“And I’m yours, kitten.” Coll stroked her head. “Once we’re by ourselves again, we’ll go for a wander around the club if you like? Just so you can see what’s there…and”—he paused—“decide what takes your fancy.”
“I like the sound of that, but what if nothing does?” Finn sounded worried.
“Then that’s fine, we know what we like so far, and it doesn’t need the club to enhance it. Plus, when my cottage is finished, we can sort out our own playroom out. Yes?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Thank goodness.
Coll knew there were a lot of decisions to make before they got to that point, but at least his kitten liked the idea. He made a mental note to see when was the best time for them to visit the cottage together.
“We’ll find a time that suits so I can show you round, but I must say, I never ever thought we’d make our vows over bacon fat and fried eggs. Argh, talking of which.” He swung around to the range and lifted the frying pan away from the heat. “Saved by the smell.”
The intercom buzzed and Coll snorted. “Can you release the lock, please, kitten. I’ll shove some more bacon on. If that’s Jeff and David, we’ll need it.” He assembled a bacon and egg sandwich and put it on the breakfast bar. “Then this is ready for you.”
Finn slid off the stool and went to the phone, pressed the button to release the lock and went back to clamber onto her seat. At five foot six, she could do with an extra three or four inches to get onto it elegantly. She sat with one foot swinging, and bit into the sandwich. Egg yolk spurted out and her taste buds responded in delight.
“S’dilicus,” she mumbled, her mouth full of smoked bacon and perfectly cooked eggs. She swallowed the food. “Thank you, Sir.”
Coll chuckled. “You’re welcome.” The door opened. “Be ready for the inquisition.”
Eh?
Finn swiveled around and noticed the narrow-eyed stare she received from Jeff. As he was, she supposed, the man who ultimately decided if she had a job or not, he might want to know she was happy, but other than that he could butt out, Dom or not.
She returned the stare and Jeff held it for a long second. Then he smiled slowly.
“Is this where congratulations are in order?”
“What?” It was a lighter, female voice. “Who, what, why, how?”
Jeff broke his gaze and turned to face his wife. “It looks like we have a new subbie in our midst.”
“And you know that how?” Kath asked him as she advanced into the room and hugged Finn. “Your joy is showing, mind,” she whispered into Finn’s ear. “And I’ve never seen the satisfied Dom look on Coll’s face at this time of the day. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite so definite.”
Finn couldn’t help the swell of satisfaction that filled her at Kath’s words. She wondered just how often Kath
had
seen him so early in the morning. Her query must have shown in her expression because Kath grinned. “We do a weekly early-morning meet up to see what’s what. It has to be early so those who need to can go to work and those of us with children can do playgroup or nursery runs or whatever.”
“And those of us whose children aren’t as old, just bring them with us,” Jess said as she shut the door behind her and David. “Ailsa rang, she’s on duty and Aidan is at the dentist, poor thing. He’s broken a tooth.”
“Us tough subbies are hard to bite on,” Kath said, straight-faced, then burst out laughing. “You should see your face, Finn, the look in it is priceless. Don’t you agree? We need to be tough to survive in a world of macho Dom-dom.”
Finn smiled. “Yeah. And on that note, I think I’d better get dressed.” She got off the stool and wrapped the robe tightly around her. The belt had worked loose and she was certain she’d shown a bit more leg than she intended.
“Not on my behalf,” four voices said instantly.
Coll’s wasn’t one of them. She looked up at him. The word,
Sir?
, hovered on her lips, but somehow with the others around it was hard to say. Which considering who they were was stupid. However, she couldn’t help how she felt.
“Go and dress, kitten.” It seemed he had no trouble saying how important she was to him. “We’ll wait until you get back. I’ll feed them, and their mouths will be too full to talk.”
All of a sudden Finn’s doubts vanished.
“Yes, Sir.”
Jeff nodded, seemingly in satisfaction, and Jess high-fived her behind her own Sir’s back.
“I saw that,” David said calmly. “What did we decide about OTT gestures?”
“You couldn’t have,” Jess said indignantly. “Unless you’ve got eyes in the back of your head.”
“I have a Dom’s sense.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “True. But I’m happy for them, that’s all. We should have a party.”
Coll looked toward Finn. “Up to you, kitten?”
