Sophie's Surrender [Viper's Dungeon 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

No matter how much she wanted to blow it off and rush to be with her men.

“Okay, the good news,” the repairman said as he hung up her phone, “is that the part is on its way.” He gave her a sympathetic smile as he scratched the back of his neck. “The bad news is that delivery is going to cost you a small fortune, it’ll take several hours to install, and there’s a good chance that it won’t last longer than a few months.”

She shrugged. Jackson was a good tradesman, and he’d kept her old ovens running for several years now. She had no reason to believe he was telling her anything but the truth.

“You really should consider investing in new ovens. It’ll end up cheaper in the long run.”

She nodded her head sadly as her plans to reduce her workload by hiring some help flew out the kitchen window. When she’d bought the ovens, she’d known they only had a few years left in them, but it had been the wisest choice at the time. It was silly of her to think that she’d be able to squeeze a few extra years out of them while she went off and found herself a life.

“Thanks, Jackson,” she said with a half smile. “I’ll crunch some numbers and see what I can come up with.”

Jackson glanced at his watch and then reached for his tool box. “The parts should be here around five. It’s no use having me on the clock when I’ve got nothing to do, so I’ll go grab an early dinner and meet you back here in a couple hours.”

“Thanks, Jackson,” she said gratefully, her mind already turning to the phone call she needed to make. The stupidest part was that the independence she’d worried so much about losing was the reason she was alone right now. She’d called Alex earlier, explained about the oven, and he’d delayed picking her up.

She was certain that her Doms had some devious and deviant plans for tonight—plans she’d really been looking forward to—but instead of rescuing their helpless, pathetic, submissive girlfriend they’d all taken a step back and let her handle things her own way.

Honestly she loved them all the more for it, but sometimes a girl just wanted a white knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet and solve all her problems for her.

Sophie reached for the phone, laughing softly at her own ridiculousness—she’d never liked women who cried and wailed for help so she had no intention of being one of them—and dialed Alex’s cell phone. She was a little surprised when Adrian answered it.

“Hello, beautiful, can I pick you up yet?” he asked eagerly. Sophie smiled. Malcolm and Alex would likely have a fit if they thought Adrian was pressuring her to leave her responsibilities behind, but she knew Adrian always just meant what he said. Hell, maybe now was a good time to ask him to take a look at her business figures. If he could find a way for her to buy new ovens
and
hire another baker she’d be forever in his debt.

She shivered as thoughts of how she could repay those debts filtered through her mind.

“Sophie,” he asked, his concern leaking through as she failed to answer him in a timely manner.

“Sorry,” she said quickly, embarrassed a little by how her mind wandered lately. Considering that it always seemed to wander straight into thoughts of sex with her men she was very glad there was nobody around to witness her distracted demeanor. “I need to wait for the parts to arrive and then the tradesman will be back to install it in a couple hours. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be ready to go home any time soon.”

“That’s okay, beautiful, life gets in the way sometimes. But I’ve got to say the timing sucks. Malcolm and Alex are dealing with Gina at the moment so I would have had you all to myself.”

Sophie hadn’t met the woman yet, but everyone from Viper’s Dungeon had been worried about her. It was nice to know that so many people were willing to help a young woman when she needed it the most. “Is Gina okay?” she asked.

“She will be, beautiful.” Adrian was silent for a moment, but she could almost hear the mischief in it. She giggled out loud when he finally asked his question in a low deep voice. “What are you wearing?”

She glanced down at her androgynous baker’s clothing and wondered if she could lie to her Dom just this once.

“Sadly,” she said, laughing again at his groan of disappointment, “it’s probably best not to even go there. I’m not having phone sex with you.”

“You’re right. I’d prefer actual sex. If you can’t leave the store then maybe I can come to you.”

“Hell, no,” she said, laughing even harder. She knew he was only joking. There was no way she’d risk violating the health code. Her kitchen was a sterile, sex-free area. All of her men knew that.

“Can I
come
over for coffee,” Adrian asked, his emphasis on the word “come” making her laugh again.

“You’re incorrigible,” she said, laughing even harder. “But I will serve you a coffee when you get here.”

She heard him moving quickly through the apartment he shared with his brother as he grabbed his keys off the hook and locked the door behind him.

“I’ll see you in five minutes, beautiful.”

“No sex,” she said sternly as he groaned.

“Cuddles?” he asked in a hopeful voice.

“Your cuddles usually lead to sex,” she said, feeling happier and lighter than she had all day, “but I think I really need one.”

“Rough day?” he asked as she heard him start his car and back out of his parking space. “Alex told me about the oven but he was a little light on the details.”

“Just the normal small business stuff,” she said, knowing that thanks to his accounting practice Adrian would certainly understand. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“See you soon, beautiful,” he said a moment before disconnecting their call.

She hung up the phone and glanced around the area where her oven was currently sitting in pieces. It wasn’t the evening she had planned, but at least she wouldn’t be alone.

* * * *

“We’re being played,” Malcolm said as he and Alex drove back to Viper’s Dungeon.

Alex nodded without taking his eyes off the road. “I get the same impression. Gina’s ‘breakdowns’ are just a little too conveniently timed, but it doesn’t mean we should refuse to help her.”

“I agree,” Malcolm said, glad that Alex was interpreting Gina’s behavior the same way. It was always a risk when dealing with a traumatized submissive that she would become dependent on them, but they’d both been careful not to give her the impression that they were any more than just friends.

“Were you able to dig up any more details about Gina’s parents?”

