by Lily White
I asked him a question instead. “Why are you here? How did you even get on the island? Anthony has to be alerted to every person that arrives.”
The corner of his mouth tugged at the corner, his bright blue eyes marred by the dark circles that stained the skin beneath them. When was the last time he’d slept? What had happened to him in the time since I’d seen him last?
“Anthony knows I’m here. He’s known since my arrival on the island yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Nodding, he met my stare. “I’ve been here since early yesterday morning.”
Shocked again, I couldn’t make sense of where he’d been hiding or why. Twenty-four hours and I hadn’t seen or heard from him.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Aiden stepped forward, his hands reaching out as if to touch me. I stepped away, refusing to give him that contact. It wasn’t just my refusal of his desire to pull me into his arms, it was the knowledge that if I found myself there again, I would never be able to let go.
How many times had I imagined what I would do if he chased after me? How many conversations had I played over in my head about what we would say if we saw each other again?
“Why are you here, Aiden?”
A gust of wind blew past, his hair moving within it, strands falling over his eyes giving him a boyish appeal I’d never seen. My heart softened to see this side of him, a part of me dying to reach out and touch him while another reminded me that to love Aiden Oliver is to hurt. He would never change, could never be the man I needed him to be.
“Well,” his gaze finally released mine to look out over the water. The sound of waves crashing over rocks filled in the silent space between us, his thoughts obviously scattered and unsure. “Originally I came here to take you back home.” Soft laughter blew over his lips, his mouth crooking up into a sad smile. “I planned on doing the same thing I did last time to take you. Spike your drink. Wait for you to be so out of it, you didn’t know what hell was happening. Even considered letting you wake up in the dark room because obviously all the years of training have done nothing to make you the perfect pet.”
I knew he was attempting to be funny, but there was nothing humorous about what he said. Yes, my abduction had eventually led me into his arms, but the end didn’t justify the beginning. Especially not now that I’d finally escaped him and realized just how much of my life with Aiden was based on what he’d wanted and had no regard for what was best for me.
Shaking his head, he glanced back at me, the humor fading from his expression. “Not only would Anthony have prevented me from taking you in such a way, I realized I wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. What would be the point? There would always be a place inside of you I could never touch. It’s the part of you I fell in love with, the part that gave you enough strength to survive the life I gave you and helped you earn your freedom. You would never settle for less than you deserve and I have to respect that. I wouldn’t settle either if I was stripped of my choice.”
I froze in place at his confession, unsure if Aiden even knew what he’d just said. We stared at each other as the sun finished setting, the sky ribboned with color as the moon began its slow climb over the horizon. Seagulls flew in the distance, their voices singing the day’s final chorus before night enshrouded the island in peaceful sleep. Despite the beauty of the world around me, I was mystified by one thing only: the confirmation that Aiden loved me, the words so foreign and unexpected, I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Instead, I remained quiet, patiently waiting to hear what else he had to say.
“So, I decided against that plan. I realized that, in the end, I didn’t deserve the happy ending. I don’t deserve winning the girl. Don’t deserve the lifestyle I’ve lived. I don’t deserve the wealth and influence my career has given me.” He sighed, his eyes searching my face. “I’m not a good man, Rebecca. Never have been. I’m not sure I ever will be.”
“Why are you still here then? If you’re not planning on taking me, then why approach me before climbing back on your plane and leaving?”
He blinked, the dark frame of his lashes dusting his skin before he opened his eyes again. I saw only honesty in his stare, only truth where there had once been so much deception.
“Because I want to ask you if you will forgive me. Can you forgive me? After everything I’ve done?”
In truth, I should have told him no, should have called him out as the bastard he is and walked away from him entirely. But it wasn’t that simple and easy. I loved this man, so much that it destroyed me every day that we spent apart. Regardless of where we stood now, I was still the woman who would go down on my knees if it meant he would touch me.
“I already forgave you, Aiden. Many years ago when I allowed myself to love you. Unfortunately I just realized that I will never be enough. Not for you. You’ll never stop taking Courtesans. You’ll never stop breaking my heart.”
“I’ve given it up,” he confessed, his voice as soft as the rolling waves in the distance. “After you left, I secured another job, another order for a woman to be taken and trained, to be sold when I was done. I even went so far as to find one that matched the description of the woman he wanted, but when it came time to introduce myself, I couldn’t follow through. I have no interest in the game anymore. What used to drive me, the ambition, is somehow gone. I called the client later that night and told him to find someone else. Told him I’ve retired.”
“Aiden…” My voice trailed away with my shock, my eyes studying his face for any sign he was lying. I found nothing but regret, nothing but apology for what our lives had become.
“I know you think you’ve forgiven me already, Rebecca, but I’m not sure you have. I’m not just asking it for having taken you, but also for not appreciating what I had enough to let go of the life I used to lead. I’m done being a Master.”
I couldn’t help the reaction, couldn’t stop myself from stepping closer and lowering my arms to my sides. “What are you saying, Aiden?”
