Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
When Erin spun away from him, he had his answer.
He might not like that answer—especially since it made his gut churn—but he had it. “Does he know?”
She stopped in front of Checkers’ stall and focused on the pinto Quarter Horse Dylan also rescued from the Lancaster kill pen. “I didn’t say I loved him.”
She glanced over her shoulder when he approached. “Erin, you didn’t have to. If you two love each other, I don’t want to be the third wheel in your relationship.” Why the hell did that hurt to say?
“You wouldn’t be.”
It didn’t go unnoticed how she didn’t deny that they loved each other, either. “You can’t know that. Do you really want to risk your relationship with him just so I can join you two for sex?” Changing the dynamic of any established relationship could lead to disaster.
“It wouldn’t be a risk since we’ve discussed it.”
But reality was much more complicated and eye-opening than simple conjecture. “Funny enough… So did we.”
“We?”
“Ford and I.”
Her brown eyes went wide. “When?”
“After you left the playroom.”
“I have no idea what you two discussed.”
“No?” His eyebrows raised. “He didn’t tell you anything that happened in that room once you left?”
In contrast, her eyebrows pinched together. “No, I haven’t seen or talked to him since then. Should he have?”
“I’d want to know if the person I loved was fucking someone else.”
“Again, he’s allowed to…” She blinked and, in an instant, her expression changed to disbelief. “He fucked you after I left?”
Dylan shook his head.
“Then, I’m confused.”
“I think he was at first, too.”
She stared at him with disbelief. “You fucked him?”
“Are you more surprised that I fucked him, or that he let me?”
“I mean, I know you two kissed. He told me that. But I didn’t realize…”
“Didn’t realize what?” he prodded.
“Well,” she started. “Kissing men is…”
“Just like Ford, I like men and women equally.”
“And he let you fuck him.”
“I said that.”
“He didn’t fuck you?”
“No.”
Her forehead scrunched.
“It had been a while for him, Erin. Not having sex with a man, apparently, but being the bottom.”
“I guess that’s my surprise since he tends to be dominant.” From his experience, being a “bottom” could mean two different things. In the BDSM world, it usually meant being a submissive. In the non-kink world, it meant you were the one getting penetrated. However, Dylan didn’t think any of those terms were set in stone.
Even so, he was surprised that none of what they did bothered her. “That’s it?”
She shrugged. “Again, he can do what he wants. Or who. It’s not his behavior that surprises me...”
“It’s mine,” Dylan finished for her.
“I had no idea.”
“None?” Bullshit. “He told you we kissed but since he wasn’t sporting a black eye or broken nose, that should’ve told you something.” He tipped his head to the side. “I think you’re covering for him.”
He waited for her response and got nothing in return. It was obvious that she already knew he was bisexual because Ford spilled the beans. Dylan should be pissed about that. Crazy enough, he wasn’t. “I wish you would’ve stayed to watch.”
“Me, too. I’m sure it was…” She waved a hand around before finishing with, “Stimulating.”
Stimulating was the perfect descriptor. At least for Dylan. “I tied him up the same way he had you tied up.”
Her lips parted and a flush rose from the neckline of her sundress all the way into her cheeks.
“Did you… Did he…” She visibly swallowed.
Did the thought of what he did to Ford turn her on? He dropped his gaze to her nipples.
Sure did.
“You should’ve stayed,” Dylan suggested. “You could’ve watched the man who dominates you be dominated.”
“Did he volunteer for that?”
“If you’re asking if I forced him, no. I also gave him an out. He didn’t take it. What does that tell you?”
Her eyes flared with heat and her next words were breathy. “I would’ve liked to have seen that.”
Interesting.
This Erin was nothing like he remembered. Of course, he didn’t consider that a bad thing but would’ve preferred to be the one to have introduced her to this lifestyle, not Ford.
Unfortunately, that bell couldn’t be unrung.
Now he wondered, if he had stayed in Fisher Falls and married Erin, would they have ended up as a typical vanilla couple simply going through the motions expected of them? All while hiding their true desires from each other, as well as others?
Most likely.
As much as he hated the fact that Erin married Hart when Dylan bolted after graduation, maybe it was for the best. Their sex life might’ve remained stunted and even slowly soured their relationship.
However, there was no point in what-ifs. They needed to move forward whether he joined the couple or not. Because it was becoming clear, if he wanted Erin, Ford was part of the package.
It also made him wonder about something else…
Ford had sex with Erin. Dylan had sex with Ford. Would Erin fuck Dylan without Ford around? Would this threesome be fluid? Or if he agreed, would they only have sex when it involved all of them at the same time?
He could test that theory. If Erin was willing.
