Page 51 of Lesson In Honesty
“No. No, I don’t want a witness to…”
“Okay. How about if we did a scene together, both of us and our Doms? Not witnesses, but participants. Liam won’t judge, and Mack is a laidback kind of guy.” Her stomach fluttered with butterflies at the idea of her first scene with Mack being of the backdoor variety; she didn’t even know what he was packing. “This is a community, Tabitha. Even better, afamily. You don’t have to deal with the scary stuff on your own anymore.”
The green color was creeping back into Tabitha’s pale face, her unease clear. “T-They wouldn’t touch me?”
“No. They’d be there for me, as moral support and security for you. Nobody wants to see you suffer or fail; that’s not what we’re about here.”
Tabitha began to drag her nails down her thigh, scoring lines in the black stockings she wore beneath her sexy, red leather skirt. Head nodding nervously, something she probably wasn’t even aware of, she gnawed on her bottom lip. “A-All right.”
“We’ve got you, sweetie.” The endearment tripped off Sierra’s tongue. Setting her hands lightly on Tabitha’s wrists, she gave them a quick, gentle squeeze. “Let me go see where that first aid kit got to, okay? I’ll talk with Liam and Grit. Can you sit here and breathe? Just try to relax. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
She snorted morosely. “Bad shit always happens to me.”
“Not tonight.”
Walking to the door, Sierra slipped out and exhaled as it closed behind her. Some of the tension torturing her shoulders eased; she was still alive, so that was good.
The number of eyes on her, however, wasn’t.
Surrounded by a wall of dominance, she cowered back slightly at the show of force, but when Felicity moved to push past her into the bathroom, Sierra slammed her hands against the doorjambs and blocked her way. “No. No one goes in there, Mistress.”
“Step aside.”
“I said no. Tabitha is calm. The situation is under control. It won’t be if you go in.” Sierra searched the people behind the Domme, catching her Daddy’s heated gaze. She winced, but jerked her head for him to come, then found Grit and did the same.
They approached, and she swore she saw all manner of implements swirling in Liam’s gray eyes. He was likely weighing up what her disobedience and impulsiveness required in terms of punishment. “I need to speak with both of you, please.”
“Is she okay?” Grit asked immediately.
“No. Yes. Sort of.” Flustered, she scowled at Felicity. “We need to talk in private, but all hell will break loose if someone goes in to tackle her.”
“Felicity, darling, Ericka’s asked for your presence in the medplay room.” Cheerfully, Violet strolled over, as though she had all the time in the world. “Why don’t you let me handle this? My shift is over.”
“Oh, whatever,” the other Domme muttered, rolling her eyes. She stalked off across the room, snagging a long furry jacket from the rack by the main doors before disappearing out into the night.
“Fun and games,” Violet said with a beaming smile. “Go have a chat with the Doms, sweetheart. I’ll stand guard for your friend.”
Yes, that was an acceptable compromise, Sierra decided. Violet was trustworthy and had considerably more spine than she did; no one would bully their way past her. Stepping aside, she was relieved when the Mistress immediately took her place,folding her arms over her chest and planting her feet hip-width apart like an intimidating bouncer.
That relief died when Liam and Grit flanked her, worry pumping off one side of her, a less violent shade of temper throbbing on the other. It dawned on her just how much trouble she was in when Liam’s big hand covered one butt cheek and squeezed, his fingers biting into her flesh until she was walking on her tiptoes.
The silent threat was worse than anything he might whisper in her ear.
It meant he was too mad to talk.
They escorted her out of the bar into the quiet area between there and the restaurant. Away from the line of women needing the bathroom and the nosy busybodies who just wanted firsthand gossip about the lunatic who’d shoved her Dom.
“We’re going to have a serious chat about how you show respect to the staff here, minx.” Darker than she’d ever heard it, Liam’s voice echoed in the space. “Mistress Felicity is not impressed with you.”
“I’m not impressed with her,” Sierra fired right back, her shoulders straightening in indignation. “She’s heavy-handed, arrogant, and would’ve just made the whole debacle worse.”
“Can you reprimand your sub later, Liam? Mine’s currently holding herself hostage in a woman’s restroom, and Sierra has blood on her hands.” Grit’s gaze locked on the smears of red on Sierra’s skin. “What the hell has she done?”
She almost quailed under the intense stares, then remembered she held the power here. She’d found her spine and shelikedhow it made her feel. Being rude and disrespectful wasn’t on her list of acceptable behavior, but by God, she could learn to speak her mind instead of fading into the background to hide.
Setting her hands on her hips, she ignored Liam for the moment. Shooting Grit a pointed glare, she shook her head.“Turn that around, Master Grit. If terrifying Tabitha into a devastated wreck was your intention, you succeeded.”
“Sierra,” Liam snapped.