Punishing for Pleasure Page 2

  “That woman is a menace. Jesus, I’d sooner deal with a bunch of religious extremists—at least you know what those bastards are about.” Yep, they’re all trying to get into their version of heaven and chase virgins. Newsflash, dip-shits…if they were old enough to die virgins, there’s a fucking reason—they’re all butt-fuck ugly or mean as snakes. “No, I’ve got to be terrorized by a five foot nothing blond Tasmanian Devil in Prada. What the hell were Kent and Kyle thinking marrying her?” Everybody, including Ash, knew his words were hollow. He had a soft spot for Tobi West the size of the Grand Canyon and everyone, including Tobi, knew it. The little imp had played Ash like a song as her husbands had stood aside shaking their heads at his naïveté.

  The doctor’s eyes lit up even more, merriment dancing in their cobalt depths at the mention of Tobi’s name. His gaze slid from Ash to Dex, “Tobi? Tobi West?” When Dex nodded, the doctor laughed out loud, “Oh, she’s a firecracker, that one. Lordy but that girl reminds me of Lilly at that age. Those men of hers have their hands full I’m tellin’ ya, and I don’t think I’ve ever known two fellas that deserve the grief more. Hell, I think those West boys’ frequent emergency room visits kept this place in the black for years.” The man was still chuckling as he shuffled out of the room. Ash shook his head and smiled despite his humiliation.

  “It didn’t really need stitches, you know. It was just a scratch,” Ash grumbled as Dex tossed him the tattered shirt he’d been wearing earlier. Ash easily snagged the shirt out of the air and frowned. The black t-shirt he was still wearing had survived his crash better than the button-down oxford his mom had given him last year for his birthday. Maybe if I roll up the sleeves I won’t look like some homeless person off the street. Hopefully Mom has replacement wardrobe items on this year’s list.

  “The doctor just put twelve stitches in your arm, Superman. Get your cape on so we can get out of here.” Ash knew Dex disliked hospitals as much as he did, and Dex was probably more than ready to get out of this one. When you’re a soldier, and particularly when you are a member of the Special Forces, you only go into hospitals under extreme circumstances, and twelve lousy stitches in his arm didn’t qualify. Hell, the whole incident was fucking humiliating if the truth was to be known. A skateboarding accident? Christ, he’d survived missions to every hellhole in the world without so much as a scratch—well, maybe a few minor dings here and there—but to end up in the emergency room because he’d fallen off a kid’s toy was just plain embarrassing. Not to mention Tobi West was never going to let him hear the end of it. Christ, who am I kidding, nobody at the club is going to forget this in a year full of Sundays.

  Stepping out of the small treatment room, Ash instinctively scanned the corridor. He and Dex had only been officially retired for a few weeks, and he hadn’t fully decompressed yet. A part of him knew he’d never be completely free of the cautionary habits BUD/S and his years as a SEAL had drilled into him—they were just second nature now. Relaxing when he realized there weren’t any people in their immediate vicinity, a small group at the far end of the hall caught his eye. Something familiar… There were only three people—two men in tailored suits flanking a woman in a pale aqua business suit that hugged her body like a second skin. Her hourglass figure was perfect and the sway of her hips in the stilettos she was wearing was enough to send a man into a hypnotic stupor. When he raised his eyes, he realized she had hair exactly the same color as Mary Dillon. What the fuck?

  Ash and Dex had been at the Prairie Winds Club the night Mary and her hateful friend, Kelly Mason, had cornered Tobi in the ladies’ lounge and slung every bit of verbal trash at her they could dig up. After sorting it all out, it had been clear Kelly had been the instigator and Mary’s culpability in the entire mess was her poor choice of friends. Everyone who’d listened to the story believed Mary had been trying to appease her new friend even though she didn’t have any personal feelings toward Tobi one way or another. Kelly’s motivation had been simple enough to figure out, she’d wanted to eliminate a competitor for the West brothers’ attention. The viper had joined the club for the sole purpose of meeting Kyle and Kent West. Both men had tried on several occasions to politely deter Kelly, but she’d been relentless in her advances toward them both.

