Apt [Running to Love 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

Alistair hadn’t even mentioned the incident to him, although Jackie would have spilled the beans instantly, and not just because it was expected that she share her burdens with her Dom. Dave soon realized that ’Stair expected
him
to fix it without the need for encouragement. His buddy assumed, quite correctly, that he’d make it right, and he was now in a headspace to do so.

Dave had made the trip to Lansdown right after that last session with Dr. Massey. He was prepared to grovel at Fiona’s feet and apologize, although he was still hesitant about having any kind of relationship with her, even if she would still have him. But he decided to put it out there for her to think it through and consider things in that way she had. Fiona was intelligent and quick. She would make the decision, and he would live with her choice. His inner Dom assured him that she would want to be with him, and he had to work hard to manage the anticipation of introducing Fiona to his lifestyle.

Except no one was there when he arrived, and the anticlimactic shock of it blew him away. He hadn’t thought to call first. Fiona’s parents never left their small farm unless it was to go to town for supplies. Their neighbors enlightened him. The Lamberts had finally made that longed-for trip back to the old country, and it may well have been the moon as far as Dave was concerned. It seemed an open-ended trip. He had no way of tracking them and not enough resources to go there even if he thought he could locate them. He returned to Tulsa after writing a message for Fiona and shoving it under the door, not trusting the mailbox out at the end of the lane. He left an identical one at the post office. And then there was nothing more to do but wait. It had been weeks, and he feared she’d chosen not to respond.

He tortured himself with thoughts of Fiona meeting someone over there and deciding to stay. He woke regularly from erotic dreams of her, wearing that lovely little smile she had and nothing else, his sheets damp and his cock aching. And he worked relentlessly at the Club so that Alistair could spend more time with the soon-to-be– mother of his child, Jackie, and Ash. He became expert with the single tail, as Meredith had predicted, but his ability to read subs and help their Doms attune with them gave him the greatest satisfaction even as it underscored his own previous lack.

“Kind of hard to advertise a place like this, buddy. And an exchange program, well, it sounds weird.”

Alistair laughed. “You’d be surprised. There’s any number of people interested in exploring this kind of thing, but I want to be really careful who we let in here. We don’t want looky-loos or reporters. Nope. I know that Kyle and Andrew have made referrals before, and I’ve turned them down because the people weren’t military or cops or at least with that kind of background. We should open the ranks, so to speak. We might be able to teach them a thing or two, although we’ve had our share of drama.”

It was the closest ’Stair had come to ribbing Dave about Fiona. Dave shrugged. It didn’t matter to him what his buddy chose to do. He was now a training Dom and good at it, gaining experience with every scene. He wasn’t interested in subs per se, but in training
their
Doms to be the best they could be. The occasional sub he worked with was always treated well, given the full experience, but Dave had no sexual interest in them. He didn’t want one. He wanted Fiona, when he let himself admit it. Whatever ’Stair decided was fine with him.

“Andrew invited us for a tour of Unleashed this Friday night. Their club is considerably bigger and has a wide range of members. It should give us an idea if it’s something we want to expand into here and if their members would fit.”

“I don’t think I’ve met Kyle.”

“No, you haven’t. I haven’t seen him in a very long time. He knows Jeff and Devon. Devon helped him retrieve his sub after she ran from him. That was a really bad time in Kyle’s life. He’s probably still a silent partner in Unleashed, but Tabitha doesn’t attend, and so Kyle is unlikely to be there very much either.”

Dave wanted to ask what had happened but bit his tongue. Whatever Kyle had done, Dave had done worse. He’d humiliated and rejected Fiona, and he hadn’t had the opportunity to fix it. Yet.
Why hadn’t she at least written him back, even to blow him off?
Instead, he contented himself with a nod.

“I’m leaving the girls at home, and your sister isn’t happy with me at all. I was tempted to take Ash just to piss her off a little more and gentle her when I got home, but…”

Dave held up his hand. “TMI, buddy. Jesus.”

Alistair laughed. “You better get used to it, Dave. Once Jackie is back in action, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of her.”

