by Diane Leyne
Libertine Island 5
Charlotte’s Dilemma
Dr. Charlotte Montgomery is just looking to relax after years working in war zones. A job on a resort island and a fling with a younger man sounds like just the ticket.
Jedidiah Jesperson, also known as JJ, has dropped out of the rat race and now looks after the boats on Libertine Island and ferries the guests around. He falls for Charlotte at first meeting and must now convince her that even though he’s eight years younger than her, he’s more than just a boy toy. He’s looking for a real relationship and not just a fling.
Charlotte’s convinced that one day he’ll wake up and realize their age difference is too much so she proposes they be friends with benefits. Can she get past the age difference to see JJ as the man for her, or will her doubts push him away forever?
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary
Length: 46,747 words
CHARLOTTE’S DILEMMA
Libertine Island 5
Diane Leyne
EVERLASTING CLASSIC
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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CHARLOTTE’S DILEMMA
Copyright © 2013 by Diane Leyne
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-127-1
First E-book Publication: December 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
To my wonderful readers! You’re my reason for doing this and I thank you all!
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
CHARLOTTE’S DILEMMA
Libertine Island 5
DIANE LEYNE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter 1
Dr. Charlotte Montgomery yawned. She was tired. She was hungry. She was wondering what the hell she was getting herself into. The flight to St. Maarten was late, and she was sitting in the lounge of the airport in Miami chugging McDonald’s coffee and eating a greasy but delicious breakfast biscuit with egg, bacon, and cheese.
She felt her stomach churn. Six months ago when she signed on as the resident doctor on Libertine Island, a tropical paradise seemed to be just the answer to spending the past four and a half years going from hot spot to hot spot with Doctors Without Borders. Dreams of the island had kept her going for the last six months. She’d been imagining palm trees and warm water and determinedly avoiding thinking about anything to do with the purpose of the resort.
But now it was actually happening, and Charlotte was having second thoughts. Oh, who was she kidding? She was having third, fourth, and fifth thoughts. She’d stopped in Seattle for a week to visit her friend Cin. Cin was the one who had helped her get the position, but Charlotte hadn’t taken the idea of a BDSM resort seriously. Hell, all she heard was island off the coast of St. Maarten. One year in the sun treating sunburn and handing out hangover remedies sounded divine.
And then she’d met Cin’s two…was it husbands? Not legally, of course, but Cin was living happily with twins, the very hot O’Hara brothers, Connor and Liam. And they were Doms. Doms! Cin’s sister Lindy was actually, legally married to her Dom, Jake. She’d gone with the five of them to Club Libertine and watched wide-eyed as Doms and subs played, as they’d called it. The three men were part owners and luckily Connor and Liam were working that night, so she didn’t have to watch them play with Cin, who acted as her tour-guide into the world of kink. She did, however, get to see Jake strap sweet, shy librarian Lindy to something called a spanking bench and redden her behind with various implements before he fucked her silly, bringing her to several screaming climaxes to the delight of the crowd.
Charlotte found herself blushing all over again at the memory. And if she was honest with herself, her clit tingled a little as she thought back. She’d been shocked at how sexy she’d found the whole thing. She’d felt like a voyeur as she watched such an intimate act played out in public, but it didn’t seem to bother Lindy, and Cin had actually laughed at her reticence. That didn’t bother her. In fact, she preferred them to think she was embarrassed by what she saw rather than the fact that it kind of turned her on. She’d never thought of pain as an aphrodisiac before, but maybe the endorphins or adrenaline…She made a mental note to do some research, all in the name of her new job, of course.
“Hell, Charlotte.” Cin had laughed. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait until you get to Libertine Island.”
She touched Charlotte’s arm, leading Charlotte back to the main lounge. Charlotte had been hoping for another drink of the alcoholic variety, but Cin had explained that one was the limit at the club.
“Safe, sane, and consensual is the motto of BDSM, and you can’t consent if you are drunk. They don’t
want anyone making a decision while under the influence that they’ll regret. It’s likely going to be the same on the island. People in the lifestyle are very serious about making sure that no one makes bad alcohol-influenced decisions.”
