Salvation

by Jane Henry

Dinner tonight with Viktor and some of his friends, then we’re heading into the club. Will you be there?

  Viktor’s friends? Something tells me not to trust these guys. Zack practically said they’re members of the Bratva. I do a search for Bratva and feel my eyes go wide at the results.

  Organized crime.

  Former Soviet Union.

  Powerful, ruthless.

  If these men are who Zack fears they are, they’re right here, infiltrating this club, and there’s nothing we can do about it until the undercover agent or agents bring them down. I hate the idea of my friend being in such close proximity. Quickly, I text her back.

  Marla, can you meet me at the club sooner? There are some things I need to talk to you about, and I don’t want to be overheard.

  Her response comes quickly.

  I’m sorry, I’m already heading to the restaurant. I’ll get there as soon as I can.

  Ugh. My friend is wining and dining with people who could hurt her. Kill her. I need to do something. But what?

  I shoot Axle a text. I need to see you.

  Axle told me to stay but I need to warn Marla. Maybe if I find him, he can help me in a way that doesn’t compromise anyone’s safety. I push myself out of bed and feel the burning sting of the paddle with every move that I make. Damn, he spanked me good. I’ll feel that one for days. Opening the drawers where I keep my clothes, I choose one of the outfits Axle’s picked out for me and slip it on.

  What am I doing? I allowed him to spank me. I’m wearing the clothes that he bought and staying in this room because he told me to. Why do I like this?

  Do I like this?

  I need to talk to him. He told me to stay here, but he’s been gone a while, and it doesn’t matter anyway. If he really loves me, he’ll love me without the trappings of a lifestyle like this. Maybe I need a little space. I’m strong and capable, and I’m not sure I need to submit to him to prove that.

  I stand and go to retrieve my clothes when I notice a folded square of paper on the floor. I bend to pick it up. It must’ve fallen to the ground when he took his clothes out. When I read the words, a chill rolls over my body. The note’s written in a swirly script with hearts dotted over the “i’s.”

  Sir, thank you for everything you’ve done. Love, Missy

  What the hell is this? I crinkle it up and toss it back to the floor.

  After dressing, I glance at my phone again, but there’s nothing. He hasn’t responded. With my hand trembling, I push open the door. I don’t like disobeying him, but our relationship should be stronger than obedience and rules.

  I feel a little like a child sneaking out of bed at night when I walk down the hall. My ass burns from the spanking he gave me, and I know that it doesn’t matter if he just spanked me or not, if he catches me out here, he’ll reignite that sting pretty damn easily.

  If I let him, that is. Maybe I won’t let him.

  The hall is vacant, but the dungeon is filled to the brim, couples scening and mingling and socializing. Every bit of the furniture is occupied, and there’s even a line at some places where people are waiting their turn. Someone’s suspended in a harness, and several dungeon monitors pace the floor. I recognize a man named Geoffrey as well as Braxton and Zack. I know Brax and Zack are there for a reason: they’re on the lookout for any signs of danger.

  It’s dark in here and there’s some kind of smoke machine tonight. Zack walks over and has a hushed conversation with someone, gesturing to the machine, but the man shakes his head. And then I see him. Axle’s standing with a woman at the far end of the room, hidden in shadows and smoke, but I see the tattoos along his arm and the same black t-shirt he wore when he left the room. I blink in confusion. He’s not checking on things to make sure they’re okay. He’s… holding a woman on his arm. I stare at them, so confused and shocked I don’t know what to do when I see him lean down and kiss the pretty woman, lingering and sexy. My heart cracks like shattered crystal, shards of hopes and dreams crashing down around me.

  I take a step toward them and freeze. Do I want him to see me?

  He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. How could he?

  Is that “Missy” he’s with?

  I trusted him. I loved him. I love him, still. Is this why he demanded I stay in the room? So that he could meet with his other woman? I shake my head. This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening.

  We went too fast, too soon. I should have taken my time with getting to know him. He isn’t who I once knew, and I rushed in too soon. God, I’m stupid. I’m so damn stupid. I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry or tear him away from her like a jealous, vengeful lover. My blood turns to liquid lava, molten hot, and I clench my fists.

