Embers: A Dark Romance Love Triangle (A Special Agent Novel Book 5)

by C. P. Mandara

  “I won’t bite, and I’m not going to jump you. This is a two-way thing. I value my life, too.” Lois knows what I’m thinking, and she’s right. I’m overreacting.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” Lois says. “Any chance you can grab me some breakfast, seeing as how you nearly killed me last night, and to top it off I have a pretty exhausting day ahead of me?” She gives me a look.

  “You can’t have one.” I shake my head and grin.

  “Since when can’t I have breakfast? I just want a pastry. You can grab me one of those,” she whines.

  “Oh, you can have the pastry. I’ll even go and get you an espresso.” The espresso’s they do here are awesome, and I’ve tested the theory. She won’t be falling asleep on the job after that.

  “Marvellous. So, what’s the problem?”

  “You’re not getting what you want after.”

  “I have no idea what you mean,” she lies. Lois knows exactly what I mean, but she can play coy if she likes.

  “Ranieri and I had an agreement. You’re not allowed to climax before today’s games.” I figure it’s best to get that out of the way now. “That was another reason your right hand was cuffed, though I wouldn’t put it past you to give it a good go with the left. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry.”

  “Motherfucker. Who took the jam out of his donut?” Lois looks good and mad. It makes me want to slam her against the wall and fuck her senseless. Her anger turns me the hell on. Warning bells ring in the back of my head, but I try to ignore them.

  “He’s a sadist. That’s what they do.” I shrug my shoulders and put my hands in my pockets. “Get used to it. Adie’s even worse. He’s made women go for months on end without one.” I get a small jolt of satisfaction as I say that. If she thinks life with Adie is all white picket fences and climbing roses, she’s much mistaken. His middle name is ‘Asshole’ and he doesn’t know the word ‘romance’ exists.

  “James?” The door to the bathroom is already half-closed, but I can hear her voice echoing around the walls.

  “Mmm?”

  “What will you do if we will kill Alain?”

  I’ll get down on my fucking knees and beg you to marry me. “I don’t even want to think about that. I don’t want to get my hopes up.” The thought of getting my life back and actually being able to do what I want with it would bring me to tears. I’ve been trying to kill Dumortier for over ten years, though, so I can’t see it happening unless all the stars align and there’s some kind of divine intervention. He’s always been one step ahead of me. After what Lois has told me, I’ve figured out how he’s been able to do that, but it still doesn’t make me confident that his death is on the cards anytime soon.

  “Don’t be so pessimistic. There’s three of us now. We have a chance.” There’s my girl. Cheerful, optimistic, and irritatingly upbeat in the face of doom, gloom, and danger. I adore her. There’s something I should tell her, too, just in case neither of us get through this. For some reason, I have a bad feeling about today.

  “Lois?”

  “Mmm?” She’s busy cleaning her teeth at the moment and wiggling her ass along to whatever tune she’s currently humming in her head. I want to take those globes in my hands and make love to them, for hours on end, until she begs for mercy.

  “I love you.” I say the words out loud, but she doesn’t hear me over the racket she’s making. It’s probably just as well.

  “Did you say something?” She turns around to face me, with a rather attractive white moustache of toothpaste and I laugh.

  “I’m off to get you breakfast, sweetheart. No misbehaving while I’m gone. You won’t like the consequences. Trust me.”

  She spits a mouthful of white foam into the sink where it swirls gently towards the plughole, and then grimaces.

  “I’m an angel, me.” She gives me a parting wink, that lets me know she’s anything but.

  Chapter Twenty – Lois

  ‘Predicament Bondage’ is worse than being an item of human furniture. For some reason, I figured I’d enjoy this, but oh boy, was I wrong. For starters, it involves nipple clamps, and I don’t have a great relationship with those after yesterday, and if that weren’t bad enough – it also involves long, steel hooks - ones that are curved and shoved up your ass. I kid you not. Having an icy steel rod shoved where the sun doesn’t shine is not a great wake-up call. What happened to the warm-up session?