Finn tried to unscramble her thoughts. Things were moving a lot faster than she’d anticipated. “Let me get changed first, then I’ll think about it.”
Chapter Eleven
Finn dressed in record time and ran a brush though her hair. She understood that until this business about sheep going missing and whatever else was sorted out, she wouldn’t have time to think much about her own life outside work. She guessed the others must feel the same because as she left the room, she heard someone—she thought it was Jeff—say ‘Business first, play after’ and she agreed. There was no way she could plan a party or anything else whilst she spent half her day looking over her shoulder for bogie men—or rustlers.
She returned to the kitchen just as Coll wiped the last plate. He turned and smiled. “We’ll go into the lounge to talk. Can you bring the coffeepot, please, kitten?”
“I’ll get the mugs,” Kath said.
“I’ll get the milk,” Jess added.
“And you’ll come into the lounge now, not after you’ve spent ten minutes chatting,” Jeff said. “We’ve all got places to go and things to do.”
“My lord and master has spoken,” Kath said as the men left the room. “But he’s right and there’s only so long I can leave the terrors with Gemma, my gorgeous child minder, today. This is a favor, she’s off into town later.” She picked up a tray of mugs and disappeared into the other room. Jess followed and with a wry grin, Finn bought up the rear. Life seemed as if it was about to get even more interesting.
She wasn’t wrong.
“So, what you’re saying is some fucker, and yes, I do mean that and no, I’m not going to wash my mouth out, has covered my door in graffiti, poured glue into the lock and put a dozen sheep into my veg plot? What the hell for?” Finn spoke through gritted teeth. It was that or scream at the top of her voice. “Why me? Why now and what the fuck? And I don’t give a tinker’s damn about my language.”
No one seemed at all surprised by her outburst. Coll had a face like thunder, David was unmoving and Jeff paced like a tiger as he told her what they’d discovered on their early-morning patrol.
“This is personal,” Finn said. Her stomach churned and she fought off the nausea that threatened to engulf her. “It’s not just directed at the estate now, is it?”
Jeff shook his head. “Dave Pearson was on watch. A guy approached him and said he’d knocked down a sheep in the lane and it was still alive. Of course when they went back, no sheep. The guy apologized and drove off. Dave couldn’t see the number, all he knew was it was a new model of Beamer, he thought a five series, maybe blue or gray.”
Finn nodded. “Well, at least it wasn’t a white van.” Although that might have been easier to stomach. How many people were in on the ‘get Finn’ campaign?
“I’m sorry, Finn. For some reason it now seems to be directed at you. You’ve obviously set off a series of events that’s rattled some cages. We’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise,” Jeff said sincerely.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Finn said. “None of us seem to have done any good so far.”
“I’ll keep it,” Jeff said darkly. “But for now, I’m glad you’re here and Lachy says you’ll not be alone during working hours.”
“He can’t say that,” Finn protested. “It’s hard enough as it is with D… Well, it’s hard,” she finished somewhat lamely.
“True, and we’ll all pitch in where we can. Lachy has a new lad starting on trial today, one of Alexina’s niece’s sons. As he said, and I quote, ‘My side’s crap, I’ll try the other side of the family this time’. I’ve met Gordy, though, and he seems a good ’un. Very quiet and a rugby back. Looks very fierce and you wouldn’t want to rile him, but otherwise he’s as gentle as well, I was going to say a lamb, but seeing some of those toughies we rear, I’m not sure that’s the correct comparison. I reckon he’ll be a good addition. So today he’s with Lachy and tomorrow you teach him all you know.” He coughed, looked at Coll and shrugged in a very innocent way. The mischief in his eyes belied the gesture. “About the estate, of course.”
Coll rolled his eyes. “Just as well you added that bit.”
Jeff stood up and paced. It was something Finn had noticed he did when he needed to think. “So to recap, I’ve set a team onto scrubbing and repairing your door, Finn. The fences are all being strengthened, all the quads will be checked and locked away today, and the shed alarmed. Your cottage is also alarmed, and the police informed. Oh, and the sheep are in the long field so we can watch them easier. And now it’s time we weren’t here. Enjoy your day off.”
She intended to.
With a visit to the club as first thing on the agenda.
Finn got her wish.
Once the room had emptied, Coll looked at her and held out his hand. “Want to have an upfront and personal tour of Diomhair then?”
