Clifftop Fantasies [BDSM Menage Fantasies] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (36 page)

Jane’s look of defiant challenge turned to surprise and her face went a shade of red that clashed with the burgundy of her business suit, but she remained silent. On the other side of the table, Allie could see Karl rolling his eyes, but he didn’t say anything either.

Allie continued. “I want you to know that if anyone decides to write his biography, I will make sure that you are given credit for your help to him. I don’t know whether you were or were not business partners, and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence to prove it one way or the other. So we’ve decided to offer you complete and exclusive rights to any of my father’s pictures that you are visible and recognizable in. As you know, his work is beginning to get more and more popular, and Charlie believes that there is considerable financial potential in those pictures.” The words were rolling out of her now. She hoped desperately she wasn’t saying anything that was blatantly untrue. But Charlie was nodding and no one looked horrified, so she felt reasonably confident that she was on track.

“If you agree and sign the papers,” she went on, “our association will be over. You will have no legal claim to the house or any of my father’s other work.” She stopped to try to gauge Jane’s reaction.

Jane looked around the table suspiciously, as if wondering what kind of trick they might be playing on her. She picked up the stack of papers on the table and leafed through them, her mouth twisted in a skeptical smirk.

“Well, Charlie?” Jane said finally, putting down the stack and raising her eyes to him. “You wouldn’t help me with my case when Allen was alive, even though you knew the truth. I’m aware that you felt guilty about our…association, but what about now? You don’t owe any loyalty to these people. Allie wouldn’t even acknowledge you after you gave her a good start in the business, and then she treated you like scum when you came here to offer her the chance to make money. You and I could be partners. We could get this place away from them and build a really profitable business. They’re not going to give you anything.”

Allie’s mouth dropped open. She gaped at Charlie, her brain whirling with the implications of Jane’s speech. Even Karl looked astonished.

Charlie gave Allie an embarrassed glance then looked down at the table. Allie wondered if he were actually considering joining forces with Jane to get the house away from them. After all, he was the one with the contacts for the movie locations and the magazine shoots. He didn’t really need her pictures. With Jane and her models, they would have more than enough material to work with. And Jane was right. She had always treated Charlie like he was some kind of pornographer trying to take advantage of her. She blushed when she remembered herself threatening him, trying to make him go away and leave her alone. He might have been working with Jane, but she had no way of knowing that. He really had helped her when she was desperate for money, and he had been legitimately trying to help her again when the opportunity came up to resell the pictures. But she’d had such a knee-jerk reaction, imagining that Brad would leave her if he ever found out what she’d done as a college student. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he was already speaking, looking at Jane with open disgust.

“I’m not proud of what we did back then, even if was only once,” he said. “I always wanted to apologize to Allen, but I thought it might hurt him more than not knowing. When I heard that you had bought into the agency, I knew where you’d gotten the money and how. I have no interest in being partners with someone like you. I advise you to take Allie up on her very generous offer. There are at least three places that I know of that would buy those pictures right now, and it would mean immediate income for you, which is a much better option than a long, drawn-out legal battle for this house. Even if you win, it’ll be months, if not years, before you make any money from it. If you decide to fight, I’ll make sure they never buy them. And I will not testify that you and Allen were married or business partners. Anything that Allen owed you was paid back when you ruined his business and took away his desire to live. Having the rights to your pictures is something that you don’t deserve, but I can’t imagine them bringing much satisfaction to Allie now that she knows the history. Take what they’re offering and count yourself lucky.”

Jane pulled herself up even straighter and assumed an austere, dignified expression. “I’ll show these to my lawyers and let you know if he advises me to accept your offer,” she said haughtily, getting to her feet and stalking out the door.

The group at the table was silent as they watched her go. When her car roared to life in the driveway, Allie collected her thoughts and turned to Charlie.

“I’m so sorry,” she began, but he shook his head.

“Believe me, I understood your viewpoint, and I didn’t take it personally,” he said. “In my line of work, people assume all kinds of things about you. You’ll understand that better in a year or so. I’m very glad that I’ve been here to see how things have changed for you. Your dad would be proud of how strong and assertive you’ve become since you decided to live by your own standards instead of other people’s. And he’d be very glad that you and Karl are going to be partners. He wasn’t perfect, by any standards, but he was a good man, in his own way. And he did love you, even though he couldn’t expose you to his way of life.”

Allie got up and went to the end of the table to hug him. For the first time in her life, she felt like an actual adult. She could accept herself as she was, without having to worry about the approval of Brad’s parents or her mother or anyone else. She had the ability to choose her own way of life. “So,” she said, wiping away a tear that might have been relief or the residue of her guilt, “let’s talk about this photo shoot, shall we?”

Chapter 31

“Ok, so now that we have decided to let Charlie take new pictures, what’s next? How do these things work?” Brad asked while they were all drinking their coffee on the back porch that Saturday morning. Charlie had gone back to LA to file the paperwork Jane had finally signed with the civil courts, but had promised to be back the following Sunday to get started on the new layout of Allie. He had also insisted on paying his bill for the time he’d stayed, although Allie, after what had threatened to be a long fight, had finally convinced him to let her cut it in half.

Karl waited for a second to see if Allie was going to answer. When she made no move to speak, he said, “For what we are going to do, in a nutshell it means that a photographer and the involved models will get together at the shoot location and take hundreds of pictures in hopes of getting the ones that they had in mind before they started. The photographer positions the model or models, sometimes with several minute adjustments, before he takes the photo. It can be a tedious process, but when you have a model like Allie, who has a natural talent for it, magic can be made.”

Blushing at the compliment, Allie stared into her coffee and said, “Thank you, Sir.”

“You know, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do a practice shoot so liege here can see how it all works,” Karl suggested.

