His answering smile is warm. “They do look great,” he agrees. “Stay here for a second. Lean against the bench if you need.”
I wait. The two men confer quietly among themselves, their voices too low for me to catch their words. After a couple of minutes of quiet conversation, they turn back to me.
“Come.” Maddox extends his hand to me. I lace my fingers in his and let him lead me to the medical kink chair from hell.
I must look nervous because he squeezes my hand reassuringly. “Anytime you want this to stop,” he says. “It does. Okay?”
“What are you going to do?” There’s a distinct quaver in my voice.
“I’m going to start by taking off your corset.” He moves behind me. His fingertips brush against my back, and he moves my ponytail out of place before undoing the tightly laced garment. “It’s very sexy, but I much rather see you naked.”
As it falls away, Kai’s eyes rake my body, and he growls in his throat. “So beautiful. Come here, Avery.”
I take shaking footsteps toward Kai. He reaches out, and his big hands cup my breasts, his thumbs brushing my nipples. I whimper as he squeezes the nubs between his thumbs and forefingers, twisting them as he tugs. “Too hard?”
The pain melts into pleasure, and I want more. I need more. “No,” I gasp. “Please don’t stop.”
He bends his head and sucks a hot, swollen nipple into his mouth. Red-hot pleasure flashes through me. “Fuck,” I hiss. “Please.”
I think I could come like this. Just from the feel of his mouth on me, the way his teeth nip my tender flesh, the way his hand cups my ass, pulling me close to him. I throw my head back, clenching my eyes shut, my nails digging into the fabric of his suit.
Maddox chuckles, coming up behind me and disengaging me from Kai. “That’s quite enough of that,” he says. “Come on. Up on the chair with you.”
He picks me up as if I weigh next to nothing—I don’t—and sets me on the chair, positioning my calves on the leg rests. He pushes a lever on the side, and the back drops.
I’m lying on my back, my legs spread wide and in the air. I’m still wearing my skirt, but underneath, my pussy is bare. My breasts are exposed, my nipples engorged. “I’m not going to tie you down,” Maddox says to me as Kai moves between my legs, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Put your hands behind your head, Avery. Don’t move them.”
I start to nod and then remember I need to acknowledge their instructions verbally. “Yes, Maddox.”
“Good girl.” He brushes a kiss over my forehead. I go still. Ten years ago, Maddox and Kai were generous with their affection, kissing me openly and often. The brief gesture from Maddox causes my heart to clench painfully.
Stay in the moment, Avery. You can analyze this later.
Maddox pulls back from me, his expression unreadable. He moves away for a second and returns with the flogger. I inhale sharply as he trails the tails over my breasts. “How does it feel?”
“It tickles.”
He laughs and flicks his wrist. The tails fall on me, and I mewl anxiously, but my pussy clenches.
“Did that hurt?” Maddox asks conversationally.
I think about it. The sting is fading. I’m hot everywhere, restless and squirmy and needy. Lying back like this, my hands tucked behind my head because Maddox told me to, my legs spread wide, lewd, on display, just because it pleases them… Arousal gnaws inside, twisting as if it were alive, seeking out pleasure, aching for more.
“No.”
I’m so caught up by the flogger that I barely notice Kai. Until his fingers trace a slow, languid path up my slit. “So wet,” he says, as Maddox draws his wrist back for another stroke.
The flogger lands on my breasts again, sharp and tight and hot. I shudder as a tremor runs through me, my body reacting to the pleasurable sting. More. I want more.
“Tell me why you’re wet, Avery.” Kai slowly pushes a finger inside me. His fingers are maddeningly slow, and I groan, small waves of lust curling around my body.
I meet his gaze. He’s angry with me, they both are. They have every right to be. Among other things, I came here to apologize. To explain everything to them. I’m not nineteen anymore. It’s time for me to own up to my mistakes.
But this chemistry. This crazy, insane, explosive, combustible chemistry. It leaves no room for thought in my mind. No room for anything else other than twisted, clenched desire.
