by Sophie Oak
“Hell, I offered to buy shares a couple of months back.”
And Dwight had convinced Aidan that Bo would cause trouble. It had been easy. Bo had been pissed about the terms of the will. He had been making trouble. Now he was more reasonable, but Dwight still wanted to keep them apart.
“And Aidan doesn’t want you to have anything to do with the business end.”
Bo’s face fell. He was an easy mark. One minute he was all sad puppy dog, and the next he was pissed off boy. It was a turbulent combo that Dwight had used to his advantage. “Well, if he wanted me to do the fucking paperwork, he should have taught me how. Screw this. I’m going into town.”
Bo stalked off, leading the horse toward the stables.
That was a good thing. If Bo was out getting drunk, he wouldn’t notice that Dwight was gone. Aidan needed to come home where Dwight could watch him.
Dwight sighed as he entered the house. He needed a plan. He wouldn’t be so fucking worried if Aidan had taken his sleeping pills with him. Those pills kept him from dreaming. When he didn’t take them, he dreamt about what had happened the day he was injured.
Dwight couldn’t let that happen. If Aidan ever remembered what happened to their squad, Dwight’s life would be over. He had to get him home and get him back on his pills.
Maybe a little chaos was in order. What if Aidan had a reason to do just what he’d said? What if he needed to bring Lexi and Lucas back home to Deer Run?
Dwight sat down at the computer in the office and in just a few moments pulled up information on one Alexis Ann Moore. He wrote down her address and printed out a map to her house and one to the club where Aidan was staying.
Then he gave old Karen Wilcox a call. Chaos. That girl knew a thing or two about chaos. She was just what he needed. Well, Karen, and a high-powered rifle. He’d have Aidan back in Deer Run in no time at all.
* * * *
Lexi adjusted her bustier and stared at herself in the mirror. She saw a woman closing in on thirty and utterly unsure of her place in life. What the hell was she doing? By this time in her life, her mother had a career and was raising a child. Sure, she hadn’t planned on giving birth to a bastard daughter, but she’d done it with grace and pure stubborn will. Lexi would have done anything to…
She took a deep breath. Not going there tonight. Tonight was about the future, not the past. She had to move on so she and Lucas could be happy.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous.”
Lexi smiled at Lucas in the mirror of their room at The Club. He was heartbreakingly handsome in nothing but a pair of boots and leather pants. His gloriously cut chest and that ridiculous six pack were on display. She loved his movie star face, and that silky black hair completed the perfect picture of masculine beauty that was Lucas Cameron. “I’m glad you think so.”
“You’re always fucking gorgeous to me.”
She sighed and turned to him. She was wearing nothing but a bustier and a little black thong. Lucas had seen her like this a hundred times, and yet he’d never been overwhelmed by her. She had to think that maybe her charms weren’t what pulled Lucas in. Maybe they had just been close for so long that she was a habit for him. “So you say, babe.”
His face turned hard, and he was on her in an instant. He put one hand on her waist and another behind her neck, pulling her close. He pushed his crotch at her so she couldn’t miss his erection. His cock was long and hard and pushing at her belly. “I want you. I want you every minute of the day and twice as much when I’m sleeping. There isn’t a second that goes by that I don’t dream of shoving my cock deep inside you.”
His lips hovered right over her mouth. She could feel the heat of his breath mingle with hers. His emerald eyes bored through her. He was so frustrating. She’d wanted him forever, and he’d held her off. God, she wanted that to change. She wanted to be with Lucas in every way possible. “I want you, Lucas.”
“Tell me you love me.”
That was easy. Now that she’d made the decision to be brave, it was a simple thing to tell him the truth. “I love you, Lucas Cameron.”
“I love you, too. Do you understand why I’ve waited? Why I’ve forced both of us to wait? It has nothing to do with how much I want to have sex with you. I want this to be forever, and you haven’t been ready for that. Tell me something, baby. If we had slept together when you first asked me to make love to you, what do you think would have happened?”
