by M. Q. Barber
Cover Copy
Three’s the naughtiest kind of crowd.
Getting to the one-year mark is hard enough in a relationship between two lovers. For three, just getting through the day can be half the battle. Between Alice’s headstrong insistence on pushing her sexual limits and Jay’s need to confront an abusive former lover, Henry has his hands full keeping both his partners safe and happy. But despite all the challenges—and unexpected dangers that lurk in their hedonistic world—the three have formed a union that brings each of them to the edge of something new—something they may not be able to hold onto . . .
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Books by M.Q. Barber
Neighborly Affection Series
Playing the Game, Book One
Crossing the Lines, Book Two
Healing the Wounds, Book Three
Becoming His Master, Book Four
Finding Their Balance, Book Five
Her Shirtless Gentleman
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Finding Their Balance
A Neighborly Affection Novel
M.Q. Barber
LYRICAL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
Copyright
Lyrical Press books are published by
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Copyright © 2015 by M.Q. Barber
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First Electronic Edition: March 2016
eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-547-5
eISBN-10: 1-60183-547-7
First Print Edition: March 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-548-2
ISBN-10: 1-60183-548-5
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
For those who plan and those who persevere. Your time will come.
Chapter 1
Alice abandoned work at noon Wednesday for tea at a fetish club. Her coworkers wished her luck at the dentist’s office.
When she arrived home, Henry stood surveying a freshly showered Jay seated on the end of the bed. Dark hair damp, body nude, he enticed more than the promise of a dainty meal.
Hip hugging the doorframe, she fiddled with her blouse’s top button. “Are we stripping down and skipping tea?”
Henry beckoned. Obedience earned her a commanding kiss and flushed her with heat.
Jay’s eager whimper swirled around them.
“Don’t tempt me.” Caressing her throat, Henry slipped her first button free. “But do remove your clothes. The lovely summer dress is yours.”
The dress hung over the closet door. Deep cream with green spiraling up the left side. Ivy? Knee-length, sleeveless, a slight A-line drape with a high neckline. Modest. Dark brown pants and a cream-colored shirt bracketed Jay on the bed. If his outfit included a tie, five bucks said he’d match her green ivy.
“Hey, stud.” Working her blouse open, she bent and kissed Jay’s cheek. “You leaving room in the waistline for all the tea-party snacks we’ll be eating?”
“Fancy little cakes?” With a sly grin, Jay coaxed out her giggle.
“Absolutely.” She shrugged off her top. “Do little cakes come in other kinds?”
Loosing a mocking growl, Henry tossed boxers into Jay’s lap. “Behave, my dears, or you’ll not eat any treats at tea.”
Sock-footed, Jay stood and flowed into the shorts. Pants next, open and clinging to his hips while he swung the shirt around and slipped his arms in. God, fucking with that hasty, half-dressed thrill—
“Distracted?” Clasping her waist, Henry jolted her from open appreciation. “You’ve forgotten to undress.” Fingers dangerous and nimble, he unhooked the hidden fastener and lowered the zipper. “Or perhaps you wanted me to take charge of you?” Pushed past her hips, her pants slumped to the floor.
Jay fumbled with his shirt buttons.
Henry traced the top of her panties. “Alas, you’ve worn underthings light enough for your dress, and we haven’t time to indulge without reason.”
Reason enough to never again wear a pale peach bra and panty set. If she’d worn the black ones, he’d be stripping them off her now.
Henry brought her the dress, unzipped the back, and helped her step in. As he lifted her hair from her shoulders, a few wheat-blond strands escaped.
Jay waited, tie in hand. Matching green. Called it.
“I’ve sandals for you beside the bed, Alice.” Henry kissed her neck and patted her back before turning to Jay. “Formal for afternoon tea, I know, my boy.”
He flipped up Jay’s collar and looped the tie, fingers deft and sure as he formed the knot. Whatever Jay knew, she lacked a framework for what constituted formal enough—or too formal—for afternoon tea.
“Better overdressed than underdressed.” Henry straightened the tie. Kissing Jay, he displayed more than a little possessiveness. Not for her benefit, but for Jay’s. He deserved a calming reminder that every inch of him belonged to Henry. Tension melted from his lanky frame as he allowed Henry control. “And seeing you so attired pleases me.”
Their desire tugged as a steady warmth in her chest rather than a thumping beat between her thighs. She ducked, hiding her smile as she closed the clasps on her sandals.
Henry herded them to the car. Ordering Jay to the front, he handed her into the back. The positioning suggested a deliberate attempt to prevent Jay from dwelling on the night they’d come home in tears. Being at the club without Henry, even not for play, would give him fidgets. Henry trusted her to take good care of Jay. Fuck up, and she’d burn in the self-ignited fires of coulda-shoulda hell.
