Punishing Petra [Locks and Chains 3]

by Sara Kingston

  “She loves Kyle.” He felt like the knife in his heart just shifted and with it a fresh bout of pain followed.

  “And let me guess. You believe Kyle deserves Petra where you don’t. And you don’t believe you could share with Kyle, even though you’ve been the closest of friends since the day you met.”

  “It’s not that simple, Sara. It’s not just Kyle and Petra, there’s Joel to consider as well.”

  “Caleb, I’ll be the first person to tell you nothing is truly simple unless you want to make it so. But I also saw how you were with her. You were you.”

  “I lose control around her.”

  “Yes, the tight control that keeps your world perfect and all in neat little boxes. The boxes that no one can ever really touch you in.”

  “You do,” he replied, desperate to hold on to any piece of proof that what she was saying wasn’t true.

  “Yes, Caleb, but I’m family.”

  “Sara, you know better than anyone how much control is important to me. I’m not like the other players.”

  “Caleb, I did a study of sadism, remember, and you were my primary subject. I know about you and the inner beast you leash.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes. “I also know you let the beast out to play with Petra. I feel I need to tell you that Petra was once a patient of mine.”

  “What? Why would she have seen you?”

  “Hold on there. One, you know there’s patient confidentiality, so I won’t tell you anything about my sessions with her. Two, I believe every person at some point in their lives needs to see a therapist. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and no one should think there’s something wrong with them to want to see a therapist.”

  “I know. You know you’re preaching to the converted here. I was just interested.”

  “Petra and I are actually friends.”

  “Really?” He’d thought introducing them was a great idea because he knew they’d get along like a house on fire, and he’d never asked Petra whether she knew Sara. He’d never actually seen them together, but he’d be the first to admit he hadn’t really noticed Petra at all before the night of the auction. Her size crossed her off his list of possibilities. He knew from his medical training that just because someone was smaller in stature, it didn’t make them any more fragile than someone bigger or taller. But it was inbuilt to try to protect those who were weaker and that anything small is fragile and weak. But Petra wasn’t weak or fragile. He’d never taken the time to get to know her or to understand her before that night, which seemed so long ago, but also seemed like yesterday.

  “Yes, I like her. She’s as honest as they come, she’s real, and she’s proud of who she is. Though I must admit, you wouldn’t want to cross her. Although she has a heart of gold.”

  “She loves him, Sara. She loves him.”

  “That’s the second time you’ve said that. Tell me, Caleb, does she also love you?”

  “She told me she does. But she loves him.”

  “I thought you were a ménage, and from my understanding that’s what everyone wants for each other in that kind of relationship. They want to be loved equally.”

  “Sara, you know I don’t share.”

  “Oh! So that’s the problem.”

  “What are you talking about? Of course that’s the problem.” How hadn’t she seen that right from the start? Who the hell shares his woman with another man?

  “Well, I thought given the sudden influx of ménage collarings lately that you’d joined the bandwagon.”

  He hadn’t really thought about it, but the last two ceremonies at the club had been a triad and then a quad. The quad he understood. A bisexual’s best chance at forever was either a ménage or an open relationship. But Michael and Jason were not together, they just shared Grace. Could he and Kyle do that? Could he share the top with Kyle? His inner beast screamed in denial. It wouldn’t share. It had to be the one in control. It needed Petra kneeling at its feet swearing love and devotion to only it.

  “No. It’s not my lifestyle,” he denied.

  “You know, Caleb, things I would have accepted and wanted in my life ten or even five years ago are not the ones I would want now. Time changes us all. Most of all when we accept who we really are, the need to control and have our relationships fit into a neat little box diminishes. Of course you could choose to stop growing. You could stay just as you are, living out the years of your life on the same level with the same beliefs. It’s your choice, Caleb.”

  “Yes, Yoda, I see the force.”

  “God, you’re such a dick sometimes, Caleb,” she said, cuffing him on the arm.

  They both laughed, lightening the mood. “So tell me. How’s your love life going?”

