by Cara Adams
“There’s chemistry between us. I’ve been trying to ignore it because I don’t have time for a woman. I’m getting my house set up, as you know. But these last few days… I don’t know. I can’t get her out of my mind. However, I want her as a sub, not a Domme. But if you’re already together, I’d never get between a man and his woman.”
Jason stared at Beckett. He could feel his pain. Not just in his nuts, but also in his heart. He’d made a play for Juliana, and it hadn’t worked. But that didn’t have to be the end of it. “Beckett, I’m no one’s sub. Not yours, not Juliana’s, never. But everyone I know is starting to partner up in threes. I don’t mind you joining us on Sunday as long as you understand clearly that we share equally. If you and she want to challenge each other in the dungeon to see who’s the better Dom or Domme or whatever, I get to be there and watch. We’re always together from now on. No taking her on solo dates. It’s all three of us, or neither of us. Is that a deal?”
“You’re a much nicer man than I am, Jason. In your position I’d want to keep her all to myself. In fact, only a few days ago I swore I’d never share a woman. But I want to be with Juliana, and I like you, so I’ll do as you say and not break your rule.”
Beckett stuck out his hand, and Jason shook it. It was freezing cold from holding the icepack, and they both laughed.
“There’s just one tiny detail,” Jason said.
“What’s that?”
“The lady has to agree to it.”
“Fuck!”
* * * *
Juliana slumped on the bench in the ladies change room, not sure whether to cry or to punch someone. Preferably that great big insufferable Dom who was sending her hormones into a tailspin with desire and need when there was a perfectly lovely man who wanted to date her and who accepted her as she was.
Or maybe she ought to just take a cold shower and go home to her vibrator. At least it never ruined her plans. It was reliable and always faithful. Like chocolate. Chocolate never let a woman down either. It always offered the same smooth, mouthwatering attraction day or night.
It also had a tendency to sit on her hips after she ate it. But sometimes it was well worth the extra hour on the exercise bike to get it off again. Like tonight. Tonight was a chocolate bar kind of night.
For a moment she hoped she hadn’t hurt Beckett. But he’d made her so intensely angry, treating her like a silly little bimbo in front of everyone, instead of as his equal. Juliana slumped again, the anger draining out of her system. Maybe that’s what she was. Just a stupid bimbo trying to attract a Dom instead of going with what was offered, a man who would be a much more stable and loving partner than the arrogant Dom would ever be. Except that her body craved being dominated. She wanted to be respected as a person, yet subservient in the dungeon. Was that so hard to understand? Her own woman by day, Beckett’s slave by night. What was wrong with that?
She stood up again, shaking her head, and collected her things out of her locker. Juliana spent a long time under the hot water in the shower, massaging her scalp and letting the cleansing streams run over her body until the anger and adrenaline had completely left her.
She was back in the outer room, brushing her damp hair, when Adelaide came in.
“Hi, Juliana. I thought you’d have left by now. Everyone is saying what an amazing act you and Beckett did. Yesterday’s was good, but today’s was even better. I think most men like the idea of the man coming out as the winner in the end.”
“Yes, that’s what Beckett thought. I felt the ending was a bit over the top.”
“Well, the customers liked it, and the clients are always right, I guess.” Adelaide sat on the bench beside her, picking at her fingernails.
“Did you need me for something?” Juliana asked, putting her hairbrush down and tying her hair into its regular ponytail.
“No, as I said, I thought you’d be gone by now. But since we’re alone…We are alone, right? There’s no one in the showers?”
“No, we’re alone. What’s the problem, Adelaide?”
“You know I don’t like”—she lowered her voice until her words were almost inaudible—“shape-shifters?”
“Yes I do. I’ve often wondered why you chose to work here instead of going somewhere you’d be unlikely to meet one.”
“It’s all about facing my fears and overcoming them. I’m trying to do that. Trying really hard. Sometimes I don’t even know who is who, you know? I mean, Simon never stands still. That’s a dead giveaway with him. But with some of the others who work here, I genuinely don’t know if they’re human or not.”
