JennasConsent

by Jennifer Kacey

  Nawa looked between them. “She is the only family I have. The only family I have wanted in decades. If you are lucky enough to convince her to see past your needless pride and insecurities, then I will be happy to call you my own.”

  Nick stood stunned, knowing the declaration wasn’t made or given lightly. “I would be honored, Sir.”

  “As would I.” Ian’s voice wavered for a moment but with how much emotion had swirled in this building in the last forty-eight hours he wasn’t surprised.

  “You will both have to work at this. Starting a dynamic of three can be very difficult.”

  “But for Jenna it will be worth it.”

  Nick nodded without anything to add to it. Ian said it all.

  “Jenna’s happiness comes first and we’re both willing to accept what she needs and we’ll blow her mind…if she’ll ever talk to us again.”

  Nawa’s lips lifted into a knowing smile that settled Nick’s uncertainty. “She’ll talk to you again for reasons that are hers to share. But you both owe me.”

  “For more than just this. We’re both better men for knowing you.”

  He bowed slightly and walked away.

  “We’re going to owe him forever, aren’t we?”

  “Yep.” Nick moved behind the bar and grabbed a beer, handing one to Ian. “He’s never going to forget what dumbasses we’ve been. Can’t imagine what we’ll have to do in the future to make it up to him. Especially for hurting his girl.”

  They both grew serious at the mention of Jenna.

  “I hate knowing she’s so close, hurting ’cause of us and we can’t go to her. It’s all I can do to keep my butt on this barstool instead of barreling down the hall to let us into her room.”

  Nick moved around and sat beside him. “I feel exactly the same way.” They drank in silence for a couple minutes but it was an okay silence, not one laced with violence. “I’ve been thinking about my dungeon here.”

  “What about?” Ian peeled the label off his bottle.

  “It’s been mine since I’ve been here and I’ve had other women submit to me in that room. The other room we had her in the other night is tainted now. Do you honestly think she’s going to be able to walk in there again and not remember us being complete douches to her when she needed us the most?”

  “No. Probably not.”

  “Then I think we need to approach Chris and Jared about changing rooms. New space. New start.”

  Ian took a drink, thought for a minute and then nodded. “Sounds like a plan. You know. When they stop giving us dirty looks.”

  “Meh. I wanted them to fire your ass and they didn’t do it. Said you were highly recommended or something. They’ll come around.”

  “You sound pretty confident.”

  Nick finished his beer and tossed it over the bar into the trash. “Everyone here, we’re a group of outsiders finally in the right place.”

  Ian stared at him before speaking. “I’ve been the black sheep in my family for almost my entire life. I was kinky. Thought that was the reason. A few years ago I learned differently. So I get the outsiders thing. More than you know. I get it.”

  “I’ve gone through all of this thinking you’ve got some kind of impenetrable shell that keeps you separate from everyone else. That’s not the case is it?”

  Ian shook his head. “Not anymore. Jenna shredded it when she cold cocked me one.” He rubbed his jaw. “Hell. Even when she was a shy girl she wormed her way inside me. I never could keep her away from my heart. She’s resided there for so long I can’t imagine a future without her in it. I’m in this for the long-term.”

  “Good. And family’s like that sometimes.”

  “I don’t do very well with families.”

  “Not the blood kind of family. Those can suck…a lot of the time. But this kind is different.”

  “How so?”

  “You get to pick this one.”

  “And what if this doesn’t go well? What if Jenna doesn’t come around on her own.”

  “We’re not perfect but we take care of our own. Plus…” He turned to Ian and smiled. “They don’t call me Casanova for nothing.”

  Ian shook his head and smirked. ”Dumbass.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Almost two weeks to the day, Jenna stood beside the stage with knots in her stomach and hanks of rope in her bag by the A-frame.

  Nerves pinged up and down her limbs, making her jittery when she thought about all she had to gain—or lose that night.

  And she didn’t have her mask. She’d tried tying with another one but it wasn’t the right one.

  Oscar stretched off to the side and Jenna felt lots of eyes on her.

  Members had begun filing in since twenty minutes before, when she had been running Jackson through what she needed. Now she got the frame locked down.

  Most of the people in the room were friends and everyone was curious as to what she had planned. Douglas, Patrick and Hector were all there. Her girls and their men. Not many people had seen a full-suspension scene with transitions and probably nothing like what she had planned.

  She stood there in a short skirt, stockings with the sexy line running up the back, a purple corset and sleek heels. They gave her quite an advantage on tying Oscar.

  But three men were absent, explaining her angst. Nawa, Ian and Nick. None of them were there yet and she was scheduled to start in less than ten minutes.

  “They’ll be here,” Oscar whispered as he walked up and hugged her from behind.

  She held his forearms to her chest and closed her eyes.

  “How do you know? I’ve refused to speak with them about any of this. They have to be worried sick or just sick and tired of me. Not that I even have the slightest of how to fix everything. And Nawa has to leave tonight.” She glanced at her wrist but she’d already taken her watch off. “He extended his trip just so he could stay for the performance but maybe something happened with his plans.”

