The Abduction Agreement (Mistress May I Book 1)

by Krieger, D. F.

  “What happened, Paige?” he asked. I appreciated the soft, soothing tone of his voice, and realized I was shaking.

  “Bryce slapped me,” I said, keeping it simple.

  He glanced at the accused over his shoulder, then returned his gaze to me. “I must ask, to be completely fair. Was he given permission to touch you in any way?”

  “No, sir,” I said even as Delilah said, “Absolutely not.”

  Kyle turned to Bryce. “Did you hit this woman?”

  “Bitch was being disrespectful. She insulted me,” he replied with an arrogant huff as he crossed his arms.

  “Because he shoved me up against a wall and sexually harassed me,” I screamed, losing control of my temper. “I’ve told you time and again I’m not interested. Your dick isn’t some magical implement that will suddenly turn me straight, and I’m not interested in being your whipping sex toy. Leave me the fuck alone!”

  “You belong to me,” Bryce bellowed back. “That whore rigged the auction.” He gestured at Delilah. “There was no bidder seventy-three. I won, by all rights. And I can treat my sub any way I see fit.”

  Kyle turned on him and he clenched his fists so hard I could see veins popping out of his arms. “Bryce, you know the rules of the club. You don’t have a contract with Paige, and you didn’t have either Paige’s or Delilah’s permission to touch her. That’s grounds for being banned from Black Cuff. I’m sure if you apologized, we could all go about our day and keep celebrating my birthday and call it good without anything so extreme.”

  “I will apologize when she admits she rigged the auction. She can make it up to me by nullifying the contract, and then we can go draw one up. I will pay you for the amount I bidded on her for. I think that’s reasonable,” Bryce responded.

  “That’s not the way this is going to go.” Kyle shook his head. “Just apologize and we can all move along.”

  “Fuck. You. All.” He said the words slowly as he lifted both hands and flipped us off.

  Kyle let out a sigh and gestured toward the exit. “Bryce, please excuse yourself from my property. Your membership at our establishment is hereby revoked and you will not be allowed further access to the Black Cuff.”

  “Your club is a bunch of pansy ass bullshit anyway. It’s a group of people playing at being Masters. Real Masters don’t take no for an answer and use subs any way they want. That’s what the weak little whores want anyway.” With that, he turned and strode away, heading for the exit. The door slammed so hard it reverberated over the music.

  Everyone turned to me, and I crumbled at the pity on their faces. Tears rolled down my cheeks in burning trails and I sniffled. “I’m sorry, everyone.”

  “No need to apologize,” Heath said as he wrapped his arm around his sub. “We’re just glad we managed to grab him before he hit you a second time.”

  “You saw the first?” I asked, and glanced at Delilah for confirmation.

  “We did,” she said. “We were at the bar waiting for you to come back, and Amy saw him grab you. We didn’t get here in time to stop the first hit.” She pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t save you from that. You’re such a brave girl for standing up to him, though.”

  The tears flowed faster as my adrenaline began to recede. I hugged her tightly and buried my face against her shoulder. “I was so scared. He’s abusing Teresa. I know he is.”

  “Unfortunately, sis, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Kyle said as he patted my back. “She’s going to have to make the choice to get out of it herself. Or call the cops. Now, let’s get you to Brandi because if she sees your face without knowing what happened, Delilah’s life will be at risk.”

  Delilah chuckled. “This is true.”

  I let them lead me to the office. As we walked, I wondered how we appeared to the casual observer. How many people watched the altercation? How many sympathetic looks were being shot my way? I hunched my shoulders and wished we’d never came tonight.

  A hand caressed the small of my back, and I glanced at my Mistress who smiled at me. She was trying to encourage me; I knew it. All I could think about though, was how much I’d messed up and hurt others. Because of me, Teresa was suffering at that bastard’s hands. If I’d never let her come to the club, she’d never have met him. She’d done horrible things, but no one deserved what I knew he was dishing out.

  Delilah also suffered because of me. I didn’t understand why, but my job offer upset her and she’d been acting off all day. Almost depressed. It was my fault.

