Monroe, Marla - Their Reluctant Submissive [Knights in Black Leather 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“We tried to get you to give us a chance, Kelly, but you were too worried to do that. We admit that we coerced you into doing what we wanted this time, but that is not how a relationship with us will go. All we’re asking is that you honestly give us a chance without us begging you and you pulling away from us.” Jackson tugged gently on her hair.

Marx sighed and shook his head. “You’re not even thinking about it. You’ve made up your mind already.”

She grimaced. He was right. She wasn’t giving them a chance. Did she want to? Did she honestly want to see if they could make it work between them? She couldn’t ignore the way they affected her. She got wet anytime she was around them, and she’d never had two orgasms in a row before. She missed the release she got from giving up control of her sexual needs, but was that enough of a reason to chance a relationship with two men?

She tried to leave her heart out of it, but there was no way to do it. She was already attached to them. It wouldn’t take much to fall in love, and then where would she be but at their mercy. It was then that they could begin to take away her control in other aspects of her life. She would be helpless to stop them once she loved them.

“I want to try, but I’m scared.” It came out as a whisper, and she wasn’t sure Marx even heard her.

Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Baby, you have nothing to be afraid of. We are going to do everything in our power to make you happy if you will just give us the chance.”

She looked across at Marx again. His face showed nothing of what he was feeling. She might not ever know where she stood with him. Could she handle that? The sex had been amazing between them, and she had to admit that his demand for obedience turned her on when it was in the context of sex. She continued to watch his face as she made her decision.

“Okay. I’ll give this a chance.”

She almost missed the swift look of relief that flashed across Marx’s face when Jackson crushed her against him. But it was there. It gave her hope and a little bit of determination to see more of his feelings in the future. Maybe he wasn’t as tough as he pretended to be.

“Can I get dressed now?”

Jackson laughed and righted the chair. “How about wearing one of our T-shirts around the house until we take you home? I thought we might watch TV for a little while before we take you back.”

She shrugged. She could do that. “Okay.”

Marx had gotten up and was standing by the recliner. “Come on. I’ll take you to get one of mine while Jackson finds something to watch.”

She scooted out of Jackson’s lap and followed Marx around to the other side of the house. He showed her the other three bedrooms. When she entered his bedroom, it was to find that he kept it military clean and orderly. His clothes were all neatly stored and precisely folded. He pulled out a T-shirt that had a Dallas Cowboys insignia on it and handed it to her.

“How about that one? It will probably come down to your knees.”

She grinned and pulled it over her head. He pulled her hair free of the neck and nodded his head.

“Are your feet cold? Want a pair of socks?”

“No thanks. I’m fine. Thanks for the shirt.” She started to leave, but he pulled her back into his arms and took her mouth with his.

His lips pressed insistently against hers until she opened for him. The minute his tongue slid along hers, he moaned and tightened his hold on her. She wound her hands around his neck. The ripple of muscles against her sides as he all but crushed her in his arms sent chills down her spine. It felt so good to be surrounded by so much strength.

His teeth nipped at her lower lip before his tongue licked around the roof of her mouth and returned to tease hers. The taste of him was addicting as it flowed over her tongue. She wanted to swallow him down and always remember the spicy flavor in her mouth. He pulled back and nipped all along her chin and jaw before sucking on her earlobe. When he finally released her, she swayed, and only his steady hand on her shoulder kept her from falling over.

“We better get back to the living room or Jackson is going to think I tied you to my bed.”

She smiled to herself at the husky timbre of his voice. She realized that getting him to lose some small bit of his control would be top of her list of things she wanted to do. It gave her a small thrill each time he seemed a little off balance. The feminine side of her enjoyed the power, while the sub side of her still appreciated his control. It reminded her that he was still human and fallible.

They walked into the living room to find Jackson sitting on the sofa part of the sectional with his feet propped on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up and grinned at them.

“Come sit next to me, kitten. You’re in for a treat. There’s a marathon of John Wayne war movies on today.”

She made a show of rolling her eyes and groaning, though she knew she would enjoy them as much as they would. She situated herself on the couch, and Marx sat down next to her. Jackson rested a hand on her bare thigh while his brother stretched his arm around her shoulders. Right then, she felt good, relaxed, and happy. She could handle this.

They watched TV for the next three and a half hours, talking about the scenes and joking about some of the special effects. At the end of the second movie, Marx made sandwiches and brought a plate of them along with drinks into the living room. She offered to help, but he assured her that he could handle a few sandwiches by himself.

After the next two movies, she insisted that she needed to return home to get ready for work the next day.

“It’s nearly four thirty, guys. I’ve had a great time, but I’ve got to go home.”

Jackson nodded while Marx scowled, but they helped her redress in her outfit from the night before and settled her in the truck between them. She really hated that she was wearing the revealing outfit in broad daylight, but there was nothing she could do about it. She would know better next time and be better prepared.

When they arrived at her apartment, both men got out of the truck and escorted her up to her door. Marx took the key from her hand and unlocked the door. Then both he and Jackson walked inside and looked around before agreeing to leave her alone. She thought it was a little over the top, but she appreciated that they felt the need to check for her.

Before they left, each of them kissed her as if they wouldn’t see her again anytime soon. Since they hadn’t talked about a next time, she guessed it might be awhile. After all, they had a ranch to run.

“We’ll call you soon, kitten. Lock up behind us.” Jackson released her and followed his brother out of the apartment.

As soon as they closed the door, Kelly locked up and peeked out the window until they were gone. She immediately felt their loss. She’d gotten used to their massive presence, and now that they weren’t around, she missed it.

