by Anya Summers
Zeke and Declan did one of those bro-man hugs, clapping each other on the back. Then Chase and Declan did the same.
"Zeke, Chase, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming on such short notice. This," Declan towed a petite brunette forward, "is my Zoey."
"It's so nice to meet you. You guys are lifesavers!" Zoey Mills extended her palm to shake hands with Kara's guys, and Chase clasped her hand, bringing it to his lips and placing a light kiss on the back. Kara wanted to shove her beautiful client away from Chase. Unexpected jealousy surged inside her. Even though she had yet to give them an answer, the thought of either Zeke or Chase with another woman shook her to her core. They were hers, dammit, at least until she made a choice.
"And this must be Kara. It's a pleasure to meet you, welcome to my home." Declan McDougal's hand enveloped her smaller one and his rakish smile made her insides go all gooey.
Kara had seen pictures of Declan McDougal in the society pages and gracing the covers of business magazines. They didn't do the man justice, in her opinion. Up close and personal, he was beefcake personified, and he clearly doted on his fiancée, which made him all the more attractive.
"It's nice to meet you," Kara murmured, finally finding her voice. There was an overabundance of testosterone in their little party.
"Follow us." Declan nodded toward the staircase and linked hands with his fiancée as they ascended to the second level. Their party entered a library and the smell of coffee hit Kara. She almost groaned at the delicious scent. Watching her partners and Declan McDougal, and the easy camaraderie amongst them, made her wonder why the three alphas seemed so familiar with one another. What the hell had Zeke and Chase gotten her into this time?
If she weren't so jet-lagged she would be able to appreciate the beauty of the historical home. As it was, she was having a singularly difficult time paying attention to the discussion happening around her.
"Why don't you all have a seat? Mrs. Stewart made a wonderful breakfast for us all. Kara, why don't you sit here?" Zoey gestured to a seat next to her.
The seating arrangement around the table put Kara opposite her two partners, with Zoey beside her and Declan at the head of the table. She still wasn't speaking to them, had avoided them on the second chartered flight in Declan's jet from Edinburgh to Inverness, and then again on the drive from the airport to the manor. They were giving her a wide berth, but she knew it would end eventually and she would have to confront them. If she could push it off until this job was in the record books that would be ideal, but she doubted either Zeke or Chase had the patience to wait that long.
"How was your flight?" Declan asked as they sat, while Mrs. Stewart rolled a cart in bulging with aromatic delicacies.
The scent of eggs and pastries reached Kara's nose and her mouth watered. She might be tired but she was famished. She took a few bites of the eggs benedict and breakfast potatoes and moaned a bit. Zeke and Chase shot her a look but she couldn't give a damn. She was too pleased over the excellent meal. It was almost as good as Zeke's culinary skills, not that she would ever tell him that. The conversation flowed around her but she felt like she was in a haze. The food in her belly made her feel warm and she felt herself nodding off.
"Kara, what are your thoughts?" Zoey asked her, attempting to pull her into the conversation.
Kara jerked upright and noticed all eyes at the table were on her. What the hell had the topic been? She'd completely spaced out, which was unlike her, but she was so damn tired she couldn't seem to focus. A nap of any kind in something that wasn't moving would do her a world of good. She turned to Zoey. "I'm sorry, but I can barely keep my eyes open. Is there someplace I can rest a bit and then we can reconvene once I'm not so jet-lagged?"
"Oh my gosh, certainly. I'm so sorry; you must be wiped from the journey. I forgot how tired the long flight made me." Zoey scooted her chair out. "Just follow me."
"Get some rest, pet," Chase murmured with the endearment attached. It did funny things to her insides hearing it now after everything that had happened as Kara trailed Zoey out the hall and into the elevator. She didn't look back at her partners. Exhaustion was dominating her movements and she shoved the million issues she had with them to the back of her mind.
As the doors closed, Zoey said, "Your room is the Queen Anne up on the third floor. Just FYI, the DL level here on the bottom is off-limits."
