“Just got a tip something bad has happened. I gotta go check it out.”
Antonio’s eyes narrowed. “Does it have anything to do with the oh-so-lovely Miss St. John?”
Antonio was starting to get on Baine’s nerves. “What if it does?”
“I want to know. Maybe I can be of assistance.”
“Like how?’
Antonio hissed and bared his fangs.
“Oh, of course, I forgot you’re an apex killer. Her assistant says she went to First Avenue to meet a Russian at some bar. I think he’s the head of a group of smugglers and white slavers. I told her not to mess with him, but he’s a client of her advertising agency and it’s her account.”
“What bar?”
“Uh, let me see. Lyle said the Blue Oyster.”
“I know of this place. It has a reputation muy terrible.”
Baine pulled his jacket closed and zipped it. “Then I better hurry.”
Antonio slipped behind the bar and grabbed his coat. “I’m coming as well.”
Baine sighed. Something was going on between Antonio and Alex. He could feel it. But he didn’t own her. She was free to see whomever she pleased.
The drive to First took only a few minutes. Antonio was out of Baine’s Hummer and across the street before Baine could turn off the vehicle. Baine looked around as he crossed the street and spotted a sliver Maxima. As he walked by it, he smelled Alex. Her odor was so distinctive, he’d recognize it anywhere.
They entered the club, and Antonio put out his hand to stop Baine. “I can smell her. She was here.”
“Her car is parked outside.”
Baine walked slowly down the length of the bar and around the room. A five-man jazz band played what sounded like a remix of some hippie sixties song. As Baine walked into the back, the saxophonist started a long solo.
At a table against the back wall, Baine stopped. He closed his eyes. She’d been here. He bent and sniffed the seat. The Russian had sat opposite her.
Antonio stood beside an old diving suit and called to Baine. “Over here, lion man.”
“She went in there?” Baine indicated the lady’s room.
“Her scent is all over the place. I’m going in.” Antonio threw open the door to the women’s bathrooms and walked inside. Baine followed.
“She was afraid,” Antonio said. “I can smell her fear.” He had his head inside the door of the first stall.
“I smell something else, vamp. I smell plushie.” Baine banged on the walls of the stall. The wall behind the toilet echoed. “There could be a way into the underground city back there. This is near those tunnels that connect with old Seattle one floor below street level.”
Antonio laid his hand on the back wall. A woman tried to come into the restroom, but Baine slammed the door in her face and growled. “Use the men’s room. This one’s out of order.”
“I can feel open space behind this wall. I’m going through it.”
Baine nodded. “Do what you gotta, man.”
Antonio rammed his shoulder into the wall and it easily gave way, opening on three hinges. “This is a door.”
“No shit,” Baine said as he followed Antonio into a small space.
Antonio bent down and pushed aside a piece of carpet, revealing a trapdoor. He lifted it, and both men descended the steps. At the bottom, a long tunnel shot off in the general direction of the harbor. “This is ancient,” Antonio said.
“I can smell her here, bloodsucker. She was here, and she was scared.”
“I can smell her fear as well.” Antonio hissed, revealing fangs.
Baine knew how Antonio felt. He had to fight to keep from changing. When he was angry or threatened, his mountain lion alter ego fought for dominance.
They raced down the tunnel, the scent of Alex growing stronger with each stride. When the tunnel opened into a large room, they slid to a stop. An empty cage stood against one wall. Baine ran to it. Inside, he found a bucket with feces and urine, several blankets wadded in a corner, and ten sets of manacles hanging from the bars. The place reeked of fear. Crazy, wild emotions fed his nostrils. He rubbed his face and shoved his hair out of his eyes.
Antonio searched the larger room, finding a storage closet and an exit. “Over here, cat man.” He held up a purple dinosaur plushie suit. “The plushies are helping the Russians. We need to hurry. I can sense Alexandra, but she is growing more and more distant.”
“You can sense her?”
