Passion's Hope (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 3) (16 page)

Luc tilted his head. “Unless you testify and put him behind bars for a good long time.”

She nodded, knowing that, whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to confront Perry Bradford at least one more time and tell the world what he had done to her.

“We’ll call Jesse and Mike Conover today,” Nik assured Lucas. “Let them both know she’s pressing charges.”

“Excellent. I’ll need to see you one week from today.”

Nik extended his hand and shook Lucas’s. “Thanks, Doc. We’ll have her back here in a week, all better.”

Jay stood and held out his hands to help Charlie up, “C’mon, darling girl, let’s go get some breakfast.”

* * * *

Their first stop was the drug store to fill Charlie’s prescriptions. Then they drove a few more blocks down Main Street to the five-block-long Passion Lake business district. Down the center of the street was a wide, beautifully landscaped grassy median with a meandering brick sidewalk flanked by Victorian style, wrought iron, double lamp posts, crepe myrtle trees in full bloom and beds full of colorful flowers. Wrought iron benches were strategically placed at intervals along the path to allow pedestrians to linger and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings. Parking spaces angled in toward the median in both directions. “This is so gorgeous,” Charlie said, enchanted. “It’s like a place out of time, hearkening back to a kinder, gentler era. I can almost hear the clip-clop of horses’ hooves.”

“Actually,” Jay said, “we are thinking of adding carriage rides down along the main business district to add to the town’s over-all vintage ambience. We would add parking lots at both ends of town and detour Main Street around behind the businesses in this entire five-block area. That would restrict this to pedestrian and carriage traffic only. We’d do away with the angled parking spaces and widen the median to make it even more park-like.

“We who?” Charlie asked.

“Huh?” Jay’s expression was blank.

“You said ‘
we
’ would do all this stuff. Who’s we?”

“Oh. The Passion Lake Board of Directors.” He chuckled at her look of confusion. “Passion Lake is not exactly a town, sweet thing. It’s a corporation, with a CEO instead of a mayor and a Board of Directors instead of a Town Council.”

“That’s pretty weird. How does a town become a corporation?”

“When a bunch of SEAL buddies buys a bankrupt town and creates the thriving little community you see here today.”

“You mean—you and Nik—”

“And Lucas. And a whole bunch of others, most of whom you will meet over the next few days or so.”

She looked around. “It’s such a beautiful day. Can we walk for a bit?”

“Sure.”

The sidewalk was just wide enough to allow the two men to walk on either side of her as she wandered down the sidewalk and sat on a bench. Leaning back, she tilted her head up to enjoy the sun’s warmth on her face. Nik and Jay sat on either side of her, Jay’s tiny hiss letting her know that the plug inside his ass had moved. The three just sat and chatted quietly until she was ready to get up. They walked across the street to Mansfield’s Diner. The interior was a cheerful mix of chrome, yellow, and red with booths along the walls and red leatherette stools around the u-shaped counter in the center.

Their waitress was a cute blond teenager named Brandi, who approached carrying a coffee pot and three mugs. When she placed the mugs on the table, Charlie put up her hand. “None for me, thanks. I’ll just have milk.”

“Seriously?” Jay asked. “You don’t drink coffee?”

“Tried it once. Spent the night on the toilet.”

“How do you get through the morning?”

She gave him a phony grin, putting her fingertips together beneath her chin and tilting her head back and forth with exaggerated perkiness. “Just naturally perky, I guess.”

The men laughed and ordered three breakfast specials. When Charlie saw the sheer amount of food on their plates, she groaned. “I can’t eat all this.”

“Just eat what you want,” Nik and Jay both responded. “Don’t worry about the rest.”

Despite the fact that everything was perfectly cooked, and her only nourishment for the past four days had been a glucose drip, she just picked at her plate. Her appetite was non-existent, but she did allow herself to be coaxed into eating at least a little bit of everything and most of the home-made cinnamon apples.

