Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
On the RACK, Freedom
Robyn
My hands are sweaty. My mouth is dry.
Yet this is the good type of nerves like the stomach twisting anticipation at the top of a tall roller coaster before the sudden thrill of the drop.
Tonight, I’ll watch my two men dance naked on a public stage for me because their coach set it as the punishment for scoring the least in the hockey game.
Interesting methods this new assistant coach has.
Ones I seriously approve of.
I wish that I could see Dad’s face if he knew that Fleet’s motivational tools, which Dad spent over an hour enthusiastically praising while D’Angelo tried not to laugh, didn’t have anything to do with punishment laps but rather, pole dancing.
The exotic dancing method should be introduced across the NHL. It would improve the Bay Rebels’ team finances.
Also, create a whole new set of hockey romances with titles like Pucked by the Pole.
I scrunch up my nose, sprawling back in my seat in front of the stage in On the RACK.
D’Angelo did say that he wanted to become the first ever player romance author.
Perhaps, his male lead could be a pole dancing hockey player? Shay may actually be enticed to read that book.
Earlier, Eden gently helped me to dress in my outfit for tonight.
He slipped the tiny pair of leather shorts up my legs with soft strokes up my thighs.
I shivered.
D’Angelo had bought me the outfit for the weekend’s event at On the RACK, which included a corset style leather top without arms. He had chosen the same for Shay.
Eden nimbly did up the fastening at the front of my shorts with an intense focus.
He squinted against the bright light from the chandelier.
Concerned, I ran my hand over his temples. “Headache? Pain level?”
He hesitated. “Three.”
Probably four then.
“Why not take your meds and have an early night with a book?” I suggested. “You don’t need to stay up for us.”
Eden glanced at his brother and then back at me. “I do.”
Shay looked over at his twin, who was dressed in casual gray t-shirt and joggers.
Shay appeared relaxed and confidently himself, which was fucking hot, wearing the tight leather shorts that showed off his tight ass and athletic legs paired with the corset.
D’Angelo was fussing with the corset, pulling it tighter at the back by the ribbon laces.
Shay’s eyes were smoky with Kohl.
He looked like sin.
“Tonight isn’t a punishment, bro,” Shay said, carefully. “Look at these incredible outfits. This is going to be fun. And yeah, the dancing and shit is something new that will push me, but I want it. I need it. Do you understand?”
Eden ducked his head, crossing his arms.
I touched his arm. “Hey, I get it. Is it hard to stay behind and not know that we’re okay? To not experience this with us?”
I bit my lip, waiting for a long moment, before Eden nodded.
“It went wrong before,” Eden replied. “I couldn’t protect Shay. I failed him. And there are all the threats.”
Shay immediately strode to his brother and twisted him to face him. “You’ve never bloody failed me.”
Eden didn’t reply.
“You bloody saved me.” Shay dragged Eden into a hug.
“It was hard for me too, Dee. I can’t get that bitch Blythe out of my head.
I need this, however, and I need to know that I can have it without being abused.
That I can be hurt without being harmed.
That I can be stripped bare and exposed and still have worth.
If I can do this, in front of all these people and still be safe, then I’ll have proved it to myself, right? ”
Finally, Eden’s expression lightened. “I’m staying up for you.”
“As long as you take your meds.”
Eden drew back from Shay, sitting on the edge of the bed. “With a good cup of tea and a book. I bet that I’ll have a much better night than you.”
D’Angelo smirked. “You didn’t see what Axel taught us in his class.”
I perked up. “Oh, spoilers please.”
“Naughty, love.” Shay prowled to me and lifted my chin to kiss me. “You’ll have to wait to see. All of it is for you.”
I tingled at his words, dragging him into a second kiss.
“You look so bloody gorgeous tonight, love,” Shay murmured against my lips.
I stroked through the soft hair at the base of his neck. “So do you.”
“Look at my two pets. Don’t they look pretty together?” D’Angelo said, proudly.
“Of course,” Shay admitted, “the class with Axel was more demanding than I expected. Muscles ache that I didn’t even know I have. I’m bruised and I have pole burn in a painful place.”
I struggled not to laugh. “Your sacrifice is noted. I’ll kiss it better later.”
“Then it’s worth it, love.”
D’Angelo rubbed at the crotch of his black suit. “I’m the one who is cursed with a giant cock, and as I discovered, that’s no fun when it comes to sliding up and down a hard pole.”
I winced.
Also, he wasn’t boasting.
Shay winked at him. “I have no problem with yours.”
I laughed. “What was Axel like?”
