Unleashed (12 page)

Monica called me
, and I called Queen, and now we have an SUV of giddy girls: Monica, Queen, Kayla, Fate, Kristal, Heidi, Syn, and me. Syn doesn’t like any of us, but she is in the front seat chatting shop with Aaron.

“Aaron,” Queen says to draw his attention. “You can go hom
e and we will call you when we’re finished. If you don’t believe me, call Ez.” Queen addresses Aaron like she is, well, a Queen or some shit. Stranger yet, is that Aaron just nods at her and doesn’t call.

“Thank God,” Kristal says in relief, “I get enough of Lurch at the club.” Kristal, Fate, and Queen share a conspiratorial laugh.

Aaron drops us at a trendy new restaurant that no one can get a reservation for, unless it’s six months in advance. That is unless their last name is Zeitler. Kayla and Aaron share a sweet, squee-worthy kiss that has us all cooing at the lovers. It’s so damn sweet, it’s sickening. Fifty promises that we will be good, that we will call, and Queen saying that she could kick any man’s ass, and finally, Syn just growled at Aaron and he let us be.

“Order anything ya want.
It’s on me,” Queen announces. We’re squeezed around the center table, which Fate proclaimed was the best in the house.

“Thanks, Reg,” Kristal says in passing.

“Reg?” I ask the table, and no one speaks. Kristal looks like she’s going to piss her pants for some gaffe she just made. I notice her bracelet is the same as Fate’s. I start to wonder if she is Queen’s submissive, too. The lady is powerful enough to have them both. But the crown stamp isn’t the same. It’s a crown for a King.

The waiter takes our orders and passes our drinks around the table. I
instantly drain my wine glass, my discomfort getting the best of me. Kristal immediately refills it. She whispers
sorry
,
habit
under her breath.

“Do you all know each other?” I ask the table. They all shrug and nod. “
I guess, I’m at a disadvantage. I bet you all know me damned well and I know nothing of you. I know there is some weird vibes being thrown down so let’s get this out of the way so we can enjoy our evening. Do you all hate me because of Cort?”

“Why would
you think that?” Queen uncomfortably laughs.

“Just a guess
, but I bet we’ve all fucked him, am I right?” I eye each and every girl around the table. “Are you all holding some kind of grudge against me for it?” No one answers me. A few girls blanch at the grudge comment so I take matters into my own hands. “I won’t ask Kayla because I know for a fact she has. Same goes for Monica. Heidi, have you fucked Cort?” 

“Yes, Mistre
ss,” Heidi timidly replies.

“Heidi, we’re not training.
I’ve told you to call me, Kat,” I chastise her. “Kristal, I’m guessing yes for you, too.”

“Alright, I’ll answer,” Kristal
ballsy mutters. “There isn’t a person at this table that hasn’t had Cortez inside their body. You shouldn’t have asked because you may or may not like what you find out about your guy.”

“First, he’s not my guy and second, it’s Cort. I’m not stupid. You’d be surprised at how honest he is with me.” I sound defensive, but I meant every word I
’d said. Queen looks at me in a strange way, like I’ve passed some test I didn’t know I was taking.

“Heidi, Monica, and I were his regulars
,” Kristal says without shame. “You know about Kayla. Cort and Syn have a history. I’d love to spill it but she’d gut me. He took Fate’s virginity. One of us took his, too” Kristal answers for everyone except for Queen.

“Don’t make me do this,” Queen
hisses, and I stare her down. “Yes, alright! Dammit! Yes, Cort and I were together and it was torturous. We never revisited it. He is one of my best friends. Satisfied? I didn’t want you to know that everyone here had been with him, but I guess you figured that out already on your own.”

“Why don’t you ask who here has been with Ezra?” Kristal taunts
, and I immediately know she is antagonistic by nature. “I’ve had the pleasure of his oral pleasures,” she sings.

“I thought he was gay,” Heidi says in confusion.

“Me, too, until Kat,” Monica puts her two cents into the conversation. She is a sweetheart compared to Kristal.

