“I love you, Cee,” he whispered against her ear.
“I love you, too,” she said.
“Saturday I’ll give you a proper whipping,” he said.
When she giggled, he couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll hold you to it, Master Ethan.”
“I know you will,” he said. “It’s the only D/s relationship I know about where the sub thinks she can dictate scenes. And where I allow it.”
“You like the input,” she said. “And I know better than to top from below.”
“Really?” He stroked her thigh once more. “Is that why you thought you could tell me you were done for the night?”
She didn’t respond and he tapped her thigh. “That’s what I thought. Come on, we both need a shower, and you need some lotion on your not very abused behind. Then I expect a really good breakfast in the morning. Which means I’ll be cooking.”
Ethan unclipped the chain and then slipped out of her ass. He watched as she got up and padded toward the bathroom. He’d never thought to love again, and the fact that this woman had taken hold of him like she had made him smile.
Randy was right. Ethan had hidden himself from life since Leah’s death. Sex wasn’t all there was. You needed commitment to feel purpose, or at least he did. And he’d found it.
And he intended on keeping it and keeping her safe.
* * *
Cecily cracked an egg over a bowl that already contained nine other eggs, cooked ground sausage, cheddar jack cheese, jalapeno peppers and various spices. She’d gotten up early enough to make a piecrust from scratch.
Usually when she cooked, she blasted music and danced around the kitchen, but she didn’t want to wake Ethan. She was rather put out that he’d announced he needed to cook if he was going to get a decent breakfast. She had, after all, gone to culinary school and knew her way around the kitchen, here and at Capp’s.
She poured herself another cup of coffee and then started beating the ingredients together. As she was beating, she heard Ethan groan, and moments later she heard the toilet flush. She poured him a cup of coffee and took it to the kitchen table just as he was coming around the corner.
“Good morning,” she said.
“To you, too,” he said, right before he leaned in and kissed her. He took a drink from his coffee and murmured in appreciation. She watched as he went to the bowl and sniffed.
“Too much cumin,” he said.
“I beg your pardon, but there is just the right amount of cumin in there thank you very much.” She gently pushed at him and started whisking the eggs again.
“Trust me, my nose doesn’t lie when it comes to cooking.” He hadn’t moved enough, so she elbowed him aside and continued to whisk her ingredients.
“You should have put the sausage in the shell and then added the eggs.” He sat down at the table. “It works better that way.”
“Bite me,” she said as she turned her back to him. Seconds later she yelped as he did exactly that, biting her ass through the robe she wore.
“What the hell?” she asked, whirling around and flinging eggs onto him from the whisk she still held in her hands.
“You told me to.” He went back to the table and took another drink from his coffee.
She turned back to her chore to hide the smile on her face. “What’s the plan for the day?”
“Shop for a phone, then I have an errand to run, and I have to head back to Silver Creek.” He paused and said, “Want to come with me?”
“I have to work tonight,” she said. He didn’t have to continue, because she knew exactly what he meant. “Decisions will have to be made.” She poured the mixture into the piecrust, and as she did so she knew he was right about her putting the sausage into the dish first.
“What sort of decision will you make?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I have to talk to Marcus.” She was afraid her brother wouldn’t be happy if she left the restaurant in his hands. When they’d started it, they’d agreed to work as partners. And now she was possibly going to move to Silver Creek and leave him holding the bag.
“You want me to be there when you do?”
“No,” she said. “I’ll just tell him you’re going to collar me, and it might mean changes in the future.” She put the quiche in the oven. “There’s no time set on it.”
“The sooner the better,” he said. “Or is that not what you’re thinking?”
She turned to him. “That’s what I’m thinking. But you might not want me to live with you after you taste this quiche.”
“I told you to let me cook.” He got up and crossed to her, where he took her face in his hands and kissed her. “Will life at the resort be too boring for you?”
“Boring? Life with you could never be boring,” she said. “Maybe we should open a restaurant in Hollis Creek. Or I could find a job there. There has to be something I could do. I’m sure your chef won’t want to share his kitchen with me.”
“You got that right, he gets mad if one of us sets a toe in the kitchen,” he said. “Are you sure you won’t mind living in the wild?”
“No,” she said. “I just never thought I’d leave Las Vegas. I’m not a housewife type of girl.”
“Then we’ll think of something that will keep you busy,” he said.
“Makes me nervous,” she admitted.
“We’ll work through it.” He kissed her again. “The first lesson will be to limit your cumin usage in our kitchen.”
Our kitchen. She swallowed hard. “I guess I’ll have to put my condo up for sale, or maybe rent it out. But I don’t like that idea. I’d rather sell it.”
“Do you know a realtor?”
“Nope,” she said. “But I bet Marcus does. He knows a lot more people that I do, it seems.”
Ethan took her in his arms and gently stroked her cheek. “If this is too much for you at one time, we can take it slowly.”
“No, I’m a dive into the deep end kind of girl, you know that.” She licked her lips. “Are you ready to clean out drawers and half of your closet? And that sofa in the living room? It’s got to go.”
