Chapter Thirteen

N aya nervously adjusted the cups of the black leather bra. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and wondered how in the hell she was ever going to work up the courage to walk out that bathroom door. It was one thing to prance around halfnaked in their home, but quite another to go to a club dressed like this.

The leather bra pushed her breasts up and together, creating an obscene amount of cleavage. The tiny scrap of fabric that was supposed to be panties barely covered her privates and completely exposed her ass. Black stockings with a wide lace band hugged her legs. Bright-red pumps tilted her forward and made her legs look longer and leaner.

Menace had given her the new outfit with such excitement but she wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of letting other men see her like this. She enjoyed looking sexy for him, but having strange guys ogling her? Not at the top of her list of ways she wanted to spend a Friday night.

"Do you need some help?" Menace's voice penetrated the door.

Naya picked up the strange black contraption that had come with the outfit. She still hadn't figured out how it worked. "Yes."

The door opened but Menace didn't come inside. She met his gaze in the mirror. He looked taken aback. She squirmed anxiously. "What?"

"Baby, you are hot ." He crossed the distance between them in two long strides. His appreciative hands roamed her body. "So sexy."

She could say the same about him. He wore leather pants and a skintight black shirt that outlined all those hard muscles of his chest and arms. His tattoos looked even harsher on his tanned skin. The way he looked at her made her pussy throb. She showed him the strange leather belt with the dangling straps. "I don't know what this is."

"It's a garter belt." He took it from her hand and wrapped it around her waist. His strong fingers easily snapped the silver studs together in the back. Hands on her hips, he kissed his way down her back. She shivered under his sensual touch. Kneeling behind her, Menace rubbed her bare upper thighs. "These straps clip on to the tops of your stockings."

"Oh." She used the mirror to watch him fix the garter belt. She touched the metal rings placed at each hipbone. "What are these for?"

"Your cuffs." He rose slowly and put his hands on her shoulders. He dipped his nose into the high ponytail she'd fixed according to his instruction. "I'll keep your hands cuffed at your sides in the club."

"Why?"

He kissed her shoulder. "Because I want to."

She frowned. "So that's the way it's going to be tonight?"

He skimmed his lips across the sensitive patch of skin just below her earlobe. "Tonight is all about your pleasure. The moment we walk out of the bathroom you are going to give up complete control to me. You're going to trust me to take care of you."

Could she do that? Naya watched him slide his soft lips along her shoulder. His big hands spanned her bare belly as he gently stroked her skin. The answer came swiftly. Yes.

Stomach wobbling and mouth dry, she whispered, "I trust you to take care of me."

Menace's gaze snapped to the mirror. They stared at each other for a long moment before he straightened to his full height. Even in the high heels, she was dwarfed by him. When his fingers moved to the buckle on the white bride's collar, Naya experienced a tremor of uncertainty. Had she said the wrong thing? Why was he taking his collar off her?

"Easy," Menace urged as he removed the collar he'd used to claim her. He placed the white collar on the counter. "We'll put this in a keepsake box for you."

Naya touched her bare neck, the sensation strange after a month of wearing his collar. She'd gotten so used to its familiar embrace. She felt more naked without it than she did in the skimpy leather outfit.

He reached into the pocket of his leather pants and retrieved a bright-blue collar with a simple silver tag dangling from the front. "It's customary for a husband to gift his wife with a permanent collar. I was going to give you this one later tonight, but I think now is the right time. Don't you?"

His husky voice left her nearly breathless. To these Harcos men, a permanent collar was as good as a wedding band. They put a lot of thought into picking the right one. Instead of the customary black, Menace had chosen her favorite color. The tag dangling from the front bore the initials of both of their first names. His initial was larger and in upper case while hers was smaller and in lower case, denoting who was the master in their relationship.

And he was her master. She'd balked at the very idea of ever allowing a man any dominance over her…until Menace. He hadn't forced her submission through pain or fear. He'd won her trust with kindness and pleasure and by proving that he would take care of and protect her.

When he finished fastening the collar in place, Naya fingered the stiff blue leather and toyed with the silver tag. Menace slid one arm around her waist and cupped her face, turning her into his seeking kiss. Their lips met, chastely and sweetly at first, sealing the moment that she had freely given her trust to him. His kiss grew more insistent and demanding but he didn't take it any further. He seemed to share her desire to draw the night out and enjoy the anticipation.

