by Shaw,LK
I could only shake my head. I knew I had my hands full with this one. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I fucking loved this woman, brattiness and all. I was going to enjoy attempting to tame her. I certainly didn’t want to change anything about her, but I loved having some fun and pushing her to her limits. Which was something we needed to discuss. It was time to begin more fully communicating with each other. We certainly had not been practicing safe BDSM. And I took full responsibility for that.
She had been correct when she said she didn’t know what was expected of her. And that was no way to treat a sub, especially my sub. Subs needed rules and boundaries. They want to please their Dom, but they can’t do that if they’ve not been given the tools to do it. Without that foundation, resentment would be the result. I felt I had failed my responsibility as a Dom to guide her and direct her. That was about to change.
“Before I leave, though, there are some things we need to discuss.”
She made a face. “Well, that sounds ominous.”
“Not really. Come here.”
When she was within arm’s length, I pulled her against me so she rested in the cradle of my hips. Unconsciously, she leaned into me and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck.
“We need to talk limits. It’s my fault we’ve been remiss in this. But I’m trying to be more open and communicate enough to meet your needs. So, this is me communicating. You are now in my home. The rules are much different here than they are at your house. Here, I am Master of all things. I am the one in control. I’m not expecting you to be my slave. I have a housekeeper who cleans, and we can share meal prep. I don’t expect you to wait on me hand and foot. However, when we are in the bedroom, you belong to me. I need to know what your soft and hard limits are. Are you on birth control, because I want to feel you skin to skin? Do you have any triggers? Most importantly, what is your safe word?”
My spine tingled and my cock became semi-hard as she played with my hair. I didn’t realize my head was such an erogenous zone. Not many women had the opportunity to touch me like this. I was realizing how much I enjoyed it.
“Well, Sir, I only have a few hard limits. I’m not into blood, golden showers, or scat. I don’t do needles or knives. I’m also not into age play. I don’t have any triggers that I’ve discovered in any of my play. I’m on the pill. so I’m okay with forgoing condoms. Also, my safe word is unicorn.”
“Unicorn?” I couldn’t help but smirk a little at this.
She pulled my hair. “What’s wrong with unicorn?”
I could only shake my head. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Now that we have that out of the way, if I have special instructions for you during the day, I will make sure you know exactly what they are so there are no misunderstandings. I have one very specific rule in the bedroom and that is you do not touch me unless I tell you to. This is non-negotiable. Do you have any questions?”
I sensed her evaluating everything I’d told her. I could almost see the wheels turning in her gorgeous head.
“No questions, Sir. But, may I speak freely?”
I nodded my assent.
“How long will this rule be in effect? You obviously have a reason for it, and as my Sir, you don’t have to explain to me, because it’s your rule. But, trust goes both ways, Connor. I’ve trusted you with everything from the very beginning. Besides my father, you were the first person who ever knew about Alex.
“Do you know how hard it was for me to open up to you about giving up my child? It’s a secret that has tortured me for years. I was ashamed of my choices. So I understand how difficult it is to open yourself up to hurt. To show vulnerability. I’ve been there. But there comes a time when you have to take that leap. You have to reciprocate that trust. I swear to you, Sir, you can trust me with whatever it is you’re hiding.”
She leaned up and softly brushed her lips across mine. It wasn’t enough. I needed to taste her sweetness. I deepened the kiss, teasing her lips with my tongue, coaxing them open. I loved her flavor and would never get enough of it. I needed to put a stop to this before it was too late. She was still too sore. Reluctantly, I pulled away.
“Thank you for your trust, Bridget. I am thankful for it. And I do trust you. Old habits are hard to break. I’ll take what you’ve said into consideration. Trusting people hasn’t worked out well for me in the past. Just be patient with me. Now, I need to get going. Remember what I said, Bridget. Rest.”
I left the house before I changed my mind about taking her to bed. The first place I needed to stop was my office. Then I needed to pay a visit to a couple of people, including Malcolm Shipman.
Chapter 23
Connor
After stopping at my office and gathering all the research I’d done on the Shipmans, I headed to the precinct to hopefully catch Webber in his office. The officer at the desk said he should be back shortly so I paced the lobby as I waited for him to arrive. After twenty minutes, I spotted him coming around the corner. When he saw me, he just waved at me and indicated that I follow him. He led me back to the same office where we first spoke about Alex.
“Have a seat, Black. How’s Bridget?”
“She’s settling in. Still recovering, but doing well. How was that lead you thought you had?”
Webber leaned back in his chair, propped his feet up on his desk, and crossed his arms behind his head. A sense of déjà vu washed over me.
“You know I’m not at liberty to share that information with you. This is an ongoing police investigation, and well, you’re not the police. Now, since I know that’s not all you came here to talk to me about, what can I do for you?”
