Punishing for Pleasure (11 page)

Both men smiled and nodded before heading to the door, but just as he was about to step out of the room, Peter turned back to her and grinned, “Sweetie, learning to handle and fire a weapon is a great idea, but I think you’d be much wiser to ask your men for help rather than Lilly West. From what I hear, Lilly has a tendency to
over-do
things a bit.” Ash felt himself blanch at Peter’s comment and the stricken look on Dex’s face let him know his partner was just as mortified.

The next few days were a blur. Meri often found herself surrounded by men she’d only seen at the Prairie Winds Club, and having so many people in and around her home was often daunting. Even though they were much more relaxed away from the club, there was never any doubt that each and every one of them was a Dominant. It had taken her a couple of days to grasp the fact that as long as she stayed out of the way, things seemed to run smoothly and they spoke openly in front of her. She leaned against the wall of floor to ceiling bookshelves in her dad’s office and listened to them discuss the significance of the spy cams they’d found. She’d heard this same discussion time and again and wondered why it was an issue.

“I made some calls and from what I’m hearing, the good senator is almost continually under investigation. But the scuttlebutt is that he’s gotten a new chief of security since he returned to town.” Kyle opened the folder he was holding and started handing out pictures. “Take a look, I want to know if any of you recognize him.”

Jax McDonald was the first to speak, “I’ve seen him…and recently too. But it may take me a minute or two to remember where. Fuck, I have to get more sleep. If Deaga doesn’t start sleeping more, I swear I’m going to override Gracie on the nanny issue.” Meri was holding back her giggle when he suddenly seemed to remember she was in the room, “Sorry about the language, Meri. My mama would have my head if she heard me say that in front of a lady.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Jax. And for what it’s worth, I think it just shows how exhausted you are. I also don’t think Gracie is as opposed to a part-time nanny as she was earlier, so you might want to bring the subject up again.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that. And if she agrees, Micah and I will owe you one. A big one.”

Meri stepped forward to look down at the picture and gasped, “I know him. I saw him two years ago at an event. I doubt he’ll remember, because we weren’t actually introduced, but my dad pointed him out to me. He’s with the FBI, or was at that time. There were only a few people in the room I didn’t know and he was one of them. His name is Trac Hughes.” She suddenly realized all of them were staring at her, “What? Oh, it’s the memory thing isn’t it? Well, I have a really good memory, there are people who cared enough to test it and then wanted to argue semantics. You know, whether it was eidetic or photographic…like it really makes any difference. Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know about that, but anyway, there you have it.”

Kent West burst out laughing, “Damn, Merilee. That explains a lot. Please tell me that it isn’t contagious or I’m going to have to put an end to yours and Tobi’s friendship.” His wink told her he was kidding, or at least she hoped so.

“No, I’m fairly sure it’s not catching. And I have to admit it isn’t always a gift either.”

Peter snorted, “Amen to things not always being a gift,” made Meri realize for the first time just how difficult Peter Weston’s life had to be at times, and she suddenly found herself seeing him in a whole new light. She saw just the smallest tint of pink color his cheeks as he grinned at her, “Thanks, Meri. Not everyone gets it.”

Ash looked around the room, “Well, this might well explain the antique cams, my guess is Agent Hughes was trying to send us a message.”

Micah laughed, “Agreed. Hell, even they don’t use that stuff anymore. I’d be willing to bet he had a little trouble finding the pieces he used here. I’d say that was a deliberate attempt to get our attention.”

Peter nodded in agreement as Carl explained, “He basically set the stuff right out in the open and made it easy to back-trace the signals to Senator Steven’s office. Agents don’t make those kinds of mistakes. I’d say he wanted us to know what Stevens is up to without directly compromising his investigation.”

The room fell silent for a few moments while everyone considered the implications of what they’d learned. But it was Meri who broke the silence, “Has he ever visited the club?” Every man in the room turned toward her as if the movement had been choreographed, but when she realized they each had raised a brow in exactly the same way, she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.
Yeah, rolling your eyes in a room full of Doms—definitely not a good plan.
“Okay, don’t get all testy, here’s why I asked…the time I saw him, his body language screamed Dom.” When they continued to stare at her with unblinking eyes, she sighed and continued, “Oh come on, you all know exactly what I’m talking about. Anyway, the Prairie Winds Club is the best in or around Austin…heck, it’s arguably one of the best clubs in the country, so it stands to reason that he’s either visited or would like to. So perhaps you can arrange a
visit
and speak with him there…that way you’ll know nothing is being recorded. And your scramblers will prevent anything wireless on his end as well.”

