Rip's Baby: Hounds of Hades MC

by Nicole Fox

  Was he seriously just throwing sex with Micah in as part of a fucking bonus package? Like having access to her was equivalent to a 401K or two weeks’ vacation? Immediately, I could feel the heat rising inside me, the outrage, the anger. I wanted to rip his head off his shoulders and go play soccer with it in the front yard, maybe get the rest of the staff in on the game. Something told me most of them would be interested in playing along, too.

  Instead, I just clenched my jaw and balled my hands into tight fists. “I’m going to work security for you tonight,” I growled, taking a step forward.

  Daddy Williams must have seen the anger in my eyes, because he took a step back right quick. “Now, come on, Ford. I was just joking about the Micah part.”

  As I stood there, looking into those beady little eyes of his, those fat lips that made his face look so disgusting, a quiet voice whispered inside me and reminded me of how Micah made me feel. Of how her body felt so perfect next to mine, of how she’d screamed my name. Of how I actually did care about what happened to her. How I knew I’d never be the same man if I cut and ran with the money and left her behind with Daddy Williams and the endless stream of clients who’d be visiting her over the years, till she was strung out and worthless. Just another discarded whore in Nevada, another woman who had no future, and nothing to show for her sordid past but a boatload of bad memories and a gargantuan therapy bill.

  I stuffed that voice down, though. It didn’t matter how I felt. There was no way I was going to get her out of here. But, I realized, I might be able to still pull off the part of the plan Micah had originally tried to convince me with: a good old fashioned robbery. Williams might not have the money on hand right now, but he certainly would by the end of the night.

  “One night,” I repeated. “That’s all. Then I’m gone. Agreed?”

  Williams smiled, his lips curling up filthily. “You drive a hard bargain, Ford. But, yes sir, it’s agreed. Shake on it?”

  I looked down at his extended hand, grasped it. “Now what?”

  “Now, we get down to the details about the party that starts in just a few hours, that’s what. Still got plenty of planning, and a quarter of my security’s gotten its ass kicked in the last twenty-four hours.”

  “Sorry about that, I guess.”

  “Who knew you’d end up working for me by the end of it? I sure as hell didn’t, that’s for certain. Water under the bridge, I say. All just water under the bridge, Ford.”

  And then we headed off to look over the rest of the Mansion, at all the special rooms Williams had set aside for the big event, to the ballroom where most of the customers, and the girls, would be.

  The whole time, though, I wasn’t putting together just my plan for locking down the building and keeping it secure. I was thinking about how I’d make a grab for Williams’ cash.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Micah

  Still naked on the leather couch, I awoke to the sound of the dungeon door creaking open at the top of the stairs. The staircase seemed to sag under the heavy footfalls that followed, and I realized it was Daddy coming down. Not Ford.

  My body ached; my skin stung; my nipples felt like someone had set the sensitivity to their highest rating. I peeled myself off the couch as the heavy footsteps continued to make their way down, now accompanied by Williams’ heavy huffing and puffing as he quickly grew out of breath, grunting with each consecutive step. I found my clothes strewn across the floor and began to pull my skirt and top back on.

  “Micah?” Daddy called. “You awake, girl?”

  “Yeah,” I replied groggily as I pulled my top over my head. I hadn’t bothered with my underwear, just balled it up in my hand and held my bra in the other. “I’m awake, Daddy.”

  He came into the room. “Given some thought to Ford’s little lesson?” he asked. “Hmm?”

  I nodded, breathing deeply through my nose.

  Of course, I’d thought about it. I’d thought about how willingly he’d given me up for the fee, how much the lash had stung when it crossed my thighs and butt, how much I’d begun to enjoy everything he did to my body. I couldn’t do anything but think about it.

  But the idea of doing that with other men? Of letting them bend me, spank me, tie me up, hang me from the ceiling and fuck me every which way possible?

  No way. No how. And that was that.

  And, even as pissed as I was with Ford right then, I couldn’t ever imagine any other man sleeping with me after that. I knew they’d all pale in comparison, anyways, to how his strong hands had held me tight, the way he’d picked me up, light as a memory.

  I couldn’t let Daddy know that, though. I needed to get out of here. Or else there’d be more than just Ford coming to teach me a lesson. And worse, too. Much worse.

  “Yeah,” I said finally, turning back to him. “I understand. I do have one request, though.”

  Daddy nodded and came around the couch to face me. “Ain’t sure you’re in a position to be making requests, but I’ll hear you out.”

  “I don’t want to come down here again. Ever. I just . . . I can’t do that. I want you to promise me I’ll never end up in the dungeon again, unless I’m fine with it.”

  He hissed, sucked air through his teeth. “Don’t know if I can promise that, little girl. You keep acting up, what am I to do with you? You wanna get shipped off like Kessa?”

  “I won’t act up,” I said more fervently. “I promise. You have my word, Daddy.”

