Secrets Shared (3 page)

He ignored Jess’ “For fuck’s sake, no.” It was up to Jeff and Kath to sort that out.

“Either do as she asks, call red or answer to me. I can think of nothing nicer than teaching you how to show respect.”

He waited, his heart thudding to see what she would say, expecting a succinct answer. He’d come on strong on purpose, to push her. He wasn’t disappointed.

“Fuck off.”

Yeah, that’s succinct enough. Somehow I don’t think the lady will kneel down and submit willingly.

David got out of the car and opened the passenger door next to Jess.

“Your language would make a navvy blush. Be thankful I haven’t got the authority to punish you.”

Jess went white and as he watched, her nails dug into the leather of the car seat.

“Not unless you want your balls rearranged.”

“Out,” he said tersely. Of course the lady didn’t comply like any good sub would. She stared at him as if he had two heads and laughed.

“Sod off, mister.”

“Jesssss,” Kath’s hissed entreaty went unheeded. “You can’t say that.”

He waited, more amused than angry to hear her reply. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked forward to being a Dom with a woman. Their tussles were going to be fun. Of course he hoped he’d win in the end, but if he didn’t? Well, no, he decided he couldn’t joke about it even to himself.

Jess balled her hands into fists, and her knuckles showed white. “Oh, I can and I did. Who is he anyway? And what’s all this shit about calling red. I’m so not into that. No, not now not ever means just that. If you say I’m an owner, then surely that makes me his boss? Listen well, both of you. For the last time, no one, and I mean
no one,
blindfolds me—ever. Or ties me up, holds me down or bullies me in any way. Whatever you and my moronic brother think. I got into this car for your sake, Kath, no other reason. I never agreed to anything other than that. End of. So?”

“So.” David hadn’t considered he’d butt in, but enough was enough. Jess needed to calm down and think rationally. Right then all she was doing was winding herself up. “Shut the hell up and stop harassing Kath. She’s following orders, which is something I’m going to look forward to teaching you to do. Kath, don’t worry. I’ll sort this. Sit down and relax.”

“Thank you, Master.” Kath’s reply sounded more than heartfelt. He saw Jessica stiffen, open her mouth and shut it again immediately. That was better. Perhaps something had filtered into her brain. The silence was what his mum would have called pregnant and heavy.

It lasted for a full two minutes. He’d been mistaken. Jess shook her head in, he assumed, disbelief and maneuvered herself out of the car. She ignored his proffered hand.

“For fuck’s sake, K, what planet are you on? I’m so out of here. Enjoy your whacked out evening and tell my asshole of a brother to buy me out. So. Not. My. Scene. End of.” She wheeled around and began to walk back the way he had driven, her back ramrod straight and her bag swinging from a still-clenched fist.

“Please, Master David.” Kath was in full sub to Dom mode. “Please don’t let her go. She needs us. She needs you. If she goes now, we’ll lose her forever. That asshole did a right number on her. Even though she has no idea what we know or how we know it, she needs help to get over it.”

And I’d love to know just what the ‘it’ is.
David knew, to his regret, it wasn’t time to ask. Kath was becoming more agitated by the moment.

“We miss her, not just me but Master Jeff as well. That prick stole his sister and my l…” She trailed off.

“And your?” he prompted, as he checked just how far Jess had walked. Not very far.

“And my best friend, my sister and the other half of me.”

“Kathleen, you weren’t going to say that.” His voice was harsh. He wanted to run after Jess, hold her and tell her he was going to make everything better.
Not likely to happen like this.
He needed to pacify Kath and go after Jess. “Remember, if Master Jeff isn’t here, I am his designated choice. So?”

“Er, so…” Her voice trailed off, and she rubbed her eyes.

“We were lovers, okay? You utter shit,” Jess said. “What business is it of yours? Get your rocks off hearing about other people’s sex lives, do you?” He hadn’t been aware of her approach. It seemed she had heard his questions and had walked back toward them. She poked him in the chest. It stung rather than hurt, but it was the fact she’d chosen to pull him up in such a way that riled David.

