Game On (The Morgan Brothers Book 4) (17 page)

Mitch tugged on her hand bringing her attention back to the moment. “I don’t know where you went,
cher
, but I can’t say I was pleased with the lost look on your pretty face. Come. Sit with me so we can find out what this is about.” When she looked at the lone empty space on the sofa, she began looking around for another place for the two of them. He grinned at her and shook his head. “No, sweetness, this is where we’ll sit. Come.”

He couldn’t possibly think the two of them would both fit in small space. She yelped in surprise when his large hand circled her wrist before he gave her a quick yank forward. “You are making a newbie sub mistake,
cher
. Your job is simple—trust your Dom to take care of you.” He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

Barry couldn’t believe
he’d managed to elude the fucking moose who’d tried to tackle him outside the club. He’d barely managed to slip away by shedding his jacket and giving his pursuer a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. Recognizing the man as Taz Ledek, Barry felt a surge of pride when he turned the ignition switch and slammed the gear shift into drive. He’d cleared the curve before Ledek recovered enough to give chase and in another thirty seconds he was well beyond the reach of any of the club’s staff.

He regretted losing his jacket simply because the night air was brisk enough that when he showed up without it at the small motel where he’d booked a room, it would make him stand out. With a little bit of luck, the snoopy old fart who usually manned the desk at night would be sleeping on the job again, and Barry could sneak by unnoticed.

It wasn’t until he slipped into bed that he remembered the picture he’d left in his coat pocket. After a brief moment of panic, he smiled. Perhaps this evening hadn’t been a loss after all. He hadn’t been able to get Aspen pulled out the back door, but at least now Phoenix Morgan knew his lovely Athena was being targeted—it would only add to his torture. Barry would wait a couple of days before making contact, give the man time to stew in fear—it would undoubtedly make him much more agreeable when it came time to negotiate.

Yeah, that job definitely should have been his. He’d spent two years grooming himself for that promotion. Hell, the contacts alone would have netted him millions of dollars just for arranging access to government officials. Everything had been in fucking place until Phoenix Morgan got involved. The only piece of tonight’s puzzle he couldn’t figure out was why Aspen acted so confused when he’d called her Athena. Hell, he’d even given her his gamer name hoping she’d feel comfortable enough to step outside with him, but she’d still looked baffled. She should have known immediately who Maverick was, after all, they’d played Phoenix Morgan’s games for almost a year. Hell, she’d even admitted his use of the Top Gun reference was what had first caught her attention. He hadn’t bothered to tell her that was exactly why he’d chosen it.

At first, he’d thought she was the investigator who’d submarined him, but his boss had explained that she’d been brought in to do Morgan’s secondary screen then replace him when the damned Montana cowboy was tapped for some top secret job by the big brass. It was just Barry’s damned luck his own report had been one of only a handful Phoenix Morgan had completed. Evidently, the wheels in D.C. had given him a few promos to do so they could see just how deep he could dig, and in Barry’s case, they’d gotten far more than they’d bargained for. They hadn’t pulled his low level security clearance, but they’d damned well busted him back down so low on the totem pole they might as well have sent him to fucking Siberia.

Just a few more days and all those nasty police reports will disappear. Morgan will admit he made an error, and I’ll be back in business.
When he woke up, he’d sign on and see what sort of buzz was working through the gamers. If there was any news about Athena, that would be the first place it would turn up.
It can wait until I’ve slept a little.

M
itch shifted Aspen
so she was sitting at a right angle to his chest, and his hand moved in lazy circles over her lower back. Within a few minutes, he felt her relax, so it was almost time to wind her up a bit again. Phoenix had moved to the front of the room where he was conferring with his brother and Nate. Taz stood to the side of the room with what appeared to be an ice pack pressed to the side of his face. Holy hell, whoever was responsible for the bruise over Tashunka Ledek’s temple had probably just signed their death warrant. Taz’s expression was thunderous, and when Mitch finally caught his friend’s attention, Taz gave him a quick hand signal for later.

Aspen’s soft gasp of surprise let him know she’d seen the mark on Taz’s face. When she started to stand, Mitch tightened his hold around her waist. “Sit still,
cher
. They’ll give us a sit-rep in a minute until then I want you to stay exactly where I’ve put you. Master Phoenix is finding out what was so important his brother felt the need to interrupt our time together. Brandt Morgan is an experienced Dom; he wouldn’t have disturbed us unless it was an emergency. But until we have the details, there is no reason to borrow trouble. And it gives me a chance to spend a little one-on-one time with you, so I’ll count that as a bonus.”

Mitch wasn’t pleased Aspen’s body language was once again rigid, and her attention focused on Taz—something the other man hadn’t missed. He gave Aspen a curt nod, before stepping to the other side of the men gathered around Nate’s desk. Before his sweet sub could find another distraction, Mitch decided it was time to give her something else to focus on. Slipping his hand under the hem of her skirt, he began tracing slow, but deliberate circles over the soft skin covering her thighs. Using the pads of his fingers, he made sure he kept the pattern unpredictable while varying the intensity and speed. There was no doubt, keeping Aspen Andrews off base was going to be the only way to stay ahead of her.

Her breath hitched beautifully when he pushed his fingers higher. Even though he was still several inches from her sex, there’d be little question as to his intent. “Open for me,
cher
. I want to play with you while we wait. I promise we’ll both enjoy the time much more than simply sitting here worrying about something we can’t change.”

“How do you know we can’t change it?” Her voice was already edging toward that breathless sound he loved so much. It let him know she wasn’t immune to his touch, even if she still hadn’t opened as he’d commanded.

