by Sophie Oak
“Don’t worry about me, Benita.” Jack nodded to her as he moved through the house. He wouldn’t have time to sit and eat today. “I’ll just get a sandwich later.” He stopped and backed up. “Is Abby eating better?” He hated that cough she’d had a few days ago.
The older woman smiled brightly. Jack knew she genuinely liked the new mistress of the house. “I believe you’ll find your wife is feeling much better this morning. She’s been giving Mr. Fleetwood hell. You won’t be able to keep her in bed for much longer.”
Jack nodded. Abby would be up and about before he felt good about it. A little thought floated through his mind.
She wouldn’t be up and about if you tied her to the bed.
Instantly, his cock hardened. Then he winced, and let it go. It might be what he wanted, but it wasn’t what Abby needed. “As long as she finishes out those antibiotics, it should be fine.” That was what the doctor had told him. He should listen to people who went to medical school. He started back toward his office.
“Now how do you feel about triangles, Sam?” He heard Abby’s laughter as he turned down the hallway.
Sam groaned, and Jack could just guess what his partner was doing. “I love ‘em, baby doll. Triangles are the best. Don’t stop. God, Abby, you feel so good…”
Jack stopped and listened for a moment. His cock got harder as he listened to the sweet sound of Abby sucking and Sam enjoying the ride. It was the kind of thing he ached to join in on. He should walk into that room and demand that Abigail remove his clothes and see to him, too. It had been days since he sank into his wife’s tight pussy. Since then, she’d been too sick for play. Now, he could walk in that room and calmly explain that he wanted Sam and Abby to join him in the playroom. He wanted Sam to tie Abigail up, and then he would tie Sam up. Both of his little subs would be bound and trussed for his pleasure. He could spend the rainy afternoon disciplining them and then rewarding them for their submission. He wanted it so badly, he almost couldn’t catch his breath.
Jack dragged air into his lungs and shook the thought off. When had he started thinking of Sam in those terms? Sam had always been the follower to Jack’s leader, but getting married had changed something in Jack. In fact, a lot of things had changed.
He turned away from the bedroom and forced himself to walk down the hall. He could still hear Sam and Abby’s lovemaking. He wanted to join them, but his control was shot as it was. He would burst in and start making demands and take over, just the way he always did. He was a selfish bastard, and he knew it. It was better to let them have their fun.
Sam practically bounced out of the room. Jack’s heart seized a little at the sight of his oldest friend in nothing but a pair of blue jeans. Sam’s head was turned as he shut the door. “I’ll be back, baby.” He stopped and stared at Jack. “Hey. Abby needs some water.”
Jack nodded and turned away. It was easy for Sam to be happy. He didn’t have all the responsibility in the world on his shoulders. Jack wanted the responsibility. He needed it, craved it, but sometimes it was hard to make the decisions. It was hard to shoulder everything alone, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t burden Sam and Abby with his problems. “Then you should take care of her. Is she feeling better?”
Sam’s hand came up and almost made it to Jack’s shoulder before he pulled it back down. Playful Sam seemed almost subdued. He shook his head, and there was a sunny smile on his face again. “She’s fine, Jack. Hell, she’s downright frisky. Come join us. You know it takes more than just me to keep that woman satisfied.”
Jack’s hand was on the door. Damn it, he couldn’t. His control was shot as it was after nights with no sleep. He would take over and possibly hurt his wife. At the very least, his demanding behavior would drive their wife away eventually. He had to remember how fragile she was. There was a popping sound as Benita slammed the door to the kitchen. That door needed fixing, and Jack knew it, but it didn’t stop him from jumping. Every time he heard a sound like that, he saw the gun in Ruby Echols’s hand and felt the bullet slam into his chest.
“Come on, Jack, let’s have some fun,” Sam cajoled.
“No, damn it.” The words came out far harsher than he intended, but he was sweating now, his panic close to the surface. He needed to be alone, to calm down, to figure how he was going to gently make love to his wife. He had to ignore this craving to utterly dominate her. “Some of us have work to do.”
