Pretty in Kink by Titania Ladley Read Free Book Online Page A

and scanned
the perimeter. She knew she gawked like a kid, but she couldn’t help herself.
Maybe “rally” was code for orgy?
    Diego pressed his hand to the small of her back and chatted
with the bartender. The way he dragged his thumb around in a circle over her
spine sent thrills of heat through her bloodstream. She detected a sense of
control from him, possessiveness, and yet his touch implied that he wanted to
soothe her and put her at ease, even encourage her to relax and let loose if
the mood struck her.
    Did it— would it—strike her? She let her gaze roam
some more and became aware that she seemed to be the only person standing stiff
and guarded, the way a cornered cat would when looking for a way out.
    C’mon, Britt. It’s not like they’re going to roast you
over the fire with the hog. Or rape you or throw you in a cage to be leered at
by men and women and the few stray dogs running the land.
    Still, she sidled a step closer to Diego. Her pulse slowed a
few beats when he slid an arm over her shoulder and tucked her close to his
side.
    Nice. Comforting.
    The bartender bumped fists with Diego across the bar, did an
uplift-type nod. “Hey, ’sup, Scoundrel? What’ll ya have?”
    “Water for now,” Diego said to the bartender. “At least
until I decide if we’re staying over or not.”
    “You, sweetheart?” the man asked.
    Britt tore her stare from a group of buffed-up bikers arm
wrestling at a nearby picnic table. The bartender’s kind hazel eyes swept her
with a sympathetic look that said, “It’s okay, we won’t bite.”
    She dragged in a deep breath. “Uh…I-I think you better give
me something strong. How about a Long Island Tea? Light on the tea.”
    Diego and the man chuckled in unison. Diego pressed a kiss
to her temple and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, baby, I won’t let anyone
eat you up. Except for me.”
    She peered into his eyes, so intense it sent a tumble of
heat to her groin.
    “Ha-ha, I’m not worried. Just
taking it all in.” She hooked her thumb through a belt loop at his back and
grinned up at him. “But still… Don’t leave me alone just in case there is a hungry monster or two out there somewhere.”
    Diego gave a snort of delight, tossed a couple of bills on
the bar and took their drinks from the bartender. He pushed the cold, wet glass
into her hand.
    She continued to study her surroundings. Vendor tents lined
one length of the fence near the guarded gate where they’d been admitted a few
moments ago. The sweet scent of funnel cakes and gamey-smelling barbequed
burgers mingled with the odor of cigarette smoke and a pungent smell she could
only guess to be pot. She’d never smoked it and never would. But a freeing
sense seized her at standing here inhaling the aromas and knowing she was
welcome to join in or not, or even stare if she needed to and no one would give
a pooh.
    Yeah, way different than any stuffy party she’d ever
been to.
    But she enjoyed it so far and absorbed everything around her
like a dry sponge.
    Other vendors sold leather vests, do-rags, t-shirts and
skimpy women’s clothing, while some peddled strange-looking pipes, motorcycle
parts…and sex toys.
    That one was right next to the tiki bar and even busier,
packed with long-haired, tattooed men, bald men with piercings in various
strategic places and women who showed more skin than Britt had in the photo
shoot with Lexi. She strained to see what sort of toys were on display. Funny,
she owned a standard six-inch vibrator—which no one knew about it, not even
Lexi. Now there was a connection between prude Britt and Diego’s wild
friends. Her face flamed again. She thought of how horny she could get using
that ordinary vibrator.
    She strained to look closer, spying some
interesting…contraptions. What other kinky toys were they selling in that tent?
    A sudden squeal had her flicking her gaze back to the crowd
in front of the bandstand. She spotted a group of five women in