“Perhaps you’ll change your mind. Come to the dungeon tonight. Continue the BDSM training. We don’t have to have sessions like this.” Of course, the BDSM training was just another session, but most of his patients didn’t see it that way. He’d gotten very good at being sneaky.
Logan stood. He shook his lanky body as though he’d expected more of a fight, but was happy to have gotten off easily. “Sure, Doc. I have to admit, I’m intrigued by the whole Dom thing. I don’t mind that part.”
Then that was where Leo would attack. Most therapists would smack him for putting it that way, but he’d spent enough time in the military that violent metaphors were definitely in his repertoire. And so was subterfuge. With Trev McNamara, he’d used sports and working out to get him talking. Logan would take something different.
Logan walked out, promising to see Leo in the dungeon that night, and Leo was left alone again.
He tried to breathe, lowering himself to the floor, legs folded. He placed an open palm on each knee and allowed his breath to become very deliberate. He tried to release his issues, to allow his mind to become a peaceful blank. When his mind was empty, perhaps he would find some peace.
When he found some peace, perhaps he would find some clarity.
Could he share with his brother? Long term?
He let the question flow out of his mind. He needed a blank mind. He needed peace.
A vision of Shelley, her brown eyes filled with need, her mouth open and gasping out the pleasure he brought her, assaulted him.
Damn it. He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
It teased at the edge of his consciousness. Shelley in his arms. Shelley with his collar around her throat and his ring on her finger. Shelley in his bed every night.
And Wolf.
It wasn’t how he’d envisioned his life.
There was a knock on his door. Thank god.
Leo got up from his place and called out. “Come in.”
Wolf opened the door. “Got a minute, brother?”
Leo nodded. He was actually getting used to Wolf walking in at any given time. And he rather liked being called “brother.” And he definitely liked what Wolf hauled in after him. Shelley held his brother’s hand. She’d been released from her bindings, but her eyes were submissively on the floor as Wolf led her in.
“I need to go out for a while and pick up a few things for tonight.” Wolf brought Shelley into the office. He kissed the top of her head and settled her onto the sofa. “You be good or I can put that plug back in, and I will be overly generous with the lube.”
She shuddered a little. “That’s not very nice, Wolf.”
His brother winked down. “That’s why I’m the Dom, baby. And your punishment isn’t over, yet. Wait ’til you see what I have for you tonight.”
“I don’t know if I want to,” she admitted.
Wolf touched his nose to hers in a sweetly affectionate gesture. “Trust me, baby.”
She nodded, their connection evident. How had his brother managed that in so short an amount of time? Leo could remember the first time he’d seen her. She’d been sitting next to her mother’s hospital bed. She’d been tired and haggard and so damn beautiful his heart had skipped a beat.
But he’d held back. Even before he’d known she was married. Wolf had just jumped in with both feet.
“Can you watch her while I’m out?” Wolf asked, his face open.
Shelley rolled her eyes, brattiness in her every move. “Wolf, I told you, I won’t go anywhere. I’ll sit and watch Kitten. Even though it’s weird. She’s still tied up. Chase is hauling her around like a piece of luggage. He just sets her at his feet wherever he goes, and every now and then, he’ll take the ball gag out of her mouth and pass her some Skittles. But like I should talk. I spent most of the day with ginger up my rectum.”
“Poor baby,” Wolf said, and then his voice got hard. “Are you going to take out my plug again?”
“No.” The word was sweet, but those lips told a different tale. They were bratty and pouty.
“You’re going to kill me, baby. Now, mind Leo. I’ll be back, and I’ll bring you some food. We’re all going to need some energy for later. Well, me and Leo will. You’ll just have to lie there and maybe whimper a little. I’m totally looking forward to it.” Wolf got all the way to the door before looking back. “You okay with watching her? I don’t want to disrupt any, like, patient stuff you have.”
“My patient list is growing smaller by the day,” Leo admitted. “Your friend has decided to leave my care.”
Wolf’s face fell. “Damn it. He’s wrong. Whatever he’s thinking, he’s wrong. I know he thinks he’s better, but it’s right there under the surface.”
An idea played on the edges of his brain. He needed to draw Logan out. He’d read his file a million times. He thought he was fine having left Bliss? How would he handle being confronted by his fears? “I’ll try, Wolf.”
It surprised Leo that he was going to try for more reasons than simple professional pride. He would try because Wolf wanted him to. He would try because he wanted to help Wolf’s friend.
“Thanks,” Wolf said, and then a slow smile crossed his face. “So, take care of our girl. And if you can think of a way to occupy her time, you should go for it. She’s actually been quite good since the incident. Be back in an hour or so.”
The door closed, and he was left alone with the only woman he’d ever really loved. And his brother had just given him permission to fuck her. Damn him.
Shelley stood up. “Look, Wolf is paranoid. I’m fine. I’ll just go up to the condo and wait for him there. You don’t need to babysit me.”
“Sit down.”
Apparently he’d put enough force into his voice that Shelley obeyed.
“Do you believe me to be easier to deal with than my brother? What have you been smoking, baby?” Wolf was practically a pansy compared to him. At least when it came to being a hard-ass with a sub.
“I believe you to be busy. Busy enough that you don’t need some chick hanging out in your office.”
“It’s Saturday. Despite the earlier chaos, I really didn’t have many plans.” He’d planned to watch some football with Ben and Chase before the evening’s play. He’d planned to walk his new charge through a few scenes. He hadn’t planned to spend the whole day thinking about Shelley McNamara.
Hell, he hadn’t planned it, but he would have done it anyway. And now he had her all alone for an hour.
“Tell me why you married Bryce.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He sat back, trying to look like the pro he was, but there was nothing professional about his curiosity. “Tell me about your marriage. I never asked before. I’d like to know now.”
She sat up, her hands in her lap. “Why?”
One little question. One big minefield. He could shrug and reply that he was curious. Or he could be as honest with her as he wanted her to be with him. “Because I’ve asked myself the question every day since the day I found out you were married. Because there’s a hole inside me that I can’t fill until I understand.”
Shelley was silent for a moment, but then began to speak, her voice steady but quiet. “My mother worked for him. Briefly, but long enough. After Trev moved out, we had to sell the ranch, but the market was bad, and the ranch hadn’t paid in a long time. We’d taken out a second mortgage a couple of years before my father died.” She turned toward the window. Her hands turned into fists, her voice shaking a bit.
He couldn’t take it. He got out of his chair and sat down beside her. He pulled her into his lap. She was stiff for a moment, but then she sighed, and her body sagged into his.