by L. J. Dee
“I brought you a drink, try not to spill it,” he winked, holding out a large coffee with a huge whip of cream as I laughed gently.
“Thank you, Lucas,” I said as he took a seat, watching me closely, concern etched in his incredible blue eyes.
“How have you been?” he asked as I shrugged.
“Not great. I can’t stop calling the school like some obsessed crazy woman and I’m anxious that they’ve released Sid. They said he isn’t a danger, but I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head.
“I agree with the Police, Jess. I don’t think he is a danger to Dexter,” Lucas said as I frowned at him. What the hell did that mean?
“What do you know that I don’t?” I asked, suddenly irritated as he held my gaze. I was taking this out on the wrong person.
“I’m sorry, Lucas. My head is all over the place and my moods are up and down. It’s not you,” I tried to smile as he nodded.
“I know, baby. I understand. The reason I agree with the Police is because I’ve spoken to him. I wasn’t prepared to take anyone’s word when it came to Dexter’s welfare and I needed to see for myself,” he said as I stared at him blankly, stunned and trying to get the questions in my head out, but my words just wouldn’t form.
“I asked him how he knew about Dexter, why he took him and what he plans to do next,” he said as I nodded, knowing instinctively that Lucas would have asked everything I wanted to know and probably more. I trusted him and was listening intently.
“When Jake died, Jess, he said it was a catalyst for him. At first, he spiralled into depression, deeper into drink and tried several times to take his own life, fuelled by the guilt of how he’d treated his only son. Eventually, he sought counselling, got sober and decided to use his experience to try and help others. He mentors in AA and he runs a group that supports fathers with their sons. Some are raising them alone, others are estranged and his charity tries to help them,” he said as I swallowed hard, barely able to believe this was the same monster I’d known for all those years.
“The group meets weekly at a community centre near Dexter’s school. A few weeks ago he saw Chas picking up a little boy. He said he assumed that he must be hers, but when he saw his face he knew. He told me it was like seeing Jake reborn and when he showed me a photograph of his son I knew what he meant. Dexter is the absolute epitome of his father,” Lucas smiled as tears flooded my eyes.
I had never seen pictures of Jake as a boy. I had only known the teenager and my only photographs were of that time – the same one he’d shown Dex at the school gate. I needed to hold it together, I knew he wasn’t finished. “Go on, Lucas,” I urged as he smiled gently.
“He said he tried to stay away. He knew after how he treated you that he didn’t deserve a second chance, but he wanted to figure out a way to get to know his grandson. He’d watch from a safe distance every afternoon. He was afraid that once he made contact with you that you might freak out and pull Dexter out of school, and that was his biggest fear. He’s known about him for a while and says he’d taken a letter that day to give to Chas. The Police corroborated that they found it on him when they arrested him.”
“So why the hell did he snatch him?” I shouted as tears weaved down my cheeks.
“He stood at the railings that day because he was there to see Chas, but she didn’t show up. All the other kids had gone and Dex was running around the playground by himself. He kicked a ball and it landed right by Sid. He was holding the letter and a photograph of Jake in his hand and Dex saw it. He said he never planned to speak to him, but he pointed at the picture and told him that was his daddy. He started asking questions and the whole thing just snowballed. Before he knew it, he’d asked him if he wanted to go to the park. Dex waved to the teacher saying he was going with his granddad and she didn’t know any different, so off they went. Don’t worry, Jess, he got a strong piece of my mind about that,” Lucas said firmly as I nodded, putting my head in my hands before I looked up at him again.
“What makes you so certain that he won’t try and take him again?” I asked as Lucas smiled. “Because I’m a good judge of character and a formidable, intimidating bastard when I decide to be. I also have a Private Investigator following his every move. He can’t even take a shit without him knowing about it, never mind get close to Dexter. That’s not to say I think that’s entirely necessary, but I’m taking no chances when it comes to your peace of mind or the security of your son,” he smiled as I stared at him open mouthed.
