Ensnared (Brutes of Bristlebrook, #1)(17)
Lucky gives a low laugh from the bar. Jasper makes his way back down and hands off a whiskey each to Beau and Dominic, then takes a seat beside the king.
Jasper would make a good inquisitor, I think before I can control my ridiculous fantasy.
Dominic is still waiting on a response, but embarrassment makes me snarky. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
A golden-tanned hand catches the bottom of my silk shirt and tugs. After a moment of hesitation, I let Beau pull me down.
At the last moment, he directs me to his lap, rather than the seat beside him, and I shoot him an indignant look. He smiles lazily and picks his drink back up from the side table. His other hand remains wrapped around the hem of the shirt, his fingers stroking absently over my inner thigh. I become very, very conscious that I’m wearing nothing under the dress shirt.
Lucky comes down from the bar, two large, bright orange cocktails in his hands.
“C’mon, Dom, you saw it. She practically mounted him on the bank.” He offers me one of the frothy concoctions. When I hesitate, eyeing the obnoxious color dubiously, he says, “You should take it, sweetheart. The boss man will want to cover the bases, and I’m thinking you might need some good ol’-fashioned liquid courage. Double monkey master mix’ll sort you out.”
I dart a look at Dom and take the drink. Lucky settles himself back in front of his game, only partially turned our way. His own drink is precariously balanced on a raised coaster beside him. With his long dark-blond hair escaping down his back, I can’t decide if he looks ludicrous or completely right.
After a moment of strained silence, Lucky laughs and adds more quietly, “He’ll cover all the bases with you. First, second . . . ”
Beau throws a pillow at him.
Looking for any distraction, I take a sip of my drink and immediately wrinkle my nose. It’s cloyingly sweet, almost a syrup, and obviously devastatingly alcoholic. I’m running on an empty stomach too, but I don’t want to seem as though I’m complaining. I’ll just go easy on the booze.
“How many men have you slept with?” Dominic asks bluntly, drawing my attention from the frosty glass.
“Is this really necessary?” I reply, a prim press to my lips.
To my surprise, Jasper answers from where he’s perched beside Dom. Not a hair is out of place around that breathtaking face. “We need to understand who we’re dealing with, what kind of experience you have. We’re not going to treat a virgin the same way we would someone who has been in the lifestyle for years.”
“The lifestyle?” I tilt my head, confused.
Beau reaches up and plucks at the tie in my still-damp hair. “Kink, darlin’. Someone experienced with BDSM.”
I move to pull my hair out of his grip, but it only tightens. His lips tilt in an entertained smile, and I sigh, deciding it isn’t worth the struggle. As soon as I relax, he resumes pulling the tie out of my hair until the locks tumble down my back. Looking at Beau seems like the safest option at the moment, now I’m cradled on his lap—at least while Lucky is only half paying attention.
Or pretending like he is, anyway.
I lick my lips. “So are you . . . ah, all into that kind of . . . ?”
His hand trails down my back, then down my hip until he goes back to making those slow, shivery strokes along my inner thigh. “Mm-hmm. To different extents, and in different ways. We were all in a private kink club off base when the first strikes went down—a couple of us used to go there to blow off steam whenever we had leave. We hauled ass to get back to base, but it was blown to shreds by the time we got there. We stuck around for a bit to see if there was anything we could do, but it was chaos. We couldn’t find the rest of our platoon. Not . . . not much of them, anyway.”
His face grows grimmer as he speaks. I can almost see the memories scarred in his eyes. Without thinking, I lift my hand to brush my fingers over his cheek, wishing I could brush away the hurt as easily.
Beau leans into my touch for a moment, and continues roughly, “Jasper guessed his retreat might be safe—he was our shrink, and our friend, before he retired. Dominic and I’d been out here a few times and agreed it was our best option.”
“You know I don’t like that term, Beau,” Jasper says, disapproval sharp in his tone. The way his chin lowers makes the angles of his face seem sharper, pooling darkness in the hollows.
Lucky mock gasps. “Yeah, we’re not friends.”
“Don’t test me, Lucien.” Jasper isn’t warm and bookish now. “I do not find derogatory remarks amusing.”
Lucky glances up from his game at Jasper and color floods his cheeks when he takes in his expression.
“Our psychologist,” Beau corrects, inclining his head apologetically.
“Sorry, Jasper,” Lucky mumbles.
I’m grateful for the brief reprieve, because my mind is still caught back at “kink club” and “BDSM.” Burying my face in my drink, I take a long sip to try and collect myself. Okay. Not only am I agreeing to a crazy sex pact with five strangers, but they’re five strangers into the kind of kink I don’t even have the experience to imagine.
Right.
No problem at all.
I mean, sure, I’ve delved into the racier sections of the romance shelves before, but my memories of the brief pages I was able to bring myself to read in no way make me more comfortable right now. Darn it!