Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Little Doggie
Nyomi
Deja entered the ballroom.
Not as a guest, nor captor.
She entered as the event.
The whole reason why we came together this evening.
Because not even the massive claw hanging from the ceiling had more pizzazz than her.
Deja strolled in, wearing a sexy red, strapless gown. It must have been made of liquid silk because it appeared more like it had melted onto her curvaceous body, instead of wrapped around it.
The tops of her voluptuous cleavage spilled out so deliciously that I caught myself doing a double-take. A second one. A third. I wasn't even into women, and Deja had me reconsidering my entire orientation.
Damn. She knows how to wear a dress.
The bodice plunged into the deepest, lowest V—stopped just above her navel—anchored at the bottom by a single twist of diamonds that rested against the cut of her sculpted six-pack.
Her body is crazy.
A black diamond choker sat tight at her throat. The chain dripped down her collarbone and ended in a single tear-drop ruby that rested between her breasts.
She wore red opera gloves up to her biceps.
Her long, silky black hair had been swept up to one side and fell down in sleek finger-waves that framed her face. If no one knew she was a hairstylist, they probably guessed. The strands looked too gorgeous, too loved on.
Her makeup was seducing. A perfect black cat-eye, long red lashes that dazzled me from my seat, lips painted deep wine red and glossed until they gleamed.
And to make the sexy meter shoot up to the top and fucking shatter, that dress had slits on both sides that ran from her ankles to her hips, showing off her sculpted thighs.
Her hips kept time with the bass. The rest of her body—especially those bouncing breasts—belonged to a song no one else could hear, but I bet most of the men in the room yearned to get a listen.
The trumpet player had been holding a high, flirting note when Deja first stepped through the doorway. Now all of his notes skipped off beat. So much that I directed my gaze to him.
Ah. He’s watching Deja too.
The man stopped playing for a few seconds, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and returned to the song. Yet, his gaze remained on her.
I didn't blame him.
This was a woman built by mornings nobody saw—five a.m. squats, protein shakes, weighed-out chicken, no wine for months—and tonight every one of those mornings had cashed in at once.
She stopped a few feet from the doorway and remained there, enjoying our gazes on her. And no one complained.
But. . .where’s Rin?
I sat back in my chair and just watched Deja simply stand there and captivate the men.
Every Claw at the table had stopped chewing.
Every Fang had stopped talking.
A roomful of dangerous men.
Yakuza killers.
And every one of them was drooling over a Black woman.
Damn right.
Pride filled me. I sipped my champagne just so I wouldn’t loudly snicker.
There was something specific about watching it happen to someone else. Something different from when it happened to me. When Kenji looked at me like that, I felt loved and claimed. When the Claws looked at me like that, I felt protected.
But watching the room look at Deja the way the room was looking at Deja right now—that hit different. That was the world finally pausing to acknowledge what I had always known deep in my soul.
A Black woman could shut a room down without lifting one fucking finger.
“Oh.” Hiro sat up. “Is that the hairstylist?”
“Yes.” Yoichi gripped his fang in his hand as if needing the charm to ground him. “That’s her.”
Hiro took Deja in some more. “Rin may have competition tonight.”
“No way.” Toma shook his head. “Rin plays dirty. Last time I tried him with a woman, I had the shits for two weeks and I still don’t know how he poisoned me.”
Yoichi shrugged. “I doubt Rin did.”
“He did.” Toma rolled his eyes.
Yoichi chuckled. “Us Fangs would never.”
I turned back to Deja.
Finally, she took two steps forward and I spotted what was in her hand.
Huh?
A sparkling chain led from her hand and ran three feet behind her until. . .
Oh shit.
Rin entered the doorway with a jeweled collar wrapped around his neck.
Oh. . .she’s not holding a chain. . .she’s holding a leash.
In my head, surprise clashed with disbelief. In fact, I felt as though I had been struck by lightning and left trembling in its wake.
The collar sat snug against his throat and was opulent to the point of excess. Thick-set stones crowded the piece, and each one was large and unapologetic. Rubies bled deep crimson. Emeralds burned green next to flashy sapphires. Between them, diamonds sparked in hard, blinding bursts.
With that collar on and Deja guiding him into the ballroom on the leash, Rin looked adorned and claimed.
All the men now sat up and shifted in their seats, even Reo and Kenji. Clearly, they were just as shocked as I was.
Deja continued forward, exuding queen energy.
Several paces back, Rin walked behind her like a good little doggy, and it was kind of sexy. . .as well as comical.
