Submit to Me

by Sappharia Mayer

  A scowl marred Kade's face as he walked to the window.

  "Excuse me, Ma'am?" he asked the person on the phone in clear confusion.

  "I see," he replied. "We'll get this bastard."

  The person on the other end asked a question which caused obvious concern.

  "We are still trying to locate him, Ma'am." Kade shook his head as he replied. "We don't know."

  Kade finished the conversation and turned toward Jessica.

  His eyes swept across the board as she watched him take in the mass stream of consciousness.

  "You don't think…" he said with a pause and stepped toward the white board.

  He shook his head as he looked at the board.

  Jessica followed his gaze and the red lines she'd drawn.

  "Yes, I guess I do."

  "Shit," Kade swore and picked up his phone. "Ian, I need you in my office, now!"

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Kade paced his office as he worked through the information on the board. Dominick was missing, they needed to sweep for bugs, Reece had been stabbed, and Atlas was on her way back to DC. He glanced at the motivations Jessica had written over Edmund's name. Picking up a marker, he put a star by power.

  "Why that one?" she asked when he placed the marker back in its holder.

  "It's the only one that makes sense. Edmund is a submissive male. There's often an odd dichotomy which is rarely explored in such a dynamic," he said, staring at the floor.

  Jessica laid a hand on his shoulder. Everything in him wanted to pull away. There was nothing comfortable about the words he was about to express, but he knew there was truth in each one.

  "That make no sense," Jessica said, turning toward him.

  "It makes perfect sense and I mean no offense when I say it. A male submissive is both powerful and powerless. The sheer act of being male brings with it a set of expectations to be manly, strong, right and 'all knowing.' They wrote myths and fables about being a man. When you discover you want to submit, there's a push-pull dichotomy to it," he said shaking his head.

  He watched her take in the information. It was the thing he'd struggled with the most when he realized his own inclinations.

  Jessica nodded and stared at the white board. Across the room, he heard the door open as Ian strode in.

  "What did you two figure out?" he asked as he joined them at the white board.

  Kade watched as the realization hit him a few seconds later.

  "You're not saying..." He paused.

  Kade nodded.

  "Shit," Ian swore softly.

  "That seems to be the common reaction," Kade acknowledged with a deep sigh. "The question is can you help?"

  Ian nodded. "How bad do you think it is?"

  "I can't honestly say, but let's go on the presumption it's been going on for months and hope we are wrong."

  "You really need to make sure housekeeping does a better job. I'll get a deep cleaning crew to sweep the corners and do a solid spring cleaning. Are there any annexes which might have been missed in Alexandra's absence?"

  Kade shook his head at the coded message. He knew Ian's team would do a deep bug sweep of the club and the PR firm over the next two days. After they were comfortable all the rooms were clear of foreign surveillance devices, they'd make a plan to figure out how to contain the looming threat.

  "Any idea on when Houdini might make an appearance?" Ian asked.

  "I would give it a day or two. I can't imagine less than twenty-four hours. Do you think you'll be able to get housekeepers to clean up this mess before then?"

  Ian grimaced. Kade knew it was a tight timeframe, but they needed to make sure that all the bugs were detected before Alexandra's return. The situation was already a clusterfuck, and he didn't need missed bugs on his conscience.

  "It's a tight timeline, but I'll see what I can do."

  Ian walked out the door as he brought the phone to his ear. The next twenty-four hours would make or break the club. Not only did they need to sweep for bugs, but they needed to keep the entire membership in the dark or there'd be a mass exodus of members.

  Kade collapsed on the couch and placed his head in his hands. Guilt washed over him. Flashes of the last woman he couldn't save assaulted him as the situation exploded across his mind.

  "Stop."

  The command placed everything in his world on pause as he looked up into Jessica's stern, unyielding gaze.

  "You can either take control of those memories, no matter how haunting or you can step aside and let us take care of the situation, but you can't do both at the same time.”

  He ran a hard hand through his hair. Anxiety leaned on every nerve and threatened to overtake him, but there was a strength in the woman in front of him. Kade knew with everything in him she'd take bullets for him both real and imaginary. For the first time in far too long he felt the glimmer of hope in the darkness of his own hell.

  "What's next, Ma'am?"

  "Next, we check on our guest and get some shut-eye. There's nothing else we can do here which will affect the outcome, and exhaustion won't help."

  Kade knew she was right, but everything in him bristled at the idea of leaving his team in the middle of a situation.

  "She's right," Tanner said from behind Kade.

  He pivoted to face the man and came face to face with his Cheshire grin. They'd worked together far too long. Tanner had been on his team in the military and knew more about him than most people.

  "Says the man who's not slept in, what, twenty-four hours?"

  "I've slept. I've used the polyphasic sleep to keep me at the ready."

  Kade sighed and shook his head.

  "I could never understand your sleep schedule."

  "You're jealous because I'm awake more and get more done," Tanner drawled.

