by R. M. Walker
Good. I pressed into him and let a wicked smile form on my face. He raised an eyebrow at my smile.
I leaned closer and kissed underneath his jaw. “Guess what?” I said, my lips still pressed to his skin.
“Hmm.”
“I’m still going.”
As he moaned, I laughed and rolled off the bed, determined to make it to the conference without any more distractions.
Chapter Two
My stalkers followed me into the hotel and then into my room. Before I was able to skip out, all three of them whipped out tickets on their phones with huge grins. I wasn’t even sure how they got them.
They were cheaters. They had to be. I knew this wasn’t in their plans, and yet still, they managed to get tickets to go to a sold-out conference. They definitely stole it from someone. They had to.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Bryce asked. His hazel eyes stared at me with concern as he rubbed at the black scruff along his square jaw.
“Yes.”
He exchanged a glance with the other two. I narrowed my eyes at him as I threw my bag onto the huge bed.
“What?”
He met my eyes. “We’re just wondering what gave you this idea? Why are you so determined to attend a kink conference?”
“Dr. Bryce Campos,” I snapped and he stiffened at the warning in my voice. “You are my boyfriend. Do you know what that means?”
He eyed me warily.
I pointed at him, my voice filled with accusation. “It means you can’t psychoanalyze me as a psychiatrist! I am not your patient. I’m your girlfriend. Treat me as such. Pretend I know what I’m doing.”
He jaw clenched “Well, do you know what you’re doing? You know what this place is going to be full of, right?”
“I came prepared.” I unzipped my bag and grabbed my armor. “See!”
“What is that?” Dayton asked, coming closer and grabbing my outfit, ignoring my outcry at his intrusion.
“My outfit.” I snatched it back from him. Knowing the first-grade teacher, he’d try to take it away from me and hide it, just to keep me from wearing it. He was immature like that. His blue eyes widened in surprise at my response. Yes, I said exactly what I said.
“What is it?” Bryce asked. Apparently, he needed his ears cleaned out.
I huffed. “My armor. I decided to dress like a superheroine.” I fumbled with my dress nervously as some of my doubts crept in. “I admit, I’m nervous about this; being here. I’ve never gone to one of these. Someone I trust suggested this idea. I’ll blend in with the others, but I’ll be a superheroine too and superheroines aren’t scared of anything.”
“Oh, hun,” Dayton said in his warm, soothing voice. “Even superheroines are scared.”
“Are not.”
“Are too.”
“Okay, let’s not revert to five-year-olds arguing,” Bryce said. “What superheroine is that?” He eyed the fabric.
I blew out my cheeks and then released the air. Drawing on all the confidence I had, I replied, “Starfire.”
“Why Starfire?” he asked. “Out of all of the female superheroines you could have gone with, why her?”
I glared at the silly man. “What’s wrong with her? She’s just like me. She doesn’t always say things the right way or knows how to do things, but she’s trustworthy. She’s the perfect friend, and when enemies are around, she’s not afraid to knock heads together. Life sucks, and she still manages to hold onto her innocence while beating up bad people. Plus she’s smart and she’s pretty. She’s exactly who I want to be.”
“You don’t need a comic book character to tell you you’re a hero. You just need to look at your nephews when they look at you each day. To them, you’re the best hero.”
I snorted at Bryce’s cheesiness while my heart got all warm and fuzzy. I wanted to grab his face and kiss him silly.
“I’m going down there as Starfire and you don’t get to stop me. Now, let me go get changed.” I stomped into the bathroom with my outfit and slammed the door. They needed to know I wasn’t happy with them and I wasn’t going to let them bully me into doing what they wanted. This was my staycation. I get to do what I wanted, with or without them.
Slipping on my outfit took some work as the leather worked its way over my body. It was tight and almost felt like I was wrapped tightly in a blanket, burrito style. Instantly, I felt the changes, the confidence that whirled up inside of me as I stared at myself in the mirror. The outfit was really similar to a one-piece bathing suit, but with more of my body covered. I rolled up the sleeves of the gloves to my biceps.
In the bag, I dug out temporary spray dye and went at it with my hair. I liked keeping my hair dyed in a salt and pepper style with white and ash blonde highlights blended in with my chocolate brown hair. I sprayed the red dye into my hair, turning the highlights red to connect more with Starfire. My hair was already long and curly, so I didn’t need to worry about it, and I liked my spin of Starfire with the darker hair, instead of being a complete redhead. I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to pull off that hair color.
It was a shame I didn’t have time to find the contacts to give me green eyes or something to make it seem like my eyes were completely green. That would have been a really cool trick. Accepting that my eyes were going to stay their same boring brown, I finished getting ready. After making sure I didn’t look like a mess, I stepped out of the bathroom. I just needed to put on my boots now.
Koen stood there with my shoebox.
“May I?” he asked.
I nodded shyly as his gaze took me in. He motioned for me to sit down on the bed and then he got down on his knees before me.
I gasped at seeing him kneeling before me, almost like a servant. He sent a wicked grin my way. The darn bonehead knew exactly what he was doing.
“You look amazing,” he said as he pulled out one boot and unzipped it. “Ignore the other two. They’re just jealous and hate the idea of anyone else seeing you.”
