Secrets Learned Read online

  “This.” Alex tugged her feet so she slid down the bed, pushed a pillow under her ass and moved between her legs.

  He put her ankles over his shoulders and Mimi wriggled her bum to get into a better position. Like this, her pussy was on show to him. Her juices coated dark curly hairs and her glistening clit showed proudly between them. Her chest heaved and she wanted to sigh in happiness. A cups or not, her boobs were hard and her nipples tight.

  Alex tugged the wiry hair. “This needs to go. Will you let me wax you, pet?”

  “Now?” Damn, she was so wound up, if he didn’t come inside her soon, she’d combust.

  “Not until I’ve come. If I tried to do anything like that now, I’d probably circumcise you.”

  “Then no, not now. Later,” Mimi said fervently. “I like my clit, thank you very much.”

  “Oh, so do I.” He flicked it with one finger and she moaned as the sting traveled deep into her and her juices gushed.

  “Now.” Alex inserted one long finger into her pussy channel and Mimi tightened her muscles around it.

  “Oh, so wet and ready, pet?”

  “You better believe it, Sir.”

  “Oh, I do.” He removed his finger and very deliberately put it into his mouth and sucked.

  Her skin tightened and her mouth went dry. It was so bloody erotic. Could you come from watching such a tiny action? She wouldn’t want to bet against it.

  “Nectar, my pet. You taste of promise and joy.”

  And love? Maybe one day. For now, I’ll take that.

  Alex guided his cock to her pussy and inched in. He was big and she fought not to tense up. Mimi wanted—needed—this. To be a part of him and know she would shatter him and send him tumbling into the abyss.

  If that was love, this need to succor, share and become as one, then she had it in spades.

  As Alex moved ever farther inside her, the muscles on his arms corded with the effort to hold back and not hurt her. It had to be perfect. She had to know how important she was to him

  Love? He had no idea, but if this need to be with her, to show her what they could have and could be, then he was in love.

  And he adored the idea.

  “Now.” Alex thrust until he thought his balls were almost embedded in her as well as his cock, and watched as her face flushed and her eyes dilated. She made a sexy growl, deep in her throat, and moaned softly.

  “Okay?”

  “Oh, more than.” Her muscles tightened around his dick, and Alex grinned as his own muscles responded and his ass clenched with the effort of holding his climax back. God almighty, she was so bloody hot and receptive, he was about ready to come. That hadn’t happened since he was a randy schoolboy with a willing older woman behind the wall of the pub in between a pint of IPA and the start of the local tribute band’s efforts to murder REM’s music.

  “If you do that, this is gonna be over almost before we get started,” he said in a warning tone as he began a steady thrust and retreat. “I want to hear you scream your release, watch you shatter and give all of yourself to me.” He used one arm to steady himself and pinched each hard nipple in turn.

  She groaned. “More, please, more.”

  Alex was happy to oblige. He moved his hand to her clit and nipped it. Her skin dotted with goosebumps as she shuddered and made arousing mewls and sighs.

  “Ah.” She began to shake.

  “Now, Dominique, now.” Holding back could be for next time—or the time after. Now he wanted her to come and he would follow.

  “Yesssssss, oh…. Ye…” She shook, screamed and clenched tightly around his cock. “Now you, now you, please, please, Sir, now…”

  It was enough for him to thrust hard, see stars and fill the condom with hot, sticky cum.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “The earth moved,” Mimi said with satisfaction as, sometime later, she cuddled up in the circle of Alex’s arms. The room was lit with the soft light of dawn, and she supposed it must be around six a.m. Had they slept at all? She couldn’t care less. She felt one hundred percent satisfied woman.

  If she hadn’t thought he would decide she was crazy, Mimi would have purred, high fived and shimmied around the room in a victory dance. However, she was so nicely aching, a shimmy would more likely be a waddle and a high five become a low three. That wouldn’t be a pretty sight. She was sated.

  “I aim for total satisfaction, he stated like a roué in an old film,” Alex said with a grin. “Shall we get a water bed to increase the sensation?” Alex stroked an imaginary mustache and intoned in a greasy voice. “Ah, anything for you and…”

  Mimi giggled. “And what if you drop your scalpel? Deflated in a second. Down to earth with a bump.”

