by Mia Ashlinn
“Hi, Hale.”
He nodded politely, his tanned face giving nothing away. “Come with me.” He didn’t wait to see if she followed. He simply spun on his heel and walked away, patently assuming she would come along.
Used to his aloof ways, she didn’t even bat an eyelash. Instead, she followed behind him in silence. As he led her to her old room, nerves assaulted her senses, and she started shaking like a leaf in the midst of a furious storm.
Focus. Move. Breathe. Somehow, she did all three of those things. She actually managed to make it all the way to their destination without having a heart attack. That was good, right?
“In here,” Hale clipped out as he did the fingerprint thing and unlocked the door before opening it.
When Sarah could see inside the suite, she gasped.
* * * *
On the other end of The Edge’s parking lot in his Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible, a man reached for his door handle but stopped abruptly when he spotted someone in the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw her. He saw his Sarah walking toward the club.
As he watched her closely, he admired his prized possession. She was unbelievable, everything he’d ever wanted—sweet, innocent, and pretty as a picture.
God, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. He would demoralize her, making her into a sullied, depraved whore like all the women in his past. Then he would collar her and install her in his home as a slave.
Every day, she would serve him both in and out of the bedroom. Sure, he would keep his household staff. After all, he was a generous man. But she would be expected to do the majority of their work. Cooking, cleaning, and fucking him would be just the beginning of her duties. He could already visualize bending her over the sink and ramming her from behind as she hand-washed his dishes.
He smirked as Sarah disappeared into the club. It was hard to believe that she’d started out as a means to an end. Not anymore. Now, she was his, his perfect little toy, his perfect little slave. And the pièce de résistance was she would hand him the only other toy he’d ever wanted to play with—Deke.
Chapter 13
“Katie-Anne! Jaycee! Shannon!”
The three names barely escaped Sarah’s lips before the women came barreling toward her, squealing her name and jerking her into the massive bedroom with them. They grabbed her in a giant group hug, dancing around awkwardly, stumbling more than once over each other’s feet.
Time passed, but it held no meaning for Sarah. These three girls were her friends. They were practically her sisters. And she’d missed them. Oh, how she’d missed them. Their daily phone calls always helped, but sometimes a woman needed to see her girlfriends and do things with them. Like this.
When they finally slowed, Sarah pulled back with what had to be a goofy grin. “What are you guys doing here?”
Jaycee, being typical Jaycee, said, “If you’re getting laid tonight, we have to get you ready.”
Sarah giggled. That was Jaycee all right. The petite blonde had a wicked sense of humor, and she had no issues with being blunt. Obviously.
“Jaycee,” Katie-Anne scolded with a firm frown, but she ruined her stern face when she snickered. Throwing her long black, pink, and orange streaked hair over her shoulder, she shrugged. “We’re just here for a simple day of R & R.”
“So we can get you laid,” Shannon added, her golden eyes dancing mischievously. “God knows I want to hear about Deke and Adam. Those two are so fucking hot they hurt my damn eyes. If I weren’t married and pregnant, I would totally fight you for them.” Grinning cheekily, she tapped her chin. “Mud fight?” Eyeing her, she shook her head. “Nah. I’m thinking a wet T-shirt fight should do it. Bigger boobs trump perky.”
Sarah laughed.
“Bigger is not always better,” Jaycee declared as she lowered her eyes and stared at her own chest. “Quality counts for something.”
Katie-Anne crossed her arms. “Shut up, you freaks. We have lots to do and not much time.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Hey, girls! Get in here.”
That was when Sarah got a real look at the bedroom she stood in. Her jaw dropped. The suite that had once been hers had been transformed into a spa. “Wow.” She sighed as she spun around, taking in her surroundings.
On the opposite side of the room, someone had set up four massage tables and arranged them in line with each other by the window. At one end of the elongated tables, four massive leather chairs sat clumped together. And on the other side was a ginormous table covered with beauty supplies and equipment that even a spa owner would envy. Seeing that she used to own Sassy Salon and Spa in Serenity, she would know.
