The Dom with the Deviant Kittens

by Sorcha Black

“I crawled over you and groped your ass. That’s always the right side of the bed.”

  Elodie laughed, still a bit high from hearing the details about him using Tess the day before, and being told that there were no more rules about him being around when she and Tess wanted to have sex. The missing condom story had sent her into a fit of giggles.

  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, letting things get more heated and serious than was strictly appropriate, as she sometimes did. He backed her against the soda cases and kissed her hard, then pushed away from her with a quelling look. She laughed, and he shook his head. Incorrigible.

  Tess was grinning at them when Lock turned back to her.

  Margaret Stanley, however, was not smiling.

  Fucking hell. What was a rich woman doing at the supermarket, let alone at a bargain one? They never ran into anyone they knew here.

  “Hello, Mrs. Stanley.” The tone of his voice made both of his women freeze.

  “Lock. Tess.” She nodded to them in turn, her eyes narrow and her face pinched. “And who is this?”

  A million excuses and lies came to mind. Could he claim they were rehearsing for a play? She sure as hell wasn’t going to pass for his sister at this point.

  He thought about it for a moment. The woman didn’t deserve the truth – it was none of her business. But to deny Elodie when she was standing right there? To pretend she was nothing to him? He loved her too deeply to pretend she was nothing to him, even for a second. What he did in his private life was none of the shrew’s business. Just because she was orgasm deprived and possibly affection starved didn’t mean the rest of the world had to live the same way.

  Margaret Stanley’s narrow mind had no place in their relationship.

  He squared his shoulders. For the first time ever he felt like his life was being judged. “This is our partner, Elodie.”

  The older woman’s lips twisted as though someone had force fed her a crate of lemons.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Lock saw Tess grab Elodie’s hand, claiming her as theirs.

  He didn’t go out of his way to flaunt their relationship at work. He hadn’t asked to bring two women to the golf tournament and wouldn’t be asking for an extra ticket to the Christmas party, so how was it any of their business?

  “Well, it was a pleasure to see you, Mrs. Stanley, but we need to get to the checkout before our ice cream melts.” He pasted a fake smile on his face, knowing this wouldn’t be the last of it, but not wanting to make a scene in the store. Hopefully she’d have the same decency.

  “Disgusting. You can be sure my husband will be hearing about this,” she hissed and walked away.

  It felt like someone had dropped a bag of rocks into his stomach. How could a day go from silly and satisfying to so terrifying? If he lost his job over this, eventually he’d lose the girls too. Elodie shouldn’t have to support him, and Tess couldn’t support herself very well. He needed to keep this job, no matter how close-minded the company was.

  “What are you going to do?” Tess slipped a hand into his and leaned against him.

  Elodie flipped the bird at Margaret’s back as she rounded the corner away from them. “That stupid bitch can suck it. You don’t need that lame-ass job. Remember we talked about working together? You rep me to companies so I can focus on my designs. If we do that, it won’t matter what people think of us.”

  Sure they’d talked about it at length on certain nights. Elodie had too much work and was actually losing money because there was no one to take care of the business end of things. For that matter, Tess had started doing some of it, and it was too much even for her. But self-employment was so treacherous. What about benefits and job security? What if there were lean months and they couldn’t pay the mortgage? Putting all of their eggs in one basket was a bad idea.

  “God, Lock. I’m so sorry. This is my fault.” Tess drew back from him and walked partway down the aisle. “If I’d never moved in or agreed to go to that party... I can probably get my apartment back. Maybe they’ll let you keep your job if I leave.”

  And send her out to starve on her own? Lock’s protective instincts completely objected. But if he couldn’t support them, was she better or worse off with him? He was dead weight. Now that she had experience and Elodie had given her some self-esteem, maybe she could do better than being a third of a relationship that might be going down with the ship.

  “I’m not sure that would fix anything at this point.” Lock shook his head. “And I don’t want you to go.”

  “Well I can’t stick around and be a drain on your finances. That makes no sense. I’m your maid. I’ll find other work.”

