He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. Her eyes automatically dropped. When he spoke again, his tone was completely different—warmer and more intimate, with the hint of a shared secret. “He finally did it. Welcome to the community.”
“If you say anything that starts with ‘I’, ends with ‘so’ and has ‘told you’ in the middle, Chesterfield, I’m dragging you down to the car park and turning you into chopped bloody liver.”
Adam glared at his old friend to reinforce the threat and was rewarded with a who-gives-a-shit grin. “About bloody time, Ad. But what’s with the ribbon? Don’t you think she deserves something better?”
“Of course she bloody does! We’re taking the afternoon off to do something about it.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“Giorgio’s. I want to get her fitted for something special for day wear and a suitable play collar. I wasn’t planning on doing it so soon but hell, I just want her collared so I can start to build her confidence. ”
Dan nodded. “Have you thought about taking her to the club or is it too early for that?”
“Too early—way too early. She needs time to come to terms with everything before I take her there. She needs to trust me fully to protect her.”
“Of course.” The other man’s tone was sober. “So what’s eating you?”
Adam watched him sit down before speaking. “She woke me up with a kiss this morning.”
“And your problem is?” The light dawned. “You didn’t have the usual—”
“No. I can’t remember falling asleep, nor can I remember waking up, not until this morning.”
Dan had known about Adam’s nocturnal demons for a long time—they were a major factor in his decision to walk away from the private security firm they’d founded after leaving the military. Dan was the only one who knew about the problems Adam had and the only one who knew the cause of them. Consequently he was the only one with whom Adam could discuss the matter.
As much as alpha males could ever be said to discuss anything remotely personal.
“Then perhaps Beth’s the answer, Ad.”
A troubled look passed over Adam’s features. “She’s the answer to a lot of things, Dan. There was a time when I didn’t want to do anything to scare away the best assistant I’ve ever had. Now I don’t want to scare away the woman I—”
He broke off abruptly. The first person to hear what he was about to say shouldn’t be the man opposite him. Besides, he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear himself say the words aloud—yet.
“Dan, what’s the latest with the investigation? Are we talking industrial espionage?”
“Nice segue,” the blond man observed with a grin, then became serious. Very serious. “I can’t prove anything yet, Adam, but my gut’s telling me that this isn’t just common or garden-variety industrial espionage. There’s more to it than that, a lot more. I may be wrong, but I have a hunch it’s personal. Maybe connected to the old days. Especially after what you felt yesterday.”
“You’ve no evidence yet?”
Dan shook his head. “Nothing we can use. We’re working on it, though. Got a couple of leads to chase up—they got sloppy with some of the gadgets they installed.” He paused, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “The investigation is still ongoing but we’re tracing the supplier, which will lead us to the bastards responsible for installing it. I have a gut feeling, though, that whoever that is, they’re just a third party working on behalf of the real enemy.”
“And until we find out who that is, we have no way of knowing what this is about.”
“My guess is revenge,” Dan offered. “And if it is revenge, both you and Beth could be in real danger.”
“Revenge for what, though? If that’s what this is about… “
“If it is, then it’s someone who’s been bearing a grudge for a long time, if it relates to something that happened while we were in the Regiment. I’ll look into it from that angle but whoever it is, if they’ve justified it to themselves, that’s all they need. We’ve got their equipment, so they already know we’re onto them—”
“Therefore, whatever it is they’re planning, they may move their timetable up.” Adam’s tone was grim. “I can’t let anything happen to Beth. I’m going to take her to Winterleigh—I can protect her better there.”
Dan sighed heavily. “Adam, I know you don’t want to hear this and I don’t want to say it but you know as well as I do that she’d be safer if you put some distance between the two of you until this is resolved.”
Adam’s refusal was immediate. “I can’t. I have to see her, see that she’s there and she’s all right.”
“It’s okay. I’d feel the same. Just watch your back, okay? As soon as I get something we can act on, I’ll be in touch.”
The two men talked a while longer. Adam watched his friend leave and then a cold, brooding darkness descended over him. It looked like his initial instincts probably weren’t wrong. A threat from the old days? For a moment he was transported back to the heat, the dust, the danger, the adrenaline rush…and the pain. He looked at his hands, flexing his fingers to banish the image of broken bones and bloody flesh, starvation and raging thirst, the gut-wrenching degradation…
Damn it, he could even feel that prickling sensation moving down his spine, the one that had always warned him of an impending threat. His hand flexed again, as if getting comfortable around the grip of the semi-automatic pistol that had been his constant companion through that living hell—apart from the time when he’d really needed it…
Adam forced his mind back to the present. If it was personal, he had to protect Beth. The enemies he’d gone up against back then would think nothing of going through her to get to him and he would not allow her safety to be compromised.
Dan was right, of course. The sensible thing would be to distance himself from her but the chances of that were slim to none and the last he heard, Slim left town. He’d just move up his plan to have her move in with him. She’d balk at the suggestion but hell, she was his woman and his sub and she’d damn well do as she was told.
