Mastering Melody (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

Ryan freezes when he reaches page five, but he doesn’t comment.

Finally he reaches over, grabs a pen, and goes to scrawl his signature beside mine and Bradley’s. But then he stops, puts down the pen, and moves to lean on the front of his desk, his legs crossed at the ankles in an obvious attempt to appear casual.

“Good to see we still have the same hard limits,” he says to his brother with a smile. He finally glances at me, but it’s only to growl, “Eyes down, sub.” I quickly drop my gaze, suddenly very nervous. I keep trying to remind myself that I know this man, but he’s never been quite so intimidating. I shiver in reaction but almost sigh with relief when Bradley notices, places his hand on the back of my neck, and squeezes gently.

The silence is starting to frighten me. Again the brothers seem to be communicating without actual words. Eventually though, Bradley says, “It was my idea.”

I think I understand what part of the contract Ryan is concerned over, but I feel just a little bit smug that he nearly signed it before giving his brother a chance to change his mind.

“And you’re okay with this contract, little sub?”

“I signed it, didn’t I?” I ask sarcastically. I’m just a little too on edge wondering what will happen next that I completely forget the correct response. Bradley’s hand tightens on the back of my neck, but it’s Ryan’s response that has me wishing I’d listened to all of my fiancé’s warnings.

“Up,” he says, lifting me to my feet with a hard grip on my arm. “Bend over my desk.”

I’m shivering, barely able to hold my arms locked as he arranges me in the exact pose he wants. Arms braced against the desktop, my ass in the air, and my head down. I can’t deny that I’m actually turned on by this, but it’s the waiting that’s messing with my head.

“You heal nicely, little sub,” he says as his fingers travel over my bottom. “Just as well”—I don’t like the sound of the laugh that escapes him—“because I suspect you are going to be one very troublesome sub to train.”

He shows me the paddle that he’s chosen from the wall display, and I nearly want to scream my safe word. I shiver convulsively as he rubs the wood over my ass cheeks.

“Do you know the correct way to address a Dom when he asks you a question?”

I want to lie and say no, but that would make Bradley look bad. He’s spent the last two weeks going over what is expected from a sub in training and I’ve let him down in the first five minutes. Even then I still consider lying—my ass hurt for days last time and Ryan only used his hand. How long will I ache from a paddle? Worse still, if I handle this situation badly it might just make him change his mind about signing the contract.

I really,
really
want him to sign the contract.

“Yes, Sir, I know the correct way to address a Dom. I’m sorry for forgetting.”

“Next time you have the urge to use sarcasm inside my club, I want you to remember this.”

“Yes, Sir,” I say, resigning myself to the fact that I need to go through this. I don’t particularly want the pain, but I do want to experience all that the lifestyle has to offer. And to do that, I need Ryan to sign the contract.

Yet, still he makes me wait. Fuck, the man is going to drive me insane long before we get to the good parts. Doesn’t he know how impatient I am?

Damn.

He’s known me all my life. Of course he knows how impatient I am, and the rotten man is using it against me. I let my head drop further, my eyes closing as I seek deep inside me for the patience I’m going to need to get through three weeks of training.

The first hit lands on my left butt cheek, and it hurts, it really,
really
hurts, but I suck in a breath, move my sweaty hands back to the position where Ryan placed them, and wait patiently for the second.

But it never comes.

“Kneel beside your Dom,” he says as he helps me to straighten up. I almost sag in relief. I want to rub away the sting, but I’m not sure I’m allowed to, so I nod my understanding and return to my position on the floor. I can’t stop the hiss of pain as I accidently press my heel against a very sore spot as I try to kneel down.

I almost purr like a kitten when Bradley leans forward and rubs gently across the sore spot. I’m a little disconcerted to realize the paddle has left a strange raised welt on my skin, but I try to ignore it for now. There’s a reason I came looking for this kind of lifestyle. My dreams of a perfect future are actually in reach. I don’t want to mess things up now.

“Okay,” Ryan says as he leans against the front of his desk once more. “Let’s try this again. Are you happy with this contract, little sub?”

“Yes, Sir,” I say respectfully.

“Even with the part that says I can fuck you as part of your training?”

“Yes, Sir,” I say again, too afraid to add anything else.

Ryan and Bradley are doing that silent-communication thing again, but this time I don’t look up, I don’t try to figure out what’s happening. This time I just wait patiently and hope that Ryan signs the damn contract.

* * * *

Ryan had spent the past two weeks alternating between dreading and anticipating this contract. Spending time with Melody again was going to be bittersweet, but he’d never expected Bradley to give him permission to have sex with his fiancée. When Ryan had read that part his cock had grown so hard it had taken him several minutes just to talk himself back down.

Fuck, considering that he was well known for his control when it came to dealing with subs, it was disconcerting that the woman engaged to marry his brother could make him feel so out of control. Fucking her now was going to make the future awkward—he knew that deep down—but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make love to the woman who still haunted his dreams.

He wanted to rub his eyes tiredly, but he didn’t want to show that type of vulnerability in front of his trainee sub, or his brother, so he turned back to his desk, grabbed the pen, and signed his name.

Their fate sealed, Ryan sat back, crossed his arms, and turned his attention to the woman he and his brother would share for the next three weeks…and silently prayed he hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of his life.

I’m shivering all over with anticipation, my stomach doing flip-flops, but I try to remain outwardly calm as I wait for instructions. Bradley runs his hand up and down my neck affectionately for a moment before lifting to his feet.

“Room five?” he asks as he helps me to stand. This part of being a sub is going to take a while to get used to. My legs feel uncoordinated as I try to stand beside my fiancé. Thank heavens he’s there to hold me up.