“Oh, God, Lucas,” I said, rising from the chair and rushing around the desk, throwing myself into his arms as he stood, strong firm muscles enveloping me as he held me tightly. It was possibly the only thing that would have put my mind at rest and this beautiful man had made it happen.
“Thank you,” I smiled up at him, appreciating for the first time just how grateful I was to have had him around during this whole sorry affair. I stood on my tiptoes, kissing him over and over again as he laughed softly, taking my face in his hands.
“Your moods are certainly all over the place,” he laughed as I nodded. It had been like that since I first got the call, an exhausting, never ending roller coaster ride of agony and ecstasy, desperation, despair and hope. Perhaps now I would start to normalise again.
“I think there is a lot of pent up anxiety you need to rid yourself of, Jess,” he smiled, eyes dark as they gazed down at me and I knew he was right.
“How?” I asked as he pulled me tight.
“I have an idea, come with me,” he said, taking my hand as I grabbed my bag and phone and followed him out into the car park with a puzzled, bewildered frown on my face.
He pressed a set of keys as a gleaming white R8 burst to life in front of me and I jumped back startled. I hadn’t been expecting it. “Another car?” I laughed as he opened the passenger door for me to slide into the seat.
“What can I tell you, I’m a petrol head,” he grinned as I bit my lip, unable to take my eyes from him as he slid into the driver seat, firing up the engine and turning to look at me.
“What?” he asked smirking at my expression.
“This car is sexy, Lucas,” I smiled as he pouted playfully.
“Just the car?” he winked as I shook my head slowly.
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. That will come in very useful for what I have planned,” he chuckled softly.
“And what’s that?” I asked as he flashed his eyebrows.
“All in good time, Miss Evangelista.” He pulled out of the car park and into the London traffic. I suspected it might be the club, hoping that Lucas’s method of de-stressing me would be somewhat physical.
He pressed a number on speed dial, barely giving the poor man time to answer before he was barking his demands.
“Jackson, reschedule all my appointments for the rest of the day. Inform Mr Briggs he’ll be taking the Holland trip alone and forward him all the necessary documents from my file.”
“Yes, Sir. What about your lunch appointment, it’s marked as private?”
“I’ll take care of that,” Lucas replied and he was only half way through his “Yes S...” when Lucas hung up and dialled again.
“Dad, something’s come up I can’t make lunch,” he said quickly to the brief reply of “No problem, Son,” before his father cut the call, and I wondered if the Hunter family just didn’t do telephone small talk. They were certainly straight to the point. I was about to ask who Jackson was, when another number I recognised flashed on the display.
“Chas, its Lucas. I want you pick Dex up from school today,” he announced as I gasped. In light of his abduction I’d been doing it myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of it happening again and was afraid to trust Dexter to anyone. I stared at Lucas and he put a reassuring hand on my knee, weaving through the traffic as I swallowed hard.
“I can’t, Lucas. Jess doesn’t trust me anymore,” she said and I could hear the sadness in her voice as my heart clenched. I’d been shaken up, but I trusted my sist
er implicitly and hadn’t stopped to think how hard this must be on her.
“Yes she does, Chas. She just needed a couple of days to come to terms with what happened.”
“I’m not doing it unless Jess asks me,” she said as Lucas turned to smile at me and I knew what I had to do.
“It’s me, Chas. Of course I trust you, there’s no one I trust more with Dexter and I’d be really grateful if you’d collect him for me today,” I said and I heard her sigh deeply down the line.
“Thank you, Sis,” she said, her voice brimming with emotion as I smiled.
“I’m sorry if I took it out on you, Chas. I don’t blame you, really I don’t.”
“Thanks, Jess, I’d love to pick him up,” she said, ending the call and I felt certain that was because she was about to cry and didn’t want Lucas to hear her.
He’d stepped in and taken over, and yet again it had been the right thing to do. I was beginning to realise there were definite upsides to a man who could see through the fog when I couldn’t, knowing I’d given him too hard a time for trying to help. I wasn’t about to do it now.
