“I never want you to drive,” Jay retorted, pulling down the visor to let the keys fall into his palm. “My grandmother goes faster in her wheelchair than you do in this big-ass phallic symbol of yours.”
They were about half-way back to Passion Lake when they came across a little red Ford Fiesta, pulled haphazardly onto the shoulder. The left rear bumper was sticking dangerously out into the roadway. “Oh, wow,” Jay said, slowing to a crawl to see if there was anyone in the car.
“Pull off,” Nik said. “We can at least push it completely off the road, or there’s going to be an accident.”
Jay pulled around the car and rolled to a stop just beyond it. Pulling a flashlight out of the glove box, the two men got out and approached on both sides. They didn’t see anybody through the windshield, but as soon as they drew abreast of the side windows they realized that there was indeed someone inside. Charlotte Fielding. She was still seated in the driver’s seat, with her upper body sprawled across the console and her head in the passenger seat. She was hugging what looked like an enormous stuffed bunny rabbit with long, floppy ears.
Nik immediately tried the door. Locked. He rapped on the window. No response. He called her name. Still no response. “Jesus, Jay, what the hell happened here?” His gaze met Jay’s over the roof of the little car. Jay went to the back of their hummer and pulled out a slim Jim. In a matter of seconds he’d unlocked the driver’s door, yanked it open and released the rest of the locks. Both men hunkered down, Nik at her head, Jay at her ass. Nik reached in to touch her. “Holy Christ!” he exclaimed the instant he felt the heat rolling off of her. “She’s burning up with fever! Charlotte.” He tapped her cheek. “Charlotte. Myshka! Wake up!”
“Go ’way,” Charlie moaned, ducking her head in an effort to brush that annoying tapping away. “Lea’ me alone.”
“Not on your life,” Nik answered, lifting her head and torso and pushing her back up so she was once again in a sitting position. Okay, more like a leaning position. But upright enough for Jay to unbuckle her seat belt, grab her arm before she could slide back down, and pull her toward him. He slid her sideways off the seat and stood, lifting her up into his arms. Her and the stuffed rabbit she had a death grip on. She fit against his body like she’d been made just for him. He swallowed around the sudden thickening of his throat. This was a sign. He was convinced of it. They had found her again. And this time they were not letting her go.
CHAPTER FIVE
While Jay carried her over to their car and deposited her on the back seat, buckling her in, Nik was carrying on a low-voiced conversation with Lucas McKay. Pocketing his phone, he pushed Charlie’s car off the road and climbed into the Hummer’s back seat. He unbuckled the seat belt Jay had just fastened around Charlie and pulled her onto his lap, cradling her against him. “Christ, she’s like a furnace! Luc’s meeting us at the Lodge. He said to put her in a bathtub full of cold water until he gets there. I told him to just come on in through the garden.”
Jay practically broke the existing land speed record on that particular trip home. Carrying her in through their private entrance Nik took her straight into his bathroom. Sitting down with her on the edge of his over-sized Jacuzzi tub, he turned on the cold water and began filling it while Jay began divesting her of her clothes. When he tried to pull the stuffed rabbit out of her arms, she resisted, hugging it even more tightly. “Yes, baby,” he said, trying to pry her fingers open. “You have to let go. You know bunnies hate water. You don’t want to get him all wet, do you?”
As if she’d heard him, she loosened her hold and he set the light brown bunny on the counter. When he turned back to Charlotte and saw the hideous bite mark Bradford had left on her inner thigh, he let out a low whistle. “Jesus, Nik, this looks really bad. What kind of monster would do something like this?”
Nik peered over his shoulder. “The kind who needs to be in jail. Damn. I hope Jesse or Mike can convince her to press charges.”
As soon as Charlie was naked, Jay stripped off his own clothes and climbed into the tub, letting out a yelp as he lowered himself into the water. “Holy fuck, that’s cold!”
Nik just chuckled and lifted her over the side of the tub and onto Jay’s lap. Then he quickly divested himself of his own clothing and got into the tub facing Jay and Charlie. Shivering, teeth chattering, the two men scooped handfuls of water over Charlie’s supine figure. They were still at it nearly half an hour later when Lucas appeared in the bathroom door. “How’s she doing?” he asked, setting his bag down and getting on his knees beside the tub.
