Defensive Zone (The Dartmouth Cobras #2) (4 page)

So where do you fit in?

She didn't—not yet anyway. Reality hit her
and she forced the tension from her body and leaned against Asher.
Honestly, she shouldn't have expected everything to be all right
with her sister—they'd hardly spoken since her return. Being like
real sisters again would take some work.

Starting tonight she would show Oriana she
wanted that again. After all, she was the one who'd left, who'd
decided she needed her freedom more than she needed anyone. She'd
abandoned the sister who'd practically raised her, leaving her to
deal with Daddy and all his issues alone.

But I'm back. And I'm not going
anywhere.

* * * *

Dean rubbed his hands on his knees and sat up
straight. Aside from the bride walking down the aisle in a dress
that had several of the players adjusting themselves in their seats
the ceremony was as long and dull as he'd expected. It reminded him
of an ex-girlfriend who'd been into soaps. She'd be sitting there,
all teary eyed, mumbling about how
finally
the current
super-couple was getting their dream wedding. And he'd be forced to
sit there, feigning interest while the priest went on and on for
three episodes. Sappy personal vows would be exchanged and the
couple would rush out while the cast cheered and blew bubbles at
them because rice was bad for the stupid birds.

Unless something interesting happened. Like
the bride getting shot or someone in the crowd stood up and claimed
to be having the groom's baby.

No such luck. Not that he wanted Oriana to
get shot, but the minister . . .

Hell, is he reading the extended
version?

The wedding ended. The collaring began. A bit
more to the point, but Dominik seemed determined to cover
everything. He included Max and Sloan in the ceremony, having Sloan
cuff Oriana while Max braided her hair up and out of the way. She
knelt and Dominik placed the collar around her throat. The small
lock clicked and Dominik hung the key around his neck on a black
ribbon.

"You belong to us, love," Sloan said, loud
enough for everyone to hear. "Tonight you submit to our
pleasure—whatever it may be. Do you give your consent?"

Oriana's cheeks glistened with tears as she
tipped her head back. "Yes. But—"

Dominik frowned. "But?"

Well, this just got interesting.
Dean
leaned forward.

"I don't want to wait for your mark, Sloan."
Oriana took a deep breath. "I want something tonight. Something
that won't fade in a day or two."

"Are you sure?" Sloan laid his hands over her
cheeks, using his thumb to wipe away her tears. "I'm happy to
oblige, bunny, but I don't want you to regret it tomorrow when
you're not all emotional. People could see it, it's still pretty
warm out."

"I don't care—let them see." Oriana closed
her eyes and touched her collar. "I need you to be part of
this."

"I am." Sloan straightened. "And I will be.
Dominik and Max will chain you for me, babe. Is that okay?"

Oriana shuddered. "That's perfect."

The foursome moved to a playroom and the
crowd followed as one without being invited. Dean stood in the
doorway and glanced over at his brother as he and his wife
approached.

"Was my wedding this long?"

Tim made a face. "Your divorce was longer. I
think the four of them will make it work, don't you?"

Despite being bored out of his mind, Dean had
to admit he could see the men really loved Oriana. And she loved
them back without restraint. His wife had never been like that.
She'd taken his ring and his collar, but she'd always held part of
herself back. As soon as their daughter had grown up enough for her
to gain some independence, his wife had decided she wanted the
same. For years he'd told her to find her own interests, to be more
than a stay-at-home mother—which she obviously hated being—and his
sub. She'd insisted she had everything she wanted, then suddenly
decided she wanted none of it. She walked out on him in search of a
carefree life and ditched her daughter because, as she'd said,
she'd never really wanted to be a mother. In front of their sixteen
year old daughter.

Seeing the utterly crushed look on his
daughter's face had hardened Dean's heart. He'd signed the divorce
papers. But that hadn't been enough. His wife needed his money to
have her fun. He'd resisted at first, but the long court battle had
taken their toll on his daughter and he'd finally given in. Let the
bitch have the money. His daughter needed to know someone still
wanted
her
.

He'd been blind when it came to his wife, but
he didn't think Oriana's men had that problem with her. She was as
open and honest as they came.

