Lys’s eyes grew wide. “What on Earth? And it was bad?”
“Terrible,” she said. “Okay…wait.” Cece pointed at Lys and I could see the question on her face.
“Oh…Lys is a Domme,” I said. “She trained in San Francisco and she hasn’t been fully integrated into the community here.”
“Garabaldi!” Lys snapped.
“She’s Stat’s sister,” I continued.
“Simon!” she snapped again.
“Lys. You’re not scaring me,” I said calmly. “Cece is a Domme and a nawashi, so calm down. There’s no one in this room who can’t be trusted.”
As soon as I said the word nawashi, Lys snapped her head around and stared at her. Cece smirked and leaned on her elbows. “Oh, yes. Ropes are my thing.”
Paul leaned in. “She’s really good, too. Like really, really good. Like, could kill you good.”
“So, Sybaritus?” I prompted. “What happened?”
Cece nodded. “Whoever was there telling people they were Danielle Nash was an impersonator. There is no way that anyone I know in the lifestyle would stay there longer than it would take to find a new resort or switch their ticket.”
“That bad?” Paul asked.
“I felt like everything was jizz covered.”
I grimaced and she went on.
“You know how most places that cater to BDSM are…subtle? No, reverential. Better word. They are a haven for people who have fetishes and needs beyond the vanilla world. There’s always a measure of discretion, even when the goal is exhibitionism. It’s clean, quiet, neat. The Vault, Club Imperial, Sadique, even Wanderer’s End, and Piacere. There’s no question what goes on there, and everyone respects other bodies, desires, fetishes, talents… It’s just polite.”
Paul and I nodded and Lys was enraptured by her description.
“Let’s take Sadique. That’s most public private place to have sex or indulge in whatever. Right?” There were nods again. “Even if you were on the balcony finger fucking your date while you watched other people fucking, there’s a measure of decorum.”
My face went bright red. I forgot Vanity and Cece worked together at Imperial and were friends.
“Well, not there. Sybaritus is disgusting. It’s not a place for people in the lifestyle. There were posers and players. There were wannabe alphas and combative subs. Sex happened anywhere, anytime, indiscreetly, without regard to where or what was going on. There were people fucking in the halls, in the pools, on the sand, in the goddamn restaurant. Everything felt like it had a layer of splooge on it.”
“Oh, foul,” Lys whispered.
“There was a pussy-eating contest. I can’t even imagine one of our clubs holding something like that, never mind the way they did. It was just a bunch of men literally eating out women as fast as they could. The place was not about pleasure, it was about satisfaction. Particularly of the male kind. I found so little of interest there for a woman.”
“Ick,” Paul said. “I mean, I might be gay, but…”
“Paul, you wouldn’t have made it in the front entrance. It was not the kind of place that anyone I know, vanilla or chocolate rocky road, would ever go. Classless. Killian and I stayed one night, and there was so much mindless rutting going on, we had to leave and find somewhere else to stay, and just go back to the resort for a few hours at a time.”
“You did manage to ask a few questions.” I was hopeful.
“Yes. We had a picture of Dee with us, and we showed it around. There were a few people on staff who recognized her, kind of. They all squinted and then eventually nodded. None of them were strong on identifying her as Dee out of the gate.” Cece rubbed her forehead. “I’m just telling you, there’s no way someone of Dee’s caliber and respect for the lifestyle would have stayed here. But whoever this was definitely stayed and played.”
Lys ran a hand down her face. “So that jives with what we’re thinking, then.”
“It does,” I agreed.
“What does? What’s your theory?”
I made a zipping motion over my lips. “You know how this works, Cece. I can’t tell you until we release it. It’s only a working theory right now.”
She pursed her lips and agreed a moment later. “Fair enough. But don’t hide anything that might help us defend ourselves against this maniac. We’re already expanding the regulations at Club Imperial.”
Scrubbing a hand through my hair, I agreed, “We’ll let you know what we can let you know as fast as we can get it to you.”
