Sore was right, Becca thought as she walked down the Faire’s main walkway. Kendrick had been rough with her and she’d loved every second of it. Every move she’d made for four days reminded her of the welts on her buttocks, her sore ass, and her aching pussy, not to mention her slightly sore throat. But she wasn’t about to complain because each discomfort reminded her of that amazing afternoon and she hoped he’d be willing to be just as rough in the future. That had been wonderful.
Besides, he’d come out of it without that cloud over his head. He still worried about Craig and was sad about Jilly’s death, but it was obvious that their afternoon had done him a lot of good. It had her too. Most of her soreness had gone and she missed it. Kendrick had fucked her each night since, but it wasn’t the same. She loved it whenever he touched her, but that afternoon had been magical as far as she was concerned.
A low whistle caught her attention and it was such an odd sound that she turned in the direction of the man who did it. Everyone was so busy getting ready for the Faire that watching an almost naked body walk by barely raised a look, let alone a whistle. The man watching her was one she didn’t know and his leer made her uncomfortable.
Given that she was part of the Faire, she knew she should be used to it, but the fact was that all the Doms seemed to figure since she was Kendrick’s property, she was not only hands off, she was also eyes off. This guy hadn’t gotten the memo. She turned away from him and continued along. Almost all the shops were up and the new whipping post was in. It was more secure than the original and she kind of hoped Kendrick would be willing to whip her once the Faire opened. The thought of taking his stripes while others watched was a major turn on.
“Nice assets,” the man said loudly and her fingers twitched.
Kendrick liked her to show her body off so most of her daily outfits consisted of microskirts that showed off her pussy and tight camisoles that showed her tits.
Becca wasn’t sure why the guy was bothering her. Guys liked to watch at BDSM clubs all the time and once the Faire opened, there would be tons of people watching her, especially with the outfits Kendrick had ordered for her. She was excited to see them as he wouldn’t let her know what they looked like.
“Not very respectful,” he said from right behind her and a hand wrapped around her upper arm.
Becca swung around, shocked. Nobody man-handled her there. They were lifestylers and understood the concept of a collar. “Hey,” she said, completely thrown.
He cocked both eyebrows and she took a good look at him. Just taller than she was, he had short gray hair, squinty blue eyes, and smoke breath. Unable to stop herself, she coughed. “Definitely not respectful,” he said with a frown. “Maybe this will help.” His other hand moved so fast, she didn’t expect it until it came in contact with her ass.
Becca cried out, mostly from shock. The spank itself hadn’t been painful. “Take your hands off me. I’m taken.”
He snorted. “Right. Let’s try that again.” He pulled his hand back and she screamed as she saw he had a crop in it.
“Drop that and release her before I hang you from the whipping post and turn you into a eunuch.” Kendrick’s voice was so filled with fury, it should have scared her, but all she felt was relief.
The idiot holding her turned in Kendrick’s direction and she got a look at her Dom. Kendrick strode toward them looking like an avenger. His eyes flashed and his mouth was set in a grim line. “Are you hard of hearing? Let my girl go now.”
He released her and she stumbled backward. In the next moment, Kendrick was between her and the idiot Dom. “Who the fuck are you?” Kendrick barked.
“Garrett Coreu,” he said, lifting his head as though to try and reach Kendrick’s height, which was impossible since he was a good half a head shorter. “And who are you?”
“Kendrick Finleigh. I own this place and this girl. She’s wearing my collar, so I don’t see any reason why you should have grabbed her.”
“She was being disrespectful.”
“How?”
“She ignored me.”
Kendrick snorted. “Currently I can’t blame her. I would ignore you too if it weren’t the fact you’ve insulted me. Now who the fuck are you and why are you here?”
Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Alec walking toward them. He was walking slowly as if he was just going for a stroll, but his eyes were on Kendrick and Garrett.
“I’m here to run my shop,” Garrett said succinctly. “I sell chastity belts.”
Becca grimaced. She hoped Kendrick never wanted to put her in one of those.
“How long have you been in the BDSM lifestyle?”
“Five years.”
“Then wherever you learned didn’t teach you the basics,” Kendrick said coldly. “First, you never touch or talk to another Dom’s property without his permission. You talked to, touched, and spanked my girl. That’s three huge offenses in my book.”
“Oh give it a rest. She’s just a sub.”
It was like suddenly they had an audience. Alec stepped up next to Kendrick. “Just a sub?” Alec said. “If it weren’t for subs giving up control, we Doms would be a sorry lot. Trying to control one another and never getting anywhere.”
Becca had to stand up on her tiptoes to look between Kendrick and Alec’s shoulders. Garrett sneered. “They’re a dime a dozen. I refuse to treat them as any better than they are. Any sub must kneel at my feet.”
“Your sub,” Kendrick said sharply. “If a sub agrees to serve you then that is fine. But you have no right to demand any sub does that, let alone an owned one. Becca is mine. She serves me. If you ever talk to her or touch her again, I’m kicking your ass off the island whether or not there’s a boat on the dock. Got it?”