After pulling the car into traffic, Henry settled his free hand on Jay’s knee and stayed. “I’d like this afternoon to be an enjoyable experience for you both.” The rearview mirror granted him authority over her, too, with his flickering gaze. “Mingling with other submissives outside of a dominant’s influence will be an excellent opportunity to bond over shared hopes and attain deeper understanding.”
She signaled her attention with a sharp nod. As if she’d ever ignored his advice or instructions. She’d listened Friday night, despite how he’d halted her lesson in anal play short of penetration and refused to blame her for her inability to relax. Failure stung hotter in the bright light of his generosity.
“Not all of them will be like you, nor will all of their relationships be like yours with me.” Henry kneaded Jay’s thigh and patted his knee. The constant comfort might seep inside and bolster his courage. “But you are likely to find commonali
ties, and those will be lovely places to start. So long as you make an effort to be social, I will be very proud.” Pausing in stopped traffic to allow a car to pull out from a side street, he captured her gaze. “If you have difficulty, look to Emma for guidance.”
Troublesome enough to reconcile Emma as Henry’s friend—one who held uncountable secrets she’d never learn. No fucking way would she be bound to obey someone else outside Henry’s presence. “Is she in charge of us?”
“No.” His clipped tone left no room for confusion. “I would not hand over that control, Alice, and I expect you know that were it even a consideration I’d have spoken to you well in advance.”
“I’m sorry.” Her face heated. Her voice barely cleared the low music from Henry’s favorite classical station. Twice in two weeks he’d been forced to pivot when tension and excitement rendered her unable to submit and relax for anal play, and now she challenged and snapped at him for an invented slight. “I know you wouldn’t do that.”
He hummed along with the soothing melody. “You’re nervous, perhaps? Feeling out of place?”
“I’ve never been to a formal tea.” The dress flowed as she crossed her legs at the knee and resettled her shoulders. “This is important. What if I get it wrong?”
Jay bobbed his head twice. Maybe he harbored similar worries.
A quick pause and a smooth twist later, the car rested in a parking space along a side street down the block from the club. After turning off the engine, Henry directed his full attention at her.
“Much as I appreciate your desire to assist in removing a predator, the responsibility to do so is not yours.” Sharp and swift, he half-turned toward Jay. “Nor is it yours. The importance of this afternoon in such terms means less to me than your continued good health.”
Henry swept rebellious black strands from Jay’s forehead. “I believe forming friendships and listening to others discuss their relationships will be valuable for you both, but you will not have failed me or yourselves no matter the outcome. You are well-mannered, delightful partners at home. I expect you will be no less in a social outing despite its unaccustomed formality. But if you have concerns during the tea….” Eyebrow rising, he trapped her in his stare.
She scrambled to impose logical order on his implication. “We can look to Emma’s example.”
“Precisely.” Henry granted her a gentle smile. “She has a great deal of expertise in these situations, and she’s accustomed to mothering nervous novices.”
Ugh. The uncertainty of inexperience dragged her down a gravity well. Needing constant coaching undermined confidence at a speed approaching light.
“You’re likely to encounter a wide range of behaviors. Experienced subs in stable, long-term relationships. Newcomers too shy to lift their eyes. Attention-seekers who play at submission but in practice become demanding tops.” A wisp of disapproval invaded his even baritone.
“Like me?” More than once he’d told her she wasn’t altogether submissive.
“No, sweet girl, not like you.” Through the gap between the seats, he gathered her fingers in a tender clasp. “You want to please me, and you trust I will please you in return. A dominant allows, even encourages, a certain amount of boundary-testing to foster that reciprocal dependence.”
From the beginning, she’d fought her pull toward dependence. But he’d said reciprocal. As if he depended on her and Jay as they did him.
“The line is different for every dominant. Some submissives find childishness its own reward. Brats misbehave in an attempt to force their dominant to action.” Frowning, Henry shook his head. “When the needs of the dominant and the submissive are properly balanced, such behavior is unnecessary.” He patted Jay’s knee. “We must move along if we wish to be punctual.”
He stepped out and helped her exit as Jay followed suit. Lateness would mortify Henry and insult their hostess. The three of them covered the block at a brisk walk. No doorman stood guard outside, but the door opened as they approached.
“Daniel.” Henry nodded to the man inside, who responded with a sharp “sir” and allowed them to pass into the lobby.
“Good afternoon, sir.” The woman behind the front desk, like the doorman, hadn’t been working the night things had gone to hell. “Signing in for tea?”
Emma made the schedules. Maybe different people staffed Wednesday afternoons than Friday nights anyway, but as a submissive herself, and Henry’s friend, she’d avoid traumatizing Jay.
“Indeed. Cait, isn’t it?”
“Caitlyn, yes, sir.” She blushed and ducked her chin, presenting Henry with a veil of lowered lashes.
