Free Her Old-Fashioned Husband by Laylah Roberts Page A

had been a Dom for years; he was well immersed in the lifestyle.”
    Frankie was shocked. BDSM? She’d read about it, she loved erotica. But Tom had never mentioned it before.
    “I wasn’t really interested in it, but Austin was. I went a few times because he wanted too. But mainly I just watched. Although I did learn a lot about spanking techniques. ”
    He grinned and Frankie squirmed.
    “What went on in the club s wasn’t real enough for me. I wanted to settle down with one person, not just play at things at clubs with different subs. I knew exactly what I wanted— domestic discipline relationship with someone I loved. Then I saw you again and I fell hard. And I knew you would benefit fro m having structure in your life, from discipline. Domestic discipline works well for us, don’t you think?”
    She blushed, avoiding the question. “ So you’re not into the lifestyle anymore?” Part of her was relieved, she wouldn’t like to experience some of the things she’d read about. But the other part of her was curious.
    “I never really was. Although I admit there are certain parts I enjoyed. Learning how to keep in control, about how to put my partner first, her safety, her pleasure.”
    Frankie shivered at the word.
    “Did you like when I took control the other night on the phone, Frankie?” he asked, his voice deep.
    “Yes,” she whispered. She shivered at the memory.
    “Would you like more, baby? Would you like me to tie you up and have my wicked way with you? I wouldn’t mind tying you up, having you at my mercy . What do you think? ” He grinned and she felt a low stirring in her gut. Yeah, that wouldn’t be too bad at all.
    She bit her lip. “I think I’d like to try that with you. I trust you.”
    Leaning down, he kissed her, his tongue tangling with hers, stirring her arousal.
    “ How come you’ve never talked about Austin before? What happened ?” she asked.
    Tom’s eyes grew sad. “He fell in love. She was a sub called Lou-Lou. I didn’t like her much but I respected his love for her. She was manipulative and catty. But he couldn’t see it. Roarke could, though. They had a number of arguments over her. The las t argument was the worst . Roarke told Austin that Lou-Lou was only with him to get to Roarke. That it was Roarke she wanted, not Austin, not a poor, young med student. Roarke has a lot of money. He’s a powerful man, but he doesn’t let people close. No one except fa mily. He considered me family.”
    “What did Austin do?” she asked. It all sounded like a crazy soap opera.
    “He was furious. They both said things that were hateful. Austin stormed out of our small apartment and drove off in his car. I never spoke to him again. A drunk driver went through a stop sign. They decided to turn off the life support five days later. I was devastated.”
    “Oh God, I’m so sorry.” Frankie clasped him close, wishing she could take his pain into herself. “What about Roarke? He must have been devastated as well.”
    She couldn’t even imagine his pain.
    “He should be,” her normally compassionate husband snarled. “He killed him.”
    “Tom—”
    Tom stood and set her in the seat as he started to pace. “No, I don’t want to hear any def e nse of him. He might as well have taken a gun to Austin’s head and killed him. And now he’s here, why?”
    She knew he wasn’t really talking to her, but answered anyway. “Maybe he’s here to make things good with you.”
    Tom turned back to her. “Well, he can’t,” he growled. “Hell, when I heard he’d opened that club in Waco I thought he wouldn’t dare come any closer. What the hell was he doing in Bronwood?”
    “A BDSM club?” she asked.
    Tom nodded sharply. “He’s been steadily opening up clubs over Texas.”
    Frankie was frowning. This was so unlike her husband. Couldn’t he see how much Roarke must be hurting? That he’d only been trying to pr otect his brother.
    “ He said he knew Brax, how? ” Maybe