“Good morning, Beth,” the man in question greeted her when he breezed into her office a short time later. To his credit, Cam’s initial reaction was barely perceptible—an uninformed observer certainly wouldn’t have noticed it, but as he approached her she could see that his gaze was drawn, like a compass needle pointing north, to the ribbon.
When he reached for her hand and kissed the back of it, her eyes automatically dropped. And when he spoke again, his tone was completely different—warmer and more intimate, with the hint of a shared secret. “So he finally did it. Welcome to the community.”
“If you say anything that starts with ‘I’, ends with ‘so’ and has ‘told you’ in the middle, Fraser, I’m dragging you down to the car park and turning you into chopped bloody liver.” Alex glared at his old friend to reinforce the threat, and was rewarded with a who-gives-a-shit grin.
“Leaving aside the minor point that it will be a cold day in hell before you get the better of me in a hand-to-hand combat situation, all I can say is it’s about bloody time, Alex. But what’s with the ribbon? Don’t you think she deserves something better?”
“Of course she bloody does, and we’re taking the afternoon off to do something about it.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“Giorgio’s. I want to get her fitted for something special for daywear, and a suitable play collar. I wasn’t planning on doing it so soon, but, hell, I just want her collared so I can start to build her confidence.”
Cam nodded. “Have you thought about taking her to the club, or is it too early for that?”
“Too early—way too early. She needs time to come to terms with everything before I even tell her about the place, never mind take her there. She needs to trust me fully to take care of her.”
“Of course.” The other man’s tone was sober. “So what’s eating you?”
Alex watched him sit down before speaking. “She woke me up with a kiss this morning.”
Cam let out a low whistle. “Sweet. And your problem is?” Then the light dawned. “You didn’t have the usual –”
“No. I can’t remember falling asleep, nor can I remember waking up, not until this morning.”
Cam had known about Alex’s nocturnal demons for a long time—they were a major factor in his decision to walk away from the private security firm they’d founded together after leaving the military. Apart from the medics, Cam was the only one who knew about the problems Alex had—and the only one who knew the cause of them. Consequently, he was the only one with whom Alex could or would discuss the matter.
As much as alpha males could ever be said to discuss anything remotely personal.
“Then perhaps Beth’s the answer, Alex.”
A troubled look passed over Alex’s features. “She’s the answer to a lot of things, Cam. There was a time when I didn’t want to do anything to scare away the best assistant I’ve ever had. Now, I don’t want to scare away the woman I –”
He broke off abruptly. The first person to hear what he was about to say shouldn’t be the man opposite him. Besides, he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear himself say the words aloud—not yet, anyway.
“Cam, what’s the latest with the investigation? Are we talking industrial espionage?”
“Nice segue,” the blond man observed with a knowing nod and a raised eyebrow. Then he became serious. Very serious. “I can’t prove anything yet, Alex, but my gut’s telling me that this isn’t just common or garden industrial espionage—there’s a lot more to it than that. I may be wrong, but I have a hunch it’s personal. Maybe connected to the old days. Especially after what you felt yesterday.”
“You’ve no evidence yet?”
“Nothing we can use. We’re working on it, though. Got a couple of leads to chase up—they got sloppy with some of the equipment they installed. If it had been me, I’d have removed the manufacturer’s labels and the serial numbers. Unless…” He paused, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
“Unless what?”
“Unless they were left there as bait to lure us into some sort of trap.” Cam shook his head. “Shit, I’ve been watching too many spy movies. The investigation is still ongoing, but we’re contacting the manufacturer, which should lead us to the supplier and eventually to the bastards responsible for installing it.”
“What if the supplier won’t give up the information? Client confidentiality and all that?”
“You remember those two guys I worked with a couple of years ago? The cyber experts, used to work for MI5 until they decided their talents could be better utilised in the private sector?”
“Lee Carmichael and Tristan Rhodes?” Alex remembered them well. Although he’d never had occasion to work alongside the two men—partners in more than just the business sense—he knew them from Aegis and had seen a couple of the smoking-hot demonstrations they’d given. Anyone looking at Rhodes would without question tag him as a Dom…until they saw him on his knees for Carmichael.
“Yeah. I bumped into them at the club a couple of days ago. I happened to mention our current problem, and they offered their expertise. They can get into almost any computer system in the world, so when I say we’re contacting the manufacturer, it might be…indirectly?” Cam at least had the grace to look a little shame-faced. “Same with the supplier.”
“I did not need to hear that, Fraser.” For a moment Alex lapsed into officer mode. He knew all about the slightly and not-so-slightly questionable methods that could be employed when it came to investigating a situation such as this.
“Yeah, well, I have a gut feeling that whoever it is, the end customer may be just a third party working on behalf of the real enemy.”
“If that’s the case, then until we find out who that is, we have no way of knowing what this is about.”
“My best guess is still revenge,” Cam offered. “And if I’m right, both you and Beth could be in real danger.”