“You’re right. That’s not all I came here to discuss. I wanted to show you something. You know, in case you hadn’t figured it out yourself. Tell me what you think of this.” I opened the folder I’d brought with me and slid the first set of papers across the desk. Webber shifted from his reclined position and began skimming over the information. As much as I hated to admit it, Webber was smart. I knew he’d draw the same conclusion I had. I just needed to give him time.
After a few minutes, he looked up at me. “Fuck. How long have you been hanging on to this? And how did you get this information? Never mind, I don't want to know. This sure is some interesting stuff you dug up. It appears our neighborhood child abuser has now leapt to potential murder suspect. You’re killing me here, Black. You know that, right?”
“There are inconsistencies about the car accident. I just happened to stumble upon a report that shows that the brake lines had been cut and foul play was suspected. Yet, somehow that report got buried, and the official report says they were hit by a drunk driver. How do you explain that?”
“Someone doctored the report.”
I was glad Webber and I were on the same page. “What reason would someone have to doctor an official police report? My guess is money. Someone was paid a lot of money to make a homicide look like an accident. You and I both know it makes sense, Webber. The Shipmans each had a million dollars in life insurance with Alex designated as their beneficiary. Malcolm Shipman kindly steps up as guardian and is named trustee of the account for Alex’s inheritance. The man works in retail for fuck’s sake. He has a modest—and I mean modest—personal savings account. Yet he drives a $90,000 car. Which he paid cash for. There are also some significant withdrawals. I did a little more digging, and it seems our friend Malcolm has a slight gambling problem. Did you know that the Shipmans had also taken out a life insurance policy on Alex?”
Webber sighed as he returned to his reclined position. “Let me guess. It’s for another million bucks?”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Obviously nothing can happen to Alex this soon after his parents’ deaths because that would certainly raise some serious red flags. But, if my suspicions are correct, then it’s only a matter of time before Malcolm Shipman becomes not only the grieving brother, but the grieving uncle.”
I left the station and made another stop. I needed to che
ck on Alex. He was still in the foster home, but after my conversation with Webber, it looked like that wouldn’t last much longer. Alex had been right in that nobody was going to find any evidence of abuse. Our time was running out, because Alex would be returning to his uncle’s house soon. Webber was going to do what he could on his end to find out who might have falsified the accident report and to look into Malcolm’s gambling habits and who he might owe money to.
I pulled up to the house where Alex was staying and idled for a few minutes as I thought about what I was going to say to him. He was old enough to know the truth, but I didn’t know if now was the right time to tell him. I wanted to protect him from the ugliness, but he needed to know what he was up against when he returned to Malcolm’s. I jogged up the walk and knocked on the front door. I heard a dog barking in the background and then some yelling for the dog to shut up.
When the front door opened, a sloppily dressed man stood there, a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. “Can I help you?”
Biting back a scathing response, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. “I’m here to see Alex.”
The guy turned and yelled over his shoulder. “Alex, you got company.”
Footsteps raced down the stairs and Alex quickly appeared at the bottom of them. His entire body relaxed when he saw me.
“Hi, Connor.”
“Hey, kid. I was hoping we could talk for a bit.” I turned to the person I assumed, was Alex’s foster parent. “My name is Connor Black. I own Blacklight Securities. Here’s my card as well as the number where you can reach Detective Daniel Webber. I’d like to spend a few minutes speaking with Alex, if you don’t mind.”
The man looked me up and down and walked away without a word. Jesus, I really needed to talk to Webber about the choices in foster parents around here. There was something fucked about the system, because it certainly didn’t seem to have improved since I was in the foster system. I blew off the guy, and Alex and I left the house. We walked side by side down the sidewalk. I didn’t have a destination in mind, I just wanted time alone with him.
“So, what’s wrong?”
Damn, the kid didn’t beat around the bush. Another trait he got from his mother.
“I spoke to my friend, Daniel, today. You remember him, right?” When he nodded, I continued. “Well, anyway, I wanted to ask you a couple questions about your uncle. Don’t feel bad if you can’t answer them. I just wanted to speak to you first. Have you ever heard your uncle talking about owing money to anyone? Maybe on the phone some time?”
We continued walking as he thought about it. “Well, there was this one time when I heard him arguing with someone about getting their money to them. But I must have made some type of noise, because he was suddenly quiet. Then he told whoever he was talking to that he was taking care of it, and he hung up the phone. Now that I think about it, he caught me trying to eavesdrop and slapped me for it.”
“Is that the only thing you can think of? It’s pretty important, Alex.”
“Yeah, that’s the only time I remember it coming up. Why? What’s going on, Connor?”
We had reached the neighborhood park, and I headed over to a bench.
“When I first found you for Bridget, I needed to know what I was up against since, both times you called her, you indicated you were in some kind of trouble. I needed to find out everything I could about you, your uncle, and your parents. I wanted to make sure you were safe. I have a friend who is really good with computers. She found out some stuff that even the police wouldn’t have been able to find.”
