He would have demanded that she have full security systems installed in her apartment and the shop and she wouldn’t be leaving doors unlocked or windows open.
That reminded him, he needed to go and have a talk with her brothers about their lack of protection when it came to their sister. He took long strides back to the club and jumped into his sleek black SUV. He would just pay them a visit out at their ranch and see what their excuses were.
* * * *
Emily sat curled in a ball on her sofa with her feet tucked up close to her bottom and her arms wrapped around her knees. Sheriff Blake had left long ago and Hawk shortly after. She had spent the last hour crying and her face felt puffy and red and she was sure her eyes were swollen. She wasn’t a pretty crier and knew she would look a mess.
Hawk had tried to make excuses for Wolf’s mean words, but she hadn’t really wanted to listen. She knew that he was just saying it to push her away. What she didn’t understand was why.
She felt the attraction between them. Surely she wasn’t imagining it. That kiss in the alley had been explosive and all-consuming. It couldn’t have been one-sided. Nobody kissed like that if they didn’t like the person.
What was his problem? Hawk said he was just scared, but it was hard to picture the tall, confident Dom as scared of anything. Wolf was seemed so self-assured in his world and in his wants that Emily just found it hard to believe.
All she did know at the moment was that his words had hurt and if he didn’t want her, then she needed to accept that and move on. Even if that meant losing Hawk, too.
They came as a packaged deal, and she wouldn’t be the one to tear them apart. Wolf and Hawk had known each other longer and had been through so much in and out of the marines and she wasn’t going to come between them.
Hawk had assured her that wouldn’t happen, but she wasn’t sure and she wasn’t willing to take the chance. Maybe that made her a coward, too, but she didn’t care. More than just her feelings were involved. Hawk said not to give up, but it looked like that was the best course of action.
Emily looked up from the patch of carpet she was staring at when there was a loud knock on her door. She didn’t need to ask who it was. She could hear them from a mile away. Her brothers were not known for their stealth.
Emily rose from the couch and opened to door to let them in. They filed into the living room and planted themselves on the sofa. Emily took the remaining armchair and looked over at her three brothers.
Austin was the oldest brother and was ten years older than Emily. He was the strictest and most serious of the three and treated Emily more like a daughter than a sister at times. He was also the tallest and had the bulkiest build. He wore his dirty blond hair close to his head and had the same hazel eyes as she did.
Tyler was the middle brother. He was two years younger than Austin and far less bossy. He was the quiet brother, more of an observer. He took everything in and only reacted when he had thought over all his options. Smaller in height but as solid in build, he had curly blond hair and more green than hazel eyes.
Ryan was the youngest of the three, by another two years. He was the clown of the group and rarely took anything seriously. He was a loudmouth and had got the three of them in hot water on more than one occasion. He was also the smallest in height and size, but only by a smidgen. He wore his straight, light-brown hair shoulder-length and said it made him look like Brad Pitt from Legends of the Fall despite the color.
Emily’s brothers stared back at her and she didn’t have to wait for long before one of them talked.
“We had a visit from Wolf,” Austin said. “He thinks we have been remiss in taking care of our little sister.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” Emily said. “He doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
That rat bastard, running off and tattling on her to her brothers. He couldn’t stop at nasty words, he had to take it further and get her family involved. Emily sighed and resigned herself to the fact that it was over. Over before it had even started.
“You know what we would say to you about leaving your doors unlocked,” Tyler said. “It is completely unacceptable. Mom and Dad would be furious.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t tell them, too,” she said.
“Don’t get sassy, sis,” Austin told her. “We will be keeping a closer eye on you in future.”
Geez, they were here every second day as it were. How much more could they possibly check in on her? They were going to be travelling a lot. The ranch was a good hour from her bakery. Short of moving to town, she couldn’t see it working.
“I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” she said. “It was just a silly prank. Blake said he would look into it. It’s handled.”
“We are your brothers,” Austin said. “We will make sure nothing like this happens again.”
“I don’t need anyone taking care of me,” she said. “I’m fine the way things are.”
“If that were true, this wouldn’t have happened,” Tyler said.
“Don’t worry, sis,” Ryan said. “Big bros are here.”
“God help you when you get a woman of your own,” Emily told them. “I hope she runs circles around you.”
“Nah,” Ryan replied. “She’ll know who’s boss or will have a red hide to show for it.”
Emily opened her mouth to give a snappy retort when there was another loud knock on the door and Kate, Sarah, and Holly walked in. She stood and walked over to her friends and gave each one a hug hello.
“We came as soon as we heard,” Sarah said. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” she replied. “How did you hear?”
“Old Mrs. Hailbury,” the women said at the same time. Kate walked around Emily and looked at her brothers on the sofa.
“Out,” Kate said, pointing to the door. “Get out. We need girl time.”
“You can’t kick us out,” Austin replied. “We were trying to talk to Emily about taking better care of her personal safety.”
