by Tara Sue Me
Kelly kept her expression neutral. She’d heard similar stories before, but unfortunately, most of the time, women didn’t see what was happening until it was too late. Kiara was one of the lucky ones.
It happened so gradual and seemed so natural, Kiara hadn’t thought anything about it. Randy’s manipulation of her life had been so meticulously orchestrated, even an uninvolved third party would have trouble seeing it for what it was.
“I couldn’t believe it. Or more to the point, I didn’t want to believe it, but when I looked at everything, how he’d isolated me from my friends and family, how deliberate he’d been in slowly expanding my personal boundaries? Nothing else made sense.”
Unfortunately, Kiara had underestimated how possessive Randy felt about her.
“When he came home that night, I told him I’d been thinking and thought it would be for the best if we saw other people.”
Without hesitation, Randy punched her hard in the stomach and when she doubled over in pain, he’d grabbed her hair, jerked her head up to force her to look at him, and calmly said, “No, I don’t think so. What’s for dinner?”
Kelly sat frozen in rage. In fact, she found it hard to breathe. “Tell me where he lives,” she managed to get out. “I’ll kill the mother fucker myself.”
On second thought, killing was too easy on him. She’d castrate him with her bare hands and then she’d kill him.
“No,” Kiara said. “I can’t let you do that.”
Kelly raised an eyebrow. “Why the hell not? Please don’t tell me you still think you’re in love with him.”
“Oh, hell no,” Kiara said. “I hate him. If I ever see him again it’ll be too soon. And I’d like nothing more than to rid the world of him myself, but I can’t and you can’t either.”
“Give me one reason.”
“Because if you kill him, it’ll ruin your life, and he’s not worth it.”
“No, he’s not.” Kelly took her sister’s hand. “But you are.”
They talked late into the night. Thankfully, Kelly was off until Tuesday and the summer school Kiara worked at was out for the week.
However, Kelly couldn’t get Kiara to tell her why Randy got arrested for animal cruelty or if he ever hit her again. Kelly could dig around at work and find the answer to the first question, and she assumed Randy had struck Kiara again, simply because she’d never heard of a one-time only abuse situation. But there was no official reason for her to be digging into Randy’s case. She could have gotten away with it in Wilmington, but she was still too new in Dallas and didn’t want to press her luck.
While Kelly was fine with Kiara keeping those details to herself, there was one thing she would not compromise on. She would move out of her parent’s house and in with Kiara, and as soon as she could get it scheduled, Kiara’s house was getting a security update. Surprisingly, Kiara didn’t argue with her about either, which spoke volumes about how freaked out she was over Randy.
The monthly Partner’s group meeting was the last place Evan wanted to go tonight. The main reason being it would be the first time since the wedding, two weeks ago, he’d be seeing most of the group members, the majority of whom witnessed his departure from the reception with Kelly. He didn’t want to think about that weekend, much less talk about it. He’d considered not attending, but he didn’t want to give Kelly’s memory that much power over him.
She’d called him once. He recalled staring at his phone and thinking he must be seeing things as her number flashed on the display. By the time he realized it actually was her, she’d disconnected and hadn’t left a message. He almost called her back to see what she wanted, but ended up not doing it. If she wanted him to call her back, she’d have left a message or sent a text.
He finally told himself it was a butt call.
He’d already decided how questions about their time together following the wedding would be answered. None of your damn business. Now he only had to say it without sounding as if his world had fallen apart.
With a sigh of determination, he opened the door of his car and headed into the newly constructed building. If he’d timed it right, he’d have just enough time to find a seat and sit down, thereby putting off any Kelly questions until after the meeting.
“Right behind you,” a man from behind him said in a distinct British accent.
Evan held the door open for Cole and Sasha, greeting the beaming couple as they entered. Now that Daniel and Julie were hitched, the Master/slave couple were next in line to get married. End of August if he remembered correctly. Evan should say something about their upcoming nuptials, but at the moment, weddings were the last thing he wanted to talk about.
