Читать книгу Caught Up In You - Roni Loren, Roni Loren - Страница 9

FIVE

Wyatt leaned back in the seat of his brother’s car, plucked off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes, a blinding headache booming behind his lids. “Half of me is hoping you’re fucking with me about this and that you’re going to say ‘just kidding’ when we pull up.”

Jace glanced over at him, wryness tugging at the side of his mouth. “Sorry, brother. ’Fraid not. But if you’re going to give Kelsey shit about this, I’ll turn around right now. Just because she’s not as innocent and vanilla as you thought she was shouldn’t make a difference.”

“It’s not that,” Wyatt said with a tired sigh. “It just makes the favor I was going to ask her for a little more complicated.”

“Why is that?” Jace asked, merging into the other lane and throwing a what-the-fuck glare at the interminably slow driver they were passing.

Because it made her even more enticing. Because the idea that the sweet waitress had a down and dirty side made his cock ache. Because the thought of her submitting to his will had old desires burning holes through a wall he’d erected a long time ago. “Because I don’t … do this.”

“You used to,” Jace said pointedly.

“Don’t start.”

“No, I will fucking say what needs to be said, Wy,” Jace said, irritation cutting through his normally laidback manner. “You think you can turn that shit off? That you can simply pack it away in a neat little box and pretend that isn’t part of you? You may be able to convince yourself of that, but I saw you in action in college. Don’t forget who brought me to my first play party.”

“I didn’t bring you. You followed me.”

“And thank God I did because I might never have figured out what all the stuff I was feeling meant.”

Wyatt shook his head and adjusted his glasses back in place. Jace was the one and only person in his life who knew Wyatt had been in a D/s relationship when he was in graduate school. But his brother also knew what had happened and should know better than to push him on this. “I’m glad you found your thing. But I have no interest in traveling down that road again.”

“Right. Because I’m sure you find that scheduled Saturday night fuck very fulfilling,” Jace said, throwing him a look. “Pick up dry cleaning, shop for groceries, screw fuck buddy of the month.”

Wyatt scowled. “It’s not like that.”

“I bet you even put it on your calendar,” Jace said, on a roll now. “Do you draw in a little heart there? Or maybe a happy face?”

Wyatt grunted, but had to wrestle back a smile on that one.

“Holy shit!” Jace said, his expression lighting like a dog who’d stumbled upon a favorite bone. “You do put a smiley face, don’t you? You sick fucker.”

He shrugged. “I may put a star.”

Jace laughed hard at that, his eyes watering with the effort.

“And for the record, the woman I was … spending time with is not in the picture anymore. So no more Saturday night appointments.” And really, Wyatt hadn’t felt any regret over that. Their get togethers truly had become about as interesting as picking up his dry cleaning. He got more out of one morning at the diner with Kelsey than a slew of Saturday nights with Gwen.

“Fantastic. You’re unattached and in lust with one of my favorite women. Perfect time to live a little and have some fun.”

Wyatt stared out the window, watching the dark of night creeping over the fields. “No, it’s not. Even if I wanted to try this world again, Kelsey deserves better than what I can offer. You know I’m not cut out to do all that relationship stuff. My life doesn’t have room for that. I’ll end up hurting her.”

Jace smirked as he pulled off the road and took a left onto a half-hidden driveway. “And what makes you think she’s looking for a relationship, genius? You’re getting all noble and shit, but why would you assume all women are pining away for roses and a ring? Kelsey’s been through a lot—much of which has been caused by men.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, sensing Jace was talking about more than drug dealers being after her.

A flicker of regret passed over this expression. “It’s her story to tell, not mine. But all I’m saying is that I doubt she came to work at The Ranch because she was searching for the One with a capital O.”

Wyatt focused on the large cedar building looming in the distance as he absorbed Jace’s words. Why had he assumed that? Maybe that wasn’t what Kelsey wanted at all. He’d met those women out on a husband hunt all the time. Girls like that flocked to guys like him—ants to a Popsicle stick. They got wind of his money and position and were already building dream houses on the beach in their minds. He could smell it on them like over-spritzed perfume. He’d never gotten that vibe from Kelsey, not even a whiff.

“Maybe you’re right,” Wyatt admitted.

Jace leaned out of the car to press his finger to a machine at the entry gate, then turned back toward Wyatt. “I’m always right. I thought we’d established this by now.”

Wyatt sniffed, so used to his brother’s ego that he didn’t bother to respond to it. “This whole plan might work out after all.”

The gates in front of them swung open, and Jace pulled forward. “Oh, and one thing I forgot to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

He sent a sly grin Wyatt’s way. “Your sweet waitress who I know you’re weaving filthy slave fantasies about?”

