Trying to balance on one foot, dress, and keep an eye on how fast Bastion was opening the door, almost left her falling flat on her spanked ass to the floor with her panties around her knees.
That would not set the right tone.
“Why are you getting dressed if you’re having a shower? Use my ensuite,” Bastion said.
He sounded put-out even though he was making her the offer of his own free will. She’d bet it was because the nookie got stopped.
Wanted to talk? What a crock.
Bastion got just as hot as she was over that spanking.
She’d had her curiosity satisfied and wasn’t opposed to more. It had been sexy. He’d pulled her over his lap with his strong forearms exposed by their rolled-up sleeves, like when he had defended her from those motorcycle goons at the airport gate.
So smoking hot, half out of his suit, and he didn’t even realize it, focused on demonstrating his dominance was more than talk.
Would the other guys know what they’d been up to by taking one look at her, standing there in her panties, or would they assume she had been in the middle of her second quickie of the day?
Hopefully, her pink bottom was well covered.
Bastion gave her a look to check she was ready. His blue eyes lingered on her bare thighs, where she had her hands resting to the sides, attempting to look casual. That gaze burned back up her body.
“You ready?” he inquired like he was the butler, and she, the lady of the house. Well, the room.
“Of course,” she said with a small shrug.
Her voice had been pitched too high!
Bastion smirked and swung the door open wide.
“She’s planning on showering, and no, we didn’t fuck,” Bastion preemptively explained.
War breezed through the doorway first. Guess his father and the business guests were nowhere close enough to overhear since he looked cool as a cucumber.
“Where are your jeans? Did you get too wet at the beach? Bastion should have gotten you into a hot shower sooner,” War said with the admonishment all directed at Bastion.
Her cheeks were flaming. Bastion still had that smug grin on his stupid face.
“I got sand everywhere. Sorry. Bastion’s the one that dragged me over to the bed for our discussion. I didn’t even get the chance to wash my feet after coming in from the beach.”
Keir and Kade squeezed through the door next, one after the other. Bastion closed it, then turned the lock again.
“He wanted to talk?” Keir clarified.
“Is that what he told you?” Tess replied with her own question.
Bastion’s smirk grew.
She gave him the middle finger, right in front of all of them.
War clapped Bastion on the back, pushing him forward. That smirk faltered.
“So, Bastion, she needed her jeans off to talk? Doesn’t seem necessary if she’s going to be using her mouth or sign language,” War teased, checking out her middle finger.
She lowered her hand. Sticking her tongue out might have been more juvenile, but at least, it didn’t convey the word ‘fuck’ immediately.
“Her jeans were filthy and wet,” Bastion said. “I helped her get them off myself. In the bed, as she mentioned. She told me she needed to sit down because they were so tight after getting wet.”
He was really good at doublespeak.
“I was soaked,” Tess added, taking a card from his tricks. “It was uncomfortable. Bastion was such a gentleman to give me a hand. Both hands were necessary, actually.”
Kade caught on first. “Where did he use his hands?”
“On my jeans,” Tess answered, deliberately oblique.
“Turn around,” Kade ordered.
“I need to get into the shower if I want to make dinner on time,” Tess evaded.
Keir caught on next. He was blunter. Raunchier.
“Did you like Bastion’s spanking as much as mine, Pumpkin? Did he do it over your jeans for the whole thing or get a couple of smacks on the bare? You were quite wet for the last few I gave you with Kade watching, and a little pink at the end.”
“Most of the spanking was with her jeans on as they were the reason she was spanked,” Bastion said, owning up to it.
“It’s not her fault the jeans got dirty,” War said. He gave Bastion a tight squeeze of a hug with his arm wrapped around Bastion’s back.
It was enough to get a wince.
“It was an excuse. I asked for it,” Tess admitted.
Bastion nodded and shrugged off War’s arm.
“You all agreed to let Tess and I settle some things between us on our own. Stop making her uncomfortable. The spanking was consensual and, I believe, pleasurable for us both.”
“Bastard, you better not have hurt her,” Keir said.
Bastion lashed out with his hand, grabbing Keir by his shirtfront. He yanked him in close. Kade seemed to notice, but he didn’t interfere. War walked past the pair and sat down on the bed, watching Tess for her reaction.
“Baby bro, you can’t have her beautiful ass all to yourself. Ask yourself if I would ever hurt our girl? Think before you speak next time,” Bastion said, then he let Keir go.
“Sorry, Bastard,” Keir said, surprising her.
Then he gave her an apology. “Sorry, Tess.”
“We’re all still feeling things out between us,” she responded to the sudden apologies. “Thanks for having my back, even against your best friend. I swear, Bastion was right about things being consensual. Neither of us planned it, but I don’t regret it.”
“We still need to have a talk, but it can wait,” Bastion said.
“It’ll have to wait. Can we skip the shower and give you another change of clothes?” War asked. “Da wants us to eat quick and then he’ll let us make our excuses to his guests. They weren’t expecting us anyway. The cooks planned chocolate soufflé for our dessert out on the beach and it’s kind of a timed thing.”
