She turned quickly to drop off drinks to a table full of men who couldn’t take their eyes off her breasts. She felt like a piece of meat. She couldn’t wait for the night to end.
“You look like you’re ready to bolt,” Bart said in her ear so no one else could hear.
“I would if I could.”
“Jason doesn’t take kindly to girls walking out on him. It’s not good for business.”
“I’m just one girl. What difference can it possibly make to him?”
“Jason’s got plans for you. He thinks you’d make a great stripper even though I told him that wasn’t your style. He knows you need money, and he thinks with what he calls ‘encouragement’ you’ll come around. He’s already thought of a name for you. Angel of Desire.”
Maura shook her head, shivering. “I’ll never let him do that to me.”
“He has a number of ways to persuade people to give him what he wants.”
Maura turned away, tears in her eyes. This was her worst nightmare. There had to be away to stop this insanity. She just wished she knew what it was.
“Money really can be the root of all evil. I’ve let it rule me, but I can’t do that anymore. I was stupid to ever come here. I’m sorry, Bart.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not. Having you around, dressed the way you are, will make coming here a lot more enjoyable.”
“Don’t get too used to it. You don’t own me and neither does Jason.” She hoped she sounded braver than she felt.
“He sees the women who work here as his property.”
Maura’s heart sank. There was no talking to Bart. She turned back to her tables where her customers were eagerly waiting for her. She lost count of the number of times her nipples had been pinched and the rest of her body groped. She was an open target for anything the customers wanted to do to her. The last straw was when she saw Frank saunter toward her from across the room. The sight of him made her stomach lurch. She watched as he held up one finger and motioned for her to come to him. She knew without a doubt what he wanted to do to her, and now, in a place like this, he thought he could, and it was all her fault.
She placed her tray on the bar and walked quickly to the other side of the room to where the dressing room was located, and hopefully her escape. She knew it was insane to run, but all she could see was Frank’s face leering at her.
She was alone in the dressing room. She quickly found her clothes and pulled them over her costume. The door behind her opened and closed with a slam. Bart had followed her.
“You stupid little bitch.”
“I’m getting out of here.” She was borderline hysterical. “Get out of my way.”
She had expected Bart to rip away her clothes or threaten her with rape again. Instead, he quietly stood between her and the door, his face a cold mask of indifference as he watched her pull on her jeans and shirt.
“Now I’m going to tear your clothes off you in pieces and then I’m going to present you to Frank for punishment.”
With more courage than she knew she had, she slapped his face with all her might.
She knew he had been totally caught off guard as he stepped back and brought his hand to his face in shock. She used those precious seconds to push past him and out the door. She ran toward the door with the red exit sign above it. Pushing it open, she ran out into the cool night air. She had only taken a few steps when Bart’s hand reached out and stopped her, slamming her body back into his.
“You’re going to pay for hitting me.” His hand jerked her head back with her ponytail.
Maura’s head was spinning. She cried out in pain and frustration as Bart hauled her back through door, down the hall, and out onto the floor. Frank was waiting for her, but as soon as he saw Bart, he backed up and let them pass. She saw Jason walking toward them. His eyes were looking daggers at her.
“What the fuck are you doing dressed like that?”
“She’s going to need some additional training,” Bart said, keeping her body next to his.
“You weren’t trying to leave, were you, Angel?”
Maura tried not to look away from those eyes that were looking straight through her. She wouldn’t show him how defeated she felt.
“I told her you had plans that could make her a star attraction around here.”
“You’re going to make me a lot of money, Maura.”
“I’m going to be sick,” Maura said, feeling bile rising in her throat. “You don’t me want to vomit right here, do you?”
Jason just eyed her. “We certainly can’t have that, now can we?”
Jason stared at her breasts before he lifted her top and twisted one of her nipples cruelly. Bart held her arms that had instinctively gone up to protect herself.
“That what I thought,” he said with a smile. “You’re still wearing your costume minus the feather.”
Maura glared back at him.
“Take off your clothes, or I’ll take them off for you. You may not be able to wait on the customers because you’re…” he paused, “sick. However, you can sit here at the bar with me until your shift is over. It will give me a chance to educate you about the Pink Petunia and a training program I plan to tailor to your needs.” He paused, his eyes going to Bart’s. “If you think you need to use the bathroom, he’ll hold your head over the toilet.”
Bart released her so she could take her clothes off as Jason had instructed. However, instead of doing what she was told, she pushed past Bart and ran in the only direction open to her, back into hallway and the exit door. She knew it was useless to run again, that Bart would catch her. Whatever they were going to do to her, she wouldn’t just lie down and it let it happen without a fight.
She heard Bart cursing from behind her before she grabbed and twisted the exit door handle. Using all of her body weight, she pushed it open and ran for her life.
Maura cried out when she felt Bart’s hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t want it to come to this, Maura.”
She felt her body being spun around and slammed up against a car. She watched in horror as Bart drew out a syringe with a needle from his pocket.
