The Masters of Falcon's Fantasies [BDSM Menage Fantasies 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (23 page)

“It’s okay,” Daphne said in a small voice. She blinked hard and Decker jerked forward a little, wanting to kneel next to her and take her in his arms. But this wasn’t the time or the place, and she wasn’t his to be comforted. Finn, surprisingly, leaned down and nuzzled her hair. Maybe there was hope for him yet, Decker thought.

Dave gave a short laugh. “We may have given him the impression that there were armed guards patrolling the woods with orders to shoot intruders on sight. It’s not my fault he’s gullible.”

“We haven’t been watching much of the news lately,” Allie said, glancing at Daphne. “Are they still—”

Chuck shook his head. “There are more interesting things going on around town at the moment. They’ve forgotten.”

“Interesting?” Karl called from his position by the grill.

Chuck and Tony exchanged impish grins before Chuck explained. “There’s a video board over on the highway into town. Somebody—we think it was probably local kids—broke into it the other day.”

He smiled at Daphne’s confused look. “One of those things we put up along the road with messages like ‘Click it or Ticket.’ That kind of thing.”

“And?” Allie frowned. “What did they do to it?”

Dave let out a laugh as Chuck’s grin grew broader. “They changed the message. Now it says ‘Lick it or Ticket.’ The local news has been having a field day. Chief may have a coronary if they show it one more time on television. It actually made national news once. He’s been getting calls from his cronies nonstop to rib him about it.
”

Daphne smiled as the others laughed, but Decker could tell she was still brooding about her own recent news fiasco.

“So what else is going on with you guys?” Decker said, leaning back and crossing one ankle over the other knee. Dave and his crew could always be counted on for some sort of fascinating trouble or crisis. He hoped they would have some stories that might cheer Daphne up. Then he scolded himself for worrying about her. He was going to leave, damn it. He had no place trying to cheer up a woman who wouldn’t even be in his life in another day or two.

“Not much,” Dave said. “The boys and I are working on our act for next Saturday night.”

“Next Saturday night?” Brad had come over to grab a beer and sit next to Allie while the meat was cooking. “What’s going on then?”

“They’re hosting a talent show at the club,” Dave said. “Don’t tell me you guys don’t have some big song-and-dance planned.”

Brad laughed. “Right. I’m going to balance a checkbook for our first number. Then Allie will ser—” He stopped.

Allie’s eyes narrowed. “Allie will what?”

A panicked look flashed across his face. “Allie will simply walk across the stage so everyone can see what a beautiful and talented Mistress I have. You know, I think I hear the meat burning.” He jumped up and scurried back to where Karl was turning over the patties with a lot of sizzle and splatter.

Allie watched him go then shrugged and stood up as well. “You’d think that being an accountant he’d have a better memory for the things we donate. We put up a free weekend as the grand prize for the contest. If the burgers are almost ready
,
I’d better bring out the rest of the meal.”

Daphne made a motion to go with her but hesitated, turning to Finn. “I love talent shows,” she said. “Can we go?”

“I think we’ll be done before then, Daph.” Finn emptied his bottle and handed it to her. “Would you mind getting me another one?”

She took it and started walking away as Decker’s stomach dropped. He almost looked under his chair to see if it had landed on the ground, which was what it had felt like. Telling himself he would be gone in a couple of days was completely different than hearing Finn say they were going to leave in a few days.

“You aren’t in that big of a hurry to go, are you?” Dave asked Finn. “The three of you could come up with something really cool, I bet. Decker was always doing that kind of shit when we were kids. It’d be a great way for him to get back into the community. I’m really happy to see the three of you together.”

“Oh, we’re not—” Decker began, but Brad was calling, “Anybody who likes your burger rare, come and get
’
em!”

Everyone began to head over to get their food. Decker caught Finn’s eye as he stood and shrugged. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to give that impression.”

Finn waved off the apology and turned away with a thoughtful look.

* * * *

Finn hadn’t been so relaxed in—well, he couldn’t remember when. He had eaten two burgers and three brats, two helpings of Allie’s potato-and-something-green-and-spicy salad, about twenty sticks of deep-fried jicama, and was currently contemplating a plate of cookies. He knew if he asked what they contained, the answer would probably take away his desire to try them. But he was beginning to see the value in Decker’s “Don’t ask, just taste” policy. Trying not to analyze the oddly-shaped chunks in the dough, he took one for him and one for Daphne, who was sitting pressed against his knees, eating the burger that he had insisted on, and passed the plate over to Decker.

“Thanks.” Decker didn’t even look at the cookie, or at least not closely. He simply took three and popped one into his mouth. “Mmm. So, what did you think about the talent show?”

Daphne twisted herself toward him, smiling enthusiastically. “It sounds like a lot of fun! Are you going?”

“I don’t know.” Decker shrugged, giving Finn an odd look. “I’m not sure what my plans are. Where will you guys go when you’re done here?”

“Well, back to LA, I guess,” Finn said. Then something occurred to him. The city
might not be the best place for her right now. He pictured Daphne back in her own solitary apartment, feeling despondent and with nothing to do. He knew she was bound to get into some kind of trouble. Blaze would see to that. Blaze hated him and the fact that he was trying to get Daphne to take her career more seriously. They would start partying again
,
and he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. She always did that at the end of a project. He tilted his head to the side, regarding Daphne. “Or would you like to stay on here for a while? The peace and quiet would do you good, and it seems to be a good place for you to write. What do you think?”

Daphne’s face lit up. “Do you think we could? I’d be able to take more cooking lessons from Allie then! I’d really like that, Finn.” Then she turned toward Decker with a shy look. “Why don’t you stay
,
too?”

