In a quick move, she left her jacket and water at the bar then ran to the dance floor getting lost in the crowd of bodies. Becky and Anya laughed along with her. The music thumped against the walls and inside her body. The tune took her over. She raised her hands above her head and began swaying her hips to the beat. In no time at all a couple of guys had surrounded them. Prue resisted the urge to push them away. Her friends were looking for some action while she was only hoping to gain James’s attention and give him that letter. She wondered what her sister had to say to James that was so important she couldn’t wait to see him herself.
Pushing all thoughts of her sister and James out of her mind, she stopped the wandering hands on her hips, closed her eyes, and danced.
****
James Castleden stared at the man inside his office, Dane. He was supposed to be at Possession, but Stephen didn’t want him at the club. The convicted criminal made a lot of the clients uneasy. Getting this man back from the United Kingdom and in their custody had been a bloody headache. Dane had killed some people in the short time that he had served Dominic Green.
“Where were you this afternoon?” James asked.
“Out.”
“You’re not supposed to go fucking out! Not without someone with you. If the cops find out about you just wandering the streets then it falls down on our head.”
“I agreed to this shit to be in Possession. I’m not into this spanking shit or tying people up. I’ve seen enough to last me a life time. I want to go back to Possession or the deal is off,” Dane said.
“Do you think it is that easy? Do you have any idea what Stephen, Cadeon, and I went through to get you out of jail? You’re a murderer and a pimp—”
Dane slammed his fist down on the table. He stood up leaning over the desk, and his huge body made the large desk seem small in comparison.
“I may be here because of you, and don’t try to insult me. I was never a pimp. Don’t even put that fucking tag on my card. Yes, I killed people. I was doing my job to stay alive. Now, either send me back to Possession or back to the UK because I don’t have to deal with your American shit if I don’t want to.”
James wasn’t scared. Dane may have killed people, but there was a skill in his own body. At forty-six he still continued to train. Being a wealthy businessman and a Dom didn’t mean he could sit on his ass all day twiddling his thumbs. He ran his club and his businesses with both hands. There was no slowing down in his life, and that is exactly what he wanted.
“I can’t let you go back yet. Stephen doesn’t like you scaring the clients.”
“Then he better pick stronger clients. I agreed to be at Possession, nothing else.”
“Do you really know anything about Dominic and his businesses?” James was starting to wonder if they should just send him back and hope for the fucking best.
“I know a lot more than you think. The policemen handling my case are being given information.”
“They’re FBI agents.”
“Whatever.”
A knock at his door stopped James in his tracks. He glared at Dane, who glared right back. “Come in.”
Leo, their doorman, peeked his head around the corner. “Is this a bad time?”
“No.” James didn’t want anyone to know about Dane. He was to be their secret. Only the closest members of both clubs knew about him.
“Veronica’s little sister is at the bar. Am I allowed to let her in?” Leo asked.
James closed his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose. Could his day or night get any worse? Veronica’s name no longer left a hollow feeling inside his chest. Instead, he was left feeling like he owed her something for not being truthful about who he was. It was that guilt that made him show her picture to every doorman who worked for him. Leo had been with him for a year and James felt like he could trust the other man. “What is she doing here?” he asked.
“She came with some friends. Her friends are regular visitors to the main bar. They do try to get past to the main part of Ravage, we’ve been able to stop them so far.”
James watched as Dane eased back in his chair, smiling.
“Veronica didn’t want her sister at the club. Tell her to go.” James recalled the younger sister. She’d been a real treat even at eighteen. Prudence. The name echoed around his mind making him smile. She’d been the only member of her family that made him feel like he fit in.
“That’s easier said than done. She doesn’t look like the type of woman to take no for an answer.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. When had he become a babysitter?
First, an ex-convict or convict and now an ex’s little sister had joined the club.
“I’m coming. Stay here,” he said to Dane then made his way around his desk.
“She’s sure grown up some from that picture you showed me.”
“Who?”
“Prudence. She looks old enough, sir.”
“No matter how old she is, her sister didn’t want her here.” Veronica had made it clear to him when she’d ended their relationship. She didn’t want any part in his sicko sex life, and if her sister was to come around then she wanted him to steer her in the other direction.
The noise made him moan. He hadn’t been able to shake off this blasted headache. The spot lights didn’t help. All the pressure from the media had started to weigh down on him.
He followed Leo to the main area of the bar. The darkest side to the club was hidden away underneath the main bulk. He’d been sure to keep security tight since his and Stephen’s secret had been out.
Possessive men seemed to be the in thing at the moment. He couldn’t complain. The club was making so much more money from the publicity even though it was unwanted.
Leo paused at the bar.
“Well, where is she?” James asked. He remembered how sweet Prudence was the last time he saw her. She’d been in her pyjamas with her hair tied up in a bun and a spoon sticking out of her mouth.
He was looking for that same girl he remembered.
