Cin's Secret [Club Libertine 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

“We’ll just have to be our charming selves, and if that doesn’t work, we just tie her up and spank her until she submits.” He laughed. “And I’m not entirely joking. It’s time we settled down. There has to be someone out there for us. Maybe we are just looking in the wrong place?”

“You mean in a BDSM club?”

“Yeah, maybe we have to get out more, maybe take some kind of class where women congregate.”

“Like what? Knitting?”

Connor hit his brother in the shoulder.

“Yeah, that kind of attitude will draw in all kinds of women our way. No, idiot, I mean like a yoga or vegan cooking class or something. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a stupid idea, but right now all we seem to do is work out in one of those grungy gyms that no woman would ever enter or work at the club and watch over other Doms playing with their subs. We have to expand our horizons.”

“Still no guarantees, Con. What if we can’t find someone to take us both on? What woman wants two Doms? Most don’t even want a single Dom.”

“If Michelle can take on Mac and Sean, surely there’s someone out there for us. Don’t give up, brother. I can feel it in my bones. I think our perfect sub is out there somewhere. We just have to look around and be open to meeting her. Maybe she’ll even be at the party tonight.” He looked around expectantly as if he expected this mythical woman to walk through the door and introduce herself to them then and there. There were actually quite a few people milling around but they already knew most of them. Quite a few were couples or even triads like Mac, Sean, and Michelle. There weren’t many single folks, and those that were, were friends and coworkers of Jake and Lindy’s from outside the lifestyle.

For a second Liam found himself caught up in his brother’s optimism, but only for a second before he got himself under control again. Unfounded hope could only lead to disappointment. Liam looked at his brother. Connor was always the optimist. Liam would try to think positively, but did Connor seriously expect the perfect woman to just walk up to them and introduce herself?

“You are an idiot.” Liam shook his head and was about to berate his brother some more when he heard the front door open. “So, Connor what do you think? Could this be her?”

“You are such a cynic, Liam. You have to have faith. You never know when opportunity will knock. You always have to be ready for it.” He turned toward the door to see who was arriving. Even if it wasn’t the woman they were waiting for, it might be a guest and they were currently on greeting duty.

Liam sighed and turned to see who it was. For a second, he felt a surge of, could it be, hope? But then it was just his baby brother Zack and his friend Serena. Liam felt his body sag with disappointment. Damn Connor for working him up like that. He was just about to turn back to his brother to berate him some more when he realized that there was someone else at the door.

From his angle, he couldn’t see her face at first, but he could see long blonde hair and hear her musical laugh. He felt his dick stand to attention. He was such an idiot. He couldn’t even see what she looked like or how old she was. Maybe she was Serena’s grandmother. Maybe she was someone’s wife. She turned around and for the first time he got a good look at her. Maybe Connor was right and she was the woman they’d been waiting for.

He turned to say something to his brother but Connor was already on the move. Liam went to follow, but one of the caterers grabbed him by the arm with an urgent request.

“Holy crap!” exclaimed Cindy. She was trying to be cool. She’d been quiet the whole drive, and eventually Serena had stopped trying to include her in the conversation as she sat huddled in the backseat, and Serena and Zak just spoke to each other.

But when she saw the house they were driving up to, she couldn’t help it. It was huge. And she should probably call it a mansion rather than a house. They were about an hour outside the city, and the house, scratch that, mansion sat on at least five acres of land. And that was just the manicured lawn and gardens around the house.

Zack pulled up in front of the house and helped the women exit the car. Cindy found herself gawking as the uniformed valets took Zack’s keys and drove the car away. She’d never seen anything like it in a private home.

With a woman on each arm, Zack led them to the door which was, of course, opened without them having to knock as a uniformed butler greeted them and indicated the way to the great room where the guests were gathering.

Cindy felt like a bumpkin. Maybe she’d been out of the country too long, but all she could do was gawk. Zack and Serena watched her, amused.

