BDSM Connections - The Complete 4 Novel Series

by Claire Thompson

  “I wonder,” Allie said, pulling Liam from his thoughts. “Maybe you did text back and forth with Lila, but from your hospital bed, not the car. I mean—” She paused, hesitation on her face.

  “What?” Liam said, aware she was onto something, though he couldn’t quite catch hold of it. “Go on. Say it.”

  “Well,” Allie said, “you guys were in the middle of breaking up, right? You were still in the hospital, still probably pretty doped up on pain meds. Maybe your brain has somehow intertwined memories of the accident and the breakup, both really traumatic events.”

  “With a dash of crazy thrown in,” Liam said, barking a laugh. “Lila in chains carrying a flogger down the aisle.” He shook his head at the absurd image.

  The corner of Allie’s mouth quirked. “Yeah, there’s that. Blame it on the morphine.”

  “So what you’re saying,” Liam said slowly, “is that my brain got things scrambled up. Dreams, reality, timing…” He trailed off as the blurred confusion in his mind finally began to sharpen into something clearer.

  Lila had come to the hospital several times during that first week, not trying to hide her horror when she saw him hooked up to all that machinery, his eyes nearly swollen shut, tubes and needles everywhere. He had a vague memory of an actual screaming fight at one point, and then she’d stopped coming, instead resorting to texting to express her fears, her worry and her doubts. Finally, she broke off the engagement, ending the text with a sad face emoticon.

  Jesus, she’d broken up with him via text. No wonder he’d been slamming his thumbs against the keys in his hurt and fury. He’d carried that hurt for months, worrying it like an empty tooth socket.

  Now the last vestige of regret at losing Lila slipped away as Allie gazed at him with a gentle, encouraging smile. The burden of shame he’d carried so long at helping to orphan that man’s children dissolved as he stared into Allie’s kind, loving eyes. Hope, bright and hot, rose in his chest like a burst of sunlight.

  “Oh, my god,” he said, his voice a whispered croak as he finally understood the gift Allie had just handed him. “It didn’t happen. It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t kill him.” Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but he didn’t care.

  Allie knelt beside him, reaching up to cradle his face. “No, Liam. It wasn’t your fault. The eyewitnesses on the scene said you were driving safely in your own lane. As tragic as it was, that man killed himself.” She lifted her shoulders, adding, “Who knows, if you hadn’t reacted as quickly as you had, swerving away just in time, he might have killed you, too.”

  Liam reached for Allie’s hands and clasped them in his own. He stood from the table, pulling her upright as he did so. Allie, too, had tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were shining, her lips curved into a broad smile.

  Happiness and relief rolled up from Liam’s toes, traveling through his body and bursting from his lips as a startled laugh. With a whoop of joy, he grabbed Allie around the waist and lifted her into his arms.

  ~*~

  Allie admired the brocade corset, running her finger over one of the stays. The corset was crimson, black piping on the edges and black laces in the back. Liam and she had selected it together at a BDSM clothing boutique and Allie couldn’t wait to show it off at Liam’s club that night.

  They were to meet Matt and Bonnie for dinner first. Allie, who had already secretly given Bonnie Liam’s completed birthday gift so he wouldn’t see it in advance, planned to give it to him at the restaurant. Hopefully, it would come in handy at the club.

  The change in Liam had been marked since their discovery of his false memory. Though she hadn’t known him before the accident, she sensed that he hadn’t changed so much as returned to his real self, to the person he had been before the drunk driver had shattered his world. He laughed easily and often, and seemed, in spite of his limp, to walk with a lighter step.

  The doorbell rang, pulling Allie from her thoughts.

  “Can you get that?” Liam called from the bathroom, where he was dressing after his shower.

  Allie, still in her T-shirt and shorts, called back, “Sure. Who is it? Are we expecting someone?”

  “Maybe it’s one of your jewelry inventory packages. Make sure and look through the peephole before you open the door.”

