Shane

by Linzi Basset

  The sound of the half-hysterical voice echoing in her mind caused her to jerk in her sleep. Her eyelids fluttered but she didn’t wake. As always when the nightmare started, her subconscious mind tried to guide her away from the painful memories. Like so many times before … it didn’t help. She clawed at the pillow as she drifted back into the dark realm of the nightmare that wrapped its tentacles around her and dragged her further and deeper into her past of that horrible night she’d been desperate to forget … now still … ten years later.

  Since she’d moved in with Shane she’d slept better than she had in years. He offered a calming presence at night, which was strange since she had never liked being held in bed, but she’d fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around her every night and woken up half-draped over his powerful physique in the mornings.

  Except for the last two nights, since he, Kane and Billy had something to take care of in Tampa. Was that why she was where she hated to be … at the gateway of hell she did her best to avoid—even in her sleep?

  Her resistance crumbled. She was back in a personal prison as she slipped into the nightmare and found herself walking down the dimly lit hallway, limbs trembling, her mind numb as a voice rasped through her mind.

  “You belong to me, slut. I decide what happens to this whore’s body of yours and tonight … tonight you’re going to prove to me just how grateful you are to have me as your Master.”

  “What do you expect of me, Master?” Her voice had been thin, filled with trepidation. The way his lips had curled showed his enjoyment at her fear. For the umpteenth time, Alexa regretted the day she signed a permanent Master/slave agreement with him, knowing he was involved with another sub already. She’d handed over all control of her body and life to him … to them.

  But he’d been different then. A man of integrity and it had been easy to fall in love with him. He was a sadist, yes, but at least he took care of her needs as a masochist. Now … she didn’t matter. It was all about his needs, his desires, and the pleasure he got from hurting her beyond reaching any pleasure.

  And she was the reason. The bitch from hell who spurred him on every time. The woman who had hated Alexa on sight and for the attention Drake gave her. He appeased her by giving her control over Alexa as well—something she reveled in. He, her Master, allowed it because the millions of dollars in her bank account was more important than being the Master he’d originally promised to be.

  Instinct warned her that tonight was going to be different. That she should turn around and run … as fast and as far as she could. And yet, she didn’t. She couldn’t. Sometimes it sucked to be a committed slave to a Master. It was in her nature to want to please him, no matter how she’d come to fear him … and her.

  Maybe tonight would be the turning point. If she did what he asked, he might realize she was true in her feelings for him and become the man she’d fallen in love with two years ago.

  The moment she stepped inside the large private dungeon room, the blood in her veins turned to ice. She struggled to breathe as she counted the Doms in the room. Ten … oh god, there were ten!

  “It took you long enough to get here, slave.”

  She turned pleading eyes to her Master. Her breathing became choppy as she recognized the pleased expression on his face.

  “She has become very disrespectful of you, my love. It’s time to adjust her attitude.” Alexa couldn’t stop shivering as she watched the beautiful, sultry woman run her hands over their Master’s chest. Her red lips twitched evilly as she returned the look. “You’re overdressed, slut.” She looked at the men behind her. “I want her naked.”

  “No! I’ll … oh lord, please. Master, I beg you don’t …” Her voice drifted off at the glacial look he bestowed on her, watching with a tight smile as the men tore her clothes from her body, leaving her shivering and naked under their regard.

  Being naked in the club wasn’t new to Alexa, since she was never allowed to cover her body in his presence, but the way they pawed her under his watchful eyes made her feel like the whore he always called her.

  The Doms circling her were enough to make her realize what was about to happen. She dragged in a deep breath and with squared shoulders said in a clear voice, “Multiple partners is a hard limit for me, Master. I will not partake in this scene.”

  “You’re mistaken if you believe this is a scene, slut,” the woman sneered. “You don’t deserve pleasure. Oh no, this is punishment and you know as well as I do that you have no say over how and what form that takes.”

  “No! You can’t do this. Even with punishments …” She glanced beseechingly at her Master. “Please.”

