Dani felt herself flush. Julian walked to the sofa, sat down, and patted his knee. She turned to Jack, who simply nodded as though giving his assent to the proceedings. Julian wanted her to lie across his lap and allow him to spank her? A vision of the way she would look spread out across his lap assailed her. She would be helpless. He would be utterly in control.
“It’s up to you, Dani. If you’re scared, then you can talk to Abby and figure out what you want.” Jack sounded imminently sensible.
“You do this to Abby, don’t you?” She’d known that her boss’s marriage was odd, to say the least. From the lunches she’d had with Abby, she’d started to see that she was very freethinking in her sexual beliefs. It didn’t put Dani off. It made her think that Abby Barnes was a woman to admire. Abby loved and was loved and didn’t apologize for it.
Jack’s lips quirked up. “Yes, I do. But I understand that it might be intimidating to a newbie. If you’re scared, know that I won’t toss you aside. You’re my wife’s friend. I will take care of you.”
That was the easy way out. That was the way “careful Dani” would go. This Dani wanted to know what it felt like to be with Julian. This Dani wasn’t backing down. She walked to Julian. She started to lean over him. His hand came up, stopping her.
“Pull the pants down.”
She hesitated. Julian simply waited. His face was open and showed no signs of intimidation. He was waiting to see if she complied. Why did he leave it up to her? She cast a glance at Jack, but he didn’t seem to be leaving.
“She should have a safe word,” Jack murmured Julian’s way as he watched them.
“Fine,” Julian assented. “Danielle, select a safe word. This is a word you say if you wish for everything to stop. If you say this word, I will stop what I am doing and we’ll talk. It should be a word that you wouldn’t normally say during intercourse, so try to avoid yes, no, god, and please, please, please.”
She laughed at his unwavering confidence. It lifted her spirits and made him even more attractive.
“How about hippopotamus?” She hoped that word wouldn’t float through either of their heads when they had sex.
“Excellent.” He patted his knees again.
No more procrastination. She was either in or out. She really wanted to be in. She could lie to everyone else, but her pussy wasn’t lying. It was throbbing in a completely foreign way at the thought of Julian’s hand striking her ass. She undid her belt. Her fingers went to the fly of her borrowed jeans. She wished they were alone, but it was obvious this was a test of sorts and she meant to pass it. She shoved the jeans down past her hips and quickly lowered herself over Julian’s lap, hoping Jack Barnes didn’t get a view of her cootchie.
Julian’s hand smoothed across the flesh of her ass. She felt him start at her waist and trail all along her skin down to her thighs. Every nerve stood at attention, as though waiting for his further consideration.
“You are lovely, Danielle. I can’t wait to see you naked.”
That deep, dark voice was completely serious in its intent. He wasn’t teasing her. He honestly wanted to see her naked. He wanted to see her without her bra or panties. He wanted to see her breasts and her pussy. No one had ever simply said he would like to see her. She wiggled her ass, unable to remain still.
She felt his cock get hard against the side of her torso. “Yes, that’s what I want.”
She squealed as his hand struck the fleshy part of her ass. If he was holding back, she couldn’t tell. It stung harshly. Her eyes watered; her breath hitched.
“I need you to count, Danielle. I wouldn’t want to lose track.”
Bastard. “One.”
Immediately she felt the second blow. She hissed as her other cheek went up in flames.
Tears threatened at swats three and four. On five she gritted her teeth and decided she hated him.
“You’re doing well for a novice.” His soothing tone slid across her.
Six and seven made her whimper, but she made another decision. She wasn’t going to let the pain win. She would show them all she wasn’t so fragile and delicate.
Eight and nine weren’t so bad.
“Ten.” She wasn’t about to disappoint him now. She could handle this. The fire that started on her cheeks had warmed to a deep heat that sank into her flesh. It felt almost pleasurable. He struck again, and her eyes watered. “Eleven.”
His hand struck again, merciless in its intent. She felt her head sag. She gave over. She’d made the decision not to give in to the pain, and now that pain was turning into something else. She allowed her whole body to relax. Her knees softened, and she felt boneless against him. Her hands found his ankles, seeking something solid. She called out each number.
“Nineteen.” Her voice was the only thing with a lick of will now. Her ass was on fire, and damned if that didn’t feel interesting.
His final blow landed along the crease of her ass. She simply sighed and waited for the pain to turn to something more. She let the rest of the world go and concentrated on what she felt. This was a special place. Nothing existed here except her feelings.
“Little one, I need a count.” Julian’s amused voice pulled her out of her warm, safe place.
She stiffened. “Twenty.”
Strong arms pulled her up. Gray eyes looked into hers. “I am so proud of you. You did very well.” He kissed her soundly. “Now pull up your pants and apologize so we can go and have dinner. Tonight I will thank you properly for your good behavior.”
She managed to force her way up to standing and quickly rearranged her jeans. Blushing furiously, she turned to Jack Barnes. “I am sorry, Mr. Barnes.”
Jack was flushed. He nodded shortly. “Apology accepted.” His eyes shifted to Julian. “Dinner should be served in thirty minutes. I might be late, you bastard.”
