Third Chance (7 page)

Made her feel loved.

After wiping himself down, then tending to her, he gently turned her around and gave her a slow, deep kiss that involved a lot of tongue. When they broke apart, he studied her face, glad to see some of the shadows haunting her gaze had disappeared. The way Emma looked up at him, as if he was the most important man in the world, made Ryan’s love for this woman surge.

“Ready for dinner, honey?” she whispered while running her fingertips over his jaw.

While Emma was a modern, independent woman in every way, she seemed to really enjoy taking a more traditional approach when it came to meals. She enjoyed cooking for him, setting the table with fresh flowers, and in general taking care of his needs when it came to eating. Not that Ryan minded — it was an amazing experience for him to come home to a house filled with the smells of good food and a beautiful woman waiting for him with a kiss and a smile. She’d make a great wife when she was ready to wear his ring.

His body didn’t want to move, but his stomach growled. “Yeah. Then after you can be my dessert.”

The light, relaxed tone of Emma’s giggle made Ryan smile, and as he followed her into the kitchen, he knew he could never live without her in his life.

* * * * *

Later that evening, after Emma was in bed and exhausted after hours of rough and kinky lovemaking, Ryan sat in his study with the door closed and called the only person who could help him with Emma’s increasing fear of going outside.

“Hello,” Moira said in her cultured purr.

“Hey, Moira. I need your help with something.”

“Hold on a second.” She spoke to someone before a few moments of silence. “Is Emma okay?”

The worry in Moira’s voice had him sitting up in his chair. “No, no, she’s okay. Well, kind of.”

“What’s going on?”

After going over the increasing signs of Emma’s growing paranoia, he sighed. “I don’t know what to do to help her.”

“I can’t believe the bitch didn’t tell me what was going on with her. Shit. So you think she faked being sick to get out of going to her parents last weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“Double shit.”

“Exactly.”

“That stubborn bitch. We need to get her out of the house so she can see that she’s safe, that you’re safe. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were more worried about you getting hurt than herself, but I can completely understand how she’d feel violated by being spied on.”

Once again a pang of guilt moved through him as he thought about his own spying on Emma while she’d been at work. “Emma said that Chris is a therapist. Do you think he’d talk with her?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think she’d actually go see him?”

“Hmmm, probably not. He’d be more than happy to come to your home, I’m sure, but I don’t know if that would be for the best. I mean, I don’t know if encouraging her to remain indoors is the best move at this point. Have you been able to get her outside at all?”

“No. She gets really stressed out when I mention it, so I’ve been letting it slide. With all that’s going on with her right now, I don’t want to add any more pressure to her life.”

“Speaking of freaking out, how are you holding up?”

The genuine warmth in her voice warmed Ryan and he smiled to himself. Moira loved Emma unconditionally and since Emma loved Ryan, Moira had opened up to him and welcomed into her extended family. She was a complex woman who he hadn’t quite figured out yet, but he did know that she was always thinking of others before herself, always looking for ways to help those she cared about. It was probably one of the reasons she made such a good Mistress.

“I’m hanging in there. Got a lot going on with work, but Justan is a huge help.”

“Justan,” she practically hissed. “That man is a menace.”

He laughed, then sat back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. Moira and Justan sniped at each other constantly, but Ryan had a feeling that was because they really liked each other and had no idea how to handle it. In a way, their fighting was almost like flirting, but Ryan was smart enough not to say that out loud to Moira. Last thing he needed was Moira turning her fiery redhead temper on him.

“He is, but he’s also a really good investigator.”

“Has he found anything?”

“No, and it’s frustrating as fuck.”

“Well, if there is something to find, his nosy ass will dig it up.” The disgruntled tone in her voice made him wonder what Justan had done to irritate her, but before he could ask, she continued. “Do you think Emma will try to bail on my birthday party?”

Normally, he’d say no. Emma had shared some stories about the debauchery that went on at Moira’s house during her birthday, and he’d already been to a party there, but now he wasn’t so sure. “She might.”

