Beyond 10 Nights (26 page)

“That definitely puts a new perspective on things.”
Janie was very rarely taken off guard, but the revelation about Alex’s kink
certainly had. Her immediate thought was that she needed to warn her friend
before she got in over her head with him. “I think I’m going to invite them to
lunch,” she declared suddenly.

“Just remember, Janie, Leah is a big girl, you have to
be willing to accept whatever she chooses, and be there for her if it turns out
to be the wrong decision.” He had no intention of letting her do anything that
would endanger their friendship again, the last time that happened she had
become depressed, and he didn’t want to see a repeat of that if it could be
avoided.

“I’m not going to tell her what to do, but I think she
should at least be warned. It’s not fair of him to keep something like this
hidden from her, especially when there’s the chance she could develop feelings
for him and feel pressured into a decision she really isn’t ready or willing to
make.” She had no qualms about outing Alex’s secret life to her friend; she deserved
to know the truth in her opinion.

“I think you should let me speak with Alex first, I
might be able to persuade him to do the right thing; the news will be better
received coming from him, I’m sure. I’d love to have them for lunch though.” He’d
much rather enjoy her for lunch, he though with a sly smile, but that could
wait.

“Okay, well if you want to call Alex first, I’ll wait
to ask Leah about joining us today.” His suggestion seemed fair, and she had no
problem giving Alex the benefit of the doubt, even though she found the whole
pony thing extreme.

Setting down his cup David stood. “Let me a grab a
shower, then I’ll see if I can get Alex on the phone.” He had a couple of
meetings scheduled for the morning but knew his calendar was open after lunch,
he had purposely kept it that way so he could spend some time with Janie.

“Would you like help washing your back?” Janie asked
with a wink, grinning at the thought of starting the day with a little fun.

David laughed and held up his hands as he backed away.
“Baby, we both know if you get in that shower with me I’m going to be late to
my first meeting. Giving a small smirk he hurriedly walked to the bathroom.

He showered quickly, forcing himself not to think of the
sexy young woman who would join him if he so much as uttered the word. He
wanted to take her as much as she wanted to be taken, but he knew he couldn’t
spare the time, especially given the arrangements he had made for them for the
rest of the day. He had something extra special in mind for that evening, but
if he couldn’t focus and get his work out of the way that morning, he would
have to consider postponing it and he had no intention of doing that.

While her man disappeared off to the shower Janie washed
up the coffee cups, as well as the rest of their breakfast dishes, she then
dried and put them away, and finished up by wiping down the counters. The
domestic activity occupied her hands, but not her mind, and she found herself
thinking about what David had told her about Alex.

She couldn’t help but admitting to a certain curiosity
about the pony lifestyle, even if she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to
tell David that. The research she’d done after discovering that pony play
existed had been just enough to leave her troubled by the amount of training it
entailed, not to mention the nature of that training, despite that, she felt a
certain morbid curiosity about that aspect of the lifestyle.

One of the things that had put her off pony play was
the fact that information about it had proved to be hard to come by. Most of
what little she had learned had come from fiction books, and though she was
sure a lot of the information was wrong or exaggerated it still disturbed her.

Her favorite vampire author had written a series that
included scenes set in that aspect of the lifestyle, it had been written in
such graphic detail that she had been left blushing, which was shocking in
itself. After reading the fictionalized accounts of pony play she had found herself
wondering what the truth was, without being quite brave enough to find out.

Perhaps it was time to talk to someone who lived the
lifestyle, she thought as David walked back into the kitchen, dressed and ready
for work. “Do you think we could get an invitation to go out to the Ranch?” she
asked, thinking that if her friend was getting involved with someone connected
to the place she could get to know more about it, and learn the truth rather
than what the books had told her.

“I think Alex would give us a tour if I asked.” He
grinned, loving how open she was to new things. “Any particular reason for
wanting to go out there?” he asked with a raised brow.

“I’m just thinking that maybe I shouldn’t judge a
different aspect of the lifestyle based on what I’ve read in a few books.” Alex
seemed like a decent person, from what she had seen of him, and she didn’t want
to think badly of him, at least not without trying to understand the reality of
things.

“I’ll bring it up when I call him.” Deciding that it
was best to get the call out of the way, before he got caught up in his
meetings he took out his cell phone.

Alex was already dressed and waiting for Leah when his
phone rang. They had enjoyed another incredible night of lovemaking, and he had
been pleased that she had asked him to take the lead, even if the result was
that he felt barely awake, which he was sure was going to make his day at work
long and at least a little annoying. “Good morning, David, I’m glad you called,
I have some business I’d like to discuss with you when you’re free to meet up.”

“That would be good; I’ll let you know when I have the
time.” There was a pause as David considered how best to broach the subject he
had called about, after a moment he decided it was best simply to leap right
into it. “Have you told Leah about the Ranch and your interest in pony play?”
he asked.

The question caught Alex by surprise, coming so
abruptly, and at such an early hour, but he recovered soon enough. He didn’t
bother to ask how David knew about the Ranch or his involvement with it, he was
well aware of how rumors and stories ran through their community. “Yes,” he
answered, if he hadn’t gotten to know David, and knew that he was almost
certainly asking out of concern for Leah he might have been offended, instead
he took it in his stride. “I took her out to the Ranch the evening before
last.”

