He glanced to the landing where Merideth now stood, arms crossed, a death-ray stare focused on the young woman. If Becky was smart, she’d keep her mouth closed. He hadn’t counted on tears. They trickled down her cheeks at a rapidly increasing pace. Lucas sat frozen in place, not sure what the hell to do. Above him, Merideth huffed out a breath.
“Come with us.” She walked away without another word.
Lucas wasted no time following and prayed Becky ran the other way. She didn’t. She had balls. He’d give her that. It looked like Merideth was ready to cut them off.
Merideth clicked the door closed after they crossed the threshold. Lucas found a safe place on the bed out of the line of fire.
“You have a lot to learn, young lady.” She paced around Becky, sizing her up for the kill. He’d never been more aroused. This was the Merideth he’d fallen in love with.
“You don’t poach another Domme’s man. You don’t pursue a man who clearly has no interest in you. Learn to read the signals. And you don’t ever,
ever
play with a person you don’t know. Would you like to see what happens to those who play with strangers?”
Merideth unbuttoned her blouse. She was going to show her scars. Lucas’s erection wilted. He crawled to the edge of the bed to stop her. She raised her palm, asking him to stand down. The blouse fell from her shoulders. He swallowed the lump in his throat and held fast, waiting for that moment when Merideth would turn to show Becky the dangerous path she walked. She did so slowly, eyes linking with his, unwavering. Becky’s gasp barely registered. It was Merideth he saw. Merideth he wanted.
Reaching for her, Lucas eased from the bed. He cradled her neck in one hand, her ass with the other, and kissed her like she meant the world to him. Because she did. She always had. Then he retrieved her blouse and helped her put it on.
“If you’re horny,” she told Becky as she buttoned up, “get laid. Don’t play with something you know nothing about.”
Becky’s chin came up a notch. “It’s impossible to learn when I am constantly being treated like a child.”
“You want to be treated like an adult, then act like one.”
Lucas heard the cold steel edging Merideth’s words. If it wasn’t enough to get through to the girl, maybe it was enough to make her think. At least the tears had stopped.
“Leave us.” Merideth jerked her head toward the door, though the command was quietly given.
Lucas expected a last volley of temper, a stomp of her foot. Becky did neither. Her exit was drama free.
“Thank you.” He pressed his hand against Merideth’s lower back.
“No problem.” She turned into his arms. “Her behavior was absurd in the first place. Her aggressive pursuit displeased me.” Merideth tucked her forefinger in the divot under his lower lip.
“Not as much as it displeased me.” He cupped her hand and kissed her fingertips.
“I wouldn’t place bets on that.”
Lucas fought to keep from grinning. Merideth was
jealous
. His cock stirred at the possibilities that news created.
“I did need to talk to you.” She smoothed her hand down his shirt until she reached his fingers, then drew him onto the bed with her. “This isn’t easy to say.”
Then it wasn’t going to be easy to hear. Lucas stretched out, braced himself on his elbow. “I’ll be patient and won’t judge.”
“That might not be as easy as it sounds.”
“I promise.” Words he meant. Words he kept when one truth after the other tumbled out.
His heart ached for the loss of a child he knew she’d wanted, ached all the more that she’d suffered in silence because she didn’t want to cause him pain. Anger dug deep when he learned she’d forsaken him for a side career as a Domme. There was pride in the things she’d accomplished. Fear for the danger she’d placed herself in. But he could hardly judge, considering some of the things he’d done over the years. Things he’d never admit to a soul, not even himself. Would-have and could-have had no place here with them. He didn’t want to question why she’d chosen now to reveal all. Truth might set others free, but Lucas was determined to see it bound them together, not pull them farther apart.
“I’m your friend, Merideth. That’s never changed,” he said when she finished.
Her bright eyes widened. “You forgive me? Just like that?”
He skimmed his hand over her leg. “How can I not? We all made decisions we thought were best at the time, based on our experiences then.”
“When you put it like that, I suppose…” Merideth hugged her knees to her chest. “We’re quite the trio, aren’t we?”
