Bound to be Taken (Emergence) (36 page)

Aiden stepped in front of Stephanie, separating her from the ogling men who’d dared to encroach on her space. He didn’t sound pleased when he spoke. “What happens in Stephanie’s private life is none of your concern. I hope you will bear that in mind and not let this confuse your working relationship with her.”

Mr. Cane chuckled. “I’d no idea she was such a slut. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wipe this vision from my mind. Perhaps I’ll need some convincing.”

Stephanie froze. What the fuck? She leaned harder into Dane’s side, releasing her hands from behind her back and gripping them into fists. It wasn’t permitted, but she was out of her mind now. She shook with anger.

Aiden spoke, or rather growled his next words. “Are you threatening me?”

The man chuckled again, his partner joining in. “Heavens no. I wouldn’t dream of it. How about I pay you two hundred dollars for a half-hour, private dance with your sub here and we call it even?”

Holy fuck! Stephanie gasped. Her boss just offered Aiden money to fuck her. She trembled. Her skin crawled with disgust.

“Listen, pal,” Aiden said through gritted teeth, “it would be wise of you to turn and walk away right this minute, and take your buddy with you. If you so much as glance back at my sub, I will personally make your life a living hell. Are we clear?”

Mr. Cane chuckled again. “I’m just fooling you, young fellow. No harm. No foul. You’re a lucky bastard, that’s for sure. See you at the company party tomorrow, Ms. Parkins. I guess you’ll be bringing two dates instead of one.” He laughed again. “And here we were concerned about your ability to socialize. It seems we were mistaken.”

Dane spoke next. “I don’t think anyone was mistaken about anything here tonight, except you two. Just because Ms. Parkins is at this club with us doesn’t make her available to harass. Her private life is just that—private. You’d do well to remember that.”

“Ah, come on, fellas. We know how it is with these types.” Jack chuckled.

“These types? These types of what? Women? Strong, independent women who just happen to be submissive? Dude, Ms. Parkins is not a whore as you have insinuated. She is not for sale.”

“Huh,” Harold muttered, “she sure looks like a whore tonight.” His voice was derisive, though low and barely discernible.

Jack interrupted his partner. “We’ll leave you folks to your evening now. Have a good one.”

With that, the men walked away, leaving Stephanie a trembling pile of nerves. The leash hung between her breasts as Dane took her hand and turned toward the door. Aiden grabbed her free arm gently and helped her forward.

One foot in front of the other.

They moved out of the room as fast as her legs would carry her, but not fast enough. Time seemed to be stuck in that one moment. She held her breath the entire trip down the hall, not sucking air into her lungs until they reached the stairs.

“Breathe,” Aiden commanded into her ear. “Two minutes and we’ll be out of here.” His words were so soft and kind, not even remotely resembling his usual stance as Dom.

They retraced their steps from earlier, Stephanie seeing nothing this time. The sounds of the club mingled in her mind, a cacophony of noise that did nothing but increase her nausea.

In moments they were standing outside. Dane handed a valet ticket to the man outside and wrapped his arms around her from the front as they waited impatiently for the car.

But Aiden wasn’t with them. Stephanie turned her gaze and noticed him still in the open doorway behind her. He was muttering to the doorman under his breath. She couldn’t understand the words, but they were harsh and he pointed toward the inside while he spoke. Was he complaining to the staff about her bosses? Her head swam with renewed confusion. What a disaster.

She shook violently, even with the warm arms around her. She was cocooned in Dane’s embrace. Safe. Cherished.

But nothing could wipe the memory of the last five minutes away.

The car pulled up, and Dane helped her inside. Instead of shutting the door, he climbed in next to her. He pulled her head against his chest and stroked her hair. Tears fell down her face.

Aiden climbed behind the wheel moments later. A burst of air told her he’d turned the heat on high, but nothing would make her stop shaking. Her tremors shook her uncontrollably against Dane’s chest.

