“Viv. This place is a shithole. I wouldn’t pay that guy a dollar until he fixes it.” He heads for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re going downstairs.” The emphasis on ‘we’ is strong. “And you’re going to tell him that he needs to fix this place ASAP if he wants to see any money.”
“What? But I can’t...”
“Now.” He points at the door and uses that voice that both terrifies and excites me. Do what I say, or else. No questions allowed, and I don’t ask any. I just hurry to do as he says.
Tony Tony’s doorbell doesn’t work. At least I assume so, since I press it and don’t hear anything. Caleb hammers at the door, the heavy knocks reverberating in the space behind it. Who needs a doorbell when you’re standing next to Thor, the Thunder God?
Anthony opens up, just a hair, the chain lock still on. His beady little eyes glare out at us. “What?”
Caleb looks at me. Apparently I’m supposed to do this. Right. I clear my throat. “We just inspected the apartment, and we have a couple of concerns.”
“Yeah? Pretty sure you signed the papers, lady. The apartment’s good to go.” He makes as if to close the door. Before he gets that far, Caleb blocks it with a meaty hand on the other side. Anthony strains, but the door doesn’t budge. Not with Caleb holding it back.
Feeling braver with Caleb’s support, I speak up. “The windows need fixing. There are big gaps that let in air. And there are exposed wires. And sockets that don’t work.”
“Yeah?” Anthony’s words drip with sarcasm. “Sounds like you got some work to do, then. I just provide the space. Now leave me alone.” He’s given up on getting his door closed, and just walks away, out of sight.
I look at Caleb, not knowing what to do. He sighs, then calls out. “Anthony. Tony. Can I call you Tony? Listen, I’ll give you two options. One, you fix your tenant’s apartment like a proper landlord.”
“Whatever, man.” Anthony’s voice gets more distant as he retreats.
“Choice number two.” Caleb rattles the door. “I come in so we can discuss this face to face. Just so it’s clear, you don’t want that.” Holy bruiser tactics. “What’s it gonna be?”
“Listen, Caleb, it’s not that important. I’ll figure it out. I’ll...”
“You will not.” His voice is hard and brooks no question. “This guy is trying to screw you, and I’m not having it.” Turning back to the door, he calls out. “So, Anthony, do I have to come in there?”
“Fuck off.”
Caleb looks at me with a “he asked for it” look and shrugs. One charge against the door and the chain lock rips right out of the wall. The door slams open. My eyes go huge. Goddamn!
“What the fuck?” Anthony’s voice shakes, a mix of anger and fear. “Get the fuck out of my apartment!”
Caleb catches him as he comes rushing out and throws him up against the wall. “I warned you. Now, are you going to fix her apartment, or does this have to get ugly?”
“What, I—”
Caleb pushes, lifting Anthony up along the wall until his feet don’t touch the floor.
“Wait! Yeah! Fine! I’ll fix it, you crazy bastard!” Anthony’s eyes are wild and an acrid smell wafts across the hall. Ew.
“And you’ll give her back her deposit. That shithole isn’t worth one as it is now.” Caleb’s face is less than an inch away from Anthony’s. “You have until Sunday night. That’s two days. Ready to work hard, Anthony?”
“Sh—shit. Yes. Yes! Just don’t hurt me! Please.”
“Good.” Caleb releases him, letting Anthony fall in a heap in his hallway. “Glad we could come to an understanding. Now, if the work’s not done when she gets back Sunday night, I’ll be back. And you don’t want that. Got it?”
Anthony nods frantically. “I’ll get it done! Jesus H. Motherfucking Christ, man, I’ll get it done.”
“Thank you.” Caleb takes my hand and leads me toward the door out.
“Wait, why Sunday night? Where are you taking me?”
“To the retreat, obviously. You can’t stay here while this guy’s working. We’ll call Diane and tell her you have an emergency and then leave in the morning. I’m sure Amber will let you crash at her place for one more night.” He drags me right out of the building and back to the van. “And we’ll pick up a proper lock or two for your door on our way back, which I’m going to fucking install personally in that rathole before I let you sleep there alone. I don’t trust your buddy in there further than I can throw him.”
