Forbidden Fires

by Jodie Griffin

  Colin swore. “He could be our guy. He fits the profile, and he’d be looking for revenge if she managed to break away from him. He might blame you for her leaving.”

  McConnell paled. “You mean me turning him away might’ve set him off on a killing spree? Jesus.” He dropped his head to his desk for a moment, and when he lifted it his eyes were hard and filled with purpose. “So what now?”

  Score one for Marcus Aiello, who’d known how his friend would react all along. Yeah, Colin was sure McConnell was still ticked off, but he’d stopped telling them to get out, and started working with them. Another point confirming his innocence, really. “What time are the other two couples coming?”

  “Eleven. We’ve got a meet-and-greet lunch where I go over the same basics I went over with you yesterday, and then we start.” McConnell’s eyes narrowed. “How are you going to work this?”

  Colin shrugged. “Same way we did last night. If we don’t need to question them, we won’t. Casual conversation should give us what we need.”

  McConnell nodded slowly. “Can’t say I’m thrilled with this, but I understand. I’m still going to kick Aiello’s ass, though.” He stood and ushered them out of his office, closing the door behind them. “There’s about half an hour before they get here. I need some time to prepare things. If you’ll excuse me?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just left.

  Colin turned to Delia and was bowled over by the distressed look on her face. “What’s wrong, babe?”

  “I know we’re doing our jobs, but this is messed up. McConnell is a nice guy and he’s right. We fucked with his head.”

  “I don’t like it either, but you said it yourself. It had to be done.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “And now that he knows, we can move forward. I’m betting Hank Whitcomb is our guy.”

  “Sounds like it, but we still need to talk to that last couple, the ones coming today.” She dipped her head and looked up at him through lowered lashes, pink tingeing her cheeks as she fiddled with the metal links on the restraints still circling her wrists. “So we keep on as we were, husband and wife, Dom and sub?”

  He’d bet she had no idea how much want came through her words, but he heard it and his dick responded accordingly, surging against his zipper. He had to clear his throat to speak. “Yeah, we should. That is, if you’re still willing to go that route.”

  Their peace this morning was fragile, the argument from last night still fresh in his mind, overlaid by their failure as a couple last year. It had to be on hers too. If things were going to end again after this op, then he at least wanted more good memories to keep him company at night. So he held his breath as well as his tongue while he waited for her to decide.

  Her voice was soft, her eyes even more so. “I am.”

  He couldn’t help himself. With a muttered curse, he tugged her into his arms and settled his mouth over hers, not gently but demanding that she yield to him. He wound one hand through her hair and tugged her head back.

  “Oh, God. Colin, please.”

  He nipped at her skin, at the sweet spot where neck met shoulder and she shuddered, her body going pliant and warm. Fierce possession reared up, and he sucked hard at the spot he’d just bitten, leaving his mark for all to see. “Mine.” She tensed slightly but he pressed on, backing her against the wall in the hallway until their bodies were so close not even air could get between them. “Mine, Delia Robinson. I’m not giving you up again.”

  He forestalled any rebuttal by kissing his way up her neck and taking her mouth again. He slipped a hand between them and ran it over her torso, cupping a breast then pinching her aroused nipple. She arched into his touch, and heat swept through him. His dick strained against his zipper, as though understanding that heaven was just a few pieces of cloth away, but instead of giving in, he wrapped his need in iron control and continued to taste her until a desperate sob choked in her throat.

  “Please, Sir.”

  Pure satisfaction swept through him. Who the hell was this guy clawing to get out, the one who thrilled to Delia’s capitulation, who got turned on even more by the pleading tone of her voice? Where had this dark need come from?

  At the moment, he didn’t fucking care where or why or how, he just wanted his hands on her, in her, making her scream. He broke away from her mouth, breathing hard.

