by Lexi Blake
“They’ll let you do make ups.” The massive dude adjusted his vest. “Lucy had to cover for a friend’s shift at Top last week. I sat in and then went over the materials with her in private. Wade was cool once he’d ensured I properly passed on the lesson. So don’t worry about that. I think we’re working on role-play tonight and how to handle your partner’s needs even if they don’t match your own.”
He was beginning to wonder about her needs. “That should be interesting. How’s it going with you and Lucy?”
Bear grinned. “She’s a pistol. I mean it. She has a couple. I was worried about it at first because I’ve been around some chicks with really crazy eyes, but apparently her father is ex-military and believes in his baby girl being able to protect herself.”
“Yeah, Regina has more guns than I do,” Vaughn admitted. “But she’s third generation DPD. Let me tell you we’re going to do some serious role-play in her squad car. I’m totally looking forward to that.”
“So you’re both pretty happy with your subs?” He was curious. He’d spent most of his time alone with Amy. She’d gotten her car back from the shop the day before. He’d had her all to himself at night for two solid weeks.
For the whole time she’d followed his rules. After that first night, she’d packed a suitcase and stayed with him. He took her to and from work, to class on Sanctum nights. He’d taken her to dinner a few times and she’d cooked when they stayed in. She’d gone over to Simon and Chelsea’s with him to watch a movie. It had been a spy thriller and the other couple had playfully bickered about how unrealistic it was, but Amy had cuddled up in his lap and she’d fallen asleep. He’d carried her back to the condo and made love to her the next morning.
He knew he should think of it as sex. Lots of dirty, filthy, hot sex, but it felt like something more. The sex was beyond fantastic.
Not once had he found her sniffing around his computer. He’d stayed in bed long past when she would get up and every day he’d carefully checked the surveillance footage. Nothing.
Except the fact that she sang to herself sometimes. She did a mean Katy Perry and she talked to her ex-husband on the phone. Apparently Frankie Hollywood got up super early to work out and they talked every morning.
She knew about Clannahan and something was up with her board. His CEO assured him Clannahan was going to agree to a friendly buyout and they would have the assets they needed, but the Irishmen were still coming to Dallas to meet with Slaten.
He felt like a shit that he’d listened to her side of that conversation. Even more of a shit because he’d heard her confess to her ex that she’d never had it so good with another man. She’d told him that it was still casual but she was hoping for more.
Why would she tell her ex that? Why would she pretend with him?
Now she was pulling away from him. He could feel it.
Bear shrugged his big shoulders. “Lucy’s a good kid.”
“Regina and I get along nicely,” Vaughn said.
“You sleeping with her?”
Vaughn’s brow rose. “Am I in the wrong locker room?”
Bear chuckled. “You better get used to it. When the MT boys are around it’s gossip central in here. Oh, Big Tag will pretend he’s all about the sports and shit then he’ll sit you down and start in on what team will go all the way and bam, suddenly you’re talking about some issue that’s going on and he’s pretending to vomit, but he keeps on you and then your problem’s solved and you go take a shower because you feel dirty. And yet you also feel pretty good because you kind of know what to do.”
Vaughn frowned. “That’s a lot to take in. Brighton told me this place was cool. Now you’re saying there’s some sort of crazy fix-it guy who makes you talk about your hookups?”
“No. I’m saying that the guys are all friends and they kind of lean on each other,” Bear explained. “You don’t work for McKay-Taggart as closely as I do. It’s definitely got that weird family vibe. They help each other out. I think that’s what Flynn’s trying to do. He’s not being nosy. He wants to talk about the fact that he is sleeping with his sub.”
“Why would I care if he’s sleeping with his sub?” Vaughn asked.
Bear shook his head. “There’s a reason you’re friends with Boomer.”
Wow. He’d stepped into that one. He didn’t want to get Vaughn and Bear into some kind of argument. “Forget I asked. Don’t worry about it. Who’s teaching tonight? Is it Wade or one of the partners?”
