Page 4 of Inhuman Natures #1

“You told us that your Master left the room. That’s against the rules,” Rake pointed out, in a way that straddled the line between care and condescension.

DJ shot him a look, trying to get him to shut up. Shaun seemed a bit fresh to the scene. He might panic at being accused of breaking the rules, even if it was his Master who did so.

“What he means,” DJ said, “is that you shouldn’t be left alone in this kind of bondage. What if you needed to use your safe word?” He infused his tone with as much warmth as possible.

Shaun just looked confused. “I’m fine,” he repeated. “You should put the gag back in before my Master comes back.”

DJ pressed his lips together to stop himself from disagreeing with Shaun. He didn’t seem fine, and DJ didn’t want Rake to put the gag back in before they talked some more.

Shaun’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Rake. “Put it back in, Sir,” he said. Rake hesitated, and the cuffs around Shaun’s wrists clacked as he shook. “Please!”

Rake began to do as Shaun asked, but he wasn’t fast enough. DJ wasn’t sure how the Dom had made it over to them without anyone other than Shaun noticing, but he stood there suddenly, looming over them all. DJ pressed a hand to his chest at the shock of his arrival.

Rake dropped the gag and straightened, looking startled.

“Master, I—” Shaun began, but a sharp hand movement from the Dom had him closing his mouth with an audible snap.

“Who do we have here?” The Dom looked down at DJ in a way that was more than simply because of their relative positions.

“We just wanted to check that Shaun was all right,” DJ said, raising his chin.

The Dom narrowed his eyes to slits. “Who gave you the right to engage with my pet?”

“You left the room,” Rake said slowly. “That’s against the rules.”

The Dom’s nostrils flared. “My pet is fine. Aren’t you, pet?”

“I told them so, Master.”

“Regardless, it’s not supposed to be done,” Rake insisted. DJ closed his eyes. Rake’s commitment to the rules was admirable in many ways, but once he saw something he didn’t agree with, it was hard to get him to focus on anything but the infraction.

“It’s none of your business,” the Dom said.

“We’re all members here. As a Dom, it’s my business to ensure the safety of any sub,” Rake replied, his hands flexing.

“Unless you wanted to make use of him, you shouldn’t have intervened.”

Rake’s face was impassive. “You shouldn’t have left him. I would never leave DJ alone.”

“Well, what’s good for DJ isn’t necessarily what’s best for my pet.” The way the Dom said DJ’s name was as if it offended him to allow the letters to pass his lips.

DJ shuffled closer to Rake, looping a hand around his legs. Partially to give them both some comfort, and partially to stop Rake from advancing on the other Dom. Rake wasn’t one for physical violence, but DJ could tell how upset he was getting over the exchange.

“Master, please. They weren’t causing any harm.” Shaun’s voice was timid, but DJ felt proud of him for standing up to his Dom, even in such a simple way.

He was less pleased with the Dom’s response, however. “That’s for me to determine, not you. ”

A new voice joined the melee. “Is something the matter?”

DJ almost jumped out of his skin for the second time in as many minutes when the woman—who’d been nowhere near them a mere second ago—spoke.

“Lynette, it’s—” Shaun’s Dom said, but the woman stopped him with the raise of one perfectly plucked brow. He started again, and this time she let him speak. “ Mistress Lynette. These two were interfering with my pet.”

The Domme swept her eyes over the tableau before her with thinly veiled displeasure. “Looks to me like you made it abundantly clear that others were encouraged to engage with your sub.” She pointed a sharp nail at the writing on Shaun’s face, which twisted with his embarrassed expression.

“He left the room mid-scene, Mistress Lynette,” Rake said. “We saw this happen and came over to check in on Shaun.”

“Master Rakesh, is it?” Lynette asked.

“Rake.”

She dipped her head infinitesimally. “Master Rake. Thank you for checking in on the sub. It’s commendable. We have to protect one another in this community.”

She turned her attention back to the other Dom. “Master Lawrence,” she said, and DJ scowled at the man being afforded the same courtesy as Rake of being referred to as Master.

Lawrence didn’t deserve the title. DJ knew that much already.

“You are subject to the same rules as any of the rest of us here,” Lynette continued. “Did you not agree to them when signing your membership contract?”

Lawrence looked like he might argue. But Lynette tilted her head to the side, a challenge in her eyes .

Lawrence nodded curtly. “We’ll be taking our leave,” he said, muscling into the space where DJ knelt.

DJ scooted backwards before Rake helped him to stand, his knees protesting the movement.

Rake put a possessive arm around DJ’s middle, pulling him so that his back pressed against Rake’s front.

DJ would normally shrug off that kind of hold, as it made him hyper-aware of the weight around his stomach, but he resisted the impulse.

Lynette had her hands on her hips as she surveyed them like they were her subjects, and this was her kingdom. It struck DJ that it was likely not far from the truth.

He and Rake had only been members of the club for a few months, having left their old one when it became apparent that the new owners were more interested in posing as kinksters than maintaining an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere.

Another couple they’d met at the club had recommended this new place to them.

Up until now, DJ had been enjoying the mixed-gender club.

One look at the writing on Shaun’s face—stark against his pale skin—had him reevaluating that sentiment. “I’ve got face wipes in my bag if you want to use them,” he offered Shaun once he was freed of his bondage.

Shaun’s attention had been carefully focused on Lawrence until then, but he managed a nod at DJ.