  “Ferme ta gueule.” Elodie pulled her hands from her crimson hair and it seemed to stand out from her head, mirroring her wrath. “Shut up. I still have a fucking job, and I can probably manage most of the bills by myself until Lock finds work, or we make the home business a go.”

  People came down the aisle and went around them, either oblivious to their conversation or not caring. It was amazing how their huge crisis was irrelevant to other people.

  Lock pressed his lips together, trying to be objective about things. “Home businesses can take years to get off the ground.”

  “But we’re not starting from scratch.” Elodie grabbed the grocery cart handle and turned it, heading toward the check out. Once she’d slammed every item of food on the conveyor, she glared at Lock and Tess both. “You two want to be cowards? Fine. But I, for one, am not giving up on this relationship without a fight.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  They were determined to drive her crazy.

  Somehow Tess was packing her stuff faster than Elodie could go along behind her and unpack it again. And Lock? The fucker was hiding in the computer room, pretending it wasn’t happening.

  In all fairness, he was a bit of a mess about the job thing. It was hitting his ego hard. They’d given him the boot when he’d arrived Monday morning, saying his “lifestyle wasn’t compatible with the company’s brand.” But that was two days ago, and he’d had plenty of time to mope. Right now she needed help keeping Tess from moving back to her shithole apartment.

  “I don’t see how this is going to help anything. Lock’s looking for another job. Stanley gave him a good letter, surprisingly enough, so it shouldn’t be that hard. He might need to travel for work, but we can talk about moving if we have to.” Elodie didn’t care if she was practically begging. Tess needed to understand she felt passionately about this. “If you go, I don’t know what I’m going to do. You belong here. With us.”

  Tess stuffed more things into the bag. She’d given up on refolding them. “Lock needs to get things sorted out. The last thing he needs is more responsibility hanging over his head while he makes decisions. Besides, if he does find something else, he still won’t keep a job if he keeps me. There are some protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace, but not for people like us. Even then, employers lie all the time. They could just say he’s lazy or stupid and let him go. We can’t hide forever, and we’re going to get caught.”

  Tears pricked Elodie’s eyes. She hated crying, but it was all she’d been able to do since Tess had announced she was leaving. It almost felt like a betrayal that she was going when things were at their worst. Shouldn’t people who loved each other stick together when things got bad?

  Maybe Tess didn’t love them like they loved her. She’d assumed she did, but maybe she’d just seen what she wanted to see. Maybe they’d just been a safe place to crash and save some money.

  That fucking hurt.

  No. That couldn’t be right. Not after everything they’d done together, talked about. The way Tess looked at them in the quiet times.

  The muscles in Tess’s neck were taut, her expression determined. She didn’t look like a girl who didn’t give a shit. Twice, she balled up the same shirt, trying to stuff it into a spot in the bag where there was no more room.

  “You can’t take care of yourself alone. You
need to stay, at least until you’re on your feet.”

  “Jeez, Elodie. I’m not an idiot. I was managing fine before you took me in.” She shoved the shirt viciously into the front pocket of the bag and zipped it closed. She slung the bag over her shoulder and sped down the stairs.

  “I know. I know you’re not stupide. Just stay. Please. I love you. Don’t go.” She tried to grab her hand, but Tess shook her off.

  “Stop being so melodramatic. I’m just going to be in the next town over. I’m not going to disappear.” She dropped her bag by the door then turned back to Elodie. She hugged her, and for a moment Elodie thought she’d changed her mind.

  Elodie kissed her ear, her cheek, her nose. She loved this girl so much it made her heart hurt. To see her packed and ready to go was awful and wrong, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that hadn’t already been said.

  “Maybe this is temporary? Maybe you’ll come back to us later, when things get better?” This time she let Elodie take her hand. El clung to it and pressed it to her chest.

  “We’ll see.” Tess wiped her eyes on her shirt sleeve. “You know I love you. And Lock.” Her voice caught.