  Kelly’s and Mary’s actions had come to light when club member, Noelle Chambers, heard their harsh words and intervened. Noelle might be submissive to her husband, Neal, but she is also a successful prosecutor in Austin, and her take no prisoners approach that night had put both women in the hot seat in a big hurry. Noelle had escorted a traumatized Tobi out to the Wests before returning to the lounge. No one had actually witnessed what had occurred behind that closed door, but Kelly had stormed out spitting mad and threatening to call the police to have Noelle charged with assault. Everyone within hearing distance had burst out laughing because it was absurd to even entertain the idea any law enforcement officer would arrest a prosecutor for doing something no one had seen, and everyone else would have done.

  In the end, Kelly had refused to accept responsibility for her actions or the punishment that would follow. She’d been banned from the Prairie Winds Club for life and her name had been forwarded to every other club in their extensive network as well. Not that anyone thought the spoiled rich girl had a sincere interest in the lifestyle, but Ash doubted she liked being excluded from anything either.

  Mary Dillon had tearfully confessed her part and her sincere apology and obvious remorse had saved her club membership, contingent upon a punishment of Dex and Ash’s choosing and a suspension. Their punishment had been harsh, but it had quickly become obvious the young woman was not adverse to the pain—in fact she’d relished it. She’d quickly slipped in to sub-space and they’d had to pull her back from the edge of orgasm several times. Ash considered himself a borderline sadist, despite most of his friends’ disagreement with the assessment. The euphoria he experienced when he was able to push a sub just to that nano-second before she broke was pure ambrosia for him. And even though Dex didn’t find the adrenaline rush Ash did in walking that fine line between pushing a sub’s limits to the max and going over the top, he was still a Master in administering just the right amount of pain to willing subs to launch them into Nirvana.

  During Mary’s very public punishment that night, it had been clear she hadn’t been trained properly and by the time they’d finished, Ash had been more than a little worried about her lack of boundaries. The woman had a pain tolerance level that rivaled the best Special Forces soldiers he’d ever known. More than once during the scene Ash had deliberately pushed her, hoping to prompt her to recognize or at least question her limits, but she’d failed to even call “yellow” let alone letting the safe-word out. A submissive without clear boundaries was a danger to herself and to her Dom. Ash and Dex had played with Mary several times since that night, and they’d tried to teach her the importance of recognizing and enforcing her limits. Neither of them was convinced they’d succeeded yet—it was an on-going process.

  Since that night they had played exclusively with Mary. They’d both lost interest in any of the other subs they’d shared before they’d met her. They had also seen her a few times in social situations, but those had always involved Masters and subs from the club so their opportunities to get to know each other had been somewhat limited. While Regi had been gone recently, Mary had filled in occasionally, and Ash had heard both Kent and Kyle raving about her organizational skills.

  When the deplorable conditions Regi, the club’s business manager and “go to girl”, had been living in came to light, Ash and Dex had met with Kyle to check on Mary. They’d been worried she might be suffering the same fate, but Kyle had assured them they didn’t need to worry. Oddly enough, Kyle’s awkward attempts to placate them had only made them more curious. Dex had agreed with Ash’s observation, Kyle had danced around the answers in a way that was completely out of character for the team leader they’d known, and his evasiveness had only raised more questions.
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br />   Ash and Dex both understood the importance of maintaining confidentiality relating to the club members lives outside of the club, and they’d followed Kyle’s suggestion to ask Mary directly. Thinking back on how that had played out, he could only shake his head in exasperation, hell, he still couldn’t believe how easily she had just flat outmaneuvered them during the conversation. Dex had let Ash take the lead because, in general, people were much more intimidated by him. Mary had answered each question despite her obvious reluctance, but it had been clear she was choosing her words carefully and he’d known she wasn’t being completely forthcoming. The only thing that had kept him from pursuing the subject was the fact he’d also known she wasn’t lying when she’d insisted they didn’t have any reason to be concerned and that she was indeed “living in a safe place with adequate provisions.”

