Authors: Avery Gale
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By the time Kyle had realized things had gone south with Tobi’s spanking they were so far gone he could have sworn he’d seen a fucking penguin waddle through the room. When she mentioned her dad, it had answered one question, but raised ten more. He’d spanked a lot of subs and he knew for a fact many of those had been disciplined in the same way by one or both of their parents. But it was the subs who’d been abused that had often had the strongest mixed reaction. They were often aroused when they were told they’d be spanked by their Dom, but there was a point during the punishment where their mind switched back and everything changed. He knew he and Kent would do all they could to help her work through the issues, but they’d need a lot more information before they could figure out how to proceed.
When he’d settled her on his lap sitting next to Kent, she’d been sobbing so hard all they could do was hold her and wait for the flood of emotion to wear itself out and pass. He’d almost stopped when she’d gasped after the first swat and apologized because he’d gotten the feeling she was apologizing for making the sound rather than what she was being punished for. And then when she’d become completely stoic during the rest of the spanking, he’d been sure that had been the case. He’d guess she’d been punished for making any noise while she’d been spanked as a kid and if his instincts were right, it had happened often and had been a lot more severe than what she’d just experienced under his hand. Kissing the top of her head, he just kept whispering words of encouragement and assuring her that it was perfectly fine to get it all out.
The third time she’d tried to get off his lap he’d finally had enough. “Tobi, stop trying to get off my lap. Why do you continue to think that is going to work?”
Her eyes were red and swollen from her crying jag, but it was the desolation in them that tore at his heart. “I let you down” was all she was able to stutter out between gasps, but it was enough to render him completely speechless.
She thinks we’re so disappointed in her because she made a couple of mistakes that we’d send her away? Christ, what kind of childhood did this woman have? And where are the people responsible?
Kent was gently smoothing the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and smiling at her. His brother’s actions reminded Kyle of why they had always intended to share a woman. Not only had they known the pleasure would be exponentially better, but also from what they’d seen at home, it took two men to keep up with the kind of woman they’d be attracted to. God knew it took both of their dads to keep up with their hell-on-wheels mama sometimes. “Sweetness, did you think we’d wash our hands of you just because you got a paddlin’? Because I gotta tell ya, that is probably just the first of many you’re going to get. And those swats were to help you learn a lesson. If we had been going to send you down the road, baby, we wouldn’t have bothered to correct the behavior, now would we?”
Kyle could tell by the wide-eyed look she was giving Kent she hadn’t even considered that possibility. Leaning forward, he kissed her temple, “Kitten, it would have been much easier to just ignore the whole thing and then quietly wave good-bye to you tomorrow. But we want you to be the best you can be. You already knew that your attitude and words weren’t right or you wouldn’t have looked so worried when you realized you had said them aloud. What kind of message would we have sent if we’d simply ignored that? Would you have believed that we were really trying to show you what this lifestyle is about?”
Tobi was chewing on her bottom lip and Kyle had to fight his smile as he watched her process everything he’d said. “No, I don’t think I would have although I might not have known why.”
Kent moved his hands in gentle massaging strokes up and down Tobi’s calves. “Sweetness, that is why it is our job to lead. We promised to teach you and that is exactly what this has been about—not our burning desire to control your every thought and emotion—but it’s about us helping you grow and find the happiness I think you have probably found very elusive. Until somebody steps up and shows you how much you are valued, it doesn’t matter how much they tell you. We will always use words to correct your thinking or behavior, but we’ll always back up what we said with what we would do. Sometimes that will work to your advantage and there will be other times that you won’t feel that way.” Kent grinned at her before continuing, “But you will
always
know you can depend on us and that our word is golden.”
Kyle was pleased Kent had managed to explain one of BDSM’s guiding principles and had applied it perfectly in this situation. Because Tobi’s mind was sharp and obviously moved at the speed of light, he was sure she hadn’t missed any of the myriad of implications either. Kyle watched as she seemed to relax within the span of the few deep breaths she took. “Now, we need to rest. We are all exhausted and if we’re going to enjoy our time together tomorrow, we need to get some sleep.”
