I’m startled by a soft knock on the door. “Excuse me, Rose?” Hannah’s smoky, smooth voice floats through the door.
“Yes?”
The door cracks open, and Hannah peeks through. “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to check and see if you need help with the salve after your shower.”
I feel a brief moment of embarrassment, but Hannah’s kind smile sets me at ease. “I would appreciate it.”
“It’s no trouble.”
We are both silent as she gently works the salve into my skin. When she’s done, she sets the cream aside and washes her hands.
“Thank you, Hannah. I really appreciate your help. Matthew said that I should speak with you about helping out with the chores or cooking.”
Hannah’s eyes grow wide. “That’s not necessary. You’re Matthew’s… guest.”
Something about the way she pauses before saying the word guest makes me think she was going to say something else and changed her mind. “I know it’s not necessary,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Matthew made that clear to me, but I insist on pulling my own weight. Besides, I’ll go crazy just sitting around waiting for him to come home.”
Hannah mulls it over for a while then nods. “Okay, I’ll find something to keep you busy. Now, let’s get your hair dry and get you dressed. We’re going shopping!” She has way more enthusiasm than I have for shopping.
She produces a blow dryer from the linen closet and directs me to a stool. “I can do it,” I say, reaching for the blow dryer.
Hannah tsks. “Let me. I love styling hair. I could even cut it if you want?”
I run my fingers through my long blonde hair and chew my lip. Do I want my hair cut? I can’t even remember the last time it was trimmed. “Um… maybe another time?”
She nods. “Yeah, we should definitely get permission from Matthew before we make any big changes.”
I bristle just a bit at her insinuating that I have to have permission for something as silly as a haircut, but then I wonder if that’s something all dominants would expect of their submissives. I mean, I know we haven’t discussed it, not really, but I want to be Matthew’s in all ways.
Hannah methodically dries my hair in sections, running the hairbrush through it over and over, following it with the dryer. The repetitive motion is relaxing. I don’t ever take so much care in drying my own hair. I turn the dryer up to high and get it done as fast as possible. When she’s finished, my hair hangs around my face in a shining golden curtain. I run my fingers through it, and my jaw drops at how soft and silky it feels.
“Wow! Thank you. I almost don’t recognize my own hair.”
Hannah blushes. “You’re welcome. If you want, I’d be happy to fix your hair before your dinner tonight. I can twist it up, or maybe put a few curls in it and give it a sexy beach look.”
I smile. “I would love that. I basically live in braids, ponytails, or I just let it do what it wants.”
A loud knock sounds on the door causing me to jump. Hannah rests her hand on my shoulder in reassurance. Slade’s voice booms through the door, and the tension leaks out of me. “Ladies, it’s time to go.”
“It gets better,” Hannah says quietly to me before telling Slade we are almost done.
Slade grumbles something about being called master and pain in the ass women. Hannah has a Cheshire Cat grin on her face as she grabs a pretty white summer dress from the countertop. I quickly pull the dress on which fits surprisingly well.
“Oh good, it fits. The shoes might be a bit big, though.” Hannah kneels down and holds up a pretty gold sandal to my foot. I let her slide first one then the other on and look down to admire the shoes. They are a little big but are the nicest pair of shoes I’ve ever worn.
Hannah stands with a smile. “Let’s go shopping!”
“You’re way more enthusiastic about spending Matthew’s money than I am. I don’t have any idea where to even start.”
“Good thing I know exactly what you need.”
Hannah practically skips from the room with me dutifully following after. She walks right up to where Slade is standing and kneels at his feet. Slade grimaces like the show of submission physically hurts him. Hannah either doesn’t notice or ignores it. With reluctance, Slade sifts his fingers through Hannah’s hair.
“You’re killin’ me, little girl,” Slade murmurs to Hannah. I feel like an intruder in a very private moment.
“I’m sorry, master,” Hannah answers.
Slade shakes his head, looking down at her with affection. “If only that were true.”