“Then why bother coming?”
He chuckled and didn’t respond as he grabbed my ankle, his thumb running down the sole of my foot. I giggled at the touch.
“Don’t.” I could barely keep myself from kicking him. Okay, I did try to kick him, but he knew me enough to hold on tight and stop my reaction from taking him out.
“Easy,” he said and slipped my foot into my boot and lifted up the leather. He slowly zipped it up, it going all the way past my knee and to the middle of my thighs. The leather boots molded to my skin and he managed to make the whole process hot.
“Okay, you can stay. But if the other buttheads keep acting up, they’ll need to go. They don’t get to be a downer on my parade during my staycation.”
He chuckled and unzipped the second boot and sliding it onto my foot. “I’m glad you think that. They won’t, I promise.”
“Where are they?”
“Getting our badges so we don’t have to wait in line. The first rush of people are no doubt going to be here soon and we didn’t want you to have to stand in line to check-in.”
I nodded, proud of their foresight. “Good thinking.”
“Glad you think that.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me as he rested his head on my lap. My mind automatically went to the orgasm he gave me not so long ago. I definitely wanted a repeat of that. And more.
With my thoughts on that and Koen more than comfortable with silence, we stayed like that while I ran my hand through his hair. Some days, I thought Koen’s spirit animal was a cat. If he could, he’d be purring right now.
“Will you tell me?” he finally asked.
“What?”
“What’s motivating you to come here?”
I didn’t answer right away, enjoying the feel of his hair too much. “My favorite vendor is here. About seventy-two percent of my skirts were from her.”
He chuckled. “That’s a specific number.”
“Numbers are my thing. You know that.”
“Yes
, your brilliant mind.”
“Besides, specific numbers make it more real to people. If you throw stats at them, any stats, make sure it’s an exact number, like ninety-three percent. People are more likely to believe that than if you say almost a hundred percent. Even ninety-nine point nine percent doesn’t work that well anymore since it’s been overused. I like to tell people I’m ninety-three percent sure and the other seven percent takes into account human error and the moments when life just likes to throw a sucky day at someone. My clients love it.”
He laughed, his body shaking. “I love your mind.”
“I have my moments.” I practically preened under his compliment. Whenever my three guys complimented me, I always felt like I was soaring, like I was doing something right.
“We’re ready!” Bryce and Dayton said, coming through the door with wide grins.
Dayton waved badges through the air. “We got your badges and I’m ready to check this place out. They have a lot going on.” His other hand held up programs. “They have a huge burlesque show they are putting on tonight we can go to if you want. I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”
I snorted. “Why? Because you want to see nearly naked women?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Well, you can’t be too mad, you came here knowing there will be a few cocks letting loose and definitely more than a handful of propositions for you to join them.”
I spluttered. “No way.”
“Yes, way. What do you think happens here?” His expression darkened. “They have rooms and designated areas. People come here and join in on some scenes.” He shook his head as he grew angrier and a bite of hardness slipped into his words. “What were you thinking was going to happen? Or did you think we didn’t care if men threw themselves at you?”
My face burned as realization dawned on me. I didn’t think it’d get that crazy. They promote openness and safety. People were able to be free to be themselves without judgment. I could come here, tell people I had three other partners, and no one would bat an eyelash because there was a good chance they had multiple partners or were into something crazier.
“Dayton, don’t be an asshole.” Koen turned to me. “As long as you stay in the Exhibit Hall, you’ll be fine. They have strict rules here. If you say no, they can’t do anything. No one is allowed to touch you without your permission.”
I glared hard at Dayton, angry he was trying to scare me and ruin my fun. “Dayton, you’re such a butthead.” I grabbed the badge with my name on it out of his hand along with a program and gave him a good kick to his leg.
He grunted and swore as I walked by him, my face flaming red.
“Good job, dumbass,” someone muttered but I didn’t stick around as I left and went to the elevator. I didn’t even care when I got on the elevator with others dressed as scandalously as I was. Bryce barely made it on the elevator before the doors closed and I glared hard at him.
He handed me a coat and followed it with a weak smile. “You can’t go around like that until after you cross the line security set up for the designated area.”
I snatched the coat and put it on. It fell down to my knees, covering me up enough to not draw any attention.
“Don’t be too mad at him,” he said softly.
“Then tell him to stop being a snot bug.”
“Snot bug?”
I ignored him and glared at the door. The others glanced at us with frowns.
“He’ll get over it. This isn’t his thing.”
“Then he shouldn’t have come. He doesn’t need to ruin it for me.”
“He’s worried about you.”
“Doesn’t give him the right to treat me like that. He needs to stay away from me if he doesn’t clean up his attitude.”
“Is something wrong?” a big man asked. He moved closer to us with a scowl toward Bryce. My eyes locked onto the black tattoo of the roses with thorns making its way up his neck. He looked like he chewed nails for supper. “Are you harassing the little lady?”
The others in the elevator moved in on us, crowding us. They were ready to come to my aid. I held back a smile, not expecting that kind of reaction from strangers.
