Whatever reaction she expected never came.
Her men still looked at her with the same combination of concern and desire. The other four men shook their heads at their women, and the four girls had smug smiles splitting their faces.
“I told you so,” was whispered by one of the women.
She rubbed her temples, not understanding, wondering if she was possibly dreaming and might have to go through all of the same heartache again when she woke up.
“We knew who you were within twenty-four hours of your arrival in town,” Jenna confessed.
Laila’s head snapped up so fast it tingled. “What do you mean you knew who I was? That makes no sense at all.”
Jenna hugged her. “Ian’s like the background check guru extraordinaire. Seriously. He’s like scary good and not just in bed.” She winked at her and rubbed her shoulder.
“I’ve still got to be asleep or something because surely this isn’t real. You.” She pointedly looked at the women. “You guys almost seem happy that I’m a big fake.”
“Not happy you lied, Laila. Happy you came to us all on your own and told us the truth.” Cyn smiled down at her from where she stood at the end of the bed cuddled up to Chris and next to Jared.
“Even with the fake last name you gave Jenna at Nice and Knotty, it wasn’t that hard to figure out.”
“But why would you talk to me? Why would you be so wonderful? And ask me here? And help me find…this.” She almost said “me” but at the last minute she changed it.
Everyone looked at Ian, the head of security. “The women convinced us to give you a chance. We decided to listen.”
“And if I still write the article? If I blow your anonymity sky-high, what then?”
Chris answered. His deep voice and dark eyes carried throughout the room and everyone listened, probably because he didn’t speak often. What he said tended to be important, she guessed. “We’ll weather it. We’ll lose a lot of our members, I’m sure, because their ability to keep their kink lives private will be ruined.”
“But we know you. We see inside you and know what you need to be happy. Well, at least the place you need to come to, to find what makes you happy. We’ve all been in your shoes, hiding, afraid to take that leap.”
“I’m not afraid.” She wiped more tears as if they would never dry up. “I’m terrified. That was mind-blowing, what happened earlier.”
Most any other set of guys would have started high-fiving each other and whipping their dicks out to compare size but not her guys.
No, they simply stood there, never taking their eyes from her, lending her strength even when she never deserved it to begin with.
The women smiled at her, understanding bleeding from them as they squeezed her hands.
“We’re not even going to be able to live with you for a week,” Nick said to Jenna as she crawled out of the bed and went to him.
“That’s right, Casanova. Maybe even two weeks.”
“Why not?” Laila asked, trying to get her emotions back under control. “Why won’t they be able to stand you?”
Cyn answered. “She knew you’d tell us on your own. She was two hundred percent sure you’d come clean before anything ever hit the newsstands.”
Jared looked at her with a serious scowl. “So it’s in your court, what you do now is up to you.”
Completely overwhelmed with their faith in her, she dragged her weary body out of bed to grab her things and walk out. Her men met her halfway to the door and trapped her between their bodies. The scent of their lovemaking surrounded her and she nearly relented. They held her close. One of them kissed the top of her head and she reveled in their comfort because she was too weak to say no.
“Don’t leave like this, not when there’s still so much we need to discuss.” It was Douglas who spoke, his jaw moving against her head as he beseeched her to choose them over her career.
Hector added his two cents as he kissed her lips so gently. “You’re exactly what we’ve been looking for. Someone to love, someone to share. Someone that gets us and we can just be ourselves around. A woman we can let our beasts out to play with and know she can handle them—all of them.”
“Don’t go,” Patrick insisted as he intertwined his fingers with hers. “Don’t go.”
Everything they said was perfect. It was. But everything they’d shared before the last five minutes was all built on a lie. And she was tired enough to feel a bit betrayed by them since they’d all known who she really was and let her go on pretending for days and weeks without so much as an “I know who you are”.
She shook her head, pulled away from all of them. She unbuckled the collar, handed it to Patrick and walked out.
As she shut the door behind her she couldn’t help but listen at the crack in the door.
Jenna apologized to everyone. “I took a chance and I hope it doesn’t hurt the rest of you. Laila’s one of us, no matter if she sees it or not. She’s submissive. I can just imagine what it was like to hear her when she came, being dominated for the first time. Finally able to let go and be herself.”
Tingles erupted all over Laila’s flesh and she barely contained a moan remembering every delicious touch and sensation as she took everything those three men gave to her.
“She’s amazing,” Douglas praised. “I already want her again. Seeing her on her knees…”
“Above me,” Patrick added.
“Beneath me,” Hector said.
“Amazing. I don’t want to let her leave.”
“Maybe you’ll get your chance to see her again?” Skye asked.
One of her men let out a weary sigh. Even with the short time together she knew it was Patrick and he probably ran his fingers through his hair as he said, “I fucking hope so. I don’t want to lose the one person I think’s the missing piece we’ve been waiting for.”