“I’m telling you that you’ve won. I’m giving you everything you ever wanted. I’m asking you if, before I leave, will you consider giving me another chance?”
A smile stretched my face, disbelief buzzing through me like an electrical storm. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Are you positive you can give up the Society?”
Rather than answering, Aiden stared at me silently for several long seconds, his body lowering to his knees, his head bowing down in front of me. I fell down to my knees right beside him, my hands reaching to cup his face, my eyes brimming with tears that were astonished and full of hope.
“Will you come back to me, Pet? Will you show me how to lead a different kind of life?”
Laughter bubbled from my chest, tears finally spilling down my cheeks to dot the sand beneath me. “Yes.”
Lunging forward, he cupped my face in return, his lips slanting against mine with the demand that I open for him. As soon as his tongue swept in to dance across mine, my body sagged in relief, my heart pounding within my chest.
We must have kneeled in that same spot for over an hour, rediscovering each other, remembering what life had been like when it was a Master and his Courtesan, a man and a woman in love.
After climbing to our feet, I walked beside him toward Anthony’s house, my hand wrapped in his, my head leaning against his shoulder. But before we could walk inside, I tugged on him to turn him toward me, a question front and center in my thoughts.
“This doesn’t mean we’re changing everything, right? We’re not becoming some bland, vanilla couple that has sex in missionary only and never have any fun?”
Laughter boomed from his chest, his head falling back for just a moment. When his eyes returned to mine, the glimmer behind them told me he had never intended to ever let something so ordinary happen.
“I was going to give you a few days before tying you down and demanding you suck my cock, but, now that you bring it up…”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the collar from within, his hands moving quickly to secure it around my neck.
“You’ll always be my pet, Rebecca, regardless of whether I gave you the choice or not.”
Smiling so hard that it hurt my skin, I dragged a fingertip down the center of his chest, stopping just above his pants.
“What do you plan to do with me, Master. I’m sure I deserve some sort of punishment for running so far away.”
His mouth pulled into a sensuous grin, heat flowing behind eyes of liquid sapphire. Reaching up to wrap his hand over my throat, he rubbed his thumb over the pulse point and pulled me toward him to bite my bottom lip.
“I suggest you follow me to the playroom, Pet, because I have every intention of showing you.”
My stomach tightened at the thought of the pain he promised me.
Even though I was no longer a slave, even though Aiden had finally given me the choice to go or to stay, I would always be a woman addicted to him, would always be a woman who needed everything his inner beast could give.
Aiden might not be a good man.
He might not be worthy of the love that I offered him.
But in every way that mattered, he would always be my Master, and I would be his Courtesan.
THE END
EPILOGUE
ANTHONY
I know any person hearing this story would believe that it had been as simple as Rebecca’s desire for freedom to bring a man like Aiden to his knees. Many will believe it was merely a chain of events, odd circumstances and well times coincidences. And all those people would be wrong.
Besting a man like Aiden Oliver isn’t as simple as a stroke of luck…it’s a complicated puzzle that requires a rebellious Courtesan and a Master who’d promised Aiden he’d get even.
His games against Sera hadn’t come without a price. In the end, I’d been the hidden face behind Aiden’s reckoning, the Master who’d pulled the puppet’s final strings.
Walking up to a small two story home set back in a standard subdivision filled with modest middle income families, playing children, minivan and sensible four door sedans, I tucked my hands into my pockets, my head turned down to prevent the cold wind blowing past from seeping into my eyes. Two raps of my knuckles against the door and I was let inside, a familiar set of blue eyes looking behind me to ensure I wasn’t followed before the door was shut and I was tucked away safely inside.
“Did it work?” Greyson asked, his chest bare despite the cold weather, a pair of sweat pants hanging loosely from his hips.
Pulling my hands from my pockets, I nodded my head, walking into the small living room that had no more than a small couch and a ragged armchair. It was a meager way to live, but as I’d promised Greyson when I first met him, it wouldn’t last long.
“Just as I planned it would.” I pulled my wallet from my pocket and flipped through the myriad of cash bills, notes and business cards to find the small slip of paper I was searching for. Handing it to him, I waited for him to read over the bank slip.
A smile graced his features, his eyes meeting mine again with appreciation. “I think two hundred million is a nice reward for giving her up. Is that bastard actually going to give her the life she deserves?”
Laughter floated over my lips, my thoughts going back to the promises I’d overheard Aiden making Rebecca that he would sell his house in the States and move to my Island. Sera wasn’t happy to know he’d be so close, but she was willing to accept his presence if for nothing else but the joy in knowing she’d been a factor in stripping him of the life he’d so carefully constructed. “You weren’t supposed to fall in love with her.”
He shrugged in response. “I couldn’t help myself. She was a beautiful woman, not just her looks, but her heart. I’m surprised she accepted the asshole back. I thought for sure he was going to kill me the night they named her Master.”
