She opened Master E’s email and sent an email en masse to them all with the words: Please forgive me for my sins. I am a very sick man and I have committed heinous crimes. Sincerely, Ellis L. Hughes, Hughes Enterprises. She pasted the link that would lead them to his YouTube video and hit send.
Taking the gun from her pocket, she wiped it clean with the hem of her T-shirt and placed it on the desk beside the open laptop. Hurrying out of the study, she ran to the kitchen, where she tore the paper containing Ellis’ confession into pieces and shoved it into the trash compactor. Without another glance at the place that had been her prison and torture chamber these many months, Mia ran to the front door and pulled it open.
A blast of cold air greeted her and she turned back a moment, rummaging in the front hall closet. She pulled out a leather jacket and pulled it over the oversized T-shirt. The sleeves hung long, but it would do for the short time until the prince arrived. She found a pair of flip flops and slipped these on her feet, realizing she presented quite an odd picture, but certain the prince would understand.
She stepped into the chilly air and drew in a deep, cleansing breath as she scanned the road for any approaching cars. While she waited, she reached into the large pockets of the lounge pants, her fingers moving in a repeating loop over Ellis’ phone, her passport, the wad of money and the cufflinks as if she were counting prayer beads. It was only a minute or two before she saw the black sedan pulling slowly into the circular drive in front of the house. She recognized Prince Kamau and Jira in the back seat, and her heart soared.
Pulling Ellis’ cell phone from her pocket, she punched in 9-1-1. When it connected, she said quickly, “Ellis Hughes was involved in some kinky BDSM sex with a hooker. He’s locked into stocks in his sex dungeon on the second floor of his house at 32 Chesapeake Lane in Scarsdale, New York. Send the police at once.” She disconnected the call, wiped the phone thoroughly with the hem of her T-shirt and let the phone clatter to the ground.
The back door of the car swung open and Kamau climbed out, his white teeth gleaming in his handsome dark face as he ushered Mia inside. “You’re safe now, dear one,” Jira said, wrapping Mia in her arms as the car drove down the drive, heading toward freedom.
Epilogue
A gust of wind blew Mia’s hair into her face. She pushed it back without thinking. Then she laughed out loud for sheer joy.
“What? What is funny?” Zahara stood beside Mia on the dock as they waited for the prince’s yacht to arrive from the mainland. “I thought you would be sad to see me go.” Zahara gave a mock pout, though she was too excited to keep it up for long, and she too began to laugh.
Zahara had been placed with a wonderful Master in California, and Mia was making the trip with her to the States, as Zahara had never traveled by plane before, much less across the world. Prince Kamau had asked Mia to accompany her, and as his placement liaison, Mia was more than happy to oblige, though in truth, she didn’t want Zahara to leave the prince’s harem. She was going to miss the girl she’d come to love as a sister.
“I’m laughing,” Mia said, “because my hair is finally long enough to blow into my face!”
Zahara smiled, though her eyes were suddenly sad. “Ah, Mia, sister of my heart. I have to tell you, watching you go away with that horrible man, with your shorn head and your vacant eyes, it was like watching someone going to their death. I was so angry with Prince Kamau for letting you go!”
Mia shook her head. “Don’t be angry with the prince. He had no choice. I was so far into brainwashed denial that I told the prince myself that I was happy and in a consensual relationship. He couldn’t very well hold me in a foreign country against my will.” She smiled, realizing how often she smiled now. “But he came to save me, just like a prince in a fairytale.”
“Are you sure you want to go back to America? What if that horrible Ellis Hughes is waiting to abduct you again!”
Mia laughed, pleased to realize, now that nearly a year had passed since she’d made her escape, she no longer shuddered with horror and a residual fear at the mention of the man’s name. “Well, he’s on one side of the continent, and we’ll be on the other, but even if he were living in Malibu, I don’t think he’s going to be causing anyone any trouble for a while. Jiru just showed me an article from a US news site. Apparently with all the negative publicity he got from that video I posted on YouTube, three different women have come forward to press charges against him for rape and assault. He’s going to trial soon. I hope they put the bastard away for life.”
The boat appeared on the horizon, cutting a swath of white waves in the crystal blue water. Zahara hugged herself. “I’m so excited! I’m so nervous! I’m so glad you’re coming with me, Mia. I would be frightened to make the trip alone.”
Zahara’s new Master, Kyle Hinson, had planned to fly back to the island to collect his slave girl, but some last minute important business had detained him. He had asked the prince if Zahara could come as scheduled, since he couldn’t wait to see her again. Though Zahara could have delayed her trip, she was eager to reunite with the kind, sexy Kyle as soon as possible. She confided in Mia that she wanted to be there not only as his submissive, but as his partner, and that he had told her he wanted that too.