  “Your word?” he asked with a laugh. “What’s that worth? You already told me you wasn’t gonna try and run away, and look what you did.”

  “What can I do to show you I’m serious, then? You won’t accept my word, and I don’t have anything else I can give.”

  “How about this?” he asked. “How about you agree to come to the party tonight? You get all dolled up like the rest of them girls. But you wear the costume I choose for you. And, then, I’ll promise you you won’t ever have to visit the dungeon again. Not unless you screw up, of course, or you agree to it.”

  As he explained the deal, I quickly realized it was the best I was going to get from him. But what kind of costume was he going to make me wear? “Depends on—”

  He held up a hand. “Uh-uh. No depending about it. Only way this works is if I get to choose the outfit for you, little girl.”

  I sighed, frustrated. There was no telling what kind of outfit he’d make me wear. And with the kind of party he was throwing, which only certain girls were to attend, there was all sorts of chances that the attendees would get all kinds of the wrong idea. But what choice did I have? If I said no, he’d never trust me. And if he didn’t trust me, I’d be stuck down here like a party favor, tied up and used till I finally caved in.

  “So what’s it going be? Extending your stay in the dungeon? Or coming on upstairs and wearing some outfit for a night?”

  “What outfit?”

  “Oh, a real special one. In or out, Micah? Which one do you want?”

  I sighed again. “Fine,” I grudgingly accepted. “I’m in.”

  At least, this way, I’d get one step closer to Ford. That bastard had sold me out. I didn’t care that all I could think about was getting back into his arms. I just wanted to get right behind him. So, I could plant a knife right between those broad shoulders of his.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ford

  Night in the desert comes late. The sun beats down on your head, trying to fry your brain and all your other goodies all day long. But when it’s gone, it’s gone, and a deep chill creeps in to replace the sun’s aggressive rays. The grounds around the Mansion were no different from anywhere else, either, and the coolness had already settled over the place by the time the party and auction had begun.

  Despite it not being anywhere close to October, or Halloween, Daddy Williams had decided that tonight was going to be a masquerade ball, complete with costumes. Just by glancing around the ballroom mixer, it was pretty easy to decide who was a guest and who
was there as part of the Mansion’s entertainment staff.

  The guests were, of course, mostly men. Among the twenty or so men, expensive stage quality costumes were the rule. In just five minutes, I counted a cinema-quality Batman costume, a Roman centurion in actual metal armor, a Lex Luthor who looked like he’d bought a tailored suit for the part, and more, many more, that were equally over the top. Hell, some of them looked like they’d been in a special effects makeup chair all afternoon before showing up.

  The entertainment staff were, of course, all women. Cheaper costumes, of course, because Daddy had never met a penny he couldn’t pinch till it cried uncle, but showing so much skin you’d wonder why they couldn’t have charged less for the outfits. One girl, a tall, beautiful blonde, might as well have just been wearing her underwear, since the red silk scarves they had her draped in covered less than the lingerie would have. Another, a beautiful black girl who’d eagerly draped herself over one client, was wearing even less. Just little pasties that just barely covered her dark nipples. All of Daddy’s girls wore masques, of course, the kind that covered just the eyes and the nose. Not that they’d do much to hide their identities. You could tell pretty quickly, though, that hiding them wasn’t the real intention.

  As I made my way around the edges of the throng, my eyes searched almost unconsciously for Micah. I glanced over the flesh of every ivory-skinned girl, immediately disappointed when I found their head of blonde or brown hair.

  I was beginning to think Daddy Williams hadn’t let her out of the dungeon after all, that he’d kept her squirreled away. Maybe he hadn’t believed the authenticity of our little performance?

  What did I care anyways? Now that the afterglow of our little session had faded, I’d begun to think that’s what all my feelings were to begin with. Afterglow. The fuzzy headed feeling you got from getting your rocks off in a beautiful woman. The sweet intoxication the feel of their skin produced as your hand ran over it, their smell, their taste.

  That’s all it was. Afterglow.

  But then what was I even doing here, circling this place like a vulture? I had my mother’s ring back. My finder’s fee was coming. By the end of the night, Williams would have more than enough to be worth knocking over. Why was I looking for her? I didn’t need her to pull off the job. All I had to do that to get into Daddy’s office, and when he went to pay me from the safe, I took the rest.

  If anything, her being part of the job was just going to make things more complicated. Infinitely more complicated. I couldn’t believe I was being so stupid to go looking for more trouble, to keep trying to add on more problems to my life.

  And then I saw Micah. Damn, she looked sexy. Sexier even than the first night I’d seen her, or any of the moments in between. Lust seemed to ooze off every man in the room as she walked by, and you could almost hear as the party got a collective, giant erection at the sight.

  She wore all black, and it was offset perfectly against her creamy white skin. Black high-heeled boots, black leather skirt, slit all the way up to the top of her hips on both sides. A black crop-top that was really little more than a leather bikini. And, to top it all off, a simple black domino mask, and her perfect red curls spilling down to her shoulders.

