runs the BDSM portion of our spa, meaning he oversees the pro-submissives, and watches over the scene while the paying Doms work them over. He knows his shit, which is why we’d asked for him to come up. Technically, he’s still on loan from the Mobile chapter, but we all hope he decides to stay.
He’d shown up at club functions with a lovely little submissive deer shifter named Nuli a few times, so the club gossip was going strong, but I’d known he wasn’t ready to settle down. I was pretty sure this little hawk shifter was just a plaything as well.
No, not just playthings. He cared about them and likely had a good deal of time invested in training them, but I didn’t see him settling down with either of them.
We parked our bikes in Magnum’s huge garage and walked down to the water without going through his house. He’d had a nice job before going to jail for nearly beating someone to death, but had lost it when he was convicted. Not many companies want to trust an ex-convict with their money, so he’d joined us when he got out, and now he handles our computers and helps Frost with the contract stuff at the construction company. He’ll eventually help Frost handle the club’s money, but not yet. We’re getting there.
Magnum’s pontoon boat can easily handle a dozen people. I reached my hand out to help Kitty from the dock to the boat, but she didn’t even notice my hand. Silly me, helping a cat keep balance. What was I thinking?
Kahn had put a leash on Lee when we got to the garage, and a piece of black stretchy cloth around her wrists, holding them at her back. He held her upper arm as she stepped from the dock to the seat to the floor of the boat, and then pointed to his feet and she gracefully dropped to her knees.
Magnum stood and looked at her a few seconds, a stack of towels in his left hand, a cooler of beer in his right.
“She can’t be restrained on the boat. It isn’t safe.”
Kahn lifted an eyebrow at him and then looked to the girl at his feet. “Show him, pet.”
Lee brought her hands to her front and offered the black stretchy piece of fabric to Magnum, who shook his head and looked back to Kahn. “Sorry, brother. I should’ve known you wouldn’t put her at risk, but why bother at all?”
“I want her arms behind her back. Out of the way. I could require her to hold them there, but it requires a lot of expended energy. Offering a binding is a kindness. She can get out of it, but she won’t unless I instruct her to. She’s almost always a good girl.” He looked down and grinned. “But when she’s bad, she’s very, very bad.”
Lee looked at his feet. “I’m sorry, Master. Sometimes I can’t help myself.”
He rubbed his hand across the top of her head. “I know, Pet. No one can behave all the time. I’m glad you’re here, even if only for two weeks.”
Before sunscreen lotion was a thing, I’m told shapeshifters had to change every couple of days in the summer. A wolf who only changed on the full moon would lose an entire month’s worth of tan, which was hard to explain. I went to put sunscreen on Kitty, but she waved me away. “I want to absorb the sunshine. Besides, I’m going to Brooke’s in a few days. I know she said I didn’t have to, since...” She let that hang, not wanting to mention Brooke feeding from us the night of Mike’s execution in front of the others. “But she didn’t get much so I insisted I come again. We still need to plan to take her out, too.”
She sat near the front, clearly looking forward to her first boat ride, and I kissed her forehead and walked back to Magnum. “Talk me through what it takes to drive this thing. I watched you before, and it seems to me the biggest challenge is the lack of brakes.”
“Biggest challenge is knowing the underwater topography, so you don’t hit a stump, or go to ground on shallows.” He looked at Kitty and smiled. “There are life vests under the seats. Law says there has to be one for every person on board, but you don’t have to wear it. I’m assuming you can swim?”
She nodded, and he continued. “Stay seated when we’re