“Thank you,” I said as he threw me a wide smile and my heart exploded with warmth. We were still in the city and I realised we weren’t heading for the club, but there was another question I still wanted the answer to.
“Who’s Jackson?” I asked, drinking in his delicious profile as he watched the road.
“My new P.A.” he said as my eyes flew open in shock.
“What happened to Melody?” I asked as he shook his head gently.
“I fired her after the Groucho incident. She set you up, Jess, and I suspect Roberta was behind it. She wouldn’t admit it, but I’m not a fucking idiot. I don’t believe in coincidence and I need to trust my staff. I thought a male P.A. might help with that whole ridiculous jealousy thing you’ve got going on,” he said seriously and I was absolutely flabbergasted.
I couldn’t believe Lucas would even consider my feelings when it came to anything to do with his business, but I was clearly wrong. I felt such a rush of overwhelming affection it was all I could do not to fling myself at him as he turned to me, his beautiful blue eyes twinkling mischievously.
“Hold that thought,” he grinned as I wondered if he was actually better at reading my mind than he admitted as we pulled into the underground car park which was beginning to look familiar.
“We’re going to your apartment?” I asked, throwing him a bemused smile.
“We are indeed, and by the time we leave I expect those stress hormones to have dissipated and been replaced with something altogether preferable, although it might not be quite what you have in mind,” he smirked as I frowned. It had to be sex – the only other question was which kind, unless Lucas Hunter had invented an entirely new way to fuck which probably wouldn’t surprise me. The man was full of them.
He was quiet as we took the elevator up to the penthouse, leading me into the kitchen and pulling out a stool for me to sit as he walked around to the other side of the breakfast bar, watching me closely.
“This is for your own good and what I think you need to completely empty your mind of all the worries that are plaguing you. It’s Dexter, but there are other things too. I hope after today you will be able to face your issues with more clarity and a clear head,” he said seriously as I watched him, listening closely and wondering what the hell was coming.
“In this room you may speak freely, but the rest of the apartment is mine. For the remainder of today you will be my submissive. Everything you do and every thought you have will focus on pleasing me and nothing else. Nothing. I want total surrender of your mind and your body, Jess.”
“What if someone from school calls?” I asked quickly. I felt much better, but the fear had not dispersed completely, even with Sid under constant surveillance, it was just too soon. Lucas nodded once.
“I understand your concern and I will have your phone close by at all times. If they call I will answer it and put you on. I am not shutting you off from the world, Jess, but I think you need to be shut off from yourself for a while. Do you trust me?” he asked as I nodded.
“Do you have any more questions?” He asked as I thought about it for a second.
“I feel vulnerable at the moment, Lucas, because of everything that’s happened. I’m worried I won’t be strong enough to do this,” I said, looking up at him as he smiled reassuringly.
“I know, but that’s precisely why you need it. There are lots of ways I could make you feel better. We could go vanilla, or I could cuddle you endlessly, and believe me I’d like that as much as you would. However, it would only reassure you for a while and that’s not what you need. My way you’ll recover more quickly. Once we leave this room you think about your Dominant, nothing else. Agreed?”
I nodded. I was willing to give it a try to rid my stomach of the knots of anxiety that had been eating away at me for days, and the chronic insecurities demonising my thoughts. My mind had been awash for weeks with endless questions about Lucas and shedding all the negativity and confusion could only be good for me.
“One more thing, Jess. From this moment on, I will be calling you ‘sub,’” he said and I wondered whether the depersonalisation was for my benefit or his.
“Yes, Sir,” I smiled, standing and making my way out into the lounge, clearing my head of all thoughts except the incredible, wonderful man standing before me, and it was easier than I’d anticipated. I drank in every inch of his heavenly face and masculine body just as I had that first night on the decking, drowning in the strength of his will and the promise in his eyes, awaiting my instructions that came swiftly and abruptly as a three word command.
“Strip and kneel.”
