It felt like things were unraveling a little, and there were moments when Sam asked herself what the hell she was doing. But she’d been waiting to feel like this. She didn’t want off this ride.
“We’re both super busy,” she said
“Are you sure?” Lilly asked. “Jack’s texted Brady a bunch and he barely even answers.”
She didn’t know what was going on there. They hadn’t talked about Jack taking the kids that night. Sam had avoided it, because honestly, she felt rotten about the whole situation. “I appreciate the concern, but we’re fine.”
“Okay,” Cassie replied slowly. “But let us know if you need anything. To talk. A girls’ night. We can do a potluck at your house so you don’t need to find a sitter.”
“Actually, I might’ve found a sitter.”
It was something she and Hanna had chatted about during the week. Mimi loved looking after her grand-nieces, and Allegra and Aliyah had gotten along so well. Hope had liked Imani, too, so having all the girls together in one place seemed like the perfect scenario for their upcoming night.
“That’s…great!” The forced enthusiasm in Cassie’s voice was obvious.
Sam sighed. She was being a sucky friend. “I promise, we’re good. We’ll plan something for when life calms down a bit. Okay?”
They’d said goodbye by the time Sam reached her exit. She put on her blinker, got off on a side street and booked it home.
Later that night, she and Brady were lying in bed. The girls were asleep, and Sam’s phone was hot in her hands from texting Hanna. Now that the mechanics were set—it was happening this Saturday, here, with the girls staying at Hanna’s with Mimi, something Allegra and Hope were super excited about—they were negotiating who did what.
Figuring this out in advance was smart. Much more responsible than what she’d almost walked into in DC. This was how consenting, level-headed adults behaved.
Besides, it gave her time to clean the house.
“What’s she saying now?” Brady was on his side, his head next to hers, his beard tickling her shoulder. He hadn’t put on a shirt after his shower and was only wearing pajama bottoms. His massive arms were crossed over that beautiful chest, the rest of him hidden beneath the sheets. There was something so intimate about him in nightclothes, under the covers of their bed.
A place they were about to share with another person.
“She said she loves my ideas and can’t wait to do them.”
She’d worried her fantasy of having both of them touching her, both of them submissive and making her come together, was too boring for her worldly and experienced friend. Knowing Hanna liked it was like the most delectable, sinful icing on a decadent cake. But she had to be careful with Brady, with the power she wielded. Dawes had said power was the ability to influence or outright control the behavior of people. To manipulate others and have superiority over them. She didn’t want that. From him or from Hanna.
Which was why she had to be delicate when it came to Hanna’s other comments.
“Hanna was wondering if I’d be willing to go down on her.”
His brows shot up. “Hot.”
Yeah. No duh. “She’d also prefer, when she’s in that space, to only be touched by me.” It seemed unfair, and Sam was at once wildly turned on by it and guilty as hell. “She only bottoms with women. Is that okay?”
Brady was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I get it.”
Sam looked at him. “You do?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything more. She never knew how much to push. These silences of his mystified her. It worked better when she asked him questions.
She turned on her side to face him. “Why doesn’t it bother you to watch me with a woman? Would it be the same with a man?”
“It’s a total double standard, but no.”
“Why?”
He grinned. “’Cause it’s hot.”
Sam laughed. He was such a man. Her phone beeped again. She thumbed over the screen and no longer felt like laughing. “Hanna wants to know if you’re okay having sex with her.”
“She wants that?”
Sam flipped the phone around so he could read the message. “I’d love to ride that giant husband of yours.”
Brady made a face Sam couldn’t decipher, but he didn’t look comfortable. “And you’re okay with that?” he asked.
Sam fiddled with her necklace. She wasn’t okay, and for a moment wanted to shut this whole thing down. But he was giving her this night. She couldn’t say she was allowed to do things with Hanna, but he wasn’t.
“I know I should be,” she said, then sighed.
“Should be?”
