by RJ Blain
I was stupid, all right. I was stupid for thinking I could just quit and walk away. “You fucking piece of shit.”
“You’re very lucky I was paid a hefty deposit to keep you untouched until your date, or you’d be finding out just how much of a fucker I am. Take her upstairs. Make certain she’s comfortable, just like we talked about earlier. You will be calm, quiet, and do exactly as you’re told, Miss Madison. Understood?”
Unable to disobey and hating myself for my stupidity and my weakness, I whispered, “Yes, sir.”
I’d never been to the floor above the suite serving as the boss’s office. At first glance, it was an apartment, but as George shoved me deeper into it, I learned it was the home of someone sexually depraved who had a lot of interest in bondage and fetish.
The boss’s idea of making me comfortable reminded me of Kent’s depravities and involved a cell, leather cuffs, and binding my arms over my head while my feet were secured to the floor. To add insult to injury, George strapped a band around my waist, which clipped to the wall to force me to sit on the cold floor. While I wanted to scream my fury and frustration, I couldn’t voice more than a quiet growl. George took his time, stroking his hands over my dress as he double-checked the cuffs around my wrists and ankles before securing them to the floor and walls.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. As soon as this contract ends, the boss says I get to have you as many times as I want.”
I spit on him.
He seized my hair and gave a yank. “You’ll regret that as soon as you’re back from New York, bitch.”
“I’ll never be your bitch,” I swore, but unable to defy the drugs, I did so in a hoarse whisper.
“I hope I’m the one who gets to break you and make you into the perfect little whore. Now stay there, don’t move, and be silent. Get used to it, sweetheart. You’re here to be seen, not heard.”
I choked on the stream of profanities I wanted to shriek at him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t force myself to struggle in the cuffs. The edges bit into my wrists as my body, in obedience to the drugs they had pumped into me, remained limp and unresponsive. George closed the cell’s door and smirked as he locked it, jingling the keys at me.
When Sanders found out I couldn’t even handle quitting my job without getting into trouble, he was going to be angry. Worse, I deserved every last bit of his rage. Angry tears welled in my eyes, and I was powerless to stop them from falling.
Trusting anyone had been the first of my mistakes, which made ditching the two male Fenerec my second mistake. I should have remained at the hotel, waiting patiently for my mate to return. Instead of giving me the warmth and strength I was accustomed to, my wolf remained silent, her presence so faint I could barely sense her. With my wolf held at bay by the drugs, I was alone.
Maybe I hadn’t asked to become a Fenerec, but losing that wild, restless part of me frightened me almost as much as the drugs. The thought of being sold to the highest bidder, a bidder who knew what I was and how to make me nothing more than a puppet, sickened me.
I couldn’t even voice a single whine.
I was so ashamed of having fallen for such an obvious trap I closed my eyes and wished I could disappear. At least when Kent had held me captive, I had been able to defy him and fight back, killing him when a chance provided itself.
Kent had liked my struggles, so once he had me secured, he hadn’t dosed me with drugs to keep me compliant. He wanted me to fight him, and I had risen up to his challenge. While I had been captive, freedom had been a goal within my grasp, one I had been willing to pay any cost for. If it hadn’t been for Brandy, I would have escaped on my own.
In the cell, ordered not to move or speak, I was completely helpless.
As I waited, the dizzying sway of the world around me intensified. The disconnect between me and my wolf left my stomach churning. As the seconds slipped into minutes and the minutes stretched into hours, I lost track of time.
When I heard the approach of footsteps, I was so resigned to being unable to do anything at all, I sat still and waited for whatever would happen. If I could have surrendered control to my wolf, I would have.
Wolves had different opinions on sex and modesty, and what I couldn’t handle, she could—if I let her seize full control so she could guard me from what I feared. She didn’t like other males near us, but their advances fueled her rage, urged her to violence, and made her strong.
All I had was a bone-deep terror of what they could do to me and how they could make me feel, all without my consent. I trembled as the footsteps drew closer.
