by Cara Adams
Roderick stared at his computer. He knew Siyandra’s e-mail address. All the mail-order brides’ details were in his computer. In fact, he’d read through Siyandra’s file several times and had memorized everything about her. But what if he e-mailed her just to talk? It wouldn’t be like trying to date her and stealing her from one of the bachelor pairs. It could be just a casual friendship, asking her how her day was going, and if she was happy. That sort of thing. Very low-key. The kind of questions anyone could ask a member of the community. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? That wouldn’t be breaking any rules or attempting to steal her from the werewolf pairs. Surely no one could object to that.
And how would I like it if someone else other than a bachelor pair was a secret admirer of my woman?
Dammit!
* * * *
Nathanael had finally thought up the perfect date for him, Justin, and Siyandra. They’d take her out to dinner at the BDSM club. Sure he’d heard some stories about the place lately, and they definitely wouldn’t stay for the late show, but a nice meal and watching the early show should give them plenty of time to woo her and to see if she was interested in knowing them better.
Justin was driving tonight, so he waited until they were stopped at traffic lights before saying, “Tonight we ask Siyandra out on a date. We’ll go to the BDSM club.”
“What?” Justin turned, big blue eyes wide with shock. Nathanael patted him on the shoulder.
“What’s the problem? We’ve discussed this before. It’s the obvious next step.”
“I just wasn’t expecting you to suggest the BDSM club. What if she sees something that scares her? Remember someone or the other said they’d seen a woman get beaten by a man who threw money at her to do it? Like, he wasn’t even a real Dom or trained in punishment.”
“That was at the late show. We’ll go early, maybe at seven, and be out of there before it becomes too rough. I’ve spent a long time trying to think of the perfect place for our first date and can’t think of anywhere better. An ordinary restaurant will have us chatting about the weather or some other boring, inane topic. At the BDSM club we’ll be able to talk about things that have meaning and relevance in our lives.”
“But—”
The car behind them honked its horn aggressively and Justin hastily began driving again, since the light was green.
“I don’t think it’s a very good idea. If something bad is going on there I really don’t think we should take a woman with us.”
Nathanael felt a moment’s frustration with Justin. It was good they were very different from each other and complemented each other’s strengths and abilities in so many ways, but he hated having to explain his thinking over and over again. “Just trust me on this, Justin. Siyandra won’t be in any danger with two of us there. Unless you can suggest somewhere better for us to go?”
Nathanael could see Justin wasn’t completely convinced, but at least he’d stopped arguing and obviously couldn’t think of an alternative venue.
“Are we going to ask her tonight? For what day?”
“Ideally I’d like to invite her out tonight, but I know women like to wash their hair and paint their nails and do stuff like that. So maybe tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
The big barn behind the office building was where all the community vehicles were garaged, but since the SUV they were driving belonged to Justin and their house had a garage, they continued past the barn and down West Street to their home. The roads on Cooper’s Farm had been named with absolutely no imagination. North Street, South Street, East Street, and West Street. Later a ring road connecting the far end of all the streets had been added and it was simply called The Ring.
Each pair of bachelors had needed to decide where they would live and to establish a home ready for their bride before the mail-order brides had arrived. For many pairs of werewolves this had been an easy decision. One house was in much better repair than the other, or was much more conveniently placed. For him and Justin, the decision had been a very difficult one. Both of them were living in very old homes, built by the early settlers. His house needed thousands of dollars of work done on it to install a decent furnace for winter, and then to repair, repaint, and refurnish it.
Justin’s house really needed a new roof as well as repainting inside. Whichever way they looked at it, the work was going to cost a lot of money and since the whole reason the mail-order brides were being brought into the community was because there were so few women and the community was shrinking, the chance of selling one house to pay for the refurbishment of the other wasn’t high.
Too many males had left to look for a bride elsewhere, or had decided to stay and remain single so extra houses weren’t needed as yet. Maybe in a generation’s time they would be, but by then it might be easier to demolish the old houses and build new ones.
Finally they’d gotten professionals to come quote for the work that needed to be done. They could do the interior painting and simpler maintenance jobs themselves, but installing a furnace or reroofing a house was well beyond their abilities. Once they had estimates of the costs they looked at them seriously and decided to live in Justin’s house. Apparently a roof was cheaper and easier to install than a furnace, at least in this case anyway.
The good news was that Justin’s home had a garage attached to it, so they could keep their car with them. The bad news was that come winter they’d be shoveling snow from the driveway every day. Or possibly leaving the car at the barn and walking the rest of the way like many other people in the community did.
“When are we going to invite Siyandra out? Now? Or should we shower first?” asked Justin.
“I thought now. We’re still dressed in tidy clothes from work, and then we can spend the evening planning exactly how we’ll romance her.”
Their house wasn’t far from the center of Cooper’s Farm. No house was. Even The Ring was only about a quarter-mile radius from the heart of the community. The walk back to the community hall, which had been turned into a home for the human women, didn’t take them very long. No man ever entered the women’s barracks. If a man needed to speak to a woman, he texted her asking her to come outside. Except that Nathanael suddenly remembered he didn’t know Siyandra’s cell phone number. Actually, he didn’t know any of the phone numbers for any of the women. He’d never had cause to contact any of them.