“Oh yes.” She was eager to see inside the club, and even more curious to discover her feelings at what she saw. She’d enjoyed what she and Coll had experienced so far, but that was very private and personal. She was still somewhat apprehensive about how she’d feel playing in the club, in public. What if she let him down?
And that, Finn realized, was the crux of the matter. She didn’t want to do that.
Coll led her along a long corridor to a locked door, opened it and ushered her through the aperture.
Into another corridor, and ahead of them another locked door. He looked down at her and his lips quirked. “We could call this Fort Knox and be done with it. Security was tightened when someone got into the club via an old secret passage and the white van started causing havoc. Now it’s second nature but I believe when it first came into use, everyone got locked out—or in—on a regular basis. That was before I arrived, although I knew of it, and Jeff of course.” He correctly interpreted her quizzical look. “David and I were at uni together, until I dropped out to carve. Wood, not subs at that time.”
She giggled. “So sub carving is new then? Gah, that sounds gruesome.”
“It so does, let’s say sub scribing.” He shuddered very theatrically. “And that sounds like we’re signing up to on line bingo or something.”
Finn giggled. “Yes, well. I’m rubbish at bingo. The only time I went with my mum, I missed numbers and she ended up shouting for me. We won two hundred quid, but I was a sweating, nervous wreck at the end. I only had four cards and there were people playing twelve.” She shook her head in mock sorrow. “No wonder Mum never asked me to go with her again. The most I’ve managed since is a slot machine that does a bingo card for a jackpot. I was crap at that as well.”
“Then I’ll remember never to subject you to a game of bingo,” Coll said as he shut and locked the door behind them. “We’ll play other things instead. How do you feel about strip-spanking?”
“We…ll, what happens if I win?”
Coll stroked an imaginary mustache. “You won’t.”
“You mean”—she did a southern belle stroke over her forehead in a very over the top and extravagant gesture—“you’d
cheat?”
“Of course I would.” He patted his heart. “All’s fair in love and strip-spanking.”
There was no answer to that. Finn shook her head in mock exasperation and waited for him to say something.
“No comeback, kitten?” He took hold of her hand and led her into a comfortable lounge area.
“No…oh, am I to Sir you in here? I really need to get to grips with the protocol and stuff we’re going to use.” Finn had wondered about it all for several weeks. The ‘if we do, what do we do and how do I act’ scenario. “I mean, I don’t want to upset anyone by not doing as I should.”
“Kitten, I love you and not just for saying that.” Coll turned her toward him, put his arms around her and squeezed her rear. His fingertips dug into the soft flesh and connected with a bruise.
Finn gasped and wriggled. “I should say ouch, I’m still ouchy, but you know, Sir, I like it. That hint to remind me how I became yours.” She leaned into him, and both heard and felt his heart beat beneath her cheek. It was reassuring, welcoming and made her feel safe, loved and wanted. “But I still want to know when I need to say Sir.” It was important to her.
“Whenever you want to, love.” Coll tipped her head up so she looked at his face. “If we’re in here with others, yes, please. By ourselves? Unless we’ve made a decision to play, no need, but feel free. Ditto elsewhere. I’m proud to be your Sir.”
The expression in his eyes made her breath hitch. So much love showed.
I hope he can see my feelings as well.
“I’m proud to be your kitten, Sir. And I love you as well.”
His grip tightened and then he patted her bum. “Good, so let’s get this show on the road. This is the lounge.”
She widened her eyes in mock amazement. “Really?”
He patted her bum again, this time a bit harder.
Yes, definitely still nicely ouchy.
“Bratty sub, kitten. I’ll remember.”
She sniggered. “Oh, good.”
Coll shook his head. “What have I unleashed?”
“The real me? Anyway, sorry, Sir, it’s a nice room.”
“And that, kitten, is damning with faint praise, although I’m guessing—hoping—you don’t mean it that way?” She shook her head. “Good. So if we go down here, there’s the general playroom.” He led her along the corridor into a large open area, with all the accoutrements of BDSM play sited within it. “If you don’t recognize anything, just ask.”
She nodded. “Can I touch?”
He was pleased she asked instead of assuming one way or another. “Within reason. Don’t go hauling on any ropes or pulleys. I don’t want to have to scrape you off the ceiling.”