His Darkest Desires

by C. M. Allen

  Watching Archer, I could see the possessive expression on his face as he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in close. "She is mine. Here and otherwise as well. So she is completely off limits to you and the others." As I watched the two of them face off over me like this, I couldn't even begin to describe the feelings I was having, being talked about as though I were an object of possession and not an actual human being. I tried like hell to hold my tongue from expressing my thoughts until we left tonight, but the longer this kind of talk between the two of them went on, the harder I had to press my lips together to keep myself from saying exactly what was on my mind.

  Raising his hands in the air in a surrendering motion Logan replied. "I got you, no worries. I guess I should have made my move last weekend when I had her in my possession before you came along. My loss."

  Opening my mouth to say something, I was cut off by a deep voice that entered the conversation. "Logan. Archer. How are we doing over here tonight, boys?"

  Feeling Archer's grip tighten on me, I wasn’t sure if I should still keep my eyes up, down, or what, so I just kept them halfway up. "Connor, how have you been?" I heard Archer say in a clipped manner, and I knew by the tone in his voice, this was someone he wasn’t fond of.

  "Good, and I see you're doing well with this new addition to your stable of subs." That did it! I wasn’t able to hold my composure any longer and my head snapped up to look at this man talking about women like we were something one collects. "Oh, and I see you haven't quite got her trained yet either."

  The anger in my eyes pressed to the forefront of my gaze and I no longer hid my distaste for this jerk. "Excuse me? I'm standing right here in front of you, asshole. What gives you the right to talk about me or any other woman like that?"

  Drawing looks from Dom's and the sub's all around us, it took a few moments for the realization to settle in on how much I'd just embarrassed Archer in front of the other club members. Looking over at him, it was clear that he was angry at my outburst.

  Unsure of what to do next, I turned and walked away quickly towards the bathroom. But not before I heard that Connor asshole make yet another snide ass comment. "And she just leaves your side without permission? Boy you've got your work cut out for you with that one."

  Not wanting to hear Archer's response, I moved quickly towards the bathroom, knowing he'd be hot on my heels in no time flat, and no doubt giving me a piece of his mind for my outburst. Rounding the corner, I hit what felt like a wall of muscle, and hands reached out to steady me before I fell backwards. Looking up to apologize, a sense of terror took over as I saw just how big and scary this man in front of me was. He stood at about six-foot four with jet black, hair and had a jagged scar that ran down the side of his face with piercing pale blue eyes staring back at me. Not able to hide my fear, the words just seemed to stumble over each other on my tongue as they came out. "I-I'm... so... sorry, I didn't m-mean to run into you like that." Trying to get around him and away, he didn't say a word, but wrapped his hand around my elbow, pulling me back to face him, drawing a gasp of surprise from me.

  He looked me over for a moment before he finally spoke. "You know you shouldn't be running around this place by yourself, you never know what kind of bad things can happen to a pretty little pet like yourself in here."

  My body froze at his comment and I hoped he wasn't that bad thing he was warning me about, but then I heard Archer's voice come into focus. "Get your hands off of her. She belongs to me."

  Both of us turned around to look at Archer at the same time before the big scary guy responded to him. "It's not wise of you to allow your pet to just go off on her own. Like I told her, bad things can happen to her in here if she's not at her Dom's side where she belongs." With that comment, he let me go and turned to walk away.

  Grabbing my hand, Archer dragged me down a hallway and into the familiar office that was fast becoming our place for meetings. Pulling me inside, he slammed the door behind us before he rounded on me. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, Sloane?"

  CHAPTER

  17

  Archer

  Hearing Sloane, tell Connor off, was probably the best thing I had heard all week. That asshat had always been such an arrogant prick, and I would love nothing better than to just punch him in the face for even thinking he could talk about her like that. Even though in here subs were not meant to be heard, I should have known better than to think she wouldn't have any words with someone at one point tonight. This world could be quite an adjustment for someone like her. After she walked away, I gritted my teeth and looked at Connor. "You need to learn some fucking manners, you know that? Don't you ever speak to or about her in that manner again, you got me?" Heading off to find Sloane, I knew I needed to get to her before she got too far away from me. With all the attacks and murders here lately, I was seriously reconsidering my poor judgement in bringing her here with me tonight. But my need to keep an eye on this place and all its members until I found this animal, who was killing these women, had destroyed some of my common sense lately. Coming around the corner, I spotted Sloane in the grips of a man I'd never seen in here before and it set my blood to boil at the thought of him touching what was mine. After a few choice words with him, I took her into the same office we spoke in before. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, Sloane?"

  Spinning around to look at me with her arms crossed over her chest, I saw she was ready to tell me off. "What the hell am I doing, Archer? How about what the hell are you doing talking about me and treating me like I don't exist on a man's level in here. Like being a woman means little to nothing to you jerks in this place. Is this how it's going to be with you in this type of relationship? That I don't exist until you say so? I thought I wasn't just a sub to you. You told me I meant more than that. I..."