  Maybe Tess thought he didn’t really love her, but Elodie knew damn well that he did. Right now he was in shock, maybe, or he was suffering from temporary idiocy.

  “I have to go, though. This whole thing was a failed experiment from the beginning. It wasn’t supposed to be forever. If anything, I should be happy I got to have the two of you as long as I did.” Tess’s small smile, full of sorrow and self mockery, crushed Elodie’s heart. After all the discussions they’d had, Elodie knew she was too used to her life being shit and that she didn’t expect any different.

  Elodie kissed her then, trying to tell her how she felt when there weren’t words to explain. It had only been a few months since they’d met, but Tess was like air to her now. Tess tenderly kissed her back, only parting from her when Lock’s footsteps sounded on the stairs.

  His face was drawn and pale. He kissed them both on the forehead, then hefted Tess’s bag.

  “This isn’t forever, Mouse. I know you feel you need to do this right now, but in a few weeks you can expect me at your door, and I won’t take no for an answer.” Lock hugged her, and Elodie’s relief just made her cry harder. Maybe he would make this right after all. He wasn’t a dickhead.

  “Here.” Lock shoved a wad of bills into her hand. “It’s the money I figure we owe you, plus some to hold you over.”

  “What?” Tess shook her head and tried to give it back. “I can’t take this. You might lose the house.”

  His frown made him look ominous. “That’s a drop in the bucket. It won’t save us. Besides, do you think I give a shit about this house, when you’re going to be slaving away at twenty jobs and starving yourself? You’re family to us now. I’m just letting you go so you can think for a while.” He pushed her hair behind her ear then kissed her eyebrow. “You have to stay in contact and let us know if you need anything. If it’s...if it’s that you can’t handle being with a guy who’s an unemployed loser, I won’t hold that against you. If it’s because you don’t want live with the discrimination we’re going to face together, or the fact that there’ll never be a wedding, I get that too. I don’t have much to offer you right now.”

  Merde, Lock. Pauvre bâtard. So that’s what he was so messed up about. It wasn’t the job loss, it was a complete loss of self-esteem. But none of this had been his fault. If anything, it had been hers. Maybe Elodie should have felt guilty, but instead she was angry. Stupid idiot braindead bosses expecting every worker to be a drone.

  Temporary.

  Elodie wouldn’t allow Tess pull away from them, just like she wouldn’t let Lock forget about Tess and move on with life. This wasn’t some meaningless fling to put away and chalk up to experience.

  If this bump hadn’t come so early on, just as everything was starting to work so well, Tess would never even have thought of moving out. They would have worked through this together, like any other family. Stupid Margaret Stanley and her stupid grocery store slumming.

  The taxi pulled into the yard and beeped its horn. They took turns kissing her then walked her out.

  Elodie and Lock stood in the driveway, holding each other as they watched the yellow car disappear down their tree-lined street. Taking their girl away from them.

  *

  “You can come home, both of you, if you need somewhere safe to fall, ma fille,” her mother repeated for the umpteenth time. “You can work from here, and he can look for work from here.”

  Elodie lay back on the couch and rolled her eyes at the ceiling. Her maman was lucky she wasn’t the hanging up type. The woman worried about her, but she wasn’t a child. “We have enough money to last for about two more months before things start getting desperate. If they do, I’ll let you know.”

  Her mother tsked. “Your work is up and down, though. Things don’t have to be desperate for you to come here. You don’t have to waste all your savings.”

  “Je sais. I know, but we’re fine. I just wish he’d quit being so stubborn. Here I am drowning in work, and he’s acting like I don’t have enough going on to keep us both afloat.”

  “Male pride is a fragile thing.” Maman chuckled. “I’m sure it smarts that he can’t provide for you.”

  Elodie grumbled. “That’s not the worst part.”

  “Are you going to tell me your secret?” Her mother’s excitement was ridiculous and misdirected. She’d hinted about something she wasn’t saying, but her mother’s imagination had gone straight to babies.

