“Thomas…” The way she said his name was a soft whine, and it made his very sated cock twitch in his pants.
“I promise I’m not a serial killer?” he joked, and she paused the efforts of combing her hair with her fingers to stare at him. He shrugged. “That was supposed to be funny.”
“I know you’re not a serial killer.” Maddie sighed and pushed herself to a standing position, and he rose with her, reaching out in case the sudden change of elevation made her dizzy. She wavered for just an instant before she stepped away from him towards the cross, and he clenched his fist at his side to keep from touching her.
“Your clothes are over here. I picked them up, moved them to the bench.”
“Thanks,” she muttered and walked towards it, sifting through the cloth to find her bra. He felt suddenly awkward standing next to her as she began to cover all of her curves, hiding the marks he’d given her beneath underwear, tights, and then her dress. Memories of the way she’d arched against him, of the tight, warm feel of her squeezing him, the sounds she’d made against the cross and underneath him – they all ran through his head – but his questions were still there too, and it felt like she was avoiding his touch when all he wanted was to wrap her up and make sure she was okay. Doubts flickered to life in his head, coloring their fun in ways he didn’t like, in ways that made his stomach turn.
“Maddie, I need you to be honest with me, are you okay?”
She paused for a second as she slid her feet back into her heels, holding onto the wall to steady herself. “I’m fine, just tired.”
The weak smile she tossed him as she brushed her hair back from her face wasn’t enough, and he was standing in front of her before he could stop himself. Gently holding her shoulders, he waited until she looked up at him. “Did someone hurt you, Maddie?”
Rolling her eyes, she gave a short laugh. “Um, you? Earlier?”
Thomas took a slow breath to keep his voice calm, and the little smile on her lips faded when his eyes returned to hers. “I mean before tonight, before I met you. If this is going to work I need to know things like that, I need you to be honest with me so I can keep you safe.”
“No, nothing like that.” She tried to shrug out from under his hands, avoiding his eyes, but he held on.
“You can talk to me.”
“Thomas –”
“Honesty is the foundation here, you know that, nothing works right without it. Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth. Did you have a Dom that took advantage of you? Some asshole who just liked to hurt you? It was absolutely not your fault if it happened.”
Maddie stared up at him, and he could have sworn there were tears at the edge of her eyes. “No. None of that. There was no one, Thomas.” When she twisted away from him this time, he let her go and stepped back.
“Okay. That’s good.” He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease some of the tension forming tight little knots beside each of his vertebrae. “Okay, Maddie. I just – I don’t want to ever cross a line with you. Was this too much? Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine.” When she turned back to look at him, her smile looked real. “I promise. I mean, I’m sore, but I think that’s pretty normal.”
His eyes flicked her over face, taking in all the little non-verbal hints he could, trying to see if what she was saying was true. Had he crossed a line, and she wasn’t telling him? Was there something in her past she didn’t want to discuss? She looked like herself. Beautiful, all put together in that maroon dress with the fire of her hair brushing her shoulders, and she sounded normal too. Still, there was something bugging him, ticking away inside his head like a problem he hadn’t solved yet.
Are you going to give her the third degree, or are you going to let her sleep?
“Let’s get you home.” Reaching out for her, he offered his hand, and there was a moment he was nervous she wouldn’t take it – but then her palm touched his and her fingers interlaced to squeeze.
“I really did have fun tonight,” she spoke quietly as they left the dungeon room.
“Tonight was phenomenal.” He smiled, some of the tension easing in his chest as he tucked her to his side and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “You amaze me, Maddie.”
She didn’t answer him, but her arm went around his waist and they paused just before the exit door, embracing tightly for a solid minute. As he stood there, with her held close, smelling the lingering shampoo in her hair and the scent of her skin that was some heady mix of warmth and flowers, he knew he had to watch himself. Madeline O’Neill was the kind of girl he’d fall hard for, the kind that would fill his thoughts, and that made it even more important not to push too fast, not to be too intense – not to scare her off.
And at least she’s letting me touch her again.
“Come on, beautiful. I think someone might complain if you fall asleep and I carry you out of here over my shoulder like a caveman.” He managed to finally crack a joke that made her laugh, breaking the tension between them as she reached for the door.
“That might be something fun to try, having you carry me off to your cave.” That wicked, enticing tone was back in her voice and it was working miracles on his cock, his body getting too interested in the idea of another round with her.
She needs sleep.
“You can text me about that fantasy tomorrow.” Thomas swatted her ass and she groaned, but ended up smiling as they left Black Light. She was beautiful, and beyond anything he’d imagined, and the way she lifted her blue eyes to him as Danny opened their locker almost took his breath away.
Oh, yes, he was in very deep trouble with Madeline O’Neill.
Chapter Nine
Walking into her apartment, Maddie leaned back against the door, clutching the small box in her arms that she’d found in her mailbox. It was almost three, and Thomas had spent the entire car ride to her apartment apologizing for the late hour – but she didn’t even care. The moment she’d seen the time on her phone she’d immediately decided to call in sick.
