Safeword: Mayday by Candace Blevins
Chapter 33
Kyle left work at a decent hour on Friday, and he wasn’t on-call this weekend. Marcus was attending a local play party, so that meant Kyle and Heather had the evening and night to themselves.
He met Heather at the ranch and watched her finish up with Phantom, then the two headed to the climbing wall. Kyle managed to get a little higher than the time before, every single time.
Heather had been hesitant about pushing him, right after her panic attack, but Marcus had come a few times, and Heather had quickly learned how to nudge Kyle into pushing himself to go higher.
They’d gone back to Kyle’s house to shower and change, and now they were having dinner in a nice, date-night restaurant.
“You know I took Eric and Ranger jumping this week.”
He grinned at her. “I do. The week’s been hectic, but it hasn’t been that hectic.”
“Ranger recently moved to town. He’s staying with Eric on the yacht while he looks for a place to rent. He’ll probably build a house, but for now, he’s looking to rent. I told him if he’ll help me move my things into your house and the storage area at the ranch, I’ll sublet my apartment to him until my lease is up.”
Kyle put his fork down. “You’re willing to give up your apartment? For me?”
Heather nodded. “I’ve also talked to Jonah more about my plans for the adventure center. He talked to Billy, and Billy’s Master, about the possibility of Billy working a few days a month at my place, running the climbing wall. I spent a few hours watching him work at Vertical Fitness one day this week, and I’ve asked around about him, and Jonah vouches that he’s responsible. I talked to my lawyer about it, and she’s creating a new company. The adventure company will lease some of the land from the ranch, and I’m contracting for a new building that’ll be the headquarters for the new company. That way the adventure stuff — the wall, the caving, the skydiving — will be done through a different company than the ranch, and any potential lawsuits won’t affect the horses.”
“Do you have the capital for that?” Heather seemed a shrewd businesswoman, but this sounded like a big outlay.
“I’m putting seventy thousand of my money in, and Eric volunteered a fifty-thousand-dollar business loan. He’s having his lawyer draw up the papers — the way he wants to do it, I’ll owe him eleven thousand dollars a year in services, for five years.” She shrugged. “They jumped three times the other day and paid me twenty-four-hundred dollars. For people who know what they’re doing, I charge a flat rate per jump, with the first costing more than the second and third jumps, whether I’m taking one person or three people. He’ll easily work through the fifty-five thousand in five years.”
“But isn’t that a lot of wear and tear on your ‘copter that you’ll have to provide for free? And gas?”
“Kyle, I can do it. I’ve run the numbers. The new building will include enclosing my wall, so it’ll be an indoor facility and I won’t have to worry about weather. I can do that, along with adding guest housing and a bath house, put in a second parking lot and entrance from the road so no one will tie the two businesses together in their head, and include a suite for myself on top of the originally planned guest rooms, so I can stay out there and not have to use Jonah’s guest room when I put on an adventure week or weekend.”
And there was the other shoe he’d been waiting for since she told him she’d be okay with moving in now, rather than later. “Ah, so you’ll still have a place to run to, if you need to get away from us.”
Heather spoke slowly. “Not right away. I’m giving up my apartment as soon as we can get everything moved, and it’ll be a while before the new guest house is built. It’s true that eventually I’ll have another place I could go, but I hope you see why I need a place to stay out there. I’m not allotting a whole lot of money to go towards my quarters — basically a suite with a tiny kitchenette, though I’m having the bathroom made bigger, since I’m hoping I won’t have to be alone every night I spend in Apison. I’m considering that the closet could be a locking closet, with another small closet created that would remain empty. That way I can rent it as a deluxe unit, and just lock up my closet. The other rooms will be more like an inexpensive hotel room, one or two beds with a bathroom. Eric mentioned it might be nice to offer a camping option as well, which is why I’m putting the bathhouse in, and not just the bathrooms I’ll need on that end of the property.”
