Page 90 of Office Intrigue (Office Intrigue Duet 1)
Once we were all settled in Langston’s office, we waited patiently for him to speak.
“Get on with it,” Landon said roughly.
Okay, maybe patient was the wrong word.
“Care to tell us what happened?” I suggested when it was clear Langston was having a hard time coming up with words.
Langston sighed. “It was time.”
I barked a laugh. “Time? Are you fucking kidding me? Time for what? Time to pull the alpha card and take control? Or time to blow everything for the rest of us?”
Yeah. I sounded as angry as I felt. But I didn’t care because I was pissed. I’d spent the entire night practically mourning the damn opportunity that Luci had presented for me and Ben.
“Are you planning to collar her?” I asked when no one else spoke up.
“Fuck no,” he snapped.
That had the rest of us pretty much flinching.
“What do you mean, no?” Landon questioned, a deep groove marring his forehead.
“It means I have no intention of collaring her.”
Again, everyone was speechless.
“Look. I had a moment of weakness.”
“Fuck you,” Landon hissed, his tone harder than I’d ever heard it. “It’s one thing to play with the submissives at the club, Langston. Something else entirely to fuck with a girl who doesn’t even understand the world we live in.”
For the first time since I walked into the room, Langston actually appeared somewhat remorseful.
“It was a moment of weakness.” Langston’s eyes went hard. “Now, I’m not apologizin’ for what I did, because I don’t regret it.”
“Personally,” Ben said, “I think you handled it rather well.”
Langston didn’t say anything, but he nodded curtly.
“I agree,” I admitted. “But I need you to be clear. You’re telling us the rules haven’t changed?”
“The rules haven’t changed.”
“Does she know this, Master?” Landon snarled at his brother.
Another sigh escaped Langston. He obviously hadn’t expected the rest of us to call him on this. He should’ve known better. Granted, I hadn’t seen Landon react quite like this. Not in all the time I’d known him. I’d seen them interact with plenty of submissives at the club, but neither of them had ever developed feelings for any of them. Not that I’d seen, anyway.
And fine, it wasn’t like I hadn’t suspected what was going on. The four of us kept in contact, and we made certain to share our plans. Maybe not all the details, but we did let one another know when we intended to spend time with Luci. Those two had spent far more time with her than Ben and I had.
However, that girl had become important to all of us. And not merely for sex. Sure, we were probably riding the high of having her eager and available, but that wasn’t unexpected. That didn’t mean we were willing to walk away. Not anymore.
“I plan to talk to her,” Langston finally said. “I asked her to do some research on BDSM. And when the three of you get back to work, I intend to have a lengthy discussion with her.”
“Don’t you dare lead her on,” Landon insisted. “No matter what she says, she’s confused. Yes, she’s read a little bit of fiction that glamorizes the lifestyle, but she has absolutely no idea what it is you truly want from her.”
“I understand that. And I’m not leading her on.”
I had to disagree. “You are if you’re asking her to call you Master yet you have no intention of collaring her. She doesn’t even understand the significance of that term, does she?”
Langston shook his head. “Doubtful. But as we all know, there are no steadfast rules in this lifestyle. We’ll implement them as we go along.” His gaze cut between each of us. “I have no intention of monopolizing her time or trying to keep her all to myself.”
For some reason, I didn’t believe him.
Oh, wait.
Maybe that was because he’d gone all territorial on her and insisted that she call him Master.
Thirty-Six
THE LONGER MY BOSSES WERE in Langston’s office the worse I felt. It wasn’t like they’d included me in their ad hoc meetings before, but I knew this was one that involved me. Justin had mentioned that they would discuss the change in dynamic this morning. I assumed that was what the meeting was for. As far as what the change was he had referred to, I had no freaking clue.
Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to continue my lesson on BDSM, scouring the Internet for as much information as I could retain. Truth was, I was fascinated. I found several websites that highlighted the attributes of a submissive. Many of which I could associate with on a level deeper than I expected.
Needless to say, by the time Master’s door opened, I was enlightened about a lot of things, including my own feelings. No, I didn’t think I’d simply turned into a submissive because Master wished it. I felt as though I was submissive on many levels, and truthfully, I was hoping to explore this in depth.