The moment she mentioned the scramblers, Meri realized her error but it was too late.
Probably not much chance of the whole lot of them missing that gaffe.
And just as she’d feared, Kyle West growled, “I’m going to beat her ass.” Meri took an involuntary step away from him and his face softened, “I wasn’t talking about you, sweetie. And you and I both know she is going to like it far too much for it to have any effect on her behavior. Tell me just exactly how this topic came up in a group of ladies who have much more interesting things to discuss than our security protocols.” His tone might be mild, but holy Hannah, the man was seriously peeved.

“Well, to be honest, I already suspected, and when Tobi didn’t correct my assumption, then I knew for sure. She didn’t
tell me
, you know better than that Kyle. And despite your frustration with her, I still admire the fact she wasn’t willing to lie. She and I had a rocky start…to say the least, and I’m honored that we’ve developed a friendship that is based on that kind of honesty.”

To his credit, Kyle West had the decency to seem at least a little chastened as Kent came to his rescue, “We’ll be asking you more about how you
knew
later, Meri. But for now, I want to move on with your suggestion because we need to wrap this up. But for what it’s worth, I’m glad things worked out the way they did between you and Tobi, and she is lucky to count you among her friends.” His words sent a surge of warmth straight to her heart and she felt tears press against the back of her eyes. For the first time she felt completely absolved of the sins of that fateful night at the club and she was nearly overwhelmed by the emotion.

*****

Dex watched Meri through the shower’s steamed door and grinned. She’d handled the meeting downstairs like a pro. Even if you didn’t factor in her submissive nature, the group of former SEALs/Doms she was facing were a force to be reckoned with. As Masters at a BDSM club, they could and often did reduce subs to tears with little more than a look. But Meri had politely countered them when she’d thought they were out of line on security concerns and asked questions he knew were more to provoke conversation than because she needed or wanted the information. In short, he’d been damned impressed, and for some reason that made her even more attractive to him.

“She’s amazing isn’t she?” Ash’s quiet question from the doorway was easy to answer.

“Incredible. I wasn’t sure we’d ever find her, you know?”

“I do, and now we just need to keep her safe long enough to convince her to belong to us.” Dex nodded in agreement as he stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

“There’s more than one perp—I’m just sure of it, but I can’t get an angle on the second one. And what was that comment Peter made about the weapons? If she wants to learn to shoot, we’ll be the ones teaching her. I’m going to have nightmares for weeks thinking about her learning from Lilly West.” Dex saw Ash shudder and knew his friend was in agreement. Lilly West was, without any question, one of the most interesting women Dex had ever met. All of Kent and Kyle’s teammates had met their mother at one time or another during their years of military service. And he didn’t know a single man among them that didn’t love Lilly. She was smart, witty, irreverent, loving, and a crack shot. She’d used firepower more than once to defend someone she cared about—there was no doubt she was capable. The only problem was, she tended to follow the philosophy of more is better, and if she had the choice between a fly swatter and a canon to kill a mosquito, the canon was certainly going to be her weapon of choice.

When Dex heard the shower shut off he returned to the enormous bathroom and grinned when Meri stepped out and shrieked, “Holy crapping carp, you scared the life out of me. How did you get in here? I locked the door. I always lock the door. I know I locked it. Geez, listen to me. I’m rambling. I really hate that, but it’s because you rattled me. You’re lucky I didn’t hit you with something. I’m like that when I get scared, I lash out and it’s awful. I really hate to be scared.”

Realizing how badly he’d startled her, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I had no idea you would be so flustered. And yes, you did lock the door, but, love, that lock is really a joke. If you really want a lock on the door for the times we aren’t here, we’ll install one, but truthfully, that lock is just lame.” When he’d been in the bathroom earlier he’d noticed the panties she’d placed on top of the clothing he assumed she was planning to wear, and the lace and elastic scrap of nothing was now in his pocket. He knew she planned to go to her office for a few hours before they all went to the club, but he and Ash had other plans for her—and she certainly didn’t need panties for what they had setup for her out on the patio.

