Broken Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Seven (5 page)

“This way,” she signaled as she turned down the street. Vadik gestured for Andrea to walk just in front of him, but Natalja called back. “Stop being a gentleman, Mr. Petrov. Your slave should walk behind you.”

His throat, shoulders, and fingers tightened in quick succession. He didn’t like the idea of Andrea being out of his sight. “How far behind me?”

Natalja turned around, walking backwards on the grimy street. “Far enough that she’s not in your sight.” She stopped. “I know your instinct is to protect her, but this is why you have
me
with you. I need to break you of your instincts, if you’re going to be a believable Master.”

“Oh, he’s
master
enough,” came Andrea’s melodic joke.

Vadik found himself smiling, against his will again, and he quashed it. “I can be the dominant, no worry there.”

“Ah, but it’s not about being
dominant,
it’s about being
Master
.” Natalja held up one finger. “That means your needs are first. And her service is about your needs.”

He flexed his shoulders, glancing at Andrea beside him. She was cuddled up in the puffy, black coat and seemed less like a slave than a…than a girl.

“If you’re going to be the Master, it’ll be your little behaviors that will give you away.” Natalja came between them and placed Andrea about a foot behind him, over his left shoulder.

“I know. That’s why I didn’t want her doing this in the first place.” Vadik looked behind him. The street was mostly empty, save the automobile traffic, and he trusted his reflexes enough to be able to get to anyone who would hurt her, even out of arm’s length. But he was still on edge.

“There.” Natalja brushed something off Andrea’s shoulder. “Let’s begin the lessons now, then. So, Andrea, you’re going to have to keep your eyes in front of you. Focus on a point on the ground. Maybe watch that big Russian heel, or his hand. Don’t make eye contact with anyone.”

“But how will I know who’s coming?”

“Aaaaah.” Niko’s sister broadened her amused smile into a grand, expectant one. “That’s what your Master is for. He’ll be aware of the people around you, and if you stay in his reach, he’ll control access to you.”

Vadik nodded. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“I can protect myself.” Her lip curled up into a half-smile. “Even without being able to watch my surroundings.”

“Of course you can, darling,” Natalja said. “But why would you want to?” She pounded on Vadik’s shoulder. “With a man like this.” She pointed ahead in a sweeping gesture. “Now, lucky for you, there’s a man just up the street who can give us everything we need for the Sasha stand-in. Just follow me, and let’s practice our best Master-slave.”

He took a few steps and it unnerved him to have Andrea out of his sight. He kept turning back to make sure she was still there. A soldier always had to know his surroundings at all time, and having to turn his head to look at her was going to give him a cramp.

“Not all Master-slave relationships are the same,” Natalja was saying from beside him. She walked where Andrea should’ve been, just a step in front of him, and to his right. Away from the traffic, and in his vision. He tried to focus on her words to distract himself from thinking.
Can’t live on thinking
, as
Babushka
would say.

“Some are very sexual,” Natalja said, her long hair sweeping behind her in the tight pony tail. “And some are only about control, or power.”

“How are those different?” Andrea asked and Vadik instinctively turned.

“You have to stop that,” Natalja said, touching his shoulder. “Don’t turn when she speaks. I know men like this Petrov. He doesn’t care what his slave says.” She pointed in front of them. “Your focus is on your path. She stays behind you. You know she’s there. You don’t need to check on her. You have power over her. She will always be behind you.”

He rolled one shoulder and took in a deep breath.
She’s behind me. She will always be behind me
.

“It is not necessary for Master-slave relationships to be sexual. In fact, it’s not uncommon for their interactions to be without play or without orgasm.”

With a low breath, Andrea said, “Then they’re not any fun.”

Natalja shared a smile with Vadik, even though she probably wanted to point out that Andrea shouldn’t be cracking jokes.

Still, he couldn’t disagree.

“I’ve done some dabbling, myself.” Vadik settled his eyes on the street corner. “There was a club in Irkutsk where one of my colleagues sometimes went.”

“So you’ve at least seen it done right.” Natalja waved in one of the big windows they passed. A butcher shop.

He saw someone behind a counter wave back.

“I have to ask, since you seem to know everyone,” Andrea said, “Is everyone here… in your pack?”