“How’s your summer going?” Cole asked him as they all three made their way to the front desk to check-in.
Apparently Evan hadn’t been the only one with the idea to arrive just in time. He’d never seen a line so long to get in. But at least if he was talking to Cole, he wouldn’t have to answer any questions about Kelly. Cole wasn’t into gossip or knowing everybody’s personal business.
Sasha, however, was a different story altogether. Not that she was a gossip, but as a friend of Kelly’s, he couldn’t say with any certainty the Domme’s name wouldn’t be dropped in conversation. The only thing that might work in his favor was Cole usually instituted high protocol for Sasha during group meetings, which meant she wouldn’t be able to talk to Doms without Cole’s approval. Evan knew the couple well enough to know when permission had been granted and she didn’t have it yet. Not to speak with him any way.
“So far the summer’s been pretty dull,” Evan said in answer to Cole’s question.
They moved up a step in line, and Evan was almost ready to call it a victory with regards to no questions about Kelly when Sasha spoke.
“Sir?”
“Yes, little one,” Cole replied, and you’d have to have a heart made of ice not to smile at the way he looked at the woman who wore his collar. Sasha whispered something, and Cole lowered his head. “Of course,” he said when she finished whatever it was she wanted to tell him.
But when Cole lifted his head, he looked at Evan.
Shit.
Cole lifted an eyebrow, and Evan wondered if he’d spoken out loud. “Sasha wanted me to ask you if you’ve spoken with Kelly lately, and if so, how’s the situation with her sister?”
There was a situation with her sister?
“Judging by the look on his face, little one,” Cole said. “I’d guess the answer is ‘no’ and that he was unaware there was a situation in the first place.”
Evan was stuck. He couldn’t say now that he knew what Sasha was talking about. It was doubtful Cole would fall for an, “Oh that situation.” But if there was a situation with her sister, he wanted to know. Damn. Why hadn’t he returned Kelly’s call?
The answer to that one was clear. Pride.
He hadn’t wanted to appear weak and he’d incorrectly thought that if he called her back, he’d look weak. Like he’d been waiting by the phone for her to call.
“I would never disrespect you by lying,” Evan said and, at Sasha’s cough covered snort, hastily added, “Well I might, if I thought I could get away with it. But I wouldn’t, so it doesn’t matter.” He took a deep breath. “No, I wasn’t aware of a situation with Kelly’s sister. Things didn’t end well for us after the wedding. I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but I did have a missed call from her and if something’s wrong with her or her sister, I’d like to help if there’s a way I could.”
They had reached the check-in desk, so they paused their conversation until they finished and entered the main portion of the club. Cole led them to a lounging area where no play was permitted, and away from the crowd heading toward the meeting. The sitting area had numerous chairs, lounges, and sofas that could be arranged in numerous ways. Cole selected an area with several small sections. He sat on a love seat and Sasha gracefully sank to her knees on the soft rug at his feet. As was typical whenever Evan
had observed them in the past, Cole’s hand went straight to Sasha’s hair. Under her Master’s touch, Evan watched as Sasha’s body relaxed, but he was surprised when he removed it after a few seconds.
Evan decided he hadn’t covered his shock very well when Cole chuckled. “Yes, I did stop sooner than normal. Sasha would actually sink into subspace if I continued, but I know she’s anxious about Mistress K, so I thought it best not to get her there quite yet.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by staring.” The fact was, Evan had never been interested in a twenty-four, seven power exchange. However, after witnessing how in love Cole and Sasha were and how effortless everything about them appeared, it made him think there was more to it than he’d previously thought.
“No need to apologize,” Cole assured him. “Sasha and I are quite used to quiet observation from those who know how we live but have never experienced it themselves.”
“How about those who don’t know how you live?” Evan asked.
