Taurus nodded as he crossed to the work area he had set aside for Whitney. “Her computer and cords are gone.”
Striding into the bedroom, he checked her wardrobe. Other than the sexy little outfits she wore to the club, her wardrobe was rather thin. He had not thought about it, but Whitney had not had been shopping for clothes, except at Lace’s house, since she had moved in with him more than a year ago. He looked through her panty drawer but could not tell if any were missing, as he had bought her so many over the past months. When they were in the apartment, those were all she wore, if that much. Looking at the rest of her clothes, he did notice a couple of shirts and her favorite denim skirt were not where they normally were.
“She took some clothes, too,” he said as he returned to the living room.
“Sounds like you’ve got some work to do,” Jenna said without a hint of pity in her voice. “First thing is to figure out if you really want her back—”
“No, the first thing is to find her, make sure she’s safe, and bring her home so we can work things out,” Taurus cut her off as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door. “Lock up on your way out.”
“I hope she says no if you go at her like a stubborn, bull-headed ass without thinking things through,” Jenna said as she followed her cousin out of the apartment and made sure the lock was set before she pulled it closed.
Taurus held the elevator for her, and they rode down to the first floor in silence. When they stepped out of the elevator, Jenna grabbed his keys.
“What the fuck?” he asked, extending his arm palm up. “Give them back.”
Jenna shook her head. “Not until you listen to me.”
Taurus huffed a sigh. “What?”
“I want you to go into the garden and calm down. You also need to figure out what went wrong with your relationship and whether you really want her back. As Whitney’s Master, you fucked up somehow, but she must have felt she could not have talked to you about it. You need to figure out what went wrong and come up with a way to fix it.”
Taurus had already come to that conclusion, but did not want his cousin to know she was right. She was too confident in herself as it was. “And while I do that, she’s getting farther and farther away,” he groused, wanting to look for Jenna and not sit on his ass and think about what went wrong with his relationship with his submissive little mouse.
“I’ll have Antony get on the computer and tag all her cards. We’ll be notified as soon as she uses one of them,” Jenna said as she tucked the keys into the top of her corset. “Gentry will call the hotels and see if she’s checked into any of them. I’ll deal with the convention.”
Frowning and grumbling under his breath, Taurus nodded and headed out to the garden. Jenna was right. He did need to calm down. Otherwise he might hurt anyone who got between him and his beloved woman.
* * * *
Whitney drove into New Bern then spent more than an hour driving around town checking out the various hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts which New Bern had to offer. Since Taurus refused to allow her to help pay living expenses, she banked all her money. She decided to splurge and stay at one of the four-star ultra-nice hotels that overlooked one of the rivers that defined the town’s southern and eastern borders.
Though she would have been fine in a small room with a double bed, she requested a king-size bed in a room with a balcony overlooking the river. She was feeling the need of comfort from any source, and the river had always calmed her. The clerk surprised her by upgrading her to a suite. She wanted to argue, but he assured her that the suite would be the same price as her requested room.
Moving on autopilot, Whitney handed over her bank debit card when asked. Once she finished checking in, she declined the bellhop’s help and headed upstairs to her room.
Her suite was at the end of the hall, as far from the elevator as one could get and still be in the building. After entering, she kicked off her shoes before closing the door and flipping the lock in the handle. After a moment’s hesitation, she secured the interior deadbolt as well.
Still carrying her overstuffed bag, she prowled the rooms, wide-eyed with the luxury she found there. She moved out onto the balcony and spent several long minutes watching the sun glint off the boats in the marina and the water farther out as it lazily made its way toward the Pamlico Sound and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean.
For a moment, she wished she could transform herself into a fish. Or a seagull. Or a duck. Or any other creature that did not have to deal with the problems of the heart she was having.
After releasing a long sigh, she retreated back into the bedroom and unpacked her few possessions. She was not sure she would be staying here more than one night, but she needed to settle in anyway. She was a nester and needed to make wherever she was home. After putting her clothes away, she pulled out the small vibrators Taurus had bought her for her last birthday and put them on the nightstand though she doubted she would use them.
When the silence of the suite began to grate on her nerves, she turned on the huge flat-screen TV which faced the foot of the bed. After turning the heat up to a more comfortable level, she stripped down to the teddy Master Taurus had chosen that morning for her to wear to the convention. The lacy creation that revealed more than it concealed was one of his favorites and had become one of hers as well.
Without anything else to do, she crawled into the center of the bed. Settling on top of the covers to think, she absently flipped through channels on the television, finally settling on an old black-and-white movie.
What in the hell was she thinking? No matter how he neglected her, she loved Taurus, and that love would never change. It did not matter if he collared her, married her, or kicked her to the curb for running away, she would still love him until her dying day.
She just wished he felt the same way.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she burst into tears.
