Bonne Chance: Bourbon Street, Book 2 (10 page)

He looked at her, confusion and surprise warring on his face.

Chance grinned wildly. “Scarlet Room. Crawl. Unless you don’t want to come today?”

Her laughter chased him into the foyer, and Chance shook her head as she followed. She’d never seen a man crawl so fast in her life.

Chapter Nine

Chance rolled her neck until it popped and gave a happy sigh. Going from full Pro-Domme to couples therapist in the same day was always difficult, but Adrian had insisted she see the pair that had just left the small office space she kept for such purposes. There was no name on the door, no signage, since her clientele was by-referral as much as the kink side of things was, and she liked it that way. Apparently the Dufrenes were friends of friends, or friends of family, or something like, so she’d let Adrian talk her into seeing them.

Not that they were difficult. The pair had actually been nice to work with—obviously still deeply in love, but having trouble. Communication issues, unspoken needs. That kind of thing. They’d forgotten how to talk to each other. She’d scheduled times with each of them to come back individually before they met together again, but Chance was confident it wouldn’t take them much to get back on track. She suspected they’d do well adding a little bit of kink to spice things up. It still surprised her how many people needed it and had no idea.

Communication issues, however, those she understood. She still couldn’t figure out why talking to the people you loved most was so fucking hard. Definitely cathartic, though, when it was all out in the open. Even if she hated Adrian’s underhanded meddling in her own affairs, she was glad it was over with.

Damn him for always being right.

And if nothing else, hopefully Cass would also be right, and her mother would finally get off her back about settling down.

Ah well.

With a tired sigh, Chance pushed herself up off the cozy leather office chair and reached for her phone. She should call Cass, tell her the news. Really, she wanted to call Landry, check in with him, tell him about the insanity that was her day. But he was likely either still at work, or heading to his mamere’s, and either way she didn’t want to bother him.

Chance dropped back into the chair in shock.
God. I really want a relationship with him.
She groaned. Adrian had been right, again. Everyone had, really—Cass, Tamara. Which was annoying as hell. Though somehow she didn’t mind it nearly as much as she thought she would. Landry was amazing.

And she was pretty sure he felt the same. If this morning had been any indication.

Her forgotten phone vibrated suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts. A slow grin spread across her face as she glanced at the screen. Chance thumbed the screen lock with excitement.

“Landry Boudreaux. I was just thinking about you.”

“I can’t say I mind that, Maîtresse. How did things go?”

Chance settled back in her chair, relaxing at the sound of his voice. “Fine. Even though you tired me out.” She fiddled with the ends of her weave, grinning. “You heading over to your mamere’s for tonight?”

“I am. If you don’t have plans, she’d like you to come over. Wants to meet you, threatened to lay the gris-gris on me if I didn’t ask you.”

“She knows about me? How?”

He laughed. “A’course I told her.”

Chance stood, suddenly nervous and needing to walk. “You
told
told her. Not the whole pretending thing?”

“Non. She knows Adrian somehow and knew I’d been working with him. I told her the truth—that you were one of his Dommes and you were teaching me about the lifestyle.”

Chance shook her head, amazed. The difference between how she’d spent years hiding the truth from her family, and how he’d had no trouble simply putting it out there blew her mind. His calm confidence, his complete comfort with who he was drew her to him in a way she’d never felt before.

“Maîtresse?”

Chance let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I’m here. Yes. I’d love to come.”

“May I pick you up? In an hour?”

She grinned. “You may.” She rattled off her address and directions. “Wait, what should I wear?”

Landry laughed. “Wear what you like. What you’re comfortable in. Mamere, she won’t judge.”

“All right.” She took a deep breath, trying to still the nervousness she felt.

“Speaking of families, I didn’t get to ask. How are you with yours?”

Chance sighed. “Currently not speaking to Mom. Bels…we’ll see. We’ve been at odds for a long time, and that doesn’t go away with one conversation. But I told them the ball was in their court. Their choice, if they want to cut me out. Dad, though…” She smiled. “Dad asked if I was happy, if I loved what I do. Said as long as that answer was yes, that’s all he cared about. Oh and he wants us to come to dinner with him before they leave. I told him we weren’t really seeing each other, so if you don’t want to…”

“I’d love to.”

His answer, given without hesitation, made her heart beat a little faster. “I’d like that.”

“Not that it sounds like it matters, but did you ever figure out how she found out?”

Chance barked a laugh. “Turns out it was all a setup.”

“A setup?”

She sighed, feeling the sting again. “Adrian. I guess he thought it was high time I stopped trying to please them. He somehow arranged for Bels to find out. But whatever. It worked out, and he was right. I needed to deal with it.”

