by Avery Gale
Chapter 7
Layla was warm sandwiched between Cash and Clay in the front seat of Cash’s large truck. At the last minute Collin had opted to drive her small car to their place since it had been starting to snow and he hadn’t wanted anyone from the bar driving any more than necessary at that late hour. Layla had actually been relieved that the small car would be moved before there was much snow because she knew her tires weren’t the best and she’d worried about someone driving it later. Just as Cash’s truck rounded the corner and she caught sight of their home and gasped in surprise. Even though they lived close to the motel and dance club, the house itself was around a bend and mostly hidden by several rows of tall pines so she’d never really seen it up close. It was entirely awash in soft lights and the natural rock front complete with rounded archways as the focal point of a porch that looked like it wrapped around at least three sides of the structure making it look more like an elaborate citadel-style adobe than a ranch home.
“Oh my God, your home is amazing. You must be so proud of it. I’ll bet my entire apartment would have fit in your entryway, am I right?” She smiled at Cash because he’d seen her apartment in Houston and had been none too impressed with either the neighborhood or her living conditions.
“Well, love, I don’t know about the entryway, but it would certainly fit in the master bath.” He grinned at her and even though she knew he was probably serious, he was keeping the conversation light so that she didn’t take offense. She knew in that moment that a man who would consider her feelings even while teasing would steal her heart if she wasn’t careful. Right…like it isn’t already a done deal.
Clay helped her out of the truck just as Collin stomped his way toward them. “Sweetheart, I love you, and I’m only going to say this once. That car is not safe for man or beast and it’s certainly not safe enough for our woman. That is where it sits until I can have it towed from here. It’s almost—shit, what’s the next fucking holiday? Oh, right, it’s almost Thanksgiving, so you’ll be getting a new vehicle for a Thanksgiving gift.” He kissed her on the forehead and then said, “Come on inside, it’s freezing out here.”
They all took off walking and she just stood there stunned. What the fuck? He can’t just decide I need a new car. I can’t take a gift like that, good gads. When they finally realized she wasn’t with them they all turned at once and looked back at her. “Are you serious? You can’t do that!” She knew her voice would have sounded more sincere if she hadn’t been shivering in the cold, but she tried to make up for her lack of volume by adding in a good dose of attitude. “Exactly when did you get to be the king of my kingdom, Collin? I don’t remember abdicating my throne to you.” She looked up and saw Clay’s grin just as she heard Collin growl. The next thing she knew she was hanging upside down over Collin’s shoulder as he stalked toward the house.
“We’ll discuss this inside where it’s warm—and you’re naked. It’s just a hunch, but I’m betting you’ll be a lot more cooperative when you’re naked and I’m sliding in and out of your sweet pussy.” As much as she wanted to be offended, she wasn’t and when she felt her pussy start to cream she didn’t doubt for a moment he’d be able to smell her arousal since it was right up there by his fracking nose. As her new friend Kat would say, damn and double damn.
Collin set her on her feet as soon as they got in the front door and she swayed on her feet when all the blood rushed from her head. Cash stepped forward and steadied her. “Careful, love—we don’t want to fall.” Collin stood in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. “Collin seems pretty determined that your little car isn’t safe, beautiful. It seems I recall you had a deal with Alex and Zach about that car, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I know. I promised I’d get rid of it before it snowed, but it really hasn’t snowed a lot yet. And I’ve been trying to eke out the last of the use on the tires, you know? I just don’t have much money saved up yet to buy something else.” She was suddenly feeling really vulnerable with all of them watching her like she was some kind of errant school girl who was refusing to listen to reason. She had been poor all her life and not having money in her savings account these past couple of years had always made her feel unsettled. She needed to know she had a safety net, because her uncle wouldn’t be in prison forever and when he was finally released she was going to have to start running…and that would take money.
Cash leaned forward and looked at her intently, “What were you thinking about just then?” When she dropped her eyes to the floor, he leaned closer and pulled her chin up so that she was forced to look at him. “Eyes on mine, beautiful. Now answer my question. And I’ll caution you to not lie, because I will know. And lying by omission is still lying, just in case you think leaving out critical information might work out for you.”
Layla took a deep breath and sighed. “I was just thinking about how uncomfortable I’ve been by not having any money in savings. I’ve always struggled with money, well, ever since my family sent me out on my own when I was…well, I was pretty young, let’s just go with that. As for the rest of it…it’s a really long story and I promise to tell you everything, but I’m not really ready to go there just yet. Is that okay? I don’t want to lie, but I’m just not ready to have this conversation yet.” She felt tears burn her eyes but she was determined to hold them back.
She watched Cash as he considered her words. And she was struck by the fact that he hadn’t gotten angry, but there was something in his eyes that she could only think of as disappointment and that tore at her heart. She blurted out, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that, well, I didn’t want tonight to be about that.” She kept her eyes on his and knew when he had accepted her words because the lust returned to his expression in a rush. Relieved more than she could say, she let out a breath and leaned against his chest. “Thank you for understanding. I want to get back to that really nice place where you all wanted me. Can we save the issues for later?”
