by Livia Grant
Brianna was relieved to see his smile. She wasn’t too worried. She and Tiff had been coming to this yoga studio for over two years. They’d always been good members, so she suspected Tony would put up with a few shenanigans from time to time. Truth be told, she was relieved to cut their class short today, too, but she wasn’t going to tell Tiffany that. Her body had been stretched and used in many new ways since her last yoga class, and she was feeling it.
Tiffany was already stripping out of her drenched leggings as they made it to the women’s locker room. She headed straight for the showers. Brianna caught up with her a few minutes later.
The two women spent several minutes luxuriating under the warm water, allowing the jets to ease their aching muscles. Random moans of relief could be heard from each woman as they stretched out their aches and pains.
Tiffany broke their easy silence. “I wasn’t prepared for how physically taxing my relationship with Lukus was going to be. My body is revolting this morning.”
“I know what you mean. I don’t know how I can take yoga classes for two years and still find new muscles that are aching since… well, you know.”
Tiffany giggled. “Yes. I do know. I think our men are conspiring to keep us in shape. Just think how much money we can save. Who needs yoga classes with Lukus and Markus around?”
“Are you kidding me? I think we’re gonna need the classes more than ever to stay limber and ready for anything.”
“Maybe. Let’s get out of here. I’m ready for that coffee.”
Twenty minutes later, the girls slid into their booth at their favorite breakfast spot in town. They had the same waitress every Monday. “You guys are early today. You want your usual?”
“Morning, Shirley. Yes please. Actually, can you put in an extra shot of espresso?”
Their waitress raised an eyebrow. “Hard weekend, Tiff?”
Tiffany grinned. “You could say that. Thanks.”
Brianna drained her large water, trying to rehydrate after class. When she was done, she pressed her friend. “So, I know why I’m so sore and tired, but what’s your story? I talked to you like ten times last week, and then all of a sudden you went dark from Saturday night to this morning. Everything okay with you and Lukus?”
Tiffany turned an unmistakable shade of pink, matching her clean workout top. “Oh yeah. Everything is good—well, awesome really.”
Brianna didn’t think she’d ever seen a smile that big on her best friend’s face. Since she’d seen Lukus in action, she didn’t need Tiff to explain. The man was a freaking sex god. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you this exact shade of pink before,” she said. “I suspect Lukus has pushed you a little bit out of your comfort zone.”
“Maybe? Pushed, pulled, dragged. Regardless, I didn’t exactly go kicking and screaming. Well, wait. There might have been a little screaming.”
The friends burst out into girlish giggles.
“I swear, we’re acting like teenagers. We’re both in very adult relationships. We should be acting like it,” Bri said.
“I’m trying, but I have to keep pinching myself that this is really happening. Lukus is like a dream. I never in a million years thought such a man really existed, let alone that I would meet him, and date him.”
“How do you think I feel? I was married to Markus for three years and only now see this other yummy side of him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every single minute of our new life together, but every once in a while I stop and think about how much has changed in such a short time, and it freaks me out, you know?”
Tiffany was suddenly serious. “I do know. I’m so scared of getting hurt, Bri.”
“What? You think Lukus is really going to hurt you? No way. He’s too careful.”
“I’m not talking about physically. I totally trust that he’s working hard to figure me out. In fact, I sense he’s still holding back so he doesn’t scare me. Even if he tries to take me too far, I know all I have to do is safeword and he’ll stop.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Bri asked.
“How is this going to end? I’ve never felt like this before. Ever. I don’t know how I’m going to take it when it’s over.”
“Whoa! Who the hell says it’s gonna be over? Has Lukus said something that makes you think there’s a timer counting down?”
“No, but let’s face it. The man has never been in a monogamous relationship that lasted longer than a few months. In a few months, when I’m totally hooked on him, he’ll tire of me. I’ll never survive him dumping me.”
“You’re doing it again, Tiff.”
They sat silently in thought as Shirley delivered their grande café lattes and veggie omelets. After she left, Tiff answered her friend. “You’re right. I need to stay calm.” Tiff raised her coffee mug as if to toast. “To the hottest men on the planet, Markus and Lukus. I’m not exactly sure where this ride is taking me, but I’m gonna hang on and hope for the best.”
“Sounds good. Now let’s hurry up and finish breakfast. That nap is sounding pretty good right about now.”
Markus
“Thanks, gentlemen. That’ll do it for today.” Markus had been working on getting this damn meeting to a point of closure for over an hour. He hated Mondays. It was impossible to get any real work done between catching up on emails and associate meetings. He knew they were all necessary evils in business, but he hated wasting time on anything that wasn’t billable.
Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same way. “Oh, before we close, I think we should spend a few minutes talking about the lease renewal. I don’t want us to wait too long.”
Markus had had enough. He couldn’t take one more silly topic today. “Jesus, Peter. The lease isn’t up for another eighteen months. I think we have time. Let’s table that for a week when we have less on the agenda. We’ve been in here almost two hours. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has to take a piss.”
Chuckles from around the room confirmed that everyone except Peter was more than ready for this meeting to end. Before he could come up with the next pointless topic to discuss, Markus stood and made his exit.
