Lora Leigh - Wicked Intent

“Or keep her restrained,” Dev growled. “I liked her much better tied down and at our mercy. Being at Tally’s mercy would be scary.” Lucian restrained a shudder. “Don’t even think like that.” He couldn’t imagine the horror of it. “Hell, I’m going to work. Let her pout it out and come looking for us. I’ll be damned if I’ll chase after her any further.”

Dev grunted. “Yeah, with a knife. Watch my back, brother, and I’ll watch yours; otherwise, we could both end up sacrificed to sweet Tally’s fury.”

“Or her lust,” Lucian murmured, and that was part of what he was fighting for.

They had her love, he knew that to the bottom of his soul. All they had to do now was ensure the surrender she had made the night before.

Going to their respective cars, they pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the large house they owned outside of town, but in the opposite direction of the Wyman home. There was plenty to do while they waited on Tally to accustom herself to the events of the night before. Jesse suggested going after her, giving her no time to regain her balance or her strength. But Jesse was uncharacteristically wary of Tally. He swore she would make an excellent serial killer. There were times Lucian almost agreed with him.

* * *

“So, are you going to let them get away with it?” Terrie’s voice was amused yet filled with all the loving concern of a true friend.

There were few people Tally allowed close enough that she called them true friends. Terrie was one of those people, unfortunately. True friends knew your past, your secrets, your foibles and faults. Most of which had been revealed through more than one night of drunken revelry after the death of Terrie’s first husband.

Tally propped her chin on the palm of her hand and regarded the other woman seriously. “Sister Redempta said vengeance is a sin,” she reminded her lightly.

The good sister had a face like a prune with squinting, hard hazel eyes that sent shivers of dread chasing down the spines of all the good little girls at St. Augustine’s Academy.

Terrie snorted. “I remember your reply to that one, my friend.” Tally cleared her throat and affected an innocent look. The sister had been rather offended when Tally informed her that since she was Satan’s spawn, Vengeance could be her middle name and she would practice the art on the nuns of the academy the minute she came into her full power.

Not that Tally had gone unpunished. That damned wooden ruler with its metal sides had lashed her bare butt for what seemed like hours. She had then been locked in her room for a total of two weeks, during which time the nuns who brought her food and took her to the showers were forbidden to speak to her.

“She broke me.” Tally sighed. “I didn’t think she had, but she did.” She ignored Terrie’s surprised look.

“Tally, you’re the strongest person I know.” She shook her head in confusion.

“How could you ever imagine you didn’t win over that old bat?” Tally sighed somberly. She lifted the cup, playing for time as she sipped from the warm brew and gathered her courage to face things she had only just realized herself.

“I never truly orgasmed until last night, Terrie,” she finally said, lowering her head to avoid her friend’s gaze. “I would freeze up, lose the intensity, but it always ended the same. I could get off, but I couldn’t orgasm.” She knew her friend could understand the difference between the two.

“Until Lucian and Dev?” Terrie asked. “It’s different when you’re with someone you love, Tally.”

Tally swallowed before licking her lips nervously. Yes, it was different when you loved, when you felt loved. For all their dominance and rough play the night before Tally had felt the difference in Lucian and Dev.

“Everyone I’ve ever loved has been horrified by me.” She tried to smile as though unconcerned, but she felt the warning tremble of her lips. “The sisters told my parents about catching me with what’s-his-name.” She frowned, trying to remember the boy’s name and couldn’t. It didn’t matter, she remembered the event well enough. “They still remind me of their shame at being called into Sister Redempta’s office and being informed that I was caught allowing some nasty little boy,” she affected the sister’s tone,

“to put his mouth in my private places and daring to beg him to do other disgusting things to me.”

The truth was, she had been begging him to push his finger deeper up her ass as his tongue whipped at her clit. Damn, she had been close when that evil old bat had thrown the door open to the gardener’s shed and interrupted them.

“You parents are prudes, Tally. You’ve always admitted that,” Terrie said softly.

“How did that break you?”

“Because, they allowed the sisters at the academy to punish me as they pleased.”

She shook her head. The whippings had been the worst, the lectures, the silence from the other girls because they were forbidden to talk to her. She had endured nearly a year of it before she was able to leave.

Looking back now, Tally realized that her defeat had begun long before that day.

Slowly, insidiously, the academy had wreaked havoc on her growing sensibilities; turning her into the mocking, cold-hearted bitch others accused her of being.

It wouldn’t have been such a terrible thing if she hadn’t already been uncertain of her emerging sexuality. The need for stronger sensations, that edge of pain and extreme sex that had been growing within her, was frightening in itself. Sister Redempta’s harsh, derogatory lectures had only made it worse.

“Tally.” Terrie sighed deeply. “You always feel so strongly about things, and fight so hard to hide it, to appear uncaring, cool and aloof. It was bound to catch up with you someday. You’ve denied the very heart of who you are because you were afraid those you loved would look down on you for it, shame you for it. Hon, haven’t you realized yet? You’ve gravitated to a group of friends who are marrying the Trojans, for pity’s sake. That should tell you something.”

“It should,” Tally drawled in amusement. “But I won’t be participating in a single ménage or even a few with Luc and Dev,” she said, her voice growing softer. “I want them both, Terrie. Forever. And that terrifies me. No one has ever wanted me forever.

