with Anna Beth? It didn’t solve anything, and she seemed to thrive on it.
“Give me the phone, Lynne,” Simon said. She shook her head.
“It was exactly like that,” Anna Beth said. “He called you a pity fuck.”
“No, I don’t believe you.” Lynne looked at the floor, unable to look at Simon any longer. What if Anna Beth was right? Lynne’s chest grew tight.
“It doesn’t matter if you believe me. Truth is truth. Once he’s tired of you, he’ll come back to me. Especially if you let him fuck your ass. He’s all about the virgin ass. Which is why I haven’t let him have mine yet. But I might when I take him back. Just the thought of that massive dick pushing its way inside me. I’ll be sure to scream. He likes that, you know. Kinky fucker.”
Lynne didn’t know how to reply to any of that information. Did Anna Beth know that Lynne had never had anal sex before, or was it only a guess on her part? Either way, there was no way she could know they’d had anal sex last night, was there? And she had to be lying about the pity fuck thing, didn’t she?
It wasn’t until Simon took the phone from her hand that she realized she’d been staring at it, doing and saying nothing.
He held the phone up to his mouth. “Who is this?” He shook his head. “They hung up. Who was it?”
“Anna Beth.”
He cursed under his breath and turned the phone off. “This is why you should have left your phone upstairs. What did she say?”
She took a deep breath and forced herself to look at him. “That you told her I was a pity fuck and she was sure you wouldn’t want me after you had my ass.”
He swore again, and the tips of his ears grew red. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him so angry. “Did anything I did to you yesterday feel like a pity fuck in any way, shape, or form?”
“No, Sir.” But having never experienced a pity fuck, that she knew of, how would she know what one felt like?
“And did I give any impression that I didn’t want you after last night?”
“No, Sir.”
“Then isn’t it safe to say Anna Beth is lying through her teeth?”
She shrugged. “I guess so.”
He ran his fingers through his hair with an exasperated sigh. “Are you really going to believe her over me?”
“I don’t want to. It’s just, she’s . . .” She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling very exposed.
“Playing into every doubt you’ve ever had,” he finished for her.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.
“I don’t know how to convince you that there is nothing about you that I don’t like.” He took a step closer to her. “I regret ever playing with that woman. If I’d never given her the time of day, she wouldn’t be trying to tear you down right now. I hate that she’s making you feel like you’re less than you are.”
She sniffled. “It’s—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh, don’t say it’s okay, because it’s not. No one ever has the right to bully you into feeling bad. And that’s what she is: a bully.”
“Why did you play with her?”
“The first time, we didn’t do much, and the second was right after I learned you were back in the area. I knew I couldn’t have you, not the way I wanted. I went to the club and she was there. Stupid on my part. I could tell almost immediately that she wouldn’t be right for me.”
A small spark of hope began to bubble in her chest. “How did you want me?”
“I wanted you the way I took you last night. Raw. Urgent. Hard. Rough.” He sighed. “And then I want you soft and tender and open.”
She blinked back tears. Damn, but she turned into a crying fool all the time around him. “I find that a little hard to swallow, considering how quickly you broke things off with me last time. Part of me is afraid to let you into my heart because I’m scared you’ll break it again and I don’t know if I can handle that a second time. Then part of me thinks it doesn’t really matter, because I’m already in too deep with you.”
“Lynne . . .” He shook his head.
“Tell me you aren’t going to hurt me again,” she begged. “Promise me.”
“I’d be interested in hearing this myself, seeing as how I’ve already had this conversation with you once before,” a familiar voice said from the door.
They both turned, and Lynne gasped at the sight of Nathaniel standing in the doorway, arms crossed and looking like the devil himself. Now she really felt exposed, and she searched frantically for something to cover up with. Shit. She did not want to be standing in her underwear in front of her employer. Though in all honesty, he wasn’t looking at her; he was focused on Simon.
“Nathaniel,” Simon said. His voice gave no indication of what he was thinking. In fact, she’d never heard him sound so . . . flat.
The two men stood there, silently assessing each other. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they started circling each other, showing their teeth, and snarling.
Nathaniel finally broke the silence. “For God’s sake, man, cover her up. I’m her employer.”
Her face heated once more, and she glanced around the room. Surely there had to be a blanket or something. But she couldn’t find one, and Simon appeared in no hurry to obey Nathaniel. Maybe there were blankets in the back of the room. She turned to go look, but Simon held out a hand to stop her.
“Settle, Lynne.”
When he said that, she was to kneel at his feet. She chewed on her bottom lip. Now? In front of Nathaniel? Nathaniel who still didn’t glance her way, but continued to look at Simon as if trying to decide which body part he wanted to relieve Simon of first.
She was caught between two men: her Dom for the weekend and her employer. She wanted to obey them both, and it upset her to know she couldn’t. In obeying one, she’d be defying the other. Her mind couldn’t decide what to do, but her body reacted instinctively, and she dropped to her knees at Simon’s side.
“You’ve been to this location before,” Simon told Nathaniel while he placed a hand on top of her head. The tension left her body. “You must have had some idea of the stage of dress you’d see her in. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can leave. Might be for the best anyway, since you’re upsetting her and you weren’t invited.”
Lynne kept her eyes downcast; she did not want to see the look on Nathaniel’s face at Simon’s refusal.
“Having some idea,” Nathaniel said, “is quite a bit different from seeing it flaunted before me. And sorry, but no, I’m not leaving until we talk.”
She thought the flaunting remark was low and unnecessary. It wasn’t like she got dressed, thinking, How can I piss my boss off today?
Simon checked his watch. “One of these days, Lynne, I’ll have the opportunity to take a single tail to you and we won’t be interrupted. Unfortunately, it looks like today is not that day. I don’t think either one of us is in the proper mind-set at the moment to do the demo.”
She begrudgingly agreed he was right.
“I’m going to let everyone know the demo is off.” Simon held out a hand to her. “Lynne, you can get dressed and wait in the room. And, Nathaniel, I’ll meet you outside in the courtyard in ten minutes.”
Surprisingly enough, Nathaniel didn’t argue, but gave a curt nod and left. Simon pulled her into his arms. “Go back to the room and don’t worry. I can handle him.” He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Promise you’ll wait there for me?”
She nodded and he gave her a kiss.
“Never forget, you’re my good girl,” he whispered before pulling away.
She watched him leave before putting her clothes on and making her way back to the room.
• • •
Simon found Nathaniel sitting at a table in a shaded corner of the courtyard after he informed the group director that the demo was off. The other man didn’t move as he sat down beside him.
“I won’t ask how you found out,” Simon started. “And while I didn’t know the sub
missive I was talking with online was Lynne until yesterday, I did run into her a few weeks ago and I’ve seen her a few times since then. I was wrong to keep that from you.”
Nathaniel’s face was once more void of any emotion. It was freaky as hell how he could do that. Especially since he was so expressive with his wife and kids. “It’s not so much that I mind you’re with Lynne. What bothers me is I specifically told you she was under my protection. All you had to do was call and tell me you wanted to see her. I would have given you my blessing.”