Training the Help [Hedon Falls 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Read online

  Jack undid the handcuffs and helped her stretch out her legs. Then he sat down and pulled her onto his lap, tenderly caressing her hair as she cried. Sophie didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her. The orgasm had been spectacular, but she couldn’t stop the tears. “Jack,” she whispered between sobs. “Why am I crying?”

  He squeezed her tightly and kissed her forehead. “It’s just another kind of release,” he said. “It’s not as uncommon as you might think.”

  “Oh.” Sophie rested her head against his shoulder and enjoyed the warmth of him around her. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so safe and cared for. Which is ironic considering he just spanked me and whipped me with a crop. She wasn’t sure how long they sat, but Jack stayed with her until her tears had stopped completely and she was practically asleep.

  * * * *

  Before he left for his business trip the next day, Jack handed her a stack of books. As Sophie flipped through them, she realized that they were all about BDSM. She blushed and stared down at the floor. Jack grabbed her chin and forced her gaze up to meet his.

  “I want you to read as much as you can,” he said to her. “Some of those are romances, like the one you read the other day, but some of them are instructional and I thought you might find them useful.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  He stared into her eyes for a few moments, before he quickly brushed his lips across hers. Sophie’s pulse raced and her stomach clenched, but before she could react, he was gone. She slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs to stare blindly at the pile of books. He was barely out of the house and she missed him already. The intensity of her feelings for him had her scared. He was dominant and forceful, but at times, he was sweet and tender. And Sophie’s heart was beginning to melt for him. But he was married and that made her sad. Why couldn’t she have met him at another time, when he had no other commitments?

  Sophie shook her head and stood back up. Moping around and pining for a married man wouldn’t do her any good. She needed to keep herself busy. Jack would be gone for the better part of the week and she’d go crazy if she didn’t have anything to do. Thankfully, looking after the big house kept her occupied, and she spent some time wandering the town and getting to know the place. She discovered a coffee shop downtown called Carol’s Café and they had a wonderful selection of specialty coffees and desserts. It was cozy and quaint and Sophie went in so often that Carol was beginning to recognize her on sight and would have her caramel macchiato waiting before Sophie could even order. Sophie liked to sit in one of the comfortable chairs near the front window and write in her journal. She had begun detailing her adventures with Jack, inspired by the books she had been reading. The instructional books helped her to understand the equipment that could be used and some of the psychology behind BDSM, but she loved the way the romances described the feelings of the Doms and the subs. She tried to include as much of her emotion as she could in her descriptions.

  One day, Sophie walked past the old mill that was being converted into the art gallery whose opening she would be attending with Jack. It was a beautiful old building. The front had been replaced by large windows, which had posters hanging in them. Sophie went for a closer look. When she saw them, she nearly choked on her coffee. The opening exhibit, which she would be seeing with Jack, featured erotic art. Fan-fucking-tastic. She would have to walk around and admire pieces that would, no doubt, make her hornier than ever. Maybe I should invest in a vibrator, she thought. But the thought of actually going into the one adult store in Hedon Falls embarrassed her greatly. She’d have to make do with her hand for now.

  She was jolted out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cell phone. Neither Jack nor Kendra had called her before. She answered the phone without checking the display. “Hi,” she said.

  “Hey, babe. I’m so happy to hear your voice.” It was Tony.

  Annoyance flared. “Tony, how the fuck did you get this number?”

  “Your landlord was very helpful when I told him I had a position for you.” He laughed. “I actually have several positions in mind.”

  “Fuck off, Tony,” Sophie said. She was too exhausted to deal with his crap. “Don’t call me again.” She hung up and turned the ringer off. Stupid idiot couldn’t take a hint. She would have to have a word with the landlord.