Bear looked like he wanted to push the subject, but he finally sighed and let it go. “It’s Jake Dean and Adam Miles and their sub, Serena. Apparently she’s very good with role-play, but don’t expect more than a lecture. She’s seriously pregnant. There’s a lot of that going on in this place. Use double protection, man. I think something’s in the water.”
Vaughn shivered as though he couldn’t think of anything worse and strode away.
Bear turned back to Flynn. “Don’t mind him. He’s younger than the rest of us in more ways than age. And no, I’m not sleeping with Lucy and I’m not going to. She’s a good kid, but she’s a little more innocent than what I’m looking for.”
“So you think Kai and Wade got it wrong?” From the second he’d seen Amy he’d known he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
Bear frowned. “Maybe not. I like her. A lot. But I’m not in any kind of place to offer her anything. She’s not looking for a full-time Dom either. She’s working her way through college and just wants to have some fun.”
“Why not have fun with you?”
Bear smiled. “Because I’m too rough for her, but I’m also not going to hurt her feelings about it. I think that’s why we were teamed up. Kai knew I would come to view her as a friend and that she could push some of her boundaries with me. I’ll be patient with her and not take advantage. I think it’s different with you and Amy. Me and Lucy are truly not looking for anything serious. You want a committed sub.”
He was starting to be afraid he wanted more than a sub. He was starting to wonder if he didn’t want a wife. A very specific wife. “I’m at a place in my life where it makes sense to be in a more committed relationship.”
Bear nodded. “And Amy seems like a woman who wants to be happy. I think they did a good job with the two of you. And for the record, Vaughn and Regina are going at it like rabbits, and that man is in pretty deep. I caught him looking at gun accessories to buy her for graduation day.”
He had to smile at the thought. What would Amy want?
A collar. A really gorgeous collar that would allow every man who looked at her to see she was taken.
That might be more for him than her.
A week at some ridiculous resort where he could pamper her and feed her and love her and get that worried look out of her eyes.
“It’s good to know I’m not the only one.”
“If you want to talk or anything, we could go and get a beer sometime. I’ll see you out there.” Bear walked away and he was alone in the locker room.
What the hell was he doing? He was practically asking the other guys for relationship therapy. It wasn’t like him. He was private. How could he be so upset that he wasn’t going to spend the night with her? He was actually getting pissy that a woman he’d known for less than a month had chosen to work late.
Was she working on the Clannahan deal? Was she trying to snake that company out from under him?
Did she need it? How bad had things gotten at Slaten?
“No sub for you tonight?” a deep voice asked.
He turned and recognized Jake Dean. He was one of the founding members of Sanctum and taught several of the classes. “It looks like it. Amy texted me an hour ago. She’s stuck in a meeting. Bear told me I just have to sit through the class and then go over it with her.”
“That’s fine.” Dean moved to his locker. “It’s more of a lecture on how sometimes your partner will come up with some crazy shit and you gotta find a way to accommodate her. Or him. We’re simply using the
idea of role-playing because we all had to get used to Phoebe and Jesse doing weird wizard sex things. Don’t even ask. And we’ve got some super geeks. I had to watch the Avengers have an orgy a couple of weeks back. I was cool with it until they brought in Thor’s hammer. That kind of freaked me out.”
Amy would make a super hot Black Widow. He could catch her and go all Hulk on her pretty backside. “Yeah, that sounds weird.”
Jake frowned his way as though he’d known what Flynn was thinking. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re one of those geeks who doesn’t look like a geek but you know way too much about comic books to be normal.”
He shrugged. “Geek is the new chic. I’m afraid my sub’s into it, too. You should probably expect some Buffy the Vampire Slayer role-playing. And Dart. She loves Dart.”
He would have to get that costume and she could play the pretty hacker who aided Dart in all his efforts, and he could need some sexual healing after a long mission. Yeah, that sounded good.
