Passion's Hope (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 3) (13 page)

Jesus Christ! Are you outta your fuckin’ mind? You’ve got to get outta here! Sure, they offered you a job and a place to stay until you get back on your feet. But at what price? What are they going to ask for in return? No, not ask. Demand. Doms never ask. Would they want obedience? Submission? Sex?
Memories of her ordeal with Perry Bradford sprang into her mind. Without realizing it, her body stiffened and she shook her head slightly against Nik’s chest.
No. I can’t do it. Whatever the price is, it’s too high.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking right now, Charlotte.” Nik’s voice rumbled in her ear, “But I do know that it is not pleasant. Do you think you could stop thinking about it long enough to hear what Jay and I propose?”

After a brief hesitation, Charlie relaxed against him with a sigh and nodded her head.

“Good girl. We know you’re in trouble right now and we’d like to help.”

“Why?” she interrupted. “You don’t know me. You know nothing about me. I could be some kind of twisted, perverted psycho for all you know. I did, after all, enter a BDSM club using a stolen invitation for the sole purpose of stealing food.” She crossed her eyes, let one eyelid droop and made her face twitch and jerk. “Seems pretty psycho to me.”

Jay laughed. “Not psycho. Desperate.” His hand stroked the outside of her thigh. “You were basically held captive for three weeks by a man who beat you, raped you, tortured you, and humiliated you. As a result, you lost your home and your only source of income. And judging from everything we’ve seen and heard, you didn’t have any money in reserve either. On top of that, you’re ill and in no physical condition to remedy any of those circumstances.”

“Which is where we come in,” Nik chimed in. “We think it is fate that brought you to us, because we can provide solutions to all your problems. We can care for you until you are well again, give you a job that will provide you with income, and a place to stay until you feel you have enough of a financial cushion to be able to go anywhere you want to. Although,” he added, “we would hope you would choose to stay with us.”

“Again, why?”

“To be honest, we’re not sure why,” Jay said, once again taking up the narrative. “All we know is, the instant we saw you something just…clicked for us.” He turned his head to look up at Nik. “A lot of things clicked for us tonight.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Charlie confessed. “I-I overheard the two of you talking.”

“Then you know that we’re both Doms?”

“Yes.”

“But that I will sometimes submit to Nik because I need something only his Daddy Dom can give me?” Jay persisted.

“Yes.”

“And that my occasional submission is something his Daddy Dom also needs from me?”

Charlie nodded.

“And that we have been looking for a submissive who will agree to let both of us dominate her?”

She practically snorted.
Right. What woman in her right mind would agree to anything like that?
Yet, despite her scorn, her belly did a slow roll, spilling cream out between her legs.

“Yeah, I got that part, too. And if you think for one minute that I’ll give you sex in exchange for a job and a place to stay, then you’ve got another think coming. I’ve already been at the complete mercy of one Dom, I
would
be a psycho to put myself at the mercy of two more Doms. Besides, I’m not a submissive.”

Jay just smiled, lifting his hand from her thigh to cup her cheek. “You can tell yourself that, darlin’ girl. But sayin’ it don’t make it so.” He chuckled. “Your problem is you’re a submissive who’s afraid to trust. We’d like the chance to prove that you can trust us. Not just with your body, but with your heart and mind as well. We would give you a safe word. You’re familiar with the D/s dynamic. If we do anything that frightens you or makes you uncomfortable, all you have to do is say your safe word and everything stops. Understood? You are the one in control here, not us. And if you still decide to leave, then that is your choice and we won’t stop you. So will you at least think about our offer? We don’t need an answer right away, so take your time and let us know in a day or so, okay?”

Charlie just waited, breath held. The generosity of their offer was stunning, and even though all her instincts were screaming at her to get the hell out of there, she ignored them. She had only one reason to leave. An audition with an unknown band who might or might not like her voice well enough to take a chance on her. And she had two reasons to stay. Nik Rostov and Jay Gillespie. It was just too tempting to turn down.

“Charlotte?”

“I—okay. I’ll stay for a while at least.”

Both men sighed as if they, too, had been holding their breath.

“Thank you, Charlotte,” Nik said. “You won’t regret it. Now, we need to get you into bed so your body can work on getting better.”

