Page 98 of Gamble
Emma and Chase came chasing not far behind. Emma called out to the kids to, “Wash your hands first!” before collapsing into one of the comfortable chairs in their main living room. “I’m exhausted. I don’t know how teachers deal with a whole room full of kids all day long.”
“How was the Christmas party?” Kelsey asked, trying not to be disappointed that she’d failed in her attempt to sway Jaxson before they lost the brief window of privacy from the kids.
Chase answered, delivering a cold bottle of water to Emma before plopping into the seat opposite her.
“It was chaos. Put twenty four-year-olds together in a room full of cupcakes, candy, and punch and there is no other word to describe it but chaos.”
Kelsey smiled at the vision Chase had painted, but a quick glance over and she saw Jaxson still had a scowl on his face.
Ever the observant one, Chase asked. “What happened while we were gone?”
She knew the smart thing was to just say, ‘nothing’ and let it be, but her disappointment with Jaxson’s answer pressed her to do something she rarely did—try to enlist Chase’s help to sway his husband.
“I was just trying to convince Jaxson to let me sign up for Valentine Roulette this year. I got the email that the sign-up process will be starting soon.”
“He said no, right?” Chase bit back so quickly it surprised her.
“Damn right I did,” Jaxson confirmed in his tone of voice that he expected the discussion to be over.
Kelsey’s heart dropped. It had taken months to get up the courage to ask permission to attend the hottest event at the BDSM club, only to have her hopes dashed so quickly. With the trio attending roulette each year, there was absolutely no way she could sign-up without their knowledge. And considering she wasn’t even a real member—she just got to go occasionally as a guest of her employers—she was positive Elijah the dungeon master would never let her participate without Jaxson’s approval.
“Wait… why are you saying no?” Emma pressed.
“You know damn well why. We’ve discussed this,” Jaxson answered, turning his dominant glare in Emma’s direction.
“Is this because of her age again?” Emma asked, clearly braver than Kelsey was.
“Her age… experience level… status as our nanny… pick a reason.”
Emma sat up straighter looking much less tired than she had a few minutes.
“Kelsey is two years older than I was when I met you on the train in France. I don’t remember you two having any issues with my age back then.”
Chase tried to reason with his wife. “It isn’t just about her age, and you know it. Roulette is hardcore. She hasn’t had any experience in the lifestyle at all.”
“I had zero experience before I met you!” Emma was almost shouting.
Based on the looks on both men in the room, Kelsey panicked.
“It’s okay, Emma. I don’t want you to get into any trouble on my account.”
“I’m not going to get into any trouble, because I’m right and my husbands are wrong.”
“Emma Cartwright-Davidson, I would use caution with your tone young lady,” Jaxson warned much too quietly.
Unswayed, Emma was on her feet, approaching Jaxson. Instead of arguing, she reached out to softly place her hands on his shoulders, leaning in close as she spoke softly.
“Considering Kelsey has spent over four years under this roof, I guarantee you that she is ten times more experienced than I was the first time you introduced me to the BDSM lifestyle. I seem to remember that happened within the first hours we spent together. I was twenty-one years old and didn’thave a clue about the kinky world you two were already so experienced in.”
“You don’t understand,” Jaxson said, looking surprisingly uncomfortable with Emma’s assertive rant.
“What don’t I understand?”
“Kelsey is like a sister to me. The thought of her watching us at the club or worse, me watching her playing with some asshole Dom that isn’t going to treat her right infuriates me.”
“I love that you see her as a sister since the last thing I would want is someone living with us who stirred sexual feelings. Our marriage is more than complicated enough with the three of us.” Emma chuckled and Jaxson’s scowl dimmed ever so slightly.
“But I cry bullshit on having some Dom not treat her right at Black Light. Between the screening process we have in place and the care that Elijah and the other DM’s take when looking out for all of our members, there is no way anything would happen to Kelsey that she didn’t want to happen.
