Jenna's Consent (40 page)

“You sound pretty confident.”

Nick finished his beer and tossed it over the bar into the
trash. “Everyone here, we’re a group of outsiders finally in the right place.”

Ian stared at him before speaking. “I’ve been the black
sheep in my family for almost my entire life. I was kinky. Thought that was the
reason. A few years ago I learned differently. So I get the outsiders thing.
More than you know. I get it.”

“I’ve gone through all of this thinking you’ve got some kind
of impenetrable shell that keeps you separate from everyone else. That’s not
the case is it?”

Ian shook his head. “Not anymore. Jenna shredded it when she
cold cocked me one.” He rubbed his jaw. “Hell. Even when she was a shy girl she
wormed her way inside me. I never could keep her away from my heart. She’s
resided there for so long I can’t imagine a future without her in it. I’m in
this for the long-term.”

“Good. And family’s like that sometimes.”

“I don’t do very well with families.”

“Not the blood kind of family. Those can suck…a lot of the
time. But this kind is different.”

“How so?”

“You get to pick this one.”

“And what if this doesn’t go well? What if Jenna doesn’t
come around on her own.”

“We’re not perfect but we take care of our own. Plus…” He
turned to Ian and smiled. “They don’t call me Casanova for nothing.”

Ian shook his head and smirked. ”Dumbass.”

Almost two weeks to the day, Jenna stood beside the stage
with knots in her stomach and hanks of rope in her bag by the A-frame.

Nerves pinged up and down her limbs, making her jittery when
she thought about all she had to gain—or lose that night.

And she didn’t have her mask. She’d tried tying with another
one but it wasn’t the right one.

Oscar stretched off to the side and Jenna felt lots of eyes
on her.

Members had begun filing in since twenty minutes before,
when she had been running Jackson through what she needed. Now she got the
frame locked down.

Most of the people in the room were friends and everyone was
curious as to what she had planned. Douglas, Patrick and Hector were all there.
Her girls and their men. Not many people had seen a full-suspension scene with
transitions and probably nothing like what she had planned.

She stood there in a short skirt, stockings with the sexy
line running up the back, a purple corset and sleek heels. They gave her quite
an advantage on tying Oscar.

But three men were absent, explaining her angst. Nawa, Ian
and Nick. None of them were there yet and she was scheduled to start in less
than ten minutes.

“They’ll be here,” Oscar whispered as he walked up and
hugged her from behind.

She held his forearms to her chest and closed her eyes.

“How do you know? I’ve refused to speak with them about any
of this. They have to be worried sick or just sick and tired of me. Not that I
even have the slightest of how to fix everything. And Nawa has to leave
tonight.” She glanced at her wrist but she’d already taken her watch off. “He
extended his trip just so he could stay for the performance but maybe something
happened with his plans.”

He squeezed her and turned her around to face him, placing
his hands on her shoulders.

The man was ripped. In his boxer-briefs there wasn’t much
hidden and what was on display was gorgeous.

“Nawa’s not leaving. Maybe something came up to delay him
but he wouldn’t miss your debut here for anything. It’s too important. As for
Ian and Nick? They told you they’d give you the time you needed. They have.
They don’t ignore you at work. The smoldering glances between the three of you
are almost enough for me to try fucking a girl.”

Jenna smiled as he gagged.

“In all honesty, I know it’ll work out.” He glanced to the
side and Jenna followed his gaze. Ryder stood across the room staring at them.

Correction. Staring at Oscar.

“If I can’t be happy, then I’m going to do everything in my
power to make sure you get your happily-ever-after.”

Jenna touched her right side over her corset and breathed in
deep. “You already have.”

He hugged her again. “That ink I put on you? That’s just
something you needed as a reminder so you can see it every day. It’s something
you already knew.”

Her side tingled at his words.

It had been long enough that she wasn’t sore any longer, but
the memory of the pain created a phantom throbbing beneath the mantra she would
carry with her forever.

Oscar hugged her again, and then smiled, turning her around.
“Told you. I’m gonna go finish stretching, since I’m sure you’re going to try
to kick my ass tonight.”

Some of Jenna’s tension let go as Nawa walked up.

“You look worried.” He hugged her close and she held on.

“Was scared you might have had to leave early.”

“I would never leave before this but I’m sorry I’m late. I
have something for you. From Nick and Ian.”