I can’t help but wonder about their relationship. After last night, I got the impression that Slade didn’t like Hannah very much, but looking at him now, I’d say he very much likes her. More than likes. In fact, he’s looking down at her the same way that Matthew looks at me.
The moment passes, and Slade offers Hannah a hand to help her to her feet. She stands with a contented sigh. Without a word, Slade leads us to the elevator. In the parking garage, Slade’s relaxed demeanor shifts and is replaced with the man I first met last night. He helps first Hannah, then me into the back of a big black SUV. Within moments we are out of the parking garage and into the bright light of the day heading towards my very first shopping spree.
14
Rose
Hours later, my feet are sore, and I’ve got at least a dozen bags full of clothes, makeup, and lingerie that, despite my protests, Hannah assured me I needed. I learned quickly that it was easier to just go with the flow instead of arguing. Hannah could out stubborn a mule. Plus, anytime I put up a fuss, she’d use Slade as a tie-breaker, and Slade always picked Hannah’s side.
“Why do you always pick Hannah’s side?” I ask Slade after he once again tells the sales lady we will take yet another dress.
Slade pins me to the spot with his dark gaze. “Just following the bosses orders.”
“And what exactly did the boss say?”
Slade’s lips quirk up slightly. “If she likes it, she gets it.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “That’s just ridiculous! Just because I think something is pretty doesn’t mean I need or want it.”
He just shrugs, and Hannah giggles.
I am much more cautious with what I show interest in for the rest of the afternoon. Finally, Hannah seems satisfied that I’ve got everything I need. Honestly, I have enough stuff for three people. Who needs five pairs of shoes? Or ten dresses? Not to mention the twenty bra and panty sets she insisted I get. I’m just one person.
We are heading toward the food court and frozen lemonade and soft pretzel when Hannah steers us toward another shop. I try to dig in my heels, but she points at a beautiful black dress in the window, and I stop fighting her.
“It’s perfect for your dinner date tonight.”
“Hannah, I already have a bunch of dresses to choose from…”
“Yeah, but every woman needs a little black dress.” She gives me a bright smile. “Last one, I promise.”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “That’s what you said last time with the shoes.”
She pouts. “You have to admit those silver heels were worth every dollar.”
She’s not wrong. “Yeah, and I’ll probably break my neck when I try to walk in them.”
Hannah rolls her eyes. “I’ll teach you how to walk, run, and kneel in heels. Heck, I’ll even show you how to clean toilets and mop the floors in heels. You’ll be living in them by the time I’m done with you.”
I shake my head. “I doubt that. I’m more of a flats kind of girl.”
“We’ll see,” she says cryptically.
A few minutes later, I’m admiring myself in the black dress. It’s really gorgeous. It’s fitted around the bodice and is cut in a way that somehow makes it look like I have cleavage to spare. The hem hits me just above the knee. Hannah hands me the silver heels. I don’t bother arguing as I put them on.
It looks like my legs go on for miles. I no longer feel short and frumpy. In thi
s dress, I look like a vixen. It clings to my body like a second skin. All of my new clothes fit perfectly, but this dress gives me curves I didn’t even know I had. Even I can admit, I look hot.
Except…
“Hannah, I don’t know about this…” I turn so I can see the low-cut back of the dress. The back is completely open all the way down to just above my butt.
“What’s not to know? You’re a fucking knockout in that dress!”
“But my back…” I can’t seem to pull my eyes away from the angry red lines that crisscross my pale skin. This is the first time I’ve seen the marks. Obviously, I could feel how bad they were, but seeing them for the first time was shocking.
“Don’t be silly. You look amazing. Matthew will swallow his own tongue when he sees you in this dress. Besides, you’re eating at his restaurant, which is attached to Black Rose. A few lash marks won’t be the strangest thing on display, I’m sure.”
I chew on my lip as I consider her words. “If you’re sure.”
Hannah gets that Cheshire Cat grin again, the one that says she knows she’s won. “I’m positive.”
