“Jamie … baby … Christ, you feel good.”
I held on to him, burying my face in his neck as he drove into me over and over. The instant I felt my orgasm ignite, I nipped his shoulder, dug my nails into his back in an effort to hold back the cry of release.
Cav shifted, covered my mouth with his as we swallowed each other’s moans, coming together in what I’d come to know as sheer perfection.
CAV
AS I LAY IN THE DARK, JAMIE curled up beside me, I stared up at the ceiling.
For the first time in a long time, I wanted to talk to my mother, to tell her the good news. How I’d fallen in love, settled down in one place, and what I imagined for my future.
But I couldn’t call her. Couldn’t tell her any of those things because my mother had disowned me a long time ago. She had written me off back when my father had left, along with everyone else in her life. She’d become bitter, angry at the world, and no matter how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t get through to her.
For the longest time, I had expected her to call, to check on me, ask about my life. That call had never come.
“Cav?”
I turned my head, kissed Jamie on the forehead. “Go back to sleep, cupcake. I’m right here.”
Her hand moved over my stomach, her fingertips grazing the scar from the bullet wound I tried hard to forget.
“How’d you get the scars?”
I didn’t answer immediately. The answer was a story I didn’t enjoy thinking about, much less telling.
Jamie’s lips grazed my shoulder and I sighed. “I was shot.”
She lifted her head, stared down at me. I could just make out her features from the light cast by the alarm clock.
“Shot?”
“In the line of duty,” I explained. “After I graduated college, I was adrift, not sure what I wanted to do. Having gone back to Houston for a while, I met up with a couple of my old friends. One mentioned he was joining the police academy, suggested I do it.
“I think it was more of a dare than anything, and since I had nothing else on the agenda of my life, I figured why the hell not. Entered the academy, passed with flying colors, went on to join the Houston PD. Ended up with a K-9 partner.” I smiled in the dark. “His name was Kano. Sweetest damn dog in the world. Fiercely loyal, too.”
“Did he live with you?”
“Yeah. Spent every waking minute together. He was so damn smart.”
“Past tense?”
I swallowed hard and relayed the details of the event that had changed my life. By the time I was finished reliving that dreadful day, Jamie was holding me tightly, her tears falling onto my chest.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered, squeezing me. “So sorry you lost him.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
She snuggled closer. “You haven’t met Tank,” she said. “He’s my brother’s yellow lab.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I got him for my brother because I knew Zeke had needed someone to love. He’s always been my rock, ever since our parents died, and I hated to see the way he kept himself closed off. So, I adopted Tank, but told Zeke I’d found him near my grandfather’s house.” She chuckled. “I remember the look on his face when I took the puppy over, begged my brother to keep him, to give him a home. I knew he would do it for me, so I’d used that against him. Don’t regret it either. They’ve been good for one another.”
I couldn’t help but smile as she relayed the information. I could hear in her voice how much she loved her brother, how far she would go to take care of the man. Though I didn’t know Zeke all that well, I did know him. He didn’t seem like an easy man to deal with, but to know he went soft for his sister and a puppy spoke volumes.
“What about your parents?” she asked after a few minutes of silence. “Do they live in Houston?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. Probably. They divorced a long time ago. Haven’t talked to either of them.”
“Why not?”
“My mother was so hurt when my father left, she took it out on everyone else. Including me. Wrote me off a long time ago.”
“Your father?”
“He got remarried, has a new family. Never looked back.”
“What about when you got shot? Didn’t they come see you? Take care of you?”
“No. I have no way to reach my father. And my mom … I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer. Haven’t tried since.”
“What about Edge’s parents? Does he talk to them?”
I swallowed hard, kissed her forehead. “That’s a complicated story.”
She shifted and I could tell she was looking at me. “Does he see them?”
I shook my head. “They’re dead. Died when he was sixteen.”
“Oh, my God.” She put her head back on my chest. “Is it something he’ll talk about?”
“If you ask him, yeah.” It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, I knew, but he would.
“Cav?”
“It’s his story to tell, Jamie.”
“No. I know. I wasn’t going to ask about it.”
Curling my arm around her, I held her tightly.
“You might want to reach out to her,” Jamie whispered. “Your mom. What she did was wrong, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you. Or regret what happened.”
Yeah. I thought about that, too.
Unfortunately, I got her stubbornness.
“Get some sleep, cupcake,” I whispered, curling around her, holding her tightly against me. “I love you.”
She smiled against my chest. “I love you, too.”
When I woke the next morning, I was alone in bed, the door closed. I smiled to myself, peering around Jamie’s bedroom. It was exactly as I expected a woman’s room to look like. There was a pile of pillows on the floor, enough to cover most of the bed when it was made. The closet door was slightly ajar, a few things lying on the floor, a dress hanging on the knob.
I glanced around, noticed the picture of Zeke on her nightstand, along with one of the dog I assumed to be Tank. On her dresser, there were pictures tucked into the edge of the mirror frame. Looked to be family pictures from when she was small.
