Sophie's Surrender [Viper's Dungeon 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Abby Blake

  True, he’d been in his office staring at paperwork that didn’t seem to be getting done, but he was still aware of what was happening in the building.

  “Hi,” Sophie said with an uncertain smile as she stepped into his office. He was out of his chair in an instant, his need to hold the woman close overruling all else.

  “Hi, baby,” he said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him just as tight. He hadn’t seen her since early Friday morning, but even though it was only Monday afternoon it had felt much, much longer. He’d deliberately stayed out of her way knowing that weekends could get pretty hectic with the catering side of her business. He was pretty sure that Alex and Adrian hadn’t had the same restraint, but ironically trusted both of them to make sure Sophie wasn’t exhausting herself.

  “So this is where you work, huh?”

  “Yeah,” he said, not really caring about work right now. Technically it was his day off, but with nowhere to go and nothing else to do, it was always a chance to catch up on paperwork. Considering how little he’d gotten done in the past few hours, he probably could have just stayed in bed today.

  Although that would mean that he might have missed Sophie’s visit.

  “I just wanted to say hello,” she said as she pulled away. “I don’t want to get in the way, but Adrian said that you would be here and that it would be okay.”

  He glanced at the man now standing in the doorway looking rather pleased with himself.

  “I thought we might grab something to eat and then spend a lazy night in front of the TV.”

  “But I don’t want to get in the way,” Sophie said again, moving further away from Malcolm as if to reiterate her promise.

  “Come here, baby,” he said, holding his hand out to her. He smiled when she placed her fingers into his and did as he asked. It was very much the way she’d reacted to him when they’d first met. At the time he hadn’t realized his own need to dominate, but it had seemed so natural that neither of them had been bothered by it. It hadn’t been until he’d gotten the job here and discovered the type of relationship that he craved that things had started to go wrong. “You are never in the way, Sophie.” He placed his palm against her face as he leaned down to press a kiss against her lips. “And I’m very glad you’re here.”

  “And since it’s actually his day off,” Adrian said, smirking when Sophie raised an eyebrow at him, “he can leave right now.”

  “You’re working on your day off?” she asked, looking a little annoyed at him. Apparently he was the only one concerned about interfering in another person’s career plans. He gave her a steady look, but didn’t try to defend himself. Sophie blushed. “Which…um…is none of my business.” She glanced at Adrian, perhaps uncertain what to do now. She hurriedly mumbled the word “sorry.”

  “Thank you, little sub,” Malcolm said, completely forgetting for the moment that she wasn’t actually a submissive. He knew that she’d let Alex spank her, but that didn’t mean she was ready to take things further.

  He was so busy with his introspection that he almost missed her reaction. Her lips parted, her eyes darkening as she dragged in a shaky breath. Adrian obviously noticed because he stepped into the office and gazed into Sophie’s eyes.

  “That’s what Alex called you the night he spanked you, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, swallowing hard, not even trying to hide her reaction from them.

  “You enjoyed being spanked?” Malcolm asked, swallowing just as hard as Sophie had a moment ago. From everything Alex had told them it hadn’t been a sensual spanking. It had been the punishment it was meant to be, but Sophie’s reaction now suggested she got more from it than just the idea of paying a debt.

  Sophie’s gaze darted between the two of them for a moment, but she closed her eyes to speak. “It’s hard to put into words. I didn’t enjoy the pain, and I’m in no hurry to try it again, but the connection I had with Alex at that moment…” Her words trailed away as she took another deep shuddering breath. “In some ways it was more intimate than anything else I’ve ever shared.” She blushed, perhaps embarrassed to admit that to a man she’d once been married to. “The sense of peace afterward…the way that he held me and whispered how much I’d pleased him.” She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s so silly. Obviously I have a screw loose. Who the hell lets someone beat them like th—”

  She cut off her words abruptly, her fear suddenly filling the room. Malcolm could see her trying to control her breathing, trying to haul back the reaction, trying to stem the tide of terror that had washed over her. But none of it was working.

  “I–I have to g–go.”

  Adrian moved to block her escape even as Malcolm tried to hold her to him without hurting her. She was obviously building toward a full-blown panic, and if they let her walk out that door right now, chances were that they’d never see her again.

  “Sophie, please, baby. Take a deep breath and talk to us.”

  He had a pretty good idea what was scaring her right now, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it. He’d already fucked up this conversation more than once with her.

  Adrian closed the door, sealing the three of them in the room as Malcolm very carefully let go of Sophie, making certain she didn’t get hurt as she desperately moved away from them both.

  “Just talk to us, beautiful,” Adrian said in a far calmer voice than Malcolm could have managed at that moment.

  “How could I let—” Again she cut off her words as she shook her head. “What the fuck was I thinking?” She paced the small space back and forth, her agitation growing as the arguments built in her head. “Women stay in abusive relationships every day. They forgive over and over and I shake my head and wonder why they’re such idiots.” She looked at Malcolm and Adrian accusingly, tears trailing down her face. “I never thought I’d be one of them. A normal, healthy, sane woman doesn’t let a man smack her around.” Sophie swiped her hands down her cheeks, clearly annoyed at the tears. “A smart woman takes control of her life.” She dropped her head forward, staring at the ground, her breath shuddering in and out as she tried to calm herself down. “Please move out of my way so I can go home.”

