Wanting It All (The Passion Series Book 1) (19 page)

“I’m sure you are.  I want you to go down to the dungeon.  Get undressed and drape yourself over the spanking bench and wait for me there.  I’ll be down later to carry out your punishment of a dozen lashes with the cane for your blatant disobedience today.”

Rachel’s gasp tells Brianna that this is a severe punishment for the young submissive. Then it hits her that it means
she’s
going to get a dozen lashes with the cane as well.  Her heart pounds at the thought of it.

When Rachel doesn’t immediately follow directions, Lukus appears even angrier.  “What are you waiting for?  Were my instructions unclear?”

Rachel is now sitting straight up on the floor, kneeling in front of Master Lukus.  “It’s just that Master Derek is going to be so very angry at me.  Do you need to tell him about this, Sir?”

“What do you think?”  Lukus is very short with her.

“I think you’re going to tell him, Sir.”

“You’re damn straight I’m going to tell him. He needs to know his wife and submissive disobeyed his direct order.”

Brianna can hear Rachel crying again.  “I understand, Sir.  It’s just he believes if I get in trouble with you for something, then it must be really bad and so I’ll receive double the punishment from him.  That means I’ll be getting thirty-six lashes with the cane, Sir.”

For the briefest second, Bri sees indecision on Lukus’ face before his Dom mask hardens.  “I guess you should have thought of the consequences before you blatantly defied direct orders.  I’m pretty sure this punishment will be a memorable one for you and therefore I suspect you’ll be following directions in the future, won’t you?”

“Oh yes, Sir.”

Lukus’ voice has softened just a bit when he gives his final order to Rachel.  “Get up and go now, Rachel.  Do as I said and prepare yourself for your punishment.  While you’re waiting for me, I want you to think about why you’re being punished, do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.  Thank you, Sir.”

Rachel scrambles to her feet and rushes out of the room without a backward glance.  Lukus and Brianna are locked in a stare-down as she sends him daggers for how he treated Rachel.  “I told you.  This wasn’t her fault.  Why did you have to treat her like that?”

“Let’s get something straight here, sweetheart.  This is a punishment club.  Rachel is a full-time, collared submissive who chooses to live her life by the rules we’ve set out for her.  She broke those rules and as a result, she not only expects to be punished, but she’ll be disappointed if I don’t punish her.  It’s how things work around here.”

“So, you just punish people even when they do nothing really wrong?”

“Enough.  I’m not going to discuss this with you.  This just proves what I was telling you earlier.  You obviously have zero real experience as a sub regardless of what that Dom wanna-be, Jake, thought he was teaching you.  Any experienced submissive would know better than to talk back to me right now.” 

“Oh, really.  I think that’s exactly what I’m doing, Lukus.  You need to…”

Their argument is interrupted by Tiffany’s muffled interjection from behind Lukus’ back.  “Excuse me.  Can the two of you stop fighting long enough to please put me down?  I’m starting to lose feeling in my feet and hands from being upside down for so long.”

The look on Lukas’ expression goes from concern to impatience.  Bri is pretty sure his impatience is with himself.  Walking to the bed, he dumps Tiffany from his shoulder to land with a bounce on the soft, king-sized bed.  The women waste no time rushing to hug the other, each holding on for dear life.

“Oh, thank God you’re okay, Bri.  I was so worried about you when you didn’t show up at the salon this morning and then I couldn’t reach you on your cell.  I thought sure Jake had abducted you and carried you back out to the cabin to finish you off.”

Brianna is both alarmed at the thought, but relieved her friend cared enough to try and find her. “I’m fine, Tiff… well as fine as I can be all things considered.  I’m so very sorry I got you dragged into this whole mess.”

Tiffany is both laughing and crying as she holds onto her friend.  “Well, you should be sorry.  Not only did you scare me half to death, but I’ve been screamed at and treated like shit by your husband.  I was almost killed several times trying to keep up with Mr. Speed-Demon here.  Then I sprained my ankle trying to defend myself from a would-be attacker in the alley.  My limbs are numb. It’s like I’ve fallen down some rabbit hole into this … BDSM Neverland and worst of all? I’m sitting here hugging my
naked
best friend while she mashes her boobs into me.  I didn’t think we were this kind of friends, Bri.”