“You bastard!” she screamed, trying to get away from him.
He held her in place with his lower body. Cold metal pressed into her back. She heard footsteps running toward them. She thought she must be seeing things. How did Max and Toby know where to find her?
From that point on, she had trouble remembering the exact sequence of events except a gunshot and Bo hitting the ground with a dull thud. Her own screams filled her head. What she had thought was Bo had transformed into a naked bleeding Toby right before her very eyes.
For a moment blackness engulfed her, but the unbelievable fear that Toby was dead made her fight through the darkness. Jason was there shouting something to his men who were close behind him. Through half-closed eyes, she watched Jason walk to where Toby lay in the dirt. He looked over at Max, who was struggling to get to free from his men, his tortured eyes on Toby’s still form.
She slipped down to the ground and crawled to where Toby was lying in his own blood. She looked over at Bart, who was still holding his gun. “You’ve killed him.”
“He’s still breathing,” Jason observed. He knelt down next to Toby. He looked over to where Max had let out a howl of anguish. “Let him go,” he yelled at the men holding him. Max ran to Toby.
“Oh, Max,” Maura cried. “He’s not dead, is he? Tell me he’s not dead.”
Max examined Toby, removing Maura’s blood-soaked hand from his brother’s shoulder wound. She hadn’t even realized she had tried to stop the flow of blood.
“He’s alive. The bullet went clean through. However, he’s still lost a lot of blood. I need to get him home.”
“Home?” Maura questioned. “He needs to be taken to a hospital.”
“Max is right,” Jason said. “Max is the best person to take care of him. Besides, in Toby’s present state, he could easily turn again without even realizing it. He needs to
be with his own.”
Maura listened in disbelief as Jason continued to talk with Max like he knew all about them, like he was one of them. And Bart, she thought, did he know, too?
Bart had sunk to his knees. He appeared to be in shock. Jason followed her eyes to the syringe next to him on the ground.
“Damn fool. He should have told me who your boyfriends were.”
Max’s eyes followed Jason’s to where Bart sat hunched over. “You into drugging your girls into submission now?”
“Bart made a mistake. A critical mistake. He won’t be repeating it, believe me.”
“Like your word means anything to me,” Max said, his eyes returning to Toby’s still form.
“I didn’t know she was yours, Max.”
Max looked at Maura. “Yes. She’s mine.”
“Roy, go over and take that piece of shit back into the club before the police get here.” He looked over at another man, barking more orders. “Bobby, get Max’s car keys and go pull his car around. Max will tell you where to find it.”
Max told Bobby what he needed to know and the man was gone. Roy and another man picked Bart up between them and dragged him back into the club.
Jason looked at Max. “You know, Max, I’ve always liked you. I had no idea you had designs on this girl, especially since she’s not one of us. If I’d known, I would have never tried to take her. As you know, Bart’s not one of us. Just some creep that keeps me well stocked with women.”
“Will he talk?”
“Will anyone believe him? But the answer is no. He won’t talk.”
“I never understood your need to go in this direction, Jason. It’s beneath you.”
“I made a choice to become part of the Wolf’s Craven years ago. The organization’s been good to me. My family’s not like yours. Not everyone had your advantages. Even in our society, there’s a hierarchy. Unfortunately I was born at the bottom. The Pink Petunia appeals to me. It’s what I do.”
Max looked away in disgust as his car came into view. Jason, Bobby, and Max lifted Toby into the back of the car. Maura followed. “You’re coming with us,” Max said, his eyes locked with hers.
She couldn’t be sure whether it was a question or a statement. “It’s where I belong.” She thought for a moment she saw tears in his eyes, but if she did, he had them under control quickly.
Max shut the car door behind her. Jason stuck his head in the front window on the passenger side. “Sorry about this, Maura. You should have told me you belonged to them.”
Maura ignored Jason and turned her attention to Toby as Max started the engine. “Hold him as still as you can, Maura,” Max instructed. “We’re lucky he’s still out of it.”
Maura held Toby in her arms. His shoulder was seeping but nothing like before Max had wrapped his undershirt around it. Toby was so handsome, so innocent looking. He was Bo. What she had just witnessed took her breath away. Or, she thought, could they have taken turns being Bo? The wolf had been so tender, so loving, so caring. To her, his love had been unconditional.
How had they appeared to her in that form and she had no idea it was them? Even when she had looked into Bo’s eyes that she now realized were the same as Max and Toby’s, she had never put it together, but no would have, except Joanie.
Chapter Twenty-One
Maura’s hands shook as she came back to the present to refocus on Toby. She watched Max finish wrapping his shoulder. He looked so pale, but Max assured her he hadn’t lost as much blood as he had initially thought. If he needed a transfusion, he and Max were the same blood type. She would have died had Toby been killed by that bullet.
As if reading her mind, Max moved to her side, resting his hand on her shoulder. “I wish it had been me that had been shot.”
“Well, I don’t,” Maura said, looking into Max’s face, which was drawn with exhaustion. “You were able to help Toby in a way he would not have been able to help you.”