I change out of the dress and dutifully hand it to Slade, who doesn’t bat an eye at the nine-hundred-dollar price tag. It makes me nauseous to think about the ridiculous amount of Matthew’s money I’ve spent today. I try not to dwell on it as we finally make our way to the food court. My stomach growls hungrily at the delicious scents.
Slade buys our soft pretzels and frozen strawberry lemonades, then leads us to the big fountain in the middle of the court. He leads us to a giant fountain in the middle of the court. Hannah sits down on the ledge and pats the spot beside her.
“I need to make a call. I’m going to stand just there,” Slade says, pointing a few feet away on the other side of the fountain. “You girls stay right here where I can see you.”
Hannah gives him a salute. “Sir, yes, sir!”
“One of these days that sassy mouth is going to get you into trouble,” Slade says threateningly before walking away.
“If only,” Hannah says with a dreamy sigh.
“One of these days, you’re going to push him too far,” I warn.
She turns to me with a huge smile. “That’s sort of the idea.”
I give her an incredulous look.
Hannah laughs. “Don’t look so shocked. I’ve been trying to get his attention for years.” She looks longingly toward Slade. “He just refuses to see what’s right in front of his eyes.”
Her words are so full of pain; they cause my own heart to break a little. I put a hand on her leg, wishing I knew what to say. I don’t understand their relationship enough to offer any advice, not that I have the slightest clue how relationships are supposed to work.
She smiles and pushes her obvious pain aside and takes a big bite of her pretzel. I follow suit and moan at the salty-bready goodness. “Good, right?” Hannah mumbles around her bite. I nod, chewing. So damn good.
We chat while we eat, and I’m hit in the chest at how utterly surreal this moment is. I’ve never had this. Even after I escaped from Red House, a day like today was unimaginable, and I’m not talking about the shopping spree. Sitting here with someone who I can see myself becoming good friends with, laughing and eating… How is this even my life?
I’m yanked back to reality when a high-pitched voice screeches, “Tessa!”
I look around, expecting to see someone else to respond to the name given to me when I was first brought to Red House. No one here knows me by that name. I left that name behind. There’s no way anyone would call me by that, but fear still grips me with its deadly claws.
“Tessa!” the voice calls out again, and this time, I look up and see the last person I would ever expect to see. Christi rushes my way excitedly in her high-heeled shoes. My eyes dart around the food court, studying every face, looking for him.
Christi stops right in front of Hannah and me. Acting like she’s a long-lost friend, she pulls me into a hug. “It’s so good to see you,” she says loud enough for Hannah to hear.
Hannah looks at me curiously, but I don’t know what to think of the situation. Did Christi run away too? What are the chances that she would be here if she did run away? We were never friends. In fact, she was Mr. Perfect’s favorite. I can’t see him letting her go. Hell, I can’t imagine her running away. She seemed to love her life at Red House.
Christi holds me tighter when I try to move away. “He’s been looking everywhere for you. He’s going to be so pleased with me for finding you,” she says just for my ears, her words dripping venom.
She finally pulls away and starts tapping on her cell phone. “What are the odds that I would be here shopping at the same time as you?” Christi says innocently. “Such a small world.” She smiles brightly at Hannah.
Without thinking, I grab the phone from her hands and throw it in the fountain. The ground is shaking under my feet as I stand, pulling Hannah up with me. She doesn’t fight me. In fact, she positions herself between Christi and me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Sweet, soft-spoken Hannah is gone. This Hannah is a freaking badass who actually makes Christi take a step backward and pause. It doesn’t knock Christi off her game for long.
“Yeah, Princess Tessa, who the fuck am I?” Christi snarls, glaring over Hannah’s shoulder at me with enough malice to melt the paint right off the walls. “Shouldn’t have touched my phone, bitch. Daddy’s just parkin’ the car, he’s going to be pissed you wrecked my phone.” Her lips twist up in an ugly smile. “Can’t wait for the family reunion. We’ve sure missed you at the house.”
