Bound to be Tested: Emergence, Book 3 Page 5

  “I better go check on Lori.” Jason stood.

  Carlton bit his tongue to keep from saying the next words, but they came out anyway. “And Maggie. I’m sure it was the weirdest night of her life. Please…make sure she’s okay.”

  Jason nodded. “Of course. You know I will. I think of her like my own daughter.” He paused. “Remind me why you call her Maggie exactly?” He grinned at Carlton.

  Carlton shrugged. “Suits her. I like it.”

  “Okay. Whatever.” Jason exited as quickly as he’d entered, leaving Carlton standing in the office alone. It was so quiet.

  What he wanted to do was go check on the women himself, but that wouldn’t be appropriate since Jason was closer to them and the club owner.

  Instead he slumped back into the chair he’d occupied before Jason arrived and tried to gather his thoughts.

  Chapter Four

  A rhythmic pounding noise shook Lori awake. She opened her eyes with a start and then squinted at the brightness of the room. What time was it?

  The pounding happened again.

  Lori rolled over and glanced at the clock. Twelve thirty. Lord. She never slept that late.

  More pounding. Someone was at the door. Where was Margaret?

  The house was silent. Maybe Margaret had left and forgotten her keys.

  Lori pulled herself to sitting, her body reacting as though she had a hangover. She tried to shake the ache from her neck and head, but to no avail.

  The pounding again. She grabbed the quilt off the bed and wrapped it around her naked body in a dash to the front door. Anything to stop the knocking.

  When she opened the door, she found Jason standing there. He was shuffling back and forth on both legs, his brow furrowed. He exhaled when she stepped back to let him in. “What’s the matter?”

  Worry crawled into her from every angle. He rarely showed up unannounced and certainly not with such insistence. Maybe something had happened at the club?

  Jason looked her up and down, ignoring her question. “Were you still sleeping?”

  “Yes.” She pulled the blanket around her tighter.

  “And you aren’t even dressed?”

  “Nope.”

  “Jeez, woman. Go put some clothes on.”

  “I would have if someone hadn’t been banging on my door as though the apocalypse had occurred.” Lori turned toward her room and left him standing in the entry.

  She grabbed the first things she could lay her hands on, a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Not bothering with a bra or panties, she shrugged into the clothes and returned to the living room, finger combing her mess of curls.

  “So who died?” She found him wandering around the room, looking too disheveled for her taste.

  He turned toward her, spinning on his heel, and narrowed his gaze at her. “You tell me. I heard Jude was back in town.”

  Lori opened her mouth and then closed it. She’d been ignoring that detail since the moment she’d opened her eyes, hoping it had all been a bad dream.

  Of course Jason would have heard all the gory details first thing this morning.

  “Did you talk to him?” Lori rounded the couch and plopped down, curling her legs under her.

  Jason shook his head. “No. Otherwise I wouldn’t be asking you the tough questions. Did you know he was back?”

  “Nope. Not until he waltzed onto my scene and took over.”

  “That’s what I heard.” Jason took a seat across from her. “Was it bad? Are you okay?”

  “It was… Hell, I don’t even know what it was and I’m—” She decided not to lie. “Nope, not fine.”

  Jason glanced around. “Where’s Margaret?”

  Lori ducked her head. “No idea. You know as much as I do.” Where was Margaret and why had she left without waking Lori? A chill went down her spine. How mad was Margaret in the light of day?

  “Did he tell you what he was doing in town? Or how long he’s planning to stay?”

  “No.” She lifted her gaze. “He didn’t say a word, except of course to point out my inconsistencies as a Domme and set me straight.”

  “You know that was bullshit, right?”

  She nodded. “Intellectually.” She looked away, trying to rein in her anger, fear, frustration…

  “You’re a solid Domme in a fantastic, perfectly suited relationship. You know that.”

  “Am I?” She looked around. “Are you sure? Where’s my sub now?”

  The door to the apartment opened, and Lori yanked her gaze to watch Margaret step inside as though on cue. She let out a long exhale she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. Thank God.

  Lori stood, uncurling her legs and jumping up as though she’d done something wrong. She wiped her hands on her jeans. “Maggie.” She rarely called Margaret by that nickname. It didn’t suit their formal D/s relationship, but at the moment all she saw was her friend, who had to be hurting and possibly pissed.

  Margaret nodded. “I went for a run.” She wiped her forehead with the tail of her shirt and kicked off her tennis shoes.

  “Are you okay?” Jason asked.

  “Of course.” She walked through the room to the adjoining kitchen without making eye contact with either of them. Moments later she returned with a bottle of water. “What’s the matter with you two? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Don’t be coy, Margaret. The elephant has already stepped into the room and shit on the floor.”

  Margaret plopped down on the couch next to Lori. Not close enough to touch, but at least in the same vicinity. “Sorry.” She pulled her shirt over her head now and wiped her face with it. Sweat dripped down around her ears. Her hair was wet. She’d run hard.

  While Margaret’s face was hidden, Lori stared at the woman she’d shared a life with for over a year. She was movie-star gorgeous. Any man would be ecstatic to have her. Her long, lithe body was perfectly sculpted. Sitting there in only her sports bra and track shorts, Lori had no choice but to admire her features.

