Filthy Commitments: A Submissives’ Secrets Novel

by Michelle Love

  Dad leans down to give Laura a hug and says, “Nice to see you too, Laura. We’ve missed seeing you.”

  “Your new home is beyond gorgeous, Mr. Devlin,” she says.

  My mother approaches Kyle and he takes her hand to shake it, but she pulls him into a hug instead. “It’s so good to see you, Kyle.”

  Kyle hugs her back and says, “You too, Mrs. Devlin.”

  Mom kisses Laura on top of the head. “We’ve missed you both so much. It’s been a month since the wedding.”

  My parents go to the end of the table, taking their seats. The boys sit back down, but are forced to stand back up as Eden’s parents come in. Lyle walks up to Kyle and shakes his hand, beginning the lengthy hellos between my friends and Eden’s parents.

  They go to take their seats at the other end of the table. Everything is going so well. Terri comes in with a bottle of white wine, pouring everyone a glass. After she leaves, Scotty holds up his glass.

  “So, we’re sophisticated again, Dad?” Scotty asks our father.

  Dad looks at him. “If it’s in front of you, drink it, boy. No need for comments.”

  We all laugh a little and I look at Laura. “It’s not always this formal, but I wanted to give you guys the five-star treatment. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Laura smiles back. “This is really nice of you, Ally. Nice of all of you,” she says as she looks at Eden and then our parents. “Thank you all so much for inviting us.”

  Eden looks at her and smiles. “We love having you here.”

  Terri arrives again with our salads, placing them in front of us. Laura leans in a bit. “Ally, the clothes are to die for. I can’t thank you enough. I’m so lucky to have you as my best friend.”

  “Having a personal shopper is the best.”

  “So after dinner, Al, can Kyle and Eden play games?” Scotty asks.

  “I’m not their boss, Scotty. They can do whatever they want to,” I answer him.

  “So do you want to?” he asks, looking back and forth between Kyle and Eden.

  “If Kyle wants to, then, yeah,” Eden answers him.

  “Of course I do, Scott,” Kyle tells him, then leans close to him to whisper something in his ear I can’t make out, and then they both laugh.

  “I don’t know about that Kyle. I’ve been playing like nonstop since we got here,” Scotty informs him.

  Kyle looks over at Eden. “Should I be afraid, Eden? Is he that good?”

  “He kicks my ass,” Eden replies.

  I look at Eden. “Your mouth, Eden,” I whisper.

  “It’s quite all right, Ally,” my father tells me. “Scotty kicks my ass at those games too.”

  Everyone laughs and then Terri brings us the main course, which is fried alligator and shrimp with beans, coleslaw, and hushpuppies. I’m surprised by the taste of the alligator. It’s not at all what I expected.

  “You know, I was expecting this to taste very different,” I comment.

  Then Laura and Kyle look at each other. “It tastes like chicken,” they say at the same time, making us all erupt into laughter again.

  Later, Terri brings in the dessert. It’s the most gorgeous pineapple upside down cake I’ve ever seen. I wonder how in the world our chefs can make such a simple cake look like a million dollars. They never cease to amaze me.

  “Everything was so delicious,” Laura says as she sets her dessert fork down next to her half-eaten piece of cake. “I’m so full, I can’t even finish this phenomenal piece of cake.”

  Scotty clanks his fork down, loudly. “Dad, I’m done. Can I be excused?”

  “Okay Scotty, but I don’t want you to stay up all night, playing games,” Dad orders.

  “I won’t. Well, you guys coming, or what?” he asks Eden and Kyle.

  Eden looks at me and Kyle looks at Laura for approval. “Just go,” I say as I wave my hand at Eden.

  He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, then jets out of the room, following Kyle and Scotty. “Looks like it’s just you and me. We should go for a swim. I think I’d love swimming at night,” I tell Laura

  “That sounds good to me,” Laura says in agreement.

  We run upstairs to change into our bathing suits. “Come to my room as soon as you’re ready,” I tell her.

  She’s at my door before I know it and we take off out to the pool. I turn on the outside lights. A light inside the pool comes on as well, making it look pretty. The usually humid and hot air is a bit cooler, making the night more pleasant.

