Текст книги "Chains"

Автор книги: Tymber Dalton

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Chapter Five

Rebecca spent a restless night tossing and turning. Yes, it was a comfortable guest bed, but it wasn’t her bed.

She was used to the feel and sounds of her RV, as small as it was. Like her little, snuggly den that she could curl up in and hide from the world.

Literally.

Ed Payne stopped by to pick her up at eight thirty the next morning. By the time they drove to her uncle’s house at one, she felt exhausted. More mentally than physically, but drained.

There was a man sitting in a truck parked in front of the house when they pulled in.

“Ah, that’s Josh Collins.” The side of his truck bore logos for their company, and he shut off the engine and got out to meet them when they pulled in and parked.

“Hey, Ed.”

“Thanks for coming back out. Josh is the one who helped me get the paperwork we retrieved from the house,” the attorney explained.

“Ah. Thank you. We came over yesterday evening and I didn’t get any farther than opening the front door, so you’re a better man than I am.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t go in there without a respirator, at the very least. Not until we make some progress.” He held an iPad. “Let’s go sit in the shade on the front porch and we can talk.”

He went over everything with her, including asking if she wanted their help with the outbuildings.

All she wanted to do was get the junk cleared out so she could figure out what to do with the house and property.

“Paperwork, family pictures, any antique furniture that’s salvageable and looks like it holds value, those things I’d like kept aside. Anything else can go in those storage units you talked about. I want to keep the tractor and a couple other things with the house, but if the house itself is cleaned out, then I can have an estate sale company come in and do that part.”

“Any idea what you’re going to do with the house yet? I ask because if you want it stripped down to bare walls and all the carpet ripped out, we can do that while we’re here. We’ll open up all the windows and pull out all the screens to try to air it out and let any remaining flies escape, and we can have a cleaning crew come in and disinfect it as well as clean out the AC system and ductwork. That’ll make a contractor’s job easier later, rather than waiting and letting it sit as-is.”

She thought about her shock at the bank manager confirming her newfound wealth. “How much?”

“Another thousand, but that means, literally, a contractor can come in and start doing whatever you have them do, without them needing to hire a cleaning crew first.”

“Sure.” Hell, it was only money.

She stifled a nervous giggle. This felt so wrong.

“Did you want to talk about having a crew come in and film the operation?”

She thought about it. “Honestly? My schedule is so crazy, I’d rather not. I’m going to be coming back and forth for the next couple of weeks. I’d rather just get it done. My friend Eliza, her and her husband, Rusty, have volunteered to be here in my place the next couple of weeks. I trust her judgment on what to keep and what to toss or put aside for the estate sale.”

“Wait,” Josh said. “Rusty and Eliza McElroy?”

“Yes,” Ed confirmed. “Those friends.”

Now it clicked in Rebecca’s head exactly how Eliza and Rusty knew the attorney. She looked from Ed to Josh and back again before she finally said it.

“Is everyone in Sarasota kinky now and no one thought to tell me?”

* * * *

They were just finishing up late in the afternoon when Toby and Logan returned home from work. Rebecca had signed all the contracts on Josh’s iPad and he’d e-mailed her copies to her. They’d have an initial crew come out tomorrow, Dumpsters would be delivered, as would a couple of storage units.

It was a lot to absorb.

Toby and Logan walked over to say hello, and yes, Josh knew them, too. The men shook hands in greeting.

“This is like old home week or something,” Ed joked.

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about how we act around you,” Josh said. “My two brothers and I, we’re poly with our wife, Essie. We bought her one of your bracelets. You do gorgeous work.”

“Thank you.” She again fought the urge to blush. It was one thing to be showing her wares at an event and another for people to heap praise upon her when she wasn’t trying to make a sale.

“You know,” Logan said, “you should sell project patterns on your website. Or maybe even the patterns and kits to make them.”

“I really don’t have time to make patterns,” she said. “I’m too busy keeping up my inventory.”

Then again, her financial luck had just changed. Maybe it was something she could do now.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, Eliza calling.

“Where are you?” Eliza asked by way of greeting.

“We’re still at the house. We—”

“Good, stay put. We’ll be there to pick you up. The Barbarian got off work early. We’ll come to you.”

“But Ed’s my ride and—”

“Don’t worry about it. And I’ve already walked and fed the Chewster. He’s all happy and curled up with Booger. See you shortly.”

Eliza hung up on her before Rebecca could respond.

“What?” Ed asked.