Dean shook his head. “No. No. It’s the only thing that’s completely forbidden at Sanctum. It makes Kai sick. Sorry, the dude who plays Dart is Kai’s brother and he’s famously prudish about his brother. I guess when you’re bombarded daily with how hot your baby brother is you get defensive. It’s kind of like Adam has to deal with me.”
There was a vomiting sound from two rows over.
Dean waved it off. “Don’t mind him. He’s got sympathy nausea. You know I could tell you that the best way to deal with her missing this class is some real world play. Is your sub interested at all in role-play?”
From what he could tell she was a little into it. She’d mentioned the Viking thing more than once. “I think she could go for it.”
It would get her out of her head for a while. It might put a smile on her face.
“Then that’s what you should do,” Dean explained.
Adam Miles moved around the row of lockers. He was dressed in his leathers and shaking his head at his partner. “Seriously? I’m far more attractive than you are.”
“You keep thinking that, buddy,” Dean said with a sigh. “Flynn, take my advice. Grab your girl or you might end up with a hanger-on.”
“Hanger-on?” Miles shot back. “Dude, you wouldn’t have any idea how to make it through a day without me, much less how to take care of Serena and our son. And don’t listen to this asshole. Like I showed up and latched on. You wouldn’t be here without me. You were a complete asshole when we first got together with Serena. You needed me to smooth over all those accusations you leveled at her.”
Dean laughed. “Hah. I fixed that with pure determination, brother. I fucked up but I wasn’t letting that woman or you getting your mansies stop us.”
Did he dare ask? “Mansies?”
“Man period.” Adam shot his partner the finger. “And my mansies were way more productive than your steroidal rage at the world that had done you wrong. He actually accused our sweet wife of pretending to have a stalker as a publicity stunt.”
Dean shrugged. “Yeah, well, I took that shit right back after the bullets started flying. That wasn’t what pissed Serena off. It was accusing her of sleeping with us to further her plot that really got the old engine going. Let me tell you, you’ve got it easy buddy. Getting matched up by experts and having a nice six weeks in a safe place to get to know her…that’s the dream. We did it with stalkers and guns and knives.”
Miles smiled. “Damn, man. Good times.”
“You know it, brother.” He shared a smile with his partner before turning back to Flynn. “Take the night off. Go to her apartment and set up a scene. If she’s had to work all night, she’s likely stressed and tired and in need of some fun. With a surprise scene, the key is to figure out what your sub needs. Does she need the play? Or does she need you to scrap it all and rub her feet and feed her dinner? That’s what I’m going to talk about tonight. Naturally there are times when the Dom needs the sub to be flexible. I can talk to her about that on another night.”
Flynn shook his head. “She’s got that lesson down. She’s fallen into the role of making sure I have breakfast and lunch and that I pull my head out of cyberspace for a while and relax.”
“Then it sounds like you’re on the right path,” Miles assured him. “Are you still sure this is the right lifestyle for you?”
There was no doubt in his mind. “We’ll never be twenty-four seven, but I think we both like having our roles and clearly defined goals for what we need and want. We’re quite compatible in that fashion. I don’t want a sub I have to make decisions for. Hell, sometimes I like it when Amy takes charge of what’s going on in real life. I get caught up in work. She gets caught up in work.”
“So you need to understand your roles will be more fluid than others,” Dean explained. “Our wife is the single most talented person I’ve ever met and yet she’s at her best when she’s got nothing to worry about except our son and her writing. We handle the rest of the world so she doesn’t have to. We make the decisions in our daily lives. She deals with her work. We all sit down as a family and make the big decisions. You and Amy need to figure out what works for you. The key is not letting things slide. You have to talk to her about her needs and your needs. You have to treat your relationship like something worth putting real time and effort into. That’s the nature of the entire class.”
“That doesn’t sound like simple D/s.” It sounded like a damn fine way to have a marriage.