“I can’t tell you, Adelaide. It’s not my story to tell.”
“Oh, no. I wasn’t going to ask you. I know that a person’s species is private, a bit like politics and religion. People can tell someone themselves if they want to, but it’s rude to ask. No, I wanted to ask you why you aren’t afraid of them. Why you see them as normal. Because, if I understood better, maybe I wouldn’t be so frightened.”
“I don’t understand why you’re frightened. They are just people. People are just people. They come in all shapes and sizes, and most of them are really nice, but there are always a few rotten apples in the barrel.”
“Don’t you see them as different? Fearsome? Unusual?”
“Of course not. You’ve just admitted you don’t always know who are shape-shifters and who are human, so why would I think of them as different? Take Simon as an example. He’s a good boss. He’s always fair. I’ve never heard of him hurting anyone, and Tammy’s madly in love with him. Why would he frighten me?”
“But what if one of them, some of them, lost control one day?”
“Why would that happen? Every day in the news we hear about disasters, but we don’t stay away from the beach in case there’s a tsunami. We don’t refuse to get in a car in case there’s a road accident. A shape-shifter is no more likely to be a bad person than anyone else, and we don’t avoid all people in case there’s a madman with a gun. Or a shape-shifter out there. You need to relax, Adelaide. Look at each person just as themselves and decide if that person is nice or not. Everyone is different, unique.”
Juliana’s cell phone beeped, and Adelaide jumped up. “My break will be over. Thank you, Juliana. I’ll think about what you said.”
Adelaide hurried from the change room, and Juliana shook her head. She wasn’t sure that she’d been much help to Adelaide, but she approved of the woman’s desire to overcome her fears. That had to be a good starting place. She took her cell phone out of her bag and read the message.
Hey, Juliana. Is it okay if Beckett comes hiking with us on Sunday please?
Damn. Now what was she supposed to say?
Be like Adelaide. Face your fears.
I’m not afraid of him. I just want him to be my Dom. I want him so much and then he goes and spoils everything, by making me look like a stupid baby. Jason is the much nicer man. I should focus on Jason.
Damn. Yes? Or no?
Let me think about it, she texted back.
* * * *
Jason had put a lot of thought into where they’d hike. He spent hours Googling public gardens and hiking trails, remembering Juliana’s statement that she only wanted to walk for a few miles, not too far. He wished he’d asked her to define “a few miles.” Did that mean exactly two or two miles there, two miles back, or maybe three miles? Ugh. Finally he decided to go to a lookout on a mountain about a half hour’s drive away. They’d have the time in the car to talk, and then they could walk up to the lookout, and if she was still feeling energetic, they could wander along a few of the trails on the mountain.
Once he’d got it all worked out, he texted her again asking if ten was too early in the morning to start. That way they’d be able to share lunch together as well.
Ten is fine. Beckett can come, too.
Thanks. I’ll pick u up @10. What’s ur address?
I’ll meet you in the staff parking lot at the club.
Damn. She
didn’t want him to know her address. At least, he had her cell phone number. That was a start. Besides, Beckett would be pleased he’d been included in the outing. Jason had been wondering how long she’d take to decide whether or not Beckett could join them.
He scrolled through his contacts and swiped Beckett’s number. “Hey, Beckett. Juliana has agreed you can come, and we’re meeting at The Dom’s Dungeon staff parking lot at ten.”
“Ten? Great. Would you like me to bring a picnic then? We’ll be hungry after hiking.”
“A picnic would be awesome, and that way we really are both working together. I’ve planned the hike, and you’ve planned the picnic. See you Sunday.”
“Everything sounds good. Bye.”
Jason slid his cell phone back into his jeans pocket and looked around his apartment. He got out a duffel bag and began to think about what he might need. A coat for if it was cold. A baseball cap for if it was sunny. Spare socks and boots for if his feet got wet? Condoms and lube for if they got lucky? Maybe not. That was likely moving much too fast. The map of the area, though, would be useful, and he really should print off the trail maps from the Internet.
