Dancing with Deception (9 page)

It didn’t take long to determine Phoenix’s security system had not been compromised, but it didn’t mean Brandt wanted Joelle to stay there alone. Even with Brandt and Ryan staying with her, Joelle wouldn’t be as safe in her home as she’d be at the ranch. Not only was the ranch house secured by a state of the art system including a safe room with a secondary escape route, more importantly, but there were also more people around. At any given time, there were probably a dozen people milling around the area surrounding the house.

Ryan helped Joelle out of the car when they saw Brandt headed their way—she surprised him by stepping forward and meeting his gaze. “I’m not going to be able to stay here now, am I?” Well, at least, it looked as if they were going to be able to skip the first part of the argument he’d worried about.

“No, sweetheart, I don’t think that would be wise.”

Before he could finish, she turned to Ryan. “After your meetings today, do you think you could take me back to the club to get my car? I’ll spend the day packing and hopefully I can find a moving company with a temporary storage facility.” Neither Brandt nor Ryan interrupted her, she needed a chance to vent, even though she was wasting energy trying to sort through everything. He’d seen a lot of reactions to trauma and learned a long time ago to let victims work through the bursts of emotion that followed whatever way they could. Logic could wait now that the imminent danger had passed.

J
oelle looked around
the massive kitchen in the Morgan family home marveling at how a room so large could still feel so cozy. She’d been in the Morgan’s home for their annual New Year’s Eve party…which turned out to also be night Sage Morgan proposed to her friend Coral. She also visited their home several times during the wedding festivities, and she was always in awe of the earthy elegance of the space. The Morgan’s mountain mansion was such a contrast to the home Joelle had grown up in…her father’s home was a marble and gilded gold monstrosity. It was beautiful in its own way, but it had always felt more like a museum than a home. Even as a child she’d known it wasn’t a place she could relax.

Taking a deep breath, Joelle tried to sort through the quagmire of emotions she’d been swamped in since she’d realized the Dom Master Nate had assigned to punish her was none other than Brandt Morgan. God in fucking heaven…had it been less than twenty-four hours ago? How in the hell had her life completely derailed so quickly? Taking a deep breath, Joelle tried to focus her attention on the steaming cup of tea in front of her. She wasn’t a fool, she knew Kip Morgan had used decaffeinated tea. She’d wanted to laugh at his attempt to dupe her—
hello there, sweetie, but I’m a chemist, and we notice things like our drug of choice missing from a beverage.

After Ryan and Brandt politely explained they had no intention of helping her move from Pine Creek she’d tried to reason with them, but a couple of sharp swats to her tender behind served as a poignant reminder of why arguing with Doms was never a good idea. They’d promised to provide her a with a world class paddling right in her own front yard if she didn’t stop babbling about moving and start packing whatever she’d need for the next few days. Joelle appreciated the fact they hadn’t followed her around her house while she gathered up everything she needed. They’d probably known she had things hidden in her home…things she’d need to take with her and their respect for her privacy had gone a long way in convincing her to follow their damned edicts.
Yeah, and the fact they are both hot former Special Forces operatives trained to keep entire countries safe didn’t play into it at all—get a grip, Joelle.

One of the flash drives containing her information about the formula was nestled inside her purse. It wasn’t an ideal hiding place, but it was better than taking a risk and leaving it behind. Joelle was still grateful for her uncle’s series of clues that had eventually led her to the small safe hidden beneath the floorboards in her bedroom. Without the clues he’d left her, Joelle doubted she’d have ever found the in-floor safe. Her mother’s only brother had obviously been more than a little paranoid, but he’d also been brilliant in his own way. The historical fiction books he’d written were so full of detail she knew he had to have spent years researching each of the novels he’d penned. And leaving the royalties from those books to the history department of a local college had been a gift she knew would fund several scholarships for years to come.

Joelle leaned her chin on her hand to keep from laying her head on the Morgan’s kitchen table. She blinked her tired eyes in an attempt to bring her surroundings into focus while trying desperately to stay awake as five Morgan men discussed what
she
was going to do.
What the hell am I, fucking invisible?
God save her from a roomful of alpha males. If they kept yakking much longer, she was going to be comatose. Damn, she was tired. There was a small part of her that knew she was straddling a blurred line between being fully asleep and alert, but it seemed like too much effort to nit-pick so she let it go.

She felt her chin slip from her palm and yelped when it hit the table with a solid thump.
Damn, damn, damn, that hurt.
She was on her feet before she realized she’d even stood. The thump of her chin on the wood and the scraping of her chair across the floor drew the attention of the men across the room. Ryan was the first to reach her, his strong hands cupping her shoulders as she shook her head in an effort to push the exhaustion aside. Brandt stepped up to her, concern etching his gorgeous features…or at least, she thought it was concern. It was hard to tell because her vision was blurry from exhaustion. God, she needed to get some rest, since she couldn’t even see clearly. Her attention shifted between Brandt and Ryan as she asked, “Can someone please show me to my room? I’m really tired.”

Ryan tipped her chin up and running his fingers along the underside, and frowned. “Christ, at least, you didn’t split it open. Stitching up this pretty face definitely wasn’t in my plans for tonight.”

Colt Morgan’s voice sounded from across the table, “Yeah and it’s all about you, Doc.” The sarcasm in his voice was tinged with enough respect and humor to make Joelle smile. When she looked up at the second Morgan brother, his smile was sweetly indulgent. “Sweetie, please sit down before your knees fold out from under you.” When she dropped back into her chair, he nodded. “Better. Now, if one of these jokers doesn’t take you to Brandt’s suite in the next couple of minutes I’ll take you to one of the guest suites—how’s that sound?”

