Soul Rest: A Knights of the Board Room Novel (45 page)

This wasn’t the reception where physical desires had to be kept in check. He didn’t smile, didn’t gesture to her. She was acutely aware of the hold of his collar on her throat as she managed erratic breaths. She was held in place, waiting for him to tell her what he desired from her. She’d always run from that, hadn’t she? Never waited around to see what a man wanted from her. Yet she actively sought it from him. She’d started calling him Master before he ever prompted her to do so. If he had prompted her to do it first, she probably would have told him to get over himself and fuck off, shut down the urge and never turned back to it.

She could lie to herself, tell herself it was evidence he’d let her take the lead at key points in their relationship, yet in truth she hadn’t felt in the lead once. Nor had she really wanted to step into that role. It was as Rachel had described. She didn’t have to be in control. That was her choice, an amazing, empowering choice.

She took a deeper breath at the thought. Now that Leland was here, connecting her to him with that penetrating look and full awareness of her, of who she was, what she was to him, those worries and insecurities felt even farther away.

“I have someone I’d like her to meet, Leland,” Rachel said. “Is that all right?”

Leland’s gaze shifted to the blonde, and he nodded. “In just a minute.”

He crooked a finger at Celeste to draw her closer and reached for a glass of wine that the bartender had placed on the corner of the bar near him. When Celeste reached Leland, he slid his arm around her waist, his palm spreading out over her buttock. The simplest contact had her quivering and his mouth tightened as he saw it. “Take a couple sips,” he said, holding the glass to her lips. When she began to lift her hand to it, he shook his head.

She put the hand down. He tilted the glass to give her a sip, then another. His gaze stayed trained on her, making sure he didn’t give her too much, too quickly. When he took it away, he leaned down and tasted the wine on her lips, a brief sample of his mouth that, along with the wine, spread a steadying warmth through her.

“Go with Rachel now,” he told her.

Rachel laced fingers with her. Leland gave her a mild push and a look that made Celeste want nothing more than to stay right with him. She wasn’t sure who this docile creature was whose gaze clung to him and whose feet dragged as she was taken away from him, but she couldn’t seem to snap out of the enchantment.

“He’ll call you when he’s ready for you,” Rachel told her in a low voice. “They like us to move around, pretend to make small talk, when we all know the whole point is making the anticipation build until we’re crazy with it. It’s more fun that way.”

Fun was not the strongest priority driving her right now. She noticed Matt, Lucas, Jon and Peter seemed to be doing the same thing Leland was doing. Their wives were greeting friends, chatting, but it was as clear as if there was an electrified tether between each couple that both Masters and subs were thinking about all the things that were going to happen here tonight. It was unsettling, arousing. Ironically, the farther she moved from Leland, the more that feeling was amplified.

When she brushed a lock of her hair off her brow, she had to stop herself from sliding her fingers over her mouth, down her throat, trailing her fingers over her breast. Her gaze slid over a divan and she thought of reclining there, letting her fingers descend further, her attention only on her Master as she touched herself.

“I don’t think it will be long before the music is turned off,” Rachel said, jerking her out of the fantasy. Though there was humor in the woman’s voice, Celeste heard a faint strain that reflected her own.

Celeste cleared her throat. “You said there was a ‘trio’ here?”

“Yes. It’s one of that trio I wanted you to meet. A distraction right now would be good, right?”

Celeste had to chuckle at that, and Rachel’s eyes gleamed in response. “Here we go, then. Lyda, may I introduce someone to Gen?”

They’d approached a pair of women who were finishing a conversation with another couple Celeste didn’t know. Celeste hadn’t had much direct experience with the female side of the Dominant equation, but the woman called Lyda was obviously on the Dom side of the fence. Way beyond that fence, and all the way up the side of a mountain with it. She had gunmetal silver eyes and an enviable figure outfitted in black latex pants that fit like skin. Her black-and-white pinstriped vest had nothing under it except a pair of firm breasts and more silky pale skin. She had a thin tie looped around her bare throat and tucked into the neckline, nestled into her cleavage. There was a diamond stickpin in the tie. Her long and thick dark-red hair was tied back off her bare shoulders.

