by Livia Grant
For the briefest second, Bri sees indecision on Lukus’ face before his Dom mask hardens. “I guess you should have thought of the consequences before you blatantly defied direct orders. I’m pretty sure this punishment will be a memorable one for you and therefore I suspect you’ll be following directions in the future, won’t you?”
“Oh yes, Sir.”
Lukus’ voice has softened just a bit when he gives his final order to Rachel. “Get up and go now, Rachel. Do as I said and prepare yourself for your punishment. While you’re waiting for me, I want you to think about why you’re being punished, do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”
Rachel scrambles to her feet and rushes out of the room without a backward glance. Lukus and Brianna are locked in a stare-down as she sends him daggers for how he treated Rachel. “I told you. This wasn’t her fault. Why did you have to treat her like that?”
“Let’s get something straight here, sweetheart. This is a punishment club. Rachel is a full-time, collared submissive who chooses to live her life by the rules we’ve set out for her. She broke those rules and as a result, she not only expects to be punished, but she’ll be disappointed if I don’t punish her. It’s how things work around here.”
“So, you just punish people even when they do nothing really wrong?”
“Enough. I’m not going to discuss this with you. This just proves what I was telling you earlier. You obviously have zero real experience as a sub regardless of what that Dom wanna-be, Jake, thought he was teaching you. Any experienced submissive would know better than to talk back to me right now.”
“Oh, really. I think that’s exactly what I’m doing, Lukus. You need to…”
Their argument is interrupted by Tiffany’s muffled interjection from behind Lukus’ back. “Excuse me. Can the two of you stop fighting long enough to please put me down? I’m starting to lose feeling in my feet and hands from being upside down for so long.”
The look on Lukas’ expression goes from concern to impatience. Bri is pretty sure his impatience is with himself. Walking to the bed, he dumps Tiffany from his shoulder to land with a bounce on the soft, king-sized bed. The women waste no time rushing to hug the other, each holding on for dear life.
“Oh, thank God you’re okay, Bri. I was so worried about you when you didn’t show up at the salon this morning and then I couldn’t reach you on your cell. I thought sure Jake had abducted you and carried you back out to the cabin to finish you off.”
Brianna is both alarmed at the thought, but relieved her friend cared enough to try and find her. “I’m fine, Tiff… well as fine as I can be all things considered. I’m so very sorry I got you dragged into this whole mess.”
Tiffany is both laughing and crying as she holds onto her friend. “Well, you should be sorry. Not only did you scare me half to death, but I’ve been screamed at and treated like shit by your husband. I was almost killed several times trying to keep up with Mr. Speed-Demon here. Then I sprained my ankle trying to defend myself from a would-be attacker in the alley. My limbs are numb. It’s like I’ve fallen down some rabbit hole into this … BDSM Neverland and worst of all? I’m sitting here hugging my naked best friend while she mashes her boobs into me. I didn’t think we were this kind of friends, Bri.”
Brianna hears a chuckle from Lukus and is able to glance over at him as she holds her cheek against Tiffany’s shoulder. She’s surprised by the amusement shining in Lukus’ eyes as he observes them with a mixture of satisfaction and humor; a rare smile lights up his face. He’s so damn sexy and Brianna feels a surge of attraction.
When his eyes meet Brianna’s, she feels a single tear stream down her face. Lukus quietly wipes the tear away with the pad of his thumb before gently stroking her face. His eyes are boring into hers as she mouths the silent words thank you to him. If anything, his smile gets brighter before he turns and leaves the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
After watching him leave, Brianna pulls back to get a good look at her best friend. “Tiff, you’re the best friend a girl could ever ask for. I’m so glad you’re here. I have so much to tell you, but first, tell me more about how Markus looked when you saw him.”
e
As the two women continue to hug each other, Lukus decides he’s in desperate need of a drink.
‘Figures. I have two of the finest women I’ve ever had in my bed together at the same time and I still can’t get laid. I seriously need to find someone to fuck and soon.’