“You mean society at large?” Cole asked and Evan nodded. “Like if we’re going into the city, perhaps we have tickets to Broadway? What are our seating arrangements?”
Evan felt a bit abashed he asked anything until he saw the glare Sasha gave her Master.
“Sorry, little one,” Cole said. “I couldn’t help it. Forgive me?” Only when she nodded, did he turn back to Evan. “She didn’t want you to feel bad for asking. Apparently not everyone appreciates my sense of humor. But the thing is, I think she’s actually the one to best address that question. We recently went out to dinner with her brother and his girlfriend when they traveled to the city to do some shopping. We’d never met the girlfriend, and I’ve only been around her brother a handful of times. He is strictly vanilla and has no idea about the kinkier side of our relationship.”
Evan nodded. He didn’t even have a sister and he understood why that would be.
“I honestly didn’t think much of it until he called her a few days after they returned home to Dover.” Cole shifted his attention to Sasha and stroked her cheek. “I’ll let you tell Master Martin how the conversation went, little one.”
Sasha turned her body so she rested against Cole’s legs while looking at Evan. “It was actually rather sweet,” she said. “My brother said he wasn’t going to bring any more dates around us until we cooled it down a bit.”
Evan wrinkled his forehead. “Cool it down a bit? Haven’t you and Master Johnson been together for years? How long does he think it’ll take?”
“We’ve been together a little over two years,” Sasha said. “What makes his comment even funnier, is when you realize he and his girlfriend have been together even longer.”
Evan nodded, but he had to admit he knew what her brother meant. Cole and Sasha, whether they knew it or not, and he had a feeling they didn’t, seemed to have this air about them. It wasn’t that they were overtly sexual, and it wasn’t anything he believed them to be conscience of. If he had to give a word to define it, he would say there was an awareness between them. An awareness so strong one could sense it even when one of the two stood across the room from the other.
Evan had known Sasha for longer than he’d known Cole, and in all that time, he never seen her look at anyone else the way she did Cole. He was happy for them. For them both as well as hopeful for himself that maybe one day, he’d be in a relationship with such an awareness.
“Back to you and Mistress K,” Cole said. “I’m sorry you learned the existence of the situation from us, but I don’t believe either Sasha or myself feel comfortable disclosing information of that sort without Kelly’s approval.”
“I understand, Master Johnson.” To be honest, Evan hadn’t expected him or Sasha to do so.
“I will say, however,” Cole continued, “That a missed phone call is just the type of sign I’d be looking for. Maybe if you call Kelly back, she won’t be opposed to telling you more.”
Chapter Nine
Evan ended up not calling Kelly. Though all the reasons Cole had given him at the club made sense at the time, when he made it back to his place that night, he found they no longer did. Kelly was a smart woman and had no trouble knowing her own mind from everything he’d ever observed. She had his number, and if she didn’t want to talk to him, she could always text. Besides, if she didn’t want him to know about whatever was happening with her sister, he wasn’t going to put her into a position where she felt like she had to tell him.
He changed into a pair of shorts and a tee. For some reason he felt out of sorts, maybe a jog would help clear his head. He reached for his running shoes, and his phone rang. His heart sped up. Maybe it was Kelly, but when he looked at the display, it wasn’t her and he didn’t recognize the number. Most of the time when he didn’t know who was calling, he didn’t pick up, yet for some reason, he felt he should answer this one.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Evan?” a familiar male voice asked, but he couldn’t place who it belonged to or where he might know it from.
“Yes,” he answered. “Who is this?”
“Man, I can’t believe it’s you. It must have been six or seven years.” Now that whoever it was spoke more than one word, Evan could hear the faint southern accent. It hit him suddenly that Kelly didn’t have one when she talked, and he wondered off-hand why that was.
The man on the other end of the line had kept talking, “Couldn’t believe she knew you. Damnedest coincidence I’ve ever heard of, much less experienced -”
“I’m sorry,” Evan interrupted. “Did I miss you saying who are?” He hated to be a pain in the ass, but seriously.