Brianna hears a chuckle from Lukus and is able to glance over at him as she holds her cheek against Tiffany’s shoulder.  She’s surprised by the amusement shining in Lukus’ eyes as he observes them with a mixture of satisfaction and humor; a rare smile lights up his face.  He’s so damn sexy and Brianna feels a surge of attraction.

When his eyes meet Brianna’s, she feels a single tear stream down her face. Lukus quietly wipes the tear away with the pad of his thumb before gently stroking her face.  His eyes are boring into hers as she mouths the silent words
thank you
to him.  If anything, his smile gets brighter before he turns and leaves the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

After watching him leave, Brianna pulls back to get a good look at her best friend.  “Tiff, you’re the best friend a girl could ever ask for.  I’m so glad you’re here.  I have so much to tell you, but first, tell me more about how Markus looked when you saw him.”

e

As the two women continue to hug each other, Lukus decides he’s in desperate need of a drink. 

‘Figures.  I have two of the finest women I’ve ever had in my bed together at the same time and I
still
can’t get laid.  I seriously need to find someone to fuck and soon.’

Lukus wastes no time in pouring himself a strong whiskey.  He shouldn’t be drinking.  He already feels more out of control than he has in years.  He’s not entirely sure why his friends’ problems should be impacting his life so much, but without a doubt, Brianna’s infidelity has triggered events that have him struggling to maintain his perspective.

After knocking back a quick shot, Lukus sinks into his favorite chair and looks out over the Chicago skyline.  It’s late afternoon, one of his favorite times of the day to take in the busy city as the sun reflects off the distant lake and tall skyscrapers. Lukus allows the view to calm him as he sorts out what he has to do next. He can’t afford to turn into an emotional pussy over a few wayward women who, if all goes as planned, will be out of his hair for good by midnight.

Digging into his pocket, he pulls out his phone and calls Derek. 

“Hey, glad you finally made it back.”

“Yeah. I got back a few minutes ago.  For the record, this day really blows.”

“What now? Did Markus kick your ass for wanting to fuck his wife?”

“He wanted to at first, but I managed to defuse the situation.  You still in the security office?”

“Yeah.”

“I think you’d better come up.  We have a lot to talk about.”

“That doesn’t sound good.  Maybe I’ll stay down here.”  Derek tries to laugh before Lukus cuts him off.

“Just come up, will ya?  I’m so fucking sick of everyone arguing with me today.”

“Screw you, man.” Derek hangs up on his friend.

Lukus barely has time to get up and pour two shots of whiskey before he hears the elevator arriving at the loft.  Derek strolls in. He has a scowl on his face until he sees Lukus holding out the shot glass like an olive branch.

“Alright,” Lukus says apologetically. “I’m not going get all mushy, but I’m sorry I’m taking my shitty day out on you.”

Derek reaches out to grab the shot and wastes no time in downing it before he answers his friend.  “Don’t sweat it, man.  It’ll take a bit more than your piss-poor mood to hurt my feelings.  I’m not one of the submissives.”

“Thank fuck for that.  We have more than enough of those around here.”

Plopping down in Lukus’ favorite chair, Derek responds.  “I don’t think you’re upset we have too many submissives around here.”

Moving to sit on the nearby couch, Lukus retorts, “Oh really.  And just what do you think has me all upset, Dr. Parker?”

Derek just grins. “
Touché
.  I’m just saying I think your biggest problem is that we seem to have a boatload of women around here who
aren’t
submissive, at least not submissive enough to behave.  I saw your little encounter in the alley on the security cameras.  Who’s the good-looking blonde you hoisted over your shoulder and carried in like a caveman?”

Lukus shoots an annoyed look at his friend before answering.  “She’s Brianna’s best friend, Tiffany.  You know, the one who works at the salon with her.  She’s also the woman who flat-out lied to Markus yesterday to protect Brianna.”