“Last chance to back out, little sub,” Ryan says as he comes to stand in front of me. When did he get so large? Shit, until this very moment, with Bradley behind me and Ryan in front, I’ve never noticed how intimidatingly tall they both are. Add that to the acres and acres of muscles they both own and I am in serious…hmmm…
trouble
might be the word I’m looking for here, but it sure seems to be the type of trouble I came looking for.

“No, thank you, Sir,” I say in my most respectful voice. “I don’t want to back out.”

“Good girl,” he says as he lowers his head and kisses me softly on the lips. I’m starting to feel really good about our contract until he turns to Bradley and starts talking like I’m not in the room. “I promised Mitchell that I would check in with one of the new Doms. Perhaps it would be a chance to show off our pretty new pet.”

I frown at the word “pet,” but the sting on my left butt cheek reminds me to keep my mouth shut.

“Good idea,” Bradley says as he lifts his hands over my shoulders and starts to rearrange my breasts inside the lingerie. My first instinct is to push him away, which of course earns me a frown from the man in front of me.

“Cuffs?” he asks my fiancé.

“Sorry,” Bradley says, not really sounding sorry at all. “I threw away most of my equipment when I decided to pursue a vanilla life.”

I know that’s not quite true. Several times in the past two weeks Bradley has shown me his leather cuffs and discussed different scenarios. Whatever reason he has for wanting me to wear Ryan’s cuffs, he hasn’t explained it to me, but the mystery becomes even more intriguing when I notice the differences. The cuffs Ryan places on me are luxuriously padded, beautifully patterned, leather works of art. I sigh softly as he buckles them onto my wrists and then moves to do the same with my ankles. They’re the same ones he placed on me two weeks ago, but back then I’d been too upset to notice the exquisite detail. I suspect that these cuffs will be recognized as Ryan’s by every Dom and sub here tonight.

Bradley has just made it clear that, even though I’m wearing his engagement ring, I also belong to his brother. I’m almost too distracted by the lovely idea of belonging to both of them to notice when Ryan folds my arms behind me and clips the wrist cuffs together behind my back. With my elbows bent and my forearms resting against my lower back it’s actually quite comfortable. It doesn’t stop a streak of fear running through me, but I quickly settle when Bradley places his hands on my hips and caresses me softly.

I gasp when Ryan starts to undo the front of the corset I’m wearing. I even try to stop him by moving from side to side.

“Be still,” he orders as he grabs both of my nipples, squeezing them between the sides of his index fingers and the pads of his thumbs. I stop wriggling immediately, the strange sting causing both arousal and discomfort. Is this pain really turning me on?

I sigh as he lets go, but my relief is short lived as he drops to his knees and takes one of my nipples into his mouth. With my hands secured and Bradley behind me I have no way to stop whatever Ryan has planned. He sucks on my nipple, fingering the other one as he torments me until my knees grow weak, but it’s the thing that he attaches to my flesh that makes me cry out.

“Breathe through it,” he orders. I want to tell him what he can do with his fucking orders, but I grind my teeth and try hard to do what he said. I’m almost comfortable with the slight pain when he attaches the other one.

“Son of a—”

“Be quiet or I’ll gag you as well.”

I’m practically hissing through my clenched teeth. Thankfully, Ryan caresses the undersides of my breasts as he waits for me to gain control. “Good girl,” he whispers as I release a shuddering breath and try to relax. He smiles and presses a kiss to my forehead, and the pain is suddenly forgotten under the avalanche of emotions being here with him and Bradley is creating.

“Come on, little sub,” Ryan says as he nods to Bradley. Again there seems to be an entire conversation without words. Bradley grins, grips the back of my neck, and turns me toward the door. That’s when I finally realize they plan to parade me through the club with my tits hanging out.

* * * *

Bradley felt the exact moment Melody began to panic. He’d wanted to introduce her to the lifestyle slowly, but it had been Ryan who’d insisted that if she wasn’t ready now, then it probably wasn’t the lifestyle she was looking for. At the time Bradley had suspected it was his brother’s way of trying to scare Melody back into a vanilla life. But now he wasn’t so sure.

Exhibitionism was something Melody had agreed to, so arguing with his brother over their current course of action would just prove that
he
was the one who wasn’t ready.

“You look beautiful, baby girl,” Bradley said as he leaned to look over her shoulder. “Look down and see how pretty your breasts look. The nipples are ruby red, just begging to be sucked.” He caressed the back of her neck gently, feeling her relax just a little. “Ryan and I want to show the world how beautiful our submissive is. Are you ready?”

She glanced sideways, not actually lifting her gaze but clearly seeking Ryan’s reassurance as well. It was clear Ryan was trying to keep his distance, but Bradley was determined to bring him closer to Melody. It was the only way the future was going to work for all three of them, and Bradley had no intention of failing.

I’m terrified.

I know I agreed to exhibitionism, but at the time I’d imagined having sex with Bradley or Ryan while another couple watched. I hadn’t even given a thought to the likelihood of being paraded around the club barely dressed.

“Sir,” I ask, my voice quivering with nerves, “what if someone tries to touch me?”

“They’ll regret it,” Ryan says in a deadly voice. “Nobody touches another Dom’s sub without the Dom’s permission. Not in my club.”

I’m really relieved to hear that. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but for some reason I had the idea that I would be groped by hundreds of unseen assailants. I shake my head, trying to clear the wayward thoughts. I read so much on the Internet and discussed so many things with Bradley over the past two weeks that it’s all starting to roll into one very big, scary ball of the unknown.

Ryan moves to stand in front of me, and I feel tears prickle my eyes when he tips my chin so that I’m gazing directly at him. “Trust your Doms, little one. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Yes, Sir,” I say as I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

“Good girl.”