Carnal Beginnings

by Reily Garrett

  Warm air bolstered her lagging spirit as Julien held the station door for her to exit. Leaving it all behind seemed a betrayal to Graham. Until they solved his murder, she couldn’t move forward.

  “Thank you for seeing us on a Sunday. I have no experience with handling money—”

  “Don’t worry, Adara.” Mr. Rathgawin shuffled the stack of legal papers until pulling a batch to the top. “We’ll protect your financial future until you figure out what you want to do. As far as Sunday—it’s just another day when a friend is in need. I’ve known Julien and his brothers all their lives. Though I have to admit, I’ve never held the dubious honor of possibly representing them legally.” He gave Julien a sidelong glance. “It’ll be nice to finally pay him back for prior favors…and perhaps gain an upper hand for once. Maybe hold out for—“

  “No. No way.” Julien’s grin, then chuckle took the seriousness out of their meeting. “Some secrets are meant to remain buried.”

  Warm and friendly, Julien’s lawyer advised her of the different ways to protect her inheritance, which included a will. When he started spouting all manner of legal jargon, her mind threw up pictures of centaurs frolicking in open fields, her version of zoning out. Makes as much sense.

  “I know this may sound very complicated, but we can accomplish this in a few simple steps. I’ll have the documents drawn up by tomorrow so you can take control of your inheritance immediately. I won’t know the sum total of your net worth until the forms are filed.”

  “I don’t care about the money.” She’d gain something she’d dreamed of for years. Freedom. They made an appointment to return the next day yet left with a troubled heart.

  Graham’s sand-scribbled message intruded into her thoughts to rocket her back to reality in a never-ending circle. Julien claimed not to know Graham, so how did Graham know Julien? She couldn’t find the off ramp from the bizarre and frightening path.

  The small amount of lunch she tolerated added a bit of stability and strength to cope. Determination stiffened her spine as she turned her thoughts away from her problems and to the future. “Julien, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

  “No thanks necessary. I wanted to get these things cleared up so you can move forward. You know…you’re about to become a very wealthy young lady.”

  “What? How do you know?”

  “Uh, remember what I do for a living? Background checks on all my employees.”

  Her face flushed with warmth. “How wealthy?”

  “Let’s just say you’ll never have to work another day in your life unless you choose to do so. Which is why I wanted you to speak with a lawyer before we moved further in our relationship. I want no doubts in your mind about my motives for your body and soul. And I certainly don’t want to get into the pharmaceutical or any other business.”

  “Oh, Julien, there are no doubts, believe me.”

  “So…ready to go home and talk?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The evening couldn’t have turned out better. Julien massaged her sore muscles as she rested against him on the sofa. Details of his lifestyle included a relationship he wanted to enjoy with her and flowed as naturally as his caresses.

  “Keep in mind, Adara, you have complete control in setting limits. I’ll probably know when you’ve reached one before you do. I’ll never push you further than you can tolerate. This can be anything we want, take any direction we both agree on. But understand, I am a Dominant, and I’ll be fairly strict.”

  “You mean like with all the kneeling and stuff?”

  “Hmm, that’s designated for the bedroom, club, or small play parties with our friends. Though I’ll reserve the right to dominate you anytime the mood strikes. Again, I’ll respect your limits.”

  The our friends had a nice ring to it. As for the rest, she could adapt. Her mind had difficulty reconciling the man who spanked her ass at the club with the one who held her so tenderly.

  “Also remember, Adara, I don’t want to change you. You’re perfect the way you are. This isn’t about molding you into another person. It’s about giving and receiving control, and trust.”

  “Actually, Sherri explained a lot last evening. Plus, I came to realize that embracing the lifestyle doesn’t make me weak. I think she’s strong and intelligent. It seems to be more about preferences.”

  “Yet, something’s troubling you. What is it?”

  “Um, you always seem to know what’s going through my mind…” She frowned as she tried to figure out how to voice her concern. “Last night at the club, when Nate spanked Sherri, she didn’t look humiliated, just turned on. That would’ve embarrassed me to death.”