He tucked a thumb under her chin, lifting her face to stare deep into her brown eyes, and lightly brushed his knuckles down her soft, heated cheeks. “Basically, you’re saying I can’t have you for myself and have to share you with Ford?”
He followed the path of her tongue when she licked her lips. “Yes.”
“Every time?”
“I…” Her throat rolled when she swallowed. “I guess it depends. That would be something we’d need to discuss.”
“A discussion like that indicates it wouldn’t only be a one-time thing.”
“Yes,” she answered with a lot more confidence than he expected.
With the blood now rushing to his cock, his growing erection got jammed in an awkward position in his jeans. “We never had sex, Erin. Not once.”
“Depends on what you consider sex,” she countered.
Of course, they fooled around plenty as teenagers but that wasn’t what he was talking about. “You know what I mean… We never fucked because we decided to wait.”
As difficult as that had been. Especially since she’d been against the idea and was constantly tempting him to take it further. That was when he learned how strong his willpower could be.
He continued, “I would like to change that. Since you and Ford have an open relationship, he shouldn’t mind, right?”
Her eyebrows pinched together. “What are you saying?”
“You have sex with Ford. I had sex with Ford. You and I haven’t had sex together yet. Think of it like a job interview. Otherwise, how do you know I can satisfy you? Maybe I can’t and you’ll rethink asking me to join you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just be straight about what you want, Dylan. You don’t need to make up crap to sleep with me.”
He had no problem being direct, if that was what she preferred. “One, this has nothing to do with sleeping. Two, what I said was true. But if you want it straight…” He leaned in until they were practically nose-to-nose. “I want to fuck you. Not in the future. Today.”
Her breathing hitched and goosebumps appeared out of nowhere to cover her tanned, normally smooth skin.
“Looks like you want that, too.” He drove his fingers into the long dark hair near her ear.
“Without Ford?” whispered over his lips.
“Without Ford,” he whispered back.
He closed the tiny gap between them to claim her mouth. With a groan, she clutched his T-shirt and welcomed the kiss. He took the opportunity to explore every inch of her mouth, reminding him of how good she tasted.
When they were dating, they kissed a lot . In the beginning they were inexperienced, so it was awkward, but they perfected it over time. Their first kiss the other week was also a bit awkward, and today?
Perfection all over again.
Almost as if they picked up where they left off seventeen years ago. The chemistry between them was as palpable now as it had been then.
He no longer wanted to take this further. He needed to. He needed to fuck her with an urgency he’d never felt before. Even as a horny teenager.
Barely pulling back enough to break their kiss, he murmured, “I take it that’s a yes?”
“What do you think?”
His eyes flicked down to the pounding pulse in her neck. “I never want to assume.”
“Is there somewhere close by where we can go?”
His house was only across the parking lot. Even so, that seemed too far away. He wanted her now . Plus, if they headed over to his residence, they risked being spotted by nosy people. Not guests, but his siblings.
He really didn’t want to hand them a reason to ride his ass.
Giving her a smile, he grabbed her hand and led her away from Checkers’ stall and into the nearby tack room, the only place inside the barn with a locking door.
She walked to the center of the room and glanced around. “Here?”
“There’s a lot of equipment in here.” None of it really meant for sex but it could easily be used for that.
“For riding?—”
“Yes.” He surveyed the tack room and keyed in on a couple of interesting items.
Grabbing a nearby riding crop, he slapped the wider, flat leather end against his palm. The sting and any resulting welts could easily be controlled by the power put behind the strike. Next, he slapped it harder against his denim-covered thigh, the sharp sound of the impact, along with the action gave her a sneak peek of what was to come.
He circled her, brushing the end of the leather tongue across her collarbones and shoulders. He didn’t miss her shiver and the way her dark eyes followed him.
After lightly tapping her ass with it, he set it within reach. Next, he pulled a well-broken-in stirrup leather from an English saddle stored on a wall rack. Stirrup leathers weren’t much different from a leather belt. He could use it to beat her ass or tie her up.
With pursed lips, he spotted the four-prong hook suspended from the ceiling used to hang bridles when cleaning or oiling them. That discovery was a sign to use the crop to spank her and the stirrup leather to tie her up.
He looped one end of the leather strap and secured it to the bridle hook before crooking a finger at her to come closer. With a naughty smile and slightly parted lips, she didn’t hesitate.
He pointed to the floor under the dangling stirrup leather. “Stand there.”
He was pleased to see she didn’t balk at taking orders. At least when it came to sex. He would never order a woman around, Erin or otherwise, in any other situation.
He circled her slowly again, this time slipping a spaghetti-thin dress strap off one slender shoulder before doing the same with the other.
