Michaels, Skye - Paula's Commitment [Le Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Le Club 4

  Paula’s Commitment

  Trent Redding, a member of the private, luxurious BDSM club located in a Victorian mansion in the historic district of Ocala, Florida, and Paula Greenley, the tenacious and stubborn editor of a local lifestyle magazine, have had a rocky relationship. Trent did not trust her motives.

  Once past their initial problems, the relationship coasts on smoothly until Trent, a well-known heart surgeon, is called to Ecuador to participate in surgery to separate a set of abandoned conjoined twins. He falls for the twins and determines to bring them home with him.

  Paula must open her heart to the adorable two-year-old twins while Trent must confront his feelings about Paula and adapt his bachelor ways to fatherhood. They must find a way to combine their BDSM Lifestyle with family life, and Paula must see if she can make a permanent commitment to Trent and this fledgling family.

  Genre: BDSM, Contemporary

  Length: 32,343 words

  PAULA’S COMMITMENT

  Le Club 4

  Skye Michaels

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  PAULA’S COMMITMENT

  Copyright © 2012 by Skye Michaels

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-697-1

  First E-book Publication: June 2012

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Paula’s Commitment by Skye Michaels from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Skye Michaels’ livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Michaels’ right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  For my family and friends—thanks for your love and support.

  Open your mind.

  Open your heart.

  Life happens. Enjoy the journey.

  With special thanks to Patricia Walker for her help in getting one more book out the door.

  With special thanks to my daughter, Jenni, for all her help with technology.

  PAULA’S COMMITMENT

  Le Club 4

  SKYE MICHAELS

  Copyright © 2012

  Prologue

  Dr. Trent Redding moved around the suite quietly as he dressed in the dark. He had the uncanny ability to know when his cell phone was ringing with a call from the hospital, even though it had been turned down to its lowest volume level. He quickly pulled on a worn pair of weekend jeans, a polo shirt, and sturdy Reeboks for the drive into the medical center. He knew he could be on his feet in the operating room for hours. The fact that he was not on rotation this weekend indicated that the emergency surgery he had been called in for had to be one that required a larger team than usual. As one of the preeminent thoracic surgeons in the Southeast, his skills were in constant demand.

  He quickly scribbled a note to Paula Greenley, who lay sleeping in the mosquito-netted bed, and put it on his pillow. He hoped she could read it. His doctor’s handwriting never got any better. He smiled as he took a moment to pull the quilt up over her naked shoulders, gently push her mop of dark, curly hair off her forehead, and place a feather-light kiss on her brow. They had had a stellar scene the night before, and his body was still humming from the multiple orgasms they had enjoyed. She really is adorable, especially when she’s asleep. He really enjoyed this little handful of trouble. She had made a big difference in his life.

  He rushed out the door to the parking area and hopped into his sports car. As he pulled out into the quiet of Fort King Street in historic downtown Ocala, he blasted a CD of Van Halen to help him wake up. The go-cup of high-test coffee he had snagged from the club’s kitchen on the way out the door would help as well. The drive to Gainesville took about forty-five minutes. Without really remembering the trip, he parked in the doctor’s lot at the Pinewood Medical Center and jogged into the hospital. Once in the locker room of the surgery wing, he quickly changed into a pair of sea-green scrubs. He greeted his favorite surgical nurse, Janet, and Dr. Drew Profette, who was on call this weekend.

  “Sorry to get you out of bed so early on a Saturday morning, Trent, but there was an accident on the turnpike, and we need all hands on deck.” The short and slightly round Dr. Profette was an excellent trauma surgeon. Nothing ruffled his feathers. He just solved one problem at a time, and he always seemed to know which particular problem should get his attention first.

  “Don’t worry about it, Drew. So what if I had to leave Paula all warm and cuddly in my bed?” Trent grinned at his portly friend and colleague, who didn’t appear the least bit sorry for the inconvenience. “Give me the rundown.”

  While Trent proceeded to scrub for the first operation, Drew gave him the pertinent facts about the two critical patients. While heading south on the turnpike toward Orlando and Disney World, two carloads of teens had apparently been disoriented by fog on the roadway, and one car had piled into the back of the other car. The second car had then rolled over and several kids were thrown out onto the road. Two were critical with the others just needing some major patch-up work.

  As they discussed the particulars of the first operation, the cell phone in Trent’s pocket started to vibrate. Since he had already scrub
bed, he ignored it. Janet, who had not yet scrubbed, offered to get the phone for him.

