Game On (The Morgan Brothers Book 4) (13 page)

A
spen heard the
alarm, but before she could ask what was going on, Phoenix picked her up and sprinted up a flight of stairs. She heard Mitch cursing as he ran around them, but she had no idea why. She watched from Phoenix’s hold as they passed several ornate doors with large numbers carved in them. Aspen assumed they were the private rooms she’d read about on the club’s website, but since she hadn’t actually toured the club, she wasn’t sure. The door Phoenix carried her through was already open. Obviously, Mitch had gotten it unlocked in record time.

When Phoenix set her on her feet, Aspen looked up and saw his eyes were practically shooting fire. His lips were pursed in a taut line that made him look furious. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in, and she took two quick steps backward before he wrapped his large hands around her upper arms and halted her retreat. “Where do you think you’re going?” His barked question didn’t do anything to ease her concern, and she cast a quick glance at the door. Could she make it before they caught her? Doubtful, but it might be her only option.

“Jesus, you’re terrifying her. Let her go, for God’s sake.” Mitch’s words had the desired effect, Phoenix released her immediately, his expression going from thunderous to confused.

“What? Why on Earth is she afraid of me? She should be afraid of whatever was going on downstairs, not me. What the fuck?” Aspen felt some of the tension drain away at his confusion, but she didn’t make any effort to close the distance between them.

Mitch moved so he was standing in front of her. “Little goddess, Master Phoenix was worried about your safety, which explains our record-setting dash up the stairs. He isn’t angry with you, just the situation. The last part of our well-planned evening of seduction has been a cluster fuck, to say the least.” When she didn’t say anything, he simply smiled. “Feeling a little overwhelmed?” This time she nodded, and he chuckled.

Shaking his head, Mitch’s expression changed before her very eyes. “I have to tell you, I’m damned impressed you managed to make it through flight school with vertigo, but I’m pissed as hell that you didn’t use your safe word. This is the only warning you’re going to get, darlin’—make that mistake again and we won’t let you come for a week.”

“And we’ll make sure it’s the longest week of your life because we’ll play with you morning, noon, and fucking night.” Phoenix had finally recovered enough to join their conversation, but his frustration was still simmering just below the surface. Aspen knew for a man whose entire life revolved around being exacting and precise, this evening was a disaster of Biblical proportions.

“But we won’t let you come. Don’t be fooled,
mon cher
, it will be a punishment far worse than any spanking.” Mitch’s sly smile told her all she needed to know. All of her thoughts about how nice it would be to have them playing with her again evaporated into thin air. Remembering one of the lessons she struggled with most when she joined the Air Force, Aspen held back the comment tap dancing on the tip of her tongue.
No need to throw gas on the fire.
Mitch tapped his finger against the end of her nose and smiled. “Wise decision, Captain.”

Mitch watched the
fire dance in her eyes and fought back a smile at the almost imperceptible upward tilt of her chin—
that’s it, baby, I love a challenge
. “We’re going to play with you before we go back downstairs and find out what all the ruckus was about. But before we start, let’s make sure we’ve gotten all the drab, but necessary
first time together
discussion out of the way.” Mitch nodded to Phoenix to let his friend know he could begin. He’d learned early in their friendship, Phoenix was more interested in the rules and protocol of BDSM than Mitch was, so it seemed natural to let him take the lead.

“We’ll use the club’s stop light system since you aren’t an experienced player and we won’t want you to risk being confused then it matters the most. It is the one you seemed familiar with downstairs, it’s also the system we’ll use in our playroom at the ranch.” When she raised a brow in surprise, Phoenix shook his head. “We’ll talk more about that later. For tonight, you will be allowed to ask questions as long as you are respectful and it’s pertinent to what is happening in this room.”

Mitch stepped forward, intent on getting through this before the club’s closing time.
Christ, if I leave this to Phoenix, he’ll be whipping out spreadsheets and cutting the lights for a fucking PowerPoint presentation.
“We’ve read your application and studied your limit list.”

“Yeah, what there was of it. What the hell were you thinking leaving some of that stuff on there? Knife play? Really?”

When she started to open her mouth, Mitch pressed two fingers against her lush lips. “Master Phoenix was more upset about that point than I was. I feel as though you are too inexperienced to have made informed decisions, but, I also understand his concern. Walking out into the club without a limit list for protection is tantamount to being dipped in blood and dropped in a shark tank. The sadists and extreme players would spot you in a heartbeat.”

“And eat you alive—and not it a good way. Fuck, I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if you’d pulled that stunt in another club.” Phoenix had gone ape shit when he’d see Aspen’s list, despite Nate’s assurance it wasn’t uncommon for inexperienced subs to be completely clueless. The former SEAL had grinned before explaining how effective club tours were for adding to their lists.

Mitch wasn’t thrilled with her list either, he’d have thought her exposure to so many Doms would have given her some insight. Nate had shaken his head and disagreed. “She knows plenty of Alpha males and sexual Dominants, but she had never known one
intimately
. And all of her association with Doms has been as friends, so she has no experience seeing them as anything other than over-protective and bossy. Perhaps if she was friends with other submissives, she might have an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the lifestyle.”

