by Chelle Bliss
I rolled my eyes. That was the understatement of the century. Fran was up everyone’s ass and deep into their business, but she was the reason I was here. If she hadn’t called me, I probably never would’ve reconnected with my father. She was nosy, but her heart was always in the right place.
Nya smiled in my direction as she took the plate Alese had filled with so much pasta Nya would be there for an hour even if she didn’t come up for air. “I like your dad. He’s such a sweet man.”
“That’s one way to describe him.”
“You’re hard on your dad. He could be a total asshole like mine.”
She had a point, but Bear wasn’t the same man he was years ago. He wasn’t always the Father of the Year, but she didn’t need to know our past. “He’s a good guy underneath his bullshit.”
“And what about his wife? Your stepmom?”
“Fran is… I don’t know how to describe her.”
“She is a riot. She puts that big mountain of a man right in his place. She’s kinda scary like that.”
“I’m okay with them stopping by just so you two don’t worry, but otherwise, I could use a few days by myself.”
“Understood.” I nodded. I knew the feeling. I tried to avoid looking at my plate because Alese had loaded mine up too. Nya hadn’t had a minute to breathe on her own for so long that I was sure she could use a little time to collect her thoughts.
We’d given her very little time alone since she’d walked through the front door. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for something like what she’d been through, and I didn’t want her to have a complete meltdown either. But after the doctor gave her a clean bill of health, including her mental health, I was sure we could give her a reprieve.
“I’ll give you their cell phone numbers, and they’ll have yours.”
“I don’t have one,” Nya said.
“We’ll get you one tomorrow. Don’t worry.” Alese smiled. The woman loved to shop, even if it was for electronics. Set her loose in any store and she was happy as could be. “We’ll have our makeup day.”
“Great,” I mumbled as I jammed the first forkful of overly cooked pasta into my mouth. I didn’t care they were spending money, but I wished they knew how beautiful they were without all the shit on their faces. “I don’t know why you two need makeup. You’re perfect as is.”
They both stopped moving, gawking at me like I had two heads. I thought I was being nice, but they didn’t see it that way. I’d thought things were rough sometimes with just Alese, but I could already see the two of them were going to try to gang up on me. It was time to show Alese who was in charge again.
14
Nya
I opened the front door wearing a new outfit Alese had picked out, feeling like a million dollars and a little like my old self again.
Fran whistled. “Look at her,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at Bear, who leaned against the car with his hands crossed over his extra-wide chest. Fran was just how I imagined her after Alese and Ret gave me the heads-up about her. She was an older woman, about the age of my mother, but she carried herself differently.
“Very nice,” he muttered, adjusting the toothpick between his lips. “We drinkin’ or having a fashion show?”
I closed the door as Fran made her way down the stairs, hiding my smile with my back turned to Bear. There was something about the man that I’d liked instantly.
When Fran called and asked if I wanted to go to their favorite bar to dance and drink, I jumped at the chance. I loved the quiet and serenity of being at Ret’s place, but I could use an evening of fun like the old days.
“Don’t mind him. He’s grumpy tonight.”
“Why?” I asked as I tossed the keys into the small black purse Alese had sworn I needed because it matched my shoes.
Fran rolled her eyes and shook her head. “He’s upset the guys didn’t take him with them.”
“Poor thing.”
Bear opened the door for me, and I slid across the back seat after pulling my legs inside. He smiled, giving me a quick wink with a smile before closing me inside.
“We ready?” he asked as he settled into the driver’s seat next to his wife and started the engine.
Fran shot him a warning glance, and I muffled my laughter because the last thing I wanted was for either of them to regret taking me out tonight. “We’re ready.”
Bear’s eyes found mine in the rearview mirror as he drove. “You settlin’ in okay, kid?”
“Yes.”
“My kid treating you right?”
“Always. He’s a great guy.”
“Just like his pop.” He grinned.
“Oh lordy,” Fran groaned. “The man’s already got a big head. Don’t make it any bigger.”
“Babe,” Bear said, glancing in Fran’s direction and grabbing her hand.
“What?”
“You love me.”
“Yeah. Well…”
“You love my big…”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t say it.”
Bear laughed before bringing her hand to his mouth and placing a light kiss against the top. She snatched her hand away and turned up the radio, blasting some country tune I’d never heard before.
“This song is amazing. Maybe we’ll dance to it tonight.”
“You know I hate to dance.”
“Baby?”
“Yeah?”
“If I wanna dance, we’re gonna dance.”
“Right,” he said quickly, his head bobbing in agreement.
I couldn’t control my laughter any longer, placing the back of my hand against my mouth. I muffled the sound. Ret was the luckiest guy in the world to have these two people as parents. I wasn’t so lucky. My parents cared, but they also tried to control my entire life. That was the reason I’d ended up in Atlanta to begin with…I wanted my freedom.
Kind of funny that I ended up with the exact opposite after everything was said and done, but I wasn’t about to repeat the mistakes of my past nor let them guide my future.
When we pulled into the Neon Cowboy, Fran shifted in her seat to face me. “Don’t be scared of any of the guys. They’d lay down their life for you in a minute. The crowd can get rowdy sometimes, but I promise you’ll have a good time.”