Shaking off the mild depression, she quickly changed clothes to a pair of shorts and a tank top to finish her chores. Then she fixed a light dinner and got ready for bed. She had forgotten what it was like to sleep in a regular bed and when she lay down on her tiny mattress, she missed being surrounded by her men on a real bed. Her men. When had she begun to think of them like that? Somehow it didn’t bother her though. She planned to take it one day at a time and see if they would stick to their promises. Her head said they wouldn’t be able to, but her heart wished they would.

Chapter Eleven

The week flew by as she worked more and more on her designs and less in the store. Steve was looking for someone else to hire to work in her place out front. He wanted her focused on her jewelry. She didn’t see Jackson or Marx all week, but they called her almost every night to ask about her day and wish her a good night. Somehow she hadn’t expected that. They were constantly surprising her, shaking up her preconceived notions about Doms.

On Friday, she was working in the back when Steve called out to her that she had visitors in the store. It didn’t occur to her that the men would come see her, so when she stepped out and saw them standing by the counter, she just stared at first.

Jackson grinned at her. “Hey, kitten. Got a minute to talk?”

“Um.” She looked over toward Steve. He nodded and winked. “Sure.”

She followed them to the front of the store where there was no one around. Marx quickly pulled her back against his front and settled his chin on top of her head. She was sure she appeared startled by the smirk on Jackson’s face. She frowned at him.

“We had to come to town for some supplies and wanted to see you. Busy?” Jackson asked.

“Yeah, I’m working on some special orders from last weekend.”

“Good. Should keep you out of trouble.”

For some reason that struck her as funny. Kelly laughed. Marx’s chin on her head bumped her head as she did. What sort of trouble was she supposed to be able to get in while working at the store?

“We want to take you to the club tomorrow night. What time can you be ready?” Marx’s voice startled her.

“The club?” It came out in a squeak. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

“Right, Golden Shackles. The same place you were last weekend.” There was amusement in Jackson’s voice.

“Do I wear street clothes and change there or dress for the club?”

“Dress for the club. Can you be ready by eight?” Jackson asked.

“Yes.” The thought of going there with them as their submissive scared her just a little bit.

“Great. We’ll pick you up then.” He bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Before she could process anything, Marx turned her around and kissed her as well, but he took more time and left her aching for more. By the knowing look in his eyes and the slight curl of his lips, he knew what he’d done. Kelly couldn’t help glaring at him. It didn’t change his expression one bit.

The two men escorted her back to the counter and said good-bye. She quickly escaped to the back, leaving them talking with Steve. It took her several minutes to calm down enough to get back to work. She needed steady hands and solid concentration to make the intricate pieces she was working on today. The nipple clamps and matching clit clamp were connected by a thin chain with flowers interspersed throughout the links. She couldn’t afford to mess up even one of the flowers.

Despite the surprise visit, Kelly managed to relax and settle in to finish up the order. By the time Steve walked back to tell her he was locking up for the night, she had the matching set polished and ready to wrap for shipping. The customer had already paid and was expecting it soon. She quickly prepared it to send and cleaned up her area. She checked to be sure everything was turned off then carried the package and her purse to the front.

“I’m going to run on over to the post office before they close and get this mailed.”

Steve looked up from where he was running his nightly sales report off the cash register and nodded. Letting herself out the door, she used her key to relock the door and hurried toward the post office two blocks over. She made it before they shut down, and soon the package was on its way. Relieved to have it off her list of orders, Kelly headed for her car and home. Tomorrow was Saturday. They were only open half a day on Saturdays. She usually got home around two if the store was busy, earlier if it wasn’t.

When she had moved to Perkins City, she hadn’t brought a lot of her old life with her. As she pulled up outside her apartment, it dawned on her she might not have anything appropriate to wear as a submissive now. Panic bloomed inside of her as she stepped out of the car. Then common sense took over, and she reminded herself that she didn’t belong to anyone and could wear what she wanted.

As soon as she walked inside her apartment, the need to run to her closet and see what she had nearly overwhelmed her. She fought it back and made herself stop off in the kitchen for a Diet Coke before entering her bedroom. She looked through her clothes, and after thirty minutes of waffling between what she had available and the instinct to buy something new, Kelly resigned herself to what she had. She honestly didn’t have the funds for a new outfit right now.

The short black skirt with the low-cut red gypsy top would have to do. She would wear fishnet stockings and a pair of black spike heels. Underwear wasn’t an option at the club, or at least it hadn’t been where she’d come from.

After putting away the clothes so they wouldn’t get wrinkled, Kelly rushed through housework so she would have the afternoon tomorrow to get ready for the club. Preparing for a scene required quite a bit of prep work for a submissive. She would need to shower, shave all over, and apply lotion so she would be soft to the touch. Her nails would need to be filed and painted, and she needed to fix her hair.

By a quarter of midnight, she was exhausted and ready for bed. She’d already had a shower and laid out her outfit for work the next day. As she slipped between the sheets, it occurred to her that she wasn’t dreading going to the club as much as she had expected. At first it had seemed like she was jumping back into a life she had fought hard to escape from, but now she didn’t see it that way at all. Now, she looked on it as a new adventure. Instead of worrying about losing her sense of self, Kelly planned to make Marx and Jackson proud by being the best submissive they had ever taken there. As long as she kept her head and didn’t fall into the mindset that she wasn’t allowed to make her own decisions, she could handle it. At the first indication that they expected more from her, she would safe word out and leave.