Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

K at arrived at Torch Light and waited for the driver to open her door.

"Just call the hotel when you want the car. As you can see, it won't take but a minute."

"Thank you so much."

Kat was surprised by the look of the place. From the outside, the big warehouse didn't seem like much, but she knew how decadent Torch Light was inside from what her friends had told her and by its reputation. She walked up the steps and opened the large door into an enormous, low-lit foyer with a large, elegant reception desk.

"Katarina Marino?" the girl asked.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"We were told to expect you. You're the only person coming in who isn't a regular, so it was pretty easy to figure out. I'm Neely. Let me get Nic. He'll show you where the lounge and the lockers are. Fet wear only on the floor or in the lounge. Subs need to be in heels or bare feet."

"No problem. I was told my outfit for tonight would be delivered?"

Neely nodded. "It was, and it's been put in a locker with your name on it. If you decide to become a regular, you'll get your own locker—not as big or as nice as the legacy lockers, but still good to have so you can just leave stuff. We also have a dry-cleaning service for members that is lifestyle friendly. They pick up from the club and when it's ready bring it back."

A tall, handsome, silver fox came striding down the hall. She didn't usually go for older men, but Kat knew if he asked her to scene with him, she would.

"It's Kat, isn't it? I'm Nic. Welcome to Torch Light."

"Thank you. I'm really excited to be here. I've wanted to visit for a long time."

"Come along and I'll show you where the lounge is, then I'll take you to the locker room. We have an employee who acts as a dresser when needed, but any of the other subs will be happy to give you a hand if you need it."

"Any Dommes?"

"Good question. We have two, but neither is playing tonight. I doubt you'd mistake either of them for a sub, but if you did, they'd be nice about it, and neither is above helping someone get ready to play. Torch Light prides itself on the way we treat our subs, and like most clubs, the Doms outnumber the subs. Our members span all ages and we have some families with two or more generations playing, although usually not on the same night. I'll show you," he said, lacing her arm with his.

Kat looked around as they walked through the club. "This reminds me a lot of what I've heard about Dante's."

"Have you played there? Your father is revered as one of the greatest whip masters of all time."

"No, I avoid that place. Do you think I want to see my father, who only scenes with my mother or occasionally provides discipline for a sub without a Dom, do his thing? Ick!" she said light-heartedly.

Nic laughed. "I guess I understand. Linc and Damian have been talking about opening another club across the bay in Sausalito for just that reason."

The lounge was cozy and elegant at the same time. "I think I see Grace Steele's hand in the decorating," she commented.

He nodded. "Yes, here in the lounge and in the women's locker room especially. I have someone assigned to show you around and walk you through things. I know you're experienced, and you are welcome to negotiate either with him or someone else to do a scene tonight, if you like."

"Thank you. I appreciate all of your courtesies."

"As I said, we'd love to have you as a regular member and Torch Light takes care of its subs."

She was shown into the locker room. Kat smiled as she surveyed the decor. Nic was right, she could see Grace's influence here as well. Kat decided she was definitely going to sit down with Grace and listen to her job offer.

"Well, well, well," drawled a petite blonde with boobs Kat was sure weren't natural. Her hair was immaculately distressed and most likely wasn't all hers either.

She was flanked by two more brunettes who seemed to be intent on watching what would happen next. Ah, so the blonde was the club's resident mean girl. Most clubs had them as did a lot of other gathering places. The thing Kat had always found amusing was the Doms talked about control and keeping the subs safe, they didn't want to have to deal with this kind of thing. They far preferred the subs work it out amongst themselves. No matter, she wasn't the Wolf of Dante's daughter for nothing.

"Looks like the import got here," the blonde sub said as she wrinkled her nose. "Looks like one of the cheap knock-offs."

Kat took a deep breath. "No, sweetheart, I'm the Italian designer model and I've seen your type before. My guess is you don't show your claws to the Doms or when Grace or one of the other great ladies is playing. I suggest you learn to do the same when I'm here. Now go away." Kat turned her back and opened her locker.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? When that old hag Grace isn't here, I run the subs."

"Who the fuck am I? I would be Grace Steele's new sommelier for both the restaurant and this club," Kat said, realizing she'd made her choice. "Besides which, I am the daughter of Luca Marino and my father taught me long ago how to deal with nasty little subs like you."

"You bitch," the blonde screeched as she rushed Kat, who merely sidestepped and allowed her to crash into a locker.

At the sound of the crash, there was a loud banging on the door before Nic yelled "Dom on deck!" and entered. "What's going on? No, wait, I can figure it out. Lisa, this makes your third transgression. I thought last time with the discipline spanking you got, you might have learned your lesson. Get your things and get out. You've got ten minutes before the guys on the door come in and drag you out by your extensions. Jen and Mandy? I told you the last time if I saw you backing one of Lisa's power plays again, I'd count that as your second transgression. Do you want a discipline spanking or revocation of your membership?"