  This morning we are in an underground room, next to the dungeon. It feels a bit like white torture because the walls and ceilings are covered in magnolia paint, as are all the various fittings, like the D-rings, cleats, and eyelets that adorn every surface. They’ve used gloss paint, presumably so they can wash the stains off, and this doesn’t inspire me. Neither does the wipe clean, marble floor.

  Ranieri is in his element. He’s attaching me to two bars in the ceiling by means of long, thick silver chains. Two lead up from my nipples, and the other is fastened to the hook in my backside. My arms are restrained behind my neck, with my elbows on either side of my face. It doesn’t take me long to figure out this game. The chains are tightened until I have to stand on tiptoes or endure the sharp pain of clamps and hooks stretching places I’d rather they didn’t. As I have no wish to carve myself another asshole, I need to keep on my toes for the duration of this game, or risk intense pain and mutilation. Judging by the look in Ranieri’s eye, he’s not going to take it easy on me, either. Thank you, James. I’ve got to spend all day with this monster.

  When Ranieri is happy that he’s positioned me exactly how he wants me, he holds up a ball gag. I want to groan out loud. My jaws only just recovered from the last one, but I daren’t voice that opinion out loud. Opening up like the good little slut that I am, I watch my tormentor smile as he buckles the bright red ball tight to the back of my throat.

  “Want to know why you’re wearing one of those?” He hasn’t actually spoken to me yet, so the words make me jump, sending slivers of chain jangling and bouncing all over the place. Both my nipples and ass protest as pain assails me, but as soon as I’ve regained my balance all is well. I breathe a sigh of relief. In answer to his question, I do, so I nod my head.

  “Curious little thing, aren’t you?” Oh, you have no idea. “Well, I’m hoping to make you scream, and I don’t want the sound of your suffering to ruin everyone else’s fun. I also want to tell you a few things about our foursome. I was going to have it this afternoon, but as you guys are on a timescale today, I figure we’ll do it straight after this session. That work for you?” I nod again. The sooner the better, in my opinion. We need to get that information and run.

  “Perfect.” He walks around me in a slow circle, giving me a good once over. I have no idea if the man finds me pleasing or not because his expression doesn’t change. He has a look of dark foreboding about him that sends shivers of fear up my spine, but there is electricity, too. I’m almost afraid to admit that I am excited to see what he is capable of, and I hope the man can deliver all that those dark eyes are promising.

  When he stands behind me and runs a finger across my shoulder blades, this time I am ready for him. Standing perfectly still, I manage to maintain my pose upon my tiptoes. The alternative is a seesawing body that sends the clamps and hooks burrowing into my body, and it is not a pleasant sensation. Ranieri will have to try harder.

  “You’re good. Those reflexes are sharply honed, aren’t they Lois?” His eyes narrow and his head moves from side to side, as he examines me more closely. Thankfully, as I can’t speak, all I can do is stare at him and blink. He can make what he likes of that.

  Ranieri does not give up easily, though. Another caress of his finger, digging in under my right buttock follows, but again, I hold my stance rigid and tight. It’s no mean feat as he’s found a particularly vicious crop mark from yesterday. James wasn’t joking when he mentioned that I wouldn’t be able to sit down today.

  “Did you know that you and James are at the top of the leader board again?” Ranieri t
hen flicks his finger at one of my clamped nipples and I moan out loud before shaking my head. “Yes,” he nods. “The pair of you are way ahead of any other couple at the moment. You two seem made for each other.”

  Ha! If only he knew. We’re a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, as far as I can see. We have powerful families working against us, vendettas, and the threat of bloodshed to keep things interesting. I’m just not sure who’s going to die first.

  “That’s part of the reason you’re with me this morning. I need to climb up the board. Chiara and I aren’t doing so well this weekend. We’re usually at the top.” Bully for you, I thought. All I needed was another fucking dominant with a larger-than-life ego to match. I didn’t care who was at the top of the leader board, all I cared about was getting the hell out of here and back to Adie, whose life was draining away like the sand in an hourglass as we spoke. I hope he didn’t think we’d abandoned him. If James was urging me to run away, Adie must be wondering the same thing. We would be back in time. I’d make sure of it. There was no way I’d leave him in that place alone with his brother.