“Yes, cat man, I have other senses. Things you know nothing about. I can feel Alexandra’s essence, her life force. She’s in trouble and not that far from us. I found another tunnel.”
Baine lifted the plushie suit and committed the wearer’s scent to memory. It must be pretty hot inside those fur costumes because there was plenty of smell to memorize.
The two of them raced down the long tunnel leading out of the room. “This leads to the docks,” Baine said.
Water dripped off the ceiling, and more puddles appeared. The corridor began sloping up.
“I hope we’re not too late,” Antonio said.
“Why do you say that?”
“She is growing further away. It is as though she is riding on something moving faster and faster.”
“Then we gotta move faster.”
The tunnel ended at a strong metal door with reinforced bars of steel. It was locked. Antonio hit it with his shoulder and got nothing. Baine ripped off his clothes, morphed into a rhino and rammed it with his horn. The door buckled. He hit it again, and the huge steel-plated door flew into the night.
“That’s a pretty handy trick, my friend. I thought you were a mountain lion.”
“I prefer the mountain lion. I identify with that particular shape. But if I’ve seen a shape, I can be it.” Baine shrugged back into his clothes, and they took off running. The doorway came out inside a metal building with a huge open garage-type door. They ran through it and found themselves on a set of long wharfs. The dock closest to the building was empty, the black water of the harbor still rippling in the wake of the huge steamer being led into the bay by a pilot boat.
“She’s on that ship,” Antonio said. “I can hear her heart beating. I can sense her desperation and fear.”
“We need to get on that boat.” Baine began running along the dock, looking for a way to follow the ship.
“Forget it, my friend. We’re too late. If we are to save Alexandra, we need to find out where she’s going.”
“Can you read the name of the ship?” Baine asked.
“I can just make it out. It’s Russian, looks like the Volodarskiy.”
Baine took a small notebook out of his jacket pocket and wrote the name down. “This will help. But I think we can find out a lot more if we locate the plushie.”
“What do you have in mind, cat man?”
“Well, my friend, between the two of us, I think we should be able to extract any information he possesses.”
Chapter 7
Alex and Lyle huddled together in the back of the dimly lit shipping container. After being brought aboard, the slaves were run into the box and the door sealed. As it slammed shut, the sound of chains rattled and the container weaved and wobbled and swung around.
Chaos broke out among the ten other women. They screamed and ran to the far side. The container tilted. Lyle and Alex lay flat and held onto the metal floor with the tips of their fingers.
“You’re causing it to tilt!” Alex screamed. “Crawl into the middle and hold on.”
The women listened to her, and the floor of the container finally leveled out. Lyle clung to Alex’s arm and sobbed.
Alex guessed they were being lowered into the bowels of the ship. The container finally hit bottom, landing with a thump and a bounce that jarred her teeth. Minutes later, the door flew open and they were all hustled out into a dark cargo area filled with other containers, crates, boxes and barrels stacked to the ceiling. The rusty gray metal decking was cold beneath her bare feet. Lyle clung to
her and shivered.
They faced two Russians. The small and blonde one had delicate bones and a sharp, aggressive face. The other one was a black bear of a man, huge with matted hair spilling out over the top of his T-shirt and cuffs. He wore a full, black beard, and his thick curly hair was pulled into a pony tail at the base of his neck.
“You,” Bear Man pointed at Alex. “You, over here.” He pointed to a spot behind him.
Alex was confused and terrified. She didn’t want to leave Lyle. When the small aggressive one darted over and grabbed her arm, she followed him quietly. There was no point in fighting. She had to befriend these men. If they were to be her guards, then they were the only key out the door.
The light-haired guard signaled a tall, leggy blonde woman out of the pack. He put her behind Bear Man. Then he grabbed Lyle’s arm. Alex could swear she saw them make a connection. Something bright gleamed in Lyle’s eyes. It looked like hope.
The three of them were led away from the pack by the intense blonde. He wore camo pants, a skin-tight black T-shirt, black shoes with pointed toes and a short-waisted brown leather jacket with zippered pockets.
