by Linzi Basset
She clawed at the sheets as her eyes glazed over. “That last night … I knew the dynamics had shifted. He had become more demanding over those last couple of months, especially once I realized what he had been doing. He pretended to give her the power to control me. Instead, he was the one prodding her, whispering into her ear how beautiful I was, how he preferred to fuck me … all to stoke her jealous anger and make her hate me, become cruel and ruthless in her pursuit to break me. I had believed that night had all been her when, in fact, it had been him. The once caring Master had turned into a monster. He wasn’t a sadist. They had both become abusers. I just never realized it. It took me almost dying before I did.”
Her voice faltered as she told him what happened on that fateful night.
“They ignored my safeword, everyone in that fucking club did. I screamed it as loud as I could at the times my mouth was free—no one came.” Her eyes were wild, like she was back in that hellhole. “They left me there once they were done. Torn apart and bleeding from every orifice. If one of the subs hadn't found me when she did, I would've bled to death.”
She struggled to sit upright and wrapped her arms around her waist, rocking back and forth. She lifted tortured eyes to him.
“I was in intensive care for over a month. It took many surgeries to stitch me up and reconstructive surgeries thereafter. Luckily for me, they kept me sedated most of the time.” She rocked faster. “It was a shock to finally come to and hear the nurses talk about how wonderful it was, how much my husband and his sister cared for me. That they had been at the hospital every day.” She barked a thin laugh. “They told the authorities that I had been kidnapped and taken to that sex club where I had been gang raped. I didn’t even try to tell the investigators the truth. It served no purpose. He was an investor in that club, that’s why no one bothered to come when I screamed for help. He held the power as a well-known man in the BDSM community and business world. No one would’ve believed me.”
She stopped rocking.
“But one of the nurses believed me. She had been by my side when I talked while under sedation. She knew the truth and helped me to escape. I hid at her house for four months. She got me a job as a bookkeeper at Club Sensations. It took me out of California at least. For two years I lived a quiet life. I went to work, I ate, slept, and repeated the routine every day. I didn’t make friends, I couldn’t bear anyone touching me, in any fashion, let alone indulge in BDSM play. I never entered the club itself until one night—the anniversary of the night they …” She looked at her hands. “Hunter Sutton saved me from making the second biggest mistake of my life. I’ll forever be grateful to him for convincing me to join the sub academy at Castle Sin. I never understood why he thought I needed training when I made it clear I was done with BDSM, but you … all of the Sinclairs proved me wrong. You saved me, Shane. You all made me whole again.”
She fidgeted with the sheet. “I … I’ll understand if this means that you can’t … that it’s over between us now. I did terrible … I was a disgusting person to allow them to—”
“No, you’re not. You said it, Alexa. You were abused. You were the victim.” He cupped her face and pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you. Nothing will ever change that. What happened to you was horrific but that doesn’t affect my feelings for you. Rather the opposite. I admire you for rising above it all, for becoming the strong and wonderful woman you are that every submissive and trainee at Castle Sin looks up to and respects. You are the woman I love, Alexa Silver, the one who holds my heart in her hands. I will be there for you always, protect you against all the ugliness in the world.” His eyes darkened. “Even myself.”
Alexa bore back at the implication. “No! Shane don’t you dare think I need you to change, to become passive and the kind of Dom you are at Castle Sin. Yes, I went through something horrific, but it’s in the past and that’s where it’ll stay. I made the decision when I went to The Seven Keys Island—I refused to allow it to rule my life. It doesn't change that I am what I am—a masochist. I need what you give me to reach the level of pleasure and relief my body needs.” She grabbed his hands urgently. “I don’t want normal, Shane. I want you, the sadist, the beast … every aspect that makes you the man I fell in love with. The one I trust implicitly. It’s because of you that I became the strong woman you say you admire. And I am strong, Shane. If you believe anything, believe that I will never again allow anyone to exploit me. I know you’ll never abuse the trust I have in you. Do you know why?”
