Burned (Zodiac Alphas)

by Josephine Jade

  Unfortunately, Mike knew that, and just as she was lifting herself off his back to try to signal someone, He shifted her down into his arms.

  The hand of his arm holding her legs, grabbed her pinky finger.

  “If you move again, I’ll break this finger. Then I’ll start on the next.” He said it with a friendly smile on his face.

  She jerked, calling his bluff, trying to get away from him before they got out of the dungeon area. He shook his head.

  And agonizing pain radiated from her finger. She could feel the bone break and screamed, the gag completely muffling the sound.

  “Want me to break the next one?”

  Tears poured out of her eyes and she stopped fighting. She was too vulnerable here. He had to put her down sometime, and she would be ready to fight then. He kept her hair covering her face as they passed fewer and fewer people on their way out.

  “You know, the fact that you always wore the mask really helps me in this situation. Nobody knows what you look like.”

  Lexi was just trying to focus on breathing through the pain. What the hell was Mike doing?

  “My cabin is pretty crappy,” he said. “Plain. But a buddy who’s in Dubrovnik tonight has an aft cabin. Right at the back of the ship. Gives him a great view of everything.”

  He continued to walk down the hallway with her. When they heard someone coming in their direction, he slid her feet to the ground, and pushed her up against the hallway wall. Making sure her hair was surrounding her features the whole time, he pushed her face into his shoulder and began kissing her neck. She struggled as the couple walked by, trying to get their attention, but when they just murmured in appreciation she realized it just looked like she was encouraging Mike’s amorous attentions. They couldn’t tell she had a gag on.

  Once they passed, he continued to drag her down the hall, until they arrived at the cabin door he opened it and pushed her inside.

  “When I heard Alexandra Silver was on the ship, I wasn’t worried. One does not have to search into SilverSystems very long to figure out that she is the face behind the company, but not the brains.”

  Had this maniac really brought her here, broken her fucking pinky, just to talk about her company? He pushed her onto the couch, tears flooding her eyes again as her broken finger hit the back.

  “I thought I was done for. Thought someone else was using your systems to figure out that it was me stealing from Calder. Maybe his own security team piggybacking off your systems. But it wasn’t, was it? You were the one who set up the sting, weren’t you?”

  He sat down on the couch next to her, removing the gag, but holding a pillow in his hand. “If you scream, this is going over your face, and I can’t guarantee I’ll remember to let it up before you suffocate.”

  Lexi shook her head, trying to think clearly through the pain. “You’re the one who’s been skimming from Calder Enterprises?”

  “Yep. Did Jackson bring you here to help him figure it out or were you working on your own?”

  “Jackson knows everything,” she lied immediately. “I got the data I needed tonight, but just hadn’t had a chance to look through my copy. Jackson already has it and his security team is probably looking for you right now.”

  “Interesting how I ran into Ian and Quentin Damascus, his heads of security, five minutes before you arrived at the dungeon and they didn’t mention anything.”

  Shit. “Fine, you caught me.” She tried to keep her voice is sturdy as possible but her teeth were already chattering she was so afraid. “But the information is on its way to them.”

  “That’s unfortunate. More work for me. Now I’m going to have to make it look like you’ve been stealing from Jackson, and tried to pin it on me. And that you were so overwhelmed with guilt that you killed yourself.”

  “Wh-what?”

  He ripped off the necklace, the collar, Jackson had given her and threw it on the ground. “Let’s get rid of this first. I can’t stand to see his mark of possession on you. It should’ve been me you were with all along.”

  His fingers gripped her jaw with a bruising grip. “Too bad you couldn’t just leave a good thing alone, Alexandra Durham. But I can’t let them start looking into me. Calder isn’t the only person I’m skimming from.”

  He trailed a finger down her cheek and Lexi flinched away. “Don’t touch me.”

