by Lainey Reese
“And he damn well should have known better,” Cade finished and he met his cousin’s look eye to eye.
“So?” Terryn asked without sitting up. “What can you do about it? No, really. No more threats about removing his genitals. What do you plan on doing that isn’t going to make her hate you in the end?”
When Brice stiffened, she pulled back enough to face him. “No matter who it is, if someone tried to come between you and me? They wouldn’t succeed, and I don’t know that I’d ever want to have anything to do with them again.”
The thought was daunting, and unnerved him more than he could say.
“Every parent and child expert out there will tell you that trying to break a young girl away from her boyfriend will only make her cling that much tighter to him.” She looked at the other two men and added, “Let this run its course. So it’s not the first-love romance you would have chosen for her. So what? At least you know that if she had to be trying out this lifestyle, she couldn’t be in safer hands.”
“You have a point there, Terryn,” Trevor said. “But I have to disagree on one vital note. He likes to pass his women around. If she had to come into this lifestyle, I definitely would not have chosen him. I would’ve chosen a man who would keep her to himself.”
Terryn challenged, “Well, I like it when Brice sometimes invites someone to join us. Maybe she will too.”
“Again,” Brice countered, “you were a grown woman who went into this lifestyle with your eyes wide open. And you also had a variety of life experiences behind you to base your choices on. This situation doesn’t compare.”
“Look.” She looked from Brice to the other two and back again. “I’m not trying to come off all high and mighty or like some know-it-all. But I specialize in this. You all remember I have a degree in social services, right? More specifically, my education is geared for the development of adolescent girls on up through early twenties? Remember, Trevor? That’s why you hired me. Added to that, you pay me a ton of money because I’m good at what I do. Trust me on this, guys. If you blow up the way Brice did, if you put her in a position where she feels she has to choose. She’s going to choose him.” She stopped for a moment and the silence was throbbing. “If this doesn’t work out like you all are so sure it won’t, then when it does crumble, who will she have to turn too? Don’t force her to burn these bridges. If you are so sure he is going to break her heart, then make equally sure you are going to be there to help her pick up the pieces when he does.” She kissed Brice on his cheek before tucking back into his lap, while the wisdom of her words chained him with powerlessness. “It’s hard. It’s scary. But like it or not, she is an adult and this is not our choice to make. It’s hers. And, gentlemen? She’s already made it.”
And that’s when Riley threw up.
Every hair on Zoe’s head was drenched with sweat—for that matter, her body was covered with it. She’d lost count of the orgasms Gage had coaxed from her body and the barn echoed with her screams.
He was behind her again. His knees were braced on the outside of hers and one of his hands gripped tight around her throat while his other pressed the vibrator to her swollen clit. The latest climax exploded like a Fourth of July grand finale. He held her there, tight to his body with his face pressed against hers growling and muttering threats and praises alike, all while those explosions demolished what was left of her sanity.
As soon as the last spasm pulsed away, he surged to his feet and reached for the flogger again. Zoe swayed in her bonds, gasping and panting. She could hear him breathing just as hard behind her, and that dreaded and beloved flogger, too, as it rasped through his fingers when he cocked it to take aim.
That was how she’d come to think of it. The way he took aim was like he was notching an arrow or preparing to draw a sword. Or a gun. One hand gripped the handle tight and he held his elbow high and pointing toward where he wanted to strike, and the other hand acted like a sheath or scabbard that he drew the flogger from. That was where that swishing sound came from—that was the sound the leather made as it passed through his grip. That was the sound it made now. Then, smack!
Her foot. Holy crap, he hit the sole of her foot. Zoe couldn’t think. Smack. Again. He did it again.
“Aaahhh!”
He hit the other one. Back and forth, and she couldn’t decide if she liked it or hated it. It hurt. But it also tickled. It also sent new and never-before-felt sensations zipping up her legs, straight to her epicenter sharper even than her nipples did.
