Passion's Fury (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 2) (18 page)

“Oh, my God,” Leah exclaimed.  “I so need someone to take a look at the gallery’s books.  Books,” she scoffed. “I say that like there actually
are
any.  My accounts are such a mess, just a bunch of cancelled checks and receipts in a shoe box.  I’m totally right-brained and can’t make heads nor tails of it.”  She put her hand over Kylie’s.  “Can I hire you?  I mean, like, yesterday?”

“Well…”  Kylie thought for a minute.  “I can at least take a look at what you’ve got and set up a system for you.”

“For which I will pay you handsomely,” Leah promised in a heart-felt voice.  “If you can actually do anything about it, you are a miracle worker.”

“You know, Kylie,” Sarah said, “you could have a business card made up, offering your services.  Many of the businesses here in Passion Lake are new, and when they’re finished turning the old, historic cotton mill into a shopping center, you’d probably find more than enough clients to set yourself up in business.”

“Sarah, what an excellent suggestion,” Leah exclaimed.  “Who does your books at the Club?”

“One of our house subs, but she hates it and tends to put it off.”  She looked at Kylie.  “My husbands and I built a BDSM club at Marshall’s Hill, my family’s ancestral estate.  The club has only been open for a couple of months and we don’t have a bookkeeper.  Would you be interested?”

Kylie was flummoxed.  “You guys don’t know anything about me.  How do you even know you can trust me?”

Sarah laughed, then her face sobered.  “We trust you because Caleb, Simon, and Ash Rafferty trust you.  And we trust Caleb, Simon and Ash.  But more importantly, our Doms trust Caleb, Simon, and Ash.”

“Trust is a really huge deal with these men,” Leah added.  “And by ‘these men’, I mean Doms.  Not just between them and their subs, but between each other.  Many of them were in the service together, special ops, so their lives often depended on that trust.  In our case, both our lives and our happiness depend on that trust.”

“Did you know you were submissives?” Kylie asked.  “I mean, before?”

“No,” they said in unison, both shaking their heads.  “But our men knew.”  Leah laughed.  “It’s like they have some kind of radar.  Or ‘spidey sense’, or something.  They can spot a sub at ten spaces, even if she is in total denial.”

“So, if Caleb, Simon, and Ash say I’m a natural sub…”

“Then you’re a natural sub,” Leah and Sarah finished for her, laughing.

Naomi approached.  “Can I bring any of you another of our delectable sandwiches?”

While both Leah and Sarah demurred, Kylie asked for another egg salad pinwheel.  “You were right, Sarah,” she said, picking up one of the two Naomi put on her plate.  “These are irresistible.  I’ll have to make them for my guys.  Only on slabs of bread the size of skateboards with filling three inches thick.”  She shook her head.  “I never saw anybody eat like those three.”

Sarah giggled.  “Yeah.  Jesse and Adam can pack it away, too.”

“You should see our ranch hands eat,” Leah laughed.  “Five men can go through enough Katie’s Barbecue to feed twelve.”

“You have a ranch?”  Kylie asked.

“Yeah.  A horse breeding ranch.  Hey, Kylie, there’s another client for you.  Every time I hear cussing and shouting coming from the office, I know Clay’s trying to do the books.  You’d be doing me a huge favor.”  She leaned in.  “Seriously.”

Sarah laughed.  “You’re not even going to need a business card, Kylie.  You’ve already got three clients right here at this table.  Before lunch is over, you’ll have all the business you can handle.”

Kylie finished the second egg salad sandwich and Naomi whisked the plates and cups away.  Miranda brought a fresh pot of tea while Naomi set another plate in front of the three women and another cup and saucer.  “This is our jasmine tea,” Miranda told them as she poured the fragrant brew into their cups.  “You will find it is a perfect accompaniment to our lovely scones. The plain ones are unbeatable when eaten with a little clotted cream and strawberry jam.  Enjoy, ladies.”

