Secrets Shared (2 page)

“Actually, there is a must about it.” The tone of Kath’s voice was enough to make Jess cry. “Jeff said to tell you, if you don’t come willingly, then he’ll come and drag you. You need, in his words, to see where your money comes from.”

Now she was in the twilight zone, surely? And there was a nest of serpents wriggling over her and nipping her skin. To say nothing of the spiders in her tummy. “How do you mean? Look, Kath, I’m seriously freaking here. My money comes from investing… Oh fuck. The sod, he said we’d move into new areas, and idiot that I am I didn’t press the bugger too closely when he said he was preparing a report for me. You mean I part own the building or something?”

Kath raised her eyebrows, and the sympathy in her eyes was almost Jess’ undoing.

“Or something.” Kath shrugged her shoulders in an uneasy gesture. “Hey, I’m not supposed to tell you, and you can bet I’ll suffer for it when I own up to spilling the beans, but you’re part owner of the club.” Her eyes cleared and twinkled. It was obvious the punishment didn’t worry her unduly.

Jess shook her head to clear it. Her long red—no, not red—carroty hair spun around her face, and strands stuck to her cheek. She brushed them away impatiently. Had April Fool’s Day been transported to February? Instead of Valentine’s Day perhaps?

“Now come on, Kath, I might look like I’ve come up the Clyde on a Tourist Boat, and be sweet and naïve, don’t you dare laugh.” Kath was giggling. “That’s a lie. I own the property business with Jeff, yeah, but do you think I’d not know if I was a partner in something like that? I’ve never heard of it before now.”

“So you say, I know differently. But it’s not for me to say.”

A car horn blared outside. Jess shivered and wondered why it sounded ominous.

“C’mon that’s for us. Are you sure you won’t change?”

“Positive, in fact I might go and get a jumper.” Jess turned to the wardrobe only to be pulled back from it and almost frog-marched to the bedroom door.

“Oh no you don’t. You can take a coat to wear in the car.” Kath pushed her along the corridor, and picked a coat up from the hooks on the wall. She patted one of the hooks as if it was her favorite piece of furniture. “Mmm, just a good height these. You got your door key in case you need it?”

Jess halted abruptly and stared at her friend. “You are screwy. Of course I’ll need it, else I’ll not get back in without pinching Jeff’s. And what’s a good height for what?”

“Oh, er, nothing, come on or we’ll be late, and I’ll be the one who gets the punishment. Your brother is getting a lot too creative these days.” She put her hand in the small of Jess’ back. The soft touch made Jess tingle. It was a long while since they’d agreed enough was enough, but she could still appreciate the warmth and love it projected.

“It’s still there, isn’t it?” Kath said softly. “You know we could…”

Jess shook her head and took a step back. “No, not now, you’ve got Jeff, and well…” And well Jess didn’t know what to say.
And well, it would crucify me all over again?

The car horn sounded again. Jess shrugged. “Someone’s impatient. We’d better go, I guess.”

“You do know Jeff knows we had a thing going, don’t you, Jess? He’s fine with it. He knows I was bi, and if you gave me the nod, I would be again.” She shrugged. “My man has a capacity to understand more than I ever considered possible, and still love me and want me for who and what I am. He understands I’d never leave him, and that we both know he’d come first, but well…”

The smile on Kath’s face was half-hearted and didn’t chase the shadows from her eyes. Jess could have cried. It had been the right thing to do at the time. To break up and ensure neither of them had to give up their dreams. Now, on a long, cold, lonely night she wondered what if? Still, there was no going back.

“I know, but I can’t, Kath, I’m sorry.” She wished she could block out the memories of pain on Kath’s face all those years ago. “Let’s face it you’re my twin’s partner now, and whatever you say Jeff feels about us together, it would seem like incest or something. I’m fine, honestly.” Jess knew Jeff and Kath worried about her, it had been one of the reasons she had agreed to go out with Kath that evening. Although she
had
thought it was to a regular nightclub. With hindsight, Jess wondered what had made her think that. Neither of them had ever been keen on nightclubs when they were younger, and now in their early thirties there was even less reason to want to spend hours in the midst of sweaty loud twenty-somethings.

