by Lexi Blake
“Keen,” Tag replied as his wife stood up. “Milo’s lost his damn mind. I swear, the nerds are taking over. Between Milo’s dragons and Phoebe and Jesse’s weird wand fetish, it’s getting sketchy around here. Now Adam’s come dressed as Simon. It’s a crazy fucking world, man. You know it’s not normal for your wife’s fantasy guy to be another team member, right?”
Miles shot Tag his middle finger. “Fuck you. Si doesn’t have a copyright on three-piece suits. I’m not dressed as him. I’m a professor and that’s one naughty schoolgirl.”
Serena stood and cuddled up against her husband. “You know I am, professor. Very naughty. I didn’t do my homework. I suppose someone’s going to have to punish me.”
“I think we can work something out, you bad, bad girl. Look at that pout.” Adam growled down at his wife and then his entire demeanor changed. “Hey, babe, don’t let me forget. We’re out of wipes. Jake used nearly a whole box yesterday.”
Serena nodded. “We’re calling it the Great Poop Incident. I’ve never seen a baby poop so much. Jake was overwhelmed. We can steal a box from the nursery when we pick up the kids.”
“I heard that,” Taggart said with a frown.
Serena shook her head. “Nope, Axl Rose is an outlaw. He would totally agree with my decision to move to a life of baby wipe thievery.” She looked back up at her husband. “I’ll see you later, professor. I’ll try to stay out of trouble, but you know how naughty I can be.”
Miles smacked his wife’s backside, eliciting a squeal from her. “I’ve got a paddle with your name on it. Now go and do what you need to do. Jake’ll be up in a bit and then you’ll have to deal with two angry professors.”
Charlotte kissed her husband and the two subs were off to help set up the scene.
Miles sank into the chair opposite Taggart. “I sent you the report on the masked one’s latest threat.”
Kash sat down with the two men. “What do you mean latest threat?”
Taggart had his phone out, pulling up files. “You ran down where they would have gotten the poison?”
“Of course,” Miles shot back. “I’m a genius.”
“What was the poison?” Kash asked. “It had to be fast acting. There are only a few poisons that could be used that would act so quickly. Was it cyanide?”
“It was a conotoxin,” Miles replied.
Taggart was shaking his head. “Dude, I am never going to Australia. Everything wants to kill you there. Even the flipping snails. I do not get it. Charlie wants to go for vacation, but I think it would be one long attempt at survival.”
“Snails?” He didn’t need Taggart’s sarcasm.
“There’s a marine snail, native to Australia,” Miles explained. “It’s called a cone snail and it’s one of the most venomous creatures on the planet. Unfortunately, Tag’s right about Australia. Everything wants to kill you there. Have you ever seen a real kangaroo? They can punch and shit, and they are not unfamiliar with fight club.”
“Where would the assassin have gotten this venom?” Kash needed to keep them focused.
“Probably from a pharmaceutical lab.” Tag nodded. “Yep, there it is. A small lab working on the coast reported a break-in, and someone stole a small supply of the venom. They’re studying it to see if it can be used to treat epilepsy and a host of other disorders.”
“I need to check travel records, but I’m getting some pushback,” Miles said. “They don’t know why some firm in Dallas wants to invade the privacy of a bunch of Loa Mali’s citizens. Perhaps if the king could call?”
“I’ll do it in the morning. My cousin can get you all the information you need.” Someone had tried to kill him. It still wasn’t something he’d entirely processed. “So you think someone traveled to Australia, stole some of this toxin, and came back to use it to kill me. Why not use something simpler?”
“Despite what Murder She Wrote will teach you, it’s actually hard to get your hands on a poison that works so quickly,” Miles explained. “Most agents require time and will sicken the victim before killing him. Cyanide works well, but you have to have enough of it and it’s highly controlled. I’ll figure out who went to Australia shortly before the robbery and we should have a suspect pool.”
