by Lexi Blake
“You did a good job, baby,” Jake said. “I know that was hard for you, but you handled it beautifully.”
But it hadn’t been hard once she’d made the decision to trust him. She leaned into his strength. For all his hot body and gorgeous face, he was still a man who needed love and affection. She had so much to give if he would just take it.
He kissed her as though he could read her mind. “Come on. I know you want to see everything.”
He led her through the doors and into the dungeon. She followed, ready to begin this new part of her life.
Chapter Eleven
Adam studied line after line of code, the numbers threatening to run together. He’d been at it for three hours, and all that time Serena had been running around the dungeon, her ass in nothing more than a strip of fabric. He wanted to see her in the pretty thong he’d picked out for her. If she had any idea all the filthy, disgusting lingerie he’d already scoped out for her, she would probably run. She would look gorgeous in something filmy and lacy, her cute little feet in some serious fuck-me heels.
But no. He was sitting in the conference room surrounded by computers instead of watching his sweet girl get introduced to kink.
He growled a little as the program kicked back out. Nothing. He didn’t believe it. It was possible that Serena’s stalker was really good with computers and was routing the e-mails through systems, but Adam doubted it. Why use a system in such close physical proximity to Serena? If the person was good, he or she would likely have bounced the e-mails all over the place. No. Adam was sure the stalker was using the libraries’ computers in person.
The problem was, Adam wasn’t happy with the facial recognition software that was on the market. He was playing around with the code, trying to make it better. The answer had to be here. He had time stamps from two libraries that matched up with e-mails sent from their public computers to Serena’s computer.
All he had to do was find the face that had been in both places.
“You still at it?” Liam asked, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him.
Adam ran a weary hand through his hair. “Yes. It’s a lot of shit to get through. I got the delivery records. Surprise, surprise. This asshole paid cash, an address that turned out to be a coffee shop, and a fake name. Joshua Lake. Serena’s big bad Dom.”
“I think she might have a new big bad Dom. I saw the way Jake was looking at her.” Liam sat down on the edge of the desk. “You two planning on double-teaming the girl?”
That was the plan. He actually felt a little bad for Jake. It wouldn’t be easy for him to keep his hands off Serena. He would most likely end up with fucking blue balls. “We’ve been playing it slow and easy with this one. I like her.”
Liam nodded. “I like her, too. She’s an odd one, but I like her openness. I think Jake’s in as deep as you are. Are you absolutely certain she doesn’t have anything to do with this?”
Adam groaned. He was sick of this question. “Yes. I’m sure.”
Liam held his hands up. “I’m not judging the girl. People can have a lot of reasons to pull a stunt like this. I ain’t some perfect man. I don’t expect a woman to be perfect either. I’m just saying that Jake’s got a chip on his shoulder about honesty, and if he finds out she’s been lying, it won’t go so pretty for either of you.”
If there was one thing Adam was certain of it was that Serena was scared of this person. She wouldn’t be scared if she was doing it herself. “I’m sure about Serena.”
Liam went quiet for a minute and then looked at the computer, his eyes squinting as he read the code. “I’m glad you’re sure, man. I got a couple of things that bug me about this case. I read through Evie’s profile. She’s a bit confused, I think.”
“She says this guy must be bipolar.” He hoped somewhere out there the asshole was getting back on his fucking meds.
Liam’s head shook. “She said she thought he must be since the notes and e-mails are so radically different. But I was actually thinking something else. I knew this girl back in Ireland. She had a—what do you call it here? You know, when a guy ain’t got the balls to tell a girl he wants in her pants?”
“Secret admirer,” Adam replied.
“I call them pussies. Anyway, this friend of mine started getting chocolates and then dirty notes. Not the bad kind. The kind that got her hot under the collar, if you know what I mean. So she was thinking that he was trying to play both sides with her. The notes with the chocolates were real sweet, all about love and how pretty she was, and then the other ones were just about fucking. Well, she thought she’d hit the jackpot.”
