RopeMeIn (12 page)

“Spread your legs wider, baby,” Jed urged, his face so close
to her cunt that she creamed for the kiss of his lips.

When she did open up, he reached under her pussy and up in
back to another hook and clamped it. Then in one slow slide, he tightened the
chain. She caught her breath.

The chain separated her pussy lips and held them open so
that her clit, now full and eager to be cared for, protruded for the three men
to see. Worse, or better, the chains went right up her crack, rubbing her
asshole and driving her nuts.

She sank to her knees. Her eyes shut.

“Get up,” Will ordered her, his voice the bass command of
one who was never refused.

Her gaze locked on his, his tone alone had her rising,
tipping up her hips to settle the chain more comfortably and letting them see
what kind of woman they had created here with their exquisite loving and their
erotic presents.

“Thank you,” she managed in an even voice that sounded of
more control than she felt. “I look forward to wearing your gifts. I’ll see you
next Friday night.”

“Five o’clock,” Will seemed to warn against any tardiness.

She gave him and his brothers a satisfied half-smile, secure
in the knowledge that they not only wanted her back, but liked her spunk.

“And if I need you before then,” she cooed and strolled past
them, rolling her hips and letting her heavy breasts sway, then picked up her
clothes from the floor. She opened the door to the bathroom to dress in
solitude away from temptation, and turned back to smile at them. “I’ll call.”

Chapter Thirteen

She didn’t need to. Monday, while she was in the middle of
unpacking a shipment of medieval-style satin and silk corsets from Milan, Jed
strode into her back room.

“Hi there.” She beamed at him, overjoyed he had come to
visit. “I didn’t think I’d see you until Friday.”

He walked right over to her, removed his black cattleman’s
hat and hauled her into his arms. “Needed a little refreshment.”

And then he kissed her, all gone-to-hell possession.

Primed for more of his body, she wiggled against him. “Mmm.
Glad you came.”

He nipped at her earlobe. “Thought I’d take you to lunch.”

She arched a brow at him. “Just lunch?”

“Just.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the door.

“No need to have the others here?”

“Is that what you got from the weekend? No,” he told her
gravely. “We three have a pact. If you want us all together, that’s good. If
you want us separately, just as fine.”

“Up to me then?” She had to learn.

“Not always. Sometimes, don’t you just want to be taken?”

How did he know?

“Yes.”
But the cuffs and Will’s voice worry me.
“I
need to be clear.”

He swiped a hand over his mouth. “Today, I’m here because I
missed you and I need to eat. So do you. Which means…?”

Relieved at the idea she could have a normal everyday
relationship with him and his brothers, she said, “Wait. Let me lock up.” She
caught her purse and turned the key in the lock, then let him take her a mile
out of town to an old icehouse that served the best burgers in a hundred miles.

He did not touch her again.

More’s the pity.

She ached for it. Even tempted him with a lingering kiss at
her backdoor.

But he ruffled her hair. “Take care, baby. Friday.”

“Friday.” She waved goodbye as he drove off in his 4x4,
wondering why he didn’t ask how her chain fit. Or felt. Or drove her totally
insane with desire when she dared to wear it at night alone in her apartment.

* * * * *

“Come on in now. What do you think?” Cara led her aunt Bree
through the plastic sheeting entry to her new part of Bree’s boutique Thursday
night at six.

Bree examined every inch of the room, turning in a slow
circle to take in the bisque-colored walls, the blush satin on the French
Rococo chairs and the deeper rose draperies framing the fitting rooms.
“Stunning. You’ll have every woman in five hundred miles in here clamoring for
a complete wardrobe.”

Cara had her hands clasped before her, proud at how well her
ideas had come together. “God, I hope so. I’ve sunk so much money in this that
it better be profitable quickly or I’m in the bread line.”

“Jeffrey owed you more than fifty grand, honey,” her aunt
said with a sneer at the man they both could take apart with their hands.
“After what he put you through.”

“I’m over that,” Cara told her.

Her aunt leveled her dark-green gaze on her. “The MacRaes
helped you through it too, haven’t they?”

“They have.”
Although I do ask myself if I’m ready for
the complete transformation of my character that their actions seem to be
demanding.

“Hmm.” Her aunt pursed her lips and walked around the store
fingering the fabrics that shimmered and teased. The bras and corsets, the
panties and nighties were all works of art few Texas women ever saw except online.