  Later that week, when Jack arrived home from his trip, Sophie could barely contain her happiness. She really overdid the submissive bit, waiting on him, and following every direction he gave her. The anticipation of further lessons meant her panties had been soaked for most of the day and her heart raced whenever he looked at her. But as the time slipped past, she noticed that he seemed to be more distant than before, keeping their interactions to a minimum, and this left her confused. When he abruptly excused himself after dinner, Sophie sat still at the table, burning with shame.

  Of course he was having second thoughts about their relationship. It really did blur the boundaries between training and sex. And clearly, any feelings Sophie had for him were one-sided. She could feel the tears prickling at the back of her eyes and began to clear the table before she could think about it too much more. She had just finished putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher when she heard him from across the room.

  “Sophie,” he said, the commanding tone in his voice sending a chill down her spine. “Get on your knees.”

  There was no question of disobeying. She dropped to the floor and bowed her head as she waited for his next directions. He walked over and stood behind her, and as their lesson began, Sophie was happy to once again have the chance to please her Sir.

  Chapter Eight

  Jack’s eyes were glued to the television screen where he watched a bound and gagged woman getting fucked by her Dom. He stroked his cock rapidly, trying to reach climax as quickly as he could, desperate to relieve the pent-up desire. He flashed back to the vision of Sophie kneeling on the kitchen floor where he had tied her up and gagged her, before spanking her pretty ass until it practically glowed. He had almost blown his load when he ordered her to masturbate and bring herself to orgasm in front of him. With a groan, he closed his eyes and pumped faster, imagining that he was thrusting in and out of his sub’s slick pussy. That pushed him over the edge and he grunted as the hot semen spurted over his hand and the towel he had beside him. When the last drop had spilled out of him, he wiped his hand and lay back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

  He was walking a very fine line with Sophie and he knew it. The fact that thinking of her had him coming faster than his favourite bondage porn told him that. She was amazing. There was no other way to describe it. She had been the perfect sub today and he’d been hard from the time she’d said breathlessly, “Welcome home, Sir.” He had wanted to take her right then, bent over the table while he slid his cock deep within her.

  “Fuck,” he said aloud. He didn’t know how much longer he could go without doing just that. The worst part of it was that he knew she wanted him, too. The evidence was clear in the way she looked at him and the way her pussy was dripping before he even started spanking her. How could he be expected to hold off when it was clearly what they both wanted? But then he thought of Kendra. His beautiful, loving wife. They had been very happy together. She let him take the dominant role in bed…most of the time, and she was willing to do some playing in their playroom, but she just wasn’t a sub. Maybe he just needed to talk to her about it.

  He looked at the clock. It would be late afternoon in New Zealand. He took a chance and dialed her cell phone number. It rang several times before she picked up.

  “Hey, sexy,” she said in that purr that still made his cock twitch when he heard it.

  “Hey, yourself,” he replied. “I miss you. What are you up to right now?”

  “I miss you, too. I’m just eating dinner in my trailer. We’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s too hot to sit outside. What are you doing?”

  Jack took a deep breath. “Well, that’s what I w
anted to talk to you about.” He paused, unsure how to continue. At last he just blurted it out. “I’m training Sophie as my sub.”

  The silence on the line lasted so long that he thought perhaps she’d hung up. But then she said quietly, “When did this happen?”

  Jack explained how he had come home to find her reading, how they talked about it, and how Sophie decided to give it a try. More silence followed his explanation.

  Finally, Kendra sighed. “There’s no sex involved?” she asked.

  “Well, not exactly,” he said. “But when she does well, I reward her with an orgasm.”

  “How do you do that?” she asked.

  “The first time, I hit her pussy with the flogger. The time after that it was the riding crop. And tonight I made her masturbate for me.”

  “Wow,” Kendra breathed. “That’s actually kind of hot. And she’s okay with all of this?”

  “So far, so good.”

  “I guess I’m okay with it, too. If it’s making you both happy…”

  “It is,” Jack said quickly. “Thank you for understanding.”

