Darkest Fire

by Tawny Taylor

  She felt a little ill.

  She went to the kitchen for her usual morning dose of caffeine and sugar. There was a box of cinnamon rolls on the counter. They hadn’t been there yesterday. She helped herself, washing it down with a glass of cola.

  Now what?

  Where should she go today? Lei had classes all day. She wouldn’t be home until dinnertime. Putting her glass in the dishwasher, Rin sighed. The sound echoed through the still house.

  It was too freaking quiet. She couldn’t sit in this empty house. Not another minute.

  She’d go nuts.

  Good thing there was always a need for volunteers at the Salvation Army. She had a feeling she’d be spending a whole lot of time there, organizing canned foods and sorting through donations in the upcoming months.

  “Number one rule—no matter what you see, or what you think you see, don’t interrupt a scene.” Andi flipped on the turn signal and maneuvered her car around a corner.

  “Got it.” Riding shotgun, Rin had one hand wrapped around the handle of her purse, the other her seat belt. The car was headed west, and the sinking sun glared so brightly in her eyes, she had to squint as she rooted through the things in her purse, looking for the sunglasses that had sunk to the bottom. She couldn’t help noticing her hand was shaking a little. She was probably more nervous tonight than she’d been on her wedding day.

  “Number two—don’t touch anyone without permission.”

  Finally finding her glasses, she slid them on. That was better. “Okay. That should be easy enough to remember.”

  The car turned again, heading north. When they were stopped at a traffic light, Andi glanced at her. “It isn’t too late to change your mind.”

  “I’m not going to, no matter what. I can’t be afraid of what I’ll see, what I’ll learn. Domination and submission is important to Drako. It shapes all of his intimate relationships.” She glanced down at her ring. She ran her fingertip over the smooth face of the stone. “As his wife, I need to have some understanding of what it means to him. I want to know what needs D/s fulfils. Maybe I never will get it, but I want to try.”

  The light turned green. Andi gave her a sympathetic pat on the knee, then hit the gas. “The significant others I’ve met—which are few, I admit—don’t know and don’t want to know.”

  “Sure. It’s safer that way. It’s like knowing there’s something under the bed but being too scared to look and see what it is. Maybe it’s a monster. Maybe it’s a sweet little kitten. I won’t know until I take a look, right?

  “Sure.” Andi turned onto a single-laned, winding drive that led to a large brick home squatting at the back of a nicely landscaped lot. Off to one side was a small parking area, filled with maybe ten or fifteen cars. Drako’s car wasn’t among them. Andi cut off the engine, turned to Rin. “It’s now or never.”

  “I’m ready.” Rin slid her purse’s strap up over her shoulder and opened the door.

  Andi flipped down the visor to check her makeup in the mirror. “Okay. Let’s go.” After Andi walked around the back of the car, meeting Rin there, she said, “Remember the rules, Rin.”

  “No touching, no interrupting. You’ll stay with me, right?”

  Andi nodded, her long drop earrings flashing in the fading sunlight as they swung back and forth. “I won’t leave your side.”

  Rin walked, Andi glided toward the building. Wearing a simple skirt, blouse, and pumps, Rin wondered if she’d stick out in the crowd. If the place was full of people like Andi she most certainly would. Andi’s pearl-hued, floor-length gown was more fitting for the red carpet than a “simple” play party.

  At the door, Rin hesitated. “Drako won’t be here, right? You know for sure?”

  “He shouldn’t be. For the most part, the same people come here every week. Drako isn’t one of them.” Andi pushed open the door, holding it for Rin. “But I think you need to understand something.” She let the door swing shut. “In this area, the D/s world is tight. I rarely go to a club or party without seeing some familiar faces. Even if Drako isn’t here, there’s still a pretty good chance someone who knows him will be.”

  Rin’s heart rate doubled. “That’s why I’m Kathy for the night.”

  “Yes, Kathy. Are you ready?” Andi gave her a tense smile. “You look great.”