I cannot pretend I’m not attracted to them. They’re not blind. And I don’t want to pretend. “I’m wet for you,” I say boldly.
Kai’s eyes turn dark. “Pick a number between one and five,” he says, his fingers twisting inside me to find my g-spot.
I can’t think. “Three.”
Maddox chuckles. “Roughly halfway,” he says. “That’s safe.”
Kai grins. “No problem, Avery. I’ll be happy to edge you three times.”
“No,” I wail. I can’t. My need is a caged animal, clawing at my skin, desperate to break free. My skin is damp with sweat. As the flogger swings down on me, I thrust my chest toward it, welcoming the heat on my skin.
“You can.” Kai plants a wet, open mouth kiss on my pussy. His fingers thrust into me as his tongue circles my clitoris, soft and sure and steady.
Three times, as promised, he gets me right to the edge before backing off. I beg and curse, whimper and moan, but I don’t do the one thing that will end this beautiful, glorious torture. I don’t stay ‘stop.’
The flogging gets harder. The strokes are falling more swiftly now, harder, my body rising to meet each one in feverish need.
Maddox’s hands caress my breasts between strokes. He sucks my swollen nipples into his mouth, soothing them gently before grazing his teeth against the sensitive nubs.
The intensity grows, like a symphony reaching its crescendo. Desire has me firmly in its grasp. Tightening, clawing, twisting need overtakes my body.
Then Maddox snaps the flogger on my nipples in one searing stroke. Kai sucks my clit between his lips, and I can’t hold back. I arch off the chair, my long-denied orgasm hurtling through me like a herd of wild horses. I convulse around Kai’s fingers, sweet, shattering release claiming me.
They carry me over to the couch; I barely notice. Kai wraps a blanket around me—where did that come from?—while Maddox opens a cabinet and returns with a bottle of Gatorade in his hands. “Drink,” he says.
I lean against Kai’s chest and slowly sip the cold beverage. My throat is tight, and tears fill my eyes and start rolling down my cheeks. Kai’s arm around me tightens. “I’ve got you, Avery,” he says. “Let it out.”
If only that were true.
I can’t stop crying. Maddox sits next to me. He slips the shoes from hell off my feet, and massages my aching soles, soft and gentle. Kai strokes my back, his body radiating comfort.
I could have had this.
The tears roll down my cheeks unchecked. They should have whipped me hard. They should have made me hate the pain. But they did something worse. They made it addictively good.
And it’s a one-time thing.
“You okay, Avery?” Kai’s voice is gentle. This is aftercare, I realize. It’s part of being a responsible dominant. Once my roiling emotions have settled, they’re going to look at me with hate. Or worse, indifference.
There’s a thin strand of hope left. They’re angry about Victor, about the way I left them abruptly without explaining why. But if I tell them the truth, about my father’s loans to the mob, about how I had no other choice, maybe they’ll be able to understand.
I take a shaky breath. “I’m fine.” I force a smile on my face and wipe away my tears on the back of my hand. “I just need to be alone for a few minutes. I’ll meet you out there?”
They get to their feet. Neither of them looks at me, and my throat closes up. Now that the aftercare is done, they’re acting like they want nothing to do with me.
My hope fizzles and fades. When I’m alone, I sob out loud. I did my duty to my parent
s, and I paid a steep price.
6
Kai
I don’t know what I expected, but it was not that.
Avery had blindsided me with her sweetness. With her sass. With her courage and her willingness to explore. With her trust.
When I found out she was married, I’d made myself forget her. I didn’t friend her on social media; I didn’t stalk her from afar. She’d made her choice, and as brutally painful as it was, I needed to accept that and move on.
Largely, I’d succeeded. I buried myself in work. I dated casually. I filled my life with the trappings of success.
But there was a part of me, a part I never acknowledged, that always held onto her.
I hadn’t realized she lived in DC until Fiona Clarke mentioned her. Even then, I’d forced myself not to look her up. Ten years ago, Avery Welch had made her choice abundantly clear. It wasn’t just that she’d married Victor Lowell for money. It was the way she’d done it.