Wyatt grimaced but didn’t deny it.

“Yeah. She’s a dominatrix.”

“She’s a—” Wyatt’s head dropped back against the seat. “Ah, fucking hell.”

* * *

Kelsey stripped down in the locker room and donned the standard black bra and panty set that most female submissive trainees wore at The Ranch. Colby had also told her to wear a basic leather collar for their first session. She knew why he’d made the request. He’d obviously sensed her reluctance to take the role even in their initial limits negotiations and wanted to put that psychological symbol in place early. And it’d been a powerful one. The minute she’d fastened the simple strip of leather around her neck, her heartbeat had picked up speed and her skin had gone clammy.

I can do this, Kelsey reminded herself.

Surprisingly, despite the trauma with Davis, fear wasn’t at the forefront of her mind. She knew Colby wouldn’t physically harm her. There wasn’t even a doubt there about that. She was more knotted up about what this submission could open in her. She tried not to think of all the men she’d yielded to in her life. None of those relationships had been D/s based, but the blind trust had been there all the same. When she let her guard down, she could lose herself in a guy. Each time thinking this was going to be the one who didn’t fuck her over. And time and time again, she’d picked the wrong guy to grace with that hope.

Growing up, she’d thought it was her version of rebellion against her mother’s sour view of men. Her mom had told her and her sister to trust none of them, that men only did what was good for their dicks, their wallets, and their ego. But Kelsey had trundled along, reading her fairy tales and believing that she could create her own one day. And that silly girlish hope had only led her right down the path scarily close to the one her mother had ended up on. Kelsey had been used, taken advantage of, and belittled more times than she cared to remember. And now she was going to let another guy have control over her.

Even though logically she knew it was temporary and that Colby would rather cut off an arm before he ever hurt her, she was having trouble keeping her dread locked away.

She glanced at the clock and realized she had three minutes before she was due in the training room. I can do this, she repeated silently, and took a deep breath. In an hour, it’d be done. The hurdle crossed. All she needed to do was get past this first session, then it would get easier. Gathering up all the iron inside her, she straightened her spine, slipped on a silk robe and ballet flats, and headed out into the hallway. Reluctant or not, she wasn’t going to dare to be late.

Once she made her way down the hallway to the training area, Kelsey let herself in, shucked the robe and shoes, and kneeled down in the middle of the quiet room. Colby had left a kneeling pad on the floor and had made sure the temperature in the room was comfortable. Both were subtle messages to her that he wasn’t going to push her too hard this first time. But there was a blindfold sitting in front of the mat, proving that he wasn’t going to be that easy. She slipped on the blindfold, sat back on her legs, and laid her palms up on her bare thighs. Now she waited.

* * *

Grant Waters crossed his arms and eyed Wyatt before looking back to Jace. “Kelsey’s in a training session right now.”

“With who?” Jace asked. “Wyatt just needs to talk to her for a few minutes.”

“And Wyatt isn’t a member here,” Grant said, ignoring Jace’s question.

Jace groaned. “Come on, man. I signed him up for a membership a few months ago. You already have all his information and approved him back then. He just never took advantage of the gift. And you know I wouldn’t send anyone in who I didn’t trust to follow the rules. Wyatt knows how this works. He’s the one I learned from.”

Grant hooked his thumbs in his pocket, stared both of them down for a moment more, then softened his stance. “You’re lucky we’re friends, Austin. Because I would normally throw out a member for trying to pull this kind of last-minute shit.”

Jace smiled his most winning smile. “Aww, is that your way of telling me you love me best?”

Grant shook his head. “Poor Evan and Andre. How they put up with your cocky ass is a wonder.”

“They both happen to love my ass. And I, theirs.”

Grant let out a long, God-give-me-the-strength sigh and cocked his head toward the big door on the far side of the lobby. “Kelsey’s supposed to be working with Colby. If he left the viewing window open to the room, you’re welcome to observe. But don’t interrupt.” He looked to Wyatt, his gaze all business now. “If you want to talk to her, you wait for the scene to be done.”

Jace clapped Grant on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. ’Preciate it.”

Wyatt shook Grant’s hand and thanked him, but Wyatt could barely get the words out. They could go watch? Fuck. That. The thought of seeing Kelsey touch some other guy or worse, having that guy touch her, had a sick feeling gathering in Wyatt’s stomach. No way would he be able to stand by for that.

