His Secret Submissive Read online

  “Where’s Mommy?” Lucy questioned. “She usually picks me and Laney up.” His four year old was usually very inquisitive and he knew now would be no exception. She would ask him for answers and Aiden worried he wouldn’t have any to give.

  “Mommy had to go away for a while,” he said. “I’m so sorry, girls but Mommy won’t be coming home.”

  “Ever?” Lucy questioned. Laney stood next to her sister, watching between her and Aiden, as if watching a volley. At two, she wasn’t a talker like Lucy had been. Laney was more reserved and observant, but he knew she understood everything they were saying. He wouldn’t lie to either of them, ever.

  Aiden shook his head, “No baby, not ever. You’re Mommy had some things to do but I’m here and I won’t ever leave you,” he promised. Lucy gave him a look that told him she didn’t believe him, but that was par for the course. He knew both girls were closer to Allison; she was the parent who was around the most for them. If he was going to earn their trust and help them through this process, he was going to have to make some changes. The first being he needed to be home more often and let Corbin pick up some of the slack around the office. He needed to show the girls he was going to step up and be the parent they deserved, unlike his own dad after his mother left him. He’d never turn into his father. That wasn’t even an option—his girls deserved so much better than a drunk who was unreliable at best.

  “How about we go home and I’ll make us some pancakes for dinner like I used to. Then we can talk this all out and you can ask me all the questions you’d like.” Lucy looked him over, as if deciding if she wanted to go with him or stay with Connie. He didn’t want to admit he was holding his breath waiting for her agreement but he was. Sometimes negotiating with Lucy was like trying to reason with a tiny terrorist who knew the ins and outs of the system. She knew just what to say and how to work over the person she was up against and Aiden worried she was already smarter than he was.

  “Can we have chocolate chips in our pancakes? Lucy asked, looking at Laney to back her up. When the two year old eagerly nodded her head, Aiden couldn’t help his chuckle.

  “I think I can arrange that,” he promised.

  “And cream?” Laney chimed in. Aiden was sure his daughters would eat whipped cream on everything if he allowed it.

  “Sure, baby girl. We can have whipped cream on top. Any other demands, ladies?” he teased. The girls looked at each other as if silently communicating, trying to decide if they would have any further stipulations to joining him for dinner.

  Connie giggled from behind him. “I think your Lucy might just become a hostage negotiator,” she teased. “They sure do have your number, Aiden.”

  “They’ve always been able to twist me around their little fingers, even Allison,” he murmured. He knew it was going to take time to get over his wife. He loved her, but that didn’t stop the pain or hurt she caused by walking away. Aiden knew from experience that would take time and might never completely happen for him or his girls.

  “So, what’s it going to be?” he expectantly asked. Both girls nodded their little blonde heads and smiled up at him.

  “We’ll take your offer,” Lucy agreed as if she had just brokered a business deal. “Thanks, Daddy.” She kissed him on his cheek and Laney did the same. He watched as they both ran into Connie’s house to get their things.

  “Thanks, Connie,” he said.

  “No need to ever thank me,” she offered. “Just call me when you’re ready to venture back into the world and I’ll help keep the girls as much as I can,” she said. Aiden appreciated the offer, but knowing his mother-in-law had health issues would put a damper on him asking too much of her. He loved her for making the offer.

  “Will do,” he said. Lucy and Laney ran from the front door and over to Connie to kiss her cheek, shouting their goodbyes as they raced to his SUV.

  “Come on, Daddy,” Laney bossed. He watched as his resilient girls climbed into the back of his vehicle and he wasn’t sure how he had gotten so lucky. Aiden wished the promise of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream could fix all their problems long term. But for now, he’d take all the help he could get, even if it was only a short term fix.

