And since Justin and Ben’s relationship had been heating up, it was only safe to assume they would be following that path as well.
However…
As far as I was concerned, Luci belonged to me. No way was I going to step out of this completely and let them fight for her. She was mine. I’d known it from the beginning.
The only problem was, I knew Langston wasn’t on the same page. Not yet. There for about a minute, I thought we were making progress, but then my asshole brother did what he always did and retreated from what he truly wanted. It never failed.
“So, what are you suggesting?” It was clear Langston wasn’t happy about the topic.
“I’m suggesting that we continue on the path we were on. In the beginning,” Justin explained. “You’re more than welcome to spend time with her after hours, even have her spend the night, but not at the expense of the rest of us. You can’t monopolize her time.”
Langston didn’t respond immediately.
“Are you wanting something more?” Justin asked, his eyes locked on Langston.
Again, Langston didn’t say anything.
“Son of a bitch,” Justin groaned.
“I didn’t say I wanted more,” Langston clarified, his voice deep and full of emotion. “However, I’m not ruling it out. As of right now, I’m content with the way things are going. However, I do intend to get closer to her.” Langston looked at me. “My intention was for both of us to get closer to her.”
I wasn’t surprised by that statement. Not entirely. But my brother was still holding himself back. He seemed to want more, but he was unwilling to ask for it. I think it had a lot to do with how inexperienced Luci was. She was learning, but she still had a long way to go before she understood the true meaning of submission.
Perhaps it was her request for more vanilla that had thrown him off. Everyone knew my brother wasn’t comfortable with that. He wasn’t looking to wine and dine a woman, to spend the evening making love to her. He wanted to dominate her, and for whatever reason, he took the full-time D/s thing seriously. He didn’t seem to know any other way to do it.
“Trust me,” Langston clarified, “I’m not ready to move forward with her. I want to get to know her, but that’s all I want. For now.”
That bothered me more than I expected.
Justin looked pained.
“You need to make up your mind,” Justin bit out. “I’m tired of wandering around waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“No one said you should wait,” Langston argued. “Fucking go after her if that makes you feel better. I’m certainly not considering your feelings when I invite her somewhere.”
Great. This was quickly going nowhere.
“You should collar her now and get it over with,” Justin yelled.
“But…that’s not what I want from her,” Langston admitted.
I kept my mouth shut. It was exactly what I wanted from her and my brother knew it. As always, I was letting him lead because I knew that he was more practical when it came to shit like this. I tended to go after what I wanted, which, in this case, hadn’t been easy because I’d been holding back so much all this time.
“But is that your plan? To eventually collar her?” Justin asked, his tone no longer strained.
“It’s highly likely.”
“What does that even mean?” Justin snapped. “Are you saying that the two of you intend to claim her for your own but you’re biding your time? Or are you stringing her along?”
Langston’s gaze slammed into Justin’s. “Don’t act as though you haven’t noticed, Parker. From the moment I met that girl, I knew that she would belong to us.”
“Yet you’ve been toying with her all along.”
That seemed to piss Langston off. “I’m not toying with anyone. I’m merely letting her get her feet wet. She deserves to explore this because it’s obviously what she wants.”
“We don’t know what she wants,” I noted. “No one has bothered to ask her directly. We’ve only assumed based on her actions.”
“So, why doesn’t someone ask her?” Ben questioned, his irritation bleeding into his words.
“I think that’s a brilliant idea,” Justin agreed. “I think we should give her a chance to tell us what she wants.”
Langston glared at Justin. “Fine. Call her in here. Let’s get it over with.”
“I’d like to think we should at least have some options for her before we drag her ass in here,” Ben said, ever the voice of reason.
“I think the two of you are overstepping,” Justin insisted. “That woman has a good head on her shoulders. If she wasn’t interested in continuing this, she would’ve told us.”
“Maybe,” Langston agreed. “Or perhaps she doesn’t want to step on any toes. The woman’s a natural submissive.”
“Well, no shit. We figured that out from the second she stepped into the office,” Ben said flatly.
Justin took a deep breath. “I say we come up with a few options and let her decide.”
“Y’all can do whatever the hell you want,” I stated, feeling the need to get my two cents in. “I’m not willing to give her up. Not yet.” Not ever.
Justin’s tone was somber when he said, “I think we’re all on the same page there.”
Nineteen
I WAS BACK AT MY desk at two o’clock on the dot. I instantly noticed that none of my bosses had returned, and I didn’t know what to think about that. They had been holed up in the conference room for hours.
Seriously? What did they have to talk about for that long?
About ten minutes till three, I looked up to see Sir walking toward me. He looked tense, but he managed to smile when he approached, though it didn’t quite meet his eyes. I was shocked when he held out his hand to me, silently willing me to stand up.
“We’d like you to join us in the conference room, sweet girl.”
I loved when he called me that. And I loved when he looked at me the way that he was. As though I was the only person he wanted to look at.
