by Lauren Dane
Leah raised a brow and fixed him with a stern look. Are you saying this is my fault?' He grinned and pulled her close for one more kiss. Just one more, a little one. Yes.'
'I guess I can own up to it,' she whispered against his mouth, but pulled from his grasp and danced away from him when he reached for her again. 'No, Brandon! No. Breakfast. Now.' He got up on one elbow. Yes, ma'am.'
Her eyes gleamed. She'd told him from the start she'd never make him call her Mistress, and she never had. Ma'am, though Leah would never ask him to say it, always made her eyes flash. He watched her cross her arms and lift her chin, watched her stretch her spine until she looked as regal as a queen. She'd say it didn't turn her on, but he knew it did.
'I'm going to jump in the shower and get dressed. You,' she said when he made as though to follow her, 'will use the sink to wash up.'
Shit. He'd been looking forward to hopping in that awesome shower. He knew better than to protest, though — if he got in the shower with her he'd want to wash her back . . . and her front. . . and it would be another hour before they left the room. And his stomach was growling. And, more importantly, Leah was giving him the look that meant she was serious. Arguing with her about it would only lead to trouble, and not the good kind.
'Yes, ma'am,' he said, just to tease her a little.
She smirked. And I want you to wear that belt I bought you for Christmas along with the sweater in my suitcase.' He looked in that direction, not knowing what she meant.
'It's new,' she explained as she disappeared into the bathroom. 'What you had on last night, frankly, Brandon, was shameful.'
He hadn't packed appropriately and had left most of his stuff at the Penny Pincher. He hoped it would still be there, though it would need a massive disinfection. He'd have to head over there with Dix at some point today and check out of that rat-trap and get their stuff.
They both washed quickly and as he pulled the new sweater, black with a fine line of red across the chest, he caught Leah looking at him. 'What?'
She smiled. 'Handsome. I knew it would suit you.'
He looked at the sweater, which was light enough for Vegas at this time of year, and pushed the sleeves up on his elbows. 'Of course you did.'
She always knew. Even things he'd never have thought he'd like, Leah knew he would. It had been true of sushi and clothes and movies and music and books. Brandon had no doubt it would be true of most everything, always.
And you know, too. Don't you?' she asked as she pinned her hair into a twist on top of her head. 'What suits me.' He moved closer to pull her into his arms. 'I hope so. I want to.'
She snuggled dose. She could be so soft when she wanted. He loved that, too. A knock at the door pushed her to kiss him and then open it. 'Hi.'
Kate stood on the other side, a hand over her eyes, i'm just making sure nobody's naked.' Leah laughed. No, it's fine. Breakfast?'
Kate peeked through her fingers with a laugh, then took her hand away. 'Do they call it breakfast if you eat it at lundi time?' 'I don't care what they call it,' Leah said. I'm starving.' Brandon's stomach rumbled again, even louder.
'Uh oh,' Kate said. Better get some food in you, Band Boy, or else you might stop growing. C'mon, I've got some vouchers for the buffet downstairs and my contact hooked me up with tickets to the big party tonight, too. Not that we'd have any trouble finding something fun to do ourselves, but this thing looks schwanky. Black tie.'
She swept Brandon up and down with her look. 'Did you bring your tux?'
Leah laughed as she followed Kate into the suite's living room, i didn't exactly bring a gown, either. What are you going to wear?'
Brandon liked to look good but aside from that didn't much care about clothes. He caught Dix's eye, and the other man shrugged. It wasn't likely he'd packed anything black tie, either.
'Weil go after breakfast,' Leah was saying as she took his hand. Her fingers squeezed his. He hadn't been paying attention, and she had to explain. 'Shopping.'
He tried his best to shield the i'd rather poke my eyes out with a burning stick' expression, but Leah saw it anyway. She laughed and nudged against him. 'It'll be fun.'
He believed that like he believed in fairies.
Breakfast, on the other hand, he could get behind, especially from the hotel's huge, extravagant buffet. The four of them shared a booth big enough for six. Within ten minutes, every inch of the table was covered by heaping plates of food, mugs of coffee and flatware.