  "Yeah, let's go with that and not other reasons for your short sleep cycles. I presume you've got something or did you come here to be an annoying pain in the ass?"

  "I thought being a pain in the ass was standard protocol based on your leadership." He grinned. "In all seriousness, I got a ping on that number you asked me to run earlier. We're triangulating the position now but none of us are experts in the field, and this guy is good at making sure we don't get a lock on him."

  Kade looked down at the paper Tanner handed to him. He let out a sigh of annoyance at the lack of progress. There were several location circles, but none of them connected, and it had been over forty-eight hours since the last one.

  He looked up and leveled a direct stare at Tanner like he was trying to assert his will over him.

  "Find him. That's the mission. We're already past the time we should know the answer."

  "Yes, Sir," Tanner said, taking the paper back from Kade.

  "Let's go attend to our guest and get some shut-eye," he said without turning around toward Jessica.

  "Glad you came up with such a brilliant plan."

  Sarcasm dripped from her voice behind him. This was always where things broke down for him. There were times where he needed to take control and times when he needed to give it up. When they overlapped, he was never sure of the best way to handle it. Most dominant females never wanted to hear the word no, but he'd been lucky to have encountered some who understood the difference between fantasy and reality.

  He took a deep breath and tried to find center in his tilting world.

  "Reiterating your plan, Ma'am. We will move out at your leisure," he said. His body stiffened to attention.

  Jessica's heels clicked and echoed around the room. When she rounded him, she looked up, and he could see the hint of a smile from his periphery.

  "Nice save," she said and turned to head to the door.

  Kade let out a harsh breath and fell in, two steps behind her and to her left.

  They made their way through the club and down to the area known affectionately as 'The Cell Block.' It was a series of three basic jail cells. The six by eight rooms were made of concrete block. In one corner wa
s a stainless steel toilet and sink. There was a set of bunk beds with a thin mattress on each level on the opposite side of the room. Each guest was provided a pillow, two flat sheets, a washcloth, and a hand towel. Kade smiled at a few memories he'd had in this block.

  As they rounded the corner, Cassandra shot up from the bed and rushed to the barred door. Her fingers wrapped in desperation as she pressed her face through the steel rods.

  "You can't keep me here. This violates my rights. It's kidnapping," she shrieked.

  He watched Jessica smile as she leaned against the wall opposite the cell door. The narrow corridor added to the illusion of the enclosed space.

  "Yes and no, but we've already covered this ground, and I'm not really in the mood to cover it again. What I want to know is everything about your anonymous source. How they found you, what they wanted, if you ever talked to them on the phone."

  Kade watched the seemingly casual conversation, but the undertone was unmistakable.

  "I already wrote out everything I know."

  "See, here's the thing, Cassandra, I don't think that's true. I think there's something you aren't telling us, and it's important."

  Cassandra shook her head and stared at the floor.

  "I've already told you everything I know. It was an anonymous contact. My assignment was to get into the club, take the Dominant mentor program, and write an article on the owner. Then all hell broke loose, and she disappeared," Cassandra said without meeting their gaze.

  "If you were writing an article on Alexandra, why did you stay when she disappeared?"

  Her foot drew a small circle on the concrete floor as her fingers drummed along the steel rods.

  "Cassandra, Kade asked you a question," Jessica said.

  She hesitated and drew in a deep breath. "It felt like home," she stated.

  "Excuse me?" Jessica asked in confusion.

  Cassandra's eyes shot up and her body stilled, as if she'd voiced something she'd been afraid to admit.

  "The club... the people... everything. It felt like I belonged for the first time in my life. It was terrifying, exhilarating, confusing, and a thousand other things, but I couldn't go back to my old life. Not that I have anything to go back to," she said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

  Kade wanted to reach out to Cassandra and tell her everything would be okay, but he wasn't sure it was true. Everything in her written 'confession' made him suspicious of her motivations.

  "Do you think this is how a Dominant acts?"

  Cassandra gave a tight laugh. "I don't know. I've watched pro Dominants come here and demand their way at every turn. I've watched husbands and wives walk in and immediately change their positions from the door to the bar. Then there's you, Detective. I can't figure you out. You don't raise your voice or demand anything, and yet people recognize you as a Dominant," Cassandra replied.

  "There's no need to demand anything. Either a person follows me because they respect my leadership, skill, or the fact I'm really great at sex when I'm on top or they don't. Why force someone to be somewhere they don't want to be?"

  "But what if they like to be forced or controlled?" Cassandra blurted out.

  Kade watched the shadow of emotions play across Jessica's face.

  "As long as they are choosing it, then they should explore the rabbit hole as deep as they want to go. Get some sleep. We'll figure this mess out tomorrow," Jessica said, pushing off the wall.

  "You can't leave me here!"

  "Can and will. Think of it as an exploration of your perspective on helplessness and confinement," she said, a half smile pulling on her lips.