“Whatever it is has already happened,
cher
, and you and I both know we can’t change the past. It’s equally easy to see there are no immediate threats to your safety in this room, which removes the only possible reason I’d have to change my plan.” He gave her several seconds to consider his words before reminding her about his earlier directive. “Now that I’ve explained myself—something you’ll soon learn Doms don’t particularly enjoy, is there some reason your knees are still clamped together?”

She immediately released the pressure but didn’t slide her knees apart until he leveled a look at her letting her know his patience was waning quickly. She moved her legs apart so slightly he might not have noticed if she hadn’t been sitting on his lap. Hell, feeling the insignificant move was the only indication he had she’d made any attempt to comply. “Are you deliberately being obtuse,
cher
? Because, as I’m sure you can see, my hands are not going to fit comfortably in that small space. This is your last warning, open for me. I want to play with you.”

She finally voiced the objection he’d already known she was trying valiantly to hold back. “But there are other people in the room. They’ll know what we’re doing even if my skirt covers your hand. And holy craptastic, Jax is here, what will he think?” Her words were coming faster and her voice raising in pitch letting him know she was skating perilously close to panic by the time she paused long enough to take a breath. “I’ll get the lecture of all lectures. It’ll probably be worse than the one I got before my first date, and God knows that was one for record books. Holy Hannah, I wondered for a while if they were going to send me to a convent. I should have never mentioned that by the way because Kent whistled various songs from
The Sound of Music
every time I mentioned having a date the entire time I was in college. I swear he only quit because I threatened to talk to Lilly. To this day, I want to cry every time I see it’s coming on television because I know he’ll send me reminders.”

Mitch couldn’t hold back any longer, he burst out laughing. He wasn’t sure which was the most amusing, the fact Kent West knew enough about the movie to whistle the tunes or that threatening to tell his mother made him stop teasing her, at least temporarily. Either way, it pleased him she was exhibiting small signs of personal trust. In his experience, women will only babble about their frustration to people they trust. The women he’d been involved with were usually more than willing to voice complaints when they were warranted, but the stream of consciousness chatter was reserved for those in their inner circle.

He might not be thrilled with her reservations about playing in front of the other Doms, but he did understand it. “I can assure you, Jax will move if it bothers him. Remember, your friends are Doms. And yes, they will know exactly what we’re doing because it’s what they would expect. I assure you, if both Jax and Micah are in a room with Gracie, one of them is going to have his hands on her during a meeting.” And wasn’t that the understatement of the year? He could guarantee her friends would play openly with their lovely Latina sub because he’d seen it time and time again.

“Here are your options. Obey the command and open your legs so I can enjoy feeling those lovely pink folds. I’ll bet they are soaked despite your attempts to stall and convince me you don’t want to feel my touch. Or, you can continue on this path and see how quickly it lands you face down over my lap. How much happier will Jax be to see my hand leaving scarlet prints all over your bare ass cheeks?”

“You wouldn’t.” There wasn’t any outrage in her voice, but she didn’t believe he’d punish her in front of everyone in the room. She was wrong.

“Are you confident enough in your theory to test it,
cher
? Because I assure you, I am definitely up to the task. I can promise you, every other Dom in the room has already taken notice of our prolonged discussion, and they’ll be expecting my patience to end very, very soon.” He watched as her eyes darted around the room, noting each of the men glancing their way at various points.

Mitch knew when her gaze met Phoenix’s—her soft gasp and the quick catch in her respiration meant she hadn’t missed the lust in the man’s eyes. “I can tell by the way your body is responding, you’ve seen the desire in your other Master’s eyes. Remember, the submissive always holds the reins—submission is all about trust, and our desire is fed by yours.” He loved the way her pulse throbbed at the base of her throat, it told him everything he needed to know about the way his words were affecting her.

When he felt her take a deep breath before relaxing against him, Mitch knew he’d won the first battle. There was little doubt she’d test them again, hell, she’d probably test them every single day. It was ironic really. He’d never been drawn to subs who weren’t already trained, and he knew Phoenix was of a like mind, but there was something about her that drew him like a moth to a flame. He’d felt the pull the first time he’d seen her, and it hadn’t abated in the intervening months.

Aspen might feel like she’d done her homework, but there was a stark difference between reading about the lifestyle and actually immersing yourself in it. The rules often seemed arbitrary to newbies, but each and every rule he and Phoenix would insist she follow would have a very specific purpose. There would be times the only purpose of a rule was to ensure she maintained a certain level of discipline, but more often than not, rules were in place to insure her safety.

As far as Mitch was concerned, every Dom’s number one responsibility was to cherish and protect his submissive. As his friends would attest, it wasn’t always a popular position to be in, but that would never change the fact safety trumped all other concerns. But right now, safety wasn’t an issue, and she was deliberately holding back, so it was time to explain exactly where her hesitance had gotten her.

“I think you are far more interested in playing in front of an audience than you’re owning up to. You may not even be willing to admit it to yourself yet, but I’m going to show you how much fun playing in front of others can be.” She stiffened against him again, but this time, her eyes were alight with desire rather than hesitance.

“We still have time to play a bit before they start talking to us about anything important.” With those words, Mitch turned her so her back was against his chest and pulled the front of her pleated skirt up to the top of her thighs. Hooking his feet around her ankles it was easy to pull her legs apart exposing her bare sex to everyone standing in front of them. Phoenix’s eyes flashed an enflamed look in her direction and Mitch wanted to laugh at the curse he saw his friend utter.