everything in the trash can.” She looked over to Lynne. “How’s everything going? Do you need anything?”
Lynne and the kids had eaten lunch earlier. She’d told us they were going to play for a bit and then watch a movie.
“We’re good,” she said. “I promised cookies during the movie.”
Abby nodded. “Elizabeth helped me make sugar cookies yesterday. I think we have a few left. Do you want me to set them out?”
“I know where they are, Mommy,” Elizabeth said. “I can show her.”
“Okay, princess. You two be good and I’ll see you after the movie.”
Abby smiled at me, content now that she had seen the children and satisfied they were happy. From everything I’d observed so far, it appeared hiring Lynne would be a great thing for everyone involved. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Simon yet, but I planned to soon. I didn’t understand why he’d broken up with her. Especially since they had appeared to be so happy and compatible when we last saw them together.
But I knew as well as anyone that things weren’t always as they seemed to be and people often did things for reasons not understood by those not involved.
And seriously, you have enough to deal with concerning your own relationships. No need to borrow anyone else’s problems.
Cole, Luke, and Jeff were standing in the kitchen snacking on the array of sandwiches Abby had left out for them. At our entrance, they stopped talking and greeted us, and then Jeff made Abby a plate.
She took it from him with a big smile and sat down. “Thank you.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him not to bother, that I’d get her a drink, but it occurred to me that this was probably his way of providing some sort of aftercare. No, he hadn’t done anything in the scene other than watch, but if he needed to get my wife a drink, I’d let him.
I was reminded again of why I didn’t share my submissives. I enjoyed being the one, the only one to do aftercare. Which was silly, I told myself. It was only getting her a drink. It really shouldn’t bother me the way it did.
In fact, it had never bothered me before. Jeff had done a lot more with Abby when we were in Wilmington for the first time and I hadn’t minded when he sat and talked with her once the scene was over. That day, I’d actually left them alone while I cleaned up and prepared the bedroom for the aftercare I had planned.
It raised the question, why was it different today?
I didn’t have an answer for that.
Jeff and Abby talked for a few minutes with Luke and Cole joining in occasionally. I simply watched, but I noticed Cole looking my way a few times. It was a bit unnerving and I wondered briefly if he could read something in my expression.
Jeff glanced at his watch. “I hate to be the first one to leave, but Dena and I have an appointment this afternoon and I need to swing by the house to pick her up.”
Luke stood up. “I need to be going as well.”
Cole made no move to go and after the two other men left, he approached me. “Can I speak with you for a minute?”
Abby hopped up and started clearing the dishes. “Let me get these in the sink and I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll go see what the kids are up to.”
“Something wrong?” I asked Cole after Abby left the kitchen.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. You seemed different today.”
Was I that transparent? I shrugged. “Just a lot of things going on at the moment.”
“Abby certainly appeared to enjoy herself.”
I snorted. “She loves playing in front of people.”
“And you don’t?”
“No, I’m fine with it, usually.” I decided to tell him some of what had been going on. My own feelings were somewhat bewildering to me, and maybe he had some experience with this kind of thing that he could share with me. “It’s just that her need to play publicly is growing lately and I wonder if I can keep up with her.”
“You mean, will she want to push the envelope faster and further than you’re comfortable with?”
“Something like that. I’m just not sure what to do next. How to keep her on her toes and excited.”
He nodded. “It’s hard to be creative and think up new ways to torment our subs sometimes,” he said with a grin. “And the two of you have been together a long time.”
“Yes, exactly. And I’m afraid the things I do think up, I won’t be comfortable with.”
“Have you considered a threesome?”
I had always shot down the idea in the past. Me share Abby? No way. But instead of blurting out “Hell, no,” I gave it some thought. She’d enjoyed the session with Jeff even though I had placed limits on what he could do. A threesome would be different.
Would a threesome satisfy her? Was it something she’d want? Maybe not a scene where she actually had sex with another man, because I knew there was no way in hell that would ever happen. But something like what we did with Jeff and maybe let him go a little further.
“A mild scene, perhaps,” I said in answer to him. “Would you want to participate?”
“Oh no.” He held up his hands. “It was merely a suggestion. I don’t act as third in the group I’m a member of.”
I nodded. “Makes sense.”
Who would I invite into our playroom? Should it be someone she’d worked with? Or someone who was a complete stranger to her? Or would someone like Luke be better? A man she knew, but not too well and one she wouldn’t see on a regular basis. Someone I wouldn’t see on a regular basis.
I didn’t need to think about what would be best for me. This would be for Abby and I needed to put my thoughts and emotions to the side for her. It was only fair she got to experience two men if she wanted. I was her only Dom and for me to limit what she wanted simply because I was jealous? That wasn’t looking out for her. That was looking out for me.