Jason settled onto his computer chair. He didn’t have an office. His computer sat in a corner of his living room. But what he did have was a date with the most amazing, most beautiful woman ever. He was finding he didn’t even mind the idea of sharing her with Beckett. It was good to have a friend to help him think of everything and plan how to make the date special. And when it came time, he’d like watching them both perform in the dungeon. He’d never considered himself a voyeur before, but watching Juliana would be almost as good as touching her himself. Of course fucking her would be ideal, but it was much too soon for that.
Maybe next week, though, he and Beckett could plan another date with her. One that might end up in bed. Jason jumped out of his chair and hurried into his bedroom, looking around it thoughtfully. He’d need to tidy up a bit in here first. Okay, tidy up a lot. But the room was large enough for three people. He had a king-sized bed. Beckett was a damn big man, but Juliana wouldn’t take up a lot of room, and he planned to be cuddled close to her. They’d be fine.
Back at his computer again, he printed off the maps of the trails on the mountain, and then he sat and thought some more. What would make the perfect date? He had to think about what Juliana would like. It was all about her, not about him or Beckett. Which was just as well because he didn’t know all that much about Beckett’s likes and dislikes. Hmm. While they were driving to the lookout, he should ask her about her tastes so he could plan their next date.
In the meantime he still had hours and hours of today left to fill in. He could start cleaning his apartment. Get that job out of the way while he had free time. But while he swept, dusted, and cleaned, he thought of Juliana’s vivid red hair, her sparkling brown eyes, and the lush body he’d seen inside the corset during her act. Rich, curved breasts and long, lean legs. A cute little ass and rounded hips. Her body was everything a man could possibly desire. However, he also liked her attitude. The way she’d kneed Beckett, while painful and demanding the sympathy of any red-blooded man, also showed that she was a person with her own thoughts and desires, which she wouldn’t let people ignore. She was a living, breathing, thinking, active part of their group, and only a very stupid man would forget that.
Mama O’Connor hadn’t reared any stupid children. Jason had no plans to feel her knee against his balls any time soon. Although her lips and hands there would be mighty fine.
* * * *
Why did I say Beckett could come? I must be crazy!
Juliana was excited about the first real date she’d been on in years but was also a little bit wary of the two men. Several of her colleagues at The Dom’s Dungeon had partnered into threesomes, but that was because there was a shortage of female shape-shifters. Two males were born for every female werewolf, so male wolves had started sharing a woman. That was all right for them, but she wasn’t a wolf, and neither was Jason. She was certain he was human. She wasn’t even sure Beckett was a wolf, but she thought he probably was. He had that dominant attitude and the need to keep moving that she’d noticed about so many of the wolves.
Unlike Adelaide, Juliana had never been afraid or worried about shape-shifters. Her grandparents had a farm an hour out of town, and their nearest neighbors were shape-shifters. Consequently, when, as a small child, she’d seen some of her summer vacation playmates shape-shift, she’d thought of it as a cool trick that she might learn to do when she grew older, rather than something to be worried about.
When her granddad had told her the ability to shape-shift was inherited from a person’s parents and she wouldn’t ever be able to do it, she’d been disappointed but philosophical about it. Juliana completely accepted the information about shifting as much the same kind of detail as her red hair, which never darkened into brown, although many redheaded toddlers darkened into brunettes.
But was she ready right now to deal with two men? To date two men? It seemed a bit excessive to go from having no boyfriend to dating two men simultaneously almost overnight.
Well, at least I’m not two-timing either of them. They both know what’s going on.
How would dating two men work? She’d wanted Beckett for a long time, but she wanted to be his submissive in the dungeon. Now he thought she was a Domme, and she needed to apologize for bruising his balls. Assuming she’d hit him hard enough to bruise them. He’d certainly made no attempt to grab her or even talk to her after she’d done that. But it had been unnecessarily excessive. She’d better apologize to him, even though he shouldn’t have treated her like that in a public scene. At least she’d kneed him in private.
