Siren in Bloom

Chapter Three

“Have you looked over the contract, dear?” Julian asked as he pressed the buttons that would take them to the club level of the building. Julian Lodge owned the entire downtown property, and Shelley had decided weeks ago that it was something like his own private kingdom. Everything Julian could want was in this building. His offices were here. His club was here. He had designated several floors as a luxury hotel for his friends and guests. She’d learned several of his employees also lived in the building. Leo was on the sixteenth floor, just below the penthouse. He shared the floor with the brothers, Ben and Chase Dawson and two part-time Doms named Brandon and Dane.

But they were going to the club section.

To meet her Dom.

“Yes. I read the contract before I signed it.” She’d stared at that three-page document for days. She’d read Anna Karenina in less time than it had taken her to finally get through the contract that would bind her to a man she didn’t know.

“Well, Master Wolf will now want to go over your hard and soft limits. Danielle explained those?” Julian’s voice was soft, his eyes on the numbers overhead, watching as they descended.

He was treating her with kid gloves. Shelley rather thought it was a sign of affection. Julian could be terribly cold when he wasn’t involved. He’d terrified her at first until she’d become close to his wife and his partner. They softened him. “I understand. I’m still probably going to giggle when he asks me about butt plugs.”

Julian turned down to her, his face lighting with a smile. “See, I knew I had chosen well. Many Doms would be insulted, but I believe Master Wolf might just laugh along with you.”

“He seems nice.”

“He reminds me of an overly large Golden Retriever. I’m actually a little worried he won’t be strong enough to truly discipline you, but I have a friend who claims he’s the perfect mix of Dom and mentor.”

“Why doesn’t he have a sub?” He sounded too good to be true.

“He recently left his post in the military. It wasn’t his choice as I understand. He was injured in the line of duty. He’s struggled a bit with that. I suspect he hadn’t thought past his military career. He returned to Colorado and found a job, but when I offered him a position here, he jumped at the chance. I think he’s looking for his place in the world.”

Then they were well matched. Despite her longing for Leo, she felt a little spark of hope. Julian had put some thought into this. “I’m ready.”

The doors opened, and Julian gestured for her to enter in front of him. “I’m glad. I’ve set you up in one of the offices. There’s a two-way mirror. I’ll be watching the whole time.”

“Why?” Shelley asked, a bit disturbed at the thought.

“Because he’s new to me, and I take your safety and happiness seriously. You’ve been a good friend to my wife. I admire your brother. His years at The Club made me very fond of him, and quite frankly, Leo is part of my family. Despite his stubbornness, I know he wouldn’t want you hurt.”

Because he was a good man. “And I wouldn’t want him hurt, either.”

Julian stopped in front of a door. He’d given her a tour of the facilities weeks back when he’d decided to let her redecorate the entire building. She knew that if she turned left, she would be in the hallway that led to The Club. Here in this part of the building, the floor was a very elegant marble, but down the hall it gave way to a decadent rich, burgundy carpet that her shoes had sunk into. She’d wondered what it would have felt like on her bare feet.

If she agreed to sub for Master Wolf, she might know. Some Masters wouldn’t let their submissives wear shoes.

“If you think you would like to try to get through to Leo, perhaps you shouldn’t walk through that door, dear.”

She shook her head. “No. Julian, do you honestly think I haven’t tried? I broke trust with him. I lied to him. I had what felt like a good reason, but it doesn’t matter now. He can’t forgive me, and I need to move on.”

“Trust is important. It’s everything in a relationship like this, but if there’s enough love, sometimes a breach of trust can be overcome. I would have told you that I would dismiss any submissive who broke trust with me. It changes when you truly, deeply love the person. I doubt I could dismiss Danielle and Finn for any reason. I could make their lives miserable, but I couldn’t let them go.”

“Then there’s your answer, Julian. He let me go. It’s all right. I knew what would happen. I knew I was letting him go. But I have to find my own place in this world, and I think it starts by meeting Master Wolf.”