“She was the first one we ever let wear this collar. Our collar.”
She heard it all, feeling sad and lost.
The walk of shame couldn’t have been lonelier as she made it over to one of the guest restrooms by the bar.
She passed by several people but she kept her head down, her eyes averted.
Yoga pants had never looked so good as she pulled them out of her bag. She tugged them on over the crotchless panties the men had fucked her out of less than an hour ago.
The rest of her things she put back in her bag except the flip-flops she’d brought with her. She grabbed the bag and walked out front.
Thankfully the valet attendant was right inside the front door. She handed him her tag, which she hadn’t even remembered him giving to her at the beginning of the evening.
Amazing how quickly a life could change in the span of several hours and how everything could be exactly the same too.
She climbed in her car and drove along the circular drive, catching glimpses of the mansion behind her. The club. The Library.
It was only a building, yet it was so much more.
It stood for freedom and love and beauty in all its lush and various forms.
But there was also decadence and pleasure and release in more ways than she’d even realized existed.
She’d spent her whole life living by a certain set of rules. Everyone moved along from point A to B to C. They trudged through life, meeting the status quo. It reminded her of a fishbowl where the poor goldfish saw the same castle every day.
She sat at a crossroads just as the gate on the entrance opened and let her out. The street went two ways and she had to decide which way to go.
The safe route, the tried-and-true way where she’d be safe and sound, swimming by her castle every day with no real way to be happy.
Or the other direction.
The one where she couldn’t see through all the fog to be able to even hazard a guess as to what lay down the road.
The dangerous path.
The one that called to her, whispered to her to take a chance.
She turned right and held her breath,
hoping she’d made the right decision.
Chapter Eight
Two weeks later Laila called Jenna, asked her to call the rest of the girls and meet her at CJ’s that night.
She’s almost called it off a million times, wanting to take the easy way out and just leave town. Chalk it up to experience and go on down the road to her next pass in front of the castle…but she decided to be brave.
For the first time in a long time she decided to listen to her heart and pray it didn’t steer her wrong.
Being a complete coward had crossed her mind too. Meeting somewhere else, the coffee shop down the road, even the park or the girl’s shops crossed her mind. It would have allowed her to completely avoid running into the men she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
But she couldn’t stay away any longer.
She didn’t want to run.
Not anymore.
At a few minutes after nine she walked in, automatically glancing at the bar as if she couldn’t keep herself from seeking out the men who had awakened her. Douglas and Patrick stood there, straightening to their full heights as soon as they saw her. They looked right at her, curiosity flaring in their gazes.
She took two steps away, farther into the bar, and ran smack into Hector.
“Hi, pretty lady.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his sad eyes. They were alight with questions. She wanted to answer each and every one but she needed to talk to the girls first.
A hug was all she could handle but he wrapped her up so tight and she leaned into it. He let her cling to him for a moment.
She spied the girls, who were already there in their booth, over his shoulder.
“Hi.” She moved away from him and toward the girls. His touch lingered even on top of her clothes.
Dealing with one potential crisis at a time was all she could handle or she was going to dissolve into a puddle.
She moved into the booth next to Cyn and blew out a deep breath.
Without waiting, she separated the papers she had clutched in her hand.
Her article.
In her hand were cut sheets from the accepted story from the magazine.
A preview of the story set to run the next day. It was the least she could do to give them a heads-up before the news actually hit.
Hopefully, they were going to need all the advance warning they could get.
A sexy man stepped up to the table and she lifted her gaze to him, struck once again with how amazingly good-looking he truly was.
Douglas.
She’d wondered the past few days if he really was as attackable as she remembered.
She’d been wrong. He was more.
Dark brown eyes stared down at her, alight with emotion. “What can I get for you?” Not rude or mean, nor did he ignore her. No emotion other than his eyes, coupled with a noncommittal smile.
“Can you give me ten minutes and then I’d… I’d like to talk to you and the guys?”
He nodded once sharply, then turned on his heel and walked away.
She sucked in a labored breath, finally able to breathe but it felt like her chest was going to collapse. Even passing out held some appeal because she’d been strung so tight. The last time she’d seen them there. The time she’d been introduced to them felt like a lifetime again. She passed out the papers and didn’t tell them what it was.
Not a word was spoken and a few raised eyebrows as she settled against the back of the booth. They each started reading. No smiles, eyebrows pulled low in concentration.
Then one by one they smiled. A table-wide giggle broke out, starting with Haleigh and wrapping around to each of them. Skye smacked someone else on the arm until they were all bouncing in the booth.
“Your article, it’s about our businesses across state lines. The issues we’ve faced, the prejudices. It’s not about…”
“That place that shall not be named?”
“Exactly.”