Finn felt a familiar stab of jealousy go through him. She seemed so drawn to Decker—almost dependent on him. Decker made a noncommittal noise at her question, glancing at him. Suddenly Dave’s words came back to Finn: “the three of you together.” Could he do that? Allie, Brad
,
and Karl managed it. He looked over to where the three of them were finally sitting down with their own food, having made sure their guests were served. They seemed pretty happy. He had to admit that he envied the structure that was evident in their relationship. Karl was undoubtedly the boss, but that didn’t seem to bother Brad or Allie. He treated them with respect
,
and they deferred to his opinions and decisions. Everybody seemed to know their place and worked well together in their own roles. He’d watched them, Brad especially. Brad was the only one that worked outside of the business. He undoubtedly had been paying many of the bills while they built their reputation as a BDSM resort, but he didn’t seem at all resentful. He even worked as Karl’s photographic assistant on the weekends. When there was work to be done around the house, they all pitched in. Finn had never seen an argument between the three, although he knew that they set aside time every week to discuss their relationship and their businesses to work out any issues.

Conversation was casual during the meal, although there was plenty of laughter. Chuck treated them to funny stories about things he’d seen as a cop, Tony teased him about the local high school girls who had crushes on him, and Dave watched indulgently, occasionally talking about the local BDSM community or asking about Karl’s projects.

When Daphne got up to help Allie take the leftovers inside, Finn turned to Decker. “You know, we do still want to do that scene that we’d talked about.”

“Ah, yes. The scene.” Decker stared out at the distant ocean, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful hand. “I’d almost forgotten about it with the drama lately. When did you want to do it?”

“Well, that depends. I wish I knew how she would react to it. Would it pump her up, focus her back on her work? Or would it be better to keep it as a reward for when her work is done? What do you think?”

Decker was silent for a moment, and then he turned to Finn. “I have an idea for that,” he said. “You’d have to stay through next weekend, and it would take a little preparation. Are you willing to work with me on it without telling Daphne yet?”

Allie had to admit it. She was actually going to miss the singer when she and her band left. Daphne had begun getting up in the morning to help her cook breakfast, even when she was out in the barn rehearsing, or whatever they did out there, until midnight or later.

They were sitting at the kitchen table at six o’clock on Wednesday morning, recipe books spread out in front of them, pointing out possibilities.

“Black bean pancakes?” Daphne said, turning the book so Allie could see the picture.

“Hmm. Maybe if we add raspberries to it,” Allie mused, and Daphne giggled.

“Sometimes I think you just like freaking out Brad and Finn with the strangest things you can come up with.” She pointed a playfully accusing finger at Allie and raised one eyebrow.

“How do you do that?” Allie tried to mimic the one eyebrow thing but just ended up making a face that caused Daphne to burst into giggles.

“Don’t sidestep the question,” Daphne said when she could speak again. “Do you, or do you not, enjoy making those two squirm with your, shall we say
,
unusual
ingredients?”

Allie thought about it, chin in hand. “I guess I can’t completely deny it. Tell you what. Let’s make them some instant muffins
,
and you and I go out for breakfast. It seems like I hardly ever get to go out anymore.”

“Okay!” Daphne jumped to her feet and began rummaging around in cupboards. “I’m sure we can find them an interesting collection of stuff to eat.”

At seven precisely, Daphne put the note that Allie had insisted on next to an assortment of muffins, cookies, bagels, bread, and a big pot of coffee on the dining room table. They went out to the Z3 and took off, Daphne driving, top down, music blaring.

“What time do you have to be back?” Allie screamed over the noise of the radio and the wind as they flew down the road toward town.

Daphne shrugged. “When I feel like it. I’m thinking maybe we should take the day off, drive down the coast, have a girls’ day out. What do you think?”

“Won’t Finn be mad?”

“Of course.” Daphne waved a hand cheerfully in the air, her expression making it clear that Finn’s reaction was not her concern. “He’s always mad about something anyway. It won’t hurt him.”

“What about your schedule?”

“We can make up the time tomorrow.” The car swooped around a tight curve, tires screaming, and Daphne threw her head back and laughed. “Isn’t this glorious? It’s like flying.”

Allie checked her seat belt and tried to get a grip on the door and her seat without looking too much like she was holding on for dear life. “Fun,” she agreed in a semi-hysterical screech. “But I thought you and Finn were taking the D/s stuff more seriously.”

Daphne glanced at Allie and her face became thoughtful. Their speed decreased a fraction.

“Yeah, we were.”

“Then do you really think we should just take off?”

They looked at each other. Slowly Daphne took her foot off the accelerator. Allie was relieved to see that, since they were just crossing the city limits sign. She glanced around nervously for police, not sure whether she was hoping for one or not. Maybe Chuck, she thought. He’d understand.

“But I wanted a break. I wanted us to spend some time together,” Daphne said, a plaintive note in her voice.

Allie pointed up the street. “There’s a really nice diner right up here
. It’s called Peckish
. Let’s stop there to eat, and we can talk about this.”

They parked and got out of the car, but Allie saw that there was a frown creasing Daphne’s forehead.

As they sat down, Daphne asked the waitress for two coffees. She gave the menu a glum look. “Do you really think it would ruin everything if we took off for the day?”

“Yes, I do. I think you could get away with breakfast, but if you’re not back and ready to work by nine, Finn will assume that you’re defying his authority. And, really, you would be.”

“His authority?” Daphne slapped the table. “What right does he have—”

Allie cut her off. “He has the right that you gave him when you hired him as your manager, and again when you agreed to try a D/s relationship. You might feel sometimes like it’s a little stifling. I can appreciate that, believe me. D/s isn’t easy. But if you want to get the benefits of it, just like anything else, you have to put the work into it. Even when you don’t really feel like it, when you’d rather go play for the day. Would you give away your career for a day driving down the coast?”