by VictoriaSue
Adam fixed him with a calm look. He knew what Joe was saying. Joe felt like shit.
“No problem,” Adam said. “If you could drop me back at my car I’d appreciate it. I don’t need to stay here tonight. Lee has a spare bed, and the cops might let me back into my place early.”
Joe scowled. There was no way he was going to let that happen. Adam wasn’t going anywhere near where he used to live. Joe would make sure it got specialized cleaning when the cops had finished with it. He tried not to give a name to the hollow feeling that had dug at him when Adam said he would go to Lee’s. You should be pleased. But he wasn’t.
Joe remembered the tire. “Are you going to be able to get the tire fixed?”
Adam nodded and shuffled to the door. He absently pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.
Joe didn’t like this. Adam was slipping into the mode he’d been in last night when he hadn’t wanted Joe to see where he lived. “Are you working today?” Adam sometimes tended the bar at Pure. Joe suddenly realized he had no idea what Adam did the rest of his time.
Adam nodded. “I’m on at Pure, twelve until seven.”
Joe picked his keys up. “You can come in with me.”
Adam hesitated. He ducked down and pulled at his leather pants. “I can’t go in these. I need to call somewhere first. Maybe Walmart?”
Joe wanted to smack himself in the head. Of course Adam didn’t even have any damn clothes to wear. They’d all been trashed in the apartment. Joe looked doubtfully at Adam. He knew what sort of shorts Callum liked the subs wearing, whether they worked behind the bar or not. He brightened as he remembered Paul and Ben’s shop in the mall. Lee and Adam were always raving about it.
“Riot,” Joe said. “We can call there. I doubt if a regular store will have what you need.”
Adam shook his head defiantly. “I’m not going to the mall. If you can’t take me, I’ll get the bus.”
It was on the tip of Joe’s tongue to tell Adam not to worry, that he would pay. But he couldn’t. Adam wasn’t his, and he’d already been sending enough mixed signals out to the boy. Ignoring the little thrill he got from how he had thought of Adam, he picked his keys up. He needed to talk to Lee. He needed to know what else was going on in Adam’s life. He’d bet Lee didn’t know about the letters because Lee would have told Callum. He would make some phone calls to his old colleagues when Adam wasn’t around to hear what was said. He’d also make a call and get another bed delivered, just in case.
****
Soft music was already playing from the speakers when they got to the club. Kevin had already finished setting up and greeted them both. “Adam, will you be okay for an hour?” Kevin asked. “I have to run downtown for some things.”
Adam laughed good-naturedly, and Kevin bumped hips with him. Not that Adam could really line up with Kevin—Kevin was quite a large guy, looked like he bench-pressed trains or some shit. Joe had never taken much notice of the guy since he’d started as the new bartender, and Kevin never interacted with anyone other than those in the bar area.
The dungeon was open to members, but private rooms didn’t open until seven. At lunchtime it was just a bar. Adam was even trying to persuade Callum to put on simple lunches. Joe turned as the door opened, and Callum and Lee entered. Lee ran straight to Adam and pulled him into a hug. He dropped bags full of clothes on the floor.
Joe had called Callum himself to let him know what had happened last night, and Adam had spoken to Lee asking if he could borrow some clothes. Lee was insisting Adam go upstairs to change. Joe was just pleased Lee had been able to lend him something.
Joe nodded at the bar. “I’ll cover it while you get ready.”
“Any news?” Callum got the glasses out of the dishwasher from the previous night.
“Callum, how much do you know about Adam?”
Callum shrugged. “Not so much really. He’d only just been taken on as a sub at Breathless before I opened Pure. Obviously usual background checks were done. He’s been good to Lee.”
Joe nodded. He’d seen Adam at the other BDSM club. He knew Joe had taken a lot of their members when he’d opened Pure. Pure was more like a family and the subs were made to feel very safe. “What about his family?”
Callum sighed. “He’s one of Derek’s boys.”
Joe’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that.”
Callum nodded. “From what Lee has said—and it’s not that much—Adam was on the streets for almost two months before one of Derek’s safe houses had a bed. He hadn’t even graduated high school at that point.”
