Penance (Long Slow Tease, #2) (11 page)

Once the official ceremony was over Michelle left him with some muttered words about needing to use the restroom. Yuki went after her, leaving an increasingly frustrated Wyatt and James alone together.
Michelle was obviously losing it, but she wouldn’t let him help her. It was as if she was afraid to let him touch her and he didn’t know what to do to help her.

“Come on,” James said with a sigh.

The men made their way towards the back of the atrium with its view of a dark Lake Michigan. Wyatt took a quick look around, then said in a low voice, “I’m worried about Michelle.”

“Me too. She’s not handling this well.”

“I think taking her to the club tonight is going to be a huge mistake.”

James shook his head. “Maybe not. It might be just what Michelle needs, a chance to work off her guilt and frustration.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one that she’ll be working out her frustration on.”

With a grin James gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, the man version of a hug. “I bet once Michelle sees the surprise we have for her she’ll snap out of her funk.”

“I think it’s more than a funk.” Wyatt glanced around at the crowd now filling the tables for dinner. “I’m worried about her.”

“Yuki’s with her now. I’ll take her aside and talk to her before we leave. If she thinks Michelle can’t handle the club I’ll let you know and help you shove her into a cab myself.” Running his hand through his short blond hair James let out a low sigh. “
The last thing you want is for Michelle to think that you see her as being unable to handle herself. If she feels like she has to prove something she’ll push herself too far, no matter the consequences.”

Wyatt thought back to the times he’d seen Michelle push herself to the breaking point while treating the wounded. For a moment sorrow hit him hard enough that tears came to his eyes as he thought about the men and women
who would never have the chance to go to a wedding again, to appreciate the sight of the moon reflecting off the water, and have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the world.

A list of names and faces flashed through him in little
memory explosions. Mikey Salazar from Encino, California. He’d had a beautiful girlfriend waiting at home for him but he’d gotten blown to bits by a direct hit from a mortar while he was on patrol. They didn’t even have a body to bury. Vince Caffries from some small town in Oregon had a mother who would write him every day, telling him about life back home. They’d been planning a parade to celebrate his return before he’d been shot in the neck and had bled out while Wyatt tried to desperately staunch the wound. The memory of that blood brought to mind pretty First Class Petty officer Tanisha Jones. She’d been found hanging from the rafters in a supply tent after she received word that her solider husband had died stopping a suicide bomber while on duty.

His heart began to race and when James touched his arm he almost hit the other man.

“Whoa,” James said as he held his hands up, his intelligent gaze searching Wyatt’s face. “You okay?”

The urge to spit phantom dust from his mouth overcame Wyatt and he swallowed hard. “Give me a second.”

He focused on one of the fountains nearby, making himself try to figure out the timing of the sprays of water. They weren’t like regular fountains that just burbled or flowed. These fountains had streams of water that would shoot through the atrium in impossibly high arcs, only to land in another fountain, then leap again. They seemed to move in arcs of seven seconds and he forced himself to follow the pattern of the leaping water.

As his gaze moved to a fountain off to his right he caught a glimpse of Michelle and Yuki walking towards them. A little bit of redness rimmed Michelle’s eyes and he wondered if she’d been crying. Her
gait was as lovely and controlled as ever, but he could read the tension in her body. She needed him right now so he had to put his bullshit PTSD on the back burner.

Turning to look at James, he forced a smile. “Okay, I’m good. Now laugh o
r some shit so Michelle doesn’t worry about me.”

James gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t know if Michelle knows how
not to worry.”

Before Wyatt could respond the women joined them. Michelle took his hand with an almost shy look that broke his heart. “Hi. Sorry I flaked out on you during the ceremony.”

Careful not to mess up her makeup, Wyatt drew her into his arms in a gentle hug, breathing in the light floral perfume she wore tonight. “I hardly noticed. I was too busy watching the mother of the bride go into hysterics.”

She pulled back enough to look up at him. “Are you sure you’re okay to go to the club tonight?”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” Her lips thinned and she definitely did not have the look of a woman anticipating an evening of carnal debauchery
, more like an execution. “I have to do this.”

Yuki sighed and linked her arm with James. “We’re going to eat. Michelle, think about what I said.”

Michelle’s chin lifted and she gave Yuki an unreadable look. “I have and I won’t let my past ruin my future.”

James led a clearly upset Yuki away from them, giving Wyatt and Michelle some semblance of privacy.

He cupped her chin, turning her attention back to him. “There’s nothing I’d love more than to take you back to our hotel room and let you handcuff me in the shower.”

A hint of warmth chased away the volatile sorrow and she stroked his cheek. “I really want to do this, Wyatt. I want to show you the fun that we can have in a club together so that when we get back to Austin you might consider going to a BDSM club there with me.
I want this to be perfect for you.”

“How about we find a club nearby, but not in Austin. I know too many people there and it would be really weird to run into my third grade teacher getting a spanking.”

She giggled and twined her fingers through the short hair at the back of his head, sending tingles down his spine. “I’d much rather give you a spanking.”