As soon as she was done, Nik said, “Hold out your hand, baby girl.” He dropped three pills into her palm, one white and one brownish tablet and a much larger, bright pink caplet. “Take those.”

By the time they got back to the Lodge, she was exhausted, so they lay down with her and Mr. Floppy in Nik’s big bed until she fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Jay’s face smiling at her. She was lying on her right side and he was on his left, facing her. His hand was lifting wispy tendrils of hair off of her face. She could feel the heat and hardness of Nik’s body against her backside. His arm was draped possessively over her torso. One of his big hands was between her and Mr. Floppy, cupping her breast. She smiled at Jay.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I did.” Unable to resist the impulse, she slid her head forward across her pillow and planted a huge, smacking kiss on Jay’s mouth. When she pulled back, she couldn’t look away from his eyes, green and glittering and filled with tenderness.

“Hey!” Nik cried, sounding aggrieved. He raised up, bending his elbow and, propping his head on his hand. “Don’t I get one of those?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie teased, turning her head to smile back at him. “Have you been a good boy?”

Nik’s grin was wicked. “Oh, baby girl,” he growled, waggling his eyebrows. “You have no idea.”

She laughed and twisted her shoulders to kiss his chin, the only part of him her mouth could reach. But at the last second he lowered his head and commandeered her lips with his. Quickly thrusting his tongue deep inside, he began eating at her mouth as if she were a special treat, there for him to devour. And devour her, he did. Lifting his hand to anchor her chin in place, he feasted on her like a starving man at a banquet.

Jeez
, this man could kiss! His mastery of her mouth was total, his lips, tongue and teeth taking her to new and dizzying heights, showing her things she had never seen before.

“Wow,” she whispered softly when he finally let her go. The spike in her arousal was off the charts. Utterly ravished, she slowly lowered her head back down to the pillow. For some reason, all she could think about was sex. Sex with Nik. Sex with Jay. Sex with both of them at the same time, one in her sheath, one in her ass.
Holy fuck!

Jay watched her eyelids drift down to half-mast. The expressions playing across her face made his cock hard enough to hammer nails. “I don’t know what you’re thinking right now,” he said, his eyes dark with passion. “But I’m thinking it bodes well for the not-too-distant future.”

“You could be right.” Her voice was suddenly rough and raspy. She sat up between them, looking back and forth from Nik on her left side to Jay on her right.

Nik rolled away from her onto his back, one hand folded beneath his head, the other hand stroking up and down her back, making her skin tingle wherever he touched. His magnificent cock stood straight up, rising out of a nest of curling black hair. It was thick and long and so aroused, his foreskin had been pushed back to reveal his flared, purple crown.

Just in time, Charlie managed to prevent herself from reaching out and touching the thin line of pearly pre-cum dribbling down the shiny surface. Swallowing hard, she averted her head, only to find herself looking at Jay, who’d also rolled onto his back.

He had no pubic hair, having either waxed or shaved it off. His erect cock was a deep, ruddy red, thick with engorged blood, the head purple and shiny and leaking pre-cum. His wrinkled ball sac was also hairless.

Both men were glorious specimens of the human male in his prime. Both had broad shoulders deep chests, and sculpted abs, narrowing down to trim waists and deep V-cuts.

All the moisture in Charlie’s mouth evaporated. Her belly rolled sending hot cream gushing between her legs. She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t make herself look away.

“That’s you,” Jay said quietly, grabbing his cock at the base and stroking slowly up and down his length. “All we have to do is think of you or look at you, and we’re like this. You may be the submissive in this relationship, but, as you can see, your power over us is absolute.”

She watched the movement of his hand, mesmerized. “Don’t you want me to, um, you know—”

“Later,” Nik said, sitting up abruptly. He had to put some distance between them
right now
or he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from pulling her beneath him, ramming his cock into her luscious cunt, and fucking her until neither of them could walk straight. He’d never been so close to losing control as he was at that moment. He rose to his feet, heading toward the chair to gather his clothes. “Right now, we’re going to feed you then take you on a brief tour of the Lodge’s grounds.”