“Well, I guess I’m waiting here for Eliza and Rusty,” she said. “I’ve been given marching orders that they’re coming to get me.”

“I should have mentioned,” Toby said, “that you three are coming over to our house for dinner.” His playful smile looked sexy, inviting.

“What?”

“Eliza texted me at lunchtime about getting together again tonight for dinner, and we invited you all over.”

“Ah.” She didn’t know whether to hug or pound her meddling friend. “Okay, then.” She turned to Ed. “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far.” No, he wasn’t working for free, nor did she expect him to, but the two-hundred-dollar fee he quoted her for handling everything so far, in addition to court costs, she suspected was a kinky friends and family discount his average client didn’t get.

“You’re welcome. I’ll keep you posted on the probate issues, and if you need anything, you’ve got my personal cell and my office number.”

She gathered her things from his car before he and Josh Collins both left.

She followed the men down the driveway and around the fence and up their driveway. “I’m sorry Eliza’s getting pushy,” she said. “Fair warning, I think she’s trying to play matchmaker.”

Both men stopped and turned. “Really?” they asked.

She couldn’t tell if their tone was a good one or a bad one. “Really. Again, apologies. I can’t control her. She’s got it into her head that I need a play-partner just because I’m single.”

The men studied each other for a moment before they continued their trek up the yard.

* * * *

Yes, Toby was attracted to Rebecca. Who wouldn’t be, with that gorgeous long, curly brown hair and those beautiful green eyes?

And yes, Toby wouldn’t deny he’d fantasized about her the night before when he and Logan were making love.

He honestly hadn’t given much thought to her being single, though. Although it made sense now, in retrospect, looking back on their dinner conversation the evening before.

Hmm.

He and Logan had been together eight years. In that time, yes, they’d played with women, and slept with some of them. They both loved women. They’d actually met over a woman, ironically. She’d been dating both of them, and they found out about it, and when each figured out the other was bi, they ended up dating each other instead of her.

Then Hurricane Julie took the wind out of their sails.

Hmm.

He’d seen the look on Logan’s face. He knew that look.

Intrigued.

Hmm.

* * * *

The men’s house was nice. Homey, not stuffy or perfect, but the right mix of lived in and comfortable along with casual style to put her at ease as they showed her around.

“We spent a lot of time on remodeling,” Logan said. “Did a lot of the work ourselves.”

“It’s very nice. I might be asking you two for advice when I get to that stage.”

“Thinking about keeping the house?”

“I don’t know yet. Part of me wants to, and part of me says no, sell it and bank the cash. I don’t know what I’d do with a house if I keep it.”

“Maybe live in it?” Toby playfully suggested.

“I spend my life on the road,” she said. “I mean, yeah, I could drive back here between events. If I have over a week of downtime, depending on where I’m at and where I’m going, I’ll either stay over, or move on to the next town and stay there ahead of the event. It’s a regular route, now. I know the good parks, the ones to stay away from, and I don’t like to boondock at the events if I don’t have to.”

“Must be cramped living in an RV,” Logan said.

“Not really. Me and Chewi get along just fine.”

“Chewi?” Logan asked.

“My dog. I named him after the website. He’s got delusions of grandeur.” She blushed. “Sorry. I forget everyone else thinks I’m crazy that my dog has stories.”

“No, I think it’s adorable,” Logan said. “We did that growing up with our pets, too. We had a cat who thought aliens were going to come take him away to his real people.”

Behind him, Toby was smiling, circling his index finger around his temple. Crazy.

“Don’t give Chewi that idea,” she said. “He might run with it.”

Toby brought her a glass of iced tea. “So how did you end up living in an RV? Was it planned, or did you just quit going home?”

She’d managed to go all day without thinking about Sam Edsel. “I didn’t really have a home to go to,” she said. “I divorced my ex, who was also my Dom, unfortunately, and boogied.”

Toby frowned. “Is he local?”

“I don’t know. As of a couple of years ago, yes. He’s…” She thought about it. She didn’t know if they knew Sam or not. Best not to run her mouth about him. “Not inclined to find out where he’s at now, actually. I think it’s best for everyone if we don’t ever see each other again.”

“Sounds like it wasn’t a good divorce,” Logan noted.

“The divorce was better than the marriage.” She winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t talk about that.”

“Was he abusive?” Toby asked.

“Let’s just say the man who coaxed me into marriage isn’t the man I ended up marrying.”

“Yowch,” Toby said. “That bad, huh?”

