“And she died,” Cecily said.
“At the funeral, her sister went off on me.” His voice shook, and Cecily could tell the memory was still raw. “I tried to tell her that Miranda was into the lifestyle before we met. All I did was spank her and tie her up. We broke up because I wasn’t into knives.”
“She told me she’d never forgive me, that I was to blame for her sister’s death.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” she said.
“I never thought about her when Leah died because what happened with Miranda had been a few years before,” he said. “It never even dawned on me.”
Cecily squeezed his thigh. “I’ll call Chase and tell him to come for dinner at Dylan’s house tonight. And then I’ll call Amanda and tell her we’re having dinner at her house tonight. Since we’re taking over, we can stop and buy a bunch of steaks and cook out. I’ll have Marcus bring all the sides.”
Ethan nodded. She could see the sadness and the stress in his body.
She reversed the order of her calls, making contact with Amanda first, and then with Chase. Randy and Hero were with Amanda, so she didn’t have to call them. She called Marcus and told him to get busy in the kitchen.
When they took the exit to the first house they were supposed to view, she could see that Ethan was a little more relaxed. At least she hoped he was. She also hoped that once they gave Chase this information he could find Kate Hubert, and this would all be over.
Chapter 13
Cecily had trouble concentrating on the features of the house. All she could think was that her father knew she liked to have her ass whipped. That he knew she liked it rough, and that she submitted to Ethan in the bedroom.
When they arrived at the first house, she’d been unable to look him in the eye. Now she and her mother were in the living room, and Ethan and her father were in the backyard. She knew there wasn’t enough space back there for what Ethan had in mind. She needed to remind Nicki that they wanted something with a lot of space.
“Are you all right, dear?”
Cecily jumped at the sound of her mother’s voice. “What?”
“You seem distracted,” her mother said. “Seeing a house doesn’t give you second thoughts, does it? Ethan is a good man. You’ve fallen in love with an excellent man. We were talking on the way over, and your father and I agree about it.”
Cecily’s heart seized. They were talking about it on the way over? What else had they mentioned? Had her father told her mother she was a submissive? She glanced at the woman who had given birth to her, and all she could see was a wide smile on her face.
“I’m not having second thoughts, Mom.” Cecily crossed to her mother and hugged her. “I consider myself the luckiest woman on the face of the earth. I love him, and he loves me.”
“That is so hard to find,” her mother said. “I knew the moment I met your father that I would spend the rest of my life with him. May I pry and ask if you knew the same thing about Ethan?”
Cecily cocked her head, and since her father had learned something about her today, she decided her mother should, too. “Does lust count?”
Abby laughed. “I felt that with your father, too. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.”
“I felt that way about Ethan, too,” Cecily said, “that dark hair, and those hypnotic eyes. I wanted to be his.” She gasped when she realized what she’d said. She just hoped her mother didn’t take it the way she meant it.
“You’re so lucky,” Abby said. “I wish your brother would find someone to love.”
“Marcus has found lots of someones,” Cecily said. “He just hasn’t found the one yet.”
Abby laughed. “Let’s not talk about him. “How about this house?” She looked around, and Cecily hoped her mother wasn’t thinking this house was the one.
“I think finding love at first sight is easier than finding a house on the first, or second, try,” Cecily said. “This is a nice house, but it has no character. It’s too—”
“Cookie cutter,” her mother finished for her.
“Exactly,” Cecily said. “It has no real character.”
“Well, it’s early days,” her mother said. “You’ll find one.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Cecily hoped Ethan felt the same way, that he hadn’t fallen in love with this house. But she felt she knew him well enough to know that he hadn’t. For one thing the bedrooms were too close together, and there was no place for a dungeon. And while there was a large yard, she didn’t think it had the space for what Ethan had in mind. For one thing there was no tree for his proposed tree dungeon.
“We have one more to look at today,” her mother said. “Have you given specifics to Nicki? She seems like a nice woman, and very strong and capable. I’m sure she can find something that will suit the two of you.”
Cecily certainly hoped so. She looked out the window to where her father and Ethan stood. Her father was pointing at a place near the fence. But Ethan shook his head, and as if he knew she were looking at him he turned to her and shrugged. She caught his meaning right away. He didn’t care for this house, either.
“I couldn’t even see you raising children here,” her mother said, and Cecily wheeled toward her.
“Children?”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger, sweetheart.” Abby winked at her. “I know people are doing things differently today, that they are having children at different times than we did. But your body knows when it’s time; and so do your father and I. I don’t want to push, but I want grandchildren.”
“Wow, Mom, no pressure,” Cecily said, and then she laughed. She supposed she should have thought about that. Her parents had only been married two years when they had Marcus, and only a year and a half later they’d had her. “We haven’t really talked about children.”
“You should,” her mother said. “What if the two of you disagree on the matter?”
“Ethan and I always talk things out,” Cecily said. She didn’t want to add that some of those discussions ended with her over his knee. It was wonderful to her the way she and Ethan matched, how they wanted the same things.