  Everything is my fault. I’m such a fuck up. Worthless, useless, broken.

  For the first time in weeks, I wanted alcohol so badly I could taste it. I spared the bar a long, wistful look before they ushered me into the office. Heath and his sub broke away and, with slight bows, they excused themselves.

  “Oh my God, what happened to your face?” Brandi asked with wide eyes the minute she saw me. She rose and pressed her fingertips gently against my cheek. “That’s fingerprints. You’ve been... Who the fuck did this!”

  I hissed as her touch brought the pain in my face to life. “It wasn’t Delilah,” I immediately said.

  “I know it wasn’t. Mistress Delilah would never fucking touch you like this. Who did it? Where is the bastard? Or bitch? I’ll kill them myself.” My sister turned to head for the door, and Kyle swooped her into his arms.

  “Easy there, hell cat. I already banned him from the club. He’ll never come here again,” he told her.

  She gazed up at him, and from the profile of her face, she appeared to be scowling at him. “Banned him? That’s all? A slap on the wrist and expelling. Look at Paige! He needs assault charges pressed against him.”

  “No, I don’t want to do that,” I protested. “I just... I want to go home. I don’t ever want to see him again.”

  She stilled in her husband’s arms, then turned to me. “Paige...”

  “You can’t always keep protecting me! I know I’m a fuck up, okay. And I know you are disappointed that I’m not pressing charges. I’m just a big fucking disappointment to everyone. Just ask Delilah,” I shouted. Without another word, I stormed past them and left the office, slamming the door shut behind me.

  I heard someone open it to come after me, but I took off running.

  “Paige, wait!” my Mistress called.

  Overwhelmed, scared, angry. The emotions pulsed through me like the tempo of the music. I couldn’t distinguish my sane thoughts from the crazy ones that filled my head as I rushed out the main door and sprinted for the nearest alleyway.

  chapter ninteen

  I ran blindly past blurred outlines of people. The neon lights of bars beckoned me, but I rushed past those too. Even alcohol wouldn’t be able to drown the echoed screams in my head. To scrub away the bloody spatters that I saw everywhere I looked. To deafen the hate-filled, masculine tone that assaulted my ears.

  My coach’s touch would never go away. His words couldn’t be unheard. The scent of my blood mingling with his cologne would always sear my nostrils.

  When I finally drew to a stop, a sharp stitch twinged in my ribcage and I nearly doubled over from the pain of it. My breath came in great, heaving pants and nausea wreaked havoc on my stomach. I leaned my head back and tried to take in deep, even breaths in hopes of calming my desire to vomit then curl up in a whimpering ball.

  Where am I?

  I let a wave of vertigo pass, then glanced around at my surroundings. Instinct had brought me to the guest house behind my sister’s home. I tensed and waited for the crunch of gravel from where I’d been followed, but only the normal sound of city noises reached my ears.

  With a shaking hand, I stepped forward and tried the door handle. It wiggled, but only slightly, indicating the door was locked. Well, at least she kept my stuff protected. But if I know Brandi...

  Using my foot, I kicked over a couple of rocks under the window near the door until I found what I looked for. A key glinted at me and I praised the reliability of
my sister’s habits. It was something she’d picked up from our parents. Don’t keep the key under the mat, but keep it nearby for an emergency.

  I used it to unlock the door, then closed and relocked it behind me. Though my breathing had evened out and the painful stitch was abating, my body remained on high alert. I knew I’d just suffered a panic attack, but I couldn’t find it in me to feel apologetic.

  “Fuck them all,” I said, nearly growling the words. “Fuck them and their normal fucking lives. Fuck their condescending bullshit and their protective heroic asses. Fuck everything!”

  I slammed my palms on the kitchen counter and stared at the way my arms trembled. Hell, my whole body shook. Though I couldn’t tell if it was in rage, fear, or distinct desire to indulge in a nervous breakdown.

