Passion's Fury (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 2) (14 page)

She broke off, giving a little shake of her head.  “It was like I recognized him or something.  Like on some deep, secret level, I already knew him.  He touched something inside of me and I knew we were fated to meet.”

She smiled wistfully.  “That’s something else my father didn’t believe in.  Fate.  Oh, he believed in God’s will.  And he believed in Heaven, but his version of Heaven was a horrible place, where everyone who was there was sort of a spiritual slave, yoked together by false piety and self-righteousness.  All he believed in was condemnation, judgment, and retribution.

“By the time Janelle came into my life, I knew that my father’s belief system was never going to be mine and I was already looking for something different.  I wanted to be happy. I
deserved
to be happy.  The more he beat me, the more determined I was never to be like him.”

“You’re not, angel,” Ash reassured her, reaching down to take the laptop from her lap.  After handing it to Caleb, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the couch.  He sat at one end with her sideways across his lap so she could lean back against the overstuffed arm.  Caleb sat beside him, lifting her legs across his lap.

“You have a beautiful soul, baby,” Ash continued.  “Bright and shining with love and goodness.  You’re right.  You do deserve happiness.  And we would consider it our honor and privilege if you would let us be the ones to give it to you.  To show you who you truly are.  The woman who was put on this earth for us to love and cherish.”

Wow. 
She swallowed hard.  How could she resist these men when they talked to her like that?  The simple answer was, she couldn’t.  She didn’t want to.  And, in spite of her misgivings, she wasn’t going to.  “A girl could get used to being treated like she hung the moon,” she murmured.

“You mean you didn’t?” Ash asked, making them all laugh.

Kylie let herself relax against the arm of the couch, nestling her ass against the hard muscle of Ash’s unmistakable erection.  She lifted her hand to his chest.  The rhythmic beat of his heart beneath her palm soothed her.  “Okay, I’ve told you all my dark, dirty little secrets.  Your turn.  Did you grow up here?”

“No.  Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago.  One dad is a pediatrician, the other owns his own construction business.  He helped us restore this house.”

“You all did a beautiful job,” Kylie said.  “The house is magnificent.  How about your mom?”

“She’s magnificent, too,” Ash teased, making Kylie laugh.  “She was a high school music teacher, but now she just gives piano lessons to the neighborhood children.  She tried her best to teach us.”

“Oh, you play piano?”  She didn’t remember seeing one in the house.

“I played trumpet in our high school band.  Simon plays bass guitar.  He and some buddies of ours have a country/rock band called the Midnight Riders.  They’re regular performers at Nik and Jay’s bar.”  At her puzzled look, he explained.  “Nik Rostov and Jay Gillespie, more buddies of ours.  They own the Passion Lake Lodge.  The main buildin’ has a bar and grill that features live music on the weekends.  Rock on Friday nights, country on Saturday nights, with lots of dancin’.  They’re playin’ this weekend, so we’ll definitely go hear them.”  Ash grinned.  “We’ll have to get you properly outfitted in some cowgirl boots and teach you the Texas two-step.  Can’t two-step properly without the boots.”

“Oh, my God, that sounds like so much fun.”  Kylie tugged her lower lip between her teeth.  “Do you think I’ll be walking by then?  I can’t wait to dance with you guys.”  She turned her head to look up at Caleb.  “So what do
you
play?”

“The radio.”

Kylie laughed.

“Actually, I play a pretty mean fiddle, so I’ll be up there with the band on Saturday night.”

Kylie looked at Ash.  “Not much call for a trumpet in a country/western band,” she observed.

“Nope.  But I’m good.  I have the best job of all.”

“What’s that?”

“Bein’ with you.  Teachin’ you how to dance.”  His eyes darkened, holding her captive in their ocean blue depths.  He bent toward her.  His hand came up to the side of her face.  Threading his fingers through her hair to shape the back of her head, he palmed her cheek, brushing his thumb gently back and forth across it.  Slowly he pulled her head up from where it was resting against the arm of the sofa, slanting his and opening his mouth to claim her lips in a kiss that squeezed her heart until she feared it would stop beating.  His tongue came out to trace the seam of her lips, and when they parted, it surged inside to explore every inch of her cavern.

