Passion's Hope (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 3)

by Julie Shelton

  The woman nodded, looking a little nonplussed. “Yes. Thank you.”

  Raymond Baines then asked Charlie to describe the injuries that Bradford had inflicted upon her during her captivity. He handed her the enlarged photos he’d obtained from her medical file at the hospital. The photos the nurse had taken. “Do these photos accurately reflect your condition the night Perry Bradford brought you to the Emergency Room at Virginia Medical Center?”

  “Yes.”

  Baines laid them out before the judge. “Permission to publish these to the jury, Your Honor?”

  “Permission granted.”

  While the jurors were looking at the enlarged photos, he turned back to Charlie. “Did you ask for any of that to be done to you?”

  “No, I did not.”

  He then asked her to describe the details of her encounter with Bradford at Club Risqué.

  “Is that how you sustained that bruise on your cheek?”

  “Yes. He slapped me. He also choked me.”

  ‘Thank you, Miss Fielding. That will be all.”

  The judge thanked Charlie and told her she could step down. She walked back through the courtroom in a daze, feeling the stares of the jurors following her out the door.

  She stepped out into the hallway straight into Nik’s arms and burst into tears.

  “Hush, malyutka, hush. I’ve got you. Everything’s okay. Nothing can harm you.” He kissed her and folded his arms around her, holding her close while she buried her face against his chest, her body shaking with silent sobs.

  “What is it, baby?” Jay asked. “What happened in there?” He hovered anxiously beside her, patting her shoulder, rubbing her back, desperate to give her as much comfort as he could. He hated seeing her so upset. It made him want to strangle someone, preferably Perry Bradford. And the sooner, the better.

  The bailiff called for Alex McKay, who stopped beside her on his way into the courtroom. “Don’t worry, Charlie.” He grinned. “By the time I get done testifying, Bradford will be toast. He’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.”

  She sniffled. “Thanks, Alex. I think I needed to hear that.”

  Sarah and Jesse joined them. When she finally was able to tell them what the woman had said, they were all just as flabbergasted as Charlie had been. And for some reason that went a long way toward cheering Charlie up. She took Sarah’s extended hand, then looked around. Mike Conover, Karen Lunsford, and Alicia Corwin rejoined the group.

  Alex emerged from the courtroom less than fifteen minutes later, followed by a beaming Raymond Baines, who threw his arms around Charlie in a quick hug. “You did great, Charlie. You didn’t let that woman’s stupidity throw you. You were very patient with her. She’s been inattentive on other cases I’ve presented. Thank God her term is up at the end of the week.”

  “How long, do you think, before you get a true bill?” Sarah asked.

  “I’m expecting it any minute, actually. They were already discussing it when I left.”

  Not five minutes later, a buzzer sounded and a red light flashed above the courtroom door. The bailiff appeared with a folded piece of paper, which he handed to Raymond Baines. He unfolded it and grinned. “We have a true bill. Chief, I believe the next move is yours.”

  Grinning, Mike Conover pulled out his cell phone, barked “Do it!” to whoever answered, and thumbed it off. “They’ve had him under surveillance all morning. They’re on their way up to his office to arrest him right now.”

  “I’ll present the case for arraignment myself,” Raymond Baines said. “I guarantee he won’t be granted bail. Not this time. Not with a Solicitation of Murder charge against him. That’s a Class A felony, good for forty years, max. Plus, we have him on video not only hiring Alex to commit the murder, but accepting the photos and wiring the rest of the money into Alex’s account as proof that Alex had actually completed the task. With any luck, he’ll die in prison.” He shook everyone’s hand. “I’ll let you know as soon as the trial date is set.”

  Chief Conover and the two women also said good-bye and left, leaving Nik, Jay, Charlie, Jesse, Sarah, Art Portman, and Alex McKay.

  “I made reservations for lunch at Chez Foushee,” Nik announced. “Who’ll join us?”