  Rage. Definitely rage . The thought accompanied a desire to destroy everything in sight that I owned. To break, smash, and burn it all. I’d lived the past month without any of it. Why should I need it now? Everything I could see was a pile of junk weighing me down. So many things that would never help me accomplish anything. That’s all my life was right now. One big pile of worthless, useless junk.

  That’s it. I’m going to pack the bare necessities, then go.

  “Go where?” I asked myself.

  Anywhere. Anywhere but here. Somewhere that no one can find me. No one can look at me with that pity in their eyes. Somewhere that won’t mean running into Bryce or Teresa ever again. A place far away so Delilah can’t give me the cold shoulder because I was offered my job back.

  My job...

  I’d forgotten, in the heat of everything, that I did have my job back. I could support myself again. Maybe not so far away that I couldn’t go to work then, but at least away from here. Mind made up, I began packing my stuff in the boxes I’d used to bring it here. I’d kept a good deal of my things boxed up in the hopes my luck would change, so it didn’t take long to repack.

  My phone sat on a charger in the bedroom. Why Brandi never took it to the main house I didn’t know, but I was grateful for it as I flipped it on. A couple of missed calls flashed on the screen and I frowned. Delilah hadn’t mentioned receiving anything for me and my line forwarded to her cell now...

  I checked the number and my frown deepened as a number showed that I didn’t recognize. As I scrolled through my history, I noticed that it had called several times during my time with Delilah. On a whim, I hit the dial button to call the number back. After only a couple of rings, a familiar voice answered the line.

  “Bryce Langely’s residence.” Teresa’s voice sounded tired and slightly robotic.

  I sat there in silence, fighting all the emotions that slammed into me. Was he truly abusing her? Or was she playing the victim to keep him invested and at her financial disposal?

  “Hello?” A sort of nervous tone pitched her words and after a moment, she said, “Master...is that you? Are you okay?”

  I jerked the phone away and thrust a finger at the end button. Her words effectively killed off any pity I felt for her. She’d chosen this. Chosen him over me. Her situation wasn’t mine to fix.

  I shoved my phone in my pocket and grabbed the first box to lug to the car. When I opened the door, I shrieked as a man’s form filled the doorway.

  “Found her,” he drawled before snapping his phone closed and entering the guest house. Rick raised an eyebrow as his gaze took in the boxes. “Running away, are we?”

  “Fuck you,” I snapped. “You aren’t kidnapping me again. If you try, I’ll call the police. This isn’t a game anymore.”

  “For some people, it never was,” he responded casually. “There are three very worried women who are nearly crazed with fear for you right now. They enlisted me to find you.”

  “Since when did a Master yield to the demands of two subs and a Domme?” I asked with a sneer.

  He narrowed his eyes and a blank expression filled his face. Every part of his body language screamed military at that moment. “As a Master, I don’t. As a friend, I’m inclined to give a shit about the emotional state of the people I care about...unlike some people I could name.”

  His words stabbed me right where it counted and I bit back the sting of hurt. “I care,” I screamed. “That’s why I’m leaving. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. I don’t need them mothering me anymore.”

  “Mothering you? Since when did giving a damn and trying to protect the people you love automatically mean mothering? Girl, you need to get your head straight before you lose some very valuable and completely irreplaceable people.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the door wall next to the open front door, but nothing about him indicated a relaxed state. If anything, he looked ready to spring into action at any moment. Almost like he expected me to bolt again.

  I refused to give him the excuse to manhandle me. Instead, I tightened my grip on my box and shifted it higher up into my arms. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some selfish running away to perform.”

  He snorted and waved a hand at the door. “Be my guest, though I doubt you’ll get far. Your sister gave me these.” Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out my car keys, then jingled them enticingly.

  “Why the fuck did she give you those?” I demanded, dropping the box at my feet as I contemplated how far tackling him would get me.

  “To piss you off, and serve as a distraction,” he responded without missing a beat. “She figured I’d find you first.”

  “A distraction? For what?” I asked, pausing to prepare myself for impending launch at target jackass.

  “For me,” a female voice announced.

