Two Loves for Alex (2 page)

There were practical issues to consider such as her apartment back in Danbury. She needed to pack more things and pick up her mail. “I pay month to month,” she told them. “I’m paid up through June but rent is due next week for July.”

“Do you want to keep the place even though you’re moving in with us?” Daniel asked.

Alex didn’t answer immediately. The thought of giving up her apartment was unsettling, even if she did feel more at home with Daniel and Liam than she ever had on her own. On the other hand, she hadn’t been writing much since she’d entered their household—paying rent for a place she wasn’t in didn’t make much sense.

She hoped her hesitation wouldn’t be taken as a sign she wasn’t ready to commit to them and was grateful when Liam stepped in. “It’s probably a good idea to keep the apartment, at least through July. That gives Alex a chance to settle in here and feel comfortable. Right, Alex?”

She had agreed though she protested when Liam wrote out a check for the July rent. Somehow he managed to make it seem as if she were the one doing him a favor by taking the check. “Please, Alex. It’s a small price to pay to have you with us. I want you to be able to focus on your training for a while, without stressing over money issues. Let me do this small thing.”

They agreed she would return to Danbury after breakfast Saturday morning, though a part of her didn’t want to leave, not even for the weekend. However, she knew Liam was right when he said, “You’ve had a very intense experience this past week. It’s good to take some time away to get some perspective. While Daniel and I agree we want you in our lives, it’s important the final decision be yours, freely given and carefully considered.” So she had left them with a plan to return Monday morning. She was to pack her things and let whoever needed to know what her plans were. Though she’d been on her own for a number of years, she wasn’t yet comfortable admitting to her parents exactly what she was taking on. Instead she told them she was extending the Westport house-sitting gig for another month or two.

She’d spent Saturday sorting through the pile of mail she’d had held at the post office and putting her things in order. It was a one-room garage apartment with a tiny bathroom and no kitchen to speak of.

Before she’d spent the week with Daniel and Liam she hadn’t minded the clutter of books and magazines piled over the scuffed, nicked coffee table or the clothes, clean and dirty, strewn over the mismatched sofa and chairs.

Just a week under Daniel’s careful eye had already altered her sensibilities. She found herself yearning for the clean, shining surfaces of Daniel’s beautiful kitchen with the breakfast nook, the green-tinted glass cabinets filled with neatly stacked china and the copper pots hung from an iron trestle over the wooden island at its center.

She closed her eyes, imagining Liam on the large sofa in the living room with its floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the solid wood furniture with deep, comfortable upholstery set around the beautiful antique Oriental carpet that covered most of the hardwood floor.

She could almost smell the light scent of the freshly cut purple and white irises artfully arranged on the highly polished wooden side table. Losing herself in the images, she followed her memory through the house to what had quickly become her favorite place to be when not in the service of her Masters, the alcove where she took her laptop to write.

Though only twenty-four, Alex had already had four erotic romance novels published and was hard at work on her latest manuscript. During her free time over the past week she’d taken to curling up on the velvet-covered padded bench beneath a large bay window with her laptop, amused with the realization her readers would assume what she was writing was fiction.

Out the alcove’s window she could see Daniel’s colorful flower gardens growing around the trunks of huge old trees, surrounded by a lush lawn sloping down toward the creek at the back of the property.

She went to sleep that Saturday night with a T-shirt of Daniel’s she borrowed from their laundry hamper on a sudden whim. She held it close, inhaling his scent, sandalwood and fresh pine blended with his special essence. She pretended she was in his arms with Liam spooned behind her instead of curled alone between the pillows with only her dreams for company.

A ringing sound woke her Sunday morning and for a moment she reached frantically for her alarm clock, worried she’d overslept and wouldn’t be showered and groomed in time for Liam’s inspection.

When she realized it was her cell phone, she grabbed it from beside the bed. Were they calling her to beg her to return a day early, unable to stand another second without her?