Sam dropped her necklace, put her phone down and covered her face. “I’m selfish,” she said behind her hands.
“Why?”
“Because I feel like Allegra, not wanting to share my toys.”
Brady snickered. “I’m a toy now, am I?”
“You know what I mean!”
His fingertips came up along hers, gently prying her hands away from her face. When she opened her eyes, he was smiling. “You’re allowed to be possessive of me.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t think I’m selfish?”
“I didn’t say that,” Brady teased. Sam swatted him away. He laughed. “It’s okay to be selfish. This is complicated.”
“It is,” she said, thankful for his analytical thinking. “Do you want to have sex with her?”
“I’m not sure, honestly. But…I wouldn’t mind having her watch us.”
She could feel the wideness of her own smile, the height of her brows lifting. “Really?”
There went that blush of his, bright pink and stealing across his face. His eyes were positively glowing. Sam snuggled in close to him. “My big bear of a husband is an exhibitionist.”
He tucked his chin into the pillow and groaned.
Why did she like it so much, rubbing in his face how turned on he was? It was lucky for Sam that he’d lit that particular spark in her, and she couldn’t wait to see what Hanna did with it. She’d mentioned it earlier in the week, and her friend had practically rubbed her hands together with excitement.
Sam picked up her phone again. “So should I tell Hanna no?”
Brady went quiet for a long time. “No to sex,” he finally said. “But I’m okay with oral if you are.”
That might be hot to watch. “Maybe both of us can do that to you at the same time.”
His lashes lowered. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah.” She moved in close, brushed his cheek with her nose. “After all, I’m the one who knows how to tease my pet into a frenzy.”
He stiffened and grunted.
“Would you like that?” She nuzzled his ear, sparked her tongue along it. “Two tongues on you?”
Brady shuddered out a breath. “Fuck, that’s hot.”
Lord, she loved having this kind of power over him. But she’d watched enough superhero movies with him to know that with this kind of power came a whole different level of responsibility.
“Is there anything you don’t want?” she asked. She would not fuck up another night together. Especially not this one.
He was silent for another moment. “No anal with her. At all.”
That was fair. And, selfishly, another part of Brady she wanted to keep to herself. “Okay. You both have your own safewords—” Hanna’s was Pierce, which Sam found hysterical, “—but I think for this night, let’s have red as the general word, instead of two different ones.”
“Smart,” he said. “Red. Three letters. Should be easy to remember.”
“Are there any limits you want to change?”
“Is scat or golden showers suddenly on the table?”
Sam snorted. “Erm. No.”
“Then I think we’re good.” He glanced up at her. “Are you not going to wear your necklace?”
“Do you want me to?”
He shrugged. “I l
ike it when it’s on you. I feel connected.”
She didn’t like that shrug. But at least he was saying what he was feeling.
“We’re already connected.” Sam reached out and touched his ring. “I take care of you, you take care of me.”
He smiled. “End of story.”
Two soft knocks sounded at their door. Sam texted Hanna that she had to go and locked her screen.
“Whichever one of you is knocking,” she yelled, “you’re supposed to be in bed.”
The door opened. Allegra and Hope were both standing there in their pajamas, holding hands. “We’re sad that Nana and Pops are gone,” Allegra said.
Sam’s stomach bottomed out. She’d been so caught up in this, so focused on checking in with Brady and Hanna that she hadn’t remembered to check in with her own damn children. What was wrong with her?
She patted the space between her and Brady. “Come here.”
Allegra and Hope climbed onto the bed. Hope curled into Brady. The image was sweet enough to make Sam’s heart melt.
She’d been so unhappy she’d forgotten the good times, the times when he was there. Times when he’d helped. When he’d taken both girls out for a drive after work so Sam could get an extra hour of sleep. Sure, they’d come back with sticky faces from the ice cream they weren’t supposed to have before dinner, but he’d done it. He’d been there.
Why had she been so hard on him?
