At least he wasn’t looking at the near-naked girl chained to a large ring hung from the back of the booth. The girl, on the other hand, was looking at him. She couldn’t move very fast since her feet were hobbled, both by her incredibly high stiletto shoes and by the length of chain hooking her ankles.
‘Those are very nice,’ she said. ‘Master Venom creates all his pieces from hand-cured leather. The pieces you see here are all from his Bound collection, which you can buy online or from our catalogue, but all you see at the booth today is on sale at a highly reduced show price.’
She laid out the details in sing-songy but professional tone, and even though Leah rolled her eyes at the title Master Venom, she had to admit the pieces laid out did look to be of high quality.
Brandon let go of Leah’s hand to touch a leather strap with o-rings hooked into both ends. ‘What’s this for?’
Leah watched him look the girl in the eyes as he spoke, not staring at her breasts the way quite a number of other people were. Well, they were kind of hard to miss. But she watched Brandon give the girl his attention … and respect.
She fell in love with him all over again.
‘It’s for restraint. Those are for padlocks.’ The girl reached beneath the counter to pull out a padlock and demonstrate.
‘And this?’
‘Male chastity belt,’ the girl said. ‘This part goes around the testicles, this part around the penis, and the straps go between the legs, over the anus, and hook around the waist.’
‘Ouch,’ Brandon said and put that piece down at once.
Leah laughed. ‘Not for you, huh?’
He made an exaggerated scared face, eyes wide. Leah laughed again and picked it up, meaning to simply tease him. Before she could say a word, a woman appeared beside her.
‘That’s a great item,’ she said. ‘I use it on all my slaves.’
Leah’s fingers twitched and she put the chastity belt back on the display board. ‘Uh huh.’
The woman wore a black vinyl corset top over which her tremendous cleavage threatened to trap unsuspecting passers-by. Her hair, also black, streamed down her back. Her boots, black, were knee-high patent leather. Her thong, black to match the rest, barely covered her pubis and left her ass totally bare.
She gave Leah the once-over with raised brows at Leah’s outfit of khaki capris, white T-shirt and a pretty, pale-green cardigan. ‘It cuts down on their jerking off quite a bit.’
‘No doubt,’ Leah said aloud.
The woman grinned up at Brandon. In her heels she could almost look him in the eye. ‘This one looks like he could use some discipline.’
Brandon’s laugh caught in his throat, but Leah only smiled. ‘Sometimes.’
The woman tapped the chastity belt and gave Leah a wink. ‘Go with that one. You can add a section for an assplug that will really keep him in line.’
Beside Leah, Brandon gave out a little strangled groan. Leah waited until the woman stalked away to look at him with a raised brow. Brandon just gave his head a small, helpless shake. Leah grinned.
She tugged the front of his shirt to bring him down close enough to whisper in his ear. ‘I would never, never make you do that if you didn’t want it.’
‘Good,’ he whispered back and snuck a kiss. ‘Because I think my nuts just crawled up so far inside me you wouldn’t be able to find them to fit them in that thing, anyway.’
Leah laughed just as the flap at the back of the booth opened and a small man dressed sort of like a pirate – a BDSM pirate, with a frilly shirt and rings on every finger, came out. He was shoving the end of a burger into his mouth and, as he came closer, the girl who’d been showing off the products dropped to her knees. He wiped his greasy fingers along her hair.
The girl behind the counter was obviously more of a lifestyler than Leah had ever been, because all she did was duck her head.
‘Pansy, didn’t you help these people?’
‘Yes, Master Venom.’
Master Venom sneered and nudged at her with his foot so she got up, but she kept her head bowed. He fixed his attention on Brandon and gave him a large smile. He rubbed his hands together, too. What a cliché.
‘What can I help you with?’
‘Just looking,’ Leah said, as Brandon pointed to a braided leather bracelet woven with silver charms and said, ‘I want to see one of these.’
Master Venom looked confused for a second, his beady gaze going back and forth between them. Then he looked at Brandon again, ignoring Leah. ‘I can make these with any charm you want. Initials, or a bead symbolising something special for your slaves. Whatever. I can show you what I have.’
Slaves. Leah hated that word. ‘What about for someone who’s not a slave?’
Master Venom turned to her with a sneer. ‘Everyone’s either a master or a slave. My name’s Master Venom. You’ll address me as Master Venom, got it? Now, say, “Yes, Master Venom.”’
Brandon took a step back. Getting out of her way, Leah realised. She set her jaw and stepped closer. ‘You know, “master” only means something if it’s given to you by the other person, not if you demand it. And I don’t call anyone master. Ever.’
A small knot of people had gathered, watching, but Leah didn’t care. She took a deep breath and faced down the man on the other side of the counter. He was every reason she’d never wanted to be part of the lifestyle and a few reasons she hadn’t thought of before.
‘Dude, not the best way to sell your products, bitching at the customers,’ Brandon said.
Venom turned, his face getting red. He looked at Brandon from top-to-toe, then turned to
