Page 18 of Shattered Dreams
His heart almost melted in his chest, but something told him that her sweet little innocent act was just that – an act. “What I should do is warm your bottom for yelling at someone offering to help you, after you were irresponsible enough to lock yourself out of your car. If you were my wife, I’d be paddling your bottom for it instead of falling for that innocent act.”
Her cheeks flushed. From embarrassment, or something more, he wondered.
“Damn, he’s got your number, Lizzie.” The man on the opposite side of the car chuckled.
“Shut up, Rainy!” She turned back to him. “Would you please unlock my car, Offi- I mean Elliot? I’d like to get Rainy home before I have to go see Mas- I mean my husband at the rehab center.”
“Maxwell got moved to the rehab center?” He knew he had no business asking after Max, but he couldn’t stop himself.
Confusion crossed her face. As if she were surprised that he asked about her master/husband. “Yeah…this morning. He set up a spa day for me and Rainy ‘cause he knows how much I love cupping and Rainy likes hot stones and…” she flushed even a deeper red when she realized she was rambling. “I - never mind, you don’t need to know all that. But thank you for asking after him.”
“I’ll decide what I need to know, Elizabeth.” He straightened as she ducked her head, in a move he’d come to associate with submissives. “Now, let’s see if I can get your car unlocked so you can go see your husband.” A quick glance assured him that she had manual locks on her car, luckily.
“Ah, sure.” She darted a look at him through her lashes as if she wasn’t supposed to look at him.
Some small part of him found the move adorable, while another ‘newer’ part of him wanted to correct her for her sneaky behavior. Subbies didn’t look at their dominants unless the dom wanted them to…
He froze. What the hell was happening to him? Why did he want to correct a submissive that wasn’t even his?
He growled under his breath, before spinning on his heel to retrieve his tool kit out of the trunk of his car. “Wait here. I need to grab some tools from my trunk. I’ll be right back.” Then he fled back across the lot to his unmarked, reminding himself that the reason he was doing this was to be a good Samaritan, and nothing else.No, it has nothing to do with the fact that you can’t get her, or her husband, out of your damned head, Landon.
Chapter eight
Two weeks later
“What exactly are you telling me?” Storm looked down at the top of his submissive’s head where it rested on his knee. They were once more home at Redemption, and it felt great to have a little bit of normalcy after everything they’d gone through over the past few months – until his boy dropped a bomb shell he hadn’t expected. It was just before supper and Raine had dropped to his knees next to Storm’s chair the moment he’d entered their shared bedroom – which had been a cue to Storm that something was up with his boy before Raine had even opened his mouth.
“Well, you know how I worry about her being all alone in that big ‘ole house. He’d be the perfect solution to keep her on track.”
Storm grunted. “You can’t just ask a budding dom to move into your best friend’s home because you witnessed, what was it? One interaction between the two of them? Particularly when she’s married to my best friend.”
Raine nodded, his cheek brushing over the fine linen of Storm’s slack clad thigh. “I know, Daddy. It’s just he’s the only other person I’ve seen her react to the same way she does Master. She does okay with other dominants at the club, but this thing with the cop goes deeper. Like he’s hard-wired to know how to get through to her. If you could have only seen how quickly he turned her around – all with a few words. The only man I’ve seen do that before is Master.”
Storm ran his hand through Raine’s curls, not the least bit disturbed by his boy continuing to refer to another man as Master. As long as he only called Storm ‘Daddy’ things were kosher as far as Storm was concerned. “I understand. But still, it’s a matter of us being on the outside, baby. We can’t just re-arrange people’s lives because we think they would work better in a different configuration. Not only would that be breaking the sanctity of Lizzie and Max’s power exchange, but it’s also meddling in their affairs. It would be no different than Lizzie or Max replacing me with Master Lucas because they thought he’d be a better match for you than me.”
Raine quieted against his leg. “I know…it’s just, she’s struggling. She won’t tell me that, but I can hear it in her voice when we talk on the phone. I even asked her outright if she needed a scene. She denied it, but I know her. Her last scene with Master was several days before the shooting. And what little care he does give her now, is on the sly, so they don’t get interrupted by one of the nursing staff at the rehab. It’s got to be very frustrating for her.”
“So justifiably she’s on edge at the moment. Yet you think by offering her to a dominant that hasn’t even been tested is a good idea? That could be a total recipe for disaster – especially if he doesn’t know how to rein a bratty sub back in without damaging her.” Even as he played devil’s advocate, Storm knew all about Detective Landon. As his responsibility as part owner and current manager of Redemption, it was his duty - even a priority, to check on the progress of their newest members. So far, Master Lucas had assured him the man was a natural dominant and had taken to the classes like a duck to water. He was so adept, the other man moved him from the beginners’ classes to advanced classes a few days ago.
Personally, after watching the other man scene with one of the club submissives and subsequent aftercare, he had an inkling the man harbored an innate Daddy Dom.And that’s why I’m not sure that even mentioning the idea to him is a good one.Lizzie’s self-harm tendencies would be hard for a Daddy Dom to deal with on a regular basis. A sadist would probably deal better, understanding a masochist’s desire for pain.
“I’m not claiming that he should just scene with her, Daddy.”
“Then what were you hoping to accomplish by talking to me about this?”
Raine blew out a stream of air Storm felt through his pants. “That maybe you could talk to Master about it. Not setting up a scene - but maybe have Detective Landon spend some time with her – to remind her that someone is watching and will not hesitate with keeping her in line. You know as well as me that Lizzie has to have structure, or she backslides.”
Storm pursed his lips. His boy was right. Lizzie did require consistency and a firm hand or like an Icarus - she’d fly too high. “Let me think about it, boy. I’m not sure bringing Detective Landon into the situation is the answer. There are other options that may work better. Give me a couple of days to think on it.”
Raine nodded. “Yes, Daddy. Ultimately it’s her happiness I want.”
“I know you do, boy.” He rubbed his fingers once more through his boy’s curls.
* * *
“Let me get this straight, you want me to allow another man, a man I don’t know, to top my wife?” Max crossed his arms over his chest as he stared up at his best friend. If it had been anyone other than Storm, he wouldn’t have even entertained the thought.
Storm sighed, sprawled out in the chair next to Max’s bed, his legs kicked out and slumped down to the point he could easily take a nap if he wanted. “When you say it like that it sounds ludicrous.” He threaded his fingers across his stomach. “But I’m starting to get worried about her. She rarely comes to the club, and when she does, she refuses to do a scene with me. I also know that what play you’re allowed in here is limited in both time and physical restraints.”