“Some
one here has…” Kristal drawls.

“That’s enough,” Quee
n menacingly says. “This conversation will never be revisited. I don’t want Ezra’s wrath to fall onto me because I can’t control my ladies. Behave or suffer my consequences, because I will not suffer Master Ez, and I will sic our Master on you, Kris,” she threatens.

I know four
things at once: Queen is the boss of everyone here. She’s scared of Master Ez, but there is someone scarier that she’s terrified of… and she’s been with Ezra.

“Well, I have no claim on Ezra
,” I declare to the table to lighten the mood. “Plus, once you’ve seen him make love to a woman, it takes the sting away from learning he has been with Queen.”

“I…I…
trust me, it wasn’t like that. I was all about Cort and Ezra… I was just… there,” Queen stutters. “Who?” At first I thought she was worried that I figured out it was her, but now I realize that Ezra having sex with a woman is a huge deal. If I had to guess, only Queen, Adelaide, and I’ve had the pleasure. Gay or bi, Ezra really does like guys more.

“I’ll make a deal with you ladies. Knock the shit off and be honest. Hanging out is going to suck for me if I feel like you’re all laughing behind my back for my ignorance. If each of you tells me who you are and how you are connected to each other, I’ll tell you my secret. Only Cort knows it, so if I hear it
, I’ll know one of you spilled. I won’t care which one, I’ll just kick all of your asses. And I’ll bring Master Ez as backup since it’s a secret about him.”

“I’ll start,” Kristal
eagerly says. “I’m Kristal Harris. I’m an accountant by day and a bartender by night. My true master is Queen, but we say it’s Whitt for convenience. And since we’re playing show and tell, I’m a sex addict. I have a boyfriend that I call Alex… and that’s all I’m telling.”

“I’m Fate Simpson. I’m the chief financial analyst for a company that creates computer software and programming
- Empowerment. Queen is my master. I’m scared shitless of Restraint, but I’m an adrenaline junkie, so I keep going back.”

“Monica James, senior editor at Edge Publishing. We all know who my boss is,” she
smirks at me. “I don’t have a master or a boyfriend. I’m incredibly lonely.” The strong emotion in her voice brings tears to sting my eyes.

“Syn
, and that’s all you need to know,” she says all badass. In my nightmares, I imagine Syn’s an assassin. The sadist is barely five-feet tall, but she has wicked curves. Tonight she is showing some flesh and all of it’s inked. I wonder who forced her to be here, tonight. It’s obvious she isn’t a fan of me. If looks could kill isn’t just a saying when it involves Syn the sadist.

“Heidi Stewart, Dexter is my m
aster. I’m a nurse and a mother, and I’m not ashamed to be a submissive,” she says with fierce pride.

“Kayla Cummings, I’m your assistant
, and right now I don’t have a clue which one of you is my true master. It’s really confusing me.” She worries her bottom lip and it takes everything in me not to bite it for her.

“We’ll
figure it out,” I promise her, reaching across the table to comfortingly pat her hand.

“I’m Regina Regal, but at Restraint, I am only known as
Queen. I’m the owner and creator of Empowerment. If you own a digital device or a computer, my programs influence your daily life. Kris is my accountant and Fate is my financial analyst, they are also my housemates and my submissives. I’ve known Syn since she had pigtails and knew how to giggle and smile. I’ve known the guys since they were fourteen. I met them on freshman orientation day. I was a senior and they came as Hillbrook’s new blood. And I know everything there is to know about you, and no, I can’t tell you how. If you want to know, ask Ezra. Now, spill it! Who was he fucking?” She demands, and leans over the table to get into my face. She’s really eager to hear the gossip.

“I wouldn’t call it fucking. Ezra
was making love to his fiancée, and Cort and I walked in and accidently saw them.” I quietly murmur, blinking tears back.

“Bullshit,” Queen
barks. “No fucking way… Ezra doesn’t see Ade like that, and I know for a fact that she doesn’t see him like that.”

“It’s true,” I cry
, voice breaking under the strain of my tumultuous emotions. All of the girls stare at me in shock.

