Cherished: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

by Lexi Blake

  “Don’t you make me into the bad guy. I haven’t fucked you and walked away. I’ve been here with you every night I could be. I haven’t treated you with anything but respect and affection and I’m not the one trying to blow everything up over one freaking word.”

  “But I love you.”

  She watched as he took a deep breath and his shoulders settled. He seemed calmer when he turned.

  “I’m glad, Bridget. I care about you. I don’t believe in that particular word. I think it’s something made up for greeting cards and to sell flowers, but if you believe in it then I’m glad you love me.” He walked over to her and caught her hands in his. “Baby, don’t do this over a word. What you call love, I call good teamwork. Compatibility. I am willing to admit to you that I started this relationship because I wanted to get into your bed so bad I could taste it, but I enjoy what we have. Do you have to have a declaration of love and eternal devotion to continue to spend time with me?”

  So logical. He was calm and logical and it was sort of working on her. She was able to breathe. His hands were warm around hers, the steady strength of his body a real comfort to her. She was getting emotional and he was trying to ground her. Maybe he was right. Maybe they were speaking two different languages but it came to the same place.

  Maybe she was being a crazy bitch because they’d only been dating for a week and she was asking for a lifetime. She looked up at him. He really was a spectacular man. “I’m sorry. I’m writing a scene that gets me emotional.”

  He sighed and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I wish you would write a scene that got you horny.” He pulled her close and when he touched her, she knew it was right. “It’s going to be okay, baby. We’re going to have fun. You’ll see. I’ll handle your parents. All I want you to think about is relaxing. No work. Okay?”

  He was an optimist. She would give him that. “I will try.”

  His cell trilled and he groaned. “Damn it. It’s the hospital. I told them to call if they had questions about the meds I prescribed. Give me a minute? I promise no calls after tonight. Just you and me.”

  And her wretchedly nasty family. But she gave him a nod and he answered the phone, striding back to the bedroom where he tended to take his work calls. She’d been nosy the first couple of times. She’d stood outside the door and listened in, some tiny part of her waiting to hear him talking to another woman. Unless words like ventriculostomy and craniectomy got women hot, he was all about the work.

  There was a knock on her door. Pizza. They’d agreed that the night before a trip should definitely be pizza night, but again she’d expected it a little later.

  She sighed. She was sure Kai would tell her that her anxiety stemmed from childhood issues of abandonment and the fact that the two men she’d previously had somewhat serious relationships with had turned out to be cheating douchebags, but she had to get over it. She had to find a way to trust him. If they had any shot at working this thing out, she had to put her issues aside and see Will for the man he was, not the men she’d dated before.

  She opened the door and frowned. A woman stood there and she definitely wasn’t carrying a large pepperoni with mushrooms. She looked like she never ate cheese in her life. Thin and lovely, she had perfectly straight platinum hair and wore a pair of heels that made her at least six inches taller than Bridget. “Can I help you?”

  She bit into her bee-stung bottom lip and pointed to the door across the hall. “I know this seems stupid and I’m so sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you would know when Will Daley might get home. He’s a doctor and he works certain shifts. Maybe you’ve seen him coming and going?”

  Her gut knotted. This was definitely not one of Will’s sisters. “Why?”

  “I’m his girlfriend. His submissive, though you might not understand the term. I need him. If you have any way to contact him, please help me.”

  No. There was no way this was possibly happening to her. The woman in front of her was beyond gorgeous. Was she the woman who had hurt Will so badly he’d gone into his shell? Was she the reason he wouldn’t use the word love? Because he’d loved her and he wouldn’t love anyone else?

  She felt stuck. Trapped. Like suddenly her feet were glued to the ground and she couldn’t pull away. “His sub? He’s your Master?”

  “Yes.” She sighed as though relieved. “You understand. Good. Then you know that he would want to help me. I’m in trouble. I’m likely to endure a very long spanking, but I’ve realized how good I had it with him. He’s a kind man and he loves me. I need to speak with him as soon as possible.”

  “He told you he loves you?” An ache began somewhere deep inside.

  “Many times, but I was too foolish to return it until now. Do you know what kind of shift he’s working this week? His hours can be odd, but he’s usually home at night. He tried to work his schedule so I wouldn’t be alone, so he could protect me.”

  He’d probably treated her like a princess. He’d probably never poked her awake and asked her to drive him to the hospital at two in the morning because he needed to look over some notes before an emergency procedure. No, this blonde goddess would be “protected.”

  “Bridget? Is the pizza here? I’m starving.”

  She turned and he was stopped in the middle of her living room, his eyes on the woman in the doorway.

  “Starr?”

  Starr smiled brilliantly and nearly trampled Bridget in her haste to get to her Master. She threw herself against him. “Master, I’ve missed you so much.”

  His hands went to her arms, peeling her off his body. “This is a conversation we should have in private.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Go to my place. You seem to know where it is. We’ll have a conversation about that, too.”

  He was all Dom now. No hint of her teasing lover.

