Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Alisha was tall with dark curly hair, an angelic face, and curves evident even under her heavy winter coat, and her husband, John, was a big dude I could have guessed was a SEAL even if I didn’t already know. Sure he was ripped with massive shoulders, but it was his military bearing and how his gaze kept moving around the lobby that gave him away.
There were introductions and hugs aplenty and one comical moment where John offered me a handshake with the wrong hand and solved it by giving me a back-thumping bro-hug instead.
“Avery, we’ve heard so much about you,” Alisha enthused as she let John remove her coat, revealing a gorgeous black corset of her own that displayed her generous cleavage.
“Thanks.” Now or never. I slid my own coat off, handing it to Malik for the coat check.
Alisha laughed merrily. “Oh my gosh, we’re twinning! I love it.” She admired me from various angles, her short black skirt swishing around her thigh-high leather boots. “Would you let Malik take a pic of us?”
“Yeah.” I moved in next to her, smiling broadly. The Avery of a year ago would have run screaming at the idea of pics, but this Avery, the real me, wanted every damn pic to commemorate this evening. We took another with the four of us after John and Malik checked all our coats. And whoa, John had a legit collar, thick leather thing. Malik didn’t seem surprised at that or the delicate silver leash that led to Alisha’s hand. Like a lot of dudes at the club, John hadn’t bothered with a shirt, showing off his collection of military-inspired tattoos.
At first glance, the place was like any other large urban bar with a big dancefloor with pounding music, strobe lights, and tables and couches around the edges of the space. If I didn’t know that upstairs was an even more exclusive sex club, I probably wouldn’t have guessed, even with so many patrons in kink-friendly attire. Alisha and I were far from the only corsets in the room, and there were plenty of men in leather harnesses and assorted vinyl, ruffles, and lingerie on all genders. It wasn’t unlike Pride, which had been another first for us back in the summer. And like Pride, the people-watching was fun.
“Malik,” I hissed, pulling at his arm, “over there by the long couch. I recognize that couple from the dinner at your conference.”
At the security conference dinner Malik had dragged me to with its very boring keynote and dry chicken entrée, I’d noticed the couple. Two built men in gorgeous suits, I’d spotted the exquisite tailoring on their dark suits, but also their matching wedding rings. They’d subtly held hands and touched during the long evening.
“Heck. Is it gonna cause you trouble, Mr. Vice President, if they recognize you?”
“Avery.” He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “They’re also at a kink club. Voluntarily. Not a sting operation. Trust me, they’re not about to smear A-List. And I talked with them at the conference some. They’re cool. Hey, Wes,” he called out before I could stop him.
“Malik.” Wes, the shorter, slimmer, dark-haired man, strode over. And okay, no suit tonight, just a pair of tight black leather pants and matching black leather armbands. “If it’s not our Hollywood security rivals. And look at you, poaching our friends too. Hey, Mistress Alisha.” Wes nodded at Alisha, who grinned before kissing him on the cheek.
“Tell your gorgeous husband to come over here,” she ordered Wes. “Dustin will like Avery and Malik. Both formerly employed by John’s line of work like you two.”
She gave a meaningful look, but it took me a second to realize that she meant that Wes and his husband were former SEALs, which I probably should have guessed, but the expensive suits the other night had thrown me. And sure enough, Wes’s husband, Dustin, moved like a smooth operator, a giant blond guy with muscles for days and downcast eyes. That was another shocker. At the conference, he’d been the one working the room, charming people, but not here.
He let the smaller Wes lead him over by a thumb hooked in Dustin’s leather harness.
“Mistress Alisha.” Dustin greeted her with a respectful tone. “Good to see you. You score a babysitter?”
“We did indeed.” Alisha accepted the cocktail John had fetched for her. “God bless good friends. One of the guys on John’s team has a nurse husband who is amazing with our toddler. The best part? They offered to keep him all night. Hotel room for mommy and daddy time!”
She did a little shimmy dance, and we all laughed.
“Let us know if you need more help, especially if John goes wheels up soon,” Dustin said, and Wes nodded.
“Gotta stick together.” He reminded Alisha to check her phone for their numbers, and while they were busy with their phones, Malik leaned into me.