The jangle of keys heralded the click of the cell opening. No one spoke, but a hand shoved my hair aside before touching the side of my throat. After a minute, a woman stated, “Seventy-five and erratic.”
I recognized her voice, although I couldn’t remember from where.
“Well, ain’t she a popular one. Stud Muffin should get a refund on this bitch,” Dustin grumbled. “Get her out of that mess and do something with her.”
Holly. The woman was Holly, the cop who had been in Kent’s basement. She sighed. “He’s really going to rip your head off if he hears you say that, sir.”
“I assure you Stud Muffin heard every word,” Sanders snarled from somewhere nearby. The sound of my mate’s voice hit me like a blow to the gut. Shame surged through me, and the wolfsbane stole away even my ability to cry at the stupidity of my actions. “Let me be clear on something. Stud Muffin doesn’t want a refund or an exchange. In fact, all Stud Muffin wants is her. Move or be moved. You will not like what will happen if you have to be moved.”
All I wanted was to crawl into a hole and die.
“I apologize for him, sir,” Holly whispered.
My mate’s scent flooded my nose, and he slid an arm around me, pulling me as close as my restraints allowed. Running a hand over my hair, he nestled my head on his shoulder. “Unclip her hands first,” he whispered, “I’ll hold her up while you get her out of the cuffs.”
“Let’s just hope they haven’t had her like this for too long,” Holly replied, and once she freed me, she draped my arms over Sanders’s shoulders. It didn’t take long for Holly to remove the band circling my stomach and free me from the ankle cuffs. “Well, at least those assholes took good care of the leather. She’s free, sir.”
“If I go downstairs and start killing people, would you consider looking the other way?” my mate growled, adjusting his hold on me so he could work an arm under my knees while supporting my back. “Five minutes with them. That’s all I want.”
“I’m afraid not, sir.”
“No murders,” Wendy said. “How is she?”
“Playing dead, I think,” my mate replied, his tone baffled and worried. “She’s limp, but I don’t think she’s unconscious. Her scent keeps changing.”
“Ketamine and wolfsbane again?” Desmond growled.
“Smells like it,” Holly reported. “A rather high dose from the looks of it.”
Desmond sighed. “They probably gave her orders no one has countermanded yet.”
“I hate wolfsbane,” Holly snarled.
“Sara, the only person you have to worry about is me, understand? No following orders from anyone else. Whatever they told you to do, stop it. You’re mine,” my mate growled in my ear before nipping me in rebuke.
The whine I hadn’t been able to voice burst out of my throat. I clutched the back of his shirt. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I mumbled, my guilt smothering my ability to wail my anguish.
“She’s sorry she came to tell the place to fuck off and that she’s quitting. Can you believe this bitch?” Desmond demanded, his tone light with laughter. “The only thing you have to be sorry about is ditching the two guards we had assigned to you, but damned if I’m not proud of you for pulling it off.”
“They scared me.”
There was a long moment of silence. “I’ll accept the blame for that. I completely didn’t think
about how you’d react to males you didn’t know after all that’s happened,” Desmond admitted.
“I didn’t either,” my mate acknowledged. “I’m so sorry, Sara. I’m so used to how things work I didn’t think about it. They’re cops. I had to run an errand with Desmond, and I wasn’t leaving you in the room without someone on guard.”
“The Vegas pack has many members on the police force,” Holly explained. “This can be a rough town, and a lot of scum find their way here. I should have known better. I saw the basement. I apologize. I wasn’t thinking, either. Fortunately, they called it in quick when you gave them the slip. We have a saying here. When there is a Desmond in town, trouble surely follows.”
“Are you okay, Sara?” my mate demanded. Ducking his head down, he kissed the tip of my nose. “I can’t let you out of my sight for a minute, can I?”
“Everything’s spinning,” I complained. “Why’re you here?”
“I’m here because here is where you are,” my mate replied, snorting. I sniffed to catch his scent. Without my wolf’s help, rage and worry were the only smells I could distinguish. “If Desmond hadn’t dragged me on a dead-end errand…”
“I’m not apologizing to you again, Sanders,” Desmond growled.
