Passion's Fury (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 2) (12 page)

Holy fuck! 
Her belly rolled and she just stared at him, eyes wide and unblinking.  In a matter of hours they had found her, cared for her, pleasured her to more orgasms than she’d ever had in the entire rest of her life, and now had claimed her as theirs.  To the biggest gossip in town, possibly even the entire state of Virginia. She bit her lip.  Was she their woman?  Did she want to be?

True, she was attracted to them, more than she’d ever been attracted to any other man she’d ever met, and that attraction had been instantaneous the minute she’d opened her eyes that morning to see Simon knocking on the window of her car.  True, a single glance from any one of them melted her bones and burned her will to a pile of cinders.  A glance from all three of them together was positively lethal.  True, she loved the way they treated her—like something precious.  Something to be treasured.  Except for the Goodmans, she’d never felt valued by anyone she’d ever known, until these three men.  And the sex?  Oh, my God, the sex!  Their sole focus had been on her and that had been…exhilarating.  Intoxicating.  Positively euphoric. 

But did she believe in love at first sight?  And was that what this was?  Or was this merely
lust
at first sight?  It was sooooo tempting to just let go and give herself over to them.  They had said that she was what they’d been looking for all their lives.  Well, they
were exactly what
she
had been looking for all
her
life.  The fact that she’d found it in three men instead of one was…unexpected.  The fact that, given the extremely repressive nature of her religious upbringing, she was even
considering
such an arrangement was…baffling.  The fact that all this had developed within the span of a few hours seemed…irrelevant.  The feelings were there and they were overpowering, whether they’d developed over a period of years or days or even hours.

She was suddenly aware that they were all looking at her, seeming to be waiting for some kind of response from her.  “I-I don’t want to lose myself.”

Ash’s arm tightened around her abdomen.  He buried his face against the nape of her neck.  “Baby, I promise you’re not gonna lose yourself.  You’re gonna find yourself.  And it’s gonna be an incredible journey.  For all of us.”

Kylie swallowed past a lump in her throat the size of a boulder. 
How can I resist such men?  All macho, bad-ass commando one minute, all tender, artful lover the next.  Well, the answer to that is obvious, of course.  I can’t.  After all, I’m not made of stone.

“What time is it?” she asked, more to fill the ensuing silence than for any burning need to know the time.

“It’s four-thirty,” Simon said.  “Are you gettin’ hungry?”

As if on cue her stomach growled and everybody laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Ash kissed her neck and rolled away from her, taking his warmth and comfort with him, leaving her feeling oddly bereft. She watched as he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his boots.  Rising, he tugged at his shirt and jeans to straighten them.  “I’ll go get the barbecue and bring it home.  With those two men in town, it’s not safe to take Kylie out any place where they might see her.  Call Katie and give her our order so it’ll be ready when I get there.”

Caleb got out his phone and texted a short message.  “You leavin’ right now?” he asked.

Ash nodded, slid his Stetson onto his head and headed for the door.  Caleb finished texting and sent the message.  They heard the truck motor start up and the squeal of tires as Ash gunned it down the driveway.

“He shoulda been a NASCAR driver instead of a jet jockey,” Simon muttered in disgust.

“He just likes anything fast,” Caleb reminded him.

“Um…can I get dressed?” Kylie asked, suddenly feeling naked now that Ash wasn’t covering her back like a blanket.

“Whaddaya think?” Caleb asked Simon.  “Should we let her?”

They both turned to stare down at her.  She’d never been the object of such intense scrutiny before and was starting to feel just a bit uncomfortable.  Until she noticed the almost pained expressions on their faces as they rubbed their chests with the heels of their hands as though trying to ease a tightness there.

“I’d much rather keep you naked,” Caleb murmured, his eyes darkening with some deep emotion she didn’t recognize.  “You’re almost too beautiful to cover up.”

Oh, yeah, she could get used to these men.  No one had ever called her beautiful before.  And they actually seemed to mean it.

