Sophie Oak - Siren in Bloom

Brat thought she could get out of her punishment? He brushed his lips to hers, reveling in the fact that he could fucking kiss her all he wanted. “Oh, baby, that sounds perfect. You can prove to me what a sweet sub you are right after you prove to me how red your ass can get.”

She pulled back, but there was a laugh on her lips. “Fine. I suppose I deserve it.”

“Richly,” Leo replied. His brother walked through the doors, his massive shoulders barely clearing the frame. California-king bed. That was what he was going to have to order.

Shelley’s face lit up as she noticed Wolf. She waved a hand. “Wolf!”

His brother looked up, but the grim expression on his face didn’t change. Logan walked behind him. Both men had changed into leathers, but neither looked particularly happy to be in the dungeon. Shelley tottered over to Wolf and tried to throw herself into his arms. Wolf caught her, but there wasn’t passion in his hold.

What the fuck was going on?

If Shelley noticed, she didn’t give it away. She was chattering happily about the fact that she’d forced Leo to sit through two hours of HGTV while Wolf had been gone.

Wolf’s eyes grew round as he looked at Leo. “Dude, why were you getting punished?”

“Next time it’s your turn,” Leo said with a shake of his head.

Shelley’s nose wrinkled sweetly. “It wasn’t so bad. And I’m going to completely redo the condo. I have swatches coming on Monday.”

“Don’t ask. I think it’s the decorating equivalent of a crop. It’s meant to beat us into submission.” Leo watched Wolf very carefully. Something was going on. He hadn’t really suspected anything when Wolf had called earlier and told him he would be a little longer than he’d expected. He’d claimed traffic and that he was putting together a little surprise for tonight. He’d expected that his brother was buying toys for their little sub.

Now he was wondering.

He put a hand on Shelley’s gloriously round backside that was going to be horrifically abused in oh so many ways in a mere half an hour. “Baby, give me a minute with Wolf, okay?”

“So you two can talk about how to torture me?” she asked. Both he and Wolf stared at her. She finally sighed. “Fine. But only because you gave me Dom eyes.”

Wolf glanced at Logan, who he seemed to have some sort of silent shorthand with.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t get in trouble.” Logan walked after her.

Leo wasted no time. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

Wolf’s normally open face was a closed and locked book. “No. Everything is fine. Look, I got you and Shelley a little gift is all. I think you’ll both like it a lot.”

“Do you want to tell me what it is?” Leo wasn’t convinced.

Wolf shook his head. “It’s a surprise, but one I’ve been planning for a while. Just go with it, brother. Now, there is something else I need to talk to you about. It’s about Logan. He’s planning on leaving for New York.”

“I know.” Responsibility weighed on him. He owed it to his brother. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep him here, Wolf. I have a few days.”

He wasn’t sure what he would do if Logan couldn’t see he had a problem, but he was going to try.

“I set something up for tonight. Look, I know you’re the shrink, but I know Logan. He thinks because he’s out of the situation that he’s fine, but he’s wrong. I know what happened. Jack Barnes and his partner are setting up a scene that is very similar to what happened to Logan. If he can stand there and be fine, then I’ll eat my words, but I don’t think so.”

Leo took a long breath. Wolf was playing a dangerous game.

“You know this could blow up in your face.”

Wolf’s shoulders moved up and down in a negligent shrug. “I know. But it’s important. Sometimes we do things just because they’re the right things to do. I think you should be with him, though.” He glanced down at his watch. “I think Jack and Sam are going to start in a couple of minutes. I thought it was best to get this out of the way early in the night. I know you and Shelley will want some time after her punishment.”

“Yes, I’m sure Shelley will need a little attention after what we do to her. I would rather not have to play shrink when I could be playing Dom.” He glanced over to where Shelley was talking to Logan. She kept her backside to the wall as though trying to make sure no one could see it. He was going to have to work on that. He was proud of that ass. He wanted to show it off.

“Come on then,” Wolf said.

Leo put a hand out to stop him. He still didn’t like the look on his brother’s face. “Is there something else? Talk to me, Wolf. If you found out something about this situation with Holder, I want to know.”

“No way. Leo, you have to know that whatever happens, I’ll protect her. I’ll help you in any way I can.” Wolf stared over at her. “I’ll be here for you.”

Leo stopped, his brother’s words snagging him. “You better fucking help. You got me in this situation. Do you have any idea how much trouble she’s going to be?”

He meant it as a friendly jab, a way to point out their camaraderie. He’d thought about nothing else during the whole torturous time Shelley had forced him to sit through endless shows about people buying homes and installing toilets. And they said he was a sadist. But while he’d sat there, he’d really thought about what it meant to be in this sort of relationship. It meant he was never alone. It meant no matter what happened, his brother would be around to take care of Shelley. It meant there was another human being in the world who knew what it meant to love her. It suddenly didn’t sound so terrible.

“You can handle her, brother.” Wolf glanced down at his phone. “Jack’s ready. Let’s move.”

Leo put a hand out. “I don’t think we’re done here. Do you want to explain why you keep using singular nouns? For two days, all I’ve heard is how we’re going to take care of her and now you keep using the word ‘you.’ I’m not an idiot, Wolf. If you have something to say, say it.”

“I will. And you aren’t going to be upset. It’s fine. It’s all part of the plan, but if we don’t get moving, we’ll miss this scene and then Logan is going to have to wait until I can set up another one.”

Leo wasn’t anywhere close to satisfied with that, but Wolf was right. He was interested to see what his brother had cooked up. He walked behind Wolf, noting that while Wolf smiled down at Shelley and acknowledged her, he didn’t reach for her hand. He said something to Logan and then moved forward with his friend.

Shelley stared at his back. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

“No, baby. He’s in his Dom space. He’s getting ready for the scene, and he has something he needs to do with Logan.” He kissed her, trying to reassure her. It was all a lie. He was pretty sure his brother was twelve kinds of fucked up, but now wasn’t the time to push him. They would get through Logan’s shit, punish their sub, and then Leo would kick Wolf’s ass if he needed to.

“I don’t like his Dom space.” Shelley held Leo’s hand as she walked along beside him.

“We’ll work on him.” He squeezed her hand as they began to walk up the stairs that would take them to the playroom. What was this scene Wolf had planned out with Jack and Sam?

Leo had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as they rounded the corner. They walked past the gyno lab where Kitten was being rewarded for her earlier good deeds by having a TENS unit attached to her pink parts. Chase worked over the sub. Ben was nowhere to be seen.

“Eight o’clock tomorrow?” Chase asked as he dialed the unit up to a place that had Kitten purring.