Maya Banks (24 page)

Faith studied her for a moment. "Hmm, the loss of five inches might tip him off."

"Not to mention the abundance of cleavage," Serena said dryly. "Although he might not complain about that part."

The girls giggled and headed toward the door where Sam stood solemnly, his expression disapproving.

"May I tell Mr. Roche what time you plan to return?"

Julie snickered.

With a perfectly straight face, Serena said, "Well, you could, Sam, but I have no idea when that might be. You may tell Mr. Roche that I'll see him when I see him."

They stumbled out of the house laughing as they headed toward the cab parked inside the circle drive.

"Where're we going anyway?" Faith asked when they piled into the cab.

Julie looked at them sheepishly.

"You seriously aren't taking us to Cattleman's for girls' night out," Serena said.

"I mean, I like Cattleman's," Faith was quick to say, "but this is a special night. We're back together again."

Julie laughed. "Faith, you dork, we were only apart for less than a week."

"So?" she said with a sniff. "I missed you guys."

"The hell you did," Serena snorted. "If I know Gray he had you six ways to Sunday and a few into Monday as well."

Faith blushed but her grin lit up the entire cab.

"Okay, so I know you guys aren't thrilled with Cattleman's, but I arranged our own little private drinking area, complete with ... drumroll, please ... our own private bartender. And he's hot, if I do say so myself."

"Oooh, Cattleman's is looking up," Serena said.

Faith wrinkled her nose. "Since I'm newly married and all, aren't I supposed to be struck blind for at least six months? I'm not supposed to notice hot guys, right?"

"Honey, as long as you go home to your even hotter man, a little window-shopping is not verboten," Julie said.

"Hmm, window-shopping. I like that," Faith said.                                 
 

Half an hour later, they landed at Cattleman's and entered the pub, cutting past several people waiting to be seated to eat. Julie caught Carls eye and waved. He smiled and motioned her back.

"Come on, girls," Julie said grabbing their hands.

Seconds later, escorted by Carl, they were given a table in a cordoned off section of the bar. The rounded back corner was theirs and a bartender leaned saucily against the wall.

"Ladies," he greeted. "My name is Drew, and I'm yours for the evening."

"Oh, Julie, good call," Serena murmured.

"Somebody remind me I'm married," Faith squeaked.

"Place your orders," Drew said. "I'm ready to pour."

Fours hour later, the crowd had filtered out, the drinks had slowed and Julie, Serena and Faith were on the floor, their heads touching as they stared up at the ceiling.

"Who knew there were stars up here, or that they glowed in the dark," Faith said in a low whisper.

"Pretty," Serena agreed.

Julie was still trying to get her tongue to work. A face appeared above her head, a grinning face.

"Ready to call it a night?" Drew asked.

"Hell no," Julie muttered. Easy enough to find her tongue when it counted. "I want one more. Just slide the straw down here so I don't have to get up."

He chuckled. "Sorry. I'm going to have to cut you off. It's last call."

"Damn."

"Think Carl will mind if we just camp out here tonight?" Serena asked. "I've lost the feeling in my legs."

"I'm not moving," Faith said. "If I do, I'll probably puke."

"So, we stay," Julie said with a nod.

She held up her hand, giggling when it waved precariously. Serena and Faith held theirs up, and it took three attempts, but they finally managed to high-five.

Julie let her hand fall to the floor with a thump. "Damn it's good to hang out with you guys again. We need to make a solemn vow with you two heifers tying the knot that we don't give this up and become boring housewives."

"Bite your tongue," Serena muttered. "Damon may have me manacled, but he doesn't have me on a leash."

"Yet." Faith snickered.

Julie turned to check out the shiny arm cuff on Serena's upper arm. It looked so exotic on her, and she'd wondered more than once what its significance was. She had a matching one above her ankle. It looked so slave-girlish.

"So is that what he gave you in lieu of a collar?" Julie asked seriously.

Serena stilled and touched the outline of the gold. "Yeah," she said quietly. "It's his mark of ownership."

"Damn, that's hot," Faith said wistfully. "Gray's not into the embellishments and trinkets of the so-called lifestyle. I'd wear something like that though. It's incredibly sexy."