Passing by his assistant’s desk, he dropped off the files he’d managed to update while multi-tasking in the associate meeting. “I made some edits. Go ahead and make the changes and send all of these letters out today. Thanks, Laurie.”
His efficient admin smiled. “You just can’t stand to not bill during that meeting, can you?”
“Hell, no. I’m the king of multi-tasking. I’m gonna make a pit stop, and then can you get me Lukus on line one? I have just enough time to fit him in before my next client meeting in twenty minutes.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Lambert.”
“Laurie, you’ve been my assistant for three months now. Don’t you think it’s time you called me Markus?”
“No, sir. I’m old school. You’ll always be Mr. Lambert to me.”
“Whatever floats your boat. All I know is you’re the best damn admin I’ve ever had, so don’t even think about leaving me.”
Laurie was beaming at his compliment. Markus meant every word. He’d burned through several assistants over the years. He knew he could be demanding, but he was fair and didn’t ask his staff to do anything he wasn’t capable of doing himself. After losing his last two admins to extended maternity leaves, he’d taken a bit of a chance on Laurie. She was easily his mom’s age and just getting back into the workforce after having taken off two decades to be a full-time mother. She’d been a para-legal for many years before having kids, but she insisted it was her experience in juggling the busy schedule for a family of five that had given her the experience she needed to be a kick-ass assistant.
Markus was just sitting down at his desk when Laurie instant messaged him that she had Lukus on the line.
“Hey man. How’s it going?”
“It’s Monday. How do you think it’s going?” Lukus sounded impatient.
“Say no more. This week is worse than ever.”
/> “I know. Tiff and I spent every minute of the weekend together. You’d think I’d be sick of her by now, but damn, it sucked watching her drive away this morning. How the hell have you done this all of these years?”
“You see, there’s this thing called marriage. It’s when you get to go home and see the same person every single night.” Markus said.
“Don’t give me that shit. I know you’ve thought of fucking Brianna at least ten times today, married or not.”
Markus was caught red-handed by his best friend. “Fine. So, I seriously considered not coming in today. Mondays are the worst because The Beauty Box is closed. It was so tempting to stay home in bed with her when the alarm went off.”
“Well, I have a bone to pick with your wife. I had Tiff talked into staying, and then Bri called and guilted her into going to some hot yoga class. I tried to tell her she would easily work off just as many calories with me, but she still left, dammit.”
Markus chuckled. He knew how persuasive his wife could be when she wanted something, and she loved her hot yoga. Truth be told, he loved that she was into yoga, too. It kept her body tight and limber.
I plan on testing that hot body of hers. She’s gonna need yoga to handle all I’m going to dish out.
“So, I’d love to shoot the shit, but I actually called for something serious. I wasn’t joking when I told you I was gonna hire you to help me deal with that prick, Jake. We’ve both been a bit busy, but it’s time to get working on our plan of attack. I want him ruined. Shredded. Dead would be better, but since I don’t want any of us to go to prison, ruining him personally and professionally will have to do.”
“And I wasn’t joking when I said I’ll do it for free,” Lukus replied. “Tiff has nightmares almost every night because of that asshole. She slept through Saturday night. I’d hoped she was getting over it, but last night was the worst. She woke up screaming and crying, and it took me almost an hour to get her calmed down and back to sleep.”
“I don’t get that. If anyone should be having nightmares, it should be Brianna. Has Tiff had these nightmares all these years?”
“It sounds like she did get over them, but they’ve come back since Brianna let him, well, fuck man. Sorry.”
The rage of finding out his beloved Brianna had cheated on him resurfaced with a vengeance. Markus had been working hard to get past it, but sometimes, like now, the anger just bit him in the ass. “It’s not your fault. Go ahead and say it. Since Brianna let him fuck her again. I want to hurt him, bad. I just don’t get why Tiff is taking it so hard. Tell me, he didn’t hurt her too, did he?”
“Not physically, but the dick loved to fuck with her mind. I don’t think Brianna knows the half of it,” Lukus said.
“What do you mean?”
“I guess years ago, Tiff threatened Jake that if he didn’t leave Brianna alone, she was going to get her cop brothers involved, have him investigated and arrested. The asshole figured out she was bluffing and, okay, promise me you’re gonna remain calm…”
“I’m not promising anything where Jake Davenport is involved. Spit it out, will ya?” Markus said.
“Don’t freak out, but Tiff said Jake recorded several punishment sessions with Brianna. He spun it in a way that showed how she loved the pain; loved how he treated her. He showed Tiff the tape of him caning Bri, and she was coming on camera. Then he went on to say he felt threatened by Tiffany’s cop brothers, and if anything were to ever happen to him, it needed to be investigated. He told Tiff he’d made a copy of the tape and left it with his lawyer in case anything ever happened to him. Poor Tiff has been losing sleep for years, just waiting for some battered woman to finally have enough and off the bastard; then the cops would show up and arrest her brothers.”
“That fucker. That Goddamn, low-life, ass-wipe…”
“I can play this game, too. Dick-wad, prick, sleaze-ball—”
Markus interrupted. “Knock it off. This complicates things.”
