by Tara Rose
Giselle’s family had been on the island since before the Durantes and Raleighs came, although her parents never spoke ill of their ancestors. They’d taken over the bar in 1967, right after they were married straight out of high school. Asa and Tim had taken care of them well, and Giselle had never been sure if that’s why her parents didn’t put them down, or if they were simply content to live here and have their thriving business.
But whatever the reason, Giselle also didn’t see any reason to hate the men who had built this business. Everything now was legal and aboveboard, and if they wanted to keep their dirty laundry on the island as much as possible, who could blame them? They paid their employees generously and they offered far better healthcare and retirement benefits than she’d ever find in a job on the mainland. Plus, she truly lived in paradise here. They all did.
And she couldn’t argue that the view in her little corner of this plant was quite sexy when Kade and Elliot walked by, as they often did. They weren’t men who sat in corner offices and played Solitaire on their computers all day. They were down on the floor, talking to their employees, and constantly making sure all the merchandise that was still made right here on the island was top-notch. Who could help but admire such men?
As Giselle continued to work, she let her imagination return to the way Elliot’s and Kade’s muscles had flexed as they’d each thrown the flogger. A great many of the residents on the island lived a BDSM lifestyle, although Giselle had limited experience in that area. She wondered if she’d ever have the chance to learn more about it, and maybe feel the thud or sting of a flogger on her ass from Elliot or Kade… or both, preferably.
She smiled slightly as she recalled the look in Kade’s eyes when he caught her watching Elliot. It wasn’t the first time either man had given her a searching look, but neither had ever so much as hinted at wanting to pursue a relationship with her. They were always pleasant when they came into the bar while she worked alongside her parents, but Giselle had no idea if they dated, or would even want to go out with someone like her.
She sighed out loud. Sitting around wishing something would happen wasn’t the answer. Still, it’s not like she had enough nerve to waltz up to either man and ask them out. She could, but she’d be humiliated beyond belief if they turned her down. She was tired of living her life vicariously through others, and watching Kade and Elliot from afar, but didn’t know how to make the first move.
It was time to seek help from Phyllis. Her parents had consulted the voodoo practitioner more than once over the years, seeking business advice, and they’d never been steered wrong. Why shouldn’t she ask for help with her sex life? Or rather, lack of?
Giselle sighed again, but this time in contentment as she resumed her work on the flogger. She would do it. She would ask Phyllis for advice. It was good to have a plan in place now, and for the first time in months she felt at peace with her long-held fantasies of Kade and Elliot.
Chapter Two
Kade Durante had always hated the fact that his and Elliot’s offices overlooked part of the manufacturing floor. It seemed ridiculous to be perched up here like factory foremen in an old movie, gazing down at the toiling masses. At least the view out the window was pleasant. The private lake on the property was visible from here, as were the rolling hills dotted with homes belonging to his relatives.
When his and Elliot’s ancestors had designed the town after buying the island from the original inhabitants, they’d built homes on the hillsides, as if they were medieval lords looking down on their serfs. He and Elliot both had homes on flat ground, much to the consternation of their fathers, Steve Durante and Karl Raleigh. But both men found it silly to have to drive up a steep incline just to reach their houses, and preferred to be closer to the plant and offices, at any rate.
While Elliot took their visitors from New York to see the shipping department, Kade made a flimsy excuse about having to sit in on a conference call. Elliot knew it was bullshit, and Kade knew he’d have to return the favor one day, but that was fine. Elliot was more into the whole impress-the-potential-clients thing anyway, so Kade let him do that when the men had to put on a show for outsiders.
The only part he liked about having an office that overlooked half the assembly stations was the fact that Giselle worked in the old part. The new part didn’t have a direct view from where Kade now stood, peering down at her. She, along with him and Elliot, had been part of a tight circle of friends when they were kids. But once he and Elliot became old enough to come to work with their fathers, they were also told not to associate too closely with certain townsfolk.
That admonition came mostly from Tim, not Asa. Both men were related to him and Elliot as cousins of each of their parents in various ways, but since the two families were so intermixed and the relationships so convoluted, Kade and Elliot simply called Tim and Asa by their names to make it easy. But the fact remained they did run the company for now, so both men had to show each some degree of respect, even if that was saved only for public displays.
Kade preferred Asa, who took a more hands-off approach but also had judges and cops in his back pocket. He ran the company with an iron fist, and he took no nonsense from anyone, including his own family members. Tim, on the other hand, had a blind spot for certain family members and was ineffective as a leader. He deferred to Asa when backed into a corner, and more than once Asa had to fix a mess Tim had made. Of the two, Kade’s money would always be on Asa.
He watched Giselle work, his dick growing hard the way it always did when he watched her or even thought about her. Personally, he’d seen nothing wrong by continuing his friendship with her as they got older, but he’d caved, along with Elliot, to pressure from above, and they’d drifted apart.
That didn’t stop him and Elliot from frequenting Lady of The Night, however, as soon as they were legally old enough to enter the bar. Asa and Tim both had remained good friends with Laila and Justin, Giselle’s parents, and to this day Kade still wasn’t sure why the men had no problems with that friendship, but had encouraged him and Elliot to distance themselves from the Maceys’ youngest daughter.