  Aiden got the girls fed and bathed before Corbin showed up to his house. From the sympathetic expression on his face, Corbin had been completely filled in on all of the sordid details. There was only one person who could have clued him in and Aiden wasn’t sure if he wanted to thank Rose or ring her neck for sharing his secret. Honestly, he knew Corbin would always have his back and having someone to talk to would be a great help. In just two short hours, Aiden had worked through his self-pity over his wife walking out on him and had already moved straight on to anger. He just hoped he could get the girls to bed before he took his newfound feelings out on them. It wasn’t their fault their mother had up and left him and he needed to remember that.

  He met Corbin at the front door and held it open for him. “So, I’m guessing your mother filled you in?” he questioned, already knowing the answer before Corbin nodded his head.

  He shot Aiden a sheepish grin, “Don’t be mad at Mom, AJ,” he said. “She’s worried about you, man. You know she thinks of you as a son and hell, your girls might be the only grandchildren that woman might ever get. I’m not ready to settle down and have any of the little beasties myself.” Corbin grimaced and shuttered from just the thought of having kids and Aiden laughed. His best friend never seemed to understand why he wanted to settle down and have a family. When Aiden and Allison announced she was pregnant, Corbin’s first question was whether or not she was going to keep the baby. Looking back now, that might have been the first clue he had his wife and his best friend weren’t going to be each other’s biggest fans. Aiden had to run quite a bit of interference back then. After the girls were born, they both seemed to settle down and Aiden could let his guard down a little.

  “You’re not here to say you told me so, are you?” Aiden grouched. “If you are, you can just turn right around and leave.”

  Corbin held his hands up in defense, “Naw, man. I’m here to tell you I’m sorry you and the girls have to go through this. I love you like a brother, man. I would never want for any of this to happen no matter what differences I had with Alli,” he offered.

  Aiden smiled at the nickname only Corbin call his wife. “You know she fucking hated when you called her that, man,” Aiden said.

  Corbin’s wolfish grin said it all. “I know. It’s mostly why I did it,” he admitted. “How about a beer?” he asked, holding up the six-pack his had hidden under his suit jacket.

  “Sure,” Aiden agreed. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to tuck the girls in and I’ll be right back down,” he said. Corbin pulled his tie loose and by the time Aiden got back downstairs, twenty minutes later, his friend had stripped out of his dress shirt and was just wearing one of Aiden’s t shirts and a pair of his gym shorts.

  “I hope you don’t mind me borrowing some clothes,” Corbin said.

  Aiden laughed. “No problem. Although I’m afraid you’re going to stretch out my shirt,” he teased. Corbin worked out daily and he was bigger than Aiden, always had been. His arms alone looked like two of Aiden’s put together. The women in town seemed to appreciate Corbin’s gym efforts and loved the tattoos that banded his arms. Corbin usually kept them hidden under his dress shirt and jacket but when they would all casually go out for drinks, he basically had to turn women away left and right. Women fell for his good guy persona wrapped up in his bad boy image. Aiden had never seen the appeal of tattoos, even if the women seemed to go a little crazy over them. He had one tattoo on his upper arm of a shark wearing swim trunks and sunglasses. Aiden usually kept it secretly tucked away under his suits during the day, but it was his harsh reminder of drunken bad decision made with Corbin while they were pledging the same fraternity in college.

  “I ordered pizza too. I haven’t had time to eat all day and I’m starving,” he said. As if on cue, the pizza deliv
ery guy showed up with Corbin’s extra-large meat lovers’ pizza that made Aiden’s mouth water. He paid the delivery guy and they both settled in the family room with their beer and pizza. Aiden could feel Corbin was holding back with him, like he was keeping his hand close to his vest.

  “All right, man let’s have it. I know you’re dying to say your peace, so spill it,” Aiden insisted.

  “I really don’t have anything to say you haven’t heard before, man. I hate to say, ‘I told you so’,” he lied.

  “You’d fucking love to tell me you were right. In fact, I’m betting you love saying those words to me more than you love pussy and that’s a whole fucking lot,” Aiden teased. Corbin stroked his beard and looked over at Aiden as if he was trying to decide if he was right or not.