"That's not fair," whined one of the girls. "We were just standing here."

"You were watching Lisa act out and not doing anything to help the situation. Not okay. Lisa, you'd better get your butt in gear. I am not opposed to having you taken out and your things boxed up and shipped to you."

"But Nic, I didn't say anything bad!"

"You called Grace an old hag," said Kat sweetly, leaning against her locker.

The other brunette turned to her. "I'm Jen, and Nic's right. I apologize. I'll take the discipline—apparently I could use it. I should have done something. Grace Steele has never been anything but nice to me and I should have taken up for her. And she's stunningly beautiful. I only hope someday I'll look half that good, but there's little chance of that."

Kat winced, wondering if Jen knew that most clubs didn't put up with a sub making derogatory comments about herself.

"Jen, that's forty for the transgression and an extra ten for talking that way about yourself," said Nic. "You go up to the lounge. No booze. Someone will come get you in a bit."

"Forty?" gulped Jen.

"Yes or do you want to go?"

"No, Sir. I'll be upstairs in the lounge," Jen said, quietly slipping out the door.

Nic now turned his attention to the remaining two trouble-making subs. "Mandy, the choice is no longer yours," said Nic in a no-nonsense tone. "Collect your things. The car will be waiting to take both you and Lisa home. Waste any more of my time and I'll put some sting in your tail before I send you home."

They both scurried away to pack their things while Nic waited. Once they were ready, he opened the door and two security guards walked them to a different entrance than Kat had used.

Turning to Kat he said, "I'm sorry you had to see that. We've had trouble with Lisa. I really thought the last time, Xander got through to her. Are you all right?"

Kat grinned. "I'm fine. Mean girls don't bother me. I take it there's a set of progressive disciplines for subs?"

"Yes, three strikes and you're out. Doms or Dommes it's one and done. The philosophy if you don't have enough control to not act out, you don't have enough to be a Dom or Domme here. We take the safety and wellbeing of our submissives seriously. When you're ready to go up to the lounge, use the in-house phone and someone will come down for you."

"Thanks, Nic, but I'm fine, really."

Nic nodded and headed back out the door.

Another beautiful blonde dressed in an all-black leather corset with a black lace thong rounded the corner at the end of the lockers. "I was about to come running to your rescue, but I see the daughter of Seraphina Marino doesn't need my help." She walked up to Kat, extending her hand. An air of sensuality surrounded her, Kat could feel it. "I'm Shasta Rhodes."

"Of course. From Broken Vines." Kat took her hand and smiled.

"So, you've decided to let Grace steal you away. Stephanie and Kinzie won't be happy about that. Have you told Grace?"

"No. In fact I didn't know I'd even decided so I'm not sure why I said that."

"Oh goodie. If you haven't completely made up your mind or told Grace that you've decided on the job with her, it means we can still try and tempt you away."

Kat laughed. "How did I become such a marketable commodity?"

"Your bloodlines are stellar and both your formal and informal educations are second to none. You've walked the fields and talked grapes with your father from the time you could toddle along beside him. And when you got tired, he lifted you up onto his shoulders and carried you. Hudson always says no one knows more about grape growing and wine making than Luca Marino. That you spent your entire life learning from him? I can't think of a vineyard that wouldn't pay, and pay highly, for a vintner with that background."

Kat smiled. "Some of my fondest childhood memories are sitting up on my dad's shoulders as we walked the fields. And truly, I haven't made up my mind yet. I just figured tossing Grace's name into the mix might make Lisa back off."

"Doubtful. I think her extensions are too tight. Need some help getting dressed?"

"Yes, thank you."

Shasta opened up the corset and Kat, who had stripped and put on the boy shorts, extended her arms above her head. Shasta slipped the corset over Kat's head, helping her to get it in place before she started on the laces.

"How tight do you want it?" asked Shasta.

"I'm used to them. Sometimes I wear one even when not going to a club. In some ways they're more comfortable than a regular bra."

"I agree, and they do great things for boobs that have been used to feed children and have seen better days. Oh God, promise me you won't tell Hudson I said that! The last time we were done playing and I dissed my body, he put me over the spanking horse, roasted my ass, and then made me wear a plug all the way home on the motorcycle."

"Ouch! That must have hurt."

"The spanking, yes. The plug, not so much. But the way the damn thing vibrated in my sore ass for the entire ride had me in a frenzy by the time we got home. Bastard didn't waste any time knotting and tying me to him."

Kat laughed. "Yeah, I'm going to pass on the whole alpha knot thing."

Shasta leaned in. "Don't. It's the single most amazing thing I've ever done. I crave his knot and I've been mated to him for more than twenty-seven years."

