“What’s the matter, honey?” Janie asked, seeing that her friend wasn’t as happy as she should be. “You should be ecstatic, he’s safe, isn’t he,” Leah nodded, “well then, you can relax and stop worrying.”
“But what will happen when he gets back here? Just about the last thing he said to me was that he was going to kill Alex because he’d slept with me; that’s why he was trying to get back here.”
“Maybe the storm and the emergency landing will have given him time to calm down.”
“Maybe.” Leah’s voice reflected her uncertainty.
“Don’t worry about it, honey. He’s not back yet, so there’s no point worrying about."
Leah was silent for a few moments as she picked up the chess pieces she had knocked over. “I can’t help worrying about it though,” she said finally. “I know he overreacted, like he always does, but I love him, but I have feelings for Alex as well.”
Janie couldn’t help shaking her head at her friend’s admission. “You certainly know how to get yourself into a mess, don’t you, honey.” Pushing the chessboard aside she got to her feet so she could make them some fresh coffee. “I know it isn’t likely to be easy but you’ll have to choose between them.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Leah asked a little helplessly, pottering around the kitchen area while Janie prepared the coffee. “They’re so different. Alex is incredible, and I love being with him, it’s so relaxed and comfortable, we have a great time. With Rhett though, it’s like fireworks; a never-ending series of surprises. I never know how he’s going to be and it’s very exciting. Even when he’s being overbearing and is in caveman mode it’s still exciting, as well as frightening.”
“To be fair, you haven’t really experienced the lifestyle with Alex yet,” Janie remarked, “it’s all been fairly vanilla for the two of you so far. For all you know he could be just as intense, perhaps even more so, when he scenes. Without trying his side of the lifestyle you won’t know, and without knowing, you can’t really make a fair comparison between the two of them.” She couldn’t believe she’d just suggested that Leah try out pony play.
Her friend’s suggestion, when what Janie had said sank in, shocked her; she wouldn’t have expected her friend to ever suggest something like that. “I guess you’re right. The idea freaks me out a little, but I guess it would be the right thing to do, to at least try Alex’s lifestyle so I can understand it a little better before I choose who I want to be with.” She couldn’t believe she was actually considering trying pony play so she could make an informed decision about who to be involved with. The thought amused her and she couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Janie wanted to know, surprised by her friend’s laughter. “I could use a little humor myself at the moment.”
“I was just thinking that less than a month ago, I had no idea any of this stuff existed, and now I’m trying to decide how I want to be dominated.” Saying it aloud make her laugh again. “I think I need mental help.”
Janie joined in the laughter. Her sweet, virginal, friend was exploding out of her shell like a ball from a canon. “Never let it be said that you don’t know how to make up for lost time, Leah.” The laughter helped to soothe both of them after the worry and concern of the past few hours.
15
RESCUED
The wait for the storm to pass had been interminable, and it had been an immense relief when Jackson, the storm had given them time to move beyond their employer/employee relationship and onto first name terms, managed to get a signal on the radio and report their situation.
Hearing that it would be some time before they were rescued had not pleased Rhett, he was too used to things being done the moment he wanted them done. He couldn’t fault the reason for the delay in their rescue though, as much as he wanted to. He and Jackson were both okay, with only minor injuries, despite the buffeting the crashed plane had endured during the course of the storm, whereas Manuel’s resort, and the rest of the island, had endured much more of the storm’s fury and there was much damage and many injuries to be dealt with.
With sleep made impossible by the noise from the storm, not to mention the ever present worry that the small jet might be tipped, Rhett had been left with a lot of time to think about things. He was still angry, with both Alex and Leah, they had betrayed him and he wasn’t sure he could ever fully forgive them for that.
He could forgive Leah to a degree, she was still so young, and, he had reminded himself through his long hours of waiting and thinking, inexperienced. She did not have his years of experience and knowledge with which to help her make difficult decisions.
Alex was a different matter. Alex was supposed to be a friend; in his mind, friends didn’t do what Alex had done. He would never forgive him for that.
In the end it was the next morning before a helicopter arrived to collect the two of them and take them back to civilization. The moment they got back Rhett got them on the first flight scheduled to leave the island for the mainland; they couldn’t leave until that evening, because the weather was still too iffy for flying, but he felt better knowing the arrangements had been made.
With their flight organized, Rhett spent time arranging for the retrieval of his jet, which would have to be shipped to the mainland so it could be repaired, assuming that was actually possible. He had his doubts as to whether the jet would be flight-worthy again, but it didn’t really matter to him; it was expensive, but he could afford to replace the jet if he needed to.
After everything else was done, Rhett was left with several hours still to waste before his flight could leave the island. Though he would have preferred otherwise, he found his thoughts turning, as always, to Leah as he tried to work out how he was going to deal with the situation between the two of them and Alex when he got home.