Garrett’s nostrils flared, but he nodded. “Got it. Now if you’ll excuse me, my shop is completely inadequate for my needs and I need to speak to the idiot who did it.”
Alec grinned. “That would be Alice. Hold on. I’ll call her.”
Becca bit her lower lip. Alice would tear the guy down to size in no time. If she could control Kendrick, Neil, and Craig, Garrett would be no trouble at all.
“You have a sub in charge of the stalls?” Garrett sniffed. “No wonder they’re wrong.”
Kendrick turned his back on him and looked directly into her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Becca nodded. “Yes. It was a shock more than anything. I wasn’t expecting it here.”
He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “As you shouldn’t. If he tries anything again, I’ll hand him over to Alec for a little CBT.”
She giggled, imagining how that would go over. Alec looked over his shoulder and grinned. “You might want to see this,” he said and they both looked up as Alice marched up to them, her green eyes flashing.
“There’s a problem?” she asked.
“Yes,” Garrett said. “The placement of my stall is inadequate. I want a view of the water.”
“Oh,” Alice said, not bothering to hide her disdain. “A view of the water. I see. Does that come with the exclusive VIP package nobody told me about?”
“It’s the exclusive idiot package,” Alec said with a grunt.
Alice grinned at him before turning back to Garrett. “Take it or leave it. We’ve had to get this place going on a very short time frame. All of the shops have openings to the fairway so that you get walk by traffic. If we turned your stall to face the ocean, nobody would ever buy your wares.”
Garrett looked her up and down. “I don’t like your attitude. Who’s your Dom?”
Kendrick winced while Alec grimaced and took a step back. And one moment later, Becca knew why. Alice went cold, her voice dripping pure ice. “I’m a Domme, you judgmental prick. My husband is my sub. I’m one of the owners of this place. Kendrick is another owner. You have, on your first day managed to insult half of the owners of the Faire. If Craig were here, I can assure you he’d be dragging your ass back to your boat right now. Shall I call on the fourth owner to give his input?” Each word was crisp and clear and felt like bullets from a gun. “Now are you here to be a part of the Faire and sell your goods or do you want to get back on your boat and sail away? Because I’m not sure if I want you to stay.”
“Oh,” Becca gasped when she saw another person approaching them. “Kendrick. It’s Craig.” Kendrick looked up and Alice swung around. She ran forward and practically attacked Craig. He caught her and held on for a few seconds before he put an arm around her and they walked up.
“Good to have you back,” Kendrick said and he and Craig made eye contact, nodded, and that seemed to be that.
Men were so weird. If her friend had just lost a spouse, Becca would be crying with her and hugging her tight.
“Is there a problem?” Craig asked and frowned at Garrett. Both Alice and Kendrick were kick-ass dominants, but there was something about Craig when he frowned at a person that was kind of scary. He was shorter than both Kendrick and Neil, but he had a presence that was intimidating.
“No,” Garrett said his voice breaking before he cleared it. “No problem.”
“Good. Make sure we don’t have one because while I’m only a quarter owner in this place? I’m the fucking dungeon master in charge of discipline and I’m telling you after the week I’ve had, I could use an hour of ripping someone’s hide off with my bull whip.”
Garrett backed up and scampered away.
“Dungeon master in charge of discipline?” Alec asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Craig shrugged. “Figured it would scare the idiot off.”
“I like it, though,” Kendrick said as he slid an arm around Becca’s back. “You could wear that scary outfit all executioners wore in historical movies.”
“He wouldn’t even need a mask,” Alice added with a chuckle.
With a roll of his eyes, Craig hugged Alice tight until she grunted. “I’m going back to my cabin. Then I’m going to get the boxes of Jilly’s stuff ready to sell. A friend of mine is coming to man the shop for the summer.”
“We changed your cabin,” Alice said as he turned to walk away and she walked beside him.
“Oh?” She nodded. “Thanks, Alice.”
Alec let out a slow breath. “Time?”
Becca looked between them. Time for what?
“Two hours,” Kendrick said. “I’m going to go round up Neil and Joseph. Neil brought a few bottles of that homemade wine he made last year. We’ll go get drunk off our asses and Craig will be fine by tomorrow.” Ah, so that wasn’t just it. The he-men were going to go get drunk. Becca figured if it worked for them, then she was all for it.
“Awesome. Want me to watch over the place?”
“If you don’t mind.” Kendrick turned toward Becca. “I need to—”
She nodded and smiled, cutting him off. “Go be with Craig. I’ll tail Alec or Alice. They’ll take on the wimp if he shows up.”
“If he shows up,” Kendrick grunted, “he’s gonna lose a nut.” He kissed her brow and then headed toward the cabins.
She watched him walk away and sighed softly. Maybe with Craig returned, things would go back to normal.
“What do you say to some lunch?” Alec asked. “I’m starved.” He held out an elbow and with a smile, she put her hand in it and walked with him toward the cafeteria.