“Did they rent this for the party?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice, isn’t it? They didn’t rent it. Mac Whelan owns it. He’s hosting the party.”

“Double holy crap. Even I’ve heard of Mac Whelan, multi, multimillionaire and engineering genius. How do you and Lindy know him?”

“You really have been away. Lindy’s dating one of his best friends and business partners. The six guys were friends growing up and reconnected about a half a dozen years ago and started Club Libertine.”

“Should I ask?”

She could see Serena and Zack exchange glances. She couldn’t read their expressions.

“Maybe I should let Lindy tell you all about that.”

She was about to ask a follow-up question when she realized Zack was looking over her shoulder. She turned around abruptly, thinking it might be Lindy, but it was a man, one who was clearly related to Zack, and if it wasn’t for the fact that her glass was empty, she would have dumped her drink all over him, which always made for a great first impression.

“Guys, apparently Lindy and Jake have finished having their pre-celebration celebration and should be down shortly for the official announcement. Time for everyone to gather in the dining room.” He smiled down at Cindy. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Connor. Zack’s brother.” He smiled and reached out his hand. Automatically she took it. She pulled her arm back quickly. It felt like a bolt of lightning shooting through her where they touched. It was a combination of static electricity and pure lust. He was one of the most beautiful, sexy men she had ever seen outside of a magazine.

“I’m Cindy McNeil, Lindy’s sister.”

Her stomach sank at the way the smile left his face. Obviously her reputation preceded her. She wondered if all Lindy’s friends had heard about what a crappy sister she was.

“Cindy, I am so sorry. I had no idea you were coming. Zack, did you tell Michelle that Lindy’s sister was here? I helped her set up, and I know that she’s not on the seating plan. Can you go let her know? I am sure Lindy and Cindy will want to sit together. I’m sure they have a lot of catching up to do.”

Cindy let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t hate her. Which was nice. It would be even nicer to feel those well-shaped lips on hers and those muscular arms holding her close.
Whoops.
Stop that, Cindy, she thought to herself.
You are here because of Lindy, not because you haven’t gotten laid in almost three years and here’s this blond god who looks so much like his younger brother, except more mature and unbelievably sexy and exactly my type.

She smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Lindy wasn’t actually expecting me, and I certainly didn’t mean to crash this party…”

“That’s my fault, Connor. She came to the house looking for Lindy and I hijacked her. I just assumed she knew about the party and that’s why she was in town.” Serena giggled. “I even made Zack put her bags in the spare room and told her she could stay with me. Sorry, Cindy. They tell me I’m kind of impetuous, which isn’t always a good thing. Maybe you had other plans.”

Cindy could see Connor watching her intently. Damn, he was one fine-looking man. She was five foot four, and he was about seven or eight inches taller, his long blond hair tied back. Tearing her thoughts away from rolling around naked with this blond Adonis, she replied to Serena, “You were just wonderful. I’ve been overseas for a while and came back on a whim because I missed my sister. And I have absolutely no place to stay, and no job right now, so maybe you don’t want a broke roommate.”

Serena hugged her tight. “Any sister of Lindy’s is a sister of mine. And now I see my actual sister waving frantically at me. I’ll be right back.”

Zack smiled at Cindy and then trailed away after Serena.

“She’s quite a force of nature. Your brother’s going to have to work hard to land her.” Cindy’s tone was wistful. It was clear to her that Zack thought Serena was worth the effort.

“The O’Hara men are a stubborn bunch. When they see something they want, they don’t give up until they get it.”

She found herself shivering as he made his proclamation. She wondered what it would be like to be target of his desire. She took a sip and realized that her champagne glass was empty. Connor reached out and took it from her, his fingers trailing over hers for a second.

“Let me get you a refill. I’ll meet you in the ballroom. Looks like the crowd is heading in.”

Cindy allowed herself to be swept in by the crowd. She tried to keep an eye on Connor, but he disappeared through a doorway.