I stopped, trying to find the right words to explain to a thirteen-year-old-boy that, more than likely, his uncle had murdered his parents. It was a total shit storm, and there really wasn’t an easy way to say it. Alex waited patiently for me to finish explaining.
“There appears to be an incorrect report about how your parents died. There’s no real easy way to say this, but I don’t think the accident was really an accident. There was evidence that shows their brake lines were cut.”
Alex sat stone-faced and silent.
“Your parents had significant life insurance policies, both for themselves and for you. With you listed as their beneficiary, but being a minor, the money was put into a trust. My friend was able to take a look at the trust, and it seems as if there is quite a bit missing. And we think we know who’s taking it.”
“It’s highly likely, yes.”
Alex turned his head to look me straight in the eye. “And you’re also saying that he probably killed them, aren’t you?”
I hated that I was the one doing this. I wanted to be anywhere but here. “We don’t have proof of anything right now. Webber is looking into some things.”
“My case worker came by earlier today. She said I’ll be returning to my uncle’s house in the next couple of days. I’m afraid, Connor. He’s going to kill me too, isn’t he?”
Chapter 24
Connor
Four days had passed since my meetings with Webber and Alex and a week since the attack on Bridget. I hadn’t known what to say to Alex other than to reassure him that I would do everything in my power to protect him. I hated this feeling of helplessness. It brought back too many memories. And even though I was trying to overcome my insecurities, not only for myself, but for Bridget, I couldn’t change overnight. We slept in the same bed every night, and while we had done a lot of touching and petting, I had forced myself to stop before things went further. However, she had been complaining less and less of any pain in her ribs.
Webber had called me earlier while I was at the office to let me know that Alex would be returning to Malcolm’s home in the morning. After I’d hung up with him, I thought it might be a good idea to pay a little visit to Malcolm. I wasn’t going to kick the shit out of him, no matter how tempted I might be, but perhaps putting the fear of god into him might make me feel better. It was almost time for him to get home from work. I’d just head over to the house before returning home to my woman.
I arrived shortly after 6:00 pm, knocked on the door, and waited until I heard a faint “Just a minute” come from inside the house. I waited impatiently, until finally the door opened.
“Yes, can I help you?”
Immediately, I noticed the tape across his nose. Bridget had said she thought she broke the intruder’s nose. My gut had said Malcolm had something to do with it. This confirmed it in my opinion. It was too coincidental. Now that I was face to face with the piece of shit, I wanted to kill him. It took every ounce of willpower I had to stop myself from reaching out and beating him to death.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?”
He looked quizzically at me for a few minutes before shaking his head. “Should I?”
“My name is Connor. I met you at the gym a couple of weeks ago. I asked you to spot me during my workout.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember now. What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?” I could hear the puzzlement in his voice.
“I know a lot about you Malcolm. A lot. In fact, I probably know more about you than you would want me to. Like the fact that there’s a certain bookie in town you owe a substantial amount of money to. I know you like to hit people who can’t defend themselves. I even know about the prostitute you picked up a few years ago. Peaches was her street name, I believe.”
He stared at me in shock. And fear. Bullies only got off on tormenting those smaller than them. “What do you want?”
“First off, you’re going to keep your fucking hands off Alex. Second, you’re going to allow Bridget visitation. Oh, and if you are ever within ten feet of her, I won’t hesitate to beat the everloving shit out of you.”
I stepped into his personal space and leaned forward until our faces almost touched. “And just so you know, if you lay a single finger on either Alex or Bridget again, I will kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And no one will ever find your body when I’m through with it. You don’t fucking touch what is mine. They’re both
my family. And I protect my family. I’ll be watching you.”
I walked away before I did something I would regret.
I didn’t want to go home with this much anger coursing through me, so I drove around for thirty minutes before my blood stopped boiling. Seeing that bandage on Malcolm’s nose had me on the verge of spontaneous combustion. I kept picturing the description she gave of the man dragging her toward her room. I wouldn’t have put it past Malcolm to rape her in addition to beating the shit out of her. He was the type of guy who got off on making others feel powerless. That’s the way it was with bullies. It wasn’t healthy for me that the scene kept playing over and over. I needed something to replace it. And I knew exactly what that something was.
I clicked the Bluetooth and spoke into the microphone. “Call Bridget.”
As I waiting for the call to connect, I replaced the images in my head with other images. Better images. My cock hardened, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
“Hello,” Bridget answered.
“Hello, my gorgeous sub. Have you been a good girl while I’ve been gone?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I should be home shortly. Have you eaten yet?”
“No, Sir, I was waiting for you.”
“Don’t wait for me. I want you to eat before I get home, because I have a task for you.”
“But what about you, Sir? You need to eat as well.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, but I’ll pick up something on the way. I’ll be home in about an hour. Once you’ve eaten, here’s what you will do for me.”
I went on to explain exactly what I wanted from her. I disconnected the phone once I’d given her my instructions and smiled at the thought of what tonight held.
