Mold Me [Dungeon Masters 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) (10 page)

Late Thursday afternoon, when her cell phone rang with a withheld number, she had a moment’s panic that it might be one of the men, or even the BDSM club itself, canceling the session for the next day.

“Hi.”

“Is that you, Phoenix?”

“Mom? Where are you ringing from? Are you all right? Is Dad okay? What’s the problem?”

“We’re both perfectly well, thank you, Phoenix. We need you to come and spend the day with us tomorrow. I rang now while you’re at work so you can book a personal leave day for tomorrow. We’ll expect you at eight thirty. Good-bye.”

“But Mom…Mom?
Mom?
Dammit!”

Violet’s voice came from the other side of the room, “Is everything okay there, Phoenix?”

“Fuck if I know. Mom just rang from a withheld number and told me I have to take tomorrow off work and be at her home at eight thirty.”

“Did she sound like herself? If she’s going to be at her own home it doesn’t sound as if she’s ill.”

“She sounded just like normal and she didn’t answer my questions. Ah, fuck. I’m supposed to be meeting the men at The Dom’s Dungeon tomorrow night. What if this runs late?”

“Maybe you should call her back and ask her?”

“Yes. No. Ugh! I’d better ask for tomorrow off first.”

Phoenix opened up a new e-mail and then sat staring at the screen wondering what to say. Her mother wasn’t ill. At least as far as she knew. Finally she typed—

I apologize for the short notice, but my mom just called and she wants me to spend the day with her tomorrow and won’t say why. Please, may I take a day off tomorrow?

Then she sat staring at her computer screen for even longer and finally texted both Lachlan and Callum.

Mom asked me to spend the day with her and Dad tomorrow. I have no idea what the problem is or how long it’ll take to sort out.

Her e-mail beeped and the screen read—

Sure. Let me know if the weekend isn’t long enough to sort out the issues and you need Monday as well.

Well, that was one hurdle cleared. She was still holding her cell phone which vibrated.

If you need any help let us know.

That was from Callum.

Text me at six tomorrow with an update. We can meet you after you visit your mom if you can’t make it to the dungeon.

That was Lachlan. The slightly bossy tone came through even in a text message. But damn, damn, and double damn. Why did it have to be tomorrow? Well hopefully she’d get everything sorted by lunchtime and be back on track again. What the fuck had gone wrong with her parents?

Phoenix spent the entire evening worrying that they’d had bad news, or health issues they wouldn’t mention except in person. By the time she arrived at their home, which was a damn long drive that early in the morning, she was almost a nervous wreck.

Her mom answered the door looking chic, fresh, and perfectly healthy.

“You look good, Mom.”

“I’ve had my hair and nails done, ready for the cruise. We leave tomorrow.”

“What cruise? Where are you going?”

Her mother led her out into the kitchen where the dining table was set up with a jug of ice water, glasses, notepads, and pencils, as if for a business convention. Except it was clearly set for only three people and her father was already sitting in his usual chair. Phoenix slid into the seat she’d always used growing up, opposite her mom.

“Now can you please tell me what the he—heck is going on?”

Her mother gave her a stare which told her she hadn’t been quite quick enough to change “hell” to “heck,” before turning to smile at her dad.

“I’ve finally convinced your mom to take that cruise we always wanted to go on to Alaska. We’re leaving tomorrow to fly to Anchorage. We’re spending two days in Anchorage and then we cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. We’re staying two more days in Vancouver before flying to Toronto. We’ll have three days in Toronto, two days at Niagara Falls, and then we come home again.”

“The cruise is for nine days,” her mother added.

“So that’s what, three weeks?” Phoenix was counting the days in her head as she spoke. “That’s an awesome vacation, Mom and Dad. I’m really pleased you’re finally going to Alaska and Canada. But why—”

“The world is a dangerous place, my child. Airplanes crash, boats sink. You need to know all about our personal effects in case we don’t make it back home again.”

