by Linzi Basset
"How is that my fault?" Bruce grumbled. He was still watching Samantha speculatively. He knew what she was aiming for, and in all honesty, he didn't mind that she was using him to achieve it. He'd even be willing to battle with Rhone if it came to that. Maybe it would wake up his fucking ass and make him realize the feelings he was fighting so hard against.
Rhone's hand closed around Samantha's throat and he squeezed, forcing her on her toes. Her eyes widened but she willed her hands to remain on her hips and not claw at the hold he had on her.
"You want Master Goliath, Ace?" Rhone's deep voice was edged with an icy sharpness that warned Samantha she was pushing his boundaries.
“I―”
“Fuck, you are so beautiful,” Rhone’s voice rumbled unexpectedly. “And these pouty lips are all mine,” he said.
His head lowered to breach the space between them. Her gasp dissolved within the heat of his breath as he caught it within his mouth. He kissed her slowly, in a meshing of warmth, passion and need; a need that had been borne the moment he’d seen her standing there. The kiss turned demanding, forcing Samantha to acknowledge the power he still held over her. Not just as her Dom but as the keeper of her heart.
He lifted his head, far too soon in Samantha’s opinion. Her eyelids fluttered open to find his haunting gaze. The smile on his lips was no more than a twitch.
"Let it not be said that I don’t see to my sub’s needs. You want Master Goliath, my pet, then you shall have him."
His fingers closed around the back of her neck and he started walking toward the dungeon.
"Come on then, Master Goliath. Let's not keep my demanding sub waiting, shall we."
"Fuck me sideways," Keon rumbled as he stared after the trio, as shocked by Rhone’s reaction as the rest of them. "Rhone is gonna fuck this up. He's become too withdrawn since she'd left, to think straight. If he gives her to Master Goliath, she might just walk away for good this time."
"Yeah, sometimes a sub pushes the wrong buttons for the right reasons. Let's hope Bruce can talk some sense into the two of them," Jack said as he took a swig of whiskey.
"Sub? What about Doms?” Lauren’s heated gaze landed on Jack. “Don't tell me you agree with him, Jack. He's the one who fucked up. He should've understood why Ace did what she did. He should've been―"
"Red, calm down. You're preaching to the choir here. We're all on Ace's side. All of us want to see them get back together but I'm afraid Rhone . . . well, I guess none of us realized just how deep his wounds are," Keon pondered thoughtfully.
Chapter Nine
"Well, I'm in the mood to play. Come, Violet, let's see if you look as good on the St. Andrew's cross as before," Max said and pulled Joanne to her feet. He'd given her the club name Violet because of her eyes.
"Whoa! What the fuck, Max! This is my sister. You're not taking her into the dungeon!" Jack exclaimed and jumped up, pushing his big body in between them.
"You never told him?" Max asked Joanne with raised eyebrows.
"Well, apparently, neither have you," she retorted sharply.
"Told me what?" Jack took a step back and looked between them. His eyes narrowed dangerously when Joanne fidgeted. It was something she used to do when she was little when she got caught doing something naughty.
"Oh, here we go. I've been waiting for this showdown for five years," Lance said with a chuckle. He leaned back in the sofa, like he was settling in to watch his favorite television show.
"Five years? What the fuck, Jo! Him? My best friend, Max? He was the one?" Jack’s nostrils flared; his expression was a picture of disbelief as he tried to compute the meaning of what he’d just heard. He’d sworn to wipe the floor with the ass-hat who had hurt his little sister. Now, to hear that it was his own best friend, floored him.
"Jack, it's in the past. It's not―"
"Like fucking hell, it is,” Jack cut Joanne short. He spun to face Max. “You broke my sister's heart, you bastard!” He spat with fury. His knuckles turned white from clenching his fists too hard. He gritted his teeth to reign in his anger. “She's fucking ten years younger than you! She was still a baby―”
“I was not! I was twenty-three,” Joanne protested. Jack seared her with a sideward glance.