  “Thanks.” Rin clenched and unclenched her hands. She took a deep breath, let it out. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  Rin followed her friend inside the house that wasn’t much smaller than her own. As she walked across the marble-tiled foyer, she realized the home’s owner had to be just as wealthy as her husband. All around her were signs of wealth. Original art on the walls. Fine furniture. Beautiful light fixtures dripping with crystals. Sweeping staircases. She wondered if it was any coincidence that the party’s host was affluent.

  A man met them at the rear of the room, checked the invitation Andi had in her purse, and offered to take any garments they wished to leave in the coatroom. Andi declined his offer, and when they both looked at Rin, she did the same. Together they headed down the wide hallway, passing quite a few people as they walked. Whether it was the cut of Andi’s gown—bias, to fall over her curvy form in flattering drapes—or something else, Andi gathered appreciative looks from men and women alike. She was the belle of the ball.

  Andi slid a hand around Rin’s waist and pulled her forward. Rin hadn’t realized she’d stopped. “I’ve been to a party here before. Let’s head into the main dungeon. It’s up ahead, on the left.”

  Trying to avoid eye contact with anyone she passed, Rin followed Andi’s lead farther down the hallway. As they got closer to the dungeon, the space became more crowded with people. Many were dressed in elegant evening wear like Andi, but others were wearing clothing more in line with what Rin had imagined—leather and latex and lace. Still others were wearing little or nothing at all. She caught sight of one man dressed head to toe in black. Nicely fitting dress pants, equally nicely fitting sweater. Behind him, a beautiful brunette woman followed, wearing an itty-bitty G-string and a glittery chain hanging from her nipples. That chain caught her eye, and Rin had to consciously move her gaze. She glanced up, to the woman’s pretty face. The woman’s full lips curved ever so slightly, forming a ghost of a smile.

  “Kathy.” Someone tapped her shoulder, and she realized Andi had been trying to get her attention. It wasn’t easy getting used to a new name.

  “Yeah? Sorry.”

  “This way.” Andi stepped through a wide doorway, pointed at the marble-tiled floor. “Remember what I said. And look down. There’s tape marking out the area for onlookers. Stay behind it.”

  Rin, hesitant to look up, stared down at the blue painter’s tape. “Got it.”

  Andi gently pulled her into the large room set up as a bondage dungeon. At a cursory glance, Rin counted eight scenes playing out simultaneously, each at a different piece of bondage furniture. Andi walked her to the scene closest to the door.

  Rin didn’t know the proper name for the big wooden structure the woman was chained to. She didn’t know the proper name for the whip thing the man was hitting the woman with either. She only knew one thing—what she saw was shocking. Disturbing.

  If that woman was really hurting as bad as she appeared to be, why would she ask for this? Why would she want it? This was painful to watch.

  She looked at the man, specifically at his face. Right away, she noticed he didn’t look angry. If she had to label his expression, she’d call it serious, concentrated, focused. “Why do they do it?” she whispered to Andi.

  “Every person has their own unique reason, I guess. Just like every person has their own reason for any other choice they make.”

  “That doesn’t help me.” Unable to watch anymore, Rin focused on something safer, Andi’s shoulder.

  “There’s only so much understanding you’re going to gain about Drako by watching other doms play with their subs.”

  “Are you saying I’d need to watch my husband
?” Rin couldn’t imagine doing that. What would she think of him afterward? Would she feel the same way about him? She glanced at the dom again, tried to imagine Drako snapping his wrist like that, sending the whip sailing through the air.

  “No, I’m saying you’d need to talk to him about it.”

  “I don’t think he will.” When the dom glanced her way, his eyes meeting hers, Rin quickly looked down at the floor.

  “Have you tried?”

  “No. I didn’t want him to feel I was prying or judging him,” Rin said to her feet.

  Andi tapped her on the shoulder. “You never know, Rin, he may be relieved you want to talk about it.”

  Rin looked Andi in the eye. “Or he may not.”

  Andi shrugged.

  Rin motioned to the dom with a slight tip of her head. “Does that one know Drako?”