He made Lyle walk in front of him. Lyle’s plump rear end wagged back and forth in clear invitation. If she hadn’t been naked, freezing cold, shivering and scared to death, Alex would have laughed. Good for you, Lyle.
They were put into separate cabins on an upper deck. Alex surveyed hers. It was little more than a closet with pull-down bunks, a small book shelf, and a tiny bathroom and shower. The blonde entered for a moment, pulled the bunk down and showed her the shelves on the wall and the small reading light. There was a set of gray scrubs on the bunk.
As soon as she was alone, she dressed. The scrubs were loose, comfortable and concealing. She could have shouted with joy. Being deprived of her clothing had made her feel vulnerable and helpless. Just putting on the thin layer of crisp, clean cotton gave her a whole new outlook. She had no idea why she was here or what was planned for her, but she was covered.
She lay on the bunk and immediately dropped into a deep sleep. She hadn’t realized how exhausted her ordeal had made her.
When she woke up, she had a terrifying moment where she didn’t know where she was, and then she remembered. The first thing she did was get up and try the door. It was locked.
The shower was tiny, but it actually had hot water. She almost didn’t get in because she was afraid to take off the scrubs. But she finally forced herself to shower and wash her hair with the plain bar of soap provided. It would probably dry like frizz, but she wasn’t trying for attractive.
She’d just pulled on her pants when the door flew open. The tiny Russian woman who’d shoved her into Hank Mew Mew’s arms in the Blue Oyster stood in the doorway and stared at her out of those dark eyes. She carried a riding crop in one hand and a leather bag in the other.
“Stand in the middle of the room,” she ordered. “My name is Mina. For this long journey, you belong to me. It is my job to teach you how to behave in your new position in the world. You are already spoken for. Your passage is paid and the cabin is yours. In your new life, you will be a slave, a sex slave. You must learn to do everything I say immediately and without question.”
Mina slapped her hand with the thick, leather crop. “Failure to obey will result in quick and severe punishment. There are only so many days to teach you how to behave. You will learn, or you will be disciplined. We have many ways of chastising reluctant slaves.”
Mina pointed to the floor. “On your knees, slave.”
Alex stared hard at the Russian woman’s face, read total commitment in her eyes and no remorse or pity. She did as she was told.
Mina opened the bag and removed a stout, black leather collar which she buckled around Alex’s throat. It was so thick she was forced to keep her chin lifted and rest it on the collar. Mina snapped a leash on it and jerked Alex to her feet.
“Remove your clothes.”
Alex closed her eyes and sighed. The crop was immediately applied to her back.
“Slaves do not sigh. They have no opinion that is not that of their master. Remove your clothes.”
Alex kicked off the scrub pants and pulled the top over her head. Mina threaded the leash through it. Alex wanted to touch the welt on her back. It stung fiercely.
“Now, we have a proper slave in front of us. She is naked and wears the collar of her master. So, slave, lift your breasts and show them to me.”
Utterly humiliated, but terrified of Mina and her punishment, Alex closed her eyes and lifted her breasts.
“I did not tell you to close your eyes.” This statement was followed by a sharp whack on her naked rear by the crop. The loud smack echoed through the small room.
Alex opened her eyes and saw that Mina’s were hot and narrow. Oh god, the woman was turned on.
“Now, you will show me your sex. Open it and display the sweet, pink interior to me.”
Humiliation had never turned Alex on. But the woman’s blatant desire and the complete depravity of her subjugation was somehow making her hot. Her face flamed as she folded the lips of her sex back and revealed her inner labia and clitoris.
“Do not close your eyes. Keep them on my face.”
Alex stared at Mina’s narrow face and sharp nose. The woman’s licked her lips. “Pull the hood of your clitoris back and show me the nub inside.”
As though in a dream, Alex did as she was told.
“You must tilt your hips forward and spread your legs so I can see better.”
Alex tucked her buttocks under and opened her thighs, exposing herself grotesquely to the heated gaze of the Russian.
