Mia's Masters [Locks and Chains 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (16 page)

Mia felt the eyes of the entire room on them as they crossed the threshold. Tilting her chin up, she pushed all her doubts and fear away and strolled with her head held high.

“Well done, pet,” Dylan whispered in her ear so as only she could here.

“Thanks, Master.”

Peter and Mathew went to the bar as Dylan draped his arm over her shoulder and greeted people he knew. Mia watched the women circle Peter and Mathew, and a stab of jealously hit her. She wanted to scream to the entire room, “They’re mine.” She knew they had to give the impression they were all single. Not that they actually hid their lives from anyone. But why advertise their kinks? She knew their chosen lifestyle didn’t fit into society’s norms. Although, it was nobody’s business, and they didn’t answer to anyone. Her thoughts drifted again to violence as a woman put her hand on Mathew’s bicep. Then she leant in close to whisper in his ear. Wouldn’t it be good if she could Taser with her eyes? she thought. That skinny skank who destroyed teenage girls’ self-esteem with her waiflike appearance would be on the floor convulsing right now.

“Dylan, my dear, it’s so good to see you. How have you been?” a sultry voice drawled on the other side of Dylan. Mia spun round to find its owner.

“Sarah, it’s good to see you. I’ve been well, and you?”

“I’m good, but I’ve missed you,” she said, laying her hand on Dylan’s chest.

Mia was stunned. The woman was so brazen to actually touch him and tell him she missed him right in front of her. Dylan’s arms were looped around her, for god’s sake. Couldn’t the bitch see?

“Let me introduce you to my date. Mia, this is Sarah Locker, an old acquaintance of mine.”

Mia noted the higher pitch in Dylan’s voice on the last piece of information.
Acquaintance my ass
.
More like lover.

“Acquaintance? I’m hurt, darling. I was a lot more to you than that. Do you need a refresher?” Sarah replied, letting her hand slip down his chest, closer to his waist.

Mia wanted to punch her right in her beautiful, classically featured face. The violence in her thoughts tonight just proved that keeping someone sexually frustrated wasn’t good for their mental health. Or for those who came in contact with them either. Someone should do a study on it and present the data to the world.
Get it together, Mia. You need to concentrate on protecting your man from that walking waif.

“Now, Sarah, let’s be civilized,” Dylan said, smiling.

She was furious, and she needed Dylan to prove to her that she was loved and meant something to him and that he was faithful to her. For the first time, she realized he had demanded her fidelity but had never offered his own. He hadn’t had an opportunity to be with anyone else in the past three months, so the issue had never come up.

“Darling, you know I can be quite uncivilized. Don’t you remember the last time?” she said, stepping closer to his chest. Now they were barely three inches apart.

“Sarah.”

“Oh! Are you going to order me around again? Hmm…it’s going to be a good night then, isn’t it, darling? Or should I say Master?” the cow cooed.

Mia pulled her arm out of Dylan’s hold. In all the time that this red-lipped viper had been talking to him, he’d not once removed her hand from his chest. Nor had he moved back from her either. Worst of all, he hadn’t even looked over at her to see how she was taking the fact that the cow was all over him. He’d happily let the bitch paw him. She couldn’t watch anymore. She felt as if a knife had been driven into her chest. All the old feelings of neglect by her parents were flooding back. She wouldn’t look back. She would just focus on walking toward the bar and getting as much distance as she could between them.

* * * *

Peter saw Sarah, the slut, attach herself to Dylan like the leech she was. He also saw the moment when Mia lost her trust in Dylan. Even from across the room, he could see the pain and betrayal radiating from Mia. For such a smart man, Dylan could be such an idiot. Sometimes he couldn’t see the forest for the trees. How on earth had he not noticed Mia’s distress? He waited for Mia to come over and hoped she was coming to him.

“Baby, don’t go jumping to conclusions,” he said as soon as she was within hearing.

“Conclusions, you’ve got to be kidding. Look at them.” They both turned, and Mia glared. Sarah had draped herself over Dylan like a coat.