“But we want you to be comfortable, darlin’.  We have a lot to talk about when Ash gets back with lunch.  Or dinner.  Or whatever this is.”  Simon opened the top drawer of what they’d told her was her dresser, and withdrew a pair of khaki shorts and a knit top.  He didn’t pull out any underwear.  “No bra or panties for now,” he said as he sat on the bed next to her.  “At least not until we can buy you some really sexy ones that we’ll let you wear only because we’ll enjoy taking them off of you.”  His grin was wicked.  “That’s the only reason you’ll be allowed to wear clothes at all, darlin’,” he teased.  “So we can look forward to taking them off.”

“Well, then, I guess I’d better let my hair grow really long so I can cover up all the naughty parts,” Kylie teased right back.  She slid a sideways glance at Caleb.  “Wouldn’t want to risk being hauled off to the hoosegow for public indecency.  I’ve heard the local sheriff is a real bad-ass.”

“Oh, he is,” Caleb agreed, bending to give her a quick kiss.  “And he has a special place for anyone flouting the public decency statutes.  His own”…kiss… “private”…kiss…“dungeon.”

Dungeon!  Holy shit! 
“You’re kidding, right?”  She turned to look at Simon.  “Tell me he’s kidding.”

Simon just laughed and held the shorts so she could put her legs through them, while Caleb pulled her knit top over her head.  Simon carried her downstairs and sat her at the kitchen table.  By the time Ash returned with the food, his brothers had gotten a cold beer for everyone and they all lit into the mouth-watering meal of ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, slaw, fries and corn bread.

Kylie fitted her lips around a tender, meaty rib and her eyes closed in bliss.  She actually groaned. “Oh, my God.
 
I’ve never tasted anything this good in my life.”

“Yeah,” Ash agreed around a bite of grilled chicken.  “People drive over fifty miles for the pleasure of eatin’ Katie’s barbecue.  It’s the best.”

Conversation dried up as they devoted themselves strictly to eating and licking their fingers.  As Kylie dropped her last bone onto the humongous pile, she tore open a hand wipe and cleaned her fingers and mouth.  Then she flung herself back in her chair and groaned again.  “Thank God these shorts have an elastic waist band,” she said, stretching it away from her waist before placing her hand over the gentle curve of her belly.  “Otherwise they’d be bursting at the seams.”

“Now that’s something I’d pay good money to see,” Ash remarked, waggling his eyebrows.

Caleb leaned forward in his chair, his expression serious.  “Sugar, we need to talk to you.”

Uh-oh. 
Her stomach lurched as old memories resurfaced.  “Am I in trouble?”

Ash frowned.  “No, baby.  Why would you think that?”

She waved her hand dismissively,   “Nothing, just—“”she shook her head.  “Nothing.”

“It’s obviously something,” Simon insisted.  “And we insist on honesty in this house, darlin’, so tell us what it was.  Please,” he added and that’s what won her over.

“I know I shouldn’t keep thinking about him, but—“

“Your father,” Caleb grimaced.  “He’s still in your head, isn’t he?”

“Even more since I met you guys. Because the way you make me feel when I’m with you is everything he considered the worst possible sin.  He was constantly ranting about the sins of the flesh being the direct pathway to Hell.  That’s capital H Hell, and not little h hell.  And even though I know now how full of shit he was, I’ve never felt these feelings before.  I never knew I
could
feel feelings like this.  So I’m having a hard time dealing with the dichotomy.  I thought I had gotten past this—I mean, after ten years of deprogramming and psychotherapy, you’d think I’d have a handle on this by now.”  She gave a self-deprecating little laugh and shook her head.  “Obviously I’m still a work in progress.”

“We’ll help you with that,” Caleb assured her. “Remember we talked about a safe word for you?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“Okay, your safe words are green, yellow, and red.  Just think of a traffic light.  If you’re fine, you’re at green.  If you’re uncomfortable or uncertain, or you need for us to slow down and discuss what we’re doin’, you’re at yellow.  If you have reached your absolute limit and can’t handle anymore, you’re at red.  Just say ‘red’ and we’ll stop and talk you through it.  Clear?”

Another nod.

“Where are you right now?”

“Green.”