“Because I love you.”
Her eyes shimmered as she clutched his hand against her breast. “Yes, and I love you with all my heart.” She sobered. "I couldn't have children because of what they did to me. Above all, it's the one thing I will never forgive them for. I so desperately wanted a child, Shane."
“Ah, baby, come here.” He pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently. “I always wanted children too but fate had other plans.” He tipped her chin back. “I know I’m old as fuck, honey, but I would love nothing more than to have a child with you.” He silenced her with a finger against her lips. “I want to adopt a baby with you, Alexa.”
“Oh god, what did I do to deserve you?” She fell into his arms and held onto him like he was her only lifeline.
She had found her home. The only one that mattered. In his heart.
“I’m coming, dammit. Stop ringing that fucking bell,” Shane growled. He’d let Alexa sleep in and had just run her a warm bubble bath. She needed to relax and the shrill doorbell was intrusive as fuck. He needed to change the damn thing. He yanked open the front door.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He glanced up and down the street. “For that matter, how did you gain entrance into the estate?”
“Is that the way to greet your long-lost wife, darling?”
“You're not my wife. Come to think of it, you never were, not in the true sense of the word.” Shane crossed his arms over his chest as he stared her down. “What do you want, Rita?”
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“No.”
Rita was taken aback at the abrupt response. He was blocking the doorway which meant she wouldn’t be able to slip past him and worm her way inside where she needed to be to seduce him into listening to her.
“Not even if you stripped naked and spread your legs wide right here on the stairs.”
Her cheeks exploded with color. She’d forgotten how adept he was at reading minds.
“Shane, all I’m asking for is thirty minutes of your time. I don’t want your money … well, I do but I have a proposal to—”
“I’m not interested. Not in any hair-brained scheme you thought up with whatever the name of the fuckdick is you hooked up with. I don’t know how you found me here, but I will make sure you never get past security again.”
“How can you be so unfeeling? You were the one at fault. If not for you deceiving me, I would never—”
“Bullshit. That shit doesn't wash with me anymore. Yes, I didn’t tell you I was a sadist but masochism wasn’t new to you. Yes, my dear, I knew. Your reactions were practiced, skilled and the fact that you never admitted it, you demanded it long before I was ready to give it to you. The final clincher and what made me realize I had nothing to feel guilty about, was when I found out after the divorce that you had been fucking every sadist in the club for half of the time we were married.”
“Only because you were never home! If it wasn’t a movie, you went off with Kane to some war befucked country! You drove me to it!”
Shane laughed. “No, Rita. You chose to believe you had just cause.” His expression turned somber. “You weren’t supposed to get a dollar from me but I still gave you enough money to last you a lifetime. What did you do? Eat it?”
“Please, you don’t understand.” She took a step closer but stopped at the warning in his eyes. “Okay, I fucked up. I admit it. Is that what you want to hear? There, I said it and I’m sorry. All of that is in the past and I
can’t change it. I need … just,” she looked sideways, “twenty million. Please Shane, and I’ll disappear for good.”
“You burned thirty million in record time. How long is twenty gonna last before you’re back? Forget it. I’m done.” He leaned forward, his eyes glacial and glimmering with dark consequences if she didn’t heed his warning.
“You chose the path your life took, Rita. I suggest you stay on that course and don’t contact me again. I’m generally a patient man but I don’t have the time for shit like this. I’m not your piggy bank. You got more than you deserved with the divorce. You’re not getting another dime out of me. The next time you darken my door with your presence I’ll have you locked up for trespassing.”
He nodded toward the rental in the driveway. “You have five minutes to exit this estate. I’m calling security to warn them about a trespasser. I suggest you leave.”
Shane lifted the receiver of the phone just inside the door and buzzed the estate entrance guardhouse.