“Not everyone.” Natalja waved at a car as they crossed the street and said with a big smile, “But we’re all family, of some kind, even if it’s back in Poland a hundred years ago.”

“Do they all know what you are? Because I have to say, I’ve never seen anyone shift in front of humans more than your brother.” Sarcasm laced her words, but there was something hidden under that sarcasm.

Natalja laughed. “That’s Niko for you. Any chance to get naked and show off for the girls.” She pointed up at a big brick building and halted them on the sidewalk. “The guy who owns this place is one. But no, no one outside the pack knows what we are. Still, they’re family.”

The vertical sign running up the side of the building read
Diva Dallas
in big, red, block letters on a black background. The curtains were drawn in the rooms above, but there was a big picture window on the first floor. One ornate gold dress hung on a headless mannequin, surrounded by hanging stars.

“
Diva Dallas
?” Andrea asked.

With a smirk, Natalja opened the door. “Come on in, honey. You’re going to love it.”

Vadik was about to step aside and usher Andrea in to the building when he remembered Niko’s sister warning him,
she stays behind you
.

He wasn’t sure a few hours of conditioning would break through his desire to have her in front of him. But he would sure as hell try.

F
our hours
. Four straight hours of shopping. Vadik was pretty certain that hell would be a nonstop parade of stores and Natalja with a cattle prod, forcing him from one to the next, for eternity. For certain, when Luther had called him about the job, the last place he had expected to be was trying on expensive suits. Or watching a gorgeous woman slither in and out of sexy outfits. Damn.

He closed his eyes and repeated to himself,
it is not necessary to be sexual
. Forget all the
Babushka
stuff, he was going to need a little Natalja in his head if he was going to get through the night alive.

It is not. Necessary. To be sexual.

He stepped out of the car and waited on the street, facing the club’s dark brick façade.
Let Andrea step out behind you
.
Don’t look back
.

Not that he needed to see her. The visual of her outfit was etched into his brain and he was fairly certain it would never be erased.

She had slithered in to a latex bodysuit with an intricate pattern of small half-moon holes, from her ankle to her wrist, and across… holy fuck… every inch of her damn body. From several feet away, it looked like a pattern on the fabric, but from up close, he could see every follicle of her fine, blonde hair.

Shit. He needed a Siberian Boner Killer.

When she’d tried it on in the store, he’d had to look away.

Natalja had promised it wouldn’t be sexual, and then she’d shoved Andrea’s already hot body into all manners of revealing, cleavagey, curve-hugging outfits.

Your elbow is close, but you can’t bite it
, as
Babushka
would say.

“Follow.” Natalja waited until the cab door was closed, and she stood beside Vadik in her own cleavagey outfit before she led the way in to
The Black Thorn
. This was her second home, she’d said.

They walked in to the pulsing lights and overtly sexual, hazy atmosphere of a dark dance club.

Vadik tried to feel for Andrea behind him, but he kept sneaking a glance through his peripheral vision to make sure she was really there.

He still hadn’t gotten the hang of just trusting she’d be there. He had to see for himself. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that he was fairly certain every guy in the club wanted to get on her. But she had his collar on. That should keep most of the losers at bay.

They wound through the dance floor, into the back of the club. A big, stocky redhead took one look at Natalja and pulled aside the velvet rope. He stood aside and kept his head down as she passed.

With a swipe of one hand, she felt his cheek as she passed and Vadik saw a smile pass over his lips. The bodyguard didn’t make eye contact with either himself or Andrea, and merely closed the rope behind them.

A long, low-lit hallway followed, and Natalja tossed over her shoulder, “We’re almost there.”

Vadik straightened his shoulders and tried to channel his inner sociopath. That was the only way he could imagine treating Andrea the way he’d need to, in order to pass muster with Mistress Natalja.

They’d been doing things wrong all afternoon. He’d look at her—trying to make sure she was safe—and get smacked. She’d make a joke—which he was learning she was quite good at—and she would get smacked.

He’d reach for her hand to help her out of the car. Backhand on the shoulder.

He’d rather buy a condo on the equator of hell.

But he promised Luther he would do everything he could to help. He owed the man, and Vadik Nabatov paid his debts. Even when it involved nonsensical things like werewolves and not looking at Andrea.