“She feels somewhat cooler.” Jay said, watching as Luc held a digital thermometer up to her forehead.
“Hundred and two,” Luc said. “Hardly cool. But I think she’s been in there long enough.” He yanked a large bath sheet off the warming rack. “Hold her up.”
Jay pushed her up and Luc wrapped her in the warm towel, lifting her out of the tub and carrying her out of the bathroom. Placing her on Nik’s bed, he sat down beside her and began patting her skin dry. She was shivering. And despite the fever she was running, her lips were blue with cold. “Wake up, sweetie,” Luc said, tapping her cheeks as Nik had done earlier and getting no more response than the big Russian had. “Jesus, she’s out like a light.”
“Should we be worried?” Nik and Jay, towels wrapped around their hips, approached the bed.
“No, it’s just her body trying to heal. She might be out of it for a day or two. Do you have an electric blanket?”
“It’s in the linen closet, boy,” Nik said to Jay. “Fetch it, please.”
“Yes, Papa Bear.”
In a matter of seconds, they plugged it in, turned it up as high as it would go and covered her with it up to her chin.
She just lay there, shivering and whimpering quietly, moving restlessly. Jay went back into the bathroom, only to emerge carrying the large rabbit. He pulled up the blanket and lifted her arm to tuck the bunny beneath it. Her eyes never opened, but the minute she became aware of its presence, she clutched it against her so tightly she was practically strangling it. But she settled right down and didn’t utter another peep.
Working quickly, Lucas inserted an IV line into her arm and hung a bag of glucose, injecting something into the line and adjusting the drip. “The glucose is mainly to keep her hydrated. The syringe has a fast-acting antibiotic. In the morning, when this bag is empty, replace it with this other one.’ He placed a second bag on the night stand. “I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon and check on her.” He closed his bag and stood up. “When she finally does wake up, she’ll probably feel a lot better.” He hesitated. “I’m not butting in, but…okay, I am butting in. I think she needs to speak to someone about her ordeal with Bradford. Judging from the marks he inflicted on her, it was brutal.”
Nik and Jay both nodded. “We agree. Who do you recommend?”
Lucas just gave them a completely unrepentant grin and handed Nik a piece of paper. “Dr. Art Portman. He just moved his practice to Richmond from Seattle. His specialty is BDSM relationships. Caleb, Simon, and Ash Rafferty said he worked miracles with them after Kylie ‘s abduction.” He grinned. “I’ve already taken the liberty of speaking with him about Ms. Fielding. I called him on the way back from Risqué .He said to tell you to call him any time.” Lucas hesitated again. “I also think it would be a good idea for the two of you to talk to him about this sudden change in your own relationship. I got the feeling, watching you tonight that you were both taken by surprise at what happened between you. He might be able to help you better understand this new dynamic and put it all into perspective. Especially if you’re planning on adding Ms. Fielding into the equation.”
“He has a point, Papa Bear,” Jay said.
Nik put the piece of paper on the nightstand. “Thanks, Luc. I’ll call him first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Call me if she takes a turn for the worse. But I think she’s already started to improve and will continue to do so through the night. Good luck, yo
u two. I think you have found a very brave submissive in Ms. Fielding.”
“Yeah.” Jay’s lips twisted. “I just hope we can get her to trust us.”
“That’s easy,” Lucas said. “Just let her occasionally be in charge. Show her that you trust her. I think that will go a long way toward winning her devotion.”
Nik and Jay just grinned and high-fived each other. “Yeah, we can definitely do that. It’ll be fun, just seeing what she comes up with.”
“Okay, guys, I’m off. Take good care of your little sub.”
“Thanks, Lucas, for all your help tonight.”
He laughed and shook their hands. “Don’t worry. You’ll get my bill.”
