by Marla Monroe
“Come, sweets, let’s walk around some and mingle. I want to show you off. Besides, Max is glaring at me for keeping you all to myself for so long.” At Sawyer’s command, she stood a little less gracefully than Stacey. Using the arm of the chair to steady herself until her legs felt less wobbly.
He seemed to be giving her the chance to make sure she was ready before he led her through the crowd to where Max was holding court with five or six people around him. They parted as she and Sawyer approached. To her surprise, a handsome young man knelt at another man’s feet, a collar with a leash attached to it was around his neck. She tried not to stare, but it was so out of the ordinary she had a difficult time keeping her eyes off of him. She chastised herself.
What is normal about any of this?
She’d never seen either of them in her shop before, so she thought they must live out of town. Their dynamics intrigued her, but she wasn’t about to ask questions. Not only because she didn’t have permission to speak, but because it would be rude.
Max immediately claimed her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She settled into his embrace, enjoying the feel of him.
He bent and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear. “Are you enjoying yourself, precious?”
She looked up at him and nodded her head because she didn’t know if she should speak or not. It was obvious that was the right thing to do since he smiled wider and nuzzled her cheek before turning back to answer a question. She quickly lowered her gaze.
They moved around the room for nearly an hour. She wanted desperately to kneel on a pillow and get off of her feet again. She almost chuckled at the thought that she wanted to kneel for a change. When Stacey came over with her head bowed and asked permission to address Max, she wondered what the other woman wanted.
“Sir, may submissive T accompany me to the lady’s room? I have my Master’s permission to ask you, Sir.”
“Yes, she may go with you. Don’t be long gossiping, though.” He tilted her chin up with two fingers. “Don’t go anywhere but the restroom with her and don’t leave her side for one second. Understand?” he asked.
She nodded, trying to keep the secret thrill at being able to get off her feet for even a few minutes show on her face. He kissed the tip of her nose and released her with a soft pop on her ass. Stacey held out her hand, so Taylor took it and walked with the other woman to the women’s locker room where the bathrooms were located.
As soon as they stepped through the door, Stacey sighed. “Are your feet hurting as much as it looks like they are?”
“Oh, goodness. Does it really show on my face?” she asked, mortified that the men might realize how uncomfortable she was.
“Not too badly. Don’t worry. Men don’t know the look since they don’t have to wear those things. I’m always happy when my men want me barefooted.” She grinned and ran into a stall. “I’ll be right out. Sit down and rest your feet. Tell me what you think so far. Do you have any questions?”
When she hesitated to say anything, Stacey laughed. “You can ask me anything. Your Doms expect you to. That’s why I came and got you. They asked Steve and Ben to let me talk to you tonight.”
Relieved to have someone to talk to about what all she was seeing, a thousand questions came to mind. They didn’t have that much time though.
“Um, the guy on the leash with the loincloth, are they gay?” she finally asked.
“Yes, they’re a couple. They’ve been together for years now. Believe it or not, but sub D is a stockbroker and his Master is a nurse. They live here in town.”
Surprise that she’d never noticed them having lived there all her life, Taylor couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her mouth. Why hadn’t she noticed them before? She was sure they had never been in her shop before.
“I’ve never seen them around town before,” she quickly said.
“Taylor, you didn’t really know me before the other day, either. You’ve always stuck to yourself, rarely leaving that coffee shop. Besides that, being gay is still not as accepted in Texas as it is in the more liberal places like San Francisco and places like that. They wouldn’t have gone to your shop since they didn’t know how you felt about gays. There are a lot of people that now they know that you aren’t going to judge them, will start frequenting your shop. You’ll see.” Stacey emerged from the stall and hurried over to the sink to wash her hands.
“What about the woman with the short black hair with the other woman who was wearing what I think was a ballerina outfit? Are they gay, too?” Taylor couldn’t believe she’d never seen half of the people in attendance before.
“No, Mistress N is a Domme but she isn’t gay. She and her husband, Master L, live in a poly family with their slave, G. Relationships like that are sometimes called a triad.” She dried her hands and turned around. “We’d better get back before they come looking for us. Even if I don’t mind getting spanked now and then, I’d rather not get my ass popped in front of everyone when no one else is playing.” She winked and pulled Taylor to her feet.
As they emerged from the locker rooms, she searched the crowd for her men. She didn’t see either one of them. Stacey frowned as they entered the crowd. Both women were short even though she was wearing high heels. Stacey was barefoot. When they got in the middle of the room, the lights blinked once then went out. There were screams and shouts all around her. The crowd of people surged around them so that she lost her grip on Stacey’s hand.
Immediately panic gripped her chest so that she had to work to draw in a breath. The crowd pushed at her, making her lose her sense of direction until she was so turned around she didn’t know which way would get her to the bar.
Why weren’t the emergency lights coming on? She knew they had them as the men had tested them while she’d been with them. Something was wrong. Her stomach knotted with the knowledge that this wasn’t an accidental outage.