Mina moved closer. She stroked Alex’s slick sex, running her fingers around the moist opening and up to pinch her swollen clit. “You are wet. That is good. Keep looking me in the eyes. Do not watch what I am doing.”
Tears leaked down her face. It soon became apparent Mina was an expert at manipulating female sex organs. She used both hands, penetrating Alex with two fingers while she chafed the clit with the fingers of her other hand. In seconds, her clever caresses elicited moans from Alex. The physical sensations, combined with her humiliation, had her approaching orgasm at breakneck speed. She was almost there, her thighs tensing, juice lubricating Mina’s fingers as they massaged her exposed clit and circled her opening. Just as she sucked in her breath, ready to explode, Mina stopped.
“Lesson number one: slaves have orgasms only when given permission. Your concern is for the master’s pleasure, not your own.”
Alex felt like the air had been let out of her. Suddenly she was cold and terribly aware of her nudity. Mina shut the door and locked it behind her. She dropped her trousers, and Alex flicked her gaze low enough to see she wore no panties.
“Go down.”
Alex dropped to her knees. She could smell Mina’s arousal and see it in the full, heavy labia and the moisture on the insides of her thighs.
“Pleasure me, slave.”
Alex’s own sex still throbbed. She was unbearably excited, but she’d never been with a woman before. Mina tapped her naked thigh with the end of the crop, and Alex almost peed herself.
“I said pleasure me, slave.”
Alex tentatively opened Mina’s thick labia. The woman had shaved, so her mound was as smooth as silk. She remembered how Antonio had sucked her lips and pulled Mina’s swollen flesh into her mouth. She inserted two fingers in the opening, stretching it and circling it while she sucked first one lip them the other. Then she began massaging Mina’s bright red clitoris.
The Russian lifted her hips so it was easier for Alex to reach. “Put your tongue in my hole while you rub my clit,” she ordered.
Alex did as she was told, shoving her tongue in and out to mimic the movements of a penis. While she laved the inside of Mina’s opening, she rubbed the hard berry of her clit faster and faster. Above her, Mina’s breath quickened. She panted, moaned and grabbed Alex’s damp hair, shoving her face hard against her bod
y.
Alex slurped, licked and rubbed frantically until Mina finally tensed and groaned. When she released Alex’s hair, Alex fell onto her backside, nostrils distended, sex throbbing.
Mina pushed her onto the carpet. “Spread,” she ordered.
Happy to oblige, Alex opened her legs. Mina hovered over her, pinching her erect nipples hard, squeezing her swollen breasts. “Tell me what you want, slave.”
Alex squirmed under Mina, trying to rub herself against the woman’s legs like a dog in heat.
“Beg me for it.”
“Please,” Alex gasped.
“Please what? Say it, slave.”
“Please pleasure me, mistress?”
Mina smiled. “Good slave. No, I will not.”
Laughing, Mina stood up and pulled her pants on.
Alex crawled into a sitting position and dropped her head into her hands. She’d groveled like a bitch in heat in front of this woman, begged for release and been denied. Her sex ached. She longed to touch herself. One touch would surely be all that was needed.
“Get up.” Mina pointed to two corners of the room. “You are being watched constantly. Even in the toilet there is a camera. If we see you touch yourself for any reason, you will be punished, not by me, but by one of the men. This, I think, you will not like.”
Laughing, Mina touched her crotch. “Good slave.”
Chapter 8
Lyle’s captor, the gorgeous blonde Russian, pushed him into a small cabin. “This will be your home, slave.”
Lyle shivered and looked around at the spare furnishings. The blonde pulled down one of the bunks and pointed out a set of scrubs. “You may dress.”
Lyle scrambled into the crisp, clean garments.
“Sit.”
Lyle collapsed onto the bunk.
“From now on, you will do everything you are told quickly and without complaint. Your passage has been paid for. You have been paid for. You are now a sex slave. I will leave you to rest. When I come back, be ready for me.”
The Secret, the Shifter and the Sex- Slave Shanghai Page 5