I didn’t think a stranger was the way to go, though. I did know men in the lifestyle whom she didn’t, men I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing often. But I didn’t think Abby would be comfortable with someone she just met.
At the same time, I didn’t think someone she was very familiar with would be a good choice, either. I could easily ask someone like Jeff to join us. They had played together before, they knew each other, and they were comfortable around each other.
But I knew Abby would end up feeling uncomfortable around him and I wasn’t sure he’d want to join us anymore, since he was back together with Dena. Hell, this was uncharted territory for me. I honestly had no idea how she would react when it was all over. She might feel guilty and I needed to make sure I addressed that before we did anything. We would have to spend a lot of time talking about how she felt when the scene was over.
If I didn’t want a stranger and didn’t want someone she was too friendly with, that left a mere acquaintance. Simon was out. Neither one of us would feel right inviting him, not with Lynne living under our roof.
I ran through several names in my mind, but kept coming back to Luke.
He was the obvious choice. She knew him, she’d spoken to him, and he’d been in our playroom already when he took the pictures. Plus, I’d watched him in a scene before and he was more of a sensual Dominant. If I had to pick someone to join us, I’d choose someone like him over a Dominant like Cole. Cole had earned his reputation as a hard-ass in the playroom, and while I didn’t have a problem with that, I didn’t want someone like that to be her first experience with two men. Besides, it didn’t sound as though Cole was an option. And, to be honest, he didn’t seem to be the type of Dom to truly enjoy being a third. He’d want to be the one calling the shots.
The only downside to asking Luke was his history with Abby’s supervisor, Meagan. Though whatever happened between them had taken place years ago, I needed to get her idea on adding a third and to make sure she was okay with who I asked. I thought it would be fine. According to Abby, Meagan had said under no circumstances would she ever ge
t back together with that man.
I made a note to ask Luke what had happened between him and Meagan. I didn’t think it would be anything beyond a typical breakup, but I wanted to be certain.
I would still ask Abby, though. I’d also give her the option to ask a stranger instead of Luke. This was going to be a big step for her, and I wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. And a large part of that would depend on the man we asked to join us.
“If nothing else,” Cole said, “perhaps you could increase the intensity of your public play.”
He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten he was still here. But he had a good point. Maybe increasing what we did in public would be what she needed.
“I like the way you think,” I said. Maybe adding a third was too much and increasing what we did publicly would be the best thing to do next. “In fact, I’m speaking at the tri-state group meeting in two weeks, the weekend after Jeff and Dena’s wedding. There may be a chance to do something more public there.”
If the upcoming meeting was like the last one, I wouldn’t reserve a balcony this time. Instead maybe I’d keep her on the main floor in the courtyard and we’d put on our show. And I would call Luke soon.
I looked up as Abby came back into the room.
“Everything good?” I asked. Her eyebrows were wrinkled as though she was thinking hard.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I had a call from Sasha. She wants to talk to me and I have a feeling I know what it’s about.”
“Miss Blake?” Cole asked. “Is she back in the group?”
It hadn’t been hard for me to pick up on Sasha’s interest in Cole. Outside of the subtle comments she made, I saw her interest the night she watched his demo with the lady who never returned.
Cole, on the other hand, wasn’t as easy to read. On the surface, it was only a question. Is she back in the group? It could have been an I’m interested because I’m now a senior member and she’s part of the group. Or it could have been an Oh yes, I remember catching her before she fell to the floor and broke her nose. But the question wasn’t spoken like either of those. It was more of an I’m going to act all nonchalant because I don’t want you to realize just how much I remember about Sasha Blake. Plus, there was the way he’d looked at her the night of the demo she watched. The sly smile and his obvious delight in her interest.
I glanced at Abby to see if she’d picked up on Cole’s comment. Sure enough, her eyes had grown wider. She looked at me, obviously wanting to say something. I nodded.
“She’s not an official member, Sir,” Abby said. “Master and I are still working on requirements to join the group, and since she dropped out, she’ll have to reapply. But …” She paused, glancing at the wall behind him, not meeting his gaze. “She did go to the last group play party. I was with her as she watched your demo.”
“Oh?” he said with a smile.
I knew I hadn’t misheard that one. The Oh that was not so much of an Oh yes, but more of an I hope I left her hungry for more.
“Yes,” she confirmed to Cole. “In any case, she’s not ready to join just yet. At least in my opinion.”
With that, Cole rose from his seat and patted me on the back. “Time for me to say my good nights. I’m sure you and Abby will work everything out perfectly. I trust you two.”
I smiled to myself as the outline of a plan took form in my head.
