studied the room, spotting quite a few Dominants wearing a Master’s gold bands.
In a dungeon monitor vest, Olivia nodded at Valerie.
Farther down the room at a St. Andrew’s cross, Mistress Anne was laying out toys from her bag. Off to one side, Ben saw Valerie and winked at her.
She smiled back and kept smiling. It was so different this time. Knowing who the people were helped her relax and be comfortable. Moving so often as a child had taught her how to be comfortable with strangers and turn them into friends if provided the opportunity. Linda had given her that chance. Thank you, Linda.
She noticed a higher percentage of people her age here tonight. So wonderful. A few were even older, like a white-haired man who must be in his seventies—with his equally senior wife. And, wow, the Dom was a wizard with a soft-stranded flogger.
After a minute, she recognized the music was from Razed in Black—Master—and quite a few of the people with impact toys were using the driving beat.
In a roped-off area, a submissive was swaying his hips to the rhythm very enthusiastically. Losing patience with hitting a moving target, his Top delivered a fast flurry of cane strikes across the sub’s well-padded ass.
When the submissive squeaked and held still, Valerie—and several other onlookers—had to muffle their laughter.
Then a spate of ugly words caught her attention.
“Look, Piers, it’s a brown subbie, all alone with no lezzie lover.”
“Aww, maybe she needs some dick to bring her back to the right side.”
Valerie turned.
Natalia?
Two obnoxious Doms had cornered the slender Hispanic woman.
The flabby blond man yanked on the submissive’s dark hair, as the big muscular ginger crowded her on her other side.
“Go away, Uttley,” Natalia said to the blond. “You, too, Piers. Or I’ll call for a DM.” The words were good, but the shakiness in Natalia’s voice was like raw meat to starving dogs.
“Shit, lezzie, you know you want this.” The ginger-haired man ran the back of his hand down her breast. “Want some man-meat.”
“Leave her alone.” Valerie spoke in the tone she’d used with her teenagers when they’d exceeded her tolerance. “Back off.”
Both men froze.
Turning, they saw her bare feet, marking her as submissive. Their expressions turned mean.
“Bitch, you’re my mom’s age.” The muscular Dom named Piers shot her the finger. “Should you even be here?”
The remark about her age brought the familiar wave of doubt, but she pushed past it. Reaching between the two, she grabbed Natalia’s arm and pulled her close.
Both men moved in, looming over Valerie and—
“Is there a problem here?” Ghost’s rough, deep voice made the pushy bastards jump and spin.
“Nah, just talkin’.” Blond Uttley edged back a step.
The muscle-bound redhead crossed his arms over his big chest, flexing his biceps. “None of your business anyways.”
“Since he’s the manager, it is,” Valerie said calmly and turned to Ghost. “These two cornered Natalia.” She pointed to Uttley. “He pulled her hair. After she told them to go away or she’d call a DM, the other one touched her breast. They also said, and I’m quoting”—Valerie thanked her excellent memory— “ ‘Look, it’s a brown subbie, all alone with no lezzie lover. And aww, maybe she needs some dick to bring her back to the right side.’ ”
Ghost’s face held as much softness as a stone wall. “Thank you. I appreciate the information.” He smiled at Natalia, then said to Valerie, “Please stay with her while I speak with the men.”
“Of course.”
Ghost turned to the jerks. “Let’s chat in the entry where it’s calmer.”
“Yeah, no,” Uttley spat. “Get ’im, Piers.”
Even as terror froze Valerie, Piers lunged forward, swinging at Ghost.
Ghost blocked and delivered one, then another punch to the solar plexus. With a gut-wrenching sound, Piers dropped to his knees.
“Fuck. Shit.” Expression contorted with pain, Piers was folded in half, even as Ghost pulled him back up.
He tried to yank away.
“Don’t fuck with a sadist, boy,” Ghost growled.
“You asshole.” Uttley moved forward.
Letting go of Natalia, Valerie sucked in a breath and lifted her fists.
And someone slapped a big hand on Uttley’s shoulder, yanking him to a stop.
Valerie blinked at the size of the new arrival. He was as big as Cullen with shoulder-length white-blond hair.
“Thank you, Saxon,” Ghost said quietly to the blond. “Escort him out, please.”
“Aye, aye.” Saxon turned an icy cold blue gaze on Uttley. “Let’s go.”
Smoothly, quietly, the two effing jerks were herded to the front and out the door. Piers would have fallen if Ghost hadn’t kept him moving forward.