Since no one expected them back at the ranch until after dinner, the girls spent several hours wandering in and out of the small town stores looking and laughing before they accumulated a small pile of packages. Sophia was surprised by the level of financial restraint Bella displayed while shopping. “I figured you’d spend a fortune. You have enough money.”
Bella dismissed her with a shrug. “I have to live off my salary just like everybody else. My trust fund is tied up in a lot of legal papers and under Linc’s control for now. God knows I don’t want to face him over a big credit card bill. Jack and I have a lot of plans for my dad’s money, and the whole thing was just too much temptation. I’m still not really good with finances, but I’m better than I was.”
When they returned to the garage to pick up the tire, they had to wait a few minutes. To kill time, Bella worked on Sophia’s makeup to add some delicate touches to her always simple appearance.
Bella scolded while she worked. “Pay attention to what I’m doing here. If you can run a bobcat, you have the dexterity to put on mascara.” Sophia had trouble seeing the connection, but she tried hard to pay attention.
When the tire was done, the attendant looked a tad hungrily at the two women. “Do you want us to change the tire back for you?”
“Do we look like amateurs?” laughed Bella. “We’ve got this.”
The ride home was much less eventful than the trip to town. Soft rock filled the car with words Sophia could understand, but there was no comfort behind the familiar tunes. The weather was still beautiful and the top was down on Bella’s small Jeep, but the quiet camaraderie was clearly left in town, and the car was filled with an uncomfortable silence.
Bella spoke first. “I’m really sorry about the cell phone. It was dangerous, and I shouldn’t have had it out.”
“I… I’m sorry too. It was pretty childish of me to grab it out of your hand while you were driving. I guess I’m not very good at fighting. I’ve always been lot better at walking away from a conflict than dealing with it.”
Bella lowered her chin. “Yeah. I figured that when I met you. I… I’m guessing you’ll find this easy to believe, but I was even more awful when I was younger. I could pick out a victim like you a mile away and make their life a living hell before the end of the school day. I’m really not that person anymore, but sometimes bits and pieces sneak back in when I’m not looking. I’m sorry. I don’t like that about myself.”
At the sound of a small sniffle, Sophia placed her hand on Bella’s. “Don’t cry. I’m fine, really. I never felt like you were bullying me. You might have been a little pushy, but I’ve always felt safe around you… except for the time you tried to kill me with your cell phone, of course.”
Bella tried to hang onto her somber mood but laughed in spite of herself. “Yeah, and there was the time I dragged you to a BDSM resort and left you alone with three dominant males. That’s what all friends do.”
The sentence caught Sophia off guard, and her clit ignited with a dull ache at the mere mention of her new life. She groaned, “Don’t get me started down that road. We’re too far away from Marcus to give me any relief, and there is no way I’m adding you to my list of acceptable partners. I’m not playing both sides of the field.”
Bella laughed again. “Yeah. I get that.” She waited until the laughter left the Jeep. “Thanks, Sophia. I… I really appreciate having you here. I admit I wasn’t so sure when you first joined up with Marcus, but the extra estrogen is a nice change. I… I’m going to miss you when you go back to school. Having you around has been like having a sister. I’m not always glad to see you, but I’m always glad you’re close.”
The sincerity sobered her even further, and she didn’t trust her voice to respond. She stared out the window as the familiar ranch house came into view. Framed by the beautiful gardens where she could intimately describe every plant, shrub, and tree, the setting clearly called her home. A new foal ran through a field in a valiant attempt to keep up with his mother, and Sophia registered his entire heritage, birth, and veterinary care from memory. The realization Cloudcroft would be with her long after she left brought a tiny smile to her face, but the tears were a stark contrast to her happy day.
The men were preparing steaks and fried potatoes when the girls entered the kitchen. Her new haircut and clothes were the immediate subject of attention as the three doms offered noisy wolf whistles and catcalls. The seductive top revealed the bright pink straps of her beautiful new bra, and Marcus ran his hand under her shirt without hesitation. “Hope there are new panties to match the bra.”
