Bound to be Tamed: Emergence, Book 2 (4 page)

“Yes, I’ve been in communication with Ms. Stephanie Parkins concerning our needs. She sent me a proposal.” Jason held up the file he’d brought. “Will she be joining us?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Mr. Cane didn’t glance up as he spoke, purposefully not making eye contact. “She’s no longer with the company.”

What?
“But I just received all this information from her last week.”

Harold Reeves lifted his gaze, his brow furrowed as though wondering who the fuck cared if Ms. Parkins was at the meeting or not. “She resigned this morning.”

“Without notice?”
Shut up, Jason. You sound way too interested in her.
But his mind was whirling.

Jason tuned out nearly everything the two older gentlemen said. They gave him a weird vibe. He didn’t like the way they glanced at each other when he asked about Stephanie. And they didn’t seem to know anything about the job Jason needed done.

Without asking a single question, Jason was done at Seabring in less than fifteen minutes and on his way out the door. Instead of signing a contract with Seabring, he’d informed the owners he would be considering their proposal. He knew his brain hadn’t been focused enough on the meeting to make any rash decisions. Something was off about them, and he wasn’t sure this was the best route.

Jason drove back to his office in silence, somewhat deflated to not have met Stephanie. He’d wondered about her for twenty years. And now he was dying to know if this woman was the same Stephanie he’d known when she was a toddler. Had she been living under his nose right here for all these years?

Two hours later, Jason sat at his desk, peering at the computer screen as though it held all the answers in the universe if he looked hard enough. Hell, it probably did.

He was concentrating so hard he didn’t hear his front door guard enter the small office.

“Sir.” The noise startled him. “Do you have a moment?”

Jason sat back in his chair and shrugged in an exaggerated stretch. Damn, his neck hurt. “Of course. Master Carlton, what can I do for you?” The man was a beast, his chest spanning farther than anyone Jason knew. He envied the man’s ability to spend that many hours at the gym.

“We have two applications for membership to consider.” Carlton set a paper in front of Jason as he leaned over the desk, spinning the page around. “This first one is easy. Aiden Collins and Dane Whitman. Lori is their sponsor. She called this morning to vouch for them. They have a sub they’ll be bringing with them.”

Jason scribbled his name on the bottom of the page and pushed it back toward Carlton. If Lori said they were good, he trusted her judgment.

Carlton held back the second sheet. “This one is no good. I’m only going to show it to you so you’ll be aware. The two guys applying got into a piece of trouble last weekend at the club on Fifth Street. Word got around. I’ve already been informed. They sure are working fast to get another location going.”

“What happened?” Jason raised an eyebrow. In this business, there were some weird ones, but he didn’t see blacklisted Doms every day of the week. It took some doing to get a reprimand that extended to other clubs as a courtesy.

“Apparently they propositioned a woman in front of her Doms. Hell, not just any woman. That woman.” Carlton pointed to the paper Jason had signed. “The sub with Aiden and Dane.”

“That’s a coincidence.”

“Not really. Lori told me the sub doesn’t want to darken the doors of that club again after what happened. Can’t say as I blame her. So her Doms were looking for another option.” Carlton sat on the edge of the desk as though the story would take a bit more explaining. “Anyway, I did consider the odd coincidence myself, until I called several other clubs and found these two jokers applied for membership all over town.”

“Ah, and by propositioned you mean…?”

“They offered money for her. They even touched her. Several people witnessed the exchange. Even after Dane and Aiden told them to bug off, they persisted.”

Fuck. That was intense. It was a well-known no-no to touch another person’s sub without his or her permission. And offering a verbal exchange of money for a woman? That was crazy. “Who are these guys?” He would need to be on the lookout for their names in the future.

“Jack Cane and Harold Reeves, Sir.”

Jason froze, his hands gripping the arms of his chair so hard he considered squeezing the plastic until it popped. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He snatched the page from Carlton’s hand and stared down at the information.

There it was in black and white. Hell, he even had pictures. The illustrious owners of the very IT company he’d met with this morning. The strange men who hadn’t seemed to know what they were doing and gave him the heeby jeebies. He’d been more concerned about Stephanie Parkins than doing business with them, too distracted wondering who she was and where she’d gone. Instead, he’d left the office, promising to look over the details again later and get back in touch with them. Thank God he hadn’t signed their contract. Assholes.

Jason was nothing if not thorough. He’d known better than to make rash decisions about his business while his mind was elsewhere. Thank God.

“Sir?”

“These are the two jokers I met with about helping us with the computer system.”

“Seriously? Seabring?”

“The very ones.” Jason didn’t elaborate.

“Did you sign a contract with them?”

“No, thank the Lord. And I’m never going to either.” He shivered. He may own a BDSM club, but he didn’t stand for any motherfuckers who took advantage of another human being for any reason. Being submissive was a personal decision, not taken lightly and not to be taken for granted. The gift was to be cherished and nurtured. Never mocked.

“Good thing I decided to show this to you before rejecting it and filing it.”

“No shit. I’m a lucky bastard to have you. Don’t ever fucking consider quitting on me, ya hear?” Jason grinned. The two men had been friends for over a decade. If Carlton were ever displeased, Jason would know it. They had a very open relationship. Furthermore, Jason paid Carlton very well for his discretion and observations. The man was indispensable.

Carlton shook his head and stood to leave. He turned back at the door. “You okay, boss? You’ve been in here a while and you seem…distracted.”

“I’m good. No worries.” He smiled. At least he hoped his lips followed the instructions to lift at the corners. He sure didn’t feel pleased.

“All right. Are you still going to your family reunion this weekend?”

