“I don’t know how you can even think that.” Molly felt her breath catching, felt her emotions begin to unravel.
“I saw what he did to you. I saw the paddle. My God, Molly, I did the same thing just the other night!”
“What, you kidnapped me from my home? Drugged me? Tied me down with no way for me to get loose? Threatened me? Beat me?”
Richard just stared at her, wincing when she’d said the last bit. She reached out and waited until he took her hand.
“What you and Alan and I share has no similarity whatsoever to what that monster did to me. He thought of himself as a master, but he had not a clue in the world what that word really means—what it means to me and Alan, and what it means between us. What Brian Horner lives is a perversion.
“You did paddle me, and you will again, I hope. Not to make me scream. Not to exercise your ego. Because it’s a part of our relationship, of who and what we are to each other. There’s love here, at the heart of who the three of us are together. All there was in Horner’s lifestyle was sickness.”
“Well said.” Alan stood just inside the room, letting the door close behind him.
“Molly.” Richard looked as if he might say something more, but he didn’t.
She saw the tears in his eyes and couldn’t bear it. “Please lie with me. Knowing that the two of you would come save me, thinking about being held in your arms, was the only thing that got me through it.”
She thought she asked the impossible since the hospital bed was so narrow. But Richard solved the dilemma by lifting her so that she lay on top of him. Alan took the extra blanket at the end of the bed, covered her, then stretched out on his side beside them.
They cocooned her, these men she loved, surrounded her with their heat and their love. Richard’s arms held her close. Alan’s arm enveloped them both.
“When I burst through that door and saw you, chained, beaten, I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill him and I wanted to scoop you up and take you away where no one—not even I—could ever hurt you again.”
“Darling, you’ve never hurt me. Not even the other night when you spanked me for not calling. The only way you could hurt me would be if you stopped loving me, if you stopped being the man you are—our Master, the head of our family.”
“Never. God, Molly, I love you so much. You and Alan are my life. And I swear to you, I’ll never stop being your Master.”
Molly sighed. “Thank you.”
She reached up, brushed her lips against his. His kiss was so gentle, almost reverent, she wanted to cry. When she turned her head to the side Alan was there, waiting. Leaning just a little, she kissed him, too.
“Sleep now, sweetheart,” Richard said. “The sun will be up in a couple of hours. I’ve asked the doctor to come as soon as possible to sign your release papers.” He laughed, a sound born more of relief than humor. “I thought you’d want me to take you back to your apartment or to your mother’s so you’d be rid of me.”
“Never.”
“Yes, so you’ve said. So sleep now, and in the morning, I’ll bring you home.”
Molly relaxed, closed her eyes. Richard and Alan held her, and she knew no nightmare would dare disturb her. She felt herself falling and tumbled into sleep.
* * * *
Richard insisted that Brady interview Molly at home. The police already had Horner in custody. Since he only needed Molly’s full statement to tie up loose ends, he could damn well do it there.
He wanted to get Molly home as soon as possible, so Alan drove, dropped them off, then went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription for antibiotic ointment and pain medication.
“I can walk,” Molly said as he carried her up the steps.
“Indulge me,” Richard said. He gave her the key so she could unlock the house, then turned once they were inside so she could key in the security code.
“Set it again, please.”
They weren’t in the habit of doing so if someone was already home, but Richard felt shaken enough from the events of the day before he decided to alter security protocols. So while he held her cradled in his arms, she followed his instructions and reset the house alarm.
“Brady is coming over to interview you. So why don’t I set you down in the den? You can lie down on your side on the sofa if you like. I’ll bring you a pillow from our bed.”
“I want to try to sit, if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind. I don’t want you in pain, and the doctor advised to remain off ‘the affected area’ for another few days.”
Molly laughed. “He couldn’t even say ass.”
Richard grinned. It was so good to have her home. “No. As a man, he’s a prude, but he is a good doctor.”
He set her on her feet. “Go ahead and try sitting. I’ll go get the pillow so you can lie down if you’d rather.”
“Seems kind of undignified to meet the lieutenant while I’m lounging on my side like some latter-day Cleopatra,” Molly said.
He couldn’t resist teasing her, just a little. “Quite right. Not nearly as dignified a presentation as he had of you last night.”
Molly blushed, a pretty red hue. “His was the voice I didn’t recognize!”
“Yes, sorry. But don’t think ill of the man. He did let me pound on that prick a little longer than he should have.”
“I’ll try not to think of what he got an eyeful of last night when he’s interrogating me.”
Richard laughed. “Interviewing, you, darling. You’re not a perp.” He said, heading for the door.
“No, I’m the vic,” she countered.
Richard shivered, but he stopped at the door and turned to face her. “Not from where I’m standing. You didn’t give that bastard any satisfaction last night. That makes you a hero, not a victim.”
He moved as quickly as possible, detouring by the kitchen to put on a full pot of coffee and then making a beeline for the bedroom. He scooped two of the lush feather pillows and headed back to the den.