  “We’ll go with you,” Jesse said, indicating himself and Sarah. “Our car’s over a block away, so we’ll meet you at the restaurant. C’mon, sugar.” He put his arm around Sarah’s waist.

  “Sorry,” Alex said with a grimace, “I have reports to write. That’s the worst part of police work, the damned reports.” He picked up Charlie’s hand, sandwiching it between both of his beefy ones. “And just FYI, the FBI is now investigating Bradford for possible securities fraud. His troubles are just beginning.”

  “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” Charlie murmured.

  “Exactly. So I’ll see you at the trial, sweetness. In the meantime, you’re in good hands. Nik and Jay would die before they let any harm come to you.”

  “They’re definitely the most wonderful men I’ve ever met,” she agreed fervently.

  “I’m reasonably certain they feel the same way about you.” Alex winked. He bent and kissed her cheek. “Later,” he said and strode away.

  Nik, Jay, Art, and Charlie exited the building just as Solo pulled up in the limo. Once again, Dr. Portman got into the front passenger seat. Solo drove them to the restaurant, but he refused to join them for lunch. Even when Charlie asked him, he just shook his head adamantly and got back in behind the wheel. “Call me when you’re done,” he said curtly, and drove off without a backward glance.

  Just as Jesse and Sarah walked up. Sarah turned her head to follow the limousine as it disappeared down the tree-shaded street.

  “Let’s go inside. “Nik said, ushering Charlie toward the front door of the restaurant. “We’re a bit early, but maybe they’ll go ahead and seat us.”

  Chez Foushee was an elegant, refined, up-scale restaurant with a wide variety of entrées, sandwiches, salads, and luscious desserts. Charlie had feared she would be too nervous to eat, but was gratified to realize that she was ravenous instead.

  Art Portman sat across the table from her so he could monitor her reactions in case testifying had taken more of a toll on her than she was willing to admit. But watching the easy way she interacted with the others at the table and the way she practically devoured her tarragon chicken salad, potato salad and a fresh fruit salad, he realized that she had, indeed, taken the ordeal in stride. Her strength impressed him.

  For dessert she ordered the lemon butter cake, which looked like a rich, creamy cheesecake filling baked in a crust of yellow cake, garnished with crushed raspberries and dusted with powdered sugar. At the first intensely lemony bite, she closed her eyes, a positively blissful expression on her face as the confection melted away in her mouth like spun sugar.

  “Oh. Migod. I have died and gone to heaven. Here, Daddy.” She scooped up another spoonful and held it up to Nik’s mouth. ‘You’ve got to try this.” She then fed a second spoonful to Jay. They both agreed that it was, indeed, heavenly.

  “Sarah? Have you ever had this?”

  “Many times,” she said with a laugh. “I find it’s a little like being in subspace. Only, today, I’m having a similar out-of-body experience with this Double Chocolate Mousse Torte. The praline sauce is killer. And these pecan tuiles... Mmmm.” She took a bite of the thin, crunchy, buttery cookie and closed her eyes, moaning in bliss.

  When their waitress came to refill Charlie’s milk and everyone else’s coffees, Nik asked if it were possible to order an entire lemon butter cake to go.

  “Oh, absolutely,” she replied. “People do it all the time. And they freeze beautifully.”

  “Excellent. I’ll take two.” When Charlie sucked in her breath to protest, he just turned to her. “We’ll freeze one of them. Maybe we can get Miguel to back-engineer it so you can have some any time you want.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” the waitress said. “An adapta
tion of our recipe was in a 2006 issue of Richmond Magazine. I’m sure you could look it up online.”

  Nik thanked her and she disappeared back into the kitchen area.

  Charlie’s hand flew to her chest and her throat thickened with unshed tears at the sweetness of his gesture. “I can’t believe you would do that for me.”

  Glancing over at her as he signed the check for the entire group, Nik’s face softened. He lifted his hand, brushing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Myshka, surely you know by now that I would do anything for you. When you took that first bite,” his voice tightened. “The expression on your face—”He stopped, obviously wrestling with some great emotion. It took him several seconds to get himself under control. “I knew that was an expression I wanted to see again and again. So, yes, my little mouse, I would do that and more for you.”