  Starr sniffled and turned. A single teardrop clung to her cheek. Bitch even cried pretty. When Bridget cried, she became an ugly, sobbing mess. Like Jabba the Hutt except with snot. Which was precisely why she wasn’t going to cry.

  “Yes, Master. I’ll wait for you. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been such a fool.” She gave Bridget a nasty stare as she exited stage left.

  A heavy silence hung over them.

  Will finally moved, his eyes on the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Bridget stepped in his path. “Who was that?”

  She knew the story, but apparently not the whole of it, and she’d never heard it from his side. He never talked about his past except in snarky witticisms. When she tried to scratch the surface, he always changed the subject or kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.

  “It’s not any of your business, Bridget. I’ll handle it.”

  She shook her head. “She said she’s your sub. I think that makes it my business.”

  His lips quirked up in a big jerk smile. “She lies. Now step aside. I won’t be more than ten minutes.”

  “You won’t be anything at all if you don’t talk to me.” She was screwing this up. “I’m sorry. I need to know.”

  “Are you giving me an ultimatum?” He wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at the hallway, likely at his door, as though his whole being was already in that room with her, with Starr.

  “I need to know. Please talk to me.” She could deal with it if he was honest with her.

  “You don’t need to know. I’ve told you everything you need to know. I wrote it all out in that contract. If you’re worried I’m going over there to fuck her, you can rest assured I wouldn’t touch that woman with a ten-foot pole. I will handle the situation and come back to you and we’ll eat dinner and get ready for our flight tomorrow.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” He couldn’t expect her to ignore what had happened.

  “Bridget, move out of my way and do it now. I’m talking to you as your Dominant partner. Either stand down and let me deal with this or break our contract right here and now.”

  She stepped back, allowing him access
to the exit. Her heart was thudding in her chest, but she was pleased with the even tone of her voice. “Now who’s giving out ultimatums?”

  He turned at the door. “Bridget…”

  Now he wanted to talk? Oh, he’d made himself perfectly clear. She held up a hand. “No, please. Don’t let me keep you.”

  She slammed the door in his face as the tears began to fall. There was a hard thud against the door like he’d smacked it in frustration, but then she listened and heard him take the necessary steps, heard his door open and close.

  Before it could escape, Bridget shoved her hand over her mouth, stopping the sob that wouldn’t stay inside. Tears blurred her world as the truth hit her. She was in love with a man who couldn’t even be bothered to explain why another woman had shown up at her door.

  He really did view her as a good time. He might stay around. He might honor that month-long contract he talked about, but he would never love her. He would never want forever.

  She locked the door and then turned the dead bolt it so he couldn’t use a key to get back in. He’d made himself plain. She was good for sex and fun and she had no place in his real life. A woman like Starr had. When the good doctor settled down—and she had no doubt that he would eventually—it would be with someone gorgeous and deeply submissive. It wouldn’t be with a girl who everyone knew was a brat.

  When the pizza came, she slid two twenties to the delivery boy and asked him to give the pizza to the first homeless man he came to and then locked the door again.

  Oddly, she’d lost her appetite.

  * * * *

  Will closed the door behind him and wondered how he was going to get back into Bridget’s place. His brat had undoubtedly dead bolted the door, and she would likely do anything to keep him out.

  He couldn’t let that happen. He also couldn’t let her know about Starr. God, what the hell would she think if she knew what an idiot he’d been? The object of his idiocy sat on his sofa with her legs crossed, looking every inch the lady when he knew damn well she was so much more. Liar. User. Accessory to murder.

  “I don’t want you here. Please leave and don’t return.”

  “You quit your job in Fort Worth,” she said, her voice quiet. She always talked in that soft voice. At first he’d found it haunting and peaceful that she never raised her tone. Now he found it annoying. How the hell was he supposed to know what she was feeling? Bridget always let him know. Usually with force.

  But she should trust him enough to deal with this. What the fuck was that ultimatum? She wanted to give him ultimatums? He didn’t deal well with them.

  Of course, he’d then thrown one in her face, and he kind of got the feeling she didn’t deal well with them either. Damn it.

  “Master?”

  She was still here. He hoped if he ignored her she would disappear, but the world wasn’t that kind.

  “Don’t call me that. How did you find me?”

  “There was a nurse at the hospital who told me you’re working in Dallas now. I had a friend look you up. You were on the white pages on the Internet. I didn’t do anything illegal, Mast…Will.” Tears clung to her eyes, perfectly placed and perfectly fucking fake like the rest of her.

  He bet if Bridget cried she would get red and blotchy and he would have to soothe her. He would have to hold her to calm her down, but only after he’d protected his balls because his Bridget got angry first.

  When had he started thinking of her as his? When had he started spending large parts of his day plotting how to get her in the right mood, how to make her happy or to calm her down when someone cut them off on the freeway or to soothe her when she read something crappy about her books?

  He’d never had to do that with Starr. Nope. She was always right there to please her Master. Never said a harsh word until he found she’d been lying to him the whole time. “Why are you here? The last time we talked I believe you called me a freak who abused you.”

  Thank god for Karina talking him into going to Sanctum, and to Kai for listening to him, or he likely would have gone back into the closest, so to speak.