We showed Cole out and said our good nights. Abby and I went to sit in the living room, and I brought up the plan that was on my mind. She was surprised at first. But as I explained my thought process I could see her understanding what I was suggesting.
“You have played with other men in a limited capacity. It’s not like the cane where this is completely new.”
“You want me to give you names? I wasn’t expecting that.” She shook her head. “I think I’d rather you decide.”
“I don’t want a name necessarily, just your thoughts on a few things. For instance, would you want a third and in what capacity? And if you do, do you want it to be a stranger or someone you know? And if you think you’d like someone you know, would it be better for you if they were in the Partners group or someone you won’t see frequently?”
“I haven’t given this any thought.” She was shaking her head gently. “You have to give me time to wrap my head around it. I don’t think I want a third, but I do like the idea of increasing public play and I’m not opposed to doing more scenes with another Dom. But I don’t want it to be any more than what we’ve already done with Jeff and the others. And I know I don’t like the thought of a stranger. I mean, the stranger fantasy we do is fun. But I don’t think I’d like to be in a scene with someone I don’t know.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Those are my thoughts right now and as for who? Someone I know from the Partners group or the New York one.” She picked a pen up from off my desk and spun it around. “Daniel and Jeff are out; they’re in relationships themselves and neither of them wants to play with anyone else. That leaves Cole or William Greene or Evan Martin. I’m not sure the New York group is an option. We haven’t met with them in forever.”
“No to Evan Martin, he’s a bit too flippant for my taste.” He was a good Dominant, but I didn’t care for his juvenile behavior outside the playroom. “William Greene I could talk to. Cole’s out. He told me he doesn’t serve as third for people he’s in a group with.”
“Just as well,” she said, but didn’t expand further. “And who were you thinking of if we went outside the Partners group?”
“There are several people I had in mind, but the one I think would be the best is Luke.”
“Oh,” she said, a look of mild shock in her expression. “I hadn’t thought about him.” She was quiet for a minute. “But he makes sense.”
“You don’t have to decide right now. I just wanted you to think about it.”
“I wonder if it’d be strange if we asked someone from the Group. Would it make things weird when I saw them in the future? Like, would that be the first thing to pop into my head when I saw them?”
“It would only be as weird as you let it be. If you tell yourself it was just a scene, an experience, it might not be that weird. But you also need to think about the future. If we asked William and then months from now, he had a serious relationship, would you feel strange having played with him before?”
“I don’t know. When we’re with our New York group, we’re with women you played with and it’s not odd for me.”
“Yes, but it’s been years since I’ve played with anyone else.” There were only two women still in the New York group whom I’d played with in the past. The rest had moved away or joined another group. “If we pick someone here in Wilmington, you’ll see them frequently.”
Talking about the New York group made me wonder if Charlene was in a group. Abby and I hadn’t been to a meeting with them since before Henry was born. Was it possible she was in our New York group now? I probably needed to find out before Abby and I did anything with them again. And I didn’t have to think about just how weird it would be if Charlene was in the group. Seeing one of my employees naked wasn’t something I wanted to do. Not to mention, I didn’t even want to think about what Abby would say if she saw her at a function.
Abby broke into my train of thought by saying, “I’m thinking it might be too strange to play with someone from the Partners group.”
“In that case, what do you think of Luke?” I asked.
She was silent again before answering, “I don’t know. Let me think on that. Would it create tension between me and Meagan?”
“You wouldn’t have to tell her. In fact, I don’t really see why you would. It’s not any of her business.”
She nodded idly. “How soon?”
How soon would you like? The question hovered on my lips. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you think about if you’d like the third to be Luke and once we decide on that, we’ll worry about a time?”
“Wil
l you tell me what your plans are for the scene?”
I smiled in spite of my thoughts. “Have I ever told you ahead of time what I plan to do in a scene?”
“Well, no. I just—”
“Then why would I start now?”
She looked as if she’d just been caught stealing a cookie. I had to hand it to her, she usually tried to slyly get information out of me. It never worked. But she was persistent.
“You know me too well when I’m trying to be sneaky,” she said. “Maybe I should distract you with sex next time.”
“You’re more than welcome to try.” I stood up. “I’m going to take Apollo outside if you’d like to distract me in the backyard.”
I hadn’t gone too far down the hall when I heard her footsteps following me and I smiled at the thought of the fun we’d have outside.
Chapter Twelve
ABBY
The weather the weekend of Jeff and Dena’s wedding was like one of those summer days you wished would never end. Though it had been a hot summer, the meteorologist’s forecast predicted a comfortable seventy degrees with a light breeze. The reception was planned to be held outside at a country club, and Dena had been worried all