Family was important to Jamie, I could tell. She’d lost hers at a young age. Tragically.
I heard the sound of voices coming from the other room, knew I couldn’t hide out forever. I figured her friends were sticking around because they knew I was here.
“Might as well get the introductions out of the way,” I muttered as I snatched my jeans from the floor, pulled them on.
Thankfully, there was access to the bathroom from the bedroom, so I slipped in there, relieved myself, then washed my hands and face. There was no point in denying I’d spent the night, nor was I sure why I’d want to.
After getting fully dressed, I took a deep breath and stepped out into the living room and came to an abrupt stop.
Jamie’s friends had clearly left. Or I hoped they had considering the compromising position I found her and Edge in, right there on Jamie’s sofa. He was sitting up, Jamie straddling his lap, both of them naked.
Jamie’s eyes opened, met mine, and I saw the heat there. She liked that I was watching them.
“Come for me, sweetness,” Edge urged. “Come all over my cock.”
Jamie’s eyes fluttered closed as she moaned.
Yeah. I could definitely get used to this.
I remained silent as I moved toward the refrigerator, my eyes on them the entire time. They were quite the sight, Jamie’s naked breasts cupped in Edge’s big hands as she ground down on him.
“That’s it, baby,” he muttered. “Take what you need.”
Fuck, that was hot.
I broke my attention away long enough to grab a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. When I turned back, I noticed Edge was watching me, his eyes as hot as Jamie’s. I offered a smirk, drank from the bottle.
“Fuck, Jamie,” Edge growled, his hands sliding to her hips, holding her still as he jerked his hips upward,
driving into her. “Come for me.”
Jamie cried out, a sexy sound that made my dick twitch behind my zipper.
“Fuck, yes,” Edge hissed. “That’s it, sweetness.” He held her still, his body jerking as he came deep inside her.
When they both relaxed into a heap, I smiled. “Mornin’.”
“Enjoy the show?” Edge asked.
“More than you will ever know.”
TWENTY-ONE
EDGE
Sunday, November 18, 2018
SINCE FRIDAY NIGHT, THE ONLY THING ANYONE could talk about was the fact that Zeke Lautner had collared two submissives. News had traveled fast and there was no sign it was going to slow anytime soon. Even the training class had chatted about it last night. Admittedly, it had been quite the sight. I was honored to have been there to witness it.
And now, as I sat in my office at the club, the entire place empty, I leaned back in my chair and considered it all. I’d been working here since Trent Ramsey opened the doors, enjoyed damn near every minute of it. It had been a no-brainer when he’d approached me with the opportunity, and I didn’t regret taking the job or spending so much time here.
Or I hadn’t, up until recently.
It wasn’t about the work. That didn’t bother me. Two jobs had kept me busy enough not to notice that my entire life had pretty much passed me by. Which I figured had been my issue all along. I had purposely drowned myself in work in an effort to avoid my own needs.
Then everything had changed.
Four weeks ago, I’d found myself giving a tour of the club to a woman I knew I had to keep at arm’s length, a woman whose brother was a man I highly respected. That very same night, I encountered an inner conflict I’d never expected. It had all spiraled out of control since then.
Three weeks ago, I was taking that off-limits woman on a date and considering adding her to my training roster. To make it more interesting, my life took another change when I kissed a man I considered my best friend, the same man I’d known for half my life.
Two weeks ago, I was introducing Jamie Lautner to submissive training class, venturing down a path I knew there was no coming back from. To top it off, I ended up buried balls deep inside Cav, experiencing things I’d never expected with a man who’d taken me completely by surprise. Consequently, I’d found myself battling the feelings I hadn’t even realized I had for him.
A week ago, fully believing I had things on the right track, I fucked up royally, came damn close to imploding my life because of my stupidity. By some fucking miracle, Jamie and Cav had forgiven me for my idiocy. The next night I had observed Jamie right here in this very club, watching as she got a firsthand account of two very different D/s scenarios. It wasn’t until that night, until that moment that everything seemed to click for me.
This lifestyle, while it intrigued me in many ways, was not my ultimate end goal. I didn’t need it to be content.
I couldn’t say I was disappointed in the direction Jamie’d taken regarding her preferences. Ian and Isaac Stokes were hardcore Doms looking for a rigid structure that fit for them. Timothy Triton and Kason Nash had provided a glimpse of the opposite side of that coin. I wouldn’t say that I was middle-of-the-road compared to those, but I’d always hoped to be when it came to the lifestyle.
Jamie and Cav helped me to see that I’d been wrong.
Perhaps because I spent so much time here, I had lost sight of what I wanted outside these walls. Managing the club came with a lot of responsibility, the majority of it having to do with the members, with the training classes coming in a close second. Until Jamie and Cav came into the picture, I hadn’t even noticed how much I’d neglected myself in the time I’d been here.
The phone on my desk rang and I sat up, took a deep breath.
“Edge,” I greeted, expecting the call.
“Hey, man, what’s up? You said you wanted to talk?” Trent Ramsey asked.
“I did. Think maybe we can grab lunch one day this week? If you’re in town.”