  Except Margaret wasn’t into men. Too bad for the male population. Many a man deflated in front of Lori’s eyes when they realized the woman was hers and unavailable to them.

  Normally on a Saturday morning they would be in full-time D/s mode. Today was precarious.

  “Have you seen him?” Margaret asked Jason.

  “No. But I intend to.”

  “We don’t even know where he is. Maybe that was it. Maybe he popped into Emergence last night, realized his stupidity and left town.” Lori didn’t believe that but she could hope.

  Hell, the damage was probably already irrevocable. Even if none of them ever saw him again, he’d made his mark on their lives.

  “I’ll make some calls,” Jason said.

  “Don’t,” Lori responded. Margaret flinched at her side. “I mean, let it be. If he’s back, we’ll deal with it. If not…” What?

  Jason stood. “Carlton is fit to be tied.” He glanced at both of them.

  “I’m sure he is,” Margaret said. “Tell him we’re fine and we don’t blame him for what happened.”

  “Like he’ll buy that pack of lies.” Jason stepped to the door and then turned back. “Call me. I know you two have a lot to discuss, but please call me.”

  Lori nodded.

  In an instant he was gone and the apartment was silent.

  Lori wrung her hands in her lap. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You’ve said that. If you keep harping, I’m going to develop a complex.” Margaret stood and left the room. Moments later Lori heard the shower running.

  Lori leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. What the fuck was she supposed to do now?

  She had no idea what Jude knew about Margaret. He could have spoken to Carlton, or any other member of the club for that matter, since she’d seen him. Would he
leave her alone if he found out she was in a relationship, that she hadn’t been simply enacting a scene with a stranger last night?

  No. If he wanted Lori back, he would fight for her. That’s the kind of man he was. No way would he bow out and leave things be. She knew him well enough to make that judgment. No matter what he ascertained from someone else, if he was back, he’d hunt her down and make every attempt to win her over.

  Lori took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her entire body tingled thinking about him. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to remember the feel of his hands on her body for the first time in two years. She’d never entertained memories of him since he’d left. To do so would have driven her mad.

  And now…now he consumed her thoughts. “Shit.” She ran her hands through her hair and then trailed them down her body, grazing over her nipples before gripping her thighs.

  Her heart rate sped and she pictured Jude gazing intently into her eyes. She pictured his hands on her breasts, pinching her nipples until they stood out stiff and sore. She loved the way he could bring her close to orgasm from the simple stimulation to her breasts.

  Her breathing increased and her nipples rubbed against her sweatshirt. She hadn’t worn a bra when she was with him. Almost never. With the possible exception of certain clothes she wore outside the house, Jude preferred her breasts to be bare, always available to him.

  Even when they were out of the house, he would pull her against him in the car and reach under her shirt to fondle her tits until she squirmed with need. He’d insist she remain still with her hands at her sides while he worked her into a state of arousal. He knew exactly how to time his attention to her chest just right so that the moment they arrived at their destination, she was a ball of need.

  Lori squeezed her hands into tight fists and let them fall to her sides, remembering how he would step from the car as though nothing had happened and demand she follow him so fast she could barely make her legs cooperate with the command. Like jelly, she would wobble at his side, her pussy pleading silently to no avail for release.

  Lori wanted to rub her pussy, let her fingers delve between her legs and press into the nub that now felt constricted beyond belief. But she couldn’t do it. Even masturbating to the memory of Jude felt like a betrayal of his orders. Orders that were old and in no way effective.

  And yet, here she sat for so long her hands hurt from gripping them into fists. But she didn’t dare touch herself. As though the demands of a long-lost Dom still ruled her every waking moment.

  She had no idea how long she waited. She couldn’t move. She didn’t even know what she would do if she stood. She was frozen in time. Waiting…for what?

  Finally Margaret returned from her shower.

  Lori jerked her head to see over her shoulder. Her neck ached from sitting there so long, stiff from lack of movement.

  Margaret walked by without a word and headed for the kitchen. Seconds later she padded back down the hall with another bottle of water.

  What the fuck was Lori supposed to do now?

  She stood, wiped her hands on her jeans and headed for the master bath on resistant legs. Facing Margaret head-on was the only respectable way she could handle this. She leaned against the counter and twisted her hands while she waited for Margaret to dry her hair.

  Margaret finally set the dryer down and met Lori’s gaze.

  “I never meant for this to happen.”

  “I know.” Margaret sighed. She put on the clothes she’d set next to the sink and reached for her comb. Her gorgeous black hair shone.

  Finally she turned to Lori. She paused as though thinking about her next words.

  Lori decided to spare her the confrontation. “I need some time.”

  Margaret nodded and glanced down.

  They stood in silence for long moments.

  “I’m in love with you,” Margaret said.

  “I know.” Lori squeezed her hands into fists. Damn Jude for putting her in this position. She’d been going along fine without him. One night and he’d shaken her to the core and made her doubt her position. Fuck him.