“Thanks, I appreciate your hospitality.” She saw the corners of his mouth turn up in a grin, and knew he was deliberately taunting his brother and cousin, but if it helped her find a place to crash she didn’t care. She’d barely gotten the words out before Brandt scooped her up in his arms. Before they were out of the room her eyes were already drifting closed, but she heard him tell his brothers he’d be back as soon as he helped Ryan get her settled. Her curiosity flickered briefly but was quickly lost in the darkness of blessed sleep.

Ryan followed Brandt
down the hall even though he knew exactly where they were going. The Morgan brothers had chosen their suites years earlier and the only one of them who’d moved was Sage. The eldest brother had taken over his parents’ master suite in the other wing of the house when they moved into a house in town. Ryan knew his aunt and uncle planned to spend most of the year traveling so the smaller home in Pine Creek worked out fine. He knew they’d hoped their moving would bring a woman into Sage’s life and damn if it didn’t seem to have worked. It was just one more example of how intuitive Patsy Morgan had always been.

Ryan hadn’t been able to attend Sage and Coral’s Valentine’s Day wedding, so he was looking forward to their return to Pine Creek in a couple of weeks. He hoped things were resolved with Joelle by that time. Not only was he anxious to know she was safe, but he also knew Sage wouldn’t be happy knowing his new bride could be in danger because her friend was staying under the same roof. All four of the Morgan brothers had expressed similar concerns downstairs and even though he knew Joelle hadn’t heard that part of their conversation, Ryan knew she’d come to the same conclusion herself soon enough.

Brandt set Joelle on the marble counter in the en suite bathroom while Ryan readied the shower. Moving her into the small room Brandt called a shower, Ryan was amazed at how much the water seemed to revive her. He’d hoped it would sooth the worry he sensed weighing heavily on her mind, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect. Ryan was working conditioner into her long hair when he heard Brandt growl a warning. “Minx, you keep that up and you’re not going to get to sleep for a while, and my brothers are going to be left cooling their heels down in the kitchen longer than they’ll appreciate.”

“Well, that’s a real shame because I was sort of hoping now that I’m awake you might like to help me burn off a little nervous energy.” Ryan wanted to laugh, she was so blatantly topping from the bottom he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Brandt who was still standing behind her watching their interaction. Oh, they were going to help her work off some energy, all right—but he doubted seriously it was going to happen in the way she’d hoped.

He finished rinsing her hair and Brandt turned her to face him so he could run his soap-slicked hands over her breasts. Pulling her nipples into tight peaks, he watched a pink blush spread over her chest as her breathing hitched. Seems this sweet sub responded perfectly to a small bite of pain with her pleasure.
Damn, she is perfect for us.
Ryan wasn’t a sadist by any means, but it didn’t mean he didn’t understand the intimate relationship between pleasure and pain. Hell, the two sensations were simply flip sides of the same coin and he knew Brandt was of a like mind. They had different skill sets when it came to play and he was anxious to introduce her to their favorite ways to bring a woman pleasure.

Focusing his attention on her breasts, Ryan continued his assault on her senses as Brandt soaped the rest of her delectable body. As she started to tremble and he wanted to shout out in victory. Damn, he loved the way she responded to his touch. The tangy sent of her arousal flooded his senses but he didn’t want to use soap covered hands on the delicate tissues of her sex. The urge to slide his fingers between the silky petals of her pussy had him quickly rinsing the shower gel from his hands. “Widen your stance for me, baby. I want to touch you.”

Her gray eyes were already clouding with desire, but her feet slid apart opening her sex to his touch. He watched Brandt wrap an arm around her, lifting her breasts until her nipples looked like they were trying to reclaim his attention. Ryan was grateful Brandt had anticipated her need for support because he intended to rob her of the ability to stand on her own when he sent her into orbit. Just as his fingers slid into the top of her slit, he leaned forward to take the lobe of her ear between his teeth. “Are you wet for me, baby? Are my fingers going to slide through your sweet honey?”

“Yes, sir.” They hadn’t told her this was a scene, but she’d automatically melted into the role.
Fucking perfect.

God, she was slick and even without looking he knew her tissues were swollen, the pretty petals of her rose-colored pussy flowered open. He’d teased his former employers relentlessly about their use of red roses in the Knights Club décor, it’s thinly veiled likeness to female genitalia so blatantly obvious. It seemed to him there must have been something more subtle they could have used, but they’d simply laughed as they’d assured him if it was good enough for the Knights of the Round Table it was good enough for them.

“You are deliciously wet and perfectly wanton aren’t you, baby? Absolutely perfect. Now, let’s see if we can’t take the edge off, shall we?” With well-practiced precision, Ryan slid his fingers through her wet sex, circling her clit on random passes—never using a predictable pattern. Keeping her on edge as long as possible would increase her pleasure, but he wasn’t sure how long she was going to last, her soft cries were already filling the steam-fogged air around them.

Ryan watched Brandt lean forward to bite down gently on the tender place where her neck met her shoulder. Joelle’s entire body shuddered in response and once again Ryan was pleased to see her reaction to such a small example of what they could give her. “Minx, you’re killing me. I can hardly wait to fuck you. And preparing you to take us together is going to be the sweetest torture in the world. We’ll fill you up so full you won’t remember a moment we weren’t a part of you.” Joelle’s moans of assent were barely audible in between her panting breaths. Ryan wasn’t sure what part of their dual assault was spinning her up so quickly, but it was damned satisfying knowing the two of them could have this effect on her.

They’d met a few women over the years who were so emotionally uptight about participating in a ménage they’d never were able to truly let go and enjoy the experience. He’d always felt sorry for them—all those years of cultural brainwashing about socio-sexual taboos denied them the pleasure that could have been so easily theirs. But Joelle wasn’t having any trouble enjoying this moment that was for sure, he didn’t know how it would play out long-term, but he wasn’t going to let that deny him this moment.