“Yeah, I’m here now. I’m heading out tomorrow though. Won’t be back till Thursday. You free today?”
I hadn’t considered today, although there was no reason I couldn’t talk to him now. “Today works.”
“Good. I’m actually stopping by the club to grab some paperwork. You gonna be there for a bit?”
“Yep. Just mapping out the week.”
“Perfect. See you in ten.”
True to his word, Trent arrived at the club a short time later. He was rolling solo today, which was a surprise. Considering his personal assistant was one of his submissives, I was used to seeing them together.
When my phone chimed, signaling the front door opening, I made my way down to the main floor to meet him.
“You look … different,” Trent said with a smirk, offering a handshake before walking around behind the bar, retrieving two glasses and a bottle of scotch he’d evidently hidden back there.
“I feel different,” I admitted, watching him closely.
Trent grinned, pouring the liquor then passing one over to me.
“Are we celebrating something?” I asked, hoping to hell we weren’t because that was going to mean I had shitty timing.
“I don’t know,” he said with a grin. “You tell me. What’s on your mind, Edge?”
I sat on one of the barstools and stared into my glass. With a resigned sigh, I met his gaze. “I think it’s time for me to retire as manager of your club.”
To my shock, Trent grinned widely.
“What?” I asked. “Are you happy about that?”
His face sobered. “No. Of course not.” His smile returned. “But seriously, Edge. You’ve been at this a long time. This place is a lot of responsibility.”
That it was.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what prompted it?”
I shrugged, tossed back the liquid, put the glass down. I was trying not to fidget. “It’s time.”
“For?”
“To live my life. To stop making excuses. To finally be who I wanted to be a long damn time ago.”
His crystal-blue eyes scanned my face. “You found a submissive, huh?”
I laughed because it was just like Trent to go that route. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that. But I…” Unable to look at him, I stared at the glass. “I did fall in love.”
He propped himself on his elbow. “Do tell.”
I explained the situation I found myself in with Jamie and Cav.
“That’s an interesting twist,” he said, still smirking. “How’s that work, anyway? Two Doms?”
Another laugh escaped. “That’s the interesting twist.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not a Dom when I’m with him. Or with her.”
As though it all made sense, Trent took a sip of his drink, set it down. “That is an interesting twist.” He stood tall, added two fingers to both glasses. “And you’re happy but you’re not quite sure why that is.”
“Bingo.” I turned the glass in my hand. “I only hope it’s the right thing for everyone involved.”
“Fuck hope,” he said seriously. “You want Jamie and Cav, you’ll make it work. You’ll figure it out, and let me tell you, I know all about the difficulties that come along with a change of that nature. Your world erupts in chaos.”
“You’re telling me.”
“But the good news is, it’ll settle. You’ll fall into it when you admit what you want. It might take some time, but it’s damn worth it.”
“I’ve already accepted it,” I admitted. “I want them. Period. As long as I have them, the rest is easy.”
He smiled again. “Then it sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.” Trent took a drink, set his glass down. “Does that mean you’ve made a decision on Chatter?”
His question caught me by surprise but then again Trent Ramsey was a partner in Chatter PR, so it only made sense that the company was a priority for him. He was establishing a talent division, which I’d heard h
ad launched into hyperspace right out of the gate.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I think I have.”
“And?”
“And I’m going to accept. I can’t see a reason to do otherwise.”
“Justin’ll be pleased.”
“Yep. Until he comes up with another scheme to uproot my world and turn it upside down.”
Trent laughed. “I think he might be off your back for a bit.”
“Right.” I lifted my glass to his. “They’re getting married.”
He clicked his against mine. “That they are. It’s only uphill from here.”
“You have those same plans?” I grinned. “Somewhere down the line?”
Trent leaned an elbow on the bar. “It’s possible. We’re still tryin’ to smooth the rough spots. Once we get it evened out, I’m sure it’ll be on the agenda.” His expression went somber. “But seriously, Edge. I hate to see you step out of the role. You’ve made my life a hell of a lot easier being here, but like I said, I didn’t expect you to last this long. Not because you couldn’t do it. I just thought you’d get burned out.”
“Not burned out. Not quite. But getting close.”
“Any recommendations for someone to fill your shoes?”
I sat up straight. “Actually, yes.”
His eyebrows lifted in curiosity.
“Triton.”
Trent grinned again. “Master Chaos, huh? Who gave him that name, anyway?”
“You don’t know?”
He shook his head. “Never bothered to ask.”
“Let’s just say, before he met Missy, got married, he was a handful.” I thought back to when Triton’s wife had died. “I think the club would be good for him. He tends to hold back, and I can’t say I blame him. He lost the love of his life.”
Trent nodded. “I’ll talk to him if you think he’d be a good fit.”
“I do.” I pushed the glass away. “Oh, and if you want to do it right, you’ll pull Cambria in. Get her on the payroll. Chaos could use an assistant and he couldn’t find a better one than her.”
Their Naughty Student (Office Intrigue, 6) Page 39