The Masters of Falcon's Fantasies [BDSM Menage Fantasies 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (14 page)

The earnestness of his voice gave Daphne an almost uncontrollable urge to say something funny, but then she sobered, thinking back to what Allie had said earlier. Maybe this would be an opportunity to find out how he really felt. Maybe they could take their relationship from business to—that was stupid. She bit her lip and concentrated on what he was saying as he went on.

“Obviously there’s something missing in our relationship. I’ve tried to let you be the wild rock star, but you just follow Blaze around like a puppy and let him get you into trouble. When we came here I thought that maybe getting you out of LA and being forceful would encourage you to concentrate more on your career and less on partying. But that’s not working either. What will it take to get you to calm down?”

Daphne had been leaning forward in her chair, hoping for something—anything—that would be a clue that Finn had personal feelings for her. Now she slumped back, defeated.

“I don’t need anything more from you.” Her voice was completely flat, exactly the same way she felt. “Maybe we shouldn’t be working together, if I’m that unpleasant to be around.”

He finally turned
,
and their eyes locked. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to, not in so many words. I worked my ass off for you today and all you can do is complain about how I don’t apply myself?”

She could feel tears gathering in her eyes, but Finn seemed unmoved. Finally she stood up, casting one last look at the panorama before turning to storm into the house.

Instead of the screen door, though, she collided with a large body. She hadn’t realized that her eyes had filled with tears until she looked up, trying to make out whose chest she’d just face-planted into, and couldn’t discern any features.

The voice she knew immediately, though. “You two are pathetic,” it said, sounding completely disgusted.

Daphne gasped and stumbled backward, but Decker caught her before she went head-over-heels down the steps. She steadied herself on the deck chair while his words registered, then with an attempt at a dignity she was far from feeling, she tried to maneuver around the intruder to get inside. “If you both will excuse me, I think I’ve had about enough of being told how worthless I am for one day.”

Decker’s hand fastened around her upper arm. It was almost uncomfortably tight as it guided her back to her chair and encouraged her to take a seat.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Decker said firmly. He hovered near her, obviously ready to prevent another dash for the kitchen, but his eyes were on Finn. “I’ve spent all day thinking about the two of you
,
and it seems to me that it’s time we got a few things straight.”

They both stared at him as he pulled over a chair and sat down. It was on the tip of Daphne’s tongue to ask him how he could possibly know enough about them to think he had any kind of solution to their problems, but his face was stern and set and the question faded. She suddenly felt like a second-grader who
wa
s about to get a lecture for encouraging a classmate to stuff a penny up his nose.

Finn was apparently feeling the same way. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands. “I tried,” he mumbled into them. “I just don’t know how to do this shit.”

“Obviously,” Decker agreed. He held out a hand
,
and Daphne found herself passing over her beer. He took a swig and handed it back with a nod. “That’s why I’m here. What you’re doing isn’t working. It’s not easy to combine discipline and correction with”
—h
e hesitated
—“w
ith love. Don’t look at me like that.” He frowned at Daphne. “You two are in love with each other. That’s obvious to everyone but the two of you. You seem to have the idea that Finn takes all of your crazy shit because he thinks you’re going to make him rich. Let me tell you something, missy. There are a million easier ways to get rich than trying to manage wild musicians. The big dope does it because he’s in love with you.”

He turned and fixed Finn with a steely glare. “And you can’t seem to see that her antics are nothing more than an attempt to get your attention and make you declare yourself. Why do you think she plays around with that fuckstick Blaze? It’s to make you jealous, idiot. But she doesn’t need some weakling letting her do whatever demented thing comes into her head. She needs to be grabbed, controlled, loved into submission with passion and authority. Do you disagree?” His head swiveled back to Daphne, who could only gulp and make an indistinct noise.

There was silence then for a minute. Finn had flushed bright red and was looking away from Daphne like a dog that’s not sure who’s dominant in the situation. Daphne shot him a quick glance, but her gaze was irresistibly drawn back to Decker.

“That’s not a very professional way of doing business,” Finn said finally, in a small voice.

“Damn the professional way of doing business. Do you love Daphne or not? You’re trying to be in control here, so it’s up to you to confess it first. Do you love her?” Decker leaned back, as if he had gotten something immense off his chest and was feeling lighter for it.

“Yes.” It was almost inaudible. Decker sighed and looked at Daphne.

“That’s probably the best you’re going to get at the moment. Do you love Finn?”

It was harder than she would have expected. All of her doubts, of herself and of Finn, washed over Daphne. Finn’s halfhearted assertion that he loved her was not totally convincing, but he had said it. If she denied her feelings now, she would probably never get another chance to have this conversation. She and Finn would continue to dance around each other, waiting for the other to make some kind of move, until one or both of them decided to just give up.

She nodded, aware that Finn was looking away. “I did,” she began, not sure why she was still hedging.

“Not good enough. Do you now?” Decker was inflexible.

“Yes.” She heard a slight hiss from Finn’s direction, but Decker was beginning to talk again.

“Okay, then. We’ve established that you care for each other. You both seem to be squeamish about the word ‘love,’ so for the moment let’s take it down a notch. Would you both be comfortable saying that you care about each other and want to continue working together?”

Their eyes did meet then, and they both nodded. Daphne noticed, with a hint of hopefulness, that Finn’s hands had dropped to his lap, and he wasn’t doing the fist-clenching thing he usually did when they discussed her work ethic.