"They'll work." Dean jabbed his thumbs into
the pockets of his leathers and wrenched his thoughts away from the
past. "Not what I'd want, but I've never met a woman like Oriana.
It's hard to believe she's Delgado's kid."

"Can't argue that." Tim pressed a light kiss
on his wife's brow. "But some of us are lucky and get the pick of
the litter. My baby has a messed up family too, but she rose above
it. You wouldn't want to know her siblings, or her parents. But
coming from them made her a strong woman you can't help but
admire."

This was true. Tim didn't tell him much, but
he'd done enough scenes with Tim's wife, enough after care before
Tim took her away for the sexual stuff, to have learned a bit.

For the past two years, he'd kept scenes nice
and impersonal. Platonic with Tim's wife, exploring a bit of pain,
and purely sexual with the subs that came to the club not wanting a
commitment. Maybe one day he'd meet a woman who would fit into his
life in the way his wife never could, but he was perfectly happy
without that now. He didn't need more.

Not yet.

Then again, he was open to the possibility.
The woman in pink, for example. He hadn't seen her since he and
Landon had watched her filling in the forms, but if she proved to
be available as he thought she was . . .

Well, he might make an exception for her. He
pictured her kneeling at his feet, naked, ready for more than just
the vanilla with a bit of kink he'd settle for of late. A brief
glimpse of what she had convinced him he had something to offer
her. Even if only tonight.

* * * *

Silver swallowed convulsively, fighting not
to jump every time Sloan's whip hit her sister's bare flesh. Her
cheeks had heated slightly when Oriana had been stripped, and she
hadn't wanted to look at first, but as each sharp
Crack!
got
louder she couldn't stop herself from staring at the long, red
welts on her sister's back, butt, and thighs.

So far, so good. After all, Silver had been
to plenty of BDSM and fetish clubs, she'd seen people whipped
before. Of course, all the places she'd gone to had been more
glamorous than Blades & Ice. The few men that had used a
flogger or a paddle on her ass before fucking her knew better than
to leave marks. She always had a list of limits a mile long when
she played.

Looks like Oriana has a shorter list.
A mocking voice said as she watched Sloan pause and kneel to kiss
an unmarked spot on Oriana's hip. He stroke up her thigh and tipped
his head back to say something only Oriana could hear.

Oriana nodded.

As Sloan straightened, a sick feeling of
dread pooled in Silver's gut. She dug her nails into her palm and
glanced over at Asher—who was kissing Cedric and completely
oblivious to everyone else in the room. Other people were making
out or . . . more. Apparently watching the scene had gotten a few
people hot.

But these people didn't know Oriana. Oriana
always put other's needs before her own. She would let Sloan push
her further and further, never asking him to stop, if she thought
it was what he wanted. And Sloan was just the type of asshole to
take advantage of her passive nature.

Oriana's not stupid. Maybe this is what she
wants.

Silver fumbled with her purse and took out a
lollipop.

The whip snaked out over Sloan's head, came
down in a black blur, and curled around Oriana's hip. Oriana
gasped. A thin line of blood trickled.

Silver dropped the lollipop and rushed
forward. "You son-of-a-bitch!"

Sloan froze and stared at Silver. "What—"

Smack!
Her palm went numb and she
watched her handprint on his face darken to a bright red, shocked,
but not satisfied. If only she was big enough, strong enough, to do
some real damage. To make
him
bleed.

The crowd had gone silent. And not one member
of the team Oriana cared about so much moved to help her.
Fucking cowards! Afraid to stand up to your Captain?

Well she wasn't.

"Get away from her!" When Sloan didn't budge,
Silver snatched the whip from his hand and threw it across the
room. "She trusts you! How could you do that to her?"

His dark eyes narrowed. "Silver—"

"Don't 'Silver' me! You don't fucking scare
me, Sloan." She poked him in the center of his bare chest. "The
worst thing is, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.
But you're the same arrogant bastard you've always been. I think we
both know exactly why you enjoy beating on women, don't we? Does
Oriana know you're an impotent freak? Is that why she needs Max and
Dominik?"