Chapter 3
Gentry entered Jenna’s garden behind the club warily. He did not want to be the one to bring Taurus the news, but his Lady was busy with the convention. Since he was the one who had found Whitney, the task had fallen to him.
He found the club’s co-owner stalking around the path that circled the garden closest to the privacy fence. He was clearly deep in thought, so Gentry did not interrupt him. He moved toward the center of the garden and sat on the steps that led to the gazebo.
It was twenty minutes and two phone calls from Jenna before Taurus finally acknowledged him. “What?” the Dom asked as he stalked across the garden.
“I found her,” Gentry said simply, rising from the steps and falling to his knees. He winced as his knees hit the rocky path before assuming the slave position.
“Where?”
“The Sheraton downtown on the Trent River,” Gentry said to Taurus’s boots.
He then held his breath until Taurus grunted and walked away. He waited until he heard the door slam open and then squeak as it shut again.
Gentry slowly lifted his head and made sure Taurus was truly gone before he climbed to his feet. As he exited the garden, he made a mental note that the gate hinges needed to be oiled. But that could wait until tomorrow. For now, he needed to return to Mistress Jenna’s side and assure her that Taurus seemed to have made his decision and was off to track down his woman. Gentry only hoped he was not too late.
* * * *
Marching to his truck, Taurus swore as he patted his leather pants and realized he did not have his car keys. He raced inside to go upstairs. In the elevator he saw his reflection on the wall and decided he needed to change clothes as well unless he wanted the world to know what went on at Club Esoteria.
Growling with impatience, he quickly changed into a pair of well-worn jeans and a green Henley shirt that Whitney had given him for Christmas. She said the color matched his eyes. After grabbing his wallet and keys, he spent several precious moments searching his desk. Finally, he found the two black velvet-covered jewelry boxes he ha
d hidden more than a year before.
Pulling on his leather jacket, he slipped the boxes into a pocket and headed out. It was time to go and find his woman.
* * * *
Once her tears slowed and stopped, Whitney curled up in the center of the bed and wondered what she should do next. She could not just lay here and wish for something that would never happen, for Taurus to admit he loved her and take their relationship to the next level. It was time to take her life back. But how?
Her thoughts drifted for a while before they began to replay the past two years and all that Taurus had taught her. Before her first visit to Club Esoteria, she had known nothing about the BDSM lifestyle. At that point, all she truly understood was that she had never been satisfied with her sex life or her past boyfriends.
Then Taurus entered her life and taught her not only about whips and chains and a dozen kinds of kink she had never heard of before, but also about her own unrecognized need to give over control of her body and her life to someone else. In all the months they had been together, he had pushed the horizons of her experiences, both sexual and otherwise. She had even figured out that though she loved writing and had an innate talent for it, she was just as happy planning events at the club such as collaring ceremonies or that weekend’s kink convention.
As she thought back over some of the other things she had learned, her juices began to flow as her cunt clenched rhythmically. Then her clit began to tingle with growing need. All at once, a need to masturbate overwhelmed her.
Though it felt wrong not to have her Master’s permission, Whitney stroked her left hand up her torso until it covered her breast. She gasped as the teddy’s lace gently abraded her stiffened nipple. She sighed as her hand began to knead the small mound of flesh until her nipple beaded painfully tight.
Her other hand moved in the opposite direction, down over her belly, and across her hip before slipping it through the wide leg hole to cup her waxed mound. Two fingers embraced her lower lips and pressed them together to hug her clit tight. Electricity shot from there to her tits and back again. Immediately the muscles up and down her belly tightened in rapid pulsations, adding even more heat to the sexual fire building deep in her lower abdomen. She began to pant and make the sounds that Taurus had told her on numerous occasions drove him crazy with sexual hunger.
She continued playing, but no matter how hard or soft she diddled her clit and pinched her nipple, she could not reach the peak and the relief she needed. After another few minutes, her arousal retreated completely, leaving her frustrated and once again on the verge of tears.
Grabbing a pillow, she rolled to her side and hugged it close, sucking a breath as the soft cotton pillowcase brushed against her erect nipples. “So what are you going to do now?”
At that moment her stomach cramped and grumbled, reminding her that she had not had eaten anything since breakfast.
“Okay, dinner it is, and maybe a drink or three just because I can,” she said, feeling grumpy and defiant.
Climbing from the bed, she pulled the denim skirt and black T-shirt from the drawer and dressed. After washing her face and applying enough makeup to camouflage the puffy eyes and red nose from crying, she slipped her room key and her credit card into her pocket. She slipped on her shoes, and, turning on a light in the bedroom and one in the bathroom, she left the room, determined to have a nice meal and at least a couple of drinks before she came back upstairs.
* * * *
Taurus paced circles in the lobby as he waited for the desk clerk to confer with the manager about whether or not they could tell him which room his woman was staying in. He had found her car in the parking lot and had already walked through the bar and restaurant and other public areas.
