Initiative (Suncoast Society #31)(52)

Susie tipped her head onto his shoulder as they walked. “Yes, Sir. Me, too.”





But sleep didn’t come easy for Susie that night. Her mind turned, twisted, thinking about the letter.

That John had loved her she had no doubts whatsoever.

Grant and Darryl were not John. Considering so much of their lives had to be spent in hiding and denial, the last thing she wanted to do was to deny them their friends, friends they could be completely genuine around.

She’d have to get over her fear. Yes, so far, everyone she’d met had been wonderful and many of them were now close friends. And no, she didn’t have anything to fear, personally. If the men were willing to risk going to the club, or to events, who was she to overrule them?

I want to be his slave. I am his slave. I want to be his good girl.

That meant she’d need to learn to completely release control of this to him. To his judgment. She trusted him. Hell, she wouldn’t have gotten into this if she didn’t trust him.

I am his good girl.

The next morning, as Grant drove her to work, she laid her hand on his thigh. “Can we go to the club this weekend, Sir?”

He glanced at her but couldn’t really take his focus off the morning traffic. “You’re asking to go?” Usually, it was them telling her they were going, and she agreed.

“Yes, Sir. And dinner at Sigalo’s.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What brought this on?”

“I should push myself out of my comfort zone more. I know you would never deliberately put me or us into a situation you didn’t think was safe for some reason. I want to get over my fear.”

At the next stop light, he pulled her in for a kiss. “I’m very, very proud of you, sweetheart. You have no idea how proud I am.”

Her heart raced, thrilled. “Thank you, Sir.”

“You’re my very, very good girl.”

Her smile broadened, her heart near bursting. “Thank you, Sir.”

“Darryl won’t be able to join us, but you and I will definitely go.” He laced fingers with her, holding her hand. “I promise you, we’ll have a good time.”

“I know, Sir. I trust you.”





Chapter Seventeen


Susie couldn’t believe how fast the last three months had flown by. They now had a routine, the three of them. Sometimes she would spend the night at their house and make sure to leave early before Kyle got up. Or, sometimes, Grant would sneak over to her house after she’d returned home.

Sometimes, if the timing was too close in the morning, or if it was so late she couldn’t drive home, she’d just move out to the couch and make it look like she’d fallen asleep there.

At least the kid was a sound sleeper and the three of them could slip into Grant’s bedroom for snuggle time together, even though they didn’t dare risk anything loud.

They still had to be careful. Grant’s work most likely wouldn’t fire him for being gay or bi. They would, however, possibly take exception to him being into BDSM, or being in a poly relationship. It could trigger his morals clause, and he couldn’t risk losing his job.

Darryl would definitely get fired for any one of the three issues, much less all three of them. Grant and Susie didn’t want Darryl to lose his job, so it was a no-brainer for them to let Kyle think Susie was just a friend.

Kyle had even remarked, once he’d learned the circumstances of her being widowed, that he felt sorry for her and was glad she now had her friends back.

For her part, Susie felt a little badly that, in vanilla settings, she and Darryl couldn’t really “claim” Grant as their partner or Master. It didn’t feel fair, even though she of all people understood the need for discretion.

One day, they’d all be able to live together under one roof, all the time, and then it wouldn’t matter. With her income added to the mix, Darryl could give the proverbial middle finger to the church and go back to teaching privately, or playing gigs in bands with his friends. He could stay home and take care of the house, and take care of them.

It would be perfection. Ed was already working on setting up the next round of custody wrangling. She told Ed to put it on her tab if Darryl couldn’t afford it.

She wanted Kyle to be happy, even if it meant it would put a crimp in their sexy fun-time. It was more important for Kyle to be happy.

And once Jackass was out of her hair for good, it would be one less stressor in her life.

Kristin loved the fact that Susie was actually taking personal days off now. In fact, she would be taking Monday off, as was Grant, and they planned to spend the day together.

Mostly in bed, but she was looking forward to it.

Saturday night during dinner at Sigalo’s, Ed noticed how distracted Susie looked. “What’s wrong?”

“Jack’s time is almost up and I want him gone,” she said. “He’s been keeping his head down since our last dust-up a couple of months ago.”

She hated that she felt she couldn’t even be her true self at work concerning her two men. When they stopped by to see her, or to pick her up to go to dinner, or for lunch on the rare Saturday when she worked now, she had to pretend they were nothing more than friends for fear of anyone finding out about it and, somehow, Jack finding out and using that to leverage against her.