“We’ve definitely made our share of mistakes.”
“Some of us more recently that others,” she said.
He knew she was referring to herself. If only… No sense going there. “I will always be there for you. No matter what.”
A tiny smile cut through her sadness. “And I will never demand you be something you can’t be.”
He flashed her a half grin. “Now don’t cut me short. My skills in some areas have improved.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for emergency purposes. In the meantime”—she stretched out beside him—“mine seem to be rusty. I could use a little practice. Mind if I have my way with you?”
Lucas rolled to his back. “Be gentle with me.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” she purred, tickling her finger over his stomach.
She shoved his T-shirt higher with the glide of her hand until it was bunched around his shoulders. Lucas closed his eyes and soaked in every touch while heat skittered through his veins. He longed to be blindfolded and bound for her pleasure.
One step at a time
. It would come. He believed that with all his heart. Until then, he could pretend. He could pretend very well.
Her teeth grazed his nipple, eliciting a deep groan that flashed his eyes open. The shirt went farther up his arms, her breasts closer to his face. If she’d been nude, Lucas would have sucked one into his mouth. Then she was astride his chest, and all he could think about was burrowing his face in her pussy. Her musky scent curled through his senses, daring him to dive in. He refused to cave, more than content to let her twist his T-shirt around his wrists.
“Mmm… You look good enough to eat.” She slithered down his body, her lips wandering over every inch of his exposed skin.
Heart racing, he trembled under the sweet onslaught, waiting with great anticipation for the moment she reached his erection. She made quick work of unzipping his jeans but was agonizingly slow in pulling them down. Hot kisses peppered his groin, his thighs, and calves. Chills rushed in when she rocked to her heels, yanked off his sneakers, and extricated first one leg and then the other from all his clothing. She tossed everything to the side and gave him a leisurely striptease as she wandered to the nightstand next to him.
Condoms were scattered about. She pushed her finger through the pile, selected one, edged his erection to one side, and placed the packet on his navel. His cock bounced back into place, dabbing precum over the condom.
Smiling, Merideth wiped her finger through it and smeared it down the length of his cock. Lucas lifted into her touch, groaned when she moved away, cried out when she dropped her hand to his balls and squeezed. Leaning in, she traced her tongue along the trail left by his semen. Over and over, up and down the throbbing under ridge while he gasped and writhed beneath her. Lucas spread his thighs farther apart, a silent plea for more attention there. Merideth grinned and worked her tongue lower. His balls tightened. She rolled them in her palm, cupped them from beneath, and held them in the promise of a viselike grip while she lashed her tongue around them. Nerves twitched, giving away his approaching climax before Lucas could warn her. She locked her fist around the base of his cock and choked it off.
Lucas thrashed against the white-hot pleasure-pain. His balls had crawled up to his stomach, hard as rocks and filled to bursting.
“I’m sorry it came to that, Lucas.” She kissed up his body. “But you know better than to think you can come before me.”
Damn, she was hot. He lay there panting, struggling against the blurry stars in his eyes, wanting her more than life itself. “My apologies for how unruly I’ve become.”
Put me in my place, baby.
She brushed her fingers down his chest, almost to his cock and back up, almost to his lips and back down. Killing him softly. Sweet agony that didn’t help his predicament in the least.
“Baby, please, you’re killing me,” he groaned. “I’m lying here with cum backed up to my sinuses and a cock ready to split in two. Do me, baby. Do me hard. Show me what I’ve been missing.”
Fingers hovering over his erection, she glanced up. “A twist of your arms would free your wrists, and you could have me under you, pounding away in less time than it took to say that.” Her eyes flared with devilish intent. “You’ve been very good, very well restrained. Behavior like that should be rewarded.”
She ripped open the condom packet, grabbed his cock in a tight grip, and rolled the rubber much too slowly into place.
“But not until I say so, or I will bind your wrists and lock a cock ring over this very impressive penis.”
Merideth hoisted herself upright and swung astride his hips. “Maybe I will anyway.”