“Ah well, if you ever can, I’m here. Now let’s get a move on, before Jeff sends the cavalry to find us. Sure you won’t change? You’ll be positively over-dressed.”

“So someone’s gotta be. And there is no way I’m putting that on, so don’t ask again.”

Kath grimaced and shoved the so-called dress in her bag. Jess mistrusted the look on her companion’s face but chose not to query it. She had a feeling she might not like the answer. Instead she followed her out of the house, and locked the door behind them.

The cab wasn’t what she’d call a cab. It was a black limo with the rear windows dark. Standing by the door and holding it open was the most drop-dead hunk of a guy she’d seen in a long while. Her clit went into overdrive and sent messages pulsing through her body, and her juices out of her pussy to soak her knickers. If he was a chauffeur, his uniform was unusual to say the least. Indigo blue denims and a black silk shirt fit as if they had been sprayed onto him and there was a black leather jacket thrown carelessly on the seat next to him.

He stared at her with dark almost-black eyes, his face blank. All of a sudden, the arousal Jess had felt dried up faster than an oasis in the midst of a desert summer. She shook, not with arousal, but with worry. Something about him, and the way he watched her so closely, spelled trouble.

It seemed Kath had no such qualms as she waved to him as they approached the car. Jess had no chance to hang back because Kath held her as tight as a limpet clung to a rock.

“Thank you, Ma—David. This is Jessica.”

Jess had no time to wonder what her companion had been going to say before the man bowed and smiled.

“Jessica, welcome.”

She didn’t think so. His voice rumbled through her, and set off a minor earthquake in her clit. She didn’t welcome it. Cocoa, a good book and her yellow duck jammies had never seemed more of a good idea than then.

Chapter Two

David watched as the gorgeous redhead frowned at the way Kath greeted him. It seemed she wasn’t impressed with him. He wondered if she knew how Kath had been about to address him, and if that had anything to do with how she’d reacted? His eyes narrowed into a look designed to make most subs assume the position and shiver in trepidation—or anticipation. She did neither but stared back at him with a bored expression. How he’d like to make her flutter her eyelids and let them close over those deep pools he wanted to drown in.

David grinned to himself at his fanciful words. He had a sudden urge to hear Jess in the throes of passion, giving soft mews and sighs and panting her excitement. He’d bet his new Shibari rope she’d go deep and fast if she let herself. Damned if he didn’t need to rub that insulting expression off her face and replace it with one of arousal. A notion struck him to be rejected as fast as it came. She might say she wasn’t a sub, but she was no Domme either. Nothing about her proclaimed dominant. Not in the way she looked at him or Jeff’s sub. Everything shouted sub, even if it was reluctant. The shiver when he stared, the brief look down—so brief he bet she didn’t even know she’d done it—the way she licked her lips and her nipples stood out against her silk top. All for him? He hoped so. Jeff had warned him Jess wouldn’t be happy, but he hadn’t expected such a show of determined apathy.

“Look, if I have to go to this stupid place, can we get it over and done with?” Jess tapped her toes. “I’ve better things to do with my time than spend it somewhere like that.” And, her tone inferred, with people like David.

David stared at her until she fidgeted. He looked down at her feet until the tapping ceased then raised his glance to her face once more.

“Don’t knock what you don’t know, pet.” He used the sobriquet on purpose, and as he’d expected, she bristled.
Like a hedgehog—my God, she’s prickly.

“Woof woof, and don’t call me that. My name is Jess, and if you insist on not using it, you can go whistle.”

David wondered just what she’d do if he put her over his knee? If it hadn’t been for the worried expression on Kath’s face, he might well have challenged Jess.
Not now, plenty of time for that later.

“Jess, please,” Kath said in a soft voice. “Argue with Jeff not David. He’s been asked to drive us, nothing else.”

Jess bit her lip.

One day I’ll show you what happens to subs who mutilate themselves like that.
Subs? David had never been so certain about something in his life. Not only that, if she opened up and admitted it, he knew damned fine who would be her Dom.

“Well?” He kept his tone harsh, and couldn’t help but enjoy the trickle of satisfaction that filled him as she swallowed hard and eventually inclined her head.

