The redhead in the truly stunning white, surplice-cut dress looked at her expectantly. There was a mimosa in each hand and a smile on her face.
It was as good a time as any to jump back into the pool. She wasn’t going to make friends by standing in the corner. Damn it. She’d been good at this once. She could be good at it again. “Yes, it’s my first time. I’ve been in the penthouse before but not for Saturday-morning brunches. It’s all so lovely.”
The redhead laughed a little. “That wasn’t what I meant, hon. I was asking if it was the first time your Dom forced you to walk around with a damn piece of plastic up your butt.”
Shelley felt her face go up in flames.
The woman pressed her extra mimosa into Shelley’s hand. “Drink up, honey. It really does get better. I’m Abby Barnes, by the way.”
Shelley drank the whole damn glass in a single gulp.
A gorgeous blond man in jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat stepped up, his arm going around Abby’s waist. He held out another mimosa. “We were right, weren’t we, baby? You’ll feel better after three or four of these.”
She took the proffered glass, but sipped it at more sedate pace. “Can everyone tell? How can everyone tell? Oh, my god.”
Abby patted her shoulder encouragingly. “It’s a little thing, hon. Sam caught it when you walked in.”
The man named Sam tipped his hat her way in a sweetly old-fashioned gesture. “I sure did, ma’am.”
“There’s a tightness around your eyes, and you’re walking a little carefully.” Abby took a sip of her drink. “It’s nothing the vanilla world would catch on to, but we’ve all been there. Poor Sam here didn’t sit down for hours.”
“Jack was kind, baby. He sent me out to get my tat. It’s on the back of my neck. I had to lie on my stomach in that chair for about six hours. It was perfect.” Sam’s hand went to the back of his neck. Shelley could see the tendrils of a well-done tattoo coming around the place where his shoulders met his neck. “I think Jack was way nicer than this poor lady’s Dom. He didn’t send me to a party the first time he shoved a plug up my butt.”
Shelley couldn’t help but grin. It actually was kind of funny. “At least he sent me to a party where everyone’s in the lifestyle. I think Wolf would find it highly amusing. He’s got a bent sense of humor.”
And the most amazing tongue. He’d joined her in the shower and gotten on his knees, telling her he needed his breakfast. He’d eaten her pussy right there in the shower. He’d shoved his tongue up her cunt until she’d cried out, and then he’d soaped her whole body, washing her with a tenderness that made his rough use of her in bed even hotter.
And then he’d dried her off and forced her to bend over and accept a plug up her ass.
It felt weird.
Sam’s blue eyes had gone wide. “Wolf? As in Leo’s brother Wolf?”
“You know Leo?” The question came out of her mouth, and then she realized how stupid it was. Of course they knew Leo. Everyone at The Club knew the resident Dom.
Abby put her drink on a passing waiter’s tray and turned, revelation in her eyes. “You’re Shelley McNamara. Sam, she’s Trev’s sister.”
Something passed between the two and then Sam nodded slightly, a bit more sober than before. “We’ve never been introduced, but you’ve met our Dom, Jack Barnes.”
Now that was a name she did know. Jack Barnes had been deeply helpful with her brother, teaching him new methods of ranching. “Of course. Jack is such a nice man.”
Abby grinned a little. “He is, indeed. And yet he still made us walk around with that damn plug. Can we help you sit down? It can be awkward until you get used to it.”
She had a sudden vision of herself being lowered into a chair with a crane. Nope. She would just stand. Maybe forever. “I’m really fine.”
Abby nodded. “I did the same thing. It was a long time before I could sit with one of those damn things.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, my baby girl is here. Sam, you didn’t tell me Lexi was coming up.”
Shelley looked over and Lexi O’Malley was walking into the room with Lucas on her arm. She waved toward her mother and stepfather. Abby and Sam rushed off to greet her. Shelley gave her a nod. They knew each other in passing, having lived in the same small town for a while.
Shelley sipped her drink and looked around. She knew she was probably being paranoid, but it felt like everyone was watching her, whispering behind their hands. She’d come because Dani had invited her, but now she wondered when she could leave. Maybe she could sneak out.
And Wolf would be pissed since he’d told her he would come by and pick her up himself.
Not being able to walk around without an armed escort was going to get damn annoying. She looked up and saw a lovely blonde woman coming her way and then realized she shouldn’t walk out of here. She needed to run.
Janine. Leo’s ex-wife was walking up to her, a look of purpose in her eyes. “Hey, Shelley, how’s it going?”
She decided that if she was in for a penny, she might as well be in for a pound. Maybe a little humor was needed when dealing with her pseudo ex’s ex. “I have a plug up my ass. How about you?”
“Oh, we’re going to get along nicely.” Janine smiled and seemed deeply friendly, but Shelley had been around small-town sharks long enough to know that a smile was just a way of baring teeth. “I love the sarcastic ones.”
Shelley was a little confused. She remembered that Janine had talked about topping her husband the night before. “I thought this brunch-thing was for subs.”
Janine nodded. “Yes, and we lucky switches get to pick. You’ll note that almost all the switches come to the sub events. Lucas O’Malley over there could go to either, but he prefers the ladies. I do, too, though for different reasons. Lucas is bi. I just can’t stand all the testosterone at Julian’s gatherings. So much chest-thumping alphaness, and that includes the Dommes. It’s way more fun here. So how is Wolf these days?”
It occurred to Shelley that this woman had known both the brothers for a long time. She so wanted to talk about them, to ask about what they were like when they were younger, what kinds of trouble they’d caused. She’d known Wolf as a very young man. But she was wary. “He’s great. We’re getting along nicely.”
“Yeah, I could tell from that scene last night.”
She choked on her mimosa.
Janine laughed. “Get used to it. It’s a very open lifestyle. There isn’t a single person in this room whose private parts haven’t been on full display. And seriously, I will cheer the first time Wolf gets naked. I will bless you as a goddess among women if you get that man out of his leathers in a public place.”
“I thought you were married to Leo.” Shelley was a bit confused.
“A girl can dream, right? I met Wolf when he was just a kid. He was like twenty-one. He was six foot five and a slab of pure muscle. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have him in a high school class. He was a goddamn Lifetime cautionary tale on two legs. Leo had already introduced me to the lifestyle by the time we met, and the first thing that went through my head was, damn, we should have a ménage.”
Again, she felt her face heat.
Janine’s eyes narrowed. “A girl would be damn lucky to be in between those two.”
She had the distinct feeling Leo’s ex-wife had a point. “I suppose so.”
Janine frowned. “Are you using Wolf to get to Leo?”
Ah. There was the point. “Not at all. I didn’t even know Wolf was Leo’s brother when we started talking. He was just supposed to be the Dom who trained me, but then, well, he’s Wolf.”
“I understand that, but I talk to Leo a lot. I know it’s unusual for exes to talk, but we’re not ordinary. I still love Leo. Always will. I know how he felt about you. I even encouraged him to go after you despite the fact that you were married.”