“Class?” My brain was a little fuzzy.
“Yes. Introduction to Submission.”
No.
He.
Didn’t.
“Look. I don’t… I’m a… I don’t…” Shit. I didn’t even know how to counter.
“The man you were with isn’t a Dom, Addison. He’s an asshole and it’s important for your own safety that you understand the difference.”
He knew my name. It wasn’t the most important part of the statement, but it resonated with me for some reason.
“Dichotomy holds a class once a month, taught by Master Edge,” Master Parker continued. “It’s not only for newbies. It’s also a refresher course. He provides real examples and instructs on how to see the red flags.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew all that. I’d taken the stupid class because it was a requirement for the submissive program.
I didn’t bother to tell him that I already knew what the red flags were, and I’d known Josh wasn’t a true Dom. Letting Master Parker know that I had purposely not removed myself from that situation wasn’t going to paint me in a flattering light, so I kept all that to myself. No sense inciting the beast.
Good news was, I was feeling much better and it was probably time for me to go find a park bench to sleep on.
“Can I go now?” I added a hint of insolence to my tone as I glanced between Master Parker and Master Snowden.
The big blond crossed his arms over his impressive chest. “Where are you planning to go?”
“Home,” I lied.
“Which is where? The asshole was kind enough to ensure everyone in this place knew that you could no longer stay with him.”
Great.
“Do you have a place to stay?” Master Snowden asked, his warm gaze settling on my face.
I shrugged because it was that or break down in tears again.
Three
JUSTIN
WELL, WELL, WELL. IT APPEARED little Addison Hayes was just as feisty as her reputation claimed. That rebellious streak gave those baby blues a glow that piqued both my interest and my curiosity.
It didn’t hurt that she was one of the most attractive women I’d ever laid eyes on. There was something innately appealing about her. Even now, when she looked a tad worse for wear, wrapped snugly in that navy-blue blanket, which regrettably covered all those delicious curves I’d caught a glimpse of earlier.
Small in stature with long, dark hair and pale blue eyes, Addison had the alluring face of an angel and the smoking-hot body of a sinner. I’d seen her in all her naked glory a short while ago and I’d made note of the various tattoos that decorated her small body. Based on the art, she seemed quite fond of roses and butterflies.
I watched as Ben pulled Addison back onto his lap once more, wrapping his thick arms around her. She looked so fragile against him. My dick probably should’ve been on hiatus after the scene that had gone down a few minutes ago, yet it seemed to be rather interested in what was taking place in front of me.
What they were doing was completely innocent, of course, but my warped and twisted brain didn’t have a problem altering it, spinning it into something dark and dirty. I could easily envision Addison’s pale hands gliding over the smooth, dark skin of Ben’s back as he covered her body with his, filling her sweet little pussy with his monstrous cock. The two of them on my sofa or on my bed—it didn’t fucking matter—writhing and moaning as I sat back and watched.
Getting carried away, Parker.
Shit.
Unfortunately, the brilliant colors of Addison’s tattoos weren’t the only things that had caught my eye when I’d inspected those red welts on her backside. I’d also noticed a few scars that I certainly questioned after having dealt with that asshole she’d been with.
Which meant fantasizing about the two of them together was clearly a waste of time. The woman should’ve been traumatized after what that dickhead did to her.
Oh, I could tell she was trying to remain stoic, but sooner or later, she was going to break. The fact that Ben had his arms around her probably didn’t help her to keep those sturdy emotional walls in place, which was the very reason he was doing it.
Ben was good at reading people, knowing what they needed, how to talk to them, what to say to make them open up. I, on the other hand, wasn’t great with that sort of thing and I wasn’t afraid to admit it. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the two of us fit so well together.
If it were up to me, Addison wouldn’t be getting hugs and sweet words, the feisty little rebel would be getting what she really needed.
A good spanking.
Certainly not the abuse the asshole had dished out, obviously, but something to show her that her actions mattered, that her safety was important. She’d purposely let herself remain in a bad situation and she could’ve been seriously injured.
But I wasn’t a monster. I could table that for later. Spanking her right now wasn’t an option considering her mental and physical state. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Addison had been at the hands of an abuser. The fucker admitted to making her sleep on his goddamn porch.
Yeah. I probably should’ve kicked that loser’s ass when I’d had the chance. Only, that wasn’t how I handled things. I preferred to take the high ground whenever possible. However, there were a few things I absolutely couldn’t tolerate and a man beating a woman was one of them. Before Ben had nearly lost it on the guy, I’d been prepared to intervene. He’d merely beat me to it. Although rare, his fuse was sometimes shorter than mine.
While he might appear soft beneath the expensive suits or his submissive nature, that undoubtedly wasn’t the case. Underneath that cool, calm exterior he showed the world ninety-nine percent of the time was a man who had a definitive need to protect others.
It was one of the things I admired in my pup.
But none of that mattered anymore. The jackass had been dealt with. He was gone and the only thing left to deal with was the girl damaged by his actions.
