Chapter Six
Brock knew he was fighting a losing battle to hold back his laughter, but Mia was the cutest drunk he’d ever seen. She was damned lucky he’d been the one to pick her up from the spa rather than Tucker. His brother would have taken exception to her complete lack of awareness of her surroundings. Hell, she’d stood in front of him without a stitch of clothing and never blinked. He’d enjoyed the view, but he was certain things would have been much different if she’d been sober. Pulling a sheet from the table, he wrapped it around her and led her down the short hall.
“Where are we going? I can’t walk around the ship dressed in a sheet, people will think I lost my clothes.”
“Do you know where your clothes are, baby?” Brock heard the amusement in his own voice and grinned at the wrinkle between her furrowed brows.
“Well… not exactly.”
“Then it seems you have lost your clothes, so anyone making that assumption would be right.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to advertise how inept I am when I have a shot or three of tequila.” She surprised him by stopping and tugging on the front of his shirt until he leaned down close enough for her to whisper, “This boat is full of Doms and subs, you know.”
Pulling back, he gave her what he hoped was a genuinely surprised look. Nodding, she added, “It’s true. CeCe told me about it. She has two husbands.” When she held up three fingers, he gently tucked one of the slender digits back down. “Oops. Thanks. Anyway, I thought that only happened in my books, but CeCe said she knows lots of women who have two husbands. Do you think that’s true? Because if it is that would be hot.”
The sense of satisfaction that moved through him was probably more intense than it should have been, but for once he wasn’t leading with logic. Giving her a quick kiss, he grinned.
“It’s true and you’re right, it’s very hot. Come on, we’ve got a quick stop to make before we go upstairs to eat.” Moving the short distance to the boutique, he led her in and pointed to the array of dresses set out for her. “Which of these would you like to wear this evening?”
Brock knew she was no stranger to nice clothing, so he was surprised to see the unmistakable sheen of tears in her pretty blue eyes. Her family’s wealth and social position would have exposed her to any number of situations requiring dresses far more expensive than what he’d chosen, so her reaction surprised him. The file Micah forwarded was filled with pictures of her dressed in designer dresses he knew had to have cost thousands of dollars. Standing back watching her rub the fabric of several dresses between her fingers, he wondered at her emotional reaction to the most conservative selections they’d had in her petite size.
“These are so pretty, but they might be a bit skimpy for someone my size.” Her size? What the hell? “I’m flattered you think these would look nice on me, but I don’t think anyone will want to see this much… well, this much of me.”
A soft whoosh of air behind him signaled Tucker’s arrival, and Brock smiled to himself. Sweetheart, you should have chosen while you had the chance.
*
Tucker had been watching the security feed upstairs, so he already knew what was taking so long, but that didn’t stop him asking when he saw Brock and Mia standing in the small dress shop. “What’s the hold up?”
Knowing his brother, he’d given her a choice, which of course would explain the delay. What he hadn’t expected was the genuine smile that spread across her heart-shaped face when she saw him.
“Oh, look at the pretty dresses, Tucker. Did you help Brock pick these out? I’ve never had a man pick out a dress for me. These are lovely, but I think I’d better look around and find something that will cover a bit more of my ass… ets.”
Tucker crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “Valliant attempt to save your ass… ets, but too little and far too late.”
“I think the alcohol is keeping our sub from firing on all cylinders, brother,” Brock chuckled at her confused look. “Seems she has an incredibly low tolerance—something we’ll have to keep a careful watch on.”
“Indeed,” Tuck’s blunt response might have been directed at his brother, but he didn’t take his eyes off the beauty standing in front of him. The white cotton sheet she was draped in clearly outlined the dark rose areolas that were fast becoming tight peaks, reaching out as if seeking his attention. Quickly scanning the three dresses Brock had selected, he grasped the one in the center. He bet the deep sapphire would match her eyes when they darkened with desire. Lifting the hanger off the hook, he returned his attention to Mia.
“Drop the sheet, Kodak.”
To her credit, she only hesitated for an instant before her hands moved to the knot between her breasts. The booze still clouded her eyes, but she met his challenge without flinching or letting her gaze drop from his. With the sheet pooled around her feet, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
“You are gorgeous, sweet cheeks. I can hardly wait to see if I’m right about this color.” Gathering the fabric in his hands, he smiled. “Arms up.” When the dress settled over her, he nodded his approval but noticed her frown.