She focused blearily on the small screen. It was Cheryl Carson, her best friend and the one person who actually knew what she’d been doing this past week. She had kept Cheryl informed via emails and text messages over the week she’d been with the guys, but she’d kept her comments more to what was happening rather than the whirl of emotion accompanying it. She’d told Cheryl she was finally living her dream but she’d kept it vague, not willing to subject herself to Cheryl’s inevitable criticism and cavalier dismissal of the lifestyle.

“Hey, Cheryl.”

“Were you sleeping?”

“Yeah. What time is it?”

“It’s after ten. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay. I was going to call you.”

“You came home yesterday?”

“Yeah. Just to pack. I’m going back. They want me to move in with them.”

“No
way
! Oh my
god
!” Cheryl’s voice rose at least an octave.

“What are you freaking out about?”

“Oh gee, I don’t know. Let’s see. Maybe the fact you’re
moving in
with two
gay
guys you barely know to live as a sex slave in their S&M dungeon. Uh, no biggie. I don’t know
what
my problem is.”

“It’s nothing like that. First of all, they aren’t gay, they’re bi. Second of all, they don’t have a dungeon, just some really hot equipment in their playroom. For your information I have my own bedroom with a four-poster bed and a beautiful view of the grounds. My submission to them is totally consensual. I want it. I’m not being forced or anything like that. You know this is something I’ve always wanted to explore.”

“Explore is one thing. Moving in after a week is another. I mean, come on, Alex, no offense but you’re not getting any younger. Why aren’t you looking for a guy? A single
straight
guy who will love you and want to marry you? What the hell are you letting yourself in for? What kind of fantasyland are you living in to think this can possibly work out in the long term?”

“You don’t understand. Liam and Daniel are two of most exciting, sexy men I’ve ever met. They offer something I’ve dreamed about and yearned for ever since I knew I was a sexual being.” Alex sighed. She’d tried to explain the sensual nuance of erotic submission to her friend before, but Cheryl persisted in thinking it was all just kinky play—black leather, whips and chains.

She tried again. “When I’m with them I feel this kind of serenity. A calmness. At the same time I feel more alive than I ever have before. I feel vitalized. Like the world was in two dimensions before and now it’s in three. Or like those movies where it’s in black and white and suddenly switches to color.

“When they asked me to stay, I knew it was the right move for me. Maybe not for a lifetime but for as long as they’ll have me. It’s what I want, Cheryl. It’s what I need.”

Cheryl was quiet a moment. Finally she said, “So what about the small detail that they’re in love with each other and not you?”

Damn Cheryl with her uncanny ability to cut straight to the chase. Alex tried to keep her voice light and even managed to force a laugh. “What’s love got to do with it?”

Daniel found himself looking at the clock every three minutes or so. It was going on eight and still no sign of the girl. Liam had left the hour before for the train station, calmly kissing Daniel goodbye. Neither of them had mentioned her name that morning though they might as well have screamed it, so much was she on their minds—at least she was on Daniel’s mind.

He’d had been watching for her since he’d awoken at six. When Liam left at seven, there was still no sign of Alex. Could it be after some time for considered reflection she had decided there was no way she wanted to submit to them both, forever relegated as she was to the status of sub and not lover?

He could hardly blame her. After all, she was well aware of the loving, committed relationship between Liam and himself. She couldn’t hope to compete with that. And if he knew Alex, she wouldn’t be content unless she was the center of attention and the center of any long-term relationship.

The thought saddened him. He had to admit he’d been looking forward to seeing her again. To putting her through her paces, to having her company during the day while Liam was at work, making his chores lighter and giving him the chance to exercise his dominant will on a beautiful, mostly compliant sub.

While Daniel’s emotional connection had always been with other men, he’d had his share of women in his time. He enjoyed their soft feminine heat. Yet until Alex had come into their lives he would have hotly denied the possibility of falling in love with one.

Not that he was in love with Alex. That was a ridiculous thought and he shook it away at once. No, he was merely attracted to her and deeply excited by the new dimension having a second submissive in the relationship afforded them.