“How can you handle it, Peter? How can you deal with him being with others?”

“Firstly, he’s never been with any men beside Mathew and me. So there’s never been any cheating or whatever you want to call it. We all know the score. Yes, it was and is hard for me to see him with women. Knowing he’s sleeping with them. But I’ve learned to cope.”

“My god, it doesn’t hurt you that I’m with him, does it?”

He appreciated the fear in her voice. It showed that she cared for him as much as the others. She was frightened that she’d hurt him. The love her felt for her grew strength by strength every day. “No, baby girl. You’re part of us. To me you’re like Mathew, a missing piece of the family which we’ve finally found.” He gave her an affectionate hug and wished he could kiss her and show his love for her. But now wasn’t the right time.

“I love you, too, big guy. As much as I love all of you, I don’t think I can do this. I can’t watch any of you with anyone else. I’m just not built like that. Or maybe my brain isn’t wired that way.”

“We know, honey. You’re a territorial momma bear.”

“If you all know that, then why the hell is Dylan with that woman?”

Peter wondered about that himself. He was sure Dylan would have realized, if not immediately at least by now, what he was doing to Mia. “Let’s get a drink and have a dance, sweetheart.”
Something, anything to occupy her until Dylan pulls his shit together.

“You’re right. I’m not going to let this ruin my night. He can fuck her for all I care. Let’s get drunk and fool around on the dance floor.”

If she’d said that without the film of unshed tears in her eyes, he would have believed she meant it. She ordered four shots and two glasses of wine from the bar
.
He had the overwhelming feeling that he was about to take one for the team. The hangover alone was going to be proof of his war injuries to save their family.

* * * *

Dylan felt nothing but disgust for the woman wrapping herself around his body, chatting about everything and nothing. For the first time, he saw why Peter had despised her so much. He’d thought it was out of jealousy. But now he realized it was the woman herself. She was cheap, even though she was draped in diamonds and designer clothing.

“Where on earth did you pick up that girl, Dylan?”

It took all his willpower to not yell at her that it wasn’t any of her business. “My girlfriend doesn’t concern you, Sarah.” He knew the wide-eyed, shocked look was just as fake as most of her body.

“She’s your girlfriend?”

Stating the obvious, dear
. “Actually she’s my partner. She lives with me.”

“You live together?”

Had she always been this dumb? What did he ever see in her? She didn’t hold a candle to his Mia. The whole situation didn’t sit well with him, and where had Mia gone? He turned his head and found her standing at the bar with Peter. His eyebrows pulled together when he saw that they were doing shots. No. he must be seeing things.

“Yes, Sarah, we live together. It’s been great seeing you,” he said, trying to politely move away. But Sarah just wrapped herself around him tighter.

“Well… while the mouse is away, the cat can play,” she said with a wink.

How childish of her to turn that saying around and insult Mia by calling her a mouse. “Unlike you, Sarah, I believe in fidelity. Excuse me.” Using force, he removed her from his body and turned to walk over to Mia and Peter at the bar.

“No one dumps me, Dylan. Go run back to your chubby little girlfriend,” she hissed at his back.

One, two, three, four. You must not hit a woman. You must not hit a woman
. He continued
toward the bar before he said or did something he would regret later. Thinking back, he should have shut her down as soon as she approached him. Peter and Mia were no longer at the bar. He looked all over for them, and after he found Mathew, they both searched. Eventually they found Peter near the dance floor, looking frantic. “Peter, where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking for you and Mia for almost an hour.”

“Dylan, we have a problem.”

Following Peter’s gaze to the dance floor, he saw Mia in the arms of one of the most renowned playboys in town, Oliver Foiure. If only Sarah knew that a true connoisseur of women panted for the curves of someone like Mia. If she did, she would get herself chubby like she claimed Mia was, he thought.

“What the fuck!” he said, much louder than he would have wished.

“You fucked up with slutty Sarah, Dylan. She was livid, and well, we drank some, and then she drank some more. Then everything went wrong,” Peter said worriedly.

