Dane whispered, “You have permission to look around, Steph.”
A cute redhead with freckles sprinkled across her face stepped up to the cross. She wore a robe and her gaze was downcast, but Stephanie thought she looked confident. This wasn’t the first time she’d done a scene.
Her Dom was tall and slender. He strode behind her and waited for her to step onto the mat at the base of the cross. He wore black jeans, but no shirt or shoes. He smoothed her hair back, tipped her chin up and kissed her forehead.
The man smoothed his hands down her neck and kissed her mouth in a slow, sensuous kiss that made Stephanie stiffen to watch. It wasn’t the kind of kiss people did in public. Unless they’re at a fetish club. She felt uncomfortable at first, as though she were a voyeur. You are.
Dane squeezed her around the chest and held her tight. He didn’t say a word.
Aiden leaned into her side, making her aware of his biceps and thighs against her skin.
The man in the room across from them broke the kiss and lowered his hands to his sub’s shoulders. He swiped the robe away from her body, mumbling words Stephanie couldn’t hear in the redhead’s ear. She smiled and then giggled. She was excited to do his bidding.
“The man is Robert. His sub is named Joann,” Dane whispered.
Stephanie nodded. She watched as Robert turned Joann around and nudged her up to face the shiny black cross. He lifted her left arm and secured it with a loop of rope above her head. Never losing contact with her skin, he circled around behind until he reached her other side and attached that hand also.
He caressed her back and down her buttocks and thighs until he knelt at her feet and tapped the inside of her ankle. She stepped out, spreading her legs far so that Robert could attach her to the lower part of the cross the same way he’d done above. She lifted her foot for him to loop the soft rope around her ankle.
Joann was spread wider than the average person because of her small stature. She visibly shivered when her Dom was finished. She set her forehead on one side of the cross and waited. Her body swayed as though there were music in the room.
Next, Robert pulled her hair back. He secured it with a hair band but continued to hold the ponytail with one hand while he reached into his pocket for something else.
Stephanie gasped when she saw the blindfold. She stiffened. Aiden turned sideways, wrapped one hand around Dane’s back and set the other on Stephanie’s belly. “She isn’t you, hon.” He kissed her ear. “It’s okay.”
“I want to know what your story is behind blindfolds, Steph. Get prepared to tell the tale to us,” Dane whispered.
Stephanie didn’t comment.
As soon as Robert had the blindfold secured, he released Joann’s hair and set her free. He circled the entire structure several times, muttering words no one on the outside could hear. Encouragement?
Stephanie could feel the anticipation as though she were Joann. She held her breath, trying not to hyperventilate at the idea of Joann’s dark world. The woman had no idea what was going to happen.
Finally, in slow motion, Robert picked up a leather flogger from a nearby bench and began to drag the tips over his sub’s body, familiarizing her with its feel—everywhere. He left no skin untouched, even grazing the supple leather between her legs and over her nipples.
He grasped the well-seasoned leather with both hands and held it up to her face. She seemed to inhale the scent of the leather, tipping her head back, and then she kissed the handle. Flipping the flogger around, Robert trailed the handle end down her spine and prodded the crack of her ass until she lifted on her tiptoes. She moaned so loud Stephanie could hear her from outside the room.
When Robert finally made his first slap against his sub’s skin with the leather, Stephanie jumped. Joann wouldn’t have seen it coming and she too jumped. How could the woman stand it? Not knowing what was going to happen? Stephanie sucked in air and began to pant. She felt faint. The spanking scene she’d witnessed earlier in the week hadn’t affected her like this.
That’s because Melissa hadn’t been blindfolded.
As the flogging increased, so did Joann’s moaning and jerking. Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut against the scene. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She ducked her head. “Red,” she whispered, panic climbing up her spine until she struggled for her next breath. She wasn’t sure she was using her safe word for herself or on behalf of the woman who wore the blindfold.
Suddenly Aiden whispered something to Dane and Dane turned her body with his away from the scene. He lifted her off her feet, holding her around the middle still, and stepped down from the platform.
Moments later, they led her around the corner and into a darker section of the dungeon. All Stephanie could hear for a few moments was her own heavy breathing as she tried to control her emotions.
Both men hovered over her, murmuring soothing words she paid no attention to. She struggled to catch her breath, leaning forward until Aiden took her in his arms and held her head against his chest. “Baby…”
After several minutes, she regained some composure and stood straighter. She lifted her gaze to Aiden’s. “I’m sorry… I—”
“It’s okay. But I think it’s time to tell us what this blindfold aversion is all about.” Aiden let his finger graze down her neck and between her breasts.
Stephanie closed her eyes as he touched her everywhere and nowhere.
Dane stepped closer on her other side. He whispered into her ear, his mouth so close the warmth of his breath tickled her. “Blindfolds can be so sensual. They heighten all your other senses and make you feel them each more intensely.”
She gulped at nothing in her throat and opened her eyes to look at him.. “They also scare the fuck out of me when they hide the unknown. The sounds… The smells… No.” She shook her head vehemently, unable to stop herself. “Don’t ask me to do that. I can’t,” she choked out.