Sam’s mouth closed to a stubborn line. “Well, we wouldn’t want to keep you from your precious work. I’ll just take care of Abby. It’s all I seem to be able to do these days.”
“See that you do.” Jack escaped into his office. He hated himself for the look on Sam’s face, but he couldn’t call him back.
His office was cool and dark. He didn’t bother to open the curtains. Jack sat down at his desk and pulled out his cell phone. He needed to think about something other than how pissed off Sam must be. His jaw tightened. Maybe he was the one who should be pissed. While Sam rolled around with their wife, Jack was the one who couldn’t fucking sleep at night. While Sam got Abby’s kisses, Jack got her worried glances. Anger felt better than the pity party playing in his head. He punched in the number on speed dial while thinking about the message Julian Lodge had left on his voice mail. It had been cryptic with no greeting other than, “Call me yesterday, Jackson.” Julian’s voice had been terse and tight with irritation. On the edge.
Julian Lodge had been the man to pull Jack Barnes off the street. He’d been introduced to the wealthy club owner through a lover who appreciated Jack’s control. She thought he would fit right in at the underground establishment known only as The Club. Julian brought Jack in as one of the resident Doms. He’d quickly become a leader in the place. The Club catered to a clientele dedicated to the D/s lifestyle and ménage. Jack learned everything he knew about how to pleasure a lover from years of working there. He’d gained more than just sexual knowledge. Though Julian was only a few years older than Jack, Julian had been a mentor to him. Julian had shown him how to handle himself. He’d taken a rough street kid and taught him that ruthlessness involved far more than one’s fists. From Julian, Jack had learned the fine art of revenge.
His father had been the first recipient of Jack’s newly acquired knowledge. Julian had aided the young Jack in finding the biological father who knowingly left him to the wolves of foster care at age six. Senator Allen Cameron had a bright political future, and a love child who worked in a sex club could ruin everything. Jack had promptly found himself the satisfied owner of five million dollars in exchange for signing away any rights to future inheritance. He’d taken Sam to small-town Willow Fork, Texas, and bought his spread. Ten years and a whole bunch of natural gas reserve later, Jack was a very wealthy man.
“This is Lodge.” A tense voice interrupted Jack’s thoughts. Just the fact that Julian’s usually smooth voice was rough gave Jack pause. “Is that you, Jackson?”
“Yes, Julian,” Jack replied calmly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I was on the range. I had to get back to the house before I could call. What can I help you with? It sounded urgent.”
“You can get your ass up here and handle your business, Jackson. I need you here tomorrow.” There was no mistaking the fine edge of Julian’s temper.
Jack found himself sitting up straight. He didn’t like anyone, including his old mentor, speaking to him in such a fashion. It brought out the Alpha in him. He ruthlessly shoved the irritation down. “Would you like to explain yourself, Julian?”
There was silence and then a short laugh from the other end of the line. “Yes, that should do it. Just use that exact tone on the little asshole, and it should have him crapping his pants.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Which little asshole might you be referring to?”
“His name is Lucas Cameron,” Julian said with a sigh. “Jackson, he’s your brother, and he is intent on blackmailing all of us.”
Chapter Two
Sam leaned in to h
ear Abby talk over the sounds of diners at Christa’s Café. The clatter of dishes and people talking made it hard to have an intimate conversation.
“What do you mean he left a note?” Abby asked a second time.
Sam shrugged, wondering exactly what to say to her. He should have known something was up with Jack. He’d been preoccupied the night before. Now that Sam really thought about it, Jack had acted pretty odd. He hadn’t listened to anything Abby had said and barely touched his supper. This morning Jack had skipped breakfast. When Sam asked him about it, he’d been evasive. Then Sam had found that damn note.
Sam looked at Abby from his place across the booth. All around them the lunch crowd at Christa’s Café was moving and talking. Sam ignored them all. He knew the town still loved to gossip about him, but he had bigger things to worry about now. This was what he’d been worried about ever since he found the short missive Jack had left for them. If it had just been him, Sam would have shrugged it all off as Jack brooding. Abby deserved more from Jack. “He left a note. I was working in the barn, and when I got back to remind him we were meeting you in town for lunch, the truck was gone. He left this note on the refrigerator.”
