by Harte, Marie
Aidan left the shower, grabbed a towel, and returned to dry Gavin off. Then he did the same for himself. “Go lie down on the bed. I have a few things to do. Wait for me.”
Gavin did as ordered, wondering what came next.
Aidan sent, “I have to find that room. We need to leave tonight. I have a bad feeling something’s wrong. That scene with John… He’d been told to delay us. To test us. I don’t like it.”
“Sir?” Gavin flushed but remained passive on the bed, chilled and starting to shake. “I mean, Aidan? Say that again.”
“Cover up. I can feel you’re cold.” Aidan sounded irritated. “Carl paid John to delay us with sex. And there was something that bastard Samson was thinking about before they left, about a coup. The more I think about it, the more I think this party is more than entertainment for Carl. Something’s off. Let’s get the book and get out. Time for evasive maneuvers.”
Gavin trusted Aidan’s instinct, even if he didn’t see anything all that unusual about tonight. Hell, all of it had been surreal. But leaving sounded like a terrific idea. Just as soon as Gavin’s legs could move again. Good Christ, but Aidan had worn him out. “Your call. Just tell me what to do.”
“Stay here, boy. I need to go talk to Mr. Kerr about something. Allow no one inside. No sex for you but what I give you. If I’m not back by midnight, find Mr. Kerr. Is that understood?” Aidan re-dressed in his leather pants and vest. Like before, he wore no underwear, just socks and boots to complete the outfit.
Gavin found that incredibly sexy. Aidan looked so buff and brawny, his biceps and chest huge under that skimpy black vest. He cleared his throat and his mind. “Yes, Sir.” He walked Aidan to the door. “You can bet your sexy ass I’ll come after you if you don’t come back.”
“Lock up behind me. And if I hear one word about you sucking anyone off or letting anyone else touch that ass, I’ll beat the shit out of you. You won’t sit for a week, you little slut.”
“No, Sir.”
“GOOD.” AIDAN STEPPED outside and shut the door behind him, relieved when he heard the door lock. Now to find that fucking book and leave. He kept thinking about the way Samson had looked at him, as if he knew something. And for John to maneuver him like that… He didn’t like it.
It wasn’t impossible to find other psychics outside the PWP. Hell, look at the Cannons. A family of mind benders in Bend, Oregon, of all places. Maybe Samson had read something Aidan hadn’t intended. Or the cover Jack had given them had failed. He hadn’t sensed that Carl was on to them, but Samson could have been. Aidan only knew something felt off, and his instincts had saved him more than once before.
Bad enough he’d nearly lost his mind when that fucking asshole had sucked Gavin’s cock. Playing with him was one thing, but no one used a mouth on Gavin without permission, and especially not some deviant slave with ties to a gangbanger from Detroit.
Cleaning, then fucking Gavin, had cemented his position as Master, as one in control. No more jealousy, no more ridiculous fear for his partner. Gavin had been unnerved about the incident, though he hadn’t thought as much. But Aidan had caught a tendril of Gavin’s unease about that asshole blowing him, and he’d nearly gone ballistic. Stupid, and so unnecessary. Yet he couldn’t help it. He was taking this Dom shit seriously; Gavin belonged to him.
He shot down the hallway like a man possessed, digging into minds as he passed, searching for Carl’s study. Though he’d caught glimpses of it in Carl’s head, every hallway around here looked the same. He wished to hell he didn’t have to be so close to read minds. If something happened to Gavin while he was gone, Aidan wouldn’t know until he returned to his lover’s—partner’s—side. Christ, he had to stop thinking about Gavin in a personal sense. They were on a job. A mission. Success meant everything.
Yet part of him realized it paled next to Gavin being safe and happy. Next to another tomorrow spent with Gavin in his arms.
He grimaced and finally struck pay dirt when he came upon another man currently getting blown against the wall by a guard.
Turning in another direction, Aidan walked away from the wing where the guests were staying and moved toward a corridor guarded on either side by large men with guns.
“Stop, please.” They moved to meet him.
He thought quickly. “I need to speak with Mr. Kerr. It’s urgent.” Aidan lowered his voice and looked around. “There’s an undercover federal agent downstairs. I recognized him from the last time my cousin was busted. We need to fix that. Pronto.”