  “No, never mind. It’s probably Paula. I left her a note.”

  As they stood in the anteroom waiting for the first patient to be wheeled into the operating room and prepped, the phone continued to ring and beep to indicate a text message.

  “Maybe you should get it, Janet, and then just put it in my locker. I don’t want to be distracted.”

  Janet fished into the pocket of his scrubs while he held his wet arms up in the air. “Hello, this is…Sorry Dr. T, whoever it was hung up. I’ll just put the phone in your locker.”

  Janet scrubbed and the team entered the operating room for the first of the two critical surgeries that would each take several hours.

  * * * *

  Paula woke up when she subconsciously registered the absence of Trent’s big, warm body behind her. She looked at the clock. It was four forty-five. She groaned. Ugh! Too early! She loved waking up with his morning hard-on pressed into her bottom. It was the safest feeling, not to mention sexy as hell. They always had morning sex. It seemed Trent was up for it absolutely anytime, and she had really discovered her inner sex kitten since they had been dating.

  She was chilly and reached around to feel the bed. It was cold. Where is he? As she jostled the quilt, she heard what sounded like the crinkle of paper, but she could only see the blanket when she turned to look. She settled the quilt around her as she shivered in the breeze from the open French windows. She got up and padded naked out into the small kitchen of the corner suite. She checked the bathrooms, living room, and the veranda. He was nowhere to found. How strange. Maybe he went down for coffee and the paper. She picked up the telephone on the desk in the foyer and dialed his cell phone, but it went to voice mail. Next she got her own cell phone and tried a text. No response. Well, hell! She waited a minute or two and tried again. This time the cell was answered….by a female voice. Shocked, Paula instinctively hung up. She looked at the phone as though it was a poisonous viper instead of a mechanical device. A woman had answered Trent’s cell phone for the first time since she had known him. That didn’t sound right. She calmed herself down, and after a few minutes, she decided to try the call again. Maybe she had dialed wrong. This time, it just rang and went to voice mail. She had no idea the cell phone was lying on the shelf in Trent’s locker at the hospital.

  Paula went back to bed, but she couldn’t settle down and go back to sleep. What the hell is going on? As she cuddled under the antique quilt on the huge, net-draped bed that she loved, she recalled their first weekend at the club. Le Club Laurel Oak-Ocala, a private BDSM club, catered to a membership of only ten. The acronym “BDSM” stood for bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism. It represented an alternative lifestyle as varied as the people who practiced it, spanning a wide range of practices from spanking and whipping, to bondage, role-playing, and dominance and submission. The purpose was to increase sexual tension and pleasure for all participants. Different people practiced the Lifestyle in varying degrees and extremes. Trent and Jason were Dominants. Jason Steele and Trent Redding had attended Harvard together and had been best friends ever since. They had put together a consortium to purchase the estate located on Fort King Street in the historic Ocala residential and business district and renovate the dilapidated mansion and grounds.

  Paula and Trent’s relationship had had a rocky start over a year ago when she and Calleigh Roundtree, her best friend, had gotten into some difficulties and ended up unexpectedly spending the weekend at the club as the submissives of Trent and Jason. They had no idea the mysterious estate in the beautiful historic district was a BDSM club. The entire neighborhood had wondered what went on behind the ten-foot-high stone walls of the three-acre compound from the time construction had begun. Information was scarce as hen’s teeth as anyone working on the project, from the architect to the lowliest subcontractors, were required to sign confidentiality agreements.

  Paula’s natural curiosity had led her to relentlessly badger Calleigh, the project architect, for information. Calleigh had gallantly resisted Paula’s nagging until one fateful Saturday morning. After jogging in the neighborhood with Paula, she had spilled a very limited number of the beans over lattes at Starbucks on the square. Trent, who was also having a morning cup of coffee there, had overheard the conversation. He had reported the incident to Jason Steele, and Calleigh had been in breach of her confidentiality agreement.

  Initially, although Trent was strongly attracted to Paula, he had not liked her. He had not trusted her and thought she had endangered her best friend in an attempt to get information about the club for an exposé in her magazine. He had ended up paddling her rear end over the misunderstanding about her motives. She had been outraged. Her need to ferret out the scoop was not malicious. She was just nosey! She would never intentionally hurt her friend.