  Her eyes were wild, her hair a tangle, her sexy dress wrinkled from his hand and the press of their bodies. He grabbed the hands she’d fisted in his shirt and, after locking the two restraints together, shoved them up over her head, trapping them. He slid his free hand under her short dress, caressing the silky skin of her hip, groaning aloud at the heat under his palm. She twisted her body, trying to bring his hand closer to her core, but he used his hip to keep her in place. When she struggled against him, he didn’t even think, just smacked his hand against the curves he’d bared.

  She cried out, not in pain or dismay but in demand, asking for more. She’d allowed her submissive nature to take over, and she was begging to be used.

  He kicked her feet wide, steadying her with trembling hands. “Keep your arms where they are and don’t you dare take them down. If you do, I stop. Understand?”

  “Y-yes, Sir.”

  He squatted in front of her, bunching her dress up over her hips, bringing another pair of sheer, barely there panties to his view. They were tied with small bows on the side. He tugged at one, and the string came free. “Oh, I like these. Pretty. But I want them gone. For the rest of the weekend, no panties allowed.” He untied the other side and tugged them off, deliberately dragging the thong string through her folds.

  She groaned, shaking. “Please.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her bare skin, dipping his tongue in the tiny cleft at the top of her mound. She cried out, and he grinned, tucking the panties he’d just removed into his pocket. “Look at you like this, all bare, smooth skin. Is this the first time you’ve been waxed here?” he asked, using his thumbs to draw her folds apart. He blew softly once, and she whimpered. “I asked you a question.”

  “Um,” she mumbled.

  He pinched her thigh. “The right way.”

  She groaned, flooding his nose with the scent of her arousal. “Y-yes, Sir.”

  “I like it.” He buried his tongue between her lips, licking at her, lapping up her sweet essence. “A lot.”

  As he drank from her, she squirmed, trying to bring her legs together. He used his shoulders to keep them apart, getting in her space completely, not giving her any room to move away from the torment of his tongue. And he made it torture, taking his time, driving her to the brink and pulling back again. He’d learned that lesson well last night.

  “Jesus, Colin, please!”

  She continued to beg and plead with him, but he drew it out until he thought she could take no more. And then, when he could hear the frustration in her voice, the edge of tears wanting to break free, he plunged two fingers inside her, stroking hard, while he sucked her clit. “Come for me, Delia. Now,” he said, adding a third finger.

  She came with a gut-wrenching cry, shuddering so hard her body bucked against the wall, rattling a picture frame against the plaster. He clenched his teeth against the need to do the same, doing some mental algebra to figure out if they had enough time to go back to their room.

  She was still breathing hard, spasming around his fingers inside her when footsteps echoed in the hallway. Delia froze like a deer in the headlights, then relaxed.

  “Looks like I missed all the fun,” Gabe McConnell said, his voice slightly warmer than it had been earlier, but not as relaxed and genial as it had been the night before.

  Colin withdrew his fingers from her body and tugged her dress down, covering her hips and ass. He stood, and Dee dropped her arms in front of her with a sigh. She buried her red face against his chest, and he wrapped her in his arms. The position brought her hands into contact with his raging erection, and he groaned as she cupped him and squeezed.

  McConnell smile
d slightly at his predicament, then sobered. “The couple you want to talk to is here. They’re just coming up the driveway.”

  Delia went from soft and snuggly to alert, head-in-the-game cop in the blink of an eye. She held out her arms. “Unhook these.” When he didn’t move fast enough, she blew out a sigh. “Colin, come on.”

  McConnell grinned a shark’s smile. “Actually, you need to leave them on. Because that’s what happens this weekend. We start out easy, but every sub comes in the door wearing restraints.”

  She frowned, and in this, Colin couldn’t blame her. The game had just escalated, and they both needed to be able to move freely. “Any way we can bend the rules? We’re not armed, but I don’t like the idea of Delia not having full use of her hands if something goes bad. You were right earlier. It was a risk last night, but Marcus vouched for you. Do you know much about this couple?”

