She widened her gaze. “Derrick doesn’t live in Dallas and he hasn’t got the background for this.”
“He doesn’t have to live here, a lot of these guys don’t and believe me, Derrick can look after himself. Here comes another one.”
She lifted her camera and took a photo. “I don’t think Jacey will go for it.”
“I can’t see that we have that many choices.”
Hunter’s phone buzzed and he answered it with a frown. “Stanson, this isn’t a good time.”
The detective? What did he want?
“What?” Hunter frowned, looking around him. “Where are you? Fine. Look, I don’t follow your orders… so arrest me…” he glanced over at her, frowning. “…all right, meet us at my place…yeah, yeah, forty minutes.”
He put his phone down on the console between the seats.
“That was Detective Stanson?” she asked.
“Yeah, he was calling to ask what the hell we thought we were doing. Apparently this place is already under surveillance by the cops. We need to meet him at my place. Put your seatbelt on.”
He waited until she had buckled up, before pulling away from the curb.
“You going to share what you know with them?”
He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to, but that’s the part of me that wants revenge for Angie. I don’t want to hand this over just for the cops to fuck it up.”
“But?” she asked, sensing there was something more.
“But while Stanson might be an arrogant ass at times he’s a good cop. If we interfere in their investigation, they’ll just make things difficult for us.”
“Plus, they might have information we need,” she added, knowing the way he thought.
“Exactly.”
“Have the two of you worked together before?”
“We’ve helped each other out a few times, but mainly I know him from the Twisted Thorn.”
“What’s that?”
She could sense him tensing. “Sometimes I forget that we haven’t known each other that long. Twisted Thorn is a BDSM club. I own it with Gray and Simon.”
“What?” she said, shocked.
“Yeah. We opened it a few years ago. Simon runs it.”
“Simon runs a BDSM club? And Sasha is all good with that?”
“It’s where she met him.”
“I can’t believe you own a BDSM club and I didn’t know.”
He glanced over at her as he stopped at a red light. “I wasn’t keeping it from you, it just never came up.”
“You must be heavily involved in the lifestyle.”
“Yes,” he said honestly. “I am. Does that make you uncomfortable?”
She shifted in her seat as the light went green and he put the truck into gear and accelerated.
“I don’t know. I mean, I knew you had experience, more than me, I guess I just didn’t realize how involved you were. How often do you go? How hands on do you get?”
“Hey,” he reached out and placed his hand on her thigh, his touch warm and comforting. “I haven’t been since we got together and I certainly wouldn’t get hands on with anyone else but you.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. “You must be missing it, though. I mean, what we’ve done can’t be close to what you’re used to doing in the club.”
“Sugar, what do you think I do there?”
“Uhh, I don’t know, whip people?”
He chuckled. “Well, I won’t deny that I’ve whipped submissives before, but only those who wanted it and never for punishment.”
“I don’t understand that.”
“Don’t understand what?”
“I don’t get how people get pleasure from being whipped.”
“You enjoy it a bit rough. You like when I bite your nipples, you enjoy being spanked.”
“Maybe.” She ducked her head as he pulled up outside his house. He parked then unbuckled his seatbelt. Turning to her, he tilted her face up with a finger beneath her chin.
“No maybe about it. Don’t be ashamed of how you feel, of what you need. That’s what I’m here for, to give you what you need. Some people just like a different level of pain. Truthfully, that’s not my thing either. If you needed it, I’d damn sure make certain that you got it, but I’m no sadist. I don’t get pleasure from dishing out pain, well, from dishing out a lot of pain.”
“What about Stanson? Is he a sadist? Is Gray?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “No, baby. Gray’s a big softie, all the subs come running to him with their problems. Stanson? Well, he’s tougher, but he’s no sadist. When you’re all healed, I’ll take you to visit the club, okay?”
“All right.” She didn’t know if that was excitement or trepidation she felt. Maybe a bit of both.
She waited until Hunter opened her door before climbing out. He held a hand against the small of her back. She loved how he did that, almost as though he couldn’t bear not touching her, even for a moment.
“What about Derrick?” she suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Is he a Dom?” She’d always got that vibe off him, but had never wanted to ask Jacey.
“Yeah, he is. Did you meet his friend, Roarke?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Roarke owns a BDSM club called Decadence. Derrick’s a member.”
“You know this Roarke?”
“Yeah, we’ve known each other for a few years. Roarke is the one who contacted me when Derrick needed help protecting Jacey from Worthington.”
She leaned into him as they stepped into his house. Closing and locking the door, he punched in his alarm code. He motioned her to wait by the door while he searched through the house.
A few minutes later as Cady settled on the sofa, the doorbell rang. Hunter moved to the door, glancing through the peephole before opening it.
Detective Stanson stepped through the door. He looked tired and stressed. His hair was sticking up as though he’d been running his hand through it.
“Juice? Beer? Something stronger?” Hunter asked him.
“Soda. I’m off-duty but I’ve still got to drive.” Hunter got them both a beer. He glanced over at Cady with a raised eyebrow.