"I checked the chart," Menace said as he caressed her face. "We're still safe tonight."

She smiled and nodded. He had become almost obsessed with recording her morning fertility signs on the chart he had helped her create on their household tablet. Their application for contraception still hadn't been processed but he was keeping his word on letting her choose when or if they began a family. Their first month relying on her chart and a version of abstinence during the risky period had worked beautifully. Menace hadn't been willing to go without any kind of intimacy, so he had made sure to show her various creative ways to use their mouths and hands on each other. He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she admitted.

Menace took her hand and led her out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, he paused long enough to put a pair of bright-blue cuffs on her wrists. The new cuffs were stamped with his name and had a soft white lining. Each one had a connection ring dangling from the underside so they could be hooked together with a chain or tethered separately. He hooked the cuffs to rings on either side of the wide leather belt around her hips.

Naya fought the surge of panic that gripped her. With her arms cuffed at her sides, she would be unable to defend herself. It was only Menace's reassuring body heat and the scent she had come to love so much that broke through her haze of panic. She trusted him to protect her. He would never allow anyone to harm her.

Tipping her chin, Menace asked, "What was that thought? You looked ready to bolt."

"I realized I wouldn't be able to lift my hands to protect myself."

"But?"

"But then I remembered that you promised to take care of me."

The grin curving his sexy mouth told her just how much her response pleased him. "I won't let anything happen to you tonight. If I somehow misread you, use your safeword."

"I will."

Menace placed his hand on the small of her back and gently pressed her forward. "We won't be spending much time on the main floor of the club. I've reserved a private room for us. Main floor protocol is much different than anything we've done together."

"How so?" Anxiety fluttered in her core.

"You are not allowed to wander without me. If you're caught without your master, a monitor will put you in the stocks and let any man who walks by take a swat at you with a paddle to teach you a lesson."

Naya gasped and stepped even closer to Menace. "You mean some other man could hit me?"

"Don't worry. I won't be letting you out of my sight." He rubbed her lower back before picking up an ankle-length gray jacket from the table in the entryway. He placed it around her shoulders and zipped the front. "We'll take this off after we check in at the club."

She glanced down at the hideous coat. It was ugly as hell but it would keep her modest on the trek to the club. "Thank you."

Menace gestured to the front door. She waited for him to open it and stepped into the hallway. While he locked the door, he gave more instructions. "Also remember not to address anyone, not even another wife, without first getting my permission. You will address other men as Sir. Understood?"

"Yes. What about you?"

He tapped the elevator button. "What do you call me?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I don't know. Master, my liege, light of my life—"

"Yeah, I got it." Naya rolled her eyes but couldn't squash the smile his playfulness inspired. They stepped into the waiting elevator and he punched in the access code for the private floor that housed the officers' club. "Anything else I should know?"

"I want you to stay open to possibilities tonight. Watch other couples. See if anything interests you. We haven't really discussed hard limits yet. There may be things you see tonight that you are absolutely never willing to try and that's all right. There may also be things that excite and arouse you." Menace used his body to box her into the corner and let his lips dance along her neck. "I want you to tell me about those things."

The elevator ride ended much too quickly. Before she knew it, Menace had checked them in, taken away her jacket and led her into the darkened interior of the club. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimly lit space. Throbbing, thumping music blanketed the air. The huge open floor-plan hosted a bar with multiple seating areas.

Her first clue that she wasn't in a real bar was the sight of a bare-naked woman down on all fours and serving as a table for the two men kicked back in chairs near her. Two red cups rested on her flat back. How the woman managed to maintain her untenable position perplexed Naya. Judging by the red stripes on her ass and the pool of liquid next to her hand, she hadn't been successful.

Menace grabbed her lower arm, just above the cuff, and gave her a tug. She matched his pace as he took her deeper into the club. She got her first look at the public stations. Some of the equipment she'd seen or used in Menace's playroom. The spanking horse, for instance, or the restraint table, but that big scary X in the far corner made her belly flip-flop. The woman tied to it shrieked as her man lashed her back with a whip. People crowded around to watch him whipping her as if she were a brokendown mule.