“What bothers you, Aunt Bree?”
Please don’t tell me I’ve
made a bad choice in these men.

Her aunt faced her. “They are good boys. Well brought up.”

“Why do I hear a ‘but’ there somewhere?”

“They are gentlemen. But you must realize that with the
male-to-female ratio here, our men are a bit different in Bravado.”

“How different?” Cara moved closer to read her aunt’s
minutest facial expression.

“They are starved for good women to love them.”

“Are you saying that makes them unable to choose good mates
for themselves?”
If that’s the case, then does that mean I am deluded in
thinking the three MacRaes are kind and caring of me especially? Or would they
do that for any woman who came along with a smile and a body they wanted to
play with?

“No. The men here in Bravado know what a good woman is. I’m
concerned that these three men, who were known to be wildcatters as recently as
a year ago, are the right men for you.”

Men.
Her aunt had said
men
, plural. Cara
didn’t know whether to be calmed or in despair that Bree knew she was seeing
all three of them.

“Are they?” her aunt pressed.

“Right for me? Yes. I think so. I’ve been with them only a
few days, but—”

“Long enough, sugar pie. And if you like a man after the
thirty-second thrill in the sack is gone, then you can place odds he’s gonna be
fine outside the bedroom.”

Cara stared at her aunt. “And three? Do you think a woman
can control three?”

“Control?” Bree looked at her as though she had grown three
heads. “Sugar, you will not control three men in all ways. But you can make
them your own. If you have half a mind to…and they don’t scare you off.”

The cuffs in the shower. Her gifts from them. Will’s gruff
tones of command. Those sent warning shots up Cara’s spine. Put those together
with the box of black leather whips and masks, the huge harness and some other
contraption she couldn’t discern—and she wondered if Aunt Bree had more than
one reason to speak of Cara being scared off by them.

“I’m not afraid of them,” she told her aunt.

“Good. Like I said, they are fine boys. But Jeff did a
number on your self-esteem with his criticisms.”

“And all the women he had while we were married.”

“Exactly. So take your time, Cara. These MacRaes seem
well-taken with you but make certain you get what you want from them just like
they get from you.”

“Thanks,” Cara said, grateful for the advice. What did she
want from them? Aside from the opportunity to have three different lovers
separately or in a fantastic
a quatre
?

“You’re welcome. Best to get yourself grounded and rested
before your grand opening next Saturday afternoon. I’ve heard every customer of
mine this week say she’s coming and bringing her friends.”

“I’m so excited. The marketing firm I hired out of San
Antonio has done a great job of getting the website set up. I have more than
three hundred orders already.”

“Gonna be a huge success,” a booming voice told them from
across the room.

“Harry MacRae,” Bree greeted him. “Are you boys coming to
toast our girl here in her new venture?”

“Yes ma’am, wouldn’t miss it.” He winked at Cara as he
tipped his Stetson to her. “I came to take you for a drink.”

Cara clapped her hands at the victory that he too, had come
to see her before the week was out. “Great. I am thirsty and we’re closing up
here. Why not come with us, Aunt Bree?”

“No indeedy. I have had a long day. I am going home to put
up my feet and have a vodka tonic. Maybe two. You both go. Have fun. Good
night.”

Cara and Harry watched Bree disappear back through the
plastic sheeting.

“I’m coming out to the ranch to see you all tomorrow night,”
Cara told him when he didn’t move from the back door.

“And you didn’t call.”

“Like I threatened?”

“Yeah. Just like.”

“And so you are here because…?”

“Had to come lay eyes on you.”

“Oh?” She couldn’t resist toying with him. To learn if she
could lead him—or any one of them, she had to test the reins, didn’t she?
“Couldn’t wait?”

His dimple deepened as he gave her a half-smile and turned
on his heel. “Guess I’ll go if you’re gonna be—”

She caught him by his long hair.

“Hey!” He whirled around and had her in his arms in a split
second.

She chuckled, wrapping her wrist in his silky mane and
brushing her mouth against his. “Hey,” she whispered. “I missed you too. Kiss
me.”

His hands crushed her close and as he picked her up and took
her to one of her fine French chairs, he devoured her lips. “Christ, you taste
good. Been starved for you all week.”

