Anything but Vanilla (32 page)

‘Are you all right?’ they asked simultaneously.

‘Fine,’ Zach replied, though a residual ache remained in his stomach muscles from the impact. Robin had caught him off-guard more than anything. ‘We need to get inside. Robin has Ric trapped.’

‘Seriously? Shit!’ The warmth of her hands left his skin, to curl instead around the bars of the portcullis. She gave it a test shake. ‘How do we get you out?’

Zach scrubbed his hand through the long front of his hair so that it hung over his eyes instead of lying swept back. ‘It’s more an issue of getting in. Maybe if you could reach the study window?’

‘I’ll try it,’ she said before he’d properly finished the sentence, and disappeared at once, leaving Zach pressed against the iron latticework straining for sounds for her ascent.

‘Be careful.’ No matter how hard he strained his hearing, the wind drowned out everything but the bleats of the nearby wildlife. He was almost ready to tear his hair out when light bled across the cobblestones beneath his feet. Two dogs bounded into the space beneath the archway, forcing him to fend off friendly licks in order to reach the door. The overhead light cast a radiant glow over Kara’s smiling face. Zach wrapped her in a crushing embrace, lifting her clean off her feet in order to spin her around. ‘Thank God! I don’t know how you did it but huzzah.’ He smacked a generous kiss across her beautiful lips.

‘Lay off the smoochy stuff a moment.’ Kara wriggled until he deposited her feet back on the floor. ‘Which room’s he in?’

‘Master bedroom.’ Zach paused long enough to sweep his tongue across his lips. ‘Just so you’re aware, I had him tied to the bed.’

‘You tied him up?’ Kara’s eyes opened so wide that Zach was forced to look over his shoulder to make sure that nothing else had startled her. ‘
You
tied Ric up?’

‘I blindfolded him too,’ he added rather proudly, only for his conceit to immediately crumble into dejection. ‘This is my fault. I let her in. Do you think he’s realised it’s Robin and not either of us with him?’ Spurred by that uncertainty, Zach attacked the stairs with extra zeal, driving Kara ahead of him with some encouraging shoves.

An ominous quiet filled the first-floor corridor. Zach steered Kara towards the master bedroom, where they burst into the room together.

Zach realised two things immediately: one, his worst fears evidently hadn’t been realised; and two, Ric had a camera in his hand. Where it had come from, he hadn’t a clue. Maybe Ric kept a spare under his pillow. He certainly didn’t go far without some form of recording device. The camera whined and spat out a ghastly white light. Once Zach had stopped seeing disorientating spots, he recognised a few other details.

Ric’s blindfold lay on the pillow. Only one of his hands remained tied to the bed, the knot of which Ric sat working with his teeth.

Robin, whom Zach had expected to come at him like a banshee having a temper tantrum, lay on the floor in a semi-foetal position, her breathing disjointed and irregularly punctuated by pitiful sobs.

‘What happened?’ he asked, frozen to the spot. His gaze slipped back and forth between Ric and Robin, until the pressure of Kara’s palm on his back urged him fully into the room.

‘Did someone spill some perfume?’ Kara enquired.

‘Never mind that,’ Ric barked. He beckoned Zach over. ‘Help me with this.’

The knot was released with minimal effort. Zach immediately captured Ric’s hands. His lover looked every bit as perfect as when Zach left him; no cuts or bruises, no deeply engraved lines worn into his face, in fact no evidence of any physical harm except the red impressions around his wrists caused by the cords. He traced each line with his fingertips. ‘Are you – are you –?’

‘Fine.’ Ric shook off his hold to unclasp the cock-ring from his flaccid prick.

‘What happened? What did she do?’

‘Shush.’ Ric knelt up on the mattress. ‘Don’t beat yourself up. Come here instead.’ His hands slid comfortingly into the fine hairs at the back of Zach’s neck, so that he was pulled down into Ric’s embrace. ‘It was nothing I couldn’t handle.’ The pressure of Ric’s mouth, hot and loving, seemed to confirm that. His passion didn’t seem much dimmed since earlier, or maybe he craved company. Either way, the trace of his tongue against Zach’s stirred memories of what they’d been enjoying prior to him answering the door. As Ric claimed he was fine, then Zach was obliged to believe him. But even the tingle of arousal stirring in his loins couldn’t entirely quell his doubts.

Robin gave a horrified squeal, and curled herself tighter.

Kara crossed over to the bed. Rather than joining them, she crouched by Robin’s side and gave her shoulder a prod. The girl gave a loud hiccough, but refused to look up. ‘You didn’t hit her, did you?’ she asked Ric.

