Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(39)

She shook her head. “No. It was the last good sex I had. Before you.” She stopped, her lips curling up. “But you’re way better. You have nothing at all to be jealous about.”

Except that Linc was younger than he was. Linc was staying around. Somehow he couldn’t quite believe the whole “let’s simply have sex for six weeks because the class makes us horny and you’re convenient” thing had been Linc’s idea. He would have been a moron for not using that time to convince a woman like Lisa to settle for a dude like him.

Of course, that was exactly what Remy was doing, but he knew he was a moron.

“I’m not jealous.”

Her smile dimmed. “Of course you’re not because there’s nothing at all to be jealous about.”

He pointed her way. “I’m righteously pissed, and if he touches you in any way that doesn’t concern making sure you don’t fall or pushing you out of the way of danger, I’m going to have his ass. I don’t care that the bastard goes psycho from time to time. If he touches my damn sub, he’s going to find out how psychotic a Cajun boy can be. Do you understand me?”

She held her hands up as though letting go of the argument. “I understand that I am somehow surrounded by crazy, freaky overly protective men.”

He needed to make something plain to her. He wasn’t her brother. Not even close. He took her by the shoulders and got into her space, so close that she had to tilt her head up to look at him. “Your brother is overly protective, and maybe I can be considered that, too, but this is me being stupid and overly possessive. It’s not a pretty thing to be, but I can’t deny it. I know we’ve got an end date, but I can’t stand the thought of that pretty boy putting his hands on you.”

She groaned. “He’s the pretty boy? Let me get you a mirror, Sir, because it’s obvious you have no idea what pretty is.”

Her smart mouth did something for him. “Get in there and I would like to see a proper greeting for your Dom before we get to the night’s fun.”

She stepped back, her head bowing in perfect submission. It was all play because that chèrie bowed to no one and nothing she didn’t choose to bow to, and it would only work as long as she believed she was being treated fairly.

Like the queen she was.

She walked into the room, her heels clacking along the floor. He watched as she disappeared into what they liked to call the blue room. It had been painted shades of midnight blue, even the ceiling, to give the illusion that the sub was suspended by ropes that stretched up into the night sky, as though the night itself could hold and cradle the submissive close. All theater, of course. It would be him and his ropes keeping Lisa secure and ready for pleasure.

He entered the room and Lisa was in slave pose, on her knees, head down.

That was when he realized he wasn’t the only person in the room.

A woman was suspended a few feet off a red pad on the floor. She was elaborately tied, her torso held in place and one leg pulled up behind her. There was rope threaded between her toes and wrapped around her foot causing her foot to curve. She lay in place, breathing steadily, as if remaining still would save her. It was obvious the sub had found a fairly comfortable position. However, eventually she would have to try to stretch, and then she’d be trapped, the tension of the rope forcing that leg higher and torturing her foot.

Predicament bondage. He only knew one couple who played that way on a regular basis. Predicament bondage put the submissive between a rock and a hard place. No matter what happened, the submissive would end up in a tortured position, often having to choose between two bad outcomes. It took a sadist to come up with the scenario and a masochist to find it fun.

He kept quiet, holding a hand out to indicate Lisa should do the same. They might have to find another space.

Kai looked up and smiled. “Hey, you two. Come on in. There’s plenty of room.”

“Hi, Kai,” he said, finding the Dom sitting in the shadows, watching his sub. “Kori, you’re looking lovely tonight.”

Kai stood up, his mouth curling in a slightly evil smile. “I think I’ve finally figured out what to do when I want her to stop talking. If she moves even an inch, the rope around her foot tightens. Doesn’t she look pretty all perfectly silent?”

Without moving another muscle, Kori’s right hand middle finger came out.

“Love you, too, babe,” Kai replied with a chuckle. “Hey, Lisa. Good to see you back. Kori says, hey, too. You know, if you want in on this we could tie them up in such a way that they have to decide between giving themselves pain or forcing their partners to take it. It’s a fun game, man.”

He looked over and Lisa’s eyes were wider than he’d ever seen. “I don’t think my girl’s quite ready for that level of kink. We’re just going to tie her up real nice, suspend her so she knows she’s helpless, and then make her scream. Is that going to disrupt your scene?”

“Not at all. We’ve got a bet going. If she makes it an hour like this, I have to adopt another dog, so dear god man, make your sub scream. Any help I can get. We’ve already got two and one’s a chewer. Like he chews on everything, but she insists that number three is going to be a perfect angel.”

“You go, Kori. Get that puppy,” Lisa said, her voice positive but low.

He frowned her way. “I’m sorry. Did I give you permission to speak? This is my space, ma crevette. This is where I rule.”