The Plume: The Second Anthology (27 page)

There’d been no question of not looking up at
his face. She’d been crazy for him for too long, couldn’t believe
her luck, couldn’t accept that he wanted her. She’d been nervous
and frightened, and thrilled.

His eyes had been so beautiful that she
hadn’t been able to look away, hadn’t been able to breathe, hadn’t
been able to move. He’d run the flat of his hands over her
shoulders, then cupped her breasts, framed her waist. His touch had
been proprietary. Masterful. He had awakened her. Athena remembered
closing her eyes as he slipped his hand between her legs.

She remembered the way he had caressed her
hot throbbing sex with those elegant fingers. Patient. Masterful.
Enticing.

“She knew what was happening,” the Count
said, recalling Athena to the moment. She looked at him, surprised
to see regret in his expression. Had he loved her grandmother?
“Pauline was not a woman to shirk the truth. She made me promise to
leave you, to let you grow up normally.” He shrugged. “Whatever
that means.”

“Was that why you disappeared?”

“Of course.”

“But you never told me that!”

He cast her a hot look. “I gave my word to
Pauline. You would have fifteen years to grow up and become the
woman you would be, without my interference. I’ve kept my word.” He
gave a ragged sigh. “Who could have known it could be such an
eternity?”

Athena was shocked.

It
had
been fifteen years.

She realized that the Count’s arrival at the
Plume had been on the anniversary of her grandmother’s death. Did
that mean he cared? Or that he was precise? She knew he loved
accuracy and hated sloppiness, so didn’t know how important his
choice was in truth. That made her irritable.

She flung out a hand. “So, now you’ve built a
replica of her house here. Why? Because you want to mess with my
mind?”

“It’s a tribute.” He gave her an intent look.
“I would give the house to you, Athena, if you chose me over
Rex.”

Athena sat down hard. “What are you talking
about?”

“Do you remember how you met Rex?”

“Of course. He came to me at university, with
a letter of introduction from you.” She realized now why the Count
hadn’t made the introduction himself, although she’d been
infuriated by his choice at the time.

He arched a brow as he watched her. “Ever
thought about why I sent him?”

“Many times. I assumed you were
matchmaking.”

The Count flinched, which was interesting.
Usually he was far better at hiding his thoughts. “I was forbidden
from seeing you, from even talking to you, but I owed it to your
grandmother to ensure that they didn’t make you forget her.”

“I could never forget her,” Athena said
softly.

“I wasn’t sure.” He came to sit beside her,
but didn’t touch her. She was aware of the heat emanating from his
body, the lean strength of him, the way he had trained and
disciplined her so many times so many years before. Those had been
such intense experiences, and she wanted to know whether it had
just been novelty.

Or would it be just as hot with him now?

She was achingly aware that he had only taken
her once. The rest had been a prolonged tease, thrilling and
forbidden, a dip into pleasures she would later explore more
thoroughly.

She watched him and her mouth went dry with
new yearning. She didn’t trust him, but that didn’t change the fact
that she wanted him.

“You have a legacy, Athena, one that
stretches back for centuries. I think it’s a noble legacy and one
that should continue. I saw the promise in you, and so did Pauline.
Maybe your guardians saw it too, and it frightened them. I chose
Rex as a mentor and partner for you, unbeknownst to him, believing
that your innate tendencies would bloom in his company.”

Athena was surprised by his solemnity. “They
did.”

“But you also fell in love with him.”

Athena dropped her gaze.

“I wasn’t expecting that. Not when I came
here to complete my plan, to ask you to join me in restarting your
grandmother’s business in a new partnership. Make no mistake,
Athena, I came here to ask you to be only with me.”

Athena’s heart skipped but she couldn’t say a
thing.

The Count got to his feet and paced again.
Athena watched him through her lashes, her heart in her throat,
just as she had all those years before. It was tempting to think
that just one of his great plans had failed to come to fruition or
to work out precisely as he’d intended.

But the fact was that she could only think of
herself as being in love with Rex when the Count was out of
sight.

And mostly out of mind.

Now that he’d returned, she realized that
there would never be any master for her who owned her heart as
surely as her first master. The problem was that the Count was also
best equipped to hurt her.

He’d done that before.

She’d been devastated when he disappeared
from her life so suddenly, and even learning now that he’d had a
reason, didn’t soften the memory of that pain. She’d fallen for Rex
because he’d been available—and he was sexy. He played the same
games and he played them well.

But Athena knew that sometimes she closed her
eyes and imagined that his eyes were deepest chocolate, not his
skin.

The silence crackled between them.

“You can be there on Wednesday night,
savoring the sight of your true love bound helpless before the
entire membership of the club,” the Count said with quiet heat.
“You can be here at the Plume, pretending that Rex returns your
affection or that one day he might.” He straightened. “Or you can
come with me, share my home and my life, and be adored as you
deserve to be.”

Athena couldn’t summon a word to her
lips.

The Count watched her hungrily, willing her
to answer him.

She didn’t dare give him that power over her
again.

No matter how much she wanted what he
offered.

“My life is here at the Plume,” Athena said,
wishing she completely believed that. She fully expect the Count
would argue with her, because he had never yet taken no for an
answer.

Not this time, though.

He caught his breath and marched toward the
door. “Then I won’t trouble you further,” he said, sounding as if
he spoke through clenched teeth.

Could it be that she had disappointed him?
Could it be that he cared?

Or was he just annoyed that she’d denied him
one thing he wanted?

Either way, he didn’t come back to argue his
case. His footfalls echoed steadily as he strode down the corridor,
away from the office. Athena didn’t bow her head until the sound of
his steps faded to nothing. When she was alone, she let her tears
fall, the first ones she’d shed since her grandmother’s
funeral.

He’d left her again, and it wasn’t much
easier even though she’d been the one to send him away.