“I have no idea. She’s not there,” Leo said.
Jermaine was serving a brunette who was laughing at him. James saw through the woman’s act. She was trying to get free booze from his barman. He clicked his fingers gaining Jermaine’s attention. “Those drinks better be paid for,” he said.
“This young man has been kind enough to say they’re on the house,” the woman said. She turned in her seat, stood, and wrapped her arms around his body. Her fake tits pressed against him. James gazed down at all of her falseness and felt repulsed for ever finding something like this attractive.
“Do you see what I’m trying to say, Jermaine? Women will come on to you in an effort not to pay my prices.”
He eased the woman away from him and walked down to where Leo was standing. Jermaine followed. The blush on his cheeks was unmistakable.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I won’t let it happen again.”
“Good, because everything you spent on her will be coming out of your pay check. I don’t like being made a fool of. I suggest you learn your lesson now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where is Veronica’s sister?” Leo asked.
“What? Erm, I don’t know. She was here when I brought her the water,” Jermaine mumbled.
“You idiot. You were supposed to be watching her.”
James stopped Leo from yelling at the boy.
“I suggest one of you find her, as otherwise you’re both going to be in serious trouble.”
He stayed by her seat at the bar waiting in case she came back. James looked out on the dance floor. The crowd opened up as three women stumbled out laughing. Three guys followed them. Two women had brownish hair while the third had black and red. Her saw the flash and change of colour as she approached the bar. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the vixen who was heading in direction of the bar.
All of the blood went from his head to his cock. James gazed down the length of her body. The woman was on fire.
She was fucking beautiful, and the ache in his groin intensified. He wanted her, badly. The instant hit of lust startled him. Being a Dom, he should know how to contain his needs. He was the one who trained his staff, who taught them that control was the key in his club.
One of the guys wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her back. She pulled his hand away and dodged his kiss.
She didn’t want the guy’s attention.
You’ll want mine!
James shook the thoughts from his mind. He didn’t know what the hell was going on inside his head. He was supposed to be looking for Prudence. She liked to be called Prue. He’d always liked to use her full name. It rolled off the tongue with such ease for him.
Her hips swayed from side to side with every step, and her tits bounced. He’d never seen such full hips before. This woman was coming home with him tonight.
She still hadn’t noticed him as she leaned against the bar.
“Looks like your jailer is gone, and so is the booze.”
“What do you say you go back to my place?” the guy asked against her ear. James listened as he approached. The small group hadn’t noticed him yet.
“No, thanks.”
“Come on, babe. I’ll make it worth your while.” He stroked her arm. That small touch was all it took for James to explode. He walked over to the woman, name unknown, and banded his arm around her waist.
“This woman is mine.”
In other words, back the fuck off!
The woman in his arms tensed. The other women gasped. Her body pressed against his. James felt every supple curve, and her scent invaded his senses. He needed this woman more than he needed his next breath. Never in all of his life had he felt this way about a woman. The possessive need he’d witnessed in his two friends was the only thing he could compare it to. Yet, what he’d seen was completely different from how he felt.
He needed to know everything about this woman. She was his everything.
“Well, it was about time you came out to see me, James. I was getting a little worried that the police were going to come.”
James recognised that voice. The woman in his arms turned around. He got a really good look at her.
The blue of her eyes gave everything away. They were like the clear ocean of the Mediterranean. Her skin looked flawless and smooth. He’d been looking for a young innocent girl of eighteen. In his arms was a woman. A sexy, desirable woman with passion blazing in her eyes stared at him.
That woman was Prudence Star, and James knew he was in trouble.
Chapter Two
Dane waited for their footsteps to disappear. He couldn’t believe he’d been placed in the fucking BDSM club. It just goes to show the wealthy didn’t do fuck all right. He was risking his neck for this shit, and what for? To be told off by a guy who thinks he knows everything about the world. James Castleden was like the rest of them. They talked the talk but didn’t have the first clue in what real pain felt like.
He moved around the desk and logged into the computer. The passwords were a little tricky to get past. After a few tries Dane was able to get through. He’d made a promise, and he was going to see it through even if it meant breaking his word to the men who had gotten him out of hell. He logged into the messenger and wrote an email to the person he was paying to release the woman on the list. She was British, like him. Only he’d been the bastard to capture her and put her in the system in the first place. He knew her virginity was the only thing keeping her safe.
Glancing at the door, he named a price and place where to drop the money. Of everything he’d done since being on Dominic’s payroll, this was the worst. The terrified look in her eyes still haunted him. Since Lloyd Black’s arrest and Eugene being killed the selling had gone quiet. When he was working for Dominic he’d never had anything to do with the selling of women. He was there to pay off his father’s gambling debts, not because he wanted to be part of the crime going on all the time.
