Dancing with Deception (10 page)

Pushing his middle finger into her channel, he was shocked at how tight she was. “Baby? When is the last time you were fucked?” Brandt’s glare let Ryan know his cousin wasn’t particularly pleased with his blunt approach—damn, he really
was
going to have to work on his communication skills. Growing up in Texas where blunt was equated with honesty and then years as a SEAL had eroded his ability to practice what his mother referred to as “social niceties.” From what Ryan could derive, she’d been politely calling him a clod, but he was equally convinced she’d never tell him that directly.

During his time with Templar, he’d spent time with their women and they’d been working hard to “polish him”—their words, not his. But from the look on Brandt’s face, Ryan was guessing they hadn’t managed to make a significant difference. Hell, maybe he’d give Carli a call—she’d spent years gracing magazine covers around the world but you’d likely never find anyone more humble. Her younger sister, Cressi would simply tell him to cry in the truck or suck it up—she’d loved teasing him about his Texas twang. The women his bosses had claimed for themselves were both gorgeous and brilliant—much like the woman standing in front of him.

Watching Joelle come by their hands as pure rapture shook her entire body so violently Ryan wondered if she would break apart, was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen in his entire life. He’d visited kink clubs all over the world, but he’d never see anything more breathtaking than Joelle lost in those long seconds of complete abandon. While Brandt patted her skin dry Ryan combed the tangles from her hair before securing it in a loose braid.

When Joelle opened her eyes and gave him a drowsy, but questioning look Ryan felt himself blush. He shrugged but finally answered her unspoken question. “You probably don’t really want to know, but I don’t want there to be questions between us. I had a girlfriend in high school who showed horses on the weekends. If I wanted to spend time with her, I had to tag along. She taught me to braid.” What he left out was the fact he’d learned so she’d finish up sooner, those stolen moments behind the chutes and barns of various show arenas had proven to be a very fertile learning ground for a sixteen-year-old boy. He’d scored a nineteen-year-old girlfriend because he was the Morgan Oil heir and had a fleet of fancy vehicles at his disposal. The few months he dated Nikki had been a crash course in what he later termed as kink for beginners. He’d always be grateful for all she taught him.

Joelle’s dove gray eyes softened and her sweet smile was a relief. “How old were you?”

Ryan felt himself cringe as Brandt chuckled behind her. “Sixteen. But she was nineteen and far more sexually advanced than I was—although I did prove to be a quick study and caught up pretty quickly.”

This time, she giggled softly. “I’ll just bet you did. Perhaps I should thank her…seems I might be on the winning end of her tutelage.” Ryan didn’t answer, he just nodded and turned her to Brandt.

“I’m going downstairs for a few minutes. I want to call Sage and give him a quick update since they’d talked about coming home early. I’ll also call Micah Drake and Jax McDonald at the Prairie Winds Club—those two are pure magic at digging up dirt and I have a feeling somebody on the Phillips BOD is hot to keep your discovery suppressed.” Ryan agreed, but something about the whole situation didn’t ring true to him and he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it yet. His gut told him there was more at stake than a few shares of stock, what he didn’t know
yet
was
who
or
what
. He agreed Kent and Kyle West’s security team was top-notch. Hell, he wasn’t too sure they weren’t better connected than the men at Templar.

Ryan hoped Brandt and Joelle would agree to make the trip to Texas with him when he drove back home to pack. He made a mental note to talk to Brandt—hell, maybe they’d stop at the Prairie Winds Club for a couple of days on the way. He’d love to spend some time looking at Joelle’s naked body spread out in the warm sunshine. It would be a treat to introduce her to the women of the Prairie Winds—damn they were a handful. Watching their Doms try to keep them corralled was some of the most fun Ryan ever had on leave.

Joelle’s lips were
still tingling from the scorching kiss Brandt had given her before heading downstairs. He’d told her to get some rest and promised to rejoin them soon. She’d watched him walk from the room, her eyes focused on his ass as her imagination wondered how long it would be until she could get her hands on those firm globes. Even though both men had been naked in the shower, they hadn’t let her touch them. She hadn’t protested because she’d been too tired to do much aside from trying to remain upright. Ryan’s chuckle from beside her had Joelle turning to him as she felt her cheeks heat.

