As he hit send, Boomer strolled in and spotted the newcomer. “Hey! Nathan, right? Nice to finally meet you. Name’s Ben Michaelson, but everyone calls me Boomer. Welcome aboard.”
“Thanks. Nice to meet you too.”
The two men shook hands, then Brody’s teammate sat on a rolling stool next to him. He nodded at the computer monitor that had a scrolling “Searching” message on it. “You running a check on the homicide?”
“Yeah,” he answered. If their new coworker was interested in the conversation, he didn’t show it as he continued to move things around to his own liking on his side of the room. Most geeks were very particular about their setups, so Brody had expected it. “I’ve never heard of anything like it, have you?”
Boomer shook his head. “Nope, and I hope I never do again.”
When Nathan took a sip from his coffee cup, he must have found it empty. He grumbled to himself as he walked out, heading for the break room and the Keurig machine that was always kept well-stocked. Day one and the guy already knew where to get his caffeine fix. He’d be gone for a few minutes, at least, so Brody took advantage of the privacy they now had. “Boom. . .got a question for you. How did you tell Kat you’re a Dom? I know Ian, Dev, and Marco never had a chance—it came out before they could say anything—but you told Kat before she found out. How?”
This was the first time he was nervous about telling a woman he was a Dom since the initial few months of being in the lifestyle over a decade ago. No matter what way he worded it in his head, it just wasn’t right. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Fancy or run her off in disgust if she didn’t understand it.
Boomer grinned at him. “So, what Ian said about Tahira calling Fancy your soul mate is true, huh?” He didn’t wait for an answer, and Brody didn’t offer one because it wasn’t necessary. “Awesome. Um, let see. I just kind of blurted out I was a Dominant and asked her if she knew what that meant. But I knew she had to have some idea because she was reading one of Kristen’s books before that. She just had no idea the lifestyle actually existed outside of fiction, and I thank God every day that she trusted me enough to explore it. Is Fancy a natural submissive?”
“Yeah. But she’s so much more than that. I don’t want to get into it here, but she’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. Hell, she ranks right up there with Kat, Kristen, Angie, Harper, and even Shelby. She’s been through so much, I’m not sure how she’s going to take it when I tell her.”
Colleen appeared in the doorway and rapped her knuckles on the jamb. “Boomer, your nine o’clock appointment is here.”
“Thanks.” When she left them alone again, Boomer tilted his head toward the reception area. “Talk about kick-ass women. Colleen’s come a long way, too. Must be something in the water around here.” Standing, Boomer slapped him on the shoulder. “Anyway, you’ll never know until you talk to her, bro. If she’s ‘the one,’ then I’m sure things will work out just fine. Catch you later.”
“Yup. Thanks.”
As Boomer walked out, Nathan came back in with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and the aroma curled Brody’s stomach once again, bringing back the gruesome images of Heather’s brutalized corpse. The NCIC search would take a bit, so he grabbed his cell phone and left the building, needing some fresh air. Beau came running over to him with his favorite, hard rubber ball for a game of fetch. Brody took the offering and flung it far across the lot, then strolled over to Ian’s Oasis. He took a seat by the unlit fire pit and hit a speed dial number on his phone as the dog returned and laid down at his feet, gnawing on his toy.
The call connected. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Brody! Oh, it’s so good to hear your voice, honey. I was just thinking about you.”
Elise Evans’s Texas twang soothed him, and suddenly he was a teenager again, sitting on the back porch with her, sharing a glass of sweet tea. “Yeah, why’s that?”
“Are you coming for the hoedown?”
He smiled. “That’s the plan. Ian’s got it penciled in, as usual.”
“Well, you just let everyone know the invitation is always open to all of them.”
There had been a few times in the past one or more of his teammates had made the annual trip with him, but each year it tended to be a toss-up for who was on an assignment or had something else on the calendar. “They know that, but things have been busy lately. Listen, I was wondering if you’d mind if I brought someone else.”
His mom paused. “It wouldn’t happen to be a woman, would it?”
Rolling his eyes, his grin got wider. He and his younger brother were the only two not married or engaged, and his mother was dying to make sure all her little ducks were in a row and happily wed. “Yes. Her name is Francine, but everyone calls her Fancy. I haven’t asked her yet, not sure if she can take the time away from her business, but wanted to check in with you first.”
“Brody, you know this house is open to anyone you want to bring. It always has been and always will be. I hope Fancy can come so I can meet the woman who suddenly put my son in knots.”
His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Please. The last time you asked permission to bring a date to a hoedown was Jo Ellen Tremont, back in high school.”
Had it seriously been that long? “Jeez, Mom. Either your memory is freakish, or you’re keeping a record of everyone’s dates somewhere.”
She chuckled. “It’s a little bit of both. Now, tell me all about Fancy. How did you meet her?”