The memory of where the boss wanted to take me burned away my shame, stoking my fear. “I don’t want to go to New York. Anywhere but New York. Don’t let them take me to New York.” I hid my face against Sanders’s shirt, shuddering.
Tightening his hold on me, my mate lurched to his feet. “What are you talking about, Sara?”
“I’ll ask Dustin to find out,” Holly said, and I heard the dial tone of a phone. “Dusty, she’s upset over something about New York. Find out what’s going to happen in New York and why they want her there. I’m approving the use of force. Don’t leave a scrap of evidence and clean up when you’re done. No bodies—and by that, I mean leave them alive.”
“On it,” the witch replied before hanging up.
“He’s actually useful for something?” my mate growled. “Beyond pissing me off, that is.”
“He’s a water witch with a bad temper, sir. If you want some satisfaction, let’s go down and watch. Your lady, however, may not want to witness this, considering what happened before.”
Still growling, my mate asked, “What is he going to do?”
Holly sighed. “If they’re lucky, he’ll drown them. If they’re not, we’ll be waiting for a while. Some people discount water witches, but I’m no fool. We’re seventy percent water, and he has no scruples about adjusting the personal chemistry of his new friends if they don’t cooperate, if you catch my drift. To make it more frightening, if they’re Normals, they won’t even realize he used witchcraft on them; he’s that subtle about it.”
“I think we’ll pass. Let us know if he finds out anything useful from any of them,” Desmond replied. “I’m going to take Sanders and his lady to your Alpha’s place for a time out.”
“I’ll call and let him know you’re on the way and to make certain there are no unmated males there when you arrive,” Holly replied. “Why stir the pot?”
“Thank you, Holly. The instant you find out more about this New York business, ring me or Wendy.”
Chapter Thirteen
I somehow managed to avoid throwing up until after Desmond parked his Mercedes outside of a mansion hidden away in the desert. Bracing my hands on my knees, I struggled to catch my breath while Sanders held my hair out of the way. I needed his support to keep from toppling over.
“I’ll go fetch Rob,” Wendy said, running to the door. It opened before she had a chance to ring the bell. A black man who dwarfed Desmond’s mate emerged. I couldn’t hear what Wendy said, but he hurried to us.
“Sanders, you’re just having a hell of month, aren’t you?” he said, stopping within arm’s reach of my mate. “Holly said you were bringing your new lady over, but I wasn’t expecting her to be doubled over in my driveway.”
I groaned, wondering if I could crawl back into Desmond’s Mercedes and die.
“Ketamine and wolfsbane,” my mate snarled.
“How was it delivered?”
When I straightened, Sanders pulled me to his side. “Sara?”
Clenching my teeth so I wouldn’t throw up again, I hissed, “Needle.”
“I’m Rob, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances. The good news? I have one of the best medical setups outside of a hospital in the basement. The bad news? All we can do is treat your symptoms and hope they didn’t overdose you too much. Come inside, please.”
The thought of walking the short distance to the door was enough to make my eyes tear up. I wanted to walk on my own, but I doubted I’d make it more than two or three steps without falling over.
“It’s okay, Sara,” my mate murmured, and as he had at the club, he picked me up and cradled me close to him. “Please don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll have to go kill people, and Desmond doesn’t want me killing people.”
“I may make an exception this once, if we can get the bastard alone in a dark alley,” Desmond snarled.
“I may be able to make an arrangement of that nature,” Rob replied. “I’ll talk to Holly and find out the ramifications of such a disappearance.”
“You’re supposed to be a cop. Isn’t it against some law or another to encourage others to kill people—and help them do it? Premeditated murder.” Desmond huffed. “If you give me a chance and a dark alley, I’ll leave the place so clean when I’m done even Dustin and his wolves won’t be able to figure out who did it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vegas’s Alpha replied. “Anything else I can do to help?”