  “I can’t say for sure. It’s possible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at Drako’s favorite dungeon. Why?” Andi tapped her bottom lip with an index finger. “What if I asked him to talk to you? Privately, of course.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “They’re used to people asking questions. He’ll think nothing of it.”

  Rin stole another glance at him. Would that stranger be able to help her understand Drako’s need for D/s? Maybe. After a brief internal debate, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to talk to him. “Okay.”

  “I’ll ask him when he’s done.”

  “Thanks.” Rin’s heart pounded hard against her breastbone as she watched the rest of the “scene.” After the dom whipped the woman, he turned her around, making her face out, and brought her to orgasm at least a half-dozen times with several different devices.

  After he released the woman, he held her tenderly and stroked her hair, and for the first time, Rin got a glimpse of what appeared to be genuine emotion.

  Not long after that, Andi whispered, “Okay, I’m gonna go talk to him. Stay here.”

  Rin nodded and turned her attention to another scene. She couldn’t have been watching long before she felt someone watching her. Trying to appear casual, she glanced over her shoulder, but there were so many people crowded into the space around the open dungeon area, she had no way of knowing who might have been watching her. Or if anyone had been. She didn’t see anyone staring at her now.

  She went back to watching the dom and sub.

  Again, that feeling came back.

  Once more, she glanced around, hoping this time she’d catch somebody looking at her.

  No such luck.

  She thought about moving but vetoed that idea right away. Andi had told her to stay put, and she wasn’t in an adventurous mood. So she did the only thing she could—pretend that prickly feeling at her nape wasn’t there.

  “She’s over here.” Andi said from somewhere behind her.

  Relieved to finally have her friend, her bodyguard, back with her, Rin spun around.

  The dom, his submissive following, was headed her way. He stopped a healthy distance away and gave her a quick up-and-down glance.

  Andi motioned toward Rin. “Like I mentioned, my friend has some questions about D/s, and she was hoping you’d be kind enough to answer them.”

  The dom crossed his arms over his chest. Up close, this man was much more intimidating. He was not only a very handsome man, with spikey platinum blond hair, chiseled cheekbones, and very defined arm muscles, but he was also very intense. He gave off a vibe that made her feel twitchy, uneasy. “That depends upon the questions.”

  Rin cleared her throat. “If I wanted to encourage a dom I know personally to talk with me about D/s, what should I say?”

  “Nothing,” the dom responded. “If he wants to talk to you about it, he will. If he doesn’t, he won’t.”

  That was no help. Rin was beginning to feel this was a mistake. “So, you’re saying there’s no way to encourage him to open up to me?”

  The dom’s gaze sharpened. “Why is it so important to you that he does?”

  Rin fiddled with her earring, chewed her lip. “He’s . . . my husband.”

  The dom shook his head, turned, and walked away, leaving Rin confused and frustrated. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Andi gave Rin an apologetic smile. “I guess he doesn’t want to get in the middle of another dom’s business. It’s a courtesy thing.”

  “You could’ve warned me about that.”

  “Hey, I didn’t know how he’d react. Everyone’s different, though there is this thing among the doms here. Maybe it’s because this group is so small.”

  “And that leaves me . . . ?”

  “On your own, I guess. Unless you want me to take you to the bigger dungeon. But there you’re more likely to run into Drako.” Andi looped her arm around Rin’s and started walking toward the door. “Come on. You don’t belong here. If you ask me, the answers you need aren’t here, or in any other dungeon. They’re at home.”

  Rin glanced over her shoulder. “I was really hoping to get some advice.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Outside, Andi stopped before they headed to the car. “You want some advice, I’ll give you some. Talk to Drako. Tell him you’d like to understand that side of him, even if he doesn’t want you to be a part of it. Ask him all those questions you wanted to ask that dom in there. His answers are the only ones that matter. Nobody else’s.”

  Rin had to admit, what Andi said made sense. “I hear you. Thanks for bringing me here anyway.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Drako wasn’t ready to admit it to Malek or Talen yet, but he was having serious doubts about his strategy. It wasn’t working.