She blushed appropriately but gave a halfhearted smack to move his hands. With a growl, he buried his head into her neck and continued to take what he wanted until she relaxed with a quiet shudder. The tie to everything she needed removed the rest of her sullen mood, and she snuggled into his side.
She couldn’t help the sassy response. “Linc must have cooked. He is the only one who would have fried the potatoes to make a decent meal.”
Bella complained bitterly. “How come you guys eat the good stuff whenever I’m not home? Fried potatoes? Last night we had tofu.”
Jack patted his lap gently, and she was mollified into sharing his meal.
Marcus lifted Sophia into the air to carry her to his chair. His tickling connection brought her gentle laughter. “Put me down, Marcus. I’m too fat.”
The room dropped to a chilling silence. The three dominant men turned their glare on her, and Sophia’s telltale blush returned to torment her for the first time in weeks.
Jack spoke first. “Sophia, you’re part of Cloudcroft now. Nobody insults you… not even you.”
Marcus lifted her chin. “You’ve been warned, Sophia.”
Linc shot her his ominous glare. “We’ve already had this conversation, young lady. Do we need a reminder lesson?”
Bella sent her a superior giggle. “Told you so.”
She stared into the faces of her friends. The familiar kitchen offered its own comfort, and she grinned before she tattled. “Fine. But Bella bought candy today and has it hidden in her purse.”
The hint at their conspiracy caused the girls to laugh, and Bella countered, “Too late, Jack. She’s wrong. We ate it all in the car.”
Chapter Twelve
On a particularly warm Sunday evening, the rest of the ranch had already settled into their post-resort relaxation when Linc finally finished his payroll records. Bella’s job freed him from day to day paperwork, but he still used his accounting background to keep Cloudcroft’s complex finances straight. The three men owned an equal percentage of the resort profits, but Marcus retained fifteen percent of the ranch income while Jack and Linc split the remainder. Jack’s additional income from the horses was separated as well as Linc’s from his personal clients. They had also recently started paying Marcus a salary from the resort since he was doing most of the management himself. The accounts simply became more time consuming every month.
Hot and tired, Linc worked his way to the kitchen in search of a cold beer and a baseball game only to find the girls settled comfortably on the couch in front of some drama-ridden movie. While a beautiful, boring actress sobbed over a dying woman, he grabbed his beer and plopped between them with firm directions. “Go upstairs and watch this. I want to watch the baseball game on the big TV.” Without waiting for an answer, he added, “Hand me the remote.”
Ever since her arrival had disrupted their formerly male routine, kicking Bella off the expensive kitchen television had become second nature, but the sudden chill in the air made him pause. He turned to find both girls scowling at him.
He reached for the glare that defined his frightening persona. “Are you two staring me down for a reason? It’s been a long weekend, and I’m tired. This is a bigger TV, and we always watch baseball here. You guys can watch this upstairs. Now, scat.”
It was quiet Sophia who spoke first, and her tone reflected nothing but attitude. “We got here first, Linc. Yo
u can’t just throw us out.”
Bella added, “Yeah. You go upstairs. You guys always kick me off with the excuse that I’m outnumbered. Well, you’re outnumbered today. Jack’s busy in the barn, and I don’t know where Marcus is, so you can get lost.”
Their stand caught him by surprise, but he knew how to motivate them. He stood with a raised brow of expectation and lowered his chin to deliver a firmer glare while resting his hand on his belt buckle.
Instead of fleeing, Sophia said, “Marcus ran into Marion to get me some fertilizer and visit his mothers. He won’t be back for a while so don’t bother looking for him either.”
Taunts from two beautiful, sassy women almost made him grin, but his role as fearless dom clearly needed to be reestablished. He surveyed his adversaries and went for the weakest link first. “Sophia, hand me the remote and get your ass upstairs. I don’t ask twice.”
Sophia slipped the remote further away. “You didn’t ask once, Lincoln Sullivan. You demanded. Now be quiet while we watch our movie.”