Kristal laughs uncomfortably.
“Yeah, no doubt they were screwing, but not making love. No way,” she snickers.

“Don’t make me
repeat Ezra’s words of adoration. I don’t want to puke before I get my meal,” I deadpan.

Everyone was thrown by my revelation. I watch Queen’s wheels spin. Emotion
s feverishly roll over her face: shock, surprise, anger, confusion, and finally, disbelief. I can also see that it will physically kill her not to ask him what the fuck happened.

“Anyone want to
explain why it’s strange for Ezra to be with his fiancée” I ask the table.

“No, thank you, Kat, I’d rather not. I’d like to keep all of my appendages
, and it’s not Master Ez or Ezra I’m frightened of,” Fate says ominously.

“Who?”
I murmur.

“As I said, I want to keep my body parts. I’m not talking.” Fate takes a dainty sip of wine
, and I instantly know she grew up in the mini-castles surrounding the city. Her decorum screams old money.

“I would like permission to tell this to one person. I promise he won’t tell a soul.” Queen’
s voice shakes with the need to spill the secret.

“
No,” I hiss.

“Tel
l him anyway,” Kris offers up.

“Who?” I ask again
, wondering it’s the same person who will cut arms and legs off for the information.

“The big guy, the cre
ator of the universe,” Kris sarcastically says, and gets slapped across the face for her insolence. It happened so fast that no one in the restaurant saw it. The sound was deafening and the bright red handprint is outlined on her tan face.

“That’s from him. Show some damned respect and keep your mouth shut,” Queen hisses at Kristal.

The waiter approaches with our food, and I have an uncontrollable giggle fit. The ladies are sitting with their hands in their laps, all prim and proper. Kris, with her tits hanging out and a bunch of colorful tattoos on display, sits as if an angry handprint isn’t perfectly imprinted on her face.

My sea bass disappears from my plate
, thanks to my ravenous appetite. I empty my wineglass as soon as it’s refilled. Kristal is playing bartender with everyone’s glasses. I have no idea how many bottles we’ve drained, but it must average around one bottle each.

“Regina
, you must tell him,” Syn finally speak. She takes another bite of her rare steak as if words didn’t just flow from her mouth. “If this is true… Ez is uneven.”

“I agree. I’ll tell him, Kat, because I must. But I promise he will keep i
t to himself.” Queen’s tone leaves no room for argument.

“Who is he?”
I ask for the tenth time, my words slurring from my libations.

“I’m surprised Ezra hasn’t told you yet, but I see that he is leaving out a lot of information you n
eed. I’ll have a talk with,” Queen helpfully says. I try to protest, but the look she gives me screams back off. The difference between Queen and me is the same as the difference between Kayla and me. Imagine the difference between Queen and Fate. It’s scary.

Fuck it! I drain another glass of wine- my fifth, no sixth gl
ass. I’m feeling rather tipsy. “Well, this has been a blast. What are we doing next? I’m a glutton for punishment.”

“I want to get dru
nk off my ass,” Kristal slurs.

“I’m pretty sure you’re already headed that way,” Queen chastises her but grins. “Kayla’s loverboy is on his way from Restraint. I have a meeting, but he will take
you wherever you need to go.”

“Meeting,” Kristal snorts. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with our Master,” she sings.

“Do you want slapped again,” Syn warns.

I grab the bottle of wine and drain it- gulp after gulp of acidic goodness washing down my throat.

“This was the strangest night I’ve had in a long time,” Monica slurs into my ear. We’re standing at the curb. Well, two of us are standing, the rest of us are kind of leaning or jumping up and down with drunkenness. “And I’ve had some strange night,” she hiccups. “It’s not a compliment. If it wasn’t for the wine and free food, I’d have left.”

“I agree. It was the buzz-kills,” I giggle
, tossing a look at Queen and Syn. “It was like partying with your parents or two wicked babysitters.”

“Alright, everyone get into the car and behave. I have to get to a meeting.” Queen points at the SUV on the curb and six maniacal giggles erupt.