Joe shook his head in amazement. He’d met homeless kids on the job. Gay kids were usually homeless because the family that should love then unconditionally had thrown them out. But Adam wasn’t like anyone who’d spent any sort of time on the streets. He didn’t have that hard, weary edge to him, the kind kids always got when they had to grow up too fast.
Callum narrowed his eyes at Joe. “Something you want to tell me?”
Joe gazed at his best friend—they had been friends since kindergarten.
Footsteps clattered as Lee and Adam came back. Joe grinned. Adam was in full costume again, skimpy dark green shorts that matched his eyes. Joe nearly snorted. For fuck’s sake, he sounded like his mother. Callum grinned and circled his finger in the air. “What do you think, Joe?” Adam obediently twirled around.
Joe swallowed. He struggled to answer Callum and damn it, he saw Callum smile out the corner of his eyes. Callum had worked it out. Lee, thank God, hadn’t. Adam was back to laughing. He nearly danced his way behind the bar and pulled out armfuls of clean bar towels from the pile and started laying them out.
Lee told Adam excitedly about the hotel they were staying in. Joe had forgotten. Callum had just sold the apartment complex he owned to get the cash to expand Stealth, and was buying a house. It was a wreck of a thing, and they were staying in a hotel while they could make it livable. Joe ignored the small satisfied feeling he got when he realized that meant Adam would have to stay with him. Another bed suddenly seemed a good idea. He pulled his phone out and called the furniture store.
He caught sight of one of the flyers on the bar—Lee’s. The auction tonight had brought most of the Doms from Breathless in. They’d had a flurry of applications in from Orlando as well. Joe had done rush background checks on them so they could be here tonight. Derek had organized the mandatory STD screening. Joe looked at Lee’s flyer again and grinned. There was no way Callum would let himself be outbid.
Originally Joe wasn’t going to get involved tonight. He had new dungeon monitors that had only started this week in preparation for tonight. He wanted to keep an eye on things. He picked up Adam’s flyer and grinned at the purple streaks in his hair. Adam shouldn’t really be getting involved tonight. They may need extra help on the bar...or something, whatever.
“You bidding tonight then?”
Joe looked up in surprise. Damon Kerrick was so silent Joe hadn’t heard the guy come in. Damon shot a lazy grin at Adam, who sat a beer down in front of him. Joe looked at Adam—the boy seemed to flush under Damon’s thoughtful look.
Damon picked up Adam’s flyer, started listing his hard limits quietly. Adam flushed some more and Joe noticed Kevin was back behind the bar.
“So, boy...” Damon purred quietly. Joe wanted to extract the Dom’s fingernails. “Have you ever done an interrogation scene? That isn’t listed as a limit.”
Adam stammered, “No...Sir, no, I haven’t.”
Joe stiffened. It wasn’t just the thought of an interrogation scene involving a sadist, it was the word Sir being addressed to someone else.
“He has plenty of hard limits—” Joe started.
“Yes, yes. I see. No blood, no permanent marks. Obviously I am aware of the club hard limits.”
Joe made fists; he didn’t like the mildly disapproving tone.
“Adam, you are uncollared?” Adam blushed at the Dom’s remark, di
dn’t look at Joe. The points of Joe’s nails dug into his palms.
“And therefore available at the auction for purchase?” Damon stood and threw a twenty on the bar. He leaned over and covered Adam’s hand as the boy went to pick up the money.
“I’ll be sure to bid for you...boy.”
Joe stood as Damon left. Adam seemed a little spooked. Joe knew just how he felt. There was no way Damon was getting his hands on Adam. “Adam—”
Adam raised hard eyes to Joe. They weren’t smiling, and they definitely weren’t twinkling. “Like you said, Sir. You’re not Callum, and I’m not Lee.” Adam turned and went to serve another customer.
For Christ’s sake. Joe strode out of the club. He glanced at his watch. He just had time to let the delivery guys in with the bed, change, bang his head repeatedly on any hard surface, and be back at Pure before the auction started.
Adam was going to drive him insane.
In actual fact, Joe was back thirty minutes before the auction started. His new dungeon monitors were in place to patrol the door and the main dungeon. The ones with the most experience were checking on the private rooms, but even those were going to be locked early. That was where things could go very wrong, very quickly, especially with the new Doms and subs.