  “Just that they’re fairly new to D/s. Honestly, I’m surprised they’re here for a beginner’s class, since they’d gone to the retreat. Then again, I think they were out of their depth that weekend.” His eyes narrowed. “I see your point, though. I have a pair of breakaway training cuffs in the office. I use them for subs who need a slower start. Delia could break the connection if she had to. Let me grab them.”

  By the time the car pulled into the driveway in front of the house, McConnell had switched out Delia’s restraints. “I’m still running a business here, so I need to greet my customers the way I greeted you yesterday. Please wait in the lounge. Colin, there’s a chair for you. Delia, there’s a cushion on the floor, next to the chair. You should be on it, on your knees, hands in your lap, when I get back. Once I check them in, I’ll bring them in. I have to take their bags up to their room, so you’ll have a few minutes to talk with them. Does that work?”

  Colin nodded, and to his utter surprise, Delia leaned in and kissed McConnell on the cheek, then grabbed his hand with her bound ones and squeezed. “Thank you, Master Gabriel. Marcus was right about you.” She stepped back and dropped her gaze to the floor, her hair sliding forward to hide her face.

  McConnell stood there, speechless, as if she’d just yanked the rug right out from under him. He started to speak but floundered for a moment, then laughed ruefully. “Jesus, for a fragile-looking thing, you pack a hell of a punch. I’ve got to go greet my guests.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Delia took a steadying breath as she settled onto her knees, adjusting her body so her ass rested on her heels. She was barefoot again, which made it easier to stay in this position, but shit, what if she had to run? Not that spiked heels made it easy in the first place, but still.

  “You okay?” Colin reached out and stroked her cheek with his finger.

  God help her, she leaned into the innocent touch. All thoughts of work flew out of her head with that simple stroke. She was so totally screwed when it came to him. She wanted him, and in spite of what he said about not giving her up again, she didn’t know if she could have him. “Just thinking,” she said finally.

  Colin’s voice dropped in pitch. “About us, I hope.”

  She glanced up at him, sprawled in the chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Was he really as calm and in control as he looked? “Maybe.”

  He laughed, but it died on his lips as Gabe McConnell entered the room, ushering a couple in to the lounge. He was in genial host mode, and she wouldn’t have known he was stressed except that his host’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  The couple looked to be in their late thirties, casually dressed, him in faded jeans and a tight T-shirt, her in a loose, flowing short dress. It was somewhat shocking to see the woman, all five foot two of her and looking like a kindergarten teacher, with her hands wrapped in restraints in front of her.

  She wasn’t as calm as she seemed, and Delia knew exactly how she felt. The slightly wild eyes were the giveaway, but her husband was right there beside her, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

  “Jonah and Charlotte Smithson, meet Colin and Delia Reardon.” Colin stood and exchanged handshakes with Jonah Smithson, and Delia smiled at his wife, hoping to set her at ease. The woman smiled back tentatively, but it didn’t stay on her face.

  “We’re waiting for one more couple to arrive,” McConnell said. “Once they’re here, we’ll go over the rules, and then you’ll be expected to kneel, like Mrs. Reardon. She learned the rules yesterday. Didn’t you, Delia? Look at me when you answer,” he said, his words sharp as he stood next to her.

  Her heart sped up, but she knew what was expected of her, and damned if it didn’t make her wet. He stood so close she had to tilt her head far back to look up at him, to meet his eyes as he’d ordered. “Yes, Master Gabriel.”

  “Good girl,” he murmured, squeezing her chin. He turned to the Smithsons. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to take your bags upstairs, and I want to check on the last couple.” He turned again. “And Colin, it’s up to you whether or not you release Delia from her ready position.”

  He left, and the room got quiet.

  Delia slid a look at Colin, who stood. He held out his hand to her and she grasped it with her bound ones, rising to her feet. He tugged her to his side and she leaned into him, much the way Jonah Smithson held Charlotte.

  Colin smiled at the other couple. “So is this your first time here?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s ours. We came last night to get a head start on things. This is our first time experimenting, so I booked some private time for us with Master Gabriel. I have a lot of concerns about dominating Delia.”