A hand closed over her shoulder in a tight grip. At first she thought it was one of her men, but the grip turned cruel and a hand slapped over her face, the unmistakable scent of some kind of chemical she was sure was chloroform. His other arm wrapped around her, securing her against a massive body. Even as she struggled to scream but not breathe at the same time, she knew it was useless. She struggled against her assailant, kicking back and squirming in his arms. Nothing worked and soon she lost the battle to hold her breath and succumbed to the drug.
Chapter Twenty-One
As soon as the lights blinked out, Sawyer knew Taylor was in trouble. He expected the emergency lights to kick on. When they didn’t come on, he cursed.
“Max. Taylor. We’ve got to get to her,” he shouted above the den of the panicked crowd.
“We need light. I can’t see my hand in front of my face.” Max’s fear leaked into his voice.
Sawyer felt the same anxiety eating at his stomach. Even though he rebelled against it, he knew they weren’t going to find her. This had been planned. They should have been prepared for the possibility. They’d been arrogant that they had the place well protected. This was more than a single stalker making his move. Too much money was involved.
As he moved through the crowd toward the bar where they had flashlights, someone waded through the crowd toward them shining one as he came. He immediately handed them both their own flashlights and he realized it was one of the dungeon monitors, Bo Erickson.
“I was at the bar when all hell broke loose and I figured you’d need these,” he said.
“Thanks. We’re looking for Taylor. Help us look,” Sawyer bit out.
Immediately the other man frowned. He knew about the threats to her life. “I’m on it.”
“I’m going to make sure someone is watching the door for her,” Max said.
They split up, going in opposite directions. Sawyer headed straight for the women’s locker rooms, slamming through the door calling out her name. When she didn’t immediately answer, he hurried back out and searched the crowd for her.
The lights ca
me back on and everyone calmed down, many of them with frightened expressions. Max looked across the room and shook his head. Steve hurried over with a crying Stacey in tow.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hold on to her,” she sobbed.
Steve was trying to soothe her. Sawyer didn’t blame Stacey at all. He hadn’t expected her to be able to fight off someone intent on taking Taylor. They never should have allowed them to go alone.
“It’s okay, Stacey. It wasn’t your fault. What happened? Did someone take her?” Sawyer asked.
“I don’t think so. When the lights went off, the crowd got crazy and we got pulled apart. I tried to look for her, but I couldn’t see anything and everyone was pushing and shoving.” She dissolved into tears once more.
“What can we do to help?” Steve asked.
“Just walk around and look for her. Max is manning the front door and has the others watching the fire exits and the back door.” Sawyer hurried off to keep looking.
Slowly the crowd thinned as they were allowed through the door. Deputy Evan Luvalle had responded when someone called the sheriff’s office to help question people before they left. No one had seen what had happened to Taylor. It was obvious that whoever had taken her slipped out one of the doors while everyone panicked.
“He must have been wearing night vision goggles or something to have located her in the dark,” Sawyer said. “I can’t believe we were so stupid.”
“You couldn’t have anticipated this, guys,” the deputy said. “This was a very skilled operation that would have taken several men to pull off. Your electricity was thrown at the breaker while someone else immediately dismantled the security system that would have contacted us and turned on the emergency lights. They had skilled men handling this.”
“We thought we had everything covered,” Max growled. “She trusted us to keep her safe.”
“We don’t have time to sit here and talk about it. We need to gather the suspects and find out where they’ve taken her before it’s too late,” Sawyer said heading toward the back door and his truck.
“You guys can’t do this on your own. Follow me to the sheriff’s department. I’ll call Sheriff Stevens to meet us there. He can deputize you guys so we can make sure everything is above board or they’ll get away on a technicality,” Evan said.
Max stopped Sawyer and looked him in the eyes. “The deputy is right, Sawyer. We’ve got to do this right. You know it, man.”
Sawyer slowly regained control of the anger inside of him and nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Max told the deputy.
“We’re coming, too,” Steve and Bo said.
“I sent Stacey home with Jessica and David.”
“Count us in.” Two men Sawyer remembered as Zander and Tag followed them through the back and out the employee’s entrance.
“Drop us off out front on your way through to get our truck,” Tag said.
They climbed in back and Steve rode with Bo. They slowed down and Tag and Zander jumped out, racing for their vehicle. They raced toward the sheriff’s department and hopefully, the sheriff who would quickly deputize them.
Sawyer couldn’t help the fear coursing through his veins that they would be too late. He’d finally found the woman that both he and Max could love and share only to lose her because of their stupidity. With Taylor, he’d proven to himself that he could be alone with her and not go too far. He had built up the belief inside of him that she meant so much to him he had a natural, innate need to take care of her and wouldn’t hurt her for the world. They were supposed to protect her and had failed. He would kill whoever had hurt her, tear them limb from limb.
Sawyer darted a quick glance over at where Max sat with one hand braced against the dashboard. A murderous rage shown in the other man’s expression. He knew that he wouldn’t be alone in the need to destroy those responsible for her previous attack and any harm that came to her now. They might end up in jail over this, but right then, he could care less if they lost her.
