Reluctant Surrender (41 page)

She didn’t want to live in fear of living just because she might be ridiculed for the choices she made. Maybe a “fuck you” attitude was one she was going to have to adopt at times like these. She was a good and decent person before she met Ethan, and after she became a better person for knowing him because he’d helped her grow. And if her past and future clients didn’t like that truth too bad. Even if Wakefield hadn’t been lost to her already, she would have gladly given it up if it meant she could have Ethan in her life and that scared the hell out of her in the best possible way.

“What goes under the fishnet?” Jo asked.

Without hesitating, Colin replied, “The thong.”

That’s when Doc stood and said, “Well, then the hair stays down. I’m driving seeing as how I know where sleezeville mecca is.”

“Shotgun!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jo murmured taking her by the hand. “You can sit in the front although I don’t know why. You can’t see a damn thing with your eyes nearly swollen shut. Careful of the coffee table…”

“Jade’s going to be in so much tra-bull.”

“Easy there, Ms. Croft, you don’t want to trip down the steps and break your neck before you get the chance to go medieval on Jade’s ass.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Mr. Basel is coming,” Colin told the doorman as she slipped her cell into her trench coat pocket.

Her two besties flanked her, giving her a sense of calm. “Like we’d stoop to crashing an event like this.” Jo snorted.

Lacy leaned around Colin and whispered, “You remember Aries? We crashed that the night they had the male revue.”

The doorman’s eyes narrowed and he shifted as if he was going to tell them to move aside, so Colin explained, “We had to sneak into that one because we were all underage at the time.”

“Who gives a flying—”

“Ms. Reneaux,” Ted Basel said smoothly, interrupting Jo’s rant when he came out onto the verandah to greet them. David, the third owner, was right behind him. One Dom looking like a rugged cowboy, tall, tanned and scarred while David looked perfectly metrosexual. Tall, athletic without a blond hair out of place.

David’s gaze roved over them and she thought she heard him say something about Charlie’s Angels, but then Ted smiled and she smiled back.

“Hi, Ted.”

“Ms. Reneaux? Is that you?” David asked, stepping into the porch light.

“No, it’s Jill Monroe and I’m Kelly Garrett and she’s,” Jo indicated to Lacy, “Sabrina Duncan. Are we going to get a pass here or do I need to get Bosley on the phone?”

Ted’s eyebrows popped up and he turned his full attention to Jo. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

“Neeew, and you won’t. Can we just get this show on the road? We don’t have all night.”

“Yes we do.” Lacy extended her hand toward David and said, “I’m Lacy Pembrook and chuckles over there is Josephine Nehr. You know Colin?”

“Yes, yes I do.” David smiled politely and shook Lacy’s hand.

Colin stiffened when Ted held his hand out to Jo, who refused to shake. She knocked her shoulder against her stubborn friend’s arm and spoke between clenched teeth. “You said you were going to behave tonight.”

“Being treated like a leper at a nudist colony has a way of damping my good cheer.” Colin glared until Jo begrudgingly reached out to take Ted’s hand, but by the time she did he purposely dropped his and turned his attention to her.

“Colin, I was happy you called me back. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Positive.”

He examined her, probably looking for a breach in the armor she’d conjured. He wasn’t going to find one because she was going through with her plans with or without his help.

“Then why don’t you walk with me so I can explain a few things about this evening’s events? How you’ll have to present on stage. Ethan’s not here. He’s still at the boathouse.” He took her by the arm and said, “Jade’s here and before you two run into each other I want to tell you some things about her. David, why don’t you show the girls around? We’ll catch up with you before the main event.”

Ten minutes later Colin was stunned after listening to what Ted had to say. “How did she found out I was Riling Rita?”

“It wasn’t any of us. Even if we hadn’t legally committed to assuring your privacy on the matter, Jade is not someone we’d confide in. We have our suspicions though. Do you remember Zach Jones? You got him fired and that guy has every tech geek at his disposal. We figure he’s the one. E’s still investigating on that.”