While part of him felt like distracting her with sex was a cop-out, that he should get her to open up about what was going on inside her head, he was also more than aware that they were in a very public place with more than one set of curious eyes glancing their way. Michelle would forgive him for just about anything, but he was pretty sure she’d kick his ass if he made her cry in public. She was such a private person that he sometimes wondered about the social butterfly she’d been before Owen
’s death. According to Yuki, Michelle used to be the life of the party and had greatly enjoyed having a large circle of friends. While he didn’t think Michelle could ever return to the carefree young woman she had been, he hoped that someday she would stop isolating herself and only letting a few people into her life. He could easily imagine her ranch in Austin filled with friends and family for summer barbecues and winter parties instead of standing almost empty most of the time.

Taking her hand in his, he brought her fingertips to his mouth and kissed each one. “Promise me if it gets to be too much we’ll leave.
”

“I don’t want to deprive you of the experience of Petrov’s club.”

The mention of her old mentor sent a bolt of jealousy straight to Wyatt’s heart. “I want to meet this Petrov.”

She snorted then moved so no one could see her cup his balls and give them a gentle squeeze. “You aren’t going to try to kick his ass over my training with him, are you?”

With his cock rapidly hardening he shifted uncomfortably beneath her knowing touch. “I just don’t understand how any man could be with you and not want to keep you to himself forever.”

Her gaze softened and so did her touch, now a teasing caress over his stiff length. “Petrov is a happily married man who has trained dozens of submissives and Domin
ants. He is well-respected in the community, and while we were sexually intimate, we weren’t emotionally intimate. He is a valued and cherished friend, nothing more. It’s not like I have a giant tattoo on my back that I got for him.”

He gently pulled her hand from his now straining erection. “You’re never going to let me live that one do
wn, are you?”

She took a step back and watched with amused eyes as he tried to cover his hard cock with his tuxedo jacket. “Nope. Now come on. Let’s go eat and make nice so we can get out of here and have some real fun.”

Wyatt looked at the black leather harness and back up at James, shaking his head. “I can’t wear that.”

With a low laugh James began to shed his tux
in the men’s locker room at The Velvet Fist. “You want to piss Yuki off, be my guest. I’d just like to remind you that she’s going to have you trussed up and hanging from the rafters tonight so you might not want to make her angry.”

“And you’re sure Michelle is going to like this?”

“Trust me, she’s going to love it.” James shed his clothes as he talked and put his own black leather and steel harness on. “She’s always been a sucker for a man in a harness and loves it when Yuki does suspension play. Besides, I haven’t been practicing this scene with you for the past week only to have you pussy out now.”

“Fuck off,” Wyatt said with a small smile even though he was nervous.

It was one thing to do this with Yuki and James in the privacy of her barn, but a whole ‘nother ball of wax to do it in public. He’d told Michelle he was over there posing for Yuki’s sculpture, but in reality they’d been figuring out the logistics of how to suspend both himself and James. True to form, Yuki had actually done most of the planning while he and James just followed her directions. Sometimes it was nice having a dominant woman in charge. He didn’t have to worry about doing the wrong thing because Yuki would lay into him in a second if he pissed her off.

He also didn’t have to worry about Yuki copping a feel while she was winding rope around him because although she admired his body, it was more like being admired like he was an animal, or a piece of art. When she was doing her sculpting and her
shibari play she was focused on him as form and function rather than as a man. He could only hope that their performance would help distract Michelle from her anxiety and help her find her footing.

When they’d entered the club and branched off into the men’s and women’s locker rooms he hadn’t missed her unsteady breath
ing or the faint tremble in her hands.

Eager to return to her side, to be her support and her guardian, he shed his tux and threw the harness on, adjusting the straps so they
laid just right. It looped over his upper shoulders and crossed his chest in a X where it connected to a strap that went all the way around his torso and joined in the back. A large silver ring decorated where the straps came together over his chest and he had to admit that he looked good. Before James could catch him admiring himself in the mirror like a girl with a pretty new dress, he put his tux back on and was slipping back into his shoes by the time James had finished putting their bags into a locker.

Other men filled the room from the wedding and James was clearly popular by the
number of guys who came over to talk to him. For Wyatt, it was a little weird to be talking to men in fetish gear, but he tried to keep his discomfort to himself, especially when he’d been propositioned by an older submissive who’d mistaken him for a Dominant.

To his relief James led them out into the club and Wyatt found himself gaping like a kid fresh off the farm. A massive bar
that wouldn’t be out of place in any dance club took up the far wall, but the plethora of bondage equipment instantly caught his attention. Yes, the scenes being conducted on some of the pieces were sexually riveting, but as he watched he could only imagine what Michelle would do to him on a St. Andrew’s Cross, or all the wicked ways she’d tease him to a ruthless orgasm while he was trapped in a stockade.

James sighed. “It’ll take a bit for Michelle and Yuki to get ready. Want to walk around? I’ll show you the club.”

“Sure.”

As they made their way around the room Wyatt was getting an uncomfortable hard
-on from all the female bodies displayed before him. There seemed to be a greater number of male Dominants than female Dominants, and far more submissives than Dominants of either sex. He wondered why that was, but wasn’t going to interrupt a scene to ask. James pointed out different groups of people, telling Wyatt who they were and if they were friends with Michelle.

