Brandon gave a low, angry noise and stepped in front of her. ‘Don’t talk to her like that.’
Pansy let out a small peep and got the hell out of the way. She tugged at the chain holding her tight to the back of the booth. ‘Oh, shit. Maurice, back off. This guy’s big.’
‘MY NAME IS MASTER VENOM!’
Leah put a hand on Brandon’s arm to hold him off. She gave Maurice a long hard stare. ‘I don’t need to leash him to get him to do what I want.’ Her tone made it clear what she thought of anyone who had to rely on chains to get obedience.
Master Venom sputtered. A couple of people in the crowd cheered and clapped. Pansy yanked the chain and ducked behind the curtain at the back of the booth. Venom followed after a second.
‘Asshole,’ Leah heard someone mutter from the booth next door.
‘He really gives us all a bad, bad name,’ said a man wearing faded jeans and a plain white T-shirt, his blond hair in a ponytail. He gave Leah and Brandon both a smile. ‘Look, if you want something to wear that’s a little more mainstream than a spiked collar, I’ve got some great pieces at my booth. Show discounts, too. I’m over there. C’mon and stop over.’
The crowd dispersed. Venom and Pansy didn’t return. Leah reached for Brandon’s hand.
‘You know I said I’d never put a collar on you.’
‘I know. But Leah … if there was something …’ He hesitated, looking around, then waved a hand. ‘Some people wear bracelets, or collars, or get tattoos. Some people get off on wearing chains. I think it would be kind of cool to have … something. To wear when we’re not together. Then when I looked at it …’
He gave her the grin she never could resist.
‘What?’ she prompted, aware they were not alone, they were in the middle of a thousand kinky lifestylers who wouldn’t think twice if she ordered him to his knees to eat her cunt right then and there. And that the thought of it made her clit pulse.
‘It’s like the lists,’ he said. ‘You know. I’d look at it and think of you.’
‘Ah,’ Leah said and looked towards the booth the blond guy had pointed to. ‘Well, then. Let’s go see what there is.’
17
‘DON’T LET THIS go to your head or anything but, muthafucka, you look hot in that tux.’ Kate walked around Dix in a slow circle to take him in fully. ‘What? Am I lying? It’s OK, I won’t hurt you if you answer. I swear,’ she said, looking to the sales associate.
Dix simply laughed and let her look. The salesgirl too, why the fuck not?
‘All right, please thank Marcus for this. I’m sure it’s not easy to find a tux to rent on New Year’s Eve.’ Kate, all business, handed the clerk a discreet tip while he paid for the tux rental.
‘Who is Marcus, darling Kate?’ He nuzzled her neck as he followed her from the store, his tux in a bag over his arm.
‘My lover.’ She tipped her head back to look him in the eye. ‘What? Oh was I not supposed to have a lover?’ Laughter spilt from her lips and he smiled before tipping down to kiss her quickly. ‘Marcus is the guy who hooked us up with the room and the tickets for tonight. I told you, big legal trouble.’ She shrugged and he shook his head, amused.
‘Clearly I made a mistake going into in-house work.’
‘We can’t all have favours lined up from coast to coast. It’s difficult to be so respected.’ She winked.
‘This needs to go in the room and then I want to watch you try things on.’ The first time she’d let him accompany her shopping, he’d worked his way into the dressing room. After a minute and a half, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself and she never let him go with her after that. He found the intimacy of the secret world of women to be ridiculously sexy.
‘I’ll wait down here. If I go up there with you, you’ll get fresh and we’ll lose hours of time. Not that I’m complaining that you take your time or anything. But tick-tock, others will be last minute shopping too. This is already gonna cost a pretty penny so I don’t want to spend a month’s salary on some lime green atrocity. You go on and I’m going to get a coffee. You want one?’
‘You sure you don’t to come up with me? You know how hot it makes me when you get sassy and all girly at once.’
She grinned, tiptoeing up to kiss him. ‘Insatiable. Now move that stellar ass or I will go without you. Maybe I’ll pick up one of these leather boys and have them watch me try things on.’
The look in his eyes thrilled her right down to her toes. Possessive, masculine, heated. Mmmm.
‘You’d break one in less than ten minutes. The sweet thing you wear is a total lie. You’re a wolf.’ He flashed a grin at her and she couldn’t suppress a shiver of delight. ‘I’ll be back and, yes, I want a mocha.’
Smiling, she stayed where she was to watch him amble to the elevators. Hot damn, she was one lucky woman.
‘Is he yours?’
Kate turned to the two women who’d also stopped to watch him.
‘Yeah. Lucky me, huh?’
‘He’s delish. Are you here for the con? He’s a Dom, right? You share?’
‘Yes, no, not in the sense you mean it, and no. I take it you ladies are here for the con?’
The taller one, a blonde about Kate’s age nodded. ‘Mara and I got into the lifestyle two years ago. It’s hard to find a good guy, you know? They all come with baggage or lies. Mara’s seeing a guy now, though, he’s nice. I want that too. Thought I’d tag along with them to see if I’d