“Yes. Shit. I have so much to do before then.” He glanced around his desk. “I’m leaving Friday. I’ll be back Tuesday.”

“Good. You need the break. You know where to find me if you need me.” Carlton tapped the doorframe and stepped into the hall.

Jason was left with his thoughts swimming in ten different directions. Could this day get any weirder?

Chapter Three

Stephanie flinched as the door to the apartment shut, leaving her alone with the men who intended to dominate her. She’d been alone with them plenty of times in the last week, but this was different.

She’d agreed to submit to them full-time. Even though it seemed to be the only choice she could make for herself, she was still scared out of her mind. What if they asked too much of her? What if they wanted to do something she couldn’t accept? She could always use her safe word, but she wondered if she would disappoint them.

“Stephanie?” Aiden still held her face in his palms as Dane retraced his steps back toward the couch.

She swallowed. “Sir.”

Aiden released her face and took her hand. “Let’s go into the bedroom. You’ll be spending a lot of time there. We want to go over a few things with you before we leave for the lunch shift.”

Ah, right. They were going to leave her alone on occasion. That would be a welcome relief. Perhaps it would dampen the intensity and break up the days a bit. But she also intended to work, not hang around the house reading volumes of BDSM information. She tugged her hand to no avail. “Aren’t I going to work with you?”

“Nope. Not today.” Dane walked backward in front of her, aiming for the hall and not erring in his steps. “This morning, you need to concentrate on a few directives. If you’re up to it, you can look over the company books this evening in the study. We’ll see.”

“But—” If they intended to weasel out of letting her work, they were going to have a fight on their hands.

“Don’t worry so much,” Aiden said from behind, setting his palms on her waist. “It’s one morning. You’re entitled to one morning without work. Consider it half a vacation day.”

“It isn’t customary for new employees to start out with a vacation day. If that’s how you two usually run your restaurant, no wonder you have messed up books.” She shrugged out of Aiden’s grasp and jumped from his reach, tossing him what she hoped was a wicked grin.

“Shit.” Dane groaned. “That’s why we’re in the red? You’re saying we shouldn’t give all employees the first half day off?”

“Ha ha. If you two are in the red, then I’m Little Miss Muffet.” She knew with certainty these two had a booming business with profits to spare. The apartment alone, on the top floor of the same building she lived in, was opulence personified. Wide open spaces, state-of-the-art kitchen, lush living room furniture… The place took up half the top floor.

Sandwiched between Aiden from behind and Dane in the front, she was herded into the bedroom and across to the king-size bed. Dane leaned against the side of the high mattress, crossed his feet at the ankles and stroked one hand under his chin.

He was the picture of calmness, as though this were any other day.

The moment of complete stillness and silence made the hairs on the back of Stephanie’s neck stand up. She wiped her sweaty hands on her thighs and crossed her arms under her chest.

Aiden stepped around her, shaking his head. “First of all, let’s set some basic rules. The ones that are non-negotiable.”

I thought everything was negotiable.

Aiden propped himself next to Dane and took the man’s hand in his own. When he threaded their fingers together and brushed the back of Dane’s hand against his face, Stephanie sucked in a breath.

The men were glorious apart, but when they were together—especially sexually—they were smoldering. They could melt anyone around them with their passion and devotion for each other. Stephanie could only hope to become a small, peripheral part of that relationship.

She gritted her teeth. What made her think she could ever be even close to the same level with these two? She was incredibly vain to think she could join this relationship and weasel herself into the ménage on equal footing.

Dane shook her out of her negativity. “First of all, please take the T-shirt, jeans, and whatever else you have on underneath off. When you’re in our home you will always be naked.”

“With the possible exception of the appearance of guests,” Aiden amended.

Naked? Like all the time?
Come on, Steph. When have you ever been clothed in this apartment anyway?

Hell, even in their whirlwind encounters last week, she’d spent the majority of the time bare-assed. What about today made her feel as if the stakes were higher? Just because she’d agreed to full-time submission didn’t mean she needed to suddenly get all nervous and fidgety.

But she was. Her fingers shook as she fisted her loose T-shirt in her palms.

“That brings up another rule.” Aiden leaned his face toward her enough to make her flinch backward. “You will obey all orders without hesitation. Got it?”

“Yes, Sir.” Stephanie pulled the T-shirt over her head and unbuttoned her jeans. It was unnerving having these men watch her strip. They narrowed their gazes as though judging her, auditioning her for a role.

She almost laughed. That wasn’t completely untrue.

As she lowered the denim over her thighs and down her calves, she kicked off her shoes and realized how very ungraceful this was going to be. Hobbling on one foot while tugging jeans over her heel, she prayed she wouldn’t fall on her ass.

When she stood straight again, she paused.

“The bra and panties too. You won’t be wearing either of those again for a long time.”

Her heart pounded. Wetness pooled between her thighs—her naked thighs. Nothing in this list of demands was unexpected so far, but that didn’t keep her from getting aroused hearing the commands out loud.

Her breasts felt heavy as they popped free of the confines of her bra. She let it fall to the ground in the pile next to her and shut her eyes against the removal of her panties. They were wet. Soaked. And embarrassment flooded her cheeks as she pictured Aiden and Dane being witness to her degradation.

“I’ll take those,” Aiden said as she tried to discreetly step out of the pink cotton bikini briefs. He held out his hand as she picked them up.

She didn’t meet his eyes as she held out the moist material. A trickle of her desire leaked onto her leg as Aiden grasped her panties and brought them to his face. He inhaled her scent, mortifying her. His nose pressed into her panties, he groaned. “God, I love how you smell.” He stuffed the panties in his jeans pocket.