by Maren Smith
Maybe the man really wasn’t here.
Maybe he and Luke had just been completely wrong.
Which meant they’d be staying on for at least another day.
Dane was just about ready to throw in the towel, but his conscience wouldn’t quite let him.
He had to make sure that Grace Barnes didn’t end up like Susan Mills.
Back to the security room it was. He would use the Castle’s cameras again, and then do one last sweep on foot, and then go deal with Fawn.
Stealing a knife was surprisingly easy. She’d waited until she’d seen the Castle’s kitchen bitches headed outside for their morning yard exercises under Cook Connie—which they did in the short lull between breakfast and lunch—picked the lock and slipped in and out without anyone the wiser. Knowing the cameras might catch her, her heart had been pounding the entire time, but Security didn’t come.
She felt a little torn, and she couldn’t help but wonder if part of her had wanted to be caught, just so she wouldn’t have to go through with it. Disappointment warred with relief, and she felt no sense of triumph over completing the first part of her self-assigned tasks.
Now she needed to find Mario.
Groaning as he peered at the security cameras again, which were even more useless than they had been last night since much of the Castle was abuzz and moving with end of the weekend preparations, Dane decided he was better off on the ground, looking for suspicious activity.
“Before I go, though, there’s one last room I just want to look in,” he said, giving them Fawn’s room number.
Just to make sure she was okay. He had been gone for over two hours and she must be getting hungry as well as furious. Not that he wasn’t also angry, but he’d managed to calm himself down again. There was some kind of explanation for why she’d left her room last night and been sneaking through the halls, and he was going to find out what it was as soon as he had the time.
But when the camera in her room came on, the bed was empty.
“Fuck!” Dane raked an aggrieved hand through his hair.
“Is everything okay?” Todd, the guard on duty that morning asked, looking concerned.
“A disobedient sub,” he said, gritting his teeth. Was Fawn a danger to anyone? His gut said no. Even though he didn’t know what she was up to, he also didn’t believe she’d hurt anyone. He didn’t believe she was mixed up with Carmen. But just in case… “Tell whoever is running the bus that Fawn Pike is not allowed to board until I give the all clear.”
“Yes, Sir,” Todd said with a nod, picking up his walkie-talkie to relay the message as Dane stalked from the room.
Where was Fawn? Where was Carmen?
This was like a sick game of hide-and-seek from hell with actual lives at stake.
Being forced to put Fawn on the back burner rode against his instincts, but finding Carmen was more important. He’d checked in with Marshall this morning before starting his search and been assured that Grace was stashed away somewhere safe, but at this point that just put everyone else in danger if Carmen was here. Dane checked the time. Quarter of noon. People were already moving to the main courtyard where the bus was waiting.
The Butcher would be getting desperate. And desperate men did desperate things.
Fawn felt rather wild, despair and desperation driving her onward even as hopelessness threatened to overwhelm her.
There was no sign of Mario. Not in his room, not in the Grand Foyer, not in the restaurant, not in the courtyard where people now gathering for the noon Granger tour. Where the hell was he? Surely it was too early for him to be playing in one of the private rooms?
She tucked herself away in a corner of the second floor balcony overlooking the Grand Foyer. At some point he would have to leave through there and she would see him when he did. Nibbling on her thumbnail, Fawn pressed her hand against her side where she’d hidden the knife after wrapping it in some leather to keep from accidentally slicing herself open.
That’s when the entire Castle rocked, the floor quaking beneath her, the sudden roar in her ears making Fawn cry out in shock as she lost her footing. Her cry wasn’t the only one; there were several screams mixed in with the grating sound of rocks moving and tumbling.
Shit! Shit! That was an explosion! The fire alarms were blaring, urging everyone to get out. Looking through the large windows at the front of the foyer, she could see smoke to her right. A lot of smoke. Running around to the side, she pressed her face against the window and looked down into the courtyard.
Was the man she was desperately looking for down there?
She didn’t see him.
Her heart rose in her throat.
He hadn’t said where he was going this morning.
Master D!
Fawn whirled and ran into the Castle, headed for the side of the building where the smoke was pouring from without a second thought.
He saw her because she was one of the few running towards the smoke. Most people had the sense to get the hell out, but Dane wasn’t going to complain because it allowed him to find her.
Running, he intersected her path, reaching out and catching her around the waist, swinging her into him, just grateful to be holding her obviously safe and unharmed.
“Master D!” She grabbed him just as tightly as he was holding her and immediately burst into tears against his chest.
“Come on, kitten,” he said, still holding her close and moving her with him. “It’s not safe in here, we need to get outside.”
The courtyard was milling with people, so Dane pulled Fawn off to the side. Tears were still sliding down her face.
“Hey, hey, kitten, I’m okay, it’s okay,” he said, trying to soothe her. But his words just made her sob.
“It’s not okay. Nothing is okay.” And she told him. Everything.
Words spilled from her like an avalanche that couldn’t be held back any longer and Dane’s analytical brain began to put together all the pieces of the puzzle he hadn’t been able to figure out before.