“A baby! What were you thinking, Max? My sister!"
"Calm down, Jack . . . Ugh," Max staggered back as Jack planted a straight right hook into his face. His head snapped to the side. Pain exploded in his cheek. He stepped back, sighed and held up his hand. "I'm not going to fight you, Jack. This is between Jo and me. You―"
“In your fucking dreams!” Jack was livid. He couldn’t hide the disappointment he felt toward Max.
“Jack, let’s discuss this―”
“Now you want to discuss it? How many times have I raged about the man who broke my sister’s heart to you? How many fucking times, Max? You kept mum. You should’ve opened your mouth then!”
“Jack, you have to calm―”
It was the final conduit that ignited Jack’s anger to spark into an explosive rage. “I am fucking calm, you dickhead!”
Jack’s fist connected with Max’s temple that caused him to stagger and stumble over the sofa behind him. Max straightened, rubbing his face before he lowered his hands to his sides. “I am not fighting you Jack.”
“Then I’ll just beat you to a fucking pulp!”
Jack charged at Max. The clash of impacting flesh resonated through the large room. Members gathered in a circle around the two men, amazed to witness such an unexpected event. Max wrestled with Jack to try and stay out of reach of his huge fists.
Crack! The sound of a brutal head butt from Jack echoed through the room. It knocked Max to the floor. Completely dazed, he shook his head. Everything was a blur.
“Fuck, Jack! I’m not fighting you.” The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he started to sit up. Jack yanked him to his feet with a hard hand gripping his leather vest.
“I don’t fucking care,” Jack growled into his face.
Max spread his feet apart to anchor himself. “I’ll be damned if you get another fucking hit in my face.”
"Stop it! Both of you. You're acting like school boys. Stop!" Joanne tried her best to intervene but got pushed back when their arms tangled into a wrestle of power that caused her to land on her ass. She scrambled to her feet and glared at the four men who sat watching the fight with grins on their faces.
"For god sake. Don't just sit there like laughing clowns. Stop them before they kill each other." Her voice sounded shrill above the deep growls and grunts of the two fighting men.
"Oh, come on, Violet. The little tumble can only do them good," Lance chuckled as Jack landed another punch into Max's solar plexus. He doubled over and huffed for breath.
Ethan stood up with a drawn-out sigh. "I guess we better intervene, otherwise I'll be spending the entire night stitching Max up, instead of strapping my gorgeous fiancée into the sex swing.”
“About fucking time,” Joanne snapped. She jammed her fists on her hips when they dragged their feet, still enjoying the fight too much. “Well, get to it, already!”
“Dammit Jack! Get fucking over—urgh!” Max grunted when the second punch into his stomach doubled him over. He expelled the last bit of choked air from his bruised belly. Fresh ripples of pain shot through his torso as another body shot smashed into his ribs. He reeled back. He took deep breaths, doing his best to keep his anger in check and not fight back. It was Jack’s due, but Max was slowly reaching the end of his tether.
“Enough!” Joanne was done waiting for the sluggish efforts of the other men and stepped between them.
“Get out of my way, Jo,” Jack snarled, glowering at Max over her head.
“No. It’s done. He got what he deserved, and it should appease your need for violence.”
“Get out of the way, baby. I can fight my own battles.”
Joanne spun around. She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I told you I’m not your baby. And you
’re not making it any easier, Maximilian!”
Keon, Lance, Richard and Ethan roared with laughter at the look on Max’s face. They knew how much he hated being called by his full name. The thunderous look he slanted at them caused a ghost of a smile to form around even Jack’s lips. He was impressed with his little sister’s spunk.
Max gripped her by the shoulders and bodily removed her to the side.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she snapped. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung. Her head whipped around to glare at Jack to warn him off. “Now, you’ll have to go through me to continue your fight.” She wrapped her legs around Max’s waist for added leverage and hung onto him like a chimp, even when he tried to pry her arms loose.