A tremor ran through Ric’s limbs. He pulled away from Zach and crossed to the wardrobe, where he began rummaging for clothes. ‘No, I bloody didn’t. You don’t need to feel sympathetic for her. She got what she asked for.’ He pulled on a pair of jeans with torn-out knees and an equally tatty chrome-coloured jumper.

‘Which was?’

Ric shook his head in reply, while Robin let out a teary burp. ‘Stay away from me,’ she said to Kara. She got to her feet and backed away from the bed. Ugly smears of mascara marred her heart-shaped face, while her usual red lipstick had been rubbed from her lips, leaving them seemingly bleached. ‘Wanker,’ she accused Ric. ‘You did it on purpose.’

‘I came. That’s what you were trying to achieve, wasn’t it? Proving you had me under control.’

‘You were ready for me.’

‘No. You disrupted Zach fucking me. Just because he laid me out like a banquet didn’t mean you were invited to take a nibble. You ought to learn some manners.’

‘Nibble?’ Zach interjected, unsure if he actually wanted to know. He followed the line of Robin’s gaze to where the discarded camera lay. The last picture on the slideshow showed Kara and him bursting into the room like a pair of comic-book heroes, complete with the requisite dumb expressions. Before that there were dozens of wildlife shots, pics of kitchen worktops and, much further back, some of him occupying the spare bed. Ric had to have sneaked in while he lay sleeping to have taken them. He’d have remembered posing in that position.

‘Would you mind not going through that?’ Ric insisted. ‘She’s already deleted all the relevant stuff. Not that doing so changes anything. The memories remain. May as well face the truth, Robin.’ As if to emphasise whatever point he was making, Ric wrapped his arms around Kara, and nuzzled up against her neck.

Zach dropped the camera back on to the bed and then tilted his head questioningly, only for Ric to continue lavishing affection upon Kara, a display that caused pangs of jealousy to cramp his innards, and which turned Robin an unfortunate shade of puce. Her blotchy cheeks clashed hideously with her red hair.

‘Robin objects to the fact that I love Kara and that her sexy body really turns me on. Hard photographic evidence of that proved a little too much for her. Luckily, the pictures are easily replaceable.’ Ric pushed a hand inside Kara’s top, so his fingers splayed across one of her breasts. Within seconds her nipples were hard, and poking against the fabric of her top.

Zach did his best not to wince. Ric loved Kara. Not him. He breathed deeply through his nose, determined to let the issue ride until he could address it properly.

‘It was still my actions that made you come,’ Robin snarled defiantly, though her voice wobbled a little and lapsed into a croak. She stared at Ric, tears trickling over her cheeks, though her eyes continued to track his movements. Her lips pursed tightly.

Ric gave her a cold smile that made his blue-grey eyes seem like splinters of ice. ‘I guarantee that if you shove a vibrator up any man’s arse he’ll come. It’s basic sexual mechanics. It doesn’t mean a thing. It certainly doesn’t prove that I want you. We both know who I was thinking about and, lady, it wasn’t you.’ Ric gave Kara another tight squeeze. ‘Doesn’t matter how many photographs you delete, the truth is right in front of you. Stick around and I’ll give you a demonstration if you like.’

‘No!’ Robin shuddered.

‘Best not,’ Zach advised. ‘I called the police. She stole Kara’s phone –’

‘– and colluded with my ex,’ Kara interjected.

Zach paused a moment, surprised by the revelation. ‘Colluded with Kara’s ex, damn near knocked me out, broke in –’ He stopped short of saying any more, still horrified by the idea of Robin putting her dirty, nasty fingers anywhere near any part of Ric’s anatomy.

‘And failed to make off with anything of value,’ Ric concluded. ‘I’m still here, and there wasn’t any point where I wasn’t in control of the situation.’

‘That’s no reason to let her get away with it,’ Zach finished dubiously. ‘Anyway, they’re already coming out.’

Robin gave a dismayed screech, echoed in a less ear-splitting grumble from Ric a moment later. ‘I’m not sure that was entirely necessary.’

‘It totally was. Robin had been a pest for years; it was time to put an end to her sulking about. I had no idea what she was going to do. And what you’ve described doesn’t convince me I acted wrongly.’ Christ! He’d genuinely feared for Ric’s life.

‘Better go.’ Ric gestured towards the door, staring pointedly at Robin. ‘I said scat!’ he added when she didn’t move. ‘And stay off the island, or I’ll be sure to send the police round to pay you a home visit.’ He snatched up his camera and snapped a mug shot of Robin’s face, which provoked another horrid scream. ‘I trust we can call it a day on this stupid obsession.’