  “Which is why Nate did it, and I wouldn’t. You didn’t see him take her into a theme room afterward, but you did see her later. There’s a big difference between stimulation and abuse. How did you feel after I spanked you?”

  She couldn’t look him in the eye, couldn’t grasp all the tumultuous emotions long enough to define them. The bottom line—it excited her, plain and simple.

  “Adara?” With a finger under her chin, he brought her gaze up.

  “Aroused, after I got over the fear and shock.”

  “I would never do anything for the sake of humiliation. That’s not taking care of someone, it’s cruelty.”

  His gaze warmed her heart.

  “How about wearing the clothes I picked out for you?”

  “That was embarrassing—the first night. Though when I went back it didn’t bother me near as much. I actually felt sexy, till my uncle and cousin showed up.”

  “Though I wouldn’t explain it beforehand, it entailed desensitization. See the difference?”

  “Why not before?”

  “Several reasons. Primarily, I expect you to have confidence in me, and believe what I do with you is for your benefit. I will never debase you. You are someone I deeply cherish.”

  “Oh, I understand.” Again she looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

  “And?”

  She couldn’t answer.

  “Adara?”

  The voice that brought an instant response—she knew the consequences and understood his motives to help her. “I was just thinking about—before. With my uncle and cousin.”

  Enfolding her in his arms spread the cosseted feeling throughout. She felt the light brush of his lips in her hair.

  “You can tell me. We need to talk about this until it’s all out.”

  Her grief took physical form in dampening his shirt. It wasn’t the first time she’d cried and wouldn’t be the last.

  Lifting her gaze to meet his, he said, “Adara, you need to talk about these memories, take away their power to control you. Do you know how many times you cried out in your sleep last night?”

  “It’s just—Uncle Tony passed me off to a his friend when he was drunk.”

  * * * *

  Adara’s soul-searing grief broke his heart and hardened his resolve. To hell with the legal system. It would never dispense justice even though such criminals endured a more difficult and painful jail time. His own form of justice would fit the crime. The legal system could have them afterward, once assured they could never rape again.

  The detailed plan forming in his mind spread a grin across his face even if the end result would give Adara doubts about his sanity.

  To see her embrace his lifestyle kept him in a constant state of arousal. He wasn’t a sadist and would forgo the heavier aspects of impact play but realized he’d chuck it all to have Adara in his life. They existed as a perfect fit, whether she realized it or not. The seven year age difference was not an issue.

  Given the time to adjust to her new life and self-esteem, she’d be strong enough to stand toe to toe with him even if she didn’t feel it yet. Being her first true lover filled him with a sense of pride. She belonged to him in every way.

  Anyone with her history would erect walls around their heart after surviving her ordeal. He’d br
eached most but not all of them. There existed in her a quiet hesitancy, a final barrier she refused to eliminate. If he couldn’t transcend it, she would never truly be his, regardless of her submission.

  Scooping her up once again, he took her to bed and with gentle hands, undressed her. After he shed his own clothes and lay next to her, she snuggled next to him, content to cuddle, skin to skin. Tonight, she needed this and nothing more, providing time to sort the confusing thoughts and emotions racking her mind. She had a lot to ponder.

  The chirp of his cell phone snatched him from a deep sleep. It took two tries to swipe the screen to connect the call. “Hello?” The clock on the nightstand showed the time just after midnight.

  “Julien? It’s Lieutenant Collier. There’s been a break-in at your office. Do you want to come down or should I call one of your brothers?”

  “Uh, no, I’m closest. I’ll be down in twenty minutes. How bad is it?” With the workload carried by the PI firm, it was inevitable to accumulate a list of people, someone caught cheating on their spouse, stealing, or some type of fraud, who retaliated in some juvenile way.