“I’m sorry, sir”—an older man approached him looking official in his black suit—“but for security reasons we cannot give you the young woman’s room number. If you’d like, we could call up and ask her permission?”
Counting to twenty did little to cool his anger. Shaking his head, he turned and began pacing again. Before he had a chance to calm down enough to speak, the elevator dinged its arrival. Looking over the manager’s shoulder, he watched a familiar figure step into view and head to the hall to his left that led to the bar and restaurant.
She was lost in thought and not aware of anything going on around her. Though he watched her every step of the way, she did not even glance in his direction.
Shifting his attention back to the manager, he took a deep breath and said, “Thank you for trying to help.”
Without another word, he crossed the lobby in long strides, charging around the corner just in time to see her open the bar door and walk in. So, his little mouse was feeling brave. Was she meeting someone? Or just checking out the amenities? Or was she going to break his rules and have a drink?
The thought of his woman getting drunk and being taken advantage of by other men reignited his barely controlled displeasure. Instead of charging in and demanding answers for her behavior, Taurus forced himself to stop at the glass door that led into the bar. He took a seat on the bench just outside the bar, and took several deep breaths to calm himself.
What Jenna had asked earlier was hard to admit, but accurate. He had never taken Whitney out on what could be classified a vanilla date. It was way past time they had one.
As he worked to regain the Dom control he was famous at the club for, several small groups of people passed him and entered the bar. Finally, he felt settled enough to face the woman who did not realize how much she meant to him. Taking a deep breath as he stood, he silently vowed to change that before they returned to the club. She would be returning to the club with him if he had his way, but in the end, it had to be her decision.
When three women and a man passed him on their way into the bar, he followed them. Once inside, his eyes swept the room, looking for his woman. He found her on the other side of the U-shaped bar staring into a glass half-filled with what looked to him like white wine.
His stomach clenching with nerves, he worked his way around the bar, ignoring several women as they tried to attract his attention. He slowed as he approached the woman sitting alone at the end of the bar. Taking a deep breath to squelch the nerves that knotted his stomach, Taurus slid onto the tall barstool next to hers. Whitney never looked away from her wineglass.
When the bartender approached, he ordered a beer. When it was placed before him, Taurus took a sip before turning to the woman beside him. “Come here often?”
* * * *
Whitney barely heard the question over all the other noise in the room, but the soft, deep, sexy voice sent a shiver of heat through her to settle between her legs.
“Excuse me?” she asked, raising her gaze from the glass of wine, which held no secrets. Turning, she gasped when she found herself eye-to-eye with Taurus. Fear rose in her at the solemn expression she saw in his eyes. “What are you…? How did you…? Oh shit, I’m in big trouble, aren’t I?”
She was surprised when he shook his head then broke their eye connection to look into his beer. “Not as much as you may think, though you should be spanked for taking off without telling anyone. Without telling me.”
“You were busy,” she said, unable to keep the distaste from her voice.
She jumped when his hand slid across the bar and laid his hand over hers, but she did not pull her hand away. His warm touch sent heat pulsing up her arm and through her body. Her nipples leapt to attention, and her cunt dampened in immediate response.
“Yes, I was,” he agreed softly. “But we could have talked as soon as I finished.”
Whitney shook her head. “By that time I had made up my mind and was driving Lace home.”
“Made up your mind about what?” Taurus asked, his hand leaving hers and dropping to cover her knee.
Whitney began to tremble as she glanced out of the corner of her eye to find he was looking at the basketball game on the television instead of at her.
“That I ne
eded some time to think,” she answered simply, not sure she would be able to put her wildly tumbling emotions into words. So as Taurus had taught her, she kept it simple, answering only the question asked and saying nothing further.
“Think about what?” he asked, sounding truly interested in her answer.
The fingers on her knee slipped around to the inside of her thigh and slowly traced a line up under the hem of her skirt. As it had since the night they met, his touch had her breathing faster and finding it hard to think of anything except getting naked and skin-to-skin with him.
Needing a minute to gather her thoughts, she lifted her wineglass with her left hand as she pushed his hand back down her leg with her right. Instead of answering his questions, she asked, “How did you find me?”
“You forget that I see all, hear all, know all,” he said with a grin.
She did not have a response for that, so she just nodded and drank the last two swallows of her wine. Setting the glass in front of her, she waved for the bartender’s attention and ordered another glass.
Taurus waited until the bartender delivered it and walked away again before he pushed for answers. He leaned in until she felt his breath brush the skin at the side of her neck then move even closer and took her earlobe between his lips. He sucked it for a few seconds then nipped it before asking, “Sweet mouse, what did I do that made you feel the need to run away?”
Chapter 4
Whitney dropped her gaze once again to her drink. “I can’t take it anymore,” she admitted so softly she was not sure he had heard her.
A Club Esoteria Wedding [Club Esoteria 11] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 2