  I don’t know what to do with myself. If I leave Verge now, I abandon Marla to the fucking mafia, and if I stay, he’ll see I left the room. With my head unfocused and dizzy and my heart shattered into pieces, I make my way to the bar. I’ll have a drink and not talk to anyone and figure out a way to make this better. Sliding onto a stool, I lift a hand in greeting to Travis. I breathe a sigh of relief when he pours me my usual and pushes it across the counter.

  “How many are you allowed tonight?” he asks, politely but with the hint of his natural domly-ness.

  I lift the drink and take a long, deep pull from it before I answer him. “As many as I want.” It doesn’t feel good saying that, though, and the curious look he gives me doesn’t appease my conscience.

  I need to talk to Axle. Frowning, I pick up my phone. I send him a one-word text.

  Mad.

  I feel sick.

  I take another sip of my drink to quell my rising nerves and soothe the ache in my heart. I waited for years for him. For years. I told myself that everything I did was to create a new me, to leave behind the shattered past and create a new present. When I found him, I felt as if the stars aligned and my hopes and dreams would finally come to fruition. No one loves me the way he does, with the tender, loving care that only years of history can bring, as we’ve forged our way through heartache and misery. We’ve earned our happiness, and it feels so wrong that it’s been ripped away from us so soon. How could he?

  My phone beeps with a text. When I read it, my skin prickles with nerves and anger.

  Axle: Meet me in the dungeon. By the loveseat. Kneel and wait for me.

  Did he ignore my safeword?

  Glaring at my phone, I text again. Mad.

  Axle: Dungeon. Loveseat. Kneeling.

  Maybe he wants to talk. The last “talk” we had was with his paddle on my ass, so apparently, he wants to talk on his terms.

  My heart twists in my chest and I swallow down the lump the size of a brick. God. I don’t want to believe he betrayed me. Fine. I’ll do what he says, but I’ll have plenty to say to him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Axle

  I leave the dungeon and come back to the private room, but to my shock, when I push open the door, she’s gone.

  Gone.

  “Chandra?” I’m half angry, half concerned. I gave her a specific instruction and it’s unlike her to disobey me. Especially, after a spanking. Where has she gone?

  The bed’s unmade, but otherwise the room looks exactly the way it did before I left it. I reach into my pocket to pull out my phone to shoot her a text but find that my pocket’s empty. What the hell?

  My gut clenches. Something’s wrong.

  I head to the dungeon at a trot and practically crash into Marla. “Hey,” she says, her brows furrowed. “Have you seen Chandra?”

  “I was just about to ask you that,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head. “It’s the weirdest thing. I was at the store and one of Viktor’s friends said they had plans to go out with us. There must’ve been some confusion because when I talked to him, he had no clue.” She frowns and looks a little sad. “When he found out, he was upset. He told me never to make plans without consulting him first. I mean, I get it…” Her voice trails off and she worries her lip. If my suspicion
is correct, I know exactly why he was furious. He’s undercover, and the Bratva he’s tracking went behind his back and made plans with his girl. Not good.

  “What did he tell you?” I ask her.

  “He said he was on his way to me. He knew I was coming here.” She frowns. “It was so weird. He said go straight to Zack and don’t talk to anyone else.”

  I cross my arms on my chest. Dammit, why doesn’t anyone listen? “And yet you’re standing here talking to me.”

  “Well, I’m trying to find Chandra,” she said. “Axle, what the hell is going on?”

  “Your dom gave you an instruction,” I tell her. “Let’s find Zack. And I have no idea where Chandra is.”

  Marla flushes, abashed, and swallows. “Yeah,” she says. “I’ll find Zack. Why did Chandra text me earlier? She asked me to come here and said there was something she needed to talk to me about.”

  What? I shake my head. “I have no idea.” I run a hand through my hair. I know I left her after a scene with no aftercare, but I came out because Tobias had some concerns he wanted to go over with me. The men Zack suspect are here, tonight, and we don’t know exactly how many of them there are. He wants me and Zack to track them down and keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t make any moves.