  Not able to hear the stream of accusations flowing out of her mouth any longer, I stalked closer, backing her up against the wall so she had nowhere to go and forced on me when I told her what I had to say. "Look, I told you what this place was going to be like and how a sub was expected to act in here, and if you didn't want to do that or be here with me under those conditions, you should have said as much. I didn't force you to come here tonight, did I Sloane?"

  Looking down, she replied in a low voice. "No."

  "Then what's really going on here?"

  "I just didn't like how I was being talked about amongst you, like I wasn't really there. It all felt so surreal, like I was in a dream watching everyone around me interact, but I wasn't being allowed to like a normal person would. It made me feel like an object of possession with the way you and Logan spoke about me. Then that asshole Connor talking about training me as if I were a dog and part of some sub collection you have? I just couldn't take it anymore. I know I embarrassed you and I'm sorry for that, but it all made me just feel so minimal in existence."

  I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me. "Why didn’t you use your safe words before you flew off the handle? We could have discussed this."

  "I didn't know that they applied to anything other than sex."

  "They apply to everything that encompasses this part of our relationship. Anything about this world that makes you uncomfortable, you can use those words to let me know that something is going on with you before you freak out on me." I explained to her with a chuckle, trying to defuse the situation a little.

  "Oh."

  "I think you and I need to really sit down and I need to explain to you a little better what a sub really is to her Dom. I know you've gotten this idea in your head that being a sub means that we as Dom's value you less as a woman, but in reality, you are the ones who hold all the power in the Dom/sub relationship. As Dom's we have to earn your trust, not just take it. You always have the right to say no to me. But you need to know that in this world there are certain roles we each take on. Me being the Dom, it's my job to see to your needs and safety as well as knowing what is best for you in any situation. You as the sub, give me your tot
al submission willingly and by choice because you want to please me. I can't force you to submit to me Sloane, that is not a true Dom/sub relationship. That's just straight up abuse. You must want to do that all on your own through me earning your trust first. Do you kind of see now how much power the sub truly holds?"

  "Yes, I guess I can now."

  "Good. Now do you think you will be able to go back out there or would you like me to take you home?" Cradling her face in my hands, I looked into her eyes. "Where are you?"

  "Green. And I'm okay if we stay, but I just hope I didn't embarrass you too much."

  Kissing her on the lips to reassure her that I wasn’t upset I assured her. "I don't give a flying fuck what anyone out there thinks about what happened. My only concern is you and that you are comfortable with everything that happens here tonight."

  "Yes."

  CHAPTER

  18

  Sloane

  Interrupted by the door opening, I saw yet another large, tall, muscular man with dirty blond hair and stunning green eyes take up the doorway. I couldn't help but wonder, did a Dom come in any other size but huge? The man looked back and forth between Archer and I like he wasn’t sure if what he wanted to tell him would be okay to say in front of me. "Archer, I-I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we have some footage on one of the cameras we installed and I need you to take a look at it."

  Nodding his head, Archer, turned to give me a look of concern. "Are you going to be okay if I have you wait in here for me?"

  "Yes, I'll be fine, it's okay."

  "Lock the door behind me when I go out, and don't open it for anyone but me, all right?"

  "I won't." After he kissed me on the forehead and left, I closed the door and locked it.

  Moving over to the other side of the room, I took a seat at the desk. As I sat there, I began to really look around the room, since every time I'd been in here, I'd never been given the chance to. Looking over at the wall adjacent from me, I noticed a large black button on it, and it made me feel like a curious child all over again with the way it called to me to push it. Getting, up I looked around the room for whatever might happen or pop up if I pushed it, but I didn’t find any drapes, tv's or computer screens, so I took a deep breath and figured what the hell and pushed the button. I waited for a moment, but nothing happened, and I started to panic that I'd just caused something somewhere else in the club to happen that I couldn't see. "Shit, why did I have to touch that damn thing?!" I scolded myself just as I heard something move inside the room. Looking behind me, I watched as the whole wall seemed to disappear before my very eyes, leaving a glass window that looked into another room. It was all dark with very little lighting. Suddenly the lights flipped on and a man and a woman entered the room, causing me to duct down so they didn't see me. "Crap, how the hell am I going to get to that damn button without them seeing me?" I panicked.

  Slowly trying to move, as not to draw any attention to myself, I looked back just in time to see the woman now naked and looking right at me. "Shit, shit, shit." But when I looked at her, the expression on her face didn't change, and she acted as though I wasn’t there in front of her. Testing my theory that this was some sort of viewing room, I waved my hand in front of the beautiful red headed woman and she still didn't react. Standing up straight, I walked closer to the glass wall. Looking behind her, I saw the man come forward to stand behind her with his big arms crossed over his chest. He had a mask on and seemed to be giving her some sort of order as I watched her drop to her knees into a sub pose. I pulled my eyes off of them for only a moment to take a look around the room that they were in and noticed all the tables, whips, and toys that hung on the walls. Not able to tear my eyes away for long, I returned to watching them as he circled her unmoving body, seemingly talking to her, but I wasn’t able to hear his words, making me wonder if this room was totally soundproof. I watched him as he strode over to the corner and chose an item off of the wall, a riding crop like you would use when ridding a horse. Stalking back over to her, he rubbed the crop down her back and over her shoulders before snapping it against her skin in several quick swats, hard enough to cause her to scream out, shocking me that I could in fact hear her and the sound of the whip slapping against her flesh. Covering my mouth, I continued to watch the scene play out before me, feeling like a voyeur, an intruder into their privacy, but God help me I just couldn't stop watching. He bent down to whisper something in her ear that caused her to jerk her head up, and as soon as she did, his hands were wrapped up in her hair, tugging her to a standing position. As I closely watched her face, I couldn't tell if she was just playing along with the role she'd been told to play, or she was truly as scared as she seemed to be. She struggled against his hold when he pulled her to the other side of the room, hooking her hands and feet to a large cross I hadn’t noticed before. As I kept watching her closely, she continued to struggle against him like she was trying to escape as he continued to try and hook her feet and wrists to the cross. The sight of her struggling so much caused a sinking feeling in my stomach that this woman was no longer a willing participant in the scene he was playing out.