Adam could see where this was going. “It was two guys, right?”
“Oh, yes. One was a boy who sat next to her in science class, and the other was his asshole best friend who had made a bet as to which one she would prefer. She told everyone she wasn’t interested in either one, but she made arrangements to meet with the dirty boy after school let out. He was a dumb shit. Had to marry the girl eight weeks later. Now they have four kids, and he drinks too much. Really, he’s living the dream. But my point is, she didn’t know it was two men. She simply responded to the darker side of what she assumed was one man.”
Adam looked up from his work. “How do you know she thought it was only one man? She could have figured it out. Someone could have told her.”
“Because I was the dumbass kid who sent her the chocolates. She talked to me about it. She told me she liked the chocolates, but she really liked the bad boy side of her admirer.” Liam’s fingers drummed along the surface of the desk, his mouth frowning.
“You think this could be two people?” Adam hadn’t considered it. It seemed far too coincidental. Some celebrities had multiple stalkers, but Serena wasn’t well known.
Liam shrugged. “I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I would say these are different people.” He opened the folder and pulled out copies of the notes Serena had been sent. “This one likes to use the internet. And she talks about the work. She’s mad about the characters. And quite frankly, she sounds like a nagging woman. When I picture this one, I see a shut-in who probably has multiple cats and gets more invested in fictional characters than in the world around her. The point is, she’s pissed that her favorite characters didn’t do what she wanted them to. She talks about that, not about Serena herself.”
A good point. “But couldn’t she have just gotten mad enough to hate Serena?”
Liam shrugged. “Then why keep going back to it? Look, there’s a pattern. It’s all about these characters in her new book until roughly two weeks ago. Then the really nasty stuff started. Then it shifts to attacks on Serena herself. The person who wrote those notes hates her as a writer and as a woman. The attacks get vicious and personal. And it feels like this is a man. Listen to the way he talks. He talks about her tempting men. He talks about sin and judgment. This person doesn’t read her books. He hates them.”
But Eve had explained how this could happen. “Look, if this chick or guy or whoever is off their meds, she could careen wildly. She could behave almost like two different people.”
“You know I love Evie, but she’s always looking for the most interesting mental problems. I think she’s overthinking it in this case. She’s looking for zebras when she should be looking for horses—two to be exact. It’s two people you’re looking for. Just think about it. I think you have two perps, one dangerous and one a whackadoodle who probably wants to talk Serena to death. The key is going to be catching the dangerous one while not getting distracted by the whack job.”
It wasn’t a theory he wanted to think about, but Liam made some sense. “I’ll take that into account. You playing tonight?”
“I was, but then I got depressed. It hurts watching Alex and Eve. I didn’t make it through the whole scene. It’s going on right now.” Liam sighed and stretched. “I feel for the poor bastard. Six years and she’s still punishing him. I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive him for whatever the hell he did
“Shit. Is Serena watching it?” Sometimes Eve and Alex’s scenes could get very rough. Eve usually ended up sobbing, and Alex got close to it. And yet they held on to the ritual as though it was the only thing that connected them anymore. It wasn’t what he would have wanted Serena to see.
“Yes, she’s there, but from what I saw it was quite tender tonight. I think she thought it was lovely.” Liam’s mouth turned down, and his eyes found the floor. “It won’t scare her away, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just know that look in Alex’s eyes. He’s hurting, and it throws me off me game. I wish you buggers would stop the whole relationship thing. It’s depressing to a man. I’m going to end up with Ian as my wingman. He’s a terrible wingman. Half the time he scares the women away.”
Adam snorted. Yeah, he didn’t see Ian helping Liam pick up chicks any time soon. “Well, if you don’t have anything to do, you could always help me analyze the tapes from the CCTV cameras.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “What are the CC’s attached to? A women’s gym? Inside a strip club?”
“Library in the suburbs.” Adam didn’t hold much hope that Liam was going to hang around.