“Aahh!” she screamed when he did it again and again. “Please, Sir! Please!” She didn’t know what she was begging for. She hadn’t a clue if it was for him to stop or never stop, but she very much feared her mind would break if Gage didn’t do something soon.
She saw the flogger tumble to the ground in front of her. Zoe stared at it. She felt a connection to it somehow—an affection similar to what she felt for the racquet she’d used to win her first tennis tournament. A small disjointed part of her mind fleetingly wondered what her mother would think if she hung this up on her bedroom wall beside it.
Gage was unwinding the ropes that secured her legs to the floor, and as each one gave he warned, “Don’t move, darlin’. Stay right where you are.”
She stayed. His expression was fierce and his body was as drenched as hers was. He looked like he wanted to swallow her whole. Once her legs were released, he attached the ropes to some more rigging in the ceiling, then stepped away to some nearby beams. Then he started tugging.
It was a pulley system. Each winch pulled her body up higher and higher from the floor. The ropes must all be connected behind her some way, because she felt each adjustment across her hips and back, not just her legs. It took only moments and she was flat on her back. In midair. Legs still bent and spread, most of her weight supported on her hips and shoulders, with her arms still locked behind her neck.
She was busy trying to figure out how he’d managed this so she didn’t see him undress. She only saw him now—standing between her legs, naked and gloriously turned on.
He touched her. “So wet. So on fire for me.” He shook his head and she saw his eyes clear a fraction. “How you doing? Anything pinching or pulling?”
She shook her head and croaked out a raspy, “No, Sir. I’m—”
That was as far as she got. With a furious growl, he rammed into her so hard it jolted her body. She would have flown across the room if he hadn’t had such a strong grip on her ropes. Zoe felt her body absorb his powerful plunges and feed them back to him with equal force. The two of them were making noises she was sure even animals didn’t make.
His hands traded rope for flesh and he looped his arms under her hips. Gage used that hold to yank her back onto him after each thrust from his hips. Harder and faster. Deeper and deeper still. He slowed just when she recognized he was going to come. Still pumping hard, but so very slow now. Then he sped up again until his body was a sensual blur of passion. As soon as he got close, he caught himself and slowed again—then fast. It went on like that for what felt like hours. Years, even. It was sublime.
Just when she tightened up and felt another orgasm barreling down at her, Gage bent his legs and changed the angle of his next thrust. He hit her G-spot and waves and waves of mind-altering pleasure burst through her body, rocketing through her nervous system and setting her being on fire. She was beyond screaming. Beyond even breathing, as her neck arched and her body quaked, and in that frozen, endless moment, she turned to liquid in his arms.
She only vaguely heard Gage roar as he, too, surged and shook in his own brilliantly violent orgasm, and then she didn’t register anything else. Her mind simply let go, and she floated away on a cloud of surrender.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The last lingering aftershocks were still fading away when Gage registered the change in Zoe. She went from trembling to dead weight in a blink. It took him less than a second to get to her head and ascertain that it was just a faint. Her breathin
g was deep and even and her skin still flushed a healthy rose under her tan. With a rueful shake of his head, he stepped to the beam and lowered her to the floor, working the head and legs alternately so she was resting on her back when he was done.
Gage took a minute to lean against the beam for support and let his mind and body soar. He allowed himself a few short moments to take in and wallow in all they’d just shared. When he was confident his legs were done wobbling, he stepped into his jeans. He didn’t bother to do them up or pull on his boots—he just walked to her and began untying the ropes.
She stirred as her arms were released, the return of unrestricted blood flow likely bringing enough discomfort to rouse her—but he rubbed and soothed her limbs and she drifted right off again. The same thing happened with her legs. He noticed as he massaged them that there were a couple spots that were bound to leave marks, and cursed himself for it. Skin as delicate as hers was going to really keep him on his toes.