“Let go, sub.” Max grunted while at the same time, he exulted in the heat of her body wrapped around his.
“Sub?” Jack said in a dark voice. He stepped closer. His black eyes seared them like the sharp edge of a knife. His gaze dropped to the glimmering diamond choker around Joanne’s neck. He reached out to trace the glimmering stones.
“She is the one you had this made for?”
“You’ve seen it before?” Joanne asked as she untangled her limbs from Max and faced Jack.
“Yes, when we moved to DC and I helped Max pack his stuff.” He looked at Max. He searched Max’s eyes with an intense look. “It seems you and I need to have a talk, Max.”
Joanne dragged in an annoyed sigh. “Jack, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“As your brother, I need to know what Max’s intentions are toward you. I will not stand by and let him hurt you again. No,” he held up his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “This isn’t up for debate. Go with the guys and order us dinner. We’ll join you in a bit.”
Joanne glanced between them. Jack seemed to have calmed down and she sensed the men had reached an understanding.
“Only if you promise not to hit him again.”
“Ah baby, it does my heart well that you . . . ugh!”
The group of friends exploded into laughter while the members still gathered around gasped collectively when Joanne planted her fist hard into Max’s stomach.
“Oh, my pet, you’ve just sealed your fate for tonight. Don’t think for one moment I’ll allow you get away with that.”
“You don’t scare me, Master Jag,” she said with her nose tilted upward.
“I don’t want to scare you, luv. However, you will be begging soon.” His eyes narrowed. “Then again, you’re due a punishment. Who knows what the night will bring.”
“Nothing, if you keep delaying our talk, Master Jag,” Jack snapped and started walking toward the stairs, leading to the offices. “Mind if we use your office, Keon?”
“Go right ahead. Nope, little one, you heard your brother, you’re coming with us,” Keon caught Joanne around her waist when she made to follow them. He lifted her feet off the floor and carried her protesting and kicking hanging on his side toward the restaurant.
* * * * * * * *
“I think you cracked one of my ribs,” Max groaned as he sat down in the sofa in Keon’s office.
“I was trying to break your fucking nose and give you a thick lip,” Jack shot back. His glare had lost some heat from earlier. He poured them both a whiskey from Keon’s bar tray before he took the chair opposite Max.
Max chucked down the drink in one gulp. “Ah, there’s nothing better than a Macallan 18.”
Jack stretched out his legs in front of him and slumped in the chair. “You told me you had the collar made for the woman you love.”
“So, I did.” Max leaned his head on the back of the sofa.
“But that it didn’t work out.”
Max released a deep sigh. “I’ve been in love with Joanne for a long time. I was so much older than her—”
“You’re still much older than her. Ten years, to be exact.” Jack studied his friend who didn’t seem fazed by his interruption. “You were in a D/s relationship with Roxanne Whittle at the time. You broke it off with her not long after Jo’s eighteenth birthday from what I recall.”
Max shrugged. “I realized that I’d been fooling myself. It wasn’t fair to Rox. I knew that I could never love her—not to the extent she expected me to.”
“And yet from that point you stayed away from my parents’ house. You avoided Joanne like the plague.”
“Of course, I did. Fuck, I should’ve stayed away longer but when I saw her at your birthday party five years later, I lost the battle. We started dating. I eased her into the BDSM lifestyle naturally. I suppose that’s what made my attraction to her so much stronger by then. Her inner submission bloomed to life when—”
“Yes, I don’t need the details, Max,” Jack grumbled. “You dated? How the hell didn’t I know about it?”
“We decided to keep it quiet at first, to see if we were even compatible. She moved in with me while you were away on a covert op.”
Max ran his hand over his face. “It lasted less than six months. I guess I was hasty in believing that Joanne would understand what true sexual Domination and submission entailed. She became possessive, clingy and we started fighting over every woman who just glanced in my direction. I had to walk away, Jack. If I didn’t, we would’ve destroyed each other. She needed more time. She had her entire future ahead of her. But instead of concentrating on her career, she expected me to make decisions for her. I refused to do it, as much as I refused to allow her to make decisions for me. She couldn’t accept that I scened with other subs at the club. It was the one thing she failed to understand. That no matter what I did with any of them, she was the one I wanted. It killed me to send her away, but it was the best thing to do for her.”