Brad screwed up his face in a confused look and repeated, “‘liege’? Are we doing a scene or a photo shoot?”

Karl smiled broadly. “Why not do both? We need the practice of a good D/s scene with all three of us involved. Besides, since Allie is a bit rusty at the modeling and you haven’t ever done a shoot, it seems like a good idea to combine them. It’ll be a lot of fun and practical at the same time. What could be better?”

A thoughtful grin crept across Allie’s face. “Hmm. That does sound like fun. What kind of a shoot did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking something that starts off with you and liege in a few staged shots and then moving on to some of just you in a couple poses I’ve been dying to photograph you in. I’ve been watching your reactions to being put into opportunities where your submissive side can shine through. It really seems to suit you. You practically glow with your obvious enjoyment of the feelings it generates. That will make for some amazing shots.”

Allie nodded enthusiastically, a surge of submissive excitement flooding across her skin. She turned to Brad and asked, “Will that be okay with you?”

“Does it really matter? I’m just the low man on the totem pole.” Brad sounded a little resentful, and Allie glanced between him and Karl, concerned.

“liege, is that how you really feel?” Karl asked quietly. “If so, then you have learned nothing. The role of submissive or slave, as the case may be, can only be successfully carried out by a person possessed of both personal confidence and strength. A doormat makes a horrible submissive and ultimately damages the whole community by not being responsible for themselves or the situations they allow themselves to be put in.”

“No, Sir.” Brad sighed and was silent for a moment before he continued, “It’s still just a little hard to get used to, you know? Having another guy in charge of me and my girlfriend still rubs the wrong way sometimes. I understand it, and when I think about it I do agree that it’s the right thing for us, but societal conditioning kind of takes over once in a while.”

“I understand that. But the force of personality to throw off the shackles of what is ‘normal’ is exactly the kind of strength I was talking about. I think you and Allie both have that in your makeup. It just needs the chance to grow and thrive. The strongest people I know identify as slaves, not masters or dominants. But the choice is yours. Do you still want to explore your submissive side with both Allie and me, or just with Allie?”

Taking a deep breath and a long look at Allie, Brad turned to face Karl. He looked into Karl’s face for a minute without saying anything before going down on one knee. He bowed his head and said, “Sir, I would like to learn from you both. It turns me on more than I can explain to submit to Allie, and I think it will be good for me to work out some ingrained prejudices from my upbringing to do so with you as well. I will have issues to work through, but if you’re willing to keep that in mind, I would like to see where this takes us.”

Karl stood, considering liege for a time before speaking. “That is acceptable, liege. Now let’s get to work.”

Karl made a phone call, and an hour and a half later, a submissive named Stephanie was at the house, finishing up Allie’s hair and makeup. She was in her early twenties, Allie guessed, with short, spiky hair, a nose ring, and artfully ripped tights. Allie watched Stephanie putting on the final touches and bouncing to the tinny beat coming from her earphone. She knew Stephanie was only a few years younger than her, but she still felt frumpy and ancient and fat.

Stephanie stepped back and surveyed her. Instead of throwing up her hands and declaring Allie to be a hopeless case, Stephanie gave her a sudden radiant smile. “Damn, girl,” she said, turning Allie so she could see herself in the mirror. “You are
hot
, even if I do say so myself.”

A nervous giggle escaped Allie’s lips as she stared in shock at her reflection. She had to admit that she didn’t look as pathetic as she’d expected. “Thank you. I just can’t get used to the idea that people think of me that way. I mean, I’m not twig thin or eighteen anymore.”

“Hell, who is?” Stephanie grinned at her in the mirror as she unplugged her curling iron. “But you look fabulous. Now get moving or Karl will be charging in here ranting about the time. We don’t want that now, do we?” She gave one last pat to Allie’s hair and shooed her out of the room.

If Allie hadn’t been at least partially reassured by her reflection, she would have been by the expression on Karl’s face when she came out of his bedroom. She knelt in front of him, trying not to giggle, and said, “Do I look all right, Sir?”

“I’ll say! I mean, yes. You look amazing.” Karl took a step back so he could rake his eyes up and down her body appreciatively.

The door opened. “Sir, are you sure about this outfit?” Brad walked into the room, staring down at himself. He was taking off a bathrobe, revealing nothing underneath but a jet-black jock strap. A tangled pile of shiny, black leather straps dangled from his hands, and he held it up, his eyebrows raised. But his voice trailed off as he got a look at the skintight, bright-red latex bodysuit and thigh-high, black leather boots that Allie was wearing.

“What? Oh, yes, liege. That is just right for this afternoon,” Karl answered distractedly without taking his eyes from the kneeling woman in front of him. When Stephanie emerged from his room, cramming the last of her supplies into her canvas backpack, he lifted his eyes and handed her a generous tip. “Thank you, my dear. As always you have done a wonderful job. I will be contacting your mistress this afternoon to thank her for giving you the time away from the salon on such short notice.”

“Believe me, it was my pleasure.” Stephanie smiled as her gaze fell on Brad. “Well, well,” she purred, giving him a full once-over as she made her way to the door. “Looks like you guys are in for a fun afternoon. Wish I could stay!”

Karl helped Allie to her feet and reached for Brad’s pile of leather straps. He sorted them out and demonstrated how they worked, saying, “Now, if you keep this ring in the center of your chest, the straps will cross like this, and you’ll have it right. Turn around and I will show Allie how to secure them to the other ring in the back. This is how a submissive wears the harness. A dominant would wear it the same way but with the fastenings in front.”

While Allie finished adjusting Brad’s outfit, Karl walked over to the table and picked up a very expensive-looking camera. “liege,” he said, indicating a point in the center of the room, “I would like for you to kneel here in this lighted area.”