Zoey pointed to the lowest button on the elevator floor panel. Kara's foggy brain was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that there was an elevator in a home, let alone a level that was off-limits. DL; what the heck did that stand for? Down low, drain level. DL huh?
"What's the DL level?" It would bug her no end until she knew the answer, and she wanted sleep more than she wanted to be circumspect.
Zoey blushed rather prettily at her blunt query. "It's the Dungeon Level. It's where members of the Dungeon Fantasy Club meet. One of them, anyway. I'm still new to it. I—"
Kara quirked a brow at the bride to be. "You're a sub."
She never would have guessed that Zoey was a sub. She seemed too fresh faced, in her simple sweater dress and black boots with her hair styled in a messy top knot.
"Yes, it's all very new to me. I've only been in the lifestyle since I met my fiancé. Declan told me your partners are members of the club. Are you a member, as well?"
They were, huh? Well, well, well, Kara was learning new things about her partners every minute, it seemed. She'd never heard of the Dungeon Fantasy Club, but then again, she hadn't been to a BDSM Club in close to five years.
"No, I'm not part of the club. Although I did dabble in the lifestyle in college, so I understand what it is." Kara was really more of a bedroom sub, or so she thought. She loved being dominated during sex but had never felt she fit the lifestyle all the way. Kara was likely too independent to ever want to fully hand control over, and she'd discovered that the hard way in college. She'd walked away from the lifestyle when things had gone south with a Dom she had been seeing and hadn't re-opened that part of herself. It had just been easier to lock it away.
"Okay, good. Glad I don't have to go into lengthy details and that it won't be an issue for you to work on my wedding." Zoey seemed so relieved by her admission.
Kara always thought honesty was the best policy—most of the time. "Even if I did have an issue with your being a sub and partaking in the BDSM lifestyle, which I don't, your sexual preferences wouldn't stop me from helping you plan your dream wedding."
"Thank you." They stopped in front of a wooden door. Zoey pushed the door open and walked right in, flipping on lights as she went. Kara followed her in. Holy cow! What a room. She'd have to take a peek at all the ins and outs after her nap. The entire room had been decorated in burgundy and dark wood, which should have made it look like a bordello. Instead of being a gaudy monstrosity, the color flowed very tastefully and wasn't overdone.
She spied her luggage off in the corner beyond the sitting area. This room was as large as the entirety of her walk-up in Brooklyn, imagine that.
"Boy, you look beat. Get some rest. If you wake up and need something, press zero on the phone on the nightstand and it will putt you through to the kitchens," Zoey instructed. "Your partners' bedrooms are on either side of yours. We were planning on having dinner in the dining room at seven. If you are awake by then."
"Thank you, Zoey. I appreciate it." The news that her room was sandwiched between her partners was all too much. She'd think about the implications when she woke. Right now, it made her want to run screaming from the best home she'd ever had the good fortune to find herself in.
Zoey nodded as she back-pedaled from the room. "Sweet dreams," she murmured, and exited.
Alone with her thoughts, Kara fought the rising panic over Zeke and Chase. Instead she opted for mundane tasks; unpacking just enough to retrieve her pajamas and toiletry bag. She changed into her flannel pajamas, switched off lights, and clambered into the giant ocean of a bed. The feather top mattress was just shy
of heaven and Kara sank into the pillowy comfort, pulling the soft silken comforter up to her neck.
She dropped into sleep like a stone plummeting into a pool.
Declan showed Zeke and Chase around the Dungeon Fantasy Club. This was only the second time Chase had been to the founding club. It was more elegant than the club in Manhattan, if that was possible, although the set-up was fairly the same.
There were some workers present, adding some new installations to the existing set-up.
"Forward Visions is making sure that we don't have any security breaches during the wedding. I cannot tell you how much security or lack thereof has been a pain in my ass here lately," Declan said.
"How so?" Zeke asked as he surveyed the club renovations.
