by Mia Ashlinn
“I have an idea,” Delancey announced. “Anyone interested?”
Throwing his hand up for any naysayers, Deke nodded. “Yes, Delancey.”
Smirking, Delancey asked, “He doesn’t know that you guys are on to him, correct?”
“Yes,” Deke replied as he focused on Delancey, everyone around him fading from his sight. “Well, we think he doesn’t.”
“Call him,” she replied easily. “Pretend nothing is up, and play with him. Watch the bastard squirm. Lure him in and trap him. Then we’ll all go after the motherfucker and take him down.”
Hale nodded. “BR is a narcissistic bastard. He wants to be the center of attention. Let’s play on that.”
It sounded like a plan. And right now, that’s what Deke needed. He would try anything, including tempting the devil himself.
Reaching into his pocket, Deke pulled out his cell phone. “Fine, I’ll call. But someone needs to get a hold of Reed. He can get Chief Widener and the others gathered together. We’re going to need their help. And notify the police in Serenity. Belle, Ash, and Keegan have to be told what’s going on.”
Hale whipped out his phone. But before he called anyone, he said, “Belle and Ash are already at Sarah’s apartment building with Reed and Tristan. I just talked—”
Deke didn’t listen to another word his right-hand man said. Instead, he looked up the number of his enemy in his contact list on his phone then dialed the number. With a thudding heart, he waited to see what happened.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
* * * *
Sarah heard Gavin’s phone ring as he pulled in front of what looked like a giant hunting lodge. Or at least, it looked like a stuck-up version of a hunting lodge. This wasn’t a place for real people. It was a mansion for the rich.
“Hello, Deke,” Gavin whispered into his phone silkily, distracting her from her perusal of the place where someone might very well die today. “How are you?”
Gavin’s completely calm persona amazed Sarah. Most people would show some sort of emotion, but he didn’t. He sounded perfectly at ease, and he looked it too. If she handed him a cigar and a Hawaiian shirt, he wouldn’t look any more at peace.
As she listened, realization struck. He was talking to Deke. My Deke. Freaking out, she checked on Adam in the backseat. But he was still out of it. Crap.
“That’s good to hear,” Gavin said as he obviously continued his conversation. “Ah, I’m perfect.”
Narrowing her eyes on him, Sarah noticed something, something disturbing. He was rubbing his crotch frantically as he talked to Deke. With his eyes closed, he looked seconds away from coming in his pants. Oh my gosh. He’s got a thing for…Deke! Then she realized something else. That’s who he thinks Adam stole from him.
Her palms broke out in a sweat as she reached for her buckle and released it. As soon as her buckle clicked, Gavin manacled her wrist, shooting her a look that really scared her. Then something Deke said made him laugh, and he seemed to lose interest in her.
“Yeah, Deke. I would love to get together sometime soon.” Nodding, he added. “Actually, I’m at my dad’s lodge today. Why don’t you come up for lunch?” Pausing, he glanced at his watch. “Say in an hour?”
Going quiet, Gavin leered at her. “I have a couple of things I need to do first.”
She’d bet he did.
“Sounds good,” he murmured then hung up. Turning to her, he gloated, “Your other Dom is coming. He’s going to be here as soon as he can drive the distance. That should give us about an hour. We need to get you dressed up and Adam dressed down before he arrives. I would hate for Deke to miss all the action.”
“You’re going to make him watch?” she croaked, disgusted and horrified at the same time. “Seriously? That’s just…heinous.”
Gavin patted her leg condescendingly. “Sarah, Deke gets off on pain. All Doms do. They like to pretend they don’t. But they’re lying to themselves.”
Not for one moment did Sarah believe Gavin. Doms didn’t enjoy pain for the sake of pain. But she didn’t say so. Right now wasn’t the best time to provoke the psycho. Although, she wanted to. Now that she knew what BDSM really was, what it stood for, she didn’t like people stereotyping the lifestyle like that.
“Let’s get in the lodge,” Gavin ordered. “I have a surprise for you.”
Why did that make her want to vomit? Oh yeah, because he’s a freaking wackjob. However, she found herself nodding and doing as he said. She feared if she didn’t, he would change his mind and kill Adam on the spot. And she wasn’t going to leave him to his death. She loved him too much to walk away.
