Fulfilled (21 page)

For the first time in months Lois totally reverted to that sad, lonely woman with the narrow future of funneling her every need into being the eternal caregiver for other people’s children. She laid a hand on her flat belly. She wanted her own baby, one she could love and nurture as her own, but not at the expense of the two men in that room. It seemed every time she lingered by an open door, her life took an unexpected turn. This one wouldn’t likely turn out for the better. She stepped away quietly, making her way back to the cloakroom to collect her coat and cover the outfit Jon insisted on buying her. It wasn’t her. It was for a submissive, not a woman who had infiltrated his life and made him feel unworthy by focusing attention on his so-called weakness and then implicated another man to meet her
need
. Who had settled. How selfish was she, really?

Maurice raised an eyebrow when she asked him to bring her car around. There was a wealth of sadness in him, too. Like recognized like. But he wasn’t the Dom for her. Maybe no one was the Dom for her. She needed to go home and think about things. Someplace where she wouldn’t be influenced. Once she had her head on straight and her thoughts clarified, she would make better decisions, but she already knew the answer. It had been a very interesting period in her life, and she wouldn’t have missed it for anything. She’d been loved and experienced sexual heights never imagined, but when one loved someone, two someones, and was bad for them one set them free. Too bad if she’d mangled that old saying. It was still true. Lois Wright had been blessed for a short time. Now she’d get on with her old life and hold those memories close against the lonely times. Trevor would find someone special, wouldn’t have to settle, and Jonathon wouldn’t be anyone’s secret.

Maurice wouldn’t let her drive. He called her a cab and made sure the driver had the address. He looked at her with such insight she very nearly fell apart, but drew on the inner strength honed over the years.

“Where is she?” Trevor kept muttering under his breath. He’d become elated once Jon convinced him the plan was perfect, smiling widely and fucking well talking about whether they’d have a boy or a girl. Getting into the spirit of things. But when Lois didn’t arrive on time, and she was never late, his mood immediately changed.

“Late. And that’ll be ten.” Jon was also surprised at Lois’s tardiness and a bit concerned. He wouldn’t tolerate lateness because it worried him, so he would correct that issue immediately. Trevor had been pacing for the past fifteen minutes. They wanted to scene with Lois and take her to bed before having a serious discussion with her about the future. It had taken considerable guts to confide in Trevor, but the other man rolled with it. Lois wanted a baby, and Jon couldn’t give her one. Trevor could. When he thought about it, what was so hard about that? He’d be a dad to their kids, and was looking forward to it. Maybe Trevor’d been a bit of a girl about the whole thing, overanalyzing the situation, questioning the proprieties of all things! They were in a ménage for Christ’s sake! Already flouting the boundaries of society. And he was black, and they were white. Another brow quirker. Lois and Trevor were close in age, and he was six years younger, nothing insurmountable there. He’d convinced Lois age was only a number. In any event, Trevor had come on board. And Trevor on board was a steamroller. Lois was in for a night of all nights, and Jonathon could hardly wait. Training was fine, but he could unleash himself with Lois because she was his true submissive. His and Trevor’s. Trevor balanced him. Yin and yang with Lois in the middle.

“She’s never late.”

Jon had enough. He concurred with Trevor, and his concern was topping his tolerance level. He crossed to where his cell sat on the top of the wardrobe and checked it. No messages from their woman. He punched her number and waited impatiently as it went straight to voice mail. He called the Alexanders’ landline and was rewarded with the sound of Kennedy’s drowsy voice.

“What is it, Jon?”

“Is Lois there, Kennedy? Sorry to disturb you.”

“It’s okay. Baby is sucking all my energy these days, and Nathan’s being a brat. He’s such a Graham. I think Lois is in her room.”

There was a pause and Kennedy, her voice reflecting her confusion, added, “I thought she was going to the club tonight. She was. That was the plan. I’m sure she left earlier and came back. That’s weird. Hang on.”

Jon waited impatiently. He covered the mouthpiece of the phone and stage whispered to Trevor. “Kennedy thinks she came here and went home again.”

“Why would she do that?” Trevor squinted in bewilderment, and then his face tightened. “Shit. She heard us talking about babies, planning her future.”

Jon shrugged. “It’s in her best interest. Nothing we wouldn’t have explained later. She didn’t need to be in on the initial planning.”