When they screeched to a halt in front of the sheriff’s office, six determined men stalked into the building behind the deputy. Sawyer knew they were all determined to get Taylor back. They pretty much exploded into the main part of the office and stopped when the sheriff held up his hands.
“Raise your right hand and repeat after me.”
* * * *
Taylor blinked her eyes as nausea rolled around in her stomach. Her head ached and she was sure she had bruises all over her body. Though her clothes were still intact, her shoes had been removed leaving her barefooted. Wherever she was, it was cold. She shivered and the movement sent her stomach rolling once again.
She looked around the dimly lit room and realized she wasn’t in a house somewhere, but in a shack of some kind. The light came from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. She started to roll over so she could sit up, but her wrists were both handcuffed to the metal bed by her sides. She could feel the metal of the springs digging into her back through the thin mattress she lay on.
A sound in the general direction of the door gave her heart a bump into overdrive as the door creaked open. James Chesterfield walked through the door with a scowl on his face.
“You’re awake. I’m surprised since Link put so much chloroform on the cloth. I figured you’d be out for hours,” he said.
“What’s going on, James? Why are you doing this?” she asked trying to keep from throwing up.
“You should have left and sold the business when Dad made the offer. Instead you had to be stubborn and hang on to it. I bet you wish you’d sold it now, bitch.” He kicked the leg of the bed, jarring her so that bile rose in her throat. She fought to keep from getting sick.
“Why? What has my shop go to do with anything? I don’t even own the building it’s in.” She was so confused. Everything swirled in her head until she wasn’t sure of anything.
“You stupid bitch. That building belongs to you, and you’ve been paying rent on it all this time.”
“Shut up! You’re running your mouth like always. I can’t trust you to do even one damn thing right.” James Chesterfield Senior, James’s father and the bank president stood in the doorway now, Oliver Matthews, her accountant right beside him.
James’s father hurled homophobic slurs at his son as he entered the room.
“M–Mr. Matthews. What’s—” Her head was pounding and she couldn’t think. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
“We’ve been trying to get you out of that building for months, but you just couldn’t take the hint and save us the trouble of killing you,” James said.
“I–I don’t understand.” She felt as if everything she had known to be true wasn’t right anymore.
“When Burt gets back from dumping the car, he’ll take care of her and make it look like the stalker got her. He’ll make it look real good. The lunatic couldn’t take her cheating on him and messed her up real good. A crime of passion,” the senior Chesterfield said, rubbing his hands in glee.
“But why? What have I ever done to you?” She needed to know why they’d picked on her, making the last six months of her life hell.
“Doesn’t matter, bitch. You’re dead anyway. I had to pretend to like you and all but beg you to go out with me and you treated me like dirt. Good riddance, idiot. Anyone as stupid as you are doesn’t deserve to live.” The younger James slapped her across the face, the stinging pain centering her for the first time since she’d come to.
“James, get your pansy ass out of here and watch for Burt. Then we have to get back to town before anyone misses us,” his father snapped.
“You won’t get away with this. Max and Sawyer know what’s going on. They were just waiting to finish gathering evidence against you. They’ll hunt you down and make you pay,” she said through chattering teeth. The cold was beginning to get to her now.
“They don’t know anything,” the bank president shouted.
“What if they do, Jame
s? I didn’t want to be part of this in the first place,” Oliver whined.
“You’re in as deep as the rest of us. Stop whining. I don’t know how my wife put up with you as a brother all these years. You’ve complained about every little thing until I’m sick of you.”
“Burt’s back,” James junior called back.
“Come on. We need to get going. He’ll take care of her and we’ll have that building and everything will work out just like I planned.” James senior shoved Oliver back through the door leaving Taylor alone no closer to the truth than before.
Please, Max, Sawyer. Hurry up and find me.
She fought the tears that leaked from her eyes despite her attempts to suppress them. Crying wasn’t going to do her any good. She struggled with the handcuffs holding her to the rickety bed. She could feel them cutting into her wrists and it wasn’t long before she felt the trickle of blood down her fingers to drip to the floor below.
Shouting erupted in the other room, sending another round of fear through her fueling the adrenaline that pushed the sick feeling away and gave her another wave of strength. As she fought the cuffs trying to pull her wrists through the metal circling them, she prayed that the blood would give her the lubrication she needed to slip free. Pain ate at her where the steel bit into her tender flesh.
To her surprise, one hand slipped free of the cuffs even as the angry shouts calmed down and a door slammed shut in the next room. Her time was running out. Taylor struggled with the other cuff and found that the metal bed had wire springs beneath the dirty mattress. She had managed to bend the wire her other wrist was shackled to during her struggle. Evidently her right wrist was larger than her left and wasn’t going to fit through the cuff like the other one had.
The silence in the other room scared her even more than the angry shouts had. Whoever this Burt was, she knew he would be coming through that door soon. Just the thought of what he would do to her spurred her to work harder at bending the wire back and forth to get it to break so she could get the cuff out of the springs.