“I thought we could start with something easier, like repainting the kitchen or something?”
“Not a chance,” she said. “Can I go with you on your errand?”
“Not a chance,” he said with a laugh.
To her that meant he was going to see Dylan Clampe, who owned a business that made sex toys, especially those used in the BDSM world.
“Don’t I get to pick out my own collar?” she asked.
“Not a chance.” This time they both laughed. “Not the real one, anyway. You can look at Dylan’s online catalogue to see if there’s one you like that will fit for your everyday life, the one that you will wear outside Silver Creek.”
“Well, that’s big of you,” she said.
“Don’t push it.” He jerked his head toward the oven. “You should check your dish.”
“Oh crap on a cracker,” she said as she lowered the oven door. “A little browner than normal, but it’s still good, I think.”
“Despite the cumin,” he said.
“See if I ever cook for you again,” she said as she took the quiche out of the oven. She put it on the stovetop and took down two plates, which she put in the microwave for a minute to warm them up just a little. Then she went to the fridge and took out a bowl of fruit salad that she’d cut up earlier.
Once the plates were warm, she placed slabs of quiche on each one and took them to the table, where he’d gone to while she worked.
She sat down opposite him and watched as he took his first bite.
“Well?”
“The cumin works,” he said. “Imagine that.”
“Stick with me, kid, I’m quite the cook if you give me free rein.”
“In the kitchen, yes,” he said as he continued to eat. He swallowed, and then took a drink from his coffee. “But that’s the only place in the house. Just remember that.”
“I
’ll try,” she said.
“Don’t worry, I have plenty of ways to remind you if you slip up.”
Cecily knew he did, and she was sure she would slip up a few times on purpose, just so she could sample a few of those ways.
* * *
Cecily sat in the back-parking lot at Capp’s, where the employees parked. Right now there were only two cars, hers, and Marcus’ tiny sports car, one of several vehicles that he owned. He was inside now, going over orders and menus, she knew. He wasn’t expecting her for another hour, which meant when she entered his office, which was right next to hers, he would know something was up.
She hated being confined to an office, or the restaurant for that matter. If there was a way for her to make a living driving around, or even working from home where she could take frequent breaks and go outside, she would. But those sorts of jobs were few and far between, and so far, she hadn’t found one.
So far. Perhaps with the changes that were about to happen in her life she might actually be able to do something where she didn’t have to be somewhere at a certain time. She’d think about that in the future. Right now she had to figure out a way to tell her brother that she would be leaving Capp’s.
The relationship she shared with Marcus was a good one, and she was sure he would be happy with her about her collaring. He liked Ethan. He’d told her that several times. But how would he feel when she was gone from Vegas?
Cecily stared at the building, running different ways to start the conversation through her mind. Finally, after about ten minutes, she decided she was not only wasting gas, but wasting time. She turned off the car and went inside the building. There was work going on in the kitchen, prep work for tonight. She bypassed it and went to Marcus’ office.
“Hey,” she said from the doorway.
“Good, you’re early,” he said. “Did you order all these peaches? We have a ton of them, and I don’t know what we should do with them. Maybe we should add peach tarts to the menu. I think that would be good, don’t you?”
“I didn’t order the peaches,” she said. “We can use some in a dip, or a sauce for pork chops. Or maybe even in a salad with some feta cheese.”
“That sounds good,” he said. “So why are you here early? That’s not like you.”
“I have some news,” she said. “Ethan wants to collar me.”
The smile on Marcus’ face could have lit up the night sky. “Cee, that’s fantastic!”
“It means me moving to Silver Creek,” she said.
His smile dimmed just a bit. “Well, that’s unexpected, even though I should have known.” He cocked his head. “Did he ask you over the phone? That really sucks. I didn’t expect him to do something so crass.”
“No, he was here in Vegas,” she said. She went to the chair opposite his desk and sat down. It occurred to her that she hadn’t told Marcus about the road rage incident.
“Um, he was here because I had a problem yesterday.” She told him about the confrontation with the other driver and watched as his face darkened.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’m sorry, it didn’t seem that big of a deal to me, but then Ethan showed up and he told me about his wife, and that’s why he freaked out. That’s why he told me he loved me, and that he wanted to collar me.”
“Wow,” he said. He hadn’t moved from out behind his desk. “Obviously you said yes. How do you feel about this?”
“I want to be with Ethan,” she said. “But I don’t want to leave you hanging. I am part owner here. We need to decide how to handle me leaving.”
“True.” He looked away from her, and she wondered exactly what he was thinking.
“Are you angry with me?”
“Angry with you for finding love?” He snorted out a laugh. “I’m very happy for you, sis. As a matter of fact, I’m a little jealous.”
“You’ll find someone,” she said. “Maybe we should have a singles weekend at Silver Creek. That could help you meet someone.”
