Sophie's Surrender [Viper's Dungeon 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

“I’m opening a second restaurant in just under a month and I wanted to double my bread order and perhaps discuss a few desserts that I’d like to add to the menu.”

“When do you need an answer?” Sophie asked, already realizing that if she didn’t buy new ovens, she’d have to turn Maya down. Her schedule could possibly fit the extra bread and some gourmet cakes into her routine, but not if her ovens were as unreliable as they’d been the past week or so.

“Yesterday,” Maya said with a bright smile, “but since you’re a friend I can give you a week or so.”

“Thanks, I should be able to give you an answer tomorrow. I just need to check a few things.” Things she’d meant to check last week but had been too busy spending every other waking moment with her men. She already knew she loved them, but her obsession for them was starting to get out of hand. All those years ago she’d worried that Malcolm would take her independence and instead it turned out that she herself was the biggest threat to her peace of mind. “I really appreciate you thinking of me first.”

Maya must have noticed the emotion in her voice because she crossed her arms and assessed Sophie with a critical eye. “Friendship aside, you’re the best baker I know. Putting your food on the menu is purely a business decision.” Sophie nodded a quick thank-you, but couldn’t quite hide her emotions. Maya moved to close the door between the shop front and the kitchen. “Would you like to talk about it?” she asked kindly.

Sophie tilted her head to the side and gave her friend a sad smile. “Not much to talk about really. I was considering hiring another baker so that I could take some more time off, but with the ovens needing to be replaced I don’t think I’ll be getting a vacation any time soon.”

Maya looked surprised when she realized what Sophie was saying. “You haven’t had a day off in four years?”

“I’m closed Tuesdays,” she said a touch defensively, “but no, I haven’t had a day off work since I opened the store.”

“Shit, and I thought I was a workaholic.”

Sophie shrugged and laughed quietly. “Four months ago I would have happily bought new ovens, but since meeting Alex and Adrian and rekindling things with Malcolm, I find myself wanting more time to do other things. I was actually thinking about closing the store.”

“What do your Doms think?”

“I haven’t said anything to them.”

“Why not?” Maya asked, seeming quite shocked by that.

“Because I painted myself into a stupid corner.”

“Let me guess. You were so concerned that being a sub would destroy your life you’ve insisted on keeping every responsibility that was yours as yours.” Maya laughed softly. “I did something similar with Derek for years before realizing that I could be submissive and independent.”

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief just knowing that Maya understood what she was feeling. “It was why I divorced Malcolm.” She swallowed hard but couldn’t quite suppress the annoying tears that filled her eyes. “He’s been so careful not to interfere in my work—they all have—that I don’t know how to tell them I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“What do you want to do?” Maya asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sophie said with a self-derogatory laugh. “I love baking, and this store was my dream for a long time, but I’ve sort of ‘been there, done that’ now.” She shrugged, trying to put into words everything that had wound through her head in the past two months. “If I don’t renew the lease next month I can shut down debt-free, but if I buy new ovens…” She let the words trail away knowing that Maya would understand. It was very likely she’d faced similar decisions in the running of her restaurant over the years.

Maya nodded sagely, but then grinned and rolled her eyes. “Rather selfishly I’m very concerned with how this is going to affect me.” Sophie opened her mouth to apologize—she was letting down a rather valued customer as well as a friend—but Maya held up her hand to stop her. “If there is one thing I’m very good at, it’s getting what I want.” She whispered that as if it was some kind of secret. Everyone knew Maya was a brilliant businesswoman, even her Doms. She glanced around the kitchen, seemingly cataloguing Sophie’s equipment. “Perhaps what we both need is for you to restructure your business.”

By the time Maya left, Sophie’s head was buzzing with ideas, problems, possible solutions, and a million other details, but for the first time in a long time the future seemed a whole lot less exhausting.

* * * *

“Finally, I’ll have you in my dungeon,” Alex said as he handed her a piece of paper.

“I’ve been in your dungeon heaps of times.”

“True, but this time the club will actually be open.”

She nodded but wasn’t quite sure she was looking forward to it as much as her men. With their conflicting schedules she’d managed to avoid visiting while there were other people around, but she couldn’t exactly wriggle out of attending a collaring ceremony on a Monday night.

“What’s this?” she asked, glancing at what appeared to be a legal agreement.

“Paperwork,” Malcolm said as he walked into the kitchen and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Read it, sign it, and give it back to me. No one gets into Viper’s Dungeon without it.”

“Except that I—”

“No exceptions, brat. Not even for you.”

Sophie rolled her eyes but dutifully began to read through the document. Once she reached the part about confidentiality requirements and the banning of recording devices and cell phones she finally understood why there were no exceptions to who signed it. BDSM was often misunderstood in the wider community. It was important that they protect each other’s privacy—even at what was essentially the BDSM equivalent of a wedding ceremony.

“Are you sure Adam and Penny won’t mind me being there? I’ve only met them the once.”

“Adam invited me, Adrian, and Alex. You’re our sub. You go, too.”

She frowned at her ex-husband but couldn’t hold on to the mad. He’d been explaining the “high protocol” rules of Viper’s Dungeon for several weeks now. She knew that collaring ceremonies were usually less formal than the day-to-day rules but since everyone invited to this particular celebration actually lived the lifestyle, Adam had chosen to keep the standard rules of the club in place, including “playtime” for the guests.

“Where’s Adrian?” she asked as she reached for a pen and signed her name to the bottom on the document.

“He’s just running a few last-minute errands.” Alex glanced at the clock on the wall. “He should be back soon.”