And what was that smell? Vanilla blended with the merest hint of something floral. Maybe lavender, if she were guessing. Whatever it was, the clean scent calmed her, wrapping her in its peaceful blanket, soothing her with its endless warmth.
Speaking of peace and warmth, shimmering candles distributed throughout the room glowed in the darkness the women had created by covering the windows with heavy midnight-blue drapes. The teardrop-shaped flames burned steadily in the still silence, creating a harmonious atmosphere, a tranquil ambiance.
As usual, Jaycee cut through the quiet, distracting Sarah from the home spa with her loud voice. “Faith! Madison! Where are you two knuckleheads?”
“Faith? Madison?” Sarah asked, practically vibrating with excitement. Her former employees were dolls. They’d regrettably lost touch after Sarah had sold Sassy’s to Faith a few months back.
As though conjured up, a tiny brunette appeared. “I’m here,” Faith said, shy as always. “Are you ready for a massage?”
Behind her, a second woman emerged from the en suite bathroom, this time a buxom blonde. “Are you ready for me?”
Sarah’s eyes widened when she saw the sly twinkle in Madison’s eyes. Her friend had a sadistic streak, and she was diabolical with her wax. “Um.”
“I’ll be super careful,” Madison assured her with a too-sweet smile.
Shannon snorted. “I’ll just bet, you monster. I remember how careful you can be.”
Elbowing Shannon, Jaycee scoffed. “Don’t scare sweet Sarah. You’re just a wimp.”
Shannon stuck her tongue out at her blue-eyed best friend. “I think I’ll stick to shaving my own pussy, thank you very much.”
Sarah tried to breathe. She knew that she could opt to shave, and Deke and Adam would accept that. But she also knew they had an affinity for waxing. Since she wanted to please them, she mumbled, “Let’s get this over with, Madison.”
Sarah’s tall, willowy sister-in-law slung her arm around her as she looked down at her. “You act as though someone is going to torture you,” Katie-Anne said. “It’s not that bad. I let Madison wax me all the time. She’s a pro.”
How easy they forget who had trained Madison. “I know. I taught her.”
“She did,” Faith said helpfully.
Rubbing her hands together, Madison came toward Sarah. “Personally, I think it’s time for the student to become the teacher.”
Katie-Anne guided Sarah toward the bathroom. “There’s a robe and slippers in there with your name on them. Let Madison take care of your girlie parts. She’ll show you her mad pussy-waxing skills. When you come back out, the girls and I will have the snacks and drinks waiting. Sound good?”
Sarah nodded dumbly before slipping into the bathroom with Madison. A short time later, she emerged again.
“She survived,” Shannon announced over the relaxing music flowing out of the CD player next to her.
Jaycee, Katie-Anne, and Faith turned toward her with expectant grins.
“I survived,” Sarah muttered, strolling over to the women sitting in the four chairs. Barely. Ouch. That flipping hurt.
As soon as she was within a few feet of them, Faith shot out of her seat. “Here. This is your seat.”
“I’m fine. No big—”
Before she knew it, Madison shoved her into the seat Faith had just vacated. “
Sit down, boss lady.”
Sarah huffed. “I was fine standing up.”
Katie-Anne shook her head. “Stop being stubborn and give us some dirt on those delicious Doms of yours.”
“You mean your brothers-in-law?” Sarah asked with a perfectly straight face. “Should I tell my brother and Shane about your fascination with my Doms? I think your Dom will spank you.”
Shannon chortled. “Sarah said spank!”
Annoyed, Sarah sat up straighter. “Yes, I did. I’m getting quite the vocabulary.”
“Oh really?” Jaycee snorted. “Say fuck.”
Sarah flushed. “I will not dignify your demand.”
“Cunt?” Katie-Anne asked, winking boldly.
“No!” Jaycee exclaimed. “She has to say thundercunt.”
Covering her flaming face with her hands, Sarah shook her head. “You two are awful.”
“Excuse me?” Shannon asked indignantly. “Their potty mouths have nothing on mine, sister. What’s your poison? Skankaroo, cuntasaurus, bitchzilla, or fucknugget?”