  Sophie seemed to settle just a little even when neither of them moved out of her way.

  Adrian took a deep breath, glanced at the worry that was likely written all over Malcolm’s face and then took a tiny step toward Sophie, approaching her the same way one would deal with a wounded animal.

  “Did you ever feel like you didn’t have control when Alex was spanking you?” Adrian asked quietly, his voice low. “Did you use your safe word and he ignored it?”

  Sophie shook her head, looking horrified by the suggestion that Alex might have ignored her if she’d asked him to stop.

  “Did Alex get angry? Did he yell at you, or push you around? Did he frighten you?”

  Sophie shook her head again, the tears flowing freely as she stared at them both.

  “Beautiful, you know what happened between you and Alex wasn’t abuse.” He stood in front of her now, close enough to touch, but making certain that she had plenty of room to back away if she needed to. “What you felt is just the beginning of how deep a relationship between a Dom and a sub can be. Sophie, you know you were in charge the whole time. You submitted to what we all wanted, and you felt that connection because you chose to be there. Not because you were frightened or intimidated. You let Alex spank you because it was what you wanted as well.”

  She half sobbed, half laughed. “It still doesn’t seem very healthy.”

  “Perhaps to people outside our lifestyle it might seem wrong, but we know the difference.”

  “Our lifestyle?” she asked, a sort of resigned grin turning up one side of her mouth. “You really think I’m cut out for this lifestyle?”

  “Absolutely,” Adrian said, stepping away from her again to stand beside Malcolm. “And I’m looking forward to being there when you finally realize it.”

&n
bsp; She turned toward Malcolm and gave him a watery smile. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She blushed as she stepped toward him. “When I’m with Adrian or Alex everything seems so much less fri—” She slammed a hand over her mouth, shaking her head quickly as she seemed to realize what she’d been about to confess.

  “It’s okay,” he said, wanting to reach for her, but finally realizing that was a really bad idea. “I remind you of all the fears and doubts you had five years ago. With Adrian and Alex there’s no history so you’re seeing things from a different perspective.”

  She nodded and gave him a sad smile, but she didn’t disagree.

  “It’s okay, Sophie. They’re honorable men and well-trained Doms. They’ll take very good care of you.”

  Adrian crossed his arms, looked at the floor and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it, Malcolm,” he said in the same low voice he’d used on Sophie a few moments ago.

  But Malcolm knew it was the right thing to do. He was the reason Sophie was frightened by this lifestyle. If he stepped away, she might at least be able to find happiness with Adrian and Alex. He turned to leave the room, suddenly wanting to be here less than Sophie had a few minutes ago. He clenched his fists, trying to control the sudden flare of temper when Adrian refused to move out of his way.

  “Malcolm,” Sophie said in a soft voice, “please don’t leave me. I don’t want to lose you.”

  He turned to her, his emotions bouncing wildly as she uttered the words he’d offered to her the day she’d thrown their marriage away. A touch of anger swirled through his gut but by far the strongest emotion was one of relief. As selfish as it was to continue being the source of her fear, he wasn’t strong enough to walk away from her.

  He opened his arms and she practically leapt into his embrace.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I want to be here with you and Adrian and Alex. I just need to find a way to work through all the fears in my head.”

  “What we need,” Adrian said as he moved closer to them, “is a way to get past the memories. Creating new ones seems to be a good idea.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Sophie asked, scrubbing the remaining tears from her cheeks, without letting go of Malcolm.

  “Well for starters, the club is closed so maybe we can show you around the dungeon with the lights on and the music off.” He shrugged. “It’s a good place to start.”

  * * * *

  Sophie was glad for the suggestion, because it meant she could hold on to Malcolm. She’d nearly given herself a heart attack when she’d blurted those ill-thought-out words. Malcolm had always been a responsible guy. She hadn’t even been surprised when he’d done the noble, alpha-male thing, made himself accountable for fears that were mostly her own, and then tried to walk away so that she could happily pursue a relationship with two other men.

  Thank heavens Adrian hadn’t let him leave.

  She reached for him, too, greedily holding both of them close as they led her into the area of the club they referred to as the dungeon. With the bright lights on it looked more like a gym than what she’d expected to find. If the areas hadn’t all been set on raised platforms she might even have mistaken some equipment for sitting areas. Of course, she’d never actually seen gym equipment fitted with chains and handcuffs before.

  They stopped at one platform that had wooden stockades, the type she recognized from movies with a large circle cut out of the middle for the victim’s neck and smaller ones either side for their wrists. She shuddered as she imagined how uncomfortable such confinement would be.

  “That wasn’t a good shiver,” Malcolm said very seriously. “Do the stockades frighten you?”

  She shook her head, determined to put into words everything she was feeling. Just like she’d tried to do on her way to dinner with Adrian last week, she fought her natural instinct to hide her emotions. She’d acknowledged even then that it had been partially the reason her marriage had failed. Malcolm was asking for her honesty. The least she could do was make an effort to give it to him.

