Sophie Oak: Siren Beloved

I am not living this freaky life with you, Lexi. I can’t believe you got me to do that last night. I…my father is a freaking church elder. What the hell would he think?

Why does it matter? Lexi had asked, trying to keep her voice low. Lucas was still sleeping. Why does it matter what anyone besides the three of us thinks?

Welcome to the real world. I have a career, and it doesn’t include fucking your best friend. I’m a country western musician. Do you know any bisexual country stars? Do you know what it could have cost me? What it still could cost me if anyone ever finds out? Choose, Lexi. Him or me.

Lexi shook it off. She didn’t need to remember that moment. “Aidan and I didn’t work out. It’s all right. Lucas and I are right for each other.”

She hated the hesitation in her voice. She loved Lucas. She loved him so much her heart ached with it, but she did wonder if they were right. She had caused Lucas a lot of trouble. Wasn’t it just a matter of time until he figured out she wasn’t worth it?

“What just went through your head, Lexi?” Leo studied her for a moment. “I would really like to know.”

She was stubbornly silent.

“Lexi, have you ever considered the fact that I can help you? Have you thought about the fact that you might need to talk about these things?”

“You’ll just say that I don’t belong here. You’ll just decide that I’m crazy.”

Leo ran hand through his hair as he sat back. “I thought that might be the reason. Listen, I can think you’re a little crazy and not kick you out of this club. Unlike some of my colleagues, I recognize that certain people live in a different reality. As long as it doesn’t threaten their enjoyment of life, why is it wrong? Let me share something personal with you, and maybe you’ll feel more comfortable with me. I was raised in Colorado, in a little town called Del Norte. My mom still lives there. It was me and my mom and my brother. My father, whoever he was, ran out before my brother was born. My mother is clinically insane. She firmly believes that my brother and I are the offspring of her encounters with aliens.”

Lexi wondered how many people knew this about the perfectly put-together Dom. Leo Meyer was always in control. “That must have been rough on you.”

He smiled, perfectly open. “I had a lovely childhood. My mother is a wonderful woman. With the singular exception of her insistence that I needed beets on a daily basis, I couldn’t have asked for more in a mom. She is an incredibly loving woman. She made sure I got everything I needed though she rarely had enough for herself. She raised me to be a gentleman. She was funny and taught me how to fish and hunt. She was brutally upset when both my brother and I joined the Navy, but she wrote both of us all the time. Here’s my point, my mother has a different view of reality than most people do, but she is capable of giving and receiving love. That is what constitutes real sanity in my mind, Lexi. Why do you think I only practice here? I’m on the outside of my profession in this belief, but I stand firm. Loving other people, treating them with love and true kindness and having a heart that is open to accepting the love given to us—this is far more important than an arbitrary reality. Can you truly accept that Lucas loves you?”

She didn’t try to stop the tears in her eyes. She let them fall. They felt strangely good, purifying almost. “I want to.”

He reached out and held her hand. “Then that’s a good step. We can keep talking, Lexi. I’m going to allow you to meet with Master A because I truly believe you need this. I believe Lucas needs it as well. The Master has said he is willing to include Lucas in the session if you would like. Julian is negotiating the contract with Master A. I assure you that he’ll put in clauses to protect you. You and Lucas will have a chance to read it and sign off on it. You understand that everyone in this club has your best interests at heart, right?”

She did know that. Her stepfather loved her. Julian did, too, in his strange way. She belonged to Jack’s family and was friends with Julian’s loves. She was Julian’s family, too. “I know they do. I just worry about how they might show their love. They can be a bit overwhelming at times.”

Leo’s grin spread across his face. “See, pure sanity right there. Just keep that in mind, and we’ll all get through this. Let’s meet here at this time tomorrow, and we can talk through your experience tonight.”

Leo bounced on to his feet and walked to his day planner. He made a note while Lexi got out of her chair.

“Leo?”

“Yes?”

“Is that stuff about your mom really true?” It seemed too perfect. It had been exactly the right thing to say to her.

He turned a picture on his desk around and showed her. There was Leo and a man who looked slightly younger, but awfully like him. In the middle of the men was a petite woman with her steel gray hair in a long braid. There were mountains behind them, and they smiled for the camera. “This was taken when my brother was last on leave. My mom’s new boyfriend took it. Now there’s an insane person. Well, he’s from the next town over. Everyone in that freaking town is butt-fuck crazy. I’m totally moving there one day.”

Lexi took a deep breath. Maybe everyone was a little crazy. Maybe she just needed to talk. Not about everything, but some of it. She really did feel better. She walked to the door and started to open it.

“And, Lexi, one day we’re going to have to talk about it.”

She turned at the dark sound in his voice. “Talk about what?”

“What you lost, Lexi. You lost something, and it was so much more important than a fiancé or your sense of security. What you lost haunts you every moment of the day, and it will continue to do so until you talk about it. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

She walked out the door, her sense of calm utterly blown. She would never be ready to talk about it. Not ever.

Aidan stood next to Julian, looking out over the dungeon. Preparations were being made. All over the atmospheric space, the staff was cleaning and checking the equipment for safety. Julian was still dressed in his day suit, but Aidan knew that soon the businessman would trade in his thousand-dollar tailored suit for a pair of leathers. Aidan would do it, as well, with one exception. Aidan would cover his face with a mask. Neither Lexi nor Lucas would recognize his ravaged body, but they would probably still remember his face. He’d like a chance to work on them before he got slapped or punched.

“You practiced?”

Aidan nodded. “Yes. I worked with the six-footer, but I would prefer to use the four-footer. It’s more accurate.”

“I think you should consider something a bit more creative in your punishment this evening. The whip can be intimidating, but it’s not very intimate. I believe Lexi will be perfectly amenable to a whip. After all, she and Lucas perform such scenes every weekend. She takes the whip, cries, he holds her, and they begin the cycle again. I didn’t bring you in so they could add a third person to a cycle of behavior that isn’t working for them.” Julian slanted him one of those glances that made Aidan feel like he was five years old and being called to the principal’s office. “Have you given any real thought to this?”

Aidan got his meaning. Come up with something fast, or I’ll call this off . Luckily, he had a little fantasy in his head. It was really an apology and an attempt to bind them all together. It was what he should have done that night years before. “Edging. I’ll do a little edge play and some spanking. I’ll have her begging by the end, and I’ll make sure Lucas is involved.”