“Can’t we just…stay like this for a little bit longer?” she asked. “Unless you’re wanting to go to bed yourselves,” she added hastily, pushing against Nik’s chest in an effort to sit up but being prevented by his arms tightening around her.

“We would love to stay just like this,” Nik reassured her, stroking his big hand up and down her back. “For as long as you need us to. Just relax and let go of all your cares,
malyutka.
Go ahead and sleep. You’re safe with us. And we will be here when you wake.”

Holy fuck! Did I just ask them to sleep with me?
The thought should have disturbed her. Instead it gave her a sense of comfort so profound, it threw her for a loop. She’d never experienced anything like this before. And she wanted more. Much more.

“Why did you run away from us, baby?” Jay asked. “Back there at the club?”

One shoulder twitched in a tiny shrug. “I don’t know. Scared, I guess.”

“Of us?”

“Well, you
are
awfully big,” she pointed out. “And intimidating. And when you focus your attention on me, it’s…very intense. And not a little scary.”

“Have we hurt you,
lapochka
?” Nik asked.

“No, of course not. You’ve been very kind and respectful.”

“Because we respect women,” Nik said. “Especially submissive women, because we know how much courage it takes to place all your trust in another human being.”

“Well, that’ll never happen again,” Charlotte snorted.

“You just placed your trust in the
wrong
human being,
lapochka
,” Nik said. “Jay and I would consider it an honor if you would allow us to show you what it’s like when you trust the
right
human beings. We would like to show you what a D/s relationship can really be like when there is trust and mutual respect and—”
Holy fuck! Did I nearly say ‘love’? No, no, no, it’s way too soon for anything like
that
!

She frowned. “But how would that work? Aren’t you two already…um…you know…together?”

Both Nik and Jay laughed. “No, baby, why would you think that?” Jay asked.

“That scene you did at the club. The connection between you two was so intense. Electric, even. Everyone in the room felt it. How can you connect like that and not be together? It was so...” she groped for the right word “…powerful. So compelling.”
So primal .It’s also what draws me to this particular lifestyle and what I’ve been looking for all my life. But they don’t need to know that, now, do they?

Nik chuckled. “Well, it was a surprise to us. We’ve been friends and business partners for eleven years. Ever since we were in the SEALs together. But lately we’ve both been thinking that...well, we needed more. Don’t get me wrong,
myshka
, we’re not gay. And Jay’s not a submissive. We’re both Doms. And we’ve both known we were looking for a woman to share. A submissive woman. Someone strong, smart, funny, and willing to take on two dominant men.” He nuzzled his cheek against her hair. “We think that woman is you
.
We would like for you to consider giving us a chance to show you how fulfilling a healthy D/s relationship can be.”

“Nik—”Charlie squirmed uncomfortably in his lap. “I-I don’t think—”

“Master Nik,” he corrected her once again. “Or Sir. Or Daddy. As long as you’re living with us, we will insist on the honorifics, whether you are officially our sub or not. Clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You don’t need to give us your answer right now, little one. Just promise you’ll think about it. In the meantime, as soon as you’re feeling better, we can see about getting you started upstairs in the Icebox. And I’ll call Mitch Thompkins about setting up an audition for you with the band.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Like I said at the club. You’re in trouble and you need help. That’s what SEALs do. We help people in trouble.”

To her shock and utter horror, completely undone by the kindness and generosity of these two men, Charlie began to cry. Deep, heaving sobs that shuddered through her body and ripped from her throat. She cried for things she’d never cried for before. All the losses in her life. The loss of her parents, the loss of a loving, stable home life. The perfidy of Perry Bradford and the pain he’d inflicted on her. She cried until her head was pounding so hard, she feared her brain would explode. And she was so hot, she felt like she was crawling through fire. She cried for what seemed like hours, and through it all, Nik and Jay just held her, murmuring words of comfort, encouraging her to just let it all out. Finally, exhausted, she just lay there, slumped against Nik’s body, sniffling and hiccupping, and occasionally releasing a shuddering, hitching breath until she fell asleep.

“Her fever’s spiking again.” Nik didn’t even have to hold his hand against her forehead. Her entire body was like a furnace. “I think we should give Luc a call, make sure we’re doing all we can to combat her infections. Maybe she needs to be in the hospital.”

