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Authors: Lexi Blake

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Erotica, #McKay-Taggart, #dom, #Lexi Blake, #Bdsm, #Masters & Mercenaries, #sub

Unconditional (2 page)

BOOK: Unconditional
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“So you want me to sub for this guy because you think I’m some kind of pushover?” She didn’t like the implication. Somehow when Taggart put it that way, she sounded pathetic. She was just trying to be nice, just trying to make things easier for the people around her.

But he was right about one thing. She ended up sacrificing all too often.

Her mind went back to her boyfriend. She hadn’t wanted to have sex, hadn’t been ready for it. He’d whined and argued and sulked and she’d given in.

Taggart shook his head, a short, sharp negative. “No. I don’t
think
you’re some kind of pushover. I
know
you’re a doormat.”

Charlotte sent her husband a look that should have killed him. “God, you’re such an asshole.”

He simply shrugged as though he got that a lot. “And that’s twenty, baby.”

Charlotte’s eyes rolled, her attention going back to Ashley. “What he’s trying to say is you don’t necessarily understand the dynamic a D/s relationship can take. You’re seeing the sex and the spankings and how nice it is to kneel at some hot guy’s feet and let him pet you, but there can be more to it.”

Taggart grinned, a look that lit up his normally dark face. “Don’t forget the blow jobs.”

Charlotte ignored him. “What we’re trying to do is give you the opportunity to explore the lifestyle in a safe setting with a Dom I’m pretty sure is a service top.”

“Service top?” She’d heard the terms top and bottom but had never heard there were different types.

“Doms get into the lifestyle for different reasons,” Charlotte explained. “Some are complete buttfuck assholes who want to have absolute control over every aspect of a woman’s life and can’t accept anything less.”

“We prefer the term total power exchange to buttfuck assholes.” Ian didn’t crack a smile this time.

Charlotte continued. “But some Doms actually get their pleasure in the exchange from serving their submissives.”

“Like the aftercare stuff?” She was definitely fascinated by the way Doms who had spanked their subs would turn tender, softly caring for the flesh they’d just smacked.

“Among other things. But the important part here is that some Doms like to take subs like you and make them stronger. They aren’t happy with a sub who simply serves them because they serve everyone. They want to earn the sub’s trust and that means helping the sub to be a stronger individual.”

“You’re talking about therapy.” They were back to her being crazy.

Ian shrugged again. “Think of him as a life coach with a flogger. You’re not crazy, Ashley. You just need to see that you’re worthwhile, too.”

Tears popped up, sudden and unbidden because he was right. She’d spent the last several years hating the position she’d put everyone in. Her mother had died disappointed in her, but then she’d never been able to make her mom happy. She would have been mortified that her younger daughter had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. Jill had been forced to sacrifice in order to pay off Ashley’s medical bills.

And Trevor had just walked away. One day he’d been sweet as pie, planning their wedding, and the next he’d left her with nothing but a note explaining he wasn’t ready to be a dad or a husband.

He’d never seen their daughter. After one attempt to talk sense into him, he’d even left the town they lived in. She’d tried to find him, but his parents wouldn’t tell her where he was or how to call him. His father had very smugly told her that his boy had finally come to his senses and she should go and take care of the problem.

They offered to pay for her abortion.

“Honey, are you okay?” Charlotte was kneeling in front of her, a sure sign that Ashley had drifted again.

She’d never gone back after that. Never fought for her rights or tried to force Trevor to pay child support until Jill had stepped in and hired one of Taggart’s men to do it for her. She’d just cried and walked away. “How would he do it?”

“Do what?” Taggart asked.

“Teach me I’m worthy when I’m so damn sure I’m not.” Wasn’t the first step in solving any problem admitting she had one? She’d read that somewhere.

Ian and Charlotte exchanged a long look and then Charlotte leaned forward, taking over the conversation.

“Oh, I think he should be the one to show you, but I can tell you a little bit.” Charlotte patted her hand and started to explain her new role.

* * * *

“Does Ryan know about this?” Keith asked, forcing himself to stay cool. The last thing he needed was Ian Taggart thinking he was an insanely eager pervert.