“Music to my ears.”

“How are you?” he asked, his sea-blue eyes drifting to her
breasts and the juncture between her thighs.

She swallowed hard. She’d put the butt plug in her ass for
the second time today and with Jed’s chain teasing her clit at the same time,
she could have torn Harry’s clothes off in one second. Instead she told him, “I
like your birds.”

He stared at her blouse as if he had x-ray vision to see her
hardening nipples. “They been good to you?”

“Every night.” She squirmed in his lap. “Making all kinds of
noise.”

His left brow ticked up a notch. “That so?”

“Yes. They say, ‘Where’s Harry? He needs to help us out’.”

“Hunh. Chatty birds. What do you say back?”

“I shush them. Then I tell them to ‘keep me happy for now.
He’ll put his hands and lips on me Friday night’.”

“Got that right.” With not much ceremony, he stood up and
caught her so she wouldn’t fall. “We’re going for a beer.”

“Harry?” She pulled him back. “How long can this go on?”

He turned serious. “Meaning?”

“Me, coming out to make love to all of you. You three,
treating me like a queen. I know it’s not normal for three men to want one
woman, even in a county with bad odds for single males. This affair is like
playing with matches. One of us is going to go up in flames.”

He put his big hands on either side of her face then and
crooned, “Listen to me, darlin’. We’re playing for everything we can get with
you. Hoping you want us three as much. If anyone’s going to get hurt playing
with matches, it’s us boys.”

“How can that be?”

“You think of yourself as a normal woman. We think of
ourselves as normal men. Just because we—” He bit off whatever his next words
would have been and shut his mouth. Then he hooked his arm in hers and said,
“That’s all I’ll say. Now let me buy you that drink and afterward I am going
home.”

He did as he promised, no more kisses, no more cuddles, one
cold beer and then
adios
. “See you tomorrow night.”

“Five o’clock,” she told him.

“Don’t be late. Will goes crazy if you’re late.”

Okay then. Will, the party planner. The one in charge.
The one who has not come to me this week.

Cara nodded. Exactly what she had known. Exactly why she had
to learn more about what she could expect with them.

And decide if she wanted everything they had to offer.

Chapter Fourteen

Friday at four-forty-five, Cara pushed in the code to open
the MacRae main gate. Solemnly she meandered her tiny truck up the driveway and
pulled to a stop in front of the door. Taking her overnight bag, she worried
her lower lip that what she had put inside was far too little. True, she had
included her shampoo and makeup. But for everyone’s enjoyment, she had included
one set of Viennese red satin corset with matching thong and her new baby-blue
flannel pjs. Those were just in case she decided to sleep alone. Nothing else.

Nothing normal to wear to watch a movie. Or eat breakfast.
Or go riding.

Am I now certifiable?

Maybe so.

Let’s take a chance on these men and see.

She swallowed hard, moving forward to shift gears and set
the brake, and felt the drag of her pussy chain and the thrust of her ass plug.
The bird clamps beneath her sweatshirt dug into her flesh. Closing her eyes,
she admitted she loved the sensations. But could she stand more? Did she want
to?
And why?

She navigated the walk with a careful step. Her knock on the
door was brief, loud.

Jed swung it open with a smile on his face. “Early.
Wonderful. Come on in.”

Loving the comfort of his hand to her waist as he led her
past the front offices toward the country kitchen and family room, she couldn’t
calm her fears of the unknown. Even when Harry left his stove to come hug her
and welcome her, she had a tough time breathing. The challenge to her peace of
mind climbed up a notch when Will entered from the hall where the men’s
bedrooms were.

“Drink?” Will asked, his hazel eyes probing her own.

Did she look as wary as she felt? “Beer is good.”

When she had her bottle in hand and they all sat in the
family room arrayed at different points on the leather sofas, the men asked her
about the progress on the shop. She gave them a few answers. Curt, colorless
answers.

“Harry tells me we’re coming to your grand opening next
Saturday,” Will offered.

“I hope you will. I need you to be there and make the other
men feel welcome.”

Jed smiled. “We’ll set up an account ourselves.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“We will buy your lingerie, darlin’,” Harry told her as if
it was law.

“But I can buy my own.”

“Not anymore you don’t,” Jed insisted.

She was seeing red. “Why is that?”

