by Lexi Blake
The blows came quickly and without mercy. Finn counted all the way to thirty. When the flogger stopped, it took everything he had not to beg for more.
“Up, Finn. You’re to place yourself on the ottoman and allow Danielle to bind your hands.”
On shaky legs, he managed to get up and out of the whipping chair. Dani was already standing at the upholstered ottoman. He noticed now that it had handcuffs attached.
Where did these guys get their furniture?
He had a sudden desire to see Julian’s club. Lucas had asked him to come several times, and he’d always turned him down. He’d been too afraid to go down a path that seemed so dark. Now he realized it was only dark if he made it that way. What might have happened if he’d gone with Lucas and Lexi? Would he have been introduced to Julian? Would he have begun a relationship that would have led them both to Dani?
As he knelt down and felt Dani’s soft hands work the cuffs around his wrists, he let the thought go. It happened as it should have happened. If he had gone to the club with Lucas, he would have rejected it. He hadn’t been ready to face himself. It’d taken Dani to get him to open up and accept himself for what he was.
A queer who couldn’t be happy without one woman in his life.
A pervert who needed a Dom to spank him to feel complete.
A man who’d finally found what he needed. He let go of the labels and let himself be.
“You’re smiling, Finn. What is that about?” Julian stood looking down at him, his dark hair a waterfall around his face. He was the epitome of alpha male. His cock hardened as he thought about the bottle of lube in Julian’s hands. Fuck, he wanted that. Dani finished with his hands and went to stand beside Julian. They were so gorgeous.
“I just figured out I’m a freak, Sir.”
A single dark eyebrow arched, and Finn could tell he’d confused the Master. “I don’t know if I like that, Finn.”
“I do, Sir. I think I finally get it. We’re all freaks, aren’t we? Maybe what we do is wrong for other people, but it’s right for us. It’s okay to be us.”
Dani grinned up at Julian, her blue eyes bright with mischief. Finn wondered when he’d last seen her so confident and vibrant. Maybe never. “I told you he could learn.”
“And I doubted you, little one,” Julian practically purred back at her. “Perhaps we should see if Finn believes what he’s saying.”
Those silvery eyes turned back to him. From his position, he had to crane his neck up, but Finn could plainly see that the Master had other things on his mind. The pants he was wearing had tented, and Finn’s ass clenched at the thought of taking that monster deep.
“Have you ever seen two men have sex, Danielle?” Julian asked as his hands found the fly of his pants.
Her face flushed. “Only on the Internet.”
“Dani?” Finn was slightly shocked. “You searched for porn on the Internet?”
She shrugged, obviously not willing to expend shame on it. “It’s the only way to get porn in Willow Fork.”
Julian chuckled. He shoved his pants off his hips and handed them to Danielle. He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I am going to have so much fun introducing you to the filthy civilized world. What do you say, Finn? Will Danielle like Dallas?”
Now it was his heart that clenched. Dani would come home with him. He just knew she would. The only question was, where would she stay? Would she stay at Julian’s? Would he be the one left out? It didn’t matter for now. He pushed the thought aside. What mattered was making Dani happy and pleasing Julian.
“I think we’ll have a lot of fun showing her the X-rated world, Sir.”
A low growl came out of Julian’s throat, and Finn couldn’t keep his eyes off the enormous cock that sprung from Julian’s core. The man was a work of art. He was hard planes and perfect angles. Standing next to him was the softest, most heavenly bit of femininity Finn had ever seen. They were perfect together, and Finn had the sudden joyous suspicion he was going to be in the middle.
“Get me hard, little one. We need to punish Finn for a bit.”
Dani fell to her knees in that graceful way of hers. Her blonde hair hung past her shoulders, and he only got the briefest glimpse of her lips and tongue caressing the Master’s cock before Julian’s hands tangled in her hair. His eyes closed as he guided Dani. Finn watched as Dani took that massive cock into her mouth.
“Yes, that’s what I want. I want your mouth all over me before I ream Finn’s ass.”
