Green Broke Woman (28 page)

Her knowledge
relieved him. “That's right.”

“Since I've
already done that once before, could we just skip ahead to training mode?”

He blinked in
surprise.
“You sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah,
you guys don't have to baby me. I already know I want this with you and what
that entails. Just train me and explain as you go. I don't want any delays or
hurdles. I just want to be yours.”

His heart moved at
her words. “Sure. We'll just have to get you a training collar instead.”

She frowned. “Why
can't I just wear that one as my training collar?”

“Because
it's a Consideration Collar.”

She grinned and
shrugged. “So?”

He pulled his hand
away when she reached for the collar. “So it's the wrong color.”

“I don't care.
Give it.” She got up, looking thoroughly amused when he stepped back and held
the collar behind him.

“Well, I do. As
one of the owners of this club, I don't want my submissive walking around
wearing the wrong colored collar during the wrong stage.”

“Oh
brother.
I love that it's
blue. Now let me see it.”

“No. I don't want
people asking 'Oh, she's under Consideration?' Then I'll have to be like 'Why
no. We're training her.' Then they'll be all '
You
dumb
idiot, why is it blue?'”

Kayla giggled and
got down on her knees. “Please collar me. I thought BDSM could mean something
different to everybody. So what if I wear a blue training collar? I like that
it matches your eyes. It'll be like I've got your eyeballs hanging from around
my neck.”

He smirked and
looked down at her humored expression.

“Yeah, pretend I
didn't say that last morbid part.” She caressed his bare legs, lowering her
voice to a sultry hush. “Please, Travis. It means a lot that you guys bought me
a collar. Please put it on me.” She wiggled in a cute little sway. “Come on.
Let's be blue-collared rebels.”

He smiled at her
adoringly.

“You know what I
meant.” She moved her cinnamon curls aside, baring her graceful neck to him.
“Please, Sir. Collar me.”

His heart thudded
with completion in his chest as he fastened the dark blue collar around her
pretty neck. He lifted her chin and gazed down at her, admiring the almost
sacred sight of the woman he loved, naked and on her knees before him, wearing
his collar.

“Beautiful,” he
whispered, brushing her lower lip with his thumb. Her fond smile warmed him
like the sun when the rays pour over the morning horizon. “I don't want you
sleeping in the guest bedroom anymore, Kayla. From now on you'll take turns
sleeping with me and my brothers on different nights of the week.”

She closed her
eyes and kissed the pad of his finger. “Yes, please.”

****

Kayla went home
with Travis, surprised to see Jake up.

“Either of you
know what's up with Keith or where he is?” Jake asked.

Travis shook his
head.

“No. I put him to
bed an hour or so ago,” she said, growing concerned. “What's wrong?”

“I don't know. He
called me, telling me to wake up, 'cause he had big news when he got home,”
Jake explained, looking groggy and disoriented. “Don't know why it couldn't
wait until morning. Where have you two been?”

Travis wore a
dreamy smile and a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“At the club.”

Jake grinned. “Ah.
Smart man.
If I wasn't so tired, I'd have taken her
there myself. What did you do?”

Kayla smiled at
Travis, growing warm. “We played doctor.”

The front door
unlocked, and Keith walked in with Virgil Paisley and... Her jaw dropped as a
cold wave of eerie shock slammed into her. The third man with them was Master
Hugh.

****

Hugh's
heart clenched in his chest when he saw his sweet little slave, Kayla, standing
there with a look of complete shock.
She wasn't his slave anymore. She belonged to his nephews now as their
girlfriend if not fiancée, and probably their submissive as well.

He dismissed the
heart-wrenching possibility from his mind and did his best to maintain a cool
air of indifference and his idea of civility. If there was a chance she still
cared, he'd best not exploit that or use it in any way. She wanted Travis,
Jake, and Keith. He wouldn't come between them, though some possessive, selfish
part of him was strongly tempted to.

“Are you all
stoned or has age been kind to my face that you stare?” he quipped, making his
way toward the dining room table.

“Master,” Kayla
breathed.

Fiery Jake shot a
troubled look over at her before a green-eyed monster reared its ugly, jealous
head on his face. “I really hope you just called him
bastard
and not what I think you said.”

Hugh made little
effort to conceal the smug smile that took up residence on his lips as he sat
down, resting his hands on the cane in front of him. “You mean Laura Ingalls
didn't tell you about our little history together?”

“You have a history
with that son of a bitch?” Jake snapped.

“He was my Dom,”
she murmured, still staring slack-jawed at Hugh.

Travis looked
bothered, too, but he handled himself better than Jake did. “I thought your
Dom's name was Hugh Randall.”

Hugh shook his
head. “That was an alias.”

Travis frowned.
“What did you need an alias for?”

“When you get to
be my age, you end up with a few enemies,” Hugh explained, having to fight with
himself to keep his eyes off Kayla. She wore a simple gray hoodie and jeans
with sneakers, but to him she was a vision.

“I'm not
surprised,” Jake snorted. “What were you thinking getting involved with a woman
that much younger than you?”

“I was thinking I
would teach her about sex and BDSM so she was good and green broke when I gave
her back to you,” Hugh sassed. “You’re welcome.”

“Oh, you did not
just say that.”
Jake face-palmed himself.
“Keith, what
did you let this abusive motherfucker into the house for?”

“He's not who you
think he is,” Keith told him. “That's not our dad.”

“What do you mean
he's not our dad? Look at him. He's the spitting fucking image of him, and he's
staggering around with the same damned cane,” Jake pointed out.