  “Nothing much to tell actually. There’s no one around who’s sparked my interest.” She placed her glass back on the counter, spinning it in her fingers.

  “But as usual you have many of them interested in you.”

  “Darling brother, thank you for noticing.”

  “So why hasn’t anyone held your interest?” Not that he was surprised, she ran through men like candy. Not that she took them all to her bed, but any she did didn’t stay there long. He’d thought for years she should try being a dominatrix. But time and time again she proved she was a submissive. Once, he’d hoped that she and Craig would get together, but when he thought about it perhaps they were too much alike. He still fantasized that one day they would discover each other and have a happily ever after. But now with Sophie on the scene he knew that dream needed to be put to rest. Though maybe not. No, he needed to move past that now and try to find someone to make her happy. At least one of them should be happy.

  “Because, dear brother, I’m looking for someone with a brain. Someone who’s not a conceited egomaniac. I want someone who has love, respect, and pride for themselves as well as their partner. I want a man who’s open to change and willing to see every option as an adventure to be explored.”

  “My God, Sara, here you are telling me I should accept a ménage as a happily ever after, when what you want for yourself is a fairy tale.” She laughed at his statement.

  “Fine then, let’s blame our parents and move on to more interesting topics.”

  “Okay, what’s next on the agenda?”

  “Have you met this Sophie that Craig has hidden in the club?”

  “Yes, I have. Why?”

  “How the mighty have fallen.” They both smiled as they raised their glasses to toast the fall of the mighty Craig Blackwell.

  The days seemed to fly by as they caught up with each other and talked of work, of patients and new discoveries. Before they both knew it, four days had passed and it was time to reenter the world. Caleb was thankful for his time with his sister and his time out of the hell that his life had become. He missed Petra and even Kyle, but a part of him was glad it was over. He no longer had to question whether he could live with sharing. Wondering what Petra was to him. Wondering why he felt the way he did.

  Now all he had to do was find a way to live without her, and life would be good.

  Petra looked at her reflection in the mirror and wanted to scream. She shouldn’t be so miserable. She had a great man, actually a fantastic man that she loved and who loved her. She had everything to be happy about, but part of her, the part that belonged and longed for Caleb, felt so hollow and so miserable she could barely focus on anything else. Stop it right now. Just stop. No matter what her inner voice told her, she just couldn’t let her heart believe it. The guilt she felt over her grieving for Caleb while in a relationship with Kyle overwhelmed her. Kyle deserved so much better than her.

  “Are you ready to leave, my love?” Kyle asked, looking so dashing in his charcoal suit and new blue silk tie which matched his eyes perfectly.

  “Are you going to give me a hint about where we’re going tonight?” All he’d told her was that she was to get dressed in the outfit he had laid out on the bed. When she saw the black silk dress with strappy high-heeled sandals, sh
e’d felt as giddy as a schoolgirl, not that she’d admit it to anyone even under the pain of death. Who was she kidding? If Kyle asked, she’d confess all to him, but only if he promised to punish her after. Truth was she’d tell him anything if he promised to punish her. Their sessions had been different without Caleb. They were still good, great actually, but Kyle wasn’t Caleb. She was thankful for that though, as Kyle was lighter, not so heavy. But sometimes she just wished for heavy. Oh, Caleb, I miss you so much.

  “No, where would be the fun in that?” Kyle said with a teasing tone and a heart-melting smile.

  “You know I’m not that big on surprises.”

  She didn’t know why Kyle had insisted they go out tonight. Over the past week they had mostly just stayed at home with Joel. She was enjoying getting to know the little boy, and she didn’t really feel much like going out without Caleb.