He practically ran from the room.
Julian was grinning broadly. He sat back, not bothering to hide the enormous erection he was sporting. “Sit down beside me. I believe our host will be a while. We can sit and cuddle.”
She sank down next to Julian Lodge. His arm came around her shoulder, and she leaned into his heat. She let her head rest against his chest and felt safer than she had all day. She fell asleep to the steady beat of his heart.
* * * *
Finn sat in the bridal room with his head in his hands. The air conditioner came on, filling the room with cold air that didn’t penetrate his body. He couldn’t seem to make himself care about what was going on around him.
He didn’t even know where she was or who she was with. A slow anger started to build, pushing through the sadness. She’d run. She’d jumped into a stranger’s car and fled as he called out for her. That idiot fiancé of hers had stood back, but Finn had sprinted, trying to catch her. He could understand her leaving Jimbo behind, but he couldn’t fathom why she would leave him.
She’d never left him. Not even when they were kids. Not even when she’d found out how different he was. She’d been the first one he’d come out to, when he was so confused he wasn’t sure what he was. She’d stood by him when everyone else turned against him. Why had she run today?
With a bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach, he gathered her things. No one else would do it. They were all too busy gossiping and eating pie. It was what these people did. They had started whispering the second it became apparent the wedding wasn’t going to go as planned. The buzzards had started to circle. Those old ladies who moaned about their hips had moved pretty damn quick to get a good view of Dani’s escape. He’d had to make his way around them to follow her. By the time he’d gotten back to the church, they were all sniping about how they’d always known she wouldn’t come to anything. After all, she was thirty and only had a job because That Woman took pity on her.
He hated them. Not all of them, of course. It wasn’t like he’d never found a moment’s kindness here. There were teachers who had encouraged him. The town librarian had always given him a place to hide when t
he bullies got to be too much. Christa’s Café had been a haven, too.
But through it all, Dani had been his anchor.
When they had graduated from high school, he’d been the one who had left her behind.
Finn shoved her sneakers into the small travel bag they had prepared the night before. She and Jimbo hadn’t planned much of a honeymoon. They were supposed to spend the weekend at a casino in Shreveport. He’d shuddered when she’d told him. A couple of nights in some smoke-filled casino wasn’t his idea of a romantic trip. If he’d married Dani, he would have taken her to Europe. He would have let her plan the trip of her dreams. Italy, France, England. He would have taken her to all the places they’d dreamed of visiting when they were kids. It should have been him.
This was his fault.
“It’s your fault, you know.”
Finn turned at the sound of Val’s voice. Dani’s sister was seven years younger but had ages of conniving bitch experience on her. “Thanks for your input, Val. Feel free to go back and gossip to your heart’s content. I’ll deal with Dani’s things.”
It would give him something to do. He couldn’t imagine that he would get a wink of sleep until he figured out where she was.
He sighed as he found her cell phone. There went one shot at reaching her.
“They’re starting to clean up in there,” Val said with a sniff.
No wonder she’d come looking for him. Val had always managed to get out of any kind of work. Finn couldn’t stand the sight of her. She was almost sickly thin. Though both she and her sister were natural blondes, Val had bleached out the honey color to a full platinum. Both women had green eyes, but somehow Val’s were harder, colder. Finn didn’t like Val, never had. Even as a small child, she’d been deceitful and cruel. She’d taken everything Dani had to give and, as far as Finn could see, gave nothing at all back.
“I’ll take Dani’s stuff with me. She’ll call me when she’s ready to talk.” Finn wasn’t about to leave it up to Val. Val would sell Dani’s things if she thought she could make a buck.
Her eyes went wide, and she bit into her bottom lip. Finn immediately went on high alert.
“Please tell her to call me. I’m so worried about her.” Her voice hitched as though she was about to cry.
This was the time when the man was supposed to get all soft and willing to listen to her bullshit. Finn was not that man. “What do you want?”
She always wanted something.
Her arms crossed defensively over her chest. “She’s my sister. Can’t I be worried about her?”
If she had a heart, maybe. Val had gotten rid of her heart long ago in an attempt to get back to her birth weight. “No. You have an angle. I want to know what it is.”
She dropped the innocent act. Her lip snarled briefly. “You’re an asshole, Finn. I don’t care what you think. I need to talk to my sister. If you find her before I do, tell her to call me. We need to figure out what we’re going to do with the house. She was supposed to sell me her half of the house, and I mean to keep her to that promise. I’m an adult. I can’t have a damn roommate forever.”
He would have said Val couldn’t shock him. He’d been wrong. “That’s the house she raised you in. She gave up her whole future to keep that house so you had a place to live. She didn’t go to college because the state would have put you into foster care. She worked two jobs most of the time. Do you have any idea how hard that was for her?”
Val shrugged and flicked her nails. “I’m offering her a good deal. She can find someplace else. She’s lived there all her life. You would think she’d be sick of it by now. I’m doing her a favor.”
He huffed and zipped the bag closed. He didn’t want to spend any more time in Val’s presence than he had to. “Some favor. I bet you’ll try to cheat her somehow. I will take a look at any paperwork you want Dani to sign.”