Colin thought about all the implications, waiting for the fear or panic to surface. All that came was a huge sense of relief. A peace now that she knew that Ethan had a reason for saying those things about her. He was protecting her from Jade’s threat. Doing what he’d always done in life. Whether it was an emotionally unstable ex, or him taking the blame for his parents’ accident, he always stood up and took responsibility for the tough stuff. She sighed, even as her heart filled with more tenderness for this man. It all made sense. Her only regret was that she couldn’t very well kick Jade’s ass now. The woman was to be pitied, not condemned.

“It doesn’t matter to me anymore. That’s why I’m here.”

“So you’re still going to go through with this? We have a reporter here. The one from
The Silver Lake Sentinel
.”

“I’m a big girl, Ted. I know what I’m doing. I’m prepared.”

When he smiled she was reminded of Ethan. They had the same arrogance. “You’re scared as shit.” He led her off the back verandah into the main hall, where a crowd had started to form. “That’s why you’re wearing the Dick Tracy trench as cover.”

Trying not to look too conspicuous about it, she had a look around. The mode of dress of those attending went from elegant to nonexistent. “True, but I’ll manage in this crowd. Where are David and my girls?”

He checked his phone. “They’re seated in the theater. He says Ethan’s arrived too. That means you have about five minutes before you have to ditch the coat and go in there to present.”

“Great. I’m just going to freshen up my lip gloss. I’ll be back in a minute and then we can go in, okay?”

She left Ted waiting out in the huge entranceway and went into the ladies’ room. Her nerves were acting up and she needed a few moments to herself to regroup. She hated crowds when she was fully dressed and having to go in there and undress? What if he didn’t want her? What if he passed her by? No, she wasn’t going to lose her grip on the situation. This was all about control. She was in control of what she planned to do. She had to remember that. No sooner had she patted her neck with some cooling water and started applying some lip gloss when Jade’s words caused her to hesitate mid-swipe.

“You look like Paddington Bear, vanilla. If you’re hoping to snag yourself a new Dom you should have worn a better outfit.”

Colin drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose as she continued to apply her lipstick. When she was done she slipped the tube into her pocket, gave her hair a fluff and spun around.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip.” She stepped toward the door, but Jade blocked her.

“What are you doing here, bitch? I thought he told you to go home?”

Although she knew it was wrong to argue with a crazy person, Colin wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that Jade was out of her mind. Especially now that she was glaring at her with daggers shining in her coal-dark eyes. “Ethan didn’t tell me to go home, I volunteered.” She stepped around the other woman and hadn’t taken more than two steps when Jade gave her push-poke from behind so hard she had to catch herself to keep from stumbling.

“Volunteer again. I don’t want you here.”

Colin didn’t turn around, she just took another step toward the exit, determined to ignore her. Apparently, Jade wasn’t having that, because she gave her another shove.

Colin caught herself again. She took a second to readjust her footing and growled, “I wouldn’t do that again if I were you. I don’t know how much longer I can be patient.”

The door was only three paces away. Three short steps.

“Patient? You’re lucky I don’t—”

That’s all she got out before she pushed Colin for the last time because when she did it, she’d grabbed a solid hold of Colin’s hair first. The ensuing tug was vicious.

Colin didn’t care about the pain. All she saw was red. She may have been shorter than Jade, but she had the element of surprise on her side. She turned, grabbed Jade by her leather collar and pulled her so hard the woman tripped into motion. With very little effort, Colin had her turned and up against the wall in a flash. Her one hand was hooked in the collar while her forearm pressed hard across the breadth of Jade’s heaving chest. A move she’d learned at one of her gym self-defense classes. She never imagined she’d be using it on a naked woman.

“You fucking cunt!” Jade tried to kick her but Colin sidestepped the intended blow and pushed against her harder.

“Careful, Jade. You don’t want to ‘Rile’ me. I can be a real bitch when provoked.”

“Fuck you, you overdressed slut.”

“I’d rather be overdressed than putting it all out there 24/7.” She leaned back and raked the woman disdainfully from head to toe, but not back again because she couldn’t stand the sight. She just glared right at the fuming woman and said, “Remind me to tell you the story about The Kraken one of these days because there’s nothing special here.”