Sarah ignored Shannon. And so did everyone else.
“Dirt,” Katie-Anne snarled. “Now.”
“Patience is a virtue,” Jaycee retorted, flashing an angelic look.
“Bite me,” Shannon sneered.
For Pete’s sake. If I don’t dish, they’re going to go off the rails. “Fine,” Sarah grumbled. “What do you want to know?”
“Size?” Jaycee asked.
Shannon glared at the woman next to her. “I thought you said”—pausing, she dramatically air quoted—“Quality counts for something? Did I misunderstand you?”
Jaycee flipped Shannon off.
“I’ve got some time,” Shannon quipped. “Want to slip into the club? We can have wild monkey sex in there.”
Katie-Anne cut the two women off. “Answer her, Sarah, or we’re going to be here all night.” She arched her dark, sculpted eyebrow. “Do you want that?”
“No.” Her answer slipped out before she could call it back. Blushing, she whispered, “Big.”
“Excuse me?” Shannon inquired, cupping her ear and leaning forward. “I don’t think I heard you.”
“Big,” Sarah repeated as she glanced away, settling her eyes on the monogrammed slippers she wore. “Very big.”
Jaycee chuckled. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Do they know how to use those big dicks?”
Sarah about died of mortification on the spot. How did she answer that? Oh Jaycee, they haven’t done anything to me with their cocks. Or Well, I’ve explored their private parts with my hands, but that’s about it. She was going to look like a dork either way.
“I…” Her words died away as she remembered that Hale had brought her up here. Lifting her head, she did a quick scan of the room. “Where’s Hale?”
“Nice try, sweet Sarah. He left,” Shannon declared. “He’s not going to save you.”
Sarah wondered if she could throw a strawberry off the tray beside her at her friend’s head or if that would be childish. Deciding it wouldn’t be appropriate, she gritted her teeth. “I haven’t done anything with their…man parts.”
Jaycee wheezed, “What?”
“Excuse me?” Katie-Anne questioned incredulously.
“You’re joking,” Shannon accused.
Sarah nibbled her lower lip, trying to figure out what to say next. “Well, they just wanted me to get used to their touch. You know…after the attack and all, they’re worried about me. It’s kind of sweet actually.”
Three curses ripped through the air, a sudden tension raining down on them.
Shannon recovered first. “How are you doing with that?” she asked, her notorious inner mama bear making an appearance.
“Better,” Sarah replied. The ease of her answer astounded her. “Much better.”
“Good,” Katie-Anne mumbled as she got to her feet and grabbed a bottle of water. Twisting off the cap, she sucked down a healthy portion of the bottle. “That’s, um, good.”
Of everyone, her sister-in-law knew the most about Gavin. She’d told her in the hospital after the attack.
* * * *
Serenity General Hospital, February of last year…
Lying in the ICU, Sarah was in more pain than she’d ever known. She felt beaten and broken. But the agonizing aches and torturous throbbing were not wholly from the surgery repairing her ruptured spleen and massive internal bleeding she’d just endured. No, Gavin’s damage ran far deeper than that. The embarrassment, the belittling, and the degrading acts he’d put her through in a matter of hours would scar her soul as much as the cuts marring her body.
As Sarah darted her eyes around the room, claustrophobia plagued her. The space felt excruciatingly tight, and she wanted nothing more than to open the lone window and let in some sort of fresh air—preferably the cold kind.
While she’d been still under the influence of anesthesia, someone had evidently cranked the heat up to full blast, causing an unexpected rise in temperature inside the shadowed room. With the sweltering heat wave and the limited light peeking through the tiny slats of the closed blinds, not to mention the pile of blankets they’d covered her with, she felt stifled.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in the air around her, immediately regretting it when the pungent smell of antiseptic burned her nostrils. Wrinkling her nose as though that would rid her of the offending scent, she switched to breathing from her mouth when it didn’t.
Just as she was ready to succumb to sleep, she heard a sigh over the incessant drone of medical machinery. Lifting her too-heavy lids, she watched Katie-Anne ease into her room then stroll over to an open chair by the window. At no point did her sister-in-law look her way.