“Brilliant, love.” Shay grinned. “A more excitable pup than I am. So energetic that he actually tired me out. An incredible teacher too. He is an amazing dancer. Axel can do things with his body that should be illegal, or actually, they shouldn’t because I wouldn’t want him to be locked away.
He’s the most free person I’ve met, you know? ”
“What do you mean?”
Shay rested his forehead against mine. “He was just happy. Content. Fully present in the moment. And when he danced it was like he flew.”
“You fly too,” D’Angelo said, quietly, “on the ice. You don’t realize it but when you’re skating faster than anyone else in the NHL, or scoring higher than most players who have been at the top of the sport for years, that’s how you look. You fly, cucciolo.”
Shay raised his head; the look in his eyes was fragile with hope. “You mean that?”
“I may be a sarcastic jaded asshole who uses irony like a shield,” D’Angelo quirked his brow, “and is also self-aware enough to realize it, but I never joke about the people I love. Now, I know another way for you to fly. Kneel. You too, cara mia.”
He was demanding a blow job now…?
Typical D’Angelo.
I dropped to my knees next to Shay, obediently opening my mouth.
D’Angelo blinked.
He strolled to me, tracing over my open lips with his thumb. “Waiting to be fed something? I appreciate your eagerness. But right now, I’m going to fix on your temporary collars.”
I blushed, snapping shut my mouth so fast that I almost caught the tip of his thumb.
“I knew that.” I crossed my arms.
Eden stroked his fingers through my hair, before brushing it to the side to reveal my neck.
Shay watched eagerly, as D’Angelo pulled two leather collars out of his suit pocket.
The collars were elegant, expensive looking and ice-blue leather with a small, silver D-ring at the front that a leash could be attached to.
Trust D’Angelo to have chosen the Bay Rebels colors.
My stomach clenched at the thought of having it wound around my neck and being marked out as D’Angelo’s sub.
When D’Angelo clasped the collar around my neck, I shivered at the sensation of the cool leather on my skin.
“It’s a temporary collar for the event.” He tested that the collar wasn’t too tight with his finger. “This will protect you. No doms who don’t know you will approach you or offer to play with you because they will see that you have a dom.”
D’Angelo gave me an intense look as he pulled back.
“Like a fake wedding ring.” I reached up, touching over the collar.
“Like a temporary one,” D’Angelo corrected. “You’re already wearing my ring, principessa.”
He raised my beringed hand to his lips, kissing it.
Then he brushed Shay’s hair aside and clasped his collar around his neck.
Shay’s reaction startled me.
His hands clenched on his lap. His breathing became unsteady. His eyelashes fluttered.
“Are you still with me?” D’Angelo asked. “Color?”
Shay took a moment to reply like it was hard for him to form words. “I’m green. But it’s not like a fake wedding ring. It’s like being finally owned.”
Now, I sit on the front row of the seats that ring the stage in On the RACK. My leg is bouncing with combined nerves and excitement to watch D’Angelo and Shay’s performance.
This is going to push Shay. I hope that I won’t need to put together the pieces afterwards.
But I trust D’Angelo.
The lights are low in the club.
I glance around myself, trying to make it look casual.
People are dressed in a range of clothes. Some are wearing leather like Shay and I am, others latex, suspenders, high heels, or pretty lace lingerie.
One man with the build of a wrestler is being calmly led on a leash by a tiny middle aged woman in a baby pink dress.
Most are relaxed in jeans and t-shirts.
The easiest way to tell between the subs and doms, however, is whether they have collars around their necks, although D’Angelo explained that not everyone will be wearing them.
Dark sensual music with a Gothic vibe is playing. The seats behind me are already filled with an excited audience.
The club is buzzing with a joyful atmosphere. I clutch the back of my velvet seat, smiling as I watch the couples dancing on the dance floor.
It’s more fun and laughter, than spanking and pain. Although, as the soft thack — thack of a leather paddle over the music from the side of the club that is filled with bondage furniture reminds me, there is that too.
I twist to watch the woman who is naked and bent over the spanking bench. A man is alternating giving her loving caresses and intimate murmurs into her ear and bringing a thick paddle down across the curve of her rosy ass.
Her moans, however, are pleasure filled.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” Everett asks.
He’s sitting on one side of me in the front row, wearing tight leather trousers that Shay would be jealous of and a leather harness, which frames his athletic build.
His long, straight white hair has been strictly bound back in black leather strips, as if his hair itself is in bondage.
It’s startling.
It was great to meet Kay, his Mistress, earlier in the week.