by Dakota Trace
“No. I don’t do this anymore.”
“Like hell.” Dominic squeezed her nipple between his fingers. His evil smirking grin, as it hardened under his grip, had her closing her eyes against the pleasure it set off within her. “Last chance, chérie. Either you strip now or we do it for you.”
She shook her head before trying to step back from Dominic’s hold. She inwardly groaned when she backed into Josh. Fuck, I’m so screwed.
“Not yet but you will be, slave,” Josh growled in her ear.
Ah hell, I said it out loud!
* * * *
Catching Dominic’s eyes over Kalinda’s head, both men proceeded to strip their lovely little slave out of her sloppy sweatshirt and pants. As each piece of flesh was revealed, they tweaked and nipped at it before they soothed away the pain with gentle caresses.
When she was finally nude between them, they led her to the whipping post. She had expected Josh to bind her to it, but he stopped to cup his hand over the hard swell of her belly. Naked she had no way of denying her obvious state. “You never answered, slave. Is this Dom’s and my baby?”
Looking from one man to the other, she wasn’t sure how to answer. “I…don’t know...which one of you is the father.”
Dom’s hand moved to cover the other side of her small swell. “It doesn’t matter, chérie. We’ll both be his or her Daddies. We both love you.”
She sighed longing more than anything to take what she knew they were offering. They’d take care of her and their unborn child, but what happened when she refused to submit to them again? She just couldn’t do it - offer everything she was and then have them move on. The price for a bit of security now wasn’t worth the pain she knew would follow. “I love both of you more than I can say…but it doesn’t change a thing. Please give me back my clothing. I’m more than willing to let you be part of the baby’s life, but you have to let me go.”
She winced when both men stepped back from her.
“Like hell.” Dominic’s voice was firm while his eyes promised her a spanking if she tried to run. She looked beseechingly at Josh. Perhaps she’d have better luck with him seeing reason. Instead she found the same determination in his gaze. His response proved how right she was.
“Not in this lifetime. I let you go once. Never again! You’re home - all you have to do is accept it. But until you do, we’re going to give you a bit of incentive to stay.” Josh grabbed both of her hands. Before she could stop him, he had them bound to the whipping post. She tugged against the bindings to check their strength. When they held firm, she felt like cussing. She should’ve expected it. Josh had always tied a mean knot, even if he wasn’t into Shibari like Dominic was.
“Damn it! Let me go!” She glared at both men.
Dominic stepped up against her to thumb her nipple. “We’re going to clear the air between the three of us. Then afterwards, you’re going to give us your submission, slave.”
She hardened her jaw. “I don’t care if you clear the air or clean the kitchen, I won’t submit. Never again!”
“We’ll see.” She caught her breath when he tugged on her increasingly sensitive nipple. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Kalinda. I let something that happened in the past dictate how I reacted to you. I was scared you’d leave like Simone did…so I left before you could.” He took a deep breath. “I’m assuming your brother has kept you in the loop about my initial surgery, but I will probably need another couple before I’m back to normal, along with some extensive physical therapy. The bullet shattered my collarbone just above my rotator cuff.” He absently rotated his shoulder before continuing. “I went through the first without you by my side, and as much as I value my relationship with Josh, I’d much rather wake up from the anesthesia seeing your beautiful face than his ugly mug.” He pressed his lips against hers. “Please don’t leave me again.”
“I…I…” The tears in her eyes made him blurry. Even without the details of what his former sub had done, the only thing she really needed was his promise to never again be as cruel as he was the morning he’d broken it off with her. A tear slid down her cheek. She nearly sobbed when he released her nipple to capture the droplet with the tip of his finger.
“I’ll even tell you what happened between Simone and me if it will make you stay.” The huskiness of his voice told her how close he was to his own tears. She shook her head while trying to find her voice. There was no need to have him relive what happened during Katrina. She loved him just the way he was. Her Master.