“There are newspaper reports about the murder-suicide but none of them mention Gina seeing anything. It’s quite possible that she’s reacting to something that happened before her parents’ deaths. From all accounts their marriage was rather volatile.”

“You think she was abused?”

“It would explain the terror she felt in the Shibari rope.” It had been the only genuine reaction they’d seen from the woman. Everything before and since had been carefully manufactured to manipulate the people around her. It was clear that she needed help, but without honest reactions from her it was going to take a very long time to understand how to assist her. She’d already avoided the appointment Alex had made for her with a psychologist who specialized in cases of this nature.

“Do you think being a member of Viper’s is making things worse for her?” Alex asked as he pulled his car into his parking space underneath the club. “Viper mentioned a while ago that he had a couple of SEAL buddies who avoided the dungeon because it brought up memories of a particularly traumatic rescue mission. Maybe something similar is happening with Gina.”

“I’ve never truly believed her to be submissive,” Malcolm said as he glanced around the parking lot and noticed Adrian’s car missing. Alex seemed to notice the same thing at the same time.

“Have you heard from Sophie?” he asked as he reached into his pocket and frowned. “Damn, I left my phone on the counter upstairs.”

Malcolm grabbed his own cell phone and quickly skimmed through the messages. When he didn’t immediately see one from Sophie, he flicked through them again, stopping at one from Adrian. Relief swelled through him when he read through the text.

“She’s still at the shop, but Adrian is with her.”

Alex grinned and shook his head. “Lucky bastard. Does he say how long Sophie is liable to be held up?”

“Several more hours at least. Do you think we’d be getting in the way if we dropped by for coffee?”

Malcolm laughed softly. “It doesn’t look like any of our other plans are going to happen, but Sophie does make the best coffee in town.”

“Very true,” Alex said as he restarted the car and headed back out of the parking garage.

* * * *

Several hours after finally being able to close her shop and head home with her men, Sophie lay in bed staring at the ceiling. All three of them had made slow delicious vanilla-style love to her, but despite the multiple orgasms she still couldn’t sleep. She rolled onto her stomach and then, trying not to wake the men lying either side of her, shimmied down the bed and slid out from under the covers. Granted, it wasn’t the usual way people crawled out of bed, but it did seem easier than climbing over the top of Malcolm or Adrian.

She was still congratulating herself on a stealthy exit when she realized both men were wide awake and grinning at her.

Malcolm reached for her hand and hauled her back over him as he lay back down. His hands roamed over her ass as he encouraged her to open her thighs, the soft cotton of the blanket rubbing against her intimately. She moaned, her pussy already responding to his gentle touches. “Going somewhere, little sub?”

“Just to the bathroom,” she lied, not really wanting to talk about the things keeping her awake at the moment. She couldn’t make any decisions about what to do about new ovens and extra employees until she did a lot of research, so talking about it now would simply be a waste of time. Well that and the fact that a childish and selfish part of her still wanted someone else to provide the answer.

“Hurry back,” Adrian said with a soft laugh, his breath warm against her ear as Malcolm’s hard cock nudged her pussy through the blankets. “Without you lying between us it’s just me in bed with a naked man.”

She giggled, glad that they were comfortable enough to make jokes about the unusualness of the friendship they shared. Of course, that didn’t stop her from teasing them both.

“Perhaps I should give you two some space.”

They both laughed, obviously very comfortable in their sexuality. “Sorry, baby,” Malcolm said, his hands kneading the soft flesh of her buttocks, “but the only ass I’m interested in reaming is yours.”

“Same here,” Adrian said as he threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her upper body toward him. “The closest my prick is going to get to his naked ass will be when we’re both buried balls deep inside you.”

She shivered at the imagery. Ever since her first experience having sex with a butt plug in her ass, she’d wondered what it would feel like to have all three men penetrate her at the same time. Learning that Malcolm and Adrian were open to the idea was one hell of a turn-on.

But, despite her little white lie of a few moments ago, now she truly did need to use the bathroom.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Adrian’s, groaning when he forced his tongue into her mouth and explored every inch of her. She was breathless by the time he let her go.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said in between panted breaths. “I’ll be right back.”

* * * *

Alex swung the whip back and forth, relaxing his wrist as he tried to clear his thoughts of all distractions. It took a lot of concentration and years of practice to use a whip safely on a sub, but a long time ago he’d also discovered the therapeutic effect it had on him.

Most nights it helped to clear his mind and let him get a few more hours sleep, but this was the first Monday since meeting Sophie that sleep had eluded him. At the back of his mind he knew it was more than just the lack of kinky sex tonight.

She was becoming more and more important to his peace of mind and selfishly he wanted her to stop working so hard so he could spend more time with her. Considering that he had no intention of giving up his work at the club, it made him a real jerk. Alex ground his teeth together, determined never to pressure Sophie to give up her dream. He’d just have to accept and make the most of the time she was with him.

He cracked the whip a few times, aiming away from the target, just getting his arm warmed up as he fought to focus his thoughts on the task at hand. He dragged in a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes closing as he visualized the target in his mind.

His first swing was slightly off, the tip of the whip missing the spot he’d aimed for and hitting the wooden practice dummy’s “ass” an inch lower than he’d intended. He tilted his head side to side, stretching and relaxing the muscles as he tried to shake the tension plaguing him.

Again he aimed for the spot, relaxing a little more as he managed to hit his target this time. He raised his arm again and again, varying the hits, feeling the tension drain away as the target dummy’s ass showed a controlled spread of tiny nicks.