The tears fell. They hit her cheeks and ran down her face in a river of sadness. Whatever confusion she’d felt at the penthouse apartment now dissolved into complete stupid tears. She couldn’t put two brain cells together.
Her life was a shattered mess. Nothing made sense. She’d woken up an hour ago, happier than she could ever remember being. And now this. Lies, deceit, life-altering information.
Stephanie’s vision blurred as she sobbed, deep heaving lungfuls of air that left her a ball of aching nerve endings.
She didn’t stop. Not even knowing how long she’d been there. No thought of moving entered her mind. She couldn’t think. All thoughts scattered and bounced around inside her head.
How much time passed before a hand landed on her shoulder? “Stephanie? Baby?”
She flinched from the touch. Dane.
“Go away,” she muttered, jerking her shoulder from his grasp. How the hell had he gotten into her apartment?
“Honey.” The voice on the other side was Aiden’s. He sat on her bed, the bounce jarring her.
The two men boxed her in. She thought she might suffocate from their proximity. Renewed tears flowed down her face, soaking the pillow clutched in her hands.
“What happened?” Dane asked.
She opened her eyes wide, trying to zone in on his face. Then she cringed back.
You lied to me, you son of a bitch, that’s what happened.
Instead of speaking—she knew she wouldn’t be able to form sentences anyway—she tucked her chin against her knees and let the tears continue to fall onto the pillow.
She didn’t have the energy to engage either man.
Aiden leaned over her but didn’t touch her.
She shook with renewed anger. “Get out.”
All she could think about was the shattered relationship she had with the two men who’d entered her life in a whirlwind less than two weeks ago, stolen her heart, and then smashed it on the ground with the balls of their feet.
She shivered, unable to control her state of shock. She straightened her body and whacked her head on the headboard hard enough to hurt. She welcomed the pain. It gave her something else to focus on. Tears fell, dripping down her cheeks. She didn’t care that she was a blubbering idiot.
“Stephanie—” Dane said.
“No,” she screamed. She pushed herself to sitting and glared at him. “I said get out.” She pointed at the door. “How the hell did you get in here in the first place?” She narrowed her gaze. For all she knew they had made copies of her keys.
“You didn’t get the door shut,” Aiden said.
She whipped her gaze to him. She wanted to punch him.
“You must have flung it so hard the security latch got in the way. It just bounced back,” he added.
“Fuck you. Get out. Both of you.”
Aiden shook his head, but he did sit back. “No. You have to talk to us.”
“Talk to you?” Her voice rose as she yelled. “Like you talked to me about every private detail of my personal life?” She scooted down the bed between them and stepped off the end. Pacing, she continued, “You have a fucking file on me in your office.”
“Shit.” Dane stood next to her bed, running a hand through his hair.
“Yes. Shit.” She stopped pacing and stood firm, glaring at first Dane and then Aiden. “Goddamn you. You know details about me even I didn’t know. Why? Did you hire someone to fucking research me?”
Aiden shook his head. “No. Nothing like that.”
Anger shook her. She clenched her fists. “Did you enjoy watching me flip through the pages of my life naked in your office? Did it make you horny?” She wasn’t being rational and she didn’t care.
“No,” Dane said. “We didn’t see that part. We saw the office was empty and watched you run from the apartment as though it were on fire.” He stepped forward. “We didn’t mean for you to find out like that.”
She stepped back. “Of course you didn’t.” She nodded at the door. “And you can leave now. This is my apartment. I want to be alone.”
“And you’re our submissive and the first rule of Doms is to always ensure their sub is safe and secure. We’d be neglecting our job if we left you in this state.” Aiden stood as he spoke. “Please, come back to our place so we can discuss this.”
She shook her head. “Not now.”
“You have questions,” Dane said. “We have answers.”
She stared at him. Damn him for holding all the information. Seconds passed in silence as she heaved deep breaths. As pissed as she was, she did want to know everything they had on her. Fuck them both. “I want the file.”
“It’s yours,” Aiden said.
“You’ll answer my questions and fill in the holes and let me go,” she demanded.
“Only if we must.” Dane eased closer.
She held out a hand. “Don’t.” She stepped toward the bedroom door. I can’t believe I’m doing this. The only reason she was going to follow them to their place was for information. Nothing else.
Afterward, she was done.
At the door to her apartment she slipped on a pair of sandals and grabbed a long sweater. She would go with them, but they didn’t need to ogle her nearly naked body.
She opened the door and stepped out into the hall, not looking back. They followed, keeping a distance. Thank God they didn’t try to touch her. She was afraid she’d slap one of them.
Silence reigned in the elevator. No one said a word until they entered Aiden and Dane’s apartment.
“You lied to me.” The words came out with far less umph than she had planned. She was beaten down now from crying. Her chest hurt. She wrapped her sweater around her tighter and crossed her arms. She didn’t sit. Instead she paced the room.
“I know.” Aiden didn’t deny anything. He sat on the coffee table, his elbows on his knees, his hands rubbing together. “And we’re sorry.”
“How long have you had that file?”
“Since Wednesday when we went to walk through the club. Jason Garwood, the owner, gave it to us,” Dane said. He stood several feet from her, not moving.