“Soufflé? I’ve never had it,” Tess said.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what the dessert would taste like texture-wise. Was it pudding or more cake-like? She knew soufflés were fluffy and could fall easily.
“Dinner,” War prompted as Tess opened her eyes.
“How did you not skip the spanking and just go straight to getting that orgasmic look on her face?” Keir asked, staring at her.
“I like chocolate and surprises,” Tess admitted.
Kade walked over to her and snagged her chin to give her a kiss. The piercing brushed against her lips. She tongued it, but didn’t enter his mouth.
“Surprises are nice,” Kade said once he was done kissing her. “I call dibs on sitting beside Tess to feed her soufflé.”
“We still have to eat dinner first,” War said, getting up from his seat on the bed.
“She has two sides. Dibs on the other side,” Keir said. “Dinner, then soufflé on the beach after.”
Twin sandwiched again. Life could be worse.
“I think I should sit beside War since it is his house. At least, for dinner in front of the guests. Bastion should sit on my other side. Dessert belongs to Kade and Keir. Sound fair?” Tess asked, giving all of them a look to see their opinions.
Everyone nodded, although Keir did a few moments slower than the other guys. Tess would bet he was pouting.
Sometimes she wondered if he got left out more. A few times, she’d heard Keir referred to as the younger brother, although with twins that was really semantics.
Mr. Saxton, when she had met him in Principal Henderson’s office, seemed to brag about Kade quite easily. He’d only mentioned Keir when it came to listing off the top students of the school.
Keir was second best.
Did he really believe that?
“Are we going to stay out on the beach tonight and watch the stars? Keir said he could show me some of the local constellations. Apparently, we’re far enough from home that they're different in this part of the world,” Tess said.
>
With a smile, Keir brightened up at her proposal. Of course, they had more than stargazing planned.
Bastion gave her a look. She couldn't quite interpret it until he quickly glanced over at Keir.
Ah, he had also picked up on the subtle concern of favouritism between the twins.
It wasn't Kade’s fault. He always tried to include his brother.
It was about time that other people recognized Keir as well.
“I think I can arrange for some outdoor mattresses and throw blankets to be brought down. It can get chilly at night. We were thinking about a bonfire, if you want,” War said.
The twins had already told her the plan, but she acted like it was news to her.
“Sounds terrific. Now, I better get dressed, so we can get down to dinner. Your dad isn't going to want to wait on us when we were unexpected guests and he's trying to do some business,” Tess said.
Although it was Bastion’s room, all of the guys left and waited in the hallway for her to get changed.
She quickly brushed her hair and washed her face, making discreet use of an unscented deodorant she found in the drawers, wrapped and unopened.
There was also a perfume bottle, powder, and a little bag of cosmetic samples.
By the time she was finished, one of the guys softly knocked at the door to let her know they had gotten her a change of clothes from her room.
Her escorts were all dressed nicely, but the guys didn’t make Tess feel underdressed. In fact, their eyes gave her a once-over that made her feel confident as she walked down the hallway with them.
It lasted until she entered the formal-looking dining room and took a gulp of air for courage.
Mr. Stewart was not any less intimidating on the second time she met him.
He hadn't changed from the jet, still dressed in a kilt. War was also wearing his kilt.
The other men were dressed in business suits as fancy as the one Bastion wore. The guests were already seated at the table when Tess and the guys entered the dining room.
The gentleman rose from their seats.
She felt proud to be escorted into the room on Bastion’s arm, with her guys surrounding her. Telling herself she was presentable, she smiled at all of the company in a bright greeting.
War pulled back her chair. “Miss Sinclair,” he said.
She took the seat, a light blush on her cheeks from the unexpected courtesy. All of the guys were being perfect gentleman and they made her into a lady. She felt a bit shy knowing the kind of background she really came from and wondering if the guys worried that she would mess up and embarrass them all.
She wouldn't. Her mother had sat down with her when she was younger and had gone over how to eat properly at a fancy restaurant, what seems like eons ago.
A waste because they never actually had the money to go anywhere fancy. Not for graduations or for birthdays. The reason for all of her mother's effort to ensure that Tess could display proper manners was on the fragile hope her grandfather on her mother's side would take interest in her one day.
They had money, her mother's family. Tess hadn’t known growing up. She just slowly realized that her mother's mental health disability meant that Maddy and her children weren't good enough for her mother’s family.
The birthday cards stop coming by the time Tess turned ten. She could count on one hand how many times she had met her grandmother and grandfather on her mother's side. All of those times had been before her mother's first admission to hospital for her bipolar.
It was like they thought it was contagious.
They certainly acted as if it was genetic.
There was no way they would want to acknowledge their genes had contributed producing a daughter that was a failure, a nutcase.
Tess remembered overhearing her mother on the phone talking to her own parents. It had been the first time Tess had perceived her mother as weak. Maddy had pleaded for understanding, promised to stay on her meds and out of the hospital.
One week later, she rebounded when Greg threw out all of her medications. He’d been on a bender and they had gotten into a fight. It was his way of controlling her. The medications that could help her keep her sanity had to be earned.
“Are you okay?” Bastion asked as he took his own seat beside her.