Following his cue, Jay got up, too, reaching for the clothes he’d laid at the foot of the bed. “Maybe later, if you feel up to it, we could introduce you to some of the people you’ll be working with,” Jay suggested. “Maybe even…do a little shopping?”

Charlie frowned. “For what?”

“Well…” He reached up and tugged on his ear. “Please don’t think we’re rushing things, but we noticed your wardrobe is mostly jeans, shorts, and knit tops with just a few dresses. We like our subs to wear dresses. And no underwear. That way you not only will always look beautiful, but we will always have easy access to all our favorite girl parts.” He grinned. “The Toy Emporium has a fabulous selection of sexy dresses. So I’ve heard,” he added hastily at her arched eyebrow. “And Granny Grace is dying to meet you.”

“Granny Grace?”

“She owns the Toy Emporium, the Tea Shoppe, and the Passion Lake Bed and Breakfast,” Nik explained, sliding his belt through the loops on his jeans. “She’s ninety-three, sort of the matriarch of the town.”

“And the Toy Emporium isn’t exactly what it sounds like,” Jay went on. “It sells adult toys, including a whole section just for clothes—dresses, skirts, blouses, and a whole bunch of sexy lingerie, including corsets. Can’t wait to see you in one of those.” He waggled his eyebrows roguishly.

“Jay, I don’t need you to buy me clothes. Don’t get me wrong. Believe me, I am more grateful than you will ever know for all your help, but I can’t afford to be indebted to anyone. I made a mistake with Perry Bradford, but that was all my fault—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jay exclaimed, holding up his hand to stop the flow of her words. “Exactly
what
about any of that was your fault?"

“All of it.” She spread her hands helplessly. “I kept going out with him even after I began to have questions. Even after he’d begun to…scare me a little. I let him treat me like shit. I don’t know why I didn’t stand up for myself. He was just…so…” She gave herself a mental shake. “I mean, I went to his house willingly! Why did I do that? Why did I let him—”she broke off. “What?”

Nik and Jay were looking at her as if she’d suddenly sprouted a beak and was in the process of growing wings. Then Jay’s face melted, He knelt on the bed and pulled her up into his arms, holding her and rocking her back and forth, pressing his cheek against hers.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl,” he said, his voice hoarse with unshed tears. “Christ Almighty, Charlie!
None
of that was your fault! Do you hear me? None of it! Did Bradford ask your permission before he tortured you? Raped you? Beat you?”

“Well—”

“Of course he didn’t,” Jay answered for her. “He assaulted you. He abused you. He not only violated you, he violated every law of human decency. He belongs behind bars and we will do everything in our power to help you put him there. You are absolutely
not
at fault.”

“But I—”

“No buts.” Nik said sternly. “We will hear no more of this nonsense. It’s simply not true and we cannot have you thinking for one single minute that it is.”

Her arms lifted around Jay’s neck and she nuzzled her face against him. Jay could feel the wetness of her tears against his skin. “But I
went.
I saw the signs and I just…ignored them. I
went
!

“Hush, baby, hush.” He carried her into the living room and sat down on the sofa with her in his lap. His arms went around her in a tight, but gentle embrace. “Don’t cry, sweet thing. It’s not your fault, honest. We’ll get it all sorted out, I promise. And we’ll be with you every step of the way. Okay?”

Not trusting herself to speak, she just nodded against his neck.

“There’s my darling girl. Now, if Papa Bear will get you a Kleenex…” He gave Nik a pointed look.

Papa Bear, having no earthly idea where a Kleenex was, just went to the kitchen and brought back a dish towel. Charlie took it with a laugh and wiped her eyes. But she made no move to leave Jay’s arms. And he made no move to dislodge her, figuring he’d just hold her for as long as she allowed it.