Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
“We need to get out of this room,” Noah stated after they’d all woken from their third nap of the day.
“I agree,” Ford said glancing at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed. “How about a walk around the immediate grounds before we go to dinner?”
Noah nodded, then glanced at Serena. “You like that idea, subbie?”
“Yes, Masters,” Serena said, her voice just above a whisper.
Once again her words sent a shiver down his spine and he had to smile. “Let’s do it.”
Throwing back the covers, Noah climbed out of bed and stepped into the closet and grabbed clean jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled them on and then went around the room gathering his clothes that he’d tossed on the floor earlier. After pulling on the socks, he folded the sweatpants and tossed them into the closet. They landed on top of his suitcase for later wear.
By the time he’d finished, Ford was fully dressed and was helping Serena pull on her clothes. In just a few minutes, Noah had Serena’s hand in his and was leading her out of the room.
He felt more rested than he had in weeks and felt like his younger self going on an adventure as they headed down the hall toward the lobby. A glance at Serena and then one over his shoulder at Ford, who followed them, showed they looked more awake and relaxed as well.
Maybe a day spent in their room hadn’t been such a bad idea after all. Now they were ready to face all the fun and games that Rawhide Ranch had to offer.
Needing to know about the layout of the Ranch, Noah headed for the reception desk when they reached the lobby. A tiny, fine-boned brunette stood behind the desk and smiled as they approached. He wondered if she was standing on a box to be seen over the desk. Her hair was pulled into two high ponytails and she wore a bright pink t-shirt and what looked like overalls. She must be a Little, though he wondered what she was doing running the reception desk if she was.
“Good afternoon,” she said in a bubbly voice as she began to bounce on her toes. “You must be Ford, Noah and Serena. Welcome to Rawhide Ranch. I’m Sadie Hawkins. I saw you checked in really late last night. Sorry your flights got all messed up.”
Noah could not help but smile back. “Good afternoon, Sadie. I’m Noah and this is Ford and Serena. I was wondering if you have a map of the Ranch available for guests?”
“We sure do,” Sadie said as she bounced around the desk to stand beside him. She took his arm and pulled him over to a literature rack. She looked around the rack for a moment before grabbing one of the colorful flyers and held it out to him. “Here we go, one map.”
“Thank you, Miss Sadie. This will keep us from getting lost when we go exploring,” Noah said with a smile for the owner’s wife.
He didn’t notice that Serena had dropped his hand and stepped away as he chatted. He did notice when Ford tugged sharply at his left earlobe.
“Well, we’ve got to go now.”
“Hope you have a great time while you’re here,” Sadie said with a curtsey before skipping back around the reception desk.
“I’m sure we will,” Ford said dryly. “Come along, Noah. We need to go find our girl.”
* * *
Serena recognized that Sadie was only being a friendly hostess, but it stung when Noah seemed to forget about her as he flirted with the woman. He didn’t even notice when she released his hand and walked away. She was surprised that Ford didn’t stop her, but he also seemed to be entranced by the tiny woman who was all bubbly smiles and sunshine.
Without looking back, she slipped out the front door and descended the stairs. Once on the driveway, she started jogging toward the front gate. Maybe the run to the Ranch’s entrance would help her release the sour feeling that had bubbled to life in her heart.
“Serena, stop.” Ford’s boss tone filled the air, forcing her to stop and turn back to face the resort.
Both men were coming down the porch stairs and began to jog in her direction. Watching the two men, so different and yet with similar views of life and love, Serena felt her heart squeeze as her pussy dampened.
They didn’t speak until they reached her. “Where were you going without us, subbie?” Ford asked, sounding none too pleased with her decision to leave them behind.
Kicking a piece of gravel down the road, she couldn’t look into either man’s face. “Thought I’d take a run to the entrance and back.”
“Not without us,” Ford said flatly. “A submissive doesn’t go off on their own around here. Especially not our submissive. Understand?”
Swallowing down her jealousy, Serena took a deep breath before nodding. Dropping her head forward, so they didn’t see the tears of hurt that were threatening to overflow her eyes, she stared at the toes of their sneakers as she answered, “Yes, Sir. I’m sorry, Sir.”
“When you apologize to me, I expect you to look me in the eye, honey,” Ford’s tone gentled as a single tear fell to the ground.
Blinking several times, Serena lifted her head and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Master Ford.”
She sniffed as two more tears overflowed her eyes and raced down her cheeks. She focused on Ford because she wasn’t sure she could look at Noah and not let her jealousy show.
“Apology accepted. Now, let’s all jog to the gates and back,” Ford said as he reached out and wiped his thumbs over her face.
Serena nodded without a word and began jogging again, this time with Ford on one side of her and Noah a half step behind on her other side. She forced herself not to look in Noah’s direction. Instead, she focused on the road in front of her while she picked up her pace in order to keep up with Ford and his long legs.
By the time they returned to the drive that circled around in front of the main building, she had worked through her reaction to Noah talking to Sadie Hawkins. She slowed to a walk as she followed a path that apparently went around the entire place. The men stayed with her, one on each side, though neither said a word. They simply walked with her, two big, silent shadows.
“I’m sorry I was jealous, Master Noah,” she finally said as they passed by a play area that looked scaled to adults.
“I’m sorry you thought I was flirting with Sadie,” Noah responded, sounding sincere. “I would never do anything like that to you. I didn’t realize my being friendly would look like something so different to you.”
Serena took a deep breath and held it. The two men stepped around her before turning to face her.
She released the breath in a whoosh before admitting, “You know that asking others for help has always been a challenge for me. Especially when I’m not sure what I’m supposed to ask for.”
“I know, sugar. We’re going to work on that this week. Now give me a hug and let’s go find some dinner before we go exploring.” Noah held his arms open wide.
Serena stared at them a moment before stepping up and throwing hers around his back. She smiled when his arms wrapped around her and held her tight.
“All right, you, two. I declare this disagreement over. Let’s go get something to eat.”