Athena heard footsteps again and spun to her
feet, certain that the Count had returned to change her mind. She
hated how her heart leapt with hope.

She hated even more that she was
disappointed. Because it was Rex who strode through the doorway,
Leya right behind him.

Athena frowned. Rex wasn’t bound, even though
Leya had planned to take him into captivity after the show.

And his eyes were snapping with fury, his
expression grim.

“You owe me an explanation,” he said, every
word laden with an anger she knew to avoid.

Suddenly, choosing the Plume didn’t seem like
such a good idea, after all.

* * *

Two

It was outrageous.

The Count was livid.

He had made a stupendous miscalculation in
introducing Athena to Rex. He’d fully expected that the pair of
them would have sex and that they’d explore new games together.
He’d even anticipated that they would create the partnership that
was the Plume—after all, he’d given Rex the idea.

But he’d never imagined that Athena would
fall in love with the man who was supposed to keep her busy for a
decade or so. The Count had wanted her to grow up. He had wanted
her to figure out who she was and what she wanted, so that they
were meeting more as equals. He’d promised Pauline to give her that
chance.

Athena was supposed to have realized she
wanted
him
.

But no. Rex had ruined that.

The Count was not a vengeful man, but in this
moment, he wanted to make Rex pay. He pulled out the cell phone
that he’d grabbed from Rex’s desk while in the office. The other
man’s wallet and keys had been on his desk along with the phone,
and Athena had been too distraught to notice that the Count
pocketed the phone.

He stared at it for a moment, considering the
repercussions of what he was going to do. He thought of the
picketers already gathering outside the gallery, the television
cameras recording the outrage of decent citizens at this
‘perverted’ show. That they hadn’t seen the exhibit was
irrelevant—they wanted it shut down.

There had been politicians there, and police
controlling the crowds as the beautiful people entered the gallery
for the party.

The Count had seen this drama unfold enough
times to know how it would proceed. It would only escalate until it
ended, and it would not end well for the Plume. Rex had been a fool
if he’d thought that the rules wouldn’t apply to him. Pauline had
always known the value of keeping a low profile.

In a way, he would simply be expediting the
inevitable. Maybe that would make it easier.

The Count took a deep breath, then called the
police on Rex’s phone. He reported the secret location of the BDSM
sex club that every politician in town wanted to see closed down.
That he used Rex’s phone meant that the police would know Rex’s
name from the caller identification.

In fact, the detective called him Mr.
Rex.

The Count negotiated one concession before he
surrendered the address. It would be the one that revealed his hand
to Rex. He suggested Wednesday night at ten as a time the club
would be very busy.

That was the scheduled time for Leya’s
shibari demonstration. With any luck, Rex would be too tied up to
save himself.

If the Count couldn’t have Athena, then Rex
wouldn’t either.

When he ended the call, he stared at the
phone for a long moment. Then he went into the bar and told Tony
that he’d found it on the floor. The bartender took one look at the
phone, guessed it was Rex’s and said he’d see it returned.

Whether Tony remembered who had turned in the
phone and whether Rex ever knew who had made that call was
irrelevant to the Count.

It was over.

He was going home.

* * *

Mike wasn’t enjoying Joanna’s fantasy at
all.

He knew she wanted to be shared more than
anything else. He wanted to make her happy, and he wanted to get
this fantasy out of her system, so to speak, before they got
married and played games together for the rest of their lives. He’d
thought he’d be able to manage to fulfill her secret dream for just
one night. He’d thought he’d be able to handle it, if he chose the
other guy and the other guy was a friend he trusted.

It should have worked. He’d known Eric for
years. He was the perfect choice. He knew Joanna had liked the look
of Eric when he’d introduced them.

It was only for one night.

It should have worked, but the scene was
killing Mike. He’d expected Eric to totally get into it. He’d
expected Joanna to be pleased. He hadn’t expected her to be running
like a river in her excitement. He hadn’t expected himself to be so
consumed with jealousy when Eric touched her.

And he supposed on some level that he’d hope
that Eric’s rougher manner would put Joanna off.

Instead she was loving it, and Mike was
dying.

Eric wielded the cat o’ nine tails—which Mike
had never used on Joanna—leaving angry red marks on her skin in a
deliberate pattern. He flicked the end of it across her nipples and
she arched her back in pleasure. Mike, in contrast, winced with
each blow. Eric flicked it across her genitals and she moaned into
her gag, even though she knew that sound excited Eric. Maybe
because of it. She quivered and trembled and practically invited
Eric to do whatever he wanted with her.

Mike couldn’t watch any more.

He turned and left silently. Eric glanced up
in surprise, but Mike just nodded at him. ‘Enjoy’ was the word he
mouthed, which was as far from his own experience of the night as
possible.

He needed a drink.

* * *

Leya watched the two partners square off in
the Plume’s office and wondered how often they fought. How often
did they make love? They knew each other well, that much was clear,
well enough that neither minced words with the other.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Rex
demanded. “How could you approve the capture of a member without
checking the file?”

Athena’s gaze flew from Rex to Leya and back
again. “What member are you talking about? You?”

“Yes, me!”

Athena rolled her eyes. “Well, you weren’t
exactly cooperating. You did agree, and I decided to be expedient.
There’s not a lot of time left before Wednesday night, Rex, and
Leya needs to prepare.”

She looked to Leya for support, but Leya made
no gesture of agreement. Rex’s reaction had been violent and
involuntary. She didn’t like working with anyone without knowing
their triggers, and this could have ended badly.

She agreed with Rex.

Rex marched to the other desk and booted up
the laptop sitting there. He clicked into couple of files, then
spun the display to face Athena. “What does that say?”

Athena sighed. “I know, it says that you
don’t like to be bound and blindfolded...”