Phoenix just stared at her father. “Dad, you’ve been watching the wrong kind of movies. You’re more likely to die in a car accident in your hometown than be on a boat that sinks or an airplane that crash-lands.”

“Your father is correct, Phoenix. It’s time you knew about our wills and where the title deeds to the house are kept and such things.”

Phoenix did not believe for as much as a single second that her parents would be in danger traveling to Alaska and Canada. Now if they’d been planning a tour to Afghanistan, or Syria, or Iraq, she would have been worried. However, arguing with them right now was not a good idea. She poured herself a glass of water, picked up a pencil—a pencil for fuck’s sake, why not a pen?—and pulled the nearest notepad in front of her. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

At eight that night, feeling as if she’d been there a lot longer than not quite twelve hours, Phoenix leaned against her car and texted her men.

I’m free.

Her phone rang. “Where are you exactly and I’ll give you directions to our farm.”

“I’m a hell of a long way from Richmond,” she answered Lachlan.

“That’s okay. We have all weekend. If you’re tired when you get here you can sleep late. Now give me your exact location so I can guide you the best way.”

By a fortunate coincidence, their farm was on the same side of town as her parents lived, except it was a whole lot closer to Richmond than they were. It was still a long drive but at least she didn’t have to cross town and travel right out the other side.

Phoenix settled back in her car for the long drive, happy to have her parents all organized and to be seeing her men, even if she had missed the dungeon appointment she’d been looking forward to so very much. Maybe next week instead. At least she’d have some time with the men. That was good.

* * * *

Lachlan watched as Callum pulled a baking tray of hot, fresh, double-chocolate chocolate-chip cookies out of the oven and placed them on the counter to cool. He’d suffered a huge pang of disappointment when Phoenix had told them she had to visit her parents. That had been followed by an overwhelming sensation of guilt that they might be ill and he was being selfish. Learning that they were well was a relief and now he could genuinely feel sorry that he, Callum, and Phoenix had missed their playtime together. However, he had plans for tomorrow to overcome that. For the entire weekend in fact, if she agreed to spend it with them.

While Callum had rushed around the house, changing the bed linens and sweeping the floors, Lachlan had been in the basement, setting out candles and hanging chains from the ceiling. Between the two of them, whatever Phoenix needed was ready for her.

Callum laid down his heat-proof gloves and looked Lachlan right in the face. “You know we need to tell her we’re wolves. This romance can’t progress the way we want it to with that big stumbling block between us.”

Lachlan knew exactly what his best friend meant. “I do know. I’m just not sure how to do it. I’d meant to talk to Simon and Othniel but haven’t had the opportunity. I told you I’d already spoken to Elijah but Ryia knew he was a wolf. Apparently she can sense shape-shifters or something. So he was no help to me.”

“Well Phoenix said she’s always planned to adopt a dog from a shelter, so at least she likes animals. That’s a start. It would have been too bad if she was the kind of person who dislikes animals.”

Lachlan shook his head. “She wouldn’t have been our mate if she didn’t like animals. The wolf is part of what we are. She had to be a match for us in all our lives, not just in bits and pieces. That just proves Phoenix truly is our mate. It’s telling her that has to be handled right. It’ll be a big shock and we have to do it gently. Tomorrow we’ll show her around the property.”

“That might be hard if she’s wearing those fuck-me shoes again. We ought to have told her to pack boots and jeans.”

“Yeah, probably. Well, it’s too late now. We’ll just have to hope she’s dressed casually.”

Callum laughed. “Naked would work even better inside the house. Let’s walk down to the road. We can open the gates for her.”

She wouldn’t be there for at least another half hour and waiting around in the house was making them both grumpy, so Lachlan agreed. Besides, he usually drove in and out. Walking would be relaxing.

They each grabbed a large flashlight and headed for the road out front of their land. Lachlan closed the final gate and climbed up to sit on top of it, only to see the headlights of the electric blue Chevy Malibu heading toward them. Callum was already waving his flashlight as she slowed down and turned into the driveway. Lachlan jumped off the gate and opened it for her to drive through.