I did nothing for a long time as Lucas sat on the couch above me, typing into his laptop, petting me occasionally. I came to crave the feel of his comforting hand on the top of my head, and need the stroke of my soft hair through long firm fingers, leaning into him until he stopped and I was still again.
I wasn’t certain how long I knelt there, ordered to stand just as my knees began to ache and my body began its cellular protest at being in the same position for almost too long.
“Follow me, sub,” came the firm command as I walked behind Lucas into the bedroom. His bare feet and strong forearms, dusted with dark hair against olive skin were the only naked part of him. In contrast, my body was entirely exposed, and free for him to do with as he pleased.
“Stand,” he ordered as I stilled on the thick white carpet, relishing the feel of soft plush pile beneath my feet as he moved behind me. I felt the smooth satin of the blindfold as it wound around my eyes, plunged into darkness, concentrating only on the sound of his breathing and the feel of warm familiar hands across my skin that shivered under the trail of his touch.
“Raise your arms,” he said as I followed his orders blindly, not knowing what was coming and channelling the anticipation into trust and longing. My Dominant would know what to do. Lucas would take care of me.
I heard the ratting of chain meeting metal above my head, sliding and chinking, trying to figure out what it was, gasping as the soft fur enveloped my wrists. I wanted to touch and feel, but resisted the urge, listening only to the soft footsteps of Lucas as he made his way in front of me.
I could feel the heat radiating from his body, tension in my arms and the rattling of metal as my feet were raised slightly from the floor, forcing me onto my tiptoes as the chains took the weight of my body.
I was disorientated, suddenly unable to hear anything until the soft rustle of fabric. The smell invaded my nostrils, and I drank it in like the heady intoxicating liquor it was. He had taken off his shirt and I could smell that glorious masculinity, his skin bathed in the residue of the musky scent I had come to love and need so much.
It was an aphrodisiac of the most wonderful kind, and the sole focus of my mind as my arms began to burn very slightly in their hoisted position. It wasn’t pain, but a reminder of my position. Firm
fingers swept my hair gently across my shoulder before weaving their way across my back, my ribs, my waist and my buttocks. I moaned out loud at the incredible feeling of soft full lips against my neck, firing my cells to life.
He caressed my body for an age, from the tips of my toes to the base of my spine, planting lush wet kisses, left and then right, up and then down. He was uttering soft reassurances and gentle praise, over and over, relaxing me and making my mind and body at ease in his own inimitable way.
My brain tried to compute where the glorious sensations were coming from, soft tingles and electrical prickles, lighting my cells before the next one bombarded another. I could barely keep up, awash with pleasure, the burning deep in my arms contrasting deliciously with the feel of those lips against my skin.
It was warm and soft, comforting and kind, and then the flogger hit against the fleshy cheeks of my rear. I cried out, more in surprise than in pain, the sudden sharpness so distinct, deep and thuddy and that wonderful feeling of being spanked by a thousand tiny hands.
They came again and again on my cheeks and my thighs, my skin heating beneath those leather falls, the burning in my arms intensifying as I tried to hold my own weight, adjusting my feet and digging my toes into the glorious softness of his carpet. It felt like I was being massaged, the sensations spreading heat deep in my muscles and it was sublime.
I could really smell him now, close at my throat, moaning against the contact, his hard chest pressing against the soft flesh of mine, opening my mouth as his tongue worked its way gently inside. I was yearning, aching for him and suddenly he was gone again.
My need was palpable and I wanted to reach out, secured by the chains as the flogger hit my breasts and I gasped again, flooded with new sensations. There was pain and pleasure as my nipples grew, sucked tight into the vacuum of his hot mouth before he vanished, landing a blow on my other breast as my pussy clenched and I could feel the familiar wetness gathering between my thighs.
My ribs, my thighs, my arse, my legs and my breasts were all being hit randomly and I couldn’t keep up with the glorious and mind boggling assault on my senses. I’d feel his mouth, his hands and then the flogger, and there was no pattern as my head fell back. I was overwhelmed and over stimulated, flopping down as one by one, my arms were released, collapsing with a single thought in my mind.