“Oh no, that bitch is not bailing on me.” She sighed. “Problem with Emma is, you need to use a carrot.”

“Pardon me?”

“You know, to get a stubborn mule to move do you use the carrot or the stick. With Emma, you have to persuade her, bribe her even. I need to think of something she wouldn’t be able to resist, the perfect carrot.”

Dirty thoughts spun through Ryan’s mind and he tried to will his semi-hard cock from becoming a full-on erection. “Well if you think of something, let me know. I’ll do anything to get her out of the house.”

Moira’s tone changed, a new sultry note that reminded him she was a powerful Mistress in her own right, and seemed to delight in teasing him. Damn woman could make him blush and both she and Emma thought it was hilarious. “Anything?”

“Within reason.”

“Hmmmm,” she purred, and his spine tingled in warning.

“And Emma must approve of it.”

“Oh, she’ll approve of what I have in mind.”

That warning filled his body again. “What are you thinking, Moira?”

“Don’t worry, overprotective alpha male. I know Emma, and I know what she loves.” Moira’s voice gentled and Ryan relaxed back into his chair, not realizing that at some point he’d sat straight up with his muscles tensed. “Besides, I would never do anything to endanger your relationship with her. She loves you, big boy, through and through. I’ve been waiting for a long time for my girl to find a man worthy of her devotion, and I’m more happy than you could possibly know that you managed to get through those big-ass walls she built around her heart, even if you did take away one of my best Dominatrixes. We miss her at Kiss of Blue.”

There was no way in hell Emma was ever going back to work there, but he was more worried about what Moira had in mind to get Emma out of the house. “What are you planning?”

Her laugh did nothing to ease his worries. “Let me take care of it. I promise you’ll be able to get Emma out of the house to come to my birthday party, but you’ll have to put yourself aside and really serve her.”

Offense twisted his gut and he sat forward in his chair. “No offense, Moira, I know you’re her best friend, but don’t you for one fucking minute think you get to decide what constitutes serving my woman. That is between me and her, and we decide what works for us, not you.”

She was silent for a long moment, then sighed. “You have a beautiful cock and a great ass, but you are so damn high-maintenance.”

A laugh escaped Ryan before he could stop it. “I mean it, Moira. Emma is the only woman’s opinion who I care about. As long as she’s happy, I’m happy.”

She muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “pain in my ass.” “Look, just show up with her, and do what she wants. Make it worth her while to have left the house by giving her a night she’ll never forget.”

Chapter Five

Ryan let out a quick breath when Moira opened the door to the Kiss of Blue dungeon in normal clothes. Well, normal-ish. She wore a short, silky black dress that clung to her every curve with her now burgundy-red hair falling straight to her waist. Add to that a pair of black boots, and Ryan couldn’t help but grin at the thought that Justan would crap himself when he got an eyeful of her tonight. His blue-Mohawked friend had been suckered into coming by Emma, who seemed much calmer when she knew he was driving protection detail behind him. By that point, Ryan would have agreed to hire a small army to protect her if it would get her through the front door, but all it had taken was Justan’s sincere reassurance, for once, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

A flash of jealousy had gone through Ryan at the thought that Emma trusted Justan, but he’d quickly buried the irrational anger that thought brought. At the time, he’d been more worried about how pale Emma looked in her deep-gold dress paired with some spiky purple heels that were sexy as hell, but he’d been more worried that she’d teeter over in them than anything else. The memory of her standing in the doorway, eyes wide, sweating and shaking, had him pulling her close to his side and throwing a protective arm around her in a totally possessive gesture.

Moira merely raised an eyebrow as she ushered them in. “Relax, Ryan. I know she’s your security blanket, but you don’t need to hold her so tight. I promise that if either of you aren’t in the mood, no one will pressure you into participating in the after-dinner fun.”

Soothing classical music filled the air and huge vases of red roses were everywhere in the reception area. People mingled, also dressed in what Ryan could only describe as formal dinner clothes and he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d see them naked and fucking later tonight. He had a feeling Moira had pulled out all the stops to celebrate her birthday, and he knew from some erotic stories Emma had told him that by the end of the night the air would be saturated with the scent of sex. He cast an eye over to Moira and found her watching him with an evil grin.

