Farrah took a bedazzled, vibrant trunk from the other Cherry and carried it over to us on her own. With short dark hair and blood red lips, she looked every inch the dangerous vixen I knew the Cherries to be.
“You look familiar…” I tapped my chin as I studied her. She wasn’t one of the girls we interviewed, but something about her was like déjà vu.
Cabbie opened the lid once she set it down on the lush grass and picked through the items. “Doll, this is the girl you asked about when the Cherries attacked the men on the street. Remember? I pointed her out;Nunchuck nipple clamps.”
“Oh.” My mouth formed a perfect circle. Damn. What was I supposed to do with this information. “Uh… you had really nice form.”
She smirked and gave me a seductive wink. Her eyelashes had to be two inches long. Insane. “Don’t worry. Why do you think Cabbie brought me and Nins along?” She gestured over her shoulder to the other beautiful woman waiting by the door. “You’ll be just as lethal as we are in no time.”
Cabbie popped up with a shiny, silver chain dangling from his hand. My eyes nearly fell out of my head. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.” That was a statement. It was hope.
“Of course it is. This is Farrah’s specialty, and later we’ll work with the whips. That’s Nins’ favorite weapon. It’s a bit more practical, but the nunchuck nipple clamps are so much fun.”
I swiveled around and cast the guys a plea for help. The bastards were all trying to hide their amusement. Nato was the most successful with a barely there lip twitch, and Jari had turned his back, but his shaking body gave away his laughter.
Cunt nuggets.
“All right boys. You run along and let Fab Cab do what he does best. You can have Isolde back in an hour for dinner.” He shooed them with his well-manicured hand.
A quick glance was shared between the three before they walk up to me. Nope, just kidding; they walked passed me to the door.
“We need to strategize your training, Iss. This will start your training, and allow us time to figure out the best way to bring you up to speed. We’ll be watching the whole time.” Nato nodded to the windows and succinctly shut the door behind him.
“Okay, Doll. Stand over here while Farrah and Nins give a demonstration.” Cabbie motions for me to join him.
Dazedly, I did as he asked and turned around, waiting for the instruction that was going to change my life. Because I was sure learning how to wield sex toys was going to irrevocably change me. Hopefully I could actually try what they wanted to teach me without giggling myself to death.
I glanced up at Cabbie, and he was focusing intently on the women. This was serious to him. He, and his Cherries, really thought they could help me learn how to defend myself successfully. I took a deep breath and found my center. Okay, I could also give this my all.
I mean, as long as the dildos didn’t come out. As soon as I start flopping dildos at people, it was all over.
The nipple clamp nunchucks dangled loosely from Farrah’s hand as she closed her eyes and breathed deep. Nins moved her whip in lazy circles like she was getting ready to rope an unruly bull. Once Farrah let all her breath back out in a slow, steady stream, she opened her eyes and screamed like a horny, but sexually denied banshee.
The fight was beautiful and scary to watch. Farrah relied on her sex toy, while Nins clearly was more comfortable with hand to hand combat. She only used her whip when she was able to step back far enough to sling it at Farrah. And she hardly did that at all. She kept rushing Farrah, throwing punches and knee jabs one after another. Eventually, Nins pinned Farrah to the ground with one final shout of triumph.
“Well done,” Farrah wheezed, as Nins jumped to her feet and extended her free hand.
“A little sloppy, but we’ve been traveling for a day,” Cabbie criticized as he tucked one arm under his elbow and rubbed his chin.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t hold back, tell them how they really looked.” Which, to me, was downright lethal. Their fight was so much more intense up close, rather than watching them attack random men on a darkened street corner. Especially when I was watching through a breath fogged window.
“When it could make the difference between life and death, you can bet your sweet ass that I’ll tell them the truth. Now, Farah, show Isolde how you hold the nunchucks. Then how to swing them.”
All right. We were actually doing this. Nins tossed me a pair for me to practice with, and I caught them reflexively. The chain was cool, and the weight was heavier than I thought it’d be. Altogether, the toy was probably about two or three pounds.
