Chapter 5 #2
She pricked it between her fingers and recognized Xan Ravenwood’s letterhead.
I saw this in my mother’s things after my sister died.
Offering his condolences, of course. The scum.
“That’s the letter he sent inviting me to his club. While he contracted this company, I found out about his predilections for… what we saw that night. I’m warning you, that was tame. The guy is an extreme voyeur. He surrounds himself with kinky couples to feed off their sexual energies.
They put on shows for him, and in return, he treats them to extravagant getaways and gives them important business connections. They’re almost closer to him than his actual friends.”
Varen grimaced. “I hope you see where I’m going with this.”
Nala ran her tongue across her teeth. “We’re going to lie about being a kinky couple.” Lying and acting now sounded like the same thing.
“Nala…” Varen leaned forward, her scent growing stronger. Something about it relaxed Nala. “We are going to be a kinky couple. At least in front of Ravenwood.”
“Come again?”
“They won’t make us do anything but watch in the beginning. Soon enough, we’ll have to perform like those other people. Not only on that stage. He’ll scrutinize us, from the way we look at each other, hold hands, and even speak. He not only has to think we’re in love, but into kink. Otherwise,
he might kick us out.”
Nala shook her head. “You’re kidding. You’re going to…” She remembered Quail, her ass beet red and that look of surrender on her round face. “You’re going to hit me?”
Fear laced her voice. Not enough fear to startle herself, but Nala was not happy with the amount that appeared. She didn’t need this woman thinking she was fearful.
Varen didn’t flinch. “Technically? Yes, and a lot more.”
Nala turned away, chin resting on hand as she considered this. She’s going to spank me in front of those people. She’s going to do God knows what else. Not just in front of strangers. In front of Xan Ravenwood.
That was heresy.
“Do we have to have sex in front of these people?”
She tried to keep her voice as even as possible. Matter of fact. Logical. Too bad her heart was thumping wildly in her chest as she imagined Varen lifting her skirt and parting her legs so she could get inside her… in front of people… in front of…
Her cheeks must’ve been on fire.
“Would that bother you?” No woman seemed more asexual than Varen Lake right now.
Or perhaps that was solely Nala’s perspective at the time.
No way. This woman is what most would consider a total catch.
Good looking and successful. In another life, one in which she wasn’t so jaded and angry, Nala would go on a date and maybe more with her.
As it was, she hadn’t been on a date since her sister died.
“N…” she tried saying no. To put up the fa?ade that she would do anything for her sister, even if Varen didn’t know the truth.
Nala tried. Then she saw Xan’s face, twisting in sadistic glee as he watched the sister of Tasha Nazarov be smacked on the ass.
“For fuck’s sake!” She leaped up, towering as well as she could over Varen. “Are you crazy?”
“No. I merely don’t want to go forward unless you know what’s on the line.”
“You need me that badly?” Who was Nala? Some girl Varen found snooping around a man they mutually disliked. She had no name. No clout. She was average-looking and had the manners of a raccoon.
“I have no one else to ask. My other option was hiring a woman…”
“You mean an escort?”
“Something like that.”
Nala sat back down, gobsmacked. This woman was willing to go as far as hiring a professional to pose as her kinky girlfriend. “At least a pro would be more familiar with that sort of thing.”
“Yes, and pros can talk. I’d rather have a woman who also has something to emotionally gain from this arrangement. It doesn’t matter to me what your issue with this man is. We both want to see certain things unfold. You can’t get to him unless you’re with me. I can’t stay near him unless I have you.
”
“Unless I have you.”
Tenderness abounded. They had yet to flirt one iota, yet that warmth returned to Nala’s skin. She hadn’t felt like that since she was seventeen, crying in her sister’s arms because she suddenly missed their deceased father. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be coddled.
Not that Varen was coddling her. This woman seemed as affectionate as a wet fish.
“I’m not having sex with you.”
Still, Varen did not flinch. “You will have to play the sub in front of him.”
“You used that word the other night.” Nala pushed her fists between her legs, willing this excess energy to go away before she started rocking back and forth. “You called me your sub.”
“Yes. It’s short for submissive.”
I was afraid of that. “And that other word… Nightingale. What was that about?”
The sigh exuding from Varen’s body implied that was a long answer.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that the other submissives there had bird names. Obviously, those aren’t their real names. They’re code. He calls his club The Aviary. A place where birds are kept. Dominants bring their submissive birds there for his amusement. I knew this ahead of time and, well,
when put on the spot I thought of the nightingale. You could probably change it if you want. It’s not set in stone until we sign his NDA.”
The nightingale… A bird that sang beautifully. A song of lament. A song of grief.
It was fitting.