Capturing Callie (18 page)

He pulled his pants up and fastened them, glancing up at the smirking cowboy leaning his shoulder against the door frame grinning like a loon. He helped her stand, but kept her facing him while he spoke. “I’m going to remind you that you are stunning and I love seeing every sweet inch of you. And if it pleases me for others to see you, remember it would be an insult to me for you to feel self-conscious. Do you understand, pet?”

God, he loved watching arousal flash through her eyes as he crashed through a new barrier. “Y–yes, Master, I understand. You don’t want me to feel embarrassed by the man standing in the doorway behind me, is that right?” To her credit, her lips might have twitched, but she managed to contain the smile, the little imp. Gage’s snort of laughter let Ian know he’d heard her soft words.

“Minx, get your clothes and head on upstairs. Take a nice long bath and then put on what has been laid out for you—nothing more and nothing less. You don’t need to be back down here for a while, so take your time. Leave your hair down, I want to be able to wrap my hands in it when it pleases me to do so.” Swatting lightly on the ass, he turned her to face Gage. “Callie, I’d like you to meet Gage Hughes. Gage will be attending tonight’s get-together so you’ll be getting to know him much better. Like I mentioned last night, each of our guests tonight has a very specific specialty, can you guess what Gage’s is,
Carlin
?”

He watched as her face tinged a sweet pink that reminded him of cotton candy before she looked back at him. “No, Master, I’m sorry, I have no idea. But I know he is a former member of the military, probably special forces and very recently, too. I also know he hails from the south, likely Texas, and that he has spent a lot of time on the back of a horse.”

Holy fuck! What was that about? How the hell did she know all that from looking at the man for thirty seconds?
Ian was completely stunned, and from the look on Gage’s face, he was equally as surprised. “Well, I’m impressed Callie, very impressed. Would you please share with us exactly how you know these things? Which are dead-on, I might add.”

She smiled and flicked her gaze to Gage before returning it to him. “Well, I’m pretty good with body language, Sir. And well, I’m a bit of an empath. I’m not as good as Mitch Grayson, but I’m not completely without skills either. But to be fair, the horse part was easy, see the stirrup marks on the sides of his boots? And the heels are scuffed from the spurs he uses.” Her eyes were absolutely dancing with joy. She was clearly enjoying the fact that she’d blindsided him by knowing about Mitch Grayson. Hell, he couldn’t wait to talk to Mitch himself. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “And by the way, Sir. Thank you for your concern…having me talk with Mr. Grayson was very sweet and helpful as well.”

He pulled her into his embrace and buried his face against her soft tresses. “Woman, you are going to pay for this, you know that, right?” He knew she would hear the laughter in his voice and know he wasn’t really angry. “Now, upstairs with you, impertinent sub.”

She smiled and picked up her clothes before making her way to the door. Gage stepped aside and nodded to her. “Nice to meet you, Callie, damned impressive. You would have been a valuable member of our team.” He let his eyes sweep slowly down and then back up in a warm visual caress. “I’m looking forward to tonight’s party even more now.” He was rewarded by a sweet smile and blush before she simply nodded and scooted by him.

After they were sure she was safely out of hearing range, he looked over at Ian and laughed out loud. “Holy fucking hell, I didn’t think I’d ever live long enough to see you speechless, boss man. That is one impressive woman you have there. You might want to tone things down a bit this evening. Damn, I’d hate to see you screw this up. Then again, maybe I’d be able to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. Yeah, let’s leave everything just the way it’s been set up.”

Ian shook his head and laughed. “Fuck you, Hughes. And for the record, I can’t remember the last time I was so completely caught off guard. She is amazing, and I don’t have any intention of losing her. And I think that with her newly revealed skills, I may need to tone things down a bit because I’m fairly certain she would pick up on my concerns. And the last thing I want to do is risk losing her.”