“Um, Justin, do you know any of the human women’s cell phone numbers?”
“Of course not. Why would I?”
“Well, we’ll just have to wait until one of them appears and then we can ask her to get Siyandra to come out and speak with us.”
“Oh, yeah. I never thought of that.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Huh?”
“I hadn’t thought of it either.”
“It’s not a problem. We’ll make sure she gives us her number tonight and we’ll be all set for the future.”
Nathanael liked that about Justin. He didn’t blame Nathanael for not being prepared. He just decided to make sure they were better organized in the future. It was one of the reasons they got on so well together despite being very different characters and temperaments. They both sidestepped trouble whenever possible. Yet they didn’t ignore the problem, but rather they planned to overcome it. He knew together they’d be able to make a happy home for Siyandra and show her all the love and devotion she deserved.
Now that he’d decided to ask Siyandra out on a date, he was itchy with the need to do it and waiting was becoming increasingly difficult for him. Nathanael couldn’t bear the thought she might say no. He refused to consider it. She would surely give them this one chance to show her how much they’d cherish her if she’d just let them. Fortunately they didn’t have to wait very long. Qwera, who worked in the small community store on the other side of the square, came walking across the grass to the women’s barracks.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi, Qwera. Could you please ask Siyandra t
o come out and speak with us?”
“Sure. Didn’t she answer her cell phone? Maybe she’s in the shower.”
Nathanael squirmed and felt his face begin to color. “Ah, we don’t know her cell phone number so couldn’t call her.”
Qwera grinned at him. “So next time, maybe plan ahead? This time I’ll tell her you’re both here.”
“Everyone on Cooper’s Farm is going to know we invited Siyandra on a date without knowing her cell number,” said Justin.
“Yes, but that might be a good thing. Kind of like a ‘keep off’ sign perhaps.” Nathanael wasn’t convinced but did his best to put a positive spin on the situation.
Justin just looked at him. Nathanael pretended not to notice. He was facing the door waiting to see Siyandra come out. And there she was as pretty as ever, her dark brown hair waving to sit on her shoulders and her chocolate eyes alight with good humor.
“Hi, Justin. Hi, Nathanael. Qwera said you wanted me?”
Justin took her hand and ran his fingers over her palm. Nathanael thought that was a very bold thing to do, but actually also a good idea. He was too busy taking a deep breath before speaking to do anything else. “Siyandra, Justin and I were hoping you’d come out on a date with us, please.”
Siyandra continued to look at him and smile, although she did take her hand back out of Justin’s, or maybe he let go. Nathanael realized she was expecting him to give her more information before she answered them. Hastily he continued. “Are you free tomorrow night? We thought you might like to go to the BDSM club for a meal and to watch the early floor show.”
“Shakina told us all about how the blonde woman was whipped by a man, not her Dom. She said she thought the woman had been drugged so she wouldn’t complain or cry out when she was beaten. I’m very interested in seeing the BDSM club, but I don’t think I want to see someone getting hurt so a man can get his rocks off.”
Nathanael hid his grin at her comment and answered seriously. “That’s why we plan to go early. We certainly don’t approve of anything like that either. True BDSM is very different. I think you’d like a genuine show.”
He stared at Siyandra, but she was just looking at them both, not giving away her feelings. “The first show should be quite suitable for us all to see. Would that interest you?”
“I do find the idea of BDSM intriguing, and I’d like to go to the club.”
Nathanael heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. Can you be ready by half past six or a quarter to seven? We’ll eat then watch the first show.”
“Yes, I’ll be ready. I think I’d like that. Thank you for inviting me.”
She turned as if to leave and Justin spoke quickly. “Please, may we have your cell phone number for next time?”
“I haven’t said there’ll be a next time, but I guess you may need it tomorrow.” She rattled off her number and Nathanael was glad Justin had his cell phone in his hand and was tapping the number in. Nathanael had forgotten the first few digits by the time he’d gotten his cell out of his pocket.
“Thank you. Until tomorrow,” he said.
But she was already walking back into the building. Had she agreed out of politeness or did she like them? Fuck if he knew.
Chapter Two
Siyandra wasn’t quite sure how she felt about Nathanael and Justin inviting her to the BDSM club. She’d already—well, more or less—decided she liked them and was prepared to find out more about them since she couldn’t have Roderick Cooper. And she was very curious about the BDSM club. She’d never been inside one before. But it seemed as though the Coopersville BDSM club wasn’t the best one to visit. If bad things were happening there, she didn’t really want to see them firsthand. But surely the men wouldn’t take her into danger? One thing she definitely knew about werewolf shape-shifters was that they protected their women one hundred percent. Which implied there wouldn’t be danger there for her. Or not that early in the night anyway. Or perhaps it was a combination of not that early in the evening when she was with them. It was all very complicated. So, if she was interested in learning more about them and in going to the BDSM club, why wasn’t she more excited about her date?