“That old motier foux. That’s a touch underhanded.”

“It was. But Adrian takes his role of le premier Maître extremely seriously. We may not always like his methods, but everything he does is done to protect us and with our best interests at heart. We all look out for each other, but for A it’s like we’re all his subs. There’s nothing he won’t do for us.”

“Makes sense when you put it that way.”

“It’s kind of how we work. There’s a hierarchy, and the people at the top—the Dominants, the ones with seniority—we take care of the ones lower down, the submissives, the new inductees to the lifestyle. We teach, we look out for each other. People think kink is only about the sex, the toys, the ‘deviant’ behavior, but it’s so much more. We’re a family.”

“Like the Marines.”

“In some ways. Probably in a lot of ways.”

Landry cleared his throat. “Speaking of family…”

She laughed. “See you in an hour, Sergeant.”

“Mistress.”

Chance ended the call and dialed Adrian’s number. “You son of a bitch. How did you know he was going to invite me to dinner with his mamere?”

Adrian’s only answer was a laugh.

* * * * *

Virginie Baure lived outside New Orleans, in a comfortable and colorful house deep into the bayou. She took one look at Chance, nodded her head and pulled her into a tight hug.

“You be good to my boy. You be good for my boy.”

Dinner was cozy. They ate some of the best rice and gravy Chance had ever had, while listening to stories about Landry’s childhood and Virginie’s life in the bayou. After, Chance and Landry sat out on the porch listening to the bayou come alive.

“She’s lived in this house her whole life?”

Landry laughed. “That’s how she tells it. Born here, plans to die here. Maman was born here, and so was I. This house, this corner of the bayou, it’s thick with my family. Our roots are sunk deep here.”

“How did it survive Katrina? Wasn’t most of the bayou underwater?”

He shrugged. “It took some damage, which I fixed. But it wasn’t bad. Mamere, she’ll say it was the loa.”

Chance looked at him, curious. “What do you say?”

“I learned not to question,” he replied with a wink. “Mamere, she say it was the loa, I believe her. It’s safer that way.”

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the tree frogs and crickets, the bayou’s own nighttime symphony.

“Landry, the club’s monthly night is coming up next weekend. Adrian wanted me to bring you, if you remember.”

Landry looked up. “Fleur de Nuit?”

She nodded. “It would be your official induction into our club, and Adrian’s circle. You’d be one of us, and not simply a trainee.”

“Would I still be working with you?”

Chance smiled. “As long as you wanted. Oh, and there’s a membership tattoo, Adrian reminded me you’d have to run that past your superiors.” She tapped her shoulder where the club’s fleur de lis tattoo was visible under the sheer top she’d worn to help fend off mosquitoes.

“Like yours?”

“Mostly. Yours would have a few variations. The petal colors mean different things, and subs have theirs on the back below the neck.”

He nodded slowly. “Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll talk to the appropriate people tomorrow.”

“You’ll come, then?”

“If you think I’m ready. Anything else I should know?”

She hesitated. “I know I said I’d be happy to keep working with you as long as you wanted, and I am. I’ll keep training you until one of us decides it’s time you moved on.”

Landry cocked his head, listening carefully without interrupting, but the guarded curiosity in his face was unmistakable.

Chance took a deep breath and laughed. “I’m not used to feeling insecure like this. I’m used to knowing what I want and taking it. It’s kind of the Domme MO.” She took a long look at him until some of his quiet confidence bled into her. “I’d like to be more than your training Domme. I’d like to see if we could be more.” She reached down into her purse and pulled out a red leather sub collar. “This is a training collar, for the club. It’ll let everyone know you’re still learning, and to treat you accordingly. It’s a regular collar, but Adrian designed this charm system—the fleur de lis is what means you’re a newbie. It’s red because scarlet is my color, so it shows you’re being taught by me.”

Reaching down again, Chance pulled out something smaller, holding it up to reveal a gold clover. “Adrian’s idea of a joke. Chance is luck in French, and he loves his wordplay. Calls me Dame Chance, Lady Luck. Damn four-leaf clovers started showing up on all my stuff, so it’s kind of my symbol now.” She took a breath, realizing she was rambling, and forced herself to get to the point. “You’re still learning how things go, and we’re still getting to know each other. So it’s too soon to talk about full collaring. That’s a big commitment, on par with marriage, and I’m pretty sure neither of us is ready for that. But—if you wanted—adding this to your collar would tell people that we weren’t only teacher and student, but that we were in a relationship.”

“Like dating?”