Kicking off her heels she padded over to her desk and dropped the package and her purse. With a sigh, she cracked open her laptop and tapped the space bar to wake it up, the glowing light of her screen filling the space. The browser window was still open with twelve different BDSM websites in different tabs – all of her pre-date studying – and now she could add her crash course in impact play to the things she’d only skimmed before.
Switching to the Word document she tried to memory dump as much as she could: cane, crop, strap, chair with straps, bench. How does Jaxson know Thomas? 2nd entrance to BL. Psychic shop – what street? Luís.
“Shit, the stamp…” Hurrying into the kitchen area she ripped open a drawer and found her scissors. She tucked them under her arm and pulled open a cabinet to fill a glass with water before she moved back to the desk. Setting the water down, she cut into the box and tossed the air packs onto the floor beside her until she found the packaging. “Bingo.”
The easiest thing to find in her research had been a flashlight equipped with a black light, and it had arrived just in time, but she growled when she tried to turn it on and nothing happened.
“No batteries? Really assholes?” Dropping it back into the box she flipped on the lights in her kitchen area, digging through drawers to scrounge together three AAA batteries. She found one in the bottom of a drawer, and then gave up and tore the last two from her blu-ray remote. As soon as it was on she grabbed her phone and went into the bathroom to shut the door where it would be the darkest. Then she aimed the purple light at her wrist. The stamp was a little blurred from sweat, and all of their efforts, but the words were still mostly legible as ‘BLACK LIGHT’ with ‘guest’ underneath it in a swirling script. Holding the black light in her teeth she started snapping pictures with her phone, adjusting the settings until she had the best photo she could manage.
Real. Evidence.
As exhausted as she was she still gave a little cheer as
she stared down at the image, and then moved back to her desk. Maddie dropped into her chair without thinking twice and the sudden pressure made her let out another flurry of curse words. Welts and bruises instantly reminded her of what she’d done, and for a flash she was back against the cross, filled with that thrilling anticipation. Waiting for Thomas’ voice, waiting for what he’d do next, and she knew she was growing wet again. He was dangerous. Dangerous, because every minute she spent around him made her want to stay longer. When he’d offered to take her home, to watch over her, it had been too tempting. Everything about him was temptation. His voice, his words, his smile, his fucking body with his ability to know just the right way to touch her, to fuck her, to make her come apart. “Stop it, Maddie.”
Growling under her breath she emailed the photos to herself, and focused on the article. The opener was done, a revisit of the drama between Jaxson Davidson, Chase Cartwright, and Emma Fischer. Juicy in and of itself, especially with the added bit about Senator Davidson’s withdrawal from the presidential race, but then she segued into the reveal that their ménage-a-trois was also connected to a kinky secret hidden under their new enterprise, the popular dance club called Runway.
The paragraphs on Black Light were probably too long, too descriptive, but she didn’t want to miss anything. Sex did sell, after all, and Antoine could trim out whatever he wanted. Taking a sip of her water, she started to edit, and add to it. Words flowing out about the second entrance, the levels of security, weaving it all into a narrative – and then she got caught down a rabbit hole of research trying to find the name of a man she’d seen there. Scrolling through backlogs of articles on the Post’s website to try and remember at what event he’d been photographed.
Maddie had always been good with faces, and she knew she’d seen his. Specifically, in a photograph, in a tuxedo, and she had to know if this guy was a politician, or some other D.C. elite. Was he more important than David Alchert? Less important? The article needed more names. It had been pure luck to see him, and recognize him, the night she’d discovered the entrance, and then again the night Thomas had let her into Black Light.
Like a wolf among sheep.
Guilt nagged at her, but she kept typing, researching, outlining Black Light’s secrets in detail before she lost them. The only thing she left out was Thomas.
Eventually, her alarm went off and she jerked back in her seat, surprised to realize it was already 5:45am. Wandering to the clock she turned it off, and then went back to her desk. A text to Brenda about being sick, an email to Jamar’s work inbox so he knew, and then she was back in the article.
A couple of hours later, as the winter sunlight started to peek through her windows, she realized she was just staring dumbly at the screen, her fingers frozen on the keyboard. She’d been up for too long, and the pounding headache behind her eyes was bad enough to dull the lingering ache of her ass. Pulling up her email, she wrote to Antoine explaining that she was confident in the article and gave a few very vague bullet points that wouldn’t allow someone to scoop her if he decided to share it. Concluding it with a snarky comment that he wasn’t going to get a full outline until they talked about a job offer, she sent it and shut the laptop.
In a matter of minutes she had stripped out of the dress and tights, and dropped into bed. Hiding her face under the covers to block out the sounds of the city waking up outside her building, she tried to sleep.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
The clatter of her phone against her desk pulled Maddie from a groggy sleep. Every inch of her was sore as she woke up, flinching as she went to stretch. Not only did the welts hurt, but so did her shoulders, her back, and her head wasn’t too happy either.
“Shit.” Throwing the covers back she squinted against the daylight as she stumbled to her desk to snag her phone. Two texts from Thomas, another from Jamar, and then a missed called from Antoine. Blinking and shaking her head to wake up further, Maddie opened her laptop to check her email.