Finn bit his lip to keep from groaning out loud. His cock was hard as a rock. He was going to die if Julian didn’t fuck him and soon.
Julian pulled out of Dani’s mouth. He raised her up and kissed her, treating her like fine china. Finn had noticed that about Julian. He treated Dani with perfect tenderness and care, as though he was trying to make up for years of neglect. Dani beamed under his affection. Then he turned his eyes to Finn. Finn shuddered at the savage lust he saw there. No tenderness for him, and he was past okay with it. He wanted Julian’s primal lust. He craved it.
Julian broke off the kiss and strode out of sight. It was a mere second before Finn felt a hand on his back, smoothing down the line of his spine as Julian knelt behind him. It was a move Julian seemed to like. It made him feel like something fine and precious and worthy of praise. He shivered as he felt lube pouring down, sliding onto his anus.
Julian’s fingers probed, massaging the lube into his ass. “Danielle, please kneel down beside our Finn. Coat your hand in the lubricant, and then you’ll give him the hand job of a lifetime.”
“I thought you were punishing me.” He couldn’t think of anything better. The two people he was crazy about would have their hands all over him. And he was crazy about Julian. Julian scared him, but he couldn’t walk away. He had to know where this was going.
“I am punishing you. You’re not allowed to come.”
Now Finn didn’t even try to hold back his groan. Dani got on the floor beside him, her small hand cupping his balls. Fuck. He was never going to last. “You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.”
He felt something far bigger than Julian’s fingers begin to breach his ass.
“I am not. Come and there will be hell to pay, Finn.” Julian gripped his hips and started to penetrate Finn’s hole.
He flattened his back and pushed out with the muscles of his sphincter. He gasped as Julian’s cock slid in. So fucking full. He had never been so full. His asshole felt like it would burst, but Julian pressed in. He kept coming.
“Tell her. Tell her what it feels like because I’m going to fuck her ass very soon.” Julian shoved in ruthlessly.
“He’s so big. God, Dani, he’s going to tear me apart. And I’ll let him because it’s going to feel so fucking good.”
“I can’t wait,” she whispered in his ear. Her hand slid up and gripped his cock like a familiar friend. She grasped the base and sloped upward. “I can’t wait to be between the two of you.”
“I’m going to fuck that little ass of yours, Danielle. Finn is going to ram his cock into your pussy. You’re going to be full of your men. Now, do as your Master requests. Rub him. Make him come.”
It was unfair. He couldn’t last. This really was torture. Finn tried to think of anything but the cock invading his ass and the hand running up and down his dick. Danielle was relentless. She stroked from the base of his cock to the tip where she brushed her thumb across his slit and then began the journey again. Every now and again she would cup his balls, running her finger along the perineum, making him shudder. She ran that dirty finger all the way to his anus, where she pressed in.
“Bad girl.” Julian sounded throaty. “Fuck, love, do it again.”
Finn felt tears in his eyes as she pressed her finger alongside Julian’s cock. Damn. He wasn’t going to make it. Then Julian finally seated himself fully. Every inch of Finn’s ass was invaded and taken. Dani gripped his dick again and pulled as Julian dragged his cock back out.
Finn came, jets flowing out of his cock across Dani’s hand.
She pressed a kiss on his jaw. “You lose, baby.”
Julian sighed and pulled out. “Get the paddle this time. We’ll start again. I can do this all night, Finn.”
Finn slumped down, unable to stop the smile that widened his lips. He could do this all night, too, and maybe, if he was lucky, he could do it for the rest of his life.
Chapter Fourteen
Julian came awake with a startled shout. It took him a moment to remember where he was. Sunlight. It was morning, and he wasn’t at home. He was in the guesthouse at Jackson’s ranch. He breathed deeply and sat up on the couch. His mouth was dry and his head pounding. It was always that way after he had the dream.
God, when was it ever going to stop? He let his head fall to his hands as he attempted to let go of the images that played in his brain. It was his own personal horror movie.