I’m not a saint, but I’m honest with the people I’m with. Avery, on the other hand…
Club M was the last place in the world I’d expected to find her. I hadn’t been prepared for her to walk through those doors. I hadn’t been ready for the blazing possessiveness that surged through me when Caleb had put his hand on the small of her back. I hadn’t expected the fury rippling through my body when he told us he was eager to help Avery explore.
I’m a fool.
I had planned to make her BDSM experience a miserable one. I wanted to punish her hard. Make her afraid enough that she would never return.
Of course, the minute we’d entered the playroom, those thoughts had fled my mind.
The truth is, I can never hurt Avery. We swore an oath at Lina’s grave, fifteen years ago. We promised to be responsible dominants, to extend our protection to any submissive who needed it. No matter how angry I am with Avery Welch, I can’t break that vow.
“Another Scotch, Kiera. Make it a double, will you?”
The bar area is quieter now. Galen and Layla are done, and the center stage is empty. Many people have drifted off into the back rooms. A group of women seated at the corner of the bar, give me speculative looks, but I’m not interested today.
Seeing Avery cry gutted me. Holding her in my arms felt too real. Too right.
Except she’s not who I think she is. I learned that lesson the hard way, and I can’t allow myself to forget it.
Now what? Avery will come out of the playroom and what next?
Nothing good can come of this. Nothing at all.
I have more important things to worry about right now. Though the flogger is one of my favorite props, I’d let Maddox run its tails down Avery’s body. I hadn’t trusted myself with it.
On Monday, I have a neurologist appointment at the hospital. Jayla Washington will check out the tremor in my hands, subjecting me to a battery of tests to try and narrow it down.
I’m trying not to freak out about it, but it’s hard not to. I’ve wanted to be a surgeon all my life. If it turns out that I have Parkinson’s, or another degenerative neurological condition, my career is finished.
Kiera puts my drink in front of me. Maddox settles on the stool to my left and orders a beer. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks.
“Avery or my hand?”
“Either. Both.”
I gulp down the smooth liquid. It burns its way down my throat. “No.”
“Okay.”
“Tell me about Avery Welch.” Xavier Leforte walks up to the bar and sits down on the barstool to my right.
I turn my head and survey him bleakly. “There’s nothing to say.”
He gives me a skeptical look, then says something to the bartender in a low voice. She nods immediately and moves away. Xavier turns back to me. “That’s clearly not true. What is it?”
“We spent two weeks together ten years ago. I thought she was the perfect woman.”
“But?”
“She conveniently forgot to mention she was engaged,” Maddox says bitterly. “She married the guy less than twenty-four hours after she left our bed.”
Xavier raises an eyebrow. “Why?”
“He was rich.”
Xavier frowns. “So what? Neither of you has ever hurt for money either.”
My lips twist. “She didn’t know that.”
He continues to look skeptical. “There’s unfinished business between the three of you,” he says.
“Xavier, what we had was ten years ago.”
His expression is wry. “If it’s the right woman, ten years is nothing. Trust me, I should know.”
Xavier rarely talks about his ex. This is as much as he’s said about her in years. Fifteen years ago, when we were all in college in Cambridge, Layla, Xavier, and Rafael had been inseparable. Then Layla’s twin sister Lina had been killed by her dominant. That death had destroyed their relationship.
At least, I thought it had.
“It’s been almost a month since Layla showed up at Club M.” Maddox’s expression is curious. “Are you dating again?”
Xavier eyes the drink in front of him. “Not yet,” he says. “I remain hopeful.”
“Why’d she come?”
Xavier is in a rare talkative mood. He chuckles. “She ran up a hundred grand on my credit card. I told her she could return the card or pay her debt in the playroom.”
“Layla spent a hundred grand of your money?” Maddox frowns. “That doesn’t sound right. Layla’s not materialistic.”
Xavier gives me a slightly mocking look. “You’ll give Layla the benefit of the doubt, but not the woman you slept with for two weeks? A woman you thought was perfect for you?”
