Ethan’s NaughtySubmissive: Silver Creek Resort Book Three

by Barron, Melinda

  “I can tell you this about my dad,” she said. “If you ask for my hand in marriage, he will tell you that he’s not the one you should be asking. He’ll tell you that if I want to get married it is my business, and not his.”

  “So he’s not traditional?”

  “He’s raised two children; one is a Dom and the other a sub.” She squeezed his thigh again and he wanted to tell her not to do that, or he might start hunting for that dark alleyway she’d talked about earlier. “They taught us to be independent, to follow our desires and be the people we wanted to be.”

  “So he knows about your sexual nature?”

  “Of course not,” she said. “But I have a feeling if he did it wouldn’t bother him. Mom on the other hand would be appalled that I let you whip me and had an orgasm from it.”

  “How can you call what you experienced last night an orgasm? You wound me.”

  “It was the orgasm of a lifetime,” she said. “I do have to say I’ve never experienced subspace like that before. But I am paying for it today. My ass hurts worse than it ever has before. I hope my mother doesn’t notice me wincing when I sit down, because she will question it.”

  “Tell them you fell, and you have a deep bruise,” he said. “It’s not far from the truth. You do have a deep bruise, just from a whipping. Stick as close to the truth as possible.”

  “Right you are,” she said. “There is one more bullet point we should discuss.”

  “And what is that?” he asked. Ethan knew exactly what she was going to say, though. Cecily had told her parents that he was a lawyer, which was the truth. But at some point, they would need to bring up Silver Creek, and the fact that it was a BDSM resort. And then there was the possibility of them opening a club in town.

  “I think bringing up Silver Creek might be information overload today,” she said. “They are going to have a lot on their mind just thinking about the wedding. Mom will want to talk about the actual event. I hope when she does that, that Dad won’t bring up the fact that you don’t have a practice in town.”

  “Do you think he will have checked?” Ethan pulled into Henderson, getting off the highway and braking at the light.

  “Well, like I said, Dad raised us to be independent. There is every chance he wouldn’t have checked up on you because he trusts me to make a good decision.” From the corner of his eye he saw her run her fingers through her hair. “But there is also a chance that he tried to find you. I just don’t know. Marcus hasn’t given a clue that Dad has asked him, so I don’t think we should be too concerned.”

  “Yeah, I’m not feeling any stress about that right now,” Ethan said. “Thanks.”

  She laughed, and the tinkling sound made him smile.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “And I love you,” she said. “We’ll get through this together, no matter if Dad’s been checking on you or not.”

  “Well, if things turn bad, I’ll just say, ‘How about them Cowboys’. He’s a football fan, right?”

  “Darling, it’s summertime.”

  “Okay, I’ll ask how he thinks they’ll do during the upcoming season. Will that take his mind off things?”

  “I certainly hope so,” she said. “I think we’ll do well with them.” She winced as she moved. “This is not going to be easy.”

  “We’ll have fun with it,” he said. “I thought last night was a big breakthrough for us,” he said. He turned left at a light. They weren’t that far from her parents’ house now.

  “It would have been better if it was done at a time when I could have rested the next day.”

  “I promise to let you sleep tonight,” he said.

  “I’d feel better if you’d promise to fuck me,” she said with a laugh.

  “We’ll see what I can do,” he said as he pulled into the driveway. “Here we are.”

  Her mother was coming out the door before they were out of the car. She held out her arms and Cecily went into them. Ethan smiled. His parents were not the hugging type. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time his mother had hugged him, and they lived here in town, too.

  “Ethan.” She held out her arms and Ethan went to her.

  “It’s good to see you, Mrs. Blackthorn.”

  “You call me Abby, just like everyone else,” she said. “Come in, come in. Lunch is almost ready. Quiche and fruit salad. Jacob is in the garage working on something. You can go see him there, Ethan, and if you call him Mr. Blackthorn he might pitch a fit. Cecily and I will finish lunch.”