  He shook his head. “I would’ve liked to play with you. Make you know some real pain. Not this sissy stuff Calder is into. I’ve had to keep those darker tendencies under wrap. It’s hard to find good pain sluts. But God, how I love to feel your bones snap. Maybe I should do the other pinky.”

  Lexi threw herself from the couch onto the floor to get away from him, and Mike laughed.

  “It’s really too bad I don’t have much time. The things you could suffer at my hands in twenty-four hours?” The man actually licked his lips.

  Lexi scrambled back as far as she could as Mike stood. “But sadly, if Anthony realizes you’re the one Jackson is looking for when he gets to the dungeon, he might mention that you left with me. So, no time for fun.”

  He walked over to the bedside table and got out a clear plastic bag. “Have you ever done any breath play? Some people really like it. It’s supposed to intensify an orgasm significantly. Having someone choke or suffocate you during sex until you’re right at the brink of passing out, but then they let you have air at the very last second, just as you orgasm. I hear it’s amazing.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve never done that. I don’t want to.”

  “Well, we’re going to try it, except I’m not going to let you have air at the very last second. Dying probably doesn’t help intensify an orgasm.” He shrugged. “But I’ve got to get you thrown overboard before Calder comes looking for you.”

  As he moved to put the bag over her head, Lexi did what she realized she should’ve been doing all along. She screamed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jackson knew he had to make sure he had himself under the most strict of control. But the familiar sounds of submissives being punished as he entered the dungeon — crying out in agony as an instrument of the Master’s choice struck their willing flesh — made his palms literally itch to do that to Lexi’s naked body.

  She’d been turned on the first night by seeing the submissive being plugged and punished on the spanking bench? Well, she was about to know exactly what it felt like. Ginger lube and a large butt plug would help the pain go much further.

  And she would stay there and be spanked until she’d admitted what she’d done.

  After the spanking a few days ago with Donovan, where she’d surrendered so sweetly and apologized, Jackson was frustrated that she couldn’t appreciate what having no secrets between them felt like. Of course, admittedly, he’d had his own secrets too. But his didn’t involve illegal activities.

  Regardless, the time for secrets between them was at an end.

  He was over fifteen minutes late for meeting her and expected to find Lexi by the bar. When she wasn’t there he began walking around. Soon his frustration was growing. Things were bad enough for her without him having to search to find her.

  After two sweeps through the entire place, he knew she wasn’t there. God damn it.

  Jackson’s phone rang. Donovan. “I hope you’re about to tell me that you have Lexi in your possession so that she’s not about to get twice the spanking I’ve already got in store for her.” Jackson moved over to a quieter area away from the music so he could hear better.

  “Jackson, we were wrong.” Donovan’s voice was somber.

  “About what?”

  “Lexi wasn’t the one stealing from you. That was the weird data I was talking about before you left a few minutes ago.”

  “But I thought she set up a program to skim?”

  “She did. But what she was really doing was tricking another skimming program to expose itself. It was brilliant and it worked perfectly.”

  Jackson rubbed a hand over
his eyes trying to take all this in. “Why didn’t she just tell me what she was doing?”

  Donovan snickered. “I would think it was because until a week ago you didn’t even know she was a part of SilverSystems, much less the brains behind it all. And since then her body and mind have otherwise engaged.”

  “Shit.”

  “Take it in, Jackson. She wasn’t stealing from you. She was protecting you.”

  Donovan was right. Jackson literally felt the weight shift off his shoulders. Lexi wasn’t guilty of anything but being too clever for her own good. “Well damn, there goes the reason for the spanking I was going to give her tonight.”

  “I’m sure you can find another reason. Especially given how much she likes it.”

  “Yeah, I’ve just got to find her. At least now I know she’s not hiding from me.”

  “Let me keep going over this data her programmed pulled. It won’t take long, maybe ten minutes. It should pinpoint who the real thief is. Probably someone in either the New York or Los Angeles offices. You’ll need to get back there right away.”