  She turned her gorgeous face up to him. He could see the perfection there but suddenly she was so much less appealing than Bridget’s sweet face—even though she was probably mad as shit with him, but she was wrong about that. This was his problem. It was his right to keep her the hell out of it. He didn’t even like the fact that Starr knew Bridget existed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think, William.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard jail can do that for a girl,” he drawled.

  She sniffled and nodded. “You’re right. You’re always right.” This was the point when Bridget would shove her middle finger his way and tell him to fuck off and then he would playfully chase her down and spank her. Starr merely stood and lowered herself into a submissive pose. “I’ve had time to really understand what you want from me and what I need. I was scared. I was scared of how much I felt for you. Of how much I loved our life together.”

  “I was scared of how close I came to getting syphilis. How many other dudes were you doing?” Damn it. Bridget was rubbing off on him.

  She shook her head. “There was only Terry. He forced me to be with him, and now I understand why. I am submissive and he abused my submission. He took it when he didn’t earn it. I can see now that you saw my true nature and tried to rescue me.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Let me get this straight. He forced you to sleep with him. He forced you to sleep with me. He forced you to aid and abet in the murders of four women. And he forced you to do everything you could to pin it all on me, including pumping heroin through my veins and stuffing me in the back of my car. My knee still aches from that. Thanks a lot.”

  She wouldn’t meet his eyes, preferring to keep her head down. “Yes. That’s what I’m saying. He used my submissive nature to force me to do his will.”

  “Are you going to use that in court? My submission made me do it? Let me tell you something. That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard and it goes to prove that you’ve learned absolutely nothing. A submissive is strong. She’s as strong as her Dom.” Like Bridget was strong. “You made the choices you made and you’ll pay the price. You had every opportunity to tell me what was going on. I would have helped you. I would have made sure that dickhead boyfriend of yours stopped before he killed four women. Four. That’s on you and that will not go away, and it cannot be explained by crying and saying you’re not responsible. I do not love you. I will not help you. I will, in fact, be getting a restraining order against you.”

  Her head came up and he saw the minute she dropped the act. “Please. I can’t go back to jail. I can’t. It’s horrible there. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll be the little doll you seem to need. I did it before and I’ll do it again. Please testify in my favor. You can do anything you want to me, Will.”

  His stomach rolled. “Get out of my house. I really am getting that restraining order. If you want to have any hope in a court of law, you better not show your face again.”

  She stood and her mouth became a flat, angry line. “I should have known you wouldn’t help me. You fucking freak. You make me sick.”

  He opened the door for her. “The feeling is mutual.”

  She strode past him, angry tears in her eyes.

  And he was left staring at the door across the hall. He didn’t owe Bridget an explanation. He’d handled the problem and while they were in Hawaii, Mitch would get the restraining order in place.

  He thought briefly about moving, but abandoned the idea. He liked being close to Bridget.

  He needed to be close to her. Fuck.

  He crossed the space between their places and knocked on the door.

  Nothing.

  He tried his key. Yep. She’d used the deadbolt.

  Fuck and double fuck. If he tried to talk to her tonight, she would likely tell him they were through. He had to figure out what her next move would be.

  Probably leaving for the flight wit
hout him. He wasn’t sure of which flight it was or which private airport. Bridget had handled all of those details. He only knew when the car was coming to pick them up.

  But someone else knew.

  Sneaky. He had to be sneaky if he wanted to get her back without having to tell her what an idiot he’d been.

  The good news was, he’d perfected the art of battle when it came to Bridget Slaten.

  He had to pray he could win the war.

  Chapter Eight

  It had been too easy. The door to the sedan opened and she slipped out of the car that had come to pick her up. It was late, the sky dark all around her.

  God, she missed Will. It had only been a few hours and she felt the loss.

  She’d heard him knock the night before and had thought about opening the door to see if he would actually talk to her about what had happened. She’d decided to leave it be. He’d been plain with her. He didn’t love her. Never would. The most she would get out of him was a few more weeks.

  Should she have taken them? She looked at the private jet. It had been years since she’d been on one. She was kind of proud of the fact that she could afford first class now on her own, but she definitely couldn’t have this.

  She’d wanted to share this with Will. She’d really wanted that last couple of days with him.

  “Ms. Slaten, would you care to board? We leave in five minutes. The other guest is already in place,” the driver said, gesturing toward the stairs that would lead her to the plane.

  She nodded and started up them, her mind on Will. What was he doing? He’d obviously decided to let her leave without him. Maybe he was with Starr. Maybe he’d knocked on her door to tell her that he was happy he had his serial-killer-helping ex-submissive back. Maybe he was far too busy screwing her right now to even think about the fact that he’d seriously fucked Bridget over.

  Guest? She looked back at the driver to ask him about the other guests. There was supposed to be seven other guests. Serena and her husbands, Chris and his Dom, and Ian and Charlotte Taggart were supposed to be on that plane. The McKay-Taggart crew was coming out to talk to her father and ensure security for the wedding. It was precisely why her dad had sent the big jet.