  “I just can’t believe this, Al. Like when did your parents get rich?” Laura asks me.

  That question has caught me off guard, so I make something up. “Dad sold some stocks or something like that. You know, they don’t talk to me about their finances.”

  We slip into the warm water. “This is a lot warmer than I thought it would be,” I say.

  “It feels fantastic. It’s so nice out here. You were right, swimming at night is cool,” Laura says.

  We sit on the large steps that lead into the pool, leaning back on the edge. Stretching my legs out, I kick them back and forth slowly. Stars sparkle in the night sky as I gaze up at them. An image of Eden and me flying in the dark sky flitters through my mind.

  “So what’s your plan for the fall, Laura?”

  “I’m up in the air about it right now. You know how I’d planned on going to a local community college and staying at home? Well, Kyle wants me to go to Austin with him now. There are small colleges there too and many more part-time jobs for me to choose from,” she tells me, making my stomach clench. “I’m really happy we can still be close, Ally. You know you’re like the sister I never had.”

  How can I be jealous of her? I love her!

  I smile as I say, “You’re like a sister to me too, Laura. I’m happy for you. So are you thinking about going with him?”

  She nods her head and says, “He told me he loves me last night.”

  My heart stops! He loves her?

  “Wow,” I say as I look up at the sky, trying to make sure the tears which threaten don’t fall.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” she says.

  Still looking up, I ask, “How about you? Do you love him?”

  “Of course I do. What’s not to love about him? I told him after he told me,” she says. “Then we went inside my house and made love for three hours.”

  Good Lord, I want to cry my eyes out and throw up!

  CHAPTER 49

  ALYSSA

  The room is dark, except for one small light. I see a chair sitting under the light, but no one is in it. I try to move and find I can’t. I look up to see my hands are tied to the headboard of a rusty iron bed. My feet are tied at the bottom of the bed to the rusty rails of the footboard.

  Looking down, I see a lacey, blue nightgown which just covers my body to the tops of my thighs. I try to scream for help, but there’s something in my mouth almost choking me. The choking sensation seems to turn on my senses. I feel intense pain all over my body and groan in agony

  The smell of cigar smoke fills my nostrils. Someone is in here, hiding in the shadows. I move my head frantically, trying to see where the person might be. I see a red glow from the cigar I smell. It’s not that far away from me. Then I hear a voice—a man’s voice.

  “I wouldn’t wear myself out, trying to get out of the bonds I’ve put you in, Mrs. Fontaine,” the man says.

  It’s him, the crazy man, Stiles. His chubby, round face with straggly, thin, grey hairs surrounding it comes into the light just enough for me to see him.

  His voice a hiss, he says, “Glad you’re awake now. It wasn’t much fun with you asleep, but I managed.”

  What? What the hell has he done to me?

  I pull at the ropes that hold me tight to the lumpy bed. He comes closer to me. I struggle even harder to get free. His hand reaches out, lifting the bottom of my nightgown up as he looks underneath it.

  He holds up his other hand. A light blue pair of silk panties
is hanging on his finger. He begins to twirl them around. I realize they’re mine and try in vain to scream.

  “I’m afraid the gag was something I had to do to you, as I can’t stand the ugly accent you have. I have to tell you I’m sorry, as it would seem I used maybe a bit too much morphine when I drugged you. You were very unresponsive even as I did the dirtiest things to you, Mrs. Fontaine. Otherwise, you could have enjoyed them too.”

  Tears start to run down my cheeks. They burn as they do, making me realize they’re scraped up. He must have beaten me. I can taste blood in my mouth. I look down to see my knees are scraped as well. He senses I’m figuring out he’s hurt me in more ways than one.

  “Hope you don’t mind, honey. I like to get rough with my girls.”

  I see his hand coming to my face slowly, then he pulls it back up really fast, bringing it down on my cheek with a hard slap. I try to scream again and almost choke as I do. Tears stream down my face.

  “That turned a nice shade of red. I like that,” he says to himself. “Stop crying or I’ll do it again!” he yells at me.