Bryce’s eyes widened and he held up his hands. “Not at all. She’s my girlfriend. Our other partner pissed her off and I’m just trying to smooth things out between them. I swear. I’d never hurt her.”
The man eyed us before turning his dark eyes on me. “Is he telling the truth?” he asked in a voice dark and smooth, like chocolate whiskey. “If you’re scared, we can escort you to security. There’s also a domestic abuse booth here too. They’ll help you out.”
My eyes widened at that. Holy crud, they really did care.
“No, he’s fine. I promise. You know how men get.” I motioned to my outfit. “Not all of them will be happy.”
He eyed the two of us. “I’m at Booth Twelve if anyone gives you any trouble.” He passed me a small black card. “I’ll take care of you and make sure they can’t touch you.”
The doors opened and we piled out. I gaped after the man as he threw his arm around a woman wrapped in...I wasn’t sure what that was. It looked like a bunch of leather straps and was that a collar around her neck? She covered it with a sheer dress, but it was clear she wore something more sexual underneath.
“Shit, they don’t mess around here,” Bryce said.
“Not at all. That was so cool.” I smirked at Bryce. “Let Dayton know all I need to do is scream bloody murder and he’d be turned into mincemeat.”
Bryce’s eyes widened as he pulled out his phone and let his fingers fly across the screen. I looked down at the black card, reading it.
“Professor Andreas, a Dom to your sub. First lesson free.” I looked at the back, but it was just black. “Who is he?”
The card disappeared from my hand. “Hey! I was looking at that.” I glared at Koen. When did he manage to sneak up on me? Dayton stood behind him, frowning at me.
Koen shook his head. “You don’t need to see another Dom. Now, let’s go find your vendor.”
“Oh! Yes.” I opened the program and quickly found where her station was. “Booth sixty-nine.” I giggled at that. Koen just smiled and rested his hand on my lower back as he led me through the crowd, sticking close. We made it into the Exhibition Hall in no time and as soon as we crossed over the line and went around a partition, I took off the coat and gave it to Bryce.
I quickly became comfortable in my outfit, especially since I wasn’t the only one dressed like this. In fact, there were plenty of people around the massive hall wearing less as they weaved through the crowd, determined to get to their favorite booths. Some kept it simple with jean shorts, short enough to show their booty, and matched it with a bra. Others walked around in fishnets over their lingerie. Some men only had leather pants on, displaying their chests. And just as many people wore everyday, street clothes. There were a whole lot of corsets and harnesses to be seen too.
The guys stayed around me and there were moments when they turned me or covered my eyes, or tightened the half circle so I couldn’t see around them. And if I tried to see past them, Koen or Bryce lifted me and carried me away. Dayton knew better than to try. I was still mad at him. He still stayed at my back, his eyes on me often. I could feel his gaze against my heated skin.
I almost wanted to forgive him, but no way. No way could I let him off the hook that easily.
When I spotted my favorite vendor—the whole reason I wanted to come here—I halted in my footsteps. Not even the feel of the guys bumping into me or asking me what was wrong could pull me out of my funk. My heartbeat quickened.
She was so close. Just in reach.
“Maddie?” Koen asked in my ear, his voice finally breaking through my star-struck haze. “Are you okay? Do you need a break?”
“No!” I shook my head furiously before repeating myself. “No.”
Not when she was right there.
I grabbed Koen’s arm and yanked him with me toward her booth. Her dresse
s tried to capture my attention but I was too star-struck with the woman.
While she talked with another attendee, a woman dressed as a little girl with pink overalls and tightly holding onto a plushie, I checked out the vendor. She was tall and willowy. Her makeup was artfully designed to look professional, but with just enough edge to give her a sexy, sophisticated look.
Her black hair flowed around her narrow face, and over her shoulders. Observant eyes calculated everything as she smiled and chatted with the customer. When she laughed, it was like listening to fairies. If I didn’t like men, she’d be the one to convert me to the other side.
She laughed again and passed over a cute pink bag with a flowery design. As her customer walked away, her attention flicked over to us and I learned what it felt like to have a hundred percent of someone’s attention solely on me. My face burned with the intensity of her blue eyes as they traveled down my body and back up.
“Oh, please tell me you’re Little Maddie,” she said and didn’t hesitate to come over. She stopped right in front of me and even smelled delicious. Like strawberries dipped in smooth chocolate.
“I am.” Just those two words were so hard to say.
Her smile widened as she pulled me into a sudden hug. I may have taken in a deeper breath and sighed in contentment at her scent, but I was never going to admit it.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet one of my best customers.” She pulled away and looked down at the costume. “Twirl for me, sweetie. Let me see how it looks on you.”
I giggled as I did as she asked.
“Oh, definitely gorgeous. And does your armor help?”
I nodded hard enough to add a crick to my neck, still unable to form a coherent sentence.
She clapped her hands together. “I’m so glad.”
“Who are you?” Koen asked, wrapping an arm protectively around my shoulder and pulling me into his body.
Madam Cera finally looked at my escorts, the warmth in her expression slipping away the smallest amount.
“Madam Cera,” she said in a cooler voice as she took in all three of them and then recognizing the dom side of Koen, zoning in on him.