Cash had wrapped his arms around her and she suddenly felt as if she could conquer the world with him in her corner. For the first time since her uncle had been led screaming out of the courtroom, she wondered if she might actually be able to make a stand against him and survive it. Finally, she reluctantly pulled back and looked up into Cash’s heated gaze. She didn’t know the words to tell him how much she wanted him. All she could think of to do was to put her hands on either side of his face and pull him down into a sweet kiss. When he moved his hand to her ass and pressed her tighter against his rigid length she moaned and in that moment she felt the energy in the room shift.
Immediately Cash lifted her and she easily wrapped her legs around his lean hips. She felt him walking and knew instinctively Collin and Clay were following them but she wasn’t paying any attention to which direction they’d moved or how far he’d carried her. She came back to awareness when her bare ass cheeks met cold marble. She gasped out a small screech of surprise. “Oh my stars and garters that’s cold. Why did you…holy fracking fairy farts…where are we? This room is amazing.”
Cash smiled down at her “This is the master bath, love. Do you like it? We’re all going to enjoy a nice warm shower before we go to bed, how does that sound?”
Layla watched as Clay stepped up to what looked like a control panel that might well launch a space shuttle. He started pressing buttons and she didn’t have any idea what they could possibly all be for. He must have sensed her questions because he stepped back and offered, “It’s really very user friendly and we’ll be happy to show you how to run the sound system, water temperature and pressure controls, the lighting and the glass frosting—but not until later—hopefully much later.” He’d winked at her and she’d felt her heart lighten. Clay always seemed to know exactly when she needed that little bit of fun to take the edge off an emotionally charged situation.
Layla watched as Collin stripped off his clothing effortlessly. She knew she was staring at his roped muscles, but she didn’t much care. Ea
ch of the Red Cloud brothers was a picture of male perfection. Their golden brown skin and muscular bodies were each practically a work of art. Each had the same blue-black hair that shone under the overhead lights. Collin and Cash were both over six feet tall and were leaner than Clay. The youngest of the brothers was five feet eleven and his broader shoulders and muscular back were a testament to his bull riding days and the past weeks that he’d spent dividing his time between their parents’ ranch and the carpentry work he’d done at the dance club.
Cash stepped back to remove his clothes and Collin moved in front of her and grasped her fingers and pulled her slowly to her feet. “You have too many clothes on, sweetness.” He paused and seemed to be studying her. She felt herself being drawn in to his heated gaze and she wanted to please him more than she wanted her next breath. The thought was humbling because it was a direct reflection of everything Tori and Kat had told her about submissives one night as they’d enjoyed a glass of tea. They’d been lounging by the waterfall in the gardens behind the Lamonts’ beautiful home chatting and the other two women had told her about their chosen lifestyle. She had tried to explain that she just wasn’t able to wrap her mind around the concept and they’d both laughed and assured her she would understand it clearly when the moment arrived. “Sweetheart, I don’t know where you went just now, but I’d say it had something to do with a moment of enlightenment. Did you just have an ‘aha’ moment?” She heard the slight teasing tone in his voice and appreciated the fact he was trying to ease back into her good graces after their little confrontation by the front door.
“Yes, I did. It was something that Tori and Kat mentioned one day and I didn’t understand it until this moment. They said I’d get it, but I hadn’t really believed them.” She could hear her voice had become breathy and it sounded needy even to her own ears.
Collin smiled and then leaning forward, he spoke his question softly against her neck. “Your desire to please us surprises you doesn’t it?”
She knew her eyes had gone wide and she felt her gape open. “How did you know?”
By this time Cash had returned to her. “We’ve both been Doms for a long time, love.” He chuckled when she looked confused. “Hope you don’t play poker, beautiful, because you have a very expressive face. What I mean is that we’ve talked to a lot of subs. We’ve trained both Doms and subs so we know the signs of epiphany when we see them.”
Collin added, “Some of the most intelligent, driven, and successful women I know are submissives. They relish their time with their Doms because all they have to do is feel. They aren’t responsible for the jobs of the people working for the corporations or businesses they own and/or operate. Having a time when they have no responsibility other than pleasing their Dom is freeing for them. Is that close to what they told you? Because they are both very intelligent and successful women so I’m sure they have each experienced something similar.”
She was so surprised by his words all she could do was nod. Clay seemed to sense her need to step back for a bit and he spoke up, “Let’s get our girl into the shower and show her all the great things that can happen on the other side of that door. Come on, baby, time for water sports.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and when he extended his hand she let him pull her closer to the now steaming shower. Cash stepped up behind her and stripped her bare in seconds. Feeling the air over her recently waxed pussy caused her nipples to draw up into tight buds and she felt cream coating her folds. Clay stopped and looked at her appreciatively. “You are so fucking gorgeous you take my breath away, baby girl. I have no idea what the Great Spirit our grandmother taught us about saw in me that deserved such a precious gift, but I’ll say a prayer every day for the rest of my life for his insight.” She felt tears at the back of her eyes and was relieved when he tugged on her hand and said playfully, “Come on, last one in is a rotten egg.”
