“Friends of yours?” I ask Victor. He told me they had friends coming. I didn’t realize they were riding with us. Victor nods and proceeds to introduce us to everyone. They all act like they’re family, not just friends. I watch McKenzie as she interacts with them, wondering if she’s envious of their obvious closeness.
When we all climb in the car, I pull McKenzie as close to me as possible. “You okay, love?” I ask her.
She smiles and nods. “I really like them,” she whispers. She doesn’t seem to be envious, just happy. I don’t know if I can ever offer her a group of friends like this. She rubs her hand up and down my arm. “Are you okay? You look so serious.” I catch one of the guys eyeing me up. I think his name is Julian.
His wife, Bailey, is laughing with the girl with light pink hair, but she notices how he’s staring at us and rolls her eyes. She slaps his arm and leans toward us. “Don’t mind my husband. This is just his face. He can’t help it.” He scowls at her, but one side of his mouth tips up. She leans forward slightly and his eyes drop to her cleavage. She winks at us. “I know how to distract him.”
McKenzie laughs, and I chuckle slightly. “You have yourself a handful,” I tell him.
He sighs good naturedly. “You have no idea.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders and drops a kiss on top of her head.
“You couldn’t live without me.” She flutters her eyelashes at him and he finally breaks into a grin.
“This is true,” he says as she leans up and kisses him.
The girl with the pink hair smirks and leans forward. “I’m Bec and this is my husband, Connor. Julian is Connor’s brother, but they’re as different as night and day.”
McKenzie leans forward. “So, you’re the one that throws the great BDSM parties.” Everyone stops their side conversations and is silent for a few moments before they burst into laughter. They all then proceed to tell us about the BDSM parties. It’s a great way to loosen up the atmosphere before the night begins.
Olivia and Victor don their masks and take their place at the front of the house after they’ve taken us on a tour and shown us everything. McKenzie and I head to the limo so we can all take a ride around town before coming back to keep up appearances. As everyone puts on their masks, I hand McKenzie her mask; it’s red and black with a swan on one side. She gazes at it, her fingers stroking over the swan.
“It’s beautiful.” I help her put it on and she turns back to face me with a smile on her face. “You know how in the movieTwilightthey have all the graduation caps framed on the wall?” She asks. I shrug, not really remembering if I’ve ever seen that movie. “Anyway, we’ll watch it after all this. But we should do that with our masks. Find a way to display them all.”
She motions for me to turn and helps me put my mask on. Mine is a Day of the Dead mask that covers my whole face. It’s gold, black, and red. There are some changes in this auction. We’re not going with the typical theme of having to wear a certain color mask so people know if you’re buying, selling, being bought, or up for sharing.
If the couple is up for sharing or an individual wants to join a couple, they’ll wear a gold cuff on their wrist so people will know. I like this new system because it gives more options for masks. With the old system, I never would have allowed myself or McKenzie to wear a black and red mask since that meant sharing was an option. I will never share McKenzie.
I settle back in the seat, mentally putting my game face on. Just as Rex pulls back up in front of the house, my phone goes off. I scowl at the sight of my father’s name on the screen.
“Father,” I answer, coldness in my voice.
“Whatever you’re planning, stop it right now.” No hello or how are you. I share a look with McKenzie. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, worry evident in her eyes. I bring my forefinger and thumb up to her chin and pull on her lip slightly so she’ll release it. I rub my thumb just under her lip so I don’t mess up her lipstick, communicating with her that everything will be okay.
“Too late, father.” I hang up as he yells my name.
“Nix?” I kiss her jaw.
“Everything will be fine,” I promise her, then hand her my mask so she can put it on for me. Everyone climbs out of the limo, McKenzie and I are last. I get out first and extend my hand to her to help her. Wrapping my arm around her waist, we get in line to greet Victor and Olivia.
Let the night begin.
Chapter 35
Phoenix
Ikeep my head on a swivel, studying every person. Part of me wants to drop my guard a little so I can play with McKenzie, but if I do, it’s likely I’ll get so wrapped up in her I’ll forget tonight’s purpose. We sit near the front like we always do, but Victor’s friends are scattered throughout the crowd, as well as our security.
I showed them all a picture of Dick, a picture of my mother, and the one I had drawn up of her when McKenzie saw her at the fight. To be safe, I also sent them all a text with a picture of my father and told them he called right before we came in. I don’t know if he would come and try to stop us, but it’s a very real possibility.
My mother has an uncanny way of making men do crazy things. I grab McKenzie’s legs and place them over my thighs so she’s practically sitting in my lap. We’ll have to turn our head pieces on in just a few minutes and I want some time with her before we do.
She leans forward and licks my neck. My chest rumbles with a moan and she giggles. “So, I was thinking when this is all over, I’d like to get my first tattoo,” she murmurs in my ear, her fingers combing through the hair at my nape.
“Oh yeah? What kind of tattoo?” My fingers swirl around the delicate bone of her ankle, tracing the line of the anklet she wears all the time now.
She hums. “I’d like for us to get matching tattoos in the same spot.” Her hand rubs down my arm and chest. “But you don’t have very many spots left.” Her raspy voice and hands are making me hard. I shift, trying to get comfortable and rub against her leg.
She chuckles, her laughter washing over me. “Does the idea of that make you hard?” Her hand on my chest lowers, and I let her cup me over my pants. We’re in public, but there’re all kinds of foreplay happening around us, so I don’t care. Not here.