Was it because they weren’t Cooper? They were nice. She enjoyed talking to them, and she’d already decided she liked them enough to find out more about them, but was the spark missing? Well, too bad. Vast numbers of women married men and hoped to find pleasure and companionship, and possibly even that spark of romance over time. She’d chosen to come to Coopersville. She’d made the decision with the full knowledge that she had only six months to choose one of the bachelor pairs and settle down with them. She could hardly complain now. Besides, possibly it was her own fault anyway. No man had ever really given her that ultimate glow of happiness. Her friends had fallen in and out of love over the years, and she’d had boyfriends herself, but she’d never been genuinely in love. Likely she wasn’t even capable of it.
Siyandra dressed in chocolate-brown silky pants, brown boots, and a deep gold shirt. It was her favorite outfit and she knew it looked good on her, the slinky fabric highlighting her lush ass, hips, and breasts.
At exactly six thirty, she walked out of the bedroom area of the women’s barracks and into the living room section. Tanisha waved her to the table where the women all sat together for coffee and to chat. “I’ll paint your fingernails for you. What color do you want them?”
“Wow. Thanks, Tanisha. You’re amazing. But I don’t think there’ll be enough time.”
“Sure there will be. I have polish that dries in sixty seconds here. Now, choose a color. How about gold to match your shirt?”
Siyandra held the bottle against the sleeve of her shirt. “That looks perfect, thanks. However did you know what I’d be wearing?”
Tanisha took Siyandra’s right hand and began working on her nails. “I didn’t know, but with your coloring I assumed you’d go for fall colors so that’s what I got out for you.”
Nala and Qwera crowded around watching. Nala held up her own hands, the nails broken and rough from her work in the garden. “I don’t think my nails will ever look good in polish.”
“Of course they will. Tanisha can work miracles,” Siyandra encouraged her.
“I’ll give you a hand massage and good cleansing when I’m done with Siyandra,” promised Tanisha.
The first hand was done and Tanisha was working on the second when Mailiki arrived. “Oh, there you are, Siyandra. Nathanael and Justin are waiting outside. I’ll tell them you’ll be ready soon.”
“Don’t tell them what color she’s wearing. Leave that as a surprise,” said Qwera.
Siyandra laughed. “If Tanisha can guess, maybe they can, too.”
Just then Siyandra felt a little bubble of happiness in her chest. Maybe she was going to be able to fall in love with these men. Certainly she was happy and excited right now.
The other women called out encouragement to her as she left the building. Siyandra caught her breath. My, oh my, they did look handsome. Of course she was well aware how attractive they were, but she’d never seen them all dressed up before. Justin was in navy pants and a pale blue shirt that made the most of his golden hair and blue eyes. Nathanael was in sober black. Black pants and black shirt. But when she looked closely at the shirt it had the slightest shimmer of silver through it, which relieved the severity of his outfit and gave him the faintest glow when he moved. She was certain that after dark the shirt would be even more impressive.
They hurried across to her and once again Justin took her hand and stroked her palm with his finger. It was weird but exciting. He’d done that last night, too, and she’d liked it. Somehow it seemed even sweeter today. Nathanael gave her a half bow and handed her a red rosebud. “I should have chosen yellow, I guess,” he said.
But she shook her head. “This is lovely, thank you. Let me just go back inside and ask someone to put it in water for me please.” As soon as she walked back inside, everyone stared at her, but it was Nala who jumped up and
took the flower from her hand. “I’ll put this in a vase beside your bed. It’s lovely,” she said.
“Thanks, Nala.”
Siyandra went back outside and the men walked her across to an SUV she guessed was theirs. Or belonged to one of them. She wasn’t sure how the property issue worked. They had chosen to be a pair, but did they have their property as joint or did they each still own things individually? She shrugged. It wasn’t any of her business really.
“I’ve never noticed you wear gold before. It really looks good on you,” said Nathanael.
Siyandra’s heart beat a little faster. Even if he was just being polite, it was a nice thing to say.
“You both look awesome tonight, too.”
“Having you women come into the community means a lot to all of us at Cooper’s Farm,” said Justin.
“It’s great for the werewolf women to have more friends to talk to, but it’s just as important to all of the men as well,” added Nathanael.
“I understand. It’s been just as big a change for your community as it has been for us women.”
They talked lightly and casually on the way to the club, but underneath the chatter Siyandra sensed they were as tense and excited about the evening as she was. But was it because they wanted to be with her, or because of what they might see and experience at the BDSM club?
She was surprised that the entry was a single black metal door. She supposed she’d expected it to be more like a hotel with big automatic glass doors and a spacious foyer area. But once they were seated around a table on a mezzanine area overlooking the dance floor, it was exactly as she’d imagined it. A crowd of people dancing or sitting and talking. There was more alcohol around, though, than she’d thought there’d be. She knew alcohol and BDSM didn’t mix, and she also knew many Doms or Masters wouldn’t drink before a scene, nor would they permit their sub to use alcohol or drugs. It was something to do with needing to think clearly to truly appreciate and fully experience the scene. Oh well, perhaps she’d misunderstood. Or maybe most people were just here tonight to watch, not to participate.