Kade thought it was hypocrisy of the worst sort, and consequently that made him all the more determined to keep Giselle close. When Asa saw the silk flag she’d made her parents for the bar, and suggested she’d be perfect to work on their custom flogger line, he and Elliot had wasted no time in hiring Giselle into the coveted position. If that move had caused speculation and jealousy among some of the senior staff, well, that was just too bad. She had natural talent, and you couldn’t train someone to do what she did so unsupervised.
She’d never made a mistake, and the countless letters and e-mails they’d received since she’d come to work for them over two months ago proved how thrilled their customers were with the custom floggers she made. Norm’s boss, Carmen Santoro, always made sure to personally thank Giselle each time a letter or e-mail was received, praising a flogger she’d made.
Carmen was a line manager for them, and was also good friends with Laila. Kade often wondered if Giselle had been hand-chosen for this job not only because of Asa and Tim’s friendship with her parents, but because of Carmen’s influence as well. Carmen had sixteen shift supervisors who reported to her, including Norm. She constantly complained to them how useless Norm was, but he was loosely related to Tim by marriage, so Kade and Elliot knew they couldn’t touch him.
His thoughts drifted toward Giselle once again. She was much pleasanter to dwell on than the intertwined mess that was both their families. He’d caught the look of lust and raw desire on her face as she’d watched him and Elliot throw that flogger. He knew next to nothing about her personal life these days. Did she know anything about the BDSM lifestyle? Was she aware that he and Elliot were Doms? How many men, if any, had flogged her curvy ass?
Kade wanted to know the answer to these questions and more. He wanted to ask her out, but he’d tread carefully out of respect for Asa and Tim. She still worked weekends a
t the bar, as did both her sisters. Maybe it was time he and Elliot paid a visit to Lady of The Night this weekend? It had been a while since they’d had a night out just to unwind and relax. He’d suggest it to him as soon as he finished with the stiffs from New York.
* * * *
Elliot Raleigh walked downtown with Kade, breathing in the fragrant scents of a summer night on the island. Even during the winter it never got very cold here. In fact, the only unpleasant or frightening weather occurred during hurricane season.
The island had no underground shelters. Most of his family had built their homes on hillsides. The others simply hoped for the best. A few sons of the original four had wanted to build underground shelters after realizing the curse was indeed real, and evacuation from a coming hurricane would be impossible. But everyone told them they were nuts as they would likely flood during the storm surge.
Elliot wasn’t convinced they’d have devastating floods from a storm surge unless the island took a direct hit from a large hurricane. They were much higher above sea level than New Orleans and most of the Gulf coast.
But Elliot wasn’t thinking about storms tonight. He was picturing Giselle, and the look on her face yesterday as each man tested out the flogger she’d made. He only wished they’d hired her sooner. She was so skilled, and she certainly wasn’t bad to look at either. As soon as he’d seen the visitors from New York safely aboard their private jet and returned to his office, Kade suggested it was time to visit their favorite bar downtown. Elliot hadn’t had to ask why.
He missed the days when he, Kade, Giselle, and others had hung out as kids. None of them had to put on a show or acknowledge the invisible yet ever-present divide that separated the Durantes and Raleighs from everyone else on this island. It was ridiculous, although Elliot was far less vocal in his protestations of the divisions than Kade was. But Elliot felt no differently. He simply kept quiet about it because he knew it wouldn’t change anything if he voiced his concerns. He and Kade both were bucking decades-long traditions.
Their two families were so mixed now that even with a flowchart he had trouble figuring out who was related to whom in what way. And the families had mixed with the descendants of the original inhabitants of this island as well. There was no distinct ruling or servant class any longer, but Asa and Tim still acted as though the divisions existed, and preserving them was sacred.
Elliot mentally laughed. Asa was in no position to judge anyone on this island. He’d been divorced three times now, and his current girlfriend, Melinda Summers, was about half his age. She was from the mainland and she worked in the word-processing department. She was his employee, although not a direct one. Elliot liked Asa well enough, and like Kade, he preferred to deal with him over Tim, but the man was a walking mess of hypocrisy.
“Hey, wake up. We’re here.”
Elliot glanced around as they walked into the bar, scanning it for an empty table. “Walking into it” wasn’t the right term. During calm weather like this, the only thing separating the interior from the street and sand around it were thick steel poles covered with bamboo set along the perimeter at intervals. In inclement weather, thick canvas walls were attached to the poles. The only structure was a concrete block room behind the bar that served as their storeroom and tiny office.
But now, three sides of the interior were open and crowded, as they’d expected it to be on a Friday night. Giselle was already behind the bar, talking and laughing as she served drinks. Instead of the bright-green smock featuring the Phoebe’s Playthings logo she wore at work, Elliot caught a glimpse of her peasant blouse, pushed down over her shoulders. Wearing it that way accentuated her cleavage, and his cock began to twitch.
He knew if she stepped out from behind the bar he’d see her wearing the same white denim shorts she wore at work, only instead of the hard-soled shoes she donned at the plant to protect her feet, she’d have on sandals or flip-flops.