Shasta tightened the laces and Kat grabbed the locker for support, her head swimming from the pressure.

"Are you all right? I didn't think I'd pulled them that tight."

Kat shook her head. "No, you're fine. I just have the worst case of jet lag in the history of flight."

"You didn't just change time zones, you crossed the international date line. You sure you want to play?"

"I am. Nothing is more relaxing or helps put me right than a good scene."

"True enough. I'll make sure you get someone decent. What do you like?"

Kat was about to answer when once again she was assailed with a bout of dizziness. She managed to hide it from Shasta, who continued to work the laces with a practiced hand.

"Jet lag or fated mate?" Shasta said quietly, tying off the corset binding.

Kat walked to the mirror. "Damn, you've got a deft hand with those laces. I don't know that my boobs have ever looked better."

"You've got great tits and Maggie's corsets are divine. I was so excited about the first time we went to London and Hudson took me to Dark Garden. Don't get me wrong, the two outfits he bought me are beautiful, but Maggie's are every bit as nice and I think because she's a woman, they're more comfortable." Shasta hesitated and then continued, "You don't have to answer my question about the fated mate. It's none of my business, but if you need help, I'll do anything I can."

"Thank you so much. I'm sure it's just jet lag and the international date thing," said Kat. "It can't be a reaction to a fated mate. I don't know any of the male wolves in the area, except for Linc."

"You don't have to know him to know he or at least some male wolf in the vicinity is your fated mate. Sometimes that annoying feeling of recognition can hit you the hardest when you haven't a clue and it just sort of hits you over the head. Trust me, I'm an expert on that."

Kat's feeling of disorientation had come back in force and grown in its grip on her. Most of the day had been good and she felt as though she were back to her old self and could chalk up her disconcerting feelings from before to a bug. But now, she could swear she could hear the sound of her own blood surging through her veins. Now, it was as if she could hear Shasta's blood pumping as well. She'd never experienced anything like it before. But thinking back, she could recall a few times throughout the day she had been fixated on people's carotid artery. Watching their pulse beating in their neck had been disconcerting in the extreme.

J ed had fallen in love with helicopters as a SEAL. Their ability not only to fly but to remain suspended in the air mesmerized him. What was the old saying? To fly is heavenly; to hover, divine. The trip into the city had been uneventful and since Evan was his only passenger, he'd done some fancy flying over the ocean. Lobo Bahía had a private helipad on top of the hotel, so Jed often flew into the city if he wasn't going to need a vehicle.

They rode down in the elevator together and nodded to the hotel staff on their way out of the building. "You have got to teach me some of those moves," said Evan.

Jed laughed as they walked out the front door to hail a cab but instead found one of the hotel's Rolls Royces waiting for them.

"How did they know?" asked Evan.

"Choppers without stealth capability aren't hard to hear. You coming to the club?"

"Absolutely. I told Hudson I'd pick up the keys to his car from him at the club, and then head down to Broken Vines."

"Nice of you to offer to do that for Hudson."

"It's a really pretty drive. And I have friends in his pack I like to go surfing with. The waves down there are great."

"Not to mention Hudson's very sexy youngest daughter."

Evan growled, which provoked a laugh from Jed as they got in the back of the vintage automobile.

"Not to worry, little brother. I'm no competition for you. I have it on good authority that my fated mate is at the club tonight."

"Seriously? You know who she is?" He punched his older brother in the arm. "Why didn't you say something? Do the folks know?"

"Dad and Uncle Linc do, so keep it to yourself."

"Are you going to make her run?"

Jed shook his head. "I don't know yet. I haven't even spoken to her yet. She left Florence before I had a chance."

"She's one of the DeMedici pack?"

"She was. She came here to join us, but I did secure both her father and Marco's blessing."

"Is she beautiful?"

Jed laughed again. "I suppose so. I actually didn't get a very good look at her."

"What if you're not attracted to her?"

"You really don't understand the whole fated mate thing, do you? You know mom being in danger drew dad all the way to Italy. I saw Kat walking in the vines with her father, and it was like being struck by lightning. I haven't had any interest in another she-wolf since then."

"Whoa. Congratulations, I guess."

"Thanks. I thought it would take some getting used to, but it doesn't. It's like an anvil gets dropped on your head and you're like yep, that's the one ."

"I think only difficult she-wolves fight it… if they know. Do they know?"

"That's what the legends say. They get the same feeling of disorientation as we do and when you call to them," he smiled with the memory, "you can see and feel them shiver. Kat isn't stupid and she was raised in a pack where the belief in a fated mate is even more ingrained than in ours. She knew exactly what was happening and chose to bolt. As far as I'm concerned, that was her challenge to run."

"And what do you say to that?" asked Evan.

Jed looked up, steely determination in his eyes. "Challenge accepted."