“Just a soda, please,” she said. She’d never been much of a drinker.
Hunter brought over their drinks and sat beside her on the sofa.
“How are you feeling, Cady?” Stanson asked, sitting and looking her over. Hunter tensed beside her, sending him a glare. She patted his thigh.
“A lot better, thank you.”
Stanson nodded. “So, you want to tell me what interest Black-Gray Investigations has in that building? Who hired you to watch it?”
“Actually, no one.”
Stanson sat back, a surprised look on his face. “Then why were you there?”
“I believe there’s a connection between whatever is going on there and my sister’s death.”
“What? How?”
“First, you tell me what interest the police have in that building.”
Stanson drew out a breath. “Fine, but I think it goes without saying that I wouldn’t be here telling you this unless I knew you could keep your mouth shut. We’ve been watching that place for a few weeks now. We believe it’s a high-class brothel.”
So, it had been about sex.
“Why all the surveillance?” Hunter asked. “Has to be more than just a brothel.”
“Well for a start, there’s the clientele, a lot of prominent people that we don’t want to piss off without probable cause. The other is that we don’t think it’s just any brothel. We believe the women working there are illegals being forced into prostitution.”
“What? You think the women are being held there against their will?” Cady asked in horror.
“You must have a good reason to think that,” Hunter said.
Stanson nodded tiredly. “We have one of the girls. Found her beaten nearly to death nearly three weeks ago in an alley. In the beginning she woul
dn’t talk, but eventually we managed to convince her that we weren’t going to deport her and that we could keep her safe. She’s Serbian, came here on a tourist visa and stayed. She was kidnapped from an alley behind the restaurant she worked in. She’s guessing someone who knew she was here illegally sold her out. They brought her here, forced her to work as a sex slave. Some of the things she told us…” Stanson shook his head, looking sick. “She said she was beaten after she was caught trying to escape. They must have thought she’d die before she was found, but luckily someone saw her and called for an ambulance.”
“God, I feel sick,” Cady said.
“So, what do you have?” Stanson asked.
Hunter relayed everything they had so far. Stanson got up and paced, obviously thinking. “So you think Worthington may have had something to do with this? But he lived in Chicago, not Dallas.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to have anyone connect the dots back to him in Chicago,” Hunter said.
“What sort of role could he have had? Do you think he was just a customer?” Stanson asked.
“Angie took most of these photos while she was still working for Worthington. Did he come to Dallas often?” Cady questioned.
“I’ll find out,” Hunter said. “Maybe he was just a customer, but part of me feels like he was up to his neck in this shit. Was the Serbian woman living in Dallas when she was taken?”
“No, she was taken in Chicago.” Stanson looked sick.
“So, maybe Worthington played a role in sourcing these women,” Hunter guessed.
Stanson ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve got to think about this. I need to tell my boss about what you’ve found and see what he wants to do with it.”
“You need to lean on one of these guys, find out what they know.”
Stanson nodded. “These fucking bastards are going down. But I need you to ease off. We can’t tip our hand. I could get a warrant and go in now, but I want to get whoever is running this operation.”
Hunter’s jaw tensed but he nodded. “Fine, it wasn’t getting us very far. But, I’m not letting this go. I can’t.”
“I understand. I’d feel the same way if it was my sister. But you will share what you find out and you won’t do anything stupid, understand?”
Hunter stood, putting his hands on his hips. The tension was so thick in the room Cady could barely breathe. She reached up and squeezed Hunter’s wrist.
“We just want to find out what happened to Angie,” she said to Stanson. “Don’t keep us out of the loop and we won’t keep you out either.”
Stanson looked at them before nodding and leaving. Hunter shut the door and turned the deadbolt. He turned around and looked at her. “What the hell did Angie stumble on and why didn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe she didn’t know. Maybe she was trying to protect you.” She stood and went to him, wrapping her arms around him. She nuzzled her face against his chest. “Sometimes you’re so busy protecting everyone else that you forget that someone might want to protect you too.”
He glanced down at her in surprise. She winked at him. Cady needed to do something to wipe that haunted look off his face. Stepping back, she stripped off her hoodie and t-shirt. Then she undid her jeans, pulling them down her legs. She slipped off her shoes, flinging them away, standing before him in just her underwear.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I need you. Take me to bed, Hunter.”
“I can’t be gentle.”
“I don’t want you to be.”
“I’m in a very dominant mood, Cady.”
“When aren’t you?” she replied with a smile.
“I’m feeling more dominant than usual.”
“I can take anything you want to throw at me.”
He stalked forward, his gaze intense. “Really? And if I want to tie you to the bed, to drive you to the edge over and over without release? If I want to spank you for daring to put yourself in danger by challenging a professional wrestler? Can you take that? Can you handle me taking your ass, your pussy, your mouth? Because I want all of you.”
Her heart beat faster as her mouth grew dry. Trepidation mixed with arousal as she stared at him.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I want all of that.”
