Zurlo, Michele - Two Masters for Samantha [Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (12 page)

Samantha studied those cobalt eyes for signs he was angry. She found nothing. “You were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Why?”

The question surprised Sam because the answer seemed obvious. There were several good ones. She opted to ignore his question. Turning back to Ellen, she indicated Alexei with the sweep of her hand. “Ellen, this is Alexei. Lex, this is Ellen. I think you met at the wedding.”

Alexei stuck out his hand, extending it in such a way that his arm brushed her chest. The spark that passed between them had to be something only she felt.

“Best woman, right?”

Ellen laughed and shook Alexei’s hand. “It’s nice to see you again. I seem to recall that you have a look-alike somewhere.”

Alexei nodded. “He was right behind me.”

Samantha craned her neck to see around him, but Stefano was nowhere in sight. “He’s gone now.”

“Don’t worry, Samantha. He’ll be along. He wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Alexei leaned closer and slung his arm along the back of her chair, making his next words intimate. “I thought you said you weren’t into bondage.”

Pleasant shivers ran up and down her neck where his breath fanned her skin. Samantha leaned back in her chair. She was running out of ways to avoid touching him. Because his arm was already there, leaning back didn’t help. “I’m not. I’m here with Ellen. She’s into this stuff.”

Next to her, Ellen tilted her water glass up, caught an ice cube, and chewed on it. Sam didn’t think Ellen was listening until she spoke between crunches. “She’s ripe,” Ellen said to Alexei. “I was hoping she’d see it tonight.”

Anger surged through Samantha as the meaning of Ellen’s words sunk in. “You said Ryan was busy tonight.”

Ellen shot her one of those superior looks that made Sam want to smack it right off her face. “You don’t honestly think I have an issue with coming to a place like this by myself, do you? Not to mention that I’ve monetarily encouraged several of my Doms to come tonight. I can write it off as staff development.”

Samantha pressed her lips together. She would have shot to her feet, but Alexei’s hand pressed down on her shoulder, keeping her seated. Before she could glare at him or say anything, a shadow over her other shoulder caught her attention. Ellen smiled up at Stefano and slid over one chair.

Stefano was dressed identically to Alexei in jeans and a light blue shirt. He leaned closer. Samantha thought he might say something, but he pressed his warm, firm lips to hers and smacked a loud kiss on them, generating a burst of electricity that left her wanting more.

“You missed us, didn’t you?” A confident smile accompanied that cocky statement. If Sam hadn’t been seated, she would have had to sit down. Just being near him made her knees weak. The kiss, brief as it was, finished her off.

She opted for partial honestly. “I’ve been busy.”

He sat down and leaned against the back of the chair, affecting a relaxed air that didn’t extend to his rigid muscles. He was a panther, ready to pounce on her at the least provocation.

Samantha shifted, uncomfortable under his steady, expectant stare. “I thought you lived in
Florida
.”

His panther’s smile was slow and predatory. “We’re in town on business. We’ll be here until Sunday.”

“We have family here,” Alexei added. Samantha swung her head to meet Alexei’s less deadly gaze. “We grew up in
Michigan
, remember?”

Samantha nodded and wondered why the sound of his voice made her so wet. He wasn’t saying anything sexy. She was beginning to think he could read a grocery list and bring her to the brink.

A pressure against her leg brought her attention back to Stefano. He had moved his chair closer. A similar pressure informed her that Alexei had done the same thing on her right. She questioned Stefano with her eyes, but she said nothing.

He wasn’t smiling. His blue eyes were nearly grey with the gravity of the situation. “Tell us to leave you alone.”

And they would.
He didn’t say it out loud, but she knew what kind of men they were. No meant no and stop meant stop.

“Just so you understand,” she began. Her throat was suddenly dry. She sipped her water before continuing. “I’m not into this stuff.”

“Noted.” Stefano made no move to give her more space.

The lights dimmed before Samantha could say anything. She looked over to Ellen to find her friend’s attention riveted on the door at the far side of the room.

A Dom followed his sub as she navigated the maze of tables that would take them to the central dais. He wore black leather pants and no shirt. Thankfully, he had the chest to carry it off.

The sub wore a shapeless white gown. It covered her from neck to ankle, revealing nothing about her shape or her outfit.

“He’ll take that off of her onstage,” Alexei whispered. His warm breath caressed her skin.

“She walks in front, a place of honor, because she has earned the privilege.” Stefano supplied this on her other side.

Samantha had wondered about that. Most submissives seemed to wait somewhere behind their Dom until they were told to do otherwise. Her lip curled in distaste. Nobody would ever treat her like that.

“How did she earn the honor?” Sam wasn’t sure she wanted to know what depths to which the woman had sunk in order to earn that privilege.

“It’s likely she agreed to do this demonstration.”

Sam snorted. “Like she had a choice.”

The only Doms she knew who kept subs were Ellen and Jonas, but they seemed to have a bedroom-only policy. Anyone who didn’t know them wouldn’t be able to guess at that side of their relationships. She couldn’t see Sabrina or Ryan putting up with being leashed or being relegated to the status of a pet.