“Revenge for what, though? If that is what this is about…“
“If it is, then it’s someone who’s been bearing a grudge for a long time. You’ve been out of the security game for years, and frankly, I don’t think anyone we came across in the beginning is a likely candidate—we weren’t involved in anything that could possibly warrant it.”
Cam paused, apparently deep in thought. “No, I think this relates to something that happened while we were in the Regiment. I’ll look into it from that angle, but whoever it is, if they’ve justified it to themselves, that’s all they need. We’ve got their equipment, so they’ll know we’re onto them –”
“So it’s possible they’ll make their move sooner rather than later.” Alex’s tone was grim. “I can’t let anything happen to Beth. I’ll take her to Winterleigh—I can protect her better there.”
Cam sighed heavily. “Alex, I know you don’t want to hear this, and God knows I don’t want to say it, but you know as well as I do that she’d be safer if you put some distance between the two of you, just until this is resolved.”
Alex’s refusal was immediate. “I can’t. I have to see her, see that she’s there and she’s all right.”
“It’s okay. I’d feel the same. Just watch your back, all right? As soon as I get something we can act on, I’ll be in touch.”
The two men talked a while longer. Alex watched his friend leave, and then a cold, brooding darkness descended over him. It looked like his initial instincts probably weren’t wrong. A threat from the old days? Even though Cam’s opinion was that it had nothing to do with their work in the private sector, thinking about the past transported Alex back to that time and the darkest period of his life, to the heat, the dust, the danger, the adrenaline rush…and the pain. He looked at his hands, flexing his fingers to banish the image of broken bones and bloody flesh, starvation and raging thirst, the gut-wrenching degradation…
Damn it, he could even feel that prickling sensation moving down his spine, the one that had always warned him of
an impending threat. His hand flexed again, as if getting comfortable around the grip of the semi-automatic pistol that had been his constant companion. It had always been enough, until he’d been thrown into that living hell…
Alex forced his mind back to the present. If it was personal, he had to protect Beth. He didn’t care about himself, but some of the enemies he’d gone up against back then would think nothing of going through her to get to him, and he would not allow her safety to be compromised.
Cam was right, of course; the sensible thing would be to distance himself from her, but the chances of that were slim to none, and the last he heard, Slim left town. He’d just accelerate his plan to have her move in with him. She’d balk at the suggestion, but hell, she was his woman and his sub, and she’d damn well do as she was told. Even if she did bust his butt for it afterwards.
“Alex?”
Beth’s sweet voice broke into his thoughts. His eyes swept over her as she stood in the doorway. So concerned…for him. He glanced at his watch—not quite ten-thirty. Way too early to call it a day, but shit, he was the boss, and truth be told, he’d made enough money out of this business over the years not just to take an extended leave of absence now but to walk away from it completely and not look back.
“Beth, I want you to cancel every appointment for the rest of the week. We’ve finished for the day, we have things to do, and then we need to talk, well away from here.”
Just when she thought things were about to settle down.
As soon as she’d seen the expression on Alex’s face, Beth had known that something major was going on, and clearly it was connected with the meeting. That look had made her feel very uncomfortable.
She put the phone down after cancelling the last of the week’s appointments. Life was getting crazy all of a sudden and the craziness was showing no signs of going away. She switched off her computer, gathered her belongings together, and was putting her coat on when Alex emerged from his office.
“Ready? Good. Make sure you’ve got everything, because you won’t be coming back here for a few days.”
“I won’t? Alex –”
“No questions, Beth.” He cut across her, every inch the Dom and former officer. “The office can run fine without our being here for the next few days. You and I are going on a little shopping expedition, and then we’re going to pick up what we need from your place and mine. When we’ve done that, we’re moving to Winterleigh for a while.”
“Whoa! Stop right there!” Beth dug her heels in—literally. Alex had hold of her hand and was almost dragging her out of the office. “I’m not—what are you talking about? I’m not moving anywhere with you! Are you crazy? It’s too soon! We need to talk about this!” She tried to disengage her hand from his, but he wasn’t having any of it. The look he turned on her froze her blood.
“Not now, Beth! You are coming with me and that’s final—you will obey me!”
He’d said he was a sexual Dominant, not lifestyle. He could order her around all he wanted in the bedroom—heck, he could even dish out his sexy commands outside the bedroom and she’d take it, but this outrageous boorishness was taking things way too far. The safe word that would end it all hovered on her lips, and from the sudden look of—was that fear?—in his eyes, Alex knew it.
“Please, Beth.” His voice was less harsh now. “Trust me. I know it’s a lot to ask, but please…trust me. I’ll explain later, I promise, but for now we have to move quickly. I have to keep you safe.”
Something told Beth that whatever he was talking about, it had nothing to do with muggers and sprained ankles. Something much bigger was going on here. Questions tumbled through her mind as she accompanied Alex to the basement car park. Once they were in the Aston Martin and were heading out onto the street, she asked him about their destination.
“We’re going to see a friend of mine—Giorgio. He’s the best in the business.”
