by Nicola Jane
Chapter Three
Sara
Tillie offers me an apologetic grimace as she enters the cafe, followed closely by Lake’s sister. I inwardly groan. What the hell was Tillie thinking when she asked me to coffee today? She mouths the word ‘sorry’ as they approach and take a seat. “You remember Charlotte, right?” says Tillie.
I smile tightly. “You never said you were bringing anyone with you, or I would have made more of an effort.”
Charlotte eyes my freshly applied makeup and raises a brow. I never leave the house without makeup. “I saw the newspaper,” she says. When I remain silent, she continues, “I also spoke to Lake, and he confirmed it.”
“Lottie was really excited when she first found out,” adds in Tillie helpfully. I narrow my eyes, and she sinks back into her seat, pressing her lips together.
“I’ve always wanted a family of my own,” says Lottie. “To be an aunt is my ultimate dream. I’d be a cool aunty.”
“I’m sure you would,” I mutter.
“And it’s what I would be to this baby,” she says, “if you’d let Lake in.”
I scowl. “Let Lake in?” I repeat. “Did he say something to you?”
She shakes her head. “No. He wouldn’t talk about it, but I know deep down he wants kids, he just doesn’t realise it yet.”
I laugh, shaking my head angrily. “Your brother doesn’t want kids. I respect that, just like I’d respect it if he wanted to be involved, which he doesn’t.”
“But—” she begins.
“No buts. Lake and I have spoken about it and I don’t know why everyone thinks they know us better than we know ourselves. We’re fine about going our separate ways, and you all have to accept it.” I stand, and Tillie reaches for my hand, but I snatch it away. “I don’t appreciate being tricked into coffee so Lake’s sister can make me feel bad about this,” I say directly to her, and she looks guilty.
“I didn’t mean to make you feel like that,” Charlotte rushes out. “But you and he made the decision, not giving a shit about the rest of us. I’ll be this baby’s family too, and you’re happy to just shut me out.”
“How do you think it’ll work exactly?” I snap. “You’ll take it to the club, where it’ll be inches away from its real dad? How will that make Lake feel? How will I answer its questions as it gets older and wants to know more about you?”
“We can work the details out later,” offers Charlotte, her tone desperate.
I rub small circles on my temples. “I can’t deal with this right now. Everyone wants to talk about the baby, and I haven’t even got my head around it yet.”
I march towards the exit and push out into the fresh air, taking in a lungful and trying hard to relax. What I need right now is for someone to take away this stress and take my mind off this bullshit. The only problem is, I know of two men who can do that, and one refuses to while the other got me pregnant and hates my guts. I groan and head towards Six. Maybe someone’s around who’ll pique my interest and not care too much about the pregnant bit.
I pay a high membership fee at Six. It means I get my own private room with facilities like a shower, etc., which is handy if I need to change, like today. I don’t use it much and it was more of an impulsive thing that I kept meaning to cancel but never did.
I stare at the purple collar Jacob once bought me. We decided a year or so ago that we wouldn’t be in that kind of relationship. It worked while we were learning the ropes and discovering what we liked, but we were friends way before any of this and it was important we kept the same friendship.
I check myself before stepping from my room. The tight corset is restricting but necessary if I want to keep my pregnancy a secret. I can still come here whilst pregnant, but there’s paperwork I’d need to fill out to cover health and safety, and some people might not want to play if they know about the baby. Today, I can’t take that risk. I just need to think about something other than this pregnancy.
I step into the large dungeon. It’s never as busy in the daytime, but there are some couples making use of the quiet, and as I walk through, groans of pleasure fill the air. I make my way back into the main room and order an orange juice. “Quiet today, isn’t it,” says a man whose face is partly obscured in the shadows. I nod in agreement. “I came for some fun and am left disappointed.”
“Same,” I say, taking my drink.
“Have you been subbing long?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Maybe a year.”
“And where’s your Master today?”