Callie had stayed in the upstairs spa bath so long she wasn’t sure her legs were going to hold her up when she’d finally decided to surface. She was buffed, polished, and she’d brushed her hair until it lay in silky waves all the way to the top of her ass. She loved how it felt moving over her sensitized skin. She’d opted for minimal makeup, reasoning that she would be shedding tears and there was nothing attractive about smeared mascara. She’d peeked into the bedroom earlier and was amazed to see the dress Ian had placed over the end of the bed. It was a deep-purple silk with random threads of various shades of gold. It was perfect for her, it would highlight her eyes and her hair, and the style would accentuate her petite frame.
Gotta give the guy credit, he’s got a wicked fashion sense. Shit, he’s really pretty wicked all the way around.
She snickered at her own joke only to hear Ian’s voice from the corner. “Care to share that thought, pet?”
Holy pickle fudge, how did I miss him sitting over there?

“Well, not really, but I’m betting you’re going to insist, so I probably should just fess up, huh?” She finally realized she was sliding the soft fabric of the dress between her fingers, thinking about how it was going to feel hugging her curves. When he didn’t answer, but just continued to watch her intently, she continued. “I was just thinking that you have a…um, well, a wicked fashion sense…and that sort of led to me thinking that there are other parts of you that are deliciously wicked also…and…” She didn’t finish, she could already see the smile on his face, and she felt her blush all the way to her toes.

“You really are a joy. Come here, pet. I want to talk to you for a bit before we go downstairs.” As she approached him, she noticed he’d already showered and shaved and dressed in all black, and he looked every bit the Dominant she knew he would be tonight. He seemed undecided about something, and for a few seconds she worried that he had already grown tired of the drama that seemed to have followed her to the island. But really, who could blame him? How on earth did she think she was worth all this trouble?

When she refocused, she was sitting on his lap, and he was studying her intently. “You are thinking too much, but I must admit, I love the fact that you think out loud. No, I have not grown tired of you, quite the opposite actually.” Ian paused and took a couple of deep breaths. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been so unsure as to what was the right approach with a submissive he was planning a scene with. But so far, he’d done a lot wrong with the one woman who actually mattered. And after talking with Gage, he’d decided it was time to fix that.

“Ordinarily when a Dom and his or her submissive are planning a scene there is a lot of negotiation involved, including hard limits, etc. I can tell by your expression you have at least some understanding of what I’m talking about. Anyway, because of the—shall we say
forced
nature of our relationship, we haven’t done that, and I’m not sure that was in your best interests.”

She was so unbelievably perfect for him, and he couldn’t for the life of him imagine what he could have done that would have caused the Universe to deliver her, literally, to his door. She was going to get her scene tonight, but it was going to be something altogether different from what he’d originally envisioned. Never let it be said he wasn’t a wise enough captain to know when to change course.

“Master?” Her sweet voice was full of concern, not for herself, but for him—it was written all over her face, and it touched him in a way he thought he’d never feel again.

“Callie, I know we have only been together a short time, but I think you will understand what I’m talking about when I say we seem to share a very unique connection.” At her shy nod he went on. “We’ll still be having guests tonight, but the focus of the evening is going to be more about showing you all the ways BDSM can bring you pleasure rather than trying to deliberately push you away, which is what I had been doing with people for a very long time—but that is a conversation for another day. And you’ll be getting those pretty pink nipples clamped, but not just yet.” Smiling at her confusion, he leaned forward and kissed her with a newfound purpose.

“Come on, my precious pet, let’s get that dress on you and make our way downstairs. Oh, and you’ll still be getting those last sixteen swats—don’t think I’ve forgiven those.”

* * * *

Dinner had been wonderful, and Callie hadn’t even minded the fact that she was the only woman at the table. What had been distracting was the fact that she’d had on a beautiful dress as they’d entered the dining room but nothing else. She had thought she would die of embarrassment when she realized the dress only looked opaque because it was lying on the bed. When Ian had lifted it over her head she had easily been able to see everything in the room, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know if she could see
out
of the dress every Dom at the party was going to be able to see
in
as well. The minute she had stepped into the room, her suspicions had been confirmed by the smiles and comments of approval she’d received as she’d been introduced to their guests.