Lys and Paul headed out of the room ahead of me and Cece, but before I could get all the way out, she called to me from her chair.
“Detective. A moment?”
I closed the door and turned back. “Yeah?”
“As a friend, what’s going on with you and Vanity? There are some crazy rumors going around.”
“You’re Rumor Control?” I asked with a smirk.
“A little”—she grinned—“but I’m also worried about my friends.”
“It’s…complicated. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Now I sound like my brother.” I took a deep breath. “I thought I was okay with her seeing someone else in a poly relationship. I wasn’t. I screwed my almost-ex-wife, felt like the worst human being, went to dinner to meet Vanity’s Domme, turned out the Domme was my wife, who I didn’t even know was into BDSM or that she was bi. And here I am.”
Cece’s visage twisted into confusion, shock, and humor all at once. She cocked her head, then shook it. “Well. That’s a pickle.”
“No, that’s what got me into this, my pickle,” I groused.
She laughed. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I have no goddamn idea.”
She stood and walked over to me, patting me on the shoulder. “Think out of the box, Simon. That’s what you do as a detective—try it as an alpha male in your personal life.”
“Alpha?”
“You’re not a Dom, but there was never a doubt in my mind that you were an alpha. The best kind. The quiet supportive kind who knows exactly what to say and do when.” She nodded out the door to where Lys was slowly paging through the file. “She’s a Domme. I knew right away. And I have seen you shut her, me, Emmy, Franz, Darien…all of us, down with a word.”
“But…”
“You inspire loyalty and trust, Simon. You don’t trust easily, but you do trust deeply. If you’ve trusted these two women with your heart, then there is something there you need to explore.” She pulled the door open. “Think out of the box, Detective. I’m pretty sure you can find the solution to this.”
I watched as she stopped by Lys’s desk and handed her one of her business cards—I knew it was the one she carried from Club Imperial. Lys’s eyes went wide and bright and she nodded happily. Cece turned and waved at me at the door, winking and walking out.
I did have an idea. I’d had one for a while.
Sighing, I leaned against the door frame.
How had my life come to this?
Vanity
I could smell coffee.
More than that, I could feel there was someone else in the big old house that Simon had left me in. I loved the house, but I didn’t like being alone in it.
It felt strange to sleep in his bed without him. I didn’t like it at all, but…I knew he left because I had nowhere to go. Once I’d moved in, my apartment was gone.
The coffee was a mystery.
Wrapping a big fluffy robe around me, I wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen, wondering what the hell was going on.
Simon stood at the counter, making two cups of the liquid gold, just the way we each liked them.
“Si?” I managed to mumble, sitting down.
“Morning, Nessa.” He turned and gave me a smile.
“What’s up? It’s early, and it’s…uh…” I looked at my smart watch. “It’s Saturday, right?”
“Saturday all day,” he agreed. “I have some chores to do around the house.” Walking over, he put a very large mug i
n front of me. “I’m coming back here to stay.”
I gasped. “You are?”
Sitting down, he bobbed his head yes. “I am. I can’t solve any of the problems if I’m hiding at my brother’s place. You and Cameron and I have to figure this out.”
Grabbing his hand, I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled him toward me. “Simon, I’m sorry I asked for the poly relationship. I shouldn’t have. It’s too much for us when we’re still so new.”
He sighed. “I thought I would be okay with it. And, I’m sorry, Nessa. I didn’t think I still had such strong feelings for Cam. I would have done everything by mail if I had known.”
Blinking a few times, I didn’t know how to answer him. I just let myself talk. “I don’t know that I’m actually upset about that. You two had ten years between you before I even came into the picture and it’s all very emotional figuring this shit out.”
“I still shouldn’t have.”
I stared into the mug. “I’m not mad.”
“I am. Upset with myself.” He squeezed my hand. “I love you, Vanity.”
My eyes shot to his. “I love you too.”