“Okay.” I smiled, but my stomach was twisted as the nerves started to take hold. I followed them toward the door and fidgeted with the strap of my purse, all while trying to maintain my balance on the damn high heels
“If anyone gets handsy, let me know, and I’ll kick their ass.”
“Got it.”
Bear held the door open for us. Fran walked in first, me behind her, and him following close on my heels. The bar was dimly lit and filled with so many people, I couldn’t imagine we’d ever find a table. The floor was covered in peanut shells or sawdust. It was hard to tell with the lighting and the number of feet, but the crunch underneath my shoes was hard to ignore.
Fran parted the crowd and sauntered through the sea of people like she owned the place. In the distance, there was a table with three open seats where a group of men was sipping beer. Fran stopped in front of the table, her eyes skimming the group. “Guys. This is Nya.”
A few of the faces looked familiar. I’d seen them at ALFA, but I hadn’t spoken to them. “Hi,” I said, feeling like a kid on the first day of school, filled with fear and excitement.
A man nodded his head, looking a little like Keanu Reeves, but hotter. “Hey, Nya. It’s nice to see you again. I’m Frisco, and this is Morgan, Fran and Bear’s kid.”
“I’m not Bear’s kid. Wipe that shit right out of your mind.” He leaned forward, holding out his hand to me. “I’m Fran’s son, and we’ve met before.”
He was a hunk. In another place and time, I probably would’ve flirted with him and tried to catch his eye. That was, until I saw his wedding band glimmer under the overhead light.
“It’s nice to see you both again.”
“Take a seat,” Fran said,
pulling out the chairs. “Bear will get us drinks. Beer?”
“Anything cold and wet.”
“Ahh.” A man sitting toward the center of the group, older than everyone else but still handsome, laughed. “She likes her drinks like I like my ladies.”
“You really are a strange bastard, Tank,” Frisco told him, slapping him on the chest.
“Never claimed to be normal. I’m Tank, doll. Bear’s oldest friend.”
“Older than dirt,” Bear muttered next to me before motioning for me to take a seat next to Fran.
Slowly, I lowered myself into the chair, unable to take my eyes off the group and wondering if Fran and Bear hung around anyone who wasn’t tall, dark, and handsome.
“We were just debating.”
“About what?” Fran asked Morgan as she leaned back in her chair, and he took a slug of his beer.
“About Ret and James.”
The mention of Ret from Morgan got my full attention.
“What about them, son?”
“You think the ladies ever get to spank them, or is it a one-way street?”
The table erupted in laughter and I grinned, but it wasn’t an easy, carefree grin. I wasn’t sure if they were making fun of them and being assholes, or if this was the type of trash talk they always engaged in.
“I’m sure they tried.” Fran smiled and grabbed the beer Bear set down in front of her, having returned in record time. “I can imagine Izzy isn’t always compliant.”
“Hell, I’d let either one of those girls beat my ass,” Tank said and smiled.
“Tank, you’d let anyone beat your ass if it meant you’d get a piece.”
“Damn straight. I ain’t picky.”
Morgan waved off Tank. “No. Seriously. We were talking about Matías and if they’d finally catch the sick bastard.”
“Who’s Matías?” I asked as I turned my cold beer in my hands.
“The bad guy they’re trying to nab this weekend. He’s a human trafficker. Sells people into the sex-slave industry. He’s a bad motherfucker.”
I gasped and covered my mouth. Ret and Alese didn’t tell me they were going after someone dangerous.
I’d read a lot about human trafficking before I joined Charmed. It was my biggest fear when I’d become a member and started to find my footing in the community. I wasn’t lucky when I ended up with Diego, but I could’ve been sold and shipped to a foreign country, never to be heard from again. The very thought sent a chill down my spine.
Bear spoke quickly, probably sensing my unease because I was shit at hiding my emotions. “They’ll catch him. It’s James and Ret, after all. Nobody’s getting away from them. I just wish I were there with them.”
“You can’t go on every assignment, ya greedy bastard,” Frisco told Bear. “And let’s face it, if you walked into a sex club, you’d probably die from overstimulation.”
“Son,” Bear laughed. “I was in sex clubs when you were still sucking on your mother’s tit. I may be older, but I’ve lived a hell of a lot more experiences than your tiny little brain will ever comprehend.”
I took a sip of my beer, watching them over the rim of my glass. I couldn’t get the thought of Alese and Ret being at a sex club, trying to find a human trafficker and stop him, out of my head.
What if something went wrong?
What if they got hurt?
I wasn’t worried about myself or where that would leave me. I wanted them in my life, and even in the short amount of time I’d known them, I knew I couldn’t imagine life without them.
15
Ret
Connor was waiting for us at the door after we walked through the empty parking lot of Forbidden. “Welcome.”
I shook his hand, always happy to see an old friend. It had been years since I’d laid eyes on him, and although time had been kind to me, it hadn’t been so forgiving to Connor. “Thanks for doing this.”