  “Sounds good,” Ethan said. He kissed Cecily and moved toward the garage. He found Jacob hammering a nail into the wall.

  “Ethan, come in.” Jacob put down his hammer and offered his hand. “I think Abby didn’t put the quiche in on time so you and I would have time to bond.”

  “I like that idea,” Ethan said. “Can I help with something?”

  “No, I’m just hanging up a hook for my new extension cord.” Jacob continued working. “I didn’t really need it, but I’m bored since retirement and I end up going out and buying things I don’t really need.” He turned to Ethan and pointed his hammer at him. “Don’t retire until you absolutely have to, Ethan. Take my advice.”

  “I’ll remember that,” Ethan said.

  “Well, since you’ve already retired from being a lawyer, I wonder exactly what it is you do for a living.” Jacob said. He put his hammer on the table.

  Ethan stammered for a few moments before he said, “I am a lawyer.”

  “Yes, you are,” Jacob said. “I checked with the state bar, and you still have your license. But if you don’t work for a law firm, and you haven’t hung out your own shingle, how do you make your living?”

  Ethan clicked his teeth.

  “I can see the wheels turning in your mind,” Jacob said. “Let me tell you why I checked. I trust my daughter, implicitly. I was in town one day and decided to drop in on you and probe you about your relationship with her. I am a former research librarian, remember? I checked online, phone books, and the Internet. That’s when I searched the State Bar database and found your name.”

  “Does Mrs. Blackthorn know?”

  “No,” Jacob said. “I love my wife, and she would not understand why you lied.”

  “But I didn’t lie.” Ethan held up his hands. “I am a lawyer.”

  “Tell me how you make your living,” Jacob said.

  Ethan thought about it for a few moments, then decided it was best to come clean. He didn’t want to start the relationship with his future father-in-law by lying to him.

  “I co-own a resort near Hollis Creek.”

  “That BDSM resort?” Jacob asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “You’ve heard of it?”

  “Sure, I have a friend who owns a cabin near Hollis Creek, and he’s talked about it before.”

  “Well, it’s nice to know we are making waves in the area,” Ethan said. He hated the idea that Jacob brought it up first.

  There was a long pause while the two men stared at each other. “What you and my daughter do in your personal life is none of my business.” Jacob picked up the extension cord he’d mentioned. He undid the tie on it and started to wrap it in a circle. “And I do mean that. But my wife would see things differently. Please be careful about how you talk to her about it.”

  “We weren’t planning on telling her, or you,” Ethan said.

  Jacob put the cord on the nail in the wall.

  Ethan cleared his throat. “I’ve asked Cecily to marry me, and she’s said yes.”

  Jacob broke out in a big grin. “Well I’ll be damned, that’s fantastic news. Congratulations, my boy.”

  “We were planning on telling you guys this afternoon,” Ethan said. “I’m sorry if I didn’t ask you for permission first, but Cee said you would just laugh if I did.”

  “She’s right, I would,” Jacob said. “Cecily is perfectly capable of making decisions on her own. It’s not my right to decide whom she marries. However, my w
ife will question where you’re going to live. What are you going to say?”

  “In Vegas,” Ethan said. “We are planning on opening a Silver Creek Club here. Cee and I will run it. We’re going house hunting either this afternoon or tomorrow. We’re supposed to call the agent when we’re done here. Would you and your wife like to join us?”

  Ethan wasn’t sure where that came from. He certainly hadn’t talked to Cee about inviting her parents along on their house search. Hopefully she would not be mad at him.

  “Let’s go inside and eat,” Jacob said. “I’m hungry, and I’m sure the food is ready by now.”

  “Sir,” Ethan said.

  “Don’t call me sir,” Jacob said. “My name is Jacob. Soon I think you can call me Dad.”

  “I’d like that,” Ethan said.

  “What were you going to ask?” Jacob said.

  “I wanted to ask if you have any advice on how we keep the fact I’m a Dom at a BDSM resort from your wife.”