"So collar yourself," Julie said. "Surprise him one night and show up naked save for your owner collar or whatever the hell you call it."

"Your snideness is showing again," Serena snickered.

"No," Julie said. "I'm not snide at all. I think what you guys have is cool. It's not for me, but anyone with eyeballs can see how much Gray and Damon love and worship you two. If Faith thinks it's hot, then go for it. Get a leash while you're at it. I can think of all sorts of naughty things you could do with a leash," she added with a grin.

"Uhm, I guess I'm too drunk or I lack imagination, but now I'm dying to hear these deviant ideas you have about leashes."

Julie snorted. "Come on, Faith. You're the resident wild child. If you can't figure that one out, you need to go watch some porn or something."

"I once raided Micah's stash," she admitted. "He has some, er, uhm, interesting stuff."

Both Serena and Julie raised their heads, or at least they tried. Julie's landed back with a thump, and she groaned.

"We're dying of curiosity here, Faith. Spill," Serena said.

"Lots of bondage stuff. Darker than I would have thought. Kinda scary, but it made me shivery at the same time," Faith said.

"Oh? Well, I kinda figured him for the bondage type. He's all brooding, and he seems to like submissive women," Julie said.

"Uh-huh," Serena said.

"There was something in that agreement," Faith needled.

Serena laughed. "I've felt the sting of Micah's lash," she said ruefully.

"Damon allowed this?" Julie asked.

"Oh yes," she sighed. She went silent, and Julie didn't pry for more.

"So what else?" Julie prompted Faith. She was curious as to Micah's proclivities now that she knew he'd fucked her along with Nathan.

"Dark stuff."

"You already said that," Serena said patiently. "What kind of dark stuff."

"Spankings, but not the light, fluffy kind. Pain, the edgy kind that crosses the line of pleasure. Hot wax. And when I say submission, I mean complete and utter submission. It's hard to explain. Had this dungeon feel to it. He seems to like threesomes too, but then I guess we all know that," she added with a laugh.

"What do you suppose his story is?" Julie murmured. "A man like that has all sorts of juicy secrets, I'm willing to bet."

"Dunno," Faith said. "In some ways he's an open book. In others he's so tight-lipped. For instance, he takes off the same time every single year. No one knows where he goes or what he does. He gets moody leading up to it and then he disappears. When he returns he's back to his old self."

"Oh you're right, that does sound juicy," Serena said. "We're women, which means we're nosy. Now I'm dying to know where he goes."

Julie laughed. "Ask him."

"No thanks. Like I said, I've felt the sting of his lash. I don't think I'd ever want to piss him off. I know he's usually so easygoing, but I don't think I'd want to see him truly angry."

"Oooh, the stars are spinning now," Faith said.

Serena snorted. "That's your head, dumbass."

"Preeettty," Faith said with a giggle.

"You lightweight," Julie said in disgust.

"Who's going to volunteer to get up first?" Serena asked.

"Not me," Faith said.

"Or me," Julie added.

"So we just lie here. Works for me," Serena said.

"What on earth are you girls doing on the floor?"

Julie's eye cracked open at the amused husky tone she'd spent the better part of the last three nights fantasizing about.

"Nathan?"

Chapter 27

N
athan looked down at the three women sprawled on the floor and tried like hell to suppress his grin.

He squatted down next to Julie. "I'm surprised you recognize me."

"There can't be that many gorgeous bald-headed guys running around Cattleman's, can there?"

He lost the battle with his twitching mouth and chuckled. "Had a little too much to drink?"

"Hi, Nathan," Faith said, holding her fingers up and waggling them.

"Hey, sweetness, is Serena conscious over there?"

Serena let out a sound that he couldn't quite decipher. It didn't exactly sound human.

He turned his attention back to Julie. "So how were you girls planning to get home anyway?"

"Cab."

"Ah. Well, I have a better idea."

He pulled out his cell phone, still chuckling. He got up and moved a few feet away as he punched in Gray's number.

"You're out late," Gray said as he answered the phone.

"So is your wife."

"Yeah, girls' night out. How did you know?"

"Well, I'm staring at her, Julie and Serena lying flat on the floor of Cattleman's," Nathan said with a chuckle.