Her father. The mob. The jobs. The demand to kill Mario—and it took him a moment to realize that she meant Turner. That must be his undercover name. It was obvious she had no idea that ‘Mario’ aka Master Miguel was actually a federal agent. Dane thanked his lucky stars that she’d been by his side all weekend.
He wasn’t sure his poor kitten would have managed to pull it off anyway. She was desperate, though, so who knew what could have happened.
Hopefully this Don she was connected to didn’t know that ‘Mario’ was a federal agent either.
“All right, kitten,” he said when she finally finished, pulling her into his arms as she hiccupped. “It’s all right, I promise. I’ve got you. I promise. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Turning his head, he looked up at the smoking, ruined section of Castle and wondered if he could really make that promise: he didn’t know where Carmen was, where Grace was, where Turner was, or even where Luke was. But he’d find out. Right now, he focused on the sobbing woman in his arms, letting her cry it out for a few more minutes.
“Kitten, I need you to look at me.” Her head came up, eyes reddened, cheeks streaked with tears. “I need to go find out what happened, but I want you to come with me, okay?”
Fawn nodded, sniffling a little, but quickly pulling herself back together.
“Good girl. Let’s go see if there’s anything we can do to help.”
And if everyone on his team was okay.
Fawn watched from a slight distance as Master D—Dane as he was actually called—spoke with one of the Castle Masters. He had one eye on Fawn still, as if afraid she might run.
Probably because he’d been outed as an FBI agent by his partner a few minutes ago. The other man was introduced to her as Luke and he’d been on his way to escort a frightened looking woman named Carlie off of the Castle grounds. The two men had only exchanged a few sentences, but there had been no mistaking their meaning.
Fawn had decided she
was too tired to run.
Too worn down.
Which was strange because it would have been the perfect time. The scene was chaos. Emergency personnel had arrived and were searching the rubble; some injuries were being treated on site while others were being taken elsewhere. She’d heard there were some people missing. Everyone was shaken and milling around, people were crying, shouting, and hugging each other.
Fawn sat by herself on a bench, arms wrapped around herself for comfort.
She had no idea where Mario was or if he was alive, which meant she had no idea what her future held other than the FBI agent currently watching her, although he’d also said everything would be all right.
Someone had said there was a body, but no one seemed to know if that was true or not.
She’d heard that Kaylee, the very pregnant sub she’d met in the cafeteria, had been rushed to the hospital. Fawn hoped she was okay.
Turning, Dane headed back her way and Fawn looked up at him. She didn’t have even the slightest desire to run, even knowing that he was law enforcement, even after having spilled everything about her past and Don Lenzo to him. Was this what trust felt like?
She thought it must be.
“Okay, Fawn,” he said, sounding as tired as she felt, reaching his hand down to help her stand. “I’ve done all I can here. Let’s go. I need to call this in and then find out what my next orders are.”
Curling her fingers around his, Fawn just nodded as she rose, ready to accept whatever the future held for her.
Dane didn’t let go of her hand, he just slid his fingers through hers and they both silently walked towards the Castle’s exit.
Chapter 11
Six months after the explosion
Fawn smiled as she heard the front door opening, although she didn’t move from the yoga position she was in. She was halfway through the workout she did on her days off. Turned out being a yoga instructor was a great job for her; she was already bendy when she’d started out and it helped her to find some Zen after the Castle. Well, yoga and—
Two warm hands gripped her hips and pulled her back against a hard groin and she had to laugh.
“How many times do I have to tell you that Downward Dog is not an invitation?” she asked, although there was no real ire in her voice. She loved it that he couldn’t keep his hands off her and he knew it.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot again,” he teased, pulling her up for a kiss. He didn’t turn her around though, instead keeping the hard ridge of his erection pressed between her cheeks and making her twist around to meet his lips. A shiver of excitement went through her. Dane had been using the plugs and anal toys on her a lot lately and hinting that he wanted to go further.
Fawn did too. It was the last piece of herself that she could give to him, and she wanted him to have it.
With Mario Ricci pronounced dead after the explosion in the Castle, her debt to Don Lenzo had been paid. Not that she’d visited him to tell him so, but Dane had moved her and her father cross-country almost immediately and helped them procure new identities. It wasn’t witness protection exactly but it was pretty close, although she had given him all the information she had on Don Lenzo even before he’d arranged it.
When he’d admitted he was FBI, she’d nearly run, but Dane had protected her at every turn.
He’d been true to his word and everything had turned out all right. Her dad was doing well in his new facility, Fawn loved her new life as a yoga instructor, and two weeks ago they’d gotten word that Don Lenzo had been killed during a shootout when his headquarters had been raided by a combined effort of the FBI and DEA. While some part of her had mourned the man who had given a young girl candy, her relief had been even stronger. The threat was over.
Dane’s lips coaxed hers open, one hand sliding up from her hip to her breast, and Fawn moaned as he played with her nipple through the fabric of her sports bra.
“You’re home early,” she said, a bit breathlessly when he broke off the kiss and moved his mouth to the back of her neck, exposed by the high ponytail she’d put her hair in.
