“It’s deserved, Steele.”
Paul was waiting and opened the door for them to get into the Escalade. “Morning.”
Steele smiled at him. “Good morning, Paul. Thank you again for the ride.”
Arsen helped her in first then climbed in behind her. He did as he had done every morning and tapped his leg for her to put her foot up on. He unlaced her shoe and rubbed her foot for three minutes then did the same thing to the other one.
He’d explained to her about the tendons that needed massaged as she had never been a runner and it would take some time before her feet were in the shape that his were. She found it endearing. People thought he was a man who thought himself better than all women, but that just wasn’t the case with Arsen.
Steele was feeling especially thankful for him and asked, “May I run my hands through your hair, Arsen.”
He nodded without looking at her. She ran her hand up and felt the damp hair under her palm and wished they could go back to his penthouse and shower then dress and go off to their day, like normal couples.
She let out a sigh, and he looked at her. “What?”
“I wish we could just do this thing out in the open is all.” She ran her fingers lightly over his bearded cheek.
“Soon, I hope.” He looked back at her foot that he’d been massaging and after a couple of more seconds he stopped and placed it gently on the floor.
“Is your roommate asking you any questions about why you’re never there?”
Steele shook her head.
“No. She usually doesn’t come in until late anyway and I’ve been telling her I started this new diet and exercise plan so I get up really early. She thinks I’m insane and told me I didn’t need to change a thing about myself.”
“And you said what to that?” He looked at her and her eyes migrated to his.
“Nothing, because it’s none of her business anyway.” Steele’s eyes lit up as she said the words. She knew that was what he wanted to hear. And they were true after all.
His smile told her he was happy. The warmth of his hand on the back of her neck sent chills through her body. “So perfect,” he muttered as he pulled her face to his and took her lips with his.
Steele melted into him and her hands ran over his shoulders and down his muscled arms. She nearly moaned with how well developed his biceps were, but thought better of it.
She’d done so well with his rules that she hadn’t earned even one punishment. Only fantastic sex was her reward for making each day with no infractions of his rules. Steele found it easy so far, but she had to be honest with herself, the soda thing was beginning to haunt her.
He ended his sweet kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. “Since it is Friday I can take you to visit your horse this evening before it gets dark. I assume that you miss him since I hired that service to see to him.”
“It would be nice to see Tripper. Thank you, Arsen.” Her fingers trailed over his shoulder.
The car stopped in front of her apartment and after one more kiss she got out and went inside. It was only when she physically got away from Arsen that her brain would begin to work again. His mere presence seemed to take the air from her lungs and replace it with some need for him.
Even as she walked into the house and made her way to the bathroom to shower she ran her tongue over her teeth relishing the taste of him still fresh on them. She sighed as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush and cleaned the remnants of him away.
The shower finished the job and she no longer could smell him on her. But soon enough she’d be sitting in his car with him as he took her to school. Then she’d get a fresh kiss and as he ran his arms around her with a hug before she left him for the day, his cologne would linger through the day, making memories of the night before crop up in her head. Usually at the most inappropriate times.
After dressing and grabbing her laptop Steele found her cell buzzing at her, telling her Arsen was back. Gwen surprised her as she came out of her room, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“You didn’t come home last night. Where were you, Steele?”
“Um, oh, just out with a friend. I’m going out again tonight, I think,” Steele said with an edge of nerves that suddenly cropped up.
“Well, let me know at least. I was worried about you.” Gwen gave her a wag of her finger.
Steele laughed and opened the door. She didn’t realize that Arsen was already walking up to the door, a frown covering his handsome face. “Okay, Mom,” she said to Gwen.
Gwen’s face looked odd and when she turned to see what she was looking past her at, she saw Arsen. “What’s taking you so long?” he barked.
Gwen was quick to ask, “And this is your friend, Steele? The one you’ve been staying with all these nights?”
“Yeah, I have to go, Gwen.” Steele hurried out and Arsen took her by the arm, hurrying her along to the car.
“You know my time is important. Standing around and chatting it up isn’t a thing you should do while I’m waiting for you.” He threw the door open, and she slid in.
“Sorry, she caught me off guard.” She positioned the laptop on the seat next to her as Arsen got in. “And I was coming, you shouldn’t have gotten out of the car. What if someone saw you?”
“I don’t give a fuck!” He straightened his tie and looked at her. “You’re a person who works for me after all. It’s not beyond the realms that I might give you a ride here and there.”
“Okay. Man, you’re kind of grumpy. Did something happen I should know about?” She ran a hand over his thigh as a tiny piece of lint had somehow found its way to his slacks. “You look incredibly handsome today in this dark blue suit. Is it an Armani?”
He nodded. “Very good, Steele. You are learning about fashion like I told you to.”
“I’m trying. It’ll take some time. I’ve never been into clothes and shoes and things.” She moved her hand to run it over the tan skirt she was wearing and noted it looked nowhere near as nice as his suit.