  After disconnecting the call, he gazed at Adara, sound asleep. The office was close—he could be back within an hour. He’d let her sleep, praying no nightmares crept up from the bowels of her subconscious. The note on his pillow would assure her if she woke, and Nika would protect all within her domain. After dressing and grabbing his keys from the nightstand, he ushered the shepherd on the bed to sleep beside her.

  “Evening, Collier. Julien addressed his one-time military teammate with a disproportionate anxiety. The hair on his nape stood, the nonverbal prick at his conscious spreading a cold dread throughout his chest. The childish aspect of the misdemeanor brought to mind Adara’s family. They should be in custody.

  “Looks like someone busted the windows just to set off the alarms. I did a walk through, didn’t see anything disturbed. I see your files are locked, but you’ll have to go through them and see if anything’s missing.”

  “Okay, that’ll be tomorrow’s job. For tonight, I’ll need to get someone out here.” The call to a local company assured a security guard would be there within several hours. The windows they could fix first thing in the morning.

  “Collier, could you send someone to check on my home? Adara’s alone there. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.”

  “Sure, no problem. I can post someone out front till you return.” Turning aside, Collier listened to the squall of the radio before assigning an officer to the task.

  “Do you think this is her family’s work?”

  “They haven’t been picked up, yet?” He looked around, rubbed his forehead. It was just—all wrong.

  “Haven’t found them yet. The department hasn’t had previous dealings with them in particular. Arrest warrants are standing, but they may know of them and be in the wind. Do you think they’d use this as a distraction to get to her?”

  “I didn’t assess them as that smart.” Seconds passed as Julien replayed prior interactions in his mind.

  The officer’s radio crackled with static before the disembodied voice brought Julien’s worst nightmare to life.

  “Lieutenant, I just pulled up at the address you gave me. The front door’s busted in. Alarm’s going off. I’ve called for backup and am going in to have a look around.”

  Again, Julien’s cell rung, he hit ignore, knowing it was someone from the home’s security system calling. Icy ephemeral fingers squeezed his chest, giving way to a rage that clouded his vision. A setup. “Shit. They’ve got her. The sonofabitches have taken her.” Unreason flooded his brain while anger seethed and fed his waking nightmare. He ran for his car.

  The prick of an uncle would kill her to avoid prison, and Julien had issued the invitation. Jesus, history was repeating itself on a nightmarish reel. He’d never been a religious sort, yet prayers issued forth as his car fishtailed off the lot.

  Her bastard family stood little chance of beating the charges if she lived. Their hands had been forced, and he’d painted a bullseye on Adara’s head.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Julien entered the house to see Nika laying inside the door. Blood pooled under her shoulder and merged with the shadows. Labored breath sawed in and out. Crimson matting around her shoulder defined the entry wound.

  An overturned lamp and scarlet streaks darkening the hardwood defined a path from the steps to the door.

  Collier strode beside him, scanning the room. “Let’s check upstairs.” He gestured to the first officer. “Weinheim, clear the two rooms downstairs, then take care of the dog.”

  The deputy balked at rushing her to the vet surgical center until Collier repeated the order.

  Outside, wheels screeched, and tires churned up grass with each of his brothers’ arrival. Julien’s call made en route had brought the near-immediate response—in various states of stress and undress.

  Dry heaves failed to slow Julien’s progress to the bedroom, where evidence of Adara’s struggle lay in shards across the room—a bedside lamp, the shattered, molded-glass jar with coins spilled everywhere, and a bottle of soda once perched on the nightstand leeching its contents to the rug. The bedcovers were strewn across the hardwood floor. Spatters of blood dotted the mattress and rug.

  Julien turned checked the en suite and walk-in closet, knowing they would be empty, except for the memories he and Adara had made in the shower. Conner’s hand on his shoulder brought him back to the moment.

  Conner led him downstairs while Collier examined the scene.

  Nate and Marc arrived, each ready to do whatever necessary. Marc set his laptop on the kitchen counter.

  I’ve got all our research here.”

  Julien paced in the kitchen as the four conceived their plan.