“Well,” Kate told him. “We are about to start talking about periods and personal hygiene products. So feel free to stay.”
“I do like those tampons you recommended,” Holly said. “They are much more absorbent.”
“Gross,” Ryan said.
“Let’s get back to the ranch,” Tyler added.
“This isn’t finished,” Austin said. “We need to talk about this.”
“Yeah,” Ryan told them. “I thought Wolf was going to take Austin’s head off.”
“And not yours?” Holly asked. “Shame.”
“That’s enough, brat,” Ryan replied. “Or I’ll tell Chase and Jarrod on you.”
“Stop threatening my friends,” Emily said. “We will talk later, I promise.”
Emily watched as her three brothers waved good-bye and walked out the door. For grown men, they were still so immature in so many ways, Ryan especially, but she loved them and she knew they only had her best interests at heart, so she could forgive their meddling ways.
“Sit down,” Emily told them. “Do you want tea?”
“I’ll make it,” Holly said and dashed off to the kitchen.
Kate and Sarah sat down on the sofa her brothers had just left and Emily sat back down in the vacant armchair.
“Hey Sarah,” she said. “Shot anyone today?”
“Day’s not over yet,” Sarah replied. Emily shook her head. It was becoming a joke between the women to tease Sarah about shooting people. She had shot three people in under a year. All in self-defense of course, the woman often found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Wolf giving your brothers a hard time is a good sign,” Kate said. “It means he still cares.”
“Or he just wants them to take me off his hands,” Emily said. “He was pretty adamant that he didn’t want a relationship.”
“He doesn’t know what he wants,” Kate said. “The whole town knows that Wolf is smitten when it comes to you.”
“Appare
ntly the whole town is wrong,” Emily replied. She knew her friends were trying to make her feel better, but she wasn’t sure it was going to work. She needed to mope for a bit before she rallied and put it all behind her.
“What he needs is something to give him a shove in the right direction,” Holly said, walking from the kitchen carrying a tea tray. She placed it on the coffee table and passed a cup to Emily and then to Kate and Sarah. She took her own cup and sat down on the floor opposite them.
“Hawk had been pushing us together for months,” Emily told them. “I think it’s time to give up and move on.”
“Maybe Hawk has been going about it all wrong,” Sarah said. Emily wasn’t sure she understood what Sarah meant, and neither did anyone else by the confused look on all their faces.
“What do you mean?” Kate asked her sister.
“Well,” she said. “Wolf knows that Emily is open to a relationship and Hawk has been pushing them together, but what if Emily suddenly isn’t waiting for Wolf anymore? What if she looks like she is moving on?”
“You mean like making it look like she is dating someone else?” Holly asked.
“No,” Kate replied. “We need something more drastic and in your face.”
“I was thinking the slave auction,” Sarah told them. “Emily will be available to any man willing to bid on her and Wolf will either have to win her or let her go.”
“You have a deviant little mind, sis,” Kate said. “I like it.”
Emily didn’t. She had never been to the club or submitted to anyone before and it was very risky. What happens if they didn’t bid on her? She wasn’t willing to risk her heart like that. She could end up with some real weirdo.
“I don’t know,” she told them. “What happens if they don’t bid?”
“They will,” they all replied together.
“It’s perfect,” Holly said. “We will be there to support the club already and can watch over you.”
“And on the small chance that they don’t bid on you,” Kate said. “We will set it up for someone to bid on you and take you home.”
“Who?” Emily asked. It all seemed way too risky to her. She was too reserved to pull it off.
“It would have to be someone in on it from the start,” Holly said. “Taken Doms can’t bid, so it has to be someone single.”
“What about Cole and Trace Jackson?” Kate said. Emily flinched. She liked them, but she couldn’t see them going along with their plans.
“No,” she replied.
“Tank?” Holly asked.
“Does he even go to the club?” Emily answered with a question of her own, and besides, he didn’t fit the bill.
“Sam, knuckleheads,” Sarah said. “No reason it has to be a man.”
With Sam decided on as her default bidder, they went on to make more plans to pull off what they started referring to as “mission submission.” Soon they had discussed all the details down to the color of the thong and corset she would have to wear.
Emily was still not sure if it was a good idea by the time her friends had left. The auction was less than a week away and she had decided to give up on love and become a spinster with her twenty cats. Sarah, Kate, and Holly had begged her to give it one more chance. If Wolf didn’t take the bait, then it was well and truly a lost cause.
God, she hoped she didn’t embarrass herself. She had to wear a goddamned thong and she had rarely even worn a bathing suit in public. She was going to be putting herself on the line again, and once this was done there was no turning back. That was the scariest part of it all. If she failed, Wolf and Hawk would be well and truly lost to her.
Emily knew she had to go through with it. She needed to take one last chance on love or she might regret it for the rest of her life. Besides she had always wanted to see the inside of Silk Ties and she couldn’t see herself being let back in after this stunt.