Instantly suspicious, Ryan muttered, “What kind of fun?”

Emma relaxed against him and looked up into his eyes, amusement shaded with desire reflecting back at him. “The fun kind.”

To his surprise, when they went into the elegant dining room filled with what he was pretty sure was authentic antique furniture, he found Master Chris, Tanya, and two other men who Ryan didn’t recognize sitting at the table as well as half a dozen other people who he didn’t know. As soon as Moira entered the room the two men rose, then dropped to their knees behind their chair. Ryan blinked hard, but no one else seemed to even notice.

Greetings rose around them, everyone expressing their pleasure that they got to see Emma. Ryan felt better about bringing her here tonight. She needed the love of her friends right now, and they were giving it to her in spades. A few men and women knelt at her feet, not touching her, but paying their respects to her in a way that made Emma smile. He glanced around the room while she talked, and found a great deal of the mostly men, but a few women were on their knees by who he assumed were their Masters or Mistresses.

He glanced over at Emma and found her watching him with a warm look, then she answered Ryan’s unspoken question. “No, I won’t make you kneel. Moira doesn’t normally demand such a formal scene from her submissives, but it’s her birthday so she gets what she wants. In this case, she wants total control of those two. As for everyone else, it’s totally personal preference.”

Jealousy goaded him as he wondered if Emma would want that, to have two men serve her, and he couldn’t stomach the thought of some stranger sticking his cock in his woman. She shot him a searching look, but before she could say anything, Master Chris stood and held his hand out. “Darling, so nice of you to join us. I’ve missed you.”

A loud bang resounded through the room as a bottle of champagne was opened. She suddenly clung to him, but not as if seeking comfort but as if to shield his body with hers. Frustration and sadness made his chest heavy as she let out a soft whimper. God damn that bastard for doing this to her, for making her so afraid.

Emma remained frozen, then shuddered when Ryan laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and held his own hand out instead for Master Chris so she could have a moment to collect herself. “Good to see you again.”

For a long moment, Master Chris kept his gaze on Emma, but after studying her he turned those intense blue eyes to Ryan. As their gaze met, Ryan was reminded of how good-looking Master Chris was with his blond hair and neatly trimmed beard, a thought that both embarrassed and aroused him. He knew it was normal for him to feel an attraction to the man after the erotic scene that they’d done together, but he was unprepared for the way his dick would quickly harden. When Master Chris shook Ryan’s hand, the other man’s strong fingers lingered for a moment, stroking Ryan’s hand as everything about him promised a hot, dirty fuck if Ryan wanted it.

“Good to see you too. Thanks for bringing Emma out to play. We’ve missed her. Tanya says I’m getting too cocky with only Moira around to bust my balls.”

“Master,” Tanya said with a giggle that tinkled like bells, “I would
never
say such a thing.”

“Brat,” he muttered then gave her a sweet kiss.

“Only for you, my love,” she whispered back with a wide smile.

Master Chris sighed and gave Ryan a look that plainly said he had his hands full.

Tanya chose that moment to skip around the table and pull Emma into a big hug. Tonight the little pink-haired woman wore a simple, sweet blue dress that flounced with her every movement. Large diamond studs sparkled in her ears and her big teal eyes had been outlined in black, making them seem huge, and adding to her pixie-cute looks. The memory of Tanya’s pink lips wrapped around his cock as he fucked her throat slammed into him and Ryan’s hand convulsively squeezed Master Chris’. Somehow, they were still holding hands over the table and he started to remove his, but Master Chris tightened his grip, then leaned in and whispered, “We’re the carrot tonight.”

Ryan frowned, trying to figure out what the other man was saying. “What?”

“Carrot. Emma gets off on watching two men together, so we’re going to oblige her. We won’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with, but we can make a little look like a lot with the right moves. You with me?”

Completely caught off guard and uncomfortably aroused, he was about to say no when Emma’s voice drifted to him, “Is everything okay over there?”