Lukus wastes no time in pouring himself a strong whiskey. He shouldn’t be drinking. He already feels more out of control than he has in years. He’s not entirely sure why his friends’ problems should be impacting his life so much, but without a doubt, Brianna’s infidelity has triggered events that have him struggling to maintain his perspective.
After knocking back a quick shot, Lukus sinks into his favorite chair and looks out over the Chicago skyline. It’s late afternoon, one of his favorite times of the day to take in the busy city as the sun reflects off the distant lake and tall skyscrapers. Lukus allows the view to calm him as he sorts out what he has to do next. He can’t afford to turn into an emotional pussy over a few wayward women who, if all goes as planned, will be out of his hair for good by midnight.
Digging into his pocket, he pulls out his phone and calls Derek.
“Hey, glad you finally made it back.”
“Yeah. I got back a few minutes ago. For the record, this day really blows.”
“What now? Did Markus kick your ass for wanting to fuck his wife?”
“He wanted to at first, but I managed to defuse the situation. You still in the security office?”
“Yeah.”
“I think you’d better come up. We have a lot to talk about.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Maybe I’ll stay down here.” Derek tries to laugh before Lukus cuts him off.
“Just come up, will ya? I’m so fucking sick of everyone arguing with me today.”
“Screw you, man.” Derek hangs up on his friend.
Lukus barely has time to get up and pour two shots of whiskey before he hears the elevator arriving at the loft. Derek strolls in. He has a scowl on his face until he sees Lukus holding out the shot glass like an olive branch.
“Alright,” Lukus says apologetically. “I’m not going get all mushy, but I’m sorry I’m taking my shitty day out on you.”
Derek reaches out to grab the shot and wastes no time in downing it before he answers his friend. “Don’t sweat it, man. It’ll take a bit more than your piss-poor mood to hurt my feelings. I’m not one of the submissives.”
“Thank fuck for that. We have more than enough of those around here.”
Plopping down in Lukus’ favorite chair, Derek responds. “I don’t think you’re upset we have too many submissives around here.”
Moving to sit on the nearby couch, Lukus retorts, “Oh really. And just what do you think has me all upset, Dr. Parker?”
Derek just grins. “Touché. I’m just saying I think your biggest problem is that we seem to have a boatload of women around here who aren’t submissive, at least not submissive enough to behave. I saw your little encounter in the alley on the security cameras. Who’s the good-looking blonde you hoisted over your shoulder and carried in like a caveman?”
Lukus shoots an annoyed look at his friend before answering. “She’s Brianna’s best friend, Tiffany. You know, the one who works at the salon with her. She’s also the woman who flat-out lied to Markus yesterday to protect Brianna.”
“Oh, yeah. I thought she looked familiar. I remember thinking she looked like a hot piece of ass when we were doing the surveillance on the salon a few months ago.”
“Yeah, well it’s just what we need. Another damn married woman hanging around. It’ll be just my luck to have her fucking husband show up here next, making a big stink and wanting to know what the hell I did with his wife.”
“What are you talking about? She’s n
ot married. In fact, she’d just started dating some guy when we were doing background checks. I don’t remember his name. We checked him out though in case he was involved with Brianna and he came back clean. He’s some boring business type. Jeremy… Jack… John. Some “J” name.”
Lukus tries not to show the sudden relief he feels. His mind is racing, replaying the last hour over in his head as he tries to figure out what made him believe Tiffany was married. He’d just assumed she was someone’s trophy wife.
‘Excellent investigative work there, Mitchell. Still, it doesn’t change a thing. She’s not a submissive. Not really. She’s still off-limits.’
It’s clear his dick didn’t get that last message. His erection is once again becoming uncomfortable in his jeans as he remembers the feel of Tiffany’s curvy body pressed against him, and her unsolicited, submissive ‘Yes, Sir’. Lukus shifts in his seat, rearranging his family jewels in an attempt to relieve his discomfort.