“Don’t be embarrassed, baby. I promise you, that look is the stuff of dreams for a Dom. I assure you Brandt would be thrilled to know you were admiring his ass—ets. But I’m sure my entire family would be grateful if you’d hold back from showing him the depth of your desire—at least for a few days. The male competition in this family is something to behold and no one wants to see Brandt’s ego launched into the stratosphere.” Ryan’s voice was laced with nothing but affection and it warmed her heart to know how close he was with his extended family.

As an only child, she’d always envied the connection she saw between her friends and their siblings. During the past year, several of the people she’d met in Pine Creek had mentioned Brandt’s struggle with PTSD and she didn’t doubt for a minute Ryan was also fully aware of the hell his cousin had endured. Joelle found herself smiling at Ryan’s teasing. She’d gotten to know Brandt as a friend first, so she was happy to discover his support system extended beyond his immediate family and the small community of Pine Creek.

Ryan must have sensed her mood shift because he pulled her close and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “Come on baby, let’s get some sleep.” She’d almost forgotten how tired she was, but the mention of rest drained the last of her second wind.

“Do you think Brandt has a t-shirt I could borrow?” When he just raised a brow in question, she quickly added, “To sleep in. I don’t know what I was thinking when I packed, I completely forgot nightgowns.”

“Freudian slip?” The glint in Ryan’s eye told her he was only half kidding. She opened her mouth to deny his allegation, but luckily her brain kicked into gear before her mouth and she snapped it shut so quickly she felt her teeth clack together. A roguish grin lit up his face. “You know, a part of me hates the fact you caught yourself—it’s likely we’d have both enjoyed your spanking.” He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture she was coming to recognize as anything but nonchalant. “In time, you won’t be so cognizant of your nudity.”

Joelle gasped when in a move so quick she barely registered the blur, he flipped open the towel she’d wrapped around her sending it into a puddle at her feet. When she bent to retrieve it, a sharp slap heated her ass cheek making her draw in a sharp breath before dropping the damp fabric back to the floor. “Two things, baby. First of all, you don’t need anything to sleep in. We’re always going to want as little between us as possible. Anything you’d wear to bed will just end up shredded—so don’t bother.” She could tell he was trying not to laugh at her surprise. Despite her best effort, she knew her face was giving away her annoyance. Her father had often scolded her about what he called her mulish expression. She rubbed her stinging backside and watched him warily.

“Secondly, you bend over like you just did and you can be sure we’re going to have our hands on you—always. And in this case, I knew you were going to wrap that towel around you blocking my view—and I wasn’t interested in that at all. Now, you might want to rethink your scowl, baby, because I have to tell you that is a good way to find yourself draped over my lap. And like I said earlier, I’d be more than happy to blow off a little steam by turning those lovely cheeks of yours a lovely shade of rose.”

Joelle hoped Ryan couldn’t read her mind or he might decide she needed the spanking after all. She’d met Doms she would have sworn knew exactly what a sub was thinking at any given moment and it made her wonder if they weren’t reading more than the body language of the woman they were topping. What Ryan didn’t seem to understand was his threats to give her an over-the-knee spanking were falling on hopeful ears. The intimacy of laying over his knees with her ass bare to his palm was something she craved rather than something she feared.

R
yan watched Joelle’s
expression shift from defiance to arousal in the span of a few blinks of an eye.
God in heaven, she is fucking perfect.
He hoped like hell she and Brandt would make the trip to Texas with him because he knew once he slid inside her heat, he wouldn’t want to be away from her for a week. He’d been mentally cataloging her responses each time he mentioned any aspect of the lifestyle, and talking about laying her over his knee for a spanking had consistently sent her pulse and respiration rates through the roof. Her pupils dilated and the lovely pink flush of arousal moving over her chest let him know how much she loved a good spanking.