* * *
With Boomer and Tiny on his heels carrying a bouquet of blue and white flowers and helium balloons, respectively, Brody entered the hospital room with a bakery box from Fancy’s. He grinned at the new parents cooing over their firstborn son. Little JD Sawyer had decided to wake up his mother-to-be at 1:00 a.m. with active labor pains and had burst into the world a little more than five hours later. Apparently, Kristen had been in labor since earlier in the day, but the pains had felt like the ones she’d had during the false alarms, and she figured that it was happening again. The team had all gotten the birth announcements via text from Devon after JD had been taken to the nursery so Kristen could rest.
Ian, Angie, and Jenn had come to the hospital after getting the text, and not wanting to overwhelm Kristen, Brody and Boomer had waited until after lunch. Kat was working and would swing by in the early evening with Marco and Harper. And without a doubt, there would be visits from Shelby, Parker, Kayla, Roxy, Mitch, Colleen, Reggie, and Kristen’s cousin, Will, at some point during the day.
It had been a great way to start the day after yesterday’s horrific wake-up call. There were still no suspects in Heather’s death. Brody’s search in the NCIC database had been a bust. The only case that had popped up had been solved, and the suspect had been killed during the rescue of his last victim. In addition to that, the suspect’s preferred victims had been of Asian descent, and none of them had been in the BDSM lifestyle. There had been a few other differences, and no other case had come close. Whipping a person to death, while popular back in early Rome and a few other ancient and more modern cultures, apparently was very rare in this day and age across North America. He’d extended the search into Canada and Mexico with no further hits. This morning he’d accessed the Interpol crime database and a few others worldwide that he’d hacked into. He wanted to make sure the killer hadn’t worked his way into the United States from somewhere else.
Shaking his head, Brody pushed aside the thoughts of the missing submissives and the murdered Heather. Today they were celebrating a new life. While Tiny let go of the balloons so they settled on the ceiling, Brody set the box on the window shelf which already had several bouquets of flowers perched on it. “Fancy sent over a bunch of blue and white cupcakes.”
Kristen was sitting up in bed, glowing with motherhood and cradling JD in her arms. With almost a full head of soft, black hair, the little guy had weighed in at eight pounds two ounces. From the chair he’d
pulled next to the bed, Devon looked more exhausted than his wife did. After shaking hands with the proud father, Brody leaned over and gave Kristen a peck on the cheek. “You did good, Ninja-mama.”
She giggled at the new variation of the call-sign Devon had given her on their first date. He’d dubbed her Ninja-girl when she’d kicked Heather and another sub’s ass in the club’s locker room after finding them bullying Colleen. “Thanks. And thank Fancy for sending the cupcakes.”
“I will. Can I hold him?”
Out of all of Kristen’s Sexy Six-Pack, as she called the original Trident team, Brody had the most experience with infants and toddlers, being an uncle to eleven of them in Texas and Marco’s daughter, Mara. Kristen lifted JD and gently placed him in Brody’s arms. The little chubster was like a big football with limbs. Brody grinned when the baby opened his blue eyes, which matched his father’s, and stared at him. “Hey, JD. I’m your Uncle Brody. I’m going to teach you everything you need to know about computers and women. This big guy here is your Uncle Tiny.” The six-foot-eight, two-hundred-seventy-five-pound man was the only person who had ever made Brody feel small since he’d hit his adult height of six foot two. “He’s going to teach you how to play football. And over there is your Uncle Boomer, and his job is to show you how to blow things up without getting hurt.”
The men all laughed, but Kristen rolled her eyes. “Oh jeez, Brody. He’s not even a day old. Please don’t make me think of him blowing things up someday.”
“Don’t worry, Ninja-mama. I have it on good authority, JD is going to grow up to be a great man someday. In the meantime, just make sure he eats all his vegetables.”
“Yes, sir.” There was no mistaking her sarcasm.
“Brat.” When the baby kicked his little legs in the swaddling blanket, Brody added, “Not you, JD—you’re not a brat, your mama is. But that’s your daddy’s problem.”
He handed off the little tyke to Tiny. It was funny seeing the huge guy cooing over such a small baby. “Hey there, JD. How’s my thousand dollar jackpot doing?”
Kristen grinned. “So you won the baby pool. I’d forgotten all about it.”
“Yup. Drinks are on me tonight. Are Chuck and Marie on their way down from Charlotte?”
Devon shook his head. “No. As much as they can’t wait to see JD, Dad and Mom decided to wait two weeks to give us time to settle into a routine. Kristen’s mom and stepdad will be flying down on Saturday morning for a few days, and her dad and stepmom told us to let them know what days are good for them to come.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, but when Kristen yawned, the men said their goodbyes. The new mother needed all the sleep she could get before being sent home. Life as Devon and Kristen had known it was over, and while waiting for the hospital elevator, Brody’s gut clenched a little as he thought about Fancy. He hadn’t asked her if she could still have children after the miscarriage, and he wouldn’t. She would tell him when the time was right for her. If their future children needed to be adopted or born through a surrogate, then that was fine with him. But he knew in his heart that she was the woman for him. Now, he just had to convince her of that fact.