“You’ve been busy this week, with lawyers and contractors and such. When you get an idea, you don’t waste any time, do you?”
“I’ve had the idea for a while, I was just waiting to have enough money to actually make it happen. I mentioned the idea to Eric and Ranger, not thinking Eric would offer to help. He offered a hundred-thousand-dollar loan, but I told him I only need fifty. He didn’t want to charge me any interest, but his lawyer and I both agreed there should be some interest in order to protect him legally, but then he only figured in a small pittance. I didn’t want to go into debt to make it happen, but Eric’s offer was too good to turn down. Though, I admit I tried to turn it down, at first.”
“I’m happy it’s working out, and I’m thrilled you’re moving in with me sooner, rather than later.”
“How are we supposed to feel about Marcus being with someone else tonight? I mean, we’ve known all along it would happen, but now that it is, I think I’m having a hard time with it.”
He paused a moment to take a drink while he figured out the best way to answer her.
“I’m not jealous of Marcus with you for a few reasons. The first is that I know he won’t try to steal you away from me — he’s good at sharing. The second is that he gives you something I can’t, so I’m not really in competition with him. Y’know?”
“But how do we know that whoever he picks won’t try to take him away from us?”
“We don’t. We have to trust that it will work out. If Marcus wants to stay with us then he’ll find someone who fits in with all of us. If he doesn’t, then we have no right to try to force him to stay with us.”
She took a bite and chewed, considering, and finally said, “You’re right, of course, but I still feel as if I’m on unstable ground. When we see him tomorrow, do we ask him how his night went?”
“He’ll probably tell us without our asking, but yes, I think we should ask, and we should be interested in how it went. Odds are, he’ll Top someone who wants to be topped but isn’t looking for a relationship, and he’ll get to exercise his inner Dominant and will feel good about it. There’s a possibility he’ll Top someone who wants to see him again, and he’ll let us know if he’s going to see her by himself or turn it into a double date.”
“I mentioned to Eric that I’d read several books that made it sound like a Dom should submit to someone at least a few times, so they’ll have a better idea of how to successfully dominate someone. Eric said there was a tremendous value in doing so, but that he didn’t think it absolutely necessary. He also said that since most Doms aren’t wired to submit, they aren’t likely to truly understand the act, even if they go through the motions, but sometimes a Dom might be a switch and not know it until they submit and discover how fulfilling it can be. I decided not to ask him if he’d ever submitted, and he didn’t offer the information.”
“I think he’s likely right on both counts. At any rate, I would never ask you to submit to anyone, and I don’t think Marcus is going to ask for it in a big way. Little things here and there, the stuff necessary to be safe when he hurts you, but nothing major.”
And for now, Heather thought that was enough.
* * * *
The next morning, Heather was working out in Kyle’s garage when Kyle came into the garage with the phone still in his hand. “Marcus brought someone home with him last night, and wants to know if you and I want to go to breakfast with them.”
Oh yeah, she absolutely wanted to meet whoever Marcus had spent the night with. She looked at the clock she’d put on the wall, and asked “Is he on speaker?”
“No, he let me go and told me to text him whatever we decide.”
“Sure, I’ll come in and shower real quick. I don’t have to be at the flight park until one. I’m on the books to take a few people on tandem glides, but that should give me plenty of time. Did he say anything about her?”
“I think she was beside him when he called, so not much. Just that she’s new to town but already knew Lady Laura, and since Lady Laura vouched for him, she felt safe going home with him from the party.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Probably, but he didn’t tell me what it is.”
She rolled her eyes. “Where are we eating?”
“I suggested City Cafe.”
She said, “Mmmmm”, as she walked past him to head to the shower.
* * * *
Fifteen minutes later they were buckling into Marcus’s SUV, with Heather and Marcus up front, and Kyle and Ruby in the back.