Stephanie gasped. Jason Garwood. She suddenly remembered where she knew that name. She’d been working on his account last week before she quit her job. “What the hell does he have to do with my family?”
“He was a good friend of your father.” Aiden took a deep breath and stared at her.
Stephanie didn’t move, not lowering her gaze.
Aiden continued, “Your father died many years ago in a car accident. When Jason saw your name on the account at Seabring he wondered if it was you. He wanted to look into it further, make sure you were okay.”
“Why?”
“He always felt like he’d owed it to his friend to help his daughters,” Dane said.
“Daughters…” She jerked, remembering about Lori. “Lori is really my sister? How?” She glared at Dane.
“Lori is your half-sister. Your father had her a few years before he met your mother.”
“She never mentioned it.” Why would her mother lie to her about so many things? Sure, the woman was a mess. A disaster really. But how mean could she be?
Stephanie glared at both men. “And you decided to keep this from me because…?”
“He asked us to,” Dane continued with a sigh.
“So let me get this straight. You two went to the club, Jason told you who I was, and you felt convinced it was in my best interest to keep this information from me?” She hoped her best sarcastic voice was heard.
“Basically,” Dane began. “Though it sounds much more harsh and stupid when you put it that way. We explained to Jason what our circumstances were and he pleaded with us to wait to tell you the news until after he got back in town. He’s away at a family reunion. He wanted to be the one to tell you. I’m sorry. Obviously that idea sucked. You’re so new to the lifestyle. It seemed prudent not to dump extra baggage on your plate, especially with Jason out of town. It’s his
story to tell.” Dane tucked his head and rubbed his temples.
“We didn’t mean to intentionally hurt you, Stephanie,” Aiden added. “Please understand we had only your best interests at heart. You’ve been under a lot of stress adjusting to this new lifestyle. All we wanted, all the three of us wanted, was to give you the time to figure yourself out without compounding your situation with this giant blow.”
Stephanie swallowed. They looked so contrite. That didn’t forgive their stupidity, but they were sincere.
Dane spoke again. “We were being purely selfish when we agreed to keep this information from you until next week. We knew the impact it would have on you would be tremendous and you would need time to think and work things out. It’s a lot to find out.
“We selfishly feared we would lose you if you were bombarded with that much information. It was a stupid idea. We’re sorry. You had a right to know as soon as we found out.”
She struggled to stand straighter. “Does Lori know all this?” Her cheeks burned with memories of the times they’d spent together over the last week. Hell, she’d even cried on the woman’s shoulder—naked.
Both men shook their heads. Dane spoke. “Lori knows she has a sister that disappeared when she was little. No one has told her about you yet.”
Which sections of this disaster could she believe and which were lies?
“Apparently your mother was a little…off. That isn’t news to you,” Aiden said. “She made poor choices. One of them was to leave your father and hide you from him.”
“My mother ran off with me? Not the other way around?” Stephanie stiffened. She took a step back, squeezing her hands into fists until her nails hurt where they dug into her palms.
“Yes. According to Jason. Your father looked for you but was unable to find you. He died in a car accident a few years later.” Aiden looked sincere as he spoke.
“So Jason saw my name on the Seabring file and thought it might be me?”
“Yes,” Dane said.
She tipped her head back and looked at the ceiling. “And my father died in a car accident.” She repeated the facts, trying to wrap her mind around them. “He wasn’t some asshole deadbeat dad that ran from responsibility and left me.” Was this all possible?
Neither man said a word.
She tipped her gaze back to glare at them both. “You kept this from me.”
“It was a rotten idea,” Aiden said. He didn’t contest her.
“Very poor judgment on our part,” Dane added.
“You’re both selfish.” She narrowed her gaze at them.
“Very,” they stated at the same time.
“Is there anything else you’re keeping from me?”
Aiden shook his head as he stood. “No. I swear. You mean a lot to us, Stephanie. We fucked up. We’re sorry. Please don’t leave. We couldn’t bear it. We have no right to tell you what to do. You’re your own person. Being a submissive means giving us control over you. It’s your choice entirely whether you agree to that or not. Dane and I are committed to this. We want you to move in with us. I realize this is a lot to take in and we’ve only known each other a few weeks, but we’re committed to this.”
“Prove it.” She unfolded her arms and let her sweater fall open.
Dane tipped his head to one side. “How?”
She stepped forward, widening her stance, lifting her head higher. Fury over what they’d done still coursed through her veins, but she knew they were sincere. They hadn’t done anything to hurt her intentionally.
Her heart pounded as she realized the full scope of what was happening between the three of them. Her chest hurt. She could barely catch her breath with the thoughts overwhelming her.
She needed all this shit to go away. She needed to feel. Aiden and Dane could make her forget. And she wanted that right now.
She tugged the sweater off her shoulders and dropped it to the floor. “If I’m to be your submissive and you are truly going to dominate me and keep me as your own, I need you to truly make me yours. Right now. Make me forget.” Her fingers shook as she worked the buttons on the front of her dress, slowly revealing her chest to their gazes. She kicked off her sandals at the same time. She continued to speak, her voice more solid as she grew more confident of her decision. Her needs. “Make. Me. Forget… Make. Me. Yours.” She released the buttons over her belly as she spoke, knowing the edges of her breasts were now exposed down the center.