  Hopefully he’d be able to talk Lexi into going with him. ”Okay, keep me updated.”

  “You were right about her, Jackson. I didn’t want to believe she could possible have anything but nefarious purposes behind what she was doing, but I was wrong.”

  Jackson chuckled. “Let this be a lesson to you. I am always right.”

  “Fuck you.” Donovan ended the call on a laugh.

  After another ten minutes Jackson was becoming concerned. Where was Lexi? If she wasn’t hiding, why wasn’t she here? He realized he didn’t have her cell phone number, because he’d had her physically with him for the past few days.

  Maybe she'd gotten ill or had fallen asleep in her own room – God knows she certainly hadn't had eight uninterrupted hours of sleep any night for a while.

  Finally he went over to the bar to talk to Anthony, who have been one of his favorite bartenders at the BDSM club in New York City until Jackson had made sure he was offered a position here.

  “Having a good night, Mr. Calder?” Anthony asked, handing him a chilled bottle of his favorite water.

  “You would think so, but it seems like I've lost my new toy.”

  “Oh, these toys, they can get away from you. Might I suggest putting a leash on her? I have a number of them behind the bar I could give you.”

  “Believe me, when I find her I will be taking you up on that offer.”

  Anthony smiled. “I've never seen you looking for one lady in particular. New development?”

  “I finally got my mystery lady to take off her mask.”

  Anthony chuckled. “Sounds like she was worth the wait, then.”

  “More than.” Jackson pulled out his phone to a picture he'd snapped of Lexi in Venice a few days ago. “Here she is. She should've been here tonight without a mask. Sort of her coming out ceremony.”

  The color had drained from the big man's face. “That's your new girl?”

  “Lexi Durham. Why? What's the matter?”

  “Did you give her to someone to play with until you got here?” The bartender still looked worried.

  “No.” Why the hell would Lexi be playing with someone else?

  Jackson's phone buzzed in his hand. A text from Donovan.

  I know you're not going to like this, but it looks like the thief is Mike Wentzel.

  Dammit. All the pieces fell into place. Mike had access to Calder enterprises servers, and the computer know-how to do something like this.

  Wentzel is on the ship, not in New York. Make sure Ian or Quentin pick him up.

  Will do.

  “I'm sorry, Anthony. What were you saying? You saw Lexi playing with someone else?” There had to be a mistake.

  “No, sir. One of the regular masters asked for a ball gag and restraints. Said his little sub — your sub – wanted to do a non-con scene. He took her towards that area of the dungeon about fifteen or twenty minutes ago.”

  “She went with him?”

  Anthony shook his head. “He already had her gagged and bound before he left the bar. Threw her over his shoulder. Not uncommon for a non-con scene. I told him to make sure she had a squeaky toy. I'm sorry, boss, I should have double checked with her before she left the bar, but I could see the black bead on her bracelet. And I figured someone would double check with her before they did the scene.”

  Although it was part of Anthony's duty to make sure people stayed safe, as it was part of everybody's duty here, what had happened was understandable. A black bead on the bracelet meant that non-consensual scenes were something the sub had agreed to. Tension coursed through Jackson. Lexi wouldn't do this. Wouldn't just jump into a scene without at least talking to him first.

  “Do you know who the regular was, Anthony? And which scene room they were going to?”

  “I don't know which room they were going to but I do know the name of the guy, only because his name is so ridiculous. Magic Mike.”

  Fear closed around Jackson's throat. Lexi was missing and last seen with the man whom she discovered was stealing from Calder Enterprises? That was no coincidence.

  “Anthony.” Jackson voice took on a deadly focus. “We have a code red. Get security and shut everything down. Make sure they know what Mike Wentzel looks like. They should be able to pull it up on the ship’s computer. I need the dungeon guards and the security team checking every private room here on in the dungeon. Tell them to report immediately to me if they find Wentzel or Lexi Durham.”