I was exhausted from the flight over, but I didn’t have time to stay and chat. “Thank you for what you did. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”
“Hey, my father was going to leave me penniless all because I preferred receiving pain instead of delivering it. If it hadn’t been for the offer you made me before he died, I’d be on the fucking streets.”
I offered my hand to shake and say goodbye. “Good luck with everything, Greyson. I hope you find an easier life than the one your father provided you.”
Now that the money had been exchanged, I made a hasty exit, my shoulders unburdened as I climbed into the warm interior of the limo idling at the corner. As it pulled away, I laughed to myself at how easy it had been.
After meeting Greyson, I knew that he would make the perfect Courtesan for Rebecca. We’d planned the entire ordeal from beginning to end, the risk of getting caught enormous. But in the end, other people had stepped in to help me finally take down Aiden for all the games he liked to play.
Thankfully, I wasn’t the only Master within the Society he’d pissed off. Paul ended up being my biggest ally.
After Greyson’s father died, we’d managed to convince Adam to take on the feral Courtesan ‘Christopher’. He’d resisted at first, but I knew him well enough to know he’d want to show off his new pet to the women he often had stay at his estate. At the first opportunity, Adam had done exactly what I’d expected of him by allowing Sarah Clarkson to test out his new pet, and Greyson had done exactly as I’d instructed him by damaging the woman so badly she would cause a significant problem for the Society. In truth, I was a little impressed with just how significant that problem had been, but with Paul’s help, we’d managed to keep her in line with the promise that when all was said and done, she would make a hell of a lot of money for her cooperation.
Trap set, I’d not only managed to have Adam killed (I never liked the man), but did so in a way that created the question of what to do with his Courtesan. Aiden had fallen for it just as I knew he would, had taken the bait because he couldn’t swallow his pride enough to admit that Rebecca wasn’t exactly the Master he claimed she was.
The story went on from there, Greyson playing the perfect pet, while Paul worked with Sarah on the sidelines to create enough of an issue that Aiden would take care of her himself. It was risky to allow him to get involved. He would sooner put a bullet in a woman’s brain than bring her home for training, but in all honesty, either result would have been fine with me. Sarah didn’t understand the danger, but that wasn’t a problem I was too concerned with.
It all worked out in the end, I supposed.
Greyson could now live the life of luxury he should have had if his father hadn’t given his inheritance away.
Paul was now the top Master of the Society now that Aiden and I had retired.
After the night of the presentation, I’d purchased both Greyson and Sarah to ensure no other Master acquired them. They’d done well to force Aiden’s hand until he gave up the Society entirely and chased after the only woman who had ever mattered to him.
And I had the last laugh when it came to the games between Aiden and I, my need for revenge after what he’d done to Sera finally settled.
As the car lurched forward to take me to the airport to catch my flight, I smiled to think of the life Rebecca would now have, and also at the thought of Aiden’s face when I told him that, it may have taken several people to accomplish the task, but for once he’d finally been Mastered.
Aiden had long ago hurt Sera in an effort to show me that I was the only man who could save her from the life she’d been given.
I had merely called in a few friends so that I could return the favor.
GREYSON
I stood peering out of the large living room window while Anthony’s limousine pulled away from the curb, a plume of white smoke left to linger on the air from its exhaust. What he’d asked of me over six months prior hadn’t been easy, but it was better than the bullshit life my father had given me. I was kept secret most of my life, kept chained, abused for refusing to become everything he
’d hoped I would be.
Through the years, I’d learned to enjoy the pain, eventually growing to crave it. That’s what made the plan so simple. All I had to do was pretend to hate every person who touched me until the time came when I arrived at Aiden’s estate. After that, the act had been simple. Playing Pet to Rebecca was too easy, more of a reward than I’d expected.
And it wasn’t like I walked away empty handed from the deal. I was a rich man with two hundred million to live on for the rest of my life. I could buy whatever I wanted, live however I wanted, breathe free knowing I would never be locked in a basement again.
A sigh of relief blew over my lips, my shoulders relaxing because the burden of my life was finally over.
Closing the curtains, I tucked the bank receipt into a safe place for later, my body humming with possibility as I wandered down the narrow halls, opened a door and let myself into the bedroom, sinking to my knees right away.
My Mistress would punish me if I didn’t follow her instructions to the letter.
A warm smooth palm caressed my cheek, fingernails scraping the skin softly. “That’s my good boy. It’s about time to learn to follow Momma’s rules.”
Glancing up at a beautiful woman I’d never intended to see again after damaging her, I grinned to think that we were the perfect couple. I had needs that she loved to fulfill. If it hadn’t been for Aiden, I never would have found her again.
Sarah stood above me in nothing but a black bustier and thong underwear, the slap of leather against skin a warning as she tapped a crop against her leg. “What would you like Mommy to do to reward you for your good behavior?”
We didn’t have all the toys and benches and swings that had been available in Aiden’s house, but we were making due with what we’d managed to take with us when we left. Aiden had been MIA when Anthony was moving us out and hadn’t even noticed.