  “And a bath.”

  “And that. And a new ceiling and…”

  “Okay, no water bed.” He stretched. “But I do mean it. The anything for you bit, not the roué. My pet, that was perfect. I have to ask though. What now?”

  His tension communicated to her. This close, his unique scent of man tangled with her senses and Mimi discerned the acrid tang of fear in it. Why? Although to know he had the same worries as her gave her courage. After all, she’d be a fool to deny them the chance to discover what they might have. After the debacle of Bryan, Mimi swore she’d never be so stupid again.

  “More of the same…whenever?”

  He smiled and kissed her long and deeply. As their tongues meshed, his cock stirred against her tummy and Mimi wriggled so it nestled at the cleft of her thighs. Alex broke the kiss and mock groaned, “I’ve let the monster loose.”

  “Yeah, isn’t it great?” She crinkled her nose. “Mind you, the spirit might be willing, but the flesh is wincing. I ache in places I didn’t even know could ache. Nice aches, but there all the same.”

  “I’ll run you a bath.” Alex rolled over, stood up and stretched his arms high above his head. Like that, his tattoo was easily visible. It tightened her body, and sore and sated as she was, her clit clenched with desire. Would she ever stop feeling like that whenever she saw him? She hoped not.

  “I want one soon.” Mimi pointed at the tattooed symbol. “I’ll ask Anders. Will you come and hold my hand?”

  “Of course. And anything else you need me to hold.”

  She sniggered. “Likewise. If you ever did decide to get a zip tattooed on your cock, I’d hold it steady for you.”

  Alex stopped walking and turned around to shake his head. His grin was wicked.

  “I don’t know about steady. I do know you’d need to hold it for me to keep it hard.”

  As a last word, Mimi reckoned that couldn’t be bettered. She rolled onto her tummy and giggled.

  * * * *

  Alex sat in Jeff and Kath’s comfortable sitting room and looked at the other three men who sat scattered around the room. Each nursed a mug of coffee just as he did. After he and Dominique had made plans for the evening, he reckoned she’d gone back to bed to catch up with some much-needed sleep. He’d returned home, showered again—this time in ice cold water—to try to wake up. Then he’d rung Jeff. They needed to meet up, and not just for Alex to return Jeff’s car.

  “So, the van was stolen?” Alex asked as he inhaled strong Kenyan’s finest.

  Aidan nodded. “That’s common knowledge now, but whatever else is known, no one is telling. I’m not even asking Ailsa. It’s her job and she’s not about to jeopardize it. If there’s anything we need to know, someone will tell us.” Alex nodded. Ailsa was, to put it impolitely, tighter than a duck’s arse when she needed to be. However, someone higher up might tip them the wink if they thought it necessary. Not break the rules as such, just circumnavigate them maybe.

  Now, though, he had other things on his mind.

  “My pet thinks she might have an idea about Miss Arwen Penny,” he said.

  Jeff spluttered and coffee dripped all over his shirt and trousers. He ignored it. “Your pet? Shit, Al, that’s fast, are you both sure? What with sadism and stuff?”
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  “Very sure, and we’re taking baby steps. I never thought I’d say this, but if it’s a choice of tempering my more extreme desires or losing Dominique, I know I’d be happy to do the tempering. Of course I’d like not to, because it’s part of me, but then now, so is she. After last night, I’d say it’s so far so good. However.” He took a sip of his coffee and grinned inwardly as Jeff tapped his fingers on his mug impatiently. Even Aidan and David looked more than a little interested.

  “However, she’s so bloody receptive and wants to understand and learn that I reckon we’ll get a happy medium without much problem.”

  “You played some more?” David asked. “What and…”

  “Never mind playing, we can dissect that later,” Jeff said sharply. He put his mug down with a thump and leaned forward. “What about fucking Arperony or whatever she’s calling herself?”

  “Evidently it could be a lady called Ara Baperry. And guess who she is—or was?”

  “How the fuck do I know?” Jeff said grumpily. “Mrs. Santa Claus?”

  “Almost. She used to go out with Octopus Eric.”