Ian had made sure she pulled the dress up in the back when she sat on the cold chair and then the cad had actually laughed at her startled gasp. Damn wood was cold on her bare pussy, no other way to say it. And even though they had enjoyed a relaxed dinner, the sexual tension was starting to build. It felt like static electricity in the air, making her skin prickle with anticipation.
Damn those sixteen swats, I hate having those hanging over my head…well, ass. When will I ever learn?

Jace was seated at her left, and he burst out laughing. “Probably never, sweetness. Hell, you can’t keep from thinking aloud, how the hell are you ever going to be able to concentrate enough to behave? And personally, I am sort of hoping you don’t ever get it completely right.” He winked at her and then said, “Ian, I believe you may have let this little goose stew about as long as you dare. Let’s get this show on the road.”

A part of Callie had been relieved at Ian’s agreement, but a quick glance around the table had sent her into immediate
fight or flight
mode. She was shocked when the man who had been introduced to her as Kalen Black was the one to step up and speak to her. His hands cupped her shoulders, and he looked so deeply into her eyes, she had the feeling he was seeing clear to her soul. “Don’t worry, angel. You are going to do fine. Just remember, you have a safe word, and when you have the chance to jump off in to sub-space—take it.” He’d given her a quick hug and then turned her to Ian.

As she and Ian had followed the others down the hall, he had leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Pet, that may well be the most I have heard Kalen say at one time in all three years I’ve known him.” He chuckled then added, “I’d say you must have made a pretty big impression on our resident student of the ancient mystics.”

From the front of the group, Callie heard Kalen’s soft voice. “The uninformed mock what they don’t understand, boss.” All the men laughed, but Callie was still thinking about what he’d said about taking the chance to jump off into sub-space. She’d read about the endorphin-induced euphoria, and now she wondered if that was what had caused her fuzzy feeling at Club Isola during the flogging. And holy hell on a hippo, she was fairly certain Kalen could get woman to do whatever he wanted using nothing more than his voice. She was certain the angels themselves sounded just like Kalen. He reminded her of a panther. He was just under six feet tall and with a sleek body build and jet-black hair highlighting his electric blue eyes. He moved with a catlike grace, and it seemed like he just kind left one spot and appeared in another.

Logan Douglas had been one of the men watching them on the terrace last night. When they had told her that he was an explosives expert he’d given her a wicked grin. “It’s true, sugar. I love to watch things explode, including sweet little subs.” His southern-boy charm made her smile. He might be a rogue, but she couldn’t help but think he’d be a real gentleman to his woman…well, maybe outside of the club and their bedroom.

The cowboy Ian had introduced her to earlier in his office was also in attendance. Gage Hughes was a true Texas charmer. His honey-colored hair and tanned skin topped off a muscular body. She noticed his accent was thicker when he was “bein’ charmin’,” and that appeared to be most of the time. But there was a hardness about him that hadn’t escaped her attention either. The man was certainly no pushover, that was for sure.

Jace had joined them as well, and she hadn’t missed the fact he had flanked her other side in a move that looked almost protective in a big-brother,
but not
, sort of way. She already knew what perfection his clothing hid. His skin color was a wonderful honey brown, a testament to his mother’s Native American heritage. He’d told her about his parents’ ranching operation in Texas, and she’d heard the homesickness in his voice. When she had mentioned it, he’d assured her he would be heading home for a visit sometime after he took a little “swing through” southern Florida. Callie knew exactly why Jace was going to Miami. He was going to confront Chrissy about all the money she’d taken under false pretenses. Shaking off thoughts of her sister, Callie brought her mind purposefully back to the moment. She knew she’d need to keep her wits about her if she was going to get through the next few hours. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the pain she was facing, it would be better described as worried she would let Ian down.