He caught up with his brother as Jace walked through a door that led from the main lobby into a hushed hallway. The dark maroon walls and soft scone lighting gave Wyatt the sense of entering into some other realm. He leaned over to his brother, keeping his voice low. “Jace, I can’t watch her with some other guy. I’ll want to—”

Jace gave him a knowing look. “That bad, huh?”

“Fuck.” Wyatt raked a hand through his hair, the wave of possessiveness more concerning than anything he’d felt about Kelsey thus far.

“Don’t worry,” Jace said. “I’ll look in first.”

Jace led him down another hallway and up a set of stairs until they ended up in a corridor lined with doors and windows. Jace walked ahead of him, peeking in and then waving Wyatt forward. “Come on, the rooms are soundproof, so no one can hear us.”

The first two rooms were empty, the third had two men and a woman in it—one guy fucking the girl from behind, the other guy fucking him. All their faces were twisted in the throes of ecstasy, and the lack of sound gave the sense of watching some porn flick on mute. Wyatt had never considered himself a voyeur, but the scene was kind of hard to turn away from. All that flesh.

“You all right, brother?” Jace asked as he turned to see what Wyatt was looking at. He smirked. “Ah, nice. Don’t think too hard on that one, though. I don’t want you traumatized.”

Wyatt looked back to his brother. “Why would I be— Ah, hell, never mind.”

Jace laughed. “Come on.”

Wyatt’s brother had revealed to him a few months ago that he’d fallen in love with not just a woman, but his best friend, Andre, too. Wyatt had been happy for Jace even though he knew a three-person relationship would be a tough journey to walk. And he’d been around the trio, saw the shared glances, the affectionate kisses. It’d been odd at first to see his brother kissing another guy, especially when Jace had been such a womanizer all his life. But the three of them were all so easy together, so loving, that it’d quickly become normal to Wyatt. However, he’d purposely not allowed his mind to travel to what all that involved behind closed doors. There were some things you didn’t want to imagine, and his brother having sex was one of them.

At the last door on the left, Jace peeked in the window and sent Wyatt a quick thumbs up. “Bingo. Found your girl.”

“She’s not my—”

“And you’re in luck, brother. She’s all alone. Looks like she’s still waiting on Colby.”

Relief sprung up in Wyatt like fucking daisies popping up around him. God, he was so damn screwed with this girl. “Can I get in?”

“Sure, the doors don’t lock here. But if she doesn’t want you in there, you’ll need to leave.” He nodded toward the other end of the hallway. “I’ll look out for Colby and explain what’s going on.”

Wyatt glanced back over his shoulder, expecting the other man to appear any second. He didn’t need to waste any time. Kelsey wasn’t going to like that he’d tracked her down here, but he had to see her again. And he hoped he could offer her a solution to both their problems.

But as he walked by his brother and saw the view through the window with his own eyes, all semblance of rational thought leaked out of his head into a puddle on the floor. Kelsey wasn’t in the domme position at all. She was kneeling quietly on a cushion with her head bowed and her long blonde ponytail hanging down her back, a blindfold covering those pretty blue eyes. A scant pair of panties curved over her slim hips, and her breasts were framed by a demi-cup bra that barely covered her nipples.

His cock nudged against his fly, all the blood in his body charging south. He’d imagined her so many times, what she’d look like stripped out of that waitress uniform. But the fantasy wasn’t even in the same zip code as reality. She was absolutely, unequivocally breathtaking. And though he’d beat the urges down for so long, the old dominance inside him rose up like a phoenix from the ashes—ravenous and seeking.

He wet his lips. “How do you block out these windows?”

Jace frowned. “Don’t go there, Wy. You’re only supposed to be talking to her. If Colby comes down here and sees the window darkened, he’s gonna come in.”

“Then keep him busy.” Wyatt turned the knob on the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him before Jace could say anything else. Deadly quiet surrounded him, augmenting the little catch in breath Kelsey gave at the click of the door.

Her lips parted as if to call out to whoever was there, but then, apparently remembering her role, she clamped them shut. She shifted her position slightly, her nerves evident. Wyatt glanced back through the window to find Jace sending him a warning look, but Wyatt ignored him and caught sight of the switch next to the window. Wyatt smiled, gave Jace a little finger wave, and flipped the switch. Instantly, the glass darkened, eventually reflecting only Wyatt’s image back at him.

He turned back around to look at Kelsey again, savoring the sight of her there on her knees. She looked so pristine, so lovely and lush. The stark overhead light caressed sun-kissed skin that called to be touched, tasted. A perfect gift perched there just for him.

No. Not for him. For some other guy, he reminded himself. The reality check made him flinch. This wasn’t fair to Kelsey. She hadn’t given her consent for him to see her this way. He cleared his throat. “Kelsey?”