Julian nodded. He opened the door. “Just know, I’ll be watching. If you need anything, you have only to ask.”

Her heart raced just a bit. The door was open. She could see the long conference table and the back of a man sitting at the end. Dark hair cut in a neat military style. His shoulders rose above the chair. He was a big man. His shoulders looked like they went on for miles.

Did she really want to place her body and her safety in the hands of such a large man? Bryce hadn’t been big, but the one time he’d hit her, she’d felt it. She’d been smaller than him, and he’d used it to his advantage. How much worse could it potentially be with a man this big?

And then he turned. And her jaw dropped open.

Master Wolf was absolutely the most glorious-looking man she’d ever seen in her life. She prayed, prayed she wasn’t actually drooling. Dani was right. Finn was right. Holy hotness.

“Hello, Shelley. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” He stood, his huge body graceful as he moved. He had to be six and a half feet tall. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that couldn’t quite hide the tight muscles of his torso. He really worked out. Like a lot.

God, she felt like she was thirteen and staring at a rock star. She managed to get out a breathy, “Hi.”

He smiled, and his hotness went up twenty degrees. Even, white teeth gleamed from between his impossibly sensual lips.

She was supposed to sub for this man? She was ten pounds overweight. She had cellulite on her thighs. Her eyes were just starting to get fine lines around them. She was a normal, average woman, and he was a Greek god.

“I’m Wolf,” he said, holding out a hand.

She held out her own, and he took it in his. His big palms embraced her hand, making her feel small and delicate. She was enveloped in heat. “Shelley.”

“It’s good to meet you, Shelley. You’re more beautiful than I was told.”

And this was ridiculous. “And you’re so far out of my league, it’s silly.” She turned to the large, rectangular window that dominated the far wall. “Are you kidding me, Julian? Seriously? Do you see him? He’s…oh, my god. I couldn’t handle Leo, and you think I can handle him?”

She slipped her hand out of his. He was too much. There was no way she could do this. She’d thought she could ease into the lifestyle, but Master Wolf was more like jumping off a cliff into the deepest part of the ocean. She had hoped for someone like Julian. Julian was a gorgeous man, but somehow she saw him as a kindly mentor not a potential lover. Master Wolf was an orgasm on two incredibly sculpted legs. She was already thinking about kissing him. There was no way she could hold herself apart, and there was damn straight no way she would ever be able to keep him. He would break her heart, just like Leo.

God, he reminded her of Leo.

“Sit down.”

His previous relaxed manner utterly disappeared. She turned to him, his body seeming to grow larger in front of her eyes. His smile was gone, and in its place was a steely gaze and a frown that had her eyes sliding away from him.

Yep. He was a Dom, and she was responding to him.

“I said sit down. You may sit or you can walk out the door. Those are your choices, and you should make up your mind in a hurry. I drove all night to make this meeting. If you’re going to walk out, I would prefer you did it now so I can get some sleep.”

The words came out in a staccato barrage, but there was a current underneath them that she detected.

He’d driven all night? She certainly would have waited until tomorrow. “I wasn’t going anywhere. You could have rescheduled the meeting.”

His mouth was a flat line. “I didn’t want to. I wanted to be here. I wanted to meet you. Now I’m not so sure. When Julian described you, he talked about your sweetness and your vulnerability. He didn’t mention what an egregious brat you are. Do you have a checklist for the Dom you require? Will you dismiss every one he finds for you until you get exactly what you want?”

“Isn’t this supposed to be about finding what I want?” Shelley asked, but the tone of his voice was sinking in.

“It is supposed to be about exploring the lifestyle. I can plainly see we have two different visions of how this works.” He sat down, slumping into his chair and running a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and rubbed a place on his forehead.

When he finally looked back at her, she could see the weariness in his eyes. “You may leave. I’ll explain to Julian that you would prefer someone else.”

He closed his eyes again, obviously dismissing her. It hurt, but he’d been a bit kinder to her than she’d been to him.