  “Please what? I am in control of you and your body. You gave it to me in black and white.”

  “Yes, but under the condition that it will be safe, sane, and consensual! I don’t consent to this. I never will.”

  “Shut up, you ungrateful bitch. We have been taking care of you, spending money on you and this is how you reward us? Tonight, you will learn never to oppose either of us. When I tell you to drop on your knees and fuck my dog, you’ll fucking do it.”

  “No, I won’t.” Alexa finally realized she had been a fool holding onto the belief that her Master returned her affection and was only under the woman’s spell for a short period. How could she have been so naïve? She had become nothing other than a plaything for their demented games and desires. The look in his eyes confirmed it. He felt nothing for her. Maybe he never had. “I’m done. Our agreement ends here. I’m out. Red. I call red on our relationship.”

  His laughter mocked her bravery. She retreated as he walked closer.

  “Ahh!” Her scream was raw as he fisted his hand in her long hair to yank her head back so hard, she struggled to breathe.

  “You still don’t get it, even after all these years. You have no say, Alexa. No voice in this relationship. It’s not over, whore … until I decide it is.”

  “You have to let me go. I called red! RED! RED!” she screamed but it ended in a gurgling gasp as he wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed.

  “Screaming isn’t going to change anything. You’re mine and if you should’ve learned one thing over the past couple of years it’s that I am in charge.” He looked over his shoulder. “It seems you were right; she does need an attitude adjustment.” His eyes glittered as he turned back to sneer in her face. “You’re nothing but a convenient fuck hole and it’s time you realize it.”

  “No,” Alexa whimpered as he faced the ten men with her by his side.

  “You don’t stop until her cunt is so swollen you can’t get your fucking cocks inside anymore.” With those words, he pushed her into the center of their circle. “If she bleeds, you’ll be well rewarded.”

  Her screams and pleas fell on deaf ears as she soon realized every one of the ten Doms were carefully selected sadists as they filled every orifice with their huge cocks and fingers. They quickly lost all sense of what was right or wrong as they became frenzied, driven by the lust feeding off of her pain and degradation.

  By the time they left her bleeding and broken on the floor, Alexa was in too much pain to react as the she-devil yanked her head back by her hair.

  “Not so haughty now, are you slut?”

  “F-fuck you,” she managed to stammer, her lips torn and swollen, her throat raw from being filled with one cock after the other for hours.

  “Ah, I had hoped you’d still have some fight left.” She sneered into her ear with glee in her voice, “Because now I get to break you for good.”

  Desperate to escape the two demons by her side, Alexa tried to crawl to the door but she was yanked back by her Master’s hard hands.

  “You’re not going anywhere. The show was truly arousing and now it’s our turn to have some fun.”

  “I don’t want to listen to her screams, love. Keep her mouth filled while I make sure this cunt loses all its enticement to you.”

  “Ah, so that’s what this is all about. You’re jealous
.”

  “No, but I’m tired of waiting every night while you fuck her hungry cunt. I deserve to be first … in everything. After this, she’ll make sure you tend to me before her.”

  “I’ll leave! I said I’m out. P-please l-let me go,” Alexa pleaded. “Ahhh fuuuck,” she screamed as a huge dildo was shoved brutally inside her vagina which was so raw and swollen that pain blinded her.

  “Too late, whore.” She cackled wildly as her Master pushed his cock down her throat while she began working the dildo in and out with barbaric disregard of the damage and pain she caused. “Hmm, it seems they stretched her well and good. I can get another one in here.”

  The demonic laughter of the two people reverberated through the room but Alexa was engulfed in a sea of pain as the demented woman forced another dildo inside her.

  “NO! Stop! I beg you to stop. Get away from me. I fucking hate you! Let me go! Just let me go!”

  Alexa thrashed on the bed as she struggled in her mind against the cruel couple whose ruthless barbarism tore her apart. She shuddered as she imagined feeling the warm blood flowing from her brutalized vagina, her rectum, the sides of her mouth and still … they continued. Her arms flailed in desperation.

