Free Dancing with Deception by Avery Gale Page A

Brandt gave Ryan a knowing look—the message clear. Take care of her. He joined his brothers and listened as they relayed what they’d found. After listening to Kip describe where he’d heard a vehicle roar to life, there wasn’t any question the perimeter breach had been intentional. No one accidentally ended up in the rutted woods behind Joelle’s home. The area was covered in thick brush and riddled with treacherous washouts tourists wouldn’t find and locals didn’t have any interest in dealing with. Hell, everyone knew it had been part of the reason Joelle’s reclusive uncle had liked the property so much and he assumed it was also a factor in Joelle staying in Pine Creek. She’d probably felt safer in a location knowing she only needed to secure the house itself.
    It didn’t take long to determine Phoenix’s security system had not been compromised, but it didn’t mean Brandt wanted Joelle to stay there alone. Even with Brandt and Ryan staying with her, Joelle wouldn’t be as safe in her home as she’d be at the ranch. Not only was the ranch house secured by a state of the art system including a safe room with a secondary escape route, more importantly, but there were also more people around. At any given time, there were probably a dozen people milling around the area surrounding the house.
    Ryan helped Joelle out of the car when they saw Brandt headed their way—she surprised him by stepping forward and meeting his gaze. “I’m not going to be able to stay here now, am I?” Well, at least, it looked as if they were going to be able to skip the first part of the argument he’d worried about.
    “No, sweetheart, I don’t think that would be wise.”
    Before he could finish, she turned to Ryan. “After your meetings today, do you think you could take me back to the club to get my car? I’ll spend the day packing and hopefully I can find a moving company with a temporary storage facility.” Neither Brandt nor Ryan interrupted her, she needed a chance to vent, even though she was wasting energy trying to sort through everything. He’d seen a lot of reactions to trauma and learned a long time ago to let victims work through the bursts of emotion that followed whatever way they could. Logic could wait now that the imminent danger had passed.

Chapter Six
    J oelle looked around the massive kitchen in the Morgan family home marveling at how a room so large could still feel so cozy. She’d been in the Morgan’s home for their annual New Year’s Eve party…which turned out to also be night Sage Morgan proposed to her friend Coral. She also visited their home several times during the wedding festivities, and she was always in awe of the earthy elegance of the space. The Morgan’s mountain mansion was such a contrast to the home Joelle had grown up in…her father’s home was a marble and gilded gold monstrosity. It was beautiful in its own way, but it had always felt more like a museum than a home. Even as a child she’d known it wasn’t a place she could relax.
    Taking a deep breath, Joelle tried to sort through the quagmire of emotions she’d been swamped in since she’d realized the Dom Master Nate had assigned to punish her was none other than Brandt Morgan. God in fucking heaven…had it been less than twenty-four hours ago? How in the hell had her life completely derailed so quickly? Taking a deep breath, Joelle tried to focus her attention on the steaming cup of tea in front of her. She wasn’t a fool, she knew Kip Morgan had used decaffeinated tea. She’d wanted to laugh at his attempt to dupe her— hello there, sweetie, but I’m a chemist, and we notice things like our drug of choice missing from a beverage.
    After Ryan and Brandt politely explained they had no intention of helping her move from Pine Creek she’d tried to reason with them, but a couple of sharp swats to her tender behind served as a poignant reminder of why arguing with Doms was never a good idea. They’d promised