This particular sundress had a zipper at the back, so with excruciating slowness, he pulled the tab down, making sure the back of his knuckles brushed against her warm skin as he went, following them with his lips.
When he was done, the light, colorful fabric easily slipped to the floor, landing in a whisper at her feet.
Since her breasts weren’t large or heavy, she could get away without wearing a bra, so no surprise she wasn’t wearing one. Her nipples, puckered tightly, made his mouth water.
They would have to wait.
Her thong gave him a great view of her ass. He visually inspected her firm cheeks to see if any of Ford’s marks remained.
Barely. He could only detect a little bit of slight bruising where he left the largest welts. Dylan would change that when he also left his own.
Unless she had an issue with him doing so. “He turned your ass cherry red. Do you get off on being spanked like that?
“Yes. Do you?”
Did her voice have a little tremor? “I like to do the spanking.” He trailed his fingers down her bare arms stopping at her wrists. He lifted them above her head. “Keep them there.”
“I always do what I’m told.”
He came around to face her and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re always a good girl and never a brat?”
The corners of her mouth curled up and her eyes held mischief. “I’m only a brat when I want to be spanked harder.”
“No need to be. If you want to be spanked harder, simply ask.”
“I can’t if my mouth is full.”
He stared at her. “Very true. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Looping the other end of the stirrup leather around her wrists, he used it to secure her arms over her head.
“What if someone sees us?”
The only people he wanted to avoid seeing them was his sister or twin. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about the guests. They were all on the property for a reason. Most of them for something similar to what they were about to do. “You kept the blinds open in the playroom. Do you really care?”
She shrugged as much as her suspended arms allowed. “No.”
“Do you hope someone sees us?”
“An audience would be,” she finished on a sigh, “intoxicating.”
“So unexpected,” he murmured. He still couldn’t believe this was the same Erin from their youth.
“It seems like we’ve both changed, Dylan.”
That they have.
As he rose from slipping her panties down and removing them from around her feet along with her dress, he paused long enough to part her pussy with his fingers and tickle her clit with his tongue. Her whimper made his cock kick in his jeans.
Patience.
He paused again to suck one pebbled nipple into his mouth, then the other before going back and nipping them both playfully but hard enough to make her breathing uneven.
Since her ankles weren’t bound and her sandals were planted firmly on the concrete floor, she leaned into him, silently encouraging him to do it again.
He didn’t. They were limited on time, and he had other plans.
His gaze landed on a brush sticking out of a plastic tote used to hold grooming supplies like curry combs and hoof picks. That particular brush had stiff bristles used on a horse’s body when it was really dirty, like when they were caked with mud.
He left her bound in the center of the room to grab it and test it over his palm.
Perfect.
He hoped Erin thought so, too.
He’d find out soon enough.
When he returned to her, he started to lightly sweep the brush over her skin. Anywhere the bristles touched left her skin pink with barely visible scrape marks.
It wasn’t enough.
Normally if he was in charge, he wouldn’t ask, but since they hadn’t established a safe word yet—something he needed to do—he asked, “Too much?”
“No,” she whispered.
He stopped brushing her skin and put his lips to her ear. “Before we go further, I need to ask what your safe word is.” She better have one. Especially after what he witnessed Ford doing to her.
“Pineapple.”
That was a common one and easy enough to remember. “Pineapple, it is,” he confirmed.
Personally, he preferred the “red light” system. He wished his partners did, too. It was nice to have more than only a word used to “stop.” He liked the idea that green meant everything was A-okay or they wanted more, yellow was slow down or be careful, and red was to stop immediately. It was simple and effective.
He should’ve given that system to Ford instead of only a word. If the three of them actually became a regular thing, he would propose they switch over to that. Apparently, he hadn’t been thinking straight at the time.
He silently chuckled in his head. Actually, seeing Ford naked and strapped down on a spanking bench certainly hadn’t helped him think straight .
He took long strokes with the brush over her back, testing to see how much pressure he should use. He wanted it to feel good and turn her on, not make her flawless skin bleed. While some people were into blood play, he was definitely not.
He continued sweeping the brush over her back, her ass and the back of her thighs, then moved around to her front, brushing the front of her supple thighs and using the bristles to tease her pussy. He then ran it up her stomach and chest before concentrating on her nipples.
The path of pink left behind was picture perfect.
“You like that?” he whispered.
“ Yessss ,” came out on a breath. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared relaxed, so he took that as a sign his pressure wasn’t unbearable. If it became so, it only took a single word to stop him.
He once again sucked a now-red nipple into his mouth, soothing it by swirling his tongue around, as he continued to scrape the stiff bristles over the other.
He switched again.
And again.
But he needed to move on…