Not that I was going to allow Josh Tudor to get away with a mere slap on the wrist. Master Edge could boot the guy out the front door a million times. That wouldn’t stop him from walking into someone else’s club and beating on another woman. I was going to make damn sure Josh got what was coming to him. And I would see to it personally.
For now, I would have to be content that he wouldn’t be coming back here tonight.
Nevertheless, I’d heard his tirade and his demand that someone should take care of Addison because she wasn’t welcome back to his place. He’d said a lot of other nasty shit as he was being escorted out, but I’d decided to extricate myself from the situation before I’d been in need of a good lawyer.
Now that I was staring at the girl who’d brought down the house with that scene, I wanted nothing more than to toss her over my shoulder and take her home with me. Not to coddle her, though. I was thinking more along the lines of dominating her, showing her that submission wasn’t about being a punching bag.
I knew Addison wasn’t new to the scene because I recognized her as a regular. She was part of Dichotomy’s submissive training class, which allowed her to work a couple of nights a week to cover her membership dues.
Granted, I hadn’t seen her in a while because Ben and I had been keeping our distance from the club. Shortly after my father died, I’d retreated from the scene, but that was a little over four months ago and Ben was now insisting that we start to move forward. I agreed with him, hence the reason we were here tonight.
As I kept my eyes pinned on Addison and Ben, there was a strange twitch in my chest cavity. The two of them together…they seemed to fit and I couldn’t help but think she might be perfect for us.
If I could trust her, that was.
I got the distinct feeling she knew right from wrong. She’d merely made a poor choice in partner, and for whatever fucking reason, she hadn’t extricated herself before it got out of hand.
That led to another thought. I had to wonder if
Ben and I had come here tonight for this very reason, to be the ones to interrupt that particular scene. This girl had been in over her head. What she needed was someone to treat her with the respect she deserved. Perhaps someone who could take things slow with her, reintroduce her to the lifestyle in a manner she could understand, someone who would cherish her.
Baby steps, Parker.
My eyes swept over the pair in front of me.
Fuck baby steps.
Looking at them, I was ready to jump in with both feet.
Which meant I was likely not the right person for the job, but I couldn’t deny that I was damn tempted.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I told Ben, nodding my head toward Addison. I wanted him to stay there and take care of her, not let her bolt like I feared she was going to do.
My pup nodded, then tightened his arms around the girl and tucked her head into his chest once more.
Stepping out of the room and closing the door behind me, I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head of all the nonsense.
“How’s she doing?” Master Edge asked when I turned around.
Gregory Edge was a longtime friend of mine. We’d worked together before I ventured off to open my own firm a decade ago. In fact, for the past eight years, ever since our company had started turning profits, I’d done my damnedest to recruit him, but to no avail.
“She claims she’s fine,” I informed him. “I checked for marks. There are a few red welts, a couple that’ll likely result in a nasty bruise, but I think Ben managed to intervene before that asshole could hurt her too badly.”
“I’m scheduling a meeting with my DMs,” Greg noted. “That should’ve never happened.”
“You’re damn right it shouldn’t.” It had pissed me off when I’d noticed the dungeon monitor standing off to the side, talking to one of the subs while Addison was being beaten by that dickhead.
“Chad’s new to this club. He hasn’t earned Master status yet, but he’s working on it,” he clarified, only a minimal amount of defensiveness in his tone. “I think he’s hesitant to interfere until he knows for absolute certain there’s an issue.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” The DMs were in place for everyone’s safety. “He has the right to interrupt a scene if he has concerns, and any Dom who doesn’t understand that rule shouldn’t be a member here.” At that rate, Chad would never make Master status.
“I agree,” Greg said quickly, his hands coming up in a defensive motion. “I said I’d talk to him and I will.”
I refrained from giving him more shit. Greg was one of the good ones. I knew he wouldn’t let this go without ensuring the monitors knew where they’d gone wrong. “Did that asshole say anything else?”
Greg sighed. “Just that she better not show up on his doorstep because he would call the cops. And for her to not bother coming to get her shit because he was tossing it out.”
Asshole.
“His membership card has been deactivated and we’ve put his picture up on the bulletin board by the check-in desk. He won’t get back in here.”
Well, that was good to know.
“You know much about her?” I questioned.
Greg shrugged. “Kind of quiet, doesn’t share much about her personal life with anyone. Addison’s been a member here since the beginning, but she didn’t bring this guy around until late last year. He passed the tests and the psych eval, so we offered him a membership. They’re both on the three-month plan, but she’s required to work two nights a week to maintain her membership.”
There were two membership types at Dichotomy. Yearly, which was reserved for vetted Masters and experienced submissives, or the three-month plan, which they utilized for people who were new to the scene and those the Master panel felt needed some monitoring or guidance. The three months were a probationary period that could be renewed for up to a year. At that time, they would either be added to the yearly plan or their club membership would be revoked altogether.
I suspected Addison was getting special treatment due to financial reasons, because she wasn’t an inexperienced submissive, that much I knew.