  His nature changes extremely suddenly as he kneels down beside me, looking into my eyes. “Please stop, please stop crying,” he says. “I just want to make you feel good. I didn’t want to hurt you, but you made me do it. You should have stayed away and let Karen have that rich fucker. She doesn’t have everything you have. She’s plain like her mother. You should have given him up so she could have a chance with him. Now that I’ve taken you away from him, maybe now he’ll take her. I need the money. I have special needs I have to pay for. I can’t afford it on my own, you know. Maybe I won’t kill you. Maybe I’ll just keep you here. You could do the things I need. How about that? I can leave you alive if you agree to not run away and do what I need. It’s not so bad. Lots of people do it. Just nod your head if you agree.”

  The tears have not stopped flowing. I nod my head yes, hoping to fool him into letting me go.

  “No shit! You agree? I can’t believe it. You want me, don’t you?” he asks.

  I nod my head yes again.

  “I knew it. I want to let one of your arms loose. Promise me you won’t try to do anything crazy. I want to see if you can do what I need done.”

  I nod my head yes again.

  He stands up and takes a knife out of his back pocket. He opens it, then looks at me intently. Somehow I’ve managed to stop my tears. I have a hard time concentrating on what I need to do, as my brain feels fuzzy.

  The knife grazes my cheek on purpose as he brings it up to cut the rope tying my right hand to the rusty railing of the headboard. I act like I like the feeling of the knife on my face, as I hope it throws him off.

  I feel the freedom as the rope is cut, letting my arm fall. Unfortunately, my arm is asleep. I can’t move it. It falls limply onto the bed. I try to move it, but it just won’t move right.

  “Give me your hand,” the sweaty man commands me.

  I try very hard, but I can’t move it. I move my head back and forth, trying to get him to take the gag out of my mouth.

  “I’ve broken you,” he cries, then tears stream down his chubby, red cheeks.

  I shake my head no, hoping he’ll let me go. Suddenly he changes again.

  “You stupid piece of shit! Of course you broke her,” he says to himself as he turns away from me. “You can’t do anything right. Now you have no choice but to kill her. They can’t find her like this, or you’ll go to prison. You can’t go there. They’ll rape you. You’re far too tender to go there, Darren.” His voice is high pitched. It’s as if he’s impersonating a woman.

  He stops talking to himself and turns to look back at me. His eyes are almost black instead of the drab brown they’ve been.

  The knife is still in his hand. I try to move my arm and it moves a little bit. I move it to my side in an attempt to protect myself. This only infuriates him.

  His voice flat, he says, “You’re dead.”

  I feel a pain in my ribs almost immediately. My face is slapped repeatedly. Then my other arm is cut down as are my legs. They are all of no use to me. I close my eyes, trying to picture myself as the big, black bird.

  A stabbing pain hits me in my shoulder. I can’t concentrate any more. He’s on top of me, slapping me hard. I can’t feel a thing anymore. I see only blackness.

  “Wake up, bitch. I’m not done with you. Wake up,” I hear him screaming at me as I drift away.

  “Alyssa, Alyssa is that you?”

  I’m lying on something hard and cold. It’s cold in this place. I’m so cold. “Alyssa! Thank Our Creator, Alyssa! I found you.” I hear Eden yell, “Doctor, you have to save her. I can’t lose her. Please tell me you can save her.”

  “She’s lost a lot of blood, Eden. It looks like she has some broken ribs and most likely a punctured lung. There’s a knife wound on her side. The ambulance will be here soon. We’ll get her to the hospital and get started on her as soon as we can,” I can hear the other voice say.

  “You have to help her. She can’t die. Not yet, not yet! Please, Alyssa, stay with me. Don’t give up. Keep breathing. I know it hurts, but keep breathing, baby, please,” the velvet voice cries as he rocks me back and forth, gently and slowly.

  I can taste blood in my mouth. I feel something thick coming up my throat. I’m choking! Help, I’m choking! I can’t breathe! I can’t take a breath!

  “Eden, she’s not going to make it.”

  “No! Don’t say that! No!”

  Then I hear humming.