  “Marla. Zack,” I order.

  We need to get control of this. Things are beginning to spiral out of control, and I don’t like this, not at all.

  She leaves and heads to Zack. I want to talk to him myself, but for now I need to find Chandra and when I do, I’ll punish her for disobeying me. God. I thought I’d made my point loud and clear earlier. Apparently not.

  I’m going to scour every inch of this place until I find her. I leave the dungeon and head to the private room. I make sure one more time it’s empty and look around for any clues that might tip me off to where she’s gone, but all I see is a crumpled piece of paper that’s fallen to the floor. I pick it up and unfold it, frowning at the words that look almost foreign.

  Sir, thank you for everything you’ve done. Love, Missy

  It takes me a minute to even realize where this note came from, then I remember. It must be four or five years old. I probably tossed it on the dresser and it fell into the drawer, because I haven’t known anyone by the name of Missy for a long time. Furrowing my brow, I think. I have a vague memory of a petite college-aged girl who came in here before she moved away. She needed someone to talk to, and there were a few nights we scened together, but it was nothing serious at all. I toss the paper into the trash.

  Did Chandra see this and get the wrong idea? I need to find her. We need to talk.Did she leave? Jesus.

  I go back to the dungeon and find Zack. When I see him, he gives me a chin lift and flags me down.

  “Gotta talk,” Zack says, as soon as I reach him.

  “Yeah, man. Me, too. You first.”

  He pulls out his phone and opens up a file. “Names and faces,” he says. He can’t say much in public with everyone here, though, so he has to be discreet. “Three here tonight.”

  I shake my head. “You confirmed this?”

  “Yep. One by the spanking bench at ten o’clock, one by the pool tables, one just walked in.”

  I don’t look, because I don’t want to draw suspicion. I’ll be looking for them, though. I’ll fucking tail their asses. But I need to find Chandra.

  “Listen,” I tell him. I explain to him about Chandra leaving, the note I found, and the fact that my phone’s gone and when I’m talking my adrenaline pumps, my heartbeat racing. Something’s off, and I’m worried about Chandra.

  “I don’t like the fact that your phone’s gone,” he says in a low voice only I can hear. “And I came in here and the fucking smoke machine’s going. I told them to shut it off, but they say they have instructions from Tobias and I haven’t been able to reach him. Can’t see a fucking thing.” He shakes his head. “If the wrong person has your phone, they could text her pretending to be you.”

  Fuck. Damnit.

  I look around the room, trying desperately to find her, but it’s too hard to see anything and there are way more people than I’m used to. Outside this room a commotion breaks out by the bar area, and the walkie talkie Zack carries on DM nights sounds. He hits a button and Travis’s voice comes through.

  “Fight by the pool tables,” he says. The walkie talkie clatters down and I figure Travis has gone to break it up. Zack shakes his head. “Keep an eye on things in here,” he says, and he leaves.

  I hear a scream behind me and turn to see a man lighting into a woman. She’s bound and cuffed to the whipping post and he’s plying the whip so hard it makes even me cringe, and I’ve seen a fuck ton of intense scenes. Jesus. I can’t interfere, though, not unless I have reason to believe he’s taking advantage of her. Members take things far here, sometimes, and it’s my job as DM not only to not interfere, but make sure no one else does.

  And I need to find Chandra. On my way over to stand by the whipping post, though, I hear a cry that’s all too familiar to my ears. I scan the room, dim and clouded with smoke, but I’d recognize that hair, the curve of her shoulders and sweet face knelt insubmission. It’s Chandra. She’s cuffed and gagged and kneeling by a bench, and there’s a man standing right next to her. A chill runs over me. He’s my height, covered in tats, and wearing the same t-shirt I am. I take off at a run.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chandra

  I came in here as I was instructed and knelt by the bench, but I didn’t see Axle. I need to talk to him. I have to see him. We need to figure out what’s going on. I’m tender and afraid, and I need Axle.