“Okay,” Dane soothed. “It’s okay. Just relax.” He trailed his fingers down to her waist and smoothed his palm over her belly. “What happened? Did someone blindfold you in the past?” His voice was deep, gravelly.
She nodded. She had to tell them. It was only fair. She loathed reliving the past, but it needed to be done.
“Tell us, Steph,” Aiden encouraged. His hand landed on Dane’s, his fingers tangling with Dane’s at her stomach.
Stephanie squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and then opened them. She looked both men in the eye, glancing back and forth. “My mother… She had so many men. They weren’t nice men. They treated her horribly. They slapped her around. They did lines of cocaine on the coffee table. They drank until they vomited on the couch. They fucked her.” Her voice grew shaky and louder as she spoke in rapid succession. She needed to spit this all out though. Suddenly she didn’t know why she’d been holding it in.
“Did your mother blindfold you?” Aiden’s brows furrowed in concern.
“Yes. She told me I was too young to witness some things. Our apartments were always small. One bedroom usually. Sometimes I would be in the room while she was with her men. And she…she…she didn’t stop them. But she covered my head, sometimes with a knit hat pulled down to my chin.”
Stephanie heaved for breath and continued, “The sounds were awful. I never knew what might happen in the room. No matter what I couldn’t block the sounds. I would squeeze my eyes shut and hold my hands over my ears, but nothing worked. I hated it.”
Dane set a palm on her cheek and wiped the tear that slipped from her eye. “You’re okay now. I get it. That was traumatic and not something any child should endure. No blindfolds. Don’t worry. We won’t ask you again.”
He understands… She glanced at Aiden, who nodded. She opened her mouth and licked her lips. “I can’t stand being closed off completely from the world by force. I can close my eyes. I can turn my head. But having my eyes covered… It’s too…”
Aiden set his forehead against hers, bringing their eyes so close together. “Frig
htening. You’re safe with us. There will be no unknowns that make you uncomfortable. We may push the limit with you, but you know you always have the option to say stop, right?”
She nodded.
“Good girl,” Dane said. His thumb stroked her cheek.
Both men soothed her with their hands, running them up and down her extended arms and her face until she relaxed. She trusted them. And that trust was the key to this arrangement. They wouldn’t hurt her. They’d never force her to do something she couldn’t tolerate.
The blindfold might seem like a small thing to some people, and she knew most people loved them, but not Stephanie. She loathed the idea and always would. Some things were insurmountable.
Aiden led her from the hall silently and headed directly back to the couch they’d been sitting at earlier. He sat and prompted her between his knees, indicating she should resume the kneeling position from before the scene.
When she situated herself between his legs, he pulled her face into his crotch as Dane had before. Stephanie closed her eyes. She relished the ability to rest against his cock and not have to see the expressions on other people’s faces. She felt so raw after everything she’d just revealed.
It occurred to her that she had no issue hiding her face by choice. It was removing that choice that put her on edge.
They stayed for quite some time. Her Doms held several conversations with other Doms who joined them on the surrounding chairs; however, Stephanie concentrated only on Aiden’s hand as he soothed the back of her head and her shoulders. She could have fallen asleep if not for the effort to stay upright on her knees.
Aiden finally rose, taking her by the shoulders and lifting her with him.
Her knees wouldn’t cooperate, so he swung her up into his embrace against his chest.
She cooed, the sound absurd coming from her. But it expressed perfectly how loved and cherished she felt. Even her bare ass sticking out didn’t bother her as long as Aiden held her firmly.
Stephanie relaxed every muscle and was only vaguely aware of the trip home. Wrapped in the cape she’d come in, Dane carried her into the elevator and up to their apartment. Minutes later she drifted off in the center of their big bed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Stephanie awoke with a start. She glanced around the room with her heart racing from whatever dream she’d been having.
The sun was shining through the windows, beating a path across the floor and landing on her lower legs. What time was it?
She dragged herself to sitting, groggy from sleeping too long. She didn’t even know what time they’d come home, but it had been late. Or early, depending on how she looked at it.
She smiled. The apartment was silent. Glancing around, she found a note on the pillow next to her.
Stephanie,
You were sleeping so soundly we didn’t want to disturb you. We went to the restaurant early. You may shower, grab the breakfast from the fridge, and then go into the office. I’ll e-mail you with instructions for this morning.
Aiden
Stephanie grinned as she read the note. Aiden’s precise instructions mixed with his obvious care for her well-being warmed her inside and out.
She slipped from the bed and did his bidding, showering as usual with the door open and then propping her naked ass on the stool at the kitchen island to eat her breakfast, legs open wider than necessary.
The last thing she wanted this morning was a time out on her wobbly legs.
After she cleaned the mess, putting her plate in the dishwasher and wiping down the counter, she padded to the office.
The leather swivel chair called to her, beckoning her to relax into its cushion.
Even with the camera panning the room from the corner, she was at ease. As she waited for the monitor to open, she considered how far she’d come. The exposure they’d subjected her to last night had been a breakthrough of sorts for Stephanie. It hadn’t been so bad.