She aligned her body with his and seated him deep on a long glide. Locked with him, she sank back. One hand slipped to her pussy. The other hand cupped her breast. His top-of-the-list fantasy, real once more. Only thing missing was Oliver behind her.
“No closing your eyes,” she said. “You keep them open and on me at all times.”
“No problem.”
She grinned. “We’ll see.” Her muscles rippled over him.
Lucas fisted the pillow to keep his hands in place. Merideth closed her eyes and tossed her head back, seemingly lost in the wonder of masturbation. He knew she was very much aware, very much in control, and a thousand times hotter than any fantasy or memory. Each shift, each plunge set him on the hairy edge of release, and there wasn’t much left in his bag of tricks to take his mind off the woman fucking his brains out. The feel of her surrounding him, taking him, being in control of
him…
“God!” he cried out.
Merideth moved faster. “I know. It feels damn good. Almost there.”
He could feel the tension in her muscles, her heat engulfing him. Heard the catch in her breath that matched his. Heart pounding, he clenched his jaw and fought the rush.
“You want to be fully bound, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said through his teeth.
“A flogger kissing your body?”
“Please, don’t tease me.”
“Never,” she gasped out. “Come with me.” She groaned. “Now.”
Lucas stabbed deep, but it was Merideth who sucked the cum right out of him, along with everything else, including his heart.
Oh hell, who was he kidding? She’d had that all along. Another of those things best held close to his chest. He’d let her know he loved her before, and look what had happened. No, some things were better left unsaid. He slipped his wrists free and reached for her. Merideth leaned into his embrace and nestled against his chest. If only everything could be this simple.
It’s only as hard as you make it
, his conscience taunted.
Oliver watched Julia, Lori, and Rachel head down the hill toward their respective homes. At this point, there wasn’t much sense in them remaining, and he’d caused enough disruption in their lives for now. If he’d taken the time to calm down and stepped back, the answers would have come to him anyway. The suggestions they’d made to help Merideth and Lucas were things he already knew. And hadn’t he already set plans into motion by recruiting Becky’s help? But there was an immense amount of emotional comfort in knowing they were still there for him, as he was for them. As for their men…
He had some making up to do there. It said something for their relationships that the bunch hadn’t stormed his front door and taken him down. Seven against one? He wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell. Had the situations been reversed, Oliver would have been kicking ass and taking names.
“They gone?”
He glanced around and found Becky braced against the front doorjamb. She’d raked her long blonde hair up with a clip. The look added years to her appearance. The outward appearance of maturity she already had in abundance.
“Yeah.”
“They got here shortly after I did. I told them I was helping you investigate. Which, considering your text, isn’t so far-fetched after all. I don’t know what I would have come up with if they’d shown up later and found me going after Lucas.”
“You would have thought of something. You’ve proved to be very quick on your feet.”
“High praise.” She gave a halfhearted laugh. “But not quick enough to go to the next level.”
He fought a grin. “Almost.” He motioned her into the house and secured the front door behind them.
“I made myself comfortable in your office. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” It’d give Becky the privacy she needed to dig deep. Few were as tenacious as she. They walked side by side, their heads bent together in conversation. “Find anything yet?”
“Nothing good. I’m finding reports from hospitals in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut treating whip victims, but no corresponding police reports. Multiple hospitals in different jurisdictions, but nothing showing a Merideth Wainwright admitted to any of them in the last twelve months. There are no Jane Does either. Could she have used a different name?”
Another lie? If so, that’d be the straw for Oliver. He’d help her enough to get her back on her feet, then send her on her way. “I’ll ask. Did my other idea go as anticipated?”
“I pursued Lucas aggressively. I have to say, I’m not used to men running from me. I can see how power can be a heady experience, but I felt bad.”
Oliver nodded. “A good lesson for you, then.”
“A side benefit from helping you.” She stopped in her tracks. “Was this for me or for them?”
Oliver draped his arm around her shoulders in a one-armed squeeze. “Them, and you were the perfect choice to help me. The fact you learned something about yourself is icing on the cake.” He tweaked her nose. “And there’s always icing, as I’ve rediscovered.”