“You made good time,” he said after he’d closed the gate and climbed into the backseat. Callum was riding shotgun.

“Yes, but I’m damn tired. The time with my parents was pretty full-on. What the fuck?”

She pulled up at the second gate and Callum stepped out to open it.

When they reached the fourth gate she said, “How many fucking gates are there? This is like one of those nightmares with doors endlessly opening but the dreamer never gets anywhere.”

“That’s the final one. Each field has a gate,” he said. Soon he might be able to tell her it was also a sort of security measure for them, but not yet.

“Tomorrow we could take you around the farm and show you our land. Would you like that? Have you got boots to wear? Ours might be a little too large for you to borrow,” said Callum.

Sitting in the backseat, Lachlan couldn’t see her feet, but it sounded as though she was wearing those sexy high-heeled shoes again. Lachlan held his breath. Would she agree to spend time with them tomorrow?

“Not boots, but I threw a few things in the trunk of my car before I left home this morning. I have athletic shoes, and jeans, and a thick sweater.”

He relaxed. Aha. So she did hope to spend time with them. Excellent. They’d take her around the farm tomorrow, introduce her to his basement playroom, and then visit the Dom’s Dungeon on Sunday. Lachlan smiled.

Callum pointed to where she should leave her car, near the steps up to the stoop of the farmhouse, and she turned the engine off.

“Are you very tired?” he asked.

“Absolutely knackered. Twelve hours with my parents takes more energy than cleaning my apartment from top to bottom. I just want a hot shower and about eight hours sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be ready to play.

“But they’re well? There are no underlying concerns with them?” He needed to reassure himself on that.

“Hell yes. They’re looking better than ever because they’re excited about finally taking this cruise and vacation. Dad has just decided to get his life in order I think. He went through every line of their wills with me, and they went over and over which bank they use, and where the title deeds to their house are kept in a lockbox, and a million other details. I mean, I’m not totally stupid. If I had to I could visit the local banks with ID and a Power of Attorney and find out all that stuff anyway. Or just hire an attorney to do it all for me. But anyway, they wanted to tell me everything and if it makes them relax and enjoy their vacation more, I can’t really complain about that.” She gave a huge yawn and stepped out of the car, stretching her arms up. “Damn, I’m tired.”

She walked around to the rear of the car and beeped her key at the trunk. Lachlan opened it and saw a small bag. “Is this what you need?”

She nodded, yawning again, and he pulled it out of the trunk and closed it. Callum had already taken her hand and was helping her up the steps onto the stoop. Lachlan couldn’t help but notice she still walked very gracefully even though she was so tired and her shoes weren’t so high. They were still high heels, but not ultra sexy shoes. However, her gracefulness of movement was outstanding. Or perhaps now she was out of the car and on her feet in the fresh night air she’d revive and be willing to play some games with them. That was a thought.

“Are you hungry? I made some cookies,” asked Callum.

“You bake? Wow there’s nothing as sexy as a man who can cook. But right now—” She gave an absolutely jaw-cracking yawn and Callum laughed, ushering her into the house.

Lachlan locked the door and followed them only as far as Callum’s office, where he checked the security lights. Everything was as it should be, with no alarms triggered. Their land was safe. Good. They’d never had a security breach, but with the property to the rear of their farm for sale, Lachlan was seriously concerned that it would be sold to a developer for a passel of homes, all of them filled with noisy teenagers throwing endless loud, drunken parties, or younger kids keen to
explore
everywhere. Most likely on his land.

He’d expected this farm to be his and Callum’s home forever, but now he was being forced to realize that there was no safe place for wolves outside their pack lands. And their pack lands were much too far away for his job. Callum would cope anywhere, working almost entirely online. But if they moved back to the pack he’d have to find another job. And lose his dungeon. And possibly lose Phoenix as well. No. No way would he risk losing Phoenix. She was theirs. He’d have to find another way to keep them all safe.