His father had asked him to become a monster. If he didn’t then their whole family was as good as dead. Dane had never liked to be threatened. He’d gone to Dominic’s house to tell him to back off. At the time he’d been twenty years old with a life ahead of him. He’d been at college and was preparing to go to university in the summer. His life would be away from his alcoholic mother and gambling addict father. He’d start a life away from London and away from all the shit.
His parents were not bad. They just didn’t try to be good or to give him the best start. He never blamed them. He’d learned at an early age to deal with the bad in life. Standing on the doorstep to Dominic’s house, he’d never anticipated what was to come.
Dominic had wanted him. To get through college and to make the money for his courses for university, he’d taken up fighting and not the legal kind. It was the kind that made decent money and was on the quiet.
What Dane hadn’t known was that Dominic had been watching him at his fights. The moment he knocked on the door he’d been caught. His parents had been picked up by some men. They were chained up in Dominic’s sitting room being tortured. Dane could still recall the pain and agony on their faces.
****
“So, the mighty son has returned. Come in and sit awhile. I was getting a little bored,” Dominic said.
“You son of a bitch,” Dane yelled and tried to charge at the man. The guards held him back. He managed a few steps before they pushed him to the ground. He cried out, the anger too strong to contain. Dane wanted to do some damage. He wanted to hurt something, anything.
“Now, now, behave, Dane. Otherwise this is going to go a lot worse for you.”
He was pulled to his feet and forced to his knees where a man slammed his fist in his face then kicked him in the stomach. Dane went over. Once he was down, blows rained down until he had no choice but to sit compliant and listen. No one had touched his parents. All the attention was on him.
“I’ve seen you in action, Dane. You’re a strong man. A fighter and someone I can use.”
“I’m not fighting anymore.”
There was another harsh kick before Dominic continued on.
“I made a lot of money out of you. That kind of cash doesn’t dry up that easily. Now, your father owes me a lot of money. He has a thing for cards and women. I provide that.”
Dane knew it was no good to interrupt him. He stayed on the ground without fighting with a foot pressed on his back. His body was on fire. Every part of him felt like it was being broken and shattered apart. He didn’t know how long he could last with this much pain.
“Please,” his father said.
He closed his eyes unable to watch the blow that landed on his parent. “What do you want?” Dane asked. He couldn’t bear to see his family in pain. They may not have given him a brilliant start, but they were still his family.
“I want you on my team, son.”
The term son made him wince. There was nothing fatherly in what Dominic wanted from him.
He shook his head.
“No? Is that what you’re saying to me, boy?”
Dane kept his eyes closed. He couldn’t think, and he needed to.
“Well, that is not good.”
Seconds later he was pulled up, and he looked Dominic in the eye. There was nothing good inside him. Dane saw that immediately. He was evil, and from the look of it, he liked doing bad things to people.
“You make a choice, son. Either you become mine and do as I say, or I will kill your parents and everyone you’ve ever cared about, and I’ll make you watch while I do it.”
There was the sound of crunching bone and the shrieking of his mother.
The fight left him. Dane looked into Dominic’s cold dead eyes and knew his future, the one he wanted more than anything, was gone.
“What’s it going to be, son?”
****
Dane pulled out of his memory. His palms were sweaty, and his heart raced. No matter how many times he looked back he couldn’t see another way out. His life had
been cemented in that moment. There was nothing he could do except live the life that came. The life he’d lived so far had been one of violence and pain with no end in sight. From the age of twenty-one, he’d become the face of terror for Dominic’s gang. His boss owned every part of him. His parents had died several years later when he was twenty-seven. At the time Dane hadn’t seen the point in leaving. In seven years he’d killed and caused so much damage that staying with Dominic had been the best plan.
He looked around the office. James Castleden didn’t know how lucky he was. He had a good business, and even with the freaky sex shit, he could have a good family. No matter what Dane did, he’d always have the guilt and the remembered look in the victims’ eyes when he made them draw their last breath.
Shaking his head, he stared down at his hands. They were his biggest weapons and always had been. He pushed the thoughts away and focused on the problem at hand.
The guy was asking for several hundred thousand dollars in exchange for the girl he’d wronged. It was a lot to ask for. He was prepared to do everything he could to right the wrong he’d done. The FBI couldn’t do a thing about it, and neither could the men who’d set him free. Dane wanted it all to end. The guilt and the anger were a part of him no matter what he did. Once the email was sent, he erased all traces from it and then fired up the computer, putting more security in place so that no one could hack James’s files, before going back to his seat.
He liked the men who were willing to help him. They were taking a chance on him even though they knew he was a convicted murderer. He leaned on his knees staring at the ground. His life had been filled with a lot of bad choices, but none of that excused his behaviour.
When James had called him a pimp he’d defended his own name, yet he was exactly what James accused. One time when he’d been told what to do, he’d never thought it would have been to fool an innocent woman.
He shook his head. His worst sin was the one he couldn’t undo. No matter what he did to win her back, the woman who’d fought to get away would never look at him the same.
Owned by the Dom: Part One (The Owners) Page 2