  “The rules for this little scene are quite simple,” Ranieri says, while another finger captures a lock of my hair and tugs. “The last sub standing wins.” He lets that sink in before he continues. “To make sure you’re the last sub standing, you should know that James won’t get anything out of me this afternoon, if you don’t perform to your full potential.” Ranieri gives me a minute to let his threat sink in.

  If I understand him correctly, it means that if I’m not the winner of this next competition, Ranieri walks and we get nothing. That’s going to be a problem. A spectacularly big problem, in fact, which has something akin to Wile E. Coyote and a big, fat BOOM at the end of it. My heart rate suddenly goes into meltdown, and I wobble precariously on my tiptoes. This is the last thing I need right now. I wonder if James knew about this? Mind you, what could he have done about it? We have no choice. We need this info.

  Gurgling through my gag, I try to tell Ranieri exactly what I think about that, but he only smiles in return. “Yes, I know you’ll be a good girl for me,” he says quietly before patting me on the head. No amount of further protests on my part attract his attention, and when he eventually puts his index finger to his lips, I shut up. He’s the last person I need to annoy right now. I’ll just have to make sure I do as he says, however hard it may be. His next words are a bit of a shocker, though.

  “There are points awarded for impact play. The more hits you take without falling, the more points we earn. Technically, we can still win even if you aren’t the last sub standing, but I like to do things in style – so you will be.”

  Well, that adds a whole new dimension to the challenge, doesn’t it? Alain could take tips from this bastard. Keeping my eyes dipped towards the floor, I try my best to retain my submissive composure. While I want to go ape-shit on the monster in front of me, I am in no position to do so, nor would I achieve anything. It seems that today, like every other day in my life for the past few weeks, is about suffering. I need to embrace this and move forward.

  It doesn’t take me long to realise that Ranieri isn’t about to make this challenge easy for me. Although all the subs have been tied up in a similar fashion to myself, the majority aren’t out for extra ‘points.’ Most of the dominants are happy to sit and wait it out, but not us. Oh, no. I always get the raging psychopath. I swear I attract them.

  At the moment, Ranieri is circling my body like a vulture who’s spotted wounded prey. I know he’s going to strike, he’s just waiting for the perfect moment to do so. He wants fear. That’s what excites him. It’s at that moment I know I’m not going to give it to him. He can go fuck himself.

  It’s as if he can read my mind because his next sentence is, “We’re going to start slow and work our way through several of my favourite implements. I’ve seen the bullwhip marks on your back, so I’m sure you can take a few more of them.” My blood thickens and slows. My breath stills in my throat and freezes over. I can feel my heartbeat drumming wildly in my ears. This can’t be happening. I’m about to go back to Alain this evening, and he expects me to sleep with him. I cannot go into the lion’s den already broken. He’ll annihilate me.

  Ranieri doesn’t care about any of this, of course. His slow, sexy confidence as he circles me, finally begins to unnerve me, but I keep my spine straight and my head held high. I need to maintain my balance at all costs. If I want to get through this, I’ll need to remain focused. Searching the room for a sign of James, I wonder if he is looking out for me. Will he be able to step in if Ranieri takes things too far? Do I have an escape plan handy? My eyes skitter across the room, from left to right, and then back again. Damn it, I can’t see James. Where is he? Breathe, I tell myself. Just breathe.

  What’s the first rule of being an assassin, Lois? Don’t panic. Never, ever panic. Even when your day is going to shit, and you think there’s no way out, remain calm. If only there was a fucking flush option on my life right now. I’d go for the full flush, which would swipe everything clean in an instant. If only.