“Here we go, darlin’,” he whispered, “Let’s get you back in the tub for another soak.” He wrapped the blanket around her, lifted her close to his chest and headed for the house. “Then I think it’s time you and I paid the piper.”
Once again Gage drew a bath for Zoe, and added the same salts and bubbles as he had last night. This time when he lowered her into it, he refrained from joining her. He opted instead to sit on the wide tile ledge and shampoo her hair. It was dense and black as a seal’s pelt in his hands. It was a wonder to him that her neck wasn’t as thick as a linebacker’s, holding up a mass like this all the time.
Zoe drifted in a semi-aware state as he administered her aftercare. Meekly, she allowed him to lift and push and nudge at his discretion as he tended to her.
Once her hair was rinsed and the conditioner worked in, he handed her a large clip and told her, “Put your hair up out of the way for me, darlin’.”
She did so with a dreamy smile on her face, and moved like she was completely underwater, not just her lower half. It made him smile. She had always been able to make him smile.
He started speaking as he took up something she called a bath scrunchie and drizzled soap onto it. “We’re going back to New York today.” She jolted and her eyes flew open, but before she could speak, he said, “Let me have my say, and then you tell me what you think after. All right?” He waited for her nod of acceptance, then tugged her forward and started gently washing her back. Her skin was the pink of a little-too-much-time-in-the-sun from her flogging, so he kept his touch light.
“Your brother and Terryn are bound to be worried sick, and rightly so. I should have never let him out of the townhouse that day until this was settled. Let alone leave the whole mess to fester and stew for a week, then drag your pretty ass away with me. Darlin’, I swear you cloud my judgment more’n any woman on this planet.” He eased her back against the tub and started washing the rest of her as he continued. “We gotta face the fact that this is going be harder for them to accept than we’d bargained for. But we are going to make them accept it no matter how hard they take it. It’s like whiskey. At first it burns like hellfire and makes you choke and gasp. Have enough of it though, and you grow to love it.” He tipped her chin up to kiss her lips. “They are going to grow to love us together. I know this because they are going to know I’d never, ever hurt you. And they’ll know this because they will see just how much I love you, darlin’.”
“Oh my God!” With a sob and a surge so strong she must’ve emptied half the water out of the tub, Zoe launched herself at him. She was crying and kissing him and clinging, and Gage lost his balance so they tumbled onto the floor in a wet sopping heap. She didn’t seem to notice—she just kept kissing and weeping. “I love you! I love you so much. Gage. My Gage. My Sir.”
His arms tightened and he kissed her back and let them bask in this moment for a while longer, then he sat up and said, “I’m not done yet. Let’s get you back in the tub and finish your bath.”
Settled once more, with fresh hot water, Gage now worked on her legs as he spoke again. “Now comes the parts I think you won’t like so much. But remember, I love you so the rest of this is just details. All right? Nothin’ but details.” She gave him a weary look but nodded, as always willing to trust him. And as always, that trust tugged at his heart. “You are going to finish school. And you are going to continue living with your folks while you do.”
“What?” The one word was filled with such outrage and volume that Gage wished he’d waited for reinforcements before breaching this subject.
Six and a half hours later, he was letting them into the townhouse and he still wished he’d waited. She hadn’t liked his plan at all. She’d cried, and when that didn’t work, she’d pleaded, and when that didn’t work, she’d stood toe-to-toe and shouted at him. Again. He was never going to get used to his sweet and eager-to-please Oops shouting. Truth be told, he kind of liked it. Showing him that deep inner strength she had fired up the Dom in him, made him recognize her as an equal. It was sexy as hell, but in an unsettling, the-world-is-off-its-axis kind of way.
For the last two hours, he’d been treated to her stony silence and it was wearing on his last nerve. He wasn’t going to open that can of worms alone this time, though. He’d sent a text to Brice as soon as they’d landed, and he’d wait for his backup before wading back into this battle.