The guards didn’t blink. One of them quickly radioed Samson to explain the situation. “Yes, Sir. I understand. Yes. But I agree with Mr. Castle. This is urgent.” After a moment, he signed off and turned to Aidan. “Sir, please come with me.”
Time to find that book and leave. Aidan felt a chill pass over him and resolved to hurry. He couldn’t let anything happen to Gavin. He wouldn’t let anything happen. Life without Gavin didn’t bear thinking about.
Chapter Nine
Gavin dressed himself in a pair of loose-fitting lounge pants and paced. He lay down. He sat up. He tried to pass the time by watching TV, but the only thing he could see on the closed-circuit television was the party in the dungeon. A live feed. Oh hell, he’d been broadcast to anyone and everyone who’d wanted to watch.
He should have been embarrassed. Before Aidan, he would have been. Now, whenever he wanted to hide from his needs, he recalled Aidan telling him not to be ashamed. And he was right. Gavin wasn’t hurting anyone. He didn’t ask for others to watch him, but if they did, he enjoyed it. So he had a thing about exhibitionism. And submission. And bondage…
Aidan would shrug it off as no big deal. And that approval forced Gavin to reevaluate his need to please. Why did he care what everyone else thought, as long as he, and the man he was afraid he loved, accepted him?
He had to admit Aidan played a huge part in his wants and needs. He’d had a crush—from a purely physical perspective—on the blond giant for years. Even though he’d thought of Aidan as a dickhead and brutish asshole, he couldn’t deny he liked the look of him. So to find out he’d been wrong about the man under all that muscle turned Gavin inside out.
Aidan liked domination. He read books, fiction and nonfiction, and had an extensive art collection. The image he projected—a large thug with little more on his mind than the job—wasn’t the real man at all.
Though their conversations had been few, they’d been deep. Gavin knew enough about Aidan from what he didn’t say to know what made the man tick. He needed affection; he just didn’t know how to ask for it. Lying on Aidan’s chest while they rested or readied to play, Gavin had felt Aidan stroking him. The almost incessant need for contact told Gavin that Aidan wanted a tight connection, even if he wouldn’t say it out loud.
His obvious possessiveness had to be more about their relationship than the job. It had to.
Gavin continued to think about the impossible dream of a future with Aidan beyond this case while the minutes slipped into an hour. Then two hours. Worried when Aidan still hadn’t returned, he unlocked and opened his door, only to find two men standing outside. With guns.
One of them growled, “Mr. Castle will return shortly. Mr. Kerr suggests that for your own safety, you remain inside.”
Gavin swallowed. “Okay. Thanks.” He quickly closed the door and locked it again. Then he tried to decide what to do. Aidan had mentioned the possibility they’d be separated, and if that happened, to wait it out. Best case, Aidan would get Gavin a message. Either by note or thought, if the shit hit the fan. And so far, Gavin had heard nothing. Worst case, if Gavin went more than four hours without hearing from Aidan, he was supposed to leave Aidan behind and get the hell out of Dodge. He’d pretend to be nothing more than Aidan’s pawn and tough out his stay at the mansion if he couldn’t escape.
Aidan gone wasn’t an option.
Gavin refused to panic. Panic had caused him to be booted out of the program years ago. Aidan depended on him.
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He forced himself to sit down and watch the television, thinking he might catch a glimpse of something useful if he stared long enough. At first the sexual acts and lusty lack of inhibition turned him on, but after a while, all the fucking blended together. As he waited for Aidan to return, he realized the case wasn’t what he’d thought it would be.
It came as a shock to understand that he actually preferred sitting in his office at the gym. He’d spent months trying to get back into fieldwork, and now that he’d arrived, he wanted nothing better than the safety of his computer and calculator. And Aidan.
Gavin looked inside himself, honestly considering the notion that what he’d been searching for wasn’t a better job or more exciting career. Sex with Aidan had given him a connection and a confidence he’d been wanting for a long time. But it was more than Aidan. Gavin sat half-naked on a strange bed, in the home of a man with ties to organized crime. Hell, guards with guns stood right outside the room. And he’d just attended his first orgy, where he’d had sex in front of people he didn’t know.