The introductions had gone smoothly, and they’d learned Ruby was an engineer. She’d been offered a position with a new factory in Chattanooga, so she’d transferred here to take the job.
Heather had walked next door expecting to dislike whoever she met, but Heather liked Ruby from the start, and loved her New England accent.
As Marcus pulled out onto the street from his driveway he flipped Heather’s hair and said, “Kyle said you’re doing some tandem flights today. Do you have time to fit me in on one, too?”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Hang on. Let me check the schedule and see if we can get a tow.”
She called the park, got a tow for Marcus onto the schedule after her other jumps, and hung up with a smile. “All set. I’m glad you enjoyed your first trip so much.” She looked into the back seat. “Do the two of you want to come watch? I’m not teaching today, just doing three tandem flights, and then I’ll take Marcus up. There’s a swimming pool, and a place for volleyball if you want to hang out and watch. There’s always a cookout on Saturday evenings, and we’ll probably be there late enough to eat, if you’d like to make a day of it. It’ll be fine to be there as my guests.”
“I’d love to come watch,” Kyle said. “Marcus can swim with us while you do your first three tandems, right?”
“The first two, and then he’ll need to get suited up, but yes, it can be the three of you, or the two of you, if Ruby can’t come, and then once Marcus and I are through with our flight, I’d love to play some volleyball.”
“It feels kind of strange to be doing all of this right off the bat,” Ruby said. “I just met Marcus last night, and I guess the three of you are already kind of an item? I feel a bit like I’m auditioning. Can we eat breakfast first, and then talk about it? We may decide we don’t all want to spend the day together during breakfast.”
Heather turned around as much as her seatbelt would allow. Ruby was behind Marcus, so she could see her well enough. “Kyle reminded me last night why we all work together so well. He isn’t jealous of Marcus, because Marcus gives me something Kyle can’t give me. And Kyle gives me something Marcus will never give me, because hell will freeze over before Marcus ever submits. You don’t need to be jealous of me, because you’ll give Marcus something I can’t. I’m not a submissive, so I don’t feed the Dom in him. We all bring something to the relationship, and we do a lot of talking and communicating. Marcus isn’t being fulfilled, and we want him to be, so we’ll do whatever we can to work towards that happening. I get that this can be a bit overwhelming, and I’m sorry about that. Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?”
“Thank you, that was really nice. And it helped. I don’t know if there’s anything else you can do.” She looked towards Marcus and then back to Heather. “I want a Dom, someone to own me, but I’ve always seen myself as being the sole focus. I’d never considered being part of a foursome. It makes sense to hang out with you all for the day, to get to know you outside of sex.” She looked in the mirror so she could see Marcus. “Sir, you said there would be no formal speech requirements at breakfast. I’ll assume the same goes for the hang-gliding place?”
“Yes. If you become my full-time slave, your contract will stipulate you’re never to draw attention to our status as Master and Slave in public.”
She nodded. “That’s good. Thank you, Sir.”
Marcus glanced at Heather and looked back to the road. “Before we get to the restaurant where people might overhear, want to give me the cliff notes on how your evening went?”
Heather considered whether to talk about it in front of Ruby, and made the executive decision to do so. Kyle clearly wanted her to feel comfortable with them, so she didn’t think he’d mind.
“Kyle has no issues with being restrained, and he was immobile for a good part of the night. I practiced my new flogger skills on him, and it turns out I love using the new cock whip I bought — it makes the prettiest colors on his dick when it’s hard. I ordered him to fuck me hard towards the end, and told him he could get off once I’d had five orgasms, but I stopped him at four, so he didn’t get to come.” She looked back to Kyle to gauge his reactions, and saw that her telling Marcus was putting Kyle into the submissive headspace he loved so much, so she kept going. “I edged the fuck out of him this morning and let him get really close at least a dozen times, but never gave him permission. I was planning to use a dildo in his ass after I worked out, and maybe let him come, but those plans got changed for us to come eat breakfast.