“Look here.” My gaze flew to Farrah. “You want to hold one of the sticks. It’s going to give you more leverage when you are making your swings. The clamps are metal, and if used effectively, you can take out an eye or scratch the bastard up good. Now, swing the nunchucks in an arc like this.” She demonstrated the move so fast, it was difficult to follow.
“All right. Here goes.” I muttered, bracing my legs about two feet apart. She didn’t say to do that, but it made me feel more prepared to channel my inner Shania.
I twirled my wrist, swung the other stick end of the toy, attempting to catch it under my arm like Farrah had. Instead, the chain caught under my arm and the nipple clamp dinged me in the back of the head.
“Fucking ouch.” It was stuck in my hair, Nins pulled it free as a few hairs went with it.
At least none of them laughed. I would have flipped them off and walked away if they had. One thing I had never handled well was mocking laughter.
“That was your first time, so not bad. Your technique was good, but your arm needs to be a little farther from your body. It was tucked close, and that’s why it got you in the head. Again.”
The next hour was spent on the nipple clamp nunchucks alone. I never really got it, but I did improve. Slightly. Okay, maybe I knew how to swing it, but I definitely didn’t know how to control it.
“Not bad, Doll. I wouldn’t have ever pegged you for a fighter. And I still don’t.” Cabbie pinched his lips. “But it was a good effort.”
I sneered at him and wiped the sweat from my brow. It wasn’t hot here. The temperature was comparable to a seventy-degree day, and the breeze was light. Farrah was even a patient and understanding instructor. No, the sweat was from my frustration with my lack of athleticism.
“Thank you.” I still had my manners. “You didn’t have to leave your pleasure house to train me, but you did anyway.”
Cabbie rolled his eyes. “Like I would refuse an order, sorry, I mean request, from Yunez. Besides. I love you and your Lusty Legion. I wanted to do what I could to help. The quicker we can squash Rainer and his followers, the better.” He dropped a large hand onto the back of my sweaty neck and walked me over to my door. “Tomorrow. Same time. Same place.” With an air kiss on each cheek and a sultry wave from Farrah and Nins, I left them to enter my suite.
The guys, save for Sage, were seated at the dining table with Yunez. All wore grim expressions, and only Yunez glanced at me as I entered. Keen intelligence and startling coldness brushed over me before he shuttered his expression. Shudders wrapped my body as I realized Yunez was much more multi-faceted than I had originally thought, and what he held inside him was scary as fuck. The question was, why was it showing now?
Whatever had happened in the last hour was going to fuck with my life. I just knew it.
“This is going to be a shit show.” Egan curled a lip and hunched down in his chair. “You realize that, right?”
“Oh, I realize more than you can imagine,” Yunez said wryly.
“Damn. I’m fucking pissed at you for keeping your secrets, and I’m pissed at you for letting us wallow in our own self-pity for weeks.” Nato dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. I would have thought Sage felt Yunez’s betrayal the most. He wore his emotions closer to the surface than the others. But Nato seemed to have a hard time getting past it. Not the most social of my guys, he relied o
n his inner circle, and Yunez had been at the center of that inner circle.
Should I have been glad they were hashing it out without me? The emotion currently coursing through my body was FOMO. Fear of missing out. Which was kind of ridiculous. These men had a history I wasn’t part of, and while I had their future, this was something they might have needed to work on without me.
I edged closer and propped my hip against the counter in the kitchenette. There. I was close enough that I felt included, without actually intruding.
Jari swept his long hair into a bun, tying it with quick efficiency. It was odd to see his mouth bracketed with lines of strain, but everyone at the table had them. Even Yunez.
“I am sorry. I am sorry that you feel betrayed and feel like you can’t trust me anymore. But the fact is, you can. If there is one thing you can be certain of, I will always do what is best for each of you. Individually and collectively. Sometimes, the two won’t match up, and I have to decide how best to get us to the future we want and deserve. I understand your hurt feelings. But now is not the time. We need to be a team. Especially now.” Yunez had been alternating his gaze between the three men. Then he locked his gaze on a far off point in the corner of the room. “Especially now that the game has changed.”