“No hospital,” Jay was adamant. “She’ll run the minute she gets a chance. We can’t let her do that. She won’t be safe. Not as long as Perry Bradford is alive and thinks she’s a threat.”

Careful not to wake her, Nik managed to extract himself from beneath her. Without a word passing between them, both he and Jay carefully arranged her in the middle of the bed. She rolled over onto her right side, draped her arm around Mr. Floppy, tucked her hands beneath her cheek and settled with a sigh. Being careful of the IV line, Jay aligned himself behind her, pulling her ass into his groin. Nik arranged his long body along her front and gave her a tender kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well, baby girl,” he whispered, lifting his hand to tuck her sleek, black hair back behind her ear. “Whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, you’re in good hands.”

CHAPTER SIX

Charlie yawned, curled into a little ball, and tightened her muscles. Then, straightening her legs, she raised her arms above her head, stretching in all directions, luxuriating in the feel of her muscles limbering up.
Mmmm. That was—oh, my God!
Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, looking around in a panic.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, what time is it? Master will want his cock sucked! Where is he? Why didn’t he wake me? Oh, my God, he’ll be furious!
Her throat thickened with tears of dread.
I can’t take another punishment. I just can’t. I won’t survive it.
Her heart plummeted and her muscles tensed as the prospect of yet another beating loomed before her. Until, suddenly, her memories came flooding back. Nik. Jay. The Club. A sob escaped her as she was flooded with a profound sense of relief, followed by a shaky sigh. She sank back down against the pillows

She wasn’t at Perry’s house. This wasn’t Perry’s bed. That should have been her first clue. If she’d still been his prisoner, she definitely wouldn’t have been afforded the luxury of being in his bed. She would have been in a wooden box
under
the bed, waiting for him to pull her out and force her to suck his cock. No, she wasn’t at Perry’s. She was someplace called Passion Lake Lodge. In Nik Rostov and Jay Gillespie’s apartment. Somehow she’d wound up here after witnessing their mesmerizing, \intensely passionate scene at Club Risqué. After which Perry had confronted her. Hit her. Called her a cunt and a worthless whore—

There were other memories, too, all jumbled together, some more vivid than others. Waking up to see Jay lying on his back sideways across the foot of the bed, his head hanging off the edge of the mattress, with Nik looking down at him tenderly, slowly fucking his mouth. Unfortunately, she’d sunk back into oblivion before getting the chance to watch Nik’s body convulsing in climax. She had dim recollections of being cradled after having nightmares about Perry. Of begging for kisses—
oh, my God, surely that’s a dream. Surely I never—
her hands flew to her mouth as her sense memory kicked in. Nik and Jay. Their scents, earthy and masculine. Their touch, soothing and gentle. Their lips, sweet and tender, placing kisses on her mouth, her cheeks, her eyes, and the tip of her nose
.

Okay, now I’m officially embarrassed.

She had other recollections, too. Of being carried to and from the bathroom, of being cradled in the tub and bathed by gentle hands, of being placed on the toilet and held so she didn’t fall off. All these things had happened more than once, although she had no idea how often. Time had definitely passed, but just how
much
time was lost in a fog. Everything was chaotic and out of focus.

Carefully, she looked around again. Thank goodness her head no longer hurt.
But do not rejoice,
she thought sourly, her eyes closing,
because now everything
else
hurts.
She felt like she’d been tied to the tracks and run over by a freight train.

She was alone in the massive bed. The IV needle was still in her arm and a glucose drip bag still hung from the pole next to the bed.

She heard the low murmur of voices and the sound of splashing water coming from the bathroom. Automatically turning her head, she stared at the closed door. Telling herself that whatever was going on in there was none of her business, she lay there for a minute gnawing on her upper lip and fighting her curiosity. Until it finally got the better of her. Her insatiable desire to know more about the two fascinating men who’d so gallantly come to her rescue had her pulling the needle out of her arm and sliding out of bed. A sudden wave of dizziness swept over her, forcing her to place a steadying hand on the side of the bed. Legs wobbling, she walked barefoot across the plush carpet toward the bathroom.
Jesus!
Why was she so weak? Silently she opened the door.