He handed her something wrapped in cloth, along with a note.
Nawa bowed in the regal way of his and then walked away again. He melted into
the crowd and then she saw them. Nick and Ian stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the
middle of the room, where they’d be able to see everything she did.

Their eyes made her heart jump in excitement. She wanted to
run to them and throw herself at them but Ian nodded toward what she had in her
hand.

She opened the note attached to the front of the material
and stared at the single word.

Yours.

Her eyebrows pulled low, wondering what in the world they
could have given her. She laid the package on the stage and unwrapped it. The
cloth itself was also a present. It was a large double-sided square of fabric a
lot of riggers kept some of their rope in. She smiled, pulling open the last
flap. Understanding flooded her chest.

Yours.

She touched her mask but it was different. Nick’s collar had
been added to the bottom.

It was incredible.

She brought the leather to her nose and breathed in so
deeply no one would ever be able to take it from her.

In an instant, everything clicked into place. The damage
done? She knew exactly what she needed to do to put herself in the right place
to heal and tell both of them exactly what they meant to her. Without speaking
a word.

She took the mask and the note, leaving the cloth on the
corner of the stage.

Their eyes locked as soon as she headed toward them.

Everyone else faded away and the sounds of the room became
nothing but background noise. A faint whisper compared to the drum beat of her
heart.

Before they tried to speak, she knelt before them, placing
the note at their feet and the mask on top of it. She sat back on her heels and
watched them. The hope drained from their eyes as they latched on to the
leather before them.

She reached behind her and slowly loosened the laces on her
corset. The large crowd in the room truly fell silent.

“What are you doing?” Ian asked.

Without answering, without taking her eyes from theirs, she
loosened the lacing enough to where she could pop the pegs out of the front
closures. Her perky breasts stood proud before them and she took a deep breath
as
she
removed her corset.

Free.

Goose bumps dotted her flesh, though it was warm with the
rest of the bodies around, surrounding her.

She was finally free of her past so she could look toward
the future.

Finally free.

Taking a giant leap of faith to get what she needed had
seemed so terrifying before their present arrived.

But now?

Now, it seemed perfect. If she had to be the brave one, she
could do that. She was asking for a lot and she knew it.

She folded the steel-boned corset and placed it below their
note, holding the mask in her hands.

Understanding dawned across their faces and they both
grinned. “Yes, you are.”

It was Nick that said it but Ian nodded several times and
then palmed her cheek.

“I have so much to say to you both but I have a pretty man
waiting for me onstage.” She glanced over, above the faces of all of her
friends smiling at her and Oscar stood on the raised level beaming at her. She
smiled and glanced back at her men.

She knelt up, moving closer to them and held the mask to her
chest. “Would you do me the honors, Sirs, of putting my mask on me for the first
time?”

“Hell yes.”

As they moved around behind her, she twisted to face them.
“Sirs. I’d like to talk to both of you after the performance.” She whispered it
just for them.

“We were prepared to ask for the same thing. We have a lot
we need to discuss.” Nick looked at her and then at Ian and the hostility she’d
seen between them before simply wasn’t there.

Joy leapt in her chest and she beamed at them, thinking they
were finally on the right path. She lifted the mask to her face. “And thank you
both, for the present. It’s incredible.”

“It’s only the beginning, Jenna.” Ian buckled the top buckle
and Nick the lower one, each putting their collar on her but doing it together.

They lifted her up and sat her on her feet. Ian kissed her
forehead and Nick her shoulder.

“Go, knock ’em dead. They won’t even know what hit them.”

“Thank you, Sirs.” It was muffled behind the mask and her
ability to breathe was already impaired. She loved it.

Making her way back to the stage Cyn and Haleigh caught her
eye, both had tears in their eyes. They couldn’t have heard what was said but
they knew.

Jenna winked at them and they waved, holding each other’s
hand as she moved back to the controls.

Jackson stood there to take direction if needed but all she
needed was the frame, Oscar, her rope and the new cloth the men gifted her
with.

Skye squeezed her hand on the way by. “I’m so proud of you.”

Emotion muted anything she could have said in return so she
simply leaned close and hugged her.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks. Music, please, Jackson. Just push play when I’m in
place and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You got it.” He pushed several buttons on the control
panel, cuing up the soundtrack she’d prepared earlier.