Robin spat at him. Her gaze tracked across the three of them, and then, as requested, she fled.

‘You shouldn’t have done that either,’ Zach complained. ‘Ric, she’s dangerous. When has she ever listened before?’

‘This time is different.’

‘Yeah? How is it?’

Ric closed his eyes and gave a weary sigh. ‘It just is.’

Kara turned to wrap her arms around his waist. ‘Maybe if you actually told us what happened, rather than just the edited highlights.’

‘There isn’t much more to tell.’ He glanced up at Kara from under his eyelashes. ‘Robin objected to the fact that I screamed your name not hers when I came. That always tends to piss off a woman.’ His lips twisted into a smirk.

Zach embraced him too, so that Ric stood cocooned by his and Kara’s bodies.

‘Hey!’ Ric pushed them both away a little. ‘Chill the fuck out over the angst. I told you, it’s no big deal. I put her up to it.’

‘What?’ Zach asked.

Ric simply nodded.

‘Why the fuck would you do that?’ Not that long ago Ric had promised to make a go of them having a proper relationship, involving fidelity and all the other stuff that defined commitment. This felt like a kick in the teeth. Zach slumped on to the end of the bed. ‘I thought she’d just taken advantage.’

‘She did.’ Ric came to stand by Zach’s knees. ‘I just directed things a bit.’ He clasped Zach’s shoulders and pulled him close, so that Zach’s brow pressed against Ric’s abs. ‘It wasn’t like I had much choice. You left me bound. It’s not as if I could fend her off. I used the situation to my advantage, rather than simply letting her have her victory. And while you might not agree with my methods, I think this way will be more effective than a restraining order at keeping her at bay.’

‘Hm.’ Zach shook his head. He didn’t agree. What Robin had done deserved a stiff sentence rather than a rap on the knuckles, but he knew Ric, and squabbling over the issue wasn’t going to get their new relationship off to a good start. ‘Just promise me if she sets foot on Liddell Island again you’ll call the cops, OK?’

‘You got it, boss,’ Ric said, giving him a salute.

‘So what’s the issue with the photographs?’ Kara picked up the camera, which Ric immediately took off her.

‘Confirmation that my cry wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. It made her pretty irate. I have … had a few shots of us looking pretty blissful together. Both Kara and me, and the three of us together. I think anyone looking at them would have had a hard time disputing the emotions depicted.’

Zach gave a barely perceptible nod of understanding, an action Kara duplicated.

‘There were a few shots like that on my phone.’

‘Yeah, I did point that out,’ Ric said. ‘I’m afraid your phone bit the dust. She seemed to like your pictures even less. It’s over there.’ He nodded his head towards the right-hand side of the bed.

Kara scooped it up to survey the damage. She turned the phone to show them. The screen had split right across. That, coupled with the sea-damage it’d sustained, made it a write-off. Kara took the sim card out of the back and dropped the rest into Ric’s wastebasket. ‘I’ll have to get another one.’

A moment or two of uncomfortable silence followed, none of them knowing quite what to do. Eventually, Kara extended her hand towards the bed, where an assortment of bindings and toys still lay scattered across the rumpled duvet. ‘So, what was it you had her use to make you come?’ she enquired, seemingly innocently.

‘Kara,’ Zach barked. ‘Not now. I think we’d all better go downstairs and chill out.’

Ric’s gaze flicked towards an object half hidden by a pillow.

‘This thing?’ Kara lifted the dildo by its base, and flicked the switch that set it humming and performing a writhing dance. ‘This little thing makes you come super hard?’ She cocked an eyebrow.

Ric pursed his lips.

‘It’s hardly got any juice.’

‘Yeah. I’d like to see you stave off coming if similarly tormented.’

Kara’s grin immediately broadened. An impish light gleamed in her eyes. ‘Bring it on, babe.’ She placed a hand on her hip. ‘Any time you want to test me out.’

‘No,’ Zach said firmly. ‘Guys, this isn’t the time.’ His words fell on deaf ears. Ric’s posture had already changed. He looked predatory, while Kara’s gaze kept flicking back and forth between Ric’s face and the stubby vibrating cock.

‘Five minutes,’ Ric insisted, holding up that number of fingers to Kara. ‘I’ll be right back as soon as I’ve made this phone call. Then you’d better be ready to rumba.’ He lifted the phone from its cradle and padded out of the room carrying it.