Naya's feet faltered. What the hell kind of place was this?

"Look at me."

Menace's deep, strong voice cut through her panic. "It's consensual, Naya. She wants it. She wants to be whipped by her Master."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"The monitor," he said and pointed out the hulking man standing near the station. "Any man with a bright-orange armband is a monitor. They know when it's time to step in and stop something. The safeword for the entire club is red, but every master registers his woman's safeword when we check in here. The same ID chips that keep track of you around the ship keep track of you here. See those watch-like devices they wear? Each one has a screen that informs them of the safewords of the couples closest to them."

Naya's gaze drifted from the monitor to the woman on the cross. She rose up on her toes in anticipation of every snapping bite of the whip. The muscles in her back and legs weren't tense with fear. For a woman getting the snot lashed out of her, she looked relaxed.

It struck Naya that this woman probably had reasons for enjoying the pain of her husband's whip. Naya relished the feel of Menace pinning her in place or cuffing her so that she was totally submissive and at his mercy because it was a taste of the danger she'd managed to evade while living on the streets. Surrendering control to Menace, letting him take her, gave her a rush that she couldn't eloquently explain. It was primal and real.

"Come." Menace squeezed her arm and propelled her forward. "I see some familiar faces."

She wasn't so sure she wanted to run into any familiar faces dressed like this. Keeping close to his side, Naya allowed her gaze to roam the bustling club. The amount of skin and sex on display left her speechless.

Along one wall, there was some kind of game being played. Naked women wearing red devices between their thighs walked down lanes outlined in glowing white stripes while balancing balls on their hands. She saw one woman convulse with pleasure and drop her ball. Sweat slicked the woman's skin and her moans were high-pitched. Naya figured the device was some kind of vibrating toy. To receive her punishment for dropping the ball, the woman bent over and grabbed her ankles, presenting her bottom to anyone who wanted to take a peek. A man stepped forward and gave her one hot stripe across her backside with a cane.

Tearing her gaze away from the rigged game, Naya caught sight of an elevated seating area. It looked like an exclusive place. She was a bit surprised when Menace angled them through the crowd toward it. The monitor at the stairs took one look at Menace and waved him through. Apparently being high-ranking and well-liked had its privileges.

Up in the cozy room cordoned off by gauzy silver curtains, Naya saw a very familiar and very intimidating face. Leaning back in a comfortable chair, Vicious talked with another man. The dark-haired man sported a pilot's haircut with four stripes shaved into the right side of his head.

Her gaze fell to the spot next to Vicious' chair. Even with her forehead touching the floor and her naked bottom in the air, there was no mistaking the petite frame of Hallie's body. Shock gripped Naya like a vise. She'd never imagined her extremely modest friend baring that much of her body in public.

The shiny white fabric of her tiny skirt had been flipped up to give Vicious total access. As he talked, Vicious slid two fingers in and out of Hallie as if it were the most natural thing in the world to penetrate his wife while talking shop. How her friend managed not to squirm or squeal, Naya would never know. Apparently Vicious had trained her well.

It occurred to Naya that the depth of Hallie's love and commitment to her husband must have been limitless. If Menace ever asked her to do such a thing, she'd use her safeword and then promptly knee him right in the nuts.

She glanced at Menace and found his amused smile incredibly aggravating. He tugged her along to an empty chair.

Vicious noticed him then and smiled. "Menace! Good to see you and your beautiful wife."

"And you," Menace said before taking the empty spot. He gestured to the floor.

"Kneel."

Naya narrowed her eyes but shot him a sickly sweet smile. "Of course, my liege ."

Across the seating area, Vicious laughed. "When you get home, I'd cuff her to the bed if I were you. I'd hate for you to wake up with a pillow over your face in retribution for whatever you plan to do to her tonight."

Menace gave her hair a tug. It wasn't enough to cause pain but enough to get her attention. "I'll take it under advisement."

Vicious had described what he considered to be a punishment, but Naya's nipples tightened at the very thought of being cuffed all night. Menace would take advantage of her limited motion and leave her so limp and breathless she would wake with shaky legs.

The general tilted his head as if studying her. "Or maybe not."