“Makes sense, I guess, but I could still use a stiff shot of whisky.”
Cin laughed. “Well, you aren’t playing tonight, so I’ll see if I can convince the bartender to rustle you up something.”
Five minutes later, her whisky was hand delivered by a man who was clearly a Dom. The power just radiated from him. But there was something familiar about him, too.
“Didn’t we meet at a venue which shall not be named in the Middle East?” he asked. They had. She found herself grinning. Luke. She’d patched him up after a skirmish in a bar with another soldier. Luke had busted up a fight, and one of the combatants had turned his wrath on Luke. Standing, she hugged him. She’d liked Luke, and he’d always kept an eye out for her, as not all the men were respectful of a female in a danger zone.
Clearly delighted to see her, he called out for the other bartender to cover for him and joined her and Cin on the couches. And then her mind had been blown again as he called over his two subs, Serena and Zach, for her to meet. Zach was the younger brother of Connor and Liam and clearly adored both Luke and Serena. Luke talked a little about their relationship before chuckling and giving her a kiss on the cheek and laughed out loud when she told him about the job on Libertine Island.
“I can see you’re a bit overwhelmed. Take it in slowly, a bit at a time, and just keep in mind that everyone is here of their own free will. There are all sorts of safeguards, including safe words, to make sure that nothing happens that isn’t consensual, no matter how it may look to an outsider.
“I’ve got to get back to work, but the three of us will see you on the island. We’re going down for a week in the next couple of months for a little R&R.”
The rest of the night was a blur. She’d chugged the rest of her whisky and then let Cin lead her around and explain how the club worked. She’d seen more spanking and flogging. She’d seen two men pleasuring one woman, and she’d seen a man crawling on hands and knees as his Domme led him around on a leash. He’d looked at his Mistress adoringly as he knelt at her feet while she stroked her hair. But her attention had been held the longest by the scenes that included spanking and other types of what Cin called impact play. She found she wasn’t really interested in the scenes of two men pleasing one woman, but one man spanking or strapping or, in one case, caning a woman made her wet, and that was something she didn’t want to explore too closely at the moment.
Although even the thought of it was turning her on again. Damn. Maybe Cin was right and she really needed to get laid or, even better, spanked and laid. Charlotte took another sip of coffee as the announcement distracted her. Her flight was delayed by an hour.
Damn. She was freaking out, part of her wanting to back out but another part of her knowing she couldn’t leave the folks at Libertine Island in the lurch. They’d held the job for her, hiring another doctor for six months while she’d finished out her commitment with Doctors Without Borders. But now, Caleb was leaving in less than two weeks, moving to Chicago, and she knew she was going to fulfil her commitments. Hell, maybe she’d even give it a try? What did she have to lose? It wasn’t like she had someone at home waiting for her. Hell, she didn’t even have a home waiting for her.
She chugged the last of her coffee. She had a few days planned in St. Maarten to relax and chill out and then one week on the island with Caleb showing her the ropes, although not, she hoped, literally.
Standing, she tossed her empty coffee cup into the waste container and walked back over to the McDonald’s and got in line. She was going to need more caffeine.
* * * *
Jedidiah Jesperson Junior, also known as JJ, rushed through the airport like a man about to miss a plane, which he was. As he approached the gate, he saw no sign of the flight to Miami beginning to board. In fact, people were sitting around with irritated looks on their faces. It was clearly late, which wasn’t a bad thing, as it gave him time to change.
Turning abruptly, he collided with another traveller, dropping his bag as he grasped their upper arms so that the much smaller person he’d bumped didn’t fall.
“I’m so sorry…” He felt his voice trail off as he looked down at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was a head shorter than him, maybe five four, but she was perfectly formed. She had short dark hair and big blue eyes. Looking down, he could see a hint of cleavage, and he longed to see more, but it was her face that captivated him. When she looked up in surprise, he saw her eyes had dark smudges beneath them, as if she’d missed a lot of sleep lately. They were beautiful eyes, ringed with long dark lashes, but they were sad eyes, too, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and soothe away whatever was causing her pain. His heart skipped a beat as he stared down at her. He felt as if time had stood still and they were the only two people in the world.
