“With nice cans,” Will said with a grin.
God, they’d finally found girls. Olivia took a moment to thrust her completely flat chest out. It was good to know the younger generation was already well on their way to being a soap opera all on their own.
“Stop looking at my guests’ cans and put your thinking caps on. I have a mission for you.” Lexi was Olivia’s sister. Maybe she shouldn’t talk about her plans in front of her.
Olivia shook her head, and while it was easy to see she got her smile from her biological dad, Sam Fleetwood, it seemed she’d inherited Jack Barnes’s stubborn will via osmosis. “I am sorry, Ms. Jen. They’re going to work for me. I’m going to pay them my allowance to get them to cut off my sister’s cell phone. I tried to steal it, but she keeps it too close. Whatever job you have for them will have to wait because my sister is going to ruin her life and I have to save her.”
Jen smiled and held out a hand to the kid. She really hoped her son was as devious as this girl. “Oh, Miss Olivia, we’re going to get along just fine.”
Stef looked around the lawn and sighed. He wondered what Jen was doing. The women’s reception and the men’s gathering were scheduled for the same time in the day, but he hoped Jen was having more fun than he was.
This was supposed to be a fun day. He didn’t have any problem with the fact that everyone was naked. He preferred it. It wasn’t like he enjoyed watching a bunch of dudes walk around with their junk hanging out, but he actually didn’t have a problem with nudity. It felt nice. He’d started coming to Mountain and Valley when he was eighteen. He and Max and Rye had met a woman who lived there and been introduced to the whole nudist lifestyle.
He looked across the lawn and found the man who had introduced him to the whole BDSM lifestyle.
Julian Lodge wasn’t naked. He was wearing his customary three-piece suit and his hair was slicked back, not a piece out of place. At his side was a man with dark hair and a ready smile. He was naked, and every now and then Julian would stare down at him, pointing out the differences between Julian’s threesome and the ones Stef was surrounded by. Julian was deeply interested in Finn Taylor’s nudity while the Bliss partners sort of completely avoided looking at each other’s junk.
At least Julian was honest.
And he’d been through what Stef was going through.
He found himself crossing the space between them without really thinking it through. Julian had been his mentor. Stef had been going to The Club in Dallas from the time he’d been eligible to have a membership. Julian had taken him under his wing. He’d spent long hours discussing the philosophies and realities of D/s. Maybe it would be good to be around Julian when his whole damn life seemed out of control.
Julian held out a hand. “Stefan, it’s good to see you. I find it interesting that I’m staying at your house and you seem to manage to avoid all of us.”
Or maybe not. Julian was damn good at making him feel like a five-year-old who had fucked up. He shook the outstretched hand. “Sorry. I’m working on a project right now. It’s taking up a lot of my time.”
Julian’s head shook slightly. “Yes, I’m sure you’re always working on a project. Finn, love, would you mind grabbing me a cocktail while I talk to Stefan?”
Finn grinned up at his Dom. “Of course, Master. Would you like a beer or the stuff from the still?”
Julian shuddered lightly. “Are those my only choices?”
It might be fun to watch Julian attend a Mel-sponsored event. “The tonic is something Mel makes himself. It keeps away the aliens.”
“Yes, your people seem to be very distracted by aliens. I noticed that when I walked in and was frisked for alien technology. They seemed disturbed that I wouldn’t disrobe. I don’t disrobe unless I want to. You understand that, correct? I will not be talked out of my clothing because some insane person wants to make sure I don’t have extra parts.”
Dear god, he needed to get Julian together with Mel. “I think you’ll find Mel won’t care as long as you pass his tests.”
“I already swallowed a beet tablet. I took it because I can use the vitamins. This place is strange, and I’m not sure I like it.”
“Because you can’t control it.” Julian was used to being in control.
Finn was grinning as he looked up at his Dom. “I’m enjoying our vacation, Master.”
Julian’s lips tugged up in an intimate smile. “I’m sure you are, Finn. Don’t get used to it. We’ll be back in Dallas soon, and I’ll be in control again.”
The dark-haired man sighed, and there was no way to not notice how his cock twitched. But then, Finn was used to being naked at The Club, Stef mused. “I look forward to it, Julian. I’ll find you a beer. Preferably something imported. Be back soon.”
“And put on more sunscreen, pet!” Julian watched as Finn walked away. “He burns fairly easily, but I couldn’t convince him to not join the natives.”
“Convince? I didn’t think you convinced your submissives of anything. I thought you simply told them what to do.”
Julian snorted lightly. Somehow he turned it into an elegant sound. “Stefan, I thought you had been around long enough to know that complete control never works. I suppose it might for some, but I must confess I would find that perfectly dull. It was exactly what was wrong with my life before I met my Danielle and my Finn. I preferred to maintain perfect control because I didn’t love anyone enough to be bothered with their pesky little human flaws. That’s not entirely true. I maintained a few friendships that didn’t always go my way.”
“Jack Barnes?”
“Yes,” Julian admitted. “I was rather upset when he left The Club and took Samuel with him. I liked having them around. And Leo was always obnoxious, but I found his company oddly soothing. Now I am just laid back. I have to be or I would kill Chase on a regular basis. Though I do think about it. I can’t now. He has a wife, and for some reason, Natalie loves him.”
Stef wouldn’t exactly call Julian laid back, though he was certainly calmer than he used to be. “I heard you had a hand in that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
From what Stef understood, Julian also had a hand in the wedding that was taking place tomorrow afternoon, but apparently he didn’t want to admit to playing matchmaker. And it wasn’t really what Stef was looking for anyway. “So how’s fatherhood treating you?”
“Ah, I wondered when you would go there.” A smug satisfaction took over Julian’s expression. “What happened with Jennifer?”
Damn. Julian never liked to play all the polite little games that might have spared Stef the embarrassment of admitting he had no fucking clue what he was doing. “We had a little scare a couple of months back. She was bleeding.”
Spotting is what Caleb had called it, but it was bleeding in Stef’s head. Sometimes he had nightmares that she bled and he couldn’t stop it.
“It’s a terrifying position to be in, I’m sure. Pregnancy is not something any Dom is going to handle well because of the absolute loss of control. It would be easier if we were the ones to deal with the pain that comes with it. Watching our submissives struggle is very difficult when we can do nothing to ease them. Danielle struggled with morning sickness in the beginning. Terrible nausea. It was very difficult for me to watch her go through that. I couldn’t control the situation. She would be so sick and I couldn’t help her. I definitely remember that feeling. I do not like being helpless.”