“Good girl.”  The pride in his voice made her feel oddly happy that she had pleased him.

“Will you promise us one thing?” Caleb asked.

“Of course.”

“Whenever you question anything we want to do to you, will you promise to use your safe word and talk with us about it?  The only way we can overcome any barriers your father might still be tryin’ to erect inside your mind is to get it out in the open.  I guarantee you his twisted viewpoint won’t stand up to the light of day.”

“Okay.” 
That was easy.

“Now.”  Caleb was suddenly all business.  “Have you ever heard of BDSM?”

“BD—no.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t believe so.”

“The letters stand for Bondage, Domination/submission, Sado-Masochism.”

Holy shit! 
“Umm…”

Simon chuckled.  “Trust me, darlin’, it sounds worse than it is.  We’re gonna give you some homework.  Some websites for you to visit that will help explain what all that means.  But for starters, we are Dominants, or Doms, and you, my sweet, are a tasty little sub or submissive.  We want to dominate you.  That doesn’t mean we want to control, or abuse, or, as in your father’s case, terrorize you.  It means we want you to give us the power to do things to you that we know will give you pleasure.  Because givin’ you pleasure is what gives us pleasure.

“As your trust in us grows, we will push your limits and ask that you submit to things that you might question, but our ultimate goal will never change.  It will always be to give you the most amazin’ sexual pleasure we can.  Our duty as your Doms is to protect you, love you, and cherish you.  As a submissive, your duty is to obey.  That’s it in a nutshell.  Obey.  Because obedience means pleasure.  You trust us enough to turn your power over to us, knowin’ that we will use it to give you everything you need.”

“But…sadism?”  She couldn’t keep the horror from her voice.  “Masochism?”

“Oh, baby, you never have to worry about that.”  Ash leaned across the table and took both her hands in his.  “A very small percentage of the BDSM community enjoys the givin’ and receivin’ of real pain.  We have no interest in that.  That is a hard limit for us as, I suspect, it is for you, too.  Hard limits are things you absolutely will not do under any circumstances.  And that is something we will always honor.  After you’re done with your homework, we’ll discuss some of the things you read.  You can tell us what sorts of activities appeal to you.  Or disgust you completely.  Those would be your hard limits.  But nothing is carved in stone.  We will revisit the list often.  As your trust in us grows over time, you may find yourself wanting to try things you initially vetoed.”

Simon leaned toward her.  “Did you like what we did to you this afternoon?”

God, yes! 
She shivered.  “I loved it.  Everything you did to me was”…she shook her head, groping for words…“amazing.”

The brothers looked at each other.  “Our girl loves orgasms,” Simon mused.

“Which would make orgasm denial a suitable form of punishment,” Caleb murmured.

“Wait.  Punishment?”  Kylie’s eyes widened in horror.

“Should the need ever arise,” Caleb continued soothingly.  “Which, of course, I hope will be quite often.”

“Punishments can be very pleasurable.”  This from Ash.

“For whom?” she asked sarcastically.

His eyes twinkled.  “Well,” he hedged.  “Mostly for us.  But I guarantee that we’ll make it amazin’ for you, too, baby.  Can you trust us to do that?”

She didn’t even hesitate.  “Yes.”  It was the truth.  She trusted these men with her body, her heart, her life.  Actually, she trusted them with something far more important than all of those put together.  Her very soul.  The moment she’d seen Simon knocking on her car window, she had felt it.  The connection between them had been powerful and instantaneous. How could it have happened so fast?  It defied all logic, and yet, there it was.  She looked from one man to the other.  They were identical triplets, yet she could tell them apart.  In addition to wearing his hair slightly longer than his brothers, Caleb, the oldest, had a small scar at the tip of his left eyebrow.  And his ruggedly handsome face appeared more…careworn.  A look that made her want to reach out and smooth the frown from between his black brows.  Ash, born fifty-eight seconds after Caleb, had a perpetual twinkle in his eye whenever he looked at her.  He had an air of quiet strength about him that drew her, calmed her.  Simon, the youngest by more than two minutes, was the quickest to laugh.  She found his teasing demeanor impossible to resist.