But it felt very comfortable, lying there with her in his arms. Her breathing had slowed and deepened. “Kendra,” he whispered.
She didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep.
He closed his eyes, a deep feeling of well-being moving through him. Sleep reached out for him as well, dragging him into dark, erotic dreams.
Chapter 6
Kendra was in the main kitchen, drizzling icing over the orange sweet rolls she’d made for that morning’s breakfast, chatting companionably with Henry. There were several other sous chefs and assistants busily preparing for the day’s food service. No doubt used to the routine, none of them batted an eye as the naked and nearly naked staff slaves and trainees wandered in for their early morning smoothies before their exercise and positions training on the beach.
Abbie grabbed one of the smoothies from the tray and took a big gulp. She whispered something to another staff slave, Shani, a beautiful girl of African and Native American descent. Skylar, Caelan’s sub, joined in the whispered conversation as all three pairs of eyes slid toward Kendra.
She ignored them at first, but when the giggling and elbow nudging got to be too much, she demanded, “Okay. What the hell is this, middle school?” She was grinning as she said it, still walking on air from the amazing night spent in Dylan’s arms. “What are you girls gossiping about?
Abbie grinned back. “One thing you’ll need to get used to on the island, cousin. It’s like a small village—everybody is always up in everyone else’s business. But this particular village is incredibly supportive, so don’t worry. It’s all good stuff.”
“Okay,” Kendra replied. “So what’s the good stuff that has you all tittering like magpies?”
Shani piped up. “A particular Master who’s very popular at the nightly dungeon parties was conspicuously absent last evening.”
“And it’s been noticed that a certain sous chef sub girl wasn’t in her room last night,” Skylar added, her lively green eyes dancing.
“We were speculating as to where you might have been,” Abbie commented, one eyebrow arched.
Kendra snorted. “Like you don’t all know.” She glanced at Henry, worried her boss might find this discussion inappropriate in his kitchen, but he was smiling too, his eyes twinkling.
Too happy to be annoyed, Kendra admitted, “Dylan and I, uh, really connected last night during his bullwhip demo. Then we went up to his suite…” She hugged herself, unable to wipe away the huge grin that split her face. “It was awesome.”
She was immediately surrounded by the girls, who vied for the chance to hug her as they exclaimed about what a sexy hunk Dylan was, and how lucky she was.
She bristled a little at first, not used to such gushy, girlie shows of affection. She’d never really had girlfriends before, too driven in her career to take the time, and too focused on establishing her tough-girl persona in the kitchens. But they all seemed so genuinely excited and happy for her that she soon gave in, hugging them back.
As the group chatted and laughed together, treating Kendra like one of them, something inside that had always been tightly knotted loosened a little. Though she’d only been there a few days, Kendra felt a real sense of kinship and community with these people. Abbie had always been her rock, her go-to safe place, her only true confidante. Now, she was surrounded by a whole “village” of like-minded, friendly, fully engaged people. Everyone here, she understood, was living his or her dream in a safe, close-knit community.
The conversation turned to that evening’s slave auction, a twice weekly event in the main dungeon. “Remember when Master Caelan bought Skylar?” Shani said with a grin. She turned to Kendra to explain, “Everyone who wants to bid is given a thousand dollars in play money.”
“Yeah,” Maya continued eagerly. “You should have seen Skylar’s face while she was up on the stage. It was already up to a thousand and Master Caelan hadn’t said a word.”
Skylar laughed. “I was, like, why isn’t Master Caelan bidding on me? What the fuck?”
“Then,” Abbie said in a dramatic tone, “he calls out in that sexy voice of his, ‘Ten thousand dollars.’ You could have heard a pin drop.”
“But it’s what came after that was so awesome,” Shani interjected.
“Okay, kids,” Chef Henry interrupted. “Enough chatter. Get out of my kitchen. We have work to do.
“To be continued,” Tommy said with a grin to Kendra.
“Hey, no fair,” Kendra said, laughing. “Leaving me with a cliffhanger.”
Abbie kissed her on the cheek. “Henry can fill you in on the details. Catch ya’ later, cousin. I have a class to teach.”
After they’d left, Henry told her the incredibly romantic details about Caelan and Skylar. Only a week before, Kendra would have made some scathing remark along the lines of ‘gag me with a spoon’ over what she would have described as sickly-sweet, sappy mush.