  “Well, you’re not completely wrong but I guess it just depends on the pussy,” Corbin joked. Corbin and he might have been the same age but his best friend was always taking lead when it came to their relationship. He seemed to think Aiden needed protecting, being smaller than him growing up and who knows, maybe he was right. It sure felt good to have Corbin in his corner no matter what he was up against. It was one of the reasons Aiden chose to go to the same college as him, not ready to part ways with the person who stuck by him through thick and thin. Corbin was basically his brother and he wasn’t sure what he would do without him.

  “So what now?” Aiden asked. “Allison left me with two little girls who are probably going to grow up without a mother. How do I fix that?” Aiden took a swig of his beer and tossed his half eaten pizza back into the box.

  “You don’t fix it, man. You be the best dad you can be and show your girls when life gives you shit, you find your shovel,” Corbin growled. “How do you know Alli won’t be back, AJ?” he asked. Yeah, he hadn’t gotten to the best part of his day yet—the part where Lucy handed him her backpack and told him Mommy left something inside for him. Allison apparently told the girls to wait to give him the letter she wrote until they were home from Connie’s house. He had to hand it to his wife, she sure knew how to bring the drama. At least he could read her letter in the privacy of his own home and this time, when he finished reading it, he could just tear it up and throw it away. His poor phone bore the extent of his anger at her earlier text and now he was going to have to run out and pick up a new one in the morning.

  “Allison left me a letter with the girls. She told them to give it to me when we got home from Connie’s,” Aiden admitted.

  Corbin whistled, “Wow, she had this all planned out, didn’t she? What did it say?” he asked.

  “Basically, she said she wasn’t cut out to be a wife or mother and she wasn’t willing to spend her life wondering, ‘What if?’. She told me to text her when the divorce papers were ready to be signed and she didn’t want anything but the money that was promised to her when she signed the prenup.”

  “And how much is that?” Corbin angrily barked.

  “One and a half million.” Aiden shrugged.

  “Fuck, man,” Corbin swore. Aiden didn’t hide his smile. Corbin seemed angrier than he did about the day’s events, if that was even possible. Honestly, Aiden just felt numb about the whole thing now. He wasn’t sure that was going to change any time soon either.

  “It’s only money, man,” he said. He meant it too. He’d pay just about any amount to have Allison be a part of the girls’ lives but he knew once his wife made up her mind, there was no changing it. She chose to walk away from him and his daughters and now, the three of them would be the ones paying the price.

  “How about you take some time—you know figure out just what you and the girls need. I’ll handle the majority of the work stuff and that way you have time to focus on your family and politics,” Corbin offered.

  “I can’t just dump the company on your lap, man,” Aiden said. “I’ll handle my own shit but I’m going to take the next two weeks off. I need to figure out the girls’ schedules and make sure they are both alright with everything that is changing. Maybe we’ll take a quick trip somewhere, get out of town for a few days—you know the whole change of scenery thing?” Aiden didn’t really have a plan but as far as ideas went, a little family trip sounded like a good one.

  “That sounds like a good plan,” Corbin confirmed. “Get the girls minds off of missing Alli and you can take some down time.”

  “Right. I’ll have Rose book us something in the morning,” Aiden agreed. Corbin shot him a concerned look and Aiden chuckled. “Don’t worry, man, I’ll be fine. Allison made her decision and we will just have to live with it. Life marches on, as your mom likes to say.”

  “Yeah,” Corbin agreed. “I always hated that expression I just never had the balls to tell her,” he admitted. Aiden threw back his head and laughed and for the first time since getting Allison’s text, he felt normal, as if everything was going to be alright. He just wished he believed it because Aiden wasn’t sure anything would be right ever again.