  In spite of the fact that they were acting, Delia felt a blush crawl up her cheeks. “Colin!”

  “Oh, come on, honey. They’re here for the same reason as us, and you’re the one who wanted to come here, not me. I was on the fence.” He turned back to the couple and winked. “Until last night.”

  She smacked him with her restrained hands, and the Smithsons laughed.

  “We were here about two months ago, for a retreat,” Jonah said. “It was eye-opening.”

  Delia inclined her head. “A retreat? Sounds interesting.”

  Charlotte’s voice was soft. “It wasn’t what I expected. It was more like a conference with sessions on different things. In the overview at the beginning of the retreat, Master Gabriel mentioned the different things he does here. One of them was this basic BDSM class.” She looked up at her husband and blushed. “I asked Jonah if we could take this one. Most of that weekend was way over my head.”

  Jonah Smithson kissed his wife on the temple. “Yeah, we left here a little overwhelmed. Between the guy McConnell had to ask to leave and some of the, er, extreme topics, we weren’t sure this was the thing for us. But Charlotte wants to try again.”

  Colin flexed his fingers against her side. Time to ask the questions. “He had to ask someone to leave? Why?”

  Jonah Smithson frowned as if he’d tasted something bad. “The guy was a loose cannon, and a real bastard to the girl he’d brought with him. I say girl, because if she was twenty-one, I’d be surprised. She looked a hell of a lot younger, and scared to death. Several of us were in the lounge, and the shouting from the open front door drew us all into the hallway. McConnell was calm, but the guy was out of control. When McConnell said he was calling the police, the guy shoved his girlfriend in the car, then took off.”

  Charlotte finished the story. “I was so worried about her. Master Gabriel excused himself and called the police. He continued with the retreat, but I could tell it bothered him.”

  It all matched what McConnell had told them, with one exception. She’d assumed that the argument had taken place privately, but it sounded as though several people had seen and heard it. If he was guilty, it could be what had given Hank Whitcomb a reason to go after the people who’d witnessed his humiliation. And if McConnell’s MSP friend Alex had gotten Kayla to leave him, he could have snapped. The piece she couldn’t figure out was how he knew who everyone was, if he’d never made it i
nside. Hacker, maybe? She made a mental note to have McConnell’s computer systems examined.

  “Can we sit down?” Charlotte’s voice was shaky. “I’m a little nervous.”

  Delia started to move out from Colin’s grip, then did something she’d never, ever have expected of herself. It was instinct, not acting, and it made her stomach feel as if it was full of butterflies. “May I, Sir?”

  Asking permission for something as basic as sitting seemed incredibly wrong, but it also seemed absolutely right. In a normal situation, like in the office or out in public or even at home on an average day, hell no. But right now, her hands were bound and she was Colin’s sub, her body his to command.

  Shock flared in his eyes, but then the corner of his mouth turned up in a sexy smile. “You may. On my lap, so I can touch you.”

  Heat flooded her body, thickening her words. “Yes, Sir.”

  He sat, knees spread, and pulled her between them so she was perched on one muscular thigh, facing the Smithsons.

  “Works for me,” Jonah said, laughter in his voice. He also sat, then pulled his wife onto his lap, steadying her as she settled against him, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

  Her gut told her they had no idea what was going on, and weren’t involved. They seemed like a nice, happy couple who wanted to experiment. Jonah was attentive to his wife, and Charlotte was just as attuned to him. There was some undercurrent there, but it didn’t seem malicious at all.

  She wished she and Colin had a few minutes to confer, but she couldn’t imagine he was seeing anything different than her. He was relaxed on the outside, although she was sure his brain was working top speed.

  Her own bubbled up a question. “So, where are you guys from?” she asked. It seemed odd they wouldn’t know about the fires in Maryland, or recognize the names from the news. McConnell had introduced them all by name. She assumed he’d have done the same at the retreat.