“I don’t…”
“Oh my God.” The agony on his face, as Dominic stumbled backwards from her, made her realize that he’d obviously misinterpreted her response. He turned away from her. If her hands had been free she’d have grabbed him. Luckily for her - Josh’s were. He placed a firm hand on Dominic’s shoulder to keep him from leaving.
“Wait, let her finish.” He turned to Kalinda. “Go ahead, Spitfire.”
Taking a deep breath, she willed Dominic to look at her. When he didn’t, she gave a deep sigh. “Please look at me.” When he finally did, she could see he was trying to hide behind his Master’s façade, before he straightened to look her in the eye. She loved him all the more for it. It took a strong man to face his fears. “I don’t care what happened in the past with Simone.” She lowered her head submissively. “As long as you can promise to never force me to go away again, I’ll stay…Master.” Her voice broke on the term of respect.
“Promise? I’m not perfect, I may backslide - but I’ll have you and Josh to keep me from fucking up that badly again.” He cupped her cheek.
She nodded. “That’s good enough for me, Master.”
He rubbed a thumb over her lip. “Are you sure you don’t want to know…”
Her tongue darted out to taste his thumb before releasing it at his groan. “If you never want to talk about what happened during Katrina, that’s fine. There’s no reason for you to relive it just to satisfy my curiosity.”
She saw the surprise on his face. Evidently he hadn’t expected her to know that much. “Subs talk, Master. I don’t know the particulars, nor do I care to, unless it causes you to throw me out of your life again.”
He shook his head in denial. “It won’t.” He closed his eyes. “How could I have ever confused you with Simone?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He sighed before wrapping an arm around her. His head dipped to her ear. “But there is one thing I do know, chérie, is whatever happened with Josh needs to come out in the open, so we can start our new relationship with a clean slate.”
Kalinda stiffened before shaking her head. I can’t do it.
“Are you safe-wording on me, slave?” She jerked before looking up. The vulnerable man she’d just reassured was gone. In his place was the formidable Dom who’d rescued her from the Gilded Lily. She wet her lips, trying to ignore the way her body responded to the emergence of her stern Master.
“No, Master.” Her voice was low.
“Then I expect an answer. There can be no secrets between us. I’ve heard Josh’s side of it. Now I want to hear yours.”
She shook her head before answering. “I can’t.”
“You will.” The hard tone should’ve warned her, but she was so wrapped up in her own pain she wasn’t aware of Josh giving Dominic the flogger, nor the look they’d exchanged. A muffled cry escaped her when he brought the flogger across her ass. A whimper forced its way past her tight throat even as her body rejoiced at the familiar feel of leather striking her flesh.
* * * *
Using his good arm, Dominic gritted his teeth against the tugging he felt in his opposite shoulder when his body followed behind the swing. At first he hadn’t noticed, but after several minutes of plying the flogger across her back and buttocks while avoiding her stomach, the tightness of his left shoulder had become noticeable. But no matter what pain it caused he was going to finish this. Both he and Josh had discussed it during their time away from Kalinda. They�
��d agreed upon the method they would use when dealing with their slave’s reluctance to talk about what happened with Josh. She couldn’t heal if she refused to talk about it, or give Josh the forgiveness he knew the other man needed.
Observing the bright red marks on her skin, he paused. “Are you ready to talk, slave?”
“No, Master. I need more…please.”
Her breathing was ragged from the pain coupled with its resulting pleasure. She truly did have a love affair with the flogger. He handed the flogger off to Josh before taking the short single tail whip he’d specifically ordered to use in their playroom. It was designed to not exceed the dimensions of the room. Testing the supple leather against his own arm, he slashed it for a few moments to loosen the tight muscles of his back. If their little subbie needed more to be able to enter sub-space so she could deal with what happened, he was more than happy to send her there.