Nik Rostov was standing in the middle of an enormous, glassed-in shower stall. The glass was steamed up from the heat of the water, but Charlie could clearly see him. His head was thrown back in ecstasy, gripping the sides of Jay Gillespie’s head with his big hands, his long fingers twisting in Jay’s long hair. Jay was on his knees in front of Nik, his head moving downward as he sucked the Russian’s cock all the way to the back of his throat.

“Yes! Yes! Christ,
malchik
, that’s so good! So fucking good!”

Charlie’s eyes widened and she was swept by a wave of sheer lust.
Holy shit!
This had to be the sexiest thing she had ever seen in her entire life.

Oh, my God! What are you doing? You’re intruding on a private moment that is sooo none of your business! You’ve got to get out of here before they spot you!
Bending forward and hunching her shoulders up around her ears, Charlie started to back out of the room, but Nik’s next words stopped her cold.

“Good morning,
lapochka.”

Charlotte froze, a sound sort of like a squeak escaping her lips. “I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean—I just—”

“
Please, little one, come in. Do not deprive us of your delightful company. You may join us just as soon as Master Jay finishes his task. A task he is performing exceedingly well, by the way.” Nik looked fondly down at Jay’s dark head pressed against his groin, felt Jay’s throat tighten around his cock head as he swallowed. And that was all it took to pull Nik over the edge into ecstasy. His shout echoed around the room, his back arched, and his hips jerked forward as he poured his seed down Jay’s throat, pumping hard into his mouth. Flexing his cheeks, Jay worked his lips and tongue up and down Nik’s stalk in a hard suckle, milking the last drops of pleasure out of his flagging cock.

With a flex of his hips, Nik pulled out of Jay’s mouth and looked down at his partner, still kneeling at his feet, waiting patiently for Nik’s next instructions. Nik gentled his hold on Jay’s head, stroking his hair fondly. “That’s my beautiful, beautiful boy,” he crooned. “Did you enjoy that as much as I did?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “You may thank me for the gift of my cum.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Jay said, staring down at the water splashing on the tile floor of the shower. “Thank you for allowing me to suck your cock. And for letting me swallow your cum.”

“Perhaps someday soon, our little Charlotte will be willing to share this duty with you, yes?” Nik raised his eyes, pinning Charlie to the spot where she stood, just inside the partially opened door, her eyes wide with a clear mix of apprehension and arousal. He held his hand out toward her, beckoning her forward, his gesture imperious, though his voice was gentle and kind. If a voice that deep and authoritative could truly be described as gentle and kind. “Don’t be afraid,
malyutka.
We are not going to hurt you. We’ll get you nice and clean, then spend the day being lazy.” He smiled. “Don’t want to overtax you. After all, you’ve been in bed for the past three days—”

Wait. What? Three days? Then that meant—
her hand flew to her head as her mind whirled.
Three days!
“But that’s impossible!
That would mean that today is…”

“Friday?” Jay supplied helpfully.

“It
can’t
be Friday!”

Nik’s lips twitched. “Are you forbidding it to be Friday, baby girl?” he teased.

“No, no, of course not.” Her tone held more than just a trace of exasperation. “You know what I mean. It’s just that I missed my audition.”
Her face fell as she saw the last of her chances circling the drain. Her throat closed so tight it hurt to swallow. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

Nik held out his hand and for some reason she put hers in it. “Come, little one. You’ll feel better after you’ve had a nice hot shower.”

He gave a gentle tug and she stepped toward him. “I-I don’t want to d-disturb you,” she stammered, inexplicably reluctant to enter the stall. “I feel like I’m intruding…” Her voice trailed off as embarrassment stained her skin from her chest up. Both men were regarding her with hot, hard eyes, Nik from his commanding position in the middle of the stall, Jay from his subordinate position, still on his knees in front of Nik.

“You could never disturb us,” Jay assured her with a sweet smile. “Well,” he gestured down toward his erect cock, standing stiff and proud, “Except for the obvious, of course. Certain parts of the male anatomy are more easily disturbed than others.” He extended his hand upward, as if she were a skittish horse needing to be gentled. “Please, Charlie. We need to make sure you’re all right and that your wounds are healing properly. Do you feel okay’, darlin’?”