When they walked through the double doors, a round room greeted them. The carpet was deep red, and continued up to long, thick benches. Seven black doors were spaced around the circle, each with a gold number in the center.

“We’ll be in four,” Natalja said to one of the black-clad men standing at the other double-doored entrance.

One of the men nodded and walked to the fourth door, opening it for her. She traced her hand along this bodyguard’s cheek, just like the last, and he wore a similar smile.

She ushered them in to the center of the room. The floor was black rubber, like a workout room, almost. The walls were similarly rubberized in places, and mirrored in others.

Natalja pointed to one of the mirrors. “Those are one-way mirrors. There may be a club owner behind them at some point, to check on my training, because I’ve allowed them to observe if they wish. If, at any time, you wish for us to go in to closed session, just say so, and I’ll have the guard lock the observation rooms.”

Vadik nodded. Andrea was silent behind him. He fought the urge to look back at her. Knowing he’d have to talk himself out of another erection helped. He hadn’t gotten rid of the one that’d started up on him in the cab. “Let’s begin, then.” He dropped his shoulders and took a breath. “I want to get this over with. For both of us.”

Natalja smiled and drew off one of her long, black gloves. She held the end for a long moment, gazing at him. “This won’t be over when we’re finished at the club.”

“I’m sorry…what?” Andrea choked out from behind him.

“This is my first assignment for you. We’ll practice what we can here, but the real test will be how you act when I’m not there to instruct you.” She snapped the glove to her side, and Vadik felt Andrea jump behind him.

“Meaning…?” he said.

“Meaning, this won’t be over when we’re finished at the club. You’ll wear these outfits home. You’ll be Ilya and Sasha back to the plane. Back to Choaca.” Her eyes twinkled. “I think it’ll be a good challenge for you to think of yourselves as Ilya and Sasha from now on, until your mission is over.”

He didn’t speak. He didn’t want to be a sociopath for…what…days? Vadik might not be the best man in the world, but he certainly wasn’t as bad as Ilya Petrov. And he didn’t want to be that man for longer than he needed to be.

He struggled enough with the conscience line already. He didn’t need Ilya there to push him over it.

“We can do that,” Andrea piped up.

He turned his head and, for a short moment, he thought he saw Sasha in the straight neck, dark hair, and downturned eyes. But Andrea’s voice came out of that body, and he wouldn’t get those confused.

Not ever.

“Perfect.” Natalja dropped the glove and clapped her hands. “Now. We’re going to do just a little play. Not anything sexy, because that’s not a line you’ll ever cross in the mission you’ve outlined. And every couple has their own rituals, so this is just to give you a taste of what men like Petrov will want from their slaves.” She walked to the wall and pulled down a bench. “Sasha, come over here.”

Andrea obeyed, keeping her eyes down, and stopping in front of Natalja. The shorter woman helped her up on to the bench.

“There, now. Stand very straight.” She crooked her finger at Vadik. “You, here.” She pointed to a spot just behind Andrea.

He took his place with a wide stance. Andrea’s polka-dotted ass was just in front of his face and he could see the light between her thighs. This was already far more sexual than it should’ve been. But
the appetite comes during the eating
, as
Babushka
would say.

“Now, Sasha, you’re going to cross your arms over your chest, and you’re going to stay straight as a board, and fall backwards.” Natalja touched Andrea’s hip and she startled.

“Fall backwards?”

“Yes. Vadik is going to catch you.” The shorter woman grinned and crossed one foot over the other, shifting all her weight to the other foot. “Your center of gravity will actually pass the horizontal stage before he catches you, so this is the ultimate test of trust. You not only pass the point where you can stop yourself from falling, but you pass the point where your body expects to land.”

“I will catch you, though. Don’t worry,” he hurried to say.
Dammit, settle down, boy
.

Andrea shifted her weight from foot to foot and took in a deep breath, in a very un-Sasha-like way. “Okay, I guess I can do this, then.” She looked straight at the wall and shook her head. “You’d better catch me.”

With a completely straight body, she began to fall. Vadik sucked air between his teeth.
So fast
. He’d never expected her to fall so quickly.