Menace chuckled and stroked her back. "When you're finished with Hallie's punishment, I'd like to request permission for my wife to speak with yours. It's her first time at the club and she's feeling skittish."

"Oh, this isn't punishment." Vicious worked his hand a bit faster. "This is foreplay. Hallie's been such a good wife this week I decided to reward her with her favorite things."

Favorite things? Hallie, sweet and innocent-looking Hallie, liked to be taken in public? Naya couldn't wrap her mind around it.

As the pilot engaged Menace in friendly conversation, Naya dared to lift her gaze to Vicious again. All of his attention remained on Hallie's naked bottom. When he pulled his fingers from her body, there was no ignoring the glistening nectar coating them. By the looks of it, Hallie was enjoying her precarious position very, very much.

Vicious reached down and grasped Hallie by the waist. She was so light he didn't strain when he lifted her off the ground and onto his lap. The massive, intimidating general cupped her face with such gentleness and spoke so softly only Hallie could hear what he said. He teased his mouth over hers once, twice, before finally claiming her lips.

Watching Vicious kiss Hallie was one of the most erotic things Naya had ever seen. She finally understood why so many of the other wives gossiped about Vicious and Hallie's love life. The man oozed such raw sexuality and complete control that it mesmerized her.

Menace's lips ghosted across her ear. "Jealous?"

She glanced back at him and saw the teasing smile on his face. "No," she answered honestly. "Intrigued? Yes. Jealous of another woman's husband? Never."

Menace rubbed the back of her neck and kissed her temple. "Good answer."

She snorted. "Whatever you say, Master."

It was another minute or two before Vicious finished kissing Hallie. He whispered something in her ear and then let her climb off his lap. To Naya's astonishment, Hallie turned, bent over and lifted her skirt once again. Vicious smacked her backside twice, the pops so loud that Naya flinched. Hallie actually had a grin on her face when she straightened and smoothed down the shiny white fabric of her miniskirt.

Would tonight's surprises ever end?

As Hallie walked toward her, Naya caught her first look at the tattoo now exposed on Hallie's left side. It curved along her hip and rib cage toward her breast. From what Naya could see, it had many of the same elements of the painting hanging in the couple's entryway. Remembering the way Menace had explained the Harcos tradition of honoring one's family with tattoos on the left side of the body, the side closest to the heart, Naya realized that some wives did this too.

Hallie gestured to a small silver mat on the other end of the seating area. Naya looked to Menace who nodded his permission. Knowing she was a bit off balance because of her cuffed arms, he grabbed her waist and helped her stand. "Thank you, Master."

His only reply was to caress her thigh and give her a little pinch. She yelped but didn't stick around to let him swat her. That big hand of his had given her a few good whacks last week. She'd felt the sting for two days and wasn't in any rush to relive that experience.

Sitting cross-legged in front of Hallie, Naya stared at her friend. Hallie blushed and nervously fingered the end of a braid. She'd parted her hair in the middle and braided each side, adorning the ends with hot-pink ribbons. Hallie spoke first. "So…um…"

"Yeah," Naya said with a nervous laugh.

"All I can say is that seven months ago, I was where you are now. All of this terrified me. Vicious showed me so much patience. He made sure I felt secure and safe while we explored the different aspects of this part of their culture."

"And now you like, you know , in public?"

"Sort of," Hallie said. Dropping her gaze, she explained, "It's the embarrassment of having other people watching my husband take me that makes me climax the hardest. I think, maybe, it's because I was publicly humiliated as a criminal. Somehow that experience got hardwired into my brain in a really weird way. When I'm with Vicious and his hands are on me that embarrassment changes to something so powerful. I can't…I can't really describe it."

Naya swallowed hard. "I think I understand."

Hallie touched Naya's knee. "You trust Menace, right?"

"I do."

"So trust him to guide you through this," Hallie suggested wisely. "If things go pear-shaped, you just whip out that safeword and reassess."

Naya could feel Menace watching her but didn't dare glance back at him. She scooted a bit closer to Hallie. "I think he's going to make one of my fantasies come true tonight."

Hallie's eyes widened. Excitement flashed across her face. "Ooh! What is it?"