Kyle had spent a month on the island, and he and Zahara had been nearly inseparable during that time. Mia had been surprised when Kyle had left without Zahara, but the prince had explained that Zahara's potential Master wanted to take his time, or more accurately, he wanted Zahara to be sure. “He loves her that much,” Jira had added approvingly. “He understands the mindset of a submissive—how we can be swept away by a dominant man who understands our longings. This American is a good Master. He wants Zahara to come to a clear understanding of her own heart before she gives him the ultimate gift of her complete submission.”
Time apart hadn’t diminished Zahara’s ardor in the least. “He is everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Zahara had said with a happy, dreamy sigh. “Our contract is for a year, but I hope he asks me to stay forever.”
Mia would have been jealous if she weren’t so busy working with the other girls, helping them find suitable placements with good men all over the globe. The prince had told her many times he didn’t know how he’d managed without her. With a solid office management background, she had helped him to automate his records and accounts, and she found she was very good in gauging a man’s true intentions when he arrived on the island seeking to acquire a submissive partner from the harem. For the first time in her life she felt truly valued. As her confidence grew, so did her sense of self-worth.
When she’d first arrived on the island like a war refugee, she’d been filled with equal parts rage and relief. Jira, Zahara and the prince had enfolded her into a pampered, safe world of silk, cool waters and utter peace. Within a month she no longer had nightmares, and within two months she was laughing again, filled with a joy she’d never experienced before. She realized that even before the abduction she’d lived a lonely, solitary life, never taking risks, afraid of being rejected or hurt.
Now she found a bright, fierce joy in the smallest things, from the taste of a fresh piece of fruit, to watching one of Prince Kamau’s harem girls hold herself with perfect grace in one of the many slave positions the girls worked on mastering each day.
Since coming to the island, Mia had learned what true D/s could be. She had come to appreciate the beauty and intensity of an erotic exchange of power. And though she herself found she didn’t have the hardwiring to be a true submissive, she was in awe of the passion and courage the harem girls exhibited as they studied the art of erotic submission. She quietly wondered if she would ever find that intensity of experience, which she understood now was a special kind of love.
As the boat pulled into the dock, Zahara said softly, “Oh my, my. Who is that handsome young gentleman?” Mia followed her gaze. The man who typically drove the boat, a grizzled grandfatherly sort, had been replaced by a tall African man with broad sh
oulders and large golden-brown eyes that reminded Mia of melted caramel. As he helped each of them onto the boat, Mia was struck by how fine his hands looked—his fingers long and slender, his nails perfect ovals. They were, she thought, the hands of a sculptor. His smile was like sunlight, warming her from the inside out. An odd sense of peace moved through her as she stared into his kind eyes, as if somehow she had come home after being away for a long, long time.
~*~
The trip to California had been a whirlwind of excitement. Kyle had taken them to the beach, sightseeing and out to dinner, always making Mia feel welcome. He had been nearly as excited as Zahara as they researched potential nursing schools. She planned to apply once she was settled into her new life. Most importantly, Mia could see that the two of them were in love, and while it made her a little wistful, she was happy for her dear friend. She truly understood now just how different a loving D/s relationship was from the sadistic abduction and control Ellis Hughes had forced upon her.
Mia had discovered since joining the prince’s entourage that she loved the hustle and bustle of world travel. She thrilled to each new stamp in her passport, and treasured each new adventure, keenly aware how close she had come to losing not only her freedom, but her very soul.
She loved when the plane lifted into the air, each trip a new journey filled with possibility. She enjoyed making the often nervous young women she was escorting to their new placement feel more relaxed and comfortable during their travels. Most of all she found she loved returning to the island and the people she’d come to love.
She waited on the mainland dock for the familiar yacht with the prince’s island crest painted on the side to appear. She barely admitted to herself how much she hoped the handsome young man who had taken them to the mainland two weeks before would be captaining the boat.
As it pulled closer, she saw the silhouette of a tall man with broad shoulders, his face obscured by the sunlight behind him. As the boat eased alongside the dock, she couldn’t stop the wide smile that spread across her face. The young man beamed back at her as he held out his sculptor’s hand for her to take.
“I was hoping to see you again,” he said in the lovely lilting accent of his people. “Since the day I saw you, your beauty has filled my dreams.” His smile lit his face and sparkled in his eyes.
Mia placed her hand in his, feeling his strength as he lifted her easily onto the deck of the boat. She smiled shyly back at him, aware he hadn’t let go of her hand, though she found she didn’t mind at all. “My name is Mia,” she said.
“Mia.” He said the word as if it were a caress. Lifting her hand to his face, he brushed it softly with his lips before letting her go. He gave a small bow, still smiling. “I am Amadi. Welcome back. It’s good you have come home.”
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Dark Obsessions Volume II is coming soon!
Dark Obsessions - Volume I: Four Intense Capture Fantasies in One Sizzling Collection Page 55