'Where do you put it?' Dix asked him as Brandon came back with another plate of eggs, sausage and biscuits. 'Inside my gigantic dick,' Brandon said with a grin as he slathered butter on his biscuit.
Dix laughed and leant back with his arm across the back of the booth to toy with a strand of Kate's hair. 'Good one.'
Leah nudged Brandon in the side. 'Gross.'
He raised a brow, mouth full of bread and butter. Her hand slid up his thigh to squeeze him gently while he couldn't speak. She gave him an utterly wicked grin that had him stirring.
'Hey, hey,' Dix said. 'Don't get him started, he needs that thing to store dessert.' Kate sat back, a hand on her stomach. 'God, I'm stuffed.'
Dix leant to nuzzle at her neck. 'Don't worry, darling Kate, I'll help you work it all off.'
Kate shooed him, laughing, but submitted to a kiss a second later. 'Leah, get yours out of here and I'll take mine. Boys, we need clothes for tonight. As much as I'm sure we'd both like to see you show up to the party naked, I think this place has rules against it.'
And no way am I missing the party.' Leah tapped an advertising card set up on the table. 'Champagne and caviar, a complimentary buffet. . . jeez, I hope there's going to be dancing to counter all that.'
'Three dance floors, baby.' Kate pointed at the card. 'Live big band music, a techno rave club, whatever the hell that means -'
'Glow sticks,' Brandon said.
Kate rolled her eyes, teasing. 'Why am I not surprised you'd know that?'
'And damn, I didn't bring my whistle,' Brandon said to poke her back.
'And a classic rock cover band,' Leah finished as she knuckled his side. 'Behave, you.'
Dix waved at the server to bring their check. 'Sounds like a helluva party.'
'It's New Year's Eve in Las Vegas,' Leah said. 'How could it be anything less?'
'I still can't believe you stayed in that hotel.' Leah curled her fingers through Brandon's as they navigated a crowd of tourists ogling the hourly pirate-ship show in front of the Treasure Island Hotel. They'd stopped by the Penny Pincher to get Brandon's luggage and she'd nearly thrown up at the smell in the elevator. Fortunately he'd only packed one small bag and it had been easy enough to transfer to the suite.
'No reservations,' Brandon said carelessly, also ogling the pirate wenches in their skimpy costumes until Leah tugged his hand. 'I took what I could. Glad you let me stay with you, though.'
No doubt.' It was his expression but felt right on her tongue. That happened a lot lately, this transference of pet phrases and habits. Hell, he even had her checking the NHL scores on her Google Reader, because hockey turned out to be the only sport she could stand to watch with him.
'So. Where do you want to go?'
Leah considered. She and Kate had already plundered a lot of the shops and gone to the mall. She could find a dress and shoes in any of a couple dozen places, but she thought the easiest place to find a suit for him would probably be in the hotel where they were staying. She'd seen an ad for tux rentals there, and there was no sense in making him buy a tux to wear for only a few hours.
Not that she was going to let that stop her from getting a new dress, of course.
Let's head back to the hotel. It's that way.' She pointed through the crowd that had started to disperse once the pirate show ended but now had swelled to enormous proportions in exactly the direction they wanted to go.
With Brandon leading, that wasn't a problem. He held tight to her hand and wove them through the crowd, finding the gaps and leading her effortless
ly into them so they were barely even jostled. It was because he was tall enough to see over everyone else's heads, she thought fondly as he side-stepped a mother with a stroller, of all things - was the woman crazy?
'I will never bring our child here,' she said as they ducked at last into the lobby of their hotel.
He looked down at her with a smile that widened as she watched. 'Our child?'
She knew he wanted kids, probably a few, but they'd never talked much about it. 'Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's make it through this party tonight before we worry about getting me knocked up.'
He squeezed her hand and looked as though he were about to say something, then just nodded. The tux rental place was in the lower level, close to some of the convention rooms. The ones in use for the FetCon, Leah realised as they rode to the bottom of the elevator and the attire of the guests mingling in the public areas changed drastically from T-shirts and shorts to lots and lots of leather and vinyl.