Her own tongue sought his in a passionate duel that sent her stomach plummeting and liquid heat gushing between her legs. 
God,
she loved kissing these men.  It would be so easy to fall in love with them.

She felt Caleb’s hand close around hers, lifting it and turning it over to press a kiss to her palm before placing it against his cheek and just holding it there.  The connection sent sparks effervescing through her veins.  When Ash’s kiss finally ended, her heart was hammering so hard, she feared it would burst.

Ash released her mouth, but not her head.  Still holding her gaze with his, he leaned back away from her and relaxed back against the cushions, continuing to brush his thumb across her cheek, his eyes glittering.  His smile heated her blood, sending it simmering through her veins.  “Wow,” was all he said.

“Yeah.  Wow”
. 
She stared up at him, a dazed expression on her face, swallowing hard as hunger raced through her.  These men made her feel things she had never felt before.  Things that excited the hell out of her.  Things she wanted to feel again and again.  “Um.”  Her mind was a total blank.

Caleb chuckled, placing another quick kiss against her palm.  “Lose your place, sugar?”

She seized on the first thought that strayed into the void.  “Um.  How often do you see your family?”

Both Caleb and Ash laughed.  “A few times a year.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, that sort of thing.  They always make a big deal out of our birthday.  Of course, while Dad was helping us with the house, he just lived here and went home on weekends, so we saw a lot more of him then.  Do you see much of the Goodmans?”

“Janelle is in London, dancing with the Royal Ballet, so I don’t see her much.  We email and call once a week, though.  Up until all this shit happened, I saw mom and dad—oh, my God!”  She jerked upright.  “Mom and dad!  They probably think I’m dead!  I’ve got to call them!  Oh, my God, how could I have been so thoughtless?”  She tried to shove herself off of Ash’s lap, but he held her firmly in place.

“Take it easy, sugar,” Caleb said, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket.  “Give me the number and I’ll call them.”

She hesitated.  “Is it safe?  Do you suppose their calls are being monitored?”

“Even if they are, this is a sat phone.  It’s untraceable.”

Kylie gave him the Goodmans’ number.  As soon as he dialed it and pressed speaker, a woman answered.  “Hello?  Hello?”

“Mom?”

“Kylie?  Oh, my God, Kylie, is that you?  James, it’s Kylie!  She’s alive!”

“Kylie!”  A man’s voice, tight with worry.  “Where are you, honey, what happened?  We’ve been so worried about you.  Your house blew up!  Were you in it?  Are you hurt?”

Kylie’s hand flew to her mouth as she burst into gulping, choking sobs at the familiar, beloved sound of her adoptive parents’ voices.  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”

While she struggled to get herself under control, Caleb leaned forward.  “Mr. and Mrs. Goodman, my name is Caleb.  I’m the sheriff of a small town.  I don’t want to alarm you, but your phones may be bugged.  So, for security reasons, I won’t tell you my last name or the name of the town.  But I want to reassure you that Kylie is fine and she’s safe.  She’ll tell you that herself in just a minute.”  He stole a glance at her.  Ash was rubbing his hand up and down her back in a calming gesture, as she struggled to gulp down her sobs.

“Is she crying?” Dorothy Goodman asked.  “Kylie, honey, are you crying?”

Caleb chuckled.  “Yeah.  She’s sort of choked up right now.  She’ll explain everything to you.  But I want you to know that my brothers and I are lookin’ after her, so please don’t worry about her.”  He turned his head to look at Kylie.  Tears streaked her face, but her breathing had become much more even.  “She’s had a rough few days, but rest assured she’s fine and she is not alone. Some very bad people are tryin’ to get her, but the three of us are in a position to take care of this problem.”

“Thank you, Caleb,” James Goodman said.  “And thank your brothers for us.  Just knowing that you’re looking out for our Kylie is a big relief.”

“Thank
you
for rescuin’ her from her asshole of a father,” Caleb responded solemnly.  “And for lovin’ her.”

“Oh, that was no hardship at all,” Dorothy Goodman replied.  “She’s very lovable.”