He’d no sooner finished talking when they heard the door that linked the apartment to the club being unlocked. Adrian wore a very wide smile.

“Remind me to thank Bianca when we see her. Her friend Lacey knew exactly what I wanted.” He turned his attention to Sophie. “Why are you still dressed?”

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t deign that with a response. She might be their sub, and she might be willing to observe high protocol while in Viper’s Dungeon, but she wasn’t going to sign legal documents while naked.

The thought was so ludicrous that she actually giggled out loud. More often than not she was naked in this apartment. She’d just grown so used to it that she hadn’t really considered that it was likely by their design and not her own choice.

And besides, she was wearing her favorite little black dress and four-inch stilettos. She felt feminine and quite comfortable in the dress now that she’d lost quite a bit of weight. Apparently having lots and lots of orgasms was very good exercise.

She’d been so nervous about attending the collaring ceremony that it hadn’t even occurred to her that for what was probably the first time since meeting them that none of her men had swept her clothes off and fucked her senseless the moment she’d walked in the door.

“Lacey found the perfect outfit for you to wear tonight, little sub.” Adrian lifted what seemed to be a scrap of purple lace from a tiny bag and held it up for…Alex and Malcolm to approve?
What the hell?

“You mean under my clothes?”

Adrian grinned as if that was the funniest joke he’d heard all day.

“You mean
instead
of my clothes?”

Malcolm raised his eyebrows and gave her
that
look. “We talked about what subs wear, or
don’t wear
in Viper’s Dungeon.”

She wasn’t certain, but she took that as the warning it was meant to be. Yes, she knew that under high-protocol rules a sub wore whatever her Dom chose for her, but surely they wouldn’t expect her to attend a type of wedding ceremony completely naked. She’d dreaded the idea of doing in public what they usually did in private for months now. Would they really expect her to do that sort of stuff on her very first visit to Viper’s Dungeon? One look at Alex’s face answered that question very thoroughly. Yes. Yes they would.

Holy shit.

And oh heavens, why did her pussy muscles clench at the thought?

“Naked now,” Alex said, his arms folded, his amusement completely absent, “or you’ll be wearing nothing but nipple clamps and a butt plug.”

Suddenly that tiny scrap of purple seemed like yards and yards of lace.

“Yes, Sir,” she said, hoping to placate all three of her bossy Doms. She quickly stripped her clothes off and waited patiently while Adrian pulled the lace over her head and spent an inordinate amount of time making certain it was perfectly in place. By the time he was finished her nipples were rock hard and her pussy dripped juice onto her thighs.

“Perfect,” he said when he finally stood back to admire his work.

Despite the lace’s see-through quality and the “dress’s” very short design, she actually felt rather feminine. The color suited her pale skin perfectly and a quick glance in the mirror suggested the style hid more flaws than she thought possible. She ran her hands down her sides, quite pleased to realize that the flabby bits many people referred to as love handles weren’t as prominent as they’d one been.

“Lacey certainly knows her stuff,” Malcolm said as he stepped closer. “I suspect our little sub is quite pleased by her efforts.”

“I am. Thank you, Sir,” she said, deciding that it was probably best to observe high protocols right now. At least two out of three of her Doms seemed tense for some reason and the last thing she wanted to do was upset them.

“Palms on the coffee table,” Alex said as he stepped up behind her. She did as he instructed, horny enough now to want all three of her Doms to fuck her. It might even help her men relax a little.

The harsh slap on her bottom was unexpected.

And then Alex followed it up with five more. Her butt throbbed from his smacks, and she was pretty certain she had a very nice imprint of his hand turning her skin quite red as he finally let her stand up.

The pain was already morphing into pleasure, but she got the distinct impression that his actions were meant to be corrective rather than suggestive. She wanted to ask why but knew her Doms didn’t need to give her any explanations. High protocol meant they were in charge. Full stop.

For the first time since meeting them, the word “yellow” trembled on her lips. She knew they would stop and explain if she used one of her safe words, but it somehow felt like she was failing at her first real test of being their sub. She’d already figured out that as the owner’s submissive she’d be expected to be a very well-behaved submissive in Viper’s Dungeon, but a part of her had figured—at least until she could get her shop problems sorted out—that she had a while before she’d have to deal with such things.

Having to attend a collaring ceremony had changed all that far before she was ready.

Adrian watched Alex leave the room before taking a seat and pulling her to sit down beside him. “Sir,” she whispered, needing to know and willing to risk further punishment if necessary, “did I do something wrong?”

“You never did get around to asking Alex what he did for a living before he bought Viper’s Dungeon, did you?”

She shook her head, a little bit embarrassed how little she really did know about Alex. She’d spent hours talking to both Adrian and Malcolm but most of her time with Alex had been spent exploring every inch of each other’s bodies. The closest they’d come to an in-depth conversation had been the night she’d wandered into the dungeon and found him practicing with the whip.

Sophie shivered as memories of that night thrilled through her.

She’d taken all three of them into her body at the same time twice since then, but it was the first time that truly stuck in her memory. A part of her had worried that she’d feel used afterward. At the time she hadn’t even been able to imagine how a woman would enjoy having three men use her body the way they’d done that night, so she’d been completely unprepared for the sense of peace she’d felt.

Or the earth-shattering orgasms they’d forced upon her over and over.

But right now the memories weren’t enough to set aside her concerns.

She’d always dealt with her men instinctively. It hadn’t been easy to find a balance between submission and equality yet until a few moments ago she’d thought she’d been doing all right. But she hadn’t even noticed how much of himself Alex had kept from her.

“Should I go talk him?” she asked, uncertain if the timing was very wrong or not.