  David’s mug fell to the floor as he jumped to his feet and paced. “Say that again. Fucking Eric Lonnergan is behind all this?”

  “Could be,” Alex said cautiously. “Some of it, anyway. There’s nothing to link him to the white van. That could just be neds on the prowl.” He mentioned the local term for petty criminals.

  “And it could be his sodding cronies who think the only acceptable ice cream is vanilla,” Jeff said angrily. “I knew I should have kicked his nuts off at school. I could have pleaded self-defense. He was a bully, given half the chance.”

  “Which you never gave him,” Alex said.

  “Well, no, but that’s not the point.”

  “The point is, we don’t know very much, so we need to be careful,” Alex added, “and see what pans out. On Monday, the forum convenes again, and Dominique gives her report. She’s offered to show it to me tonight.”

  “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine?” David leered. “Ohh er…”

  “Something like that,” Alex said agreeably. “I need an electronics whizz to make sure Dominique and Theresa can record what happens.”

  Aidan guffawed. “You’ve got one. Your subbie seems well able to hold her own in that arena.”

  “Shit, I forgot. So she can. That’s one problem solved then. As for the rest… Like I said, one thing at a time. And next on my agenda is a nap. Fuck it, I’m getting too old for all-nighters.”

  “Poor thing. Aches and pains for all the wrong reasons, eh?”

  Alex nodded and rolled his shoulders to un-knot the muscles. He’d need a bit of maneuverability to ride the bike home. “You better believe it. Okay, I’m off. Where’s my bike?

  “In the usual garage. You got your key?”

  “Yeah. So, next meet up after the forum?”

  “Around ten?”

  Jeff nodded. “Suits me, I’ll pass it on to Ronnie and Ross. Doms and subs.”

  “Unless you’re coming to play tonight?” David asked as Alex made his way to the door. In general, the club opened on a Saturday evening and closed Sunday through to Wednesday. “We thought we might.”

  Alex shook his head. “We’re going all-over courting, vanilla style. Out for dinner and back to mine.”

  Jeff shook his head in mock surprise. “Back to yours for a bit more courting, non-vanilla style?”

  “I live in hope.”

  “No, you live in Aberfoyle.”

  Alex grinned. “And that. Okay, later all.” Alex sketched a wave and headed to the garages, whistling as he went. The day had turned out much better than he had expected.

  He stopped dead in front of the first garage door and peered at the lock.

  “Fucking glue?” Alex tugged on the metal closure and checked his first thoughts were correct. Sadly, they were. There wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of inserting a key and it was obvious he’d need a hacksaw at the very least before he was able to get into the building. He scanned the area quickly, but whoever had done it must have been long gone—or very well hidden. With the urge to throttle someone uppermost in his mind, Alex spun on his heels and headed back to the castle.

  Three minutes later he rang the doorbell of the private apartments in Diomhair in short, impatient staccato bursts.

  “Come on. Come on,” he muttered impatiently. “I used to live here. I know how long it takes to answer the fucking door.” He’d used it when his boiler died, and he was too busy sending plumbers to other jobs to put himself at the head of the queue.

  “Yeah?” Jeff’s voice sounded laconically over the intercom.

  “Some fuckers have poured glue in the lock.”

  “Shit, on my way.”

  * * * *

  Alex stood under the spray of the shower and hoped the water plus several strong cups of coffee would wake him up. He’d put all thoughts of a nap out of his mind. There just wasn’t time for one. Not if he wanted to tidy himself and look presentable before he went to pick up Dominique.

  Hellfire. He remembered he needed to get petrol. Alex switched off the water and headed for his bedroom. Once there, he dressed swiftly, looked at his wan and drawn face and lackluster eyes and groaned. He looked like death on wheels, as his gran used to say, and there wasn’t much he could do about it. He still shook with temper if he thought about the vandalism to the garages. On inspection, it seemed each of the four doors had been attacked in the same way. Jeff had called the police and they’d spent several hours in ever-increasing annoyance before Alex had finally been able to leave with the uneasy knowledge that no one really knew what the hell was going on.

  “Just be vigilant, okay?”