“To be fair, I think you could throw him pretty far.” I shake my arm free. “Now, ease up. Let me at least pack some clothes.”
“I can’t keep you naked while you’re there?”
“What?” Is he serious? Or flirting? Either one throws me off, to be honest.
“You’re supposed to be my assistant, after all.” He grins.
“Whatever. I’ll be right back.” If he thinks I’m going to be parading around naked for him the whole weekend, he’s got another think coming. Not that I find the idea entirely unappealing, which catches me off guard. Great. Now that’s all I’ll be thinking about for the next couple of days.
Chapter 5
Caleb
The next morning’s hot. Fucking hot. The road wavers ahead of us, the hot air creating illusions. Glancing over at Viv, I turn the AC just a hair higher.
“How well does being a bouncer pay, anyway? This car’s awesome!” She covers her face in her hands, blushing. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”
I laugh. “Nah. No worries. The IRS asked me the same thing.” With a shift and press on the pedal, I make my car rumble before it lunges onto the highway. I love this thing. It’s power on wheels, and obeys my every whim.
“Oh God.” She sinks into the soft leather seat.
“I’ll tell you what I told them. Gabe and I made a bunch of clever investments a few years ago. Ended up making a pretty good chunk of change, so when we realized we didn’t technically have to work anymore, he suggested starting a BDSM club. I thought it sounded like a pretty fun idea.” I smile at the memories. It was a pretty crazy time for us. “Anyway, Gabe’s got a managerial streak, and I love to bounce troublemakers, so we picked the jobs we preferred, and split the take evenly.”
“Nice. I had no idea. Gabriel never told me, even when we dated.” She draws a short sigh. “I suppose I could’ve asked. It sounds like you’re working your dream job, then.” She seems interested, but is it about me, or is she just eager to hear something about Gabe that she doesn’t know?
“Yeah, pretty much. I’m a simple man.” Pressing the gas, I angle into the fast late. Car after car is left in our wake. You can’t buy happiness, but this car’s the second best thing.
“I dunno. Not that simple, I think.” She taps her cute little nose while she considers my answer.
I’ve definitely started noticing tiny details about her more. Maybe Gabe’s right. Not that I’d ever tell him. “Why do you say that?” I’m curious about her answer.
“First of all, for all of that tough guy image you’re cultivating, you’ve got a protective streak a mile wide. You’ve already saved my ass twice this week.” She turns to me and smiles, lighting up her pretty face. “I’m almost getting used to having you around.”
Traffic picks up and I have to concentrate. The car’s a beast, but it’s easy to get complacent. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. Out of the corner of my eyes, I catch her sneaking peeks at me. Wonder what she sees. If she’s noticing things about me like I am about her.
Before the day’s done, we’ll have scened together again. Just the thought gets me hard. I try not to be too obvious while I rearrange myself. Sometimes jeans are just too tight. Fuck, I’ve always loved good Master and slave play, but I’ve never had it click like it did on Tuesday. She loved it, and she wasn’t the only one.
I glance to the side, watching her watch the traffic slide by. Gabe’s words come ba
ck to me. Unreliable. No idea about that, but she seems to be trying hard. She’s had bad luck with her jobs, but— Alright, so maybe a little unreliable. But to run out on him? She doesn’t seem the type to me.
“So what happened with you two anyway? With Gabe, I mean. You just disappeared.” Might be treading on dangerous ground, but I’ve got to know. Better to piss her off and find out now if there’s something I can’t look past.
Several moments pass without her looking away from the window. Fuck. Too personal. But then she starts. “I... decided we weren’t working out. I couldn’t really give him what he wanted, I think.” She faces me, her face pained. “Well, I know now. I see the way he looks at Dawn. He never looked at me like that.”