Settling her between them, Kyle couldn’t help but notice how perfectly she seemed to fit. It was as if she’d been made just for them. Both he and Kent had given her sweet good night kisses and smiled at her soft sighs before he heard her breathing even out and knew she’d already fallen asleep. The dark circles under eyes were even more pronounced now and that was something they would need to watch closely. They needed to make a concerted effort to see to it that she got enough rest so those faded until they were just an unpleasant memory of a time when her life hadn’t included men who loved and cared for her.
Chapter Eleven
Kent wasn’t sure exactly what had woken him up, but the pink shade of the light filtering in around the edges of the bedroom draperies told him he hadn’t been asleep nearly long enough. Glancing over at his phone, which he’d left on the nightstand, he saw the blinking message light. Since he didn’t really use the phone for anything but Prairie Winds business, it was likely from a member of their staff. Easing himself out from under Tobi, he immediately missed her warmth and kissed her forehead when she stirred. “Go back to sleep, sweetness. I’ll be back in a minute.” She smiled without ever opening her eyes and then quickly slid back into sleep.
Moving out into the hall, Kent checked the messages and silently cursed. He padded down the hall to his bedroom and grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before heading to the small office they’d set up in the apartment. When Micah answered all Kent said was “Talk to me.” One of the great things about employing other vets on their security team was their understanding of his and Kyle’s brusque communication style.
“When I saw Tobi’s name on the schedule for your interview I plugged her into our system. We got a hit on her address earlier this evening, it came in from the Austin P.D. After making a few calls, I drove into the city to find out firsthand what was going on. I’m at the scene now and it’s not good, buddy. Somebody torched her tiny apartment. I’ll pull out what I can, but it isn’t going to be much. What do you want me to do with anything I save?” Kent sighed, even though he was thrilled to have an excuse to move Tobi onto their compound, he knew this was going to hurt her and that was the last thing he wanted.
“Bring it here. I’m not going to wake her unless we absolutely have to. She was beyond exhausted when we finally got her settled in. Have you talked to any of her neighbors?”
“Yeah and there is a spit-fire Latino woman who lives across the hall that almost crawled up my ass when I started asking questions of Tobi’s neighbors who had gathered around.” Kent could hear him chuckling. “Damn I think you need to hire her. Talk about a
take no prisoners
attitude in a gorgeous package. Anyway, I hope it’s all right that I assured her Tobi was in a safe place. I promised her that Tobi would call and check in tomorrow morning. Her name is Gracie—go figure.” Kent didn’t miss the amusement or the interest in his friend’s voice.
“That’s fine and if she needs a place to stay I think the back guest house is ready to go. She’s obviously a friend of Tobi’s. Will the Fire Marshall let everyone stay in place?”
“Probably, even though in truth no one should have been living in the damned building even before this fire. The super told me the entire complex is set to be torn down in a couple of months anyway and that all the tenants were notified this morning they have thirty days to vacate. He asked me to pass along the message to Tobi because he hadn’t seen her yet to tell her. This place is in a very dangerous part of town, man. I’m glad your girl isn’t coming back here.” For Micah to refer to the place as unsafe was telling. They’d all been in places rejected for the Dante’s Seven Levels of Hell, so having him describe the area as dangerous sent a chill up Kent’s spine.
“Make sure you leave your card with Gracie if you can’t get her to come with you. And give her my personal guarantee that Tobi is fine and will call her first thing in the morning. I assume you got her number—just in case.” He couldn’t hold back the amusement in his voice as he asked the question he already knew the answer to.
“As a matter of fact I did.” Micah’s chuckle told Kent he’d been right. “Jax will be home next week and she is just sassy enough to be his type. I need to get back over there and see what I can salvage for your girl. I’ll take it down to the shop because I’m sure it’s going to reek of smoke.” Kent was certain Micah was right and there was no reason to bring that into the garage or any part of the club.