“I’m sorry to throw that at you out of the blue, but
the subject came up with Janie and she was worried. I promised I’d speak to you
about it.” He hoped he hadn’t offended the man, but the last thing he wanted
was Janie worrying that Leah was getting in over her head again.

“Don’t worry about it, they are friends, it’s only
right that she should worry.” He couldn’t fault the man for raising his
girlfriend’s concerns, he was sure he would have done the same if their
positions had been reversed. “Please reassure Janie that I have told Leah all
about it, and I won’t be trussing her up anytime soon.” Not that he wouldn’t
mind doing so, he thought, if she were to agree to it.

“I’ll do that,” David said, relieved to hear that his
opinion of the man had been justified.

“Thank you, is there anything else?” Alex asked,
stifling a yawn that made him think he was going to need an intravenous
caffeine drip to get him through the morning, let alone the rest of the day. As
fun as the sex was with Leah it did charge a price.

“Yes, Janie and I were wondering if you and Leah would
like to meet up for lunch soon, and Janie wanted me to ask if it would be
possible to arrange for a tour of the Ranch. I think she’s a little curious
about the place.”

Alex was pleased to hear that Janie was interested in
finding out about the lifestyle he was involved in and smiled into the phone.
“I’d love to have you both out to the Ranch, and lunch sounds great. How about
Saturday for the Ranch? There’s a race scheduled for Saturday afternoon so we
could have lunch and then watch the race, I know Leah has expressed interest in
watching.”

Putting his hand over the phone David had a quick
whispered conversation with Janie before returning to the call. “Sounds good to
me, and Janie is okay with it. Are you okay to meet for lunch today? We can
discuss business while the girls catch up.” He grinned and winked at Janie as
he said that.

Alex laughed. “Let’s do something informal,” he
suggested, knowing that he wouldn’t have the time for a long lunch because he
had a few things to take care of that afternoon.

David named one of his favorite pizza places and Alex
quickly agreed, knowing that the place had a reputation for good food, and had
the benefit of being about half way between both their businesses. “We’ll meet
you there at one then.” Finishing the call he turned to Janie and told her
everything that Alex had said.

“I’m pleased to hear he’s so open,” Janie said with a
smile, thinking that Saturday was likely to be very interesting, for all of
them.

14

Comforting

Leah smiled as she joined Alex in the living area; the
previous night had been wonderful and she was glad, after the phone call from Rhett
the previous day she had been sure she would never smile again. If it hadn’t
been for Alex, she didn’t think she would have made it through the day. His
concern over her mental state had been touching, and had led to sweet
lovemaking, that had become more and more intense when she asked him to take
control.

It was great being able to please herself, and to take
charge, but it didn’t fulfill her the way she wanted to be. She had learned
that as fun as it had been to do things differently, she really didn’t like to
take charge when it came to pleasure. After a short while she had stopped and
begged Alex to take control and to show her how to please him.

Her announcement had stopped the incredible sex they
had been working up to, but it had started a conversation that had ultimately
led to an even more fulfilling period of pleasure, when he understood what she
truly desired.

After a long period of discussion Alex had discovered
just how inexperienced she was, and had made many suggestions about how they could
move forward. He had also made her promise that she would do some research into
the world of BDSM in her free time, worried about her lack of knowledge when it
came to the lifestyle.

The last thing he wanted was a submissive that had no
idea what she was submitting to. He had explained his take on the role of
master and submissive, and listened as she shared what she knew and understood
about the lifestyle.

Their conversation had lasted for more than an hour before
they returned to the bedroom, where Alex had proceeded to give her one of the
best nights of her life. The only downside to such a good night was that they
hadn’t fallen asleep until a few hours before dawn.

“Do you think you’ll make it through the day?” he
asked with a grin as he poured her a cup of coffee, seeing the weariness he
felt reflected in her eyes.

“I think I might have to tell my slave driver of a
boss to go easy on me today.” She grinned and sat down to join him.

During the course of their conversation during the
night they had decided to keep their relationship informal, at least until Alex
felt she was more prepared for the role of a submissive in his life. He would
train her to be what he wanted, as long as she wanted to be trained, but the
training would be casual so as not to overwhelm her

“I think he might be persuaded to go along with that,”
he said, returning her grin.

“Do you think he might also be persuaded to let me use
his office for a little rest if I find I can’t lift my head today?” Taking
another sip of coffee she wondered how far he would let her push him.

“I think he might pull you over his knee and wake you
up a little if he found you can't do your job.” He chuckled, loving the playful
side of her personality.

She was shaking her head when her phone rang. “Let me
take this call while I decide if my boss is being unreasonable.

“Hi, David, what’s up?”

“I’ve just received a call from the resort in Mexico
where Rhett was staying,” he told her.

Leah felt her heart jump into her throat. “What’s the
matter?” she asked, knowing that something must be wrong if the resort had
contacted David.

“Have you been watching the news?”

“No, why?” The question had her confused.

David hesitated for a moment. “A tropical storm hit
the resort yesterday evening, apparently it was pretty bad. I don’t know all of
the details, Manuel was lucky to get through for as long as he did.

“It seems as though Rhett tried to leave to leave the
island to come home but was forced to make an emergency landing.”

“Is he alright?” Leah felt as though her heart was
going to be beat its way out of her chest from the panic she was feeling.

“They don’t know. His pilot reported that they were making
an emergency landing but the storm is still raging, until it clears they can’t
begin looking for them.”