Noah’s face shut down, but he followed James down the hall.
Hope’s eyes were wide, and there was a little bit of fear in her stance when James entered the McNamara dungeon. Trev had done a damn fine job turning what used to be an office and spare bedroom into a Dom’s little pleasure palace. The Berber carpet had been replaced with gleaming hardwoods and the walls painted a decadent, rich red. There was a large St. Andrews Cross adorning the wall. It accompanied a spanking bench, a padded sawhorse, and in the middle of it all, a huge bed.
The fact that everything came in singles told James a lot. Beth was the sub. Bo was not. He’d wondered because Bo tended to defer to Trev’s authority, but it seemed he probably topped Beth in the bedroom.
Hope would have had two Masters if Noah hadn’t been such an asshole.
He had to get that out of his head. Noah was talking to Hope, and here James was thinking about how mad he was at his brother.
“Don’t let this place fool you, Hope. There’s nothing but pleasure for you here,” Noah was saying, his voice soothing her.
And that was James’s damn job. He hadn’t even kissed her yet, and his brother was already pushing him out. James took Hope’s hand and gently pulled her to him. He sighed as he put his arms around her and smoothed back her hair. “I think you’re going to like this, baby, but if you’re scared, we can go back to the house and sit and have a nice dinner and then we’ll go to bed and I’ll treat you like a lady.”
She shivered. “Don’t. I’m a woman, and I would rather be treated that way.”
What the hell had he done? She tried to pull away, but he had the worst feeling that if he didn’t take control she would and everything would be over. He hardened his voice. “I’ll treat you like a sub. Now calm down, Hope. In this room, you obey me or you say no and this is over. Bo, does Trev keep paraphernalia for guests?”
Bo’s face went blank. “Are you talking about toys?”
He’d been trying to be discreet. “Yeah. Sometimes Doms keep a small supply of toys for visitors.”
Bo grinned and opened a panel. The custom-made door slid open. “Beth got cheeky. She’s been having fun with this room.”
He heard Hope gasp at the wall of perversion Bo had uncovered. There was a neat assortment of floggers, whips, paddles, spreader bars, and restraints of all types. There were handcuffs and long lengths of rope. There was a whole row of various types of lube.
“I take back everything I said about Trev,” Noah said, his eyes wide. “He’s a perfect addition.”
“He’s a complete pervert is what he is. You want it, he probably has it in various colors, shapes, and sizes. Oh, and he told me to tell you that he has a whole training set of plugs still in their boxes,” Bo explained.
James was deeply grateful for his partner’s years of formal training. James’s training had been rather informal. He’d gone to clubs with Stef, Max, and Rye over the years. Stef had taught him a lot, allowing James and Noah to practice on his own submissives before he’d finally settled down with Jennifer. But Trev had actually been a full-time Dom for several years.
“What does he mean by ‘plug’?” Hope had turned her face up to his, looking at him like he would protect her.
She didn’t realize she needed protection from him. His cock tightened at the soft, sweet look on her face. “Anal plugs, baby.”
“He keeps boxes of anal plugs for guests?” Hope asked.
Bo shrugged. “Apparently it’s the BDSM equivalent of a party favor.”
Hope shuddered a little. “I think I might prefer the little things you blow on and they make noise.”
Oh, she would be blowing on something, and James was definitely going to make a little noise. “Thank you, Bo. We can take it from here.”
Bo smiled. “You’re going to be all right, Hope. If you have any questions later, you just talk to Beth. She’s going to be really excited about having another girl around the place.”
He gave them a little salute and then shut the door behind him.
“Clothes off, Hope.”
Begin as you mean to go. He was in control. He was in charge.
And she was practically shaking she was so nervous. He sighed and hauled her close. He hadn’t kissed her. He needed to get his head in this damn game. He softened as he looked down at her. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you, baby? That one taste wasn’t enough. I want to kiss you again and again.”
Her anxiety seemed to flee in favor of an awed wonder. “You really want to kiss me, James?”
He thought about rubbing his rock-hard cock all over her so she couldn’t doubt it, but decided on a sweeter approach. Words. Women liked words. “I wanted to kiss you the first time I saw you. You were sitting with Logan and you turned your face up to me, and all I could see were big eyes and the softest lips. I love how the bottom one plumps out when you’re thinking. I always want to suck at it and kiss you until you can’t breathe.”
She leaned into him a little. “James, are you serious? Because I couldn’t handle it if you weren’t.”
Serious? He was seriously in trouble, but he couldn’t find the will to back out. He had used all the words he was going to for now. He leaned forward and kissed her the way he’d wanted to that first day. She’d been sitting on the bench next to Logan, the afternoon sun hitting her hair. Logan had been talking about some game he was playing online, but James had been watching Hope wondering where Logan had found her.
James pressed his lips to hers and tilted her head back. She opened underneath him, her mouth ceding control to him. His tongue surged in. That first day had scared the crap out of him because she wasn’t his type, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.
Now he knew. All the other women hadn’t been his type. He only had one type. Hope.
Her arms wound around his neck, and she clung to him. Her soft tongue played against his.
If he didn’t take control soon, he would do exactly what Noah had done. He would toss up her skirts and throw her against the first surface he could find and sink his cock in. He wouldn’t even have to dispense with her panties. They were probably being studied by the Farley boys at this very minute. He broke off the kiss.
“I want you, Hope. I want you so bad it hurts, but we do this my way. Now take off your clothes.” His voice was breathless, but she seemed to respond properly this time.
Her face flushed, and her hands went to the buttons of her shirt. Her voice was shaky as she spoke. “I don’t see what the two of you have against these clothes.”
“She’s damn sarcastic, James. I already spanked her once today for that mouth of hers.” Noah leaned against the wall, staying as far away as he possibly could.
“Is that right?” James wished he’d seen that. “Did Noah spank you?”
Her shirt hung open, leaving a tantalizing line of skin on display. He could see the curves of her breasts against the cups of her plain white bra.
“Yes.” The word came out on a breathy little sigh.
Well, his brother had gotten further with her than James had thought. “Did it scare you?”
She was here, so he was betting on a no.
“I liked it.”
And he liked honesty. He touched the half-moon at the top of her breastbone and then let his finger trail down. He toyed with the front clasp of her bra. “Did it get you hot?”
She nodded. “It did.”
“Thank you, baby. It means a lot to me that you’re honest. That’s what this is all about.”
A cloud passed over her face, but she turned her eyes down and shrugged out of her shirt. James flicked the clasp of her bra open and pushed the straps off.