McKenzie, Cooper - A Club Esoteria Christmas [Club Esoteria 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

Chapter 6

With his throbbing cock and aching balls relieved for the moment, Antony tried to pay attention to the show going on in front of them. But sitting next to Mistress on the couch made him wish for the party to be over already. He also found his attention wandering as he looked around, admiring the changes made during his absence.

Not only had the walls been painted a soft chamois color and new deep brown carpeting laid, but several pieces of equipment had been made over or replaced in the scening areas around the room. Gentry’s handiwork, he surmised. The uncollared submissives’ area had been taken over by a Christmas tree that was decorated with red and green glass balls as well as handcuffs, whips, and a long silver-colored chain instead of tinsel.

“Pay attention, pet.” Mistress ran her hand up the inside of his thigh until her pinkie brushed against his tightly pressed balls.

Heat raced through him at her touch until she pinched his thigh just an inch south of his balls. He sucked a breath to keep from crying out as her fingers pressed together, clamping his skin painfully tight.

“Yes, Mistress,” he murmured.

Straightening, he turned his attention back to the last few moments of the most sensual tango he had ever seen.

He was not sure if it was the fact that Sloan was very, very pregnant and wearing next to nothing as she danced with her Sir, or the love he saw radiating from the couple, but all at once his heart clenched. He wanted that kind of love with Jenna. Oh sure, he knew she loved him as her slave, her whipping boy, her confidant, and lover, but did others see the kind of love in them that glowed from Sloan and Merlin?

As Taurus finished introducing the next act, a long, low, pain-filled moan filled the silence. Looking around, he smiled. Sloan and Merlin’s tango should have ended the show not been near the beginning. Many of the Doms and Dommes were playing with their submissive partners, teasing, taunting, and murmuring to them while not paying a moment’s notice as a quartet of submissives began singing a medley of Christmas carols.

Antony turned to the left just in time to see Dane’s face go pale. A second later, the man surged to his feet, still holding a balled up Sloan in his arms. She had her arms wrapped around her belly and appeared to be the source of the moaning.

“Is there a doctor in the house?” he bellowed, causing the quartet to stop singing and everyone to turn and stare at him.

“Yes, Master. I’m right here,” Merlin snarked as he stood up beside the big man.

Dane looked at his slave-mate, momentarily startled as the others in the room laughed. “Yes, but you’re a kiddie doctor, not a baby delivery kind of doctor.”

“Master, take a deep breath and calm down. I am a doctor, which means I do know how to deliver a baby if it comes to that. I also know how to treat head injuries if you pass out and hit your head in the next five seconds,” he said.

Antony stood when Jenna did then followed his Mistress to the squabbling duo.

He stood by silently as she intervened. “Why don’t we take Sloan upstairs to the medical room? Merlin, we should have everything you need to check her out up there. Then you can decide whether she needs to go to the hospital or not.”

“Thank you…Mistress J.” Merlin hesitated then seemed to remember where he was. While he was in charge of the medical emergency, he was still Master’s slave and as such submissive to all Doms and Dommes in the club.

“Antony, get the key to the medical room and join us upstairs,” Jenna said as she led the fathers-to-be and their little woman toward the stairs.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“And bring a stack of clean towels if you could,” Merlin ordered.

His calm tone made Antony take a deep breath to settle his own jangling nerves. He had never been this close to a woman giving birth before. He was a Coastie, a sailor, not a midwife. He wasn’t sure if Dane would be the only one on the ground if forced to watch a new life being delivered.

Gentry stayed with him. “Antony? You okay? I know Mistress didn’t mean to sound so…so….well, like she did. She really did miss you and was real worried the last few days.”

Antony took a breath and looked at his friend and brother-slave. “I know, Gentry. I wish I could have been back here on schedule. Then maybe things wouldn’t be so awkward between us, but this is how it is and we’ll deal with it. As long as she doesn’t kick me to the curb before the end of the party, I’m sure we’ll be okay.”

Gentry stared at him, his sky blue eyes suddenly filling with unshed tears. “She wouldn’t do that to you, would she? I can’t be her only slave. We both need you in this family.”

“Hush, brother. It will be fine. As I said, we’ll deal with it.”

“Pet, if you don’t get your ass up here right now—” Jenna called from the second floor balcony, sending both men to hurrying across the room and up the stairs.

“Sorry, Mistress, it was my fault,” Gentry said just as Antony said, “No excuses, Mistress.”

Antony met her eyes for a few seconds before dropping his gaze when she cocked an eyebrow at him in question. She took the key from his hand and opened the room that was set up as a medical exam room. Once Merlin, Dane, and Sloan were inside, she pulled the door closed before turning back to look at him, her Domme in full control.

“Pet, you will go upstairs, get your cuffs, put them on, and report to me downstairs for punishment. You have been a very bad boy lately and need reminding of your place in
my
household. You have five minutes to follow out my orders or gather your things and get off the property.”

* * * *

Gentry watched Mistress and Antony as a cold chill raced down his spine then out to his fingers and toes. Would she let his best friend back into their family after his punishment? Where would that leave him? Though Mistress still did not know, Antony had shared his news of leaving the Coast Guard with Gentry. They had discussed expanding Gentry’s furniture business or of Antony taking over the day-to-day running of the club.