  Jeff’s words echoed in his mind as he headed for his own garage—luckily glue free—and unlocked his car. He’d be vigilant all right. If he ever found out who the culprits were… Red hot rage filled him again and he fought the urge to punch the wall. Why couldn’t people live and let live? Nobody at Diomhair was harming anyone. Everything there was consensual, and if it wasn’t your thing, why did it bother you? That was something he just couldn’t fathom, although the other favorite expression of his gran, ‘there’s nowt so queer as folk’ did spring to mind. That lifted his mood a little. Alex drove his car out of the garage, set the remote to lock the door and drove away.

  * * * *

  “Who died?” A slither of fear shimmied over her skin and snaked around her. He looked—she searched her mind for a suitable word—fraught.

  “I wish it was that simple, pet.” Alex ran his hand through his dark hair and sighed. “I meant to bring flowers. Sorry. I’ll tell you over dinner. Are you ready?” He held on to the door frame for support and yawned. “Oh shit, sorry, but these last few hours have been a killer. I’ll tell you all about it later. We’d best go before we’re late for our booking.”

  “Cancel it, and flowers aren’t as important as you being here. Come on in and I’ll cook.” One look at Alex, and Mimi wasn’t sure she trusted he’d be able to stay awake long enough to enjoy a dinner in a restaurant. “Unless you want to go home?” she asked uncertainly.

  He stared at her as if she’d asked him to walk down Sauchiehall Street naked. “Hell no.”

  Phew.

  “Then, this is one occasion when my Sir tells me to take over,” Mimi said emphatically, and regarded him pointedly.

  “I do?” He sounded amused. “Just like that?”

  “You do. And yes, just like that.”

  Alex inclined his head. “In that case, okay, please, pet, take over.”

  She sniggered, half pulled him into the lounge and pointed at the couch. “Sit, cancel the booking and I’ll be back in a second.” His sigh was heartfelt, and Mimi wondered just how long it would be before he fell asleep. She opened the freezer and examined the contents. Not knowing his tastes in food could be difficult or if he had any allergies. She shut the door and went back to the lounge.

  A
snore greeted her. Alex had shucked his jacket, loosened his tie, undone the top three buttons of his shirt, kicked off his shoes and slumped down on the settee with his head cushioned on the arm and his phone held loosely in his hand. She squinted at it and checked the last number. Maybe she’d better ring the restaurant, just in case.

  It was as well she did, because it transpired he’d not even got as far as contacting them. Mimi made their apologies, said he was ill and accepted the condolences and wishes offered for his speedy recovery. By the way the person on the other end of the line spoke, she guessed they knew him well.

  She switched the phone off and took the time to study him closely. His stance outlined his cock under the fine linen trousers he wore, and she salivated. That, combined with the whorls of hair that teased her senses as they peeked out of the top of his shirt, would have been enough to dampen her muff. If she hadn’t spent half an hour tidying those curls up into a short, short length, just in case he wanted to wax her sooner rather than later. Now, there was hardly any hair left to moisten. In anticipation she’d made a quick trip to the chemist to buy the stuff.

  Now it looked as if both the wax and anything out of the ordinary, food-wise or whatever, would have to wait. Mimi went back to the kitchen, took out a bottle of wine and put it back again. Orange juice would do until she knew what would happen later. She rather hoped they could take up where they’d left off.

  She reopened the freezer, looked at the seafood longingly and had a thought. He’d booked a restaurant famous for its fish and seafood dishes, so surely he must like the stuff? Well, if he didn’t, there was salad or sausages.

  An hour later, she sat in front of her Aga, a glass of soda water in one hand, her Kindle in the other, and a seafood paella simmering on the hob. The air was redolent with the herby, tomato scent of the food, and her tummy rumbled.

  “That smells delicious.” Still barefoot and with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to the elbows, Alex leaned on the doorjamb, one hand in his pocket. Even after such a short time he looked alert, rested and incredibly jumpable. He’d obviously dunked his head in some water and liquid clung to the dark hairs and sparkled in the light. Droplets adorned his eyelashes like diamonds. Mimi would swear one errant trickle slid down his chest and enticed her to follow its track.