  Margaret opened her drawer under the sink and began removing things. She stuffed them into her toiletry kit. “I’m going to go stay with some friends. You need to sort this out.”

  “Yes.” Lori’s throat closed. Tears formed in her eyes. She was hurting the most important person in her life. And she had no choice. Now that Jude was in town, she had to find out what the hell he wanted from her. And she had to decide if she could risk her heart on him. She swallowed a mixture of aggravation and sorrow.

  When Margaret paused to look at her, Lori stepped closer. She tentatively wrapped her arms around Margaret’s middle and held on for life.

  Margaret returned the hug but not with the same amount of intensity she normally would have used. Before Jude. “I have to go.” She released Lori and scrambled from the room.

  Lori didn’t move. She stood rooted to the bathroom tile, listening to Margaret as she quickly packed a bag. Margaret paused in the bathroom door before she left. “I love you. I hope you figure things out. I want the best for you.”

  And then she left.

  Jason pulled up to the rear of Emergence and stepped from the car before he saw the man leaning casually against the back wall. He paused for a moment as he shut the car door, his gaze landing on a larger, tanner, balder Jude than the one he remembered.

  He ambled slowly toward the man who used to be his closest friend.

  “Is she okay?”

  Oh, so right to the chase.

  Jason unlocked the back door and stepped inside, Jude on his heels. “What do you think?” he asked without turning around.

  “I didn’t mean for it to go down like that… Last night, I mean.”

  “Really?” Jason turned on him as he entered his office. “And how exactly did you intend for it to ‘go down’? Did you think she’d be sitting at the bar, waiting for you to return to her side? Perhaps wearing your collar?” He circled his desk and tapped on the surface with one hand. “Or maybe you thought she’d be with another Dom or married with a kid and one on the way. What the fuck were you thinking, Jude?” His voice rose as he finished the line of questions.

  Jude slumped into the chair Carlton had been sitting in the first time Jason entered the office this morning. Where was Carlton now? For his sake, he hoped the man was out to lunch or running errands.

  Jude swallowed. “I didn’t think. It was stupid and irresponsible of me.”

  Jason plopped onto his chair. “Ya think?”

  “How bad is it?”

  “The damage to Lori’s relationship with Margaret? Not sure yet. But that’s the only thing you should be concerning yourself with right now. Anything else isn’t yours to worry about.” Jason leaped up as anger coursed through his body. He rounded the desk and got into Jude’s personal space.

  What he wanted to do was slap him, but he was too big of a man for that sort of behavior. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Who do you think you are? Do you know what you did to that woman? You broke her spirit, ruined her for other men. Fucked with her mind until she was a shredded shell of her former self. She’s finally whole again and she’s been in a committed relationship for over a year.”

  He stepped away and paced back and forth to keep his hands from acting of their own accord. “Lori isn’t yours anymore. She’s moved on. I helped her for months to pull herself together. She’s. Not. Yours. Don’t toy with her.”

  Jason shook his head, nowhere near done. “How dare you show up here at my club after two years? The only excuse I ever came up with in my mind for your stupidity was that you had contracted some incurable disease and selfishly left to avoid some misguided notion that you didn’t want Lori to watch you die a slow death.”

  Jason stepped up to his old friend and leaned into his fac
e. “Here you are, and you aren’t fucking dead. That really pisses me off.”

  Jude hadn’t said a word. He’d let Jason rant until he was exhausted and had said his piece. He wasn’t an ass about it. He maintained eye contact the entire time, which infuriated Jason more.

  “I’m sorry.” Jude was tired. His eyes were bloodshot, and dark circles surrounded them. The man looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

  Jason found it hard to care. “That’s it? You’re fucking sorry?” He flung his hands up in the air in exasperation.

  “Yes. Unfortunately that’s all I’m at liberty to disclose.”

  “At liberty to disclose? What sort of highfalutin jargon is that?” He turned and punched a hole in the drywall, thankful he’d missed a two-by-four.

  “It’s all I’ve got, man.” Jude dipped his head.

  “Well, it’s not good enough.” Jason flexed his sore fingers. “You were my friend. Forget what you did to Lori. I thought you and I were friends. You were the head Dom at my club. You nearly ran this place. I’d have given my right arm for you. What the fuck are you doing back here?”

  “I’m going to retire soon. I came back to finish my last year with the Army National Guard unit.”

  “Retire? You’re what? Thirty-eight?”

  “Yep. That’s twenty years in the military.” Jude stood, his hands hanging loose at his side. “I wish there was something else I could say.”

  “Well, if there isn’t, then there’s no reason to continue this conversation.” Jason pointed at the door. “Get out. Get the fuck out and don’t come back here. Stay away from Lori. Stay away from Emergence. Whatever rock you crawled out from under, go back there. Leave.”

  Jude nodded. He didn’t say another word. He lifted his head and walked out the door.

  Jason stood rooted to his spot as he listened to the back door to the building open and slam shut. He shook as he lowered his arm finally. “Fuck.”

  Carlton saw the car pull out of the back parking lot as he pulled in. He eased into his spot, gripping the steering wheel and taking deep breaths before he exited the car.