Yes!
Antoine had replied that morning, saying he wanted to meet for lunch. Around one. Glancing at the time in the bottom corner of her screen, she almost screamed. It was 11:43am. Pushing back from her desk she ran into the bathroom to start warming up the shower, using her other hand to call him back.
“Maddie?”
“Hey! Antoine,” she spoke up as she stepped out the bathroom so the water couldn’t be heard. “I just saw your email, where do you want to meet?”
“You tell me, can you do one o’clock?”
“Sure, how about some place near the GWU metro stop?” Her heart was racing, but she was trying to make it sound more like excitement in her voice.
“Let’s meet at Circa. After the morning I’ve had I need a drink and some good news. You are bringing me good news, right? Your email was a little short.” Antoine sounded stressed and distracted, but she found herself nodding.
“I do, I do have good news.” Rein it in, Maddie. “I mean, I have good news, if you have good news.”
“The job is still open, if that’s what you’re hinting at.”
“Obviously.” She smiled, and Antoine chuckled.
“I’ll see you at one, Maddie.”
“See you then.” Tossing her phone onto the bed, she stripped the rest of her clothes off and hopped in the shower. It was probably the fastest she’d ever got ready, but she caught the silver line and made it to the Foggy Bottom/GWU station in plenty of time.
Maddie ordered two glasses of white wine, the last thing she’d seen Antoine drink, and waited nervously at the table, refreshing her email on her phone obsessively as the time got closer and closer to one. At three minutes past, she would have been bouncing in her seat if she wasn’t still very aware of all of the marks she’d caught sight of in the mirror after the shower. A rainbow of colors, with several dark red lines she knew were from the cane.
Thomas.
Thinking of the cane brought him to the forefront of her mind, and as she gripped the phone in her hands, watching the time tick by, she couldn’t forget that those marks had been earned because she had been late to meet him. At a restaurant.
As if the universe was trying to mock her, the phone clicked to 1:04PM just as Antoine walked through the front door. Four minutes late. She raised her hand to wave him over, flipping her phone face down to ignore the time as he slipped past other diners and took his seat. “You’re wonderful,” he said as he snagged the glass of wine and took a sip, groaning. “That is exactly what I need right now. Promise me that when you start working at the Post you won’t be one of these prima donna journalists talking about how I’m destroying your vision.”
The quotes he put in the air, accompanied by the huff and rolling eyes, had her smiling – but she smiled further when she processed what he’d actually said. “When I start working at the Post?”
Antoine laughed, glancing at the menu before he took another drink. “You did say you have a great story. I think your bullet points were: the people involved have already been front page stories before, lots of kinky sex, and that you had the names of people inside the Beltway involved. Did I miss anything?”
“Just the stuff I haven’t told you yet.”
“Well, I’m all ears.” He smiled at her, and Maddie took a sip of her wine, that turned into several drinks as she tried to figure out what she was willing to share.
Fortunately, the waiter arrived a moment later. They ordered, chatted about a few updates with mutual friends, and then she was prodding the salad in front of her with her fork as Antoine waited.
“So, your story. You can tell me the details, Maddie.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “How high profile is it? Well-known politician? Does it touch the White House?”
“Now, Antoine… if you think I’m just going to hand this over to you without a job offer so you can hand it off to someone already on your staff you’ve got to be –”
He had started digging in his messenger bag as she�
��d been talking, but she stopped when he slapped a stapled packet of paper on the table between them. “You were saying?”
Hands unsteady, Maddie picked up the pages. The Washington Post emblem blazed across the top like the light from a lighthouse. It looked official, and it even had the details on the job title and salary level – with her name in bold in the first full paragraph. Lifting her eyes back to Antoine, she swallowed. “Is this real?”
“As real as the story you’ve been teasing me with.” Antoine took a bite of his sandwich, taking a drink of his water before he picked up his wine. “It’s all there. You turn in the story that touches on those key points you sent me this morning, and the job is yours.”
“Wow…” It was all she could say as she stared at it, and then Antoine’s phone rang and he lifted his hips in the seat to dig it from his pocket.
“Dammit – what? No, no, that is not what I fucking said!” He growled and pulled his wallet out to slap two twenties on the table, giving her a look that told her just how much of a mess was back at work for him. “Look, I’m ten minutes away, just don’t do anything until I get there.”
“Problem?” she asked as he ended the call.
“Just more obnoxious journalists pulling shit they’re not supposed to.” Antoine pointed at her, and then dropped his finger onto the paper she’d settled beside her salad. “Read through it, finish your damn story, and send it to me so I can hire you. At least then I’ll be able to commiserate with you about these fucks.”
“Oh, so now you’re all confident in my story?” She smirked at him as he stood up from his chair, tugging his coat back on.
“Maddie, I was always confident in you, I just need you to show it. So, get on it. I’ve gotta run.” Antoine waved as he dodged a waitress carrying a tray of drinks and then ducked out into the winter sunshine.
Black Light: Exposed (Black Light Series Book 2) Page 12