Alexei’s fingers traced a light trail along her wrist. “The submissive always has a choice.”

“I’m not a submissive,” she reminded him. She wondered if her denial rang as hollow to him as it did to her.

The Dom lifted his slave onto the raised platform and followed her up. He drew her gown over her head, folded it, and placed it at the edge of the dais. The woman wore a skimpy black leather bra that looked more like a bathing suit top. The shoulder straps tied around the neck. Her short leather skirt matched. If he bent her over something, everyone would see whether or not she wore panties. Samantha searched the woman’s face for signs of intelligence. What kind of woman let herself be paraded in front of a crowd and treated this way?

The woman’s expression was expectant and nervous, yet she showed no signs of bolting. Samantha frowned, knowing she would never have entered the room if she were in the woman’s position.

“What do you mean, she has a choice? How so?”

“They negotiated what would happen beforehand. She might have chosen a type of punishment or a tool she wants him to use on her. He might have requested to use some of his favorites, but he can only do that if she agreed to it.”

Samantha tore her eyes from the woman and fastened them on Alexei. The idea that she might be able to ask for something, to request a fulfillment of her secret fantasies, brought tingles from her toes to her breasts. “Are you honestly saying she asked for this?”

Alexei grinned. “Can I kiss you?”

She hadn’t expected that question. Flustered, she couldn’t think of an answer. Did she want him to kiss her? Hell, yes, as long as he didn’t stop. On her other side, Stefano’s hand gripped her thigh under the table. The touch both excited her and calmed her down.

“You’re getting awfully nervous,” Alexei said. “We can fix that for you.”

“How?” The word came out as a croak, but she didn’t reach for her water.

He spread his fingers over her cheeks, sliding them until he cradled her head in his hands. His lips feathered across hers in a caress as light as his touch.

Though he didn’t do much more than brush his lips against hers, he left her breathless and wanting more. When he released her, she turned her gaze away, giving her attention to the pair on the platform. The simple act had calmed her nerves, just as Lex said he could.

Stefano’s questing hand slid down far enough to find out that her shorts ended just above her knee. She sucked a deep breath when his skin made contact with hers, and she hoped he didn’t notice.

The woman knelt at her master’s feet. Her bottom rested on her heels and her hands were clasped behind her neck, forcing her breasts to thrust forward. Her eyes focused on her master’s feet.

“She has great posture,” Alexei purred into her ear. “Her back is straight and her breasts are well presented. And look at the way her knees are spread. If she were naked, no part of her body would be hidden from his view. He’s very pleased with her right now.”

Samantha tore her gaze from the sub and focused on the Dom. He smiled down at his charge with fondness, affection, and pride. As she watched, the sub rocked back and rose without moving her hands. It was a flowing, graceful movement. Next to her, both Alexei and Stefano sucked air.

“That was hot.”

She didn’t turn her head to acknowledge Stefano’s remark. She thought it was crude to say something like that when they were openly hitting on her.

“Yeah,” Alexei agreed. “Not many people can do that without losing their balance.”

Between them, Samantha snorted. She’d danced for enough years to know that the motion was deceptively difficult. It required strong thighs and iron abs. She hadn’t executed a move like that in a few years, but Sam was relatively certain she could still do it.

She felt Stefano staring at her, and she did her best to ignore him.

On stage, the Dom lifted what looked like a metal rod. The sub spread her legs as her master knelt before her. He secured the bar to either of her ankles with leather cuffs. He spoke as he buckled the straps, giving instructions about how far to spread a sub’s legs and how tight to make the buckles.

With a tiny movement of his hand, he motioned his sub to bend forward at the waist. As he tied her wrists to her ankles, he talked about flexibility. His sub was a yoga practitioner and very flexible. He moved her around to show variations on the knee positioning and slack in the rope for less flexible submissives.

Samantha was impressed as she listened to him address issues with joints and tendons. Across the table, Ellen sat in rapt attention, so focused on the demonstration that she ignored the crowd, just as she feared she would. Sam hazarded quick glances at the men on either side of her. Both Alexei and Stefano listened intently, seeming to absorb every word coming from the Dom. They nodded as they listened. Their eyes moved over the sub, but not with sexual interest. With a jolt, she realized how much they cared about the safety of the submissive.

She knew Jonas loved Sabrina and Ellen loved Ryan, but she never before realized the lengths to which they went to protect their submissive. Ellen’s words about the tension between Sabrina and Jonas came back to Sam. Jonas was going to do everything in his power to protect Sabrina whether or not she liked it. The Dom on the dais emphasized safety and responsibility.

Alexei’s hand lazily stroked her hair. Under the tablecloth, Stefano’s hand touched her knee, stroking it the same way the Dom touched his sub.

Giving in to an impish impulse, Samantha leaned closer to Stefano. “Don’t worry, Stef. I’m very flexible.”

Stefano leaned back to whisper in her ear. “Good, but I plan to test your limits anyway.”

Maybe baiting him wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t think her remark implied consent, did he? Samantha meant to clear that up, but she was distracted by the Dom bending down like he was speaking to the submissive.