“We need to talk.”
“I know.”
Was he sorry they had come after her? His brother had turned into a wolf and been shot right in front of both them. Was this where he told her to leave them alone?
Maura kissed the top of Toby’s head before she left him and followed Max into the kitchen. She was relieved that they would only be a few doors away. They had carried him together into the dining room that Max had used as his surgery.
Max sat down at the kitchen table, staring at nothing in particular.
“Max.”
“I’m sorry you had to find out about us like this.”
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t think you could handle it. It’s not something you just blurt out to someone over coffee.”
“I’m not just someone, Max. You should have believed in me enough to tell me. If you had, none of this would have happened.”
Maura was immediately sorry for her words that had slipped out in anger. Once again, she had said something cruel and unjust to someone she cared about. “I’m sorry, Max. I didn’t mean to make it sound like this was your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
“You’re as much a victim in this as Toby is. It’s my need to control everything and everyone that brought us here.” Max put his head in hands. Maura waited, sensing he wanted to say more.
“But now we have to figure out what to do next.”
“I know what I want, Max. It’s what I’ve wanted since the first time you and Toby took me to your bed. It’s what you want that determines where we go from here.”
“How could you possibly mean that after what happened tonight?”
“When you love the way I love you and Toby, the question is how could I live without you both in my life?”
Tears ran down Max’s face. He held his arms open to her. She ran to him, holding him to her like a small child. He was so strong, so in control of his emotions, and yet here he was humbling himself in front of her, admitting his own weaknesses. She loved him more than she ever thought possible.
“I love you, Max. I will until the day I die. You and Toby are my world. There’s nothing about you that I don’t love.”
* * * *
Maura promised herself she would only rest her eyes, not sleep, but she knew her body was giving out. Max had carried Toby up the stairs to his room. They had both taken up their watch in the chairs they had positioned beside his bed. Max had fought sleep, but she had watched as his eyes finally closed.
She unbuttoned her blouse and took off the transparent costume. She slipped out of her jeans, revealing the G-string she wore that reminded her just how close she had come to losing not only Toby and Max but herself. Slipping the shirt back on, she left it unbuttoned. Very carefully she eased her body beside Toby’s being careful not to disturb his shoulder. She put her hand on his chest. He was breathing evenly. “I love you, Toby. I love you and Max so much.”
* * * *
Maura felt something brushing against her hair. She tried to bat it away. Again, she felt the sensation. Opening her eyes, she looked up. Toby was gazing down at her.
“I never thought I would wake up like this again,” he whispered. “Maybe getting shot has some advantages.”
“Toby,” Maura cried out.
Toby smiled. “God, you feel good next to me.”
“I’m sure she does,” Max said from the doorway, bare-chested, but still dressed in his pants from the night before.
“Oh, Toby,” Maura cried, lifting herself from his side, forgetting that her shirt was still unbuttoned. “You’re awake. I’m so happy you’re going to be okay.”
“No happier than I am,” he said, his eyes lingering on her breasts. “She’s a beautiful sight. Isn’t she, Max?”
“Yes. She is.”
“I’m sorry, Max. I fell asleep.”
“It’s okay, Maura. I checked on our patient a couple times. I knew you’d wake if he did.”
Toby moved and then groaned. “Damn. Did I really get shot?”
“Lucky for you it was clean. You’ll heal quickly. However, you gave us a helluva scare.”
“Sorry about that. I totally lost it.” Toby stared straight ahead, a grim expression on his face. “I turned, didn’t I, Max?”
“Yes. For all to see, including Maura.”
“Maura, what you must think of me.” Toby turned away from her. “That should have never happened. I’ve never turned without wanting to before.”
“Please don’t look away from me, Toby.” Maura touched her hand to his chin that was prickly with a day’s growth. “I’m not afraid of who you are.”
“Maybe you should be,” Toby said, looking down at her.
“Why? You both saved me from those horrible men.”
“When I think of what they wanted to do to you…” Toby groaned, his arm tightening around Maura.
“I still don’t know how you knew where to find me.”
“Rhonda told us where you working.”
“Rhonda?” How did Rhonda know? She hadn’t told anyone.
“Why would you even consider working in a place like that?” Max asked, pulling the chair closer to the bed. “I gave you money. Why didn’t you use it?”
“I couldn’t take your money. I felt like you were paying me off. I know now that I was wrong, but I didn’t at the time.”
“I was such an idiot,” Max said, grabbing her hand. “I wanted to help you, and instead I almost lost the two people I love most in the world.”
“We talked about this, Max,” Maura said softly. “Love is complicated.”
“Would you have believed us if we had told you?” Toby asked. “Be honest.”
“I don’t know.” Maura remembered how she hadn’t believed Joanie. “I guess I probably wouldn’t have. But you could have proven it to me.”
“We were so afraid of hurting you.”
Max squeezed her hand. “It wasn’t because we didn’t love you.”
Serving the Wolf's Den (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 15