Katie-Anne kept her eyes averted as she grabbed the chair then lugged it halfway across the room to sit by the bed. Without speaking, she lowered herself into the chair, bracing her elbows on top of her thighs and bending her head down to stare at something on the floor.
Time ticked by. One endless second after another and still, nothing changed.
Finally, Katie-Anne raised her head and looked at Sarah. She immediately winced.
Do I look that bad? She knew she probably did. From what the doctors had said, she was swollen, bruised, and discolored from head to toe. But her surgeon, Dr. Chason Maddock, had refused to let her get a mirror. He thought it would set her back further. As if.
Next to her, Katie-Anne seemed to inspect the blemishes on her face, one by one, before eventually speaking. “Hey, Sarah. How are you doing?” She cleared her throat. “I mean…well, I don’t know what I mean. I’m not really good at this sort of thing.”
Neither was Sarah. She didn’t know what to say or how to act right now. And it wasn’t like she felt up to talking to anyone anyway. Not even to Katie-Anne. She was too tired, and she just wanted to be left alone.
So rather than acknowledging her sister-in-law, Sarah lay silently in the bed. She lifted her gaze to the drop ceiling and bored a hole into the mundane panels. She didn’t move a muscle. Or at least she tried not to.
“So, Sarah…” Katie-Anne trailed off.
Feeling guilty for snubbing her obviously upset sister-in-law, she rotated her head to the right, staring at her, eyeballing her closely. Still though, she didn’t speak. But at the very least, she gave Katie-Anne her attention.
Katie-Anne met her gaze. “So, Sarah,” she repeated. “I heard a bit of juicy gossip in the waiting area. Who would have thought I would find out salacious details about Serenitians in the hospital. Wait. Is that a word? Serenitians.” Katie-Anne smiled. “Okay, probably not. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I heard Ella tell Micah they needed to talk about last night. There was an undertone between them—an ‘oh, baby, I want to strip you naked and fuck you in the closet’ undertone. It was so fucking hot that the two were about to set off the sprinkler system.”
Katie-Anne sounded insane, but Sarah didn’t mind. She needed that normalcy, the comfort to know that not everything in the worl
d was dark and painful.
“I might be exaggerating,” Katie-Anne confessed, “but there were definitely some sparks flying there.” She paused before grinning and prattling on. “Oh! Deke and Adam are here. They’re up to no good—as usual. Whenever all these men get together, things get interesting”—halting midsentence, she winked—“really interesting. Lucky us. Huh?”
As she listened to Katie-Anne ramble, her body loosened, and she felt her breathing slow, relaxing appreciably.
“Let’s see. What else?” Katie-Anne cocked her head to the side, seeming to be rummaging through her mind for more to chatter about. “Ooh, I read one of those tabloid magazines,” she said with a cheeky grin. “They are horrid, I know. But I must admit they give me a good laugh. Well, this one story about Caedon Asher and his special”—she paused to air quote—“friend, Adeline Raine, caught my attention so I flipped over to it.”
Katie-Anne sighed. “Caedon’s that movie-star jerk Ella dated for a while. Anyway, the scandalous story said that Caedon and Adeline are getting married because she’s pregnant with his sextuplets. Can you believe it? That tiny little actress is carrying six babies!” She giggled. “I don’t know what’s more likely—Mr. Playboy getting married or America’s Sweetheart having babies.”
Without thinking, Sarah blurted out, “Me either.” Her voice sounded strangled. Then, unexpectedly, she half-coughed and half-laughed. Well, she mostly coughed. But there was a distinct laugh in there somewhere.
Katie-Anne touched her chest and threw back her head. “Oh, my God. You speak,” she teased.
Sarah sort of laughed again, but this time her amusement turned into a fit of coughs that left her panting for air and groaning in pain.
Katie-Anne leaped out of her seat and grabbed a pitcher of ice water and plastic glass from the nightstand. She poured the clear fluid into the cup then handed it to Sarah.