Even though he pretty much was. He was insanely eager to get really perverted with the woman in question. Ashley Paxon—his best friend’s sister-in-law.

Taggart sat back in his chair. “I discussed the situation with him before he left. He knows Ashley is submissive.”

“And he approved?” Somehow he couldn’t imagine it. Ryan had to know how deeply unworthy he was. Ryan knew how he’d conducted his relationships in the past. Hell, Ryan would laugh at the idea that he knew the meaning of the word relationship.

He’d never told Ryan about what happened when he was twenty-two, but the man was smart. He knew a bad bet when he saw one.

“He doesn’t actually have to approve. You do understand that she’s an adult?” Taggart watched him through half-closed eyes as though the proceedings were about to put his ass to sleep. “She’s perfectly capable of making her own choices. Ryan is aware that if the chance for her to explore came up, I was going to offer it to her. Ryan knows what his sister-in-law’s problems are.”

Ashley’s problem was that she was too sweet, too gorgeous. Being in the same room with Ashley got him hard as hell. Fuck, just thinking about her was causing his dick to stir.

Ashley was also far too young and needed way more than he could give any submissive.

Ashley needed a husband and that was so not going to be him. He knew it and he’d stayed as far away from her as possible. He walked out of a room when she walked in. When she was working the bar here at Sanctum, he suddenly wasn’t at all thirsty.

“I don’t think it’s going to work.”

Now he had Ian Taggart’s attention. “Really? So you can’t flick a whip unless your heart’s engaged? Or do you only like to top attractive women? Is it because she has a few pounds on her?”

Keith kept his temper in check. He wasn’t stupid. Taggart was going to push him, prod him, try to get at his soft center. He knew it because it was exactly what he would do were he in Taggart’s shoes. His first instinct was to go over to the desk and explain to the fucker that there was no way Ashley was anything but perfect, but then Taggart would know far too much about him. “I think she’s a lovely girl. I simply worry that she’s my friend’s sister-in-law.”

He could practically see the wheels in Taggart’s brain working, looking for a weakness he could exploit. “I wasn’t aware you and Ryan were that close. I know you had lost touch for a couple of years.”

Because Ryan had gotten into trouble and wouldn’t let anyone help him out until very recently. There were other reasons he and Ryan weren’t as close as they had been when they’d worked together. Ryan was married and already talking about kids. Ryan was going to a place that Keith was never going to go.

Never again.

He liked being married to his job. His job never told him he was inadequate. His job didn’t lie to him. His job wouldn’t die on him if he fucked up.

“We’re as close as I get to anyone, Taggart.” He wanted to play here. Sanctum was by far the best club in Dallas, but he wasn’t going to open his head and let Taggart play around in it. “Ryan has referred me for membership. If you’re not accepting anyone right now, I would prefer you told me now so I don’t waste my time.”

“Touchy. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to let you in on a provisional basis. I was just trying to get a feel for how close you are to Ryan. Sanctum is a place for my friends and family to play, to relax. Ryan has become a friend, so I’m willing to give you a test ride, but I want to see how you work with subs. We’re more on the play end of the lifestyle. What type of sub are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a casual play partner. That’s all. This is how I relax.” He spent all his time at work, buying and selling companies, stocks, funding new ventures. It was high pressure and stress. He needed to blow off steam, and D/s was how he did it.

Though the first time he’d seen Ashley, he’d thought about what it would be like to have a woman living in his house again, knowing that she would be waiting for him at the end of every day.

“So you’re not looking for any kind of permanent relationship with a sub?”

“No. If you’re trying to pair me up with a sub, you should know that I don’t believe in marriage. I’m not that man. I want a casual relationship.” It was all he could handle. It was absolutely all he deserved.

Taggart slapped his hand on the desk, the sound echoing through the office. “Excellent. All my guys are mushy assholes. They’re all getting married and spitting out kids. It’s disgusting. We need some manly men around here.”

“Didn’t you just get married?” Ryan had told him about the collaring ceremony the big boss had participated in with his wife a few months back. It had followed some kind of vow renewal.

