Page 17 of Seducing Serena

“What happened?” Ford asked. Noah watched as Serena stiffened in the corner, her head lifting and her back straightening.

“I was awakened this morning by a call from Luna, one of our service submissives. She informed me that when she’d arrived to take over for Les whom you met last night, she witnessed him rolling about on the lobby floor rather tangled up in an afghan. What should have been a fairly easy chore to escape was made near impossible due to the fact that a woman was tangled in the yarn with him. When about to offer her assistance, Luna watched the woman free an arm and deliver a rather proficient right hook to Les’ jaw.”

It was apparent to all who the woman was as all three men turned to look to the corner where Serena was shifting from foot to foot.

Ford was the first to speak. “While Serena isn’t known to back down from a fight, she isn’t known for starting them either. There has to be some reason for her to have struck your employee.”

“Self-defense or to protect him from himself would be the only reasons I can imagine,” Noah offered. “And since I can’t picture you hiring anyone who would prove a danger to himself or aguestat your Ranch, I’m thinking defending herself is the only thing that makes any sense.”

Derek nodded. “Our staff are vetted and receive quite in-depth training before assuming their positions and Les is no different. I believe it best if we let him tell you what happened.”

It was only then that Ford really looked around. In another corner, he spied a straight-backed armless chair beside a giant armoire that Ford had a feeling was like the one in their room, filled with paddles, whips, and other implements to inflict pain on naughty submissive bottoms. The couch against the wall behind them held several brightly colored throw pillows and a fuzzy blanket tossed over the back. A wall of bookshelves covered the wall opposite of where Serena stood and that was where the clerk they’d met the evening before was standing. He looked perfectly normal, well, if one discounted the blue ice pack he was holding against the right side of his face, that was.

Ford glanced at Noah who grimaced slightly as Les stepped forward to join them. “First, I’d like to say that your submissive is in no trouble?—”

“Then why in the hell was she put into the corner like a naughty Little?” Noah cut in to demand.

“She wasn’tput intothe corner, sherequestedshe be allowed to stand there until we had our meeting,” Derek informed them.

“She did?” Noah asked, the disbelief clearly obvious in his tone.

Ford just nodded. “I can see that.”

“What? How can you say that?” Noah’s head whipped around from looking at their submissive to stare at his partner.

“Because our girl feels horrible for striking an innocent person and while she might not be anaughty Little,I believe she hopes that standing facing the wall like one would when being punished might help her feel not quite as guilty.” Ford paused and tilted his head back toward the corner which drew Noah’s attention there as well. “Am I correct, Serena?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The words were quietly spoken but clear and audible to every man in the office.

“Would you like to tell us what happened?” Ford continued, his tone soft but firm.

All four men’s lips quirked up as Serena gave a rather vigorous shake of her head, her hair whipping back and forth. Ford almost chuckled but managed to bite it back before letting his amusement show. For someone who wasn’t a Little, their submissive seemed to share a few of their traits.

“Would you rather Mr. Les explain?” Noah asked, his tone making the question sound as if he wasn’t even quite believing he was asking such a thing.

Serena’s affirmative nod was as enthusiastic as her negative response so when Derek swept his hands toward the chairs arranged opposite his desk, the three men dropped into them.

“I take full responsibility,” Les said after they were seated. “When I was making my rounds to ensure everything was in place before the guests started milling about, I saw an afghan hadn’t been returned to its basket. I intended to simply fold it but when I tried to pick it up… well, it rather exploded toward me. Before I knew it, it was pressed against me as was your submissive whom I had evidently startled awake. I guess she was having some sort of nightmare because she kept swinging and kicking and before I could react, we were on the floor, rolling around and getting more tangled by the minute. I was trying to reassure her that everything was all right, but then her arm came free and she, well, she laid a punch that had me speechless for a few moments?—”

“I’msoooosorry!”

The men looked back to the corner to find Serena had turned her head toward them, a glistening in her eyes accentuating her words.

“I tried to explain there is absolutely no reason for you to be sorry, Miss Serena,” Les said. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just sorry I startled you.”

Ford gestured for her to come to them, but instead of rushing toward them, Serena hesitated. Getting to his feet at the same moment Noah did, the two men went to their girl, looking at each other when her eyes widened and she twirled her head back to look at the wall.

“Serena, honey, this is obviously just an accident. You’re not in any trouble. You don’t have to stand in the corner.”

“I-I’m a mess.”

“A mess?” Noah asked, reaching out to stroke his fingers across her shoulder before lightly gripping it. “You’re not a mes?—”

His words cut off when he physically turned her and his eyes dropped to take her in. “Oh shit! Is that blood? Why in the hell aren’t you in the infirmary? I can’t believe?—”

“It’s not blood,” Ford said, running his hand over Noah’s which was now gripping their girl a bit too tightly. “It’s”—reaching out a finger, he dabbed it in a glob of red and brought it to his mouth, his tongue coming out to taste—“jelly. Cherry I think.”

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