“What business?” Beth could have sworn she hadn’t heard Alex mention the name before.
They’d stopped at a set of traffic lights. Taking advantage of the standstill, Alex turned to face her. “Beth, from here on in, I really need you to trust me. Can you do that? Trust me implicitly?”
She wanted to argue but the intensity in his expression killed her impulse to ask the questions before she could give voice to them. Whatever was going on, he was seriously worried. “Alex –”
“I promise I’ll tell you as much as I can—as much as I know—when we get home, to Winterleigh.”
Beth reined in her desire to demand a full explanation there and then. Alex had always been a man of his word, and he wasn’t about to change that now. She still needed to have some idea of what was going on, though. “Is it really that bad?”
“It could be.”
She could see the war going on in his mind. Something was really bothering him. “And?” she prompted gently.
“And the safest thing for you would be to take a break and go as far away from here—from me—as you can.”
“No!”
She would never leave him, especially if they were in the kind of danger that led him to believe she would be safer away from him. And at that single word, a little of the tension that had ridden him since they’d left the office ebbed away.
He was the man she loved—that was all that mattered. The somersaulting gymnast in her stomach disappeared, replaced by a sense of calm that was strangely at odds with…whatever this situation was.
A hand lifted to touch her cheek. He looked like he was about to say something but then the lights changed and the car moved off. With Alex’s attention back on the road, Beth was left to her own thoughts and imagination. This all had to be related to the ongoing security issue, yet that hardly seemed possible. Alex was acting as if their lives were in danger, but how that connected with industrial espionage, Beth had no idea. As for revenge—the very idea was ludicrous. All she could do was be there for him—no matter what he thought the wisest course of action might be.
She glanced over at Alex, noting the firm set of his jaw and the hand resting on his thigh, now curled into a fist. She felt compelled to reassure him. The fist slowly uncurled beneath her touch and his thumb reached out to trap her fingers against his. He lifted her hand to his lips.
Ten minutes later the car pulled up outside a small, fairly nondescript office building—evidently, this was their destination, as Alex came around to open the car door and offer her his hand.
“We’re here—this is Giorgio’s place. He’s well-known and highly respected in the community.”
Beth swallowed hard. “Is he a Dom?”
“He is, but all you need to do is wait until he speaks to you, and address him as ‘Sir’ when he does speak to you. You’ll be fine.”
Alex took her hand and led her through the intercom-controlled security door, with its surveillance camera.
It was an adult store. Beth had been a reluctant visitor to such establishments once or twice in the past, accompanying one of her boyfriends who had been marginally more adventurous than the rest—ever since then, she’d had an aversion to pink fluffy handcuffs. Why it had been necessary to actually go to a place like that when there was the internet, she’d never known, but somehow now, with Alex, she didn’t mind at all.
This place, however, was in a different league—the preponderance of black leather and chrome chain was overpowering. The scent of the former should have reminded her of safe things, like the first quality bag she’d ever bought, and the saddler’s shop she’d walked past on her way to school. Instead she was thinking of the kind of place where these items, the harnesses, the gags, the cuffs, all the other D/s paraphernalia, would be worn and used. She’d read and written about establishments like that, but never experienced them first-hand. Was Alex a member of such a club? She caught her breath at the thought of him among the symbols of Domination and submission, dressed like the Doms in those books. Beth shoved the mental image asi
de, before it made her even wetter than she already was.
She was still trying to take it all in when a man appeared at the doorway to the back of the shop. He was a few inches shorter than Alex, but almost as physically imposing as him. Dressed entirely in black and with his long, silver-streaked, black hair drawn back in a sleek ponytail, he could have been any age from forty to fifty-five.
“Alex, good to see you again. I haven’t seen you at the club in a while. How are you doing?”
The two men shook hands—they were obviously friends.
“I’m good, thanks, Giorgio. Work’s been keeping me busy and away from the club more often than I’d like. How are you?” Alex waited for the other man to reply, then put his arm around Beth. “This is my new sub, and I want something special for her.”
“Day and play? No problem. I have a couple of new day collars that I think you’ll like the look of.”
Alex glanced at the velvet ribbon. It looked good on her, but circumstances dictated that it was time to do things properly.
“Thanks, Giorgio. And for play, I want the best you’ve got.”
The other man nodded, looking Beth up and down. “The private room’s ready for you. May I use her name? I’ll need to touch her as well—is that all right with you?”
It was a matter of courtesy, one Dom to another—after all, in the eyes of the community, subs were property, and one Dom would no more come between another and his sub than he would touch anything else the other owned.
“Giorgio, I’d like you to meet Beth. She’s new to the scene, but she’s a fast learner—and she’s very special to me.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Beth.”
Beth kept her eyes lowered, and her hands clasped in front of her. “Thank you, Sir—I’m pleased to meet you too.”
“Come with me, Beth. I have something for you that I think your Master will like.”
The Velvet Ribbon Page 14