“Fine, okay and under protest. But only so I can tell Jeff where he can shove his investments.” She slid into the back seat and held her handbag across her front like body armor. With an apologetic glance at David, Kath followed her.

He made a mental note to ask Jeff about her later. His remit from the owner of Secrets—he still couldn’t get his tongue around Diomhair and used the English word—had been brief. Could he collect his partner and his sister and bring them to the club. Jeff had mentioned his sister was part owner and had never visited before. What he’d neglected to mention was her antagonism. As David drove along the road it hit him in waves.

“Not a chance, Kath. No fucking way. You’re screwy, hell are you expecting me to agree to that? Well, sorry and no dice.”

The fierce argument held behind him didn’t add to his hope that not only was she a willing owner, but she might be a willing participant in what happened between the walls of Secrets.
And she needs to sort the swearing out.
If there was one thing David didn’t like it was foul language coming from such an attractive mouth.

“You’ve got to. Everyone does at first.”

“No, not in a million years.” The statement was emphatic, and he wondered just what Kath had said to Jess. “Then just stop the car and let me out,
now.”

A thump on his shoulder made him jerk and wince. It seemed the lady meant what she said and packed a mean punch for emphasis.

He looked in the mirror to see Kath’s distressed face glare at him in a ‘don’t you dare stop’ look. He didn’t.

“Hey, are you deaf? I said stop the bloody car.”

A second, harder thump was enough to make him jerk the steering wheel, and the car swerved. David swore under his breath and controlled it in one swift movement. He began to dream up punishments he’d be more than happy to dish out. Along the lines of the lovely Jessica wide open for him, her hands bound and her ass full.

“Stop it, Jess, you’ll make Mas…er, David crash.” Kath sounded frantic. “Jeff’ll explain, I promise. But I want to get there in one piece.”

So did he. He waited to hear what Jessica said next.

“Then stop the car and let me out or turn round. You can’t ask me to do this, never, ever.”

She sounds scared. What on earth did Kath ask her?
Her distress hit him in waves. He wondered if Kat had suggested she dance naked down Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, or streak at an old firm football match.

After a quick glance in the rear view mirror to check it was safe, David slowed the car. He was anxious to hear what was going on, and pleased he hadn’t activated the privacy screen. For the first time in a long while, David felt a surge of interest and arousal. Somehow, her attitude had gotten to him, and he wanted, no needed to know why. He was going to go out on a limb and help her get over whatever it was that haunted her, even if it worked against him. She was a mass of contradictions. David was sure she was a sub, and his intuition told him somewhere in her past something so negative had happened to her that she now refused to admit to it.

A surge of anger filled him, and his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. He suspected some kind of abuse, and if his instincts were correct, it would take more than a few dominant glances and directives to get over it. David made a mental promise to find it all out and deal with it. He chose not to analyze why it mattered so much that he help Jess. Yes, he’d do the same to help any sub with problems, but somehow, Jess’s problems mattered more. However that was for later. Meanwhile he listened to the couple in the back.

“It’s policy, you have to.” Kath sounded worried.

Ah,
I bet she’s mentioned the blindfold clause.

“No I don’t, and no way.” Jess sounded adamant. “So either I go eyes wide open, or I don’t go. Your choice.”

Kath has mentioned the blindfold clause, and it’s a biggie to Jess.
That made him swallow hard. David loved the notion he could blindfold his partner, see her wondering what was about to happen, and know she would revel in whatever he chose to do. Now it seemed a blindfold may well be a hard limit to Jess. How to overcome that? If it
was
a hard limit there would be nothing to decide. He’d respect it and try to find out why later. While he mulled things over, a short whispered argument went on behind him

“Jess, we can’t. I can’t do that. It’s not up to me. The rules say every new or prospective member must be blindfolded. Can you truly not cope for a few minutes?”

“Ha.” Lord, she sounded triumphant, but it seemed she had a get out. “Nope, no dice and anyway I’m not a new member, and not only that, I don’t want to be. So let me go home.”

David made up his mind it was time to intervene. He checked the road once more and pulled the car onto the curb before stopping it and swiveling around in his seat.

“Jessica, stop.” His tone was authoritative. Would she heed him? “Enough already. Stop harassing Kathleen—she is obeying her Dom.”