  Jacob laughed. “We’ll work on that, Ethan. Right now, though, we eat, and I get to see the look on my wife’s face when Cecily tells her she’s getting married. It’s going to be a great afternoon.”

  * * *

  Cecily grinned from ear to ear as her mother squealed in delight. “I can’t wait to plan the wedding. When will it be? How many people will we plan for? Do you want to wear my dress? It’s relatively simple as you know, but it’s so pretty.”

  Her mother ran from the room, and Cecily giggled. “What did I tell you, Ethan? She’s going to want to start planning the wedding right now.”

  Ethan took her hand and kissed it. “You’re her only daughter, and I can’t blame her for being excited. You haven’t once mentioned a dress, or how many people we should expect.”

  “She didn’t mention a dress because she’s always loved mine,” her mother said as she came back into the room. She handed Ethan a photo, and Cecily watched his face as he studied it.

  “You’re right, that dress is beautiful, and it will look stunning on you, Cee.”

  A blush spread over her chest and up to her face. “Thank you, my future husband. I agree. I’ve always wanted to wear that dress at my wedding.” She turned to her mother. “As for the date, we haven’t really planned it yet.” And we won’t until we find the weirdo woman, and possibly man, too, that is trying to kill me.

  “I’ve never wanted to get married around the holidays,” she said. “Maybe next spring?”

  “That’s so far away,” her mother said. “Why can’t we plan for November?”

  “We’ll talk about it, Mom,” Cecily said. “And by we, I mean me and Ethan. But I want your help with flowers, and food, and all of the things that go with a wedding. But, there’s another but—we have a friend named Hero who is a party planner. We’d like to work with her, too.”

  Or at least she hoped they would. She and Ethan had not talked about working with Hero about the wedding.

  “Most definitely,” Ethan said. “And I wouldn’t mind earlier rather than later.”

  “As long as you don’t elope at a chapel,” her mom said. “I couldn’t stand it if an Elvis lookalike married you.”

  Cecily giggled. “I actually love that idea.” Seeing the look of horror on her mother’s face she continued, “I don’t mean the eloping part, Mom. I think a true Vegas wedding, with a chapel theme would be fun. Something tells me Hero would have a blast with the idea.”

  “It sounds very kitschy to me,” her mother said. “But of course it’s your wedding.”

  Cecily recognized that tone. Her mother would fight her tooth and nail to keep away from that idea. But the more she thought about it, the more Cecily liked it. Maybe she’d be able to change her mother’s mind.

  “Babe, I’ve invited your parents to go house hunting with us,” he said. “And I just got a text from the agent. She has two houses to show us this afternoon if we’re up for it.”

  “Sure,” Cecily said. She turned to look at her mother, who was once again smiling from ear to ear. “Set up a time and let’s go. But I’m hoping there is dessert. Is there?”

  “What do you think?” her mother said with a laugh. “It’s cheesecake, picked up from the deli this morning.”

  “Does my mother know me or what?” Cecily said with a laugh. “Bring it out, and then let’s see if we can find a house to buy.”

  “And a house to raise children in.”

  “Mom, let’s get through the wedding first,” Cecily said.

  “Well you’re not getting any younger,” her mother said.

  Cecily didn’t answer. She wanted to say if a certain person had their way she wouldn’t get any older, either. But she kept her mouth closed, then got up to help her mother serve the cheesecake.

  * * *

  “What did you just say?” Cecily gripped her seatbelt and stared at Ethan. “You told my father about Silver Creek? He knows we… he knows we… we…”

  “He knows we practice BDSM, yes,” Ethan said. “And I didn’t plan on telling him, you know that. We’d talked about it, remember? He’s the one that pushed me into a corner. He would have made a great prosecutor. It’s amazing to me that he’s just a research librarian and not a cop.”

  “Well, he reads mystery novels in his spare time, and he researches everything—and I mean everything.” She looked out the window. “I should have known he would have figured it out on his own.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and then she winced. Every time she moved her ass hurt. “He knows what we do. He knows I… Oh God.” She put her head in her hands now.