Kylie broke off a piece of her scone, spread some clotted cream and a bit of the wild mountain blackberry jam on it and put it in her mouth.  A beatific expression crossed her face. 
Oh.  Migod.  This is one of the best things I have ever eaten! 
Most of the scones she’d ever had had been dry and tasteless.  But this?  This was light, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth goodness
.  No,
Miranda was right.  This is perfection.  Compared to the culinary prowess that went into this meal, Brad Sullivan was a talentless hack. 
“I’m so glad you ladies agreed to this,” she said, preparing another bite of scone.

Sarah swallowed her bite.  “When Caleb called, he said you had some problems with D/s that we might help you with.  What did you want to know?”

Kylie spread her hands.  “I don’t know.  Everything?  They had me read a couple of Internet sites, but they were confusing, talking about protocols, power exchange, stuff I’d never heard of before.  They want to discuss with me a bunch of things and I’m supposed to tell them which ones I want to do or might be willing to consider or absolutely won’t do under any circumstances.  I don’t know what to think.  And what the hell is a power exchange?  It just sounds like control to me.  My father was a fundamentalist preacher.  Very controlling.  It’s taken me ten years of intensive psychotherapy to come to terms with what he did to me.”  She bit her lip and looked down at her plate, unwilling to say anything further on the matter.

Sarah stopped in the act of spreading strawberry jam on her scone and lifted her knife.  “What’s really scaring you, Kylie?”

“This is all happening so fast,” Kylie wailed.  “I’ve only known them for twenty-four hours!  What if this is all one huge mistake?  What if they’re wrong?  What if
I’m
wrong?  There are three of them and only one of me.  And they’re so…
big.
”

Sarah and Leah laughed.  “Yeah, that’s the first thing you notice about all these men.  They sure are big.”

Kylie bit her lip.  “And intimidating.”

Sarah frowned.  “Do they scare you, Kylie?”

She shook her head.  “No, that’s just it.  With me they’re…wonderful.  So tender and caring.  I mean, they took me on without any thought for the inconvenience I’m causing.  I mean, I have to be carried
everywhere—
even into the bathroom.  But they act like I’m no bother at all.  Like it’s no big deal.”

“Okay.”  Scones gone, Sarah lay her butter knife across her plate and took a last sip of her jasmine tea.

Naomi cleared the table and placed yet another cup and saucer.  Miranda approached with yet another lovely bone china tea pot and began pouring.  “This is a white needle tea.  I’m sure you will enjoy its subtle flavor.”  Naomi returned with three plates, each filled with one each of all the delicious-looking desserts.  “If you’re like me,” she said with a smile, “you want all of them.”  She paused to let Miranda bring three chocolate parfaits and set one at each place.  “Whatever you don’t eat will be boxed up for you to take home.  And, of course, if you want more of any of them, just ask.  You ladies enjoy.”

Kylie picked up her fork and cut off the tip of the passion fruit cheesecake.  Her eyes closed so she could concentrate on the sweet/tart fruit flavor bursting on her tongue, being soothed by the rich creaminess of the cake.  She actually moaned.

Sarah finished chewing her first bite of brownie.  “Did they give you a safe word?” she asked.

“Yes.  Rather, they gave me three.  Green, yellow, and red.”

“Good.  Those words are your protection.”

“Have you had sex yet?” Leah asked around a mouthful of key lime tart with whipped cream.

“Wow, you guys don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Kylie asked in amusement.

“Well, that’s one of the positive things about being in a D/s relationship,” Sarah acknowledged.  “There’s no embarrassment, no false modesty, no euphemisms.  Everything is out in the open, nothing hidden. 
Have
you had sex yet?”

Kylie blushed.  “Yeah.”

“So, what did they do?”

Kylie cleared her throat.  “Well, yesterday afternoon I was telling them about how my father had made me terrified of exploring or even acknowledging my sexuality.  And when I told them that I’d never had an orgasm, they carried me upstairs and”…she shrugged…“they gave me some.  A bunch, actually.  With their mouths.  I’d never—um…They took turns.  It was…” Her voice took on a dream-like quality.  “It was the single most incredible experience of my entire life.  Until last night.”  She blushed again.  “We had…actual sex.”

“And how did they act?”  Leah asked.

Kylie considered for a moment, reliving their tenderness toward her, their single-minded focus on her, their total dedication to giving her pleasure.  It had been exhilarating.  “Like they would have considered it a grave personal failure if they hadn’t given me pleasure.”  She sounded surprised.