“Once this is over, you’re throwing away every last piece of clothing you have and I’m buying you a new wardrobe. One that’s fitting for the woman in my life. I provided those things and cars as well to all my subs.” He took her chin in his large hand and made her look at him as her eyes had not left her lap. “You’re coming along so well. I think you should really start contemplating what it will mean to be my sub, Steele.”
“I’ll think on it then. So far it’s been a breeze, but something tells me I won’t cotton to every aspect of that lifestyle.” To make her point she ran her hand up his arm, stopping to feel his bulging bicep. “That arm there tells me you can probably wield a belt like nobody’s business.”
“I can do that to you now if you break any of my rules. You do realize that, don’t you?” He reached out and ran his hand over her breast. The white shirt she had on wasn’t buttoned up entirely, and he ran his hand from her breast the mere inch to her bare skin and shook his head. He buttoned the buttons all the way up. “I don’t want to see that again, understand me?”
She sighed, making her chest heave and said, “Yes, Master.”
His eyes cut to hers but she was looking away. “Look at me, Steele,” he said, sharply. She did as he said as it seemed nearly impossible to not do what he said to when he used that tone of voice. “That sighing shit is proving something that pisses me off, so no more of that. Understand me!”
Steele nodded. “So two more things to add to your list of rules for me then?”
“Seems so,” he said and picked up his phone and clicked away on it.
“May I ask what you’re doing?” she asked and leaned over a little to try to see.
“Adding those things to the list.” He tapped away, and she found herself getting angry. “And the one about no cursing as well, so it’s officially on the list now so watch yourself or you will feel the sting of my belt.”
“Arsen, are you being for real? I mean, are you keeping that list on your phone?” She managed
to see he had a page up on his notes and there was the list of rules. “That’s not smart. What if the police take your phone and see that?”
“Your name isn’t on it.” He turned it so she could take a good look. It was headed with the words, ‘Terms of Agreement.’ “A contract is made up of the things we’ve mutually agreed on up until that point and it’s essential that I keep up with the rules so I can make a contract up when you agree to.”
“Which I may never do. By the way, I didn’t really agree to the last few, you just told me you were adding them.” She saw the school ahead and took the laptop onto her lap.
His eyes narrowed as he gave her a sideways glance. “Eager to leave my company, Steele?”
“Never, but thanks to Gwen, I’m running about one minute late and will need to rush to my first class now.” She leaned forward. “A goodbye kiss?”
He sighed, and she looked at him as she pulled back. “Oh you can sigh but I can’t?”
“There are a great many things I can do that you can’t.” He took her chin and pulled her back and pressed his lips to hers. She started to run her hands around his neck and press her body to his, but he stopped his kiss which remained only on her lips, no tongue and no hug. “You were a bit disagreeable this morning, so no mind-blowing kiss for you. Think about that for future reference.”
“But, I kind of need one to get through my day. I was kind of counting on it,” she said as she stayed leaning in as close as he’d let her.
“I suppose you’ll think better of making me wait and leaving your top buttons open and making over the top sighs then, won’t you, if you need my kisses so badly?” The car stopped and Paul was opening her door before she could even think of what to say to that bull crap.
She scooted out and turned back. “Have a nice day, Arsen. I’ll miss you.”
“You too,” he said not looking at her but at his phone instead.
His cold nature was making her stomach hurt for some reason and she turned back after she got out. “Arsen, I’m sorry.”
He glanced at her. “Thank you for the apology. We’ll be here at four-thirty sharp.” He looked back down at the phone in his hand. “Let’s go, Paul.”
Steele felt as if she’d been slapped and when Paul’s hand touched her shoulder, she looked back at him. “Oh, sorry, Paul.”
Rowan stopped short as he walked from behind the car. “Steele, what the hell?”
Steele took off, trying to hurry away from Rowan, but he easily caught up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, making her spin back around. “Rowan, don’t,” she said under her breath.
“What are you doing with him?” he demanded.
Her eyes went wide as Arsen came up behind Rowan. Arsen’s voice was low and stern.
“Hands off her, boy.”
Rowan lifted his hand from her shoulder and turned to face Arsen.
“This isn’t right. You could be a murderer.”
And just like that Arsen knocked him out.
“Oh, God!” Steele fell to her knees as Rowan lay on the ground. She looked up at Arsen. “Not necessary, Arsen!”
She patted Rowan’s reddened cheeks. He moaned and his eyes fluttered open.
“Bastard, you sucker punched me.”
Arsen leaned over and sneered. “That was no sucker punch and you will keep your hands off her and mind your fucking business.” He looked at Steele. “What are you doing? You need to get to class, Steele.”
She stood up and took off towards her class. She glanced back once to see Arsen pulling Rowan up and dusting him off roughly. Steele was shaking as she went into the classroom of Professor Goldstein.
“Mornin’ Steele,” he said happily.
“Good morning,” she said back and Rowan came in after her, a bit of grass on the back of his head and a swollen jaw.
Rowan went straight to Tanner and said, “I need to talk to you after class.”