*****

Ash stepped into the bathroom in time to hear Dex’s words to Meri and wondered what had startled her so badly. But when he looked down at her naked form he lost all focus on the words she and Dex were speaking.
Holy fucking hell!
For several seconds he wasn’t even sure he was breathing. He didn’t think he’d ever seen the remnants of bruises that particular color. And to know that he and Dex were responsible almost made him physically ill. With a flash of insight, Ash wondered how much worse it had been after her punishment at the club the first night they met.

The fact she’d managed to keep this a secret for the past few days was another issue they’d be discussing at length. But then he remembered that she had in fact mentioned being a “bit sore” and that was why they hadn’t pressed for sex. She had been in bed under the covers the past two nights when he’d come in from showering in another bathroom, but damn, this had been far more than a little sore. Sure, it was obvious the deep tissues bruises were healing, but he wondered how the marks had looked a day or two ago. The look on his face must have alerted Dex there was a problem because Ash heard him ask, “Sweetheart, Master Ash is standing behind you and looks like he is about to have a stroke. Want to tell me why or should I just check myself?”

Ash heard her gasp just before she started struggling to step away from Dex, her arm waving frantically in the air trying to snag a towel from the nearby bar. Dex held tight, it was obvious Dex wasn’t planning to release her. “Stop.” By the time the word registered in Meri’s mind, Ash could tell she was nearing panic.
Christ, does she think we’re going to add to her bruises?
Even though Ash considered himself a sadist in BDSM play, he wasn’t about to injure the woman in his care. The only pain he gave a sub was that which had been agreed upon in advance. And they were definitely going to be renegotiating limits after what he was seeing.

Dex slowly turned Meri until she was facing away from him and Ash saw her tear-filled eyes and Dex’s scowl. Ash heard her whisper, “It’s not that bad” at the same time he heard Dex’s low whistle.

“Not that bad? Are you fucking kidding me? Compared to what? Jesus, I don’t even want to think about what this looked like a couple of days ago. And you didn’t consider this important information?” Ash heard the rising frustration in Dex’s voice and knew his friend well enough to see things were going to be FUBAR in seconds if he didn’t intercede. Dex rarely lost his temper, but when he did, it was a flash fire that scorched everything around him.

“Pet, tell me what your ass looked like after your punishment the night we met.” Hell, the look on her face alone answered his question.
God you gotta love a sub with
such open and honest expressions.
For just a moment he completely lost focus as he took in the incredible sight of her. She was stunning and as genuine as anyone he’d ever met. Whatever you saw reflected in her expression was the absolute truth with her.
I’ll bet she is the worst poker player ever.
He wasn’t completely sure how it would all play out, but he knew the woman standing in front of him had just rocked his entire world, and she hadn’t even really done a thing. But something in her eyes lit a fire in his soul he hadn’t even realized had been kindled—just waiting for a special woman to set aflame.

“Well, to tell you the truth it looked pretty awful for a few days. I really hadn’t intended to, well, let anyone…umm, you know…”

Dex knew he wasn’t going to like the way this story ended, but he wasn’t about to let it go either. “No, sweetheart, I’m afraid we don’t actually know so you are going to have to enlighten us. And let me remind you that editing is not allowed. Just spit it out. You won’t be punished for telling the truth.” That wouldn’t always be true, but it would be true that punishments for lying were always be exponentially more severe.

They both watched as she seemed to consider her words and for once Ash was inclined to give her a few moments to gather her thoughts. He didn’t have the impression she was planning to lie, but he could almost feel the tension vibrating through her.
Does she think we’ll stop now that we know how badly we’ve marked her?
Just as he was about to ask her, she looked up at them both, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “My mom walked in on me while I was in the changing room at Chico’s and well, she sort of lost it.” Ash felt like he’d been gut punched. Not only had they failed her as Doms, now her mother was going to hate them forever. And if her family was anything like his own, her father had been informed as well.
Fucking perfect.