She leaned into his strength. She remembered the night so well. It had been about a month after she’d been released from the hospital. She’d gone to Dallas to see Lucas because she just couldn’t seem to move forward. She’d thrown herself at him. He’d kissed her and held her and he’d gotten her off with his hands. He’d shoved his fingers into her cunt, his thumb worrying the nub of her clit. He’d put his tongue on her and made her quake as she came. But when she urged him to come inside, he’d said no. She remembered how pissed off she’d been at the time. She’d flown into a rage and called him all sorts of names. She’d even flung a coffee mug and caught him in the shoulder. He’d taken all of it, and when she’d calmed down, he’d held her hand.
Do you feel better now, baby? Can we go to bed?
He’d held her all night, and in the morning they were friends again. She’d left her job in Austin and moved to Dallas shortly after. What would have happened?
“I would have walked away,” she admitted. “I wasn’t ready. I probably would have avoided you.”
He turned her face up and kissed her nose, a gentle touch. “I know. I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t handle it if you weren’t with me. I’ll take your friendship if I can’t have more. I was always willing to do that. I haven’t been celibate since I met you, you know that.”
She smiled up at him, relieved to still be close to him. She let her hands wander across the strong muscles of his back. Things were changing, and she was ready for it this time. “I know you have horrible taste in women.”
He laughed, pulling her close to his heart. “I have not been picky about women or men, because I’ve only ever loved you and—”
He paused as though shocked he’d been about to say the name.
“Say his name, babe. He’s not exactly Satan, you know. He’s just a man who was too stupid and uptight to be able to accept the love that was handed to him.”
Lucas took a deep breath. “I’ve only loved you and Aidan. Everyone else was just a body in a bed. I slept with people who didn’t want more from me than sex. But you should know that for the last year, I haven’t slept with anyone. After what happened with Jeremy, I couldn’t touch someone else. I thought you were dead when I walked in that fucking cabin.”
Lexi tightened her arms around him. Almost a year before, Lexi had been kidnapped by a man who wanted revenge on Lucas and Julian. She’d survived the experience because Finn Taylor had shot the man before he’d managed to kill Dani, Julian, and herself. When Lucas had found her, she’d been drugged to unconsciousness. She’d come to in a hospital, and the first thing she’d seen was Lucas next to her. He had fallen asleep in a chair, his hand holding hers.
“It’s over.” It was, she decided. It was all over. The stuff with Aidan was over. The accident was over. The kidnapping was over. It was far past time to move on. “We’re together now, and that means you have to find a way to sleep with me. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m demanding sex, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
His hand was suddenly in her hair, pulling her head back, and a hard look fell on his face. Lexi felt her pulse start to race.
“You’ll take what I give you, Lexi. And I assure you, I have a lot to give.” He pressed his erection against her belly, rubbing himself against her. “But you’ll beg me for it first.”
She curled her lips up. He wanted to play? She could do that with him. “I’ve been begging for years, babe. Begging never got me anywhere with you.”
“Because you’re a bad little sub. You want everything, but you don’t wan
t to earn it. Let me tell you something, baby, that’s about to change. Our play is about to change. I told Julian I want in on your punishment. You want to see what it would be like if we brought in a Dom, well, we’re going to find out. Julian says this Master A is hard, but fair. I’ve negotiated terms with him through Julian. He tops me, but we both top you. He won’t make a move sexually unless I indicate it’s all right. You have your safe word, and I expect you to use it if you need to.”
“Would we want that?” This was the only part that made her nervous. Could they bring this other man into their sexual relationship? Lucas was bisexual. He would enjoy having a man now and then, but could she really share him? It had seemed natural with Aidan. She’d loved them both, but a stranger?
The hand on the back of her head eased, and he was back to tender, his role tossed away the minute she faltered. “Not if you don’t. Not at all. Baby, this is all about you.”
But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. It had been all about her for the last couple of years, and she needed to give back to him. “Let’s just see what happens.”
There was a light knock on the door, and when Lucas opened it, Leo walked in.
“It’s time, you two. Julian is almost finished with Dani and Finn. Master A is getting ready. He would prefer to not meet you beforehand.”