  "Red!"

  I heard her clearly yell at the top of her lungs, and now I knew for sure what I thought was true. Wrapping his hands around her neck, I watched as her face started to turn bright red and I could see her starting to lose consciousness, so I did the first thing that popped into my mind. I began to pound on the glass between us, yelling. "Let her go! Let her go!" His head turned to look my way as the woman went limp before the lights in the room dimmed and I saw the door open and shut. I knew I need to get to Archer and tell him as fast as I could. Unlocking the door, I ran out of the office and down the hallway.

  Coming around a corner, I ran straight into Logan. Placing his hands on my shoulders to steady me he asked. "Hey, what's the big hurry? And why isn't Archer with you?"

  Trying to catch my breath, I looked up to reply to him when I saw a masked man, that appeared to be looking straight at me from further down the hallway, before he vanished into the crowd. "Oh my God, he knows I saw him."

  Grabbing my arms to get my attention, Logan asked. "Who? Who saw you? Archer?"

  "No, the man in the mask. I think... I think he killed a woman!"

  "Where? Show me right now!"

  Turning around, I made my way back down the hallway to the office, opening the door and pointing to the glass wall. "There. In there on the cross. He strangled her."

  Walking over to the glass wall, Logan looked back and forth inside the room and I started to move closer, confused by him not seeing her right away. "I don't see anyone, Sloane. Are you sure you just weren't watching a scene play out?"

  "Yes! She screamed the word red before he wrapped his hands around her neck, then I saw her go limp. I tried stopping him by pounding on the glass, but he didn't. Shit! I think he saw me. Logan."

  "This is one-way glass so he can't see you."

  "No. In the hallway with you, I think he was behind you, looking at me through his mask."

  "He had a mask on?"

  "Yes."

  "The whole time? You didn't see his face at all?"

  Shaking my head, I answered. "No."

  Just as my answer was out, I heard Archer curse behind me. "What the fuck is going on? Why are you in here with her, Logan?” I ran to Archer as tears started to fall down my cheeks. Wrapping his arms around me, he questioned Logan in a growling tone. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

  "Nothing, man! She came tearing down the hall and ran into me! Said she saw a woman attacked, and possibly strangled inside this room. So I came in here to see what was going on, that's all. But no one’s there."

  Pulling me back from his body, he looked down into my eyes. "Are you sure of what you saw Sloane, and it just wasn't a scene being played out?"

  "Yes, I'm sure. The woman screamed the word red before he wrapped his hands around her neck."

  Looking around me, he told Logan. "Go get security and have t
hem check the room," stroking my hair away from my face, he asked. "Can you identify the two people you saw in that room, Sloane?"

  "Yes, well no. I can identify the woman, she had long wavy red hair, but the man had a mask on so I couldn't see his face."

  A look of seriousness crossed over his expression before he continued. "What can you tell me about the man you saw in there?"

  I tried to remember everything I could. "He was over six feet, muscular, but then all of you Dom's here are, so... He had tattoos on his arms, but I really couldn't make out what they were. And black leather pants with black leather straps that crisscrossed over his bare chest. Archer, I think he might have seen me."

  "How? This glass is one way."

  "After I heard the woman scream, I began pounding on the glass, yelling for him to let her go, and then when I saw her pass out and him leave the room, I ran to get you and that's when I ran into Logan. While I was telling him what I saw, I could see a masked man over the side of him looking at me. I don't know if it was him or someone else, though, I couldn’t see clearly what he was wearing for the people in front of him."

  Grabbing me and pulling me into a tight hug, I heard him say a few explicit comments before we were interrupted by Logan, and two other large men, entering the room. "We have someone checking the room now." The same guy from earlier said. The lights came on inside the room and two large men walked in and searched around for anything out of place or the woman’s body.

  After a few minutes, they both looked up in our direction with their hands in the air and shrugged their shoulders, finding nothing.

  I turned back to face Archer. "I swear to you there was a woman in there, and he either tried to or did kill her."

  Archer reached out and pulled me into his chest. "I believe you. Let's go to Seth's office and take a look at the cameras and see if we can find anything on them."

  "Do you think it's our guy?" The man I assumed to be Seth asked, drawing wide eyes from Archer and confusion from me.