“Did they tie you up?”

Kylie’s cheeks heated. 
Again with the blushing?  Really? 
She gave Sarah and Leah a sly grin.  “Not yet.  But that’s definitely on my wish list.”

“How about toys?” Sarah asked.  “Have they used any of those on you?”

“You mean, like…vibrators?”

Sarah nodded.  “Vibrators, butt plugs, gags, cuffs.”

“Not yet.”

“Oh, my God, you’re going to love the toys!” Sarah exclaimed.  “Especially the remote controlled vibrators.  You never know when they’ll turn them on and it’s sooooo
hot!” 
She fanned herself with her hand.  “And when they forbid you to move or react in any way and order you not to come…” She heaved a tremendous sigh, squirming slightly in her seat.

“Oh, my God!”  Kylie whispered in awe.  “Are you… I mean, right now?”

Biting her lip, and giving her a sly smile, Sarah nodded.

“She’s not the only one,” Leah added with a sly smile of her own.

Oh.  My.  God! 
Flummoxed, Kylie flopped back into her chair.  Both of these women were wearing remote-controlled vibrators in their…
pussies.
  She heard the voices of her men saying,
Say it, Kylie.  Pussies.
  For a moment she couldn’t breathe.  Would her men make
her
wear those in
her
pussy?
 
She had to admit it sounded absolutely awesome.  In fact, she could hardly wait.

“Well,” she said when she finally found her voice again.  “I think I would like everything except the gags.  I can’t always breathe through my nose, but they promised to use only breathable gags on me.”

“If that’s what they promised, then that’s what they’ll do,” Leah confirmed.  “Are they just Doms inside the bedroom?”

“That’s what they say.  But they’re pretty damn bossy outside of it, too.”

Sarah laughed.  “It’s their nature, poor darlings.  And you never
came
before they kind of took over?”

“No.  As I said, m-my father was a religious fanatic who preached against “the sins of the flesh”—she air quoted with her fingers—“from the time I was three years old.  He made me afraid that I would burn in the eternal fires of Hell if I ever even had a sexual thought.  He died when I was sixteen and the family across the street adopted me.  They had to call in a “de-programmer”, who had helped a lot of women who’d been rescued from Warren Jeffs’ FLDS cult.  I’ve been seeing psychiatrists for the last dozen years.  I finally felt comfortable enough to start dating.  But the very
act
of dating made me uncomfortable.  I felt like an awkward, tongue-tied teenager. Brad, my first and only so-called ‘boyfriend’ just wanted a place to stay while his condo was being renovated.  He took my virginity.  Then he lost interest.  Said it was my fault I couldn’t come.  I was too frigid.  The only thing he was good for was the gourmet meals he made.  At least he kept calling them gourmet meals, but now that I’ve tasted the food here”—she indicated the elegant tea room they were sitting in—“there’s no comparison.”

“Kylie, that’s exactly what happened with both of us,” Leah said.  “In my case, it was an ex-husband, in Sarah’s, an ex-fiancé.  But they were both assholes.  Mine didn’t want a wife, he wanted a gracious hostess for his business dinners.”

“And mine wanted the million dollars my father offered to pay him to marry me,” Sarah said without a trace of bitterness.

Kylie just kept nodding.  “Brad wanted a place to live rent-free for six months.”  She looked from Leah to Sarah and back to Leah.  “I know Sarah said she’d been in love with Jesse since she was thirteen, but had you meet Clay before?”

“Oddly enough, yes.  It was a chance encounter three years ago, on a beach.  It was over in minutes and when it was over we didn’t even know each other’s names.  But neither of us ever forgot it.  And when we met again four months ago we both knew instantly that it was meant to be.”

Kylie nodded again.  “That’s kind of how I felt when I woke up yesterday morning and saw Simon knocking on my car window.  It was the strangest feeling, like I already knew him, even though we’d never met.  He said he recognized me instantly as the one he and his brothers had been looking for to share their lives.”  She looked at Leah.  “Did you know that Clay was a Dom and you were a submissive?”