With strength she never realized she had, she continued, “Dominate me. Make me yours.” She pushed the last button through the hole and shook her shoulders until the dress fell to the floor to join the sweater.
Naked, she stepped forward, spread her legs and grasped her hands behind her back. Her body trembled with need.
She dropped her chin down and let her gaze land on the floor. It was one of the first positions they’d taught her last week. It seemed like a year ago now.
Dane and Aiden lurched forward.
Dane grabbed her chin and lifted her face. He took her lips in a crushing kiss, his hands gripping her shoulders.
Aiden held her hips, his fingers digging into her, grounding her in just the way she needed. She wanted them to erase the bad memories and replace them with everything they had to give.
Dane’s voice was strong and determined when he released her lips and spoke. “Come.”
She followed on his heels with Aiden at her back.
“Legs farther apart,” Aiden demanded.
She glanced at her ankles. They hadn’t been close, but she spread them farther anyway. A tight ball formed in her belly. Aiden and Dane were really going to do this.
Dane stepped in front of her when they reached the corner of the bedroom. “Bring your arms to the front.”
Her hands shook as she complied.
The rip of Velcro made her finch. It always did. Dane wrapped a cuff around first one wrist and then the other. He attached them to each other with a hook in the middle. A chain hung between her hands. Dane grabbed the chain and jerked it above her head. “Face the window.”
She swallowed as she inched up to the huge open glass.
“Lift your arms over your head.” Dane yanked the chain between her wrists as he ordered her to move.
She stared out the window inches from her face as he reached above her and secured her wrists to the curtain rod. Exposure made her squirm. She had to take a deep breath and remind herself no one could see in. At least not easily.
You’ve been through this before. The window is high and tinted.
Aiden spoke next, his voice making her flinch. Deep. Rougher than she’d ever heard. “Keep your eyes open. Watch the world outside. Wonder if anyone is looking.”
Her pussy clenched. She stepped her legs together.
“Really?” Aiden asked.
A shiver ran down her spine as he stomped away and returned moments later. He kneeled at her back and grabbed an ankle.
She gulped the lump in her throat. More Velcro secured her to one end of the bar as she watched him work. This bar was far wider than the one they used frequently on her thighs. She had to step out more than usual for him to secure her other ankle.
“There. I think that will keep your legs apart.” Aiden stood. “I believe you’ll find yourself wearing this several hours a day for a while. Your knees and ankles seem to have magnets in them.”
Dane reached over her head and tugged on the chain. It tightened, stretching her arms and forcing her to stand as tall as she could. “Head down. Eyes on the world outside.”
She hadn’t realized she’d lifted her chin to watch him. She dipped her forehead and looked outside. People moved around below, passing each other on the sidewalk.
Fuck. It was impossible not to worry.
“Stay still,” Aiden demanded. “You aren’t to move.”
The first strike against her butt startled her so much she squealed.
She braced herself for more, but it didn’t come. Instead Dane dragged something up
her back and over her shoulder until it fell in front of her face.
A flogger… She bit the inside of her lip. The supple leather looked so innocent swaying between her breasts. But it packed a punch when whipped through the air.
Her ass burned where he’d hit her. She knew there would be a pink line across her for several days. And she suspected it was the first of many. And she wanted this…
Needed it. Fucking craved the release she felt with just that first strike.
There was no sense denying how it made her feel. Controlled. But desired.
Bring it on. Her pussy clenched again, wetness pooling.
Every move they made heightened her arousal. Even the humiliation of looking out that wide open window at the world below made her clit pulse with need.
More. She needed to feel.
Dane reached over her shoulder and grabbed the end of the flogger. He held it to her nose, slowly dragging it back and forth in front of her face, one hand holding each end. Except for the barest of brushes against her skin, he didn’t touch her. “Smell it, baby. Taste it.” He lowered it to her mouth.
She let her tongue slip out at his bidding and tentatively licked the leather. It tasted salty, musky.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
She nodded.
Dane yanked the flogger away and swatted her across the upper back. “What was that?”
She jumped, as much as she could, bound as she was. “Yes, Sir.” Her voice cracked as she muttered the words.
Again the flogger crossed her ass in a new spot. “I didn’t hear you,” Dane said.
“Yes, Sir,” she croaked out.
“That’s better.” He stepped back. “Aiden?”
She swayed involuntarily toward the window. It was a physical reaction to knowing Dane had passed the flogger to Aiden and another man was about to swat her.
Aiden dragged the leather over her skin. He used his free hand to grasp her butt cheek and squeeze.
She yelped. The line on her ass stung.
Aiden leaned into her ear. “Keep the noises to a minimum. Some moaning is okay. Enough to bring the neighbors to the door is not.”
She bit her lip and then released it when she knew she needed to respond. “Yes, Sir.” It wasn’t as though she were making voluntary noises.
Bound to be Tamed: Emergence, Book 2 Page 27