“None of this is going to be easy, ever. I’m a police detective and I love doing the work I’m doing. Sometimes I have to be selfish and pay attention to that, and that alone. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to pay attention to you, it means there’s something at work I can’t pull away from. And I know that what you fight inside you, the need for pain, the sexual release it gives you, is necessary. I don’t want you to lose yourself or hurt yourself in trying to achieve that.”
Hauling in a deep breath, I steadied myself. “Simon, I don’t want you to be a Dom. You have too much on your plate. I want you to be in my bed, though. If you don’t want me to see Laicy—Cameron anymore, I won’t. I can ask Darien to help me.”
“There’s the rub.” He smirked. “I am less enthusiastic about you going to Darien than I am about you and Cameron.”
“I’m choosing you, Simon,” I said quietly. “If it has to be a line in the sand, I’m choosing you.”
His dark eyes twinkled at me. “It’s not a line in the sand, Vanessa. It can’t be. I love that you’re choosing me and are willing to give up everything else, but…why should you?”
I stared at him. “What?”
“You don’t have to choose.”
Still lost, I just cocked my head at him. “You’ll let me keep seeing Laicy?”
“Not…exactly.”
My jaw dropped open. “Simon…”
“Here’s the idea a lot of people have been trying to make me see. There’s no reason either of us have to choose. We’re a good couple, I just can’t keep up with your kink. You don’t know, yet, when I just need a moment alone to decompress or how to help me.” He took a sip of his coffee and considered the liquid for a moment before continuing. “What if we had a person who knew how to handle both of us? That we both already love and don’t want to let go of? Someone who, once we both have our needs fulfilled, we can in turn take care of. Together.”
My stomach dropped out, and my heart started racing. Could he really mean it? “Cameron?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
I couldn’t breathe. “We could have a poly—”
“No, no more separate poly shit. I can’t deal with that. That was apparent when I lost it at my brother’s house the other night. I can’t share you like that. Like that.”
Swallowing hard, I watched him for a moment. “You…you want to try this as a three-way relationship?”
After a long pause, he nodded. “I don’t know how this would work, or what we have to do, but that’s what just about everyone has tried to tell me.”
I was truly at a loss for words. The idea that I could keep both Simon and Cameron floored me. That I could be sexy and kinky and loved for all of it stuck in my throat, and I was ready to hyperventilate.
“I was told to ask you about the idea,” I admitted. “I didn’t think you would even consider it. It’s why I made the decision to pick you.”
He shook his head. “I saw how Sal and Stat were both happy with Nadine. I had no idea there were three of them in that relationship. That also made me realize I’ve been a bit stogedy about life. Straight and narrow, no deviations. Sal, Stat and Cece, told me I need to think outside the box.” Taking a sip of coffee, he drew a breath and let it out. “I didn’t want to let Cameron go. I don’t want to let you go. And we’re in a spot where I think, think, we can make something like this work.”
Forcing myself to breathe again, I also sipped my coffee. “You’re serious?”
Simon offered a small, tight smile. “I’ve been hanging around you kinky fuckers too long.”
The chuckle escaped me despite trying to keep it in. “You’re serious.”
“I am, pretty girl.”
Grabbing my coffee, I walked around to his chair and dropped myself on his lap and put the coffee down on the table. “You’re really honestly serious about bringing her in—or back in—to this?”
“Yes.” His hand traced little circles on my back through the thick terry robe. “I don’t know how to do this, though. Do we date her? Just drag her back for bed-shaking sex? Let her loose on you in the basement?”
I shivered at that idea. “You didn’t have to buy all that for me, Simon. We could have found other ways.”
“Why wouldn’t I have? Look, if Nathaniel Walsh has a secret hidden playroom, I can too.”
“We date her,” I said. “We go out to the movies, dinner, shopping, day trips. We woo her the old-fashioned way.”
“I think I owe you both dinner.”
“Maybe.” I pretended to consider it. “But, you know what you owe me right now?”