“How the fuck did he pass a psych eval?” I asked. “The guy clearly has anger issues.”
“I get it.” Greg sighed heavily. “Unfortunately, Ramsey had allowed Addison to vouch for him, which I assume is the only reason he was allowed in. There’s a note in his file. Ramsey wanted us to keep an eye on him because he was a little aggressive. That’s something else I’ll make sure Chad knows for future reference.”
Sometimes I wondered how these pussy wannabes managed to get in this place, much less a membership. If the club belonged to me, I would’ve nixed the probation bullshit and upped the membership fee in an effort to attract a different quality of people. After this incident, I was sure Greg was thinking the same thing. Perhaps I should have a conversation with Trent.
A smile formed on Greg’s face. “But if you know Addison, you know she doesn’t put up with much shit. So…she actually surprised me tonight.”
“Does she hang around anyone here?” As I spoke, I scanned the room to see if there were any submissives standing around, hopefully waiting to check on her. I didn’t see anyone.
“Not that I’ve seen. Everyone seemed to dissipate quickly, too.” He glanced around the area. “Like I said, she keeps to herself. Before she brought him with her, she played with a couple of Doms, but never anything serious.” His eyebrows darted down. “And never anything that involved intercourse or oral sex.”
Interesting.
I motioned to the door behind me. “Right now she’s with Ben. I want to talk to her a little more, make sure she’s got a place to go when she leaves here. Something tells me she doesn’t.”
“I’m going to write up a report for Ramsey. He needs to know about this.”
“At the very least,” I stated.
“I’ll need a written statement from you and Ben, as well, and we’ll list you as the Master who oversaw her aftercare.”
“We’ll get the information to you as soon as we can.”
“Thanks. If there’s anything you need from me, just let me know.”
With a curt nod, I turned and put my hand on the doorknob, then pulled back. I wanted to get her some water first. Then, once I could rationally deal with the situation and not think about spanking that girl’s feisty little ass red, maybe I would be ready to chat about what her options were.
Something told me not to walk away from her. And my gut was rarely wrong.
*
BEN
NORMALLY, I WAS A PRETTY laid-back guy. I didn’t have an issue consoling a woman, easing her fears or her pain, spending time with her without getting naked. That sort of thing.
However, I was having a damn hard time with Addison.
For one, she was naked. Mostly.
Secondly, she was in my lap.
Not that sitting here with her juicy little ass resting against my thighs was a hardship. Or it wouldn’t have been if my dick wasn’t being a nuisance. In an effort to keep my lust at a simmer, I was required to count by twos just to keep my mind on something else. By the time I got to six hundred twenty-four, I had to start over because I’d lost count.
Two.
Four.
Six.
It seemed to be working. My cock wasn’t throbbing and I’d managed to calm down after the debacle from earlier. But I wasn’t sure how long I was capable of sitting still, much less holding this girl without letting my mind drift to some potentially erotic fantasies that she was the star of.
A good ten minutes passed while the two of us remained right there in the chair, her curvy ass cradled between my thighs, while Mr. Parker went off to take care of…whatever.
I could hear his voice outside the door and knew he was likely giving Master Edge a piece of his mind. Knowing him, Mr. Parker was already planning a way to take down that fucker. No way was he going to take a risk that the asshole might do the same thing
he’d done to Addison to some other woman. That was one thing about Mr. Parker, he didn’t let shit like that go.
Hell, I was already plotting the fucker’s death. The bastard had let her sleep on his porch? Just thinking about it had my blood heating and my anger making another appearance. Fucking porch. The girl was far too precious to be sleeping outside.
I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself. She was here, she was safe, and no one was going to let her sleep outside ever again if I had anything to say about it.
So while Mr. Parker took care of his business, I was taking care of the little submissive in my arms. The same little submissive who was getting restless, proven by the way she was squirming against my cock.
I was surprised she’d sat as long as she had. Ten minutes wasn’t a long time; however, for her, it probably felt like an eternity. I was sure she was running through excuses as to why she needed to leave. I was merely grateful she’d kept them to herself thus far. As far as I was concerned, we’d had enough confrontation for one night.
That didn’t mean I didn’t want to know what was going through that pretty head of hers. While I held her, I managed to refrain from launching a million questions her way. I wanted to know every little detail of her life, including what led her to an asshole like the guy who’d been beating on her. She’d shocked me when she damn near begged him not to leave her here. As soon as she’d done that, I realized she was far too dependent on that man.
I got it. I did.
The woman needed him for something. Whether she thought she loved him or merely needed him for some sense of security, Addison had believed that it would be in her best interest to deal with his shit.
And that bothered me more than anything.
Mostly because I had too much damn experience with that. My own mother had been in an abusive relationship and she’d stayed until it was too late. She had died at the hands of an abusive boyfriend and the same had nearly happened to my sister. I would not tolerate men putting their hands on women in anger.
Their Rebellious Submissive (Office Intrigue Book 3) Page 3