Besides, after I get back at them for what they did last night, they might not want me anymore, period.” She sighed regretfully.

Terrie shook her head in confusion. “But I thought you enjoyed it.” Tally leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing. “I did. But it gives them the upper hand. You know I can’t allow that.”

A hint of worry entered her friend’s expression. “You’re plotting. Oh hell. Tally, Lucian and Dev are not men you can just mess with at will. They’re more dominant than even Jesse is.”

Tally frowned over at her friend. “Marriage is making you soft,” she accused her archly.

An incredulous laugh burst from Terrie. “Tally, I rather enjoy keeping Jesse comfortably happy. The benefits are incredible. I’m not getting mixed up in one of your schemes.”

Tally smiled over at her confidently. Terrie so loved to play hard-to-get when it came to getting in trouble. “He might spank you harder next time.” Terrie’s eyes sparked with reluctant interest.

“I bet he’s let up on the punishment side of the benefits.” Tally sighed regretfully.

“Men do get so confident after a few months of marital bliss. Why, I bet he thinks you’re so well trained now that he doesn’t have to do more than give you a sweet little love tap here and there, instead of a nice spanking, to remind you of the pleasure.” Terrie’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “That’s not nice.” Tally shrugged. “But true. Yes?”

Terrie leaned back in her chair. “You’ve never been married,” she stated. “How do you know?”

Tally arched her brow mockingly. “I’m not exactly a virgin, sweetie. Just because I have an orgasm issue doesn’t mean I don’t know how men work.”

“Orgasm issue, huh?” Terrie said drolly as she played with her coffee cup. She stared down at it for a second and Tally knew she had her.

“So.” Terrie raised her head, anticipation lighting her eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

Tally smiled slowly, confidently. “It’s really a very simple plan,” she assured her.

“All I need you to do is help me sneak into The Club tonight.” She ignored the incredulous horror that filled her friend’s eyes. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Oh man, Tally.” Terrie shook her head as amusement suddenly overcame her.

“We’re going to go to hell, aren’t we?”

A satisfied grin shaped Tally’s lips in reply. “Well, if we do, we’ll definitely be roommates. Wonder how hard it would be to sneak in the ventilation system?” Their laughter echoed through the kitchen, a reminder of the nights spent laughing and crying, philosophizing and generally creating mayhem before Terrie’s marriage.

Mayhem is in the eye of the beholder, though, Tally thought in satisfaction. Tonight, she would remind Lucian and Devril Conover of just that fact.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Tally?” Terrie paused at the closet, her hand reaching inside as she looked over her shoulder and met Tally’s gaze.

Tally refused to fidget or to chicken out. This was the rest of her life. It wasn’t a scheme, it wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a titillating little adventure. It was the final break with a past that should have never affected her the way it had.

“I’m sure.” She nodded firmly. She was. Certain.

Until Terrie pulled the clothes from the closet.

Clear plastic protected the garments and hid nothing from the eyes. They were innocent. A simple red plaid skirt that would have ended at Tally’s knees when she was much younger but would rise to mid thigh now. A short sleeved white cotton shirt. A very proper Catholic girl’s school uniform. It struck a chord of fear in her chest so strong that she nearly trembled in the face of it.

It was just clothes, she told herself realistically, but she knew her subconscious saw it as so much more.

Terrie laid the outfit out on the bed. It was over ten years old and should fit in the manner that Tally required. She needed to exorcize the ghosts the good sisters of the academy had placed within her, and what better way to do it than to take this first step into a new life, dressed as the person she had been so long ago?

“It will be shorter,” Terrie warned. “And snugger. But it should fit you okay.” Tally swallowed tightly. “It will work perfectly.” She stared at the clothing laid out as though it were a snake, coiled and ready to strike. In many ways it was.

“Tally, you don’t have to do this,” Terrie said. “You know Lucian and Dev love you…”

“This isn’t about Lucian and Dev.” She shook her head slowly, still staring at the innocent articles of clothing. “This is about me. I need white stockings. The ones that go just over the knee,” she told her friend faintly. “Do you have shoes that will work? I don’t dare return to the apartment yet.”

“I have everything you need.” Terrie nodded as she smoothed her hand over the plastic. “I wish we had schooled together, Tally. Perhaps I could have made things easier.”

Tally shook her head shortly. Nothing could have made it easier; nothing could change the parents who never knew how to love the wild little girl they had given birth to.

“It’s really shouldn’t be that big a deal,” Tally said softly. “I’m a grown woman, Terrie. Not a child. I should have faced this a long time ago. I don’t know why I’ve fought as I have.”

“Perhaps because nothing was worth the risk until now,” Terrie suggested gently.

“You’ve changed since going to Lucian’s office, Tally. You’re like this bright flame; where before you once glowed, now you sparkle. Love changes you. I told you that before. Perhaps, Lucian and Dev merely gave you the strength you needed to face it.” Tally smiled rather mockingly. Was that true? At this moment, she had no idea. All she knew was that suddenly nothing mattered more than changing the course her life had taken.

The empty, cold apartment. The loveless life. The chill she felt when darkness fell and she realized how empty her bed was. When she realized she could only envision two men within that bed with her. Lucian and Dev.

“They’ll be there tonight?” she asked Terrie quickly rather than replying to her previous statement.

Terrie nodded, a smile of conspiracy crossing her lips.