by Jane Jamison
Aaron wrapped his arm around her waist. “Who was that creep?”
“Lonnie Vinson. Don’t worry about him. He’s harmless.”
“Are you sure about that?”
As much as she didn’t want to move away, she wanted to get back inside. Lonnie was gone, but who knew when he’d show his face again? She pushed the door wide, then turned toward her heroes. “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure.” Seth led the way with Aaron behind him.
She trembled as they each skimmed their fingers along her arm as they passed by. “Just make yourself at home.” Forcing her legs to move, she followed them, then sat down on the chair opposite the couch where Seth had taken a seat. Aaron had moved to stare out the patio doors.
Her apartment wasn’t much, but it was enough for her. The comfortable yet inexpensive couch and armchair, along with a wall unit for the small television and books made the place cozy. She’d always thought it was a fairly large room, but the hunky mass of the firemen took up most of the space.
“Does he bother you a lot?”
“It’s getting that way. I’d tell his grandfather, but he’s such a sweet man and he has a heart problem, so I wouldn’t want to get him upset.”
“That’s kind of you.”
Seth’s simple praise lit her up inside. “Can I get you two a drink? Maybe a beer?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Yeah. Why not? It’s been an eventful day.” And a good one that, aside from the Lonnie incident, had hopes of getting even better. She tried not to run to the refrigerator, get the beers, and hurry back. Although she was that eager, she didn’t want them to know it or to realize the kinds of wild emotions they gave her. She handed them their beers and almost giggled like a schoolgirl when her fingers grazed Aaron’s.
She sat across from Seth again, crossed her legs, and squeezed. The tingle between her legs grew stronger. “I’m really glad you showed up when you did.”
“So are we. Has that guy ever done anything? Other than pinning you to a door, I mean.”
“No. But he seems to be getting more assertive.” She took a swig of her beer and hoped the cool liquid would douse the spark of heat erupting inside her. It was insane that they could supercharge her libido like they did. All they had to do was come around her and she’d start thinking sinful thoughts. Where Lonnie made her think of running away from him, Seth and Aaron made her think of running towards them. Hell, of hopping on top of them and kissing every inch of delicious bodies.
“So, it isn’t that I’m not glad to see you, but why are you here? I thought we were meeting at the Lizard Lounge on Thursday? Did you want to talk about the calendar now?” Was it business that had brought them to her place? How had they found out where she lived?
Ruthie. She had to have told them.
It wasn’t like Ruthie to give out her unregistered address, but she couldn’t find fault with her friend for telling them where she lived. In fact, she’d have to give her a big thank you tomorrow morning.
* * * *
Seth shifted in his seat. If Beth got any hotter, he wouldn’t be able to control himself, no matter what they’d planned. The woman did it for him. She was brave, yet he doubted she knew it. But the way she’d looked when they’d walked in and found her facing down Lonnie had said it all. Sure, she’d been afraid. He’d seen that on her face, too. But courage had nothing to do with being unafraid. Instead, courage was the ability to face fear straight on and deal with it. She had courage in spades.
She was a mixture of emotions that intrigued him. That courage he’d witnessed was at odds with the shy girl he’d met at the restaurant. But he’d seen another side of her as well. Whenever she’d talked about the calendar, he’d noticed her face glowing with excitement. If he could’ve checked, he was sure he would’ve found her pussy growing moist.
Taming her, showing her that she was a natural submissive, would make any man happy. They’d be proud to call her their own. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her, to whisper in her ears and tell her all the things he wanted to do to her. He and Aaron would prefer that their play stay within the confines of sex, but if she wanted to pursue the lifestyle full-time, then they’d adjust their way of thinking.
He dragged in a long breath and tried to pick up her fragrance. He’d detected a light aroma of a sweet-smelling fragrance at the restaurant. The kind of perfume only a lady would wear, one that gave a hint of fragrance and wasn’t overpowering. She was the type they could take home and introduce to their families, but he had no doubt she’d be amazing in the bedroom. He rubbed his hands together, the itch for her tickling his palms.
First, however, they had to win her over. They had to show that they wanted her for more than play alone.
“We can talk about the calendar if you want, but that’s not why we stopped by.” If he told her the real reason, that they wanted to get to know her before they started teaching her how to be their submissive, she might throw them out. He studied her, noting the way she licked her lips, then glanced at his crotch before jerking her gaze up again. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t ask them to leave. But they’d agreed not to try anything yet, and damn it all, if it was humanly possible, he’d do just that.
“Then why did you? Drop by, I mean.”
Aaron kept his back to her. No doubt trying to maintain his cool. Being in a public place like the restaurant and keeping their hands off her was one thing. But in her apartment, with her bedroom down the short hallway? That was a Herculean feat.
He shrugged, pretending a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “To tell you the truth, we’re interested in you.”
She let out a breath, making her chest rise and fall. He wondered if she knew her nipples were standing at attention and ready to receive orders. Even that slight motion of taking a breath brought a twitch to his cock.
“You’re interested in me?”
Aaron turned around. “Yeah. Interested as in…dating.”