“I don’t currently have one,” I say. He picks up his drink and moves closer. I manage a quick look and like what I see. His chiselled features and dark eyes assess me too and he smiles. It’s crooked and sexy.
“Master Dom,” he says, holding out a hand.
I shake it. “Sara,” I reply.
“You fancy some fun of our own?” he asks, and I glance around. I’ve never done this with a stranger before, but I desperately need the release and the distraction, so I nod. He grins and pulls a black piece of silk from his left pocket. “My temporary pet.” He grins, tying it around my neck.
Master Dom leads me away from the bar, the dungeon, and all the other rooms I’ve been in before with Jacob. Instead, he takes my hand and leads me upstairs to the private rooms. “I have my own room,” he says. I don’t tell him that I do too, afraid he might make a connection to the name because only people with money could afford a room here.
He stops and uses his key card to gain access, and we step inside. It’s pretty much identical to my own, except he has a row of toys and devices on his wall. Once inside, he locks the door and appraises me with his eyes as he loosens his tie. I stare for a second, and he narrows his eyes. “Your Master hasn’t taught you well,” he says firmly. “Why are you still standing?”
I lower to my knees. He steps closer and grips my hair, tugging my head back to look up to him. “If you look at me again without permission, I’ll cover those pretty little eyes.”
He releases my hair, and I lower my eyes. Jacob isn’t this formal, and neither is Lake. With Lake, we played hard and explored the Dom/sub thing in his bedroom. We’d never been to a club until we bumped into each other the other night.
“Should we discuss a safe word?” I ask.
A whistling sound fills the air, and I cry out when a burning pain hits my thigh. “Your word is not important when you are so undisciplined,” he snaps, and I frown. Maybe this is how it’s done properly. He moves around behind me and then I feel a rope wrap around my wrists. It’s tight, digging into my skin, and I wince. “I’ll give you a safe word when I’m finished disciplining you.”
LAKE
“You did what?” I yell, and Charlotte gives me one of her puppy dog looks. “I told you to stay out of it!”
“I wanted to talk to her,” she wails.
“Christ. Now, I’ve got to see her to apologise,” I snap, heading for my bike. I don’t need to apologise, not really, but I’m looking for any excuse to see her these days.
As I ride to her house, I feel happiness creep in. It takes a few minutes for her to answer the door, and when she does, she looks ill. She isn’t standing right and her face is pale like she hasn’t slept in days. There’s dark circles under her eyes and marks around her neck. When she sees me, she tries to close the door, but I put my boot there so it bounces back.
“Not today,” she almost whispers, and I frown as I push my way inside.
“Are you sick?” I ask.
“Yes,” she mutters. She turns her back on me, and I follow her inside.
“Are you alone?” I ask, and she nods. “Then sit down and I’ll make you a drink.” She hesitates, and I stare at her, trying to work out what’s going on. She edges towards the couch and carefully perches on the edge, looking uncomfortable and in pain. “Are you hurt?”
“Stop going on,” she mutters.
“Sit back on the couch,” I order, and she looks at me with a wary expression. �
��Unless you can’t?” She sucks in a deep breath and gently slides herself back onto the couch. She cries out, hissing and hanging her head. “What the fuck’s going on?”
“Nothing. I had a tough night at Six.”
“Six?” I repeat. “With your new man?”
“I told you, Jacob is my friend.”
“Did he hurt you and leave you alone like this?” I growl. All good Doms partake in the aftercare of their sub.
“No,” she snaps. “It wasn’t him.” She avoids my eyes.
“You used a new Dom?” I don’t know whether to be angry or upset. “Show me what he’s done to you.” She shakes her head nervously, which only makes me madder. “Show me now.”
“I don’t want to,” she whispers.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to remain patient and calm. “Okay. Right. Where’s the painkillers, and can you take them with the pregnancy?” I choose to forget the argument and move to the aftercare. She needs it.
She nods. “Kitchen,” she mutters. “Top cupboard.”