She startled, her entire body stiffening. “Who’s there? Where’s Colby?”

Before he could respond, her hand went straight to her blindfold, yanking it off.

He held up his palms. “Kelsey.”

She blinked once, twice, then her eyes went round. “Wyatt?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to burst in on you like this.”

She glanced downward, as if remembering how little she was wearing, and scrambled to her feet. She reached for a robe on the bench behind her and wrapped it around herself with hasty movements. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?”

He stayed on the far side of the room, not wanting to make her retreat further. “I was worried about you, and no one could tell me where you were. I needed to see if you were okay. So I called in a favor to Jace.”

“Goddammit. He shouldn’t have told you anything.” Her whole face was flushed now. Part of it was clearly anger, but he also sensed shame there, embarrassment. “I didn’t want you to … This is not your business.”

He frowned, rubbing a hand over his jaw and feeling like a jackass for putting her in this position. “You’re right, it’s not. I’m overstepping bounds all over the place, but I had to see you. And God, to see you like this …”

Her expression turned pained, and she looked away. “Right. Like this. Guess you can let whatever shred of respect you had left for me go now.”

He took a tentative step closer, unable to resist the magnetic pull she always seemed to have on him. “Is that what you think? That I’ve lost respect for you? Kelsey, it’s taking everything I have not to haul you off to a private room and tie you to something so I can spend the rest of the night showing you exactly how I’d like to respect you.”

Her face whipped back his way, surprise morphing her features. “What?”

He peeked back at the closed door, hoping he still had a few minutes before being interrupted. “You’re not the only one with secrets.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and he could almost see when the awareness dawned.

“You’re a dom,” she said flatly, not looking at all happy about this conclusion.

The term sounded almost foreign to his ears, it’d been so long since someone had called him that. “I used to be.”

She shook her head and looked to the heavens. “I should’ve known.”

Wyatt crossed his arms. “But Jace told me you were, too. Why are you in here?”

All the starch seemed to leave her body as she knotted the sash around her waist and pulled the robe more tightly around her. “I’m trying to get promoted to a trainer so I can make more money. This is part of the process.”

“How much money do you need, Kelsey?” he said, the possessiveness flaring up in him again. He’d be damned if he was going to let her turn her body over to some random guy so she could get cash.

She pinned him with a warning gaze. “I appreciate your concern, but don’t get any charitable notions. I don’t take handouts, Wyatt. I can handle this.”

The door opened behind him, and he spun around to find his brother with an I-told-you-so look standing behind a man who could only be Colby. The guy was as tall as Wyatt but built like a fucking lumberjack. And he looked mad enough to swing an ax Wyatt’s way. “Kelsey, you all right, sweetheart? Or do I need to haul this fucker outside?”

Wyatt gritted his teeth.

Kelsey raised a palm. “It’s okay, Colby. He’s a friend of mine. And was just leaving. I’m sorry about the delay. I’ll be ready for our session in a second.”

Wyatt looked between the two of them. The hell she would. He stepped closer to Kelsey, thinking fast, altering his original plan. “I can offer you a job.”

“Wyatt—”

“I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand dollars for a week of work,” he said, snagging a figure out of the air. “But you’ll need to come with me right now.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “What?”

“I can explain everything to you, but not here.” He glanced at Colby and Jace, then back to her. “You don’t have to do this right now. At least hear me out first.”

Kelsey stared at him for a stretch of seconds, and he thought she was going to tell him to take his money and fuck off, but then she blew out a breath. “Fine.” She peered past Wyatt. “Colby, I’m sorry, hon. I didn’t mean to screw up your schedule. Can I take a rain check? I need to take care of something.”

Colby shrugged. “Sure thing. Gives me a good reason to cut out early tonight. I had a long week at the day job anyway. Let me know when you want to reschedule.”

Kelsey walked around Wyatt and pushed up on her toes to kiss Colby’s cheek. “You’re a sweetheart.”

His lip curled. “You wouldn’t have said that if you’d gone through my training session.”

Kelsey smiled and patted his arm before peeking back over her shoulder at Wyatt. “Come with me. I have to change, then you can walk me to my cabin and we’ll talk.”

For the first time ever, Wyatt saw the glimmer of dominance in her own eyes, the sass. He was on her turf now and he sensed the confidence of that running through her. The sight should’ve warned him off. He didn’t have a submissive molecule in his DNA. But somehow it only made him want her more.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting as he sidled up next to her, slipping a hand on the small of her back. “You’re in charge.”

For now.