It would set the stage for exactly what she wanted to show
everyone. What rope was about. Even if just amongst friends.

“Rock it out, Jenna. You got this.”

She nodded and walked up the steps to join Oscar onstage,
grabbing the cloth from the edge and hooking carabineers on the top of her
skirt.

Oscar stood beneath the A-frame in the perfect position for
them to start and she faced him, giving her back to the crowd. “You took off
your corset.”

Her smile stretched her cheeks and she could have run a
marathon with all the pent-up energy coursing through her muscles. ”Yes, I
did.”

“You’re such a badass.”

He looked calm and confident and proud. She loved that he
trusted her enough to tie him. But with all of the people around, the
simulation neither of them had tied in before, she worried about both of them
not being in the proper frame of mind.

“Close your eyes, my friend.”

He complied, taking a deep breath and stretched his neck one
more time before they began.

She grabbed a small hank of thinner rope from her bag,
smaller than she used to tie his body. She tied it around his head, covering
his eyes and made a blindfold out of rope.

Then she moved behind him, crouching close to the stage to
fold the new cloth corner to corner, rolling it until it made a thick
blindfold.

She laid out the rope she needed, placing it around them
where it would be in the proper location for each tie. She’d even made a custom
rope kit, just for Oscar’s body. All of the knots would land exactly where they
were supposed to for maximum safety and efficiency. It allowed her to keep him
in the air for as much time as possible.

She moved back behind him and looked over his shoulder,
locking eyes with Nawa.

He nodded in her direction, clearly pleased with what she
had planned. She smiled and even behind the mask he must have known because he
smiled too.

When she looked at Nick and Ian they were focused on her,
taking in the scene. She glanced between them, wanting them to be the last
things she saw.

The cloth was cool as she placed it over her eyes and the
room went black.

The crowd gasped and a general rumble went through the
people watching.

“Umm…” Oscar whispered and she finished knotting the
material behind her head. He jerked a bit as she touched his back. Tiny tremors
worked their way along his skin. “What exactly just happened that the crowd
made a noise like that before you even touched me?”

The first measures of David Guetta’s
Shot Me Down
filtered through the speakers hung high overhead. It reminded her of an old
west gun fight. That moment when you don’t know which side is going to win or
even the side you’re rooting for.

Jenna stood in the middle of that fight. On one side, her
past chained her down. On the other, her future squared off with indecision and
regret.

She moved her hands onto his shoulders, touching him,
connecting with him. “Do you trust me?” she entreated, her lips brushing the
leather as she spoke.

Oscar’s shoulders relaxed and she felt the moment they
linked. He went still as the woman’s soft voice sang about when she was five
and he was six. “Yes.”

Her energy coiled inside her and the rest of the club
vanished. “Then that’s all you need to know.”

She grabbed the first bundle of rope, tugging on the bight—the
small loop at the top, sitting at the center of the jute. She tossed the rest
of the rope and it uncoiled in a flash across the stage.

Just as so many times before, she lifted his wrists,
securing them together as she wrapped the jute around them. The chorus of the
song fed her movements as she enfolded his shoulders in her weapon of choice.

The club beat pulsed through her as she created the stem in
the back between his shoulders and wrists. She moved the rope back and forth as
if it were an extension of her hands.

They spoke the same language and her heart beat hard twice
each time the singer proclaimed “Bang, bang
.”

She moved around him as she needed to, keeping a hand on him
at all times, even when she grabbed more rope. She put him in a three-rope TK
chest harness and then tied his hips in preparation for a Yoko Tsuri side
suspension.

She clipped a carabineer to the suspension ring above Oscar’s
head and grabbed another rope, tossing it out as she did for each of them. She
passed the rope under the wrap in the back of the TK and completed a Y-knot.
She moved it to the side of the wraps around his arm and fed the working end of
the rope through the biner she’d added earlier. After connecting it to the bight
in the Y-knot and running it through the biner again to create a pulley, she
wrapped it around her hand several time and took a breath.

The music died out at the end of the first song, slowly
morphing into a silent pause.

She lifted.

She’d been warning him before she lifted when they’d been
practicing. This time she didn’t. Going slow as his weight shifted was one
thing. Yanking him into position as he hovered above the ground couldn’t be explained.