment for McKay-Taggart.” She’d
been taught never to say the words central and intelligence
or Agency when referring to the twins or Cooper or Tristan. Or Zach,
even though he wasn’t on the payroll at MT.
Carys snorted. “Sure they are.” She pulled out her cell and
popped in a number, pressing the screen to put it on speaker phone.
“Hey, Carys. What’s going on?” a familiar voice said.
“Oooo, it’s Carys? Ask her about the bachelorette party,”
another voice said.
The first had been Kenzie Taggart and the second Louisa
Ward.
“I don’t think I’m up for it, Lou,” Carys said with a sigh.
“This rotation is kicking my ass, and I barely have time to get ready for the
wedding.”
“Then we’ll call it a girls hang,” Kenzie offered. “I
promise no wild strippers. I will keep Kala away from all the planning. Lou
will handle it and Kala will handle Lou’s, and I’ll make sure Tasha’s is in
Vegas and we all act out The Hangover. Who would have guessed marriage
would be so fun? Hey, sis, you’ve got someone coming up on your left. Yeah,
he’s definitely armed.”
Were they actually working an op right now? “Uh, maybe we
should call back.”
“Is that Dais? Hey, Daisy. You doing okay?” Kenzie’s tone
had changed from bouncy to sympathetic.
Yeah, she got sympathy from all the girls. Especially the
ones who were a little older than she was. Carys’s crowd tended to take on big
sister roles. “I’m great.”
“She’s not,” Carys corrected. “She’s lonely and wants to
play tonight.”
“I wanted to play tonight,” Kenzie grumbled. “But no, I have
to go to work. Have to save the world. Just once I wish I could save the world
on, say, a Monday night. Yeah, Zach, he’s coming your way. Wow, that is a big
knife. You should avoid getting stabbed today. Lou, can you cut the lights to
the last room on the second floor in the east wing?”
“On it,” Lou said.
Yep, they were definitely working an op. Apparently Kenzie
was excellent at multitasking. “I don’t have to play.”
She’d probably caused enough trouble for one day.
Carys shushed her. “Yeah, about that. Did you have what you
were going to wear in your locker? Dais doesn’t have any fet wear here, and
it’s not like after today she can go out on her own and grab some. Did Coop
fill you in?”
“Yes,” Kenzie replied. “He almost missed the plane. Zach
gave him hell until he found out why. You know everyone loves you, Dais. And
yes, I totally have my costume. It should fit her. There’s a mask to go with
it. I wish I was there. There are a couple of new guys I would love to
introduce Daisy to. Oh, shit. Uh, we’ve got a big problem. Yes, that’s a bomb.
Guys, I’m going to have to call back. No. Not you, Coop. I’m talking to Dais
and Carys. Zach, that is rude, and yes, I’m hanging up. The mask is on the top
shelf. Dais, have a blast. Kala, do not cut the blue wire…”
The line went dead.
“Do you think they’re okay?”
Carys stood up and went to Kenzie’s locker. She put the code
in and opened it, pulling out an angelic-looking corset and a white feathered
mask. “They’ll be fine. They always are. It’s just Kala thinks she knows how to
defuse bombs better than she actually does. Or so I’ve heard. A long time ago.”
Carys frowned. “Maybe pretend I didn’t say anything.”
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she also knew better
than to ask about Tristan. The threesome seemed to have split up over some
vague reason they weren’t talking about, but she was almost certain Aidan still
talked to Tris on a regular basis. Instead she stared at the corset in Carys’s
hands.
Could she pretend to be someone else for a night? Someone
who didn’t screw everything up. Someone who could tempt a Dom into play for a
night.
“Do you think it’ll work?” Daisy stood up. Kenzie had
excellent taste. The corset was gorgeous. The mask would cover most of her face
and might look good against her dark hair.
“I think you’ll have the new guys panting after you,” Carys
replied. “Let’s get you ready. Daisy, you’re gorgeous, and you should know you
deserve to have a night of fun. I just want…”
Daisy groaned. “I’m on birth control. Haven’t needed it
lately, but I’m on it. And I’ll use a condom. If it comes to it. Which it
probably won’t. But maybe it would be better if my brother didn’t know. I worry
he’ll try to vet anyone who wants to play with me.”