  “I wouldn’t say that they frighten me. I just can’t imagine they would be very comfortable. Are they used for punishment?”

  “Not always,” Malcolm said, tugging her hand so that she stepped up onto the platform. “Some subs enjoy the position. The wood is actually padded”—he lifted her hand so that she could feel the leather-covered cushioning that from a distance seemed to be part of the wood—“so that subs don’t get hurt while their Doms play.”

  “It’s perfect for a three-way,” Adrian said with a broad smile. “Imagine me in front, Malcolm behind, both of us fucking you into orgasmic exhaustion.”

  She shivered again at the imagery, smiling when Malcolm pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered, “Good girl.”

  She laughed softly. Apparently he really could tell the difference between her good and bad shivers.

  Chapter Nine

  Alex was in a foul mood. He’d thought getting insurance coverage last year had been difficult. Compared to the grilling he’d just been through, it had been a walk in the park. How the hell they figured the sort of things that happened inside his club increased the risk of fire and storm damage was entirely beyond him.

  He loosened his tie and dragged it from around his neck. God, he hated suits. How his brother wore them day in day out he would never know.

  He was still cursing narrow-minded assholes with god complexes when he noticed the lights on in the dungeon. His first thought was that the cleaning crew, who did a very thorough, detailed cleaning each Monday morning, was still in there until he heard the voice of an angel.

  His angel.

  Certain that he was only hearing what he wanted to hear, Alex, nevertheless, followed the voices into the large room. She was listening very intently to Adrian and Malcolm explain some of the more complex equipment and its uses. Her back was to him and he couldn’t resist the urge to cuddle her close. She jolted nervously at his first touch but settled the moment he pressed a kiss to her throat.

  “I’m very happy to see you in my dungeon, little sub.”

  “Hello, Alex,” she said shyly. “Adrian and Malcolm thought I might be less afraid if I saw the dungeon without the spooky atmosphere.”

  He laughed at her description. He’d often thought of the dungeon’s atmosphere as being akin to the ride through a spooky house at a county fair. The idea was to get good and frightened, but everyone knew the ghosts and zombies weren’t actually real.

  “Have you found anything you might like to try?”

  “Um,” she said, looking around the room as if she was seeing everything for the first time. “So far we’ve looked at the stockades, the spanking benches, and the St. An…” She turned to Adrian with a frown on her face. “Andrew’s cross?” Adrian nodded.

  “Just like the spider,” Alex added, laughing when he saw the expression on her face.

  “There’s a spider named after BDSM equipment?”

  “I’m pretty sure it was named after the cross St. Andrew was said to have been crucified upon. It’s an Australian spider. The way it sits on its web and the colorful stripes on its back look quite interesting in the photos.”

  He glanced over to find Adrian grinning widely, and as always his younger brother took the opportunity to tease him mercilessly for his love of trivia. Even Malcolm threw in a few comments, proving that they’d remained close friends even after Alex had essentially become his boss. Strangely, even more than finding Sophie in his dungeon, that gave him hope for the future.

  Finally as the laughter died down their attention turned back to Sophie’s tour of the dungeon.

  “We also have fetish rooms. Most people avoid the torture room, but the medical room is quite popular.”

  “People have medical fantasies?” she asked, wide-eyed as if she’d never considered it before.

  “Of course,” Malcolm said. “Can you honestly tell me you’ve never wondered what it might be like to have someone fuck you while
your legs are up in stirrups in the doctor’s office?”

  “Honestly,” she said with a soft laugh, “my gynecologist is a man in his seventies with very cold hands. I usually can’t think of anything more than ‘damn that’s cold.’”

  “So ice-play is off the list of things to try?”

  “Ice?” she asked, apparently waiting for one of them to tell her Adrian was joking. Alex just raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Wow, I guess I have a lot to learn.”

  “Yes, you do, little sub. Would you like to try something today?”

  “I…um…” Her gaze slid between all three of them, finally settling on Malcolm. “Do you have a medical fetish?”

  “This is about you, baby. Anything you want. You just need to tell us.”

  “I want to make you happy.”

  It was obvious that Malcolm was about to argue with her, which in itself was confusing. A good sub always wanted to please her Dom. It was a very basic part of their lifestyle, so Malcolm’s willingness to disagree was definitely out of character.

  Alex wasn’t certain but he got the impression that something had happened before he’d arrived, a theory that was proven a moment later when Adrian stepped in, lifted Sophie in his arms and carried her toward the medical room. Malcolm stood back, watching Sophie’s reaction closely, clearly worried.

  “She’s ready,” Alex said, confident that he’d read her correctly the other night.

  “Not when she’s around me.”

  In some ways that made a little bit of sense, but it wasn’t an excuse for Malcolm to stop trying. “You just need to replace the bad memories with good ones.”

  “Adrian said the same thing,” Malcolm said with a soft laugh as they moved to follow Sophie and Adrian into the room set up like a doctor’s surgery.

  “Yeah, well my brother learned from the best.”

  Adrian rolled his eyes at that last statement but didn’t protest. Instead he turned his attention to Sophie and asked, “What’s your safe word, little sub?”