“Yep.”
“He has a video… of my wife… naked…”
“Yep.”
“He’s basically been blackmailing Tiffany into silence for over three years.”
“Yep.”
He was so filled with rage, Markus could barely breathe. It had been bad enough that Jake was an excessively violent Dom, and that by pursuing his married wife, he was morally repugnant. While Brianna certainly carried her share of the burden of guilt in her adulterous rendezvous, Markus and Bri had been actively working through the reasons for her infidelity, and Markus was sure their marriage was going to come out stronger for it. Regardless, knowing the prick was not only morally corrupt, but actively using blackmail to terrorize both his wife and her best friend was a whole other level of unacceptable.
He has to be stopped. He has to pay.
“Markus. You still there, man?”
Markus could hear the concern in his friend’s voice. “I’m here.”
“Why don’t you let me just take care of this for you? I’m set up here to track the bastard down and figure out the best way to hurt him. You just deal with getting your marriage back on track, and teaching that wife of yours what it means to be a real submissive, not the imitation battering-ram version the asshole tried to convince her was right.”
“I’m not walking away from this, Lukus. Don’t even ask me to.”
“Fine, then at least let me do some digging first and figure out what we’re dealing with. As soon as I have a better picture, I’ll give you a call, and we’ll figure out our next steps, okay?” Lukus suggested.
“Fine, but don’t take too long. I don’t want this to drag out. I want Bri and Tiff to feel safe from him, and you know damn well he has to be hurting other women as we speak. Predators like him feed off the violence against innocent women. I’d bet my next paycheck he’s leaving a string of battered women in his wake.”
“I wish I didn’t agree with you, but I’ve met enough bad Doms in my day to know his M.O. He’s a sadistic bastard. I’ll be back in touch when I have something to share. Oh, and before we hang up, what are you guys doing this weekend?”
“I haven’t got that far yet. Why?” Markus asked.
“Remember Michael Harris? The guy who lost his sub in that car accident about four years back?”
“Yeah. He moved to New York, didn’t he?”
“He’s back in Chicago. He splits his time between cities. He rejoined The Pit with his new sub,” Lukus said.
“Good for him. He kinda went off the deep end for a while there, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. They’d been in a Total Power Exchange relationship, so he was lost without her at first. He found himself a new sub. This Friday, they’re having a formal collaring and commitment ceremony here at the club. He’s going all out. I think it’s something the girls might like attending.”
“I don’t know. I’d never consider a TPE with Bri,” Markus admitted.
“Me either with Tiff, but it might be good for them to see this type of a relationship as a contrast. I’m really struggling to get Tiff to open up and talk about her limits. Attending a ceremony like this is a good way to get her talking. We’re going. I thought you and Bri might like it, too.”
“Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you in a few days.”
“Cool. The ceremony is at midnight. I’m taking Tiff shopping earlier that night to Mistress Martha’s for an outfit to wear. You guys are welcome to tag along. I’m sure we could make it fun for the girls.” Lukus chuckled.
“You’re gonna subject Tiff to Martha? Brave man.”
“Hey, she’s mellowed in her old age. And besides, she has the best selection of corsets and kinky lingerie in town. I’m getting a boner just thinking about watching Tiff modeling outfits that night.”
Markus’s pulse jacked up at the thought of his wife modeling naughty lingerie. “You just sold me. Let’s make a night of it. I’ll make dinner reservations. See if you can get us a private viewing room with Martha. She alway
s did like you best.”
“That’s just because I always complimented her eyes. You only complimented her on being a bad ass.”
“That’s because she is a bad ass.”
“Maybe, but even Dommes don’t want to be called that.”
“Whatever.”
“Hey, can you hold on a sec? Derek is in here, bugging me,” Lukus said.
“Tell him to fuck off. I was here first.”
“Well, since he’s gonna be helping with the Jake investigation, I’d rather you not piss him off at this point.”
“Fine. But I only have a few minutes before my next meeting.”
Markus heard Lukus talking to what sounded like a group in his office. He couldn’t make out exactly who was all there, or what they were talking about, but he could guess it wasn’t good.
Lukus came back on the line. “I gotta go. I fucking hate Mondays. Everything is unraveling at this end. I need to go kick some asses.”
“Fine. Later.”
“Bye.”
Chapter Nine
Lukus
Lukus hung up the phone with his best friend and turned his attention back to the motley crew crowding into his office at his security headquarters. He’d taken time off last week with Tiffany, not only from The Punishment Pit, but also from his day job running Titan Securities. The chaos of the operation this morning showed it. He was getting a headache just listening to the ruckus around him.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP. EVERY GODDAMN ONE OF YOU!” he roared.
Four pairs of shocked eyes turned his way. Make that three pairs. Derek was trying to contain the humor dancing in his eyes. Lukus shot his friend his best cautioning glare. He liked that most of his employees were slightly afraid of him. It kept them on their toes.
“Now. One at a time. Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Only as he finished his sentence did Lukus notice a fifth person lounging quietly on the couch near the door to the expansive office. There was no mistaking the stranger’s identity. He was a miniature version of his brother.