There was no doubt Aiden and Dane always made the best choices with regard to her training. Her heart beat slower this morning. A deep knowledge that her men would do right by her. She was on the path to becoming their permanent submissive and she was no longer half as frightened as she had been a week ago.
Stephanie began to straighten up the papers on the desk. She was nothing if not organized. Aiden apparently wasn’t quite as tidy as she was. He’d tossed several files and notes onto the mahogany surface without regard for where they landed.
A manila folder caught her attention. She only meant to put it in the pile, but her name was scrawled across the tab. She stiffened. Why did they have a file with her name on it? It wasn’t Aiden’s or Dane’s handwriting either. Someone else had given this to them.
She stared at the folder for a moment, her fingers shaking, afraid to touch the file as though it would burn her.
When she finally flipped the top open, she slid the entire contents front and center. Her eyes bugged out of her head. What the fuck is this?
Quickly she shuffled through the pages. Documents that indicated her whereabouts, her schools, every level of her education. Her graduation announcement from college. Her place of employment. The purchase agreement for her condo. Every personal detail about her life she’d never told a soul was in this file.
A chill went down her spine. Who did this? And why did Aiden and Dane have it? Had they hired someone to investigate her?
She shuffled through the pages with shaky fingers, pausing on each page to get the gist.
Her parents: Stan and Colleen Parkins.
A photograph of Stan Parkins with another man—Jason Garwood it said in the caption.
Mr. Garwood? Wasn’t he the owner of Emergence? And where had she heard that name before? It still niggled in the back of her mind. Not just from Emergence.
She flipped the picture to the back of the stack. The next page was an obituary from a small-town paper: Stan Parkins. Her father was dead. Where had he been all her life? The bastard left her when she was two and never looked back.
Next page: Sister—Lori Polluck.
She shook violently, her hands unable to even make contact with the edge of the desk. Lori Polluck is my sister? What the fuck? She’d never had an inkling she had any siblings. Hell, she had always believed she had no living relatives at all.
She shoved the chair backward until it hit the wall with a hard thump, and she jumped to her feet.
She heaved for oxygen. Her mind ran a mile a minute trying to catch up with the details. Aiden and Dane knew this. How was Mr. Garwood involved? Plus, Aiden and Dane intentionally kept this from her. Lied.
She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back from her face. She leaned forward to stare at the pages scattered on the desk now. It wasn’t possible. Please tell me the two men I’ve grown so attached to for the last two weeks aren’t keeping this secret from me. Intentionally.
The evidence was all right there in black and white. She was indeed the daughter of this Stan Parkins. Hell, her mother had never even told her she’d been married to her father.
I have to get out of here. Stephanie turned and ran from the room. She stumbled over the edge of the carpet with her bare feet and bumped into the doorframe as she headed for the master bedroom. Her eyes filled with tears.
Hold on, Stephanie. Think. Get out of here and back to your own apartment and then let it loose. Not now.
Clothes. You need clothes. Unlike this world you’ve been playing house in with these two liars who claim to have your best interest at heart, the rest of the universe wears clothes.
Head spinning, Stephanie dashed into the closet. She had to get out of here before Aiden and Dane noticed. They could be watching her even now. With the restaurant only two blocks away, they could be here in no time.
She needed distance. Fuck them. She couldn’t and wouldn’t face them right now. Maybe never. The bastards. The lying bastards.
Stephanie easily found that one side of the closet was filled with clothing f
or her. Dozens of dresses in her size hung on the left wall. Geez. They’d gone all out preparing for her to move in with them.
She grabbed the first thing that caught her eye and yanked it from the hanger. A cotton dress with spaghetti straps and a short skirt. Pink. Very feminine.
She slipped it over her head and wiggled it down around her hips. It was barely long enough to be decent. She glanced around the room. There were drawers on every side, but it would take too long to find panties and a bra, and frankly she doubted either such undergarment even existed in this apartment.
Without another moment’s hesitation, she whipped around and fled the closet. She didn’t even bother to glance at the home she’d lived in for the last six days that seemed to stretch into years.
She’d come so far under the care of her Doms. So far, and yet it had all been a lie. How long had the two men known who she was and kept that from her? And why the fuck had they done so? Maybe they’d known this for weeks, or even before she’d officially met them.
She fought back the tears that hovered in the corners of her eyes and grabbed her purse off the table by the front door.
She ran to the elevator, pressed the down arrow and waited impatiently. She stared at her bare feet. She hadn’t bothered looking for shoes. Who cared? Nothing in that apartment was hers anyway.
The elevator seemed to move in slow motion. It pinged when it reached her floor and she jumped off it as though the doors might close too soon and leave her traveling to the lobby.
A sharp jog to the left and she fumbled for her keys in her purse. It took several seconds to get the door open with her hands shaking, but finally she stepped inside and slammed the door behind her.
Dropping everything, she made a beeline for her bedroom. Tears fell down her face. She heaved deeply before an audible cry escaped her lips.
Stephanie collapsed onto her bed, curled into a ball and tugged a pillow to her chest.
Broken. Her soul at a loss, her heart shattered and her brain twisted into knots.
Bound to be Tamed: Emergence, Book 2 Page 26