“Adam?”
Her voice broke into his thoughts. His eyes swept over her as she stood in the doorway. So concerned…for him. He glanced at his watch—not quite ten-thirty. Way too early to call it a day but what the hell—he was the boss and truth be told, he’d made enough money out of this business over the years to walk away from it right now and not look back.
“Beth, I want you to cancel every appointment for the rest of the week. We’ve finished for the day, we have things to do and then we need to talk well away from here.”
* * * * *
Just when she thought things were about to settle down.
As soon as she’d seen the look on Adam’s face, Beth had known that something major was going on and probably as a result of the meeting with Dan Chesterfield. It had also made her feel very uncomfortable.
And now this. She put the phone down, after canceling the last of the week’s appointments. Life was getting crazy all of a sudden, and the craziness was showing no signs of going away. She switched off her computer, gathered her belongings together, and was putting her coat on when Adam emerged from his office.
“Ready? Good. Make sure you’ve got everything because you won’t be coming back here for a few days.”
“I won’t? Adam—”
“No questions, Beth,” Adam cut across her, every inch the Dom. “Simon’s going to run the office for the next few days. You and I have a little shopping expedition and then we are going to get your belongings from your flat and move you into my place. When we’ve done that, we’re going to Winterleigh.”
“Whoa! Stop right there!” Beth dug her heels in—literally. Adam had hold of her hand and was almost dragging her out of the office. “I’m not—what are you talking about? It’s too soon! We need to talk about this!” She tried to disengage her hand from his but he wasn’t having any of it. The look he turned on her froz
e her blood.
“If you don’t want to be my sub, Beth, you have only to say your safeword. If not, then you’d do well to obey me without question.”
He’d said he was a sexual Dominant, not a lifestyle Dom. She wasn’t expecting to be ordered around like this. The safeword that would end it all hovered on her lips and from the sudden look of—fear?—in his eyes, Adam knew it.
“Please, Beth.” His voice was less harsh now. “Trust me. I’ll explain later but for now we have to move quickly. I have to keep you safe.”
Safe from what? A thousand questions raced through Beth’s mind as she accompanied Adam to the basement car park. Once they were in the Aston Martin and were heading out on the street, she asked him where they were going.
“To see a friend of mine—Giorgio. He’s the best in the business.”
“And what business would that be?” Beth hadn’t heard him mention the name before.
They’d stopped at a traffic light. Taking advantage of the standstill, Adam turned to face her. “Collars, among other things. I wasn’t going to do this just yet but now it needs to be done sooner rather than later. And I lied. The necklace you wore to the restaurant was a collar. Your collar. I had it made especially for you.”
Beth’s stomach flipped again. He certainly knew how to overwhelm a girl with a few words. And the whole thing about his having had the collar made for her—that was just too big even to contemplate right now. “If this threat is so terrible and so urgent, then isn’t this shopping trip just a little frivolous?”
The car started moving. “Possibly, but until we find out what’s at the bottom of this and the threat is removed, you’re staying with me, Beth. No arguments, even if it takes keeping you collared 24/7.”
Eyes wide, she looked at him, not quite understanding where that came from, and it infuriated her. “I’ll argue if I damn well please, Mr. Granger and I’m not wearing a bloody collar!”
“Then what the hell’s that round your neck right now? If you want to argue, Beth, use the bloody safeword, end this right now and take that piss-poor excuse for a collar off—then you can argue all you damn well please! Until then you are going to do as you’re told. And that’s final!”
Beth had the feeling that, had they been on the motorway, he’d have slammed his foot down and been looking at losing his license. Whatever was going on, he was seriously worried.
And if his life were in danger, she had no intention of walking away from him. She loved him. The somersaulting gymnast in her stomach disappeared, replaced by the rolling fire of the love for him that was in danger of consuming her. She glanced over at him, noting the firm set of his jaw and the fisted hand resting on his thigh.
“I’m sorry.”
The fist slowly uncurled beneath her touch. His thumb reached out to trap her fingers against his and he lifted her hand to his lips. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when we’re safe at the house.”
The anger and frustration had gone from his now-quiet voice but there was still a note of preoccupation about it.
About ten minutes later, the car pulled up outside a small, fairly nondescript office building. Evidently it was their destination, as Adam came round to open the car door and offer her his hand.
“We’re here—this is Giorgio’s place. He’s well-known and highly respected in the community.”
Beth swallowed hard. “Is he a Dom?”
“He is, but all you need to do is wait until he speaks to you and address him as ‘Sir’ when he does speak to you. You’ll be fine.”
Adam took her hand and led her through the intercom-controlled security door, with its surveillance camera.
It was an adult shop. Beth had been a reluctant visitor to such establishments once or twice in the past, accompanying one of her boyfriends who had been marginally more adventurous than the rest. Ever since then she’d had an aversion to pink fluffy handcuffs. Why it had been necessary to actually go to a place like that when there was the internet she’d never known but somehow with Adam, she didn’t mind at all.