  “It’s not a baby and it’s not a wedding. If it was something that would make you happy, I would have told you to get you off my case about money.”

  “What then? You know you can tell me anything.”

  Parents said that all the time, but how much did they really want to know? It would be easy enough to say nothing, considering everything was up in the air, but telling seemed to give it a realism she was starting to worry was disappearing. Lock was going through his days focused on searching for work, and every time she brought up Tess, he changed the subject. Elodie ached to talk about her.

  “Lock and I are in love.”

  “Yes, that’s obvious. You told me that when you decided to move there, sight unseen. I’m glad for you it’s worked out as well as it has. He could have been a serial killer.”

  Elodie laughed nervously. “Yes, I know. But that’s not what I mean. I meant that we’re in love with someone else. Like, both of us with the same person.”

  “What? What are you saying to me?” She didn’t sound upset, just perplexed.

  “Remember I told you about Tess who moved in to help us with the house? Now she’s our girlfriend.”

  Maman sighed. “Oh you and your crazy fads. Everyone is bisexual and in weird relationships nowadays. Next week you’ll call and tell me you and Lock are into that creepy rope sex stuff.”

  Elodie slapped a hand over her eyes and tried not to snort into the phone. “I’m not talking about rope sex. I’m talking about a real person that I have real feelings for.”

  “T’es folle, Elodie. Crazy girl. You do what makes you happy in the moment and I’ll be here to try to save you when it all goes wrong again. I’m sure Lock talked you into this, but men are sluts and will convince you to try all sorts of odd things, if you let them.”

  The front door opened and Elodie decided that maybe it was time to end the conversation before she said more than her mother could handle. The benefit of always having been a free spirit was having a family that was hard to surprise.

  They hung up, and Elodie went into the kitchen looking for Lock. He was rooting around in the fridge. She knelt by the table and waited for his attention, rather than sneaking up on him and tickling him, or jumping on his back. Tess would have waited quietly, as was her way with him, and Elodie planned to remind him about what he was missing every chance she got.

  He started throwing the
fixings for a sandwich on the table, and smiled half-heartedly when he saw her.

  “Are you going to try to be a good girl today, or something?”

  “I thought I’d try it to freak you out.” She smirked. “I bet you didn’t know I could kneel quietly without your fist in my hair.”

  “Are you looking for cock?” He walked over to her, as though he’d forgotten about his plans to make a sandwich.

  “That would be a nice distraction, but I just got off the phone with my mother and I need to get my ass back in gear.”

  “Oh, I’ll get your ass in gear.”

  She arched a brow at him. “What does that even mean?”

  He loosened his tie and took it off, then used it to lasso her hands together behind her. “How about I show you what I mean?”

  “But Sir, I have to get my dragon prototype ready, and I have four companies that are waiting to hear back from me.” She bit her lip as he took off his leather jacket and hung it on the back of the chair, then unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves. Nothing like some man porn to break up a girl’s afternoon. “Want to check two emails I have in my drafts? I’m not sure if I got the English right.”

  Without a word, he helped her to her feet and sat at his spot at the table, pulling her onto his lap. He nuzzled her hair and sighed. “You smell good.”

  She shivered, impatient with a body that had needs and didn’t understand that sometimes she had to do her damned job. Keep it funny. Don’t let him know you’re interested, or the next few hours will be spent in bed. “It’s probably the turpentine I was working with. If you were thinking of taking up smoking, now is not a good time.”

  Focused on his goal, he unbuttoned the front of her dress until he could slide his hand inside. He cupped the easiest breast to get at and tugged at her hardened nipple. Elodie shuddered and squirmed in his lap.

  “Mmm. I like this.”

  “I got that impression from the way your dick is digging into my ass.” She squirmed, trying to get comfortable on the metal bar in his pants. “Lock, how am I going to make any money if you maul me every time you walk in the door? You being home all the time means I’m not getting anything done. I need to work. I was already swamped before they fired you. That’s why we hired Tess, remember?”