Leah lifted her chin even as her lip curled. She couldn't help it. Mike had taken her to a convention like this once. He'd wanted her to wear a mask with a zipper over the mouth and a bra cut to show her nipples. She hadn't done it, but she'd gone along with him. She could still feel the collar he'd made her try on.
Let's find another place,' Leah said.
'No. Wait.' Brandon's hand anchored her and Leah, not wishing to make a scene, didn't pull away. 'I want to check this out.'
'It's a vendor room. With . . . demonstrations.' Again, Leah's lip curled. She knew what was inside that room. Booths offering sex toys, fetish gear and all sorts of lotions and potions. Books, movies, adult film stars. Hundreds of people with their sexuality on display not just for the world to see but to shove it in everyone else's faces.
'No,' she said.
'Please,' Brandon asked quietly and waited until she looked at him before continuing, i know how you feel about this stuff—' She'd told him only tiny pieces of her life with Mike, and never about the conventions or the sex clubs. 'But I've never been to something like this,' he finished before she could protest. Fuck, he was giving her the puppy-dog eyes.
'It's only ten bucks to get in,' he said. 'C'mon, Leah. Consider it an educational opportunity for me.' Damn it, he knew she couldn't resist that look. 'I would prefer to be in charge of your education, Brandon.'
He grinned but didn't give up. He looked at the door, where a large man in a leather biker cap and vest was taking money for admission. Then he looked at her, amusement glinting in his gaze. And something else, too . . . interest. Curiosity. Arousal.
It was unfair of her to say no, Leah thought as she sighed and nodded and let herself be smothered in Brandon's embrace. It was as unreasonable of her to expect Brandon to not be interested in what other people did as it had been for Mike to be too concerned with it.
'Two, please,' Brandon said at the door and pulled out his wallet to hand the guy a twenty.
The guy took the money and gave them both a serious look. 'This isn't for looky lous, kids. You both over eighteen?' Leah sniffed. She might get carded every once in a long, long while at a bar, but there was no way she looked under eighteen. 'Of course.'
'How 'bout you, sonny?' 'He is, too.'
The door guy grinned, giving her a different sort of look. 'Pardon me, ma'am. You both go right on in.'
He stepped aside to let them pass through the double doors. Just inside was an entry way created from portable fabric panels hung with drapes of heavy velvet - probably to keep casual gawkers from getting a glimpse when the doors opened. Brandon, still holding her hand, pushed through the hanging material and they both stepped into another world.
The space had been set up much like any other vendor room with booths and a stage set up on one end, currently empty. The difference here was that all the booths were decorated with hanging bits of leather and lace and vinyl, and instead of slideshow presentations and demonstrators in business suits, the vendors all wore typical fetish gear.
Or, nothing at all.
'Wow,' Brandon said after a minute. He had to talk loud enough to be heard over the heavy industrial beat of background music.
Leah breathed in deep, waiting for a wave of anxious nostalgia to wash over her . . . but it didn't. The last time she'd gone to something like this, she'd been forcing herself into a role that didn't really fit, with a man who'd done nothing to make it work. This time, she was here with Brandon, and the sounds, the smells, the sights were all different. Or maybe just she was.
The creak of leather and the sound of a muffled cry of pain turned her head. To their left and just down the aisle, a vendor demonstrating a selection of upscale restraints had cuffed a young woman over a padded bench. The guy demonstrating wore blue jeans, no shirt, his nipples pierced and tattoos covering him all over in a swirl of colour. A bandanna held his hair off his face, and his chipped black nail polish matched the thick black eyeliner. The girl, her mouth gagged by a complicated-looking contraption of leather straps, wore a schoolgirl outfit, the skirt pulled up to reveal white cotton panties. Her ankles had been strapped to the bench legs.
'See how comfortable she is?' the vendor said to the small crowd paused there. 'Felicia can't move or even wiggle, but because of the padding she can stay in this position for hours.'
'Wow,' Brandon said again in a thick voice. 'Umm . . .' 'Let's go this way,' Leah said.
She didn't give him enough credit, she realised as they wandered the aisles, and she ought to know better. He gave off a gee-whiz vibe but Brandon could hold his own. Even here, among the (loggers and the handcuffs. 'Hold on.' He stopped in front of a small booth decorated with purple fairy lights.