Sam passed it across the table to their wife. He watched her hazel eyes widen as she read the terse little note Jack had left behind. It was on the ranch’s stationary, but at least it was handwritten. Sam knew exactly what it said.
Something came up in Dallas. I’ll be back in a few days. Love you, Jack.
Abby’s pretty mouth tightened. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell. There was a certain righteous indignation that went along with pressing the number that called Jack.
“He’s not answering, baby,” Sam warned her. He’d already tried it several times. There was a big part of him that was scared Jack would pick up. If Jack picked up for Abby, then Sam would know where his place was in this little family.
“Damn it, Jack,” Abby growled into the receiver. Her frustration was obvious. “Call me. This note is bullshit, and you know it. You call me and tell me where you are. Sam and I are worried about you.”
She pushed the button to end the call, and Sam relaxed slightly. At least Jack was ignoring them both. Sam reached across the table and stroked Abby’s hand. Out of long habit, he made excuses for the man he’d lived with for years. “He doesn’t like to talk while he’s driving. You know that.”
Abby drummed her free hand along the top of the booth. Sam caught his breath. Even though he was concerned about the state of his household, he couldn’t help but love the way looking at Abigail made him feel. She was a stunning woman with red hair and a killer body. She was forever bemoaning her weight, but Sam loved her every curve. There was a time when she would have been spanked for disparaging herself. The last time she’d called herself fat, Jack had told her not to be so hard on herself.
Sam missed the real Jack.
Christa Wade walked up carrying a platter of food. The brunette was wearing her usual uniform of jeans and a western shirt, though all the other waitresses wore little pink uniforms. Sam smiled a little thinking about the uniform Abby had kept from her short period as a waitress here. It was in the back of the closet with her French maid’s uniform and the hot nurse costume he bought her for Halloween the year before. Abby tried to explain that she’d never have worn that in a hospital, but Sam wasn’t going to let her ruin his fantasy.
“Here you go, guys,” Christa said with a smile. She started chatting about things going on in Willow Fork while Sam thought about his stomach.
Abby had ordered for him, and he fought the urge to close his eyes against what she thought of as a proper lunch. Abby firmly believed the word wholesome and food should go together. Sam had never met a cow he didn’t want to eat. It was a food chain thing. Christa, the café owner and Abby’s close childhood friend, laughed as she set the burger in front of him. “She’s not cruel, Sam.”
He winced as he noted there were no fries. Christa set down a mound of green stuff alongside the burger. Christa asked if there was anything else she could get them. It took everything Sam had not to respond with fries and ketchup and maybe a hot dog on the side. Christa winked at him as she walked away. He pushed the bowl of salad around with the side of his fork.
“It’s called compromise, Samuel,” Abby explained. All she had in front of her was green stuff. With Jack distracted, she’d gone on another diet. She’d been eating like a bird, and it was starting to worry Sam. “You get your burger, just the way you like it, and I get the satisfaction of knowing you ate something today that didn’t used to have a face.”
Sam sighed and gave the lettuce a tentative try. His wife had some strange ideas about eating. He suspected she got it from years of big city living.
“Where do you think he went?”
Sam hated the sadness in Abby’s voice. He silently cursed his partner for putting it there. He and Jack were going to have it out and soon. Sam could handle being ignored, but he wasn’t about to let Abby get hurt. He had no idea what was bugging Jack, but he meant to find out. As to where his partner had gotten off to, he did have an idea. He just wasn’t certain he should tell their wife.
“You know, don’t you?” Abby let her fork drop. Those hazel eyes became little laser beams shooting through him. Abby, for all the submission she showed in the bedroom, could be damn bossy when she wanted to be. “Samuel, you better tell me what you know right now.”
“Fine.” He knew there was no real way to keep her from finding out. He wasn’t able to keep things from Abby. “I might know the password to his voice mail, and I might have listened to his messages.”