Could she date Jason, dear sweet, kind, thoughtful Jason, out in the real world and only play with Beckett in the dungeon? Would that work? No, that wouldn’t be fair to Jason. The chemistry between her and Beckett was obvious, and it wouldn’t be at all reasonable to exclude Jason from that part of her life.
Damn and double damn! I have no idea how this will work!
Juliana dressed in jeans and comfortable walking shoes then slipped her cell phone and her keys in her pockets. She peeked out the window but decided she didn’t need a coat or sunglasses and then ran down the stairs and out to the parking lot.
As she drove to the BDSM club, she still worried away at the concept of how a date with two men would work. But she was no nearer to solving the dilemma when she arrived than when she’d left home. It was too late now anyway. Her date was about to start.
Staff parked on the lowest level of The Dom’s Dungeon parking lot, Basement 3, leaving the upper levels, B1 and B2, for clients. Although this level was quieter and less busy than the others, it was completely covered by security cameras and was brightly lit, so Juliana was never worried about her safety there even when she worked the late shift. At ten on a Sunday morning, it was emptier than usual, but Juliana unhesitatingly pulled into the back row of the lot, against the far wall but in a direct line with the elevator. This was where she usually parked, but it was just out of habit. Of course, today she wouldn’t be using the elevator. She locked her car and got out and then leaned a hip against the trunk of her car.
A car horn tooted, and she looked around to see Jason waving at her. He jumped back in his truck and drove around the parking lot to pull into the space beside her.
“Beckett is here. He went inside to collect something.”
She nodded. Jason was smiling happily at her, and she couldn’t resist smiling back.
“Whose vehicle are we using?”
“My truck might be best. The cab seats three, and there’s plenty of room in back for whatever Beckett’s bringing.”
The stairwell door opened then, and Beckett came out, glancing across at them and waving. His car was parked right by the elevator, and he popped the trunk, collected a picnic basket and a blanket, and then beeped it locked again.
Juliana hadn’t considered Beckett to be t
he type of man to own a picnic basket, but clearly she’d gotten that wrong. He stored his things in the back of Jason’s truck, and they all climbed in. As Jason had said, she wasn’t squashed in the front, even though she was in the middle and neither Beckett nor Jason were small people. Jason worked in construction, and the muscles of his shoulders and arms were clearly delineated under his white T-shirt. His shoulders were very broad, but so were Beckett’s, and Beckett was several inches taller and likely twenty or thirty pounds heavier than Jason.
In the middle between them, she felt small, which was unusual as she was five eight, a little tall for a woman, and of average build, not skinny at all.
“Where are we going, Jason? Tell us all about the place you’ve chosen.”
* * * *
Beckett enjoyed the journey. It’d been a very long time since he’d been on a road trip with anyone, even such a comparatively short one as this. Both Jason and Juliana were easy companions, talking about everything and nothing or relaxing in silence. That relaxed attitude continued as they began hiking up to the lookout.
“Do you often go hiking, Juliana?” he asked.
“Not now because I live in the city. But my grandparents still live on their farm, and we used to go on lots of walks over summer.”
He didn’t think she was a shape-shifter, but suddenly he wondered if there was some wolf in her heritage. He couldn’t ask outright because he didn’t know how much Jason knew about shape-shifters. Jason’s boss, the Dom Darcy, was a wolf, but maybe he hadn’t told his right-hand man.
“Whereabouts is their farm?”
She grinned. “Right near the one where Darcy’s friends live.”
Jason stopped in the middle of the track, turning to face Juliana full-on. “Does that mean you’re a shifter like Beckett? Is that why there’s chemistry between you?”
Well, that answered his question about whether or not Jason knew. Beckett almost held his breath waiting for Juliana’s answer She shook her head until her braid bounced up and down. “No, my family is all human. It does explain how I’ve always known about shape-shifters though. What about you? Is Darcy the first one you’ve met?”