Chapter 12
The next evening, pulling open the door to the steakhouse, Brody let Fancy precede him. Marco and Harper had already arrived and waved to him from the bar. A quick glance around told him they had beaten the third couple there. Earlier in the day, his teammate had suggested a double date since Harper’s mother had baby Mara for the night. When Brody mentioned it to Fancy, she’d told him Corey and his new girlfriend had also invited them to dinner. Everyone had agreed to all three couples getting together.
When he’d picked Fancy up at her condo, Brody had almost sent a text for everyone to start dinner without them. She had donned a cute, red sundress, heeled sandals, and a short-sleeved, white sweater that was light enough for the warm weather, but would also keep her from getting chilled in the restaurant’s air-conditioned dining room. The cut of the dress had accentuated her generous curves, and the urge to drape her over the back of her couch, lift up her skirt, and fuck her from behind had been powerful. He’d been sporting a semi hard-on ever since, and her subtle perfume hadn’t helped one bit. He had to remember to ask her the name of it later so he could purchase a barrel of the stuff—no matter how much it cost.
With a hand on Fancy’s lower back, he led her to the bar and introduced her to his friends. Marco shook her hand and smiled. “So you’re the baker who’s been supplying us with all the goodies. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Same here. I hope Brody’s been sharing everything.”
Marco good-naturedly slung an arm around his buddy’s neck. “If he didn’t, I think everyone would mug him.”
Harper chimed in, “And thank you for the cookies for Mara. She loved them, although most of them ended up as crumbs on the floor. That’s what happens when you have a nearly one-year-old. Speaking of which, Angie is bringing me to your shop on Saturday, so I can order a cake for the baby’s birthday. She said you have the most adorable cake ideas for kids.”
“Wonderful. I look forward to showing you some options, and I’m glad she liked the cookies.”
Only because Brody was aware of her loss, he did see the quick flash of sadness in her eyes at the discussion of babies. However, she hid it well and the others didn’t seem to notice—not even her brother-in-law. One of Brody’s sisters had miscarried her first child, two weeks after announcing the pregnancy to everyone. That had been over eight years and three healthy children ago, and he knew Doreen still felt the loss as strong as it had been back then.
The bartender stopped in front of them and, after checking with Fancy, Brody ordered a Merlot for her and a beer for himself. The conversation flowed, and it wasn’t long before the front door opened and a petite brunette walked in with Corey right behind her. Everyone was surprised when Harper and Corey’s date, Nora Parsons, let out squeals of recognition and hugged each other. When they separated, introductions were made all around.
Corey glanced back and forth between Harper and Nora. “How do you two know each other? From school?” Fancy had mentioned to Brody that Nora was an elementary school teacher.
Harper started, “My—”
At the same time, Nora also tried to explain. “Her—”
They both laughed, and Harper gestured for the other woman to continue. “My cousin, Monica, is Harper’s paralegal. We’ve hung out a few times. And Marco, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Monica and Harper; I feel like I already know you.”
Placing her arm around her fiancé’s waist, Harper hugged him close and gave Brody a subtle glance. “Well, I haven’t told you everything about him—a woman has to have some secrets about her man.”
Brody grinned. Thank you, Harper, message received. He doubted Corey was in the lifestyle, but Harper just confirmed for him that Monica was definitely not a member of the BDSM community, and also not aware the others were. That was a huge thing in their world—privacy. Many people had misconstrued conceptions about the lifestyle, and when members of the community ran into each other in the real world, they either pretended to know each other from somewhere else or not at all.
He was planning on telling Fancy tonight when they were alone again. She’d been so open and honest with him, and she deserved the same in return. Communication was what the BDSM lifestyle was based on, and even though they weren’t a D/s couple at the moment, he wanted that to be their next step. If it was meant to be between them, then they could work out any wrinkles in the relationship together. He just hoped she would keep an open mind until he could explain and show her what the lifestyle was all about. The power exchange between a Dominant and submissive wasn’t how most people not in the lifestyle perceived it to be. Some people thought Doms were a bunch of perverted deviants who got off on beating their subs before they raped them, and that was so far from the truth it was beyond ridiculous.
A BDS
M relationship is a mutual agreement, either temporary or long-term, between two adults that is considered to be safe, sane, and consensual. It is the Dom’s job to push a sub’s limits while giving her—or him—what she needs and desires. But it’s also the Dom’s job to recognize when a scene needs to stop, whether the sub wants it to or not, and to honor the use of a safeword. Just like there are Doms in the life for all the wrong reasons, there are subs who shouldn’t be there either.
An experienced Dom takes care of the sub’s physical, emotional, and mental health during a scene. A sub’s trust has to be earned, or the results can be devastating for both.
The hostess approached the group and told them their table was ready. Everyone grabbed their drinks and followed her to a table for six in a secluded back corner. Brody and Marco quickly and silently evaluated the setup, then chose the seats which gave them the best view of the rest of the restaurant as well as a vantage point to protect their women, if needed. It was no longer a conscious thought for them, in was instinctual after their years in the military and the private security business. It was highly unlikely someone would start shooting up the place, but in this day and age they couldn’t be one hundred percent certain.
Tickle His Fancy: Trident Security Book 6 (Trident Security Series) Page 12