  Allie padded on bare feet through the living room to the front door. She didn’t recall having ordered anything recently for her jewelry business. She had found a wonderful bead and gem store in downtown Portland where she had begun to buy most of her supplies.

  She leaned forward and looked through the peephole. She blinked several times, trying to make sense of what, or rather who, was standing there.

  With a laugh, Allie pulled open the front door and demanded, “What the heck are you guys doing here? You’re not supposed to be here until next month.”

  Lauren opened her arms and Allie stepped into them, still laughing as they embraced.

  Martin, standing just beside Lauren with suitcases in both hands, said, “Lauren told me all about your romantic arrival on Liam’s doorstep. We decided it would be fun to do the same thing.”

  “Hey, guys, glad to see you made it. I was worried you might not get here before we had to leave for dinner.” Allie whipped around to face Liam, who stood grinning at them from the hallway.

  “You knew about this? You knew they were coming?” she demanded, though she, too, was smiling.

  “He not only knew, it was his idea,” Lauren said with a laugh.

  Liam shrugged. “What can I say? Turnabout is fair play, right?”

  “Touché,” Allie said with a laugh.

  “Well, don’t keep us standing here. We’re tired and hungry. Show us to our luxury accommodations,” Lauren said.

  Allie stepped back, inviting their guests into the house. She turned to Liam. “We’ll have to change the reservations from four to six. I’ll need to call Bonnie. She made the dinner arrangements.”

  “Already taken care of,” Liam said, his expression smug.

  “You mean Bonnie and Matt knew they were coming too?”

  “They sure did,” Liam replied. “In fact, I bounced the idea off them before I talked to Martin. I know how much you’ve been missing Lauren, and I thought it would be fun for them to come along to Paradise Found. Portland’s not like Boston. We don’t have that many BDSM clubs, but what we lack in quantity, I can assure you we definitely make up for in quality.”

  “We can’t wait,” Martin said. He held up one of the suitcases. “I packed all my toys. Checked ’em right through.”

  “I bet that made a few eyes pop if yours was one of the checked bags that got a random inspection,” Liam laughed.

  They showed Lauren and Martin to the small guest room at the back of the house. As they walked down the hall, Liam put his arm around Allie and whispered into her ear, “I hope the surprise was a good one, sweetheart. I wanted to make you happy.”

  Allie leaned into Liam. “It was definitely a surprise. And, yes, a good one. I’m really happy they’re here. Thank you.”

  The restaurant was small, the atmosphere romantic, the food excellent. The three couples chatted easily and laughed often. When the dinner plates were cleared, the waiter appeared with an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne, a second waiter with six champagne flutes, which he placed around the table.

  Liam glanced quizzically at Allie. She grinned and shrugged. Liam lifted his eyebrows in Matt’s direction, but he only smiled back without saying a word.

  The waiter popped the champagne and started to fill the glasses.

  “I got it, thanks,” Matt said, standing and taking the bottle from the waiter, who bowed and moved away from the table. As Matt filled their glasses, he announced, “This champagne is in celebration of the birthday of my very best friend, Liam Riley Byrne. We are so happy to have you in our lives, Liam.”

  Liam smiled fondly at his friend, clearly touched. “Thanks, buddy. I’m pretty happy to be here.” As they all laughed, he turned his gaze
to Allie, his hand finding her thigh beneath the table. “And I have the best possible birthday gift right here beside me.”

  “Sweet,” Martin and Lauren said in unison. Matt and Bonnie just smiled.

  Allie’s heart glowed with warmth. Liam’s light touch on her leg sent a shiver of desire along her spine. As much to distract herself from the sudden thrum in her sex as anything, Allie turned to Liam and said in a voice everyone at the table could hear, “Since it’s a night for surprises, I have one more, this one for you, Sir Liam.”

  She shot a look at Bonnie, who gave a small nod, and leaned over to pull the hidden gift from beneath her chair. Bonnie handed it across the table to Allie, who in turn presented it to Liam.

  “Wow, what the heck is that? It’s huge,” Liam said as he took the long, narrow box into his hands.

