Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
I stuck out my tongue at him.
He smirked and clasped his hands behind his head.
Whatever. I could survive one Easter weekend with giggling newbies and jumping in whenever someone got too reckless. This was part of the lifestyle we’d signed up for. We welcomed everyone, even though our personalities, to some degree, screamed “Get off my porch.”
At least I’d have Lucas and Colt with me. They’d volunteered to be dungeon monitors too. Oh, and Ash. I’d tricked him into coming out here for a drink or two. Since the cruise had been an all-sausage-fest affair, I hadn’t gotten my chance to catch up with him yet. He’d returned to our community after a year’s absence following his separation from the unofficial leader of our bondage crowd.
If anyone asked me, those two just needed to figure their shit out and get back together. I was by no means a romantic, but they were two halves of a whole. Dumbass dudes who refused to communicate when they got hurt.
I woke up the next morning with a sore neck, after having spent the night in one of the guest rooms in the main house.
Thank fuck my new bed was arriving today. I’d timed the delivery for later when I knew more members would be around, because I had every intention of bribing brats with donuts, candy, and pizza if they helped me carry everything inside.
After a shower, I changed into a pair of leggings and a too-big denim shirt—fairly sure I’d stolen it from Colt at some point—and I tied a belt around my waist. Perfect dress.
In my defense, his idea of sampling my baked goods whenever I orchestrated a bake sale or brought dessert to an event was to take half of it for himself.
“I’m just tastin’!” he’d say with his mouth full and sticky with frosting.
I’d earned this shirt.
My messy hair ended up in a haphazard bun at the top of my head, and then I was ready to face the day in big shades and pink flip-flops.
I headed downstairs and trailed through the empty club area till I reached the terrace doors. The deck with all its tables and barbecue area and two hot tubs was deserted, but I spotted a familiar Tenley swimming laps in the pool. Shay was reading a book in one of the loungers too.
Just as I walked outside, River came out from their cabin with a cup of coffee, and he nodded in his silent way of saying good morning.
It was going to be hot today.
The six founders’ cabins formed a neat row along the western perimeter, leading down to the forest where we liked to host takedown events and primal play. It’d been a long fucking time since I’d joined. Ella hadn’t really been into primal kinks. A masochist through and through, but not for the adrenaline. Pain had brought her peace and emotional release.
I loved both.
I missed the chase, the playfulness of a brat, and the constant push and pull.
I bundled up my laundry under my arm and crossed the deck, and I jumped down onto the grass right around the time Reese slapped a hand on the wall of the pool and panted out, “Fifty.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Shay snorted in amusement. “I counted thirty-eight.”
River and I exchanged a smirk.
Reese huffed. “Then you definitely need to go back to school, you little bratfuck.”
“I’m studying!” was Shay’s defense, and he left his lounger and nodded at me. “I’ve been waiting for Mistress Penelope.”
Oh?
“Good morning, Ma’am.” He jogged my way as I moseyed toward my cabin. It was the fifth one, nestled in between Greer’s and Macklin’s.
“Morning, pet.”
He sidled up next to me and showed me the book he was reading. Environmental rezoning. All right.
“So from one engineer to another—in the same field, technically—I wanna pretend to discuss this book for two reasons,” he said. “For one, I’m still struggling to find the motivation to go back and get my master’s, but it means a lot to River and Reese that I try. And two…it’s possible I’m up to no good.”
I side-eyed him. “And you thought it was a good idea to casually mention that to one of the toppy Sadists around?”
“A genius idea, actually, which I won’t take full credit for,” he answered. “Two things can happen here. You rat me out, and I take my punishment. No biggie. It won’t make any headlines. But the chance of you actually teaming up with me…? No one will suspect that.”
He had my attention.
I motioned for the book, and he extended it. If this was going to continue, we’d need to keep up the charade.
“I’m listening,” I said. I flipped to a random page somewhere in the middle, and then a few more pages. At the same time, we slowed down because we’d reached my cabin. “What’s your plan?”