  He squeezed her and turned her around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulders.

  The man was ripped. In his boxer-briefs there wasn’t much hidden and what was on display was gorgeous.

  “Nawa’s not leaving. Maybe something came up to delay him but he wouldn’t miss your debut here for anything. It’s too important. As for Ian and Nick? They told you they’d give you the time you needed. They have. They don’t ignore you at work. The smoldering glances between the three of you are almost enough for me to try fucking a girl.”

  Jenna smiled as he gagged.

  “In all honesty, I know it’ll work out.” He glanced to the side and Jenna followed his gaze. Ryder stood across the room staring at them.

  Correction. Staring at Oscar.

  “If I can’t be happy, then I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you get your happily-ever-after.”

  Jenna touched her right side over her corset and breathed in deep. “You already have.”

  He hugged her again. “That ink I put on you? That’s just something you needed as a reminder so you can see it every day. It’s something you already knew.”

  Her side tingled at his words.

  It had been long enough that she wasn’t sore any longer, but the memory of the pain created a phantom throbbing beneath the mantra she would carry with her forever.

  Oscar hugged her again, and then smiled, turning her around. “Told you. I’m gonna go finish stretching, since I’m sure you’re going to try to kick my ass tonight.”

  Some of Jenna’s tension let go as Nawa walked up.

  “You look worried.” He hugged her close and she held on.

  “Was scared you might have had to leave early.”

  “I would never leave before this but I’m sorry I’m late. I have something for you. From Nick and Ian.”

  He handed her something wrapped in cloth, along with a note. Nawa bowed in the regal way of his and then walked away again. He melted into the crowd and then she saw them. Nick and Ian stood shoulder-to
-shoulder in the middle of the room, where they’d be able to see everything she did.

  Their eyes made her heart jump in excitement. She wanted to run to them and throw herself at them but Ian nodded toward what she had in her hand.

  She opened the note attached to the front of the material and stared at the single word.

  Yours.

  Her eyebrows pulled low, wondering what in the world they could have given her. She laid the package on the stage and unwrapped it. The cloth itself was also a present. It was a large double-sided square of fabric a lot of riggers kept some of their rope in. She smiled, pulling open the last flap. Understanding flooded her chest.

  Yours.

  She touched her mask but it was different. Nick’s collar had been added to the bottom.

  It was incredible.

  She brought the leather to her nose and breathed in so deeply no one would ever be able to take it from her.

  In an instant, everything clicked into place. The damage done? She knew exactly what she needed to do to put herself in the right place to heal and tell both of them exactly what they meant to her. Without speaking a word.

  She took the mask and the note, leaving the cloth on the corner of the stage.

  Their eyes locked as soon as she headed toward them.

  Everyone else faded away and the sounds of the room became nothing but background noise. A faint whisper compared to the drum beat of her heart.

  Before they tried to speak, she knelt before them, placing the note at their feet and the mask on top of it. She sat back on her heels and watched them. The hope drained from their eyes as they latched on to the leather before them.

  She reached behind her and slowly loosened the laces on her corset. The large crowd in the room truly fell silent.

  “What are you doing?” Ian asked.

  Without answering, without taking her eyes from theirs, she loosened the lacing enough to where she could pop the pegs out of the front closures. Her perky breasts stood proud before them and she took a deep breath as she removed her corset.

  Free.

  Goose bumps dotted her flesh, though it was warm with the rest of the bodies around, surrounding her.

  She was finally free of her past so she could look toward the future.

  Finally free.

  Taking a giant leap of faith to get what she needed had seemed so terrifying before their present arrived.

  But now?

  Now, it seemed perfect. If she had to be the brave one, she could do that. She was asking for a lot and she knew it.

  She folded the steel-boned corset and placed it below their note, holding the mask in her hands.

  Understanding dawned across their faces and they both grinned. “Yes, you are.”

  It was Nick that said it but Ian nodded several times and then palmed her cheek.

  “I have so much to say to you both but I have a pretty man waiting for me onstage.” She glanced over, above the faces of all of her friends smiling at her and Oscar stood on the raised level beaming at her. She smiled and glanced back at her men.

  She knelt up, moving closer to them and held the mask to her chest. “Would you do me the honors, Sirs, of putting my mask on me for the first time?”

  “Hell yes.”

  As they moved around behind her, she twisted to face them. “Sirs. I’d like to talk to both of you after the performance.” She whispered it just for them.

  “We were prepared to ask for the same thing. We have a lot we need to discuss.” Nick looked at her and then at Ian and the hostility she’d seen between them before simply wasn’t there.

  Joy leapt in her chest and she beamed at them, thinking they were finally on the right path. She lifted the mask to her face. “And thank you both, for the present. It’s incredible.”

  “It’s only the beginning, Jenna.” Ian buckled the top buckle and Nick the lower one, each putting their collar on her but doing it together.

  They lifted her up and sat her on her feet. Ian kissed her forehead and Nick her shoulder.

  “Go, knock ’em dead. They won’t even know what hit them.”