“He knows. He’s watching.” And Julian was probably horrified at the way she’d reacted. She’d been exactly what Wolf had said. A brat who saw what she wanted to see. She’d seen a gorgeous body, and not once had she thought about the man inside it. She’d never considered his feelings as though no one who looked like that could possibly have feelings.

“Well, naturally. I’m sure he’s not the only one.” His mouth turned down, and a grimace came over him.

“Are you all right?” Shelley asked. She should probably leave, run away and tend her wounds. She wouldn’t try this again. She couldn’t handle it. But she didn’t want to leave him like this.

“I’ll be fine. It’s a little headache. If I handle it now, it won’t turn into a full-blown migraine.” Wolf ground the words out. “If you don’t mind, turn off the lights as you leave.”

She got up and turned off the front light, bringing the brightness down. A single line of illumination was left, and she stared for a moment at the man who could have been her Dom. He was just a man with all the troubles that went with being just a man. She was so tired of being afraid. She really wanted to find the woman she’d been before Bryce, and that Shelley would never have treated anyone the way she had.

She walked behind his chair. “Let me.”

She touched his scalp, running her fingers all along it with a firm pressure. She ran her hands across his skin, feeling the silkiness of his pitch-black hair and a raised, puckered scar that wove across his head.

“Took some fire a while back on an op.”

The scar felt somewhat new, probably not more a few months old. “It feels bad.”

“No, love, it feels really good.” He groaned a little and gave over to her. His shoulders relaxed and a deep sigh rumbled through him. “The wound, on the other hand, was really bad. They had to crack my skull open. In the field. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Luckily, I don’t remember a lot of it. They say I never will, and I’m okay with that. I woke up in Ramstein and was told I would live, and some bureaucratic asshole was handing me my walking papers.”

Her heart went out to him. “Did you like the Army?”

“The Army sucks.” He chuckled. “I was Navy.”

Again, just like Leo. But this man wasn’t Leo Meyer. Leo would never have allowed her to comfort him like this. Leo was always strong. Wolf seemed sweeter, the tiniest bit lost. “Did you like it?”

Leo had left the Navy on his own, and when she’d asked about it, he would always turn the conversation to something else.

“I loved it. I guess I’m still having a hard time reconciling myself with the fact that my career is over.”

She took a deep breath. God, she knew how that felt. She ran her hands to his temples and rubbed, feeling a deep connection to this man who had terrified her. Men were just men, even the beautiful ones. His good looks hadn’t spared him from heartache, hadn’t ensured that his life had turned out perfectly.

“So they just dumped you because you got injured?”

He groaned a bit as she rubbed the top of his head. “Right there, love. Yeah. That’s it. I can’t tell you how good that feels. Yes, that’s what the Navy does. I was no longer useful. In addition to my head injuries, they had to put a titanium rod in my leg. I can’t make it through a metal detector. That makes me useless in undercover work. I wasn’t cut out for a desk job, so I went home and then came here.”

And then a bratty sub had given him more hell. God, would she ever stop screwing up? “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d really like to start this meeting over again, Sir.”

He would probably toss her out, but at least she would have tried. “I don’t know that that’s such a good idea, sweetheart. I might me a dumb grunt, but I can put two and two together. Leo mentioned he’d been friends with you. It was more, wasn’t it?”

“Sort of,” she said, a little confused. Why did he care about the fact that she’d been involved with Leo? “We didn’t have an affair or anything. I was married. He helped my brother, Trev. My brother spent a couple of years here in this club after he lost his career.”

“Julian,” Wolf called out, never once opening his eyes. “Did you bother to tell her anything? You knew I spent the last couple of weeks working with Trev. You didn’t mention that to her? You really are a manipulative bastard.”

He knew her brother? Wolf had mentioned he was in Colorado, but not that he’d been in Bliss.

The intercom came on, and Julian’s voice came over. “Or perhaps I am simply smarter than everyone else. Make your decision, Wolf. If you won’t do it, I’ll have to find someone else for her.”

His eyes came open, and his hands came up to cover hers. “It’s up to her, but she should know.”

“Know what?”