  “Shh, little one. I’m here. I’m here, Alexa. I’ll take care of you.”

  The deep voice registered in her tortured mind and startled her out of the abysmal nightmare. Her cheeks were wet and her body was bathed in a cold sweat. The sheets were twisted around her limbs from thrashing in desperation to escape the cruelty. Her heart pounded against her chest. She trembled as her eyes fluttered open. The room was entirely dark. The remnants of her nightmare still clung to her mind, haunting her.

  “NO! Let me go,” she screamed as the large form leaning over her came into focus in the murky darkness of her room. She scrambled up against the headboard and did her best to shrug off the hard hands reaching for her.

  “It’s me, Alexa, Shane. Take a deep breath, little one. It’s just me, Master Fox.” He sat down at the edge of the bed, watching her intently but refrained from touching her.

  Alexa’s eyes glimmered with wild fear as she glanced around the room until her gaze finally settled on his face the moment he switched on the dim bedside lamp.

  “Sh-Shane?”

  “I’m here, baby. Come … let me hold you.” He knew better than to reach for her again. The terror of the nightmare was still shallow in her mind. Until she calmed down and recognized who he was, he was the dream still haunting her in her mind.

  Shane knew she had demons in her past. He’d established as much with her entry interview eight years ago when she’d applied for submissive training. They had agreed not to push her for disclosure on her request and assurance that her emotions were under control. Over the years, he’d kept a close eye on her, especially in the dungeon, to watch for triggers, but to date, there had been none. Whatever haunted her, she’d learned to compartmentalize and kept it locked away … except when she was alone at night it seems.

  “Shane? You’re b-back.”

  “Yes, little one. Now, come to me. Let me hold you.”

  This time there was no hesitation and she lunged into his arms, clinging to him like a lifeline. Shane was rocked at how her body shuddered and how frail she felt in his arms—a complete contradiction to the strong, confident, and forward woman he’d come to respect and desire.

  “I’m so scared, Shane. He’s coming for me. I just know it!”

  “You’re safe here, Alexa. No one can get to you, little one. I’ll make sure of that.”

  She shook her head, her fingers digging into his side as she tightened her grip. “I have always felt safe here, knowing he can’t reach me here, but this time … I felt him, Shane. His presence was so … so real, frighteningly so. I can’t … oh god, I can’t stay here. I have to leave!”

  He tightened his hold around her as she started to struggle to free herself.

  “Calm down, baby. Shh, come now, Alexa. I am here, we are all here to protect you. No one will come close to you; I promise you that.”

  She glanced at him, fear shining like cold diamonds in her eyes. “What if you can’t? What if he still gets to me … what he did to me … what they d-did …” A raw sob tore through her as fear morphed to terror. “They’ll kill me this time … they won’t let me walk away again … I can’t drag you in with me, Shane. I can’t put you in danger.”

  “You’re not doing anything, Alexa. It’s my choice and my responsibility to care for and protect you. A job I take very seriously. I promise you, love, there is nowhere you’ll be safer than right here … with me.”

  He hugged her close, breathing in the fresh smell of her hair as she relaxed into him. It took a long while for her to calm down but he didn’t move, except to caress the taut lines of her back.

  “I g-guess you want to know who he is and what he did.” Her voice was soft, her eyes fearful as she looked up.

  His smile was tender as was his finger brushing away the tears from her cheeks. “It’ll help to know who to look out for, but only when you’re ready, little one. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Promise?”

  Her eyes were glued to his, needing reassurance that whatever had happened to her wouldn’t change his desire to have her in his life. The breath staggered in her chest at the thought. How could she tell him what she had allowed them to do to her … even before that night? How she had willingly submitted to everything they had subjected her to?

  Why she was so sure they were about to uproot her life again she had no idea, but after she’d managed to escape their claws, she’d come to trust her instincts.