Emerging from the car, she mounted the steps without being forced, despising her weakness every step of the way. As she reached the door, she waited for Gavin. When he joined her on the porch, he had a still-knocked-out Adam over his shoulder. “Damn, he’s a big boy. I guess it’s a good thing I work out.”
Instead of unlocking the door like a normal person, Gavin flexed his opposite arm as though he were attempting to impress her. But Sarah didn’t rise to his posturing. Right now, the best thing for her and Adam was to remain quiet. No provocation. No arguing. Just silence.
Stealing a quick breath, she remained by Gavin’s side, inaudibly reminding herself a hundred times over that Deke was coming. He would save them. She knew he would. All she had to do was stall Gavin and keep him away from Adam as much as possible for the next hour.
She could do that. Right?
Chapter 20
Adam came awake slowly. Confused, he tried to figure out what was going on, but nothing made sense. Everything he saw was fuzzy and distorted. Not that he saw much. Something black blocked his vision, a silky fabric covering his eyes. Blindfold. And he was tied to something, a cold, hard something. Wooden chair.
Breathing as evenly as possible, he pretended to be passed out so he could buy himself some time. He needed something, anything, to help him out of this mess. But with no vision, he had little to go on. Opening his ears to the noises around him, he strained to hear, but it was deathly quiet, unnervingly so. He attempted to smell the scent of the room. However, it was useless. The air was too acrid, too damp, for him to make a connection beyond the mustiness. And the temperature wasn’t much help, either. The room was warmer than the outdoors but far cooler than the average room. However, with his clothes off, he struggled to determine even that. What the fuck? Where am I? And why am I naked?
The door opening caught Adam’s attention, but not as much as the voice of the man who stepped inside the room. “Ah, Adam has returned to the land of the living. And he has such wonderful timing.” He clapped something, probably his hands, the crack echoing in the space around them. “He can watch me undress you for your bath, slave.”
A soft gasp came from a woman, presumably Sarah. “I don’t need to take a bath. I–I took one this morning.”
The man snorted. “You need another. Fucking a mangy mutt with the man I love is hardly appealing. So I want you to smell lovely and be as soft as a glove when Deke gets here. Then together, he and I can make you dirty and sweaty.”
God, Adam wished he could get this blindfold off. But his hands were bound, as were his legs. For all intents and purposes, he was incapacitated while a madman had Sarah with him. And to top it off, Deke was coming—here—to the stalker’s lair. From the sounds of it, he would be here soon. Fuck.
“I saw her take a bath,” Adam taunted, lying through his teeth. “I was with her.” He forced a chuckle. “I helped wash her back, you know?”
“Bastard,” the unknown man growled before putting his fist into Adam’s stomach. “I’m going to enjoy taking you down a notch or two. But I will enjoy torturing you more.”
Adam grunted, but didn’t give the man any more satisfaction than that. Instead, he lifted his lips in a cocky, devil-may-care smile. “Good luck with that, buddy.”
“I’m not your buddy,” he snapped as he ripped the blindfold over Adam’s head. “I never was.”
/> Adam’s jaw dropped when he saw their abductor. “BR?”
The brown-haired man smirked back at him. “The one and only.”
Damn. Adam would never have thought BR had it in him. He might be a sadistic Dom, but he’d always seemed to have a wussy streak, too. Other than being an asshole occasionally, he’d appeared completely harmless. Apparently, he wasn’t.
“Adam, who’s BR? This is Gavin.”
Holy fuck. BR was Gavin. That’s what Deke had been trying to tell him on the phone, and he’d missed it. Now they were in a shitload of trouble because he’d been too distracted to listen to his partner. “Sweet pea, this”—he paused to rake a condescending gaze over BR—“loser is from Serenity. Deke’s known him for years. Hell, I have, too.”
Sarah gasped, her face leaching of color. “What? I thought I knew everyone in Serenity.”
BR laughed, the sound more evil than amused. “Sarah, I lived there when you were in diapers. Back then, you weren’t worth a minute of my time.” He stepped toward Sarah and jerked her to him.
