Her Old-Fashioned Boss (18 page)

After a long shower, Ava dressed in the clothes Sam had collected from her place. She supposed she needed to decide what to do with her apartment. Both men had sat her down and asked her to consider moving in.

She wanted too. Desperately. The thought of going back to her empty apartment filled her with dread. But another part of her said that it was crazy to move in so quickly. She hadn’t known them that long, after all.

Mind occupied with her thoughts, she wandered through the house. Unable to find them anywhere upstairs, she moved downstairs, wondering if Roarke had decided to do some work even though it was a Saturday. But no one was in the study or the kitchen.

Well, that only left the gym. As she walked in, she found Sam on the treadmill, naked except for a very small pair of shorts. Roarke was doing push-ups, his arm muscles bulging, his singlet molded to his muscles.

“Well, I would have been here sooner if I knew I was going to get a show,” she said with a grin.

“And what are you doing up?” Roarke asked as he kneeled with a scowl.

She matched his scowl with one of her own. “I feel good. Better than good. I feel great.”

Roarke gave her a once over as Sam slowed to a walk. “Her color’s better,” Sam offered.

“I’m okay, Roarke. I promise,” she said gently.

Nodding, he stood and walked over to her, kissing her on the forehead. “Okay, I know when I’m outnumbered.”

Sam snorted and winked at her. She grinned back.

“If you’re really feeling better then you know what that means though, don’t you?” Roarke said smugly.

“What?” she asked.

“Time to pay the piper.”

She gulped.
Oh bubbles.

“What for?” She pretended ignorance.

Roarke raised his eyebrows and lowered her chin, just waiting her out. And he was a lot better at this game than she was. Finally, she sighed.

“For pushing myself too hard when I was running?”

“Got it in one. I don’t want you exercising alone anymore,” he told her.

She shot her head up to look at him. “I won’t do it again.”

He simply stared at her.

“Don’t you trust me?” she asked, hurt.

“I trust you, baby. But you use exercise to find that place where you don’t have to think anymore, where it’s just feeling. And to get to that place you push yourself too far. It’s the same place I can take you when you submit to me, when I flog you or spank you or tie you up. Only then, I control the pace and the pain, I can make sure that you’re not pushed too far. I can’t do that if you go off for a run by yourself. I’m worried you’ll seriously harm yourself.”

“You scared us, Ava,” Sam added, looking at her with worry. “It’s not a question of trust, but because we want to take care of you. We need to.”

She stared at them both and only saw love and worry in their eyes. She nodded. “I understand. I won’t exercise without one of you around.”

Sam took her into arms, holding her tight. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear and she relaxed. She’d put these guys through an experience she wouldn’t want. How would she have felt if it was one of them collapsed on the side of the road?

“Are you sure you want this?” she whispered back. “It’s not going to be easy.”

Sam stepped back and gave her a tender smile. Leaning down, he kissed her lips. “Nothing worth having ever is. Do you think Mr. Bossy over there was easy when we first got together? You think he’s anal now you should have seen him back then. Do you know that he originally hired Max, who’s an ex-marine, to be my bodyguard? Do you know how many spankings I got for trying to dodge him?”

She’d figured Max had to ex-military. He just had that look and his eyes never stopped moving, checking. She certainly couldn’t imagine him letting Sam give him the slip.

“Seems like you need one right now,” Roarke growled. They both turned to find him staring at them.

“With pleasure.” Sam turned and wiggled his hips.

She burst into laughter and even saw Roarke’s lips twitched.

“Come here, pet,” he said seriously. Sam stopped playing immediately and walked over to him. Roarke leaned down and whispered something in his ear, making him blush.

“Yes, Sir,” he said, gracefully sinking to his knees. Would she ever be able to do that so smoothly?

“Ava.” Roarke held out his hand to her and simply waited for her.

She found herself stepping towards him without even thinking about it. Instead of sitting and placing her over his lap, he drew her into his arms and rocked her.