Silent tears continued to fall. She didn’t even make a noise. The sadness and anger was deep and intense. All her hard work. Everything she’d done for years, and then this…

No one spoke. Not in the car. Not in the parking garage, where Dane wrapped the cape around her shoulders. And not in the elevator. When they entered the apartment, Aiden took the cape and led her down the hall. The men stripped her efficiently until she stood naked before them. She stepped out of the heels when Dane tapped her leg. She leaned over the side of the bed when Aiden pressed her to do so and waited with her forehead on the comforter for Dane to gently remove the plug from her ass. She cringed, but didn’t make a sound.

She turned and looked up at them when he was done, her mind spinning.

“I’m so sorry, babe.” Dane looked stone sober. “I never would have expected you to see anyone you knew, let alone your bosses… And words can’t describe what just happened.”

How was she going to face those men ever again? Tomorrow…at the party?
Fuck.

Dane pulled back the covers of the bed and she climbed in. He lifted the comforter over her and sat at her side. She lay there wide-eyed. “What am I going to do? How will I ever face them tomorrow at the company party…or Monday at the office?”

Aiden sat next to Dane. She glanced at him when he sucked in a breath. His brow furrowed. “Are you kidding?”

She swallowed. “About what?”

Aiden shook his head. “You can’t go to that party. You can’t return to the office either, not even to pick up your stuff.”

“What?” Her voice squeaked high-pitched. “I have to.” She sat up, not caring that the blanket fell and her breasts were exposed. “That’s my job. I’ve worked hard for three years to get where I am. I can’t quit.”

Shit, shit, shit. What a clusterfuck.

Dane gripped her thigh. “Steph, no. Are you crazy? Those men just offered to buy you. Don’t you understand? They offered us money as though you were a whore. You can’t go back there.”

“But…” She bit her lip before continuing. “I need this job.”

Aiden cleared his throat. “No, Steph. I saw their faces and the way they looked at you. Those men who own your company are not safe BDSM players. They don’t mess around. They may seem perfectly normal at the office, but in private it’s clear to me they practice a level of dominance you wouldn’t want anything to do with. They won’t be welcome back at that club again. They were guests tonight. People in the BDSM community do not take kindly to any advances on their subs without permission. Word spreads quickly in our world. Those bosses of yours will have a very bad reputation before they can even blink.”

“The squirrelly one? He practically assaulted you with his gaze,” Dane added.

“But I can’t just quit. I have bills to pay. I’m up for that promotion. I need this job.”

“You don’t need it that bad, Steph.” Dane stood and ran a hand through his hair.

She fumed. Were Aiden and Dane going to dictate this part of her life too?
Fuck no.
She was an intelligent woman capable of making her own career decisions. They were crossing a line if they thought they could tell her to quit her job.

Aiden stood next to Dane when Stephanie shoved him with both hands. She squirmed out of the bed, not caring about her nudity or the burning need between her legs from the warm gel.

She was pounding mad now. “Don’t tell me how to run my life. I’ll make my own decisions when it comes to my job and my financial security, thank you. You may be able to boss me around in the bedroom, but you can’t expect me to give up my job just because you say so. That’s my future. My…independence.” Was she being unreasonable? She couldn’t think clearly.

She held up a hand when Dane opened his mouth. “I’m leaving.” She walked past them both, grabbed her sweater from earlier in the day off the bench seat and tugged the soft material over her head. Who cared about underwear right now? The skirt lay rumpled on the bench, and she whipped it up next and stepped into the flowing layers.

She needed to get out of there. She couldn’t think or breathe in that huge apartment. Suddenly there wasn’t enough oxygen. She was suffocating.

Fists at her sides, feet bare, she grabbed her purse and headed out of the room. Aiden and Dane followed on her heels.

“Steph…” Aiden pleaded. “Listen to yourself.”

