Safeword: Matte - In Training (29 page)

“I’m Tara, darlin’. Why did you bring me out
here?”

Her voice didn’t sound masculine, which
meant she was likely on hormones and headed towards surgery, if she
hadn’t already had the surgery. Sam stayed away from the woman’s
gender status though, and said what she’d come out to say.

“I know this place doesn’t really require
you to get to know the people you get close to on the dance floor,
but…” She stopped, suddenly unsure of herself, but Tara mercifully
picked up the conversation.

“You’re getting married tomorrow; you’re
supposed to just be enjoying yourself tonight. Aren’t you? One last
fling of freedom?”

Sam laughed. “Yes, but that’s not the
point.” She shrugged. “I’m attracted to you, but I don’t want to
have sex with you. It’s an odd attraction; one I’m not sure how to
explain.”

Tara rolled her eyes and her chuckle gave
the first hint of masculinity Sam had heard. “Well, the feeling is
certainly mutual.” Her voice was back to a normal woman’s voice,
it’d just been the chuckle that sounded off. “I haven’t been
attracted to a woman in more than a decade, but I find myself
wishing my cock still worked when I’m holding you in my arms.” She
shook her head as she ran a delicate, perfectly manicured finger
over the muscles on Sam’s arms. “Maybe it’s because you aren’t soft
like most women. Maybe it’s the muscles? I can’t explain it.”

Curiosity finally got the
better of her and Sam asked, “So, I said
gender flexible
because I wasn’t
sure of your exact status. I take it you’re headed towards surgery,
then?”

Tara smiled. “You’re a smart little cookie,
aren’t you? Yes, my cock doesn’t work because of the hormones. And
since we’re analyzing each other, do you consider yourself slave or
submissive?”

“Submissive.” Sam laughed. “Which means I
was right about you being dominant, and might explain our
attraction to each other.”

“Yes,” the beautiful blonde mused. “It
could. If you tell me you’re a masochist, it may just be more than
I can handle, knowing you’re off limits and all.”

“Well then, I won’t tell you how much I
enjoy pain. Instead, I’ll tell you I think you’re beautiful.”

“Oh, Sugar, thank you for that. I saw it in
your eyes earlier, but a girl can never hear it too much, you
know?” Somehow, Tara managed flamboyant without going
overboard.

Sam smiled. “I’ve always hated being told
I’m beautiful, and yet when Ethan tells me, I melt inside.”

“Ethan’s your Master?”

“Yes, and tomorrow — well, later today,
he’ll be my husband.”

“The idea of having all of these muscles,
all of this strength, submit to me? It’s just too much.” Tara’s
hands caressed their way up Sam’s arms and over her muscles, and
rose to gently cup Sam’s cheeks as she continued, “I hope he’s
worthy of your submission, Sugar.”

“He is. I looked for someone strong enough
to win my submission for years, and he’s my soul mate.” Sam reached
for one of the hands on her cheek and brought it to her lips,
kissed the side of Tara’s pointer finger, and threaded their
fingers together as she lowered the hand to her lap. “Are you
seeing anyone? Do you have a special little slave boy in your
life?”

“I have lots of little
slave boys in my life, but none are
the
one
. I’d love to exchange phone numbers
with you, and maybe have lunch when you get back from your
honeymoon. I can always use more girlfriends who can accept me for
who I am.” Her smile was genuine, but her eyes a little
sad.

“You’re not walking an easy road, are you?
I’d be happy to be your friend.”

They were exchanging phone numbers when
Kirsten walked up. “Tara, I see you’re making friends with Sam.
Remember the self-defense class I recommended a few months ago? Sam
was the teacher.”

“Well.” Tara’s eyes lit up as she mused,
“Maybe I’ll manage to make it to her next class, then.”

Sam went on instant alert. “You’ve had
people messing with you, so you need to learn to defend
yourself?”

“It’s not as bad now as it was,” Tara said
dismissively. “The hormones have done their job, and most people
just think I’m a tall woman and don’t realize I was once a man. The
voice was the final piece.” Her smile was sad. “When men are turned
on to you, and you open your mouth and sound like a man, it
challenges their heterosexuality, makes them wonder about
themselves, and they almost always took their anger out on me.”