Lexi thrust her hand in Lucas’s, and he immediately threaded their fingers together. “We’re ready.”
She walked beside Lucas, nervous, but sure that this was the right path. They needed to break free. Lucas led her from the private room Julian had designated for their use for the evening into the dungeon.
Julian’s dungeon was a rich mix of torture and elegance. Lexi had never been in another dungeon before, but she couldn’t imagine one quite like The Club. The four-inch heels she wore clicked neatly against the hard wood of the floor. She normally didn’t wear heels, preferring comfortable shoes, but she knew the sexy stilettos did something for Lucas. Aidan used to love her legs in heels. He loved her in a pair of red shoes and absolutely nothing else. He would prop her ankles up against his shoulders and press his dick into her pussy.
Why couldn’t she get Aidan out of her head? Maybe it was this Master A person. She wondered what his real name was. Probably Adam or Alan. She wished it was Barney. Then he could be Master B, and he wouldn’t make her think of Aidan at all.
“Julian’s been having a fun night.” Lucas pointed out the front of the raised stage where Julian held his public punishment scenes.
There was a St. Andrew’s Cross and various torture devices across the stage. Lexi could see Julian was already into his scene. Danielle Lodge-Taylor and Finn Taylor were strapped to side-by-side whipping chairs, their naked asses in the air. Dani’s was a delicate pink, but Finn’s had a red sheen to it.
“Why is he always so much harder on Finn?” Lexi asked, shaking her head. Julian could be slightly brutal with his male partner. She turned her face up to see if Lucas was outraged by the treatment of his friend.
He was staring at the scene almost in rapture. Lexi followed the line of his sight. He wasn’t watching Dani. He was staring at Finn, and it had nothing to do with whether or not he found Finn attractive. He was watching the way Julian struck Finn’s flesh with the flogger. He was watching the way that line of red lashed across Finn’s skin.
Lucas’s eyes had an almost dreamy quality to them. Lexi felt her heart clench. How long had it been since he had gotten what he needed? How long had he suppressed his own needs for hers?
He came out of his little trance and looked down at her. “I’m sorry. Did you ask me something, Lexi?”
She managed to not smile at him. “I did, babe, but you got a bit distracted by the show. I asked why Julian is so hard on Finn when he barely spanks Dani.”
Lucas’s face softened, and his hands found her hair again. His voice was quiet in deference to the scene. “He needs it. Finn enjoys the pain. It frees something in him. You should understand that.”
“You are never that hard on me, Lucas.” Lucas had never broken her skin, but she would admit that sometimes the pain allowed her to cry about things she wouldn’t allow herself to release. She always felt unburdened after a session.
“You couldn’t handle it. Finn can. And don’t get pissy at Julian for treating Dani differently. They aren’t the same. Julian might be punishing them, but I assure you they enjoy it, too. The real punishment comes later, when he doesn’t allow her to come. That’s when Dani will feel the burn.” Lucas whispered in her ear, his breath a soft caress. “I’m afraid you might be in for a bit of that, too, baby. The word edging came up in my negotiations with Julian.”
Lexi groaned. She hated that. Edging. Edge play. It sometimes referred to a variety of play that tested the boundaries—blood play, knife play, wax play. That wasn’t what Lucas meant. He knew her hard boundaries better than she did. He was referring to the practice of keeping a sub right on the edge of orgasm and pulling back every time. It was frustrating, and Lucas could never do it. When she pleaded and begged, he would take out the vibrator or dildo and get her off quickly, as though he couldn’t stand to hear her frustrated. More than once Lexi knew the other Doms had taunted him for his lack of control. She had to hope this Master A was a softie.
Finn was counting out his punishment in a strong voice. The crowd watched in rapt attention, but Lexi couldn’t get her mind off the coming scene. Her heels gave her a little more height, and Lucas hunched over so it was easy to whisper to him.