  “Open it and see,” Allie said, butterflies of nervous excitement fluttering in her belly.

  Liam stood and set the gift on its end on his chair. He plucked off the red bow and pulled away the shiny white wrapping paper. Laying the box flat across the chair, he lifted the lid and plucked at the tissue paper.

  Allie held her breath, praying he would love it as much as she did. If she said so herself, it was one of the best pieces she’d ever made, and certainly the biggest. She’d shown it to Bonnie and Matt before wrapping it, and they’d assured her it was both spectacular and unique, the perfect gift for Liam.

  Liam pulled the specially designed walking stick from the box, his mouth falling open as he turned to regard Allie. “It’s beautiful,” he said with such evident awe she couldn’t doubt his sincerity. “I love it.”

  ~*~

  As Liam looked from the walking cane to Allie to his other friends, old and new, he felt as if his heart would burst. He was happier than he had ever been. His path this past year, however tortured, had led him to this wonderful girl, to Allie. He loved her in a way he had never loved anyone before, with not only his heart, but with his soul.

  The walking stick he now examined in greater detail truly was beautiful, made of a deep, rich wood, the section just below the handle grip wrapped with silver and gold filigree, ruby-red stones set in a pleasing pattern in its delicate web.

  He gripped the handle as he placed the cane’s tip on the floor. It fit his hand perfectly, and the rubber tip gripped the floor without sliding.

  “It’s got your initials. You can see them if you look carefully,” Allie said excitedly, pointing to the filigree. Sure enough, as Liam examined the finely wrought precious metal, he was able to discern his initials: LRB. “That way,” Allie quipped, “you won’t get it confused, if someone else has the same cane on the bus.”

  As they laughed, Bonnie added, “There’s more to it. Show him, Allie,” she said, excited impatience in her tone. “Show him the best part.”

  Liam looked quizzically at Allie, who nodded. “Yeah, this part no one else will have, even that guy on the bus. It’s what’s inside, Liam. Like you, there’s more to that walking cane than meets the eye. Just give the handle a twist and you’ll see.”

  Deeply intrigued, Liam did as Allie said, noting now the nearly indiscernible break in the wood. He gently twisted the handgrip until it released. Pulling upward, he saw there was something contained in the hollow of the walking cane. Reaching for the leather loop atop it, he pulled a full-length BDSM rattan cane from inside.

  “Holy shit,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “You hid a cane in a cane. How cool is that?”

  “Wow, that’s amazing,” Martin exclaimed.

  “Allie, that’s the best thing you’ve ever made,” Lauren agreed enthusiastically. “I see a whole new line of BDSM gear in your future, girlfriend.”

  Liam slid the BDSM cane back into its grooved slot and screwed the grip back into place. “When did you make this? I never saw you working on it.”

  Allie shrugged. “Here and there. When you’re busy writing a grant, you get as lost in what you’re doing as I do when I’m working on a new jewelry design. It wasn’t hard to keep the project hidden.”

  Liam leaned over and kissed Allie’s cheek, resisting the urge to do more, since they were, after all, in a restaurant. “Thank you, baby. I know just what to do with it.” He flashed a grin.

  “And you get to use it tonight, right?” Lauren said eagerly. “Allie told me you guys have been working with the cane. I want to see for myself.”

  Liam turned to Lauren, still grinning. “Oh, yeah. You can count on it. In fact,” he said, looking slowly from Lauren to Allie to Bonnie in turn, “if I have my way, all three of you will get a taste of this cane tonight, right, guys?”

  He looked at Martin and Matt, who said in unison, “Oh, yeah.”

  Chapter 13

  As the six of them entered the front door of Paradise Found, Liam experienced a peculiar sense of déjà vu. The place looked at once familiar and different, like an old home he used to live in. In a way it was like a home, one, until recently, he thought he’d never return to.