“That’s four, or is it five?” he asked in an even tone. “I’ll decide if it’s my hand or a flogger later.” It could be twenty-seven, he didn’t care. All he knew was that sooner rather than later he was going to spank her until her ass was colored with the imprint of his hands.
Definitely my hands.
Then he may well turn her over and start on her cunt. Never before had his cock threatened to split his trousers as it did now, and his psyche demand someone bow to his every desire. He forgot everything he’d ever learned and spoke without thinking. “You’re mine, Jessica, like it or not. I know, and if you’d just open your mind, so would you. We are each other’s completion and sooner or later, and I reckon sooner, I’ll show you.” He firmed his lips together, scared he’d said too much.

“Fuck you—it’s bollocks, and you know it.” Jess’ eyes flashed, even though her hand shook. “I’m not your sub, not a member of the sodding club and not interested.”

He rather fancied her rapid breathing and flushed cheeks gave lie to the statement.

Behind him, Kath sobbed quietly. David felt sorry for her. None of this was her fault except that she had acquiesced to her Master’s demand. Whether Jess would ever forgive her twin or her friend was, he felt, doubtful. She was flushed, but not, he surmised, from arousal. It was from sheer bad temper. David concluded a different tactic was needed.

“Jessica, you’re upsetting Kathleen. If as I’ve been told she is your greatest friend, can you stop? Give her a break maybe. Your brother asked her to do this and—”

“As she’s been hypnotized by him, she’ll do what he says,” Jess broke in. “Even though she knows—he knows—I can’t.” She turned to Kath. “I know you know a little bit of why I’m so anti all this, but I chose to ignore the fact you’d checked up on me.” Her eyes glittered with tears. “And believe me, you don’t know the half.”

David’s throat constricted. If only he could tell her it was all okay, nothing was going to happen, and he’d take her home that minute. But he couldn’t. He had to at least get her to her brother.

“Then you come and tell him everything. I’ve promised Jeff I’ll take you both to him, and I don’t go back on my promises. I’ll hold your hand.”

Jess paled even further and shook her head. David reckoned it was hard to believe so much color could leach from a person’s skin, and them still be conscious.

“And I should accept this why?”

He raised one shoulder. “Because your brother and friend have your best interests at heart maybe? Whatever. But listen well, you do
not
take it out on Kathleen. How about I give you my word? Once we get there, if you wish, you can leave and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” He could tell she was thinking over his words. Her eyes were cloudy, and she twisted one red ringlet between her fingers. Behind her, Kath was silent. She must have understood how crucial this was.

“Like this?” she waved her hands over her face. “Eyes wide open and not covered?”

Shit.
What had made her ask that?

“
No, not quite.” He waited. She waited, and David realized he had to speak. “Blindfold. It’s the rule.” Why was he being so arsy about it? He could bend the rules if he wanted to. David realized it was because he needed Jess to trust him.
Is it just because it strikes at my ego, or because it would be the first step to a Dom-sub relationship?
He evaluated his feelings. Definitely the latter.

Jess shrugged. “Then sorry, no dice. I will never,
ever
be blindfolded. So either I go sighted or not at all.”

And therein was his dilemma. As much as he wanted it, David accepted it was asking too much for her to put all her trust in him without any good reason. Why should she? He knew damned well if he was in her position he’d tell him to go to hell. Something was seriously wrong, and he was determined to help her get over the hurdle or phobia. For both their sakes.

“Would you agree to keep your eyes shut?” he asked, trying for a compromise. “If I promise no one will touch you?” David hadn’t realized until that moment how crucial he considered her answer would be. “No one except me that is, and I’ll only touch you to guide you.”

The silence stretched. With infinite patience, he counted off the seconds in his mind. He would give her two minutes and…then kiss her senseless maybe. Why this woman should affect him the way she did, he had no idea. In truth he wasn’t enamored with the fact she appealed to him on more than one level. Not only was his cock hard and his balls tight with arousal, David’s dominant—and emotional side demanded he make sure she was okay with everything that happened. It was a pity he was busy, too busy to give her the care and attention she needed. He grinned to himself. Just whom was he kidding? If she
did
interact, show even the slightest interest in him, he’d do his damnedest to have her. Under him, writhing in pleasure as he fucked her every which way possible. Bent over the spanking bench, his hand caressing her as he made his mark on her shapely ass. With him every step of the way, as he explored her limits and pushed them further. However, he had a feeling the River Clyde would freeze over before that happened.