Dylan watched as Oliver’s hand curved around Mia’s ass, and he saw red. This was not going to happen. Mia was his, and no one touched what was his.

Mia felt the hand of the man she was dancing with slide down and cup her ass again. She pulled his arm away. Even with how angry she was at Dylan right now, she could never betray him. If only she could. If only she was like so many other women who could take a man to bed, screw him, and just walk away. But no, she had to know a man. She had to want and trust him. Again, Mr. Hands cupped her ass. He was gorgeous, a real George Clooney look alike. Smooth in manner and slick with his conversation, he left her cold. Not to mention his wandering hands, which made her feel like she was dancing with an octopus. Just before she had a chance to remove his hand again, he disappeared. Actually, he was still standing where he had been. She had been pulled back away from him.

“Well, my little Mia, what do you think you’re doing,” Dylan said through gritted teeth.

In her slightly drunken state, she imagined him as a cartoon character with smoke coming out of his ears, and she giggled at the image. This made the hold he had on her arm more viselike, as he pulled her closer to him and away from the other man.

“Look, Dylan, we were dancing, so how about you let go of my partner and go find your own?” Mr. Hands called out from behind her.

“Foiure, how about you get your hands off my girlfriend.” Both men stared at each other.

“Well, Dylan, I must apologize. The lady didn’t tell me she was taken.” Mr. Hands looked down at her. “Are you taken, my darling?”

Mia really wanted to say, “No, I’m free as a bird.” But she wouldn’t push Dylan too far. “Sorry, no. He is my…what would you call yourself, Dylan?” she said, slurring some of her words. Obviously she’d had more to drink that she thought, although she didn’t feel drunk.

“Boyfriend,” he said through clenched teeth, glaring down at her by his side.

Ooh, was she going to be in trouble!
Wait a minute
. He was the one with the blonde leech hanging off of him. Who knew what he did with her before he came over. Why should she feel frightened or guilty?

“Thank you for the dance,” Oliver said.

Are we leaving now?” she said in an innocent tone, not showing a trace of the fear she felt. She then pulled out of Dylan’s hold and walked toward Peter and Mathew standing a few feet away.

“Girl, you’re in so much trouble,” Peter whispered as she breezed past him.

“Why? I only did what he did,” she replied. No way was she going to feel guilty for dancing with some other man. Dylan had set the die of being able to flirt with others. She hadn’t broken the rule of not sleeping with anyone else. Ignoring the stares of the men, she strode toward the exit. Let them follow her for a change, she thought to herself, pissed as hell.

* * * *

Dylan needed a few more deep breaths and maybe to count some more before he could follow Mia out to the car. She had dismissed him. She’d even had the gall to act as though he was nothing to her. Their first real public event together and she had forgotten everything. Did she think they just played games at home? Didn’t she realize they lived the lifestyle twenty-four-seven? He needed to show her and fast. He wouldn’t tolerate looking like some idiot. There were hundreds of women who vied for his attention. Not once had he offered any of them permanency or a prospect of a future. And now, the first time he had, she’d thrown it back in his face. He knew she was jealous of Sarah. There was no excuse for her behavior tonight, though. She’d shown she didn’t trust them. Actually, it was him she didn’t trust. He looked up to find Oliver standing in front of him.

“Dylan, you should put a leash on your girl if you want to keep her. I must say, she mustn’t be very satisfied by the way she acted tonight.”

His blood boiled. He wanted to grab Oliver by the shirt and smash his fist right through his smug face. He knew if he did, an even greater scene would be created, and it would be the talk of the industry. Not giving Oliver a response, he turned and walked toward the exit. Anger radiated from his body. Oliver’s remarks had burned into his brain. His comment about putting Mia on a leash turned over and over in his thoughts. It really was a good idea, leashing his pet to his side until she understood her place. She needed to be stripped down to her bare soul and rebuilt to trust and depend on her Masters to love and care for them and to know and that they would care for her.