As soon as he left, both Jay and Nik dropped the towels from around their waists. “Are you ready, malchik moy?” Nik asked, heading for the over-sized leather chair in front of the fireplace. He grabbed a remote, aimed it at the opening, and a cheery fire blazed in the hearth. “Bring a blanket, boy,” he said, sinking into the welcoming softness of the sturdy chair. As Jay approached carrying a blanket, Nik patted his thighs. “Sit.”
Jay glanced over at the bed where Charlotte lay asleep and lowered his good-sized frame sideways down onto Nik’s lap. While Nik fussed with the blanket, shaking it out and pulling it up over them, Jay curled up into a semi-fetal position, laying the side of his head on Nik’s shoulder. He was a big man, but Nik was bigger and as he put his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his forehead, Jay relaxed, feeling safe and secure. And, better yet, cherished.
“So,” Jay said at the end of a sigh. “Sure took you long enough to finally realize that you’re a Daddy Dom.”
Nik chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it did. And how long have you known?”
“Since I first laid eyes on you,” he replied honestly. “We’ve all known. I just didn’t know about…me.”
“Well, you’d better tell me everything, boy,” Nik scolded. “No more bratty behavior. And no more holding anything back or I’ll have to punish you.”
Jay gave him a sly smile. “Well, if all of your punishments are like what you gave me tonight, you can count on my being bratty quite often.”
Nik laughed. “I will look forward to it, moy daragohy.”
Moy daragohy. My dear. Jay sighed and angled his head back so he could look Nik square in the eye. “I don’t know what to tell you, Nik. I don’t know where these feelings came from. I’m not submissive. I am a true Dom. Yet lately I have found myself wanting to submit, needing to submit. But just to you. Nobody else, just you. There have been times when I’ve found myself longing to be forced to suck your cock and swallow your cum. Times when I’ve wanted you to Dominate me, take my choices from me. Because I trust you to take me places I’ve never been before. Places no one else but you can take me.” His gaze faltered. “God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“You must tell me, my dear boy. How else can I give you what you need if you don’t tell me what it is?”
“I-I don’t want you to feel obligated—”
Nik lowered his forehead to Jay’s, spearing him with his gaze, his need mirroring Jay’s own. “I love you, malchik moy. Up until now, it’s been like a brother. I can’t wait to begin exploring this new side of our relationship. You can trust me to give you what you need.”
“I know, I just—it’s—it’s not something I’m going to want all the time, Daddy. At least I don’t think it is.”
“I understand that, boy.”
“I don’t know where this is coming from.” Jay’s frustration was evident in his voice, the tension of his muscles. “I know I’m not gay. And I know you aren’t either. But I love you. As my friend. As my partner. And now, God willing, as my Dom and my lover. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”
“How long?” Nik wanted to know.
“At least two years. There have been times lately when I’ve dreamed I was being fucked by you. I’ve never dreamed that about anybody else. Nor would I want it from anybody else. Only you.” He sighed and nuzzled his face against Nik’s neck.
“I’m not a ‘little’,” Jay went on. “I don’t want or need a full-time Daddy. But ever since I’ve known you, I have naturally looked up to you. You have been my confidant. My guide. My teacher. You have been the anchor in my life, more than my father or brothers ever were. You have all the qualities found in every good Daddy Dom. In spades. I know you’ve often accused me of being bratty. But lately I’ve come to realize that the times when I’m at my brattiest are the times I’ve found myself longing for just those qualities from you.. Longing for you to hold me and reassure me and comfort me like I’ve seen you do with so many of our subs over the years. The times when I’ve needed you to be my Daddy Dom.”
Nik’s arms tightened around him. “Why did you not tell me, Jay?”
Jay just shook his head helplessly. “And let you think I was crazy? Because I certainly thought I was crazy. I don’t understand these needs. I can’t explain them to myself. How could I possibly explain them to you?”
Nik’s lips quirked. “Well, I don’t know about you, but it seems to me you just did a damned fine job of explaining them.”
Jay lifted his gaze to Nik’s, his eyes swimming with anguish. “Besides, if I needed this and you didn’t, telling you about it would have placed me in a very vulnerable position.” His lips compressed. “Still might.”