“See, that right there. What does it even mean? We want to work together, but you’re keeping us in the dark.” Nato pointed a finger at Yunez.
“Not as much as you think. Yes, there are a few secrets I cannot share with you right now, but I swear by all that means anything to me, you will know everything by this time next year. I swear it.” Fire filled his voice as he leaned across the table.
Egan sat up in his seat and flicked his gaze to Nato and Jari before addressing Yunez. “We’ll put this behind us, but we need to know what’s changed.”
“My sight. I rely on my powers to ensure the outcome I need. But something has happened. Or they have found a way to block my vision. I am not sure.” Yunez shook his head like he couldn’t believe someone figured out a way to best him. I was confused too. In the short time I’d known him, he seemed larger than life. He knew everything, could fix anything.
“What happened?” I blurted out. All of their attention swung to me, and I straightened away from the counter. Now that the words were out, and I inserted myself into the conversation, I couldn’t back down. “Something clearly happened. Why is ‘it’ about to be a shit show?”
Silence descended on the table, and it was a few seconds before Jari put me out of my misery. “Sweets… Rainer’s plan might have succeeded. In fact, we are pretty sure he’s cracked at least two governments. Yunez came to share reports that are coming in from our contacts in the Earth realm.”
Excuse me while I pick up my jaw from the ground.
“What. The. Hell?” I nearly screeched.
“Our sentiments exactly,” Nato muttered. He pushed his seat back and tugged my hand, effectively pulling me across his lap. His fingers dug into my hips, and I had a feeling he needed me to anchor him to the now instead of just giving me a cuddle.
There had to be a punchline. This is the absolute worst thing that could happen right now. The whole reason we came to Fennina was to squash Rainer’s plans before they became reality.
“Fuck. Fuckity fuck.” I gripped the edge of the table in my hands, trying to stay calm against the horrible images of what was happening on Earth, assaulting my brain. He could be initiating attacks on Fennin in the Earth realm. Sabotaging the governments to fight each other for the fun of it. Rainer’s brand of world domination had so many possible outcomes.
Egan was a dog with a bone and rerouted the conversation. “What happened, or didn’t happen for you to lose your faith in your sight?” He dug his fingers into the table until his fingertips whitened.
I was torn between yelling at them to give me all the details on Earth, a play by play as Yunez received it from his contacts, and demanding the same answers from Yunez as Egan. Somehow, I remained silent.
“It is what has not happened. There are several events I did not foresee. The government takeover is one of them. My sight is still there, still working, but some events are missing as if they have never happened.” Yunez was gutted. Some of the fiery anger racing through my veins cooled. I didn’t like to see Yunez so destroyed, and I ached to go to him; to soothe him. But I couldn’t. He was essentially public enemy number one right now as far as the guys were concerned.
His admission settled over the room like a dark and stormy cloud. The ominous kind of warning right before hell rained down on our asses.
“What do we do? If you’re at such a disadvantage, then how do we proceed?” I tugged a sweaty strand of hair from my cheek and pushed it behind my ear.
Yunez locked gazes with me and seemed to apologize for some unknown act. “We stay here. We get you as close to ready as we can. We have a few weeks yet. I have to operate on what I saw before I lost the sight, and the date of their next attack is a few weeks away.”
No. That didn’t sound good to me at all. “What about Earth? We can’t sit here twiddling our thumbs waiting. Even if you’re training me, my people need us.” No matter what, I was Fennin, the Mazza, the mother fucking savior of all the realms, I couldn’t in good conscience sit on my ass while they were attacked from within. They didn’t even have the power and sight to know they were being attacked.
“Not your people, Issy girl. The Fennin are your people; always have been.” Egan said. “But I understand; you were raised on Earth.”
I nodded. “More than that. Earth was my home and all I knew for my entire life. I need to help them.”