“Australia is quite close.” He didn’t want them to think this would be easy. “We have an excellent relationship with them. We don’t require visas coming into or out of the country. It will be a large pool. It’s winter break back home. Lots of people on holiday.”
He glanced out over the playroom and caught sight of the Game of Thrones couple again. That was when it clicked. He’d seen that man before. He’d met that man before. “That was Milo Jaye.”
Taggart barely looked up from his phone. “Yep, that’s Milo. Thanks, Adam. Did I punch your face for that lately?”
Adam’s eyes rolled. “Sure, bringing one of the wealthiest men in the country into your circle of influence is a punchable offense.”
“I already filled the tech guru nerd spot. Case married into a family of them,” Taggart argued.
“Yeah, well, the Lawless clan has yet to accept your offer to come to Sanctum,” Adam shot back. “And you know how the old saying goes. You can never have too many ridiculously wealthy tech gurus on the team.”
“But he’s one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.” Kash didn’t understand.
Taggart’s eyes finally came up. “Is that a declarative statement or a question? I can tell you he’s a smart fucker. I wasn’t going to let him in. He found the weakest link in my chain, sued Adam, and voila, now he’s happily getting his ass slapped by his girlfriend. They were pretty dumb in the beginning though. Milo thought he was the top.”
Adam snorted a little. “That was pretty funny to watch, and I’m so not the weakest link. If you see Jake, tell him I’m in the conference room trying to trace a couple of flight manifests down, and that if he starts our scene without me, I’ll kill him.”
Adam strode off toward the stairs.
“Why so interested in Milo Jaye?” Taggart asked.
It was odd to be having such a personal conversation with Axl Rose, but he did have some questions. “He’s not the type of man I would see as a submissive. As a matter of fact, I wonder about the other one, too. The lawyer. He seems to be so masculine.”
A brow arched over Taggart’s left eye. “How does masculinity come into this?”
He should stop talking right here and now. This wasn’t a conversation he needed to have. “You know how it is. The woman submits to the man. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Both of Taggart’s eyes widened, and he looked around like a man who’d just realized something was about to kill him. “Dude, you do not say that bullshit in this club. Like seriously, not even outside of it. The subs have ears. They have ears everywhere, and those ears are attached to faces that have mouths, and those mouths talk, and then my wife hears that I was in a conversation where she and all womanhood was subjected to the patriarchy or some shit. She’ll have a really long political term but what it really means is I sleep on the couch.”
He should have known all he would get out of Taggart was sarcasm. “I’ll try not to speak of the patriarchy around your wife.”
“Hey, don’t be so touchy.” Taggart relaxed back and studied him for a moment. “You really think being Dominant or submissive has something to do with gender? Because in my experience, it doesn’t. It’s more about the psychology of the person and the way he or she deals with the world around them. It can be something as simple as a woman or a man was once in a position where he or she was out of control. Especially if that situation involved something sexual. They might need to be in control during sex. I control who plays in this club. I’m not going to allow a submissive in who is actively seeking to hurt himself. I would connect that person to Kai or another therapist. There’s no room for self-hate here. It can be too dangerous. I deal with those people more magnanimously than the other side of it.”
“
The other side?”
“The ones who truly want to cause pain without pleasure, who seek to control their submissives in a way that is not healthy for the sub. It’s why almost none of my friends in the lifestyle are twenty-four seven. Even the ones who started that way tend to ease up over time. You can cross the line into abuse if you get the wrong Dom and sub together. Don’t get me wrong. That kind of a relationship can work, but it’s rare. The submissive must be as strong as the Dominant for a relationship like that to work.”
“I thought the whole point was that the Dom was the strong one.”
“That’s because you don’t take any of this seriously. When I try to talk about the fundamental ideas of the lifestyle, you tend to take another shot and talk about spanking girls. The only reason I let you in here is because I trust you not to hurt the subs. Also, you tend to have terrible taste in women. I thought I might be able to save you.”