“Welcome home, asshole.” Trevor’s iron hard fist caught him off guard, right in his solar plexus and drove every bit of air from his lungs.
“Yeah, asshole.” Cade’s fist came from somewhere above, since he was bent double, and clocked him across the cheek on a downward plunge that Gage’s body followed right to the floor. “Welcome home.”
“Oh, c’mon!” That was Riley’s voice he heard over the ringing in his ears. “You guys promised you weren’t going to hit him.”
“No, little one,” Trevor replied, “we promised not to beat him up. Two punches is hardly considered a beat down.”
Gage was on hands and knees and tried to remember how to breathe. He’d be cussing a blue streak if he could get air into his lungs right now. What the fuck? He’d not heard back from Brice after he sent the text, and he definitely hadn’t expected these two. Well, hell. He had to face them sooner or later.
Oops knelt beside him and looked him over without touching him. Her arms were locked around her middle and her expression was concerned yet guarded. “You okay?” she asked in a whisper.
“Yeah.” His voice was a croak but at least he was drawing in air. Her lips pursed and she gave a small nod then stood and walked away. Gage pushed to his feet with a grimace and watched as she maneuvered around the men when they tried to hug her. She kept her tight clasp on herself and then sat next to Riley on the couch. She looked miserable.
“Well, now that you boys got that out of your system—” Gage said.
“Oh, not out by a long shot, friend,” Cade interrupted. “Not even close.”
Trevor looked as if he had something to add as well, but Brice stepped forward and offered Gage a hand. Gage saw it for what it was. A peace offering. He took the hand and met his friend’s look head-on.
“I love her, Brice,” he said, loud enough so everyone could hear. “I love her, and I hope to hell that you can accept that.” He looked to the others and saw all eyes turn to Zoe, she was crying.
Not one person in this room was immune to Zoe in tears, including himself. She never got blotchy or red faced when she cried. Those big blue eyes just got bigger and brighter when they filled, and her lashes got all spiky and wet. What killed him the most was her mouth. Those full lush lips turned down at the corners, and her chin quivered just like a damn cartoon, and it melted his fucking heart.
“Oops, darlin’,” he said while guilt twisted his guts in knots. “You damn well know I’m right about this, and cryin’ about it is just mean.”
“What’s he talking about, honey?” Riley asked as she wrapped her arm around Zoe and rubbed her shoulder.
�
��He said he loved me, but he’s sending me back home.” She said it like she was exposing him as an axe-murderer. When everyone in the room remained silent, she threw in, “And he wants me to finish school too.”
That was said like a kid tattling, and now everyone in the room was trying not to laugh.
“Oops,” Brice said gently. “Those are good things. Smart things.”
“But he said he loved me.” She looked at Gage, clearly baffled.
“You think I can’t love you and still want those things for you?” he asked.
“What good is finishing college going to do for me? I’m going to be yours. Your full-time slave. It’s really no different than being a housewife. Millions of women are housewives, and if that was all our relationship was, nobody would even bat an eye. And there is nothing wrong with that. It’s what Mom does. That’s what I want. Just to be your slave.”
Gage could see every person in the room biting their lips to try to keep from butting in. They all loved her—they all wanted what was best for her. He appreciated that they were trying to let him handle it but this was exactly why he’d called Brice in the first place. He looked at Brice and gestured with his hand toward Zoe. “You want to try and get through to her? I tried and she just ended up shouting at me.”
“Shouting?” Brice looked nonplused. “Well, that’s a first.”
“No. No, it’s not,” Gage told him.
Brice smiled. “Well, I feel better about you two already then.” He walked to Zoe and knelt in front of her. “Listen up, brat. Mom has a college degree, and you know that. She chose to become a housewife when she started having us kids. The most important thing I can tell you is this: she made that choice with an education behind her.”
Zoe looked unimpressed. Gage walked to the bar and poured himself a drink. Looked like this was going to be a long night.
