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Master’s PR people decided the three of us should go to the Atlanta Zoo together and then just let people take pics of us and post them organically, rather than making it a huge deal up front.

Micca wore her hair long, with lavender shorts and a pink-and-lavender crop top that showed her belly, with five-inch tall wedge-heeled lavender sandals.

And I know they were wedges because Micca and Silver had alongtalk about wedge heels when they talked about what Micca planned to wear. Who knew each shape of heel has a different name? I sure didn’t.

I was in ultra-faded jeans that hugged my hips, with a shirt that was a few inches too short so you could see the bottom part of my abs and a little of the Adonis belt that had popped out in recent weeks.

And Master wore slightly faded jeans and a black tee with his hair all crazy like he wears it on stage.

I had to write my lines on the way down, in the limo, but I managed to get them finished before we arrived, and I was happy to have them behind me.

I’d have rather spent the time pleasuring Sir and Master, but I follow Master’s orders, and he wanted me to get my lines out of the way.

We were ushered through a side entrance at the Zoo, but about three minutes after we started looking at the animals, someone recognized us. We had way more security than normal, walking around us so people couldn’t get to us, but they could (and did) shoot pictures and probably video of the three of us. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl, but tried to follow Will’s lead and act like I didn’t notice them.

In the days since we’d first brought Micca home, things had settled between the three of us. In one of our discussions about power exchange, she’d said that while she wanted a slave or submissive, she didn’t want to be all alone at the top — she didn’t want to be asingle parent.

It reminded me again of the responsibility Will takes over me, and I appreciate him all the more.

My lovers had been surprised and saddened when I told them I’d never been to a zoo before.

“We went to Sea World for a field trip twice,” I’d told them. “Once in middle school, where we mostly saw what visitors do, but in high school we got to go behind the scenes, into the labs, where they showed us some of the work they’re doing to try to keep some endangered species from being lost forever in the world’s oceans.”

And so, they put me between them at the zoo and showed me so much, I was overwhelmed. I was mesmerized by the elephants, a little creeped out by the leopard because he wouldn’t stoplookingat me, and I didn’t want to leave the lemurs, who were playing and having a blast. I didn’t expect to be captivated by the flamingos, but there were so many of them.

Micca often hung back, and the animals almost always reacted oddly to her when she stepped closer to the enclosures, and once again, when Micca joined us at the fence in front of the flamingoes, they all seemed to focus on her, and the ones closest to us moved away.

A few bears came to the glass and seemed especially interested in Micca, who put her hand to the glass when one of the bears did, so they were basically palm to palm. The bear looked to me with interest but didn’t seem to like Master, and he (or she) bared its teeth and growled whenever Master stepped near. We were safe, with a really thick pane of glass between us I assumed the bears couldn’t break, but it was still a little scary, being so close to them.

Micca hung back a few times, telling me and Master to step closer when there was just a fence between us and some of the smaller animals, and when Master pulled her closer, the animals all scattered. Some of them seemed more interested in her, but mostly only the largest predators.

Later, while we ate lunch on a picnic table off to ourselves, away from the public, she told us, “I probably should’ve told ya’ll this before, but it seemed awkward. Now, though, it feels dishonest not to tell you, so…” She took a breath. “Aaron suggested I go armed today, to see how I feel about it. Since I’m fully licensed for it, I can be armed pretty much anywhere when I’m out with either of you, not as a guard, but as kind of a last-ditch security thing. I’m not certain, but I think it’s possible some of the animals may have been reacting to that scent.”

“There were big signs saying no guns allowed, even on the side door we went in,” I said.

“I have the credentials for it, so it’ll look like I’m one of your guards if someone finds it or sees it, but I’m not here as a guard. I’m here to enjoy the zoo and then get my brains fucked out later.”

Will pulled his phone from his pocket and Micca put her hand on his. “No. I love my job, and I respect Aaron and Nathan. I’ve gone through a ton of training on when and how to pull my weapon, and how to use it if necessary.” She glanced at me and looked back to Will. “The truth is, I’m more aware of the evil inthe world because of my job, and I feel safer with a gun. I don’t know if the animals smelled the gunpowder in the bullets, or if they just didn’t like me, but it’s a possibility, so I’m telling you about it.”

“Where is it?” Will asked. “I’ve had my hands all over you, and you’re in motherfucking short-shorts!”

“I have some bras with a holster made into the side of them, so it’s up under my arm, low enough it isn’t in my armpit, but not by much. Today I’m carrying a tiny little Ruger, a three-eighty rather than a nine-millimeter. I have one of the new H&K CC9s, and it’s sweet, but today’s outfit demanded the tiny LCP. Not as much firepower, but Aaron provides the bullets and he doesn’t fuck around withniceon that kind of thing. The three-eighty ammo he has special-made has more stopping power than most off-the-shelf nines.”

A muscle in Will’s jaw twitched, and he looked away from both of us a few seconds before looking back to Micca. “I’m paying for security so me and my friends don’t have to worry with it. I don’t like him asking you to go armed.”

“He asked how I felt about it, Will, it wasn’t a demand, and I’m telling you what I told him — that I feel better with it than without it. I can relax and enjoy myself because I know I can defend all of us if a bad guy decides he wants to fuck up our day.”

“I should’ve been told you’re part of the security plan.”

“Maybe, but it isn’t like you have less people guarding you because I’m handy.”

He shook his head, “No. I think I have more people today than I’ve had since…” He shrugged. “I had a particularly crazy stalker for a while, and Aaron sent me someone to pretend she was my girlfriend so I had someone right by my side in public, and I had some people around who weren’t obvious bodyguards, plus my regular team. It was a huge pain in the ass.”

She grinned. “And that’s how you knew Cora once worked for Drake?”

“She doesn’t anymore? Then why did she jump on the table?”

“She still contracts for special stuff, and she’s still friends with us. She just isn’t an everyday employee.”