Black Velvet (3 page)

She took a deep breath and flipped to the last page. She read it, then closed the book, setting the pen on top without signing. There wasn’t a whole lot she had questions about, and the notes she had made related to minor issues. She couldn’t see any of it stopping her from signing on the dotted line, but until those discussions took place, she’d hold off.

The door behind her opened, and she half expected the woman to be standing there when she turned around, but the way her skin tingled, she knew it wasn’t. Warren stood there, his face unreadable. The dark gray suit he wore fit his body as though tailor made, and for all she knew, it was. The color made his eyes pop. And his dark lashes made them stand out even more. He carried a binder identical to her own and held his hand out to her.

“Come,” he said.

She didn’t even think to argue. Standing, she grabbed her purse, as well as the binder and went to him, taking his offered hand.

“Until we sign the contract, you are under no obligation. You may address me as you please, as long as it is respectful of my position. Once the contract is signed, you may call me Sir or Master. Am I clear?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” she replied. There was no point in getting comfortable with any other name. If she had anything to say about it, the contract would be signed, and she would be his submissive.

Warren read the notes Joy had made on her copy of the contract carefully. At least he tried. Sitting there with her, with her arousal perfuming the air was both heaven, and hell. He wanted to throw the contracts on the floor and make use of the table separating them. His wolf alternated between whining and snarling, trying to get him to forget the paperwork and go to his mate.

“If I understand this correctly, your biggest concern with the contract lies in showing submission in front of other pack mates. Is this correct?”

“Yes, and no, Sir,” she responded.

“Please explain.”

She straightened her shoulders and set her jaw. “I’m happy to show my submission to you inside the club, or in private, Sir, but it would go against who I am to show weakness in front of my pack in public or at pack functions.” Her breasts rose and fell a little faster with each breath she took. He forced himself to keep from smiling. So his little mate already considered the pack hers, did she? Maybe she hadn’t been as unaffected by him as he had thought.

He kept his gaze trained on hers until she lowered it to look at her hands clasped in her lap. Her posture was impeccable, and she was a little nervous, but otherwise showed no signs of distress. “I can live with those terms. From the moment you step foot in the club until the moment you leave, you are to assume the submissive role. When we are out of the club, if there is no risk or little risk of being seen, you will assume the role. If I choose to invite you to my home, from the moment you enter until you leave, you will submit to me as your Dom. Is this agreeable?”

He watched her carefully. It wasn’t much, a slight upward twitch of her lips, but it was there. “Yes, Sir.”

“You’ve noted red, yellow, and green as your safewords. Please tell me what each means to you.”

“Red means stop. It is for when a scene needs to end. If a hard limit is approached, it is to be used before it being reached,” she said. “Yellow means a discussion is needed. It means I’m not comfortable with something, and I may need to put a stop to it, but it is still negotiable if we can come to an understanding we find mutually agreeable. Green means all is good, and play can continue, Sir.”

“I want you to come to trust me in all things, and sometimes, I may push your limits, but I will not cross them. If however, you feel the need to use your safewords, I will respect them and act accordingly.” The scent of her arousal was making it difficult to concentrate. Her nipples were poking against the thin fabric of her dress. He had to get through this so they could move on to more pleasurable tasks.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“You’ve noted breath, fire, and knife play are all hard limits. Is there any room for negotiation for any of those?” He watched her squirm a little but waited for her response.

She took a breath, then another and lowered her gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry, Sir, those are hard limits. I will not negotiate those.”

“Good. That’s what I needed to hear.” He reached over and lifted her chin so she could look at him. “Never allow anyone to cross them.”

She gave a little nod. “Yes, Sir.”

“Now, let’s finish this so we can get to the fun stuff, shall we?”

***

Joy let the air she’d been holding out of her lungs out in a whoosh. She couldn’t believe it. Black Velvet was a BDSM club, and Warren would be her new Master. Being placed in a submissive role in front of the pack had been her only real point of contention, but when he didn’t balk at her request to keep it in the club or in private, the rest of her reservations melted away. Now all that was needed was the new copy of the contract, with all the amendments added in, which Warren had stepped out to get, and they were free to play.

When he entered the room minutes later without the documents, her heart sank. Maybe they wouldn’t be playing tonight after all. “There seems to be a technical issue preventing us from printing the new contracts,” he said, and her heart plummeted further. “If, however, you are willing to give verbal consent to everything we discussed, we can proceed. Otherwise, we will have to wait for another day.”

“Who do I need to speak to, Sir?” she said as she rose to her feet. After more than seven months of having no one to please her but herself, she was more than ready to get things rolling.

He smiled approvingly at her, and her heart started racing. Being Warren’s sub was what she and her wolf needed. “No one. All you have to do is turn to the camera and voice your willingness to move forward before the actual signing of the agreement.”

She looked up at the camera. “I would like to proceed prior to signing the contract, provided all the stipulations and amendments we discussed are respected,” she said in a clear voice.

“Good girl. Now come.” He led her from the room down a long hallway to a huge set of double doors with two guards posted in front. “Unless I tell you otherwise, I expect you to walk next to me on my left side. If once we’ve entered the club, you see something you do not wish to see, you will let me know in a calm and courteous manner that will not be offensive to anyone around us. Also, until I get to know your preferences, if you would like to stop and watch a scene unfolding, you will let me know, and I will take it into consideration.”

“Yes, Sir.” Although Warren stride was long, she managed to keep up with a quickened pace.

When they reached the double doors, he stopped to address the guards. “This is Joy. She is my sub, and I expect her to be allowed entry into the club without hassle from here on in. Please pass this information along to the others.”

