Chapter 38
Squatch.
I’d told her once that if I wanted a doormat, I wouldn’t have fallen for a tiger. I took a breath and reminded myself that her fiery disposition and hard-headedness was what brought her to me, and part of the reason I loved her.
“Okay, Kitten, but that means we have this discussion again at the end of the week. Meanwhile, we both have the evening free, so what would you like to do? I’m hungry, so food should factor in somewhere, but we can do whatever you want. Well, within reason.”
“I’ve never been on a boat.”
“I’m going to step outside and make a phone call. See what I can do about fixin’ that.”
Magnum owns a house on Logan Martin Lake. He has a pontoon boat and some waverunners, but it was the boat I was interested in.
“Yeah, sure. I can take ya’ll out. I need another hour to finish what I’m working on. Why don’t ya’ll go to the Island Bar and Grill, just down from my house, and I’ll pick ya’ll up there. Order me three burgers. I’ll bring beer. Should I bring someone so I’m not a third wheel?”
“Can’t hurt. You seein’ someone?”
“No, but Muppet’s hanging around and looks bored.”
Muppet was a new sweetbutt, meaning I’d never fucked her. “Up to you. I’d never give a sweet butt that much attention.” They get ideas that they’re special, when they aren’t.
He sighed. “Yeah I guess you’re right.”
“Find Freckles and grab him. He’s gonna be stuck to my Kitten like glue when she’s out without me, so we’ll use this opportunity to introduce them.”
I walked back inside and grinned at Kitty. “Go put a bathing suit on, and riding clothes over it.”
I gathered together some towels and sunscreen, went to my closet, stripped down, put swim trunks on, and then pulled my jeans over the top of them. I’d bought special riding shirts for us to wear in summer – mesh on the front of your arms, hi-tech armored fabric over the elbows and shoulders and spine. Even the mesh is super-strong and protective, but it breathes, so you aren’t completely miserable in long sleeves. Kitty’s is white and charcoal, mine is light charcoal and dark grey. They cost hundreds of dollars, but they’ll be worth every penny if we end up on the pavement.
Kitty came out in faded jeans and her riding shirt, and I looked to her feet. Riding boots, which was good on the bike, but she’d need something else once we arrived. “Grab some sandals or flip flops, something with a good sole that can get wet. We’ll change shoes once we get there.”
It was only a thirty-minute drive to the lake, but it’d been too long since I’d had my girl on the back of my bike. Nothing compares to the feel of the road and engine under me with her hugged up behind me, leaning together, in and out of the curves.
Freckles was there when we arrived, and we sat at the table with him to change our shoes. Kitty took her shirt off and just had her bikini top on under it. Others were in bathing suit tops as well, but I wished she’d brought a shirt. Pisses me off when men stare at her tits when she isn’t working.
I blew out a breath and pulled my own shirt off, replacing it with a short-sleeved tee. I stood, pulled my jeans off, and glared at my Kitten. “Unless you have shorts to go over your bathing suit, you’re stuck in your jeans for now.”
She shrugged and grinned, but didn’t stand up to shuck her jeans off. I put our shirts, shoes, and my jeans into a duffel, and set it at my feet as a waitress came to take our order.
* * * *
Kitty My first impression of Freckles was that he was too young and innocent to be around Squatch and the other bikers, but then I realized I’d just been seeing the red hair and freckles. The dude’s eyes told a different story. He might look twenty from a distance, but up close, if you were paying attention, he’d lived a hard life.
We were at a table for eight, but I didn’t ask who else was coming. Some things, I figure Squatch will tell me if he wants me to know. He gets annoyed sometimes when I ask questions around his brothers, and I didn’t really need to know.
Ten minutes after we arrived, Khan and a woman I’d never seen before sat with us. I tried to surreptitiously take a deep breath, and scented Khan’s wolf alongside a hawk.
“This is Lee. She drove up from Mobile for a few days. She’s on speech restriction. If you need to speak with her, do so through me, please.”
I looked at my plate. I’d learned about power exchange and BDSM from Brooke and her people. She’d thought it important I understand the lifestyle, in the event I ran into someone who expected I’d understand. She hadn’t been wrong. I’d been so naïve when I’d first started stripping, even after everything Brooke had taught me. I’d caught up fast, though.
Because I understood the lifestyle, I assumed Lee had driven up to see Khan with an understanding of the rules before she arrived. She clearly already knew him. But, I thought he and Nuli were close, and I wondered what his deal with the two women was, but knew Squatch wouldn’t want me asking if they knew about each other. I also understood bringing Nuli up would be in bad form. I wouldn’t have understood those nuances when I’d first entered society.
“Magnum’s meeting us here on his bike, instead of picking us up from here in the boat,” Khan told us, “and we can all ride to his house to get on the boat. Our bikes will be safer there.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to him about buying some waverunners, or comparable, this fall when everyone’s trying to ditch them,” Squatch said. “We can store them in the clubhouse over the winter, but if he has a place for them in the summer, it’ll be fun if we can get a bunch of us riding together next year.”
Magnum walked across the room, stopping to put his arm around a waitress and squeeze her ass before he made his way to our table.
“I’m good with keeping them at my house. We’ll need to work out insurance in case they’re stolen. Theft on the water happens more than anyone realizes.”
Squatch grinned. “Maybe we put the RTMC logo on them, then. No one in their right mind jacks our shit.”
“Point.” Magnum looked to me. “Squatch says you’ve never been on a boat?”
I shook my head.
“Mine’s just a pontoon boat. Party boat. Nothing fancy. Have ya’ll ordered? Their burgers are out of this world.”