“Okay. I just need to tell Jordan I’ll be in a meeting.”
Sir stepped back while I grabbed the phone and hit the button to dial the front desk.
“I hope this is good news,” he said by way of greeting.
“I’ll be in a meeting for a little while. Please hold all calls or send them to voice mail.”
“Yes, ma’am. And hey…good luck.”
I chuckled at his excitement, then hung up the phone. We had spent our entire lunch hour coming up with reasons our bosses were hiding out. All of which were completely ridiculous. After all, I couldn’t imagine it was anything serious. Things had been progressing quite well. And the more I had thought about it, the less tense I’d become. They were probably talking about work and now they wanted to have an impromptu Monday meeting…on Tuesday.
Sir was still waiting for me, so I turned to follow. He placed his hand on the back of my neck—a possessive move that stirred some sort of deep need inside me—and urged me toward the back conference room.
Once inside, I noticed that the blinds were open and Ben, Justin, and Master were still talking. They went silent when I joined them. There was tension in the air, something that I’d never felt before.
“Please,” Master said, motioning toward the chair between him and Sir, “have a seat.”
“Yes, Master,” I whispered.
Once I was seated, Justin was the one to start talking.
“As you can see, we had some things to discuss today. And we wanted you here for two reasons.”
I swallowed hard, then blurted out my fear. “Are you going to fire me?”
Despite all the fun and games, I had come to love my job and I didn’t want to have to look for another.
“It’s good, Luci,” Ben stated softly. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. Regardless of what decisions are made going forward, your employment here is secure. You’ve done a phenomenal job in that regard. I don’t want you to think
otherwise.”
I was sure he meant to ease my fears, but he only made it worse. I had no idea what was going on. Everything had seemed fine when we left the island, but I could tell something was really off right now. And the issue appeared to be between the four of them. Did that mean I was at the heart of it? I had only briefly spoken to Justin and Ben since the island, so I wasn’t sure how that could be the case.
Justin leaned forward, planted his elbows on his knees, and dropped his head into his hands. It was strange to see him look that way. Usually the man was so self-assured, so confident. He appeared almost…defeated.
“We were actually trying to find a way to make things less confusing around here,” Sir explained when no one else spoke. “It seems that in the past couple of weeks, the dynamic has changed and we know it’s going to affect things here in the office.” He looked at me as he spoke. “I assume you’ve noticed it, too?”
I nodded. Things had changed. In a good way. Or so I’d thought. Now I wasn’t so sure. Still, I responded with, “Yes, Sir.”
Justin cleared his throat. “See, right there.”
Sir’s gaze shot over to Master, then to Justin.
I was scared to look at Master, worried what I would see on his face. The last time we’d been together, he had walked out of Sir’s bedroom without looking back.
Instead, I continued to focus on Justin. He seemed to be the most upset out of all of them and I didn’t know why.
He stood up and paced the room, all eyes following him.
A few tense moments passed, but then he took a deep breath. “We initially thought we’d give Landon and Langston the choice but then decided that wasn’t fair. To you.”
Choice? What choice?
I frowned, not sure what he meant.
“Initially, we were going to force them to either collar you or let you go.”
Collar me? Master and Sir? Why would they do that?
My hand instantly went to my neck. I’d read about collaring, knew exactly what that meant. When a Dom claimed a sub as his, he collared her. I’d read numerous stories, some so deeply romantic it was a level of trust and love that I’d never known existed. In my opinion, it was far more revered than even the sanctity of marriage, which, if I looked at it rationally, seemed to be more about government and paperwork than about true love anyway. And wasn’t the statistic something along the lines of one in three marriages ended in divorce? I mean, look at the divorce rate of famous people.
But that wasn’t the point.
The point was Justin felt the need to push the issue. I mean, yeah, I thought we’d made progress during our time together, but Master and Sir had given me no inkling as to whether they wanted this to progress further than what it was. In fact, Master had made me feel the opposite when he walked out on us the other night.
“However, after considerable discussion, we decided to make the choice yours,” Justin declared.
“Mine?” I didn’t like the sound of this.
Justin came over and knelt down before me, his hand cupping my face as he stared into my eyes. I could see a torrent of emotion in the ocean-blue depths. It drew me in and I found myself leaning into his touch.
“You see, our reasons for hiring you weren’t completely altruistic, Luci. Your friend Kristen…well, let’s just say that she had some positive things to say about you. And not all of them were work related.”
I pulled back, feeling as though someone had slapped me. “What does that mean?”
Justin returned to his seat and once again, I felt all eyes on me.
Sir sighed. “As you’re aware, Langston and I know her. And after your time on the island, I’m sure you even know how we know her.”
“No, not really.” I had yet to get that detail.
Sir continued, “Kristen’s a member of…the same club we are.”
I glanced around, my eyes going to Justin and Ben. “Everyone keeps mentioning this club. What sort of club is it exactly?”