Rin was huge. Over six feet of broad-shouldered muscle stuffed into a crisp white tuxedo cut so sharp it had to be custom-made. The white fabric fit tight across his chest and shoulders, broke at his thick thighs, and ended over polished white shoes.
This was a body that would trigger fear in any person with common sense.
Yet. . .the poetic contrast between this huge man being led by this curvy woman was. . . intoxicating.
Pure white surrendered to sizzling hot red.
Even more. . .tonight for the first time since being introduced to Rin, I finally got to see his hair out of that braid. And it was a sight to behold. The long black hair hung loose down his back in curls.
I grinned.
Deja has definitely been playing in his hair.
It appeared freshly shampooed and deep-conditioned. The hair didn’t just shine; it glowed, a rich, dark sheen that shifted like liquid when he turned his head. The curly ends had bounce, discipline, and attitude.
Deja had taken her time and worked through every strand with patient care that must have turned into black-girl-magic artistry.
Rin continued forward with his mouth set and his bored gaze on the floor.
Which told me that his being leashed had clearly not been his first option for the evening.
Well. . .that’s what your ass gets for messing with my girl. She tried to warn you.
My only problem now was that I wondered what he had said to get that damn collar on his neck in the first place. It had to be something crazy enough to have Deja make him an example.
Satisfied, I leaned back against Kenji. “Okay. I’m cool now.”
“Well I’m not,” Kenji whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
“What has she done to my Fang?”
“This is what happens when you kidnap a bad bitch.”
Kenji peered at me. “What?”
“You heard me.” I looked back at them. “Stay out of it. That’s what he gets.”
Deja continued over, swaying those hips and leading Rin forward. He followed so obediently I almost felt sorry for him.
Zo pointed to me. “I want my money.”
I frowned. “We still don’t know if you won the bet.”
“He’s her dog now. I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s sampled the golden prize between her thighs.”
“I don’t know what you two bet but. . .” Hiro shrugged. "Rin is walking behind her like a fucking poodle. Pay up, Tora."
“I told you about old woman pussy.” Zo glanced back at them again. “Oh yeah. Sex happened. She probably rode him into oblivion and he still hasn’t woken up from it. I bet he thinks he’s still lying on the bed.”
Nika sucked her teeth. “First of all, my cousin ain’t no hoe. I bet all he got was a kiss.”
Hiro eyed her. “A kiss from her will make a guy want to put on a collar like a dog?”
“I never met a guy that said no.” Nika shrugged. “At least this collar has diamonds.”
Hiro shook his head. “Then, he can have her. I like kisses but not the sort that crumbles a man’s will.”
The closer they got, the more the table hushed.
Every Claw and Fang was absolutely devastated. Reo had even held his drink in mid-air. He looked like he’d been talking to Kaede about something. Well now he was utterly speechless.
I glanced at Nika and caught her slipping a fork into her pocket. “Eh.”
She looked up. “What?”
“Stop it.”
She sucked her teeth and put the fork back on the table. “I see you’ve changed now. Trying to act all brand new.”
“Steal some silverware in here tonight and you and me are going to fight.”
“Girl, I will dust your ass on this floor.”
The twins shifted and turned to her.
Toma and Kaede watched her too.
“Uh. . .” She widened her eyes at them. “This island is crazy.”
I swallowed. “She was just joking, guys. . .kind of.”
They returned to gaping at Rin and Deja.
“Damn.” Nika looked at me. She looked at the twins. She looked back at me. Slowly, she put the fork down on the tablecloth like it was on fire. “You’ve got bodyguards now.”
“That’s right. So behave.”
When Deja and Rin got to the table, we had some more rearranging of seats. This time Zo and Nika moved down, causing a rippling effect of others grabbing their plates and moving down too.
Rin pulled the chair out for Deja.
She sat down. “Thank you.”
Rin got behind his seat and remained standing.
Everyone just watched him.
Uh. . .are you going to sit too or what?
Then, Deja looked up at him. “You can sit.”
Rin did as he was told.
“What?!” Toma snorted first. It came out of him hard and fast like he had been holding it back for ten minutes.
Kaede laughed and hit the table. “Not the emperor himself being out-emperored.”
“If someone had told me, I would have never fucking believed this.” Daisuke pointed at Rin without shame and laughed so hard his ostrich feathers shook.
Then, Hiro and the twins followed with laughter.
Rin looked at them, every one of the Claws.
Just like that. . .they went silent. Yet the Claws kept their wicked smirks.