“Wanted to get home to see my girl,” he replied between kisses moving across the back of her neck and towards her shoulder. “And I definitely came home at the right time.”
She giggled, knowing that he was talking about coming home right when her butt was up in the air. Dane did love her ass. He loved caressing, spanking, and playing with it and Fawn loved every second of it too. She’d taken to the club he went to like an otter to water and being his girlfriend and his submissive felt utterly natural to her.
Growling low in his throat, Dane spun her around to face him so he could toss her over his shoulder.
“Dane!” She protested through her laughter, knowing it would be useless but enjoying the token reluctance. “I wasn’t done with my yoga workout!”
“You don’t need it, kitten,” he said, using his free hand to smack her ass. But instead of spanking her, he smacked and then gripped the fleshy portion, his fingers digging in provocatively. Fawn felt her pussy cream. “I’m going to give you all the workout you need.”
Excitement threaded through her as her body clenched.
A spreader bar and padded horse allowed Dane to put Fawn in almost the exact same position he’d come home to see her in—only without any clothes. Unless he counted the clamps he’d put on her nipples or the butterfly vibe gently buzzing against her clit with just enough stimulation to arouse her but not allow her to come.
Her wrists were cuffed to the base of the horse, attached by chains, and the spreader bar holding her ankles wide apart was also attached to the horse. It was a custom piece, built to her measurements by one of the Doms at his club who often did commission work for members. It put her at exactly the right height for a good, hard fucking from behind.
Or, if lowered an inch, at exactly the right height for his cock to slide into her tight, virginal ass. It was only going to be virginal for a few more minutes though.
She moaned loudly as his fingers dipped into the puckered hole, stretching it open. Since their time at the Castle he’d introduced her to all sorts of erotic torments and enjoyments and plugged her often. There was very little resistance to two fingers, so he added a third one, enjoying her little gasp as she was opened further.
Fawn had not only gotten used to anal play, she thoroughly enjoyed it. His little kitten had a definite penchant for pain mixed with pleasure, and the more he gave her of both, the harder she came.
Knowing that, he flicked the knob on the remote to the butterfly vibrator and felt her reaction as she tightened around his questing fingers.
“Whose ass is this, kitten?” he asked, twisting his fingers slightly.
“Yours, Sir,” she replied immediately, waggling it side to side slightly as if trying to tempt him. Dane almost chuckled. He definitely didn’t need any tempting from his little minx of a girlfriend.
“Good girl.” He slid his fingers out of her and reached for the lube again.
The incessant buzzing of the vibrator against her clit was pure torture, even after her Master had increased the speed, because it still was more tease than pleasure. With her nipples hanging down, gravity pulling on the clamps and her sensitive flesh trying to swell beyond the tight confines, it felt like her chest was throbbing. She’d learned to love the clamps, but they still hurt.
They just hurt so good.
Her clit throbbed in time with her nipples, making her squirm against the horse. While this wasn’t the most comfortable position in the world, she still loved it. There was something incredibly arousing to her about being bent over so helplessly, all of her most sensitive bits easily accessible for Dane to torment her, and her own limbs so securely restrained that she could do nothing but take what he gave.
Fawn loved being tied up. She was still hoping that one day he’d let one of the Shibari Masters at the club suspend her. Or have one of them teach him how to do it.
She didn’t have much time to think about t
hat right now though before the head of his cock was pressing against her anus.
It felt huge, the pressure intense as he pushed against the tiny opening. Fawn let out a little cry as the hot tip stretched her wide and began to impale her. Unlike with the plugs, there was no slow stretch to the wider portion; no, his whole cock was thick from crown to root, and her body just had to open to receive him.
“Just relax, kitten,” he said, and she felt the vibrations on her clit intensify as his hands smoothed over her buttocks, caressing and stroking them as if to soothe her while he shoved his thick rod up her virgin ass.
The burn of stretching around his thick shaft was intense, and she could actually feel when the head of his cock finally lodged completely inside of her. The ring of her muscle tried to snap shut, the way it would around a plug, but his shaft was thicker than any plug or toy he’d ever used on her. She heard his groan of pleasure, his cock jerking and thrusting deeper as she tightened around him, making her cry out again.
The intimacy of the invasion was intense, making her feel rather wild as he sank deeper. She’d submitted to him before, had been submitting to him for months, but this… this was a complete surrender of her entire body to his will and his desires. Her wrists jerked at the restraints as he rocked, pulling out slightly and then pushing back in, his cock pushing deeper and deeper with every thrust.
She felt invaded. Opened. Wickedly perverse in the sheer sinful pleasure she was deriving from the act. The emptiness of her pussy was a sharp contrast to the fullness of her back passage, making her ache in a way that was both familiar and yet completely different from anything she’d ever felt before.
“Fucking hell…” Dane’s guttural groan as his groin finally pressed against her bottom, her muscles gripping his entire shaft, was one of pure masculine pleasure. A shiver went up Fawn’s spine, her muscles convulsing around him, and she groaned as well, although the noise she made was a lot more ambiguous than his.