Although Tanner was whispering, Steele heard him.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Arsen Sloan happened to me and it seems he’s been happening to Steele as well.” Rowan looked directly at her as he said it and she dropped her head.
This will be very bad!
ARSEN
Arsen had pulled a bag of ice from the office freezer and he held it over his red knuckles. He cursed Rowan. His cell phone rang, and he cursed again. When he saw it was the San Francisco Police Department, he cursed one more time.
“Arsen Sloan,” he answered.
“Hi, this is Detective Riddle, Mr. Sloan. I need to talk to you this morning. Now I can come to you or you can come to me, but I need this taken care of before noon.”
“I’ll come to you. I’ll leave now,” he said and hung up.
After making a stop in his office to purposely leave his phone in a locked drawer, he left his office. Before he left it, he called Paul from the office phone and told him to be outside.
Something told him this day would not be a good one, and it was all falling into place. A numb sensation was filing his body, and he thought about not being able to hold Steele anymore if he went to prison.
The young woman was creeping under his skin. Her subtle defiance was a thing he couldn’t stand in most women, but she had him thinking of her as strong instead of head-strong. He never thought he’d find himself experiencing such feelings again, not after what Beth did to him all those years back.
Arsen cursed again as he realized he needed Tanner to be there. He pressed a button and the privacy screen went down.
“I need to borrow your cell, Paul.”
Paul handed it back and Arsen made the call to his attorney. Tanner told him he’d meet him there and not to say a damn word until he got there. Arsen gave the phone back and tried to settle back into the seat. His eyes caught something on the floor and he picked it up.
He saw one of her buttons from the first night they’d been together. Letting her go is what he should do. He was nothing but trouble and the poor thing would be devastated if he went to prison. But his selfishness knew no bounds as he wasn’t about to give her up.
He put the button in his pocket for reasons he didn’t even know. It was a piece of her that he could keep close to him and it brought him a tiny thread of security. In this insecure world there was Steele, and he was beginning to hate himself for needing her so damn much.
Arsen had never found it so hard to maintain his disciplined demeanor. When she was looking at him, when he refused to give her the goodbye kiss he had given her each morning before dropping her at school, he had to mindlessly look at his phone in order not to give in to her.
He shook his head and sighed deeply. His world seemed to be falling apart. It seemed almost nothing was in his control any longer and he hated it all. The car pulled to a stop and when he looked up, he saw the police station.
What can they possibly have found?
STEELE
Heart pounding, Steele followed Tanner up the stairs of the police station. He’d taken her and Rowan out of their second class to go with him to be there. Some detective was going to talk to Arsen.
Fear was coursing through her veins and she wanted to break down and cry so badly it physically hurt to hold it all back. Rowan had told Tanner what he saw and suspected. Tanner told Rowan there was not a thing illegal about it so he should mind his business with a man like Arsen. Steele was relieved Tanner didn’t ask her anything about it.
She bound up the stairs in front of Tanner and Rowan, making Rowan remark, “Worried about your boyfriend, Gannon?”
She ignored him and made her way inside. Finding him sitting on a chair, waiting. His eyes met hers as she came through the glass doors and he stood up. “He brought you?” he asked her.
She nodded and stopped short as she nearly had thrown her arms around him and this was not the place to be doing that.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered.
> Her heart pounded with his admission and she brushed his hand with the back of hers.
“Me too.”
Tanner and Rowan made it in and Arsen’s eyes darted to the young man he’d punched earlier. His jaw still swollen.
“He brought him too, huh?”
“Yes, Tanner is his mentor as well.” She looked back to find Tanner telling the officer at the main desk something then he gestured for them to follow him as a man in a white shirt and tan slacks opened a side door. “Here we go then.”
She and Arsen walked side by side behind Tanner and Rowan as the officer greeted them with a smile and a nod. “This way please.”
They followed the detective down a long hallway and eventually into his small office. Only two other chairs, besides his, were sitting in front of his small desk that was strewn with papers. She and Rowan had to stand behind Tanner and Arsen.
Steele took out her notebook and pen and prepared to write down every word. She stood right behind Arsen and looked at the detective as if he was the devil himself.
The detective sat down.
“Mr. Sloan, I have a few questions about your relationship with Meagan Stanley, the first homicide victim.”
Arsen nodded but kept his mouth shut. Steele’s stomach knotted as the detective turned over a picture on his desk and revealed a caramel-colored woman who was naked and had marks around her neck that clearly showed where someone’s fingers had gripped her throat. Her wrists and ankles were bound with rope.
The detective pushed the picture towards Arsen. “Would you like to tell me when you made these marks on Meagan Stanley’s neck?”
Without any hesitation Arsen answered, “At two in the morning on the date of September third of this year.”
Steele wrote the words with a trembling hand. He had choked the young woman and had just admitted to it.
“Care to clarify why?” the detective asked.
“She asked me to do it.” Arsen ran his hand through his hair and Steele knew he was nervous.
Mallory Page 71