Connor had a partner in the business, a former Navy SEAL named Trent Newsome, who was interested in helping us nab Matías. “Welcome,” Trent said with a curt head nod as we entered the lobby. The man looked like stereotypical, hard-core, military special forces personnel. Strong jaw, big muscles, perfect posture, and lacking any type of emotional facial expression as he stared at James and me.
Then his gaze slid to our girls. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ladies.”
“I’m Alese.” She bowed like she was halfway tame.
“Izzy.” Being Izzy, she didn’t bow her head, but she looked him straight in the eye, defiant to the core.
“Welcome to Forbidden.”
“Thanks for helping us, Trent.” I pulled Alese close to my side, staking my claim. James did the same because we both knew there was something not quite right with Trent. It wasn’t that he’d try anything, but something was off with him. Maybe he’d seen too much in the military, but I wasn’t going to stick around long enough to find out. If Connor trusted him, I’d give the guy a pass because Connor didn’t play games.
“The last thing we need is a human trafficker lurking around our club. I’ll do anything to help put his ass behind bars.”
Connor stepped in front of Trent. “Let’s get inside, and I’ll give you a tour before you can spend a few hours wandering around on your own.”
“Sounds great,” I told him.
Connor opened the door, and we walked inside the common area with Trent close behind us. “Matías spends about an hour in this part of the club until he convinces someone to join him in a private room,” Connor said as soon as the door closed behind us.
Forbidden was an upscale club with modern touches, having received a complete overhaul after Connor purchased it. A black marble floor and blood-red walls matched the leather furniture that was in the center of the room. On the far right was a viewing platform with a St. Andrew’s Cross, one of my favorite apparatuses, and shackles hanging from the ceiling just a few feet away.
“We have a lot of members who are into voyeurism. We make sure to have plenty of areas for them to live out that fantasy.”
To the left was the bar, lining the entire wall of the club, with built-in stools and a sleek cement top. Behind the bar was a wall-to-wall mirror that could give any drinker the full view of the action going on behind them, followed by cages and stockades.
“Ah, our area for public humiliation.” Connor came to stand next to James. “It’s become quite popular lately.”
Izzy gripped James’s arm, pressing her body flush against him. “Um, fuck that.”
“Let me show you the private rooms, and then we’ll let you be to do whatever you want.”
From the outside, the club didn’t look large. But it extended into an endless maze of private rooms and smaller public play areas. Each spot had its own theme or purpose, and everything was top-notch. No cheap, shitty BDSM furniture that looked overused. The amount of furniture and apparatus in the club was mind-boggling. Cages, benches, vacbeds, and bondage chairs were everywhere, along with beds and exam tables in too many rooms to count. This was a playland for anyone in the lifestyle.
“Any questions?” Connor asked after we walked into the last small play area tucked away at the end of the hallway.
We stood around the circular bed that could probably fit ten people easily and must have made for quite a scene.
“How do you monitor everything?” James asked.
Connor crossed his arms in front of his chest and glanced upward. “All public areas have closed-circuit television monitoring, and the private rooms have cameras on the doorways with a two-way intercom in case there’s an emergency. We have designated Masters who walk the hallways and public areas at all times to stop anything from getting out of hand.”
I stared up at the camera, thankful Connor had enough sense to install equipment in the rooms because the fresh waves of douchebags trying to join the lifestyle were mind-boggling and dangerous. “Can you show us the surveillance room?”
“Sure. We don’t keep tapes of anythi
ng to protect the security and anonymity of our members, but they’re monitored every moment the club is open for business,” Connor said, motioning for us to follow him back toward the public area where we’d started our tour.
James whispered to Izzy as Alese clutched my hand, staying close to me as we followed Connor.
“It’ll be fine,” I told her. “I promise.”
She never liked new clubs. She wasn’t comfortable around new people and preferred sticking with our own crowd over being more adventurous. I knew tomorrow she’d be fine. She’d slide into her role as a submissive, but tonight she’d let the fear take over.
“Let’s hope we catch the bastard tonight, and then we can have one day to play,” Izzy told James as we stood outside the nondescript door.
“In here is where we have twenty monitors, along with the intercom system. It’s really an amazing thing, and I don’t know of a club within three hundred miles that has this kind of setup.”
James glanced around the room, taking in the sleek flat-screen televisions lining the one wall. “You’ve done an amazing job with the club, Connor.”
“It’s my pride and joy.” He smiled brightly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Trent and I have a few things to discuss. We’ll let you be, and feel free to holler if you have any questions.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking between the two men before they walked out.
“Should we set up camp in here?”
James rubbed his face. “I think it’s best if one of us is on the floor while someone is in here surveying the entire club.”
“We’ll be in the club,” Izzy said quickly, a little too overeager but completely in step with her personality.
“Works for me. Let’s walk through it a few more times until we have the layout memorized, and then we can leave for a few hours. They don’t open until eight.”
“Just enough time to get ready.” Izzy laughed.
James peered down at her and gripped her ass roughly in his hand. “Woman, it better not take you seven hours to prepare.”
“Baby,” she said, running her fingernail down his bicep. “Not all prep is bad.”