The two men stared at each other, probing deep into each other’s souls. Finally, Nik said. “I, too, have been wanting all these things, Jay. I think I’ve wanted them for a long time. But I was afraid to tell you, for fear of losing the one thing I value most—your friendship.”
“And I was afraid of losing yours,” Jay admitted. “I was afraid you would end our partnership and not want to have anything more to do with me.”
“See what fear does to people?” Nik commented philosophically. “It destroys trust. If we hadn’t hidden behind our fears, we could have begun this new aspect of our relationship long ago. And just to lay those fears to rest forever, nothing you say or do will ever make me want to end our partnership or kick you out of my life.”
Jay’s throat was so thick with unshed tears, he could barely squeeze his next words past them. “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”
Nik’s arms tightened around Jay. “Me, too, malchik, moy. Me, too. But you must promise me, no more secrets. You come to me with anything that concerns you, you hear me? I will do my best to give you everything you need,”
“Yes, Daddy.” Jay grinned.
* * * *
Holy shit! Charlie slowly released the breath she’d been holding as she’d listened to Nik and Jay’s low-voiced conversation. These men are so fucking hot! And they sound like they truly do love each other! That was something she’d been looking for all her life. Something she’d mistaken Perry Bradford’s attention for. A mistake, however, she was not about to repeat with these or any other men.
Her head was pounding and her entire body ached. She felt like she’d been run over by a herd of stampeding buffalo. What was she doing here? And where was here, exactly? Was she back at Club Risqué? Possibly in one of their private rooms? No, no, that couldn’t be right. The last thing she remembered was driving away, crying so hard she could barely see the road. And then…nothing. Had Nik Rostov and Jay Gillespie hunted her down and forced her to come back with them? No. No. I refuse to believe that. These are honorable men! Not at all like Perry Bradford. And every new thing I learn about them only confirms that. So where the fuck am I?
“So does this mean we’ll be sleeping together?” Jay was asking when she realized that they had resumed talking.
“You are welcome in my bed any time, of course,” Nik said. “But I will understand if you wish to keep your room and join me only when you feel the need for a Daddy. But don’t you think our plans need to look beyond even that?”
“You talking about Charlotte?”
Charlie’s ears immediately perked up. They were talk
ing about her! And she was unashamedly listening to every word.
“Da.” Nik nodded. “I’m talking about Charlotte. I think your reaction to her was the same as mine. Everything about her called to something deep inside me. She’s been hurt and abused and claims she’s through with the D/s lifestyle. But I could see the longing in her eyes, her eagerness to please. She’s not only a natural submissive I suspect she may be a ‘little’ who needs to be loved and cherished and looked after and I think we are just the ones to do it.”
“I think so, too, Nik.”
“Now all we have to do is convince her of that.” Nik chuckled. “A pretty tall order, given the depth of her mistrust. But we’ll give her all the love and encouragement we’re capable of. And if she needs therapy, I’ll give her Art Portman’s number. Luc seems to think highly of him. He helped the Raffertys. I understand he also helped Sarah, Jesse and Adam deal with the aftermath of her being kidnapped and sold to that slave trafficker.”
“Holy shit! That beautiful woman was sold to a slave trader?”
Charlotte didn’t even realize that she’d spoken out loud until she heard Jay exclaim, “Charlotte! You’re awake!” She felt the bed jostle and opened her eyes to see Nik sitting on her left side, Jay on her right. Fumbling beneath the blanket that covered her, Jay found her hand, and lifted it to his lips, pressing a kiss to the backs of her knuckles. Not kissing her so much as taking her temperature. She was still feverish.
She placed her elbows on the mattress and tried to prop herself up, and that’s when the blanket slid down and she noticed that she was holding Mr. Floppy. And there was an IV line in her arm. Wait. What? She frowned.
“Hey, where am I?” Hugging Mr. Floppy to her chest, she looked around the room. It appeared to be a bedroom and she was lying on a massive bed, the biggest bed she’d ever seen in her life. The room was very masculine in décor, with chocolate brown sheets and a navy blue comforter with wide brown and copper-colored stripes. The furniture was heavy and dark. French doors in one wall probably led out onto a patio.
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