  He felt Dex freeze beside him and Ash knew he was watching the woman as well. “Who is that?” Leave it to Dex to cut straight to the chase.

  “No clue, but there is something familiar about her—the way she moves, but I can’t believe I would have forgotten her.” When the younger man on her right put his hand on her back as they approached the elevator, Ash felt himself stiffen. What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t even know her, and I certainly don’t have any claim to her. He heard the low growl in the back of Dex’s throat and wondered if his partner was having the same reaction to the intimacy of the touch. The man’s hand was higher than a Dom would touched her, but the familiarity and affection in his eyes was easy to see when he’d turned toward them. Ash had the distinct impression the man and woman they were watching were together but not a couple, and the man on her left was some sort of hospital whosy-who. When she turned to the open elevator doors, Ash felt his mouth fall open and he heard Dex’s softy muttered, “What the fuck?”

  Ash had only caught the briefest look at her profile, but heard the faint sound of her laughter at something the older man had said. He’d caught just a couple of her words before she’d disappeared into the elevator, but he’d recognized the light sound of her voice immediately. He was ashamed to admit he hadn’t even realized they’d never heard Mary laugh until several months after they’d met. It had only dawned on him when he’d heard her laugh at something Tobi had said while the two of them had been settled on the loungers by the pool. Mary’s laugh wasn’t a girlish giggle, it was full, resonate, and it had made him smile. After that day, Ash had made it his personal mission to hear the sound as often as possible, but today when he’d heard it, everything in him had stilled.

  Hearing Dex’s snarled, “Who the fuck has his hands on her and why didn’t we know she was attached to another man?” Ash could only stare numbly at the elevator doors as they slid closed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dex stop a young nurse that had been passing by. Through the fog clouding his mind, he registered Dex’s inquiry, “Excuse me, can you tell me who the people were that just got on the elevator and where they might be heading? The woman looked like a friend of ours, but neither of us got a good look at her.”

  Ash had always admired Dex’s ability to use his looks to charm even the most resistant woman, and the petite brunette whose nametag read “Carla S., R.N.” didn’t appear to be immune to what the other members of their SEAL team had called the “Dex Effect” than any other woman Ash had ever met. It didn’t seem to matter if they were eight or eighty; women genuinely liked Dex Raines. As her eyes glazed over a little looking up into Dex’s blue eyes, she gave them a breathy run-down, “The older man is Mr. Adler, he’s the head of the hospital’s board of directors. The pretty lady in the middle is Merilee D. Lanham, she heads up the Lanham Foundation, and the other man is her assistant, Tony Ballard.”

  “Thank you, Carla. You’ve been very helpful.” Ash looked away to suppress his grin when he noticed Dex’s hand had gently shackled the sweet nurse’s wrist and his thumb was drawing lazy circles along the inside over her pulse point. Biting back his own words, Ash waited for Dex to find out where the trio had been headed. “Darlin’, do you by any chance know where they were headed? We’d like to catch up with Ms. Lanham.” And isn’t that the understatement of the year?

  After learning the group was heading to the hospital’s outdoor courtyard for a media event—whatever the fuck that meant—to announce plans for a new women’s and children’s care wing, he and Dex made their way down the stairs. They followed the throng of people headed that way, many of whom were speculating about rumors the new wing was going to be named after the two newest physicians on staff. Ash didn’t understand the significance of those concerns, but it was evidently hot news among those making their way into the crowded courtyard. They passed a sign at the entrance that proclaimed Ms. Merilee D. Lanham, CEO of the Lanham Foundation, would be today’s special guest. Why had she told them her name was Mary? Wait. Had she told them? Or had someone else? Hell, his brain was so scrambled at the moment he could barely remember the details that had just been rolling through his mind a few minutes earlier. But now that he thought back on that night, he was fairly certain it had been Kyle who referred to her as Mary Dillon.