Dave knew ’Stair was teasing him, just as he heard the wistfulness in the other man’s voice. Alistair was thrilled about becoming a dad, but he also missed the times with Jackie and Ash at the Club. They hadn’t been together all that long before Jackie got pregnant, but life was about balance. Dave was coming to see that in startling clarity, and he again blessed the fact he’d been given the opportunity. He decided to rib Alistair right back.

“Well, buddy, I’d kind of hoped for more of a look at Ashley, to tell you the truth.”

’Stair’s mouth thinned into a straight line, and his eyes narrowed into cold, green slits. Dave couldn’t help it. He couldn’t keep a straight face. He guffawed, and Alistair’s face cleared like magic. “Fuck you, Dave. Don’t even joke about something like that. No way could we keep that dynamic straight.”

“I think it’s more than keeping that dynamic straight, buddy,” Dave said slyly and was rewarded with a deep flush that crawled up Alistair’s neck.

“I’m going to be making babies with Ash, Dave, as you well know. That kind of makes her mine, I would think.”

Dave just chortled and ducked the jab Alistair threw at his head. The old guy was getting soft, and Dave loved the dichotomy. “Friday night should be interesting.”

“Could be.” That cryptic comment had Dave looking, but ’Stair had already turned his attention back to the paperwork.

* * * *

Dave looked around him with interest. The meet-and-greet area of Unleashed was modern almost to a fault, with none of the warmer ambiance of his Club. Well, Alistair’s Club. He liked leather, but not in all of the furniture. Maybe Unleashed allowed sexual stuff out in this area, and leather was easier to clean. Dave pushed away his prurient thoughts. He hadn’t had sex in a long, long time, not even accepting Alysha’s favors of late, although he’d felt badly because it was what she needed. But after seeing Fiona again, his cock seemed to be mighty particular. Picky, even. Oh, he got aroused. Who wouldn’t, with what transpired around him? He just had no sexual interest in anyone he trained or helped to train. It was like he was saving himself, and it should have made him laugh except it wasn’t funny at all. Fiona was a virgin, or had been. That was another reason he’d run. He couldn’t take that from her, too, and it had been getting harder and harder not to bury himself balls-deep within her. His cock was up and raring to go at even the thought, straining against his leathers, almost as though it could sense her through his thoughts. Dave managed his arousal, although sexual excitement fairly seethed around him.

“Dave? This is Andrew Wright. Andrew, my partner Dave Cutticio.”

Dave fumbled his grasp at Andrew’s hand, trying not to gape at Alistair’s announcement. He worked for ’Stair. He wasn’t his partner. But Alistair was telling the big Dom that Dave pretty much ran the Club now, and it allowed him to focus on other, even more important things. Andrew shook his hand enthusiastically, and Dave covertly tried the other man’s grip. It was returned in kind, and without a word spoken, the little competition was declared a draw. They exchanged smiles, and Andrew invited them to his office.

“We would like to refer some of our members, ’Stair,” Andrew concluded. “I know you’ve been exclusive to those individuals who serve or who have served the public, but I think we can assure you that those we send will fit in.”

It sounded to Dave as though they were doing Andrew a favor and not the other way around. As a “partner,” he figured he could say something about that.

“How do you know they’ll fit in, Andrew?”

“They’re older, for one thing. And I think they see our younger members as being contaminated by the sense of entitlement that’s becoming common.” The big Dom laughed and shrugged at the same time. “I don’t see why the two can’t mix, personally, and lead to a positive outcome, but that’s the way of it. And quite frankly, our two clubs have always supported one another, if in different ways. I’d like to see that continue, as would Kyle.”

Dave figured he knew what that meant. It made sense to have a connection with law enforcement, not corrupt law enforcement, but this was a business that tended to walk the fringes of society, and a balance was good. Effective, too. And Unleashed clearly had moneyed members. “Makes sense.”

“Ah, another man of few words, ’Stair. I like him. So, I’ll drop the word in some open ears after tonight, and you can expect contact almost immediately.”