“You,” Jade huffed and pushed to no avail as Colin had all her body weight shifted in full force. “Fucking. Whore.” she rasped, trying to get free. Both of her hands were on Colin’s, the one on her collar trying to pry it loose.

“Wrong, but I was asked not to argue with you, you poor thing.”

“What?” That got her attention.

“You’re mentally ill.” When Jade’s fingers started to loosen from their claw-like grip on her hand she knew she’d found a soft spot. “Emotionally challenged people are to be pitied.”

“No. It’s not true. I don’t want your pity. I’m normal. I am.”

“Damn.” Colin saw it in her eyes. Her instability. Immediately she let go of her and stepped back.

Jade didn’t move, but she remained wary and spat, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Colin straightened the lapels on her coat, threaded her fingers through her hair and sighed. “I didn’t think it was true. I thought you were faking your problem, but now I see you’re not. Just stay away from me, Jade. Keep your distance and for God’s sake, go and get yourself some help.”

The last thing she heard as she exited was Jade’s indignant gasp. She didn’t pay her any more mind because Ted was there tapping his wrist.

“You better hurry, we don’t want them to shut the doors.”

Just then a streak of white flesh and black hair went by and Ted did a double take. “Was that—?”

“Yep. Lead the way. Or should we follow Godiva?”

* * * * *

Ethan waited for Decklan’s introduction. The theater was packed. He didn’t want to count how many submissives were in attendance. He was too focused on getting his part of the festivities over with as quickly as possible.

He realized the theater was suddenly quiet. Shit, he’d missed his cue. He stalked out into the forum and ignored the crowd of spectators who were there to watch. Not that all of them did. Some, who brought their own subs with them, wound up too distracted, getting their own kink on, to watch what was happening on the stage.

He tried not to think about what he had to do and concentrated on getting through this process. Walking down the line of women, he attempted to show interest. He pretended to consider her when a pretty blonde, naked with heavily defined bikini tan lines came off her haunches and kneeled, then a brunette with large breasts, another blonde and a redhead. Damn he lost count until he got to Jade. There she was, looking as cool and as empty as ever. She seemed pleased. Almost gleeful, and the expression didn’t sit well with him. It reminded him of the morning Colin had left…because of her.

Why was he hesitating to make his choice? He had to do it. He couldn’t let her ruin Colin’s dream. He couldn’t let her loose in the community either. He was dreading how she’d handle not being Topped the way she wanted to be tonight. But there was no way he was going to put his hands on her when she was in need of help. One way or another he’d get her back into therapy and if she didn’t go, he’d wait her out. Eventually her interest in hurting Colin would fade and when that happened he’d blackball her again. This time for good.

Yeah he liked that idea. He was just about to reach for her when a yellow flurry caught his eye. No doubt it was a disgruntled sub realizing that she didn’t have a chance with him. When the woman kept moving he turned and would have ordered her to settle, but then he saw her.

“Colin?” His pulse picked up speed, rocketing to life within him. It couldn’t be her. His imagination was only playing tricks on him.

But then the woman near the end of the line stood and his heart beat double time. She was stuck in the shadows, slightly off-center of the stage lighting so he squinted. It was then he saw her toss a lion’s mane of blonde, kinky curls and shrug off a huge yellow coat. And the second he spied that tight little body encased in top-to-bottom fishnet he knew he hadn’t been mistaken. It was Colin all right. Naked beneath the net except for a skimpy thong. And when he watched her ball up her coat and throw it to Ted, who stood in the sidelines, he gaped at his friend.

Ted’s only response was to shrug.

Slowly Ethan’s gaze shifted to Colin again and for the briefest second he was so overwhelmed by her presence he froze. Didn’t she know there were people here from town? And what about the crowd? Her fear? He looked around to confirm the fact he wasn’t dreaming this until he heard Jade whisper.

“Ethan? What are you doing? Let someone else Top her. You promised me. You—”

She hadn’t even finished when Ethan walked off. Just hearing those words,
Let someone else Top her
made his heart beat out of his chest. No other Dom was going to touch Colin. Not now, not ever. She didn’t belong here. Not without his protection. Didn’t she know that?