Julian stood and stretched. It should be no big surprise that the dream was back. It came back with a vengeance any time he had to go to a hospital or felt like his life was veering out of control. When one of those things happened, images from the several years after his parents died played through his dreams. He saw the accident, though he didn’t remember it in his conscious brain. In his dreams, there was a flash of light and the scream of metal attacking metal. In the dream, he saw his parents’ blood flow, their bodies slumped over, never to rise again.
He’d wandered the hospital like a small zombie, feet shuffling, seeking only one thing. He’d sought his mother. He didn’t call for her, simply walked the halls staring ahead, waiting for the sight of her, shivering in a hospital gown.
Then he was dressed in a suit. It chafed his young body. His uncle looked down on him like he was a piece of dirt on an otherwise pristine floor. His uncle explained he would pay for his schooling and appoint someone to run the business that would pass to Julian, but he wouldn’t bring Julian into his home. He didn’t have time for a nephew.
Julian hadn’t seen the man again until he’d handed over the reins of the business when Julian turned eighteen.
It had been a series of nannies, some who tried, and some who beat the crap out of him when they realized no one cared.
He’d been twelve when he finally fought back, shoving his abuser down the stairs, breaking her arm. Only the fact that she could get in trouble for what she’d done to him had kept her mouth shut. The next day Candice had shown up, but Julian had understood. He wasn’t lovable. People put up with him because he had money.
Damn. Leo would have a field day with the thoughts that ran through his head. Julian looked down, and his hands were shaking.
This was about the hospital. It had nothing to do with Danielle and Finn. They were simply good subs who would make perfect slaves. They needed him for now, and he would enjoy them, but even they were transitory.
Still, his feet moved up the stairs almost of their own volition. He was slightly overwhelmed by the need to see them. He would look in on them, and maybe join them. It was for sex, of course. The sex was good for burning off memories better left forgotten. Besides, he’d promised Danielle she could be in the middle. He’d only shared subs a couple of times before, and never his own. He would never have invited Jeremy to share Sally.
Why did Jeremy come to his mind? He was better off forgotten. He’d proven to be troublesome and a criminal, and yet Julian had thought of him a lot since he’d come to the ranch. Finn was far more problematic than Jeremy. Jeremy had never talked back or questioned him, and yet Julian had tossed him out without a thought after he’d caught him breaking club rules on tape. He’d watched as Jeremy slipped Lucas Cameron a roofie, and he’d calmly plotted to have him thrown out. He doubted he would have done the same with Finn.
No, if he’d caught Finn doing something like that, Finn would have paid. He would have been on his fucking knees. His backside would bleed, and he would have to spit out his safe word before Julian would stop. Then, and only then, would he allow Finn to beg for forgiveness. It would be a long time coming, but he knew he wouldn’t allow Finn to leave. And as for Danielle, well, Danielle would never do anything that could hurt another person. He trusted her. If he saw her on tape doing what Jeremy had done, he would have known there was a damn good reason for it.
He stopped just before he made it to the bedroom door. He trusted Danielle. He trusted her deep in his bones, in a way he hadn’t trusted anyone except Candice and Jackson and Samuel.
Was he in love with Danielle?
Julian turned away from the door. He couldn’t look in on them. He strode down the stairs, found his clothes, and righted himself. When he looked smooth and calm, he walked to the main house. Coffee. He needed a bit of caffeine, and then he would be on the proper footing. Later, he would call Lucas and have him draw up a contract between himself, Danielle, and Finn.
Yes, that was what he needed. A contract would ensure all the proper boundaries were in place, and he would be back on an even keel.
He slipped into the house and immediately heard laughter. It was the throaty laughter of a man, and it was coming from the dining room.
“You seriously jumped into Julian Lodge’s car and told him to drive?”
Another laugh, this one light and frothy and feminine. Danielle. “Well, he didn’t exactly jump to do my bidding, Leo.”