  He cupped her cheeks and kissed her with surprising gentleness. “I promise, little one.”

  Shane might be a sadist himself, but he wasn’t demented and he didn’t force his deviant needs where they weren’t wanted. He was still caring and always ensured his sub achieved what she needed from a scene … even if it took a couple of days before he did.

  No! She couldn’t tell him. He’d be disgusted with her. She wouldn't survive watching him walk away from her. Not now that she finally had a chance at happiness … at being the recipient of his love … like he had been hers for so many years already.

  She buried her face in his throat as pain tore through her heart. She was delusional. If Shane ever met those two monsters and found out exactly who and what she was … it could never be.

  I have to leave. It’ll break my heart but I’d rather he remembers me for who I am now than loathing me for what I was.

  There were no them … no happy ever after for her.

  Not with Shane Sinclair.

  Chapter Ten

  “You seem pensive this morning.” Kane sat down beside Shane at the boardroom table at BSE.

  “I’m concerned about Alexa.” He briefly explained what he’d walked in on the previous night.

  “Did she tell you who it was?” Kane’s voice was soaked in concern.

  “No, but it’s someone who scares her senseless.”

  “Our Alexa? I find that hard to believe, Shane. She’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. Hell, she doesn’t think twice to stand up against any of us and that takes guts.”

  “Because she trusts us, Kane, and knows above all else that we’ll protect and care for her no matter what. Those demons haunting her in her sleep did the opposite. I got the feeling they broke more than her trust. They broke her body and her spirit.”

  “You mean the nightmare is a memory of something from her past?”

  “Definitely.”

  “What can we do to help her?” Stone asked who had been listening.

  “For now, don’t change how you act towards her. The last thing she needs is to feel she’s under constant scrutiny.” Shane sipped his coffee. “I’m not going to push her to open up to me. When she’s ready, I know she’ll come to me. Until then, all I can do is keep her safe.”

  “All we can do,” Stone interjected.
“Alexa is very close to my heart. She’s my pillar of strength in this company and I’ll be damned if I stand by and watch anyone hurt her.”

  “Ditto,” Parker said as he walked in having overheard. “Not that I know what’s going on, but we all love the Castle’s Momma sub.”

  “You said it,” the rest of the group confirmed in one voice as they settled around the desk.

  “Ah, see why we love you so much, squirt? You always know when we’re hungry,” Zeke said as Alexa walked in moments later carrying a tray filled with sandwiches.

  “Gmphf, it’s not exactly rocket science, Zeke. You all are always hungry. Heaven knows why I have to be the one saddled with a group of starving caterpillars for employers.”

  “Come give me a kiss, little one.”

  Alexa shot a sharp glare at Shane. Her cheeks bloomed red as the team guffawed. Her finger did a twirl in the air. “This is my workplace, Shane Sinclair,” she clipped in a cold voice. “You don’t get to order me around here, and you definitely don’t get to take advantage of our relationship during my working hours either.” Her nose tilted higher. “You can wait for your kiss until lunchtime.”

  Shane didn’t have time to find out how she was feeling earlier, since she’d left his apartment while he was in the shower—probably to avoid a confrontation with him. She had fallen asleep in his arms and he’d left her to sleep when he went for his early morning jog. He was delighted that she appeared to be her normal self.

  “You tell him, squirt. We won’t be able to keep house with him if you bow to his every command.” Danton smirked at Shane.

  “Pfft, like there’s ever a chance of that,” Alexa snipped as she walked towards the door.

  “Ah, little one, if only you knew that you have the power to bring me to my knees … much easier than you’d ever believe.”

  Alexa stared at him agape. Her eyes narrowed. “I find that hard to believe … not you, the sadistic Master Fox on his knees for a sub?”

  “C’mon, Alexa! I, for one, will pay good money to see my big brother crawling after you.” Zeke laughingly caught the pen Shane hurled at him. “Just say the word and we can put our heads together and conjure up a plan.”