Page 53 of Beneath the Flames
He opened his eyes, staring deep into hers. “Now that I have my answer, I know what I must do.”
The Girls
Brie drove back home, quietly contemplating what had happened.
After Marquis Gray’s declaration about having his answer, he had followed Brie out of the study and then gone directly to Celestia.
The moment she heard him walk into the kitchen, Celestia stopped reciting her prayers mid-sentence and broke into tears.
Helping her to her feet, Marquis commanded gently, “No more tears need fall.” Drying her eyes with his handkerchief, he’d then taken her by the hand and led her out of the kitchen, leaving Brie standing there alone. Not wanting to interrupt their private time together, she simply left and headed back home.
On her return, she went to Sir’s office and detailed what happened. However, she chose not to mention what Marquis shared with her about Holloway’s decision to leave her collar on during her captivity. It was too horrifying to repeat—and she worried about Sir’sreaction to it.
Seeing how it tormented Marquis, Brie could not bear for Sir to suffer any more than he already had. Although she’d promised to never keep anything from him, this was an act of mercy on her part. There was nothing good that would come from him knowing about Holloway’s plans. Such a dark secret deserved to be buried along with his dead corpse.
Surprised to hear of her actions during the visit, Sir asked her, “What drove you to bow and kiss his feet?”
Brie frowned as she thought back on it. “I really don’t know, Sir.”
“Interesting…”
“It was a little frightening, actually,” she confessed. “Especially since it was Marquis. But you encouraged me to trust my gut, and I did.” Suddenly concerned, she asked, “Do you think I shouldn’t have, Sir?”
“Although it was an odd thing to do, it appears to have had a positive result.” He smiled at her tenderly, addressing her unspoken concern, “I do not question your decision, babygirl.”
She leaned forward to give him a kiss. “I’m grateful because my heart’s desire is to always please you, Master.”
He grasped the back of her neck and kissed her deeply, murmuring, “Ever my good submissive…”
Brie knew that before long, she would have no time tospare. Now that she was working on the documentary again, it would cut deeply into her life. Before her schedule got too crazy, she decided to ask Lea and Mary to spend an afternoon hanging together.
Originally, Brie toyed with the idea of returning to the old bar near the Training Center. She thought maybe they could meet there for old times’ sake, but then she quickly nixed that idea. It would only end in disaster, with scores of reporters in a frenzy to discover who was responsible for Holloway’s untimely death.
Not wanting to take a chance to meet in public and invite that kind of unwanted attention, Brie asked them to come to her place. As an extra precaution, Sir suggested she also enlist some of Rytsar’s men to guard the perimeters in case any reporter tried to harass the threesome while they were relaxing on the beach.
It was important to Brie that she kept close ties with her friends right now, especially Mary. It would be easy to get lost in the daily pressures and responsibilities of life and lose touch with one another.
Sir had set up three loungers for them, and Brie had a cooler full of drinks and snacks so they could spend the entire afternoon chilling on the beach without interruption.
Lea was the first to join her on the beach. She waltzed up to Brie with the confidence of a woman in love with her life. Brie noted that she was dressed in a pink bikini that showed off her impressive boobs—and also happened to match the color of the diamond on her collar.
The first thing Brie did was tackle her with a hug. “Look at you, all glam with that fancy collar around your neck.”
She played with it, grinning at Brie. “You know, I love it so dang much that I have the urge to strip right here so it’s the only thing I’m wearing—just so I can properly show it off.”
“Please don’t,” Mary retorted, walking up behind her. Before Lea could react, Mary whipped her towel, snapping Lea on the butt.
Lea let out a yelp and cried, “Not fair!”
Mary just snorted, laid her towel out on one of the loungers, and plunked herself down.
“Nice to see you, too,” Brie stated sarcastically, shaking her head at Mary’s flippancy.
Mary glanced up at them both and shrugged. “I only came to get a tan, what can I say?”
Lea twisted around to look at the red mark on her shapely ass. She rubbed her butt, trying to soothe the bruised skin. Brie noticed several surfers rubbernecking as they walked past. Lea was oblivious, complaining to Mary, “That hurt!”
Mary folded her arms, snorting in amusement. “That reminds me of a joke…”