A little groan came out of Taggart’s mouth before he sipped his coffee. “Nope. I got married a long time ago. I was way stupider then. I got lucky because she died, but then she came back. What the hell am I supposed to do? The only reason I let her back in is she buys me lemon donuts.”

Keith was pretty sure the guy was fucking with him, but with Taggart, he couldn’t be certain. “Well, I’m not interested in getting married.”

“Good because once my guys got married, they handed their balls over to their subs, and now I have the distinct problem of needing a couple of Doms who are available as play partners. I expect to lose Jesse at any moment. All a sub will have to do is offer him a sandwich and he’ll be hers forever. Seriously, the kid can eat and he’s got attachment issues. He attaches to everyone, and we can’t get rid of the little fucker. We have five regular subs who like to play and struggle to find a Dom for the night. Simon can’t tie them all up and Damon won’t work with more than one at once. Claims he can’t pay them proper attention or some shit.”

“If you’re looking for someone to play with the regulars, why are you asking me about Ashley? She’s not a submissive, much less a regular.” Now that he really thought about it, Taggart wasn’t making a lick of sense. The couple of times he’d come in as Ryan’s guest, he’d watched her and she’d never left the bar. “I’ve never seen her play so why is she involved at all?”

What the hell would he do if he had to watch her with some damn Dom? He wouldn’t be able to look away if she was naked. He would stand there and stare at her like a Peeping Tom.

“Because Ashley is an employee and if I choose to take you on, you’ll spend the first six weeks playing with her and her alone. Until I’m certain you’re trustworthy, you’re not allowed to play with the club members. Ashley is a newbie. The rest of the regulars have been in the lifestyle for a while. I want to see how you train a new sub.”

Training Ashley? God, it had been a terrible idea when he thought it would be a single encounter, much less weeks and weeks of having her at his command. Yeah, that was very likely a horrible idea. If he trained her, she would be under his direction, available to him. He would be responsible for her behavior, for her discipline, for her pleasure. He would have to touch all that sweet, soft skin. That ridiculously vulnerable skin. Young skin. Yes, she was too fucking young for him. He would have to remind himself of that every single time he looked at her. He was on the slow slide to forty and she was twenty-freaking-five. There was a whole decade between them.

And she had a baby. She was a baby with a baby.

All very good reasons to not train her.

“It would be a completely up-front relationship,” Ian explained, his words continuing even as Keith’s brain exploded with all the reasons why he shouldn’t listen to Mephistopheles in leather. “You’ll sign a training contract with her. She understands that you wouldn’t have any kind of relationship with her outside of the club.”

He stopped his inner diatribe. “Ashley knows about this?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t be here asking you if Ashley hadn’t already agreed to it.” He slid a piece of paper across the desk. “She’s already signed the contract.”

Holy shit.
Ashley Paxon had actually signed a goddamn BDSM contract, and there was his name sitting right alongside hers. There was no way she was expecting someone younger, fresher, less jaded. She was expecting him.

He stared down at her signature. Her handwriting was pretty and feminine, like the woman herself.

He scanned the verbiage, each word meaningful to his trained eye. Taggart knew how to write a contract, and Keith wondered if he’d gone to a professional for it. He would love to see some of his tight-assed colleagues dealing with a D/s contract.

In short, the contract gave him rights to train Ashley, but only on the grounds of the club. For the brief time that the contract was to run, he could see her off grounds if she needed him for anything, but there would be no sexual contact outside of the club. He got to the part of the contract that read
This means no touchy touchy
.

No. Taggart definitely wrote this himself. No one who had spent three years and a couple of hundred grand on law school would ever write that.

Of course, it also left sex open to them as long as they had it at Sanctum.

He could fuck Ashley and it would be all right because she wanted to explore. He could fuck her and then maybe his head would be on straight and he could stop thinking about her twenty-four seven. Maybe when they were done, he could fuck someone else.

He knew he needed a sexual outlet. He’d kept several submissives over the years, letting each one go after the terms of their contract were over. He’d never written a contract for more than a few months and he never, ever extended one. He often found them new Doms, and several had married the men he’d found for them.

BOOK: Unconditional
3.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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