Knight Nostalgia: A Knights of the Board Room Anthology(47)
“Max might feel differently about that.” Ben gathered up the women’s leavings on one tray and took it to a nearby trash can, dumping the contents and leaving the tray on a shelf provided for them. “So, what was that next place you wanted to go, Reverend Dana?” he asked blithely. “The bible store?”
“Whoever wrote Song of Solomon has no problem with Hot Toddy,” Dana retorted as they left the table. Rachel tucked Dana’s hand into the crook of her elbow as they began to wind their way out of the Market eating area.
As Ben had noted, Hot Toddy wasn’t a far walk. The upscale lingerie and erotica boutique had a silver framed large display window that was partially obscured by a white chalk, cartoon style drawing of a voluptuous woman in a corset and panties, lounging on a divan. She was reading a book and eating bonbons, a pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose.
The open spaces in the drawing gave the passersby tempting glimpses of the lingerie and sexy apparel contained within. The store kept clothing up front, with sex toys, particularly those of the BDSM variety, tucked into elegant and female-friendly alcoves in the back. The store was a franchise expansion of an erotica store in North Carolina called Naughty Bits. Though the owner of Naughty Bits, Madison Scott, had an expanding number of stores operating in the Southeast, she allowed each franchise owner to choose the name they wanted, adding “A Naughty Bits store” in small script beneath it.
Ben had met Madison on a business trip to Charlotte, when he decided to browse her BDSM inventory. He’d come away with a superior quality carbon cane. The one he’d used on Marcie last night.
Madison’s Master, Logan, was the hardware storeowner next door to Naughty Bits. He also made BDSM custom furniture. Madison and Logan were the type of contacts Ben and the rest of the team appreciated. The couple had recently opened an erotic theater, the first of its kind in that part of the world.
The BDSM world wasn’t a large one, so it was Marcus Stanton, a New York gallery owner and friend of Lucas’s, who had recommended Ben stop at the store when he was in Charlotte. Marcus’s friend Julie was the stage manager for Madison’s theater. The visit by Ben had in turn put Madison in contact with the lingerie storeowner in NOLA, Wallenda Matisse, who Ben knew wanted to do more with her business. Hence, Hot Toddy had become a Naughty Bits store.
Wallenda was a black woman with long thin braids to her waist, a diamond stud in her nose, and black nails decorated with a single tiny ruby on each finger, except the thumb. At the sight of the women and Ben, she smiled from ear to ear and came around the counter to exchange kisses and hugs with the ladies.
“I’m so pleased you came to see me.” She gave Ben her usual blatant appraisal. The woman was as subtle as a shot of Jack to the gut. Her lush lips and smoky dark eyes had an even more thudding impact on a man not braced for the smoldering sensuality that was always there, seemingly ready to be unleashed with any trigger Wallenda chose.
“It’s a fine, fine escort you have today, ladies. Mr. O’Callahan, what have you done to be blessed with this much female energy?”
“I drew the winning hand,” he said, brushing his lips along her cheek, temptingly close to the full lips. She gave him a feline look and a throaty chuckle, nudging Marcie.
“Oh, he thinks you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, doesn’t he, cher? But perhaps it is you who are the meal for him, no?”
Marcie squeezed one of Wallenda’s hands in agreement, shooting Ben a look before she wandered off with the other ladies, fanning out to check out the selections. Wallenda moved off with them to offer her help in whatever way was needed.
Ben settled down in a bordello-red easy chair conveniently near the fitting rooms, figuring it would be his best vantage point when they decided what to try on. Dana had already plucked a black teddy out of Wallenda’s stock he found very intriguing, particularly when he imagined it on Marcie.
Speaking of which… His gaze found his girl and lingered, because Marcie was flipping through a rack of short night gowns. She held one out, considering it. The blue silk garment had slits up the side and a layer of black lace over the bodice that would cling to her nipples and reveal them at once. She looked around and, when she found him, she indicated it. Yes or no?
It was a resounding yes, but he took a moment, making her wait, because it would underline that she was determining if it met his approval. When she sought that Master side of him, it stirred his blood and hers, inspiring him to savor.
He nodded at last and she smiled, returning to her browsing but keeping the filmy fabric folded over her arm. His attention slid to Rachel, who was being ushered toward the dressing room by Cass and Dana. Whatever she was contemplating, they were adding their backup to her choices.
Cass’s issues had to do with him and Marcie, how she felt about that, not his money. So Ben knew, out of all of them, Rachel was the least comfortable with picking out anything expensive for him to buy. Perhaps Cass and Savannah had less trouble over it because they were wealthy women in their own right. Not only could they afford whatever Ben was buying, they knew he could more than afford it as well, all of them moving in similar income circles.
As far as Marcie was concerned, he was her Master, and that made a difference. He understood she earned her own money, a good deal of it, and she would use it as she wished. But he provided for her care under his roof because he could, so it was one more way to reinforce that relationship.