“Daphne, will you admit that you have at least a small attraction to the idea of submission?” Decker fixed her with a look that seemed to melt her insides. The air around her thickened
,
and her breath caught. She stared back, aware that she was gripping the arms of her deck chair as if it might fly away. “I
–
I suppose so,” she whispered.

He smiled. “I think we can take that as a yes. Finn, are you willing to learn to be dominant? I don’t mean bossy, unpleasant, insulting, domineering, angry, or an asshole. I mean taking the responsibility of making sure that Daphne knows what’s expected of her, has the means to do it and the motivation to please you. Then making sure she feels valued, appreciated, and loved when she does it.”

“Well, yeah. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.” Finn sounded a little sullen.

“Daphne, you’ve agreed in the past to let Finn be the boss. Obviously you haven’t had the proper motivation to follow his direction. Why was that? Was it because you didn’t understand what he wanted? Or because it wasn’t important to you? Or because you didn’t get enough positive feedback for doing a good job? Or was it some other reason?”

Daphne blinked. She thought about her career, the amount of work she’d put into being the best singer, dancer
,
and songwriter she could be. Her occasional lapses into party mode with Blaze did seem childish, in light of what she had wanted to accomplish. Still wanted to accomplish. “I suppose it was the last thing.”

“The feedback part or the other reason part? If you’re going to make this work you both need to start being clearer in your communications.”

“The feedback part. I just don’t think he appreciates how hard I work.” She felt her face go a little hot. “Or at least when I
do
work.”

“Okay. And what can Finn do to make you feel valued and appreciated? Loved, even?”

She shrugged, wanting to ask why it was her responsibility to tell Finn how to be nice.

“Well, how do you know when he’s doing it, then? If you agree on something, even something stupid, then he can do it when he wants to show you appreciation, and you’ll recognize that’s what he’s doing. Won’t that be better than him not knowing what to do and you thinking he’s not trying?”

Finn made a small noise of surprise
,
and Daphne’s head swiveled in his direction. It was as if they were both seeing each other for the first time. He was looking at her thoughtfully.

“That’s true. It doesn’t have to be anything big, as long as it has meaning,” he said. “Last weekend I was going to take you on a tour of the wine country, but you left before I had the chance to ask. If there’d been something I could have done on Friday, you might have been less tempted to run off.”

Daphne started to make an angry retort but realized it was no good. She
had
run off, like a spoiled teenager. What would have changed that? Her politician had called, and she’d wanted to see him. But that was over now. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to get involved in that kind of shitstorm again.

“I’m not sure,” she said instead. “It was fun going to the dungeon. I guess if it had been more of an intentional reward than something I felt like I pressured you into doing, it would have meant more. Maybe if we agree to go out for dinner or a movie on the weekend if the work has gone well?”

“I’ll agree to that.” Finn nodded, looking happier than she’d seen him for weeks.

“Oh—and maybe if you start talking to me again about the technical stuff. You’ve kind of started treating me like a little kid who won’t understand what all the grown
-
ups are saying.”

Finn’s brows pulled together. “I suppose I have. I’ll try not to do that.”

Decker was smiling. “That’s a start. You should both think about something that can be done discreetly and regularly, though. It can be a phrase, a hand gesture
,
or a pet name. It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it’s an immediate and recognizable sign of approval. I would also recommend that you set aside some time every day to talk about how things are going and how you’re feeling. After this project you can discuss whether you want to take your relationship to a physical level, but for now just start communicating more. It’ll be good practice for later if you do want to explore D/s or BDSM further.”

“I don’t think we’re ready to start thinking about that yet,” Finn said. Daphne looked at him in surprise. He had risen from his seat and was facing away from them, looking at the barn, where the last of the crew was coming out, laughing and joking. She had the feeling that he wanted to end the conversation before anybody else could overhear it.

Allie’s head poked out the back door then. “Dinner’s ready. How did the shooting go?”

Daphne had been in an excellent mood throughout dinner. She watched Finn, trying to gauge how he was feeling. He and Decker sat together, their conversation too low for her to overhear. Whenever either of them glanced over at her, she gave them a brilliant smile and a wink. Decker returned the smile
,
but Finn seemed almost embarrassed.

When Allie brought out dessert, Daphne jumped up immediately. “I’ll help.”

“Oh, that’s not really necessary.” Allie gave her an uncertain smile. Daphne began grabbing up plates and silverware, teasing the boys about the weight they would gain from eating Allie’s delicious carrot—or something orange, anyway—cake.

Following Allie back into the kitchen, Daphne dumped a load into the sink and began washing them by hand.

“Really, you don’t need to do that. You’ve been working hard all day,” Allie told her, grabbing a towel to start drying.

“It’s okay. This is something I love doing. It actually calms me down and stimulates my creativity, if you can believe that. Feel free to leave them on the counter. I’ll dry them later.” Daphne began humming and moving her hips as she worked, enjoying the activity. In some weird way, it was as if she was doing this for Finn and Decker specifically, although they probably had no idea. It didn’t matter.

Allie started the coffeepot and then resumed putting away the dishes as Daphne washed them. “So what happened today? Seems like everybody’s pretty happy.”

“I certainly am. That domination stuff is pretty cool.”

“Oh?” Allie’s eyebrows shot up almost into her hair.

“Yeah. Decker talked to us before dinner and helped clear up a couple of things. I’m not sure Finn is as happy about it as I am, but I feel fantastic.” Daphne burst into a short piece of her new song, feeling as if the words were flowing like the hot water that was washing over her hands.

Allie waited for the mini
concert to come to an end, smiling as she listened. “Nice. What did he say to you guys?”