The area around the handprint on Sloan's face
turned a darker shade of red. When he didn't say anything she
looked over at Max, who was standing in front of Oriana, speaking
softly, and Dominik who was watching the crowd expectantly.

"Dominik, are you seriously going to put up
with him treating her like this?"

The big black man ignored her.

Rage bubbled up inside and she moved to get
his attention.

Suddenly, Sloan's hand shot out. He hooked a
finger to her collar. "Who are you here with?"

"Excuse me?" She pried at his fingers in an
effort to get free, but his hand seemed like one solid piece of
iron. "Why does it matter?"

"Subs in this club don't disrespect Doms and
get away with it." He jerked her collar. "Don't. Move."

All the blood left her face. She went
still.

"Where's your Master?"

"He's there." She pointed at Asher, pleading
with her eyes for him to come get her away from Sloan.
Fuck not
being scared. This guy's crazy!

Asher's eyes went big and round. He shook his
head. "Look, man. We're not . . . I can't . . . Damn, she was just
worried about her sister. Give her a break."

"Are you refusing to punish her?" Sloan threw
his head back and laughed at Asher's nod. "Why am I not surprised?
You treat BDSM like you do everything else, Silver? Like it's one
big fucking game? Was coming here as a sub just your idea of
playing dress up?"

"You better watch it Sloan," Silver said,
doing her best to sound brave even though, for the first time in
her life, she was the center of attention and really just wanted to
disappear. Everyone was staring at her like
she'd
done
something wrong. "I'm your boss."

"And I give a shit?" Sloan caught someone's
eye and Silver tried to twist around to see who. "You dealing with
this or are we just kicking her out?"

"That's entirely up to her." The man's voice
was deep, just gruff enough to be sexy, but it was the edge, the
way he spoke as though obedience was a given, that made goose bumps
rise all over her flesh. "I'll give you a choice, Silver. Sloan,
you can let her go."

As soon as she was released, Silver shuffled
away from Sloan, careful not to get too close
to—
shitshitshit
—Dean Richter. Even over the phone, the man
intimidated her, but it had been easy to come off as unimpressed
without his sharp, hazel eyes locked on her, seeing everything she
tried to hide.

"Are you listening to me?"

Silver evaded his steady gaze and tried to
see around him. "Oriana?"

Dean glanced over his shoulder. "She's fine.
Perron, Mason, would you please take Oriana to another room to come
down?" He smiled. "It looks like she managed to stay in a good
place."

Neither Max nor Dominik said anything, but
moments later a door at the other side of the room opened and
closed.

Sloan stared in the direction of the door,
then looked at Dean. "I'll leave this to you. I need to be there
when Oriana's head clears."

"Go ahead," Dean said.

Once Sloan disappeared, Silver managed to
hike her chin up and look Dean in the eye. "I want to go with
them." Her pulse quickened. "Please. Just let me see if she's all
right."

"So polite now." Dean circled her slowly,
close enough that his leather pants brushed her thighs and his
breath stirred her hair. "You're used to getting your own way,
aren't you, Silver?"

As if that's a bad thing?
"You said
you were giving me a choice."

"I am." Dean stopped at her side. The fine
lines on his cheeks smoothed away as his expression went blank.
"Your choices are leave my club and don't ever come back, or accept
whatever punishment I choose to give you."

"Punishment for what?"

"You're dating two lawyers and you don't know
better than to sign something without reading it?" One brow arched,
tone light, he seemed to be laughing at her.

A few people in the crowd did.

Deep, deep breaths and an eye roll kept the
tears back. "I wasn't planning to do a scene tonight. I didn't
think it was all that important."

"What you signed applies to every time you
come here."

"Then I won't come back."

"Very well." He stepped aside. "You may
leave."

For some reason, everything inside her
rebelled against the very idea of walking out. And she couldn't
quite figure out why.

Oriana. You're just worried about
Oriana.

"I'm not going anywhere until I see my
sister." She put her hands on her hips. "Things will be very
unpleasant at work if you won't be reasonable."