Well, never let it be said he didn’t live to serve. “Brandt and I are looking forward to sharing your sweet body, but I agree—we’ll need to prepare you for that pleasure.” He wasn’t surprised to see her eyes dilate with awareness. Joelle had probably seen several ménage scenes at the clubs where she’d played, so she knew precisely what he was talking about. He tilted his head slightly as he watched her. Damn, he’d love to know what was going through that sharp mind of hers. He could practically hear the wheels spinning furiously, her exhaustion temporarily forgotten. Oh, he knew her body was going to implode soon, all the signs were there, but he had a few minutes to play with her and the temptation was more than he could resist.

“I want you to walk over to the bed and bend at the waist. Spread your legs as far apart as you can comfortably and arch your back.” The first flare of defiance he saw flash in her eyes confirmed his earlier theory—this sub needed to know her Dom would take her in hand. She was far too intelligent to blindly submit to a Dom who wasn’t willing her to earn submission. “Your hesitance just earned you ten, baby. Let’s go.”

He shackled her small wrist with his large hand and pulled her behind him like a disobedient child to the small sitting area of Brandt’s suite. This wouldn’t be a harsh punishment because he knew her soul was simply giving him a glimpse of who she really was—the fact he could read her body language so perfectly made him grateful for the fact she was silently helping him far more than she knew. Ryan sat on the only armless chair but didn’t pull her over his knees right away.

Using the pad of his thumb, Ryan rubbed slow, sensuous circles over the inside of her wrist. He relished the increase in her pulse as it pounded furiously beneath his touch. “Why are you being punished, baby?”

“I hesitated when you gave me an order, Sir.” The slightly airy sound of her voice told him how quickly she was sliding into the scene and he could hardly wait to see the pink blush he planned to give her beautiful ass.

“Why did you hesitate?”

“I don’t know. I was just trying to take everything in, and wondering how much it was going to hurt.” Ryan suspected she was worried it wasn’t going to hurt quite enough to get her where she needed to be—but he planned to show her how quickly he could take her exactly where she wanted to go.

“Well, I think there is a part of you that wanted this punishment. I think you crave the intimacy you feel lying over a Dom’s lap. The burn of his hand against the satin-smooth skin of her ass, his position of power as he holds you down, and the bite of pain his punishment brings—they all work together to send you into orbit, don’t they, baby?”

He knew he’d nailed it when her lips parted and she sucked in a quick breath of surprise. “Yes, Sir. How did you know?”
Because your body told me, baby. You told me, even if you hadn’t planned to.

“It’s Brandt’s and my job to know, baby.” He saw Brandt slip back into the room but knew she didn’t know he’d returned. “But here’s a tip for you, sweetheart. All you have to do is ask—we’ll always give you what you need. And remember, one of the best parts of a polyamorous relationship would be having two men to turn to rather than just one.” Shifting his gaze from her to his lap and back letting her know where she needed to be, he wanted to groan when she settled over his throbbing erection. Hell, if he made it through the next few minutes without embarrassing himself it was going to be a fucking miracle.

Once he had her in position, Brandt stepped closer and quirked an eyebrow in question. Ryan silently mouthed
hesitation
and Brandt grinned knowing that was such a subjective term a Dom could almost impose a punishment at will. Ryan had seen inexperienced Doms punish a sub for hesitation when the submissive in their care was already so far into the scene their mind was simply not processing information at their usual rate.

He slid his palm up the inside of her silky thigh until he reached the damp folds of her pussy. She wasn’t dry, but she certainly wasn’t dripping with arousal either—
let’s see how wet you are after your paddling, sweetness.
Ryan’s palm came down on her ivory skin with a resounding slap of flesh against flesh. Joelle stiffened beneath him, but she didn’t even make a sound.
Interesting. Perhaps she likes the bite even more than I realized.
The first blow was followed by three more, each one just fractionally harder than the one before. He’d heard her breath hitch and the low moan when he paused letting him know he’d gotten her close to the place he wanted her. Sliding his fingers through her folds, he smiled at Brandt when his fingers came back glistening with her honey.