I take another sip of the Scotch. “I don’t want to discuss this,” I say flatly.
He shakes his head but drops it. “No, Layla isn’t materialistic,” he agrees. “A woman’s shelter didn’t have enough money to cover its rent, so Layla put it on my credit card.” He gives me a sidelong look. “It’s been ten years, you said. How was the chemistry?”
As strong as ever.
Xavier rolls his eyes. “Talk to her,” he advises.
I guess he wasn’t planning on dropping it.
I reach for my glass. My right hand is shaking again. In two days, I’ll find out why. On Monday, my life could be turned upside down.
Then again, seeing Avery again has already done that.
Fuck this. Fuck everything.
I throw some money on the bar. “I’m leaving.”
Xavier surveys me carefully. “You’ve had three drinks,” he says. “You shouldn’t be driving. If you insist on heading out, take my car and driver.”
Maddox gets to his feet. “I’ll come with you.”
When Avery comes out, we’ll both be gone.
Guilt sloshes in my stomach. With difficulty, I ignore it. Ten years ago, she’d left with no note. No warning. She’d married someone else without a word to us. She’d broken my heart.
I owe Avery nothing.
7
Avery
You’ve got to hand it to Club M. They don’t stint on the amenities. This sex room—playroom, dungeon, whatever—has an attached bathroom. I quickly freshen up.
There’s a part of me that wants to linger here and avoid my upcoming conversation with Maddox and Kai.
What the hell had got into me? What on Earth possessed me to tell Maddox and Kai that I was looking for two dominants to train me? Why had I jumped into bed with them?
Technically, I guess we hadn’t had sex, but it sure as hell feels like it.
I put my corset back on, thinking about the way Kai’s fingers had stroked the swell of my breasts, about the way Maddox had caressed my back when removing the top. A shiver of remembered pleasure runs through me. Trying to focus, I tighten the laces as best as I can. It’s really a two-person job. Maggie had helped me get ready for tonight, making me promise I’d tell her everything. I wonder what she’ll think when I tell her what happened.
I h
adn’t come here to have sex with Kai and Maddox. I’m not going to lie—there was definitely a part of me that hoped that they were still single. That maybe they’d be interested in going out on a date or something.
But before that, I had intended to clear the air. Tell them everything. If we were to start anything, I wanted this time to be on an honest, level footing.
Instead, I fucked up.
There’s a knock on the door, and a woman pokes her head into the room. “Hi,” she says, her expression friendly.
I jump to my feet. “I’m sorry, do you have the room reserved or something?”
She laughs. “Oh, I’m not a member,” she says. “And in any case, the room won’t be ready for use until the cleaning crew has been here.” She walks into the room. “My name is Kiera. I’m a bartender here. Xavier sent me to check on you.”
There’s a pang in my heart. Xavier Leforte sent her. Not Kai and Maddox.
“Cleaning crew?” I don’t actually care how the club works, but talking about the logistics of running a sex club is much easier than dealing with my aching heart.
Tonight had been wonderful. When they’d touched me, when they made me touch myself in front of them… I thought my fantasies were hot, but they have nothing on the real thing.
But the crushing realization remains. Maddox and Kai couldn’t get out of here fast enough.
Kiera’s blonde hair is streaked with pink. As a teenager, I’d asked my mother if I could color my hair, and she’d been horrified. “Of course not, Avery. Nice girls don’t do that.”
That had been the end of that. I might talk a good game, but at the end of the day, I’ve never been the rebellious sort. After all, I’m the dutiful daughter who married someone to clear my parents’ debt.
“Yeah. They’re pretty quick at turning the room around. They’ll come in, wipe everything down, take an inventory of the toys used, bill it to the member’s account, and replace what’s needed.”
“Bill it to the member?”
She nods. “You’re new, right? Still a temporary member? It’ll be billed to either Dr. Bowen or Mr. Wake’s account, depending on who swiped in.”
Taming Avery (A MFM Menage Romance) (Club Menage Book 2) Page 4