The first crack of the whip against her back had her crying out. Standing just off to the side of her, Josh gave him a nod. With her pregnancy, Dom was going to have to be careful with the use of it. Stroking across her back several more times, he stopped when Josh held up his hand. By that time, she was openly sobbing. Dropping the whip to the floor, he moved forward when Josh released her wrists from the whipping post. Following the man over to the loveseat they’d installed in the playroom, he grabbed the soft blanket off the back of it while Josh settled down with her on his lap.
After wrapping it around her, he squatted down in front of them placing his arms over Josh’s thighs effectively trapping Kalinda between them. When he saw her tear streaked face, it took all of his self control to pull his inner Dom back out.
“Now, tell me, slave.”
“It…I…” She flicked her tongue over her lips. “Can I have a drink, Master?”
He reached behind him to grab the bottle of water sitting on the small table they’d placed in front of the loveseat. He slowly unscrewed the lid. Her eyes locked on it as he continued to hold it.
“You’re not going to give me any until I’ve told you, are you, Master?”
“No I’m not, slave. Not until I hear what happened between you and Sir.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes once before opening them to glance up at Josh’s hard expression. Dominic knew the other man wasn’t looking forward to this but it needed to be done.
“When Sir first took me under his wing, he showed me the ropes - taught me how to kneel, stand, and crawl like a slave along with the safety rules. He did this before he even once tied me up or used a flogger on me. He told me he wanted me to trust him before we became intimate. Finally after several weeks of training, he deemed I was ready. He’d tied me to the St. Andrews Cross in Caelan’s playroom.” She took a deep breath.
“Go on, slave. This sounds like what any good Dom would do with a newbie. This can’t be why you went off the deep end.”
She nodded before continuing. “I never knew what true erotic pain was until that night, Master. He used the flogger on me until I was dripping with need but felt strangely centered. That’s when he stopped. He knelt to lick at my pussy. At the first touch of his tongue, I exploded. Before I could even understand how or why I had climaxed, he was deep inside of me. When it was all over Sir had filled me full of come, and I was so exhausted from physical pleasure, I was barely aware of him taking me down from the cross.”
“It sounds like he gave you exactly what you needed.”
She nodded. “Yes. Just like now, he wrapped me up in a blanket, cuddled me while talking to me about how proud he was of me. He wanted to make sure I’d gotten everything out of my first flogging on a St. Andrews Cross. Up until then, all of our play had been at Olivia’s and never on a cross. Spanking benches and whipping posts were our norm. He’d saved the cross for a special occasion. It was my birthday present. I even thanked him for it as we talked. I guess we spoke for a long time because the next thing I knew I awoke in my bed.”
Dominic watched as Josh pressed a kiss against her temple. “It wasn’t really all that long, slave. You’d found subspace for the first time on the cross, before coming against my mouth and then again around my cock. That would have been enough to make even an experienced sub tired.”
“Go on. Tell me the rest. Acknowledge what happened, so you can accept that it’s in the past, and we three can get on with our future, slave.”
“When I awoke the next morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d kinda of hoped that with it being my birthday, Josh might have decided to stay the night…”
“I did, slave. I left early but I stayed until the sun rose. I didn’t want to leave.”
She looked up at him. “Then why did you?”
“Truthfully - because I was scared.”
Disbelief crossed her face. “How could you be scared of me? As a Dom you held all the power.”
He covered her belly with his hand. “Only what you give me, Kalinda. After our first time, I knew I was going to want it all the time. You were young and needed a chance to explore.”
“Yeah right! That’s bullshit. You sent me away to get more experience because I didn’t please you.”
“No, I didn’t.” Josh’s tone was hard.
Sitting back on his haunches Dominic watched as the two most important people in his life struggled with their past. He wasn’t needed - but he wasn’t going to leave. He’d see this through for all their sakes.