  They talked for a while longer before Jack heard someone knock on Kendra’s trailer door, and she signed off. He felt better, knowing that Kendra was aware of what was going on. Now he just had to figure out how he could keep training Sophie without succumbing to his desire to fuck her senseless. He stood and went into the shower, no closer to a solution than he had been before.

  * * * *

  The day of the gallery opening, Sophie went back to The Remington Salon to get her hair done. The man who had booked the appointment, Remy, was there to greet her when she walked in.

  “Sophie, sweetie,” he cried when she approached the desk. “It’s fabulous to see you again! Let me take your coat.” He came around the desk and helped Sophie out of her coat before taking it to the closet. Then he led her to a station where a coffeemaker was set up. “Would you like coffee or tea?”

  Sophie looked over the selection and decided on a peppermint tea. Remy popped the disc into the brewer and led her to a chair. When she was settled, he retrieved her mug and handed it to her.

  “So, you want an elegant, sexy updo for the gallery opening tonight,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  “I don’t know about sexy,” she replied. “But elegant, yes.”

  “Oh, sweetie, you want sexy, too. Trust me. What does your dress look like?”

  As Sophie described it to him, he ran a brush through her hair and began sectioning it off. He quickly set it in rollers and then escorted her to the dryers, where he gave her a selection of magazines and her tea. Sophie sipped the tea and looked around. The salon was very upscale and it was quite busy. As the timer went to signal that Sophie’s time was done, she noticed two women walk in, one of them extremely pregnant. Remy led them to side-by-side chairs and then came to get Sophie. As he worked on her hair, they chatted. Sophie found out that Remy was the owner of the salon and Remy was short for Remington. There was a picture stuck in the side of the mirror at his station, which showed Remy, another man, and a little girl.

  “Who else is in that picture?” Sophie asked him.

  Remy grinned broadly. “That would be my husband, Seamus, and our little girl, Ainsley.”

  Apparently Sophie’s instinct that Remy was gay had been correct. She smiled. “You make a lovely family.”

  “I know,” he said. “Seamus is the head chef over at Oracle and Ainsley is nine years old. She keeps us pretty busy.”

  “I went to Oracle for dinner the other week!” Sophie said as she remembered Jack mentioning Seamus to the waiter. “The food was fabulous!”

  “That’s my honey,” Remy said. “He found his way into my heart with his mad cooking skills.”

  “My boss loves it there,” Sophie replied.

  “Who’s your boss?” he asked conversationally as he pinned another section of hair to the top of her head.

  Sophie hesitated for a minute. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him or not. Then she remembered Kendra going on about it at the mall that day and decided it would be okay. “Jack and Kendra Sullivan,” she told Remy.

  Remy froze and his jaw dropped. “No way! You work for the Sullivans?”

  “I’m their housekeeper.”

  “That is fantastic! I just love Kendra. She’s a doll. She’s had me to the house a few times to do her hair. Isn’t she going to the opening tonight?”

  “No, she’s in New Zealand on a movie shoot,” Sophie said. “So I got volunteered to be Jack’s date.”

  “Lucky girl!” Remy said. “If I weren’t already married, I’d be all over that man. What a hunk!”

  Sophie giggled again. “Apparently, that’s why he needs a date. To fend off the crazy singles.”

  They laughed and chatted some more. When Remy had finished, Sophie was amazed at the transformation. Her hair was swept back and into a knot with curls arranged around it. Tendrils curled down at the sides of her face and near her ears to soften the look. The whole style had a loose look, as though it might come tumbling out at any moment, but it was held securely with dozens of bobby pins.

  “Remy, it’s beautiful!” she said.

  “You’re going to make me blush, sweetie!” he said with a smile as he helped her out of the chair. “You just have a good time tonight, and say hello to Kendra for me when she gets back into town.”

