Authors: Sara Brooks
The alluring scent of freshly ground coffee caused Ryan to
smile as soon as he turned the corner onto Main Street. The aroma always
reminded him Patrick and Alex Conners had worked hard to build the business
from the ground up. With a lot of persistence, the small coffeehouse had
flourished.
Tourists from the nearby ski resort flocked here, while
locals often filled the seats to capacity. The other local coffee houses hadn’t
stood a chance against the brothers’ talented skill with roasting beans. They’d
put themselves on the map in the short year and a half they’d been open. The
small town of Gatlin Falls had even been featured on a show on the Food
Network, showcasing the nearby Blur Ridge Mountains, Perfect Shot and its
delicious offerings.
The familiar musical melody of the custom bell greeted him
as he opened the door, widening Ryan’s smile. The typical morning rush of
customers had already thinned out and only one stood at the counter while
Allison prepared an order.
Ryan tilted his head toward her in greeting. She beamed
back, waving him in the general direction of where Elena and Dade had already
settled in. “I’ll bring yours out in a minute. Take a load off.”
Elena smiled as he slapped Dade’s feet out of the way. As he
dropped into the overstuffed chair, Dade’s scowl altered into a sly grin. Dade
Ellingson, the man he considered his best friend, tugged on his pants as he
moved. “Flynn, you shit. I’d know the gleam in your eyes anywhere. You got
laid.”
Ryan shook his head as he shrugged off the thin jacket he’d
worn against the slight chill in the air. “Cool it, Dade. Ms. Therman would
probably take offense to her morning decaf sprinkled with your obscenities.” He
waved to the elderly woman a few tables away. She returned the wave, turning
back to the book clutched between her wrinkled hands.
Dade snorted into his coffee mug. “Please. I’ve seen some of
those books she reads. Probably tell us a thing or two, which could turn the
three of us a few shades of red.” His friend paused to take a long sip of the
house blend. Ryan smirked as Dade glanced over the rim of the mug to the
customer who just entered. A leggy blonde with big tits who all but had tourist
tattooed across her forehead. All that was missing were the tight pants
indicative of someone who sat in the lodge all day instead of hitting the ski
slopes.
Maybe Dade would focus on her and forget about goading him.
“Spill.”
No such luck. Dade was nothing if not persistent and it
showed even as he kept his sharp eyes on the woman. “Just so you can listen and
then go jack off to whatever your perverted brain conjures up about her? I
don’t think so.”
“Hardly. You’re too pretty for me.”
“Thank God for small favors.”
Dade brushed his dark-brown hair off his forehead, taking
the time to covertly gesture to Ryan with his middle finger. Ryan flashed him a
wide grin as Elena snorted, sticking her tongue out when they both glanced her
way. She turned her attention back to the newspaper spread out on the low
table.
“So? Let’s hear the story and don’t try to deny it. You
haven’t worn a grin that wide in a long time.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Despite his light
mood, Ryan didn’t want to discuss what happened the previous night. Mostly
because there was too much mixed company around. Had it just been him, Dade and
Elena, he would have approached the situation differently. He had no problem
sharing with his friends because they all had similar interests. Sharing
information sometimes helped get through a particularly difficult situation
with a submissive.
Something told him Beth was going to be more than a handful.
“Bullshit.” The blonde turned away from the counter, sending
Dade a look that screamed
fuck me here and now
. Ryan rolled his eyes as
Dade silently struggled to either cross the coffeehouse and approach her or
finish the conversation he’d started. Much to Ryan’s amusement, Dade dismissed
the blonde. “That look is more than just satisfaction. More than utilizing the
warehouse to fuck away your ghosts.”
“Which is exactly why it’s none of your business.”
“Why the hell not? You’ve never had a problem sharing before.”
“Sure, as long as the day wasn’t yesterday.” He glared at
Dade, watching his friend’s expression fall as he realized the significance of
the date.