“C’mon, Jonathon! Lois is a sweet sub and never questions you. She never questions me. I know she trusts us, and I’ve come to accept and cherish the fact she loves me, too. But it’s a life-changing decision we made, and without consulting her!”

They were back to that. Damn it. He pushed down the impulse to punch Trevor in the head. They were the Doms, Lois the sub. They would never do anything to compromise her safety, hurt her in any way other than erotically. Established protocol. It wasn’t like Trevor was going to fuck her bareback without presenting the plan. Jon simply believed Lois would comply because she knew they had her best interest at heart. An unsettling thought intruded. What if she had heard only part of that discussion? It’d been convoluted to say the least, and Lois was fucking sensitive. Words like
secret
and
backup
might have set her insecurities off.

Kennedy’s voice filled his ear and saved him responding.

“She’s here, Jon. In her room. She assures me she’s fine, but she declined to come and sit with me and have a cup of tea. So she’s not fine. I think she’s been crying.” Kennedy sounded a tad accusing but also really worried.

“We’re coming.” Jon snapped the phone shut. Trevor was up and at his side in the next breath.

“What?”

“She’s upset, crying. Let’s go.”

Trevor said nothing further, forging past him, reaching for his car keys. Maurice nodded to them both, and Trevor came to an abrupt halt. Jonathon avoided a collision only by shoving a hand against the doorframe.

“Was our sub here?”

“Lois? Uh-huh. She dropped in for a few minutes and then left. She didn’t say anything other than to ask me to bring her car around. She was fucked up. She tried to hide it, but I saw it. I made sure she got a cab. Wouldn’t let her drive.” Maurice was looking daggers at Jon, but whatever thoughts he had he kept to himself.

“And you didn’t think to call us?” Trevor was white around the mouth. Maurice looked between them and had the grace to look ashamed.

They left him standing, holding the door, and strode to Trevor’s SUV because it was closer. And a more accessible vehicle to stow a rebellious sub in the back seat. Trevor clicked the remote, and the lights flashed. Jonathon wrenched the passenger door open and fit his bulk inside, but not before moving the seat back as far as it would go. Trevor was already seated and cranking the engine over, his face strained.

“Lois never cries anymore unless in passion or in subspace. We’ve never given her reason to. What the fuck, Jon? She had to have overheard us. It can’t be anything else.”

“Don’t know, but I’ll find out. And she’s not leaving us.” Jon knew he voiced Trevor’s fear. He wondered if they’d been brothers in another life, because despite the other man’s sometimes annoying tendency to micromanage, they complemented one another. Hell, they anticipated one another. His jealousy was even a thing of the past.

“No, she’s not,” Trevor agreed grimly.

Trevor pulled into the driveway, and Jon was out of the vehicle almost before it stopped, Trevor not far behind. Kennedy met them at the door, a finger to her lips.

“Nathan’s sleeping. Don’t you make this a big deal.”

Jon nodded, and they hurried to Lois’s room. He decided not to knock. He tried the knob, and it gave under his hand so he pushed the door open. Lois was huddled on her bed, still wearing the red bustier and matching skirt he’d ordered for her. She lifted her head and stared at him and Trevor, her eyes red and puffy, tears streaked on her cheeks. For the first time in his life with a sub, Jon didn’t know what to do. His first instinct was to soothe her and beg her to tell him what was wrong. He was also angry with her, terrified she was retreating, breaking things off. Trevor saved him the trouble.

His partner advanced on Lois and pulled her to her feet. She began to protest, her eyes now wide, panicked. Trevor yanked the light blanket off the mattress and wrapped her up in it, spinning her like a top, then put her over his shoulder. He tossed the keys to Jon. They left the room as quickly as they’d invaded it, and without a word.

Trevor laid a couple of hearty slaps across the blanket right about where Lois’s little ass would be, and she ceased her struggles. Jon nodded to an astonished Kennedy as he held the door for Trevor and his slight burden, then exited behind them. Trevor sat Lois in the back seat and buckled her in, the blanket swathing her and the seat belt further restricting any movement. Only her face peered out, looking shell shocked. Her sweet lips parted.

“Not a word, honey. Not one word. Jon and I aren’t interested in hearing anything right at this fucking moment.” The tone in Trevor’s voice was as dark as any Jon had heard. Or used.