  Concentrating on that memory as they made their way inside the courtyard, he remembered thinking Kyle had stumbled over her name because it hadn’t sounded quite right when he’d pronounced it. Had Kyle actually said Meri and he and Dex had merely assumed he’d said Mary? Shaking off his wayward thoughts, Ash watched Merilee D. Lanham schmooze with dignitaries and staff members at the front of the enclosed area. She looked completely relaxed and at ease surrounded by all the suits. A brilliant smile they’d seen far too rarely lit up her face, making her glow from the inside out. He’d known she was attractive, but with her long dark hair framing her tan face then falling in soft waves over her shoulders to the middle of her back, he realized she was heart-stoppingly beautiful. Even from this distance, he could see her bright green eyes sparkling with life as she effortlessly moved between the people vying for her attention.

  They stayed at the back, choosing to forego the seating that had been set up facing a small raised flowerbed at one end of the enclosed garden area. A clear lectern held a microphone on the wide step surrounding the oval bed providing a colorful background for whoever would be speaking. Standing in the shadows close to the rock wall of the hospital, they’d be able to see the speaker without being easy to spot.

  “For some reason I’m pissed. And the hell of it is, I’m not even sure why.” Dex’s comment echoed Ash’s own frustration. Even after he’d learned the man touching Mary was her assistant, Ash could still feel the residual effects of the sudden surge of jealousy that had swamped him—he didn’t understand it and he damned well didn’t like it. He’d played in various clubs all over the world never thinking twice about the scenes being anything more than consenting adults engaging in an activity that was hopefully mutually gratifying. He and Dex had always been absolutely candid with the subs they’d spent time with, explaining clearly there were no commitments involved. And all but a very few had not only understood but been of like minds.

  Ash watched the group of people at the sidelines and was surprised to see Regi standing next to Mary. Nodding in her direction, Ash asked, “What do you suppose Regi is doing here? She seems more than a little uncomfortable.” Regi and uncomfortable just didn’t go together, that alone had him wondering where her men were just as the two OB-GYNs walked up beside her. Both men greeted Mary with obvious affection, but their attention was clearly centered on their fiancée. Ash had been at the party where Regi agreed to marry the docs, but as far as he knew, the trio hadn’t gotten around to setting a date yet. So much had changed in the little imp’s life in such a short period of time, her discomfort wasn’t all that difficult to understand. The mystery was how the two women knew each other outside Prairie Winds.

  Chapter Two

  When the man Nurse Carla S. had indicated was the president of the regional medical center’s board stepped up to the podium, everyone fell silent. Dex Raines lis
tened as Mr. Full-of-Himself droned on about the “needs” of the community and while Dex appreciated that his points were likely valid, the man’s hard-sell approach was grating on his last nerve. Leaning close to Ash, he whispered, “Whatcha bet he was a car salesman?” Ash’s snort of laughter earned them glares from several people standing nearby, but the amusement in their eyes had belied the scornful expressions. The man continued yammering away until Dex felt his eyelids start to slide south. Christ he’d gone days without sleep on missions without breaking a sweat, and here he was, about to fall into a stupor standing up. “I think I’ve just discovered the cure for insomnia.” More shushing came from the peanut gallery but this time Ash hadn’t been the only one fighting to hold back his laughter.

  Dex listened as the man finally introduced Merilee, he watched as she graciously shook Mr. Sure-Doze’s hand before stepping behind the clear podium. She thanked everyone for taking time to attend and Dex was impressed with her ability to engage the audience. Taking a quick scan of the courtyard, he noticed everyone in the audience seemed to be as enthralled with her as he was. It was clear she was at ease speaking in front of groups, and the woman standing on the makeshift stage was one hundred eighty degrees out from the sub he knew from the club. Fuck me! That is exactly why she…like so many others, has to keep her public and private lives distinctly compartmentalized. Merilee D. Lanham’s public persona and success would depend upon her private lifestyle choices remaining private…very, very private. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how devastating it would be to her career, and to the charitable foundation she headed, if word got out that she edged toward masochism and frequented the city’s hottest kink club.