Chapter 9

“I said, if you don’t, ~I will~. You know damn well what kind of dangerous shit she could get involved in left to her own devices. Don’t forget what happened to Aurora after she left the club. We failed her. Don’t let the same thing happen to Casey.”

“Aurora and Casey are nothing alike. Aurora’s judgment was flawed to begin with.”

“She got a bad start and we had the chance to help get her on the right track without hurting herself. We should never have let her leave, and you know that. I’m serious, man.” He gestured at me and continued. “Casey’s… Well fuck, I know saying this makes it sound supremely creepy, but I love her like a daughter, too. But the fact is, ~she isn’t your daughter.~ She won’t even be your stepdaughter in a matter of weeks~. ~What she is, is a gorgeous, young, and ~very~ determined woman and she needs your guidance.”

I stood quiet, though I had to restrain myself from running to Rick and kissing him for such a profound argument. My stepdad’s attitude was visibly changing—I could see it in his expression as he worked through everything Rick had said. He eyed me with a level of affection that was more of a comfort than anything. I’d never doubted that he loved me, but his look made me feel a little guilty for asking him to do this thing for me…to show me how to be like him. Rick clearly knew precisely what that meant, though.

“How do you know so much about…all this?” I asked, looking at Rick. “Who— who is Aurora?”

He looked a little wistful at first. “Max and I have always been a team. In the Navy and then after. We were pros at ~all this~ once upon a time. Under a Domme named Chloe.” He looked a Max. “Those were the days, huh? We could have it again if we wanted, now that we’re both about to be unattached.”

“Don’t fucking remind me,” Max said, frowning and glancing with venom at the sheaf of papers on the counter.

Ignoring him, Rick continued. “Aurora was a woman—not much older than you—who we took under our wing. Things didn’t go too well with her, though.”

“She could never follow the rules,” Max said. “It wasn’t just about pleasure, Casey. It was also a job for us. There are right ways and wrong ways to approach the lifestyle and she had all the wrong ideas. We tried…”

“But we couldn’t turn her around,” Rick finished. “She left and sort of dropped off the map for awhile. When we found her again we were way too late.”

“What happened to her?” I asked, instinctively covering my breasts in light of the serious turn the conversation had taken. A draft came through from the screen door and blew up my nighty at the same time, completely contradicting my urge for modesty.

Rick’s eyes flicked to my exposed, naked hips and his eyebrows twitched. He blinked a couple times and coughed. “Uh…um, institutionalized. Bipolar disorder apparently, probably not much we could have done to help that, but she’d obviously been abused since we’d seen her.”

“She hooked up with a sketchy Dom after she left us,” Max said. “Not someone who was sanctioned by Chloe’s club. We know others, though, Case. I’m not going to just let you figure this out on your own. There’s the right Dom out there for you. I’ll help you find one.”

Rick made a low noise in his throat, probably in response to the angry look I shot at Max.

“I don’t want someone else. I want you. Or…or Rick. I trust both of you.”

“That part was obvious,” Rick said with a grin. “I can’t imagine you’d hang out half naked in a room with two men you didn’t trust.”

Max shot Rick a glare and was rewarded with a helpless shrug. He remained silent, deliberating. I hated this part because it usually meant I’d end up having to make some stupid compromise at the end.

“All right,” Max said, standing again. He crossed his arms and gave me an almost stern look. If I hadn’t seen the corners of his mouth twitch, I might have taken the look seriously. As it was, he looked like he was about to start a game that he knew he would win, but Max had always been more about playing the game.

“Really?” I asked, smiling broadly.

“As long as I have help, if that’s all right with the two of you. I’d be more comfortable if Rick was involved. To keep me honest.” He dropped his arms and stepped toward me. “If we’re going to do this, baby, we’re doing it right, but I won’t lie to you. You mean the world to me. I got carried away last night and I can’t let that happen again.”

I gazed up at him, entranced by the intensity in his eyes. He raised a hand and brushed a knuckle lightly down my cheek. My eyelids fluttered closed in response to the sensation and I let out a slow exhalation when his thumb caressed my lower lip.

Warm skin grazed against the front of my body as he shifted his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me close. His mouth descended to mine, his tongue warm and wet between my lips. I opened up to him with a small moan. God, how much I wanted this. More of what I’d only had a taste of so far.

Rick’s throat cleared and his hand rested on the bare skin of my shoulders from behind. “Remember why we’re here, man,” Rick said.

Max pulled away with a tiny sound of regret. “Yeah. We have work to do, don’t we Casey? You need to learn how to follow the rules, first of all. I think you forgot something when you got dressed this morning.”

His hands slid down my back, caressing gently over the round contour of my ass. One hand shoved the hem of my nighty up and abruptly he lifted the other hand and brought it down in a loud ~smack~ against my flesh. I jumped and squeaked in response, clutching at his sides with my fingernails.

He held me against his chest with his other arm, and did it again. The broad, warm flesh of his palm met my ass with a sharp crack. I gasped, the bright burn of pain flooding through me, heating my core and spreading through my body like wildfire.

“That’s right, Baby. You misbehave, you get punished.” ~Smack~.

I bit into his chest when his hand struck me again, and again, the burn stinging more and more each time. And each time he struck me, the force pushed my hips against him until I was as acutely aware of the steel-like ridge of his cock pressing against my belly.

I loved that he loved doing this to me as much as I loved having it done, but I wanted so much more. I turned my face so that my cheek rested against his chest. Max paused for a moment, his hand lightly clutching my sore bottom.

Rick was standing to the side, simply watching, alert.

“You brought ropes for loading the truck, right?” Max asked. “Think they’re good enough to re-purpose temporarily?”

Rick laughed. “Yeah, you’re not going to believe this…be right back.”

He disappeared out the door and I sighed into Max’s chest. “Thank you,” I said sincerely. Tension had built up all morning and for the first time since I’d come downstairs, I felt like all was right in the world again.

“Don’t thank me yet. We’re only getting started. One thing you need to learn is to pace yourself, all right? If you ~ever~ have doubts about continuing, even if it’s just a physical limitation, you say so.”

I nodded into his chest, inhaling the scent of his aftershave that had acquired a completely new and wonderful association for me in the past twenty-four hours.

His hand clutched my chin and urged me to look at him. “I need you to say you understand, Case. I’m not fucking around here.”

“I understand,” I said. I cast a quick glance at Rick who had just come back in with a handful of neatly wrapped bundles of white rope.

Max caught sight of what Rick held and laughed. “That’s not exactly what I’d call tiedown rope, man… Why the hell would you waste good silk ropes to help me move?”

“It’s what I had on hand. I wasn’t exactly using the stuff. Thought it should go to some use and I’m glad I brought it now. Must be fate, huh?” He grinned.

Max nodded and looked down at me again with a sparkle in his eyes. “I have a feeling you might be right. Bend over the table now, Casey.” He moved the chairs aside and nodded toward the small breakfast table that could seat four. I swallowed and stepped over to it, then leaned forward, placing my palms flat against the cool glass surface.