He stared down at her beautifully formed mouth. It had a full lower lip that he had an uncontrollable urge to nibble on. He watched as her perfect tongue slipped out as she licked her lips. Damn. He wanted to lick her lips. And kiss them. And devour them.
“Excuse me.” Her voice sounded…annoyed? “Excuse me!”
He found himself grinning. Even her voice was perfect. It was low and confident. Unfortunately, it also seemed to be irritated with him. Reluctantly, he released his grasp as she pulled away, turning and hurrying away from him. Damn. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t feel it, too. The French called it le coup de foudre, or thunderbolt, and it meant love at first sight.
It was too much to hope that she was headed to Libertine Island, but maybe, given the lounge she was in, maybe she was headed to St. Maarten.
Jedidiah watched her walk away, admiring the shape of her ass even as he bit his own lip to try and get control over his cock, which wanted to stand to attention. He closed his eyes for a second as the fantasy of chasing her down and fucking her brains out briefly flashed through his brain. And she’d given no indication that she’d felt anything other than annoyance at being almost knocked over by a large, strange male.
Briefly, Jedidiah considered following her, but he knew she’d be back and he had something important to deal with first. Besides, they were at an airport waiting for the same flight. He’d see her again soon.
Moving quickly, he headed toward the nearest men’s room and shut himself in the handicapped stall. Dropping his duffle, he quickly stripped off the five-thousand-dollar bespoke suit he was wearing after toeing out of his thousand-dollar hand-stitched Italian shoes. Then he pulled open the custom-made shirt from Oxford Street, not even bothering to undo the button. He smiled with satisfaction as the buttons ricocheted around the stall as they popped off.
When he was finally standing naked except for his black boxer briefs, he unzipped his carry-on and pulled out a baggie pair of well-worn cargo shorts and a faded T-shirt, donning them before sliding his feet into the very comfortable Birkenstock sandals that fit his feet as if they’d been custom made, which they had. He may have rejected most of the trappings of wealth, but comfortable shoes were not a luxury, they were a necessity.
Gathering up his discarded wardrobe, he exited the stall. He thought of tossing them out, but that seemed to be a waste. Just then, the maintenance man entered. He was at least twenty years older than Jedidiah, but of similar height and weight. Smiling, he thrust the bundle toward the man.
“I don’t need these any more. Enjoy!”
Then he headed past the startled man and into the terminal with only one thing in mind, searching for her.
* * * *
It was almost eleven and the McDonald’s was now serving lunch. Knowing that not much food, if any, would be served on the plane and, if she was honest with herself, trying to delay going back to the lounge and seeing him, Charlotte picked up a couple of chipotle snack wraps and a Diet Coke, ta
king a seat in the food court to eat in order to delay returning to the departure lounge.
What was wrong with her? she thought as she bit into the spicy wrap. She was acting like a love-struck tween mooning over the latest rock star. Sure, he’d been a tall and dark and handsome young man she’d bumped into. He had to be at least six foot two with beautiful silver-gray eyes that contrasted so deliciously with his thick, dark lashes that any woman would envy, and his tanned complexion. He had high, sharp cheekbones and a strong nose and jaw. In other words, he was movie-star handsome. Even his hair. She’d thought it was short at first, but then she realized he’d tied it back. She’d had a sudden urge to pull it free and run her fingers through it. She’d found herself licking her lips at the thought, until she realized that he was staring intently at her mouth and his expression caused her pussy to clench and her clit to tingle.
He grinned, and for a second, she thought he was going to lean down and kiss her. He had smile lines around his eyes as if he laughed a lot or maybe he just squinted, but he seemed young, maybe mid- to late-twenties, far too young for Charlotte. She was thirty-five, but after five years in war and famine zones, she felt decades older, so she’d run away.
She had barely noticed what he was wearing, but she got the impression of money. His dark suit fit so well it practically screamed handmade. It had emphasized the breadth of his shoulders and she had desperately wanted to touch them. Luckily, he’d grasped her upper arms to keep her from falling, and she’d felt the strength and gentleness in his large hands. She wondered what they’d feel like spanking her bare ass like she’d seen some of the Doms at the club do.
