Writes of Submission (13 page)

“Okay, then. If you are to be believable with your characters’ emotions and reactions, you need to learn more about BDSM and ménages. The BDSM we could do on our own, but the ménage takes three. That’s kind of the definition, after all. I don’t make the rules, but I do have to work with them. Dante is interested in learning as well and willing to join us, so we will now have the requisite number. Is that good enough?”

Nikki nodded. “Yes, I’ll do it.”

“Good.” Kane looked around for some paper, finally taking his own stack of writing and turning it over to make notes on. “Then let’s start discussing what we are and are not willing to do during this scene. Nikki, I’m guessing that you’re going to have the most restrictions. That is not a slam, so relax. It is an educated guess. So, shall we start with you?”

She looked startled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, how much clothing are you willing to remove for this scene?”

A hand went automatically up to her chest, as if Nikki were afraid he was going to try to rip her shirt off right then and there. “I–I’m not sure,” she said.

“Fair enough, but we can’t decide what we’re going to do unless we know how much skin we have to work with.” He smiled at her shocked expression and turned to Dante. “How squeamish are you about removing clothing?”

“You can have it all, dude.” Dante seemed to be almost back to his old, cheerful self. He grinned broadly. “I spend most of my free weekends at a nudist camp anyway. I have no problem with going
au naturel
.”

“Wonderful. That would explain the tan.” It was a start, anyway, Kane thought. Although how he’d gone from insisting that Nikki do a scene to apparently him agreeing to play with Dante while she watched, he wasn’t sure. There had to be a way to turn this into what they needed. “Nikki, are you more interested in rope, sensation play or body art?”

“What do you mean by sensation play?”

“I mean scratching, flogging, clothespins, needles, biting, electricity—” He stopped at the look on her face. Even Dante’s eyes were wide. “Sorry. Let’s stick to the basics. If you want to try sensation play, I’d recommend flogging or knives—scratching, not cutting. If you’re more into body art we could do markers or wax. Wax is kind of a crossover, because it can be very sensation-oriented. Same for needles. You can do some great body art with needles but it also entails sensation and endorphins. If you’re more interested in restraints, we can do some basic bondage, or mummification, or sensory deprivation.”

“Mummification?” Dante asked.

“Yes. You can use plastic wrap, special bags, or even blankets if you want. Some people really like the sensation of being wrapped up really tightly.”

“Sounds pretty intense,” Dante said, turning a little white. He ran a finger around his T-shirt collar as if even the idea made him nervous.

“Are you claustrophobic?” Kane regarded him with amusement.

“Claustrophobic? Me? No, of course not, dude.” Dante jumped up and headed for the stairs. “I’ve got to get to work. You guys decide what you want for the scene. Anything’s okay with me.”

Chapter 11

“Are we ready for yoga?”

It was an hour after lunch and Dante had finally cornered the other two. He still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Nikki and her insistence that he hadn’t really wanted to do the scene with them. Was that her way of asking him to bow out? Kane certainly seemed set on him being part of it, but he wasn’t sure what was behind that. He had decided that until either it became apparent that Nikki and Kane were getting together or that Nikki absolutely didn’t want him around, he was going to stick with them as much as possible. It was all so fascinating, and he was beginning to get some real interest from Candee’s fans about what was happening.

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed, though. He’d gone to Nikki’s room the night before with the intention of finding out where her interests lay. If there was any chance she would go out with him, he meant to get that established. Kane might be interested, too, but that relationship seemed to be on a rocky path at the moment. Besides, there was this poly thing. Why couldn’t she go out with both of them? Allie had two guys and it seemed to work pretty well for her. It seemed like a brilliant solution, one that he couldn’t believe he’d never tried before. Dante didn’t mind sharing. If she wanted to hook up with Kane, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t see each other, too.

At least, that was how he saw it. Of course, if she wasn’t interested, that was another story. She certainly didn’t show many signs of being interested. But he understood that she had a lot to deal with right now. He could be patient.

“I really think you might want to change into sweats.” Dante looked dubiously at the jeans Kane was wearing. Nikki had at least had the sense to have put on yoga pants and a tank top. “Allie said there were some yoga mats out here so don’t worry about the shoes.”

“What’s wrong with my shoes?” Kane held out a foot clad in an old, ragged loafer.

“Nothing at all, as long as you take them off,” Dante said.

“I’ll be wearing Birkenstocks with wool socks by the end of this ordeal,” Kane muttered, heading up the stairs to change.

A few minutes later he reappeared, wearing what seemed to be an old pair of pajama bottoms. He had changed T-shirts, too. The new one read, “Does running late count as exercise?”

At Dante’s expression, Kane scowled. “It was the only thing I had that wasn’t denim. At least they’re comfortable.”

“That’s all that matters,” Dante told him. “And the answer is no. Come on, let’s go. That book’s not going to brainstorm itself.”

He ignored the growl that followed him as he led the group out to the barn.

* * * *

“This yoga stuff might not be too bad. Remind me of the rules. What word do we all take a shot on?”

From her downward dog position Nikki glanced under her elbow toward Kane. He was doubled over, as she was, his ass in the air and his palms planted on his yoga mat, but his face was turned toward her. As she looked, he exchanged a grin with Dante.

“No shots.” Dante’s voice was smug. “I told you this would be fun. The poses will get even more interesting in a minute.”

“Now I just need an umbrella drink and a long straw.”

Nikki rolled her eyes as Dante said, “Okay, now walk your hands back and touch your toes.”

“I’d rather touch my knees,” Kane said. “They’re a lot closer.”

“That’s fine.” Dante’s voice was muffled and Nikki looked to see that his face was firmly planted between his knees. His hands reached around to clasp behind his calves.