He reached behind her, undoing her bra and pulling it free. Then he knelt, pulling off her panties. He moved slowly, gently, but she saw the need in his eyes.
“Your safe word is red. Use it if you need to. Spread your legs.”
She blushed, but moved her legs apart.
“Further,” he said gruffly.
She moved her right foot further along. Hunter spread her pussy lips and just stared at her for a long moment.
“Like what you see?” she said finally, unable to stand the silence as he just stared at her.
“Yes,” he replied then he reached around and smacked her ass sharply.
“Ow, what was that for?”
“No speaking unless I ask you a question or you need to say your safe word.”
Pushy bastard. She sent him a disgruntled look but kept her mouth closed.
Leaning in, he took a long, slow lick of her pussy. She gasped, barely able to keep herself from falling back as he continued to lap at her.
“Feel free to whimper, cry out or scream though,” he said as he rose to his feet. Moving to the sofa he pulled off one of the large cushions and brought it back, throwing it on the floor.
“Kneel here. Hands clasped behind your back, knees spread wide.” She moved into position and he stood there, just staring down at her.
She was beginning to feel like a freak show in a carnival when he reached down with one hand and tucked a curl behind her ear. “Good girl. So beautiful.”
A warm feeling built inside her as she relaxed slightly.
“I need to go get some things ready. Did you bring your vibrator with you?”
Her mouth dropped open as her cheeks heated. “What makes you think I have a vibrator?”
He grinned, the darkness in his face lifting. “You told me.” His voice grew stern. “Now, answer the question, did you bring your vibrator?”
“N-no,” she stuttered.
“All right, luckily I made a stop at the store. Stay there.”
She watched him leave, aware that she was still staring.
When the hell had she told him about her vibrator?
***
Hunter stepped back into the living room once he’d gotten everything prepared. He’d stripped off his t-shirt, but left his jeans on. It would be too tempting to just lay her back and fuck her if he was naked.
Plus, he knew it would make her feel even more submissive to be naked while he was still half-dressed. He needed her to submit to him, to surrender.
He stalked toward her. She was just as he’d left her and satisfaction filled him.
She was his. All his.
“Good girl,” he told her, watching her eyes light up. She needed reassurance, particularly with things so new between them. He needed to build up her confidence and trust in herself, in him. He knew it hadn’t been easy for her to wait, wondering what he was doing and he wanted to let her know how pleased he was that she’d obeyed him.
He was under no illusion it would always be this easy.
Reaching down, he cupped her breast, rubbing his thumb across her nipple. He moved to her other breast, playing with her nipple as he tipped her chin up with his free hand so he could stare down in her eyes. “Thank you for doing this, for trusting me.”
“I think I’m going to enjoy it just as much as you.”
“Oh, you can bet on it. I’ll make sure of that,” he promised her.
He took half a step back and held out his hands. She placed her slight hands in his. They were cold.
“You should have said you were cold,” he scolded. With a frown, he moved over to the thermostat and raised the temperature.
“I’m fine,” she protested. He sent her a look that had her rolling her eyes
.
Brat.
He made sure no hint of amusement showed on his face as he strode back to her. Her gaze widened as she watched him. Good. A little trepidation wasn’t a bad thing.
“Besides, you said I couldn’t talk unless you asked me a question.”
“If you need to ask a question or tell me that you’re uncomfortable then you can ask for permission to speak first.”
Her jaw dropped and this time he had to turn away so he could smile. Damn, no matter how intense or dark his mood she seemed to have the ability to make him smile.
“Permission, my ass,” she muttered.
“What was that?” he growled, putting plenty of Dom into his voice. She watched him warily.
“Nothing, Sir.”
“I didn’t think so.” He didn’t mention that she’d called him Sir, although his cock had certainly stood at attention.
“If you need my immediate attention then you say red, understand?” He wanted to be certain she wouldn’t hesitate to use her safe word.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good.” He took her lips in a ravishing kiss, taking complete control of her mouth until need throbbed through his veins. When he pulled back, she swayed slightly, her eyes dazed as she stared up at him.
“Come,” he commanded.
Holy hell the man could kiss.
She was pretty sure a few brain cells had exploded with that scorcher. She followed him blindly into the bedroom, coming to a stop as the sight that greeted her. He had pulled off the covers so there was only a bottom sheet on top of the mattress.
Leather handcuffs were attached to the bed at each corner with long strips of webbing. At the bottom of the mattress he’d laid out a bottle of lube, a butt plug and vibrator with attached clit tickler.
“Look at me.” She glanced up at him.
“Scared?”
She firmed her shoulders. “No,” she lied.
Disapproval filled his face and she immediately wished she hadn’t lied.
“Maybe a little,” she whispered.
“Good. A little fear is natural. Being terrified is not. If you become terrified then say your safe word.”
What was he planning on doing to her?
He chuckled and shook his head. “You should see your face. I know you’re not into a lot of pain, I’m not either, remember?”
Forever Yours, Sir (Doms of Decadence) Page 16