  And then I see him, standing a good distance away. I recognize his t-shirt but before he comes any closer, he snaps his fingers and points to the ground, an indication for me to look down. I don’t at first. I’m angry at him. But he does it again, and I don’t want to begin with him angry at me or we’ll never be able to talk.

  I look down. I’ll obey first, and then we’ll talk.

  When he reaches me, I’m staring at the floor, and something feels off. He doesn’t touch me. He doesn’t speak. But a silky gag glides over my mouth and I feel him cinch it at the back of my head. I move my head to look at him but a blindfold slips over my eyes and a low whisper’s at my ear.

  “You do what I say and come with me to our room.”

  This is wrong. Something’s wrong. I texted him my safeword and yet he’s scening with me. Something cold and hard brushes my wrists. He’s cuffing me. Why is he cuffing me?

  I try to speak but I’m gagged so I can’t. My heart races and I try to pull away from him but he’s yanking me to my feet. Is this even Axle? My Axle doesn’t handle me roughly like this. He never gags me. And he would listen to me if I safeworded.

  But my Axle doesn’t talk to other women, either.

  The blindfold dampens with my tears of frustration, and he’s pulling me, dragging me out of here. I stumble, and he lifts me up, but he doesn’t tuck me against his chest. He’s holding me in his arms like I’m deadweight, and he’s moving fast. I’m struggling against him and I’m screaming against my gag, but it’s muffled and garbled.

  I hear someone shouting. I stop moving. I don’t say anything. The voice comes at a distance and it’s Axle.

  I writhe against the man carrying me. If that’s Axle’s voice, who the hell is this? I push, trying to get away, but he’s so strong, he’s hurting me. Then everything explodes in confusion. Behind me someone screams in pain and agony and I don’t know if it’s just a dungeon scream or worse, then I’m torn from the arms of the man carrying me. Someone’s wrestling whoever has me and in the midst of confusion, I hear Axle shouting for them to let me go. I fall, hit my head, and everything goes black.

  My head feels heavy. So heavy. Where am I? I try to open my eyes, but they feel so heavy. Murmured voices come from above me and beside me and I drift back off to sleep, in and out of consciousness. When I wake again, it’s quiet. So quiet. My head hurts so pai
nfully my stomach clenches. I open my eyes with effort. There’s blinding white light all around me. I’m in a narrow hospital bed with a white sheet pulled up over me. I sit up with a start, then Axle’s by my side.

  “Easy, baby,” he says. “You’ve got a nasty concussion. Lay back down.”

  I want to relax at the sound of his voice. I want to listen to him. But he’s the man who betrayed me. Still, I need to find out what’s going on, so even though I watch him with a guarded look, I lay back down.

  “Where am I?” I whisper.

  “The hospital,” he says. “You got injured at the club and we had to bring you here.” His eyes are bloodshot and he’s wearing the same clothes he wore the last time I saw him.

  “How long have I been here?”

  He reaches over and takes my hand. “About six hours. It’s early morning, and Zack’s on his way in.”

  “What happened?”

  He sighs, lets go of my hand, and goes to shut the door. “Let’s wait until Zack gets here to fill us in. For now, I want to hear your side of the story.” He sits back down and reaches for my hand, but when he reminds me of the night before, I refuse to take it.

  “I stayed in the room waiting for you,” I tell him. “And… well, I was having some reservations about things.” I tell him as he watches me without a word. “I went to get dressed and found a note written to you by Missy.” His eyes darken but he still says nothing. “I went out to the dungeon and saw you kiss a woman.”

  “Bullshit.”

  My heart wants it to be false. I want to believe him. I need to.

  “There’s no way,” he says. “For Christ’s sake, Chandra, don’t you know by now I’d never be with another woman?”

  “I know,” I say, a lump rising in my throat. I try to swallow it, but I can’t. It dissolves, and a tear rolls down my cheek. “But it looked just like you.”

  “And that’s something we’ll have to discuss with Zack.”

  Swallowing, I continue. “So I went to the bar and had a drink but before I could speak to you, and I… I safeworded. But you texted and instructed me to kneel and wait for you in the dungeon.”