Page 64 of At Her Will

Her eyes glistened, as if what he’d said had inspired tears. His brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to ask what was going on.

“Mistress Vera, hold up.”

Trey and Sy were coming down the hall toward them, so the moment to ask about that reaction was gone. Rev would roll with it, but he wouldn’t forget.

“Mistress.” Sy nodded to her respectfully. “We wanted to ask Rev something, if we’re not interrupting.”

“You are, but go ahead and ask.” Her tone was reproving, but her smile was indulgent.

“We’ll make it quick.” He turned to Rev. “Our lead singer took off with his current girlfriend to California, and we don’t know when he’ll be back, so we’ve been looking for fill-ins for the bookings we had before he got lovesick. Me and Trey and the rest of his roommates who make up the band can do backup vocals, but we’re musicians. None of us have the punch to be lead. Would you be interested? We have a gig coming up at The Blue Lizard.”

Rev blinked. “I sing hymns and songs like I did tonight, ones that we borrow because they fit with worship. I not sure I can sing the way you need.”

“Singing is singing,” Sy said with a touch of impatience. “What I heard tonight, you can do it.”

“Chill, man.” Trey elbowed him, then directed his next words to Rev. “We can get together to go over sets between now andthen at a time that works for all of us. See if you’re comfortable with it. If not, nothing lost, and we can have a good jam session. Sy just freaks out over this stuff.”

“Because I like to be paid and not get yelled at by pissed-off club managers who think we didn’t deliver what we promised.” Sy glanced at Rev. “Seriously, I have no worries. If you do as well as I think you will, Chris can stay in Cali with that fucking groupie until they fall into the ocean.”

“Sy,” Trey said.

Sy shot Vera an apologetic look but added, “He left us hanging. That shit about musicians being unreliable and flaking out because it’s part of their ‘art’ doesn’t wash with me. Bite off your ear and mail it to your girlfriend if that’s your kink, but slap on a band-aid and show the hell up when a commitment’s been made.”

“Some say his friend Paul cut it off when they got into a sword fight,” Rev said. “Van Gogh didn’t want his friend to get into trouble, so he said he did it himself.”

He offered a faint smile for their bemused expressions. “Savita, a student at my school, she did a report on him and told me that.”

“Rev works at a middle school,” Vera told them.

“Oh. All the better,” Sy pressed on. “So you don’t have to work on weekends.”

Trey punched his shoulder. “One track mind. What do you say, Rev? Are you interested? I’m serious about that jam session. You’re not locked into anything.”

“Okay,” Rev said. “I’ll do it.”

When he agreed, he had that thoughtful, internal look. As Vera let the men work out the details of when and where they’d be getting together, she noticed Ros at the end of the hall, waiting to talk to her.

Vera put a hand on Rev’s arm. “I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t go away.”

“You’re my ride,” he said, making her smile.

Vera pinched Sy’s tribal tattoo covered biceps, hard enough to leave a mark. Which grabbed his attention, for multiple reasons. She pointed a chiding finger at him.

“Keep being this wound up, and I’ll turn you over to Cyn. Mick is okay with her doing sessions in his absence, as long as no sex is involved. She’ll torment you with orgasm denial. She can make two hours feel like ten days.”

“Yeah, that’ll help calm me down,” he noted dryly, but he dipped his head, a formal apology. “Got it, Mistress. Chris just pissed me off. I need to let it go. Lead singers can be diva dicks. No offense,” he added to Rev.

“I never thought of myself as a lead singer,” he said. “But I expect if I acted like that, God would cut me down to size. Hopefully using her.” He nodded toward Vera.

The two men chuckled in appreciation—and understanding. “Amen to that,” Sy said.

Vera shook her head at them and moved to join Ros. As she did, another Domme passed her, Lace M. Tight. Laci had her single tail out and was practicing some flourishes as she moved. It swept around her like a serpent, wrapped her hips and thighs loosely before falling away and coiling at her feet like a semi-tame pet.

“Do you sleep with that thing?” Vera asked

Laci winked at her. “Only the cane comes to bed with me. If a man going down on me isn’t doing it right, a couple pops gets histongue working properly.” She glanced toward Rev. “He doesn’t look like he needs that kind of help.”

“Not so far. But rewards for expertise can look a lot like punishment sometimes.”

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