She paled a bit, but her voice was filled with malice. “Why don’t you take her back to the city with you? Don’t you need a hag or something?”
“Fuck you, Val.”
“Only a real man could do that.” She rolled those cold eyes. “That’s why you’re perfect for Dani. She wouldn’t know a real man if one tried to marry her. Oh, yeah, she fucked that up, too. She has pissed off a bunch of the women in this town. Trust me, she’ll be damned grateful I’m willing to buy her out. She is not going to want to live in this town after her stunt.”
Val turned on her stilettos and slunk off.
A slow heat started to spread through Finn’s body as Val’s words sank in. Dani had stayed for Val. After Val finished college, Dani had stayed because she didn’t know anything else. What if she had to leave? What if the town became completely unbearable? She would need a friend. She would need him.
Once he had her on his home turf, he would show her that they could make a relationship work. She would be surprised at first, but she would come around.
He slung the bag over his shoulder. He would make it work.
He simply had to figure out where she was.
Chapter Five
Julian looked at Danielle across the living room. She sat next to Abby with Olivia in her lap. She’d barely touched her steak, salad, and mashed potatoes, or the excellent chocolate mousse the Barnes’s housekeeper had prepared for dinner. Though she played with the little girl and managed to hold a conversation with Abby, he could practically feel her anxiety from across the room. He smiled, trying to encourage her to calm down. It had been a while since she’d made the decision to spend the evening with him and she was obviously second-guessing herself. He wanted that. He wanted her to second- and third-guess herself. She should wrestle with the decision. It was a huge step to take in what already seemed to be a big day of change for Danielle Bay.
He’d sat down with Jackson directly after dinner and questioned him about Danielle. It was as he’d suspected. She was very submissive and completely untrained. She’d spent her entire life attempting to please the people around her. Most of them had taken full advantage of her nature. She’d given up her hopes and dreams to care for a mother dying of a brain tumor. When her mother was gone, she’d raised her sister, who Jackson had referred to as a waste of flesh. If she hadn’t fled from her wedding, she would have been taken advantage of by her husband, and her life would have continued on the same sad path.
A warm feeling suffused his skin. This might be exactly what he’d been waiting for. The subs at The Club were mostly professionals, men and women who knew exactly what they wanted. Training those submissives merely meant teaching them how he preferred things and then allowing them to find their places in the community.
Danielle was different. Danielle wanted but had no idea how to have. There was a well of untapped potential in her that merely needed the right person to encourage her that strength didn’t have to mean arrogance, that her voice was something she could listen to.
He could teach her and potentially find a permanent Dom for the gorgeous thing. The thought of keeping her for himself nibbled at the edge of his consciousness. He disregarded the idea. He wasn’t cut out for long-term, but he knew many men who were. He would do what he’d always done. He would train her, enjoy her, and match her up to the perfect Dom.
“Baby hog.” Samuel held out his arms to Jackson.
Jackson rocked back in his easy chair, Josh against his chest. He glanced up at Samuel. “How about a please?”
Samuel’s lips turned up. “I thought I already pleased you enough for one night, Jack.”
Jackson’s face lit up as he shook his head. “I’ll give you that one.” He kissed the top of Josh’s head and allowed Samuel to pull the baby into his arms. The little guy lit up at the sight of his other father, and Samuel carried the baby to the couch. He sank down beside Abby and cooed at the child.
Jackson sat up. “He’s going to kill me one of these days.”
And yet the content look on his face told Julian it wouldn’t be a bad way to go. He studied his former protégé fo
r a moment. Jackson’s lips turned up.
“Are you ready to ask me about it?” Jackson made the question seem almost like a foregone conclusion.
“Ask you what?” He wasn’t aware he had any burning questions.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how settling down feels? You’re not exactly a young man anymore. Haven’t you thought about settling down?”
He was mildly affronted at the thought. “I’m only five years older than you. I’m not exactly an old man.”
Jackson held his hands up in apology. “Of course not, and don’t raise your voice. You’re almost the same age as Abby, and I do not want to have that conversation with her. All I’m saying is you’re in the prime of your life, and it’s time to think about the future.”
His gaze stole to Danielle, who quickly averted her eyes. She was so shy. He would have to rid her of that condition, at least around him. His immediate future looked quite bright. Danielle was beautiful and completely untrained. She would prove to be an amazingly rewarding challenge, he just knew it. “I’m happy with my life the way it is. Not all of us get a white picket fence. Not all of us want one.”
But the words rang hollow, even to his own ears. He kept his face perfectly even, but Jackson’s words sent a strange restless feeling through his gut. He’d hoped that enforced celibacy would cause him to work through the odd longing he’d had in the last couple of years, but it had only seemed to sharpen the hunger. He’d finally decided to take up his old life again. He would take two subs, carefully chosen from a plethora of eligible candidates, and continue as he had before. He would ignore the unsettled feeling he got when around his “settled” friends. His future would be orderly.
Then Danielle had jumped into his car.
Chaos suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
“You need to be careful with her.” Jackson leaned forward, his voice low.