  Face dissolving in a flood of fresh tears, she turned toward him and lifted her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered. “You’re the best Daddy a girl ever had.” And she gave him a kiss that melted them both in a lake of fire.

  A kiss that would have lasted a lot longer if Jay hadn’t said in an aggrieved voice, “Hey! What am I, chopped liver? I want one of those, too.”

  Laughing against Nik’s lips, Charlie let go of him and turned to place a peck on Jay’s mouth.

  .“Whoa. You call that a kiss? C’mere, baby, I’ll show you a kiss.” He pulled her up off her chair and slid her onto his lap, bending her backward over his arm and kissing her with such heat, such fervor, such exuberance, she feared she would melt. Finally, he lifted his head, his arm across her back propelling her upright. Her face was flushed. She was breathless with laughter and more than a little aroused.

  “Whew!” she exclaimed, fanning herself with her hand, making the others laugh. She could feel how wet she was and was profoundly grateful that they had relented that morning and let her wear underwear. Otherwise the back of her skirt would be sopping and she’d be leaving a big wet spot on Jay’s trousers. Her face reddened at the very thought. It reddened even more when she realized that his cock was a granite ridge beneath her buttocks. She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, drawing his gaze to her lush little mouth.

  He nuzzled his face into the hair at the side of her head and whispered in her ear, “See the effect you have on me, Babygirl? I’ve been hard all morning just thinking about the fun we’re gonna have in the limo on the way home.”

  Holy fuck! She gasped and swallowed. Hard. She’d forgotten all about the limo ride home!

  The waitress returned with two baker’s boxes tied with string, plus two small plastic tubs. “That’s the raspberry coulis,” she explained. “One for each cake.

  As Nik reached for the boxes, Jesse reached for Sarah’s hand, lifting it to his lips.

  “Okay, guys,” he said, standing up and handing Sarah up out of her chair. “We need to get back to Marshall’s Creek. Adam’s giving a Shibari demonstration at Risqué tonight.”

  Charlie frowned. “Shibari?”

  “A form of Japanese rope bondage,” Jesse explained. “It’s very sensual. Come to the club tonight and see. Better yet, have your Daddy give you a demonstration. He’s a master at it.” He turned to shake Nik’s hand. “Thanks for the lunch, man. We’ll see you tomorrow night, Charlie.”

  “Tomorrow night?” She looked bewildered.

  “For your singing debut with the Midnight Riders. Did you think we would miss that?”

  “Actually,” she said with a little laugh, “I’d pretty much forgotten all about it.”

  “Well, that’s one way to deal with nerves,” Jesse chuckled. He tucked Sarah’s arm through his bent elbow, placed her hand on his forearm, and covered it with his hand, looking down at her with such adoration, Charlie was swept with a wave of longing so intense it made her dizzy. God, I want what they’ve got! She was completely unaware of the fact that Jay and Nik were both looking at her in exactly the same way.

  Jesse bent his head toward his wife. “You ready, sugar?”

  “Yes, love,” Sarah smiled. “’Bye, everybody. See you tomorrow.”

  They watched them go. Nik, Jay, and Art Portman seemed in no particular hurry to follow them out the door. Instead, they lingered over their coffee a full five minutes longer, while Charlie finished the last bites of her cake. Nik retrieved his phone and pressed a button. “We’re ready. Come pick us up.”

  “Be there in five,” Solo responded.

  Jay picked up their carry-out boxes and they went to stand in front of the restaurant. Solo pulled up seconds later, hopping out to open the back door while Dr. Portman got in the front passenger seat. Stowing the cakes in the trunk, Solo shut the door on his way back up to the front of the limo, but Charlie couldn’t see him get into the driver’s seat. The tinted glass slide was already raised. In just a few seconds, Solo’s disembodied voice came out over the intercom.