“They’ve already been vetted.” Carys started working the
stays on the corset. “But you’re right. He will want to know who the guy is,
and that’s not the point of tonight. So I’ll go out first, and then you can
make your grand entrance after I’ve distracted him. Though if he asks me, I
have to tell him.”
“He won’t.” Her brother would think she was staying far from
the dungeon. And he would take Carys to a privacy room most likely. It would be
a free-for-all in the dungeon. He wouldn’t risk some other Dom touching his
precious sub.
But it might be exactly what Daisy needed.
Things were suddenly looking up.
She really hoped the twins dealt with that bomb though.
* * * *
Nate stood at the back of the lounge staring out over the
dungeon floor. The Hideout was one of the smaller clubs he’d played at, and it
was definitely the most stripped down. The Hideout, he’d been told, was a work
in progress. It was open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and on weekend
days a bunch of the members worked on the renovations they were making.
“How’s it going?” a deep voice asked. “You must be Aidan’s
friend from Australia.”
He glanced over, and there was a man in dark leathers, a
black mask on his face. Nate was wearing one of those himself. The face mask
felt weird, but he felt comfortable in leathers. Putting on a set of leathers
helped him transition his mindset. It allowed him to let go of his everyday
worries.
When he put on leathers and walked into a club, he felt like
he belonged.
So why hadn’t he found the familiar peace here tonight?
Nate held a hand out. “Nate Carter.”
“Seth Taggart,” the other man said, shaking his hand.
“Ah, you must be one of Ian’s.” Nate stepped back, settling
against the railing that demarked the lounge area from the dungeon. The lounge
was on the second floor, so whoever was occupying the space could look out over
the dungeon.
A bloke could stare out over the sea of gorgeous subs and
wonder why none of them called to him.
“Yep, he’s my dad. I hear you’re his new hire,” Seth said,
taking a sip of the beer in his hand. “Good luck. All of my siblings and most
of my cousins have worked at McKay-Taggart at one point or another. Mostly as
summer jobs. I lasted maybe a month before I begged to wash dishes at my
uncle’s restaurant. My dad is a sarcastic asshole. I love him but I cannot work
for the man.”
“I suppose I’m used to the type. Spent some time in the
Army,” Nate replied. “Also, I’m in the bodyguard unit, so I don’t see much of
the upstairs folk. At least not yet. My boss is Tessa Hawthorne.”
Seth nodded. “Yeah. She took over when Wade Rycroft got an
executive job at Lodge Corp. To say my dad was unhappy would be like saying a
nuclear bomb causes a little mess. At least they didn’t take his assistant. I
don’t know what my father would do without Genny Rycroft. But Tessa’s awesome.
She’s much easier to get along with than my father. The key with my dad is to
pretend like nothing bothers you. Ever. Nod and agree with him, and then go do
whatever you were going to do in the first place. It’s how I survived my
childhood.”
Nate had to chuckle at the thought. “I grew up around a
group very much like the one here in Dallas.”
“That’s right. Aidan was telling me you spent most of your
childhood in London, right? Your dad worked for Damon Knight,” Seth said. “I’m
sure we’ve met at some point.”
“Probably, though we were much younger. We moved back to
Australia when I was eleven, and our visits here became more infrequent.” He’d
lost touch with some of his closest friends from childhood. He’d heard Oliver
Knight was working with his dad. He’d been close to Oliver and his brother,
Archie, and their sister, Samantha, had been around Elodie’s age.
It was his mom’s relationship with Avery O’Donnell that had
kept him close to Aidan, and even they had gotten distant when he’d gone into
the Army and Aidan had gone into college and then medical school.
It was odd how easily they’d fallen back in.
“Yeah, life catches up to you, doesn’t it? I live close to a
bunch of the kids I grew up with, but sometimes I only seem to see them on