Seth had to duck his head to keep from chuckling. Dating? They wouldn’t bother with dating. That would take far too long. “We just want to get to know you better.” It was a cliché line, but it fit.
“Oh.” She tried to hide a smile, but couldn’t. “There’s really not much to know.”
Aaron wasn’t going to help much. He’d turned his back to her again. Seth hoped she wouldn’t get the wrong idea about that and think Aaron was rude. Or bored.
“Okay, then, I’ll start. Aaron and I grew up in Destiny. Have you ever heard of it?”
“I don’t think so. It must be a really small town. Is it in Oklahoma?”
“Yeah. It’s not far from Tulsa. I didn’t know Destiny existed either until my dad moved me there and made us a family.” He laughed.
“You can say that again.” Aaron faced them. “My mother married his father, but after a few years, we kind of figured we were as much brothers as anyone born to the same parents.”
“Really? That’s a sweet way of thinking about it.”
Seth had never thought about it being “sweet” before, especially since they’d had enough fights that first year to last a lifetime. But that was the way some boys bonded. “Do you have any family nearby?” If she did, once they were involved, she’d have to learn how to handle family situations while living with two men.
“Not nearby. My parents are divorced, with Mom living in Florida and my dad running all over the world for business. He’s in acquisitions for a major investment firm. I only have one sister and she lives in Atlanta.”
She crossed her legs, then crossed them the other way. When she caught him watching her, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and put both feet flat on the floor. All at once her eyes grew wide.
“What?” He checked the outside, thinking she’d seen Lonnie. “Is something wrong?”
She tugged on her T-shirt and gave him a timid laugh. “I just realized what I’m wearing.”
“What do you mean?” What was wrong with a T-shirt and jeans?
“I don’t usually let anyone see me like this. Wearing horrible old clothes, I mean. Urgh. And no makeup, either. I must look like hell.”
“You’d look great in anything.”
Seth had to hand it to Aaron. He wished he’d said that. “My brother’s right. You’re beautiful the way you are.”
She blushed—she did that a lot and he liked it—then took a long drink of her beer. He took one, too, having gotten so mesmerized with her that he’d forgotten he still had it in his hand.
“You’d look great in nothing, too.”
He swallowed his drink hard, then wiped his mouth, and shot Aaron a glare.
Take it easy. Remember?
The pink on her cheeks darkened. “Thanks. I think.”
“Let’s cut the chit-chat.”
Seth tensed, knowing where Aaron was taking the conversation. Problem was that he wasn’t sure how she’d take it.
“I’m sorry.”
“We want you, Beth. We want to teach you what it means to be a submissive.” Aaron’s pitch had plummeted, going husky as it did whenever he was turned on.
“What he means is that we want to teach you what it means to be our submissive.” It wasn’t much better than what Aaron had said, but he’d had to say something.
She swallowed, then belied the fear with the flick of her tongue skimming over her lips. “I’m not anyone’s submissive. I’m not that type of woman.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re sexy, smart, and needing a man to give you what you need.” Aaron clenched his bottle.
Seth hoped it wouldn’t break. “That’s the type of submissive we want. The type we think you are. Or can be. We’d take charge of everything inside the bedroom, or anywhere else we decided to have sex. But you’d always have the right to refuse. We don’t drink when we play and we keep things on the up and up. You’d have a safe word you could use anytime you wanted things to stop.” He was rambling, but he couldn’t stop.
She ran her hand through her hair, a gesture that was as natural as it was seductive. “Guys, I think you’ve got me all wrong. I mean, sure, I’m doing the calendar thing, but I’ve never…I mean, I don’t think I could ever do…that.”
“Yes, you could. And you will. All you need is to let us bring out that side of you. Once we have, you’ll feel freer, stronger than you could’ve imagined.”
Aaron moved toward her and Seth hurried to place his body between hers and his brother. “Anyway, we wanted to tell you that. To let you think about it.”
“I don’t need any time to think about it. Not that I’m judging you or anything, but I’m just not that kind of girl.” She shook her head, but again, the rest of her body gave her away. She rolled her lips under, then swiped her tongue over them again. Crossing her legs the other way, she slid her hands along her sides, showing the curve of her waistline. Once more, she tossed her hair.
“Give it some thought. And if you need us, to ask questions or if that guy bothers you again, just call.” He pulled out a card and set it on the coffee table. “We’ll put a stop to him.” He put his hand against Aaron’s chest, giving him another warning to keep his cool.
His brother got his message and eased back, downing the rest of his beer. “He’s right, baby. Call any time, day or night, if you need us.”
Seth smiled and wished he could trust himself to take her arms or even shake her hand. Instead, he put his bottle on the table beside his card and strode to the door. For a second, he wasn’t sure if Aaron would follow. Once his brother was beside him, he opened the door, then turned to get one more look at her.
“See you Thursday at seven, right?”
“Right. At The Lizard Lounge.” She stuck her hands in her pockets.
Could he hope that she was having as hard a time keeping her hands off them? “Remember, any time. Call us and we’ll get here as fast as we can.”
Nodding, she gave him a beatific smile that held a hint of relief. “Okay. Thanks for coming by.”