Chapter Six
Emily tugged at her uncomfortable corset and fiddled nervously with the collar that Sam had placed around her neck, as she waited backstage with the rest of the single submissives up for auction. They had chosen a dark purple corset and matching thong. Her face was covered with a fancy masquerade mask and she tottered on sexy four-inch heels.
Sam had snuck her in the back door and she had hidden in a dark corner of the backstage area ever since. Kate had filled out her paperwork using a fake name and address from out of town. She had completed her soft and hard limits herself, and then Sam had given her a reference to complete the strict policy the club had in place.
Emily looked around at the other submissives waiting behind the curtain. There was about twenty of them altogether and they were mostly women. They were all dressed in different colored corsets and thongs, and each wore a small mask. She only counted five men and all they wore was a small thong covering their junk and the masks. It made her feel more dressed compared to them and she was glad to be a woman in that moment.
“We start in five,” Hawk said, walking backstage and gaining everyone’s attention. “You will be led to a viewing area, where you will remain for ten minutes before coming back here. Then you will be auctioned off one by one according to the numbers on your wristbands.”
Emily’s nerves were really starting to kick in now. She needed to settle down or she would be dangerously close to losing her dinner.
“This is Master Black,” Hawk told them. “He will hand out your wristbands and escort you to the viewing area. Any questions or concerns need to be addressed with him now. Once the auction has started, it will be too late.”
Emily stood back further into the shadows as he walked passed her and out of sight. Luckily, she didn’t know Master Black and had never seen him around town. She really didn’t want to be caught before the auction even started. It would mean that all her and her friends’ hard work would go to waste.
Emily couldn’t believe she was doing this. Of all the stupid things to let her friends talk her into, this one took the cake. She had never worn something this skimpy in her life and her heart felt like it was going burst from her chest and her stomach was doing backflips.
When Master Black started to hand out the wristbands, Emily held back in hopes of being one of the last numbers to be auctioned off. Unfortunately the numbers had been pre-determined and he started to call people’s names. She slowly approached when he called her fake name, Clair Schokolade, and the band was placed around her wrist.
She kept her head down and moved back into the shadows as soon as he let go of her wrist. She was going to kill herself on these heels. She very rarely got the chance to wear high heels, and never ones this tall.
Sam, Kate, Sarah, Holly, and herself had thought long and hard about her fake name and had giggled when they came up with Clair Schokolade. Schokolade was German for chocolate, so they said it was chocolate éclair backward. Fitting, she supposed, seeing as she made them in the bakery and it was one of Wolf’s favorites.
“Line up in numbered order,” Master Black called, and Emily looked down at her number and winced.
She had number eleven, way too early in her opinion, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. She moved into line and quietly said hello to the beautiful, voluptuous, dark-skinned woman in front of her and the short, toned male behind her.
“Let’s go,” Master Black said. “It’s time. Follow me.”
Emily, or in this case Clair, followed the line from behind the curtain and across the stage and felt all eyes turn their way. She needed to use the handrail to navigate the stairs, but she made it without falling on her face.
Chatter filled the room as the line was led to the front of the stage where they all stood behind little black dots placed on the floor. They were spaced about half a meter apart and were then told to stand with their legs shoulder-width apart and their hands behind their heads.
Emily kept her eyes lowered and tried not to look at anyone’s face. She had decided that if she couldn’t see them, then they wouldn’t recognize
her, and she didn’t want that until it was time for bidding. The only question remaining was would Wolf and Hawk recognize her when the time came?
A long red rope ran in front of them, keeping the crowd back and unable to touch the goods, which Emily was thankful for. She heard a few men and woman stop in front of her and she recoiled at what they were saying.
“This one had nice pouty lips,” a deep voice said. “And big hips to hold on to.”
“Her pale ass would mark nicely,” another voice stated. “Turn around, slave.”
It took Emily a second to realize that he was talking to her. Asking them to turn and bend was the only pre-auction request the bidders were allowed to make. She hoped they didn’t ask her to bend. With the tiny scrape of material covering her sex, they would get a damned good view of her goods.
She slowly turned on her heels, and even though she couldn’t see them, she could feel their eyes on her back and exposed ass. She had put down on her limit list that she wouldn’t mind people seeing her naked, but now she was having second thoughts. She felt cold and uncomfortable standing here alone while strangers gawked at her.
“She had a big, full ass,” said the first voice. “I like the cute little dimples.”
“Nah,” said the second. “It says she doesn’t do anal.”
She heard them walk off and she sighed as she slowly turned back around and straight into the eyes of her friend, Holly. She was standing next to her two Doms, Chase and Jarrod Walker, and looked so small compared to their great bulks.
Holly was dressed in a tight green corset and small black miniskirt, her feet were bare and she had a matching emerald collar around her neck. Her Doms both wore dark black jeans and black shirts with heavy black boots covering the large feet.
She tried not to shiver as they looked her over and she quickly returned her eyes to the ground.
“Let’s move on,” Holly told them. “Lots more to see.”
Just a Taste [Merricks, Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 6