“I’m gone.” Liam was out the door before Adam could call him an asshole.
He turned back to his work. Two people. Fuck. Serena seemed to attract ménages wherever she went.
* * * *
Serena watched as Alex helped Eve off the St. Andrew’s cross, tucking her beautiful body into a plush white robe that covered the delicate lashes across her back. The new ones, that was. Eve’s back was a mess of scars, some old and white and ragged, and some almost surgical in their precision. She had to wonder if Alex had given her all of them. When the scene had begun, she’d stared at Alex, wondering what kind of a man he was.
“Don’t look at Alex that way. He didn’t leave those marks on her,” Jake had whispered when she’d gasped as Eve had fully disrobed. “And any he gives her today will be faded by tomorrow. Don’t judge until you’ve watched them, Serena.”
And then the scene had started, and Serena understood what he’d meant. Alex was careful, so careful with her. He was a master with the whip. It was a four-foot singletail. He’d snapped the whip a couple of times before he’d started. The snick of the whip had cracked through the air, but when the whip had flicked against Eve’s skin, it had barely left a mark. Alex had stopped every ten strokes and requested an update on where she was. Eve would answer that she was green, meaning she was happy and ready for more. She’d been perfectly calm, her face peaceful with only the occasional grimace. Tears had finally started as she’d taken the fortieth lash, and she’d been crying openly at fifty, but she’d still told him green when Alex had asked.
“Will he give her aftercare now?” Serena asked. Eve shivered in her robe and seemed to be looking for someone. She moved away from the Dom.
Aftercare, she’d researched, was what lifestylers called the time after a scene, when the Dom took care of the sub’s needs. It could be anything from cuddling to first aid. It was a time for the Dom and the sub to come out of their “spaces” and get back to reality, like coming down from a high.
“One of the other subs will make sure her welts are properly tended,” Jake said with a serious expression on his face. “Eve won’t let Alex perform her aftercare.”
But he wanted to hold her. That much was clear. The big Dom’s eyes were sad as Eve was led off by a sweet-faced sub. Eve was still crying, seemingly lost in her own world, and Serena suddenly understood.
“It’s the only way she can cry, isn’t it?” Serena asked, wondering what had happened that would put Eve in this position.
Jake frowned, watching as Alex coiled his whip and put it away. “She doesn’t talk about it, but she had a case go bad. She was FBI and something happened. She won’t talk about the scars around her neck, either. She and Alex had divorced years before, and he’d started working with Ian. Alex brought her on. When she first came here, she was so cold. Then she started doing this, and she got somewhat better. But I don’t want to talk about them tonight.”
“Should we find another scene?” Serena asked, looking around. There was so much she wanted to see. She wanted to watch a fire play scene. She’d read a book by Cherise Sinclair with a fire play scene, and it had sparked her imagination. And puppy play. She really wanted to see that. She wasn’t sure how she could make that sexy, but she was willing to watch.
Jake didn’t move from his place, merely stood staring down at her. “The scenes can wait. I believe I still owe you a little discipline. Spanking chair or my lap?”
“What?” She swallowed. She should have known he wouldn’t forget, but she’d kind of hoped. Her eyes caught on a scene playing out in a corner. She had to stop and stare. Ian Taggart had one of the subs trussed up, and he was showing her the biggest dildo Serena had ever seen. It had to be bigger around than her wrist, and it might have been almost a foot long. “Holy crap. Is that an elephant penis?”
Jake huffed. “No, it’s a large butt plug. It’s for training, Serena. Jenna has been somewhat resistant to anal sex, but she swears she wants to try it. Ian won’t fuck her ass until he’s prepared her.”
“For a horse? Seriously, Jacob, that thing is huge.” And she was kind of curious as to what was going to happen. It was odd, but knowing that everyone here had a contract and that everything was consensual made it seem all right to watch.
Jake shook his head. “You’re kidding, right?”
She turned back to Jake. “About how big that thing is? No. I am not. I think we need to cross that apparatus off the list.”