This place, however, was in a different league. The preponderance of black leather and chrome chain was overpowering. She was trying to take it all in when a man came out from another room—a few inches shorter than Adam, almost as physically imposing as him, age difficult to identify, all dressed in black with silver-streaked long black hair drawn back in a sleek ponytail.
“Adam, good to see you. How are you doing?”
The two men shook hands. They were obviously friends.
“Great, thanks, Giorgio. How are you?” He waited for the other man to reply, then put his arm around Beth. “I want something special for her.”
“Day and play? No problem. I have a couple of new day collars that I think you’ll like the look of.”
Adam glanced at the velvet ribbon. It looked good on her but circumstances dictated that it was time to do things properly.
“Thanks, Giorgio. And for play I want the best you’ve got.”
The other man nodded, looking Beth up and down. “The private room’s ready for you. May I use her name? I’ll need to touch her as well—is that all right with you?”
It was a matter of courtesy, one Dom to another—after all, in the eyes of the community, subs were property and one Dom would no more come between another and his sub than he would touch anything else the other owned.
“Giorgio, this is Beth. She’s new to the scene but she’s a fast learner—and she’s very special to me.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Beth.”
Beth kept her eyes lowered, and her hands clasped in front of her. “Thank you, Sir—I’m pleased to meet you too.”
“Come with me, Beth. I have something for you that I think your Master will like.”
Adam watched the two of them leave, knowing that Beth was about to be fitted with one of Giorgio’s special play collars—an easy-to-wear combination of leather and soft suede that subs could wear for hours without discomfort.
He made his way to the private room, already conscious of his erection growing in anticipation of what was to come. Once Beth was fitted with her collar, she would be brought to the private room by Giorgio, who would then leave them while Beth modeled the collar for him. It was an indulgence they really didn’t have time for but he wanted to see Beth in all her naked glory, wearing just the collar, and he wasn’t prepared to wait.
Making a mental note to pick up matching ankle and wrist cuffs, Adam made himself comfortable on the sofa. It was only a couple of minutes and then Beth came in following Giorgio. In her left hand, she was clutching the velvet ribbon but around her beautiful neck, there was the collar. God, it looked good on her.
“Thank you, Giorgio. We won’t be long but then we do need to look at a day collar.”
“No problem. Everything’s ready.”
Once the other man had left, Adam turned his attention to Beth. She was standing quietly, waiting to take her cue from him.
“Take your clothes off, Beth. I want to see you.”
He was waiting for a protest but it never came. Instead, lips pressed together to calm her nerves, she began to remove her clothing and what she did next proved that she was everything he thought she was. She didn’t just strip her clothes off—when she’d done that, she assumed her first position in front of him. Desire raced through him.
He had to do it, Adam realized. Before he dragged her fully into this pile of shit, he had to give her one last chance to walk away. “Beth, there’s every chance that my life is about to become the most ungodly mess imaginable. This is your last opportunity to say no. If you don’t want this relationship with me, then use your safeword and I swear I’ll never lay a finger on you again. I’ll take you back to your home and you can go into work tomorrow morning as if this weekend never happened.
“If you have any doubts, love, follow your instincts.”
Hesitantly, she looked up at him, moved into an upright kneeling position and took one of his ha
nds in both of hers. He felt the brush of her lips on his palm and then her eyes met his. “Please may I kiss you, Adam?”
He nodded, and their lips met in a gentle expression of love.
“I’ll never leave you,” she whispered against his mouth. “If you want me to go, you’ll have to tell me to go. Tell me that you don’t want me—then I’ll go.”
He let his forehead rest against hers for a moment, allowing the tension to subside a little. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind that he should make her go, because deep down, he didn’t want her to go. And now that she wore his collar, she was his to protect.
“We’ll talk more about it later. For now, I’m going to take this collar off and we’ll go and choose your day collar—something you can wear every day without advertising your status to all and sundry. Get dressed now. And by the way—you look beautiful.”
The buckle of the collar was at her nape. While carefully unfastening it, Adam inhaled the perfume of her hair and her body. He wanted her badly but it would have to wait. There was still a lot to do before they could go to Winterleigh.
As well as leather and suede, Giorgio also worked in precious metals and gemstones and it was that skill which enabled him to supply jewelry that, to the vanilla world, looked like completely innocent pieces but which conveyed a special message to those in the lifestyle.
Adam knew what he wanted for Beth as soon as he saw it—an ornate, heavy gold chain too short for her to remove it over her head without unfastening it, secured by a discreet but fully working padlock, for which he would carry the key. Attached to one of the links at one end of the chain, there was a small charm—a tag that would have Adam’s initials engraved on it shortly. The advantage of the piece was that for ordinary day wear, it could be worn with the padlock at the nape of her neck. If he wanted to make his ownership of her known, then he would direct her to wear it with the padlock resting over her heart.
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