Leah looked around him to see what had caught his attention. Leather bracelets? She looked again. Oh. Bracelets, cuffs . . . collars. She swallowed a command for him to come away from there.
At least he wasn't looking at the near-naked girl chained to a large ring hung from the back of the booth. The girl, on the other hand, was looking at him. She couldn't move very fast since her feet were hobbled, both by her incredibly high stiletto shoes and by the length of chain hooking her ankles.
Those are very nice,' she said. 'Master Venom creates all his pieces from hand-cured leather. The pieces you see here are all from his Bound collection, which you can buy online or from our catalogue, but all you see at the booth today is on sale at a highly reduced show price.'
She laid out the details in sing-songy but professional tone, and even though Leah rolled her eyes at the title Master Venom, she had to admit the pieces laid out did look to be of high quality.
Brandon let go of Leah's hand to touch a leather strap with o-rings hooked into both ends. 'What's this for?'
Leah watched him look the girl in the eyes as he spoke, not staring at her breasts the way quite a number of other people were. Well, they were kind of hard to miss. But she watched Brandon give the girl his attention . . . and respect. She fell in love with him all over again.
'It's for restraint. Those are for padlocks.' The girl reached beneath the counter to pull out a padlock and demonstrate. 'And this?'
'Male chastity belt,' the girl said. 'This part goes around the testicles, this part around the penis, and the straps go between the legs, over the anus, and hook around the waist.'
'Ouch,' Brandon said and put that piece down at once. Leah laughed. 'Not for you, huh?'
He made an exaggerated scared face, eyes wide. Leah laughed again and picked it up, meaning to simply tease him. Before she could say a word, a woman appeared beside her.
'That's a great item,' she said. 'I use it on all my slaves.'
Leah's fingers twitched and she put the chastity belt back on the display board. 'Uh huh.'
The woman wore a black vinyl corset top over which her tremendous cleavage threatened to trap unsuspecting passers-by. Her hair, also black, streamed down her back. Her boots, black, were knee-high patent leather. Her thong, black to match the rest, barely covered her pubis and left her ass totally b
are.
She gave Leah the once-over with raised brows at Leah's outfit of khaki capris, white T-shirt and a pretty, pale-green cardigan. 'It cuts down on their jerking off quite a bit.'
'No doubt,' Leah said aloud.
The woman grinned up at Brandon. In her heels she could almost look him in the eye. This one looks like he could use some discipline.'
Brandon's laugh caught in his throat, but Leah only smiled. 'Sometimes.'
The woman tapped the chastity belt and gave Leah a wink. 'Go with that one. You can add a section for an assplug that will really keep him in line.'
Beside Leah, Brandon gave out a little strangled groan. Leah waited until the woman stalked away to look at him with a raised brow. Brandon just gave his head a small, helpless shake. Leah grinned.
She tugged the front of his shirt to bring him down close enough to whisper in his ear. 'I would never, never make you do that if you didn't want it.'
Good,' he whispered back and snuck a kiss. 'Because I think my nuts just crawled up so far inside me you wouldn't be able to find them to fit them in that thing, anyway.
Leah laughed just as the flap at the back of the booth opened and a small man dressed sort of like a pirate — a BDSM pirate, with a frilly shirt and rings on every finger, came out. He was shoving the end of a burger into his mouth and, as he came closer, the girl who'd been showing off the products dropped to her knees. He wiped his greasy fingers along her hair.
The girl behind the counter was obviously more of a lifestyler than Leah had ever been, because all she did was duck her head.
Pansy, didn't you help these people?'
Yes, Master Venom.'
Master Venom sneered and nudged at her with his foot so she got up, but she kept her head bowed. He fixed his attention on Brandon and gave him a large smile. He rubbed his hands together, too. What a cliche. 'What can I help you with?'
Just looking,' Leah said, as Brandon pointed to a braided leather bracelet woven with silver charms and said, 'I want to see one of these.'
Master Venom looked confused for a second, his beady gaze going back and forth between them. Then he looked at Brandon again, ignoring Leah, i can make these with any charm you want. Initials, or a bead symbolising something special for your slaves. Whatever. I can show you what I have.'