  The brothers had always worked as a cohesive unit, stood together during a crisis, but Julien didn’t want them involved with what he had planned. Thoughts of Gary and Tony flitted through his mind. “I should have seen this coming.” His fists clenched on the counter top.

  “Do you think it’s the family or Simmie?” Marc stood across from him and booted up his laptop.

  “Surveillance system was shot to hell. A pro would’ve disabled it, not mangled it. Looks like someone took it out in a rage. So I suspect her family. Maybe they think they’ll inherit if she dies.” Julien answered with disgust and fear. “Simmie’s only sure option included marriage.”

  “Any ideas on where they’d take her?” Nate asked.

  “I ran a background and assets search on each, curious if they’d been playing with her inheritance. The only physical asset I found is still in her name, custody of Tony, a secluded cabin about an hour inland.” Marc added.

  “We’ll get her back,” Nate assured. “That’s why you have brothers. Nate and Conner have our gear stowed in the SUV. You got the coordinates to the cabin?”

  “I got ’em.” Marc answered.

  “I’m afraid we’ll probably need immediate first aid when we find her. There’s blood on the sheets and the floor in the bedroom, trails to the side door.” Julien closed his eyes as a wave of nausea washed over him and left him light-headed. “God knows what they’re doing to her now. Maybe you guys—”

  “Don’t go there.” Conner’s tone took on the familiar role of leader.

  “From what you’ve said, they might figure they won’t get her money through marriage if she’s signed her lawyer’s documents,” Nate added.

  “Yeah, which just leaves…” Julien couldn’t finish the thought.

  “Oh God, yeah. It just leaves Adara. Let’s go, get her back.” Marc shut his laptop before striding to the door.

  “I’ve got med supplies,” Conner advised as he stepped into the oppressive night air.

  Julien grabbed a special bag from the hall closet. He had prepared for what he wanted to accomplish with the bastards.

  Shapeless patches of buttered light from a full moon marked each mile of empty road and ever
y field of fescue and wild rye. Sporadic clouds would prove ineffectual cover, which worked against them with millions of stars in the distant inky blanket highlighting their efforts. The ride was interminable with an eternity of recriminations that would haunt him through afterlife. Low murmurs of Marc and Nate from the back seat amounted to white noise.

  Three years since Julian had left the military—motivation would reanimate stealth skills with crystal clarity. His brothers each trained in similar units.

  Flashes of Adara cuddled on his lap, taking a stand against her family at the club, and skydiving warped through his mind. It all vanished with the blood on his sheets.

  “This is it. Lane should be ’bout a half mile,” Conner murmured.

  They would be in time. Julien could accept nothing less. The SUV skidded slightly as it dropped from asphalt to the grass and dirt shoulder. Conner pulled behind a copse of trees.

  The secluded area bordered a game preserve ten miles off the interstate with nothing to call companion other than wildlife. A winding road dividing the woods appeared as little more than a rutted path with weeds having overtaken crushed gravel. Without his flashlight, he could see tracks of matted grass leading to a bend in the path.

  Malevolence from varied sources filled his heart with a heaviness unknown before Adara’s kidnapping. He’d never known such fear. He wouldn’t survive if they’d crushed her spirit.

  With acid eroding his gut, Julien saw no good way for the night to end. His hands shook as he rechecked his Glock and automatic rifle.

  “When I pulled up satellite images, it showed this place set back in the woods ’bout a quarter mile.” Marc related what he’d learned about the surrounding area. “That’ll be to our advantage, for the most part.”

  “What’s the background on these assholes? Any serious training?” The clicks of Nate checking his weapons filled the intermittent silence.

  “No. It’s just what we’ve discussed. The uncle worked construction all his life and doesn’t hold a job long. The cousin drives a truck. Didn’t find anything else except a pile of mounting bills. Apparently, they were expecting a windfall. Word is—Uncle Tony owes a local shark for accumulated debts. Looks like gambling is his only form of investment planning.”