“Well, if you like, Ethan and I can give you
a private class when we get back, because it’ll be a few months
before I teach another basic self-defense class.”

“Your Ethan…he’ll be okay with me?”

“We’ve never discussed transgender people
specifically, but I’ve never seen him treat gay men as if he had a
problem with them. If I don’t think he’ll be able to treat you as a
normal human being then I’ll give you a class without him, but I
don’t think he’ll have an issue.” She looked to Kirsten for
affirmation.

“I can’t imagine him having a problem with
you,” Kirsten said to Tara. “He’s a serious sadist and an imposing
Dom; he doesn’t exactly fit into society’s mold, either.”

Tara looked pained as her eyes flitted back
to Sam. “So you really are a masochist? Oh, it’s just too much.”
She laughed but then looked curious and just a little feral. “Who’s
the hottie keeping his eyes on the two of you? I’m not imagining
it, did your fiancé send you with a minder?”

Sam followed Tara’s gaze and saw Kent, but
Kirsten saved her from having to answer. “Oh, that’s Kent, and he’s
here because I hired him. No one wanted to be designated driver, so
I hired a limo and driver, and made sure his own orientation would
let him be comfortable here.”

“So, if he’s working I guess he can’t come
play with me? What can you tell me about him?”

“He’s bisexual, and I’m pretty sure he’s
submissive,” Sam answered with a grin.

“Yep,” Kirsten agreed, “he’s out of the
closet about his sexuality, but he tries to keep the other
bodyguards from finding out he’s submissive.”

“Bodyguard?” Tara seemed more and more
interested. “I thought you said he was your driver?”

“I’m friends with someone who owns a
security agency, and most of their bodyguards are licensed to drive
a limo, so they can do double duty for the clients who need minimal
security.”

Sam laughed. “What she’s not telling you is
one of the ladies in our party is married to a bodyguard, and he
also seems to have had some input as to who is driving us
around.”

“True,” Kirsten said. “Sometimes I’m
surprised Travis lets Viv out of the house to go to work.”

Tara stood. “Well, I’m going to talk to your
hottie bodyguard for a minute.” Her eyes met Sam’s. “I hope you
call me when you get back from your honeymoon. If you want to give
me some self-defense pointers I won’t turn it down, but mostly I
just want to have lunch and talk.”

Sam nodded. “We’ll be gone for three weeks,
so don’t think I’ve forgotten about you when you don’t hear from me
for a while. Give me a goodbye kiss; we’ll just be friends the next
time we meet.”

Tara’s kiss didn’t disappoint, and Sam found
herself glaring at Kirsten’s smile when Tara finally walked away.
“Get the shit-eating grin off of your face,” she said with a laugh,
pulling her friend along as she walked back towards the throbbing
music. “Come on. I need a drink.”

The club closed at three, and the women
didn’t leave until the lights came on and the music turned off. Sam
lost track of how much she’d had to drink, but was sure it was way
more than she’d had in years.

Kent had tons of patience with the women as
he herded them across the parking lot, into the limo, and made sure
everyone was okay.

Limbs were intermingled so Sam wasn’t sure
which body parts belonged to whom, but she didn’t really care. They
were all tired, happy, and relaxed as they lay over and across each
other.

“I’ll turn the air up, but if anyone feels
sick as we start moving let me know. You can sit up front with me
if you think it’ll help.

“I’ll take you up on the offer now,” said
Viv as she dropped to hands and knees and crawled to the door. Kent
smiled as he helped her stand, and Sam suppressed her own grin as
she noticed how easily her friend crawled, as if she’d had tons of
practice.

“If no one needs to be home by a certain
time, I’ll drop Viv off first, then.”

No one protested, and as they started moving
Heather said, “Wow, can Sam dance, or what? They usually make the
encore with an audience member kind of short, but they drew it out
tonight. You were great, Sam.”

“I only hope I don’t end up on YouTube or
something. I was just buzzed enough to enjoy it, without being too
uptight about the spectators. But I figured no one in the audience
was truly vanilla, even if they aren’t kinky they aren’t exactly
following society’s norms, so I didn’t stress over it too
much.”

“What was up with you and the hot blonde?”
asked Cassie. “I didn’t know you went both ways.”