  The place smelled the same, a peculiar mix of the sandalwood incense the owners liked to burn, combined with wood smoke, sweat, sex and fine leather. While Liam was excited to be back, he was also a little apprehensive. The membership was small, and there was a good chance he would encounter people he knew, people who hadn’t seen him since his leg had been shattered and cobbled back together with metal pins and plates.

  As Allie, Martin and Lauren exclaimed over the uniqueness of the place, Liam glanced around. There were only about ten people on the first floor, a few of them already engaged in a scene involving a voluptuous woman bound to a table, two men and another woman standing over her dripping hot wax on her naked body. Another group was chatting quietly, two of them seated on a sofa, two others standing at the large stone fireplace, drinks in their hands. He recognized none of them.

  Matt, standing beside Liam, said quietly, “It’s great to have you back, buddy. I’m so glad you’re here tonight.”

  Liam, gripping the head of his beautiful new walking cane, turned to smile at his best friend. “Thanks, Matt. Me, too.”

  “You’d never guess from the exterior this is anything but someone’s house. How’d they manage that?” Martin asked.

  “It is someone’s house,” Bonnie replied. “It also happens to be a private BDSM club. Notice, we didn’t pay anything at the door, and Matt used his key to enter. Officially, we’re all just friends of Paradise Found. It’s simpler that way. We pay our annual dues, and we can use the space whenever we want—the first two floors, that is. Robert and Darla live on the top floor.”

  “Robert and Darla?” Allie queried.

  “They’re the owners,” Bonnie replied. “They must be, what, around seventy, Matt?” She looked toward her husband, who nodded. “They both made a ton of money in Silicon Valley and decided to retire here in Portland. Luckily for us, they bought this old, rundown house, and fixed it up. They put a ton of money into restoring it. The first two floors are the club. They’re open to members Wednesday through Sunday, from eight o’clock until the last person is done with their scene.”

  “Speak of the devil,” Matt added, nodding toward the approaching couple. “Here they come.”

  Darla Hemingway glided toward Liam, her hands outstretched. She was still an attractive woman, her silver-white hair held back from her face by tortoiseshell combs on either side of her head, her eyes a vivid blue. She was dressed in her usual outfit of a formfitting, black, full-length satin gown, a jeweled slave collar around her neck.

  “Liam, darling,” she said, pulling Liam down for a hug. “Bonnie said you would be here tonight.” Letting him go, she surveyed him critically. “You look great. I’m furious that you stayed away for so long, but glad you’re back.”

  Her husband appeared a moment later, a tall, thin man, his shoulders slightly stooped. He hadn't aged as well as his wife, but was still a formidable presence, his dark eyes glowing with dominant confidence. He had always reminded Liam of a praying mantis. R
obert shook Liam’s hand heartily and then introductions were made all around.

  “Bonnie said there would be six of you tonight,” Darla said. “So we’ve reserved the lavender room for you.”

  “Though, of course”—Robert waved his hand expansively over the main play area—“you’re welcome to play down here as well. After all”—he placed his hands on Bonnie's and Lauren’s backs—“the night is young, and the subs are beautiful.”

  “If you’re planning to change for the evening’s play, you can use the ladies’ lounge,” Darla said, addressing the girls. “Martin, there’s a gentlemen’s lounge just over there.” She gestured toward the changing rooms.

  Martin, Matt and Liam had all worn their black leather pants to dinner, disguising their Dom look somewhat with sports jackets. The three girls, however, had worn sexy, slinky dresses. Corsets and slave collars were a little risqué for the Portland dining scene. Liam couldn’t wait to see Allie in her new corset.

  The guys handed the girls their BDSM clothing from the gear bags, and the women disappeared into the ladies’ lounge. Martin, too, excused himself.

  Matt turned to Liam. “I’ll go get some bottles of water for afterward. Are you still up for the three-couple scene we talked about with Martin?”

  “Sure,” Liam said. “I might as well jump in with both feet, right?”

  “Okay, great,” Matt said. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

  “Hey, Matt Wilson, is that you?” someone called from the kitchen.

  “One and the same,” Matt replied as he disappeared through the kitchen’s swinging doors.