“Well, at least you should know my last name. I don’t suppose Julian told you that.”

“What’s your last name?” But she had a sneaking suspicion.

“Meyer. Leo is my brother. I know yours. He bought into the ranch I was working at before I came here. He’s a good man.”

Yes. He was a good man. A much better man for having known Leo Meyer. Wolf turned his chair around and took her hands in both of his, warmth enveloping her. Now she could really see it. Wolf was different than his brother, but the similarities were unmistakable. It was there in the long, cut line of his jaw, the cheekbones any male model would kill for, the beauty of his eyes.

But this man seemed more…vulnerable than Leo. Much more open. He obviously needed something, someone, where Leo was a citadel. Leo Meyer was a castle with fortified battlements. Wolf had let down his drawbridge.

“And Leo knows?” She was certain of that. If Leo had wanted to block this, he would have.

Wolf nodded.

Leo Meyer had brought her brother back to life. He’d shown her a world outside the narrow confines of her small town and a bad marriage. She’d burned him. She hadn’t meant to, but she had and it couldn’t work between them now. She owed him so much.

What if she could help his brother? If Leo didn’t care, why should she turn Wolf down?

Especially when she was so deeply intrigued.

“Okay. What do we do now, Sir? If you’ll forgive me for my tantrum from before.”

A slow, ridiculously sexy smile crossed his face. “With hands like yours, sweetheart, I think I can forgive a lot. Now sit down and let’s go over a few things.”

Her heart actually fluttered in her chest. It occurred to her for the briefest of moments that this was still a horrible idea. He was too gorgeous. He was Leo’s brother.

But Leo had basically thrown her his way. Wolf himself had told her that Leo was perfectly okay with it. If he didn’t have a problem, why should she? Perhaps this was actually what Leo wanted for her. Leo could be just as manipulative as Julian.

But in the end, it all came down to one thing and one thing only. Was she ready to move on?

Shelley took a seat across from Wolf. “I’m ready, Sir.”

Fuck it all, she was gorgeous. He had no idea what his brother was thinking allowing this woman to get away, but Wolf wasn’t going to make the same mistake. No one had bothered to tell him that the woman his brother had been involved with was the same woman he would be topping. No. No one had thought that was at all important until Leo had made his announcement. Julian had allowed him to fall half in love with a woman who had been involved with Leo.

Julian Lodge was definitely a manipulative bastard, but he wasn’t willing to walk away from her. Leo had said it hadn’t worked out, that they had only been friends. Wolf wasn’t sure he bought that, but it got him thinking. Maybe he could be just as manipulative as Julian Lodge.

“Do you understand the basic contract?” Wolf asked as his brain replayed the last few minutes. He started to go over it, but all he could think about was the fact that she was still here.

He’d been sure she was going to leave. And he would have let her. He wasn’t going to force himself on someone, but he wanted her. Hell, he’d wanted her from the first time Julian had described her.

Lovely. Sweet. Submissive. Smart and sassy. The other three didn’t work for him without the smart and sassy. He didn’t want a slave. He wanted a partner, a lover, he admitted.

And according to Julian Lodge, Shelley McNamara needed a lover, too.

“What does this mean?” Shelley asked, pointing to a paragraph that described high protocol.

He wasn’t about to make her speak only when spoken to. He drew a line through that. “It’s not something we need to worry about right now. We’ll come up with our own protocol. I want you to be able to ask questions and tell me how you’re feeling. I only ask that when we’re in public, you treat me with every politeness. You are to call me Sir and attempt to obey me.”

She frowned. “In public. So, I have to call you Sir if we’re in a restaurant?”

He hid his smile. He liked the fact that she was already thinking of him outside the club setting. He was damn straight thinking of her. Dating, however, wasn’t covered in the contract and never would be. “This contract only covers The Club, sweetheart. It’s a training contract. If we decide to see each other outside The Club, I wouldn’t expect you to call me Sir. I’m not a twenty-four-seven Dom. I enjoy the lifestyle, and I would deeply love it if you felt comfortable enough to allow me to help you with any problems you might have, but outside of this club, I won’t hold you to any rules we don’t agree on. The only rule that’s not up for discussion is the rule where you call me when you’re in actual trouble. You read that clause?”