I rummage around to find everything I need. When I return, she’s standing by the window. “Let’s go upstairs and sort you out,” I suggest, relieved when she doesn’t argue, and we head to her bedroom. “You’ll need to strip off and lie on your side,” I say.
“I’m not taking my clothes off.”
I grin. “It isn’t anything I haven’t seen before. Can I tend to your marks through your clothes?” I ask, and she shakes her head. When she sees I’m not budging, she sighs and pushes her leggings down, wincing with each movement. I turn my back so she can remove the rest and I brace myself. The amount of pain she’s in means some guy really went to town on her. Once she’s naked, I hear her get onto the bed.
“Ready,” she whispers.
I turn and stare for a long few seconds. I ball my fists and know that when I get hold of the bastard who did this to her, I’ll kill him. Her back, her buttocks, and her thighs are striped with red, angry welts. They’ve bled and blistered and look likely to get infected. “Jesus,” I whisper.
“Is it bad?” she asks, her voice trembling with emotion.
“Sara, who did this? Where were the room monitors?”
“We weren’t in the dungeon,” she whispers.
“But still, they walk around the side rooms and look through the two-way mirrors. This shouldn’t have happened. Didn’t you use your safe word?”
“I didn’t have one.”
“You didn’t have a safe word?” My blood runs cold. Six is strict on members and everyone is checked out thoroughly. Everyone knows the rules, and having a safe word is up there with the most important ones.
“He told me I had to earn one.”
My fists get tighter. “And which room did you use?” I grit out, trying not to show my anger.
“His own room.”
I bury my face in my hands. “You went into a private room with a stranger and you didn’t have a safe word?”
“I thought it was okay to use his room,” she says, her voice breaking again. “He told me afterwards not to say anything because we’d both lose our memberships for breaking the rules.”
I storm out, needing to calm myself, and head for the bathroom to run her a bath. When I return, she’s crying into her pillow. “Come,” I whisper. I help her to stand, noticing her neat little bump, and lead her to the lukewarm bath. “I’ve used a few drops of aloe vera oil, it should help to ease the wounds.” I hold her arm and help her into the bath. She sinks slowly, hissing once the water hits her skin. “What was his name?” I ask.
“Why?”
“Because I wanna know,” I snap.
“I don’t want any trouble at the club. I broke the rules too . . . it wasn’t his fault.”
I lean close until my face is inches from hers. “Give me his name now, or I will have your membership revoked.”
She scowls. “You can’t do that.”
I pull out my mobile phone, smirking at how she doubts me, and dial Nyle’s number. Since I’m looking to buy his club, we’ve become friendly. He greets me warmly, and I smile at Sara. “Nyle, I have a situation and I need a membership cancellation with immediate effect.”
“Lake,” Sara hisses, and I raise my brow until she rolls her eyes and utters the bastard’s name, but I don’t quite catch it.
“I’ll call you back,” I say into the receiver, cancelling the call. “What was the name?”
“He said it was Master Dom.”
I glare at her. “Not even a real name?”
“You don’t need to tell me how stupid I’ve been, okay. I know. Just leave because you’re making it worse.” She pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head there. I sigh heavily, kneel beside the bath, and reach for a washcloth. It would hurt too much if I was to touch her wounds, so instead, I soak the cloth and gently drip the water across her back. She turns her head to the side so she can see me.
“Don’t go to the club alone again. You’re not experienced enough. This guy was a sadist, and with experience, you’d have spotted that.”
“I thought it’d be safe. They ask so many questions when you join up, I thought it would be impossible to get hurt. Why do some people like that sort of pain?”
I stroke her hair, and she closes her eyes briefly. “Baby, you can’t ever guarantee that some nutter won’t slip through the net. Who knows how many women he’s preyed on like that, ones who have been too scared to come forward because they broke the rules. He needs stopping.”
“Jacob will be so mad,” she mutters.
“Are you and him still . . .”
She shakes her head. “I told you, we aren’t like that.”