  But Jackson didn't think Mike had kept Lexi in the play area. He had very cleverly used BDSM practices to get her alone.

  He walked out the door of the dungeon deck, just before the security team locked it down. If Mike was in there with Lexi they would find them.

  Jackson called Donovan.

  “I need the tracker activated on Lexi right away. Hurry, Donovan. Mike Wentzel has her. I don’t know how long, but it’s been a while.”

  “Shit.” Jackson heard a flurry of clicks against the keyboard.

  “Cabin 8270. Aft of the ship. Very back.”

  Jackson was already running. Donovan said something else but Jackson didn't care. He put every ounce of strength and focus towards getting to the cabin where Lexi was being held by someone who had every reason to truly hurt her, if not worse.

  As he reached the door he heard a scream from the inside.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lexi wasn't exactly sure what happened. As she screamed, she caught one last glimpse of beautiful Croatia outside the sliding glass door of the balcony before the plastic covered her head. She could barely make out Mike's form as he yanked the thick plastic tight against her nose and mouth.

  She fought, throwing her weight from side to side, but it didn't do any good. He was too big, too strong. And without use of her arms there wasn't much she could do. Her lungs burned as she attempted to drag in air but could get none through the thick plastic.

  She didn't want this to be the end. Wanted more time with Jackson. Wanted a chance to officially say the words that had been inside her heart since she was sixteen years old.

  But it was too late. She didn't fight the blackness as it took her under.

  She woke to Jackson's hands stroking tenderly across her face.

  “C'mon, baby, can you open your eyes?”

  She couldn't seem to make herself do it. All she could do was moan. Everything hurt.

  “That's right, sweetheart, can you open those beautiful eyes for me?”

  She didn't want to. Just wanted to go back to sleep where the pain couldn't overwhelm her.

  “Lexi, you will open your eyes right now.”

  Her eyes blinked open. She couldn't resist his that dominant tone. Something inside her instinctively responded.

  “There you are.”

  “It hurts,” she said.

  “Let me unbuckle your wrists.” He helped her sit up.

  “Be careful of my finger. He broke my pinky.
” She heard Jackson mutter some really ugly words as he unbuckled her arms. He rubbed her shoulder sockets to help ease the pain from having been restrained so long, then gently cradled her hurt hand in his.

  “Where's the medic, Donovan? Fucker broke her pinky,” she heard Jackson say as he picked her up and sat down with her in his arms. Someone wrapped a blanket over her.

  There were a lot of people in the room.

  The security team, Donovan, and of course Jackson holding her. Lexi processed it all from a mental distance.

  “Medical will be here in less than five minutes. You've also got to get your shoulder looked at,” Donovan said to Jackson.

  “What's wrong with your shoulder?” she whispered.

  Jackson just tucked her closer to his chest. “Nothing is wrong with my shoulder. I'm fine, sweetheart.”

  Concentrating on his injury helped Lexi focus. She looked at Donovan. “What happened to Jackson's shoulder?”

  Donovan trailed a finger down her cheek. “He dislocated it getting through the door. Damn good thing he did. If he had waited for the security team, he would've been too late.”

  Lexi didn't want to think about the plastic bag over her face. The agonizing burn of her lungs. But she knew she had to.

  “Where is Mike?”

  Jackson smiled, although it wasn't friendly. “He's unconscious in the other room. My security team is with him. He'll be arrested.”

  “He was stealing from you. I found out and he knew I would tell you.”

  Jackson nodded. “We know, baby. Just rest, okay? I just need to hold you.” He pulled her back against his chest on his good side, his chin fitting over her head.

  Something about what he'd said bugged her, but she was too exhausted to figure it out right now. She lay against Jackson until the medics arrived. First they checked out Mike, who evidently had a broken jaw, then came to look at her finger. She tried to get them to look at Jackson shoulder first, since that was obviously a more complex injury, but the furious look Jackson gave her had her offering her finger to the medic.