She nodded. “So the rest of this is just for…for sex stuff.”

She couldn’t possibly know how that soft Texas twang made his groin tighten. “Not necessarily, though it should open you up. It’s about pushing your boundaries and discovering discipline.”

Her nose wrinkled up. “I don’t know how much I like that word.”

Yeah, most people didn’t, but then they didn’t understand what he meant by it. “Then I’ll have to change your mind. You see, you hear the word ‘discipline’ and you think punishment, but I hear it and I have a different definition. Discipline is the art of getting what you want. I wanted to be a Navy SEAL. I didn’t enjoy Hell Week. It was the most miserable I’ve ever been in my life. But it was necessary. We don’t get the things we want by allowing life to happen to us. We have to take an active role.”

She nodded, and he would have sworn he could see a sheen of tears in her eyes. “Yes, I can see that. I allowed things to happen for years. It just seems odd to hear a Dom saying that. I don’t know. I guess I would think you want me to be submissive.”

Another misconception he was happy to clear up. “You are submissive, Shelley. I can see it. Julian can certainly see it. I suspect you’ve allowed a man who was more dominant than you to walk all over you before. That isn’t what a Dom should do. A Dom should be your partner in helping you reach your potential, even if you never have a moment’s sexual contact.”

She sniffled slightly, and it took everything he had not to pull her onto his lap and try to soothe her. “You’re right about getting walked all over. I should be honest with you. I spent years in a marriage I shouldn’t have stayed in because it was easier than dealing with the fallout. I want to be stronger than that. I want to be in control.”

“And I can help you.”

Julian had mentioned her marriage. It hadn’t taken much to look the story up. Bryce Hughes had been a very bad man. He’d run drugs and a blackmailing ring that used his wife to get dirt on politicians. According to everything he’d been able to discover, Shelley had been exonerated. The feds didn’t believe she knew anything, but that hadn’t stopped them from seizing all of the assets she’d shared with her husband. She’d lost her house, her bank accounts, her reputation.

She needed a steady hand. He would have to put aside his own desires. He really wanted to inhale her. She was exactly the type who flipped his switch, but she needed more than one more man who rubbed his dick on her and gave her little in return. She needed someone in control. He could do that.

His dick protested mightily, but he could control that, too.

“So, let’s go over your hard and soft limits.” Yeah, because talking about all the dirty little games he loved would really get his libido under control. He should have picked up a woman last night to share with Logan, but taking Logan into a bar had seemed like a bad idea.

And he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Shelley. Even before he’d seen her.

She bit her bottom lip as she looked over the long list he’d handed her. “Uhm, I don’t know what some of these are, to tell you the truth.”

“What do you have a question about?”

“I understand the bondage part, and I’m fine with that. I’m willing to try all the toys.” Her skin flushed. “I’m… I’m really curious about spanking.”

And he was really ready to spank her. He’d gotten a glimpse of a round ass before she’d gone on her slightly manic tirade. Her skin was pale. He would have to be careful with her, but he could get that alabaster skin a lovely hot pink in no time at all. And when she was panting and her pussy was dripping wet, he’d find her clit and rub her until she cried out, begging for his cock.

Or he would just spank her because he had just promised to not take advantage of her.

Maybe he was the masochist.

He forced his voice to remain calm and even, so she hopefully wouldn’t guess that his cock was pounding against his jeans. “I think you’ll enjoy a good spanking. Let’s talk about the bondage for a minute, though. You understand I like to practice an elaborate form of bondage called Shibari, correct?”

She smiled, a bright thing. “Trev is obsessed with it. I walked into the barn at Aidan O’Malley’s ranch at the wrong time once. My sister-in-law was fully suspended in some insane getup my brother had bound her to. Bo was just sitting there reading a book to her. He said she’d been a very bad girl, but he didn’t want her to be bored so he was reading her one of her favorite romances.” She sobered. “Beth is so much stronger now. She’s happy. She was perfectly happy in what she called her Bondage Barbie wear. Yes, I’m willing to give it a try.”