“BDSM,” Ben explained.
My eyes cut back to Sir. “Okay.” That explained a lot. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
“Kristen felt as though you’d be a good fit, not only for the position but for us.”
I started shaking, the news hitting me like a two-by-four to the face. It almost sounded as though my friend had pimped me out to…her Dom friends. Why? Why would she do that to me?
Sir moved toward me, his hand cupping my face, forcing me to look at him. I sucked in air.
“We agreed to do the interview. But the day you showed up, not a single one of us can deny that we felt a spark, a connection with you. It might sound strange, but it happened. The decision to hire you was unanimous. We wanted to see where this might lead.”
I took that to mean my resume hadn’t played into it at all.
Which meant they hadn’t hired me because they thought I’d be a good fit for the company, they merely thought…
I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that. Not if I was expected to keep my cool.
I waited, relishing the feel of Sir’s thumb as it brushed over my cheek. It was the only safe thing in the chaos engulfing me and I feared it wasn’t going to last long enough. I didn’t know what to think, what to believe, or even what to feel. This was rapidly spiraling out of control. Or maybe that was just my life.
I felt as though I’d been misled. I thought for some reason, they had…come to like me on their own. Not because my friend had convinced them I’d be a good fit for their kinky fetishes.
“Not all of us have had our fair share of you,” Justin whispered from across the room.
I started to speak, but Sir pressed his thumb over my lips. “It’s not your fault. It’s ours. We were just getting comfortable with the way things were going but then…” His eyes lifted and he peered over my shoulder at his twin. “They changed.”
When he looked back at me, I waited patiently for him to continue. He didn’t.
I could see a torrent of emotion in his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.
“We aren’t all on board with this change,” Justin stated. “Like I said, we haven’t all had the chance to explore where this thing is going.”
I dared to look over at Ben, who discreetly nodded.
Justin continued, “So, we’ve decided that going forward the choice would be yours.”
Oh, God. I seriously hoped they weren’t expecting me to choose between them. That didn’t seem fair at all. After the time I’d spent with Landon and Langston…I was scared where my heart was at. I’d given it some thought over the past couple of weeks and Sir was right about one thing. It was moving rather quickly, the dynamic changing into something that I didn’t recognize. Something I wasn’t sure I was even ready for. However, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d fallen in love with both Landon and Langston.
And maybe that was what the issue was. Did Justin feel slighted? As though I’d done this on purpose?
“We’re gonna make this easy on you, sweet girl,” Sir said, shifting so that he was facing me, his elbows resting on his knees. “As easy as we can, anyway.”
“However,” Master chimed in, “you are not to make the decision today. Once we lay out the options, we want you to go home and think about it.”
Justin spoke up. “We’re giving you tomorrow off. Paid, of course. And we want you to give it some serious consideration.”
I was so freaking confused. How had we gone from having a good time on the island, then a party on New Year’s, to me making a decision that could very well destroy what we’d already established? And what about my job? Why were they acting as though that was secondary to this?
“On Thursday morning,” Sir said, “once we’re all in the office, we’ll reconvene to hear your answer. Of course, if you need more time than that, you simply have to ask. Remember, there is no wrong answer, Luci. No one will hold it against you, regardless.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I’d heard something a
long those lines before. Like back in high school when I told Joey Williams that I only wanted to be friends. He told me that he understood. And though we’d spent the first three months of eleventh grade hanging out, he never spoke to me after that. Not one time.
So, no one could blame me for not buying into the whole there is no wrong answer bullshit.
However, I didn’t think this was the time or place to explain that to them. Instead, I scanned the room, glancing at the others. They each nodded. The only one who looked remotely worried was Master. My heart ached at the thought of what options they might be giving me.
When I glanced back at Sir, he was still watching me.
“As I mentioned, the four of us wanted to hire you. We had our individual reasons, and over the past few months, you’ve gotten to know us. Some more than others.”
My heart sank in my chest. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
“As far as we’re concerned, you have three choices.”
Ben cleared his throat, so I looked his way. “Your first choice is to continue on the way things were in the beginning. The four of us sharing you, enjoying you here in the office with a few chance encounters outside the office. You will not answer to one person, and no one will monopolize your time. We’ll keep it more interactive with the four of us present. More like a friends-with-benefits arrangement with no strings attached.”
Who invented that term? No strings attached? Had to have been a man because it was stupid.
I frowned.
“Or,” Justin said, my gaze shooting over to him, “we’ll change things up a bit. We’ll rotate so that you have one person to answer to every couple of weeks. We’ll still share you, we’ll still play, but you’ll have more individual time with each of us. So that we can each get to know you on the level we originally intended.”
“Your final option,” Master noted, his voice rougher than I’d ever heard it. He cleared his throat and continued. “We’ll move forward with me as your master. Only me. That means I will be responsible for you, for directing things as I see fit.”
Intrigued Out of the Office Page 13