“I know you’re sad,” she told Allegra. “But we’ll go visit them in Arizona soon, and we’ll FaceTime with them tomorrow. We’ll do it every day if you want. I’m sure they’ll love that.”
“Okay, but I wanna spend the weekend with you and Daddy.”
“This weekend?” Sam’s breath got lodged in her chest. “Honey you’re going to Aliyah and Imani’s on Saturday.”
Allegra didn’t answer. Sam waited. She wouldn’t put her desires in front of her children again. There’d be other weekends, they could reschedule…
“Okay,” Allegra said. “Next weekend then?”
The relief and the mom-guilt descended even as Sam inhaled a fresh breath. “Next weekend. You’ll have us both to yourselves, I promise.”
She wrapped Allegra up in her arms, wanting to live in this bubble of happiness forever. A foot away, Brady gazed at her, Hope’s head tucked under his chin. He smiled. Mouthed the words, “I love you.”
Sam felt lit up from within.
“Hey,” Brady said. “You two want to see us dance?”
The girls cheered, and he untangled himself from Hope. Sam groaned but smiled as he stood, picked up his phone and queued up a love song. Then he put it back down and held out his hand. Sam rose from the bed and put her hand in his. They started slow-dancing, the girls smiling like idiots on the bed.
“Mom,” Allegra said, “you never told me you could dance.”
Sam let Brady twirl her around. “This is how we danced on our wedding day.”
“And Mommy looked even prettier than Aunt Lilly did,” Brady said. “She was the prettiest woman in the world.” He dipped her, then whispered, “She still is.”
Sam tucked her face against his chest. It was like her romance novels—the moment when you know everything is going to be happy, when the heroine gets a perfect ending with the husband and the home and the kids, the job and the kinky sex.
She couldn’t believe how lucky she was.
The song ended. Sam picked up Hope, squeezed her and twirled her around the room. Brady bear-hugged Allegra and tickled her until she squirmed out of his grip.
“Come on, you two monkeys,” Sam said. “Let’s get you back to bed.”
26
On Saturday night, Sam drove the girls to Hanna’s while Brady finished setting up at home. Hanna lived ten minutes north, and Sam rehearsed Allegra’s plan with her as they drove. Sam was a mix of excitement and nerves, doubts whispering defiantly in her head. She was bringing her children to a near-stranger’s house. Bringing a near stranger into hers.
Her doubts got louder when they reached the two-family house that Hanna and Mimi shared the rent on. It wasn’t rundown as much as it was old. And inside it was a mess.
Now she knew why the Choate file was so disorganized. Clothes were piled on top of chairs, toys spilled out of tipped-over boxes and ran rampant on the floor. Mimi was frying food in the kitchen, and Sam had to resist asking if the fire extinguishers worked.
They got the girls settled, watching a movie, and Hanna smiled at Sam.
“They’re playing happily,” she said quietly, dressed in a black floor-length coat. “I’d like to play now, too, if it pleases you.”
Sam swallowed. Her doubts melted away. “Let’s go.”
Hanna followed Sam in her own car. Sam had said she was welcome to stay the night, but Hanna preferred to have her own transportation. Sam hadn’t argued. She’d need to pick up the girls midmorning anyway, after she made sure the Realtor had everything ready for tomorrow’s open house.
They stepped inside the house. Sam was too excited for small talk, and from the tension rolling off her friend, Sam knew Hanna felt the same.
“Lose the coat,” Sam said.
It was electrifying when Hanna obeyed, revealing bare shoulders and the luxurious red velvet corset Sam had seen at the shop. Sleeveless, with hook-and-eye fastenings running the length of the front, it was traditional and hot as hell.
“When did you get that?” she asked, stroking a finger along the flocked edge.
“I went back and bought it,” Hanna replied. “After I saw you liked it.”
“Hmmm.” She had on dark jeans, too. Sam reached out, toyed with the zipper. “Do you have on other things I’ll like beneath these?”
“Oui, Madame.”