“Then what do you call that damn letter you left me? 'Sorry, babe, but you need more experiences before I’ll consider offering you anything more. Why don’t you explore while you’re in L.A.' You didn’t even sign the damn thing! What the hell was I supposed to think?” She pounded on Josh’s chest. He let her work all the built up anger out until she was once again sobbing in his arms. Rubbing her back, he shushed her.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Spitfire. At the time I cared enough to not tie a young twenty-two year old to my side. You needed a chance to grow up - hell, even grow into your sexuality before accepting me as a permanent part of your life. For Christ’s Sakes, I’m twelve years older than you, I felt like a cradle robber because I wanted you as my slave.”
“So it’s our age gap you objected to?” She rubbed her face against his chest before a giggle escaped her. “You do realize that there is always gonna be twelve years between us, don’t you?”
He chuckled. “Yes. I do. But I’m through being noble, slave. I want you. Between Dom and me you’re going to be so satisfied that you’ll never have to worry about being alone again.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “Are you sure, Sir - both you and Master want to keep me - not just because of the baby?”
“Oh yeah.”
A soft tap on her thigh had her looking over at Dominic.
“Did I just hear you put yourself down, slave?”
She giggled. “I do believe so, Master.”
“Then get your ass over the spanking bench. You know the rules.” She scrambled off Josh’s lap.
Dominic looked over at Josh’s grinning face. “She’s absolutely incorrigible.”
Josh clapped a hand over Dom’s shoulder. “But she’s all ours.”
Epilogue
Thanksgiving
Kalinda moaned at the hands brushing against her skin as they tested the tightness of the ropes wrapped around her body. She could hear Sir and Master’s low pitched voices as Master guided Sir through his first attempt at shibari. They were once more in their playroom. They’d decided with the fact that they were joining Caelan and Nisey for Christmas in Ireland that they would enjoy Thanksgiving at home. After enjoying an early brunch with her brother and friend, the three of them had driven the ten blocks back to their home. Moments after she’d entered the house, she’d found herself stripped before being ordered to the playroom. She jerked when she felt a hand slap her ass.
“Some one’s not paying attention.” She could hear just a bit of humor in Sir’s voice.
“Sorry, Sir! I thought that you
were the one who’s supposed to be learning. I’m just a teaching aid.”
Her smart-ass remark got her a strike from the flogger held in Dominic’s hand. She moaned softly. God she loved it when her Master went ‘alpha’ on her ass.
“Bad slave. Perhaps for that comment, I should release you and send you to your room.”
Immediately all humor fled her. Under normal circumstances, she shared the huge California King bed that Dominic had brought out from L.A. with both of her men, but they kept a small room off of their bedroom for her to use when their sheer masculinity and dominating personalities overwhelmed her. They’d set the room up as a safe haven for her that they wouldn’t violate, unless there was a dire emergency. By threatening to send her to her room, she’d be spending the night alone whether she wanted to or not.
“I’m sorry Master.” She bent her head in submission.
“Apologize to Sir.”
“I’m sooo sorry, Sir.” She kept her head bent, hoping that her apology wouldn’t suffice. They’d taken to punishing her for her smart ass mouth during scenes. Her pussy moistened at the thought. Due to her condition, her men had been taking it easier than she wanted. That was until she’d dragged Sir and Master to Dr. Sanchez’s office to find out what would be acceptable. The consensus the doctor had come to, as long as there were no direct blows to her abdomen or she wasn’t putting weight on it, they could enjoy any of their normal sexual kinks. So they’d come up with a new punishment for her. If she smarted-off to them during their scenes, she’d receive five strokes for every time she broke the rule.
“She sure doesn’t sound sorry does she, Dom?” Sir’s voice was closer than she expected.
“No, she doesn’t.” Dom’s hand reached out to tweak her ass.
“I think we need to finish tying her up. We can attach her to spanking bench with this right?” Sir tugged on the rope winding around her body.
Her heart plummeted. The spanking bench was one of Sir’s favorites, but since she’d gotten so large with her pregnancy she hadn’t been able to use it.