“Yep.”

“What’s his name?” Logan asked.

“If you know him and are friends with him, that’s going to make the rest of this evening really awkward for everyone involved,” she said. “You realize that, right?”

“Seriously,” Toby said. “We’d like to know.”

Thinking this was probably a bad idea, she said it. “Sam Edsel.”

Logan frowned and turned to Toby. “Isn’t that the name of that douchenozzle who Tilly said—”

“Yes,” Toby said, looking angry. “And the one who Loren told us—”

“Right,” Logan said, also now looking angry.

“What?”

“Your ex has a quiet but negative rep,” Toby said. “I know of at least two instances where the women didn’t want a big deal made over it, but he violated consent after he collared them, and they left him. Then he’d harass them until they disappeared from the local community.”

Her blood chilled. “Disappeared?”

“Well, left,” Toby clarified. “Not as in I think he killed them or anything. As in they dropped out of the lifestyle and quit coming around to local events so they wouldn’t cross paths with him.”

“Oh.”

“We don’t run into him very often,” Logan said. “Well, especially not lately. We had our own run-in with a predator. Ours was a woman, though.”

They told her the short version of their story about Julie, who stole their hearts, their trust, and their money.

When they finished, she felt as angry as both men had looked moments earlier. “Well, then, since we’re sharing, here’s my version of events. He sweet-talked me, consent this, boundaries that…until the night of our honeymoon when he tied me down, gagged me, and used a cane on my ass. This was after we’d gotten married at the courthouse because he said we couldn’t afford a wedding. I didn’t even get a decent damn wedding out of it. Then he told me that since I signed a slave contract, I was his property to do with as he pleased.”

The men looked horrified. “You didn’t leave then?” Logan asked.

“He immediately followed it with a forced orgasm scene, so it kind of cancelled it out. Later, I chewed him out over it and he looked all sorry and innocent, said he was just playing, that he thought I wanted something like that. The truth is, he was pushing the boundary to see how I’d react. I didn’t realize it until later. He was back to his sweet self for a couple of months. Then I realized he was slowly taking all control away from me. Stuff I never agreed to in the beginning, mind you. Not consensually taking control. A little thing here, a comment there, until a year in, I realized that he pretty much ruled my whole life without me realizing it. When I tried to sit him down then and talk about it, he once again trotted out the slave contract, but this time Mr. Nice Guy didn’t come back.

“It took me the better part of a year to work out my escape plan and figure out how to access the bank funds. During that time I had to endure ‘play’ that was really abuse. He got off on me begging him to stop, and he took plenty of pictures of me while I was restrained. He only bruised me on my ass, and said that the slave contract was my consent. He said if I tried to report him to the police, he’d wave that and they’d say I was a freak and not do a damn thing.”

She almost felt ill retelling it, but in a way it felt good to finally get it all out to someone besides Eliza and Rusty. “And he took pictures of me, naked and bound, during forced orgasm play, that kind of bullshit. Threatened to send them to my parents if I left. He took away my ATM cards and checkbook and gave me cash for stuff. He paid all the bills. One day, he left his computer up when he went to work, and he hadn’t logged out of the banking website. So I made a wire transfer to Eliza and Rusty and got the hell out before he got home. He’s lucky I left him half of what was in the account, because I made twice as much as he did. I was supporting us.”

“Bet that pissed him off,” Toby said.

“It did. But since I was a co-owner on the account, he couldn’t do shit about it. And believe me, he tried.”

“You’re lucky you got out of there,” Logan said.

“I know. I feel badly for anyone else he’s suckered in.”

“How long did the divorce take?” Toby asked.

“Too damn long. But worse, he harassed me. Stalked me. I had to change my cell number, finally ended up leaving Sarasota because he just wouldn’t give up. Even after the divorce was final. I didn’t want him going after my friends, too, so I left town.”

“Wow,” Logan quietly said.

“What pisses me off even more,” she added, “is that for all these years I gave up my friends, stuff I liked to do, my hometown, because of him.”

“You haven’t played with anyone since then?”

“No. And that sucks, too, because, believe me, I enjoyed it.”

“We’d play with you,” Toby gently suggested. “I mean, if you ever wanted to.”

Logan nodded.

“Watch out, I might take you both up on that with the stress I’m under.”

“Sorry,” Toby said. “Guess that’s kind of a douchey thing for us to say right now.”