  They’d wasted hours, make that days, waiting for Oram to make a move. Yesterday. All last night. And now they were ready to head out again today.

  So far, their visits to the Chimera’s old headquarters had produced absolutely no leads.

  How did a guy get ahead of an enemy who had pulled a vanishing act?

  Standing in the storage unit, leaning back against the van, Drako watched his brothers rib each other about women. He hated to admit it, but they were out of their element. Not that they hadn’t been prepared for their duty as Black Gryffons. They’d been trained by their father and his two brothers in weaponry, defensive strategy, and martial arts. But their training had definitely been off-balance. When it came to offensive tactics, they’d been taught not a goddamn thing.

  This would be the last time they’d go. If they didn’t get something—either from the ongoing search of the building or from an unplanned visit—they’d go back to the drawing board and try to come up with another plan.

  Dammit, he wanted this to work.

  Talen, who seemed to have keyed into Drako’s dark thoughts, turned to him. “What’re you thinking?”

  Drako let his head fall back, his skull resting against cold steel. “I’m thinking I wished our father had taught us offensive strategies, not just defensive.”

  “Why would he? The Black Gryffons have existed for centuries, but how many people know about us?”

  “Only the Chimera.”

  Talen pulled the vehicle’s passenger side door open. “And that’s because the Black Gryffons are a defensive unit. We’re guardians. We protect The Secret. We’re not out there running willy-nilly hunting down bad guys like some comic book hero. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, because in the end that’ll only draw attention to The Secret.”

  “So what do you think has stopped the Chimera from outing us?” Drako asked, watching Talen load some bottled water into the cooler sitting between the passenger and driver’s seat.

  “The fact that they don’t want to share The Secret with anyone.”

  “What’s up?” Malek asked, strolling into the storage unit at least fifteen minutes late.

  “Just having a little chat.” Talen shut the cooler and turned to face Malek.

  “Let me ask you both this, then.” Drako gave each of his brothers a pointed look. “You’ve gone along with my plan
so far. But do you agree it’s the best course of action?” Neither brother spoke. But that didn’t mean they didn’t respond. The guilty looks they exchanged with each other told Drako everything he needed to know. “You don’t agree, then.”

  “You know we respect you.” Talen crossed his arms over his chest.

  “But you think I’m nuts?” Drako finished for him.

  This time, Malek spoke up. “Not nuts, just . . .”

  “An idiot?” Drako offered.

  His brothers shook their heads.

  “What, then?”

  “I don’t think either of us knows at this point.” Malek again. “We kind of get why you’re doing this. But not really. Obviously, Oram doesn’t know anything. He’s vanished. The Chimera’s quiet.”

  “So why am I stirring shit up?” Drako asked.

  Malek nodded. “Yeah. Why? It’s not like you. We’ve been the Black Gryffons for ten years. What we’ve been doing has worked all this time.”

  He’d asked himself that question—why?—a lot since they started doing this stakeout thing. He thought he knew the answer. They’d talked about it once already. He still felt the same way, didn’t he?

  Drako pulled the van’s keys out of his pocket, stared down at them for a second to try to collect his thoughts. “Do you remember what it was like growing up?”

  Talen shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Sure.”

  Malek nodded. “Yeah.”

  “We lived with this shadow looming over our heads all the time, but we didn’t know what it was, didn’t know why we were afraid or why we were different. We didn’t go to school, didn’t play sports or join clubs or go on dates like our sisters did.”

  “They had to protect us,” Malek pointed out.

  “Sure.” Drako sighed. All three of them had shared the same upbringing. They’d been isolated from their peers, left with only each other for companionship, support.

  But then again, they didn’t know anything else. Their childhood was what it was, and so maybe they didn’t realize they’d missed out on some things. Wonderful things. Hell, Drako knew he didn’t fully comprehend what a childhood was supposed to be like. All he had for a frame of reference was his own and what he saw on television and in movies. That wasn’t the problem though.