  She flitted through the crowd like a fallen, dark angel gliding through the clouds. The guests and the girls both seemed to part before her, closing in her wake as the men all craned their heads after her perfect form. God, she was hot. Just watching the way her hips swayed from side to side with each step gave me a moment of phantom pleasure as I remembered how she’d felt beneath my hands, how her lips had felt so eagerly pressed against mine.

  She must have felt a burning sensation on her back, or an itch she couldn’t reach, because she glanced back over her shoulder at me. She locked those haughty, defiant eyes of her on mine, gave me a perfect, pearly-white smile, and a little shake of her head as she bit her lower lip.

  Suddenly, I realized I was in the wrong place. I should have just taken my finder’s fee from Don Williams and gone. The longer I stayed here, the more likely I was to get into trouble, and I knew it. Especially with the way all the party attendees were looking at her. I could already feel the anger building inside me, and there wasn’t any way this would come to any good.

  I was fucked. Properly, solidly fucked.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Micah

  Just a couple hours left till the auction, and I was dressed to the nines and ready to go. I barely even had a half-formed plan on how I was going to get Kessa out all on my own. Hell, I didn’t even know how I was going to get myself out of here, let alone her. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. The moment you start to lose is the moment you start to believe it’s not possible to win. That’s what my momma always said, at least.

  Admittedly, she’d never really won in her life either. The advice sounded good, though, even as I stood in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by a crowd of disgusting millionaires and billionaires, a bunch of pervs looking for their own personal sex slaves to while away the hours.

  This place disgusted me on every level I could imagine. All the attendees knew what it was going to be. Daddy didn’t accept credit, debit, or personal checks for his girls, even the broken ones like Kessa who were going to be up for sale. Cash only, all purchases final. You could tell by the briefcase cuffed to their hand if one of the clients was going to be part of the bidding going on later.

  I didn’t know which was worse, though. The men who came from all over the country to participate in the auction, orDaddy’s girls, like me, who were part of the entertainment for the evening. Here we were, knowing full well what was going on, and just turning a blind eye to it in exchange for a fat payout and maybe some brownie points with the fat bastard running everything.

  Were we the monsters here? The ones who knew these girls and had spent long evenings with them on our nights off? Were we as responsible for all this as anyone else? What could he have done, after all, if we’d all stood up at the same time andrefused to be any party to this? But that was silly. And we all knew it. After all, look at what had happened to Kessa when she refused to let a client hurt her. There was no reasoning with men like this.

  Sure, we’d made a choice to come here, to allow ourselves to be conned into this lifestyle. But we hadn’t known the pitfalls before we started. All we’d heard were sickly sweet lies from Daddy’s thick lips. Promises, promises, and more promises. And all about money, and how we’d be treated right. Now, though, we were all stuck, all victims of our own greed and naïveté.

  I could say one thing, though. Coming to this party and getting to see the look on Ford’s face while he was stuck working security was priceless. The need, the hunger, in his eyes, that was just perfect. I knew he wanted me still, and I could practically see him throbbing through the front of his slacks as I sashayed away from him, through the assembled crowd. Hell, I could see the same thing happening to most of the men.

  But, know what would make it better? Putting on a real show for him, getting him jealous and all worked up. That’d make the prick see what he missed out on when he went to work for Daddy Williams, instead of helping me. This way he could see what he could have had if he hadn’t missed his shot with the most beautiful woman in the room. Because he had had a shot, and I knew it. Even as pissed as I was, I still cared for him.

  And then I saw him. My man of the hour. The sleaziest slime ball in the room. But, at least he wasn’t a buyer. I could tell that because his wrist was as empty of a briefcase as my ring finger was of an engagement band.

  Frosted tips, flashy suit, Italian shoes, and a hundred dollar tie. The exact polar opposite of Ford. This man right here, he was mine.

  He looked me up and down as I came up to him, his eyes taking in all of me like a ravenous dog. “Well, look at you, baby. You look like a million bucks, you know that?”

  “Thank you,” I purred, and took a sip of champagne. “Not so bad yourself, handsome.”

&n
bsp; He beamed like I’d just bought him a new car.

  “Tanner Wilde,” he said, offering me his hand.

  I clasped it lightly. “Micah Davies. Charmed.”

  “You ever thought of being in the movies?” Tanner asked with a sly smile.

  “I have, actually. Don’t tell me you’re an agent or something.”

  “Am I that transparent, baby?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. So you really are an agent, Mr. Wilde?”

  “Tanner, baby, all the girls call me Tanner. I take it since you’re down here on the floor, mingling with us guests, you ain’t one of the girls going up on the stage later?”

  “You’d be correct, Tanner.”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “That’s a crying shame, Micah, ’cause I got a feeling you’d break the Mansion record for bids. Wouldn’t you?”