Celeste deduced Gen was the woman standing in her arm span. A thirty-something with tawny brown hair and green eyes like fresh juniper, she exuded a quiet, humming sexuality. It wasn’t the out-front appeal that Lyda had, but it seemed fanned to life and kept to a steady flame by the Domme’s attention. Celeste wondered if she would put off the same vibe after prolonged exposure to Leland. Until these past couple weeks with him, she’d forgotten what being in direct communication with herself as a sexual being had felt like.

Lyda gave Celeste a sweeping glance and nodded, granting permission for Rachel to introduce Celeste to Gen. The music wasn’t yet turned off, but Leland’s behavior, and now Rachel’s, asking the Domme for permission to speak to her sub, told Celeste the protocol was already in place. It made those butterflies in her stomach more active, her desire to turn and look at Leland all the stronger, but she tamped it down and focused on being polite. She could move and breathe without her Master’s direction, for heaven’s sake. Without Leland’s direction. This room and all the weird Dom/sub energy was spinning a spell over her. Like being at bondage Disneyland.

“Celeste, this is Gen. I thought you two might want to meet. Something about your personalities suggested to me you could become good friends.”

Celeste’s gaze flicked to Rachel, startled, but all she read from Rachel’s face was the general instinct of a good people person. “Hello,” she said, offering her hand to Gen. It didn’t seem appropriate to offer it to Lyda. However, since the woman’s regard remained intently upon her, Celeste offered her a nod. “Uh, friend of the bride or groom’s?”

Gen smiled. “Sort of neither. Noah and Ben know one another.” She gestured to the bartender, telling Celeste who Noah was. “Well, Noah knows all of the knights, but especially Ben. Oops, sorry. I meant Matt and his team.”

“It’s all right.” Rachel gave Celeste a teasing squeeze. “This is the reporter who first called them the Knights of the Board Room.”

“As if they needed an additional ego inflation,” Lyda observed with dry amusement, but no rancor. “Though I expect you might have meant it in mockery?”

“Initially. Then I got to know them, and I realized…”

“They live up to the hype.” Gen chuckled, gave Lyda a light nudge with her elbow. “Don’t pay any attention to her, Celeste. Typical Master versus Mistress rivalry.”

“So Noah is…” Celeste turned to look toward the bar where the beautiful young man was putting together a drink for Lucas and Peter. Her brow furrowed. She might have stepped in it, no real way to classify what he was to Gen.

“Husband, boyfriend, Dom, sub? It’s confusing, isn’t it?” Gen’s warmth made Celeste feel more at ease. Lyda, while far less approachable, didn’t seem unfriendly. She was just listening while stroking Gen’s hair, her upper arm, and taking occasional sips of her wine.

“I’m theirs,” Gen said simply. “And we both belong to her,” she added, nodding to Lyda and coloring a little at her Mistress’s lifted brow. “It’s complicated.”

Celeste thought about how she could introduce herself here. Could she really do it, say she belonged to Leland, that she was Leland’s sub? That he was her Master? It was easier to say it to him in the heat of their passion, when it was just the two of them. “Um…I’m…” She reached up to toy with the necklace before she thought of stopping herself. “I came with Leland.”

“Really?” Lyda’s expression became less imperious and far more approachable. Seeing that she was fond of Leland also helped Celeste relax further. Lyda’s gaze shifted to Rachel. “A miracle. The dry spell has broken. Think I’ll go talk to him about that and get my wine topped off.”

With a nod at Gen, she drifted in that direction. Rachel squeezed Celeste’s arm. “I’m going to leave you and Gen to talk and check on the other guests. I’m on hostess duty.”

Celeste wasn’t sure how to take either Lyda’s comment or being left in a one-on-one with a stranger, but she’d handled plenty of difficult interviews, hadn’t she? The key was knowing what persona to assume, how to act. Except she didn’t want anything about tonight to be about acting.

“You seem familiar to me.”

She tuned back in to Gen, who was studying her face. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. But just now, when you were looking a little uncertain about being left on your own, I caught something in your expression.” Gen pursed her lips. “Where did you grow up in Baton Rouge?”

Celeste didn’t make a habit of saying where, but apparently her hesitation gave Gen the clue she needed. She reached out, closed her hand on Celeste’s arm. “The Haven Trailer Park?” she asked, face brightening further.

“Yes.”

