Master in Shining Armor (Masters Unleashed 4)

Now he was a former client, and was holding the other end of her leash. She did her best to make herself small and invisible at his elbow, but being the girlfriend and slave of the of Catacombs’s owner meant that peoples’ gazes followed them, lingering. She felt like they were judging her . . . and judging him based on how well she was trained. He had confirmed that was true even before they’d arrived tonight. No pressure. His reputation and livelihood was tied into their personal life at this point, and she was desperate to ensure she didn’t embarrass him or make him look bad—especially on opening night.

Unlike the usual jeans and T-shirts her Master usually wore, tonight he wore black leather pants, a skintight tank top, and knee-high leather boots with metal plates up the front. He looked like the leading man in some futuristic action movie, but here, amongst his people, he just looked self-confident and completely irresistible. Like everywhere else they went, women stared at him with naked lust in their eyes, and stared at her with envy, as though measuring her and trying to determine whether she was good enough for him.

Fuck them. She damn well was good enough to be his. He’d gone out of his way to make sure she knew it, and she found herself more self-confident than she’d been in years, despite the fact that she spent so much time on her knees.

Tonight she looked the part of a powerful Master’s treasured slave. The dress he’d chosen for her was diaphanous, white, and almost sheer, clinging to her curves as she moved, sliding over her body like the ghost of his touch. He had refused to let her wear anything underneath it, and with her feet covered only in minimalist silver sandals with delicate straps that crisscrossed up to her knees she felt every inch his naked pleasure slave.

If he didn’t take her upstairs soon, though, she was going to die of frustration.

Her nipples still ached from the torture he’d inflicted upon her just before guests had begun to arrive, and every brush of the fabric against her abused nipples made her want to throw an impatient tantrum. She had never daydreamed about a man’s cock so much in her life, and it was disturbing to know she could be so obsessed with sex. Even so, she reveled in it, although she would never admit it to anyone—let alone her Master.

Will stopped and turned so fast, Juliet collided with the broad expanse of his chest. She squeaked and stumbled, but he caught her before she toppled over.

“Sunshine, if you’re going to follow me around making that high-pitched whining sound, I’m going to end up doing something to you right here, right now. I can’t leave this party for another couple of hours without being rude, so get that lusty mind of yours under control . . . or just say the word. I’ll gladly throw you down on the floor and fuck you right here in the middle of the club. I’m sure our guests would be more than happy to watch.”

The thought of it—of him—being rough, throwing her down, taking her here in front of everyone shouldn’t have turned her on, and yet it only made her hotter for him. Not that she wanted him to do it, but if she gave him permission, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate. It was thrilling to date a man lacking all of the stuffy, uptight codes of behavior she’d mercilessly drilled into herself over the years. He was free, and because he commanded her she could be free, at least in situations that didn’t freak her out too badly. Would she ever want him to have sex with her on the floor in the middle of the club? Yes . . . but only when everyone had gone home and the floor was clean.

“It’s not my fault. You know what you did before everyone got here. Between that, and you, and the fact that you wouldn’t let me wear panties? It’s not my fault I’m going a little squirrely. Plus, the sexual energy in here tonight is in overdrive. It’s ten times worse than it was the first time I was here.”

“Yes, it’s perfect,” he murmured. His lips turned up in a quiet smile, and he brushed her hair behind her ear. “When we decided to get the space redesigned, we hadn’t been thinking to this scale. We hadn’t been thinking of doing upstairs either. But now that it’s done, I’m so glad that we did. It went from being a little hole-in-the-wall place that looked like a warehouse with some shit in it, to this.” He tilted his head to indicate the entire space. “When I drew up my plans for it, I was thinking too small, and you took the whole idea and made it . . .”

His pause stretched out, and she started to wonder if he was trying to think of a nice way to say something negative.

“Made it what?” she prompted, becoming concerned.

“Cool.”

She studied his face, but he was watching something across the room and seemed distracted. “Yeah?”

“Everyone fucking loves it—even the regulars—and we’ve had a bunch of new applications come in. New members mean more membership dues. We’ve even had a couple of big spenders talking about wanting long-term leases on some of the private rooms upstairs.”

“Do you think you’re going to be sorry you didn’t buy a place with more space?”

“I don’t think I wanted to get any bigger than this, personally.” He snorted and shook his head as though he couldn’t even believe that they were discussing it. “But I guess if Grant wants to expand, we can always see about adding an extension to the building or even another floor. We were already doing well before, so I can only imagine the revenue that the reno will add. It’ll pay off what we spent in no time if this keeps up. I mean, I know it’s opening night, but this is far more enthusiasm than I’d even hoped for.”

He led her to the bar and grabbed her a glass of expensive champagne. As they stood there chatting with one of the bartenders who’d been around since the club opened years ago, Dex strolled up with three of the scariest men Juliet had ever seen. All three were tall and broad-shouldered, with long, long dark hair. Although their jeans and T-shirts were worn and showed off a wealth of ink, there was an air of self-confidence and control around them that hinted that they had power and money.

The men all took turns shaking Will’s hand and clapping him on the shoulder.

“This place kicks ass,” one of them said, his accent unfamiliar to Juliet. His eyes were an eerie blue, almost like a character from the movie Dune. “It was good before, but this is in a whole other league. You can’t even tell it’s the same club.”

“Thank you, Loke. I’m glad you guys could make it out our way for this.”

“Hey, this is the hottest kink party of the year. For a little while there, I thought we might not get in.” He winked at Juliet, who felt her cheeks heat and instinctually slid half a pace farther behind Will.

Will frowned at him. “She’s mine, Loke. Collared. Off-limits.”

“Such a shame you don’t share. Unless you’ve changed your rules?” he asked with a mock hopefulness. His two friends gave her a polite once-over and grinned at Will’s expression. “Careful, Geir. Rune. If we look at her too long he might put out our eyes.”

“With a hot poker?” one of them asked, sounding as though it was an inside joke between friends. “I’d like to know. Just for clarification.”

“Hmm. Hot pokers are a hard limit for me,” the third said.

“You boys had better behave before Will goes medieval on your asses,” Dex warned, chuckling.

“Good thing we’ve already got a willing victim for the evening, then, or we’d be very lonely and sad,” Loke said, walking Dex backward and crushing her aga

inst Geir, who grinned and sandwiched her in more effectively.