“And we will, just not yet. If we rush out now, we will not be helping. We will only provide an easy opportunity for capture.” Yunez reached out and traced the apple of my cheek with a barely there touch.
I gulped. “Is that your sight? Or your opinion?”
“Sight.” His voice was hard and sure.
Questions about Earth burned in the back of my throat. What happened? Were people hurt? What did this mean for Rainer’s plans? But, in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Ignorance was truly bliss when you were helpless. If I knew without a doubt what was happening, guilt would eat me alive. No, I’d rather assume right now until I could do something about it. I had to trust that Yunez had our best interests at heart. Blind faith. That was what was required of us right now. But were we willing to pay it?
“Are we agreed that we hit these next few weeks hard? I will need at least an hour with Isolde every day to teach her the forgotten histories. Rand will also need time to teach her about her powers. It would not be a bad idea to all train together in the evenings. We are in this together, and we should be as strong as we possibly can be.”
I didn’t like this serious side of Yunez. Where was the mocking, untouchable man who made my panties burst into flames?
“Agreed,” Nato said.
Jari and Egan both followed right behind him.
“What about Sage? And Rand?” It felt weird having these serious discussions without them. They needed to be here.
“We’ll fill them in when they get back, Sweets.” Jari winked at me, but it was halfhearted as hell.
“So…dinner.” I needed something to do, and it was time to eat. “Who’s helping me?”
I expected Nato to hop at the chance. The kitchen was his domain and he rocked that shit. But he didn’t even twitch when I hopped up from his lap. Egan and Jari stayed seated as well, staring at the table.
A slow smile spread across Yunez’s face as he stood up, brushing his hands down his chest and abdomen. “I would be delighted to help you, my love.”
Egan nodded absently, but that was the only reaction from my LL. My brows kissed my hairline at their lack of response.
“Sure…Wait. Let me grab a shower, then we can get started.” I ran into the bathroom and took the quickest shower of my life. Just in case anything important popped up in conversation, I didn’t want to miss it.
>
I shouldn’t have worried. The lack of conversation when I entered the main part of the suite echoed with all the things they weren’t saying. Yunez seemed content to wait for me, but the others were broody and completely lost in their thoughts.
I gestured to Yunez to join me. “Come on, as long as you know I’m no Nato in the kitchen.” I shrugged and walked the three steps to the kitchenette. The suite was a decent size, but with all these men taking up space, it felt smaller than a tuna can.
“I am a decent cook, if you can believe it. How about I make a dish from my childhood?” He walked up next to me, trailing his fingers across my shoulders. I shivered and sent the guys a quick glance.
The guys weren’t paying attention at all. Once Yunez stepped away from them, they engaged in their own hushed conversation. Damn. If they weren’t snarling at Yunez, they must be broken. Or were they truly done with their snit? I could admit this was the worst possible time to hold a grudge.
“I’d love that.” I smiled up at Yunez. The guys hardly ever talked about him unless it was to relay something he taught them as they were growing up. Anticipation was a tingling sensation attacking my spine at this rare opportunity to see deeper into who he was.
He stepped closer and bent his head over mine. “You promise to obey my every order?” His lips curled on the edges, giving him a wicked edge.
My heart picked up in tempo as I squinted at him. That could be simple, purely related to cooking. Only, I knew it was a sexual innuendo. I hadn’t forgotten the heated stares from Rand and Yunez as they shared how Mannos fit into a Mazza’s harem. Or Lusty Legion in my case. Not to mention this was Yunez who rubbed his happy erection all over me when we hugged back at that little cabin. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but I had felt it.
“And if I don’t?” Damn it! My voice was husky and alluring, which I totally had not meant. I coughed to clear my throat. That was better. Coughing was very unsexy.
Well…unless a person put their fist up to their mouths. Then it looked like a blowjob. That was also not the place I wanted Yunez’s or my mind to go.
Secrets of the Mazza: A Paranormal Romance (Mazza Series Book 3) Page 3