  Paula’s feelings had been hurt, not to mention her butt. The attitude of the extremely handsome Dr. Redding that weekend had severely tested her self-confidence. While she was normally a very self-possessed, confident, and professional woman, the incident had shaken her core belief in herself. Even though they had been happily together for almost a year and a half, in her deepest heart, Paula had never really gotten over it or fully forgiven him. Although he had apologized for the misunderstanding and asked her to give him a second chance, she still retained a nugget of anger at what she saw as the injustice of the situation. Despite his taste for Dominant/submissive sex, Trent was very conservative, and his personal moral code was strict and unbending. It was one of the things she most admired about him. Trent was definitely a straight shooter. Then why is his cell phone being answered by a woman at five o’clock in the morning when he should be here in bed with me?

  Chapter One

  Paula Greenley, Calleigh Steele, and Robbie Hamilton reclined in the wicker chaise lounges bordering the black-bottom swimming pool at Le Club Laurel Oak, enjoying their monthly Saturday morning poolside get-together. The pool was the meeting place for the ladies at Le Club Laurel Oak-Ocala, and several of the usual suspects were there.

  Paula was still upset about Trent’s early morning disappearance, but she was determined not to say anything about it to her friends. She glanced up from her Cosmopolitan magazine and sipped her Bloody Mary. She said in a stunned voice, “Oh. My. God. Check this out.”

  Walking from the office wing of the mansion past the pool toward the Playroom annex of the club was the most stunning, if slightly over-the-top, couple she had ever seen. The Dom was dressed in tight, black leather pants. He led a tall, shapely, and somewhat ripped blonde sub dressed in a red bustier and G-string on a leash. The leash was hooked to a thick dog collar. The Dom had dark, wavy hair almost to his shoulders and a stunning red, black, and green dragon tattoo running up his right arm from just below his wrist, curling around his biceps and over his shoulder to nestle its fire-breathing head on his right pectoral muscle. He had a light sprinkling of dark hair over his chest that tapered down his abdomen over his six-pack to disappear into the pants that fit his long, muscular legs like skin. He carried a dragon-tail whip over his left arm. The sub had long, wavy, golden-blonde hair falling almost to the top of her muscular butt and a physique bordering at the bodybuilder level.

  Robbie laughed. “That’s Gregory Dempsey. He’s taking over management of the club for Anne Sutton while she’s in New Orleans with Jamie Devereau. She’s apparently taking his place at Le Club Beaudelaire-New Orleans while he’s here. The woman is his sub and assistant manager, Natasha Romanova. She’s Russian, and she has a slight eastern European accent. I think she used to be a Domme before she became Greg’s submissive. Can you believe that? Anyway, girls, that would be the definition of zero percent body fat, just in case you’re wondering what that looks like! Not that any of us will ever know personally.”

  “On him or her?” Paula asked with a gasp. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so ripped—male or fema
le—as those two, and we have some pretty fabulous bodies around this place!”

  Calleigh, who had to peek over her eight-and-a-half-month-and-counting baby belly to get a good look, gasped as well. “Jason told me they were coming down so Anne could get away for a few weeks, but he didn’t give me many particulars. He said Jamie told him the Dom is called ‘Gregory the Terrible’ at the club in New Orleans. I can’t imagine why! The Domme’s Dom? My goodness, I’ve never seen anything like that tattoo. Ohhh....and look at hers! There’s a smaller version curling down her thigh from her groin. Wow! The tail of the dragon goes under the G-string and ends on her butt. That’s sure a statement!”

  Paula was the editor of Ocala Country Life magazine. She looked at the tall, stunning blonde sub walking behind the gorgeous Dom and had to shake her head as she compared herself to Natasha. Although Paula had sparkling, hazel eyes fringed by long, dark lashes, a cap of dark, glossy curls, and a compact, athletic body, she felt she was too short at five foot two inches. She longed to be tall and voluptuous. She tried to enhance her legs with high heels whenever possible. Paula knew her sometimes recalcitrant attitude was a trial to Trent Redding, a successful heart surgeon and lecturer at the University of Florida. They were not in a twenty-four-seven d/s relationship by any means, but they liked to play at the club.

  Although Paula and Calleigh Steele had been college roommates and best friends since college, and they had been friendly with Robbie Hamilton for quite some time, she really did not want to share her current upset about Trent with them. She knew it would place a damper on the weekend for her friends if they knew she was having a problem. The three of them were known for the mischief they got into on a regular basis, and anything was possible when they got together. Calleigh and Robbie would feel that they had to help the situation, and that could only be dangerous.