“Earth to Lukus. Aw shit. I see it in your eyes. You’re thinking about fucking her now, aren’t you? Well, before you do, keep in mind she’s not a club member and as the recently acquitted, minority owner of this club, may I remind you of the dangers we both face if you were to so much as touch her in a way that might be seen in court as abuse. It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference that she’s up here in your loft and not down in the club. She’s on club property so you keep your spanking hand and frustrated cock to yourself, you hear me? I’d like to at least enjoy our last acquittal for few days before we get slapped with the next lawsuit, if it’s all the same to you.”
Lukus knows Derek is right. It would be insane to do what he really wants to do right this minute, which is march into his bedroom and show Tiffany what a real Dom thinks of her naughty ways. He also knows full well he needs to calm down and get his emotions in check because in the condition he’s in right now, he’d risk taking things too far.
“Don’t worry man. My body may want to burst in there and fuck ‘em both, but my brain is still in control. I’m not as stupid as you seem to think I am.”
“You’re not stupid, Lukus. You’re completely justified to feel all the shit you’re feeling. I know the last few years have been hard on you and I’ve seen you changing. There was a time I thought you’d be happy being the Master of Many forever. Not any more. You can deny it all you want, but you just aren’t enjoying being here at the club punishing other people’s subs day-in and day-out anymore. It’s turning into just a job for you, and I know your heart isn’t in it like it used to be. I started to notice it after the shit with Markus blew up a few years ago and it’s gotten worse since the lawsuit. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about it for a few months and told myself I’d wait until after the shit with the trial died down. Now all this other crap with Brianna has blown up and it just seems like a sign.”
“A sign of what? Who the hell are you now - Dr. Phil? I think you need to stop trying to psychoanalyze me and worry about your own submissive instead. Just wait till you hear what your wife did today.”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Lukus. I want to hear everything about Rachel, but there’s something else I’ve been holding back from telling you because I wasn’t sure how you’d take the news and honestly, I needed a few weeks to get my own head wrapped around it myself.”
Lukus doesn’t miss the mixed look of panic and excitement on Derek’s face. “What? Did you win the lottery and you and Rachel are running away from home?”
Derek breaks into a broad grin. “Better.”
Derek certainly has his full attention. “Better, you say? Well, that must be some news then. Why do I feel a headache coming on?”
“I won’t blame you if you go ballistic on me man, but I’ve been bursting to tell you and forced myself to wait until after the trial because you had enough shit to worry about.”
Lukus sees him take a deep breath and can tell Derek is nervous, which is very curious. Derek is never nervous.
“Rachel is almost three months pregnant. Can you believe my sorry ass is going to be a father? I’m probably going to have the poor kid screwed up before they can walk.”
Derek’s face has lit up like a Christmas tree he’s so happy. Lukus isn’t sure why, but the unexpected news hits him hard. For the briefest of moments his stomach actually churns and he almost feels like he’s going to throw up. He recovers enough to speak. “Wow. That’s some fucking surprise. I didn’t even know you two were interested in starting a family.”
That’s when it hits him. He hadn’t been surprised at all when James and Mary settled down and started having kids. Then he’d been knocked on his ass when Markus had turned in his Dom card to settle down in suburbia with Brianna and now he’s sure they’ll be popping out babies soon. But not in a million years did he ever see Derek and Rachel ever having children.
Even though Derek and Rachel were married, they’ve always lived a 24/7 D/s relationship. It’s not the kind of relationship that lends itself to raising kids and Lukus tries to imagine Rachel walking around their house naked like she usually does with only her collar, wrist and ankle cuffs as accessories. How’s that going to work when she has to care for a baby or even worse, years later when the kid is older? Will Rachel still sit naked at Derek’s feet at the dinner table, her ass striped with belt marks from her last discipline session?
‘It’s not going to work. Rachel is going to change. How can she not? She just can’t be a good fulltime sub and a good mother at the same time.’