The world around me is narrows until it feels like I’m in a tunnel. My breaths are coming in ragged pants, and I’m clinging to Hannah’s hand like she’s the only thing keeping me grounded to the here and now. Honestly, she very well may be.
Christi throws her head back and laughs. “You’re so fuckin’ pathetic. Your little issues aren’t gonna keep you safe this time. No more special treatment for you after your little disappearing act.”
My entire world shifts, and every hope and dream I have allowed myself these past months is shattering down around me. I know right here and now that I will never truly be free. Hundreds of miles away, and they still managed to find me. Fate is a fickle bitch, and it seems I’ll never quit paying for however I wronged her.
Slade pushes between Hannah and Christi, completely blocking my view. He’s a brick wall between her and us. Despite her being five foot seven and skinny as a rail, Slade is putting off vibes like he’s come up against a vicious predator. He’s not entirely wrong. Christi has tormented me from day one at Red House. She took special joy in seeing me broken and battered after a client left. She would tell me how my screams echoing through the walls were like a lullaby to her.
“Who the fuck are you?” Slade asks in what I would call a scary-calm voice. His tone doesn’t match the aggression that is pouring off him in waves. He’s like a dog who isn’t growling or barking, but its fur is standing on end, and you just know if you got close enough, it would snap at you. Slade is ready to snap.
My eyes dart around the food court, wondering if Christi was telling the truth about him being here. She’s just mean enough to lie, but the sick pit in my gut tells me he’s close. Christi says something to Slade that I can’t make out because he just walked in. He looks exactly the same. Dark suit, perfectly polished shoes—absently, I wonder who is polishing those shoes now that I’m not there to do it, Christi? No, it’s probably, Lisa—his dark hair, sprinkled with gray is slicked back. If you didn’t know any better, you might say that he’s handsome. But one look in his cold, dead eyes tells you that he’s got a heart of stone and a pitch-black soul.
He scans the food court looking for Christi. His eyes skate right past me, and his gaze lands just in front of me where I know Christi stands just on the other side of Slade. Nelson Grant, who I still think of as Mr. Perfect, takes in the scene for a moment. Then as if his mind is just catching up
with what his eyes saw turns his attention back to me. His lips slowly curl up in what some might call a handsome smile, but I’ve seen that same smile painted on his lips as he beat me with his belt.
Panic wells up inside me, and this time, I’m not frozen. Everything in my entire being is shouting for me to run. I grab Slade’s arm, trying to get his attention. I frantically pull on him until he turns his attention to me. He gives me a questioning look.
“Gotta go. Now. We gotta go…” I don’t stop tugging on him, trying to pull him along. Hannah is still right by my side, holding my arm.
My whole body is quivering from fear. When Slade doesn’t immediately move, I let out a panicked sob. “Please!” I beg.
Christi is cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West, if she just called me her pretty, I could believe for a second this is some crazy nightmare version of Oz and not a mall in the middle of New York City miles and miles away from Red House. I came here because a big city offers autonomy. I should’ve been just another faceless name in the crowd.
Instead of acting, Slade asks me what’s wrong. He seems determined to get answers before taking action. My eyes flick between him and Mr. Perfect, who is slowly making his way through the throng of people. Every step closer, ratchets up my anxiety.
I can’t answer. I’ve lost the power to form words, and my response is some kind of pathetic death moan. It’s Hannah who seems to pick that Christi isn’t the real threat. She follows my line of sight, and I’m not sure what she sees when she looks at Mr. Perfect, but whatever it is makes her act.
“We have to go. Now.” Hannah pulls me away from Slade and starts running. The mall is packed with people, but Hannah doesn’t slow down. She darts between other shoppers and, in one case, knocks into a teenaged boy who falls into a kiosk causing merchandise to go everywhere.
I can hear Slade behind us cursing a blue streak and yelling for us to slow down. We ignore him. We push our way through another group of shoppers, and there is a break in the crowd. Hannah picks up the pace, pulling me as fast as our feet can carry us towards the doors.
Unforgettable (Black Rose Doms Book 1) Page 11