The French words and polite, demure behavior from Hanna made an exquisite combination.
“Good.” Sam ran a nail along the teeth of the zipper. Hanna sucked in a breath. “Follow me.”
Hanna followed her silently up the steps. Brady was in the bedroom, and everything had been set up as she’d asked. The lights were dim. The bed was turned down, towels stacked up at the foot of it, toys on the nightstand. And Brady looked like a bodyguard. He was shirtless and barefoot, nothing else on but jeans.
Sam strode to the closet, knowing they were watching as she removed her jacket and hung it on a hook on the back of the door. She’d worn her corset top again, without her necklace or her rings. Brady seemed okay with the lack of jewelry, especially when she showed him what was beneath her pencil skirt: nothing but a garter belt, thigh-highs and boots.
She looked the part of a Domme. Cinched at the waist. Wound up as tight as they were.
And she wanted to unravel them both.
Sam turned around, hands on her hips. “Hannaleen, you may call me Madame tonight. That will please me.”
“Merci, Madame.” Hanna’s eyes were full of lust, and so, so green. “You look incredible.”
Brady’s eyes were on Sam, too. “She always does.”
Sam smiled, preening under their praise. “Thank you, pet.” She walked over to where he stood. “Shall we show our guest how pretty you can get?”
His chin lowered, but his eyes stayed on her. “Pretty, Mistress?”
She stroked from his cheek down his arm to the waistband of his pants. He was already pretty. But that wasn’t what she’d meant.
“Pretty, as in big—” Sam unzipped him, “—thick—” She pushed the denim aside. There were no boxers beneath, just as she’d requested, “—and hard.”
His cock leapt forward, not fully erect, not as big as he was going to get, but close. She took him in hand, gave him several long, unhurried strokes. Brady shuddered through an inhalation as he thickened the rest of the way.
Sam smirked. “Good boy.”
His chest rose and fell. He watched her, hands limp by his sides, obedient, breathless. Even when she stopped stroking him, palmed the tip and then scratched both her hands up his torso until they scraped over
his tight, small nipples, he didn’t protest or move.
Sam tugged on his jeans. “Take these off. Then wait for me on the bed.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
It was almost too much, having them both at her mercy.
Almost.
She turned around and paced over to Hanna. Sam reached up and threaded her fingers through all that silky, golden hair. Hanna closed her eyes, her head sinking back, lips parting.
“Have you been thinking about kissing me?” Sam asked.
“If I say yes, does that mean you’ll do it?”
“Oh, you’re a little brat, aren’t you?” Sam hadn’t been expecting that. But she wanted the kiss more than she wanted to impart discipline. “Say you’re sorry.”
Hanna’s eyelids fluttered open. She looked at Sam, pleading and hungry.
“Je suis désolée, Madame.”
“That’s better.” She gripped hard, one hand tight at the nape of Hanna’s neck as she kissed her.
It was like she remembered, but better. Hanna’s lips were pillow-soft and pliant. They gave way beneath Sam’s, and Hanna exhaled, sighing into Sam’s mouth. She inched her tongue out, wet and eager. Sam allowed Hanna one tiny flick of their tongues before she broke off the kiss and turned over her shoulder to glance at Brady. Naked on the bed, he was watching them. His cock stood at attention, and even from here, she could see the redness of his cheeks.
“Unzip my skirt,” she told Hanna, then watched Brady’s face as the fabric slid to the floor.
Now you’re watching, aren’t you?
Smug, she turned back to Hanna, whose gaze had dropped to Sam’s bare thighs. “See something you like?”
Hanna nodded slowly. Sam nudged the skirt away with her foot.
“Me, too.” One by one, she undid the clips on Hanna’s corset, revealing beautiful bronze skin as the fabric fell away. She skimmed a finger along Hanna’s breast, thumbed over her nipple until it went taut.
“Jeans off,” she ordered. “Leave the panties on. Then you may join us.”
Their Discovery (Legally Bound Book 3) Page 25
