Page 61 of The Escape Artist

“Sure.”

Ari led Claire up to the front where Marcus was.

“Kneel beside him,” Ari said.

She looked uncertain, as if he were just randomly passing her to someone else. “It's okay, no men but Kane and I will ever touch you.”

She knelt beside Marcus who had taken his gaze from Saskia for a moment.

“Keep an eye on her for me for a few minutes? And don't let anyone touch her.”

“Of course,” Marcus said. “I'll keep her safe.”

“Thank you.”

Ari looked up to find Kane waiting. The two men left the gallery and went back to the quiet of the studio.

“Were you still planning to brand Saskia?” Ari asked as soon as the door closed.

Kane looked surprised. He obviously hadn't expected this to be the topic of conversation.

“Yes,” Kane said, “Why?”

“Does she know yet?”

“No. Again, why?”

“I thought we could do it together. Have a party. You brand Saskia, I'll brand Claire.”

Kane's eyes widened. “You're branding Claire? Don't you think that's a little much, considering...”

Ari began to pace. This whole night had unsettled him in ways he hadn't expected. Claire had gotten inside him. He needed to lay a permanent mark on her. He needed... well, he probably needed a therapist if he were being honest with himself.

He'd never felt so out-of-control as he did tonight. Never had he felt so consumed by a wildness he couldn't explain or define. The absolute need to put a claim upon a woman that was permanent, physical, visible, that would mark her flesh for the rest of her life.

“Let me ask you something,” Ari said, still pacing. “Why are you branding Saskia?”

“Because she's mine. And I think it will make her feel secure. I took a long time to let her in. You saw that terrified deer-in-headlights look she got when I mentioned her paying her debt off within a year. Like I was just going to get rid of her after that. As if this thing with her ever had anything to do with money. As if I cared about the fucking money. Money was an excuse to take what I'd wanted from the first day I laid eyes on her. I just needed a justification.”

Ari could relate. Claire keeping him in that cell was a justification, but the cell didn't matter. If he'd met her in some other way he wouldn't have had the reason to take her, and he probably wouldn't have done it. But he would have wanted to. It would have haunted his dreams for months.

“Okay, well that's basically the same reason I want to brand Claire. So let's do it together. Let's make it a formal thing.”

Kane smiled. “Okay, I'm in. Who are we inviting to this ceremony?”

18

Ari paced the hallway wearing a pair of faded jeans and nothing else. Saskia, Kane, and Marcus would be arriving in fifteen minutes. And Kane was nothing if not punctual. Usually he was irritatingly early.

Ari had presented his blueprints for the private kink club earlier in the week. The plans were enthusiastically accepted with no changes requested, and a healthy sum had been wired to his bank account. He'd gotten another design offer almost immediately—a referral. But the work didn't start for another month—not that he needed any of the work by this point. Like many of his socio-economic class, he worked because he liked it, not because he needed it. Still, the break was nice.

The only thing he had to worry about right now was tonight. After much discussion, Ari and Kane had decided against a party with guests. It was one thing to make Saskia the kinky sexual centerpiece of a large crowd. She was used to it and got off on it. It was quite another to do it to Claire. Claire had a different history that didn't exactly lend itself to giant amounts of public sex.

Ari had reasoned that she'd been okay at the art show. But all eyes had not been on her. It was Kane of all people in the end who had suggested it should be a private affair with the four of them. If the man wasn't careful, people might think he had a heart in there.

But then even that had been compromised when Marcus had strongly vetoed the arrangement. He didn't want to be left out. While his thing with Kane and Saskia was a different thing than Ari's friendship with Kane and their commitment to my slut is your slut, Marcus wanted to be included in something as important as a branding. He wanted to watch. Ari hadn't objected, and neither had Kane.

So it was to be the five of them. And somehow Ari felt as though he were involved in some weird initiation ritual. He really had always thought this thing with Kane was temporary. It had started as a joke, a lark.

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