  She walked into the restaurant, and they were led into the private dining room. Shivers ran down her spine. She felt a cold sweat forming on her hands. Panic was forming a lump in her throat. This whole thing seemed way too serious. So serious that he must be up to something. She wondered if she should run away as fast as she could. But she couldn’t do that to Kyle. He had obviously gone to a lot of effort to create this romantic evening. As the waiter led them into the room, there were dozens of yellow roses on every surface. Her favorite flowers, oh gosh, this really was serious. In the background Adele was playing again, her favorite music. For now, though next week that could change. She turned and looked up at Kyle and said, “Thank you.” She knew she should say something else, but her mind was blank and she couldn’t think of a single other thing to say. Kyle helped her into her seat and gave a gentle kiss on her neck before he moved to the other side of the table to sit down. His kiss sent goose bumps over her skin, and her love for him overwhelmed her heart.

  “So, my dear,” Kyle said as the waiter poured them both a glass of the finest champagne. “A toast to us, sweetheart. We may have travelled a different road than the one we planned, and it’ll take us time to adjust. But there’s no one I’d rather walk this journey with than you.” She smiled as they toasted his poetic words. Granted they were not the words of deep, soul-encasing love, but they were words of honesty.

  “How was Joel today?”

  “He’s great. He asked for you, though. I told him I was keeping you all to myself tonight.” He laughed.

  Kyle stood up from the table and moved toward her. He knelt down on one knee in front of her, and she turned in her chair to face him. “Kyle, what’s going on?”

  “I know we haven’t known each other long. I also know that you and I are meant to be. We could waste another year dating, and then we would be at this very point anyway, and I would rather spend that year with you as my wife. Petra, will you marry me?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “You want us to get married?” She knew her voice was a touch higher than it should be, but she was totally taken aback by his proposal. When she first walked into the restaurant, she’d thought something was going on, but to be honest she thought he was going to ask her to move in with him. Married to him! Oh God. She would then be Joel’s stepmother. The thought of being a mother to Joel gave her a sudden sense of warmth. She loved that little boy, and she loved his father. He was a wonderful man, caring, intelligent, and honest. He’d accepted Caleb and her needs. He knew what she did and hadn’t judged her for it. She could see them in the future standing together at Joel’s graduation, his wedding, and the arrival of his children. She could imagine him by her side till her dying days. Yes. She could and would marry him.

  “Yes, Kyle. I’d love to be your wife.” He swept her into his arms and kissed the life out of her. And then he slipped the ring on her finger. It was a tad too large but would be easy to get resized. She smiled when she thought of all those romantic movies and even her own books. When the hero slipped the ring on the heroine’s finger it always fit perfectly. This was so much better, this was real. The ring was beautiful, a huge diamond surrounded by hundreds of diamond chips embedded into the band. She couldn’t stop looking at it on her finger as they sat back in their seats. Her finger felt heavy in a good way. It felt good to be weighted down.

  “Well, now we have that out of the way. Let’s talk about the small things.”

  “Okay, let’s start with where we’ll live.” And this is the small things? she thought, chuckling to herself.

  “I’d love for you to move in with Joel and myself. But if you’d like, we could look for another house.”

  “No. No, I love your house and would love to make it my own. I’d need to take a room for my work though.” She hadn’t taken any notice of the spare rooms. She hoped one of them had a decent view out the window. Sometimes as she struggled with a chapter, she liked to look outside. Not to mention the light and fresh air, but she could do without. It wasn’t a necessity. She’d written her very first book many years ago on a small little desk in the corner of the living room of her tiny one-bedroom apartment. She could do it again, well, she hoped she could anyway. Now being a bit of a diva and just a tad famous, she liked having an office with a window and room around her to work.

  “Of course. I haven’t shown you the studio beneath the house yet, have I? We use it for storage, but I could move everything out and move you in if you like it. Otherwise we’ll sort something out.”

  She should have known he’d already thought about her work. She knew she was doing the right thing by marrying him. He was kind, thoughtful, and when she looked at him over the table, he was sexy as hell. And now he was her fiancé. She’d never felt happier in her life.

  “I’m sure it’ll be perfect.”

  “Well, if not we can get contractors in and change it to your liking. So how long will it take you to pack up your apartment?”

  “I’m not sure, why? When do you want me to move in?”

  “Is tomorrow too soon?”