Nikki got a firm grasp of her ankles and held the pose for a minute, feeling muscles she hadn’t spoken to in years making their presence known. “Kane, I have an idea,” she gasped out. “Why don’t you donate a hot tub to Clifftop? Like today? I think we’re going to need it.”

“I will take that under consideration.” His voice sounded too high and too amused for him to be in as much pain as she was, Nikki thought. She twisted to look behind her and caught him standing, a wide smile on his face as he stared at her ass.

When he met her gaze, his smile faded and he cleared his throat. “Good workout, Dante. I can already feel the blood pumping through my brain, filling it with all kinds of new ideas. Shall we open a bottle of—”

“It’s only been three minutes.” Dante cut him off. “We haven’t even started yet—and I don’t think it’s your head that’s getting most of the blood, dude.”

As Dante plopped himself down on the mat and spread his legs, Nikki noticed the bulge in his crotch. It was really quite large, she thought, tilting her head to consider. Guys didn’t wear cups to do yoga, did they? Could that be all him? If so, Dante must be half horse, she thought.

He met her eyes and Nikki realized that he could tell she was looking at his junk. Her face burning, she pulled her eyes away and concentrated on arranging herself in a similar position.

“Ah. Okay. At least we’re sitting down now. This is more my speed. Why didn’t we start here?” Kane nodded and lowered himself to the floor. “At least it’ll be less embarrassing when I pass out, I guess. Although the view isn’t as good.”

Dante leaned forward, putting his elbows on the floor in front of him. Nikki tried to follow his example, although she only managed to rest her hands on the floor.

“It’s not so bad from this angle,” Dante said.

Nikki followed his gaze and saw that her cleavage was now on full display, bulging over the edge of her tank top.

“Wait, what am I missing?” Kane scooched forward, looking between Nikki and Dante.

“We’re stretching,” Dante told him. “Put your head on the floor in front of you.” He demonstrated, reaching out his hands even farther.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kane sat back up, staring at him in horror. “You expect me to do that? It hurts just watching you.”

Nikki gave it an attempt, but only managed to lean forward a little. She groaned. “I didn’t know I was getting so stiff.”

“Getting a little stiff myself, here,” Kane said. Nikki looked over to see that he was leaning much farther up than she was, but his head was turned so he could stare past her arm at her breasts.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. He had the grace to look a little embarrassed, at least, but her first instinct was to feel insulted. Then she remembered she’d just been staring at Dante’s crotch. Maybe it was the influence of this place. There were naked pictures all over the place and very suggestive sex equipment lined the walls.

“Is that Allie in those photos?” she asked Kane to distract him from staring at her. She couldn’t possibly be at her best splayed out on the floor like this.

“Most of them, I think.” Kane turned obligingly to follow her gaze. “Nice, aren’t they?”

Nikki felt a pang of jealousy. Or sciatica. She wasn’t sure exactly which.

Dante raised his head from the floor and looked, too. “Yeah. Sexy. Okay, right foot to left thigh, please.” He leaned back down over his leg, bringing his lips to his knee.

Nikki groaned again, grateful at least that the topic of Allie’s sexiness had been changed. It probably should have given her motivation to work harder, but all it really did was make her yearn for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, a comfy couch, and an old movie on television.

“Nikki, if you see me kissing my own knee like he is, do not pass
Go
, do not collect $200. Just call 911, because I’ve fallen from a great height and need help.” Kane was looking ruefully down at his leg as if it was deliberately embarrassing him. “Immediate help.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She chuckled. “You’d better at least try this, though, or Dante may help with that fall.”

“Oh, all right.” Kane huffed, bending as far as he could. “So what kind of adventures should our intrepid helicopter pilot and CEO-by-day, rich-Dom-by-night have next?”

“I think they need to realize how Laura needs their help,” Nikki panted, straining to grasp her ankle.

“Other side,” Dante called. “Isn’t this fun?”

“Oh, yeah. A freaking cornucopia of merriment,” Kane grunted. “What kind of help does she need? Is she being hunted by international terrorists?”

“No.” Nikki switched positions and tried pulling herself forward by her pant leg. It didn’t help. “We still need to work on that aspect of the plot.”

“Well, right now,” Kane grunted as he stretched, “I’m a little busy trying not to sever the tendons in my legs.”

“Okay, let’s do happy baby,” Dante said.

Nikki looked up to see that Dante had rolled onto his back and was reaching past his knees, which were bent and sticking up, to grasp his feet. She couldn’t help a snort of laughter at the sight of him in a posture that really did look like something a baby would do.

“Hmm.” Kane’s voice came from beside her and Nikki glanced over at him. His lips were twitching. “Looks more like happy Master to me.”

* * * *

Kane pushed his dinner plate to the side with a groan. When Nikki and Dante looked at him questioningly, he rubbed his back dramatically. “I may never bend over again.”

“You’ll be fine once you loosen up a bit,” Dante told him. “That pain is just your muscles thanking you for the workout.”

Kane closed his eyes and shook his head. “Yes, grateful is definitely how they feel. Do we have that liquor store on speed dial yet? I need some pain meds for tonight.”

“Do we want more yoga tomorrow or should we rent some roller skis?”

“If we’re going to do that, let’s do it before my health insurance expires,” Nikki said. “Remember I just quit my job.”

“We’ll have to get married so they’ll put us in the same hospital room,” Kane remarked. “At least we’ll have lots of time for writing. And drinking.”

Nikki shook her head. “If we’re getting married, you’re going to have to cut back on the drinking.”

“If we got married, I suspect my drinking would increase dramatically.” Kane looked at Nikki and tapped the stack of papers next to him. “Although I have to say your writing today was really not bad at all. I made a few suggestions but not many. There’s only one problem.”