“We’re here for you, little one. No matter what. I know it’s hard to believe it right now, but we’re not going anywhere.”

Ava let out a deep breath and let herself relax against him. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to be a burden.”

“Don’t,” he told her, stepping back to tilt her head up. “You think we don’t have our own shit? We do. Sam still has moments of worrying that he’ll lose our love. I still don’t talk to my family.”

His eyes grew haunted.

“Why?” she asked.

He looked down at her and she knew he was going to refuse to tell her.

“Roarke,” Sam said quietly. “You need to tell her.”

Roarke nodded. “I know. First, though, little one, you’re getting your spanking. Then we’ll talk. Off with the pants. In fact, off with all your clothes. I don’t want you in clothes today.”

“What?” She gaped, blushing.

“You too, pet,” he said to Sam.

“Sure,” Sam replied enthusiastically, standing he stripped off the shorts he’d been wearing, leaving himself completely naked. And aroused.

“Are you ever not hard?” she blurted out, blushing as he laughed.

“Around the two of you? No, sweet.”

“Oh bubbles,” she muttered. “Roarke, I can’t go around naked. What if someone sees? What if I spill hot coffee on myself? What if—”

He placed a finger over her lips. “You’ll do this for me because it’s what I require of you. Keep arguing and I’ll add to the thirty you already have coming. Sam, would you go and get a wooden spoon from the kitchen please.”

Roarke simply stood there and waited. With trembling hands, she pulled off her clothes, her cheeks hot and flushed. How would she last the whole day like this? It was one thing to strip off for sex or play but to spend all day like this, her imperfections on show…

Cupping her chin, Roarke raised her face. “Whatever that thought was, it wasn’t good. Where did you just go?”

She shrugged.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Ow,” she cried out, rubbing her bottom.

“No rubbing,” Roarke ordered. “And that wasn’t an acceptable answer. Arms behind your back, legs apart, eyes down.”

She immediately obeyed him, the nerves in her stomach calming.

“Now,” he said. “You will tell me what you were just thinking.”

“It was nothing,” she protested, raising her gaze to his.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at her coldly. “Eyes down,” he ordered firmly.

Smack! Smack!

Damn, that stung. Sam had returned with the wooden spoon and it packed a hell of a sting.

“Sorry, Sir,” she whispered. “I was thinking that if I spent the whole day naked then you’d be able to see all my, umm, imperfections.”

Both men stared at her in amazement.

“Haven’t we seen you naked plenty of times?” Sam asked.

“Yes, but that’s different, that’s during sex or play.” And her body usually overtook her mind, pushing away her fears.

“Just what imperfections do you think you have?” Roarke asked.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him circle her.

“Bend over and grab your ankles,” he told her.

With a blush heating her cheeks, she did as ordered.

“Tell me about these imperfections you see.”

Damn. She wished she’d kept her trap shut.

“I don’t know. I guess if you can’t see them then I shouldn’t point them out. Ow,” she cried out, forcing herself to stay still as the wooden spoon landed three times on her ass.

“Try again,” he said.
“Go to the weights bench and lean your hands on it, legs parted.” He waited until she’d moved to continue. “How would you feel if you stepped on the scale and you'd put on weight?”

“Like I'd failed,” she answered.

Smack! Smack!

She shuddered.

“You'd be beautiful no matter how much you weighed,” Sam told her.

“How does it make you feel, to have to eat something prepared by someone else?”

“Out of control, panicky, scared.”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Pain seared her bottom, making her gasp. But she felt herself loosening, the tension in her body retreating.

“What do you think of your body?” Roarke asked.

“It's average,” she replied, her eyes drifting closed. “I know I'm not fat. But if I'm not careful I could be.”

Smack! Smack!

“Why do you chew and spit?”

“Because I can't stop myself from gorging, and if I don't swallow then I won't get fat.” She swam in a current of pleasure and pain.

Smack! Smack!

“And how do you feel after?” Roarke asked.