  Without another word, Kade watched Jessica walk past him. Part of him wanted to comfort Cassandra, and another part was angry at her deceit. He was thankful he didn't have time to decide on which one to act on and followed Jessica out of the cell block.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jessica watched the crew work through the last of the public areas with the bug detection devices. She was thankful they'd finally gotten a few hours of sleep. Kade had wrapped his large body around hers and she'd slept more soundly than she had done in far too long. Her hands embraced the cup of coffee on the bar like it was her lifeline. The late afternoon sun sank over the pool in hues of orange and yellow. The long nights and short days were doing nothing for her disposition.

  "Can I top it off for you?" Jack asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

  She forced a smile and nodded then watched the dark liquid rise between her hands.

  "Looks like something major is going on around here," he said with a nod toward one of the women with an electronic detector in her hand.

  "Yeah. Probably security maintenance," she said, bringing her cup to her lips.

  Jack wiped the bar with a towel, but the frown on his face told her he wasn't convinced. She hoped the membership took the excuse better than much of the staff.

  "There you are," Kade said as he wrapped his arms around her.

  "Someone is presumptuous today," she replied and pressed into him.

  "What can I say? You are the place where I find balance, Ma'am."

  Jessica laughed. "I'm not a place, Kade. You find balance all on your own."

  He kissed the back of her neck.

  "And well on your way to trouble if you continue down your current path," she said, biting back a moan.

  "You two need to get a room," Samantha quipped as she walked up to the bar.

  "We're in a BDSM club. The whole thing is a room," Kade deadpanned without releasing Jessica.

  Samantha rolled her eyes before throwing Jessica a wink.

  Across the club there was a stir of activity and the click of determined heels on the stone floor.

  "Kade! What have you done to my club?" A female voice echoed around the foyer.

  Kade's entire body tensed. He released Jessica and turned toward the club's front door.

  "Alexandra?" he asked in surprise. "We weren't expecting you back for a few more days."

  Samantha jerked her head in the direction of the female walking toward them, and an elbow poked Kade in his ribs.

  "How are..." Kade started to ask a question, but the woman's glare stopped him before he completed it. Jessica watched the interaction between the three.

  "I take my PR Consultant, Atlas Devereaux, with me to scout for another location out of country, of which you were well aware, and you let this place go to hell in a hand basket in a matter of a couple months," she said as she shook her head in obvious disapproval.

  Jessica looked around the spotless club and scowled. How dare she walk in here and tell Kade he was slacking on a job which was obviously done well? Every protective instinct surfaced, but she held back and watched as the woman worked through a myriad of emotions playing across her face.

  "Well, if you were better at staying in touch, we might be able to run this place to your impossible standards," Kade challenged, making Jessica relax and smile.

  "Watch your tone."

  "My tone?" Kade replied.

  "Yes. Or did you forget my position in the short time I was gone?"

  Tension lay like a blanket in the air. Every muscle in Jessica's body tensed at the ready, but she forced herself to calmly slide off the barstool. Kade stepped forward into Alexandra's personal space, and Jessica braced for the confrontation. At the last second, she saw his head dip slightly and his body relax.

  "It's good to see you too, Ma'am," Kade said right before he stepped forward and engulfed the woman in a bear hug.

  When he stepped back, Jessica stepped around him to secure her place in the developing hierarchy.

  "I don't believe we've met. I'm Jessica," she said, holding out her hand.

  Alexandra glanced uncomfortably between her and Kade before offering a warm smile and a handshake.

  "Jessica, this is Alexandra, the owner of this fine establishment. Alexandra, this is Detective Lawson. She's working the club's case," Kade said from behind her, an air of reverence in his
voice.

  "Shall we go to my office?" Alexandra offered. "Mr. Kinkaid, I presume the necessary reports are already on my desk."

  "Yes, Ma'am, and more are being finished as we speak."

  "Good. We've got quite a few things to discuss," she said and pivoted to walk down the hall.

  Jessica stared at the back of the woman who'd turned the quiet of the club into a chaotic mess.

  "Is she always like this?" Jessica asked.

  "Don't let her brusque tone put you off," Samantha said as she walked up beside Kade. "Not everything is what it appears to be."

  She watched Samantha follow Alexandra down the hall.

  "Quite a bit of history between you two. I'd heard the stories, but the reality is different."

  Kade turned to her.

  "Yes, we've got quite a bit of history, but the important thing here is that I chose to follow you."

  Kade tipped her chin up until she saw his eyes. Then he lowered his head and his mouth was on hers, telling her without words she was the one he wanted.

  Jessica followed Kade down the hall and into Alexandra's office. Behind the massive desk, the woman looked exhausted. Dark circles hinted under her makeup, and she slouched like the world weighing on her was too much to bear.

  "We weren't expecting you for a few more days," Kade said.

  Alexandra nodded as Jessica watched them from the door.

  "I see there are exterminators here. How bad?"

  Kade shrugged. "Ian said he's seen worse."

  She let out a strained laugh. "If Mr. Breckenridge used those terms, we're in trouble. I presume this office was cleared."