“Your real dad, my
brother, never walked around with a cane,” Hugh informed him. “Your father died
on a mission twenty-three years ago.”

Dead silence. Hugh
figured he could accurately predict all of their reactions. Travis would be
logical and capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation, even under a
heavy situation. Jake would fly off the handle and likely throw in a few raging
F-bombs. Keith would be quiet for a while before doing one of two things. He'd
either go all
angsty
or he'd follow in Travis's shoes
and be reasonable.

“How did he die?”
Travis asked.

“Quickly,” Hugh
replied, waiting for the reactions of the other two.

“Hang on a
second.” Travis held up a hand before lowering it, seeming stunned but with it.
“If what you say is true, then that means he died when Keith, Jake, and Miranda
were kids.”

Hugh nodded once.

“Fuck,” Jake
growled.

Keith remained
silent.

“The man who came
back from his mission with a cane all of a sudden and a major personality
change, the father who treated us better, that was you?” Travis surmised.

“Right again,”
Hugh said, amused by the furious scowl on Jake's face. “I have the medical
records of his death if you need proof.”

“Fuck!” Jake
yelled. “You lying motherfucker! You pretended to be that fucker all those
fucking years ago? Did our mother know? Why'd you fucking do it?”

Hugh could see
he'd accurately predicted Jake's reaction. “I came here initially to inform you
what happened to your father. Your mother mistook me for him. She was crying
her eyes out and nearly hysterical because she thought her husband was dead and
was relieved to see he wasn't. She mentioned suicide. I had no idea if she
meant it or not, so I let her believe I was the father of her children and the
man she married.”

More silence
followed, broken only by a hushed “Fuck” from Jake.

“I was never proud
of what I did, but before your father died he asked me to take care of you,”
Hugh said solemnly.

“Yeah, to watch
out for us, not pretend to be him,” Jake spat.

“Pretty defensive
of a dead man who slugged you in the face when you were a kid, aren't you,
Jake?” Hugh asked, ignoring the man's glare. “I lost my father. I never wanted
you boys to have to go through that, especially at so young an age. I didn't
want your mother to have to go through losing her spouse or hurting
herself
in the name of heartache, so yes, I pretended to be
your father.”

“Our mom never knew?”
Travis guessed.

“Not until the
night she kicked me out,” Hugh answered, hating that Kayla had to hear this. “I
just assumed she'd tell you boys that I was really your uncle, but when I saw
Keith earlier, I realized she hadn't. Maybe she thought divorce would be less
painful for you kids than learning about your dad dying.”

“So you were never
legally married?” Kayla asked.

“No,” Hugh said,
feeling his heart tug when he looked at her.

Keith finally
spoke. “How did Mom find out that you were our uncle?”

“She found my real
driver's license.” Hugh shook his head. “Never piss off a redhead.”

“So let me get
this straight, old man. All these years I've
been hating
you for no fucking reason?” Jake realized, looking angry. “The whole time you
were my dad's brother?”

“It appears so,”
Hugh said, “but I'm sure you'll find a new reason to be angry.”

“You should have
told us,” Jake ground out.

“There it is.”
Hugh rolled his eyes. “If I'd known just how bad your father treated you...”
His eyes flickered over to Keith, aborting their attention when his nephew
looked at him. “I would have said something sooner.”

Jake shook his
head. “That's why you treated us better. I should have known our father would
never change.”

Travis's features
softened, and his eyes glistened. “How did it happen, Uncle Hugh?”

Hugh averted his
eyes and drew in a deep breath before heaving a long sigh as he stared down at
the silver dragon topping the cane where his hands rested. “Your father was
captured by a psychopath who calls himself Black Dragon. His real name, if it's
his real name, is Alexei Romanov. He was a mole who betrayed his team.”

Kayla looked
calmer now and her interest piqued. “Is that the sadistic Russian guy you told
me about a long time ago?”

Hugh nodded.
“The same.
One of the team members was killed on our
mission, the rest escaped. Your father and I were caught.” He paused, trying to
tamp the fury and grief assailing him. “There was a bomb in the room your
father was tied up in. It detonated when some poor son of a bitch opened the
door to try to get to him.”

The room fell
silent.

“It was quick. He
probably didn't even know what happened.” Hugh sat in reticence, remembering
the horrors of that day. Deep in his mind he still heard and felt the explosion
whenever his thoughts drifted to his twin brother.

“How did you end
up with that cane?” Keith asked.

“While I was
captured the psycho Dr. Romanov performed a sadistic surgery on my leg. He
didn't use any anesthesia or pain medication. No, that would have required a
soul, which he lacks.” Hugh shook his head. “He cut out most of the muscle in
that leg while I was strapped down to a table. He said he had a degree in
psychology and a PhD as a medical professional. Personally the ornery bastard
looked too young for either and clearly lacked any kind of proper training. He
was eventually arrested, but he escaped. I've been looking for him ever since.”

“I take it that
dragon on your cane is no coincidence,” Travis deduced.

Hugh glanced down
at it, studying the intricate carving of the piece. “No. That was my code name,
Silver Dragon. There were seven of us, each named after a different colored
dragon. Black Dragon was the Russian bastard who betrayed us. Your father was
Blue Dragon. He and Gold Dragon were killed on that mission.”

“Where are the
other Dragons? I mean team members?” Keith inquired.

Hugh smiled. “I'm
not at liberty to say who or where they are.”

“Wait just a
fucking minute,” Jake blurted. “You named that BDSM club Black Dragon.”

“Hmm.
Why so I did.”

“You named your
club after the son of a bitch who killed our father and mutilated your leg?
What sort of sick motherfucker are you?” Jake demanded.