“I do not have terrible taste in women.” He’d been with some of the most beautiful women in the world. And many of them were horrible human beings.
“Dude, you can’t even tell a supermodel from a spy. Hint, the spies are the ones who try to kill you.”
He would never live that down.
Taggart leaned forward, his voice softening. “I like your wife very much. I have to wonder if she’s not the reason you’re suddenly asking questions.”
“I know you’ve met her before.”
“Have I met Dayita Samar, or Mistress D? I’ve certainly met the latter. She’s a friend of a friend and she’s considered one of the finest Dommes around.”
His stomach clenched at the thought. He was trying to forgive her for not telling him. He was trying to see things from her point of view. “That is good for her and for whomever she chooses to top.”
“Kash, she’s a serious sexual top. From what I understand, it’s merely a part of her personality. The same as it is mine. No damage or trauma forced it. Some of us are simply born this way. Like Harrison and Milo are bottoms. They gain great pleasure from serving their lovers in certain ways and from being served in the way only a top can.”
“Yes, I understand this much. They enjoy having their backsides smacked and kissing a woman’s feet.”
Taggart’s icy blue eyes narrowed. “Okay, that was judgmental, but I think you’re new to this so I’ll keep talking. There’s more to it than getting spanked. I’ve gotten spanked. It doesn’t do anything for me. I think if one of the male subs were here, they would tell you that what they get is a place where they don’t have to be in control. Hell, the female subs would tell you that. There are some strong-as-hell boss ladies who grace this club. They come from all walks of life and they seek to relax, to have those few hours a week where this other part of their personalities gets to come out. They can indulge that piece of themselves. Humans are complex. Well, Adam isn’t. Adam’s a douchebag, but for the most part there are these whole other people who live inside us and never get to come out unless we’re brave enough to explore. I might be the top here, but don’t you doubt for a second that I wouldn’t get on my knees in front of my Charlie. There’s nothing weak about that. I love that woman. She gets every piece of me, with nothing held back. And you know what, she’s the reason why I found that softer side of myself. She and our kids. I’m a completely different person without them. Colder. Alone. Some might have called that strength, but it was really fear.” Taggart shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Have you talked to your wife about this? About how to move forward?”
“How do two tops move forward?” The words felt stubborn, but he couldn’t admit the truth. He couldn’t simply say what he wanted.
“I have a married couple here who are both tops, and they enjoy themselves mightily. And before you start talking about cheating, they don’t sleep with their submissives. They give their expertise to the subs they top and then go at it like a couple of angry rabbits. Seriously, those two know how to tear up a bed, but then you go to hand them a bill and they get all legal on a man’s ass. Note to self, no more fucking lawyers. We’ve got enough damn lawyers.”
Jacob Dean strode in, wearing a suit that was only slightly less perfect than his partner’s had been. “Hey, Tag, you seen Adam? I got stuck in traffic. Stupid 75.”
Taggart nodded. “Yeah, he’s working on a case. Said he’d be a while and you should start without him.”
Dean gave him a thumbs-up. “Excellent. I’ll go get our girl warmed up.”
“You’re an asshole.” Kash watched as Dean strode away.
“It’s all a part of my charm.” Tag stood up. “I think the demo is going to get started soon. I’m going to go watch. Also, it’ll be fun to watch Adam and Jake fight when Adam realizes Jake got that first piece of pie.”
He wasn’t sure what pie had to do with anything, but he followed Tag into the play space. All around him the members of Sanctum seemed to be embracing the idea of a masquerade. He caught sight of the ridiculously wealthy Milo Jaye and his girlfriend. Milo was on his knees in front of her, his eyes soft and a smile playing on his face. His girl lightly ran the tip of a cane down his chest, and it sent a shiver through the man’s body.
Why did the image have to tighten his groin? Why couldn’t he be normal?
What the hell was normal?
“So your wife didn’t want to come down and play?” Taggart asked as they moved toward the largest of the stages. “She’s more than welcome, of course. I have no problem giving her full Mistress privileges here.”