  Zara

  6 months later

  Zara Joy walked into the local club and she wasn’t sure how she let her best friend talk her into this. A night club was one thing but the town’s only BDSM club was quite another. She was sure she wasn’t going to be able to follow through with the dare she accepted and would run out of there like the meek little mouse she was. When Avalon tricked her into agreeing to step out of her comfort zone, she had no clue it would be this far out. Her comfort zone was a distant blip on her radar and Zara wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to find her way back again. But once Ava found out she hadn’t lost her virginity, as she falsely reported the one and only time the subject came up, she went off and dared her to do the unthinkable.

  Truthfully, she wanted a change from her everyday pace and when Ava told her about a new club in town, she was intrigued. The idea of dancing the night away left Zara feeling daring and ready to take on Ava’s challenge. But her sneaky friend never mentioned the new club wasn’t a night club but a sex club that catered to the elite clientele who paid hefty fees to join. Ava’s father owned half the town so she had no problem getting Zara into the club as a guest for the night.

  Zara’s cell rang and she pulled it from her purse. “Hello,” she whispered.

  “Hey girl,” Ava sassed, “Did you make it to the club alright?” she asked. Ava knew damn well Zara wouldn’t be able to resist a dare. Zara held the phone away from her face and put her on speaker so Ava could hear the moans and groans of pleasure filling the club. A woman was in the corner, sprawled across and bound to what looked like a saddle, having her ass spanked red by a man standing behind her with a leather paddle. She hoped Ava would be able to hear the sound of the paddle every time it made contact with the woman’s fleshy ass or the way she cried out and then moaned with pleasure.

  “Does it sound like I’m at the club?” Zara asked.

  Ava giggled into the other end of the cell. “I knew you wouldn’t turn down a good dare.”

  “Yeah well, I thought you were sending me to an actual club, not a meat market of naked women getting men off,” she whispered. “What the actual hell, Ava?”

  Her giggle filled the other end of the line again and she knew their conversation was going nowhere. “You should totally take advantage of one of those men, Z,” Ava said. “You’re a twenty-five year old virgin and it’s time for you to drop that title.” Ava was right but what was she supposed to do? Walking right up to some leather clad man welding a whip didn’t seem like the best idea. Zara was sure that scenario playing out wouldn’t end well for her.

  “I can’t just walk up to a complete stranger and ask him for sex,” Zara spat.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You might find some of us complete strangers are open to a little fun, honey. That is why most of us are here.” Zara spun around and found a man standing so close to her, she could feel his breath on her skin. He was sexy as sin, impeccably dressed in a three piece suit with his light brown hair disheveled as if someone had run their fingers through it alread
y. His blue eyes were what caught her off guard. They were so dark that him looking at her felt as if he could see directly into her soul, even eliciting a shiver from her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back from him. “I was having a private conversation with my friend.” She held up the phone as if proving a point. “Ava,” she said into the phone, realizing her so called friend had hung up on her. “Fuck,” she cursed. The sexy man’s smirk was nearly her undoing and she found herself smiling back at him for no real reason.

  “Seems your friend had other plans then to talk on the phone all night. You have any other plans Miss—” He looked her up and down as if waiting her out. Zara thought not answering him might be her best bet but the way he looked at her, as if he wasn’t giving her an option but to answer, she had no choice.

  “Zara,” she answered. He gifted her with his sexy smirk again and she was sure her panties were going to burst into flames from just the scorching way he looked her up and down. It was almost territorial, like he was marking her with his gaze.

  “Nice to meet you, Zara. I’m Aiden,” he said holding his hand out to take hers. She hesitantly took his offered hand and gave a gentle shake, noting the way he didn’t take his eyes from hers. “Is this your first time here?” he asked. Zara nodded and pulled her hand back from him.

  “I’m here because of a stupid dare,” she admitted. God, she sounded like a child and she wished she could take back her words. “Um, I mean my best friend dared me to go out to a club by myself and well, I thought she meant a regular club—you know like dancing and drinks.” Aiden smiled at her and she felt like a giddy schoolgirl. “Instead, she sent me here and well, this wasn’t what I had imagined,” she admitted.