  “Thank you, Sirs.” It was muffled behind the mask and her ability to breathe was already impaired. She loved it.

  Making her way back to the stage Cyn and Haleigh caught her eye, both had tears in their eyes. They couldn’t have heard what was said but they knew.

  Jenna winked at them and they waved, holding each other’s hand as she moved back to the controls.

  Jackson stood there to take direction if needed but all she needed was the frame, Oscar, her rope and the new cloth the men gifted her with.

  Skye squeezed her hand on the way by. “I’m so proud of you.”

  Emotion muted anything she could have said in return so she simply leaned close and hugged her.

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks. Music, please, Jackson. Just push play when I’m in place and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “You got it.” He pushed several buttons on the control panel, cuing up the soundtrack she’d prepared earlier.

  It would set the stage for exactly what she wanted to show everyone. What rope was about. Even if just amongst friends.

  “Rock it out, Jenna. You got this.”

  She nodded and walked up the steps to join Oscar onstage, grabbing the cloth from the edge and hooking carabineers on the top of her skirt.

  Oscar stood beneath the A-frame in the perfect position for them to start and she faced him, giving her back to the crowd. “You took off your corset.”

  Her smile stretched her cheeks and she could have run a marathon with all the pent-up energy coursing through her muscles. ”Yes, I did.”

  “You’re such a badass.”

  He looked calm and confident and proud. She loved that he trusted her enough to tie him. But with all of the people around, the simulation neither of them had tied in before, she worried about both of them not being in the proper frame of mind.

  “Close your eyes, my friend.”

  He complied, taking a deep breath and stretched his neck one more time before they began.

  She grabbed a small hank of thinner rope from her bag, smaller than she used to tie his body. She tied it around his head, covering his eyes and made a blindfold out of rope.

  Then she moved behind him, crouching close to the stage to fold the new cloth corner to corner, rolling it until it made a thick blindfold.

  She laid out the rope she needed, placing it around them where it would be in the proper location for each tie. She’d even made a custom rope kit, just for Oscar’s body. All of the knots would land exactly where they were supposed to for maximum safety and efficiency. It allowed her to keep him in the air for as much time as possible.

  She moved back behind him and looked over his shoulder, locking eyes with Nawa.

  He nodded in her direction, clearly pleased with what she had planned. She smiled and even behind the mask he must have known because he smiled too.

  When she looked at Nick and Ian they were focused on her, taking in the scene. She glanced between them, wanting them to be the last things she saw.

  The cloth was cool as she placed it over her eyes and the room went black.

  The crowd gasped and a general rumble went through the people watching.

  “Umm…” Oscar whispered and she finished knotting the material behind her head. He jerked a bit as she touched his back. Tiny tremors worked their way along his skin. “What exactly just happened that the crowd made a noise like that before you even touched me?”

  The first measures of David Guetta’s Shot Me Down filtered through the speakers hung high overhead. It reminded her of an old west gun fight. That moment when you don’t know which side is going to win or even the side you’re rooting for.

  Jenna stood in the middle of that fight. On one side, her past chained her down. On the other, her future squared off with indecision and regret.

  She moved her hands onto his shoulders, touching him,
connecting with him. “Do you trust me?” she entreated, her lips brushing the leather as she spoke.

  Oscar’s shoulders relaxed and she felt the moment they linked. He went still as the woman’s soft voice sang about when she was five and he was six. “Yes.”

  Her energy coiled inside her and the rest of the club vanished. “Then that’s all you need to know.”

  She grabbed the first bundle of rope, tugging on the bight—the small loop at the top, sitting at the center of the jute. She tossed the rest of the rope and it uncoiled in a flash across the stage.

  Just as so many times before, she lifted his wrists, securing them together as she wrapped the jute around them. The chorus of the song fed her movements as she enfolded his shoulders in her weapon of choice.

  The club beat pulsed through her as she created the stem in the back between his shoulders and wrists. She moved the rope back and forth as if it were an extension of her hands.

  They spoke the same language and her heart beat hard twice each time the singer proclaimed “Bang, bang.”

  She moved around him as she needed to, keeping a hand on him at all times, even when she grabbed more rope. She put him in a three-rope TK chest harness and then tied his hips in preparation for a Yoko Tsuri side suspension.

  She clipped a carabineer to the suspension ring above Oscar’s head and grabbed another rope, tossing it out as she did for each of them. She passed the rope under the wrap in the back of the TK and completed a Y-knot. She moved it to the side of the wraps around his arm and fed the working end of the rope through the biner she’d added earlier. After connecting it to the bight in the Y-knot and running it through the biner again to create a pulley, she wrapped it around her hand several time and took a breath.

  The music died out at the end of the first song, slowly morphing into a silent pause.

  She lifted.

  She’d been warning him before she lifted when they’d been practicing. This time she didn’t. Going slow as his weight shifted was one thing. Yanking him into position as he hovered above the ground couldn’t be explained.

  It could be felt, experienced.

  His surprised groan was music to her ears. They hadn’t been tying together long enough for him to anticipate her rope.