It was apparent Andrew had expected this outcome and that it would be no surprise to his membership, or at least a part of his membership. Alistair would enlighten their own members shortly, if he knew his friend, and Dave didn’t anticipate any issues. In fact, he rather looked forward to the change, another sign that he was expanding his horizons and joining the real world. Well, maybe not the real world as some people would view it, but it was definitely part of his world. Even if Fiona wasn’t in it.

“Now come into the Club proper. There’s several scenes being played out tonight, and I’m actually taking part, if you’d like to attend. My new little sub pushed me this week, and it’s time she was presented publicly. I suspect she has exhibitionistic tendencies behind her shyness, and I intend to exploit them tonight.”

“You’re training again?” Alistair sounded surprised.

Dave checked Andrew’s left hand, and sure enough, there was a wide gold band on his ring finger. Married. Committed. His wife must be one of those twenty-four-seven subs if Andrew was working with subs and she was okay with it.

“I am. Elaine is enceinte once again. I keep telling myself this is our last, but she loves children so much and is such a wonderful mother that I can’t deny her. But I will not play when she is pregnant, and she knows it. Normally I simply run Unleashed and monitor, but I recently had a young woman present herself, and I found I couldn’t turn her training over to just anyone.”

“Jackie would kill me.” Alistair’s tone was dry but certain, and Dave picked up on suppressed mirth too.

“Oh, I assure you it is simply training. No sex of any kind. I reward her of course, but Elaine, too, would make my life hell if I took anything for myself! She actually met this little one and has approved of my role. We’ve even had her over for dinner, and she has cared for our children on occasion. Elaine believes the girl needs this badly, seeing as her self-esteem was battered and her sense of self-worth damaged by someone she believed to have loved her. She actually thought herself lacking intelligence for misreading the situation and for loving him. I’m correcting a minor setback in that regard tonight, actually.”

Dave warmed to the older man. This then could be
his
role in the future, seeing as he’d probably screwed himself out of the one he could have had. Fiona would have come home from Scotland by now and have figured out that her feelings for him were confused with love, or she’d have found someone over there. She hadn’t responded to his note, and he had to accept it. He could now help women who didn’t feel positive about themselves, ones who were reeling from unacceptable treatment by an asshole. Yup, he could walk a mile in those shoes.

“We’ll catch up with you, Andrew.”

Dave nodded his agreement as well.

* * * *

Fiona paced nervously around the room where she awaited Master Andrew. She wore a short silk robe and nothing else. Not even shoes. She was both terrified and aroused at the thought of being disciplined in front of several of the club members tonight, although she understood why her punishment had been ramped up. Her parents had called earlier in the week, back from their cherished trip to Scotland. She’d been thrilled to hear from them, having had nothing more than a few postcards and the occasional phone call all this time. It seemed they’d had the absolute best experience of their lives, connecting with various relatives and finding several family members they had no idea about. Some of those relatives were planning to visit them in the States in the near future, and Fiona celebrated right along with her parents.

She told them all about her new job and how she liked her colleagues, but avoided sharing her evening and weekend activities. Her parents would accept her and love her for who she was, but Fiona didn’t think they were ready to hear about her interest in BDSM. At least not until they did some reading on the subject. She thought she would introduce the idea the next time she went to visit and go from there. She did tell them about Master Andrew, his wonderful pregnant wife and their four children and how much she enjoyed spending time with them. It was like having a replacement family. She assured her mom and dad that she was fine financially and would come to visit in the near future. Then her mom diffidently shared some information, alert as always to her daughter’s tender heart.

Her mom told her that Dave must have been down to visit because he’d left a note for her. Fiona’s first impulse was to ask her mom to open it and read it, but then had second thoughts. What if it mentioned her going to his club uninvited? What if it mentioned his new profession? More likely, he would have come to put her gently into her place as he probably would have done if she hadn’t been so forward by tracking him down and confronting him. Yes, that was probably it, come to let her down gently and say that damn personal, formal good-bye because
he
was ready. In denial to the bitter end.