More silence. I feel like an ass for bringing it up. “Listen, I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, it’s okay. Did you know you’re the first person who’s actually asked why I left? Not even Gabriel asked.” She sighs. “It wasn’t just that. My dad had a stroke and my mom couldn’t handle it on her own. No matter what happened with Gabriel, I was going to leave. It seemed easier to just... go. ”
“I don’t get it.” I arch my brow at her. “Why couldn’t you tell him?”
Her laugh’s brief and humorless. “You’re looking at the queen of bad decisions here. I dunno. My thought process wasn’t all there. If I told him I was leaving to help Dad, he’d have offered to help, or think I was coming back to him. That I was just leaving for Dad’s sake. I wanted to make it permanent.” She looks up at me, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Stupid, right?”
“Honestly? Yeah.” Harping on it wouldn’t change anything though. “But you came back.”
“Yeah. My life wasn’t there. I came back thinking I could just pick back up where I left off. Of course I couldn’t.” Her gaze returns to the window and she falls silent.
What do I say to that? “That’s—” A billow of white smoke bursts out of the hood. “What the hell?” I check my mirrors, then swerve out to the breakdown lane, stopping the car as quickly as I can. Fuck.
Pouring out with a soft hiss, the white smoke is all we see for several long moments. Viv leans over me and taps the dash. “I think you might want to get your thermostat checked. That should be well into the red by now.”
Sitting back, I blow out a breath in frustration. I’d had it services only a few weeks ago. Aren’t they supposed to catch these things? I reach down and pop the hood before pushing the door open. “Right. Let’s check it out, I guess.”
Jesus, it’s hot out. It hits me like walking into a wall. I have to force myself through the thick air. Alright, let’s see if I can figure this thing out.
I lift the hood, waving away the smoke. At least it seems like it’s thinning. Viv comes up around the other side. “How’re we looking?”
“No idea. So long as nothing’s on fire, I’m guessing we’re good.” I really had no idea. I know a lot about a lot of things, but cars aren’t one of them.
“Fire doesn’t make white smoke. That’s your radiator overheating. I take it you don’t have extra coolant hanging around in the trunk?”
I look at her in surprise.
“My dad’s a mechanic, remember. I practically grew up in his garage. Trust me.” She gives me a pointed look.
Right, that’s one on me. Don’t assume and all that. “Fair enough. Sorry about that. And nope, no coolant.” I shrug.
“We’ve brought some water bottles. We can use those.”
“Isn’t that bad for it? I thought you wanted proper coolant.”
“You do, but water will do. It boils faster, and makes it rust faster, so don’t make a habit of it. But it’ll get us to a gas station just fine.” She waves her hands at me when I don’t move. “C’mon, go get it.”
“I’ll let you order me around... this time, you little switch.” I grin. She’s cute when she’s bossy. Just can’t let her get too full of herself. “But you’ll pay for it when we get there.” Even in this heat, she looks like she shivers. Fuck, I can’t wait to play again.
I grab the whole twelve-pack in the backseat. And here I gave her an odd look when she insisted on picking it up.
By the time I get back to the front, the smoke’s more or less gone. I’m reaching for the radiator cap when she grabs my arm. “Hold on. You want to wait until the engine’s cooled down, unless you want whatever’s left bubbling up over your fingers.”
I pull my hand back quickly. “Right. How long?”
“A half hour or so to be safe.” She shrugs, tilting her head.
“Okay. I guess we wait.” The grass slopes up from the shoulder, and there’s a large tree throwing shade on the ground. Good enough. Grabbing one of the water bottles on the way, I go to sit down. “We going to need all of these?” I hold up the bottle.
“Nah, just don’t go crazy.” She joins me on the grass, and for a while we sit there, just watching the cars go by and waiting for the engine to cool.
“So how’s your dad?” I ask her quietly, filling the space.
“He’s mostly back to his old self now. I lived at home while he was recovering. I didn’t expect it to take almost two years.” She picks some tufts of grass and tosses them into the soft breeze. “Even now, leaving was difficult. It’s hard not to think about Dad waving bye, looking so much older and frailer than he did just a couple of years ago. But he’s the one who chased me off.” She apes his voice. “Get out, Vivian! Don’t waste your life taking care of an old coot like me. You’re young. Go find your way. You mother keeps an eye on me.” She blinks faster, a tear forming in the crook of her eye.