“Good. One hurdle gone. I prefer not to engage in blood or fire play, but I could find a Master to introduce you to that if you’re interested.” He’d seen enough blood for a lifetime. He didn’t want to cause her to lose a single drop.

She shook her head, a little shiver running through her. “No. No blood. I wouldn’t even want to watch that. I think that might be a hard limit.”

He nodded and handed her a pen to mark it off the list of acceptable play. He’d read that she’d been in the same house when her husband had been shot. Had she seen it? Had she watched it and wondered if she was next? He changed the subject. They would get to all of that later when he’d earned her trust. “No extreme play. But I will bind you to a St. Andrew’s Cross, and I will make punishment public if I think it will help.”

She would be beautiful, her arms and legs spread, waiting for the crack of his whip.

She smiled, her lips tugging up enigmatically. “We have different definitions of extreme, but I understand. I’ll try not to earn any public punishment.” Her eyes worked down the page. “What is this? What do they mean by scat games? Please tell me that has something to do with jazz.”

He laughed out loud and marked that as a hard limit. “Not at all, sweetheart. That’s exactly what it sounds like, and neither one of us is going to engage in that. Doms have hard limits, too.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “And puppy play? Pony play?”

He was going to have to convince her of that. “It’s just a little role playing, sweetheart.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I want that.”

And it was his job to make her change her mind because he definitely wanted to play with her. “Let me give you a scenario. It’s a little game where, just for a while, you’re my soft, sweet little pet. You eat from my hand, little treats I’ll have to reward you for good behavior. You’ll sit at my feet. If I decide you’re a good little puppy, I’ll pull you up on my lap and lavish you with affection. And everyone loves a good little puppy. Everyone would want to pet you. All those hands, rubbing across your body. Under the watchful gaze of your Master, of course. But a good Master knows a puppy needs love.”

“You’re evil,” she said with a little grin, but he could see her flush had changed from embarrassment to arousal. She was starved for affection. Puppy play was an easy way to get many hands on her without having to share her in a sexual way. He wasn’t sure he could do that. Not with strangers.

He’d spent too much freaking time in Bliss.

“That’s my job, sweetheart. Let’s give it a try. There is nothing you can’t stop. I know I’m the Dom, but you’re in control.”

She put a hand to her mouth and laughed a little. “Yes. Oh my god, I just agreed to be a puppy.”

“Yes, you did, but that’s a little down the road.” He would ease her into rougher play. “For tonight, we’ll watch and see what intrigues you. Let’s talk about contact. At this stage, I think it’s best if we agree to no intercourse, but I would like the opportunity to touch you, to bring you to orgasm, to teach you pleasure.”

Her face turned bright red, and he was worried for a moment that he’d pushed too far, but it was important. He wouldn’t take anything for himself, but he needed to teach her to equate chosen submission with pleasure.

“Yes.”

“Excellent.” It was a good first step. He couldn’t wait to get started. “Then we’ll start tonight. We’ll go into The Club together, and we’ll play it by ear. No pressure. We’re just going to come in and have a nice meal and then watch some scenes and talk. I’ll have clothes sent to your room.”

“I have a townhouse,” she said. “I decided to go for broke and move up here. Dallas is going to be my home from now on.”

That worked for him. Dallas was going to be his home if he could make things work. He was ready to settle down. Roots. A man needed roots. He’d spent most of his adult life jetting around the world on missions. If that part of his life was over, then he wanted a real home. “Give me the address, and I’ll pick you up. Dress casually. I’ll have clothes waiting for you in The Club’s locker room.”

Her hand came up in a flighty little wave. “Oh, I can take the train. No problem.”

He stared at her.

“Or you could pick me up,” she said quickly. Excellent. She was learning.

“And you will wear the clothes I select for you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“Then I will see you at eight this evening.”

And then the real fun would begin.