“Maybe.” He took a drink from the soda can that was on his desk. “Do you want to sell me your part of the business?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I don’t want you to have to do all the work. Maybe I should hire someone to be my proxy. How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ll need to think about it. We’ll need to hire a new hostess to take up the slack when you’re gone, but other than that, I don’t want to change anything in the ownership right now.”
Cecily thought about it for a few moments. “I’ll see what Ethan thinks about me coming back a few days a month, more than a few, during the week.”
“You going to sell your condo?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“To me, hopefully,” he said. “You know how I love that place.”
“You know my neighbors call the cops when I have wild sex,” she said with a laugh.
“You’re right,” he said. He scrunched up his face. “Never mind.”
They talked about a relator he knew who could help her sell, and then he stood and rounded the desk. “Come here, let me hug you.”
His bear hug almost made her cry. “I’m nervous,” she said.
“I would be surprised if you weren’t,” he said. “When are you going to tell Mom and Dad? Of course you need to set a date first, I guess. They’ve met Ethan and they like him. I’m not sure how they’ll feel when they realize you’ll be living at a BDSM resort. Do they know what Ethan does for a living?”
Cecily grimaced. “I told them he was a lawyer, which he is. I suppose I’m going to have to come clean, which will bring up a whole new set of problems.”
Chapter 3
On Saturday morning, Ethan stared at his closet, wondering where he’d acquired so many clothes. He’d already decided that, rather than clean out drawers, he and Cee would buy a new bedroom set together. That would mean a trip into town, preferably Hollis Creek so they could keep the business local.
He and Cee hadn’t settled on a date, but he hoped they would do it while she was here this weekend.
“Trying to figure out which clothes you’re going to throw out?” Randy Westin’s voice boomed through the room. He came in and threw himself on the bed.
“Make yourself at home,” Ethan said. He turned as the third partner at Silver Creek, Shawn Hollis, stood in the doorway, a grin on his face.
“Autumn and I are happy for you,” Shawn said.
“As are Hero and I,” Randy said. “Hero said she’s thrilled to have a third woman. The ladies have already been talking about staging special events every few months. They think Cecily’s cooking skills will help.”
“Don’t tell Chef that,” Ethan said. “He’ll throw a fit if he thinks we’re trying to replace him with one of our ladies.”
“Not a chance,” Shawn said. “Maybe we should give him a raise, to let him know how much we appreciate him, and that we want him to stay.”
They decided on five hundred a month, even though Randy protested that it was way over the top.
“We’re growing by leaps and bounds,” Ethan said. “We need to reconsider taking on investors and expanding. Hiring more staff, building more cabins.”
“We tried that last year, remember?” Shawn shifted on his feet. “We found Marcus, and that one friend of his, Tom Whoseit, and that was all.”
“We need to have an open house,” Ethan said.
“Oh, that’s a fantastic idea,” Shawn said, sarcastically. “Come by and watch the whippings and have some canapés while you watch. No way, man.”
“We are turning down business,” Randy said. “That’s not a good thing.”
“It makes us exclusive,” Shawn said. “It makes people want to come. If it’s something they can easily get into it doesn’t make it attractive. We’re not a theme park, Ethan.”
“You know, at one point you were interested in expansion, Shawn.” Ethan worked to keep his temper under control. “We might not hav
e attracted much last year, but we’ve had a lot of people applying to book space. We should try again. We have space for at least four more cabins.”
“That are expensive to build, and stock,” Shawn said. “I think it’s better if we’re thought of as a boutique resort. Exclusive. If we get too many people here it will be expensive to run background checks, and make sure the people coming here are doing it for the right reasons.”
“You mean like your friend Virgil Scott? Isn’t he the one who took Hero’s picture against resort rules and spread it around last year? Didn’t you approve him coming here, Shawn?”
“Fuck you!” Shawn yelled. Ethan saw his friend’s hands were balled into fists. He was about to push things a little further but thought better of it, and kept his mouth shut.
“Enough, enough.” Randy jumped up from the bed and moved in between them. “Let’s stop this before one of us says something that causes real damage. Nobody saw Virgil Scott’s actions. He’s been banned from Silver Creek, and he knows if he wants that ban overturned, he will mind his Ps and Qs. He had no idea that Hero’s ex was going to spread that photo around.”
“True,” Ethan said. “But I still contend that if we truly want to be profitable, we need to expand. Even if we just did two cabins. An investment from Marcus would cover one of them. That friend of his, what was his name? Fromm? Jack Fromm, right? He could do the other one. Then we have an open house, we invite select people that are friends of friends to come and see what it’s all about. We try to drum up business.”
“We’re booked solid,” Shawn said. “When do you propose to have this open house?”
“We check the schedule and see when there’s a Saturday that’s open,” Ethan said. “It might be months down the road. That’s not a bad thing, actually. It would give us time to plan.”
Shawn threw his hands in the air as if in surrender and said, “Okay, let’s table it for now and we’ll talk about it later. Does that work for you?”
“Not too much later,” Ethan said. “If we get the cabins built in time for the next summer season, we could be making more money.”
Ethan’s NaughtySubmissive: Silver Creek Resort Book Three Page 3