Of all his friends, Lukus had been sure Derek would never want to trade in his whip and spanking paddle for diapers and bottles, but clearly he’d been wrong. An unwelcome and fresh wave of jealousy hits Lukus as he adds Derek to his list of close friends who are now lucky enough to have it all.
“I’m truly happy for you, Derek,” Lukus finally says, and despite his jealousy he means it. “I can tell you’re excited and while I have my doubts about how your hard-ass detective and Dom skills are going to translate into fatherhood, I’m still very happy for you and Rachel.”
“Thanks, man. I’m not really sure about it myself, but I know it’s important to Rachel. Her sisters all have a bunch of kids and while she was never too pushy about it, I knew before we got married she wasn’t going to be happy unless we had some too. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said all she really wanted was to go off the pill.”
“Well hell, her birthday was barely four months ago.”
Derek is grinning from ear to ear. “I guess I have some good little swimmers.”
Lukus laughs at his friend. “Well of course you do. They must be Doms too. They got in there and took control, although it probably doesn’t hurt that you two fuck like rabbits. I’m not sure what to say other than congratulations man, really. Only then does Lukus remember where Rachel is right at the moment. “I wonder if this means I need to change my planned punishment for the mother of your unborn child. She really pissed me off today.”
“Rachel? Not her too? Where is she, anyway?”
“I already sent her down to the dungeon. I told her to strip and drape herself over the spanking bench and wait for me there.”
“Oh, crap. Don’t tell me she let Brianna see her.”
“Oh, I wish that was all. When I got here, she was in there chatting up a storm with Brianna like they were long lost friends. She even had the balls to untie Bri from the headboard. Can you believe it? It’s so unlike her. I already sentenced her to a dozen lashes with the cane, but now that I know she’s pregnant I’ll let you handle this the way you think is best. She can’t get away without some punishment though.”
“Fuck. I’m so sorry man. I never dreamed she’d disobey me so blatantly. No. You need to punish her. I’ve already had this discussion with her. She is and will always be my submissive. Sure, once the kid comes we’ll have to make adjustments to what we do in public verses what we have to do in private, but it doesn’t matter. She earned the cane and she knows this means
she’ll be getting double that from me too.”
Derek can see Lukus is uncertain if such a strict punishment is appropriate for a pregnant woman and he tries to put his mind at ease. “I’ve been doing some research and really, we don’t have to worry too much about hurting the baby, at least not until the third trimester. We’ve never been into the really dangerous shit anyway and we just need to watch her reaction more carefully and maybe break up big punishments into smaller chunks is all.”
“If you’re sure, man. I’d still like to make sure you’re there with me just to keep an extra eye on her. We need to keep her safe more now than ever. Before we go down to take care of Rachel, I want to go over the idea that Markus and I came up with today. We have a plan that’s hopefully going to get Brianna properly punished and home where she belongs tonight.”
“You must have gotten through to him after all then.”
“I think I did. Markus really doesn’t want the plan carried out with a big audience though, and I honestly don’t blame him. They have so much shit to work through and who knows how this is going to go. I want to close the whole club down tonight. Can we get the word out to all the members that we’ll be closed for one night? I know it’s late notice.”
“That seems a bit extreme, not to mention expensive. Saturday nights are our best nights, and we’re sure to really piss some Doms off with the late notice. You sure you want to do this?”
Standing up, Lukus assures his friend. “Yeah, I’m sure. We owe it to Markus to handle this privately. Let’s head down to the club office. We can send out emails and texts to everyone. I’ll explain the plan to you on the way since I’ll need your help for a bit of it. I think you’re really going to like it.”
“I’m sure I will. You’re punishment plans are always… interesting. I feel a really big hard-on coming.”
“Welcome to my world. I’ve been ready to fucking explode for the last twenty-four hours. At least you have Rachel for stress-relief. I’m going to keel over from blue balls if I don’t get laid soon.”