“I do,” she said nodding. “I’m just a little weak.”

“And I’d be willing to wager you’re ready for a shower right about now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I do feel kinda…grubby.”

Nik chuckled and looked down at Jay, brushing his fingertips across his partner’s cheek. “You may rise,
malchik,
I will need your assistance bathing our little Charlotte.”

Little!
Just in time Charlie
managed to stop herself from snorting. Mainly because, next to him, she really
was
little, and when he called her that, he really meant it.

Jay got to his feet. She let Nik assist her over the sill and into the shower. “Your fever broke during the night,” Nik said, guiding her to stand under the enormous shower head. “We dried you off as best we could and changed the sheets, but decided we didn’t want to risk waking you to give you a bath.”

. The feel of the hot water sluicing down her body was a sensual caress, so light it tickled her back and made her giggle. Closing her eyes, she raised her face to the rainfall shower head, letting it beat down on her, soaking her hair. Jets on both of the side walls quickly soaked her all over. “Oh, my God,” she moaned. “This feels so wonderful!”

While she basked in the tactile experience, Nik’s hands descended onto her shoulders from behind and he stepped into her. Charlie sucked in a gasp at the bulge of his erection prodding her ass crack. She let out a cry and began to squirm uncontrollably, trying to pull her shoulders free.
No! No! Not there!

Nik released her instantly, letting her sidle away from him, eyes darting about desperately as though looking for a place to hide. She was literally gasping for breath, her fingers clawing her throat.

“What is it, baby girl? What has put you in such a panic? Do you think I would hurt you?”

She shook her head, wanting to leap out of her skin, which was suddenly stretched so tight she feared it would split. “No. I—no—”

“Charlie.”

Jay’s voice, filled with concern. Jay’s hands, taking both of hers and clasping them between his. And all the while the shower pelted down on them, as if they were standing out in the rain. “You must tell us what it is. That’s the only way we can avoid hurting you.”

“Was it Bradford?” Nik asked. “Did he do something to you?”

Unable to meet their eyes, she just nodded.

“Tell us,” Jay urged. “We need to know so we don’t accidentally do something that might frighten you.”

“I-I can’t—”

Shifting his hold on her hands, Jay lifted them one by one to his mouth, brushing a kiss across her knuckles, before placing them flat against his chest, covering them with his. “We don’t ever want anything we do to you to trigger bad memories, love. So you will eventually have to tell us, but we’ll give you a reprieve for right now. Because right now we are going to bathe you. So be forewarned. We are going to touch you everywhere. But we promise not to hurt you. Okay?”

She stood still for a moment, as if considering her options. Then slowly, almost reluctantly, she relaxed. “O-okay.”

Jay released her hands. “Turn around, sweet thing.” While she turned her back to him, he reached for the shampoo while, now in front of her, Nik lathered his hands. As Jay worked the shampoo into her hair, Nik hunkered down, his face level with her mound, and began stroking his soapy hands up and down her legs, lifting her feet one at a time to wash the bottoms of each one.

“You have a beautiful pussy, lapochka,” Nik murmured, sliding his soapy fingers through her cleft and in the creases between her labia and her thighs. “We love that you shave there. It will make you taste so much more delicious.”

Holy shit!

His fingers did a quick swipe through her ass crack, so fast that he was in and out before she even had a chance to react. Nik’s arms encircled her and washed her back, up to the nape of her neck. Jay reached around her from behind and washed her front, spending long moments just lifting, stroking, and shaping her gorgeous breasts while Nik did the same with the generous globes of her ass. When his fingers strayed toward her anus, she stiffened slightly and held her breath. But when he made no move to breach her ass crack, she allowed herself to relax a bit and give herself up to the pleasure they were offering.

Jesus!
These men were so hot. So tempting. So far outside her experience they might have been from another planet. A planet where all the males came super-sized, super gorgeous, and super sexy.

A quick glance at Charlie’s face told Nik that she was not unaffected by this double onslaught of sensations to her breasts and her ass. Her lips were parted, her eyelids fluttering at half mast, her eyes unfocused and dazed with arousal.