Gentry was just worried that Mistress had changed her mind about having two men at her disposal. He liked the triad dynamic when Antony was with them and everyone got along. Right now he wondered if more than Antony’s being out of touch for a few days was causing Mistress to be upset. He just did not know what it was or how he could fix it in the next five minutes.

He stared at the floor as he had been trained until Jenna wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled his forehead down to rest on her shoulder. She kissed his cheek gently.

“Baby, you will stay here and guard this door. If Merlin needs anything, I want you to fetch it for him. When they no longer need you up here, join us at the St. Andrew’s Cross.”

“Yes, Mistress, I understand.”

“Good boy. Understand that you are not in any trouble, but pet needs to be reminded that he is
my
slave and that not finding a way to check in over the past few days was totally unacceptable. Don’t worry, baby, we will work it out, and we’ll have a wonderful Christmas.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Gentry whispered.

* * * *

Before Jackson had a chance to react to the aftermath of the baby drama, Sinclair had hopped off her barstool. She grabbed one of the spare bottles of disinfectant cleaner from under the counter and several clean bar rags before ducking under the bar.

“Sunshine?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Where are you going?”

She smiled and held up the cleaning supplies. “Cleanup detail.”

“Thank you. When things slow down a little later, I’ll make it up to you.”

“I may not survive that, Sir,” she snarked before continuing on her way.

He watched as she set to work cleaning the leather couch. A moment later a pair of Doms looking for a stiff drink demanded his attention.

As he poured their drinks, his free hand slipped into his jeans’ front pocket and confirmed that throughout the evening he had not lost the diamond engagement ring he had carried the last four months. He had bought it the day after she had first refused to answer his proposal.

Though he had asked several times since and saw the wavering and want in her eyes, she continued to reply to each proposal with the same deferring answer of “later.”

He had quit asking a month ago, hoping that by backing off and easing the pressure she would have a chance to think. He wanted her to come to the same realization that he had while sitting in her hospital room waiting for her to be brought up from the Emergency Room more than six months earlier.

Tonight was the night. Before they left the club that evening he had decided that Sinclair
would
be wearing his ring and she would no longer worry about her status in his life.

He hoped.

* * * *

Taurus watched as chaos erupted in the audience. He felt for Dane as the big man panicked about Sloan being in labor. He was just as overprotective of his mouse as Dane was of his slaves. If Whitney ever told him she was pregnant, he would probably wrap her in cotton wool and keep her upstairs in their apartment until long after the baby was born, even if he had to tie her to the bed to do it.

“Master.” Whitney ran a hand from his elbow to shoulder and back down again. “I think we need to cancel the rest of the show. Or maybe postpone it until New Year’s Eve.”

“You’re right, mouse. Let me make an announcement to that effect, and then maybe I’ll give you one of your Christmas presents.”

“But Christmas isn’t for two more days,” she said, her voice betraying her excitement.

Wrapped packages with her name on the tags had been appearing under the tree in their apartment as well as the big tree just across the room. What Whitney did not know was that several also sat under Sloan’s tree waiting to be opened when they joined his cousin and her two masters Christmas afternoon for a midafternoon dinner.

Whitney had become the center of his life, and though he told her often enough, he still wondered if she understood just how much he loved her. Last year they had missed Christmas together. Her mother had demanded Whitney accompany her on a cruise so the two of them could spend some quality time alone. While on the cruise, Whitney’s mother died in her sleep the night before they returned to port. The autopsy showed that she had several brain aneurysms, one of which had blown, killing her almost instantly.

Since this was their first real Christmas together, Taurus bought her a gift for every year of her age. Some were small and some were big. Some were club related, and others had nothing to do with sex. His favorite was the nipple clamps with the silver mice dangling from them.

He could not wait to see them dance on her breasts as he flogged her until every inch of skin from shoulders to ankles glowed pink. He planned to arouse her to the edge then keep her there until she begged for release.

Just the mental image made him hot. But that would wait until everyone left in a few hours.

“Little mouse, have you not figured out that I am Master T and I can do whatever I damn well please?”

“Yes, Master.”

He wrapped one arm around her back, slid it under her arm, and palmed her breast. She sucked a quick breath, but did not fight his odd hold. Her instant acceptance of anything he wanted to do to her was but one of the things he loved about her. Hopefully, as she opened her gifts she would realize some of the other reasons he loved her.

Keeping his arm around her, he moved to the center of the stage. “Well, folks, I guess our talent show has been preempted for the evening. Please stay and enjoy yourselves. There’s plenty of food and drink, and the equipment is open for your pleasure, except the new rack. I believe Mistress Jenna will have that tied up for much of the evening now that Antony has finally returned home. At midnight we’ll gather around the tree for presents. Merry Christmas to all.”

“And to all a good flogging,” someone from the back of the crowd returned.

“Absolutely,” Taurus agreed before turning and burying his face in Whitney’s hair. “Shall we go and get into some, my little mouse?”

She took a deep breath, pushing her erect nipple deeper into the palm of his hand. He tightened his hold on the mound and smiled when she pulled in a sharp breath. “Whitney?”

“Whatever you wish, Master,” she responded after swallowing and clearing her throat.

“What I really wish won’t be possible for a few more hours,” Taurus said softly, knowing his teasing would drive her curiosity wild. “But we’ll get to it eventually. Anticipation is a good thing.”