Gen’s eyes lit up. “Celly. You’re Celly, aren’t you? Do you remember me? You were pretty young. Younger than me by a couple years.”

Celeste studied her face more closely, and then a thought bloomed, her heart speeding up as she caught the anticipation and excitement from Gen. “You lived on the back side of the park. Your mom was gone a lot of nights.”

“Like yours.” A pleased look crossed Gen’s face. “Oh my God. Small world. You remember when we tried to figure out how to make that boxed pizza mix?”

“And the sauce exploded? We were so worried your mom would get home before we got it all cleaned up.”

They both laughed, but then Celeste sobered, staring hard at Gen. She could remember the moon shape of Gen’s adolescent face, a little bit of baby fat on it, though she’d been all stick arms and legs. Gen hadn’t lived in the park long, barely a few months, but despite that, she’d probably been the best friend Celeste had until she’d reached her twenties and met Valerie. Celeste realized she’d bonded with Gen the way she’d bonded with Marcie. Instinctively and instantly, though she and Gen had likely been helped along by their shared circumstances. Regardless, Celeste was impressed by Rachel’s intuition.

When Gen slid her arms around Celeste and hugged her with great affection, Celeste found herself hugging Gen with equal warmth. Gen didn’t let her go when she slid back, gazing at her face. “Isn’t this amazing? I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought of you over the years. That was about the only time my mother ever left Florida when I was growing up. It was such a short time, I probably would have forgotten we’d ever left the state, except I always remembered you. When I got old enough, I thought about driving back to see you, but then I thought, ‘God, she’s got to be hell and gone from there.’ Or rather, ‘I hope she’s hell and gone from there.’”

“I’m still in Baton Rouge, but I’m also hell and gone from there. If that makes sense.”

“It sure does. Sometimes the only journey you make is in your own head, but it can be a tougher trip than jumping on a plane and going halfway across the world.”

Gen glanced across the room at Lyda and Noah. Noah was topping off her wine glass. As he did, his Mistress touched his face, a light smile playing around her moist lips. She said something to him, her gaze flicking over him with a direct intensity Celeste recognized, enough that she couldn’t immediately tear her gaze away. Noah’s dark eyes sparked at the direct command. Straightening, he loosened his tie, removed it and then skinned out of his dress shirt and the tank beneath, revealing a lot of smooth, tan skin and lean muscle.

“I figured she was going to have him do that sooner than later. Thank God.” Gen grinned. “The surprise is she waited that long.”

Noah put the clothing beneath the bar and braced both hands on it as his Mistress leaned over and kissed his lips, teasing his throat with a flick of her long nails. He closed his hand around her wrist and kissed her hand. When she moved away to engage Matt and Savannah in conversation, Noah didn’t bother to keep his eyes off every latex slick curve.

Gen sobered then, her attention coming back to Celeste. “My mom wasn’t around a lot, and she wasn’t the best mom ever, but I do remember she would have been mom of the year next to yours. I prayed for you, Celeste, when I understood just how bad it could have ended up for you.”

She wasn’t usually the sentimental sort, but between what had happened to Jai, letting Leland meet her family and everything that had happened these past couple weeks to crack open a lot of long suppressed feelings, Celeste couldn’t quell the ache that captured her throat. It was a simple, lovely thing, knowing a friend had prayed for her well-being.

Realizing she might be drawing them down a path far darker than either wanted to go, Gen squeezed her hands. “Those prayers must have done some good. Look at you. You’re beautiful, and you look happy. And that…” Glancing toward Leland, she executed a dramatic eye roll that reminded Celeste of the child Gen had been and left them both smiling, dispelling the shadows. “I just met him a little while ago, but I can tell that is a
very
fine Master there.”

“Oh, really?” Lyda had returned. She was no longer carrying the wine glass, so both arms were free. She looped them around Gen’s waist and placed a kiss on her throat as her hands slid up, cupped Gen’s breasts. Gen winked at Celeste, despite having to catch her lip in her teeth as Lyda’s touch roved down, slipped between her legs, began to massage her just beneath the folds of the short black skirt. Instead of a black dress, Gen had worn that and a black fitted shirt, transparent enough to show a black lacy bra beneath the line of pearl buttons. Lyda’s other hand deftly flicked them open so she could trail her scarlet nails down Gen’s cleavage and play with the front clasp of the undergarment.