“That’s the beauty of D/s. It’s not only about one thing. It means being honest about what we want and need and finding the proper partners to make it happen. It works for business, friendship, play. It definitely works for marriage,” Miles finished.
“So go forth and set up a surprise for your girl.” Dean started moving to the exit. “I’ll handle Wade. We’ll call it make-up homework. Have fun.”
Miles hung back. “The honesty thing is the important part. You understand that, right?”
“Yes.” He got the feeling Miles wasn’t simply reiterating theory.
“Good.” Miles stared at him for a moment and then started to turn.
“You know.” The words were out before he could stop them.
“I know everything. It’s a sad fact of my life. I’m very good at putting things together,” Miles explained. “I had Hutch run the background checks. He’s a smart kid, but utterly uninterested in anything except candy and first-person shooters. He can find every piece of data, but he rarely puts puzzles together. I like to try to guess who Kai’s going to pair up. The last two training classes have been easier since Big Tag…well, let’s just say he’s got other things on his mind.”
He’d lost his youngest brother. That would put any man off his game. “She used her married name.”
“But any background check will show you who she is and what she does. The same as you. I got interested because of all the trainees, you two have the most in common. Vaughn and Regina come from similar backgrounds, cop and ex-military. They tend to go together nicely, but their childhoods diverge to the point that I wonder how they’ll mesh long term. Not you and Amy. You have so very, very much in common.”
Adam Miles was the communications expert at McKay-Taggart. Unlike Chelsea, who worked for the Agency, he didn’t have the same kinds of rules attached to him. He could pretty much do as he pleased. “She doesn’t say much about her childhood.”
Miles sent him an enigmatic smile. “You’ll have to ask her, but I suspect you won’t. You haven’t talked to her about your mutual interests, have you? Does she know? There’s a reason we don’t give trainees their partner’s dossiers.”
No, the club kept that for themselves. All the records were kept private, but the members assumed Kai and Wade and Big Tag wouldn’t allow anyone in who could be dangerous. Training partners could get as personal or be as impersonal as they wished.
“I have no idea.” He could say that honestly now. If Miles had asked a few weeks ago, he would have qualified that answer w
ith a probably, but now he couldn’t.
She seemed so open with him up to a point. She was hiding something now, but he was almost sure it was worry and anxiety, not lies.
Amy was the kind of woman who would try to put a bright face on things. He rather thought it was a leftover from her childhood. Or the result of years of working at a high level in corporate America. The female executives at Glendale were brilliant and innovative and also bore the scars of having to constantly prove they were tough enough. No matter what he did to combat it, the corporate culture reasserted itself time and time again. It was likely better than it had been, but it would take women like Amy fighting and winning to make it truly change.
Damn it. He respected her, admired her.
Miles leaned against the lockers. “I would suspect not. I got to know her a little when she was bringing down her father. She’s a very nice woman. Smart. Capable. I can’t talk much about it because I do have some rigid guidelines when it comes to privacy. I invade it so very often that I have to keep secrets to myself. Jake and Serena don’t understand the rivalry between your companies.”
“I don’t understand the rivalry between our companies.” If Miles could shed some light, he would take it. “My father never explained it to me. I didn’t truly understand why he hated George Slaten so much.”
“Here’s what I’ve pieced together. Slaten and your father went to college together. At one point in time there were rumors that Slaten wanted to merge with Glendale. Slaten was bigger at the time, but Glendale was coming up in the world. Something happened. Again, I only have rumors. I think your father pulled the plug and they’ve been going at it ever since. Maybe it simply turned into a rivalry about money, but I suspect Slaten had an affair with your father’s first wife and that’s what soured the friendship. Not that I think anyone could have truly been friends with Slaten. He’s a bastard.”
“It makes me wonder how Amy turned out so lovely.”
“And quite unlike her sister. Bridget is open and out there with every emotion. Her creativity and vitality are out there for everyone to see. Amy is more of a mystery. Likely because she watched what happened to Bridget when she defied their father. She’s more private.”