“Oh fuck, man. I completely forgot. That’s rough, but you’re
allowed to heal. There’s not a requirement you—”
“I know, all right? I know.” Ryan forced out a breath,
closing his eyes as he relaxed into the chair. He’d gone back to work on the
boat after Beth had left, but the normally relaxing work hadn’t helped. The
noise kept buzzing around in his head, convincing him there was no on-off
switch.
“But you’re beating yourself up now anyway, aren’t you?”
“I have to,” he said, even though it was hard to admit.
Weakness wasn’t something he liked to confess to, even though he knew he wasn’t
perfect. Far from it, in fact. He wore enough scars on his heart to remind him
almost daily.
“Why?” Elena interrupted.
Ryan noticed she was impeccably put together—as always—and
decided it was time to put a crack in her perfection. “This would be a good
time to let you know you had a hand in my evening.”
Her expression immediately changed to one of alarm, her
bright-green eyes widening with concern. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“Beth Lawson showed up and asked me to help her.” He lowered
his voice least anyone else hear and fire up the small-town gossip grapevine.
“Crap.” Elena winced as she set down her herbal tea,
brushing at a piece of lint on her wool skirt. “I meant to tell you last month
when I got back from Nashville I’d recommended you. I am glad she came though.
It sounded as if she had a real issue you seemed perfectly suited to help her
deal with. I assume she told you what happened to her?”
“Some, yes. He—and his friends—were sadist assholes who play
right into the stereotype we fight so hard against. There’s more though, more
she hasn’t told me.”
“Yes. I—”
Ryan held up a hand. “She needs to be the one to tell me.
Not you.”
“Are you going to help her?”
“I don’t know yet.” He’d asked himself the same question all
night when he’d finally climbed into bed around three. The questions had
swirled in his mind as he’d stared at the ceiling unable to sleep. “She’s
stubborn. That much was very clear in just a few minutes. But she yielded when
I pushed a bit. So she has potential.
“Shit, Elena. You could have at least warned me she was on
the way. It’s not as if you don’t have your fucking BlackBerry attached to your
hip already. You and your damn electronic-gadget obsession. Or you could have
at least headed her off and suggested she come out to the house another time.”
“What? Oh hell, you said she showed up last night, didn’t
you? I just put it all together in my head.”
“Yes.” He leaned forward, tapping his fingers against the
low table in front of him. “A little advance warning would have been nice. Then
I could have at least been prepared for what she needed.”
She smoothed a hand over her hair. “Sorry. I’ll touch base
with her—”
“I already set things in motion yesterday.” He’d been on the
fence about the issue, but he couldn’t ignore the way his body had reacted.
Couldn’t ignore the fact he hadn’t stopped thinking about her. He wanted to
re-introduce Beth to the lifestyle and help her overcome any damage her former
Dom had inflicted on her mind. “I’m not about to stop now. Not unless she asks
for an out.”
An elegant hand waved through the air in dismissal. “Still,
I’ll have dinner or something and just give her a gentle nudge about what she
did wrong.”
This wasn’t something he wanted pushed easily to the side.
He expected nothing easy when it came to Beth. Based on what he’d learned last
night, he figured her association with her former Dom hadn’t started off badly.
She didn’t seem the type to actively seek out a destructive relationship.
Otherwise she would have jumped right into to the arms of another Dom with
similar intentions. She’d probably been so deep in the situation she’d
described she’d been too scared of what would happen if she asked to leave. The
constant threat had to have certainly turned her off to thoroughly enjoying any
kind of pleasure.
He couldn’t explain why, but he wanted to be the one to show
her.
“No. You won’t.” Shifting closer, he dropped his voice an
octave. “I’m taking her so you will not circumvent me, is that clear?” Elena’s
lips pursed as she lifted her tea to her mouth. “You’re one of the best Dommes
I know, Elena. You trusted me enough to do what I saw fit when it came to you.
Or have you forgotten?”
The reminder was deliberate, garnering the reaction he
wanted when her eyes flashed hot.
“No.” Her gaze fell from his, a signal the conversation was
over. He normally didn’t like overruling another Dom, but he wasn’t about to
allow Elena to sever the delicate threads he’d put in place with Beth last
night. She would be difficult to work with already. No need to add insult to
injury.