“Because we are your men now,” Will told her. “We want to
buy you what you want.”

“What if I don’t want you to do that? What if I am my own
person? What if I hate your taste?”

Will grunted. “Anything in your shop is what you yourself
have ordered. Therefore it follows that you must like it.”

“Like it, but maybe not love it. Not think that I look good
in it.”

“Prickly tonight, are we?” Jed asked, part good humor, part
concern in his tone.

“Very.” She stood up. Walked toward the kitchen counter and
eyed the hallway toward the huge bathroom and bedroom. “I’ve got a few
questions for you.”

Harry and Jed frowned.

Will sat back, totally at ease, his arm sliding along the
back of the leather sectional. “Let’s hear them.”

Harry inhaled, glancing at her, then at his two brothers.
“She still worries one of us is going to get hurt.”

“Not so,” declared Will.

“Tell me how that can be,” she demanded.

“You liked what happened with each of us here that first day
you came to us,” Jed declared. “Didn’t you?”

“I did. But how I like jumping into bed with three different
men is an astonishing fact to me.”

“We understand,” Harry acknowledged.

“A concept that’s hard to handle,” Will agreed. “The first
time, sure. But last weekend, how’d you feel then, honey?”

She shifted, her birdies, her pussy chain and bullet
reminding her that her hours with them all had been unbelievable. Unmatched.
“Treasured.”

Jed rolled to his feet and strode toward her. “Like we
wanted you to feel.”

She watched him make his way around the furniture to sink
his fist in her hair, pull back her head, then kiss her hard and fast.
Breathless, she had to ask, “How did
you
feel?”

“Loved,” he whispered.

Suddenly, Harry was on her other side, his hand at her nape,
his mouth making a trail up her throat to her jaw and her lips. “You are a
magnificent woman.”

A frisson rippled up her spine. She gazed into his baby
blues and adored his compliment. “Magnificent men demand a proper match.”

Will stood before her. “But you are still afraid.”

Jed said, “Biggest truth is that you’ve made a big
difference in our lives. We laugh. We joke together. The three of us had lost
that.”

“We watch flicks without dissecting them,” Harry pointed
out.

“We do the Chicken Dance,” Jed added with a pained
expression.

Will chuckled. “Yeah. We needed a woman to bring out the fun
in life.”

“And the sex?” she led him on.

“The fun in sex, sure. The little stuff that makes it more
than bodies hooking up. Makes it full of meaning. And real excitement.”

She stepped backward, toeing off her flats, her hands
ripping her sweatshirt up and over her head, then unzipping her jeans and
letting them fall so they could see she wore no lingerie today. In fact, she
wore nothing but their gifts. “I’ve surprised myself. That I could make love to
each of you. Then to all of you at once. That I could love being spanked. That
I could make love to you freely and often.” She gave Will a small smile. “Well,
maybe not each of you, but you know I want to try to do you, sweetie, big as
you are.”

Will grinned, as satisfied as a kid. “We were right to want
you.”

“Were you?” She ran two hands through her long hair and
shook her head. “I’m not sure. Yes, I can enjoy all your hands on me. And I can
revel in the excitement of your odd little gifts to me.” She swept a hand down
her body to entice them and knew she was becoming a tease. “I have wanted you
every minute of every hour this week when I have been so wild to use these damn
things. But I know there must be more.”

Jed called her name.

“Please. Let me finish. The birds bite into my nipples and I
am a crazy lady. The chain drives me absolutely nuts to put my fingers on
myself, but I know you told me that I mustn’t.”

“Only we make you come,” Will declared.

“I know. I also remember what you said about the butt plug.
That you had more. That they were bigger. And god, Will, I have it in now and I
want the bigger one. Soon.”

Will reached toward her.

But she put up a palm. “No.”

“Why not?” he countered.

“Show me. Tell me the rest of the story. What you’re all into.
I know these steel hooks on this belt,” she said as she hooked her thumbs into
two of the eight at various points around the leather, “are meant for more than
decoration. The box I brought you that first day I had opened mistakenly. I saw
the floggers, the paddles, the cuffs of every material. The leather ropes.

“I saw a harness, black leather, heavy. For a man, I would
think. So you see why I want to know more. Want to know it all. Want to see it
all. But I have to do it before I agree. If you care for me in any way—”

“Don’t doubt it,” Jed proclaimed.