The club was actually three stories, and this room opened up to a second level above with a walkway all around so people could look down at the floor below. Ropes and chains hung from the ceiling far above a roped off area and Wyatt took a deep breath.
The third level was where Petrov and his wife lived.

Wyatt nodded to the open area with the walk way.
“Is that where we’re doing our thing?”

James nodded, obviously distracted. “I should go double check that they have everything set up right. If they don’t
, Yuki is liable to throw a fit of epic proportions.”

“Go ahead, I’ll wander around.”

“Are you sure?”

He grinned, warmed by the obvious concern in the other man’s voice. Over the past few weeks they’d become good friends and Wyatt not only respected James, but liked him as well. And, as with all men’s friendships, the more guys got along the more they gave each other shit.

“I think I’ll be fine, Mom. You can pop your titty out of my mouth now.”

James flipped him off. “Michelle and Yuki should be out soon. Try to
not drool on yourself when you see them.”

Wyatt waved him off and made his way through the lower level of the club, stopping to look at a particularly well made
table that had some kind of pump attached to it. He was trying to figure out what it was when a male voice said, “Excuse me.”

He stepped back and a man a few years younger than
Wyatt with light blond hair wearing only a pair of leather pants set a black bag on the table. He was covered from neck to where his torso disappeared into his pants in an elaborate and amazing tattoo of dragons mixed with all manner of stylized Celtic symbols, merging together to create a masterpiece.

Wyatt came to himself when he realized he’d been silently staring. “Sorry, ‘bout that.”

The other man grinned and held out his hand. “No problem. My name’s Collin.”

“Wyatt, nice to meet you.”

The men shook hands and Collin gave him a once over. “You’re Mistress Michelle’s submissive, right?”

He flushed, not used to a stranger knowing about his sexual activities. “Yeah.”

“I saw you at the wedding with her.” He took out a tube of lubricant and set it on a shelf beneath the table. “I wasn’t sure if she’d bring you here or not. Michelle tends to be uber possessive of her men. But then again so is my Mistress. Hell, she tattooed her name on my ass.”

“What?”

With a laugh Collin turned and pulled down his leather pants enough so Wyatt could see the name ‘Daniella’ done in cursive script right above the crack of the other man’s ass.

“Your Mistress did that?”

“Yep, she’s done all of my tattoos.”

“Does she do any cover-up work?”

“Sure. Why, you got some rainbows and unicorns you want to get rid of?”

“Try a tattoo that I got for an ex-girlfriend
when I was nineteen. It’s all fucked up but Michelle found out why I got it and I have a feeling she’d scrub it off with sandpaper herself if I let her.”

Collin grinned and turned back to the bag he was unpacking. “I hear ya.
I always liked her even if she and my Mistress don’t get along.”

Interested in this glimpse into Michelle’s past Wyatt watched as Collin took out a series of different colored candles. “Why don’t they get along?”

He hesitated. “Well, before Michelle collared Owen my Mistress trained him.”

“So before Owen was
with Michelle he belonged to your Mistress?”

“That’s right,” a sultry female
voice said from behind Wyatt. “I trained him, but I never loved him the way I love Collin.”

Wyatt turned to find a lovely middle
-age woman in a black latex dress that hugged her body from her large breasts down to her red stiletto-clad feet. She also had tattoos, but not a full body suit like her submissive did. With dark hair and dark eyes she reminded Wyatt of a classic femme fatale from the old detective movies he used to watch as a kid. Although she barely came up to his chin, she projected the same aura of control that Michelle did, but slightly different, more earthy somehow.

Collin came over and dropped to his knees before her, bending to kiss her foot with a reverence that Wyatt could understand. After all, he felt the same way about Michelle. She was the beginning and end for him
, and he had to admit he was curious about the Domme who had trained Owen.

“Hi,” Wyatt said then cleared his throat. “
Uh, I’m not sure what the proper manners are in this situation.”

“My name is
Daniella, but you can call me Mistress Daniella.”

“Wyatt Callahan, nice to meet you.” They briefly shook hands and Wyatt struggled against the urge to shift beneath her gaze. “So, Collin was telling me you do tattoos?”

She smiled and went from scary Domme to appealing woman in the blink of an eye. “Indeed I do. Why, are you in the need of some new ink? If you and Michelle are going to be in town for a few days I’d love to have you both over to my studio.”

He looked at Collin then back to Mistress
Daniella. “Um, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea if you and Michelle don’t get along.”

Mistress
Daniella snorted. “We used to fight like two territorial bitches, but that was years ago. I’ve grown up since then and I’m sure she has as well.”

Before he could respond Yuki’s fami
liar voice reached his ears. “Hello, Daniella.”

“Yuki, it’s so nice to see you.”

The women exchanged a brief hug and Yuki turned to look at him, the concern in her gaze obvious. “Wyatt, Michelle is waiting for you at the bar.”

Mistress
Daniella let out a soft sigh. “She’s pissed, isn’t she? I can see it from here.”