Overcome with embarrassment, Naya couldn't bring herself to tell Hallie. "It's just something I saw in one of those dirty movies."

"Aha! The 900 range? Yeah." Hallie rolled her eyes. "Vicious calls them the learning channels. Some of the things he's persuaded me to watch on there!" She started giggling. "I mean, really ?"

"There seems to be a sort of normal level of kink and then another level of frightening stuff that gives me the creeps."

"But what you saw in this movie didn't scare you?"

Naya shook her head. "It excited me. A lot."

"So why do you look so worried? Menace obviously cares for you a great deal. He wants you to feel empowered and sexy. He won't let anything happen to you that you don't want."

Naya wished she could bring herself to confess what had excited her so much. Then Hallie would understand why Naya was so nervous. She remembered Hallie's advice and found some reassurance in that. "Safeword, right?"

Hallie nodded. "Safeword."

A moment later, Hallie reached out and swept her fingers across the blue collar now hugging Naya's neck. "It's really beautiful."

Naya touched the collar again. "It is."

"Blue is your favorite color?"

"Yes, and it's the safeword Menace gave me."

"How sweet," Hallie said and smiled genuinely. "Your collar is a constant reminder of who you belong to and how safe you are with him."

The full gravity of Menace's choice of collar hadn't hit her until just then. The reality of just how much Menace cared for her hit Naya right in the gut. Her feelings toward him became so clear. A certain word danced in the forefront of her mind but she didn't dare use it. She'd already made herself so vulnerable by trusting him completely. To admit that what she felt for him was something so powerful was too much, too fast for her.

"Kitten."

Vicious' voice cut through the music and conversation. Naya watched as Hallie turned her attention toward the general. He held up one finger. Hallie obviously understood the signal because she nodded. "That's my cue to wrap it up."

"Oh." Naya felt so calm and at ease talking with Hallie. Once she was gone, Naya would be completely at the mercy of Menace's plans.

Hallie grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Come see me tomorrow. We'll do a brunch and talk. How does ten o'clock sound?"

"Perfect."

"Great." Hallie hugged her and then jumped to her feet. She made her way to Vicious and stood dutifully next to his chair while he finished his conversation with Menace. When he was done, Vicious wrapped an arm around Hallie's tiny waist and lifted her right onto his shoulder as he stood. He clamped his hand on her bare backside and left the area with Hallie dangling over his back. She wore a dopey grin and shot Naya two thumbs up for encouragement and luck.

Shaking her head at her friend's silliness, Naya rose slowly from her cross-legged position and rejoined Menace. She started to kneel but he stopped her. Menace slid his arm around her waist and gently petted the spot above her bellybutton. He pointed to the dark-haired man sitting across from them. "Say hello to Hazard."

Naya eyed the tall Harcos warrior. He had a kind face. "Hello, Sir."

"Hello, ma'am."

Ma'am? That wasn't at all what she expected. His easygoing smile settled her nerves.

"Hazard is an old and dear friend of mine. He doesn't get to spend much time in this area but he's on a one-week layover on the Valiant . Hazard has agreed to help me make your fantasy a reality tonight."

Naya stiffened as the implication hit home. Last week, when Menace had been flipping through the various channels available in the 900 range, he'd landed on a prison scene where one woman was being taken by five guards.

At first, she'd experienced utter revulsion at the very idea, but then something primal had flicked on deep inside her. Living on the streets as a child, her greatest fears had been kidnapping, arrest, interrogation and sexual assault. Like Hallie, Naya's body seemed to have confused the signals between fear and arousal. The things that terrified her most seemed to arouse her the most.

She gulped and glanced at Menace. "You want your friend to… With us?"

Menace's fingertips stroked the swells of her breasts. "Possibly."

She relaxed a little. It was clear Menace wasn't going to just let Hazard have free access to her body.

"This is fantasy, Naya. It's a chance for you to explore the things that arouse you and frighten you in a safe environment." He grasped the front of her collar and tugged her face down until their lips were almost touching. The controlling gesture made her belly swoop with excitement. "Are you ready?"

Her eyes closed briefly. Arousal and fear swamped her, the waves of strong emotion drowning her. When she opened her eyes, Menace's steady gaze warmed her skin. There was only one thing to say. "Yes."