  “Stop it,” Ethan said. “It’s not like he’s going to mention it to you. That’s why he said something to me.”

  “Still, it freaks me out.” Her mind whirled. “I can’t imagine looking him in the eye again.”

  There was a pregnant pause. They were in two cars, mostly because the houses were at the other end of the city, and when they were done looking, they could go their separate ways.

  “Are you that ashamed about what we do?” Ethan’s voice was cold.

  “No!” She grimaced as she moved once again. “But I don’t see you telling your parents. By the way, when am I going to meet them?”

  “Quit trying to change the subject.” Ethan turned onto the highway. “Your father’s not ashamed of what we do. He didn’t once tell me to stop having rough sex with you. He didn’t once say he was ashamed. He asked me about my work because he wanted to make sure I can take care of you. He wanted the truth because he cares about you. He loves you, and he knows I love you, too.”

  There was another silence before Ethan said, “Maybe we should invite them to Silver Creek.”

  “No way,” Cecily said. “This is getting far too weird. We just need to drop the whole conversation.”

  “As you wish,” Ethan said with a laugh. “The houses are large. I hope they have room for a dungeon.”

  “I thought you wanted a tree house,” she said.

  “A tree dungeon,” he said, and then he cackled like a wicked witch—or was it a warlock? She wasn’t sure. “Or we could build a three-story dungeon, complete with a slide in the middle. There are a million different possibilities.”

  “There are,” she said. “We need to tell the agent to make sure she doesn’t mention the commercial property in front of my parents. Unless you’ve already told my father about Silver Creek II.”

  Ethan shrugged, and she wanted to scream. “Holy crap, what else did you tell him? So much for the bullet points we went over.”

  Her phone rang and she said, “Thank God for whoever this is. I’m beginning to think you told my father about the first time we had sex.”

  “Nope, just about last night’s whipping.”

  Cecily gasped, and then she gently punched Ethan’s thigh. “That’s not funny.”

  Despite her words they both laughed as she pulled her phone out of her purse and checked the screen. “It’s blocked.”

  “It’s either Miranda Stoddard, or it
’s Dawson,” Ethan said. “There’s only one way that we’re going to be able to find out. Answer it.”

  She hit answer, and then put it on speaker. “Yes?”

  “I got her, I got her, I got her!” Dawson sounded like a kid in a candy shop.

  “Who is she?” Ethan asked.

  “Her real name is Kate Hubert. And she has a blog that you need to see. It took me forever to dig it out. It gives big insight into why she’s doing what she’s doing.”

  “Why?” Ethan asked.

  “Well, does the name Miranda McMann mean anything to you, Ethan?”

  Cecily looked over at Ethan. She could swear all the color just drained out of his face.

  Finally he said, “Yes, it does. Meet us at Dylan’s house at seven. We’ll have dinner and everyone can hear the story at the same time.”

  “I’ve already heard it, or rather read her part of it,” Dawson said. “But I never turn down free food. I’ll see you at seven.”

  The phone went dead.

  “Who is Miranda McMann?” Cecily asked.

  “I should have realized the use of the name Miranda meant something,” he said. “At first, I didn’t think it was an alias, though. When we realized it was, I should have put two and two together. I feel like an idiot.”

  “Don’t make me wait,” she said. “Who is Miranda McMann?”

  “She was a lover of mine when I first started out in BDSM,” he said. “We were good together at first, but then she started wanting things to get harder, and harder. I wasn’t into it at that time. I never would have thought of using a whip. And I certainly wasn’t up for blood play, and I’m still not, just so you know.”

  “Blood play?”

  “Yeah, she wanted me to cut her,” he said. “I had to say no. I think she thought I would change my mind, so we just kept going and she kept trying. When I finally told her there was no way in hell I was playing with knives, we parted ways.”

  “Keep going,” she said after a few moments.

  “Well, she found a Dom to do what she wanted, but I don’t think she searched very hard. She didn’t care if she found an expert. She just wanted someone who was willing to try.”