  Damn it all to hell. I grimaced as I turned toward the voice. Delilah stood there and instead of appearing cool and distant, she looked distraught. Her rid-rimmed eyes startled me and I fought the urge to pull her to me and whisper consoling words into her ear.

  “I’m not your problem anymore. And don’t worry, I’ll pay you back for the remaining time,” I said, using my anger to cover the quickly rising shame.

  “My problem? ” she said, and for the first time since meeting her, I realized an emotional, fragile woman sat at her core. “My problem is that my sub didn’t trust me enough to let me take care of her. My problem is that instead of turning to me to help her fight her demons, she ran off into the night even though I knew there was a man out there just itching to hurt her some more. My problem is that the woman I care about doesn’t seem to understand that I actually care about her. That she’s not simply an object that I want to use as a temporary sex toy.”

  She stormed into the room and I was dimly aware of Rick sliding out behind her. His body language had changed from predator ready to spring to man running like hell from woman who embodied righteous fury. My attention immediately riveted back on Delilah as she curled her hands into fists.

  “God damn it, Paige! You can be so brilliant and so idiotic, all at the same time. Why can’t you accept people caring about you?” Her voice held a note of hysteria to it as she screamed the words at me, and I suddenly wished I was a dog so I could tuck my tail and whimper.

  “I’m not a child in need of saving. A man slapped me. Big deal. We all know he’s a dickhead. I don’t need everyone running to my rescue and breathing down my back, pressuring me to file charges.” I flexed my fingers, clenching and unclenching my hands in a nervous desire to do something, anything. For the first time in my life, I understood why smokers lit up.

  “Is that what you think? That we treat you as a child? Did it ever occur to you that it has nothing to do with you needing to be babied and everything to do with the fact we love you? Or is that a foreign concept to you? Did your ex poison the idea of love so much that you can’t even recognize the true form of it anymore?”

  “Love? What the fuck do you know about love?” I demanded. “People who love you are happy for you when you get a job offer after being unemployed for months. They celebrate and congratulate. Not give you a cold shoulder and sulk.”

  Fury lanced acr
oss her features and her shoulders tightened with barely contained rage. “I’m upset because this means I’m going to lose you,” she yelled. “Because when our time is up, you won’t have any reason to stay. I wanted you to need me like I need you. To want to be with me. Did you not listen to a thing I just said? I. Love. You.”

  I stood there for a moment, blinking like an imbecile as I processed her words. She was upset because she wanted me to stay? Because she...because she loved me? “You love me?” I repeated for safety’s sake.

  “Yes.” She closed the distance between us, grabbed my upper arms gently, and pulled me to her. “I love you. I want a committed relationship with you that goes beyond our contract, Paige. This past month with you has been wonderful. The easy routine we’ve fallen in to. The erotic, satisfying sex we have. I want it all, and I don’t want to give it up. Do you understand me?”

  Her proclamation floored me. I continued to stare at her as uncertainty ate at me. “Why? I’m this broken thing with all this baggage. What can I possibly offer you that you can’t get elsewhere and better?”

  “There is one very major thing that no one else in the world can offer me that only you can,” she said. While I floundered, looking for an answer, she pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “You, Paige. No one else can give me you, except you. And you are very important to me. All of your quirks, all of your so called baggage, all of your sarcasm and wit, and of your sass and sexiness... Only you can give me it in exactly the right doses that leave me loving you and wanting more.”

  “I don’t understand,” I whimpered. “You can’t possibly want me. I’m a terrible person. I’m an alcoholic, I have PTSD, I ru—”

  She interrupted my self-depreciating tirade with a forceful kiss. As the kiss lengthened, I relaxed in her arms until we embraced like lovers who’d recently reunited. “Loving someone isn’t loving this fanciful ideal of a perfect person. Loving someone is being completely aware of their faults, and accepting them and loving the person still. No one is perfect, Paige, least of all me, but I promise if you come home, I’ll spend every day showing you how you’re perfect for me.” Delilah pressed our foreheads together and quietly waited for my answer.