It made her think of Miranda McMann; and Kate Hubert. But as the names wheeled around in her mind another thought occurred to her. Why hadn’t Ethan reacted when Dawson said the name Kate Hubert? If she’d given him such grief at her sister’s funeral, Cecily thought he would remember the name.
“Darling?” Her mother put her hand on Cecily’s arm. “I didn’t mean to upset you by talking about children. I’m sorry.”
“No, Mom, you’re fine,” Cecily said. “It is just one thing we’ve never really thought about. It was just a shock to my system.” As was realizing Ethan hadn’t reacted to the name Kate Hubert.
Ethan and her father came in through the back door. Her future husband smiled at her, and her heart quickened. When they were on the way to the second house she would ask him why he hadn’t remembered Kate’s name.
“On to house two?” Nicki asked from the doorway. “I can tell by the look on your faces that you don’t care for this one.”
“It’s a nice house, but it’s not us,” Ethan said.
“There are plenty more to look at,” Nicki said. “The next one is a little farther out than this one, and it has more land. I hope it fits you better.”
“Then let’s go,” Ethan said. “We’re looking forward to finding the one for us.”
* * *
They hadn’t gone three blocks when Ethan realized something was wrong with Cecily.
“Tell me,” he said. He knew he didn’t have to expand on the order. Cecily would know he’d sensed the problem and would ask.
“Why didn’t you recognize the name Kate Hubert?” she asked. “You didn’t react to it.”
“Because I only met her once,” Ethan said. “At the funeral. She and her future husband met me at the door to the chapel and they wouldn’t let me inside. Miranda never talked about her. They didn’t really get along.”
“
I would imagine not,” Cecily said. “What about the man she was involved with? Was he charged with a crime in her death?”
“No,” Ethan said. “The police said it was consensual, and he was never charged. Which is why I think Kate blamed me, because no one was brought to justice. I don’t even remember the man’s name.”
“Maybe he was the growling man at the club,” Cecily said.
“No, growling man was too young,” Ethan said. “And Miranda had no other siblings than Kate.”
They were silent for a moment before Cecily said, “She had to have help in all this. There’s no way she did it all on her own. Does she know enough about computers to break into the Silver Creek system to try and figure out our schedules?”
“I have no clue,” Ethan said. “I don’t even remember what she did for a living. Like I said, I only met her once.”
Ethan gripped the wheel a little tighter. It was unreal that after all these years this horrible incident from his past was rearing its ugly head.
“I felt guilty,” he said.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “How many times have you told me that a Dom can’t control a submissive’s desires? That’s why there are different Doms and subs. Pain subs, those who like to be humiliated, puppy play. All of it is different. You taught me that. If she wanted someone to cut her, and you didn’t want to do it, she would, and did, find someone to fulfill her desires.”
“I should have trained her better,” he said. He knew there would have been nothing he really could have done for her, but still he felt responsible for her death for a long time. But then Leah had been killed, and it had pushed all thoughts of Miranda out of his mind.
“You were just starting out yourself.” Cecily’s words made him shake his head in an effort to bring things back to the present. He knew she was trying to make him feel better, to make him think he wasn’t responsible for the situation they were in. But he had to face the fact that someone—Kate Hubert—killed Leah, and now she was trying to kill Cecily to make him pay for her sister’s death.
“If Dawson has found this woman, then he should have also found a way for us to find her,” Cecily said. “Maybe by this time tomorrow it will be over, and Chase will have arrested Kate and charged her with Leah’s death.”
“Maybe,” he said. “It would be a perfect end to all of this, but something tells me that’s a pipe dream.”
“I’m good at things that involve pipes,” she said with a giggle. “When you consider a pipe as being a cock, long and cylindrical.”
“Quit trying to distract me,” he said as he followed Nicki’s car as she exited the highway. “This is a nice area.”
“I agree.” She glanced around, and then she put her hand on his thigh. Yeah, she was definitely distracting him.
“Do you think we should ask Nicki if we could have sex in the master bedroom of a house we like?” She squeezed him harder. “It might be an interesting way to see if we’re comfortable in a home.”
“You are a naughty girl,” he said. ‘I’m sure there’s some sort of rule that doesn’t allow that sort of thing in a house that’s for sale.”
“I don’t’ see why not,” she said. “After all they have to disclose if there’s ghosts, or a murder, or—” She stopped speaking, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Don’t do that, sly fox, don’t act like I need to be pacified,” he said. “Right now we’re in this together, and if you try and treat me like a child all you’re going to do is piss me off.”
“Okay,” she said.
“And don’t add sorry, or anything else to that sentiment.”
Nicki turned right and stopped at a gate. Seconds later it opened, and Ethan figured she had a clicker to make entry easier.
“I can’t see a house from the road,” Cecily said. “That’s promising, isn’t it?”
“Indeed,” Ethan said. But the moment they rounded a small hill and saw the house he said, “Shit.”
“The words major fixer-upper comes to mind,” Cecily said.
“You got that right,” Ethan said as he parked next to Nicki. Cecily’s parents pulled up beside him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Nicki said as she got out of her car. “It needs a lot of work, but it’s out here in the middle of nowhere, and you can redo it and make it your own. It’s quite a bit below your budget, which would give you money to redo it.”