“Terrible, out of control, a failure.”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

He continued until tears dripped down her face, until her mind was drifting, her body slumped and relaxed. She flew, completely free of stress and tension.

Hands held her close, lips kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes to find herself in Roarke's lap.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” she whispered.

“You’re beautiful, baby. And we will work on that until you believe it.”

She cuddled into his chest.

“You’re mine. Mine and Sam’s. And it is our job to take care of you. All of you. Your health. Your happiness. Your safety. I am not going to allow you to abuse yourself. This body is mine and it deserves to be pampered, cherished, loved. And that is exactly what I intend to do.”

Instead of his words making her angry, as she’d kind of expected, she felt loved. Safe. In a way she never had before.

“Why do I like this?” she asked. “Why do I like giving myself to you like this? If anyone had said that to me a few months ago, I’d have punched them and called them a Neanderthal jerk, but with you it makes me feel all warm and good inside.”

She simply couldn’t work it out. Wasn’t it wrong to let someone else have such control? Was it a cop-out because she couldn’t control herself?

“Hey, come back to me now. I don’t like the look on your face right now. What was that thought?”

She stayed stubbornly quiet until he twisted a nipple. Sharp.

“Ow!”

“Talk to me.”

Sam placed his head on her stomach as he kneeled beside them. “Talk to us.”

“I just wondered if I’m taking the easy road. Giving you such control over me because I can’t handle my problems?”

Roarke rubbed her shoulder. “Honey, let me tell you right now that no one would ever accuse you of taking the easy road. Gifting me your submission does not make you weak.”

“But why do I want to give up my control to you? I’ve always been a tiny bit of a control freak. It seems to go against my nature.”

“Sweetheart, you’re a submissive. But that doesn’t make you weak. And it doesn’t mean you’d submit to just anyone. You need someone you care about, are interested in, who you see as strong enough to give yourself over to. A sub gives herself over to her Dom because it’s freeing, because she or he can let go of all their worries and stresses. They don’t have to worry about what to do or when to do it because their Dom will tell them. All they have to do is be obedient to their Dom.”

Well, she’d certainly experienced that. She’d never felt more at ease or more safe than when Roarke took the reins.

“Thank you, Sir, for taking the time to punish me.”

Roarke looked over at Sam. Ava was coming to terms with her submissive far quicker than he’d thought. He supposed it shouldn’t though, she was a natural submissive. He shuddered to think of how she’d probably been taken advantage of in the past. Like Sam, her need to make others happy could have led her into some bad situations, let people walk all over her.

She needed someone to look after her, protect her and ensure she didn’t come to harm, from herself or others. Roarke was thankful for her friends she had, it was obvious that the four of them had taken care of each other.

Roarke held her tight. “I’m very proud of you, little one. You’re asking for what you need and that makes me very happy.”

Ava relaxed further as he continued to rub her bottom. Damn, that was one sexy butt, her cheeks high and gently rounded. And once they got some more weight on her, well, it would end up one killer ass.

“I love you, Ava. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

“I love you, too. Both of you.”

Chapter Eight

“That's enough running, little one. Slow down now.”

Ava looked over to see Roarke standing beside her, his bare torso glistening with sweat. Sam continued to pump weights, his arms working hard.

“I'm okay,” she said. “I can keep going.”

“Cool down now, Ava,” Roarke said in his Dom voice. “You have five minutes to get off and start stretching.”

Damn, bossy male.

But she did as she was told. Her butt still smarted from the spanking he’d given her yesterday in this very room.

Roarke came over and helped with her stretches. Sam soon joined them, surrounding her with gorgeous, male bodies, twisting and turning.

“Ava, Ava.” She turned her gaze from Sam’s six-pack, up to his grinning face before turning to Roarke who was waiting patiently for her to focus.

“Yes?”

“Keep moving. You need to be stretching, not ogling Sam.” His eyes were filled with tenderness as he gazed down at her and she smiled up at him.