“Each of you is amazing. What you’ve started over there is nothing short of inspiring, especially with all of the issues you had fighting the city here. Most people would have folded but you all dug deep and made it work. That’s more than amazing…like amazinger. Yeah, I know that’s not a word but I’m running with it tonight. And everyone needs a place they can go to be themselves.”
She glanced up at them and she hoped she hadn’t ruined what she so desperately looked for. “To find themselves. I never knew what I was missing, what I could have. I would never take that away from someone. I would never ruin that for each of you, either. Or your men. Thank you for believing in me. I hope you aren’t displeased with the results.
“I’m going to stay in town. I’ve made a few changes. Hopefully we can spend some time together. Get to know each as…friends.”
Each of them started to tear up.
“Must be our time of the month,” Skye offered in way of explanation.
Laila wiped her eyes, feeling relieved.
Douglas showed up during the love fest. “Your ten minutes are up. Ladies.” He nodded at the others—acting so civilized—then dragged Laila out of the booth. Throwing her over his shoulder should have been difficult but he carried her through the bar amongst hoots and hollers. She forgot to fight, snuggling in closer to his back, rubbing her nose along his spine.
He smelled so damn good and felt so solid beneath her hands. As if he wouldn’t go anywhere, ever, no matter how far gone she was over the men who owned that establishment.
The other two men were already in the back office. Douglas sat her on her feet, kicked the door shut. The lock on the door clicking into place made her heart stutter in her chest.
“I wrote the article.”
The men stiffened but they didn’t say anything. Didn’t accuse her or rush her. They let her gather her thoughts and waited—not so patiently—until she was ready to share with them.
“There’s not a word about The Library. Not a word.” She shook her head, trying to keep the emotion staved off for a few more minutes. This was too important to trip over due to being weepy.
Douglas put a hand on the small of her back. He didn’t rub or urge her on with a nervous gesture. He was just there, giving her the support and reassurance she desperately needed.
She took a deep breath and continued. “I wrote about the girls and the strip center in Missouri and the battle they fought to get opened. How they’re fierce businesswomen in a changing world and how wonderful they are for bringing sex—classy and dirty and perfect sex—into this day and age and are proud of it.
“I am proud to know them and the three of you. I know I went about this all wrong. The reason I’m here wasn’t noble or honest even. I’m so sorry.”
She looked around at them and couldn’t tell if what she said made any difference, or if she’d already blown her chance with them.
“I would never speak of the club or anyone’s involvement in it. It’s private and beautiful and scary and did I mention scary?”
All three of them smiled, a soft chuckle breaking the tension, and she finally took a deep breath.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“Here as in Arcadia? Or here as in our office?” Hector questioned.
“Both?” She didn’t want to hurt them ever again but she knew she had to be completely honest with them. “In the playroom, with all of you, I’d never felt more alive and certain of my place in this world. But I’m scared. I want to explore this thing between us. All of us. If you’ll have me.”
Silence.
Nothing but rotten silence.
She stared at them, willing them to give her a chance even though she didn’t deserve it.
When no one made a move after almost a minute her hopes plummeted. “I’ll just go, then.” She mumbled it. Would have been completely surprised if they understood any of it.
A lump of emotion lodged in her throat and she wondered if she could have somehow misread the connection she was certain of having between them.
> Devastated, she turned to go, coming up short when Douglas stepped right in her face.
“Strip.”
She opened her mouth to ask a question but the movement of one of his eyebrows rising was enough to convince her to snap her teeth back together.
He took her purse from her, hanging it on the door handle, keeping his eyes trained on her and never losing sight of her for an instant. “You still owe us from our first night together. We aim to collect.”
A glance over her shoulder at the other men told her she wasn’t helping her case as she doddled.
With trembling fingers she unbuttoned her blouse, slipping each button through its hole, one rounded fastener at a time.
She slowly untucked the material from her skirt, dragging it up her torso. With the men staring at her, it felt like their hands on her flesh.
The material slipped from her shoulders and she caught it on her wrists, taking it in one hand to toss it on the edge of the couch.
Warm hands on her lower back made her shiver. She felt as well as heard the zipper of her skirt being lowered. The garment slid over her hips and Patrick held on to it, steadying her as he helped her step out of the circle of material.
He added it to her blouse on the couch.
“All of it,” Hector growled when she hesitated.
Awareness and a healthy dose of fear skated up her backbone. She didn’t know them well but the idea of them being mad at her sent her heart racing.
Each one of them was grade A male, dominant to boot and then add them together?
Holy shit, talk about a recipe for something huge.
She unclipped her bra, sliding it off and tucking it beneath her other clothes.
Getting her panties off had always been an act of futility for the men who’d she’d been intimate with. Getting completely naked in front of a man and now three men was difficult on a good day.
It wasn’t just about baring her body, though. It was about letting someone in. Allowing someone to see all of her, even the parts that weren’t perfect anymore.
It was about letting these men in. All the way.
Laila's Lies Page 9