Abby’s mouth dropped open. She looked a little shocked. Then a slow, appreciative smile crossed her face. “You little sneak. I love you so much right now.”
He winked at her. The day was looking up. She really looked impressed with his more criminally inclined talents. He might be able to convince her to spend a little time in Christa’s office. He had fond memories of the desk in there. He wouldn’t mention to her that he’d figured out her password, too. He always kept tabs on those he loved. “I checked his voice mail. There was one he’d already listened to, but hadn’t erased. It was a message from Julian.”
“Why do I know that name?” Abby mused as she took a long drink of iced tea.
This was the part he was pretty sure she wouldn’t like. “He’s the man who runs The Club.”
“That’s right,” she said, obviously remembering. Sam knew Jack had told her about the time they had spent in Dallas. Sam was pretty sure she’d gotten a fairly sanitized version of what went on there. “Julian Lodge. He’s Jack’s old mentor. He sent that lovely bouquet to the hospital when Jack was there. What did he need?”
“He didn’t say exactly.” Sam took a bite of the burger, but everything tasted like cardboard to him today. He put it down. “He just told Jack to call him in that voice of his.”
Abby leaned in and glanced around, as though worried someone was listening in. He knew she had a lot of questions about the time he and Jack had spent at the BDSM club in Dallas. While Jack had worked there as a resident Dom, Sam had tended bar. “Which voice is that?” She gasped a little as she answered her own question. “He’s a Dom like Jack, isn’t he?”
Sam nodded and fought off his shiver. Julian Lodge scared the crap out of him sometimes. “He’s the Dom of Doms, baby. You know how Jack gets when he’s really in control? That voice he gets that you just can’t disobey?”
A little smile crossed her face, and Sam knew she was remembering some really good times. Jack would growl in that voice of his, and Abigail would be on her knees at his feet, her clothes lost in a flurry of obedience. Sam loved watching her submit. “I know the voice, Sam.” Her tone was husky with remembered pleasure.
“Well, multiply it by a hundred and know that Julian Lodge uses it twenty-four seven.”
She flushed a little at the thought. “Wow, and he taught Jack?”
“Yep, though
Jack doesn’t take it as far as Julian does,” Sam explained. Of course, Jack hadn’t been taking it anywhere lately. “Jack likes a sub when it comes to sex.”
Abby’s smile was wry. “Does he? I couldn’t tell. I can’t see his face when my ass is in the air waiting for him to spank it.”
“Sassy,” he tossed at her and continued. “Jack doesn’t try to make every decision for you. He’s very protective, and he can be overbearing at times.”
“Not lately.” Abby’s mouth turned down in a glum little frown.
Sam ignored her. It wouldn’t help to talk about it. “But for the most part, he’s indulgent. That is not the way it is with Julian. Julian’s lovers fall into the slave category.”
Rather than shirking away in disgust, his dirty little Abby just leaned in closer. She was an adventuresome little thing. “Really? So he keeps women around, and he makes all the decisions for them? He chooses their clothes? They have to ask for permission to speak?”
Sam nodded. He left out the part about the collars and absolute obedience Julian Lodge required from his slaves. “Yes, that’s about it. Though in all the time I’ve known him, he’s only kept a couple of subs with him at his home, and no one for more than a year. Still, he’s gone through a string of casual subs. How exactly do you know so much about slaves?”
“Well, Sam, you know I like to read.”
Sam laughed out loud. Abby liked to read, all right. Abby liked to read erotica. It was her substantial collection that had brought them together in the first place. “I forgot. You’re an expert.”
Abby rested her chin in her hand and sighed. “He’s going to The Club without us.”
“We don’t know that.” Sam was pretty sure that was exactly what Jack had done, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
“Why else would he leave with nothing but a note?” Her eyes were downcast. “I think he’s tired of me, Sam.”
Sam leaned forward. He caught her hand in his. His heart ached at the little catch in her voice. “That’s not true, Abby. He loves you.”