As Alice turned to hide her smile against Jay, he tipped his forehead to hers. “Crush?” The question fluttered in his softest whisper.
“Oh yeah.” Mmm. The responses Henry inspired with voice alone. This poor young woman would never hear him direct those tones at her.
“Caitlyn.” Henry maintained a pleasant, cordial distance. “My apologies. You have an Alice and a Jay on your list?”
“Yes, sir. You’re dropping them off?” Caitlyn raised her chin. “Dominants aren’t allowed upstairs until after six today.”
“A wise decision.” Warmth flowed into Henry’s voice. The restriction had been Emma’s, presumably.
The girl tapped a keyboard, studied Alice and Jay for a long moment, and nodded. “Any electronic devices to check?”
Jay dug his phone from his pocket and laid it in Henry’s open palm. She swiped hers from her purse.
“Place them in my box, please, Caitlyn.”
He’d had them leave their phones at home last time. The club’s rules forbade camera-enabled gadgets beyond the lobby. Henry wouldn’t have forgotten.
“Yes, sir. Access?”
“Both of them, at any time, for any reason.”
“Yes, sir.” Behind the counter, Caitlyn locked the phones into Henry’s numbered box. Seventeen. “They’re all set. Tea will be served in the second-floor salon.”
“Thank you, Caitlyn. They know the way.”
Henry escorted them to the grand staircase, where the twisting climb loomed beyond an ornate banister. “Look after each other, please.” Rumbling and intimate, he quieted her distraction. “Be assured you are perfectly safe.” He kissed Jay’s cheek. “But if you need me, either of you, whether merely to hear my voice or to ask me to return early, simply come to the desk and ask for your phones.” He kissed her with equal gentleness. “You may call at any time.” Tight lines bracketed his eyes as he stepped back. “Otherwise, I’ll retrieve you when the gathering has concluded.” He waved toward the stairs. “Go on. Best not to be late.”
She clasped Jay’s hand. The faster they moved, the less time nerves would have to take up residence. “Hop to, loverboy. We can’t let everyone else eat all the fancy little cakes.”
She won a chuckle from Jay and what she resolved to call an amused grunt from Henry.
The stairs welcomed her first, but Jay followed with minimal tugging. If a benevolent god existed, tea would go perfectly, they’d make connections, and Jay would have a wonderful time.
Three-quarters of the way up, peeking over her shoulder, she warmed at Henry shadowing them with his protective gaze. The buzz of voices below heralded more arrivals. Hitting the second floor, she turned right and entered the salon.
She’d eyeballed the dimensions on her first tour. Almost forty feet square. Respectable, if not massive. The room could’ve accommodated seventy-five people for a sit-down meal. About twenty milled around now. All women.
“Alice.” Dragging her name out, Jay bounced from foot to foot.
“I know.” Goddamnit. She rubbed circles on his hand. “No worries.” Five tables set for six dotted the room’s left side. A lounging area with seating in a rough circle lay to the right. “Women love you. I love you.”
“Women love me for five minutes because I flirt.” Strong shoulders sinking, he curled into a compact
shell. “I can’t flirt with these women.”
If Jay played the charmer at a safe, no-pressure gathering, he’d come off like an unscrupulous letch.
“Be yourself, sweetheart. We can handle this.” Most of the attendees clustered in twos and threes, chatting near the tables. “Look around. We’re perfectly dressed.”
His laugh topped an uncomfortable undertone. She’d have followed up with a tease about getting undressed later, but he’d have died if he ended up noticeably aroused in a room full of women he intended to befriend.
Across the room, Emma emerged as the sole familiar face. Laughing, she left her conversation partners and strode toward them in a modestly cut sheath dress in cornflower blue.
“Alice. Jay. I’m pleased to see you both.” Greeting them with handclasps, Emma lingered on Jay. “I do apologize. I’d hoped to have more of the young men attending. We had a late cancellation, unfortunately.”
Alice pasted on a bright smile. In five minutes, her hopes for Jay had gone to hell.
“We’ll sit down to tea in a few moments. We’re shy a few guests yet.” Emma gestured toward the clusters of chatty submissive socialites. “But this is an excellent opportunity to mingle.”
“We’re happy to help any way we can.” Mingle made for a nerve-wrackingly vague instruction. She analyzed and Jay socialized, but he relied on his charm to lead. This tea party cried out for design specs. “Are there specific people we should talk to, or lines of conversation—”
“I expect certain things will arise naturally.” Emma brushed her arm below the shoulder. “You’ll find us a talkative bunch. Henry mentioned once that you’re an engineer?”
“Mechanical. Design for now, not implementation. Metals and plastics, mostly.” Someone needed a tray of fancy little cakes to cram in her mouth before she babbled to death.