“No problem.” When Aaron didn’t move, he had to put his hand on his back and give him a shove to get him going. “See you soon.”
Halfway down the hall toward the front of the building, Aaron started laughing.
Seth scowled at him. “What’s so damn funny?”
“Yeah. We really got to know her in that lousy fifteen minutes.”
“Hey, at least we’ve got her thinking. Besides, I didn’t want to pressure her after that asshole put the moves on her. We wouldn’t want to confuse her and have her thinking that our dominating her would be like what he tried.”
“Okay, I get that. But why the hell did you make us leave so soon?”
“Because, you asshole, you were right.”
“Of course I was. But what about?”
Judging by the smirk on his face, Aaron knew as well as he did. “If we’d stayed a minute longer, I would’ve had her spread-eagle on the floor.”
Aaron’s laughter was even louder. “Damn straight you would’ve.”
* * * *
“Where the heck is Ruthie?”
“I’m sorry. Are you talking to me?”
Beth jerked her head up from staring at the beer bottle in front of her. She hadn’t realized that she’d spoken out loud. The older gentleman, his cheap suit stretched to the limit around his rotund belly, was seated a couple of bar stools down from her. His hair was thinning and the tan line on his fourth finger was a dead giveaway that he was married. He gave her a frank and hungry appraisal.
Did she have a sign on her back saying, “Loser, please apply”? She immediately felt sorry for thinking that way. He couldn’t help it that he reminded her of Lonnie.
“No. Sorry.” She managed a smile, then regretted it when he started to scoot her way. She lifted her hand, stopping him before he got on the stool next to her.
“Are you by yourself?”
“Yes. Actually, no. Not for long. My friends should be here in a minute. They’re firefighters. You know, from the station down the street?”
“Ah. Good for you.” He finally realized that she wasn’t interested. Mentioning that a fireman was his competition had put him in his place. He twisted his seat around to scope out the woman on the other side of him.
She scanned the dimly lit bar. The interior was nice, with sport items ranging from Nascar to baseball adorning the walls. Tables outnumbered the booths, while the bar curved, making a U-shape in the center of the room. If only because of the name alone, she’d have never gone into the Lizard Lounge. The clientele was of a better quality than she’d have thought. In fact, the next time the office went out for Happy Hour, she’d suggest going there.
Submissive.
Holy hell.
She’d thought of nothing else since they’d stopped by her apartment. They wanted to teach her how to be a submissive. No, more than that. Their submissive.
She’d counted on Ruthie’s experience to make sure that the photo shoot was as authentic as it could be, but wouldn’t it help if she had a little experience, too?
Experience with Aaron and Seth sounded like a great idea. They were her chance to make her fantasies come alive. If only she had the guts to try.
Last night her dreams had gotten more sensual, more erotic than ever. And, unlike the previous dreams, she’d had faces to put to the men starring in those fantasies.
She flicked her tongue over her lips, then realized what she’d done. Why did thinking about them make her want to do that? The answer was clear enough. She couldn’t think of anything better than flicking her tongue over their tanned, muscled bodies.
Submissive.
Yeah. Why not give it a try?
“How you doing?” The bartender, a cute guy who didn’t look like he was old enough to drink or serve alcohol, leaned his elbows on the counter. “Can I get you another one?”
Another one or two and she’d fall off the stool. “No, thanks. I’m waiting for friends.” Why did she insist on telling everyone why she was there? Nerves, mo
st likely.
He pushed away from the counter. “Is that them?”
She spun the barstool around to see Aaron and Seth standing in the doorway, scanning the room. They were in the same black station T-shirts they’d worn the other day and their huge frames blocked the light from the outside. It wasn’t her imagination that every woman in the bar turned to watch them.
They were magnificent, men carved from stone and covered with flesh. But it wasn’t just their good looks or the fact that they were firefighters that made their appearance awe-inspiring. They had a confidence about them that few men could ever match. As they found her, they lifted their hands at the same time and started striding toward her.
The hard looks of the other women swung her way, wondering who the two sexiest men in the place were with, then darted back to the men. If some of them had had daggers for eyes, she’d have gotten stabbed ten times over.
She wasn’t the type to gloat, but she couldn’t resist. How often did she get to be the center of envy anyway? She put on her biggest smile and returned their wave.
“Hey, Beth. I hope we haven’t kept you waiting long.”
She tingled as Seth wrapped his arm around her waist. The tingle doubled when Aaron angled his large body between her and the unoccupied barstool next to her.
“Let’s move to that table over there.” He pointed at the only unoccupied table next to the wall. “I’d just as soon have some privacy.”
“I understand. It’s not the easiest thing to talk about.”
He paused, then frowned. “I was talking about wanting to be alone with you.”
If Seth hadn’t had his arm around her waist, her knees wouldn’t have kept her on her feet. Alone time with her? She allowed them to lead her to the table. Aaron surprised her again when he pulled out her chair for her. How many guys still acted like gentlemen?
She settled into her seat, then watched as they grabbed theirs and moved them toward her. More than half the table was left over with enough room for at least three more people to join them. Glancing around again, she saw that she was once again getting envious looks from the women.