“But he’s been your Dom at some point,” I say, and she nods. I take her shampoo and begin to lather it through her hair.
“We were experimenting together, seeing what we liked. I felt safe with him and vice versa, so it made sense. Now, we’ve gone our separate ways because we like our friendship more.”
I can’t deny I’m relieved. “Maybe you shouldn’t get involved with another guy until . . .” I nod to her stomach.
“You can say it, it’s not a dirty word,” she hisses. “Until my baby is born.”
“Yes,” I mutter.
“My whole life will change. I just wanted some normality,” she reasons. “An escape. I went to Six to forget about the baby, since it’s all anyone wants to talk about lately. You know Tillie and your sister ambushed me yesterday? Which is how I ended up there in the first place.”
“That’s why I’m here today, to apologise. She gets a little carried away sometimes.”
Taking a towel, I hold it open for her to step into. With each move, she hisses or moans, and it kills me inside. I help her back to her room and sit her on the bed. I take her hairdryer and begin drying her hair.
Usually, when I have a submissive, I take aftercare seriously. Washing them, drying their hair, and making sure they’re happy is important to me. Doing this for Sara is new. We hooked up a few times and we’ve played a little rougher than you would in a normal, vanilla sexual way, but I haven’t taken things too far. Mainly because I’m not looking for a serious sub relationship right now.
Once she’s dry, comfortable in her fluffy pjs, and lying in bed, I join her. She snuggles into my side, and I stroke her hair until she drifts off to sleep. While her light snores fill the room, I flood my brain with images of what I want to do to Master Dom.
Chapter Four
Sara
It’s nice having Lake around to take care of me. He’s spent the last three days fussing, tending to my wounds, and generally being amazing. So, when I see his phone light up, I’m curious. He’s been here all this time, so I can only assume he’s still single. I hear the shower turn on, and he begins to hum to himself. I glance at his phone again. I shouldn’t check, but I’m so curious to know if it’s a woman that I reach for it anyway. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see it’s Riggs asking for him to call in when he’s f
ree.
I smile to myself. If he’s single, maybe spending this time together will bring us closer together. We’ve cuddled up together every night and watched movies until we’ve fallen asleep. It’s got to be a sign or something that we keep getting thrown together. The mobile phone vibrates in my hand, and the name ‘Maisy’ flashes up. I stare at it until it stops flashing. She could be anyone, I tell myself It means nothing. Then a message flashes up and, I can’t stop myself from opening it.
Maisy: I’m waiting in your room. Will you be much longer?
My heart thuds in my chest. Maybe she’s his cousin or friend. While I’m trying to find scenarios where this turns out to be innocent, it vibrates again, and I open the next message.
Maisy: Please, Sir, I need you now. You promised me a whole night and you said to be here by 6:30.
I’m upset. I have no right to be, but I am. I place the phone back where it was and yell at myself in my head. It serves me right for snooping. My mum always said it does no good to snoop because you’ll only discover what will hurt you. I always thought she was stupid for ignoring my dad’s obvious affairs, but if she felt like this when she saw proof, no wonder she turned a blind eye. I shake my head. What the hell am I thinking? He isn’t even mine, so how can it be cheating? My situation with Lake doesn’t compare to my parents.
Lake comes in, rubbing his wet hair with his towel. He looks hot in just his boxers and nothing else. He picks up his mobile and smirks to himself before typing out a reply. Placing the mobile back down, he returns to the bathroom with his clothes. I pick up his phone just to torture myself some more.
Lake: Be there in 20 minutes. Be naked and in position or you’ll pay.
A picture message then comes up, and I want to throw the phone. It’s a selfie of her, the same girl he was with at Six . . . in leather underwear . . . on her knees. She must be his sub, and stupid me for not asking if he was free and single. We haven’t had sex, he’s not touched me in that way the entire time he’s been here, so I can’t even call him out for cheating on her. I sulkily replace the mobile.