His voice dipped low as he leaned in. “Serena, I’m bigger than that plug.”
She stared at him, her mind completely off the plug now. She couldn’t help it. She looked down at his leathers. “No way.”
A big grin crossed his face. “Way. Adam’s not far behind me. And from what I’ve seen, poor Jenna probably has another two steps up before she takes on Ian. I have no idea how he functions. He should pass out from having so little blood in his brain. Now stop worrying about something that isn’t happening yet and answer the question. Bench or lap?”
She was nervous. She was excited. She was somewhat aroused. She was really aroused. And she was definitely interested in whether Jake was telling the truth or not. Her mouth kind of watered at the idea of it. How big was he? She’d only slept with Doyle, and it hadn’t been that great. It had mostly been an exercise in futility and frustration. What if she was the problem? Doyle had always claimed that she was, and now he was sleeping with a perky little grad student. What if he’d been right, and she really was frigid? What if she disappointed Jake? What if this all fell apart just when it seemed to be getting good?
“Lap it is, then.” He reached down and picked her up as though she weighed next to nothing. He made her feel so delicate.
“Jake, what are you doing?” She looked around, but no one seemed to care that she was being kidnapped.
He walked away from the stage toward the back of the dungeon. “I think we’ll make this first punishment private. I want to get you out of that head of yours. I don’t like it when you disappear like you just did. I have no idea what was going on inside that brain, but I didn’t like the expression it put on your face.”
A man in leathers stood in front of a small hallway.
“You need a room, Jake?” The big man handed him a key. “Five is free and fully stocked.”
“Thanks, Glen. And if Ian asks,” Jake began.
Glen shrugged. “I never see anything. I’m practically fucking blind, man. And I wouldn’t stand in the path of true love. Ian’s got a black heart.”
Serena blushed at the thought, but Jake just thanked the man and started walking toward the room numbered five. Privacy rooms. For doing stuff. Sex stuff. Kinky stuff. Spankings. And sex. She was going to be alone with Jacob Dean. She was going to be half naked, and maybe totally naked, and then he would see her cellulite. God, why hadn’t she thought about wearing some sort of girdle? What was she thinking? They had barely let her have a thong. Her panties were in Jake’s pocket, hanging out for all to see. He probably wouldn’t like her covered in a girdle.
“You see, there it is. You just went somewhere else when you should be with me.” He set her on her feet and had the door open in an instant. He hustled her in and turned on the light. The room was like a little mini playroom. There was a spanking bench, a wall full of implements, and a big bed. A big, comfy-looking bed.
She was alone with him.
“What were you thinking about? Tell me now.” He used that deep, dark voice on her. She found it almost impossible to resist.
Well, she was nothing if not honest. “I was worried about how I’ll look when you take my clothes off.”
He shook his head and sat down on the bed. His muscular legs were spread apart, his arms going across that cut chest of his. “I’m not going to take off your clothes, Serena. If you thought I would take you back here and rip your clothes off, you’re going to be disappointed.”
She was, actually. And now she was embarrassed. That had been a big assumption on her part. She’d kind of thought that since Adam had made it plain he wanted her, that meant Jake wanted her, too. But he was obviously just playing a role. But he’d kissed her. She had to get it out of her head. This was what a lot of people did. They played. It wasn’t serious. It was just casual sex. The trouble was she wasn’t a casual type of girl. “Sorry. I just thought since we were alone that you would…”
Jake cut her off with a curt shake of his head. “Make it easy on you? No way. You’re going to undress for me. Slowly. You’re going to show me your breasts and your pussy and your ass, and then you’ll lay yourself across my lap and you will accept my discipline. What are your safewords?”
He’d had them written into their contract. “Yellow and red.” Yellow slowed things down, and red stopped them altogether. She was kind of worried that a big yellow light was in her future. She was confused, but that was probably more about her than him. She didn’t have a whole lot of experience. All the men she’d dreamed about lately were in her books. They were safe.
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