The thought uppermost on his mind when he thought of Leah and Alex, strangely enough, was not that they were sleeping together, though that was bad enough. He was far more concerned by his knowledge of his friend’s kink. The possibility of his sweet Leah being trussed up like a pony and used until exhausted was not something that sat well with him.
Pony play was not something he agreed with, but he could accept that other people might enjoy it, except where it involved his Leah. He knew that mentally she was nowhere near ready for the intensity of a relationship involving pony play. He had treated her badly, and failed to train her properly, he knew that now, but compared to the training that was necessary for the pony lifestyle what he had done was insignificant in his opinion.
Waiting for the last couple of hours to tick by before the okay was given and the flight left, Rhett found himself in the bar at the hotel with Jackson. It was an unusual experience for him to drink, even more so for him to drink with an employee, but after what they had been through together, he could hardly think of the man as simply that anymore.
“You never did tell me why you were so desperate to get back to Chicago, Sir,” Jackson Harrow said when he returned to his employer after finishing a phone call with his wife. “Do you mind if I ask why? After all, trying to fly through a storm is pretty damned desperate. I can only think of one thing that would make a man take a risk like that, and that’s a woman.”
Rhett could only nod. Though his mind had been on Leah he hadn’t been able to help overhearing a few snippets of the conversation his pilot had held with his wife. The ease with which Jackson expressed his love amazed him, and he couldn’t help wondering if he would ever be able to do the same. “She’s pretty damn incredible,” he said, thinking it was an understatement, she was more than incredible, at least to his mind. She was everything that mattered to him.
Taking out his wallet, Jackson showed his employer the pictures of his family. “My wife, Rachel, and my children, Xavier and Lillian; they are what get me through everything that happens in life. No matter what happens all I have to do is remind myself that they love me and are there for me and I know it will be
alright.
“When Rachel agreed to become my wife she taught me to respect the gifts we are given, if you don’t do that you will lose them.”
Seeing the expression on the faces of Jackson’s wife and children in the photos, and the look on Jackson’s face as he thought of his family, Rhett was surprised to find himself wondering what it would be like to have a family of his own. “She’s lovely,” he said, “and so are your kids. The boy looks just like you.”
“She’s saved my life, in more ways than one,” he commented. “I thought I knew what was important when I was younger, I had a promising career in the air-force, was well on the way to becoming a squadron leader. I thought that was all that mattered, and when I lost it I thought I’d lost everything.
“You’re right,” Rhett agreed. Even knowing that she’d slept with his friend, Rhett knew Leah was the most important thing in the world to him; before she had come along he had thought that building up his businesses, making a success of them, and doing better than his rivals was all important. He’d also thought that women were nothing more than things to be enjoyed when he wished, and ignored when he didn’t. Now though, he knew different.
None of what he had done or achieved before he met Leah mattered, she was the only thing of importance in his life; that was what he had come to realize.
“I think we must be two of the luckiest men on earth.” Jackson smiled as he thought about his family.
“You definitely are,” Rhett remarked, feeling as though he had made a complete hash of his life in recent weeks. “I’m pretty certain I’ve screwed things up royally with Leah, and I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me for being the monumental ass I’ve been, and to be truthful, I’m not sure I deserve to be forgiven.” He hadn’t meant to say what he was thinking, but the moment the words were he knew they were the truth, and couldn’t be denied any longer. He had pushed her too often, and not thought about her needs, despite his assertion that it was the duty of a master to look after the needs of his submissive. That was going to change, he told himself, if he was lucky enough to be given another chance he would do things right.
“If she loves you, she’ll forgive you. Something I learned years ago is that a woman’s heart is much more forgiving than ours.” He’d given Rachel countless reasons to leave him, especially during their early years together, but she had stuck by his side, even when, in his opinion, he deserved to be kicked to the curb.
Rhett could only hope that Jackson’s words were true, he couldn’t imagine why she would forgive him, after the way he had treated her, but he prayed fervently that she would.
The two of them talked until it was time for them to drive to the airport, and by the time they got there Rhett found himself wondering if a normal relationship would be such a horrible thing, especially if it meant being with Leah. It gave him a lot to think about on the flight back to Chicago, and he spent the entirety of the journey running the idea through his mind.
16
REJOINING
Though both Janie and Alex argued against it, Leah insisted on being allowed to meet Rhett alone when his flight landed. In the end she was forced to remind Janie that she was a grown woman and could handle her own with Rhett, even if she hadn’t managed to do so up till then. With Alex she simply explained that she and Rhett had things they needed to discuss privately, and he would have to accept her decision.
It was a bit of a surprise for her, a pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless, when Alex turned out to be the more reasonable of the two, putting up only enough resistance to be sure that she was certain about meeting Rhett by herself.
Janie, on the other hand, had told her that she wasn’t worried that Rhett would be angry with her over her sleeping with Alex. What did worry her was that he would manipulate her and take advantage of how she felt for him to get what he wanted from her.