* * * *
Clay Red Cloud had never had any desire to be a sexual Dominant. He just hadn’t ever seen it as who he was as a man. He loved women, old, young, short, tall, hell, he loved them all. His mom had always said he took after Dad Julian, who she had always said was her charmer. He’d grown up watching as Dad Julian filled a very big role in his mom’s life. He was the one she went to when she needed a hug and a giggle, he was always the one who could make her smile when things had been strained in their home for one reason or another. More than once he’d heard his mom call him Niz. Clay had finally asked why and she’d told him it was the abbreviated form of nizhónígo, which was the Navajo word for happiness. Clay had only been in his early teens at the time, but her words had made a lasting impression on him.
When Clay had phoned his sweet mama last week just to hear her voice, he’d mentioned that day to her and been pleasantly surprised that she’d remembered every vivid detail. She had gotten quiet and then said, “You were always my sweet boy and the woman who captures your heart is a lucky woman indeed because you’ll bring sunlight and happiness to her life just as my love Julian has done for me. Clay, never underestimate the importance of your contribution to the family you’ll form one day.” He’d heard her sniffle and he had wished he could have pulled her into his arms and hugged her. As the youngest son he had always had a particularly close relationship with his mom. His brothers had usually been off with either Dad Joseph or James, so he and baby Lainy had been home with their doting mother. In truth that extra time in her loving care was likely a large part of the reason he tended to be the romantic, playful one and it was a role he relished.
Right now he was enjoying the feel of Layla’s softness nestled against his strength. She had lost too much weight since they’d all moved to Climax, but she had been working so hard and he knew money had continued to be an issue for her. Layla had told him that she’d had to use up all her savings during her college years and he’d known that had bothered her. When the three of them had noticed the drop in her weight, they’d begun paying very close attention to if and when she ate. They’d even watched how often she went grocery shopping, which hadn’t been nearly often enough, so they’d started dropping by with lunches for her and those had progressed to extended breaks so that she could get a little bit of balance back into her life.
Clay pulled her under one of the large shower heads that simulated a soft rain shower. He kissed her while rivulets of water soaked them in a slow drenching avalanche of warm water. He’d argued long and hard with his brothers about this shower during their renovations and construction phases. He’d believed so firmly in his vision for the master bath that he’d finally offered to cover the entire cost himself if they’d agree to everything he wanted done. Smiling to himself, he thought about all the fun he was going to have rubbing it in their faces now because the look on Layla’s face when she’d stepped into the shower enclosure had made every cent he’d spent worth it. The wall of windows that looked out over the valley and the view was amazing in the daylight. The floor-to-ceiling windows could be frosted with the touch of a button if more privacy was desired.
He’d spent hours looking through the stores of regional quarries until he’d found enough of the flat smooth stones in varying shades of gray and black to make the benches and also form the cascading wall of water that he’d inlaid with soft lighting. The waterfall wall also extended along the backside of the hot tub so that when the lights in the room were shut down the ambiance from the waterfall lights transformed the entire room a romantic getaway. The actual bathroom facilities were in a smaller room through a door that most people wouldn’t even notice.
The adjoining mistress closet was enormous and had entrances from both the bedroom and this room. He had read countless magazines and talked to every woman who would answer his questions about their bathrooms. He smiled to himself when he remembered the strange looks he’d gotten, but all that input had been worth its weight in gold.
He pulled back from the kiss and smiled at Layla’s slightly dazed expression. “Baby, we want you to just relax and let us take care
of you. Can you do that?” When she slowly nodded her head, he leaned down and kissed her again just as he saw Cash begin running his shampoo-covered hands gently through her long tresses. Clay broke the kiss and whispered into her ear, “Feel how Cash’s hands are making love to your hair, baby? Let his hands caress your scalp and imagine how wonderful those hands are going to feel as they move over every inch of your naked body, because I can promise you, there isn’t going to be a single place we don’t worship tonight.”
When Layla groaned he looked down to see Collin’s soapy hands smoothing up and down her toned legs. “Col’s hands are working their magic on you also aren’t they, baby? Feel how he moves with deliberate pacing so that every nerve ending is ignited with need?” He lowered his head and licked over both nipples before pulling the first one into his mouth with a strong suction that pushed the sensitive tip against ridges lining the roof of his mouth. She arched her back, pushing her ample breasts deeper into his mouth. He showered each breast with attention, and could hardly wait until he could hold the mounds tightly together and fuck them until his seed coated her chest and throat. The warrior in his blood was never far from the surface when he was with her and the need to mark her was pushing itself to the forefront.
“Spread your legs apart for Collin, baby. Let him start preparing you for what we have planned.” When her breathing hitched and he saw a flash of uncertainty in her eyes he held her face to his and asked, “Do you trust us, Layla? Does your heart know how much we want you and that we’d never do anything that you didn’t want?”
He knew the answer before she ever answered by the way her pretty emerald eyes softened and arousal once again replaced the apprehension. Her words were quietly spoken, but they held the future of each man in their depth. “Yes, I trust you…each of you, with my body and my heart.”