“But I am given merely probationary privileges?” Naturally Day would be able to oversee him if she’d come down. She could stop him and instruct him if she thought he was doing something incorrectly.
Taggart nodded. “Oh, yeah, she’s way better than you. You could learn a thing or two. I don’t know why you wouldn’t. She’s a badass.”
“In my country, women are not supposed to be badasses. They are supposed to be partners, to be helpmates to their husbands.” Had he honestly just said that? What the fuck was wrong with him? He didn’t believe that. He fought against that kind of backward thinking. When he’d been running his lab, he’d made sure to bring in all the brightest minds, male and female.
And now the only use he had for anyone was to bring him his next drink, be his next body in a bed.
How had his life gotten so damn shallow?
Taggart slapped him on the shoulder, one of those American male gestures that let a man know he was both stupid and tolerated. “Maybe that’s why you couldn’t tell the difference between the chick who wanted to kill you and the ones who were in it for your cash. As for me, give me a badass chick every day of the week. You say you’re looking for a helpmate? Badass chick will not only cook your breakfast, she’ll take care of the assassins trying to kill you, give you the best blow job of your life, and scare off all the people you don’t want around. You can keep your delicate chicks. Give me a Russian mob princess. There’s a class of women who know how to treat a man right. Conversely, they also know how to cut a man’s balls off if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain.”
“That being?”
He smiled, a bright, open expression that Kash wasn’t used to seeing on Taggart’s face. “Complete and total dependence. I’m joking. Though that is what I feel when she leaves me alone with the kids. Sometimes I think that’s her way of letting me know what hell on earth is like. I’m ready to drop to my knees and beg her to never leave me and all she did was go buy groceries. Yeah, that’s a clever plan of hers. That’s my girl. She’s always plotting. So you didn’t tell me why Day didn’t want to come down and play. You’ve been here. Why hasn’t she?”
Because he’d made her feel so terrible about their situation that she mostly sat around the room like a prisoner waiting for her execution. She read a lot, used the gym when she was sure no one was around. She’d taken to sitting in the small alcove that contained the basketball net. He’d caught her sitting in the sun, her face turned up as though she missed the
warmth. She’d been so stunningly beautiful in that moment that he’d wanted nothing more than to take her hand and lead her upstairs.
“Do you think a woman like Day could be happy with a vanilla relationship?”
“Why should she have one?” Taggart asked.
How did he make him understand? “It’s not seemly. If we ever got caught…”
“You get caught all the time, dude. There are pictures of your junk pretty much everywhere. You know you have your own YouTube channel, right?”
“That’s different.”
Taggart stared at him for a moment. “How? Because you’re a guy and you’re supposed to fuck around, and she’s female and should remain pure until she gets to marry the guy who’s fucked around?”
“I don’t think like that. I don’t have a problem with the fact that she’s slept with other men.”
Taggart stopped, settling himself on an unused bench. “Good, because that would make you a really heinous hypocrite and I might decide you need assassinating.”
They were in a scene space that had three walls around it. It looked a bit like an exercise room, except the barbells were alongside a number of paddles and crops. He understood why Taggart had chosen this space for his impromptu conversation about hypocrisy. Kash could hear him easily over the music, but they could still see the large stage.
“Would Day get to stay queen if you died?” Taggart asked, his eyes narrowed.
He had the sudden suspicion that only the truth might save him. Taggart often believed he was smarter than anyone else and that the world should work according to his rules. “No. That would be against the rules of our primogeniture. My cousin Chapal would become the king.”
And then they would have the problems of succession because Chapal would be stubborn about divorcing his husband and marrying a female simply for procreation. A female who would be required to provide a son. He and Day could have ten daughters but if one son was born, he would supersede all his sisters.
Why was that the rule? Because some asshole a thousand years ago decided men were more important than women? That a man—any man—could lead better than a woman?