“No, no apologies, please. It’s nice having real men pay me a compliment like that, instead of made-up stuff Chewi says.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Gawd, that makes me sound really fucking pitiful, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Toby said. “It makes you sound human.”

Chapter Six

When Eliza and Rusty arrived for dinner, Rusty pulled Rebecca aside. “Apologies,” he muttered in her ear. “She’s on a mission and is convinced you three need each other.”

“Message received, loud and clear.” She loved Eliza to death, but also knew her friend’s attempts to shove the three of them together weren’t necessarily what any of them needed.

“I’ll warn the guys,” Rusty said.

“Can’t you rein her in?”

He snorted. “You’ve known us how long?”

“Sorry. Forgot who I was talking about.”

“Uh, yah, I guess ya did.”

Dinner was roasted chicken and vegetables and, aside from Eliza’s pushy matchmaking, it was a wonderful evening.

“If you ever need to park your RV down here,” Logan said, “you’re welcomed to use our shower and bathroom. Or even park here in our yard. We have room.”

“Thanks. I might have to take you up on that until we get the house cleared out. I can park over there but not sure what shape the RV hookup is in. And I can’t use the house bathrooms right now.”

“That’s perfect,” Eliza said. “They’re right next door and everything.”

When Rebecca tried to shoot her stink-eye, Eliza just smiled at her. “Hey, I have a grown daughter with whom I survived her teenage years. You have nothing on her, lady. Just keep making those faces at me.”

Toby and Logan smiled. Well, that was something, at least. In this macabre situation, she could make someone find humor in it.

By the time they were ready to leave, Rebecca had relaxed a lot around the two men. She even hugged them. “Thank you for dinner. And everything. You’ve been very kind.”

“We mean it,” Logan said. “Anything you need, any help, let us know.”

“Thanks.”

As they drove home, Rebecca shot death glares into the back of Eliza’s head where she rode shotgun.

“Still not quitting,” Eliza said. “And again, I had a teenager. You’re an amateur.”

* * * *

Rebecca drove over Wednesday morning to meet the work crew at the house. Josh and his brother, Mark, were there to lead the charge. The two large construction Dumpsters had already been delivered. Rebecca moved her uncle’s truck out of the way so the crews could place the storage units there when they arrived.

Mark went over things with her while Josh took control of the work crew. If they were sharing a woman, and there was one more of them, that woman was very lucky indeed. They were good-looking men in their own ways, although she found herself more drawn toward Toby and Logan.

By lunchtime, the crew had already cleared out the living and dining rooms and had started on one of the bedrooms. They brought out the desk and other paperwork and set them in the shade under a tree so she could go through it. One of the two storage units was half-full, and one of the Dumpsters was almost completely full. It wasn’t that there was a lot of junk, but between the furniture that couldn’t be salvaged because it had fabric that had been permeated by the stench of decomposition, the bugs, or both, a lot of stuff couldn’t be saved.

At least the kitchen hadn’t been gross. The floor was clean, and there wasn’t any overly spoiled food in the fridge, just some that had recently expired. But the fridge itself was clean, and there were only two dirty, but rinsed, dishes in the sink. Even the cabinets in there were in good shape.

They opted not to worry about anything except getting rid of the food, both in the fridge and the nonperishables, for now. The men would bring boxes tomorrow so the dishes, pots, and pans could be gathered together and put in the storage units.

By the end of the first day, she felt tired, sad, and lonely. Her uncle had traveled around to various swap meets, according to paperwork and receipts she found, but didn’t seem to have much in the way of friends.

How ironic.

Did she really want to be him when she got to be his age?

Not really.

Once the crew left for the day, she was able to stand in the back doorway and stare into the dining room. It still reeked, but was now bearable. And most of the flies had left with everything standing open all day and the carpet removed.

It wasn’t a bad house. Even the Collins brothers noted that it didn’t appear to need anything worse than cleaning and cosmetics to get the house into a livable condition.

Maybe I could rent it out.

She didn’t want to just sell it. It didn’t feel right. That the last of what was left of her uncle would just disappear with a signature on a purchase contract.

“Hey.”

She turned to see Toby and Logan heading her way, her heart speeding up.

Hmm.

They joined her at the back door. “Wow,” Toby said.

“Yeah.”

“Any idea how long they’ll take?”

“They’re working a couple of other jobs along with this one. They’ll work tomorrow and Friday, but I won’t be here Friday. Eliza will be running things. Then next week they’ll be back on Tuesday, when I’m here.”

“That’s a heck of a commute,” Logan said. “To South Carolina.”