Julian’s fists clenched at his side. She sounded flirty, his little sub. Yes. He needed a contract, one that allowed him to tear into her sweet ass when she flirted with other Doms.
“I don’t doubt it for a moment, sweetheart. Julian prefers to give the orders, not take them. I should know. Now, if you had jumped into my Jeep, things would have gone differently.”
Julian strode through the door. Leo was sitting altogether too close to his property. His Dom in residence poured coffee into her mug, while he beamed at her in that all-American hero way of his. Jackson was right. Leo was an asshole.
“It would have gone exactly the same way, Leo,” Julian said as he noted Finn was sitting at the end of the table staring a hole through Leo’s head.
Finn sighed and seemed utterly relieved when Julian stepped into the room. He would have to train Finn to ward off potential poachers. He couldn’t be allowed to mope while some Dom attempted to charm Danielle away.
Leo sat back in his chair. If he was intimidated, it didn’t show. He simply smiled up and looked too young for Julian’s comfort. “Good to see you, boss. I was getting to know Dani, here. Lovely girl.”
“Yes, she is. Danielle,” he commanded as he sat down.
She stared at him for a moment, seemingly confused. “Yes?”
“He wants you to sit in his lap,” Leo explained. “It’s his caveman-like way of telling me to keep my hands off you.”
Danielle shook her head. “It isn’t like that. He was just being nice.”
Such an innocent. He turned to Leo. “Were you being nice, Leo?”
“Hell, no. I was trying to figure out how fast I could get her tied up and sink my cock in her ass. I bet she’s a virgin there, Julian. She’s one gorgeous sub.”
Danielle’s face went up in flames, and Finn stood.
“You keep your hands off her!”
Julian sighed. “Sit down, Finn. The time to beat the shit out of Leo has passed. We need to work on that. Don’t concern yourself too much. Once she’s properly collared, we need only worry about all the vanilla assholes who will hit on our woman. The Doms will back off.”
Leo shrugged. “I thought I should give it a try before you collared her. She’s lovely.”
He was only slightly placated by Leo’s appreciation for his sub. His lap was still empty. “Danielle?”
She was on her feet, the coffee in front of her forgotten. She hurried around the table, her clumsiness entirely endearing in Julian’s mind. She almost stumbled into his lap. He’d had subs who never made a wrong move, so why was it Danielle who meant so much? Why was it Finn who drew him in?
&
nbsp; “You can sit down now, Finn,” Julian said, his arm circling Danielle’s waist. Her arms went around his neck, her breath warm on his nape. “Actually, move your chair next to mine.”
Finn moved, dragging the chair close to his. He sat down, and his hand came out, silently requesting contact, which Julian gave by covering it with his own.
“I still think he’s a jerk.”
“Who?” Samuel asked as he strode in. “Oh, Leo. Hey, Finn must be talking about you. Don’t worry about him. He likes to play around with other men’s wives. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s a pussy when it comes to commitment, so he falls for unavailable women.”
Leo frowned. “That’s actually quite astute of you, Sam.”
Samuel grabbed a Danish from the buffet and sat down. “There’s a brain behind all this masculine beauty. I don’t use it often, but it’s there. It’s working overtime right now trying to figure out why the hell my partner and my wife had to take off for Dallas the minute you came in. I got a note, Leo. A fucking note. I was up all damn night with a calving, and now Jack and Abby are driving to Dallas with nothing more than a note telling me to watch out for Josh and Olivia. You tell me what’s going on, and you tell me now.”
Somewhere in his speech, Samuel had morphed from funny, goodtime guy to one pissed-off husband. He was all threat as he looked at Leo, and Julian was damn proud of the man he’d become. Finn could do that, too, if he was properly loved.
Loved. Could he do it? Could he love them and not lose himself? He felt his hand tighten over Finn’s. Finn looked up, startled, but he threaded his fingers through Julian’s and squeezed back. It was a sign. I’ll be there, Finn said silently as he laced their hands together.
He turned back to Leo, who had gone very serious.