It was true, Cameron Barnes was one of the strictest Masters in the lifestyle, and he treated Aspen like a princess because she’d saved Cecelia’s life. Jaz, Kent, and Kyle had all known her since they were young and treated her like a little sister. Aspen’s heart knew what her body needed, but her mind was going to fight them until they could prove their mettle.

He and Phoenix agreed their best option was to associate every point of Dominance they won with an equal or greater point of pleasure. He hated to make the comparison to Pavlov’s classical conditioning, but it was simply a fact of nature. Our minds make associations between actions and pleasure. They needed to cement that association in her mind—and they needed to do it quickly. A woman as smart as Aspen wouldn’t spend a lot of time chasing what she was looking for only to settle for anything less than amazing.

Mitch shot a glare at Phoenix that would be damned hard to misinterpret. He wasn’t about to let his friend blow this simply because he was annoyed about a damned limit list. One of the things Mitch had learned over the years was often it was the most intelligent people who could be totally derailed by something inconsequential. He preferred to choose his battles carefully.

Pulling her hands into his, Mitch smiled. “Let’s agree that your list is incomplete, and for now we’ll play well within bounds of what Master Phoenix and I deem appropriate and safe for you. You already know your friends have given us their stamp of approval, and you know we’ll never hurt you—well, at least not in a way that doesn’t lead to pleasure.” Her eyes darkened as the pupils dilated and her shoulders lost some of their tension when he winked at her. God, she was adorable when she was off-kilter.

Phoenix finished reviewing the stop light system and added, “I’m not sure I can overemphasize how important safe words are. They protect you, and they assure us you won’t let things go so far you become frightened or injured. Remember, this lifestyle is about our
mutual
pleasure.”

“Once we know you better—what you like and don’t like, what brings you pleasure and what doesn’t, we’ll expect to hear the word yellow a lot less frequently.” Mitch wanted her to know neither of them was looking at this evening as a one-time encounter, but he wasn’t sure she’d heard that part of the message.
Not to worry, little sub. We’ll tell you as many times as it takes.

Aspen tried to
control her responses to Mitch and Phoenix, but none of the biofeedback tricks she’d learned as a pilot worked. Her mind knew the consequences of her accelerated heart rate and respiration, but her body wouldn’t listen to reason. Her nipples drew into points so tight she could feel the throb of each beat of her heart as it echoed in each one. Squeezing her thighs together in an effort to relieve the need building in her sex, her face flushing at the knowing looks on their faces.

“Feeling needy, little sub?” Mitch’s teasing words set off mixed emotions. She desperately wanted them to touch her—God in heaven, she needed to come. But on the other hand, she knew everything she’d ever thought she knew about sex was about to be shattered into a million pieces, and there was something unsettling about that humbling realization. How could she be so attracted to two men? For the first time since she’d decided to join Mountain Mastery, Aspen was beginning to think she was in over her head.

Phoenix’s sure fingers gripped her chin and tilted her face up to his. “You’re getting lost in your own head, pet. It’s time for us to push that bothersome distraction out of your mind. You’ve lead us on a merry chase for months, I’m going to show you what becomes of sweet little subs who try to hide from their Masters. Since you didn’t technically belong to us, this punishment is going to be as much about satisfying our needs as it is about correcting a behavior we don’t believe is in your best interest.”

Aspen didn’t understand what he meant and said so. Mitch surprised her by reminding her about the contract she’d signed when she joined the club. “Did you read the contract you signed,
cher
?” She wasn’t born yesterday, and she damned well recognized a lose-lose question when she heard one.
Like I’m going to answer a question that falls directly in line with…do you still beat your wife?
When she didn’t answer, he raised a brow in question. “Do you really want to start this way, sweetness? Both Master Phoenix and I are prepared to meet your challenges.”

“Oh, indeed we are. This is a
begin as you intend to go
moment, baby. Think carefully about how you want the next few minutes to go for you because I have to tell you, I’m dying to introduce my palm to your bare ass.” Her breath hitched, and Aspen felt an unexpected rush of arousal dampen her sex.
Holy shitacky.
“What did you say?”
Say? I didn’t say anything.

Mitch broke the silence, laughing out loud. “Babe, you have to let that lingo go. I’m going to catch it and set your ass on fire every time I hear it.” Turning his attention to Phoenix he explained. “It’s a slang term for being extremely frustrated or confused. And her use of the word reminds me how young she is. In general, I’m not a huge fan of slang and believe me, growing up in the south, I could bury you in it. And in this particular instance, I have the feeling she wasn’t planning to say it out loud. Now, while it was a great attempt at distraction, little goddess, back to Master Phoenix’s original question. Did you read the contract you signed? Specifically, did you read the section that stated you would put yourself in the hands of the Dom or Doms Master Nate tasked with your training?”

Since the questions were more specific and less open to misinterpretation, Aspen was more willing to answer—and she did.
I’m less likely to fuck up if the questions are clear…hopefully.
“Well, a large part of putting yourself in our hands involves trusting us to give you what you need, even when it conflicts with what you want or what
you
think you need.”

Phoenix chuckled. “I can tell you from watching my brothers and their wives, there will be plenty of opportunities for discussion about this because we are always going to err on the side of the angels when it comes to you.”