“I need to call Topside from your secure line if you don’t mind. Sanders, I know you’re not going to like it, but I’m going to require your mate for the call. We may as well kill several birds with one stone, and we simply don’t know when the drugs will wear off.” Desmond sighed, falling into step beside my mate. “You’re not exactly winning any awards for your patience and temper, so you’re staying near me.”
“Damn it, I already said I’d repair it!”
“Repair what?” I asked, closing my eyes to ease the sickening sense of the world circling around me.
“My Mercedes, which now has a dent rather suspiciously shaped like your mate’s fist.”
“He punched your car?” Rob asked. I cracked open an eye in time to watch him open the front door.
“Sanders had a bad feeling, so to make him feel better, we called her guards, only to find out she had ditched them. When her cell tracked to her old place of employment and she wasn’t answering, he lost his temper.” Desmond sighed. “His bad feeling was spot on. When we sent the cavalry over, we were told she had showed up, but she’d left after telling her boss he could go fuck himself and that she quit.”
“That’s one way to quit, I guess. I take it she was still there?”
My mate growled. I wrapped my arms around his neck, tugging on him until he quieted.
“Holly arranged for a warrant to find the phone. When we found Sara’s purse, we did a top to bottom search of the club. They had her in a cell on the third floor. When we left, Dustin was having a conversation with some new friends of his,” Desmond replied. Turning to me, he gently put two of his fingers under my chin, tilting my head in his direction. “Sara, do you remember when they stuck you with the needle?”
I stared at him, unable to remember how I had gotten to the club, let alone when I had been jabbed.
“I’m going to take that as a no.”
At the worry in Desmond’s voice, I forced myself to sort through the confusing blur of events. I decided how I got to the club didn’t matter, and with some effort, I managed to piece together what had happened after my arrival—mostly. “Not long after I got to the club, I think. Went upstairs. Boss… wanted something?” I frowned. “George did it. Bouncer. Boss wanted to talk. Made threats. Told him I didn’t care
. Rest is blurry.”
My words slurred, as though my tongue belonged to someone else, someone who was overly fond of alcohol.
“Did any of them touch you?” Desmond demanded.
Sanders tensed, and his growls deepened. I pulled free of Desmond’s hold on my chin, turned to my mate, and latched onto his neck with my teeth.
He crumpled, collapsing into Rob. I tumbled to the ground, and with a startled curse, Desmond got his arms under me, yanking me to him before I cracked my head on the stone steps.
“Well, I can’t say I ever saw Mary do that,” Rob spluttered.
I blinked, confused over why my mate was lying so still against Vegas’s Alpha. “Sanders?”
Laughing, Desmond worked his arms under me and lifted me up. “It’s okay, Sara. He’ll come around in about ten or fifteen minutes, though it may be better to let him sleep for a while. He needs a time-out anyway. Good girl. Did any of them touch you?”
Confused about what I had done to my mate, I whined, watching him with wide eyes. “But he’s not moving, Desmond. Did I hurt him?”
“No, Sara. You didn’t hurt him. You just nipped a nerve. He’s stressed enough you short-circuited him for a few minutes. It’ll be okay. He’s just going to sleep it off, okay?”
“Okay,” I mumbled, not sure if I believed him.
Rob sighed and tossed my mate over his shoulder. “Damn, he’s really out cold, too. Remind me never to make you angry, Ma’am.”
“I’m sorry,” I whined.
“Sara, you have nothing to be sorry about. Did any of them touch you?”
“George slapped me.”
“Sara. Were you raped?”
“Oh. No.” I flushed, and as I had done the night I had met my mate, I babbled. “George said he hoped he got to be the one to break me and make me the perfect whore.”
Desmond growled. “I want that one.”
“If you want to call Topside, perhaps you should while Sanders is still unconscious. It will speed things along if he’s not snarling and snapping every other sentence. We can stretch him out on the couch in my office and let her sit with his head on her lap,” Rob suggested. “Maybe that way, when he wakes up, he’s not quite so murderous.”