Adam cringed as he saw Sarah freeze. “Don’t touch her,” he gritted out, knowing full well that BR wasn’t going to listen. But he couldn’t stand by quietly as BR touched his woman.
Grinning, BR lifted his hand and revealed a pair of surgical scissors that Adam hadn’t noticed before. Without waiting, he turned then blocked Sarah from Adam’s eyesight as he did something. Only Adam had no clue what he was doing. But from the sound of Sarah’s hyperventilation, it had to be something bad.
Unable to control the rage tearing through his system, Adam jerked against his bindings. “Get away from her,” he demanded. Again, BR didn’t stop. He merely laughed maniacally.
“You don’t get to order me around anymore,” BR muttered as he rounded on Adam. “I’m the boss now. Remember that.” He stepped aside and revealed Sarah. She was exposed but not nude. Thank God.
He’d cut her sweater dress down the front, which had her bra and underwear playing peek-a-boo. For once, he was eternally grateful that she hadn’t listened to their no-underwear rule. If she had…
He shuddered at the possibilities. “That’ll be a cold day in hell.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be seeing hell soon enough, but not yet. I owe you a lot of torture before I watch the life drain out of your vile, disgusting body.” His lips thinned, an expression of disgust settling over his face. “I’m going to love watching your face when I fuck Deke’s hot ass in front of you. I’m going to relish every plea that slips from your mouth as I whip Sarah until she bleeds.” He trembled. “The thought of the filthy things I’m going to do to the people you love while you watch makes my dick so hard it fucking hurts.”
Knowing how upset Sarah would be, Adam slid his gaze to her face. He ended up regretting that action because he faltered, his mind centering on her rather than the psycho next to her.
Sarah’s averted eyes shone with unshed tears, and she was gnawing at her bottom lip, the flesh bleeding lightly from her teeth. “Gavin, I think you’re right. I need a bath. Can we go upstairs now? I’m cold.”
Adam felt bile rise to his throat. She was sacrificing herself for him. He couldn’t let that happen. “Come over here, sweet pea, and sit on my lap. I’ll keep you warm.”
Predictably, BR stormed across the small space to Adam. He hauled his fist back then let it fly, this time going for his eye. “You bastard. I won’t let you touch her ever again. She’s mine.”
Adam ignored BR, looking straight at Sarah unwaveringly. His eyes begged her not to do what he suspected she was going to do. But she shook her head and said, “No, Adam”—she gulped—“Gavin can keep me warm. He’s done it before. He can do it again. I’ll be fine.”
But Adam knew she wouldn’t be. The man had almost destroyed her once. He would do it again, if he had the chance. And right now, he had the chance.
“Yeah Adam, I’ll keep her warm,” Gavin taunted with a smug smile. “While you freeze your ass off, remember what I’ll be doing. I’ll be upstairs with the woman you love, washing her body, kissing her lips, and warming her from head to toe. If I have enough time before Deke arrives, she’s going to blow me, too.”
Sarah closed her eyes, swallowing visibly. “Gavin, he isn’t worth it. Let’s get upstairs. Deke’s on his way. We wouldn’t want to keep him waiting. Would we?”
Gavin’s eyes lit up at the mention of Deke. “No, we wouldn’t. I’ve been waiting for years to top that man.”
If it wouldn’t have gotten him knocked out, Adam would have laughed at BR. This man really was delusional. Deke would never allow BR to top him. He’d kill him first. Then again, chances were he would anyway. His partner wouldn’t take this whole fucked-up scenario lying down.
But Adam couldn’t laugh or taunt BR about this. He just couldn’t risk being any more incapacitated than he already was. So rather than dig his own grave, he bit his tongue and held back.
Lifting one hand, BR curled his fingers around the nape of Sarah’s neck then kissed her until Adam nearly gagged. She didn’t appear to fight him nor did she participate. She was a mannequin, and BR was the horny teen boy pawing her plastic body.
When BR released Sarah, he took her hand in his. “Come on. We have better things to do than deal with the trash. I’ll throw him out later—much, much later.”
Dropping her eyes to the floor, she nodded. Then without looking at him, she let BR guide her away. Adam screamed for her, but she didn’t respond. She kept going until she disappeared.
