Behind the Mask

Chapter 4

Kota's POV

I'd been looking through the profile packet as I sipped my coffee when Nate cleared his throat, "Penny for your thoughts," he said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

I gave him a soft smile, "Sorry, I'm just really impressed by this workup. But I get the feeling the assistant did more research than the two who are supposed to be in charge."

Owen sat down with his coffee in hand and added, "I got the same impression. She was acutely aware of everything going on in the room." He turned to Luke, "Do you know her?"

"Who," he asked.

"The assistant at G&R. I thought you might know her since she came in with pastries from your bakery."

Luke let out a loud laugh, "You were her meeting? Oh, that's too rich. She came in to distract her boss that she was late, um the lady with her called her babygirl, so I think she has a girlfriend. She comes in often, but now that I think of it, I don't know her name. I just call her sugar." I noticed he had a far-off look in his eyes and seemed to frown when he said, girlfriend. Guess he'd had other ideas.

Pulling out his phone, Victor asked, "Did you get a name?" I pinched my nose and flipped through the pages of the proposal and there it was on the outline - M. Ryland. I told Victor and watched his fingers fly across the screen as he searched her out. He frowned, then typed more, his frown deepening. "Well, that's odd. Did you say she was an assistant?"

I paused, "Uh, I guess I assumed she was. Phelps didn't give her a specific title, just said she had many titles. Why, what did you find?"

"I'm not completely sure, I'll have to dig deeper, but if this is correct, then she sure as hell isn't an assistant - she's the CEO and co-founder of G&R." He said, turning his phone so that we could see. "Looks like she was married to Winston Grier, the other founder, and according to this, he died four years ago in a car wreck. She maintained her maiden name due to a sizable family estate. She's a fucking heiress - the only child of Dalton and Sharon Ryland."

"Dalton Ryland as in Rycon Oil?" Gabe sputtered and rolled his eyes, "Why the fuck would she work as an assistant or even pose as one when she's got more money than fucking Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates combined?"

Good question. "Does it really matter?" Silas asked quietly. "I mean, how do her life decisions impact our decision to work with her company or not? She lost her husband. Maybe she just needed to take a step back. Not everyone wants to be the center of attention and especially not after a loss like that." We all cringed knowing exactly what and who he was referring to. Sang.

Once we'd grown up and finally left the Academy the nature of our relationship changed as we realized it wasn't just Sang we loved, but each other. Our individual rising careers drew attention and given the life she had survived as a child, Sang simply couldn't handle the pressure. She'd divorced us and left the country for a fresh start. I'd like to say there were no hard feelings, but I'd be lying. It had almost destroyed us. If it hadn't been for Lily Anderson and many, many months of individual and couples counseling, I don't think we'd have made it.

But it still left a dent - none of us had dared get involved with a woman, individually or as a group since. That's why we joined the BDSM club. Crescent was a high-class and very exclusive dungeon. Anonymity was sacred and the legal paperwork was dizzying just to enter the place. We'd found a new pleasure between all of us and would entertain women in a casual capacity, but not romantically.

"Well, I have some news to break the tension," Sean chuckled. "I met the masked lady." All of our heads spun toward him as some gasped and others grumbled. He raised his hands, "I'll explain everything if you just give me a chance." He gave Owen a sly smirk. "Owen and I went to watch last night, and she was performing. Her dom was sloppy and did some damage with the whip." I felt my hands clench. How could he have been so careless? A sub's safety must always come first. "Apparently, their house doctor was off, so one of the hostesses came and asked me to look her over."

"What does she fuckin look like under that mask?" Gabe rushed his face like a kid on a sugar high.

Sean laughed, "Wish I knew. She refused to take it off. Claimed that her outside life was too complicated and she could only remain in the dungeon if she was unknown. Called herself Janie. However, I stayed the night to make sure she didn't pop her stitches and as a reward, she invited me for drinks tonight. Owen's coming along, so maybe we'll learn some more."

"Damn, now I want to go just to see you two interact with her," Nate complained. "That isn't too creepy, is it?"

We all laughed at him, but North added, "Sign me up for the creepy bus. I'm going to that damn club tonight. I won't come near, but I'll sure as hell watch from our room." He lifted his water glass, "What do you say, husbands? Shall we all be voyeurs tonight?" My cheeks flushed crimson as I raised my glass, hell, we all raised our glasses and agreed. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time we've watched each other have sex with a woman," he said as he finished his drink.

Sean shook his head and cleared his throat, "Apparently she doesn't have sex at the club. The frontman was a bit talkative as I left this morning. Said he's been there four years and never once has she had sex with a dom. Matter of fact, she doesn't have a dom. She works with some newbies and some regulars for punishment scenes but nothing else - she's a pure masochist." I felt my pants get tighter at the thought of punishing her. Fuck, she'd look so good with my handprint burned into her pale skin. I glanced around the table and could see my husbands having the same thoughts. I'm not sure why all of us were so fascinated by this mystery woman, but we'd been watching her for over a year now. For me, I think it was the look of complete surrender on her face during her scenes. And finding out that she could hit that level of peace without a real dom, was even more fascinating. What was she escaping in those moments?

"Kota," I felt Nate touch my arm, "Hey love, where were you just now?" he smirked, knowing exactly where my mind was.

I grabbed the nape of his neck and pushed his hand onto my hard cock, then whispered in his ear, "Right here, love. How about we take a longer lunch somewhere less crowded," I suggested letting my tongue glide across his earlobe. His hand clenched around my cock and he nodded. "We're going to head out," I said and pulled him out of his seat. The others gave us a knowing smile and bid us farewell. 

Author's Notes:  FYI, this will only be the Blackbourne team, not an all 14.