  Finally, I spot James. He’s with Chiara. She’s a tall, lithe brunette with bouncy curls and massive tits. He’s strung her up in much the same fashion as me, but his attention isn’t on her pretty face or body. His eyes are on me. ‘Are you okay?’ they ask. I’m not, but I nod. Relief washes through me. If anything goes tits up here, James will pull me out of the wreckage. Now he knows I’m not working for Alain he doesn’t detest me with quite the same intensity as before. At the moment, I’m just hated because I’m a female he’s attracted to. I can handle that.

  “Eyes on me, Lois.” Ranieri grabs my chin in an irritated fashion. It’s pretty clear that he doesn’t approve of me looking at James while I’m under his care. A sharp slice with the crop a second later confirms it and I release a pained moan as my body rocks under the impact. Spine straight, head high, Lois. This is all about balance and pain tolerance. I can do this.

  “I’m curious as to how much pain you can take, Lois. Today, I’m about to find out. For some reason, I don’t think you two are a typical D/s couple, although the leader board would disagree with me. How long have you been with James, Lois? I’d put my money on days, rather than months or years.” Ranieri’s deep, sultry voice slices into my chest while his whip takes chunks out of my body. I can’t help a telling stumble after that bombshell, and pain then assaults me from all angles. Does he know? If James met him this morning, he’s already had a chance to try and find some information on us, but there shouldn’t be much he can use. Most of mine has been wiped clean by Sharkey at Cellular Operations, and I’m fairly sure James’s back story will be similar. That by itself will be enough to raise Ranieri’s suspicions, though. I bet he’s been in this business far longer than we have, and he must have a number of contacts to call upon. If he sees the two us of with squeaky clean media profiles, he’s bound to put two and two together.

  Regaining my balance, as the whip marks burn against my ass and thighs, I try not to focus on his words. At the moment, he’s just guessing. I don’t think I’ve made too many mistakes on my stay here so far, and while I might not be as quick to crawl or get to my knees as some of the other submissives, I have done well in all of my challenges so far. What I lack in agility and skill, I make up for in sheer stubbornness and determination.

  Ranieri doesn’t say anything for a while. He’s too focused on getting my exhausted body to move. He’s criss-crossed my back and ass with thin red stripes, but so far, I have held my own. At least I have a decent amount of stamina under my belt. After Alain’s intensive gym workouts last week, this should be a piece of cake.

  It isn’t. Holding a position for any length of time is difficult enough, let alone a precarious one such as this, especially when you’re already black and blue from yesterday and being knocked around. When we’re finished here, my nipples and ass are going to require intensive care, and this isn’t the end of my day by a long shot. Concentrat
ing as much as I can on my balance, I try to block everything out around me, as the swats continue to fall. I’ll need to retreat inwards for a while, if I want to get through this.

  Ranieri has now dispensed with the crop, annoyed that his tactics have yet to produce results, and he has opted for the cane. After what Adie did with it, I am not a fan of that thing, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to this. It wasn’t so long ago that Adie demonstrated to me just how terrible that thing can be. Hopefully Ranieri won’t be quite so brutal with it today, but if he draws blood, my time with Alain this evening is going suck harder than a whore who’s got ten men lined up outside her door.

  “I love a woman who’s prepared to suffer for me, Lois. When a submissive is down on their knees, trembling all over in agony because they desperately need to please you, there is no greater reward for a dominant. I live to conquer all those around me. That includes you and your husband, Lois. I’m very much looking forward to our date after we’ve finished here.”

  The first girl falls as Ranieri begins working me over with the cane. She shrieks, stumbles, and hangs from her clamps in abject misery, until she is rescued and untied. Her dominant gives her a look of disgust, before dragging her away on her knees. He didn’t even go near her with an impact toy, so I figure I’m doing okay.

  Ranieri looks equally as disgusted and shakes his head. “Fucking Alessandra. I have no idea why Julian brings her along to these events. She’s a fucking flake. He’d be better off locking her up and throwing away the key. At least until she learns her place, anyway.”

  Ranieri pays her no more attention as the cane lunges forwards in his hand, hitting my upper right thigh over and over again. It’s excruciating. I try my best to choke back a sob, but the man is beginning to wear me down and he knows it.