Even though he sounded like a sissy, he continued to desperately call out for her—louder and louder with each yell. But eventually, he gave up. Not because he wanted to, but because his voice was hoarse and was no longer carrying even a few feet from him.
With a sigh, he dropped his head down, scrambling to come up with some way to help her, some way to help him and Deke, too. If he didn’t figure something out soon, he would lose his mind. He couldn’t handle Sarah getting hurt again, not at the hands of BR or Gavin or whatever the fuck he wanted to be called. He would lose it. Although, deep down, he suspected he already had.
* * * *
Sarah sank down into a bathtub brimming with bubbles nearly an hour later. She sighed wearily as Gavin helped situate her. The feel of his hands on her nude body made her want to retch, but she managed to hold it in. She had to in order to keep him from flying off the handle and hurting Adam because of her.
Just as he got her settled, he reached for the shampoo. Flipping the top open, he poured some of the milky white liquid in his free hand. “We’ll have to replace that car of yours,” he randomly remarked like small talk was perfectly normal in this situation. “The engine is garbage now that I locked it up.”
Attempting to stall, Sarah asked, “Really? Um…what did you do?”
He rubbed the shampoo between his two hands. “Loosened the drain plug until it was nearly out,” he commented offhandedly. “I figured that we would get you something a little nicer anyway. Now that you have me and Deke, we can afford anything you want.”
Sarah held back her scoff. Like Deke and Adam couldn’t buy her anything she wanted, if she asked them to. Not that she would. Money couldn’t buy the things she wanted in life. But obviously, this nutcase didn’t understand that concept.
Pasting on a smile big enough to make her cheeks hurt, she choked out, “I’m going to be such a spoiled girl.”
“Yes, you will be,” he replied. “You give me what I want. I’ll give you what you want.”
Sarah figured it was better to not ask what he wanted. He’d told her plenty of his plans for her when they were together a year ago. And she definitely didn’t want or need a reminder. Thankfully, the doorbell rang, and she didn’t have to respond. Deke!
“Oh, good. He’s here.” Gavin smiled, his too-pretty teeth shining oddly in the overhead lighting. “You stay here. I’ll get him and bring him up. I’m sure he’ll want to see our toy before we eat.”
Sarah nodded dumb
ly. “I’ll be fine.” She couldn’t get away, even if she wanted to. He’d tied her up so he could get himself ready for Deke. For some insane reason, he didn’t trust her to not run. Apparently, he didn’t know her as well as he thought. She wouldn’t abandon anyone with him, especially not Adam or Deke.
“Don’t drown.” He chuckled. “I’m not into that sort of thing.”
As soon as he was gone, she fluttered her eyes closed. She was exhausted. She’d spent every minute since they’d returned upstairs trying to keep Gavin entertained. She’d chattered and flirted and done whatever she had to. Now, she wanted to crawl into a hole. But she couldn’t because Deke was here.
Breathing deeply, she waited for what seemed like several lifetimes. Finally, the voice of two male voices drifted down the hallway and into the master bedroom.
“I’m so glad you called. I found your sub a couple of miles down the road,” Gavin lied. “She was stranded. So I brought her here. She’s in the bathtub waiting for you.”
“Thank you, BR. She’s bad about getting herself into situations. Then I have to get her out of them.” He sighed, sounding bored. “You know how women can be.”
“Yeah. Fucking them is so much better than dealing with them. And Sarah is a handful. Huh?”
As if.
Deke went silent, not answering Gavin. When he appeared at the door to the bathroom, she understood why. He’d been close enough to not keep up pretenses any more than necessary. As he stepped into the bathroom, he closed the distance between them, kissing her fiercely. “Hello, Sassy. It seems like you’ve had a very bad day.” His eyes bored into hers. “Haven’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes. I could use a glass of wine. But Gavin said I had to wait until you got here.” She hoped that he caught her drift. “Do I have to wait? I’m terribly thirsty.”
Watching her carefully, Deke shook his head. “Why don’t you get out and we can run and get some?”
Gavin narrowed his eyes on her. “Deke, you go and relax. I’ll get the wine and then take care of Sarah.”