Max jumped up and refilled their glasses. He started pacing.
“I failed her, Jack. I expected her to understand what it was that I needed as her Dom from our relationship without properly guiding her.”
“And now you believe she’s ready?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t walk away from her again, Jack. I love her. God knows, I never stopped.” He took a sip from his glass. “When you told me she’d been kidnapped, my world crashed around me. I can’t remember when last, I had more than two hours sleep. I kept searching for her. Now that I have her back, Jack, I will keep her safe.”
“What if she still isn’t ready. Dammit, Max! You know what she’s just gone through.”
“The choice is hers, Jack. I’m not going to force her into a D/s relationship. She knows that, but once she does commit to me, I will do my best to make her love me. I am going to marry her, mate, make no mistake about that.”
“You’re fucking ten years older than her, Max. Ten years!”
“Age is just a number. I’m not a goddamned fossil, Jack. I’m fit, healthy and stronger than guys ten years younger than me.”
“Very well, but I warn you, Max, if you hurt my little sis again, I’m gonna fucking kill you.”
“It’s not going to happen, Jack. I love her and this time, I will make it work.”
“Even if you have to sacrifice the hordes of women flocking for your attention? You were never one for monogamy.”
“Yeah, neither of us are. I’m not fucking this up again, Jack and she’s the one I want in my life. The only one.”
“Good. Now, tell me how you found her.”
Max relayed everything that had happened. “I don’t know how she managed to keep the disguise for so long, but she did. As Jarrah Farooq, she was respected by the army she controlled, as well as by Sheikh Juhayman bin Mohammed.”
“What do you think he’ll do now that she disappeared with a chunk of his sex slaves?”
“According to Jo, he obtained all of them through the human trafficking ring. I’m speculating that he would approach whoever he bought them from. One way or the other, he won’t stop until he finds the one who betrayed him.”
“Which means Joanne is in danger. They will have her passport, so it will be easy to establi
sh if she was one of them. Fuck! Will we never be free from the goddamned crime syndicates?” Jack slammed his fist on the arm of the chair.
“She and twelve other women are in danger, which is why Rhone and Alex have decided to keep them at the safe house for now. Alex is going to offer them the opportunity of a new identity and place them in a witness protection program. That way, they might stay off those fucktards’ radar.”
“You said Jo managed to escape. Was she . . . did they . . .” Jack swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. The thought of his little sister being raped crippled him.
“No, and I thank the lord for that. She said that she got the impression that she’d been taken for a reason. Her abduction hadn’t been random like the others. Unlike her, none of them had any family. The sheikh she was meant for, believed she was a virgin, so she was off limits to the guards. She managed to escape before it was too late.” Max hesitated. “But she was mistreated in the meantime.”
Jack’s body turned rigid. “They mistreated her?”
“Yes, and from the scars on her buttocks and her back, it must have been a brutal whipping.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you know about them.” Jack swallowed his drink. “I’ll be forever in your debt for finding her, Max. Thank you.”
“I did it for me, Jack, more than anything else. Now, we just have to keep her safe. If Joanne is right and her abduction wasn’t random, it means someone chose her specifically. We need to find out why.” Max glanced at Jack. “I’ve already contacted Kent Gibson, Colt Fargo’s friend, and one of the best plastic surgeons in the US. He’s a gifted surgeon and said that he should be able to remove Joanne’s scars. I won’t allow her to carry a memory of her ordeal for the rest of her life.”
“Agreed, but you’re not paying for it, Max. She’s my sister and—”
“And she’s going to be my wife. It’s not up for debate, Jack,” Max said when he opened his mouth to protest. “Now, are we done here? I have an itch that needs to be scratched.”