“Oh, yeah.  I thought she looked familiar.  I remember thinking she looked like a hot piece of ass when we were doing the surveillance on the salon a few months ago.”

“Yeah, well it’s just what we need.  Another damn married woman hanging around.  It’ll be just my luck to have her fucking husband show up here next, making a big stink and wanting to know what the hell I did with his wife.”

“What are you talking about?  She’s not married.  In fact, she’d just started dating some guy when we were doing background checks.  I don’t remember his name.  We checked him out though in case he was involved with Brianna and he came back clean.  He’s some boring business type.  Jeremy… Jack… John.  Some “J” name.”

Lukus tries not to show the sudden relief he feels.  His mind is racing, replaying the last hour over in his head as he tries to figure out what made him believe Tiffany was married.  He’d just assumed she was someone’s trophy wife. 

‘Excellent investigative work there, Mitchell.  Still, it doesn’t change a thing.  She’s not a submissive.  Not really.  She’s still off-limits.’

It’s clear his dick didn’t get that last message. His erection is once again becoming uncomfortable in his jeans as he remembers the feel of Tiffany’s curvy body pressed against him, and her unsolicited, submissive ‘Yes, Sir’.  Lukus shifts in his seat, rearranging his family jewels in an attempt to relieve his discomfort. 

“Earth to Lukus.  Aw shit.  I see it in your eyes.  You’re thinking about fucking her now, aren’t you?  Well, before you do, keep in mind she’s not a club member and as the recently acquitted, minority owner of this club, may I remind you of the dangers we both face if you were to so much as touch her in a way that might be seen in court as abuse.  It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference that she’s up here in your loft and not down in the club.  She’s on club property so you keep your spanking hand and frustrated cock to yourself, you hear me?  I’d like to at least enjoy our last acquittal for few days before we get slapped with the next lawsuit, if it’s all the same to you.”

Lukus knows Derek is right.  It would be insane to do what he really wants to do right this minute, which is march into his bedroom and show Tiffany what a real Dom thinks of her naughty ways.  He also knows full well he needs to calm down and get his emotions in check because in the condition he’s in right now, he’d risk taking things too far.   

“Don’t worry man.  My body may want to burst in there and fuck ‘em both, but my brain is still in control.  I’m not as stupid as you seem to think I am.”

“You’re not stupid, Lukus.  You’re completely justified to feel all the shit you’re feeling. I know the last few years have been hard on you and I’ve seen you changing.  There was a time I thought you’d be happy being the Master of Many forever.  Not any more.  You can deny it all you want, but you just aren’t enjoying being here at the club punishing other people’s subs day-in and day-out anymore.  It’s turning into just a job for you, and I know your heart isn’t in it like it used to be.  I started to notice it after the shit with Markus blew up a few years ago and it’s gotten worse since the lawsuit.  I’ve been wanting to talk to you about it for a few months and told myself I’d wait until after the shit with the trial died down.  Now all this other crap with Brianna has blown up and it just seems like a sign.”

“A sign of what?  Who the hell are you now - Dr. Phil?  I think you need to stop trying to psychoanalyze me and worry about your own submissive instead.  Just wait till you hear what your wife did today.”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Lukus.  I want to hear everything about Rachel, but there’s something else I’ve been holding back from telling you because I wasn’t sure how you’d take the news and honestly, I needed a few weeks to get my own head wrapped around it myself.”

Lukus doesn’t miss the mixed look of panic and excitement on Derek’s face.  “What?  Did you win the lottery and you and Rachel are running away from home?”

Derek breaks into a broad grin.  “Better.” 

Derek certainly has his full attention.  “Better, you say?  Well, that must be some news then.  Why do I feel a headache coming on?”

“I won’t blame you if you go ballistic on me man, but I’ve been bursting to tell you and forced myself to wait until after the trial because you had enough shit to worry about.” 

Lukus sees him take a deep breath and can tell Derek is nervous, which is very curious.  Derek is
never
nervous.