“It barely covers my backside. And I need underwear. If I bend over or reach for anything, I’m going to flash everyone.” Tucker had seen the contents of her e-reader, so the flicker of recognition in her eyes told him she wasn’t ignorant to the rules of a D/s relationship. If this was a test, he was more than up to the challenge. Bring it, sweet cheeks.
“Baby, every passenger on this ship is either a sexual Dominant or a submissive. I assure you, they will be far more shocked if you are wearing panties than they’ll be seeing that lovely ass and smooth pussy.” Brock was right, but Tuck wasn’t sure Mia was convinced they were committed to the roles they’d already outlined. Hell, the alcohol had probably negated a lot of what they’d outlined earlier.
“No panties. We aren’t doing a scene tonight, but I reserve the right to check your responses to what you’re seeing as we walk around. No one will believe we are your Doms if we let you wear more than this.” He waved his hand at her dress. The fact was she would probably be covered far more than any of the other subs—something he was looking forward to remedying soon enough.
“We’ll have our hands on you, Kodak, you can take that to your grandfather’s bank.” And we’ve already warned you, we will begin as we intend to go. He might not intend to have a long-term relationship with her, but he damned well planned to enjoy the benefits of their arrangement for the short time it would last. He’d always prided himself on being honest—with himself as well as with others, and there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind taunting him that he’d just told himself the mother of all lies.
Tucker watched as she chewed on her lower lip, her eyes searching the room as if a solution was going to magically appear in the small space. He could practically hear her mind whirling as she decided whether this was a battle worth fighting. When she looked to Brock for help, Tucker almost laughed out loud. Why did women always think his brother was the softer touch? While it was true, Brock was more inclined to use charm to persuade a sub, but he had a palm the size of a bear’s paw that could light a sub’s ass on fire. And in the end, they were both dominant to the bone.
“Those pretty pleading eyes won’t work on me baby,” Brock shook his head. “Your safety is too important.”
“She’s read enough about the lifestyle to know the rules, haven’t you sweet cheeks?” Tucker snorted a laugh when she leveled a glare in his direction. “Interesting reading list on your e-reader, Kodak. Very interesting, indeed. And while I don’t advocate fiction reading as an alternative to real-life experience, it certainly goes a long way to introduce the topic.” He closed the distance between them with two purposeful steps.
“We’ll add that glare to your growing list of offenses. Don’t think for a moment that look will be ignored if it takes place in public. Don’t force our hands, Mia. I’d rather our first public scene was negotiated ahead of time, and I think we’ll all enjoy it much more if it’s about pleasure rather than punishment.”
“You’re right.” Mia surprised him when she nodded. “I’m sorry, that was disrespectful. Fruit salad, my grandmother would have batted me on the back of my head for that.” Tucker blinked at her wondering what the hell fruit salad had to do with her grandmother. Waving her hand as if dismissing the obvious question in his eyes, she added, “Lucia Mendez was a lot of things, but tolerant of foul language and disrespect were not at the top of the list. I learned at an early age to use everyday words that clearly did not fit into the conversation to express myself when my friends would have interjected profanity. Much easier than getting smacked.”
“It sounds like your grandmother was a wonderful woman, and we’ll look forward to hearing your creative substitutions for cursing. But right now, I’m hungry and you need to eat something to counteract the tequila and wine.” Tucker smoothed his palm from her shoulder to wrist.
Mia’s entire face lit up, and she excitedly asked, “You have tequila? CeCe and I had tequila shots at the spa, but someone must have complained because all of a sudden, we couldn’t have anymore. CeCe said the walls have eyes and ears. Do you think that’s true? It’s kind of creepy if you ask me. I thought Americans were all about protecting privacy and all that?”
Tucker stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment as his brother cackled with laughter. Shaking his head, Tuck encircled her delicate wrist with his large hand and led her out of the boutique.
Fighting his attraction to Mia was going to be a battle of epic proportions. There was a part of him that wanted to sweep all his reservations to the side and embrace the opportunity to spend uncensored time enjoying a woman’s company for the first time in over a year. The struggle to remain distant hadn’t been difficult until now, but it was easy to see the effort required was going to be exhausting with the dark-haired beauty beside him.
Glancing at Brock, Tucker wanted to roll his eyes at his brother’s satisfied expression. There will be no living with him now. If it doesn’t work out, he’ll blame me. If by some star-crossed miracle it does, he’ll never stop reminding me he was right.