“What’s quite a bit?” Ethan asked.
The agent named a price, and he had to admit he was pleasantly surprised. He turned his attention back to the house. It was an L-shaped adobe building, with a nice courtyard in the middle. But the adobe had holes in it, and many of the windows were broken out.
“Are there snakes and critters inside?” Cecily asked.
“I had it swept clean when I took the listing, about three weeks ago,” Nicki said. “There are two huge pluses to this house. There is a large kitchen that can be remodeled. Marcus told me both of you are chefs. There is even an attached greenhouse for a garden. Plus, there is a second house that can be used as a guesthouse. It’s the same shape as this, only smaller, two bedrooms and one bath, and a kitchen.”
“And this one?” Cecily asked.
“Four bedrooms, two full baths, kitchen, living room, and a second living area that would make a great man cave.”
They all laughed.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Nicki said. “Let’s go inside and look.”
Ethan took Cecily’s hand and they followed Nicki through the door. The moment they were inside he felt a pull at his insides. He looked at Cecily and could see she felt the same way.
“It will cost a fortune to redo it,” Cecily whispered to him.
“I’m sure Marcus knows a contractor. Your brother knows everyone.”
Cecily giggled. “That’s true. But don’t you think we should keep looking, just in case?”
“Sure,” he said. “But I think this is the one, unless there’s a ghost, or a murder has taken place here.”
He loved the shocked look on her face, and then the smile that took over.
“You’re horrible,” she said. She let go of his hand and led the way into the house. He watched her ass as she walked, and he thought about taking her naughty little behind over his knee and spanking her so hard she couldn’t sit down for a week, almost like she felt right now about the whipping he’d given her. She would scream, and beg for mercy, and he would give her none. Out here no one would hear her, and both of them would savor that.
Yes, this was the perfect house for them. He hoped Nicki would give them a chance to discuss it before either of them said something that would put the purchase in jeopardy.
* * *
The four of them gathered in the kitchen, and Cecily glanced out at the side that attached to the greenhouse. The wall between the house and the conservatory was solid glass. The outside wall was shaped like the side of a pyramid. When she’d walked through it, Cecily had thought how wonderful it would be to have an herb garden out there, and to grow her own vegetables.
Ethan had been standing not too far from her, and she’d turned to him and nodded.
“We’ll take it,” she said to Nicki, and she felt an overwhelming urge to hand her a credit card, although that wasn’t how buying a house worked.
“What she means is we want to put an offer in,” Ethan said. “The price you quoted is low, and we will pay it, but I’d like to try to do less, because of all the work that needs to be done.”
“Anything is worth a shot,” Nicki said. “Truthfully you’re the first people to express interest. So the owner might be willing to take your offer. Tell me what it is, and I’ll call him right now.”
They looked at each other and nodded. As if on one wavelength they said the same number at the same time.
Nicki laughed. “You two were meant to be together,” she said. “I’ll give him a call right now.”
&nbs
p; * * *
“You bought a house?” Marcus put the carryout bags on the counter and stared at her.
Cecily couldn’t help but grin. “We put an offer in on it.” She opened the bag and peaked inside. “Oh macaroni salad, lots of good carbs. Did you bring anything that’s not going to add to my hips?”
“You bought a house, on the first look, without having anyone else look at it?” Marcus continued to stare at her, and then his gaze shifted to Ethan. “I expect her to do something like this, but I thought you had more sense.”
“It spoke to us,” Ethan said. “Plus it has a space where we can build a dungeon, and we will have a guest house, too. Nicki is great. She has four commercial spots to show us tomorrow. Would you like to look at them with us? We didn’t tell your parents about that part.”
“I should hope not,” Marcus said.
“Although he did tell Dad about Silver Creek,” Cecily said. She watched the shock, and then horror that appeared on her brother’s face. “Yeah, I felt the same way.”
“He ambushed me,” Ethan said. “And you should realize I’m still here, and he went to look at houses with us. That means he didn’t freak out and tell me I couldn’t marry his daughter.”
“We need to get on the same page so I don’t say something I shouldn’t the next time I see them,” Marcus said.
The doorbell rang, and Marcus yelled out the back door, “Someone else is here.”
“Answer it,” Dylan yelled back.
Marcus waved a finger between the two of them, “This isn’t over. We have more to discuss.”
He made toward the living room and Cecily giggled. “I think he’s afraid he’s going to be outted to our parents.”
“He’ll get over it,” Ethan said. He went toward the steaks that were on the counter. “We have two who are not here, Dawson, and Chase. When they arrive we can cook, and then discuss whatever Dawson found out.”
Cecily murmured a yes, although she was thinking anything but yes. Seeing the house this afternoon, realizing it was the place where she would live with Ethan for the rest of her life, made her decide on a few things. One of them was that she was tired of Kate being in charge. She was the one calling the shots, and that needed to change. She didn’t say anything to Ethan about it, though, because she was afraid he would tell her that he was in charge of the situation, and the idea that had been forming in her mind would do nothing but get them into trouble.
Ethan’s NaughtySubmissive: Silver Creek Resort Book Three Page 16