  A loud knock at our bedroom door startles both of us awake as we sit up quickly. “What? Who is it?” Eden says loudly.

  “It’s your father. Open the door,” Lyle calls out to Eden.

  Eden looks over at me. “Are you okay?”

  I nod my head yes. He gets up and grabs my silk robe off the chair, tossing it to me. I wrap it around me to cover up my skimpy nightgown. He strides over to the door, adjusting his T-shirt and pajama bottoms, then running his hands through his messy, dark locks.

  “Yes, Papa?” Eden asks as he opens the door.

  Lyle comes into the room, going to the window and checking to be sure it’s locked. “What’s going on, Papa?” I ask.

  Lyle turns to Eden and hands him a piece of paper. He reads it quickly. “Damn! How in the hell did he do that?” Eden asks his father.

  “It gets better son,” Lyle tells him. “It was taped to your bedroom door this morning.”

  Eden’s usually tan face goes pale. “How? How could he get through this gate too, into this house?”

  Lyle shrugs his shoulders. “We can’t keep hiding from this man, Eden. We have to draw him out.”

  “That would mean using bait and you know the only bait that will draw him out. I won’t do that,” Eden argues.

  I interrupt their arguing. “Can I see the note?”

  He hesitates. “It’s not a good idea, Alyssa.”

  “I had the dream, Eden. He takes me away somewhere after he’s drugged me with morphine. He ties me up, rapes and beats me, then leaves me on the street somewhere. You find me, but it’s too late. I choke to death on my own blood. I think after what I’ve seen and felt, because it felt real, I can take whatever that note says,” I say as I hold my hand out.

  He looks at his father. Lyle nods his head yes and then he hands the note to me.

  Mrs. Fontaine

  It was nice to see you again. That little bikini you had on last night left little to my imagination. Too bad that blonde bitch was there or you and I could’ve had a real good time.

  Don’t worry, though, I will get you alone. You and I have some things we need to talk about, like what color panties you like. I bet you like blue ones.

  Keep playing hide and seek with me. I like it. This is a nice house. How nice of your parents to set you up in a nice bedroom right at the top of the stairs, the first one on the right. I left you a present.

  See you soon.

  My blood runs cold as I read each word slowly
. “Eden, it says he left a present. What do you think it is and where do you think it is?”

  Lyle walks towards the bathroom and says, “Just stay right there, Alyssa. I’ll search your room to see what he could’ve left in here, if he was ever really in here at all.”

  Eden begins to open the closet, checking it over. “Nothing out of the ordinary in there.”

  “Nothing in here,” Lyle says.

  Eden begins to open the drawers on the dresser. He opens the top drawer, moves things around, and then closes it. He opens the second drawer and stops. I can tell by how his face pales a little that he’s found something.

  “Papa, he was in here.”

  Lyle walks over to look. “Oh my! Jesus, that man’s sick.”

  “What? What is it?” I ask, softly.

  Eden turns to look at me. “No, Alyssa, you can’t see this,” he tells me and then he shuts the drawer.

  “It’s that bad?”

  They both nod their heads. “I have to go call the police. Don’t touch it. Try not to touch anything, but get dressed and come downstairs,” Lyle commands.

  I call Laura and ask her to get Kyle and meet us downstairs. After we dress, Eden and I go down to the living room to find that, not only are Kyle and Laura there, but our parents and two police officers as well.

  My father stands up. “Okay officers, let me take you up to the bedroom so you can get started. The second drawer of the dresser, right, Lyle?” my father confirms.

  Lyle nods yes. “Eden, go with them too,” Lyle directs Eden

  I go sit next to Laura. “Sorry about all this Laura. I didn’t think he’d find us so quickly.”

  “It had to be someone who was here yesterday. There was the kitchen staff. The maid, Terri, the driver who brought Kyle and Laura here, and the person who delivered the clothes,” Lyle explains.

  “Linda?” I ask. “You think Linda could have something to do with this?”

  “Any of them could, dear,” my mother says, “How can we ever figure out who would’ve helped him?”

  The conversation is making me uncomfortable. Linda being a suspect is flying through my brain at great speeds and I send the thought to my mate.