Shiori looked over at Fee and Molly, who wore the same WTF? looks.

Ivan took it in stride. “Have fun, ladies, and I’ll be in when I can.”

As they entered, Fee and Molly announced they wanted to look around, so they split off.

Katie saw the balloon at the VIP table and laughed. “I wonder whose idea that was.” She peered at the writing on the tape. “It’s in Russian. It’d be hilarious if Ivan’s badass father set up a birthday party in a fetish club for his son.”

The cocktail waitress took their orders once they were seated. Shiori was done drinking for the night, so she’d make this drink last.

“Why do I get the feeling this type of club isn’t as shocking to you as it is to Fee and Molly?” Katie asked.

“I’ve been to places like this in Tokyo and Germany. And I’ll point that question right back at you.”

“I dabbled in Goth culture,” Katie admitted. “We were always looking for weird and edgy, so we ended up at some pretty strange places.”

“I can’t picture you in Goth makeup and wearing all-black clothes.”

She smiled. “That’s eventually what pulled me out of it. I wanted to wear pink and be happy once in a while.”

Fee and Molly joined them.

“What kinky things did you see that you wanted to try?” Katie asked them.

“There’s more stuff I’d never try than anything that looked appealing,” Fee said. “I mean I don’t find it disgusting, but I just don’t get it either.”

“For instance?” Shiori asked.

“Well, there is a spanking station. And I can’t figure out if those people want to be spanked because they weren’t spanked as a kid, or if they were spanked and they loved it so much they want to keep experiencing it.”

“None of the guys you’ve been with has ever smacked your ass during sex or when you’re messing around?” Katie asked Fee.

Fee shook her head. “I’d probably react instinctively and dislocate his arm.” She looked at Molly. “What about you, Miss Corn-Fed Nebraska?”

“Have I ever gotten a full-blown ass paddling before sex? No. But besides my random bad-boy hookups here and there, the guys I’ve dated have been tame. Would I try it? Yep. I’ve read some really hot spanking stories.” She volleyed the question back to Katie. “What about you?”

“This older guy I had a brief fling with liked spanking me. But he was a great dirty talker too, so I’m not sure which made me hotter.”

Then they all three looked at Shiori.

“What?”

“You’re being quiet, so you’re holding back. Spill it,” Molly demanded.

Shiori fiddled with the straw in her drink. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to laugh.”

“Omigod, you’ve got a spanking fetish,” Katie exclaimed.

“Not a fetish. I’m just really good at it.”

“How are you good at it?” Fee asked.

How honest could she be? She definitely couldn’t lie and say getting whopped on the ass with a board was part of jujitsu conditioning, because Fee would call bullshit on that. But she couldn’t admit she was a Domme either. She settled for a semi-true story. “My ex and I went to some of the kink clubs in Tokyo. There was a spanking station and he wanted to spank me, so I said yes—as long as I got to spank him too. So he leveled five really wimpy whacks with a paddle. It did nothing for me. When my turn rolled around, I put a lot of muscle into it. He threw a hissy fit for me taking it too far, hurting and embarrassing him. Then he took off and left me at this club.”

“What a jackass.”

“But another guy asked if I’d spank him hard like that. So I did. I ended up with a line of people who wanted me to redden their asses, which took the sting out of my dickhead husband bailing on me.”

Three sets of eyes scrutinized her.

Then Katie leaned closer for a fist bump. “You are the motherfucking shit. But you know I’m gonna hafta ask you to prove it.”

Fee and Molly nodded agreement.

“What? How am I supposed to do that?”

Katie smirked. “You leave that part to me. You warm up your spanking arm. Because some lucky bastard is getting his ass smacked by you tonight.”

CHAPTER TEN

“I don’t wanna go to some stupid fetish club,” Deacon complained. “Why can’t we just stay here and drink?”

“Suck it up. Ivan asked us, and it’ll be a good chance to get to know him better. We need solid footing with the fighters before Maddox shows up,” Knox told him.