Sam saw curiosity and not disapproval, and
she smiled as she said, “I’ve experimented around with girls a
little and decided I like guys, but Tara was…different. As it turns
out, she only likes guys, too, and was just as confused by her
attraction to me. We exchanged phone numbers and we’re going to
have lunch when I get back from my honeymoon. I’ll have to run it
by Ethan, of course, but I don’t think he’ll have an issue with
her.”

Sam looked towards the opened window and her
eyes met Kent’s in the rear view mirror. “She seemed especially
interested in our bodyguard, though. Did you get her number,
Kent?”

He shook his head but Kirsten piped up with,
“No, but I could see he was interested even though he’s not
supposed to be when he’s on the clock, so I gave her his
number.”

Sam laughed. “Not that you’d ever find a way
to skirt the rules though. Right?”

When they finally made it to the end of
Viv’s long-assed driveway Sam was surprised to see so many
vehicles, and laughed as she realized this must be where the
bachelor party ended up. “Should I be worried the guys partied
where there happens to be a convenient dungeon in the
basement?”

Cassie’s eyes bulged as her head swung to
look at Viv. “You have a dungeon in your basement?”

“Of course not,” said Kirsten. “It’s just a
dark room, kind of a man-cave. Someone nicknamed it the dungeon and
it just kind of stuck.”

The front door opened and Travis came
towards them as Viv stepped from the front passenger seat. He
hugged his wife, eyeballed her to be sure she was okay, and stuck
his head in the door to talk to the rest of the women. “I trust
everyone had fun?” His eyes landed on Sam. “Anything you’d like me
to tell your husband-to-be?”

“Let him know I’m safe, and headed home.
How’s he doing? Anything he asked you to tell me?”

Tyler smiled. “Just that he managed to drink
himself sober and can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

When the limo reached Sam’s house, Kent
walked Sam and Kirsten inside, made sure they were okay, and kissed
both on the cheek before leaving to take the rest of the women
home.

Kirsten insisted they both drink two glasses
of vitamin and electrolyte fortified sports drink with two
ibuprofen before they headed upstairs.

“I’m going to pee all night now,” Sam
grumbled as the women helped each other up the steps.

“I bet you don’t, but even if you do, it’ll
be worth it to not be hung over for your wedding.”

“Yeah, Yeah. We have to be quiet so we don’t
wake my houseguests. I’m sorry I don’t have a guest room for
you.”

“Not a problem, you have a big bed and I’m
not worried about you ravaging me in my sleep.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Sam awoke to an empty bed the next morning,
and smiled when her eyes focused on the thermos with a sticky note
proclaiming “Orange Juice” on the side.

She grabbed it on the way to the bathroom,
set it on the vanity as she walked by, and went straight to the
toilet. She hadn’t awakened in the middle of the night to pee, and
had to go so bad now it almost hurt.

The art deco clock over
her bathtub was only a minute hand, with no hour hand and no
numbers, as she almost always knew the hour when in the bathroom,
and only needed to keep track of the minutes. This morning,
however, she had no idea of the time, and she peed longer than the
opening scene in
A League of Their
Own
.

When she finally stood, she reached for the
orange juice and was amazed it felt so good going down. She wasn’t
hung over, exactly, but she felt off, and hoped she had time for a
good workout to sweat everything out before she had to get
ready.

She moved into the bedroom to check the time
and breathed a sigh of relief to see it was a little after one
o’clock. She’d slept around eight hours, and had almost two hours
before she needed to be at the Read House.

Her cellphone was still on her night table,
and she looked to see if she’d missed anything, since she’d shut
both sound and vibration off before going to sleep.

She texted Ethan and Kirsten back to let
them know she was awake, but didn’t respond to anyone else’s texts.
Her mom had left a voice mail asking her to call when she was
awake, so she texted Kirsten again, and asked her to let her mom
know she was up and working out.

In quick order she pulled her hair into a
ponytail, brushed her teeth, and headed downstairs to work out.

Forty-five minutes later she felt like a new
person as she showered and washed her hair. She wasn’t sure where
her houseguests were, but was secretly happy to have had the house
to herself a few hours before walking into the chaos at the
hotel.