“Sorry, man. It’s Orson Kent.”
“Orson?” he asked in a half laugh because with the name came back four years of all the crazy shit they did in college.
“Yeah. Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“You can say that again.”
Randomly put together as roommates their freshman year, they had hit it off instantly and ended up living together for four years. Though they had different majors, they spent most of their time together when not studying, in class, or with a girl. Or with a girl they weren’t sharing, he clarified in his head. Perhaps, not surprisingly, they had both discovered their Dom nature while in college.
Orson had grown up in North Carolina, but vowed he would never live there. Indeed, after graduation he’d moved to Nevada with plans to open a high end hotel/conference center marketed to the kink community. He’d asked Evan to come and invest with him, but Evan couldn’t see moving across the country for a business deal that might not pan out. Especially when Delaware would help in paying off his student loans in exchange for him teaching.
Maybe one day he’d be in a position to where he could do something uncertain like that, but at that moment he had to be smart. So even though he’d have loved to throw caution to the wind and move to Nevada, he did the sensible thing and decided to teach high school. But he’d always wondered how different things might have been if he’d gone with Orson.
“Are you still teaching?” Orson asked.
“Yes,” Evan replied. “How’s the kink community in Nevada?”
“It’s actually Texas now.”
“What was that?” Evan asked, he thought he heard him say Texas, but he had to be mistaken.
“I sold the business in Vegas,” Orson explained. “I’ve bought a place in Texas.”
Evan was so shocked he found himself unable to speak at all. Not that it mattered, Orson kept right on talking. “What I like about the Texas place is that we’re family friendly Monday through Friday morning, and kink friendly Friday night through Sunday.”
Evan still couldn’t get any words to come out. Texas? What the fuck was Orson doing in Texas?
“It’s nice to have some variety, you know?” Orson paused. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah.” Evan coughed. “Where exactly in Texas are you?”
“We’re outside Houston.”
Evan let out a deep
breath. Not Dallas. He’d been expecting him to say Dallas, though he wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad when he didn’t. “Sounds like you have a nice place. Maybe one day I’ll make it dow there.”
“Funny,” Orson said. “I was just going to ask you a favor.”
“Why are you only now telling me this?” Kelly didn’t even try to hide her irritation. No need to do so when she was fairly certain she had smoke coming out of ears.
“Because I knew you’d be like this.” Kiara wiggled her fingers at Kelly. “But the main reason is I forgot.”
Kelly sighed. If she was talking to anyone else, she wouldn’t believe it possible to forget, but when the person in question was Kiara, that changed the equation altogether. Although, part of her still found it difficult to believe her sister conveniently forgot that a week from now, once the current summer school session ended, she’d volunteered to work at a destination type ranch as a nurse until school resumed in the fall. Kelly didn’t care if she’d signed up last summer and only remembered when the ranch sent her a welcome email, there were some things you just didn’t forget.
“I’m not sure how you expect me to keep you safe and provide security for you when I’m in Dallas and you’re in Houston.” Though, technically speaking, the ranch wasn’t in Houston. It was forty miles away and yet somehow still considered to be on the outskirts.
“And see, when I remembered I’d volunteered, I thought being out of Dallas and in Houston was a positive.”
“How did you come up with that?” Kelly asked. “The way I see it, you’ll be hundreds of miles away and I won’t have the ability to get to you fast.”
Kiara chewed her bottom lip. “Randy doesn’t know I volunteered, he won’t know where I am, and that’ll drive him crazy.”
Kelly appreciated her sister at least thinking through the potential consequences of her actions. However, it seemed as if she only thought of the positive ones and or chose to ignore the negative ones. Which was fine if you wanted to avoid reality, but unfortunately Kelly’s job didn’t give her the luxury of only seeing positive outcomes. Of course, she would have thought the same thing about Kiara’s job.