He adored Elena, even to this day, because of the connection
they shared since she’d spent some time as his submissive. Well before he’d
agreed to train her to be the Domme she was today. Which was exactly why he
didn’t want her to step in. Beth obviously knew of Elena’s talents since they
were friends, so he didn’t want to confuse matters by having a different
message come from someone in a position of authority.
“Hey, lay off,” Dade quietly interjected. “Both of you.
People are starting to stare.”
“I’m only—never mind. Let them stare. I stopped caring about
people’s stares in this town years ago. Catch you two later.” He launched
himself out of the chair, plunking down a few dollars for the coffee Allison
would eventually bring. He hated running out, especially on Dade since he’d
always been able to talk to his closest friend about anything.
In the days following the horrific accident that had changed
everything in his life, Dade had been the glue that had allowed Ryan to keep
his shit together. He’d put his own life—and problems—on hold in order to be
there for him as Ryan had tried to deal with everything at once. Everyone had
wanted all he had to give in the days following the crash, but by then, he’d
had nothing left.
He lowered himself onto a bench a few blocks from the
coffeehouse, closing his eyes as he sought a place of solace. The noise in his
head roared to life with a new vengeance, eager to snag its claws into his soul
once more. Dealing with the pain of loss had never been this hard before. He’d
always been able to smother the horrific sensation long enough so he could at
least think clearly and function with some semblance of normalcy.
Why did it seem so difficult now?
He knew the answer, but facing the reality was just as
painful as the residual impact the reason left him with. Facing the five-year
anniversary of his family’s death with the new submissive on his doorstep
hadn’t been the ideal way to spend the night. He blew out a breath and slowly
opened his eyes, determined to get past this complication as quickly as
possible.
He saw her then.
Just as she had watched him walk into the lake, he watched
her cross the street a block away. Her light-brown hair had been pulled back
into a high ponytail. She wasn’t dressed as last night in a slender miniskirt
and button-down shirt. This time, she’d chosen a snug neon-pink tee with a
picture of some busty blonde cartoon character holding a sword and wearing a
crown with wings. She’d paired it with dark fitted jeans. And oh he liked how
those jeans fit. They cupped her ass like a glove.
This
was the Beth he’d speculated about last night.
Even with the distance between them he could tell she was more comfortable in
her skin now. More confident and self-assured.
His mouth really started to water at the thought of training
her now.
He suddenly felt the overwhelming need to have his hands on
her. Kiss her. Have her naked and sweaty underneath him as his cock disappeared
deep inside her pussy. Wake up next to her—
where the everlivingfuck did that
thought just come from?
He shook his head to clear his mind.
He was restless, with too much time on his hands his mind
was free to wander.
Wandering could be dangerous.
She stopped at an outdoor vendor who had set up for the
apple festival tomorrow, gesturing to his offerings. Her cheerful smile as she
sniffed the brightly colored flowers caused the noise in his head to silence.
A hot, hard dose of reality punched him in the gut.
There was nothing but her.
Oh hell.
The vendor motioned, insisting she take the bouquet she
held. He refused the bills she offered, turning away to help another customer.
She tucked the money under the cash register when the man wasn’t looking and
walked away as quickly as possible.
The leather he’d caught flashes of the previous evening was
on full display now as she strolled down the sidewalk. The cuffs were about two
inches in width and lightweight in appearance, the dark-brown texture accenting
her tan as they circled each of her wrists. They weren’t the type of cuffs
typically worn to mark a Dom’s ownership, but they didn’t appear to be items
she ever removed.
But why?
As she dipped under a tourist’s arm to enter Perfect Shot,
Ryan pushed off the bench and followed her into the coffeehouse.
The scent of coffee wrapped around Beth as she stepped
through the door. While she didn’t care for coffee as a beverage, she adored
the rich aroma. The female barista appeared to be deep in conversation with
someone at the counter, so she wandered over to the display racks to see their
selection of tea bags.