  She nearly choked on her salad. Tomorrow! The smirk on his face made her want to slap him for his joke, but it also pleased her no end that he wanted her not as a bedmate or a submissive, but as his wife and a partner for life.

  “It’ll take me a week maybe two, but are you sure you want me to move in so soon? Shouldn’t you talk to Joel about it?”

  “I already have. He helped me buy the ring.”

  She looked again at the ring and could just picture the two of them hanging over the jewelry display. She would have loved to have been there with them.

  “Well, then I’ll have to thank him for the perfect ring.”

  “I have two options for tonight. We can go home after our meal and you can thank Joel, and then you can thank me in our newly soundproofed bedroom. Or we can go to a hotel to celebrate tonight and tomorrow we can tell Joel.”

  “No, let’s go tell Joel tonight, and then I’ll thank you all night long. In the morning we can plan my move.”

  That was why he didn’t have a moment of doubt about asking her to become his wife. Not only was she beautiful, a seductress, smart, successful, honest, open, and loving. She was maternal and was wonderful with Joel. She nurtured him as if he was her own, but she also gave him independence, and even at this moment she thought of his son’s feelings. If only Joel’s mother had been able to do that. But the past was the past, and he needed to put that where it belonged. Now he wanted to focus on the night ahead with his fiancé. Now that he had access to his entire toy box because of the recent soundproofing of their bedroom, this night could be way more interesting.

  Joel was fast asleep when they arrived, but as soon as they walked into his room he woke up. Petra sat next to him, and he grabbed her hand, immediately searching her finger for the ring. They had hugged and he had kissed her cheek. His heart broke at the happiness in his son’s voice. He’d said that now he could call her “Mom” and now he could have a mom, too, like all the other kids in his class. Kyle had to wipe his eyes as something got stuck in them. There was no way he would ever
admit he’d cried tears of joy at the sight of them sitting together. Petra of course did cry, but as sexist as it seemed, it was acceptable for a woman. Kyle was so thankful it was finally over and now he had his Petra to take care of and to love and cherish for the rest of their lives.

  They settled Joel back to sleep and headed silently to their room where they locked their brand new high-tech door. The door allowed them to hear if Joel was outside via a microphone and tiny camera with a monitor beside the bed disguised as a clock. It afforded them the privacy to play without the fear of Joel ever seeing what they were doing. He had also installed a household monitoring system so they would never miss anything else that went on in the house either. The club had a contractor who was skilled in the production of playrooms that fit into a vanilla household without detection. He’d first considered making one of the spare bedrooms a playroom but had decided that there was nothing more intriguing to a child than a locked room. As first a parent and then a player, he had a responsibility to ensure that his lifestyle was private from his children. He also wanted to be able to play at home and not be on edge that they’d be interrupted.

  “My dear sub, how do you wish to be punished for agreeing to be my wife?” he demanded as he watched a film of lust cover her eyes. God, he loved how responsive she was. A simple command and she was horny.

  “Punished! Why, Master, didn’t you want me to accept your proposal?” she replied, and the minx fluttered her eyelashes like an innocent maiden. Innocent she wasn’t, thank God. He disliked innocence. It so closely aligned with naivety and immaturity.

  “You know very well, my cheeky sub, I did. I also know very well that you want to be punished.” He walked around her, stalking his prey. “Do you deny it?”

  “No, Master,” she replied.

  He felt pride as he watched her strip her clothing. It wasn’t the long sensuous display he knew she could do, but a quick elegant removal of what hid his possession. He took a moment to appreciate her curves as she pulled her panties down her legs. Her ass was so lush he wanted to move behind her, pull out his throbbing cock, and just fuck her. He wanted to pound her pussy until she begged. He had to control himself as a shudder of need racked his body. The knowledge that the woman now posed in the greet position at his feet was soon to be his wife made him feel invincible. If only Caleb was here and able to see and feel what he was feeling right now. He knew Caleb loved her and that she loved him. He would have thought he’d be a jealous man with something as precious as his woman, but he knew in his heart and soul she was part of him and he a part of her, and Caleb was an extension of that, another element in the mix of them.