He frowned and moved to the next stubborn female. “Bella. Go wait for Jack in your room. Neither of your doms are going to appreciate this. You too, Sophia. Move before I paddle both of you.” To make his point he pulled Sophia to her side and planted his hand firmly on her ass with the full expectation both girls would disappear.
Instead, she wiggled her bottom back to the couch and turned a deeper scowl on him. “Stop that. You can’t always use your size to get your own way. Be fair about this.”
“Give it up, big guy. It’s two against one,” said Bella as she crossed her arms with a self-righteous smirk and put her feet on the coffee table to make herself more comfortable.
He added his own crossed arms while their chins rose in simultaneous defiance, and the three of them simply stared. The standoff lasted much longer than he thought possible. With a glare that could cut ice, he slipped his thick leather belt from the confines of his jeans. Bella faltered, but a look at Sophia’s resolve and she held her position.
“Who is taking this first, ladies?”
For the first time ever, he saw a hint of teasing in quiet Sophia’s eyes. Her comfortable confidence was a pleasant surprise and made the decision harder, but he intended to keep his hard-ass reputation. He folded the worn leather over on itself. “Turn around and show me that bottom, Sophia. Then you can move your asses to the corner and wait for your doms.”
Sophia actually smirked. “We were here first. You know we’re right. You won’t use that.”
It was hard not to laugh, but the need to smack a few saucy backsides was just too strong. He made a fast move for Sophia’s side to define his target, but she pulled away with a squeal and Bella stood on the furniture to jump on his back. Their giggles were clear, and he quickly realized how much his alpha male integrity depended on their cooperation.
He grabbed Sophia’s hands to swing her bottom around to face his belt, but Bella covered his eyes with a scream. Unwilling to spank her without sight, he caught Bella by the waist, but his off-balance maneuver allowed Sophia to pull him onto the couch and free her friend. He made a second attempt to rein in Bella, but Sophia tickled under his arms, and he was forced to let go. His ticklish side didn’t align with a stern dom.
They weren’t without injury. He couldn’t use the belt in such close quarters, but his hand found their asses with regularity, and they squealed a little too happily with each connection. But between wiggling and their conspiracy, he couldn’t layer his moves on either bottom, and the gentle shade of pink would not change stubborn behavior.
The battle lasted much longer than he cared to admit when Jack and Marcus came into the room. They remained quiet for a second while the girls enjoyed a temporary reversal of power and pushed him to the couch where they climbed on top of him. “I could use some help over here,” he groaned.
Jack asked politely, “Why are you beating up our women, Linc?”
Linc stopped Bella’s hand when she made a grab toward his penis and held both of her wrists with one giant grip, but he couldn’t rein in Sophia who returned to tickling. He was forced to use two hands to subdue her, freeing Bella to make another move for his privates.
He spoke incredulously. “Me beating them up? I’m getting the shit knocked out of me… get your subs under some kind of control.”
Jack laughed and lifted Bella off his stomach with a hard smack to her bottom earning her shrieks of delight, so Linc took the freedom to overpower Sophia. With her stomach to the couch, he grabbed her wrists behind her back. To emphasize his point, he tugged down her sweats then peppered her panty-clad bottom with the palm of his very large hand. She giggled through the first four, then mumbled, “Fine. You win. You can watch your stupid baseball game.”
“The count is rising for the improper adjective to describe my favorite sport.” He made the next six spanks count.
“Marcus. Help me over here,” whined Sophia.
Marcus stood with his arms crossed. “Are you kidding? Watching another guy paddle you is just way too hot. I could do this all night.”
With a final few smacks to keep the lesson engrained in her future, Linc let her up, and she winced as she rolled on her back. “Fuck. That hurt, Sullivan.”
Marcus rested his hand on his belt. “Do we need to talk about your language?”
“No, sir,” she mumbled with sincerity.
“Who taught your quiet little sub to swear like a sailor, Marcus?” said Jack with a frown.