He looked for the hundredth time at the clock, telling himself to be patient. After all, she had to drive a ways and maybe there was traffic. Or she might even still be asleep. He smiled fondly, recalling the several times he’d had to shake her awake until she’d become accustomed to rising when he did.

He heard the unmistakable crunch of gravel beneath the tires of a car. Racing to the front hall, he peered through the peephole. His heart began to thump while he watched Alex, with that tumble of flyaway butterscotch blonde hair blowing about her face, climb out of the small red car and hoist her bags over her shoulder.

He put his hand on the knob, thinking he should help her carry her things. Something held him back. Though she’d been gone less than forty-eight hours, he was suddenly shy. He shook away the feeling. He was her Dom. He had nothing to be shy about.

He watched her walk toward the front door. She set down the bags and ran her fingers through her hair, her large green eyes flickering nervously toward the bell and back toward the door.

She took a deep breath and finally pushed the doorbell. The chimes echoed through the foyer. Daniel watched her a moment longer, planning how he would greet her, Master to slave, Dom to sub, giving her no chance to cast any feminine spells over him.

He opened the door and Alex stepped over the threshold with a shy smile. She put her bags down and stood uncertainly just inside the door. Daniel said, “Welcome back, Alex. We missed you.”

He had planned to command her to strip at once and present herself for inspection. They would hit the ground running and set the tone for her training. But before he could get in another word she flung herself into his arms, wrapping her entire five-foot-two body around his like a snake clinging to a branch.

“Daniel. Daniel. I missed you so much.” She stood on tiptoe, showering his face with tiny kisses. Despite his intentions to be firm and authoritative from the outset, her display completely disarmed him. He found himself hugging her back and laughing, a ridiculous joy surging through him at her eager, effusive attentions.

Finally he pried her loose and held her at arm’s length. She was wearing a silky sundress of bright blue with yellow flowers. Her nipples were clearly visible through the clingy fabric. Daniel’s cock hardened of its own accord.

At a loss for words, he offered, “You came back.”

“Of course I came back. I never wanted to leave. You know that.”

“I know.” He touched her cheek, aware the weekend must have been hard for her, spent alone after such an intense six days with them. “So you had some time to think things over and you still want to submit to us?”

“Oh yes. From the minute I accepted these,” she held up her hands to show the silver slave bracelets at her wrists, “I gave myself to you both. I belong to you.”

Daniel studied her face. “So that means this weekend while you were away you belonged to us? You obeyed the rules even while you were in your apartment?”

He watched the telltale flush of pink and the way her eyes flitted away when she was caught in a lie. He knew already just how she’d transgressed. The girl was highly sexed and hopelessly lacking in self-control.

“Are you going to answer me? Think before you do. If you lie now, you’re setting the tone between us. I want to be able to trust you, Alex, just as you must be able to trust Liam and me. So I’ll ask again. Did you obey our rules, all our rules, while you were gone?”

Alex licked her lips and looked down. Her guilt might as well have been painted in large letters on her forehead. He was sure she’d stolen at least one orgasm. She swallowed and mumbled something.

“What? I didn’t hear you. Look at me when you speak.”

She obeyed. “No, Sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t obey one of the rules. I messed up. I was…lonely.” Her voice trailed to a whisper, her eyes again focused on the floor.

Daniel could well guess which rule she’d broken. “Strip and assume the inspection position.”

“I’m sorry?” She looked up at him with a startled expression, clearly not having expected the command.

“You didn’t hear me?”

She opened her mouth and shut it again. He could almost hear the words in her mind as she recalled the rule he’d drummed into her over and over again during the past week—when your Master gives you a command, you don’t question, you don’t hesitate. You obey.

She pushed the spaghetti straps of her dress from her shoulders and let it puddle on the floor. Her bare breasts bounced free, the dark pink nipples erect. Her shaven mons peeked provocatively beneath her smooth, flat stomach.