“There’s an intruder in the estate that’s bothering me. A woman driving a white Range Rover, plate number …”
He smirked as Rita ran to the car and pulled away with a screech of tires.
“Sir? Mr. Sinclair?”
He gave the guard the plate number. “She just left. If she’s not out of the gate in two minutes, call the cops. I want to know how she gained access without my permission.”
“She had an access code from the hairdresser on Fifth Street. Don’t worry, sir. I’ll make sure she never sets foot inside the estate again.”
Shane replaced the receiver. He whistled a lively tune as he headed toward the kitchen to start breakfast. His naughty little girl had wrung him dry last night. He needed a boost of energy.
“Fuck, I’m getting old. I better get my shit together. I’ll be damned if I have to depend on little blue pills for a hard on to keep her little cunt happy.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Sooo, where did you and Shane disappear to yesterday?” Peyton prodded her with a teasing smile. “I have to admit, I’ve never seen you smile nonstop.
“I agree. Whatever that silver fox did must’ve been explosive,” Rose teased as they sat down at a reserved table at El Siboney Restaurant on Stock Island in Key West.
“Damned if I’m not curious too. I mean, he must’ve pulled out all the stops to top that scene in the dungeon the other night. Look, don’t get me wrong, I’ll scream like a pig being slaughtered if Parker had to pierce my nipples like that but man, it was hot as fuck.” As always, Ava said it as it was. Right down to the point.
“She’s blushing! Who would’ve thought a seasoned sub like you still got the tingles thinking about a scene,” Peyton said as she buttered a hot roll the server had just placed on the table. “God, I can’t wait to meet this little angel. I’m always hungry and I’m so fat!” She sighed and rolled her eyes as she munched on the decadent piece of bread. “Yeah, yeah, Rose, I know I’ll lose it again but what if Stone’s eyes start to wander while I’m struggling to get rid of all the bulges?”
“The only place my eyes will wander is over all these gorgeous curves and valleys on my body,” the father of the angel she was carrying said as he walked up behind her and nuzzled her neck. Kane, Parker, and Shane homed in on their respective women as well.
“How many times do I need to tell you, Sinclair,” she gestured up and down her frame, “this body belongs to me.”
“Nope. You gave it to me. I’ve got the signed contract to confirm it in case you forgot.”
“Gmphf, like you’ll ever allow me to do that.”
She smiled broadly as Stone spanned her bulging tummy with his hands. He leaned in and placed a sound kiss on the rounded curve. “Don’t mind Mommy, little angel. She’s mad at me, not you, my sweet little girl.”
“Stone,” Peyton groaned but smiled at him as he kissed her on the lips.
“It’s a girl, love. Stop arguing about it.”
“Hasn’t the OB been able to tell you the gender?” Alexa asked with dreamy eyes as she leaned against Shane.
“He can’t say for sure since the angle is never right or when it is, the little snip crosses her legs every time,” Stone said, ignoring Peyton’s reproachful glance.
“I just don’t want you to put your heart into having a little girl and a boy pops out, honey.”
“It’s not gonna happen.” Stone stretched out his legs. “I know we’re having a little girl, but just to put your mind at rest, even if it’s a boy, I’ll love him just as much.” He shrugged with a satisfied smile. “It’ll just mean we’ll have to try right away for a little girl then.”
Peyton frowned at him. “Forget it. I know we said we want a lot of kids but I’m the one who has to carry them for nine months. If you think I’m gonna be pregnant every year, you’ve got a surprise heading your way, Sinclair.”
“But you look so sexy with my seed nurturing inside you, honey.”
“Not to mention uncomfortable,” she muttered. “Zip it, Stone. It’s not up for further discussion. Besides, you're hogging the entire conversation with baby talk.”
“Oh, we don’t mind,” Rose said as she peeked at Kane. “And since we’re talking babies … I have some news for you too, my love.”
Kane took a swig of his beer. “I’m all ears, babes.”