Leaning back in his large leather office chair, he propped his feet up on the edge of his desk and looked out into the slowly waking countryside. Ordinarily he loved this time of the morning. It had always given him a sense of peace and he’d liked sharing coffee with his mom before anyone else had gotten up. Kent knew he’d gotten his love of mornings from all the heart to heart chats they’d shared while watching the first rays of sunshine light up the colorful east Texas sky. He was lost in thought and didn’t realize he was no longer alone until he saw Tobi’s reflection in the glass. She had put on one of their dress shirts and her hair was a riot of waves and curls, and she was the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
As she walked toward him, he put his hand out over the edge of his chair and she placed her cool fingers in his. “Come here, sweetness. Are you cold?” He pulled her on his lap and she curled into a ball and snuggled against him like a sweet kitten.
“Not really, but I woke up and you were gone and I got worried.” He knew she hadn’t been worried for his safety so he was pretty sure he understood what her worry had been about.
“Well, love, I saw a message on my phone that needed attention, and I didn’t want to disturb you so I came down here to return the call.” Kent hadn’t said it was anything for her to worry about because that wasn’t the truth and he didn’t plan to lie to her, but he would like to delay telling her if he could get her to rest a bit more. The impact of bad news always seemed to be compounded when you were tired and she’d been running on empty before she’d fallen asleep earlier.
Kent wasn’t surprised to see Kyle walk in a few minutes later, but the steaming mug of coffee he held was certainly an unexpected pleasure. Kyle grabbed the soft throw from the sofa on the other side of the office and tucked it around Tobi. “I woke up when you left the room and hoped she’d stay sleeping but as you see…” Kyle nodded toward the angel sleeping once again now that she was safely tucked in his arms and smiled.
“Yeah, she actually got the drop on me, I didn’t hear her come in. I didn’t know she was there until I saw her reflection in the window, which tells you how distracted I was.” There were some habits he’d learned as a SEAL that he'd hoped to keep for a lifetime because they’d saved his life more than once. Chief among those was being vigilantly aware of his surroundings. Sighing to himself, he wondered if he’d become so blasé that he was already forgetting the fact they’d made a lot of powerful enemies over the years or had he just been too lost in his thoughts of Tobi? Shrugging it off, he turned to Kyle, “We’ve got a problem. I just got off the phone with Micah.”
Kent glanced down at Tobi and saw she was blinking up at him with sleepy eyes.
Damn.
He hadn’t meant to wake her, but figured he might as well get this over with. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he continued, “I’m sorry, sweetness, but I have some bad news. It seems there was a fire in your apartment earlier this evening.” When she started struggling to sit up, he tightened his hold. “Hold still and listen a minute, love. Let me tell you what I know.” By the time he’d finished relating his conversation with Micah, minus the parts about Jax and Gracie, Tobi’s face was pressed against his neck and he could feel her tears against his bare skin.
For several minutes none of them said anything. The set of Kyle’s jaw told Kent his brother was livid that someone had tried to hurt Tobi. Kent felt the same way, but adding anger to the emotions surrounding her right now certainly wouldn’t do anything to help the situation. Kent watched Kyle stabbing at the keys of his phone and imagined he was alerting all of their staff to the fact they needed to be particularly mindful of all the club’s security protocols and to contact one of them with any questions. Despite the early hour, both of their phones started lighting up like Rockefeller Center at Christmas almost immediately. Kent appreciated the fact their people were diligent and had acknowledged the message and promised to do their part to keep Tobi safe. But right now, the woman in his arms was in serious need of some attention.
****
Tobi thought her heart was going to stop beating as she listened to Kent tell she and Kyle about the fire in her apartment. She wondered if there would be anything left for her to salvage, it wasn’t like she’d had too much to begin with, and now she was grateful her brother had recently taken all their family photos so he could scan them. The first thing she needed to do was get to a thrift store to get some clothes. When she remembered that she’d also lost her car she finally let the sadness that had been threatening to bubble to the surface wash over her.
Damn it to hell. She’d finally become the total failure her dad had always predicted she would. How could so much bad happen so quickly?