“Yes, sir,” both wolves said at once before opening the doors to allow them through.

Warren took her elbow the moment they set foot in the club, guiding her where he wanted her to go. A song with a strong primal base played in the background like a pulse inciting people to join in the kinky fun. Along the far wall, a dark wood bar backlit with pale blue light, had two males serving up drinks. Long black couches had people of varying ages and body shapes draped over them. Some had few articles of clothing while others were covered from head to toe. Most of the patrons looked up, some even stared as she and Warren walked by, but none approached. Other than the abundance of black leather, and lack of cover on some of the people there, the club almost seemed normal. There were no St. Andrews crosses, no benches. Nothing.

“Are you thirsty, Joy?” Warren stopped to look down at her.

“No, Sir.”

“Then why are you no longer walking?” he asked.

Had she stopped walking? She hadn’t even noticed. “I’m sorry, Sir. I’m a little surprised by the club. That’s all. It’s not what I expected.”

Joy held her breath as he raked his gaze over her from her head all the way down to her toes, and then back up again. “This is the bar, not the club. We won’t be spending our time in here tonight.”

She released the breath she’d been holding and nodded. After having spent the last couple of hours poring over the contract, the last thing she wanted was to sit and have a polite conversation with her new Master. It had been months since she’d last had a lover, and even longer since she’d been able to submit to a true Dom.

He took a long breath through his nose, his lips quirking a little in the corners as he did. “You’re already wet for me, aren’t you, sub?”

She didn’t even think to lie. It wouldn’t have mattered. He could smell her. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Now, let’s keep going, shall we?”

She had taken all of two steps with Warren when the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Sure there was a threat, she scanned the room, but when Warren remained calm as ever, she shook off her wolf’s agitation. Surely if there were a threat, he would take notice.

He led her to the back of the room where thick black velvet curtains blocked the view, but there was no mistaking the sound of a whip snapping, or the muffled moan that followed. Her heart pounded, and she could hardly catch her breath.

Just as Warren reached out to part the drapes, a tall, beautiful blonde woman went to the floor at his feet. “Welcome back, Master. How can I serve you?” she asked, her big blue eyes shining up at him.

Her bright pink skirt rode up, exposing most of her naked ass, and her top plunged so low it barely cover her nipples. But what had Joy nearly exposing her teeth in a wicked snarl was the delicate collar the woman wore around her neck with WM embroidered into it, and a stone, bright and shiny, hung at the very center. Joy didn’t need to be a jewel expert to know it was a diamond. The quality of the leather and the stunning craftsmanship of the piece would allow for nothing else.

“Get up, Moira,” Warren commanded. “I removed my collar from your neck many months ago. Why are you wearing it?”

“I was waiting for you to return, Master. I only wish to please you.” Moira batted her eyelashes at him and thrust her chest forward.

“You will please me by standing and removing my collar from your neck,” he said, his voice lower, the growl in his throat barely contained.

“Yes, Master.” The woman came to her feet and for the first time looked at Joy. The hate shining in Moira’s eyes would have had a lesser wolf averting her gaze, but Joy wasn’t a lesser wolf. She wouldn’t bow down to this female.

“May I keep it?” Moira’s eyes brimmed with tears as she reached behind her neck and undid the clasp holding the collar in place.

Warren sighed. “Not this time. You were told never to wear the collar again, yet here you are with it around your neck. I think it best if you return it to me now.”

***

He held out his hand and waited until she dropped it into his palm before bringing his attention back to Joy. He should have known better than to let her keep the damned thing in the first place, but he had fallen for her tears and her empty promises.

Joy hadn’t said a word, but she held herself stiff, her eyes trained on Moira, who now stared right back. All he wanted to do was get Joy into one of the private rooms so he could have her take her dress off. He’d been dreaming of her luscious body from the day he had met her. It was way past time he got to see it.

“Come, Joy,” he demanded before the situation could escalate. He took her elbow again and brought her forward, forcing Moira to step out of the way.

“Bitch.” The word was barely whispered, not even enough for most wolves in the immediate area to hear, but Warren caught it.

“What did you say?” he growled as he rounded on Moira.

“I’m sorry, Sir.” She averted her gaze immediately.

He lifted his hand, drawing the bouncer’s attention. “Escort Miss Harrington from the premises,” he instructed when the man reached them.

Moira gasped, but said nothing more as he turned and finally took Joy through to the dungeon.

Placing her hand in the crook of his arm, he brought her down the stairs. The fuck me shoes she’d worn had his dick hard as steel, but they would do a lot of damage if she twisted her ankle or missed a step. Once at the bottom, he paused, letting her take it all in. Her eyes widened a touch, but there was no shock, no fear.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Alpha himself,” Jake hollered from where he was setting up a scene.

He didn’t even try to hide his smile as his second came up and clapped him on the back. “When did you get back? I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of weeks.”

“A few hours ago. My brother decided to come home. He’s running the show in MacDougal Chutes now.” His gaze finally drifted to Joy, and his mouth dropped open a little before he snapped it shut and averted his gaze.

Joy sighed but said nothing. “This is Joy Sutherland of the Akino pack. She is my new submissive. If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to get better acquainted.”

Jake grinned back up at him. “So, I guess that means we’re not sharing?”

A growl rumbled from his chest before he could stop it.

“Whoa, hey, I’m kidding.” Jake lifted his hands defensively. “I’ll keep my paws to myself. I better go finish setting up. It’s open night, and I want a nice new sub to play with,” he said before he turned away and headed back to his station.