"Zoey's sister inadvertently walked in on a scene last week and it ended in disaster." Declan grimaced with a pained expression clouding his features. It seemed the security breach had created quite a bit of havoc.
"Ouch! That must be hard on your little sub," Chase murmured. He envied Declan. Not his happiness, or the difficulties with his soon to be sister-in-law, mind you, but his freedom to express his love for another. It was something Chase had been unable to do for so long, he should be used to the constant ache in his chest. He yearned for that type of ease.
"You're right about that. I still haven't been able to convince Zoey to do another scene with me down here," Declan admitted with frustration lacing his voice.
"That is bad," Chase agreed, shaking his head. The club wasn't much different from the one in New York. Currently the DFC had three locations; here at Mullardoch, one in Manhattan, and another in Pasadena. He'd never been to the one in Pasadena, but knew that Tobias had changed the set-up a little bit to suit the west coast a bit more.
"What's the access going to be like with the upgrades?" Zeke asked, taking an interest in the equipment in the scene areas surrounding the courtyard.
"Tight. The back stairwell will have a door installed at both the top of the stairs and at the bottom. The one at the top will blend in with the wall and have a security access code box that will open it. Any overnight guests will have to use a separate lift that is being installed at the other end of the hall, which will take them directly up to the fourth floor. Guests will now be strictly prohibited from accessing anywhere else in the manor," Declan explained.
"Keeping any wedding guests from taking a stroll into the Dungeon." Zeke had turned his attention and was studying the key panel on the elevator.
"Precisely. And the key panel inside the lift will have a thumb print access or an override code so that only I and members can use it," Declan added.
"Nice." Chase loved technology. He left their little conclave as the sound of moaning and slapping flesh increased through the corridor. He enjoyed watching sex. It was one of the things that had drawn him into the lifestyle, among other things.
One of the nearby rooms was occupied by a gay duo. The submissive, a rather burly, stout man, was restrained in a stockade, his back red striped from his Dom's ministrations with a cane. The sub's balls were in a humbler, a metal clamping device that surrounds the base of the scrotum with a bar that passes behind the buttocks. It kept the sub bent at a ninety-degree angle. The perfect angle and height for his Dom to screw his ass. Their session was nearing its end as the Dom's pelvis thrust brutally, the sound of his balls slapping against his sub's bottom reaching Chase's ears. Chase imagined being bent over in front of Zeke, feeling Zeke's impressively sized cock surge inside his ass, and almost groaned in time with the couple.
"We may need use of the DFC. If you could make sure we have access," Zeke murmured behind him. Chase felt his voice through his chest and had to battle to keep his desires under lock and key.
"Without a doubt; once the installers have the thumb scanner in place today we will get you guys set up. You still topping subs together?" Declan inquired casually.
"Yes," Chase and Zeke said almost simultaneously. No one knew Zeke better than he, Chase trusted him more than he did anyone else. That was why his secret, the one he'd been carrying for nigh on five years, could never come out. As much as he yearned to be honest with his business partner, he feared his secret coming to light would end the relationship between them. That was why he needed Kara. He felt the same about her as he did about Zeke, and he prayed she would agree to be their sub. Then maybe, just maybe, he could be satisfied with that arrangement and the rest would diminish and take a back seat.
"And your partner, is she the sub you have in mind?" Declan had always been an extremely perceptive chap.
Zeke nodded. "One and the same."
"I see the way of it. As long as it doesn't wreck my Zoey's wedding plans, with everything she's been through here recently, I wish you the best of luck. I want our wedding to be her every dream brought to life, please keep that in mind as you pursue your partner."
"Will do," Chase replied, more resolved than ever to make Kara their sub.