Molly stood with her head bowed, a very unhappy look on her face. He didn’t say anything. He just went to her, tossed the pillows onto the sofa, and took her into his arms.
“It hurts,” she whispered.
“Yes, I know. I’m sorry.”
She clung to him and he relished the feel of her in his arms, the reality of her there with him, safe and, for the most part, sound. He hated the abuse she’d suffered, but he knew it could have been worse.
The doctors conducted a thorough examination of her while she’d mostly been unconscious. They told him, when he said he was her husband, that she hadn’t been sexually abused. He’d believed her, of course, when she’d told him the same. But she’d also been unconscious for a time and had awakened naked and restrained.
When he pulled back from her, she lifted her face, and he couldn’t resist taking her mouth. That she would respond so eagerly, that she would mew and rub against him after what she’d been through seemed a miracle to him.
Molly was a precious gift, one he would cherish for the rest of his life. Yes, he’d believed she would tire of him and Alan. But he’d decided that didn’t matter. He was damn well going to keep her anyway, and that was that.
He helped her get comfortable on the sofa. Moments later, Alan returned, and he had Tom Brady with him.
“I’ll bring in the coffee,” Alan said. “And some water so our woman can take her meds.”
Richard brought one of the chairs closer to the sofa so he could sit beside Molly and hold her hand while she recounted everything that happened the day before. Brady had asked permission to record her statement. It would later be typed up for her to sign, but that was just a formality.
“The man has confessed to the kidnap and murder of Patricia Burnett and to complicity in the death of Virginia Townsend,” Brady announced once Molly finished. “The district attorney has already ordered a psychiatric evaluation. In my gut I know that whether he ends up being convicted of murder and doing hard time or is remanded for
psychiatric care, he’s off the streets for good. He’ll be sent to the county jail—just as soon as he’s released from the hospital.”
“Good.” Molly said the word with conviction. “Thank you, Lieutenant Brady.”
“Thank your man, here. It was his cop instincts all along that enabled us to put this case to bed.”
“Well,” Molly shot a coy look at Richard, “maybe not his cop instincts.”
Richard brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. Right now his instincts told him he wanted his family to himself, naked, snuggled, and safe.
Alan got to his feet. “I’ll show Lieutenant Brady out.”
Richard met his gaze and knew his lover had read his thoughts.
“Thank you.” He got to his feet, and shook Tom’s hand. “Don’t be a stranger,” he said to the man.
“Same goes,” Brady returned.
Richard looked at Alan. “We’ll wait for you.”
“You’d better,” Alan said.
The sound of Molly’s laughter, as Brady, blushing, left, filled his heart with joy.
Chapter 20
Molly Durant had a plan.
She stretched then bent from the waist, her ass facing the mirror. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled. Just a little over three weeks, and barely a trace of her injury remained.
In that time she had been pampered and cosseted so that she thought at times she’d scream. It was past time to get her men to treat her the way they did before Brian Horner abducted her.
Which brought her to her plan.
Once again, she’d prevailed upon her friends, Marcus and Jordan, to give her a hand. When she told them what she wanted to do, and why, they’d immediately agreed to help. Their alacrity amazed her, until Chastity told her that the three of them had gone through a similar “adjustment period” when she had been attacked by her former fiancé.
It was important to set the stage. Molly looked at the merry widow she’d worn that fateful night—had it only been five weeks before? The garment had been cleaned and left hanging in the closet. Now, she put it on a pretty, little decorative hanger, out in plain sight in the bedroom.
Below it, her fuck-me heels stood as if at attention, ready to be put into action. She sincerely hoped that wouldn’t be necessary because those suckers hurt like hell to wear.
She’d put fresh sheets on the bed, changed the water in the spa and put it on to heat, set out the jasmine candles, and had their big fluffy robes casually draped and ready, should they be required.
She had one more detail to prepare.
In the play room, she pulled the vault-like restraint out of the closet. It took her a moment to figure out how to put it together, but finally she sat back, satisfied. Next, she pulled a chair close to it, as Richard had done the night he’d punished her.
Finally she set a paddle on the chair.
Another woman might flinch at contemplating having her lover—her master—paddle her after what Horner had done to her. But as she tried to explain to Richard, what that monster did to her and what her master did were not at all the same.
Horner had thought only to inflict pain and his will, with no thought except to bring about her humiliation and degradation.
Richard employed the paddle as a means of re-enforcing their relationship and as sexual stimulation for them both.
She wasn’t a sub by nature, but she had become one by choice. And the only master she wanted was Richard.
She loved him and Alan with all her heart. Tonight, if all went according to her plan, they would not only never doubt that love again, she would set them free from their guilt.
Molly checked the time. It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon. Alan would be home in just a few minutes, and, though most nights Richard didn’t arrive until nearly six, she was willing to bet everything that he would be here shortly, too.
Choosing her battlefield, she stripped off her clothes, lit the candles, and slid into the spa. Now all she could do was wait.