The twinkle was back in his eyes. “What’s that?”
“A good fuck.”
“Oh? I do?” His fingers found the tie on the robe and pulled the knot free, the fabric falling to either side. “Oh, darn. Your robe fell open.”
“Such a crime,” I whispered in his ear.
His mouth latched onto my breast and he suckled and teased me for a few minutes, playing with the nipple rings—one with his tongue and one with his fingers.
“I love these,” he said, snagging one of the rings with his teeth and pulling on it to distend my nipple. The small sharp pain felt amazing. “Don’t you ever take them out.”
“With the way you worship them? Hell no.”
His hand slipped into the little panties I was wearing, and his finger found my clit easily. He stroked just one finger over my soft lips and tender nub. There was absolutely no rush in his movements.
A finger dipped inside me, drawing out my silk, and tracing around my sex. He tickled my entrance, slowly and carefully, and I couldn’t help but giggle and sigh like some dime-store-novel heroine.
His teeth were harsh on my breast, and the contrast with his gentle fingers was mind-blowing. He slowly stroked two fingers into me and pressed a palm against the bundled nerves.
“Shit,” I hissed.
He bit the beaded peak hard, but never changed the soft sensation of his hand. Low and steady, my legs started to tremble.
“Come on, pretty girl, come on my hand,” he goaded as he slipped from one breast to the other.
Pressing hard on my clit, he slipped a third finger inside and curled them, pumping in and out steadily. I couldn’t sit still—my legs were shaking, and I pushed against his hand.
His free hand grabbed the nipple ring and pulled hard as he bit down and slammed his fingers into me hard, pressing my clit even harder. He scraped against the soft spot deep inside, and I screamed my orgasm, clinging to him and scraping my nails through his hair.
Before I could really even start to relax, he moved me around a bit, straddling my legs on his lap and slipping his incredibly hard cock right in me. He didn’t even bother to remove my panties, he just pulled them to the side and settled right in.
“Shit, Vanessa. You’re so wet…”
Nor did his dick inside me help.
“I missed this, Simon,” I breathed. The shell of his ear was right there, and I nibbled softly.
“I did too.” His lips skimmed down my neck. “I don’t want to be without you again.”
Just ever so lightly, I started to slide over him. “You know what I really want to see?”
“Hmm?” His mouth was busy at the tender spot behind my ear.
“I want to see you take Cameron and bend her over and fuck her hard from behind,” I managed. He felt so good slipping in and out of me, sliding over my throbbing clit. “I want to see you fuck her from behind while she’s got her lips on my pussy.”
“Oh, Jesus.” His cock jerked inside me.
“You like that?”
“Not sure,” he said, licking across my chest. “I’ll have to try that one out.”
“How about, your dick right where it is while I eat her out?”
“Fuck.” Simon nipped at my jaw. “Holy shit, I never thought about the sexual side of this.”
I laughed. “It’s all good, sir. So good. Sexual side, sexual front, sexual rear…”
He chuckled lightly and bounced his hips into me, spearing his cock deep. “Now I like this idea even better.”
I rocked on him with more purpose. “Ask her out. The sooner the better. I want this whole horrible chapter done with.”
“I can do that.” His finger found my clit again as I moved my hips over him. “I can definitely do that.”
Brushing the tips of my fingers over his nipples, I pinched one softly. “You are simply too good to be true, Simon. Sir.”
“I’m not.” His hands gripped my hips and he lifted me just a little, starting to saw hard in and out of me. “But this pussy is about as close to heaven as I can get.”
My hand gripped his shoulder, while my other hand plunged between us. I found my own bundled nerves and teased myself while his mouth once again found my nipple.
Without warning, he lifted me all the way off him and up, and turned me around, spreading my legs wide with his own. His dick plunged back into me, and my hands now gripped the table in front of me. One arm held me around the waist, and his other covered my mound.
Double Entendre: (City of Steel 2) (The Vault) Page 19