He scrambled to get into a good position, and put his hands up to stop her momentum. Her hand went around his neck and he found himself with Andrea in his arms, more like a bride over the threshold than a Master-slave.

She gazed into his eyes and whispered, “I knew you’d catch me.”

“Don’t look at the teeth of a horse you’ve been given, as
Babushka
would say.” He gave her a tight, half-smile.

“Meaning?” Andrea asked, one brow raised.

“Meaning, I almost didn’t catch you, but you’re not dead, so let’s not break it down for the audience.” He glanced over at Natalja, whose lips were tight and drawn, and he allowed himself a small laugh.

“Right.” She pulled her hands to her side and Vadik set her on the ground.

“I know, I know,” he said, “Bad form.”

Natalja shrugged one shoulder. “It was your first trust fall. You’ll get the hang of it.” She pulled off her glove and whipped him on the thigh. “Now. Again.”

The pain grounded him for a moment and he nodded. “Again.” He walked back to his spot, looked Andrea straight in the ass, and said to her, “Fall.”

She fell with the same straight-backed grace, and this time, he was ready for the weight of her body to crash against him, and he didn’t catch her quite so high. But Andrea didn’t crumble. She didn’t break posture. She was perfect.

“Almost.” Natalja smacked Vadik with her glove again. This time, on the ass.

Andrea climbed back up on the bench and stood completely still, her hands crossed over her chest. She didn’t lean back in anticipation. She didn’t begin, until he ordered her.

“Fall,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. Her body immediately began to move toward him and he waited until she had truly passed the horizontal posture until he bent his knees and caught her in his arms.

But there was not a trace of fear on her face. How could she possibly be so calm? She opened her eyes and peeped up at him, her head almost in his lap. Her eyelids flared over her eyes and her gaze lowered to his mouth.

For a short moment, he wondered if she’d wanted to kiss him. Was that what he saw on her face?

He righted her and she climbed back up on the bench, but Natalja touched her hip again and Andrea turned.

When she was facing him, Vadik could see her diamond nipples pushing at the little half-moon cut-outs that surrounded them. The fabric strained around her arousal, but the holes were too small for one nipple to pop out all together.

Vadik’s tongue slid between his lips as he looked harder for a way to free one of those beautiful pink nipples. And her areolas. He could see the patch of skin where her areolas ended and the creamy white of her breast began. It would be about three fingers from white skin to white skin. Three of his fingers would cover her nipple from side to side.

Natalja cleared her throat. “Okay, honey. Let me just stop you right there.”

His gaze shot over to the short woman’s narrowed eyes. He pulled his lips to one side and tried to control his breathing.

Too turned on to think straight
.

“Look, I’ve taught a lot of submissives and slaves in my day, and I’ve got a shorthand down, now, for recognizing lust.” She shifted her weight to one side and put a hand on her hip. “And you, puppies, have got lust bunnies coming out of your proverbial asses.”

Vadik’s mouth went dry.
Don’t say it. Just don’t say it.

“You’ve been staring at her boobs since the moment I met you, and you,” she turned on Andrea, “can’t pant at him and have moon eyes and pretend that there’s nothing going on here. If you want to have a non-sexual Master-slave…even a pretend one…it has to genuinely be non-sexual, or you’re going to lose the rhythm. The kind of play we do in here, the kind of work…if there’s desire under your skin, it’s going to come out in full force in this room. Trust me.”

Silence, while Natalja tapped her fingers on the leather corset.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you what. I’m going to leave the room. You two have this out.” She put her hands over her head and began walking. “I mean it. I come back in here, and I expect to see some proverbial shit on the table. You ignore something that runs this deep, and we’re all going to have our heads spinning.”

L
ust bunnies
?
Andrea smirked as she watched the little Polish wolf strut out of the room and close the door solidly, leaving her alone with Vadik.

Vadik.
Handsome. Broody. Dark hair, dark eyes, and almost black stubble on that beautiful angular jaw of his. What’d started off as distrust of a stranger had somehow blossomed into full-fledged arousal and attraction.

When he’d ordered her to fall that last time and caught her, even after it’d felt like she wouldn’t stop falling. She hadn’t been able to deny the pull or the spark between them any longer.