  “Attention passengers. Welcome aboard Passion Lake Limo’s Excursion #1170. Emergency exits, otherwise known as doors, are located to your left and right. Please fasten your seat belts and remain seated until we have reached our cruising speed of seventy-five miles per hour. Then feel free to get up and move about the cabin and indulge in whatever activities your kinky little hearts desire. Enjoy your trip and thank you for riding with Passion Lake Limos today.” He drove off slowly down the street.

  They had gone only a couple of blocks but Charlie’s mouth was already dry and she was having difficulty swallowing as she tried not to dwell on what kinky activities Nik and Jay had in store for her.

  Jay lifted a decanter from the limo’s bar and poured a shot of Bunnahabhain twenty-five-year-old single-malt scotch into each of two crystal tumblers, handing one to Nik. “Slide your dress out from under your ass,” Jay ordered quietly without looking at Charlie, but clearly addressing her.

  She lifted her hips, gathering the fabric up around her waist.

  “Stop,” Nik ordered. He took a deep, appreciative sniff of the rich amber liquor at the bottom of his glass, letting the intoxicating aroma of dried figs, toffee, caramel, and creamy vanilla waft up his nose. He took a sip, letting the smooth whiskey sit on his tongue before swallowing it, to get the full effect of the smoky, vanilla, fruity finish. “Take off your panties and give them to me,” he said, closing his eyes and inhaling again.

  Excitement jolted through her body. It skidded up and down her spine and sizzled across her skin like sparks from a welder’s torch. She pushed her barely-there thong down over her hips and off her legs. Letting it dangle provocatively from her fingertips, she held it out to Nik.

  Nik took it, burying his face against the sopping crotch with a groan and a deep inhale. “Jesus Christ, Babygirl, you smell so fuckin’ delicious.” He wadded up her panties and stuffed them in his pants pocket, taking the final sip of his scotch and reaching over her to put his tumbler in the indentation on the bar. “Now you may take off your dress.”

  Leaning forward, she fumbled around for the zipper tab at the back of her dress. But her fingers refused to cooperate, so Jay pulled the zipper down and pulled the dress up over her head in one swift, smooth motion, leaving her completely naked.

  Biting her lip, she cast a nervous glance at the smoky glass of the slide.

  “They can’t see you,” Nik assured her, following the direction of her gaze. “And as long as you don’t scream, they can’t hear you, either. But make no mistake,” he added darkly. “They’re both Doms and they both know exactly what’s going on back here.”

  “And what is going on back here?” Charlie had the temerity to ask. “Exactly?”

  “Your punishment.” He looked at her. Her expression was blank. “Do you recall why you are being punished?”

  “I-um…oh, because I refused to let you put that plug in my ass this morning?”

  “Not exactly. It was more the way you refused than your outright refusal.”

  “Oh, right. Because I didn’t use my safe word and discuss
my objections with you in a calm, lucid manner.”

  “Well put. Your punishment commences right now and lasts until we arrive back at the Lodge.” He gave her an evil grin. “You’d better pray Solo doesn’t run into any traffic jams along the way, or it’s going to be a very long trip.”

  She looked at him, aghast. “You mean you’re going to spank me for two whole hours?” The thought filled her with horror.

  “Who said anything about spanking you?”

  She frowned. “Then…what?”

  “I’ll let you choose,” he said. “A spanking. Or a plug.”

  She just stared at him, trying to gauge his mood, but his expression gave nothing away. She was going to have to figure this out herself. Okay, let’s think this through. He’s big, powerful. His hand is the size of a leg of lamb. A spanking would be extremely painful. But a plug?

  Come on, her other half argued, you’ve worn a plug before. It didn’t hurt. In fact, if you were totally honest with yourself, you’d have to admit it felt kinda…good. So they’ll make me wear a plug for the next two hours. I’ve worn one for longer than that.

  “I’ll take the plug.”

  Nik’s grin was pure evil. “Good choice, little mouse. Now, scoot over and let me get in the middle of the seat.”