Kevin was stationed at the bar when Joe walked in. The guy looked up and smiled as he heard him approach, but Joe noticed him casually stuffing some paper into his pocket—it looked like one of the flyers.
Joe considered him quietly as he sipped the glass of water he had requested. Kevin had never shown any interest in the dungeon, either as a sub or a Dom. Joe sized him up—nah, no way was he a Dom. Joe mentally shrugged and filed the thought away for another time. Maybe the guy was shy and just needed a little push.
All thoughts flew out of his head. Richard, one of the Doms, had turned up the background music. The original David Rose “The Stripper” blared from the speakers. Everyone started laughing, and as Joe turned to the stairs he knew why. All the subs were coming down from the boutique. Callum had let them all pick out an outfit for their participation in the auction. The six uncollared girls came down first. Then the boys, five of them, led by Lee. All laughing.
Joe was mesmerized. Adam had changed into deep purple satin shorts so tight Joe didn’t know how he walked. Both his nipple piercings were now large gold rings with a single purple bead in each one. His hair sported matching purple streaks. Black eyeliner. Shit, Joe had never seen him with that stuff on before. His already large eyes were stunning. The only thing wrong with the picture was, apart from one furtive glance, Joe was being very firmly ignored.
Damon, however, was not. Adam kept throwing out flirty little glances at him. Joe’s mouth was set in such a grim line his jaw ached.
The subs all hung around the bottom of the stage as the members arrived. Adam and Lee were working the crowd like pros. All the subs were giving out their own flyers, obviously with their favorite Doms in mind.
Lee worked the room for the other subs, and Callum stood in his own black dress pants and black silk button-down, watching him. Every so often Lee would blow him a kiss. Joe smiled; it was good to see his friend happy.
Joe’s gaze once more centered on Adam, and his heart hammered in his chest as he wondered what he had missed. For a few seconds, Adam’s guard was totally gone, and he looked distraught. Joe glanced around the room, trying to pin down what Adam had seen. Callie’s Dom was pirouetting her around. Lee cuddled into Callum. Joe gazed at Adam, the longing clearly showing in Adam’s.
One of the other subs called to Adam and in an instant his face had changed. Happy, smiling, eager. Joe was stunned. No wonder Joe had never pegged him as a street-kid. Adam had just pulled his mask on again. Joe didn’t know what the hell had happened to him, but Adam’s need to be wanted had been written all over his face. And Joe had nearly shoved him out of his apartment this morning to avoid any more uncomfortable conversations...he really was a complete shit. Something had clearly happened to Adam, and Joe wanted to know what.
Callum stood on the stage with the mike. All the subs ran into position, with Adam at the front.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Tonight, as you know, we are raising money for our very own Derek Jameson’s charity, Gage’s House.” Everyone shouted and hollered, even Joe had to smile. “Our generous-hearted subs wanted to put their own little spin on things. Before we start the auction, please welcome...Adam and the submissives!” There was a huge groan from the crowd when Callum said the name, then cheers and cat-calling rose. “Singing Marvin Gaye’s, Let’s get it on.” Even the staid Doms that hardly ever cracked a smile clapped for the subs.
Adam, of course, was incredible, and Joe hated every minute of it. Every hip-thrust, every beckoning finger, every half-lidded look he threw to the audience. He dragged his eyes away from him once and with utter disgust Joe noticed at least six Doms all holding Adam’s sheet of limits. Joe couldn’t bear to look, but he couldn’t look away. It was like watching a train wreck.
A huge cheer went up and Callum stepped back on stage. He dragged Lee over to him and smiled. “I’m going to start the auction.” Whistles and cheers bounced off the walls. Someone shouted, “One thousand dollars,” and everybody cheered. Callum put his hand up while the crowd quieted. “All of the subs up here, with one obvious exception, are uncollared.”
Joe stared hard at Lee, refused to look anywhere else.
“As we are exclusive, I am paying the sum of three thousand dollars to buy my sub tonight.” A huge cheer went up, and Lee flung himself at Callum then danced over to the steps and stepped off stage.
“Next we have Callie.” The small blonde danced forward, tits bouncing. Joe tried to feel interested and failed miserably. All the subs were bought one by one. Then Adam stepped forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Damon Kerrick sit a little taller.