* * * *

“Where the heck have you been? I’ve been stuck behind the bar mixing drinks and serving wine while you’ve been flirting up a storm,” groused Liam. “Did you talk to her, the woman at the door with Zack?”

“Where’s Duncan?” replied Connor, laughing and ignoring his brother’s question.

“Where do you think? He’s with our accountant, banging her brains out. If they keep that up, we’ll have to get a new floor manager
and
a new accountant because neither of them will have the energy to do their jobs.” Liam poured himself a shot of Scotch and downed it in a gulp.

“Drinking away all of our profits, I see,” teased Duncan as he walked up to the bar, his arm around Andie, the two of them clearly postcoital. “Now why don’t you two mingle? We’ve got this for now.”

“Hey, I did all the work. He schmoozed,” protested Liam.

Connor grabbed a couple of glasses of champagne with one hand and his brother’s arm with the other.

Liam reached for a glass, but Connor held the glasses out of his reach.

“Get your own.”

Liam glared and grabbed a flute off the bar counter. He looked at his brother and saw his expression. He was dying for Connor to spill about the woman at the door, but he’d be damned if he’d give his brother the satisfaction by asking again. Besides, he knew his brother well. He could see the excitement in his eyes and knew that if he waited, Connor would just blurt everything out. He started counting to himself. He didn’t even hit seven when Connor caved.

“You won’t believe this, but I think I met
her
.”

“Her
who
?”

“
Her
who we were talking about earlier. A woman that we’ve been looking for. It
was
her at the door. I told you so, I told you so!” He punched his brother in the bicep to emphasize his words.

“She’s in the other room. I was just bringing her a refill.” He indicated the glass.

“And she just introduced herself to you?”

“Actually, Serena introduced her. You saw her arrive with Serena and Zack. That hot blond. We shook hands and I swear, I felt the electricity between us. Oh, and turns out she’s Lindy’s sister Cindy. They are physically quite different, but you can see the family resemblance.”

Connor knew his brother was interested. They were twins. If he felt that excited about a woman, he knew that Liam would be attracted to her, too, but Liam was the more cautious twin and Connor knew he’d have to wear him down.

“I get it, she’s pretty. You are attracted to her.”

“It’s more than that. I don’t know how I know, but I do. She’s the one, Liam. Just go meet her and talk to her and tell me if you don’t feel the same attraction I feel.”

“That’s lust, not love. Sure, she’s beautiful. But you, from this what, five-minute conversation, think she’s the ‘one.’ Would she be your one or our one? And if she’s supposed to be ours, does she even know there are two of us and would she want to take on two Doms?”

“Slow down. Of course she doesn’t know there are two of us, unless maybe Zack told her. But there was something when we shook hands. I felt it.”

“Of course you did.”

“Go meet her for yourself and tell me that you don’t feel something. Here. Take this glass of champagne to her. You don’t even have to talk to her. She’ll think you are me. Just deliver the glass and take a look. It’s not like I’m suggesting we take her home and tie her to our bed until she agrees to be our sub. I figure we woo her slowly, get her used to the idea of the two of us and then we take her home and tie her to our bed.” He grinned wickedly and Liam smiled. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to just talk to her.

Just then, there was a commotion. It was Jake and Lindy. Connor sighed. Cindy would have to wait. Jake was one of their best friends. Time to witness the big announcement.

He looked around as he entered the ballroom. The table had been pushed to the side so they could eat buffet-style. He could see Duncan and Andie on one side. He looked back toward the bar and saw that Zack and Serena had taken over so Duncan could be there for his best friend. He could see Mac and Sean near the front, with Michelle sandwiched between them. They’d been together and then apart for almost a decade and were now back together, and the two men weren’t letting her get away again. They’d collared her and made sure it was clear to everyone that she was theirs, and it was clear that she was deliriously happy to be their permanent sub. Of course, that didn’t prevent her from being a hard-ass at work as a corporate lawyer. He loved that about her. As much as she submitted to her men at home, she was a smart and independent woman everywhere else, the kind of woman he and his brother wanted.