“I know, but it’s easier to leave the RV up there rather than drive it down here. I’ve already paid in advance for the spot at the RV park. The Toad gets far better mileage. And I’ve got this weekend and the next up there.”

“Wish we could help you with that,” Toby said.

“It’s okay. I’m used to driving. Kind of what I do.”

“How about we pick you up at Eliza’s later and take you out to dinner tonight?” Logan asked.

“Did Eliza put you up to it again?”

“She didn’t have to,” Toby said. “We want to. But when we ran the plan by her, she wholeheartedly concurred.”

“Of course she did.”

She closed the back door and locked it. The front door was already locked, and the Collins brothers had a spare key. She’d get the locks changed once the work was done.

“Is that a yes?” Logan asked.

“Yes, because if I say no, Eliza will likely hound me, or lock me out or something, until she wears me down and I say yes.” She turned to look at them. “Hope this isn’t creeping you guys out.”

“No,” Toby said. “It’s not. She obviously cares about you.”

“She does. That’s why I’m putting up with her.”

* * * *

Eliza met Rebecca at the front door with Chewi in her arms. Speaking in a low, rumbling voice, Eliza said, “Mom, you need to go out tonight with Toby and Logan because I need a date night alone with Booger.”

“I already told them yes,” Rebecca said as she headed toward her bedroom. “So you can quit pushing.”

“Oh, I wasn’t pushing,” Eliza said in her normal voice, following in Rebecca’s wake, Boo following her. “That was Chewi.”

“Uh-huh.” She set her things on the guest bed. “Message received. If I promise not to push them away, will you please stop pushing me on them?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Eliza looked down into Chewi’s face. “What do you think, world dominayshun dog?”

He tipped his nose up a little to sniff at her before licking her chin.

“He approves,” Eliza declared. Then she grew serious. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m just…sad. I know we weren’t close, but apparently I was the closest person to him. I’m drawing some seriously disturbing parallels. And I don’t want my life to be like that.”

“Then don’t let it.” She handed Chewi over to her. “When are they picking you up?”

“Shortly. I need to get a shower.”

“Then I’ll leave you alone.” She hugged Rebecca before heading out.

Rebecca stared down into Chewi’s face. He raptly stared back at her. Boo let out a snort before lowering her pudgy butt to the floor at Rebecca’s feet. Then, the bulldog reached out and slimed Rebecca’s leg with a long-tongued lick.

“Ugh. Chewi, your girlfriend needs a bib.”

He stared back at her. Not my problem, woman. And I like her the way she is.

Oh, yes. She was definitely in desperate need of a real life.

* * * *

They took her to a seafood restaurant on Tamiami Trail. For a little while, she was able to forget about what was going on in the rest of her life, the sad work ahead of her dealing with her uncle’s estate. She had several orders she’d have to fill and prepare to ship before she could go to bed, and e-mail to answer.

And now…this.

Toby and Logan were a nice respite from real life. In that vein, she broached the subject.

“You know, maybe next week, when I’m back down here, we could…do something together.”

Both men seemed to perk up. “Dinner?” Toby asked. “Or…more?”

“I’m thinking more. If you guys want to.”

They exchanged a glance before nodding.

“Maybe not…play…yet. But…” Hell, she could do this. She was a big girl. “Maybe just hanging out to start with and see where it goes from there? I’m going to need some time to get back into play. And I won’t be able to go to the club yet, anyway, since I won’t be here when it’s open.” She’d heard a lot of good things about the club, even though she hadn’t been there yet.

It would be nice to finally get to meet some of the people she’d heard about from Eliza, or with whom she’d e-mailed about her pieces.

“We’re good with that,” Logan said. “Slow is good.”

She sat back, relaxing. “That will make Eliza happy, at least. Not that I’m not happy, because I am. About…this.”

“No explanations necessary,” Toby said. “We like you, too. And we’re good with taking our time, too. We’re not dating anyone.”

The rest of the evening seemed ridiculously easy after that. They talked about a lot of different topics, including her jewelry and their personal likes and dislikes in bed and in BDSM.

By the time they returned her to Eliza and Rusty’s house, she felt like the evening had slipped through her fingers.

They walked her to the front door, each of them giving her a hug and a kiss before she headed inside.

Eliza met her at the door, holding Chewi. In her “Chewi voice,” Eliza said, “I think I like those guys, Mom.”

She took the dog from her and snuggled him against her. “I think I like those guys, too, buddy.”