Jon swallowed his own comment and shrugged, getting into the passenger seat. He stabbed the keys into the ignition. Trevor got behind the wheel and adjusted the mirror in order to see Lois then cranked the engine over, driving quickly and competently back to the club. The air in the vehicle seethed like a living thing.

Maurice nearly laughed when he saw them, Lois again over Trevor’s shoulder, effectively shrink wrapped. His eyes widened and filled with mirth, and his lips twitched, but he managed decorum, nodding gravely and opening the door. Jon went ahead and found Jordan, setting up for a scene in the soft dungeon.

“Put it off, Jordan, as a favor to me.”

“But it’s a regular—” Jordan protested then shut his mouth, his head tilting as he assessed Jon’s face. He shrugged and threw up his hands. “Okay. But expect an audience.”

Jon reworked the length of the chains to suit Lois’s height. He could hear Trevor behind him, and Lois’s muffled complaints as his partner stripped her, the occasional muted slap making him smile. It was most interesting how he and Trev had become an extension of one another in both thought and action. True, he might have coddled their woman, primarily because he’d fucked up, gotten ahead of himself. But Trevor corrected that minor error, and he loved the guy for it. Lois was in the shit, and they weren’t wasting another moment in addressing it. They both wanted her submission, her surrender, but they wouldn’t tolerate a quitter. Unless she used her safe word, it was on.

Trevor hauled her over and held her steady while Jon secured her wrists, ensuring they were firmly restrained yet without undue chafing. He ignored her, otherwise, and she was now mute. Despite her obvious angst, he sensed her arousal, the little pink nipples beaded, her sweet honey wafting to his nostrils. Her little ass bore the pink imprint of Trevor’s big mitt. Jon held her face between his hands, Trevor now kneeling at her feet to spread her legs wide, fastening the ankle cuffs.

“You don’t run, Lois. Not from us, ever. You talk with us, tell us, no matter what. We won’t tolerate a retreat. Are we clear?”

“Yes.”

“You listened at the door. You made an assumption. We aren’t interested in unraveling the bullshit fears, sweetheart. We’re moving forward, and you’re coming along unless you use your safe word.”

Her eyes stared into his, filled with pain and anxiety. Jon hardened his heart. She’d fall back into her past each and every time he or Trevor got ahead of themselves, no matter if it was in her best interest, unless they corrected her. Trust was earned, on both sides, and he hoped they’d read her correctly. If not, and she walked, he’d wither away and die. The tension radiating from Trevor reflected his own.

“Okay.” Her whole body shuddered, and she closed her eyes.

The sound of quiet voices filled the room as the members expecting a very different scene entered and milled around. Ah, spontaneity. Jon went for the lube.

* * * *

She was stretched taut, almost too taut, but Jon knew her physical limits to the most finite degree. Trevor knew her emotional limits as well. She’d prepared a pretty speech, secure in the familiar surroundings of her room at the Alexanders, something to let them both off the hook. She convinced herself, knew she could carry it off, even in the certain face of Trevor and Jonathon’s protest. She shut down the part of herself begging her to take what her men offered, no matter the expense to them. She had expected their arrival, predicted it, although not quite so precipitously. Trevor’s actions blew her away and knocked her convincing speech into the proverbial cocked hat. The fact Jonathon went along with her kidnapping spoke louder than any action on his part. He and Trevor were partners. Jonathon wasn’t compromising, and Trevor wasn’t settling. She was so in for it, and rightfully so. She’d run without asking them, without trusting them. Even if they were wrong, and they would be from time to time, there was no call to run.

Trevor stood, drifting his hands up over her naked skin, from her ankles to her breasts, skimming over her thighs and hips, her waist. He, too, stared into her eyes.

“This is punishment, Lois. You think on that. And then we move on, like Jon said.”

Jon was efficiently stretching her, his heated body close, hopefully blocking all those interested eyes. She’d heard them come in, and while she couldn’t see them from her position, they’d soon see all of her. Oh boy. He pulled his digits free, but a hard, unforgiving plug took their place. Lois felt her blush start right at the base of her toes, flooding up and over her body to wash over her face. Trevor kissed her, and their audience faded to the back of her consciousness.