Chapter 4
Kara slept, unmoving, for ten blissful hours. By the time she awoke, the autumn sun was dipping beneath the western horizon. Feeling refreshed and with an abundance of energy at the wrong end of the day, she ordered a meal from the kitchens and showered while she was waiting. The bathroom alone was worth the horrible jet-lag. She could fit both her kitchen and bathroom inside this one. It was insane how large and lavish it was. She had her choice of an enormous tub with Jacuzzi jets she'd have to make use of while she was here, or a shower befitting the gods. Kara couldn't remember the last time she'd had a luxurious bath. Her cramped bathroom tub basin was barely large enough for a child to bathe in, let alone an adult.
More than spacious, decorating the pool of a tub were a pair of matching Greek columns framing the entrance, with two stairs leading up to the sunken bathtub. The taupe porcelain tiles, the real deal, none of the vinyl stuff like she had in her bathroom, felt cool beneath her feet. Next to the tub the glass encased shower held a dark wooden bench and more than one nozzle. Her toiletry bag was where she had left it that morning on the built in, dark wooden vanity. She could actually imagine sitting on the cushioned taupe leather chair each morning to do her make-up and hair. A far cry from the small bathroom mirror above her sink she currently used every morning.
The shower was just this side of heaven. She let the water soothe her nerves. Kara was no closer to an answer regarding Zeke and Chase. It was like she was split down the middle, with her mind in one camp, firmly against doing anything and keeping their relationship strictly professional. Then her body was squarely in the opposite camp, wishing her brain would click off so that she could surrender to the magnetic pull of Zeke and Chase. Just the thought of having both of them at once made her heart stutter. And that was the thing; she didn't know where her heart lay. Kara was always very careful about getting too close, about shielding her heart from breaking. Her father leaving her and her mother at a young age made her distrustful when it came to men. He'd left, and never looked back. As much as Kara knew in her head that not all men did that, her heart didn't believe it. So she'd always kept men at arm's length, never allowing them to get too close, even when she shared her body with them, she kept her heart closed off.
It was one of the reasons why she had so many gay male friends. They were safe to love, could fill her male companionship needs for the most part, and didn't leave her heart bleeding if they walked away. That was why she'd let Zeke and Chase worm their way into her heart, as friends. Now her entire sense of balance with them was completely off kilter, making her feel like she was trying to cross a rope bridge that wouldn't stop swaying and shaking. And one wrong step, a simple misplaced foot, would snap the bridge in two and she'd tumble into a cavernous pit where only pain resided.
She wasn't going to think about it anymore. Not tonight. It made her frustrated that she was no closer to a solution. Her movements were jerky as she shut the water off and stepped from the shower.
Kara was glad she'd brought her robe as she sli
d it on her shoulders, figuring she'd eat first, dress, and then take a bit of a tour of the incredible house she found herself a guest in. That way she could refine some of the mock-ups that she'd put together before the flight. She had a feeling she and Zoey were going to get along famously. The bride wasn't a diva at all as far as she could tell from their small introduction. Kara was usually spot on about reading personalities. A tour of the place, seeing where the wedding would happen, would help her refine her proposals to deliver. Kara was a visual person, so for her, seeing made all the difference in the world.
Kara left the bathroom and skidded to a halt. Zeke and Chase were in the sitting room portion of the room, at the tiny bistro style table and chairs. There was a rolling cart with the meal she'd requested. It seemed she wasn't dining alone. She felt her pulse rate accelerate at what she knew would be a confrontation. She hated those. Was never any good at them, and typically tried to avoid them at all costs.
Pulling her robe tighter around her body, almost as if she was wrapping a shield around her heart, she straightened her shoulders, prepared for whatever they planned to launch her way.
"What can I do for you two?" Kara inquired, doing her best to seem unfazed by the fact that they had intruded on her room.
Zeke and Chase's gazes ran over her length of her body and she resisted the urge to fidget under their intense inventory. The fact that she was clothed in just a robe without a stitch on underneath, while they were both fully clothed, was apparently not lost on either of them. Chase bit his lip as he studied her. Zeke, the brasher of the two, wore his hunger blatantly across his features, like he wanted nothing more than to bend her over the table and… crap! Was that his fantasy or hers?