But he wasn’t freaking out. He could handle this.
And now he knew it.
Things would probably get worse tonight before they got better, but Gavin refused to desert his partner. He wouldn’t lose his composure or flake out on the job. For too long he’d doubted himself, and it had robbed him of the pleasure his real work actually afforded.
He liked making the numbers fit. He liked keeping Jack in the black. Getting the business tax breaks and figuring out the bottom line, then stretching it to make ends meet, gave him a satisfaction this field job couldn’t. Because Gavin understood he wasn’t the best man for action. Aidan was.
Being dominated by Aidan was enough of a thrill. Finishing this case would be hard work, but he knew they could do it. Just so long as Aidan returns in one piece. Gavin let the worry wash over him, accepted it, and owned it. He refused to let it rule him. None of this could possibly be scarier than trying to convince Aidan to give their relationship a chance when the mission ended.
Gavin sighed. He still hadn’t found the right way to broach the subject. Aidan would obviously deny their connection had been anything more than a necessary evil to accomplish the mission. Despite the fact they fit like a lock and key, Aidan would distance himself. Gavin just knew it. But how to make Aidan see them as a couple?
And would any of this matter if Aidan lay nearly dead while Gavin mooned over the big guy? Gavin glanced at the bedside clock and made a decision. He had one more hour before he’d been ordered to leave Aidan behind. And no way he’d do that.
After putting on a shirt and shoes, he opened the door and looked at one of the guards. “Excuse me. But my Master told me if I hadn’t heard from him by eleven, I was supposed to ask for Mr. Kerr.” A small lie, but Gavin didn’t want to wait another second.
The guards looked at each other; then the one Gavin had addressed nodded. “Come with me.”
Gavin kept his head down as he followed the guy around several bends and farther into a nearly empty hallway guarded on either side by large, armed men. The place looked beyond creepy. Dark, sterile, and deserted, the hallway could have been the backdrop for an upscale mental ward. A muffled roar and thud sounded out of place in the quiet calm. He moved with the guards closer to the noise and then stopped.
“Go in there.” The guard nodded to a large set of double doors. Then he walked away, leaving the entrance to the grand hallway, a good forty feet away, still secured by Carl’s guards.
Gavin took a deep breath, then let it out. Remembering to play his role, he opened the door and entered into a lavish office. The ceilings were a good twenty feet high, with a few chandeliers providing more than adequate lighting. Except they remained lowly lit, ghosting the room with shadows and dark patterns. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases crammed with books dominated the side walls. And behind the large desk at the back of the room sat Carl Kerr, his hands clasped behind his head as he leaned back in an overlarge leather chair.
“Please, come closer, Gavin, and shut the doors behind you.”
Gavin swallowed hard. He hadn’t been introduced by an actual name to Kerr, not that he recalled, although the guard had taken the fake name Aidan had given. Turning, he closed the doors and noticed two grand oil paintings on either side of the entry. On one side a beautiful man with white wings lay bent and broken before a horde of sexually aroused demons. The other painting portrayed much the same, except in that one, the angel grimaced in pain as a well of seed shot from his cock into the open mouth of a fanged creature.
Lovely art, he thought with a touch of hysteria. Then he forced himself to remember Aidan and assumed a mien of subservience. He turned around and nodded to Kerr. The prick looked way too pleased with himself. His shirt was partially open, and what looked like a smear of blood matted his cheek.
Gavin bit his lip, praying that blood didn’t belong to Aidan. “I’m sorry for intruding, Sir,” he said in a low voice. “But my Master told me to look for you if he didn’t return within a few hours.”
“And good boy that you are, you obeyed.”
Since he didn’t seem to be asking a question, Gavin didn’t respond.
Kerr stood and rounded the desk. He approached Gavin on quiet feet, and Gavin noted the man wore no shoes. Odd. Odder still, a part of the bookcase to Gavin’s right suddenly opened, revealing a pair of suspicious dark blue eyes.
“It’s okay, Samson. I have this.”
A grunt, and then the door closed.