Her mass of dark, curly hair hung loose, and he imagined it spread out against the sand on a warm summer night, the same way he always pictured her. Those beautiful golden-hazel eyes would gaze up at him in the moonlight as he thrust in and out of her tight pussy, until she clung to him and cried out his name at the moment of her release. It was a dream he’d held in his heart for years now, and as time slipped by, he wondered if it would ever become reality.
“We’ll have to sit at the bar.”
“Fine by me.” He followed Kade to two empty seats at the far end. Giselle spotted them, and her pretty face lit up. Elliot glanced toward Kade as she signaled to let them know she’d be right over. “I think it’s time we stopped dicking around and ask her out.”
Kade laughed, then slid a dish of peanuts toward them and scooped out a handful. “I’m glad to hear you say that, because that’s exactly why I wanted to come here tonight.” He glanced around the bar quickly, and then leaned closer. “And fuck what Tim or Asa say about it.”
As Giselle approached them, Elliot high-fived his friend.
* * * *
Giselle watched them high-five each other, wondering what that was about, but she wasn’t really worried about it. She was thrilled to see them in the bar. It had been months since they’d come downtown. “Mr. Raleigh, Mr. Durante, how nice to see you both. What can I get you to drink?”
“None of that Mister shit here,” said Kade, winking at her. “We have first names.”
“I’d feel odd using them.”
He leaned over the bar, and she caught a whiff of expensive cologne. “Don’t. And you may call us by our names at work, too. Things are pretty loose in that department.”
“All right.” She placed coasters in front of them. “My mother is making her famous Hurricanes with pineapple and mango juice tonight. The customers seem to like the combo. Would you each like to try one?”
“We’d love to.”
“Coming right up.” She turned and asked her mother for the drinks, then took care of other customers while she watched Kade and Elliot talk. When the drinks were done, she intended to spend a few moments talking with them.
Let Kirstie and Neeva take care of the other customers for a while. Her two older sisters were so lazy it was ridiculous. Neither one was married or had children, and both still lived at home. This job was all they had to do, but they both bitched about how busy they were all the time.
And now that Giselle had another job, they were constantly bothering her to get them in at the plant. As if she’d do that even if she had that kind of pull. Those two would never work hard enough, and then it would reflect poorly on her. She made excuses all the time about there not being any jobs open. Let them find their own extra work if they really wanted it. She only came here on weekends to help because it was her family business, and her parents needed help all the time.
“Here you go.” Her mother handed her the drinks. “I made them strong, so tell those two to sip them.”
Giselle placed the drinks in front of Kade and Elliot then leaned against the counter. “Let me know how they are.”
Kade took a sip. “Wow. I’d forgotten how good these are.”
Elliot tasted his and expressed the same sentiment. “What did you say she tried that’s different?”
“The combo of pineapple and mango juice is new for her. She read about it online and decided to try it.”
“It’s fabulous. Have you tasted one?”
She nodded. “I have. It’s good to see you two here tonight. It’s been a while.”
“Too long,” said Kade. He gave her a searching look, just as he’d done earlier at work.
“So you said those men were from New York? A shop in Chelsea?”
“It’s called What’s Your Pleasure. They’re buyers for it. It’s a large shop and would be a nice contract for us to land.”
“They were impressed with the shipping department,” said Elliot. “Taj and Jeff talked their ears off. All I had to do was stand there.”
Giselle wiped the counter so it would look like
she was actually doing something if Kirstie or Neeva glanced her way. “Do you think you’ll land the account?”
“I hope so. The sales department is in Alaina Pembrooke’s hands temporarily while Sallyanne takes some time off, so they’re all a bit busy over there. But knowing Alaina, she’s all over it.”
Giselle frowned. “Is Sallyanne all right?” She hadn’t heard that anyone other than Alex had been hurt that night. She hoped Jeff’s sister hadn’t been injured as well.
“She will be.” Elliot glanced around. “You heard what happened, right?”
“Only in general terms.”
“Alex Nesfield used Sallyanne to try and get revenge on Alaina. She didn’t know he was playing her. She found out for certain the night she shot him.”
“What? Sallyanne shot him?” She’d assumed one of the cops had done so.
Elliot nodded. “He held her and Alaina hostage in his house, and when Taj and Jeff put together what had happened, they called the cops. When the cops arrived, Alex blurted out the truth and told Sallyanne he’d never cared for her. That he was only using her. She got hold of his gun and shot him.”
“Wow.” She glanced at each of them in turn. “I won’t breathe a word. Don’t worry.”
“Most of our family members know the real truth,” said Kade, “but we wouldn’t want that detail to get around the building.”
“It won’t. Not from me, anyway. Thank you for trusting me.”
“You know we do.” Kade’s voice was silky smooth, and Giselle pictured listening to it while the two lay naked under the stars, or indoors with the windows open. In her vision, soft breezes cooled the sweat off their bodies, and insects sang them a song by which to sleep.
“We’ve known each other a long time,” said Elliot, his voice sexy and soft. “You were one of our first friends, and now you’re one of our most gifted employees.”