Lawrence grabbed Shaun’s arm before DJ could lead him to the lockers. “Be quick,” Lawrence said. “I don’t want to be waiting around for you all evening.”

Shaun gave another nod, this one more stilted than the last. DJ didn’t hesitate to offer his hand to Shaun, who looked down at it for a long second before entwining their fingers. DJ couldn’t resist sending a triumphant grin towards Lawrence, decorum be damned.

Once out of earshot of Lawrence, DJ leaned down to Shaun and asked, “Are you going home with that asshole?”

Shaun took a worried glance backwards, DJ following his line of sight. The three others were all staring at them—Rake with a blank look, Lynette with vague amusement, and Lawrence with a glare that spelled murder.

DJ winked at them all as he slipped into the locker room, pulling Shaun inside with him.

“You shouldn’t get involved,” Shaun said. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” You matter, is what DJ really wanted to say, but he was probably overstepping Shaun’s boundaries already. He didn’t want to make him feel more uncomfortable.

“I’m fine.”

DJ wondered if Shaun repeated the phrase so often that he might have convinced himself it was true. He led Shaun to his and Rake’s locker and, after inputting their code, pulled out a bag with various aftercare items.

“There you go,” DJ said, handing Shaun the wipes. “I doubt it’ll get the words completely gone, but if you use them and some soap and water, I imagine it’ll be less noticeable.”

Shaun took them with a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

As Shaun cleaned his face, DJ studied him. Shaun looked too young to be hanging around in a BDSM club with a man who looked to be somewhere in his thirties.

“Are you over eighteen?” DJ asked.

Shaun stiffened. “I’m twenty,” he said carefully. Too carefully. He was lying, and DJ knew it .

“You’re not twenty.”

Shaun gave him a dirty look. “I just said I am. Believe me or not, it doesn’t matter.”

“You’re not underage, are you?”

“No. I look younger than I am.” Thankfully, that answer was said with a confidence DJ could believe.

“Are you and Lawrence together?”

Shaun threw the wipe into the bin. It had done a half-decent job, but DJ could still make out the word slut on one cheek. It was incongruous alongside Shaun’s pissed-off expression. “Yes. And I’m not seeking opinions on my relationship. You should stay out of it.”

DJ blinked rapidly when Shaun’s eyes flared for a second, lit up like the glow of a cat’s eyes hunting in the dark. It was gone in a millisecond. DJ glanced up at the lights, wondering how they’d caused the odd effect.

“Seriously,” Shaun said. “He’s not the type to take this lying down. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll avoid us in the future.” The words were said with an air of exhausted finality.

“Rake and I can handle ourselves. You, on the other hand, look like you’re in a bad situation. If you need help—”

“ No .” Shaun had his arms folded against his bare chest. He was skinny and defined—the type of body someone like DJ had never had, and never would.

“Just answer me this one thing, then?” DJ said. “Are you happy with him?” It was a bold question, and one he hadn’t quite earned the right to ask yet, but he couldn’t resist.

Shaun didn’t say anything in response, instead turning on a tap and dunking his head under it. When he lifted back up, his ginger hair was plastered across his forehead and the writing was gone.

He looked like a stray kitten caught out in the rain.

Shaun opened another locker and pulled out a thin sweatshirt before shoving it over his head. DJ frowned. Shaun didn’t even have jeans or joggers to pull over the minuscule latex shorts he wore.

“Won’t you be cold?”

Shaun shrugged as he slipped into a pair of trainers. “We’re not far.”

DJ was about to insist that Shaun find something warmer to wear, but Shaun scuttled out the door and back into the main room, so DJ was left chasing after him. Neither Lawrence nor Lynette had waited for them. Rake leaned against a wall, standing up to his full height when he saw DJ emerge.

Rake was shorter than DJ by a couple of inches, but it was clear once they stood as a trio how much they both towered over Shaun.

“Your, um, Lawrence, is outside,” Rake said. Clearly he also didn’t think that the Dom deserved the title he demanded of Shaun.

“Thank you, Sir,” Shaun murmured. It was impressive how easily he fell back into subservience after how indignant he’d been in the locker room. But then, it seemed like Shaun and Lawrence were in a full-time arrangement.

DJ wondered how often, if ever, Shaun got to be himself. There was no way the meek sub beside him was the same person whose eyes had flashed with danger mere moments before.

“Can I give you my number?” DJ asked on a whim .

Shaun paused, then shook his head.

“It’s probably best that you go after him. He didn’t seem happy,” Rake said. An understatement if DJ had ever heard one.

Shaun hurried towards the exit, but turned just as he got to the door. He gave them a small wave and then disappeared. DJ folded himself into Rake, leaning his weight against him.

Rake ran his fingers up and down DJ’s bare back. With everything going on, he’d almost forgotten he’d been walking around half-naked, in only a pair of boxer briefs that left little to the imagination.

“Wanna go home?” Rake asked, pressing a kiss to the side of DJ’s head.

DJ yawned. “Yes please, Sir.”

DJ couldn’t help but be disappointed that he was unable to get another glimpse of Shaun when they left the club. As much as DJ didn’t want to witness Shaun and Lawrence together again, he hoped he’d get another chance to speak to Shaun.

And from the way Rake’s eyes darted up and down the street, looking for something he didn’t find, DJ wasn’t the only one.