All three men turned to tiny Bella who was still restrained in Jack’s firm arms. Her eyes grew wide. “Don’t blame me! She developed her language skills long before I met her.”
Adjusting his belt to the perfect spot in his hand, Linc grabbed Bella’s wrist. “Come here, little wolf. I think I even felt some teeth marks this time. Give me that ass.”
“You can’t have all the fun, Linc. You paddled my sub so let me take care of Jack’s. I’ve been wanting to practice my whips for a long time,” Marcus said with a gleam in his eye.
Jack deepened his frown. “But then I don’t get to paddle anybody…”
There was no sympathy from his older brother. “You’re the youngest, Jack. We never were any good at sharing when there wasn’t enough to go around.”
Marcus laughed and flung a clearly disapproving Bella over his shoulder to walk toward the ranch dungeon with Linc close to his heels. Sophia shrugged and scrambled off the couch to follow them.
“But I’m the only one who is actually married here…” Jack yelled after them.
* * *
By the time Marcus got Bella to the basement, she’d stopped complaining, but Sophia wasn’t sure if it was the unnatural position over Marcus’ shoulder, or the promise of his whips that settled her down.
When Jack showed up, the couple shared a private connection, and Bella nodded emphatically. Marcus negotiated, “I want you tied and lose the clothes so I can see those delicious red marks, but I won’t bruise you. I’ll stick to your bottom and thighs with a few bites to your breasts and pussy, but Jack will have to calm you down when you need it. I’ve got my own sub, fair?”
Bella shivered with excitement while Jack helped slip off her clothes. The succulent nudity of her trim body emphasized Bella’s comfort in her own skin, and the confident poise had never ceased to amaze Sophia. A small tug of jealousy needled her while Bella’s dom ran his hands over her soft curves. Always impatient, Bella wiggled and even scowled. “Hurry up, Jack.”
A sterner Jack dropped his hand sharply on her bottom, and Bella dropped her chin with remorse. Her move to mentally give into another person’s control was apparent as she relaxed her muscles and listened more carefully.
The basement was comfortably cool despite the August heat, but there were several space heaters available to keep the room warm during the inevitable exposure. Expensive crosses and spanking benches lurked in dangerous detail, but Jack ignored all of them and slipped Bella’s wrists and ankles into three-inch-wid
e leather cuffs. He continued to coach her on what to expect, and she nodded with deep focus.
When the cuffs were fastened, he slid a length of nylon webbing through the D-rings on her wrists and fastened the other end to a pair of hooks on the ceiling. Using the loop mechanism, he pulled the excess until her arms were firmly above her head. The move exposed her pert breasts, and Bella quivered with obvious anticipation, but the smallest sign of vulnerability increased the heat of the erotic game.
While Jack worked on Bella, Marcus quietly gathered his scene gear. “I buy the whips from a guy in California. They’re all handmade and great quality. The loop stings like the dickens, and it can be a lot for some subs, but Bella’s taken it before. I prefer the cattails, but Jerry is a killer with a bullwhip. You should watch him someday.”
Marcus turned his attention to Bella with a powerful stare that held no hint of his familiar grin, and the last of her sassy attitude dissipated with a magical spell. She wiggled nervously, but Sophia couldn’t tell if her goal was to encourage or discourage Marcus’ game. The dilemma was solved when Jack ran his hand between her thighs to reveal her shimmering readiness. He laid his fingers on Bella’s tongue for her to suck and laughed. “You’d better get moving, Marcus, or she’s going to come before you get started.”
Given the go-ahead, Marcus moved to Bella’s side. A few flicks of his flogger into the air drew everyone’s attention, and Bella’s eyes grew wide in trepidation. The emotional intensity of the scene was so overpowering that Sophia involuntarily took a step backward into Linc’s shoulder. He put his arms around her with a comforting hug and spoke calmly. “Relax, Sophia. She’s done this before, and Marcus is an expert. He’ll hit his target every time, and he isn’t going to hurt her.”
Saving Sophia Page 16