Gavin had a terrible feeling Aidan wasn’t far away.
“Tell me, Gavin. What do you know about your Master?”
Gavin swallowed hard, not having to project any nervousness. Carl Kerr made him feel dirty just by standing too near. Apparently the man sensed it, because his smile widened as he drew closer.
“M-my Master is a generous man,” Gavin said quickly. He met Kerr’s gaze and hurried to look away, wanting the man to feel empowered.
“Yes. What else?”
“I—he found me two weeks ago at a bondage club in Portland. A place I was visiting, hoping to find a new Master. My old one moved away.” The cover he and Aidan had practiced on their trip South.
“And?”
“Sir?” Gavin asked.
“What did your Master tell you about himself?”
“That he’s a successful businessman who has to take a lot of trips. So when we do see each other, we need to make the most of our time.” He nodded and gave Kerr a slow smile. “My Master is very good to me. He invited me on this trip because I aced my last history final.”
“Oh?” Kerr moved behind him and ran a hand over Gavin’s shoulder. He squeezed when Gavin flinched, and Gavin froze.
“Sir?” He hated that his voice sounded shrill, but he must have struck the right note, because Kerr smoothed his hand over Gavin’s shoulder and stroked softly down his back. When his hand reached Gavin’s ass, he squeezed. Not hard, but enough to show Kerr was in charge.
“Your Master is a business friend of mine. That’s why I invited him to our little party. You did an excellent job blowing him earlier.”
Gavin flushed. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re so polite. So sweet.” Kerr leaned close and nuzzled the side of Gavin’s neck. They stood at the same height, but Kerr had a bit more mass on his frame. Not much, but enough that Gavin might have a hard time subduing him if Kerr practiced any form of martial art with skill. “And I do love a college boy. You’re all so lively and fun.”
“S-sir? Where’s my Master?”
Kerr gripped his ass and rubbed between his cheeks, seeking Gavin’s asshole with hard fingers. “I want inside you, boy. Your Master said you’re a little slut. I want to see my dick in that ass and that mouth. What do you say?”
A hard cry that sounded a lot like it came from Aidan pierced the sudden silence.
“Is that my Master?”
“Do you expect me to believe you’re that innocent? That you aren’t
part of Aidan’s plan to steal from me?”
Gavin frowned and pulled away, surprised Kerr let him. He did his best to assume an innocent expression. “Sir? My Master would never steal from you. He brought me to pleasure him, so that I might pleasure you as well. He told me this weekend was important, that you’re a very rich man with business ties that can help him. He wanted nothing to hurt his chances to do business with you. You’re too powerful to alienate. That’s exactly what he told me.”
Kerr didn’t blink. “Your eyes don’t lie. And those ripe lips are begging me to believe.” He sighed. “Let’s ask your Master what he thinks I should do.”
Yanking him by the arm, Kerr pulled Gavin with him to the bookcase. He tapped a book, and the door hissed open. Kerr opened it fully, and they stepped through into a nasty chamber full of whips, chains, and sharp objects meant to inflict pain. The walls were bare and spotted with torn, faded wallpaper, the floors made of cold stone.
Aidan stood against a wall, like a human T. His arms were outstretched, his wrists manacled to the wall. He wore only his leather pants, and welts and gouges turned his chest into a bloody canvas. Before him stood Samson and Tyler, both holding weapons. In Tyler’s hand, a studded club matched the marks on Aidan’s left side. Samson fondled a large knife with care, adding another cut along Aidan’s ribs while Gavin watched in horror as the blood dripped down his side.
“We’re engaging in a little blood play, aren’t we, Aidan?” Kerr dragged Gavin by that damn loop in his collar all the way into the room and shut the door behind him. Where an opening had been, now a blank wall remained. Only a faint line showed where the door would open, and if Gavin hadn’t walked through it, he wouldn’t have known where to look.
All around him, bright spotlights highlighted the harsh reality of a torture chamber. Stone floors, textured walls, and marbled tables couldn’t disguise the purpose for the many objects taking up space in the various armoires placed around the room. Floggers, whips, spears, canes. Metal teeth and chains. Dildos of many sizes, gags, and leathers promised pain in a variety of ways.
