Aidan felt the heat, though. Now that all the paperwork crap was over, he could finally get back to being really mad. “You ran toward the maniac with the gun, Lucas.”
His brows went up. “Well, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound like a smart thing to do.”
“Asshole.” Lexi gently punched at him. “You scared the crap out of me. Don’t ever do that again.”
Lucas sighed. “I wasn’t trying to get shot. I was trying to catch the guy.”
“The guy with the gun.” Aidan felt like that should be pointed out. He would never forget the terror he’d felt when Lucas had taken off. “You made yourself an enormous target when you should have been in this apartment, protecting Lexi.”
Now Lucas’s face flushed, and his eyes lowered slightly in apology. “I am sorry about that. I just thought you would protect Lexi.”
“It is my job to protect both of you.”
“No, it’s not. Not anymore,” Lexi grumbled. Her pretty face was scrunched up in a stubborn pout.
“And you,” Aidan began, because she wasn’t off the hook either. “You’re due some punishment, too. Your stubbornness caused this.”
“Did not. My stubbornness doesn’t even own a gun. My stubbornness is a pacifist.”
He would have smiled, if he wasn’t still coming down from the wretched adrenaline high of almost seeing the two loves of his life get cut down by gunfire. “If you had stayed in the apartment, you wouldn’t have been a target. You would have been safe and surrounded by me and Lucas when we left.”
“Great. Then you and Lucas could have been shot.”
Finally she got it. “Yes, a much more acceptable conclusion.”
Lexi sat up, wincing a bit as she did. “That is not a good conclusion. That is a sucky conclusion.”
“Lexi, stop,” Lucas ordered, his voice going hard. Lexi sat back. “Aidan is right. We would much prefer to get shot than watch it happen to you. For the time being, you don’t go anywhere alone.”
“Says the boy who chased after the guy with the gun,” Lexi muttered under her breath.
Lucas reached out and stroked her hand with his. “Well, last year you got in trouble because of me. I can’t let that happen again.”
“You’re talking about what happened with Jeremy?” Aidan asked. He’d heard the story from Julian. A former submissive of Julian’s had tried to drug Lucas. When he’d been found out, Julian had tossed him out. Jeremy Walker had blamed both Julian and Lucas for his misfortunes, and he’d gone after their women. Only Julian’s partner, Finn, had been able to save them. Aidan had nightmares about what could have happened to Lexi. Like he needed another nightmare.
“Yeah,” Lucas said, his face falling. “He wanted to hurt me. He kidnapped Lexi and pumped a bunch of drugs through her system. He was going to kill her. I thought he had when I found her.”
Lexi’s hand curled over Lucas’s.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Aidan believed that. If anything, it had been his because he had been in Iraq getting his ass blown off. It was honorable to serve his country but not when he hadn’t made any arrangements to keep his loves safe. They had been all alone. They had been without a Dom. Now that he really understood, he felt the heavy weight of guilt. He should never have left them. He’d allowed his own need to be accepted by society in general to outweigh the love in his heart. “Lucas, you did the best you could. I’m very proud of you.”
He could see the way Lucas relaxed. Praise meant a lot to him. Lucas had so little of it growing up. Lucas wanted to please. He needed it. He needed this whole D/s thing. It completed him in a way Aidan couldn’t have imagined before he’d gotten involved in the lifestyle. Lexi needed it, too. She would fight, but she needed it.
“Lucas,” Aidan began, “we need to get your punishment out of the way. Present yourself to me. Count of twenty.”
He heard Lucas’s intake of breath. It was sharp and shocked, and yet his skin flushed with arousal. There was so much Lucas needed that he had never gotten. It was the true beauty of the power exchange. He could give Lucas what he needed.
“You don’t have to,” Lexi said.
Aidan felt every muscle in his body still. Lexi had an enormous amount of influence over Lucas. She could guilt him into just about anything. Would she? Lexi had always been so sweet. Had she changed in the years they had been apart?
A little smile curled her mouth up. “You don’t have to take any punishment from him, but I kind of think it would be hot. Not that I like Aidan. He’s still a dick and a half, but you might like it, babe. And I would love to watch you.”
Aidan’s heart swelled. She was a bitch to the end, but god, she was a loving one. His Lexi would never judge or hold another human being to some meaningless standard. She’d given Lucas permission to be who he was.
“Well, I did sign a contract.” Lucas stood, and his hands were on his pants. He pushed his leathers down to his knees. He turned and presented his ass to his Dom.
It was all Aidan could do not to drool. Lucas Cameron was masculine perfection. His cheeks were muscled. He had a tan line that spoke of his modesty. Aidan liked it because he didn’t want anyone else looking at what he considered his. Lucas was his. Lexi was his. He could handle people looking at their bodies in a club where everyone knew the rules, but the private thing had its glories, too.
“Count it out, sub.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Aidan began. His hand rained down on the cheeks of Lucas’s ass. Lucas’s voice rang out. There was no small amount of pride in his count. Aidan pulled his hand back, loving the feel of the crack on Lucas’s flesh. His ass took a pounding with grace and glory. His flesh pinkened up beautifully.
Lexi leaned forward, watching as Aidan struck Lucas’s cheeks over and over.
“Fifteen.” Lucas’s ass actually wiggled a bit as though he was trying to tempt him in.
God, Aidan would love that. He could still remember the tight clench of that gorgeous asshole on his dick. Lucas’s ass had been the hottest hole he’d ever sunk his cock into. But he had a point to make. He slapped that ass again and again until Lucas finally called out, “Twenty.”
Aidan stopped and realized his breath was choppy. His cock was at full-mast, straining against his pants.
Lexi’s eyes had glazed over. She was watching Lucas’s exposed flesh with a diligence that made Aidan’s breath catch. She was so submissive. Maybe not all the time, but she liked it when it came to sex. Why hadn’t he listened to her in the first damn place?
“Is that all, Sir?” Lucas asked with perfect politeness, as though he was asking about the weather, not as if his Dom wanted to further torture him.
Oh, Aidan wanted more. So much more. He wanted to lube up his cock and sink it into that hot hole while Lucas fucked the hell out of Lexi’s cunt. He wanted to fuck his subs until they couldn’t move anymore, and then he would sink into the bed with them and sleep with his limbs tangled in theirs. But he hadn’t earned it yet.
“That is all, Lucas. You did well. Now, get dressed. It’s a long way to Deer Run, and we have to stop by The Club to pick up my things.”
Lucas straightened up. He did his pants and then held his hand out for Lexi to take. Lexi stared up at him for a moment.
“You really want me to do this?” she asked.
Lucas’s hand tightened on hers. “I do, baby. Please. I want to try this.”
Lexi’s eyes filled with tears, and it struck Aidan that the only reason he was getting a second chance was because Lexi loved Lucas. It didn’t matter why, he told himself, though his heart ached. It only mattered that he had it. He would make it right.
Lexi allowed Lucas to draw her up. “All right then. No rehab for me. We’ll try the BDSM approach to fixing a fucked-up chick. Should be fun.” She turned to Aidan. “Not that you’ll have any fun. I know my safe word, and I intend to use it.”