She whipped around to face them when she reached the front door. “I don’t know if I can do this.” She gripped the knob until her fingers hurt. “It’s too…” Too what? She couldn’t even think of the right words. Too overwhelming. Too hindering. Too all-encompassing. Had she completely lost her mind over the past week?

Aiden stepped forward, his hands raised in surrender. His voice was gentle. “Listen. You’re pissed, angry, confused. That’s understandable. Take some time. Go back to your place and think. Take the weekend. Read everything you can get your hands on about this lifestyle and consider it hard.

“We want you as a full-time sub, Steph. We’ve discussed it thoroughly, and we know in our hearts you are the woman we want to spend our lives with. But we want you to go into the position knowing as many of the facts as possible. It’s not for everyone.

“However…” He took a deep breath and slouched his shoulders.

Dane came up beside him and set a hand on his partner’s arm. “What he’s trying to say is that you can’t go back to that job if you choose to stay with us. Don’t make this about money. We have plenty of money and if you choose to work, you can work for us. We could use the help frankly. But you can’t go back to that office where those pigs tried to purchase you for sex. We wouldn’t be able to tolerate that. It’s a deal breaker for us.”

Aiden sucked in a breath and continued. The men were like two halves of a brain, so in sync with each other they could maintain an entire conversation taking turns speaking. “Please do us one favor.”

She nodded.

“Don’t go to that party tomorrow. We can’t stand the idea of you showing up there. Let it go. It’s not worth it. Stay home for the next two days and think about everything we’ve said. If you decide to give this life a try, we’ll see you Monday morning. If you can’t bring yourself to quit working for those rancid bastards, go to work instead. But do so with full understanding of your options. Okay? Can you do that?” Aiden stepped toward her, but Dane held him back.

“Yes.” Her voice was small. She didn’t wait for any more. She turned, opened the door and stepped into the hall. Hopefully no one would be out in the corridor or the elevator at this time of night. She couldn’t face a soul.

She made it on tiptoes to her apartment, opened the door on the third try when her fingers finally managed to get the key in the lock. She shut the door behind her and slumped against it to the floor.

She leaned her face in her hands and sobbed, releasing all the pent-up frustration of days of insanity that had culminated in the unthinkable.

Her entire world was in limbo and she had a lot of thinking to do.

But first, she needed this cry. Even if it lasted all night, she would cry until she passed out. She dragged herself to her bedroom, slumped onto the bed, curled up in a ball and let the tears continue to fall.

Chapter Nineteen

It was noon Saturday before Stephanie stuck her head out from under the covers. She’d been awake for hours but hadn’t wanted to pull the blanket back from her face. It was warm and dark under the comforter. As long as she remained, she could avoid facing reality.

She had no idea what was reality anymore. She stared up at the ceiling as though it held the answers if she could just squint enough to read the writing.

Was it possible the last week had been a dream…or perhaps a nightmare? She took a deep breath. Harold Reeves and Jack Cane were Dominants. There was no avoiding that truth. And they’d propositioned her. No, they’d offered money for her. They’d called her vile names. Jack had stroked her skin with his smarmy hand.

She shivered. Disgust sat low in her belly. Bile rose in her throat. The idea of her boss touching her made her need to vomit.

All these years she’d worked for them she’d never known. They’d hidden their true nature well. Now what? She couldn’t go to the company party in six hours, that was for sure. She wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to get out of bed by then. No way could she face her bosses, date or no date.

Part of her was pissed Dane and Aiden had given her an ultimatum where it concerned her job; the other part of her was warm and mushy that they cared so much about her they didn’t want to see her treated badly.

Was it high-handed of them to demand she not return to her job? Yes, but she had to admit they were right. It might not even matter at this point. She wasn’t about to go to the party tonight and that would ruin any chance at a promotion. Stephanie moaned. She’d worked so hard for so long. How had she not seen this side of her bosses?
Because Doms don’t roam around with their lifestyle preferences tattooed to their foreheads, that’s why.
And because these weren’t ordinary Doms. Those two were perverted, fucked-up shitheads.