The near death scare had softened Janie’s stance toward Rhett, a little anyway, and that, Leah knew, was the reason her friend eventually stopped arguing and backed off, giving her room to make her own choice in the matter.
She loved Janie, and would never tell her so, but she was a little like Rhett; every so often she could become a little overbearing, she thought with a grin as she waited for Rhett to appear following the announcement that his flight had landed.
When she saw him walk through the arrivals gate, almost completely unharmed, Leah felt a surge of relief shoot through her. It was one thing to be told he was alright, and another entirely to see it for herself.
She tried to be strong, as she had told herself she must be, but the moment she saw him she felt her resolve vanish. She couldn’t stop herself, she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down so she could kiss him passionately, inhaling the scent of masculine strength she’d come to associate with him.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she told him, her voice harsh with the worry she had felt at hearing he was missing as she held him as tight as her small arms would allow.
Rhett hugged her back, doing his best not to squeeze her as tightly as he wanted to, afraid that he would hurt her. “Were you worried, sweetheart?” he asked, keeping his voice light, despite the powerful emotions the presence of the beautiful young woman in his arms unleashed within him.
Jackson coughed discreetly, not wanting to interrupt the reunion. He saw the blush that covered the beautiful woman’s face, and the look of discomfort that crossed Rhett’s face at the public display of affection, but he ignored them both. After what they had been through he wasn’t surprised to see his normally reserved employer do something so out of character. “Sir, if it would be at all possible, I would like to spend a few days with my family, if you’re not going to need me.”
“Take the rest of the month, Jackson, you’ve earned it. You’ve earned that bonus I promised you as well.” He held Leah against him, not wanting to let go of her for even a moment.
“Thank you, Sir, that’s very generous of you.” The bonus he had agreed to when he had been persuaded to try and fly them through the storm was significant, and would enable his family to enjoy a few extra luxuries, so he was very pleased by the news. “Very nice to have met you, ma’am.” He smiled at Leah, aware that his Texas drawl, which had mostly disappeared over the years, was strong just then.
“Nice to meet you too; thank you for bring him home to me safely,” she said, her eyes flicking to the pilot for the briefest of moments before returning to Rhett, whose presence had driven Alex from her thoughts entirely.
“JACKSON!” The shout came from a leggy redhead, who approached them as fast as her limp and the cane she used would allow. The moment she was close enough she dropped the cane to throw her arms around her husband, acting as pleased to see him as Leah had been to see Rhett.
After returning the hug, which lasted for almost a minute, and kissing her deeply, Jackson extracted himself from her embrace and turned to his employer. “This is my beautiful wife, Rachel,” he said with pride, a loving look in his eyes.”
“Rhett Hammond,” he said with a smile, “and this is my Leah.” He was still unwilling to let her go and so had to indicate her with his head, though that was largely pointless, since there was no one else to whom he could have been referring.
The woman lowered her eyes, not sure that being so affectionate in front of her husband’s boss was entirely appropriate. “Very nice to meet you, Sir, and you, ma’am.” She held out her hand awkwardly. She was uncomfortable around other people, especially someone as important as Rhett Hammond, but knew her husband needed his job and was determined to make the best impression she could, for his sake.
Rhett shook the proffered hand briefly, a little amused by the action. “I’m sure you and your husband have some catching up to do,” he said, thinking more of his desire to be alone with Leah. “I wouldn’t want to delay you. Jackson, I’ll see you at the end of the month.”
Jackson and his wife gave their thanks, and Leah could see that they
were both keen to leave so they could be alone, which she found adorable. She forgot all about them though as Rhett led her out of the terminal and over to where his driver was waiting with his limousine.
It wasn’t until they pulled away from the airport that she remembered her car, which was in the parking lot behind them, but she pushed it from her mind just then, too happy at being with Rhett once again. The drive to his mansion passed quickly, in a companionable silence as they held one another, and the moment they arrived he drew her out from the rear of the limousine, pushing her up against it so he could kiss her passionately.
The feel of his body against hers, and the way his tongue entwined with hers, had her desiring him with more urgency than she could remember. She was on the verge of begging him to take her, there and then, not caring about the presence of his driver, when she remembered Alex. He crossed her mind fleetingly, but it was enough to cool her ardor a little.
“Is everything alright, sweetheart?” Rhett pulled back for a moment to look her in the face before pulling her against him so he could caress her hair while she rested her cheek on his chest. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was having second thoughts about coming home with him; he hadn’t actually asked her what she wanted to do, and knew it was conceited of him to have assumed that she would want to be with him.
“I’m just thinking how glad I am that you’re okay,” Leah told him. It was the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. If she allowed the night to go the way she knew it was heading, and the way she wanted it to go, she knew he would expect her to give up Alex. As much as she loved the man holding her, there was a part of her that cared deeply for Alex, and she simply wasn’t ready to give him up.
What she needed was time to think, to work out what it was she wanted, and most importantly, which man she wanted most.
Beyond 10 Nights (Forbidden Desires Series) Page 20