Beside him, he saw Kath wipe her eyes and wait with him. Jess paced up and down and nibbled her top lip once more. How he’d like to reprimand her and tell her not to mutilate herself. Already a red mark had appeared on her skin, and as far as he was concerned, he should create the only red marks, and they wouldn’t mar her face.

Jess halted abruptly and turned to stand in front of him. He might be a good six inches taller than her, but he noticed she was in no way intimidated. Most women looked somewhat apprehensive when he was in full Dom mode. Not his Jessica. The thought hit him like a lightning bolt.
His
Jessica?
Way too soon for that.

“You promise? No blindfold if I shut my eyes?”

“I never renege on my promises.” He heard what Jeff called ‘David’s Dom voice’ in his tone—reassuring, confident and gently insistent—and winced inside. Was that the right way to reassure her?

She took a deep breath, and nodded. “Okay then, but I want it on the record, I’m not happy—with any of you.”

He mentally applauded her attitude. Her skin now had a gray tinge, and she looked as if she could throw up at the slightest provocation, but she stood her ground. “And I’ll make sure I tell Jeff, he’s not getting off the hook easily. Let’s get going then, and get this bloody evening over and done with. There’s a gin and tonic and a good book with my name on it waiting for me at home. It was going to be cocoa, but now it’s alcohol, a double. I reckon I’ll deserve it.”

It was as well she wasn’t his sub, because if she was she’d be tied up and punished for her bratty attitude. And love it, they both would. Poor Kath, she looked more than worried, as he opened the car door for them. She scrambled in and Jess followed at a slower pace. Every movement told of her unease, and there was nothing he could do to help alleviate it.

“Close your eyes. Kathleen is going to make sure you keep them closed, and if you don’t, she’ll be punished as well as you. Do you understand?” He hated that he had to persist with such a hard attitude. It wasn’t him at all. But he understood it was the way to get Jess though the journey. If it went against his chances, well, so be it. David looked through the rear view mirror and watched her face color.

“Bastard.”

“Not at all.” He put the car into gear and set off. “My parents will celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary later this year. I’m only thirty seven.”

She snorted. “And I need to know that why?”

Oh, how he was looking forward to showing her. He decided it was time to needle her in a nicer manner—well, he believed it was nicer.

“Surely it’s better to know a little about the man who’s dominating you?”

Her splutter was all he could have wished for.

Chapter Three

Damn him.
Why did his words both scare and excite her? She hoped his concentration was on the road and not on herself. If he looked in the mirror would he see her nipples showing hard and proud through her thin top? They chafed at the flimsy lace and silk that covered them, and Jess forced herself not to look down or cross her arms over her breasts. Her clit throbbed and her cunt all but begged to be touched. She wondered why that word, which she normally avoided like the plague, seemed to fit her situation.
Because I’m hot and needy, and haven’t felt just like this for an age.
She squirmed and heard his soft laugh.

“Okay, eyes closed, but I’m still not happy.”

“Tough, get used to it.”

Bastard. Hell, he’s got me using a limited vocab.
The fact she didn’t know exactly why he laughed made her angrier than ever, but mindful of his words regarding Kath, she kept silent and didn’t open her eyes.

“Good girl.”

Patronizing git.
Jess firmed her lips and concentrated on the way the car twisted and turned. Blessed with a good sense of direction, and knowing which road they’d left the city on, gave her a rough idea where they were. She could only assume Jeff had forgotten about that, or chosen not to tell David. Kath knew, but Kath wouldn’t tell—she hoped.

The pinch on her arm was gentle, and it had been a long while since she’d felt it, but Jess knew what it meant. Kath wasn’t just reassuring her, she was giving her their directions. A game they had started as kids was going to come in useful. Distances and directions spelled out in nips and squeezes. Jess felt her juices gather as she remembered the last few times they’d played that game had been in love and lust. Daring each other to find toys that the other had hidden, then using them. In those days, being unsighted was exciting, not fear inducing. She shivered. It was all so long ago, and she had no right remembering any of it. Whatever Jeff and Kath said to the contrary, she was not going down that route again.