“Why didn’t Master A negotiate the contract directly with you?” It was odd. Julian might sit in on contract negotiations, but he rarely butted in. She should have been there, but she preferred to leave it to Lucas. She’d had to work this afternoon despite her hangover. Her boss hadn’t been happy with her, but she’d let it all slide away the minute she entered The Club.
“I don’t know. You know he doesn’t consider me your permanent Dom because you aren’t wearing my collar. Possibly Julian did it because Master A is new. Julian is such a control freak. He considers you part of his family, and he’s trying to look out for you.”
And Lexi was fond of the man, too. Over the years, Julian had proven to be an amazing friend to her family. Lexi stopped watching the scene in front of her. A little frisson of heat sparked across her skin, and she was utterly certain that someone was watching her. She glanced around the crowd.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know. I just…feel like someone’s watching.”
She heard him chuckle in her ear. “Well, baby, that’s what happens when you’re a gorgeous woman wearing very little clothing. People tend to watch.”
But it was more than that. She looked to the left of the stage. Everyone else in the room was watching the punishment scene playing out, but one man faced the opposite direction of the stage. One very large, very built hunk of masculinity was staring right at her. His dark eyes were visible under the mask that covered the top half of his face. He looked like a man perfectly capable of all manner of dirty deeds.
“Oh, god,” she groaned. “I think that’s Master A.”
Lucas followed her line of sight. Suddenly she felt his hand tighten on hers. “Holy fuck, look at that.”
He was amazing. He was at least six foot five, maybe six. Lucas was tall, but this man had a couple of inches on him. He was corded with thick muscles, every inch of skin seemed sun-kissed, but something was wrong with it. Not wrong, exactly, but white wispy lines marred his physical perfection. Scars. He was covered in scars.
“What happened to him?” Lexi heard herself ask. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Some sort of accident.” Lucas’s voice was hushed, smaller than it had been before, as though he was worried the man across the room might be able to listen in. “He was in the Army. He was injured in Iraq. The way Leo explains it, he’s lucky to be alive.”
Something about the huge man called to her. Seeing that man standing and staring so inten
tly in their direction made her feel nervous. She wasn’t scared of him exactly, but she wasn’t calm at the thought of meeting him.
“Why the mask?” Lexi asked.
She wanted to see his face. All she could see from here was the hard, unrelenting line of his jaw. His hair was cut so short she couldn’t tell if it was blonde or brown. Everything about him seemed severe and unmoving. And then the corner of his lip ticked up just slightly. It wasn’t much, but that tiny little smile caused a dimple to form in one cheek.
Beside her, Lucas’s breath hitched. Lexi knew why. It was the same reason her own heart had skipped a beat. Aidan had the most perfect dimples. They had teased him about his smile. But Aidan was utterly unlike the man in the mask. Perhaps he’d been as tall, but Aidan had been lean. This man had at least fifty pounds on Aidan, all of it muscle. Aidan had been a slave to his music, not the gym. Aidan had been all-American handsome. This man just looked like sin.
He was a stranger, nothing more. And one she didn’t have to see again after tonight if she chose not to.
Still, when he smiled, he would be glorious.
“They’re done.” Lucas whispered in her ear as Julian began taking his loves off the chairs and preparing their aftercare.
It was time. Master A was already supervising the change of the scene in a deep voice. Nothing at all like Aidan’s musical, lyrical voice. She wouldn’t hear that voice again.
“Are you ready?”
She turned a smile up to the man who was her future and nodded her assent.
Chapter Four
Lucas felt his cock pulsing as he walked Lexi toward the stage.
What the fuck was he doing?
He needed to keep it together. He needed to pretend like he wasn’t responding to the man in the mask. He didn’t want to. He wasn’t going to get involved with another man. He was with Lexi. Lexi was the only person who mattered now.
But god, that fucker reminded him of Aidan. It was the smile that did it. Aidan had the sweetest “aw-shucks-ma’am-weren’t-nothing” smile on the planet. He would look at a person, that one lip would tug up, making the smile all the more perfect for its lopsided nature, and Lucas couldn’t help but melt a little. Aidan was masculine perfection, and when he sang, no one could help but stop and listen.