* * * *
Richard entered the coffee shop, his brow furrowed as he scanned the tables. It didn’t take him long to spot Jordan Fitzpatrick. The man always seemed to be the center of any crowd. If he lived to be a hundred, he figured he would never be able to repay the debt he owed this man. He’d been instrumental in helping him rescue Molly from that sick fuck, Brian Horner.
He still had nightmares about her ordeal. But in his nightmares, he arrived too late to save her.
Jordan’s odd request that they meet for coffee piqued his curiosity. Jordan spotted him, nodded, and had the waitress there by the time he got to the table.
“Just plain coffee,” Richard said and sat down opposite the other man. “It’s been a few weeks,” he said. “Good to see you again.”
“Thanks. Good to see you, too.” Jordan said.
“In case I didn’t say it, I’m grateful for your help in rescuing Molly.”
“You don’t have to thank me. If you’ll recall, we experienced a close call ourselves. Because of that, I know what you went through and maybe a little of what you’re going through now. And I can certainly understand why you’ve come to the decision you have, but I must say it surprises me.”
Richard felt as if he’d stepped into a play where he didn’t know his lines. Tilting his head to one side, he said, “Decision?”
“Yes. Now I don’t want you to worry. Everything has been taken care of. I’ve sent out notices to the membership that there’ll be a special auction tonight. It’s only fair, since that was how you came by her in the first place. Now all I—”
Everything inside Richard froze. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Molly called me and told me you no longer wanted to be her master. Believe me when I say, I understand. Now—”
“She said what?”
“That you no longer wish to be her master.”
“Where the fuck did she get that idea? I never said that, I never even hinted at that!”
Jordan set his cup down and gave Richard what he could only call a pitying look. “Sometimes, our actions speak for us. Whatever it is you’ve been doing—or not doing—has given Molly the impression that you no longer wish to be her master or want her as your sub. So she’s asked me to help her find a new master. Of course, she was in tears at the time—”
“Well, Jesus Christ! Doesn’t she know I was just trying to be considerate? That bastard beat her so bad she bled! How could she expect—”
This time Jordan cut him off. “Obviously Molly knows the difference between a beating and a paddling.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, it’s already four. I’d better get going. I was going to meet Molly at the club in an hour.”
Richard got to his feet, urgency racing his heart. “Forget it. You might as well go ahead and cancel that special auction. Molly is mine and no one else’s.” Turning, he headed for the door. Yanking his cell phone out of his pocket, he canceled the rest of his appointments for the day. Now he had only one appointment on his calendar and that was tossing Molly Durant over his knee and spanking her until she begged for his forgiveness.
* * * *
Molly heard Alan come in. Following his usual routine, he would check his messages, make any calls he needed to make, and then make notes in his daily journal. Then he’d come looking for her.
She’d only been in the tub a few minutes, so she figured she’d have another half hour before—
The sound of a door slamming reverberated through the house.
“Molly!”
Oh, my.
Richard didn’t exactly sound like the polite and apologetic gentle lover of the last couple of weeks. He sounded more like the man who bid fifty thousand dollars for her and then dragged her up to the School Room for her first paddling.
She was already wet with arousal.
“Molly, where the hell are you?”
“Richard? What’s the matter? What’s wrong?”
“She thinks she’s going to have Jordan
Fitzpatrick find her a new master? I don’t fucking think so.”
They were in the bedroom. She wanted to giggle, she was so happy to have her master back. She wiped the grin off her face. Nothing had been settled, she’d just given the man a kick in the pants. What happened next would determine her future.
And then he stood at the entrance to the bathroom, holding her outfit in his hand.
“What the hell is this?”
Oh, he was pissed. Molly decided to egg him on, just a bit. “It’s called a merry widow. You might not recall, but it’s what I wore the last time I was auctioned off as a sub.”
“Well, that’s true, at least. That was the last time.”
Behind him, Alan’s eyes had gone wide. And then he smiled and gave her a wink.
“I don’t understand,” Molly said. “If you don’t want to be my master—”
“I am your Master.” Richard tossed the hanger aside and reached for the buttons on his shirt. “And by the time I finish with you, you won’t have any doubts about it.”
It took him mere seconds to shed his clothes and get into the spa. He approached Molly, combed his fingers through her hair, then pulled her head back.
“Alan, join us.”
Molly’s focus was on Richard. She met his gaze, a dare of sorts.
“I love you, Molly. You’re a part of my family, just as Alan is a part of my family. You belong to me just as he does. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I ought to paddle you.”
“Oh, yes, please. Everything is ready in the play room. I deserve to be paddled.”
Richard’s eyes glittered with lust as they hadn’t for the last three weeks. Molly shivered with anticipation.
“Come here.”
He kept his hold firm as his mouth took hers. Instantly carnal, his kiss claimed her, a hot branding of lust and love. His tongue demanded entrance, demanded surrender, and she gave both joyfully. She felt Alan come behind her. He took hold of her arms, held her as if offering her to their Master.
Richard ran his hands over her body, not just feeling or enticing, but taking possession of her.
Brazen Seduction Page 17