Page 63 of The Dom with the Kink Monsters

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The tiny Middle Eastern restaurant didn’t look like much from the outside, but walking in was like stepping through a portal to another country. Rugs lined the floors, and leather ottomans surrounded low round tables. It was packed with people and unfamiliar-smelling food. Huge ceiling fans circled slowly, keeping the air moving. A riot of color occupied Mack’s artistic senses.

Wait staff brought them drinks, then a range of foods that Ramsay ordered came on huge platters for sharing. Mack didn’t care if he didn’t recognize the dishes – it smelled so good he scooped mouthfuls up with some flat bread and ate like he hadn’t seen real food in months. They’d been practicing so much lately that pizza had become the staple of their combined diets. He was pretty sick of it. If Saya hadn’t suggested that they do groceries together tomorrow, so that they could practice while still having decent food, he might have given up eating for Lent.

They’d been spending so much time together lately, the four of them, that being apart felt odd. They practiced, ate, fucked, hung out, and generally lived in each other’s pockets. Eventually it would settle down, he knew, and they’d go back to less togetherness. Ramsay’s nephew coming to visit was going to be a strain on the way they’d been living, but it was only for two weeks, at least.

Musicians had been playing quiet rhythms in the background, which blended with the cacophony of voices caught in the cloth draped ceilings and tin lanterns overhead. The music increased in tempo and volume, and Mack looked up expectantly.

“Don’t get too excited yet. With bellydance the intros tend to drag out for twenty minutes or so before the performers actually show up. It’s probably a good thing too, considering how wound up we got her when she was getting ready.” Ramsay put his legs out in front of him and stretched his arms over his head.

“Are you dancing tonight too, Ramsay?” Winter smirked. “You look like you’re about to jump out of your chair and start the action.”

“Whaaat?” he drawled. “I dance.”

“I’m talking bellydance.”

“I do actually know some Middle Eastern dance.”

“You must look adorable in the bra-top and hipscarf.”

He smiled nebulously. “You’ll see if she drags me up to dance. I’m nothing compared to her, though.”

Mack thought about the night before. If the way he fucked was any indication, Ramsay was probably pretty damned good at dancing. He opened his mouth to say as much to Winter, but then realized he wasn’t ready to discuss that just yet.

Three women swirled into the room, their jewel-colored veils fanning out behind them like the tails of tropical fish. At the next table a woman ululated, the noise reminding him of Xena the Warrior Princess’s battle cry, and people started to clap and yip.

Ramsay was in on the action and nudged them to participate. “You can’t just sit there and watch. It’s insulting. If you’re a yogurt audience, Saya will be upset.”

“Yogurt?” Winter asked.

“Yeah, sitting here silently, developing culture.”

Ramsay yipped, sounding like a dog whose tail had been stepped on. Mack grinned, watching Saya as she shimmied up to their table, circling it, dancing in front of them then moving off to work other parts of the room. When she danced, she was more graceful than he’d even imagined. He glanced at Winter to see what she thought, and she was gazing at Saya with naked desire. At that point there was no mistaking her for a straight girl.

Saya danced before them again, veiling her face, then pulling the cloth away so that it skimmed over her like a sheen of water. The angle of her head, the curve of arms, the sway of her hips – all spoke of a woman familiar with her own body and the movements with which she was communicating. Mack painted her, like this, in his mind, all fluidity and grace, soft lines and femininity. A facet of female beauty in all of its power.

Winter allowed Saya to take her hand and for a moment she danced for her alone. When Saya tried to draw her up to dance, Winter shook her head, her face blotched red. She danced to Ramsay next and coaxed him to his feet. Mack watched, bemused, asRamsay began to dance, not bothering with momentary false modesty. Ramsay Park was about as cock sure as a man could get, even in this situation, apparently. His version of the dance spoke of virility and power, but he focused his energy on drawing more attention to Saya. The two of them dancing together caught the interest of most of the room, to the point where the other two dancers stopped trying to compete and stood to watch them, clapping with the music and ululating enthusiastically.

At the end of the song Ramsay collapsed back on his ottoman and waved Saya away when she tried to lure him onto the floor again. She grinned and moved off, going to areas of the room she hadn’t visited yet.

“I’ll never understand how she can keep it up for so long.” Ramsay shook his head and took a long drink from his glass. “Part of one song and I’m ready for a nap.”

Mack slapped him on the back. “It’s because you’re old.”

“Yes, that six months I’ve got on you has really taken its toll.”

“Pretty soon you’ll be wearing cardigans and slacks on stage. We’ll have to play matinees so you don’t nod off mid-set.”

Ramsay’s eyes narrowed. “If I need a nap today it’s because a disobedient little bitch was playing hard to get last night.”

Mack’s mouth fell open then shut again, his neck hot. He stared down at his glass, not knowing how to respond. Was this Ramsay’s version of flirting?

“If anyone was playing hard to get last night, it was you, Ramsay. Then you did a one-eighty and played hard to get rid of.” Winter wasn’t amused.

He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, then glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Mack and I talked things over last night. I know the way I was acting was confusing and mean, but this isn’t easy for me either. None of us meant for this to happen. All we can do now is work on figuring it out.”

“What’s to figure out? It is what it is. You two can have your side thing going on, that’s fine with me, but we need to make sure that it doesn’t break up the band. Mack and I have worked hard to build things up, and you and Saya are great, but we have to make sure that this weird thing we have going on isn’t going to fuck that up.”

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