“Exactly like dating.”

When he didn’t answer right away, Chance steeled herself for the rejection. But when she finally looked up at him, he met her eyes and answered without words, rising from his chair only to sink to his knees at her feet. His eyes held hers for a heartbeat longer, before he dropped his gaze to the floor of the porch.

Chance reached out to cup his cheek, lifting his head and answering his unspoken declaration with a kiss.

Chapter Ten

Chance inhaled deeply, soaking in the atmosphere of Fleur de Nuit. The smell of sex and leather, the amazing techno-jazz fusion that blended with the noise of the crowd, the dim lights—and of course, Landry’s silent, unwavering presence behind her. She’d coached him on club etiquette, and expected he’d take to it as quickly as he had everything else.

Pushing through the initial crush at the main hall entrance, she headed directly for the stairs to the upper gallery. The main floor was fun, but she wasn’t going to throw Landry in there on his first night.

“Chance!”

Cassandra stood at the top of the stairs, Ellie in tow. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail identical to the one Chance wore. But while Chance was dressed in mostly scarlet, Cassandra wore her trademark all black. “Good to see you, Cass. Ellie.”

Her friend wrapped her in a hug. “You look good, Chancey. Happy.”

“I am.”

Cass waggled her eyebrows, then glanced past her at Landry. “Sergeant Boudreaux. Welcome to the family.”

“Thank you, Mistress Cassandra.”

Cass turned back to her with a grin. “Nice collar.”

Chance turned to look at Landry and smiled. He wore nothing but the collar she’d given him and a pair of white linen slacks that made a stark contrast against his dark skin. He looked fabulous, standing there with his hands clasped behind him. “Isn’t he?”

Cassandra chuckled. “I meant the leather, but yes, he is. Anyway, there’s someone here I want you to meet.”

She led them down to the lounge area, where Adrian stood talking with two women. She recognized the taller auburn-haired woman as Kara Deschamps—there wasn’t anyone in Fleur who didn’t know her. She stood as top sub and Adrian’s agent. Chance rather liked her—for a sub, she was pretty strong-willed and free-spirited, and they’d gone out for drinks a number of times. But the free spirit wore a thick black and blue collar, which meant the other woman in dark blue…

“Is that who I think it is?”

“The infamous Ange Noir, Moira D’Arcangelis?” Cass grinned.

The shorter woman with the dark curls looked up. “Did I hear my name being taken in vain again? Hey, Cassandra.” Moira’s voice was soft, but held a quiet certainty Chance immediately recognized.

Cass laughed. “Moira, I’d like to introduce one of my best friends, and one of the best Pro-Dommes in NOLA—at least, until you came along. Chance Gordon, Moira D’Arcangelis—the woman who tamed the untamable.”

Chance smiled and shook Moira’s hand. “Don’t listen to her. I’m still one of the best Pro-Dommes in the city,” she added with a wink.

Moira grinned back. “I believe it. Adrian’s had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“I hear you had one hell of a Mardi Gras while I was gone. Congratulations, by the way. To you and Kara. You mind if I give your sub a hug?”

Moira laughed. “Be my guest. And thank you. Would you introduce me to yours?”

Chance stepped past the new Domme and hugged Kara. “Good to see you, girl. Collared life looks good on you.” She turned back to Moira with a grin. “Actually, I think you know mine already. Landry?”

Moira’s head snapped up. “Landry? Oh my God, that is you!” She pulled him in for a hug, laughing, before turning back to Chance. “Adrian said he had someone to train him. Do I need to offer congratulations as well?”

Chance shook her head. “He’s still learning, though he’s such a natural. And we’re still feeling things out, so this is a nonbinding, mutually exclusive…” She laughed and waved herself off. “Screw the lifestyle talk. We’re dating. We’ll see how it goes.”

“Congratulations, anyway. Or maybe especially. He’s one of the good ones.”

Cass nudged her. “See, I said you’d like her. Why don’t the six of us go out to dinner sometime this week?”

A throat cleared nearby, and they all turned as Adrian stepped up to join them. “I do hope you’re not planning on excluding me.”

They all laughed, and Moira jumped in. “Seven it is, then. Since you’ve got all the connections, Adrian, you can set it up. Get us some nice reservations. Kara and I are dying for some good New Orleans food.”

Cass turned to her. “And how was Italy?”

As the conversation continued, Chance glanced back, reaching for Landry. His hand slid into hers as soon as she asked, and his eyes lifted enough to meet hers. She smiled at him and took a deep breath.

This was home. And there was no place she’d rather be, and no one she’d rather be there with.