“Sounds rough.” I throw a few blades of dried grass, watching them chase after hers as the breeze grabs them. “Makes me think I should call my parents. Haven’t talked to them in ages. I’m a terrible son.”
“You’re a good friend, though.” She sniffs, drawing snot up into her nose with an indelicate sound, then glares at me when I chuckle. At least she’s comfortable around me. My delicate flower.
I chuckle again. “I have my moments. Listen, your dad’s right. I think so, anyway. But I think what you did was awesome, even if I don’t agree with how you ran off from Gabe. You should’ve told him. That tore him up something fierce.”
“Yeah.” She looks away. “I regret that. Like a lot.”
“In fact...” I put a tone of command into my voice and she looks up quickly like a good sub. “That sounds like some pretty good grounds for punishment.”
Despite the less than lighthearted topic, she laughs. “Punishment? From you? Shouldn’t it be Gabriel?”
“Is that what you want?” I need to hear from her own lips that Gabe isn’t the one she still thinks of as her Dom.
“What? No! I just meant...”
“Then I’ll make you apologize when they get back.” I keep my voice hard. “And I’ll decide when you’ve been sufficiently punished.”
She squirms, showing that I’m getting to her, but her reply drips with sarcasm. “Really? You?”
“Absolutely. And before you get too bratty, remember that we have a demo to run in just a few hours.” Not giving her time to question me, I change the topic. “Do you think the car has cooled down yet?” The engine stopped smoking a while ago. I get up to go check.
She follows. “Yeah, it’s been about a half hour, I think. Should be good.”
“Right.” I reach for the radiator cap. “This one, right?”
“Yeah.” She laughs. “If you’re going to drive a fancy car, you really should learn a little bit about it.”
“Trust me. I intend to rectify that as soon as possible.” The cap comes loose easily, and I put it aside. “You available for lessons?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah. Sure. I probably owe you way more than that for all the help. But right now, I guess we have a retreat to get to.”
“Yep. Hand me a bottle. How much do we need?” I hold out my hand and she shoves an opened bottle into it.
“Pr
obably all of them, or close to it. Just keep pouring until it’s full.” She hands them to me one by one until they’re all gone. Luckily, the radiator’s almost topped off. “Good enough. That should get us to a gas station to pick up some coolant to mix in with it. Shall we?” She’s already heading for her door.
“We shall. Would hate to be late for your punishment.” I put the full menace of my Dom voice into the words. She turns, her pretty lip trapped between her teeth. It leaves a mark I get the crazy urge to kiss away. I smile at her. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Let’s go.” She slips into the car, while I head for the driver’s door.
I turn the key and the engine starts happily, settling right into a smooth purr. A few minutes later, we’re zooming down the highway. I feel better for having talked to her. The car, like whatever is happening between us, isn’t exactly perfect, but it’ll do for now.
Chapter 6
Vivian
We get there with time to spare. The retreat’s way out in the middle of nowhere, even more than I’d expected. “Woodbury Castle” is written on a large wooden sign by the gravel driveway into the property, the sign looking freshly painted.
Castle? For the first time I look up along the drive, and I gasp. It is a castle, built in gray stone, with towers and walls and everything. It looks like it’s been lifted right out of one of those tourist brochures for visiting Germany or France. What is it doing here, just a couple of hours outside of the city?
Apparently my surprise is obvious, since Caleb laughs. “Didn’t I mention the retreat was at a castle? What better place to indulge in a little friendly torture?”
“Why is there even a castle here?”
He shrugs his massive shoulders. “Some movie star in the fifties, I think. I don’t remember his name, but he was totally in love with European castles. So when he made enough money, he had one built.” The castle looms over us as we drive closer. “Passed out of the family after he died, and now it’s been turned into a small conference center. Popular with lifestylers, geologists and masons, I guess.”
Keep Me: A BDSM Romance Page 4