She must have been too quiet, slipping into her own thoughts.
“Yes. Sorry, was I not paying attention?”
“Everyone simply said a greeting. You didn't miss anything,” Bastion reassured her. “Do you want wine with your dinner?”
“No. No alcohol.”
Bastion turned her wine glass over. He left his in place and nodded to a server holding up a bottle of red wine.
“We’ll get you ice water. Do you prefer sparkling water? Flavoured or juices?” War asked at her other side.
“Ice water is fine. I like most juices as well. I'm a bit parched after the beach.”
“More likely your throat is sore from all that screaming earlier,” Bastion whispered.
Tess felt her cheeks heat up. “I thought you were going to be on your best behaviour for dinner?”
“The twins are entertaining the business guests. We have a breather. You were awfully quiet and staring at our server while you were lost in your thoughts. What were you thinking about?” Bastion asked.
The server came closer so she didn't answer right away. He poured red wine for Bastion, then went back to retrieve a carafe of ice water for Tess’s glass. War also put in an order for freshly made passion fruit juice for her.
“It has the seeds at the bottom of the juice. I prefer it that way, although they are very crunchy. They will serve it with the straw so you can suck them up, kind of like bubble tea,” War said.
She’d had bubble tea a couple times at the mall. It was a pretty popular drink and she’d wondered what all the fuss was about. The price was just as expensive as a Starbucks drink, however, so it wasn't an indulgence that she could taste often.
The chewy tapioca were delicious once she got used to the idea of chewing something inside a drink.
When the server left them again, Bastion reminded her of what he wanted to know. “Kitten, were you thinking about what fork to use?”
“No. My mother showed me before and we practiced when I was younger. It was a game, but I looked things up once in a book and she was right. I think I can manage. Outside to inside, biggest to smallest, and if they try to throw us for a loop, I can ask you, right?”
“We’re dining casually today. They're serving the soup that they made for you at lunch first, so you probably won't want any of that. We can enjoy our drinks and conversation. Save our appetites for the main course,” War said.
The servers were already going around with soup and a ladle. The soup bowls were handed out one-by-one by another server. Bastion declined soup for the three of them and Kade did the same for himself and his twin.
She was already through the first course almost and no disasters yet.
The passion fruit juice was delicious. It had an acidity and crispness with those crunchy seeds that were an interesting addition. It probably wasn't very good manners to be noisily enjoying her juice, but nobody minded her.
“Miss Sinclair, do you mind if we call you Tess?” Mr. Stewart asked her suddenly.
She gulped her big swallow of juice and put the glass down. There were a couple seeds in her mouth that she’d sucked up from the straw, but she daren't crunch them.
“Of course not, Mr. Stewart.” War must have told his dad her name preference.
“Grayson,” Mr. Stewart said, offering her the same courtesy of using his first name address.
“Grayson,” she repeated back.
“I would like to introduce you to Henry, Gerald, and Michael. They were telling me that you helped put them at ease with your presence. Apparently, I'm a stodgy old-fart and I’ve forgotten that these gentlemen were looking forward to some relaxation and fun like you and the boys had running around on the bea
ch. We’re not only here for dry business.”
Omigod! Please let them not have seen what they’d been up to in the waves after Bastion left.
“Yes,” Gerald said, his eyes laughing until they crinkled at the corners with his big smile. He looked genuinely amused. No knowing smirk. “My daughters and wife only want to work on their tans with a regimented schedule of applying sunscreen and turning over in lounge chairs. I can't remember the last time one of them was young enough to enjoy running along the beach.”
“It was my first time seeing the ocean in person,” Tess admitted, fighting her blush.
It seemed like the twins had been right. They’d been too far away for anyone to see and their bodies had blocked hers.
Let the business guests think her blush was because she was shy. Really shy and awkward.
“Well, this beach trip won’t be your last,” Grayson said. “War was busy with me today, but he’s free tomorrow to show you the other side of the island. There is a calmer area to swim and it is shallow and warmer. All sand bottom.”
They must have noticed she didn’t swim earlier.
How much did they see? Wondering was killing her.
“Thank you,” Tess replied, looking for something to hold between her and any further questions.
Grabbing for her water glass, she quickly crunched the little passion fruit seeds she’d been afraid to chew earlier and took a big sip of water to rinse them down. Hopefully, she had been dismissed from the conversation for now.
“We should go. It’s the perfect spot to learn to swim,” War said. “There should be enough time before we fly home.”
Tess couldn’t believe they had used a private jet to fly here and back for one weekend. Grayson didn’t seem bothered by it, however, giving his son a nod before turning back to his guests to inquire about what activities they would enjoy tomorrow.
This trip was quite eye-opening about the way that some of the guys really lived. She had gotten a peek at the inside of War’s mansion, but none of the others had invited her over yet. It was understandable, more to do with their parents than anything else.
Tess didn't want to be face-to-face with Mr. Saxton again. He would likely interrogate her like a witness on the stand, and she definitely was guilty of breaking the rules he’d set out for her to tutor the twins.
Duplicity (Victory Lap Book 2) Page 19