“Indeed she is.”  Caleb patted Kylie on the leg.  “Are you ready, sugar?  I’ll turn off the speaker and the two of us will leave you alone so you can talk to your mom and dad.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Kylie protested.

“Yes, we do.  They’re bound to have a lot of questions and we want you to feel free to talk to them without havin’ to censure your words.  We’ll be in the kitchen.  Just holler when you’re done, okay?”  He handed her the phone then stood and lifted her off of Ash’s lap, depositing her in his vacated spot.  Both men kissed her before they left her alone to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Goodman.

Once in the kitchen they just stood and looked at each other, hands shoved in the back pockets of their jeans.

“Want a beer?” Ash asked.

“Sure.”

He removed his hands from his pockets and walked over to the refrigerator.  Retrieving two long-necked bottles, he popped the top on both of them, using the bottle opener attached to the side of the cabinet, before handing one to his brother.  He took a long swig, then looked at Caleb again.  “I wish I knew what she was thinkin’.”

“Me too.”

Pause.  “You don’t think those websites turned her off, do you?”

Caleb shrugged.  “Hard to say.  They definitely aroused her.”

Another, longer pause.

“What are
you
thinkin’?”

Their eyes met.

“I’m thinking maybe she should talk with Sarah.”

Sarah Colter-Sinclair was the wife of Jesse Colter and Adam Sinclair, the Commander and the Executive Officer of Caleb’s former SEAL team.  “Possibly even Leah.”  Leah Stanhope, the fiancée of another former teammate, Clay “Raven” Nighthorse.  “Maybe actually talking with someone in the lifestyle would help her.  Sarah’s with more than one man and Leah’s new to BDSM.  Both of them together should be able to answer all her questions.”

“That’s absolutely brilliant, bro.”  Ash punched Caleb’s shoulder.  “How do you think we should set it up?”

Caleb fingered his chin thoughtfully.  “Well, we have reservations at Granny Grace’s tomorrow at four-thirty.  Why don’t I call them and see if they’re willin’ to meet us there?”

Ash fished his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to his brother.  “Here.  Go for it.”

While Caleb was talking to Leah Stanhope, they heard Kylie calling them.  “I’ll go,” Ash said, already starting toward the living room.

Kylie was sitting exactly as he’d left her, phone still in her hand.  Her face was pale and drawn, with purple shadows haunting her eyes and white lines of fatigue bracketing her mouth.

“Hey, baby.”  He took the phone from her limp hand.

She looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.  “They were so worried.  I should have called them.”  She slammed her fist down on top of her thigh.  “
God
, I should have called them!  I can’t believe I didn’t!”

Ash sank down on the couch and pulled her onto his lap.  “Don’t beat yourself up over it, baby.  I’m sure they understand.”

She looped her arms around his neck and sagged against him, burying her face in the curve of his shoulder.  He could feel the wetness of her tears on his skin.  “They were so shocked when I told them everything that had happened.  They wanted to come and get me immediately, but I manage to convince them that I was in good hands.”

“You are in good hands, Kylie,” Caleb said, walking into the room to join them.

Simon was right behind him, a broad smile on his face.  “Hey, darlin’.  Did you miss me?”

“Were you gone?” Kylie teased.

“Very funny.”  He bent over her and placed a kiss on her cheek.  “Do you feel better havin’ talked to your parents?”

“Yes.”  She lifted her head to see Caleb and Simon standing side by side looking down at her.  Her heartbeat accelerated. 
God,
they were so gorgeous.  “What?”

Caleb just smiled.  “Nothin’, sugar.  We just enjoy lookin’ at you, that’s all.”

“Are you ready to discuss our…um…activities?”

“Actually, we wanna run something by you first.”  Caleb sat down next to her and took her hand in his.  “Would you be comfortable talkin’ with a couple of friends of ours?  Sarah Colter-Sinclair has two Doms, so she can tell you what bein’ part of a ménage is like.  Both she and another friend, Leah Stanhope, were nearly as new to this as you are, so they might be able to help ease any lingerin’ doubts you may have.”