  Sophie paid the hairdresser and made her way back to the house. Jack had planned to take her for dinner before the opening and she didn’t have a lot of time left. He had asked her to be at the front door for five o’clock. She quickly applied her makeup, intentionally making it more dramatic than she normally would have, and then dressed in the new lingerie and the gown. When she looked in the mirror, she could hardly believe she was seeing herself. She had never had a reason to get so dressed up before and she enjoyed it. When she was satisfied, she grabbed the clutch purse Kendra had gotten her, and headed to the front door just before five.

  As she approached, her heels clicked on the floors and Jack turned to look at her. They both froze as they stared at each other. Jack was dressed in a simple black tuxedo, but it hung perfectly on him, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow hips. He was stunning and Sophie couldn’t take her eyes off him. She noticed that his eyes were traveling over her body, and they paused for a few extra moments on her chest, which was pushed up significantly by the bra. She could feel her cheeks heating up as he stared. Finally, she closed the last few feet between them and looked up.

  He licked his lips and swallowed before saying, “You look dazzling.”

  Sophie’s face grew warmer and she looked down. “Thank you, Sir. So do you.”

  He reached out and lifted her chin. “Do you have a coat? It’s chilly tonight.”

  “I have a wrap, Sir,” she said. He nodded and she retrieved it from the closet. Jack opened the door and held out his arm to her. She took it and they walked down the front stairs to the limo that waited in the drive. As they approached, the chauffeur opened the door and Jack helped Sophie to climb inside, then slid in beside her. They rode in silence to the restaurant. Sophie was keenly aware of the heat from Jack’s body beside her and her stomach couldn’t seem to unclench itself. Every time he moved, a new thrill shot through her.

  Their dinner was also a very subdued affair, with only a few mumbled phrases passing between them. Sophie could barely eat because the tension had her stomach in knots. When they finished, the limo drove them to the mill, which was lit up brightly, both inside and out. They stepped out and she took Jack’s arm again as they entered.

  The restoration of the building was beautifully done. The floors looked like originals, and the large wooden beams and stone walls lent an antique feel to the place, while the gleaming lights and fixtures accentuated the modernity of the facility. At the entrance to the exhibit floor, they stopped for the receiving line. Jack leaned close and whispered that the woman they were waiting to talk to was Melanie Hyne
s, owner of the gallery. Sophie recognized her as one of the women who had been getting her hair done at the Remington Salon that afternoon.

  “Thank you for inviting us,” Jack said to her as he shook her hand. “This is our good friend Sophie LaPlante. She graciously agreed to come with me tonight since Kendra is away on a movie shoot.”

  Melanie shook Sophie’s hand. “I’m so glad you could come,” she said warmly.

  Jack led Sophie onto the exhibit floor and she sucked in a breath as she looked around. Directly in front of them was a life-sized statue of a naked woman. She could see other statues scattered through the middle of the room that were decidedly sexual. Paintings hung from the walls and Sophie realized with a thrill that some of them featured BDSM acts. Her pussy clenched slightly and her hand tightened on Jack’s arm. He looked down at her and chuckled, the sexy sound causing her to become even more aroused. He began to lead her around the room, introducing her to so many people, she was sure she’d never remember them all.

  They walked to one of the BDSM paintings, which showed a naked woman strapped to a spanking bench with two large handprints on her ass while her Dom raised his hand in the air. Sophie was becoming increasingly turned on and she imagined herself in that painting with Jack.

  “Do you like this one?” Jack asked her. “The woman reminds me of you.”

  Sophie looked again and realized that the woman’s hair and eyes looked similar. As she studied the painting, she realized that Jack was speaking again, but it wasn’t to her.

  “I thought I recognized your work,” he was saying. Sophie turned to see a man close to Jack’s age standing with him. “Is this one for sale?”

  “For you, I’ll charge double,” the other man said and they both laughed.

  “Sophie, this is Garrett Anderson, the artist of this painting,” Jack said and Sophie held her hand out.

  “Glad to meet you, Sophie,” Garrett said as he shook her hand.

  “Sophie is our housekeeper,” Jack said. “Among other things.” He smiled at her, and she blushed furiously as she looked down.