“I hope you—”
“Hold on! Babies?” He sat upright so fast he looked like a Jack-in-the-box. His eyes dropped to Rose’s rounded stomach. “Rose?”
“I’m afraid so, honey. We’re pregnant.”
“Holy shit,” Parker said with a wide smile and hugged Ava against him. “We better get cracking, baby. These old timers are showing us up.”
“My god, Shane! Did you hear that? I’m pregnant … I mean Rose is pregnant with our baby. Hell and damnation!” Kane said with a smile splitting his face in two. “I’m going to be a father …” He kissed Rose like she was a porcelain doll about to break in two. “Again … and this time I’m not missing one single second of the journey.”
Shane wrapped his arms around Alexa and held her against him, feeling the sadness in her heart reach out to him. He placed a soft kiss against her temple. “Our adoption baby is going to be just as special and loved, honey.”
Alexa looked up at him. The shadows in her eyes dissolved with the love and joy that filled her heart. “I know, Shane. I know.”
She leaned into his strong chest, truly happy for the first time in her life. Her gaze snagged on a tall, muscled body of a dark blonde man leading a blond woman and a massive black man to a table in the far corner.
No! Oh god no! They found me.
She felt hysteria surge inside her as the group sat down and she recognized her two tormentors of the past. Her fingers groped for Shane’s hand but even the strength of his clasp couldn’t calm her down.
“Leave,” she croaked. “We … I have to get out of here.”
“Alexa?” Shane followed her gaze to the three people at the corner table. He cursed as he recognized Rita and the man who she had cuckolded him with. At the time, all he wanted to do was get away and had no interest to know who he was. He still didn’t, except …
He looked back at Alexa who was on the edge of a meltdown. The fear in her eyes screamed for understanding.
“Please, Shane. I can’t be here. I need to leave. Please let’s go.”
“What’s wrong, Shane? Alexa looks like she’s seen a ghost,” Stone asked as he leaned forward in concern. She had a very special spot in all their hearts and they cared for her as much as they did for their loved ones.
Her gaze was still glued on the table in the corner. Shane’s body solidified as he made the connection. There could only be one reason why she would be so openly petrified. The sadist and his masochistic sub who had almost killed her was none other than his ex-wife and her fucked up lover.
His voice grated with venom. “We’re leaving. There’s rot in this place. I much prefer the clean air at the Hogfish
. Let’s go.” His body was as tight as a guitar string as he struggled to suppress the need for violence, to take revenge on Alexa’s behalf. He got up and snapped at Parker. “That man in the corner sitting with the black man and Rita. Find out everything you can about him. Everything, Parker.”
Parker nodded as they all followed the distressed Alexa and Shane who kept her hidden from view to the group in the corner as he rushed her outside.
“How did they find me, Shane? Oh god, I’ll never get away from them. This time they’ll kill me!”
“No, they won’t. This time you have all of us to protect you.” He helped her into the cab and held her until she stopped trembling. “Who is he, Alexa? You already told me what he did. Now I need to know who he is.”
She was so distraught, she didn’t pick up that he didn’t ask about the woman, but even if she did, it wouldn’t mean anything. The blonde woman could’ve been the companion of the other man with them.
“Drake Lambert. He owns a very successful architecture firm in California,” she said in a dull voice.
Shane wracked his brain. “Interface Architects?”
Alexa started and then her shoulders hollowed forward. “You know him.”
“Look at me.”
She turned her head, resigned that coming face-to-face with the monster she’d told him about had just been the final nail in the coffin of their future together.
“I know he is a successful man with family money but that’s no excuse, nor does it justify what he put you through. Money doesn’t absolve him from guilt.” He smiled gently. “Nor does knowing who he is change anything. You and I are it, Alexa. A fuckdick like Drake Lambert isn’t going to change that.”
She nodded but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t relax. Fear was a cruel taskmaster. Once it had a hold of you, you became its slave all too easily. Alexa couldn’t shake it off.