"What? What the hell?"

"Relax, man, she's fine. They're drunk as skunks and having a good time as far as I can tell. They said they were catching a cab back to Damon's, but I didn't feel comfortable letting them pour themselves into a cab as drunk as they are. Thought you might want to come get Faith."

"Damn right. Thanks, man. Last thing I want is some joker to see three easy marks. What the hell was Damon thinking? I thought he was at least sending his mountain of a driver slash security guard."

"I'll let you call him to collect Serena."

"What about Julie?"

"I'll take care of Julie," Nathan said softly. He'd been waiting for his chance to pin down the little escape artist.

"Do you mind hanging out until I get there?" Gray asked.

"Of course not. I'm not going anywhere. I'll hang out, keep an eye on them until you and Damon show."

"I'll be right over."

Nathan hung up and walked back over to where the girls hadn't moved.

"You ratted us out, didn't you?" Serena said accusingly.

He winced as he squatted back down to their level. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I did just that. Guy's code and all that. When your girl's in trouble, you expect your buddy to call. Just looking out for three very special women. I don't want y'all climbing into some strange cab or have some stranger take advantage of you."

"Aw, that's sweet," Faith slurred.

"Yeah, kinda hard to be mad when he says shit like that," Julie mumbled.

He tweaked Julie softly on the nose. "You three sure are cute when you throw a drunk. But next time do it at home. If you don't want the guys around, banish them for the evening."

"Yes, big brother," Serena snorted.

"You, I'll let get away with that crack," he said.
"You,
however, better not ever even think of me in that capacity," he said to Julie as he touched her cheek.

She grinned. "I think we've already established that there is nothing fraternal about our relationship."

Nathan hid his triumph. At least they were getting somewhere. She might be drunk, but at least she'd acknowledged something was going on between them.

"So, uhm, who's coming to get us?" Faith piped up.

"That would be me, the husband," Gray said from behind Nathan.

Nathan stood up to see Gray standing with his hands shoved into his pockets, a wide grin across his face.

"You didn’t use to be that big, did you?" Faith squeaked as she looked up at her husband.

He squatted down as Nathan had done and smiled at her. "Better?"

Faith scrunched up her nose. "Are you here to take me home?

I can't be the first to go home. Would be embarrassing. Like I'm an old married lady or something."

Gray chuckled. "But you're my old married lady, and I'd like to have my old married lady in bed with me. It's sorta lonely without you."

Nathan watched in amusement as Faith melted into a gooey puddle on the floor.

"Oh, that's nice," Serena sighed.

"Want help up?" Gray asked as he ran a hand over Faith's shoulder.

"I'm worried," she muttered.

"About what, baby?"

"If I become upright, I might puke."

Nathan chuckled and Gray's shoulders shook.

"Tell you what. I'll lift and get you back onto the bar stool." He glanced up at the bartender who waved a large plastic basin from behind the bar. "If you need to puke, there's a nice big puke bowl on the bar."

"Ugh," Faith moaned. "Like I want to puke in front of everyone?"

"Oh shut up, Faith," Julie muttered. "Like you haven't held my hair up enough times."

"Up you go," Gray said as he pulled Faith to a sitting position.

He let her sit there for a moment as he brushed her hair from her face. "Okay so far?"

She nodded and he helped her to her feet. She weaved precariously on her way to the stool, but Gray kept a firm grip on her arm.

She sank onto the stool with a sigh. Then she stared at the bartender. "Hey, I know you. You're Drew." Then she glanced around the empty bar with a bewildered expression on her face. "Hey, where is everyone?"

"Baby, it's three in the morning. They're all home, which is where you should be."

"Three?" Serena squeaked. "Sam is going to kill me."

"Sam and not Damon?" Julie asked.

"Sam is a little protective. He's already mad because I wouldn't let him drive us around."

Ah, so that solved the mystery of why they had taken a cab. Nathan shook his head. What the hell had they been thinking?

"And you should have let him," Nathan said. "Three young women alone, three young
drunk
women alone, is never a good idea."

"I need to go to the bathroom," Julie announced.

"Uh-oh, you need to puke?" Nathan asked in alarm.