Emotion made her voice tremulous as she looked Jed in the
eyes and said, “You have to give me this. This preview. Tell me. Show me. I
can’t—” Her old fury at Jed for being macho in her shop washed over her. But
only for a minute. “I can’t walk into this blindly. You owe me the opportunity
to choose this for myself.”

“We knew that your husband had abused you mentally,” Jed
admitted.

“By word and deed, he’d led you to believe,” Harry said,
“that you were not worthy of one man’s love. Not strong enough to deserve a
monogamous relationship.”

She hated the reminder, but somehow the statement did not
gut her as it once had.

Jed went on. “He took others to bed to taunt you and subdue
you.”

“Maybe so. Yes,” she whispered, once more astonished.

“There is a difference,” Jed shot back, “between what he did
and what we want to bring out of you.”

She heard him, understood his words, but not his
implications.

“You were such a traditional woman,” Harry told her, “we
thought if we romanced you into our lifestyle, that would be best.”

“That tactic worked in the beginning,” she declared. “Desire
is a marvelous aphrodisiac. But town ratios of males to females aside, reality
intrudes and I’m grounded in it. I work in it.” She spread her hands in
exultation, smiling at them with pained delight. “Even in Paris, I knew of no
one woman who was so honored as to have three lovers at once. And no one woman
who lived with three Doms who were her masters.”

She watched them frown. “To live this way, to accept this, I
must make my own decision in the cold light of reason. Show me.”

“Follow me,” Will told her, looking at his brothers before
he turned for the hall toward their bedrooms and led them to the end to a door.

She followed, silent, dreading and welcoming whatever was on
the other side. Once she saw, she would have to choose.
All three of them,
their way. Or none at all.

Will turned the knob, pushed open the door.

Soft lighting automatically illuminated the black-walled
interior.

The room was huge, cool and richly appointed in black
leather and steel. A wall shelf filled with leather and chain cuffs of all
sizes and weights. Another wall of fierce spiked doublets, legs braces and arm
sleeves. A dais with one long table, upholstered in black leather and velvet,
hooks at every two inches or so. A collection of knives. A contraption she
would call a medieval iron maiden. Another she would call a rack, chains pooled
upon the cold tile floor. And on another wall hung the item she had seen in the
box and had no idea what it might be then. Now she paused to stare it. A swing.
A hammock? A device, nonetheless, for a person to sit in, legs wide, genitals
exposed. Completely exposed.

“How often do you use this room?”

Two of them cleared their throats.

“We started to build it a few months ago,” Jed told her.

“We got tired of traveling to another dungeon up in Dallas,”
Harry added. “And we have a lot of good friends here in Bravado who chipped in.
We’ve built it for a group of us who like this lifestyle.”

She put a hand to her brow, lightheaded at the admission.
“This means that other men and women come here?”

“Occasionally. Yes,” Harry said.

“Men I know,” she murmured.

“Guests are admitted, but only with a member. Everyone who
contributed has the code. When members want to come, they send us a text, make
a reservation. Once a month we have a party. Any other day, the room is
available for private events. It’s all very discreet.”

“Discreet. Of course, it would have to be,” she concluded.
Her gaze drifted to the objects that sent a thrill up her spine. “But what do
you say about the chains? The stage? The knives?”

“Others are into knife play,” Will told her.

“Some do hot wax,” Jed added. “We’re up for exhibitionism.
Ropes, sometimes. Cuffs.”

“Like in the shower?” she asked.

“Had those put in for times when you need a little help to
stand,” he told her. “We never meant to weird you out, but make love to you in
a thousand different ways.”

“I see,” she said, trying to accept what she was hearing.
She was alternately so excited that her pussy and her ass were on fire, and so
alarmed that her body clamped down painfully on the butt plug. Did she look
like someone they called a natural submissive? Someone who liked being trussed
up?

She had liked it. She did like it. The revelation ripped
through her like a firestorm. Who knew she had this in her?

“And this?” She pointed to the swing. The contraption that
held a woman.
Her?
The idea had her body melting with electrifying
desire to be fucked over and over until she couldn’t breathe or think or stand.

“The swing we bought for you,” Jed told her in a hush. “And
us.”

“It looks very exciting,” she admitted on a whisper, then
promptly turned and fled.