Callum drew Adam nearer to the stage. “Now, you’ve all heard our boy sing.” Callum smiled as the cheer went up. “But have you seen, when he’s tied to the cross, how well he can dance?” A louder cheer went up. Callum held up Adam’s list of limits and read them out as he had done the others. “Now would anyone like to start me off with, say, five—?”
“Two thousand dollars.”
Another cheer went up in the club as Damon’s firm voice interrupted. Callum had been about to say five hundred, the same as he had started every other sub off at. There had only been Lee-Ann, who had made four thousand, and that was because two Doms she had scened with had fought for her. At the end they had both said they would pay two each for her. Everyone had laughed at that—they knew Lee-Ann would be very happy “Double-Domming” as she called it.
Joe suddenly realized Callum was looking at him. He was clearly expecting Joe to bid for Adam. But he couldn’t, could he? He wasn’t gay for fuck’s sake. Everyone knew he had scened with Callie, or Emma before she’d been collared, to say nothing of the subs he had been through at Breathless.
“Two thousand, five hundred.” The quiet voice rang through the crowd. It was an older Dom Joe didn’t know very well. Callum had granted membership to quite a few of the Doms from Breathless for tonight. Joe saw Adam’s eyes shoot up at the voice and his smile dim slightly. Adam didn’t look too happy that the Dom had bidden, but Joe didn’t know whether that was because he didn’t know the Dom, or because he did and didn’t like him. Shit. If Joe hadn’t have been so busy tying up his cases this week, he’d have had more time to help Callum, and he’d have gone through the applications himself.
“Three thousand dollars,” Damon offered.
Shit. Joe really didn’t want Adam to be bought by the sadist.
“Four thousand dollars,” the older man spat out. Joe didn’t like that—he sounded like he was getting annoyed.
He looked at the guy. The Dom looked about fifty, quite a florid face with a paunch. If being outbid was annoying him, Joe didn’t like the poor self-control he was showing, especially for a Dom.<
br />
“Four thousand, five hundred,” Damon returned. Joe didn’t know who he wanted to win. Shit, he didn’t want either of them to.
“Well, boy,” said the other Dom. “You’d better be something special.”
Adam flushed at the implied insult—no one had missed the disbelieving tone. Joe glanced at Adam, those green eyes were fixed straight on him. I can’t.
The Dom raised his voice. “Seven thousand dollars, but that’s for the whole weekend.” Everyone gasped, and all eyes turned to Adam. Callum bent down to Adam and whispered something. Joe couldn’t read lips, but he would bet Callum was saying Adam didn’t have to do this.
Callum nodded and straightened. “Do I have any other bids?”
Callum didn’t even bother looking at Joe this time. Adam looked at the floor. Surely he would refuse? It was insane to play with a Dom he didn’t know—or didn’t like—for a full weekend. Nearby, Damon shook his head.
“Adam?” Callum’s asked the boy in a low voice. Adam lifted his head, eyes glaring straight at Joe. Joe felt sick; he knew what Adam was going to say, and it was his fault.
Joe opened his mouth to say anything—to be honest the words, “Eight thousand dollars,” were on the tip of his tongue—but Adam turned his eyes to the front and quietly said, “I agree.”
Callum couldn’t even get the word out “sold” before the clapping and cheering erupted. Adam stepped off the stage to receive hugs from the other subs. He calmly walked up to the older Dom and lowered his gaze. Without saying one word, the Dom just pointed to the floor. Adam knelt and presented.
Shit, what the hell had Joe done?
Chapter 5
The club settled down. Lee was bouncing around. They’d raised over twenty thousand dollars tonight for Derek’s charity, and everyone was thrilled.
Joe was quietly getting angrier. Adam was still presented in the middle of the floor in front of the stage. Lee had tried to go up to him twice, only to be almost physically restrained by Callum. It was a huge no-no to interrupt any scene unless the sub was in danger, or having his limits ignored. Half of Joe’s brain knew there was nothing he could do as neither of those things was happening, but he hated it the longer it went on. Adam hadn’t moved, and Joe didn’t know how he kept still. He’d been in that position for over an hour while the Dom talked and laughed with a couple of other Doms he knew. Joe hadn’t seen them before either.
