Authors: Delilah Fawkes
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I was such an asshole. I should have kept you safe. I should have-“
“Shhh.”
She put her fingers against my lips, shushing me.
“I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me, Max. I’m so sorry, too.”
“I do,” I said, pulling her close and kissing her hair. “Of course I do. I promise to be better, too, Lucy. I swear I’ll do everything in my power to earn your trust back again.”
“You already have it,“ Lucy said.
I frowned, thinking of what Jackson had said. How as a Dom I had responsibilities that I hadn’t paid enough attention to.
“I’ll be better,” I said again. “I’ll take care of you.”
Lucy sat up on her elbow, and smiled at me in a way that made me laugh.
“What? What is it?”
“What was that ring you were buying today, hmm?”
She prodded me in the chest, a smirk on her beautiful face.
“Well,” I said. “Before you threw yourself at me today, I was planning on a making a big gesture…”
She hit me with the pillow, and I fell back, laughing.
“Okay, okay,” I said, holding up my hands. “Trust is, I have a question I want to ask you.”
Lucy cocked an eyebrow at me innocently.
“I think you know what that question is, Lucy.”
She looked away for a moment, and even in the dim light, I could see her cheeks coloring as the shy smile grew on her face.
“But I don’t want to ask until I can do it properly,” I said. “I want to give you the proposal you deserve, Miss Lucy Willcox.”
She beamed at me, looking at me like I was the sun itself, shining down on her.
“I love you, Maxwell Pierce,” she said, holding my face in her hands.
“I love you, my beautiful girl.”
We kissed, long and hard, and I felt myself stirring again, my need for her growing once more.
Her phone buzzed loudly on the night table, and she jumped in my arms.
“Oh, shit,” she breathed. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“What is it?”
“I forgot that my boss was expecting me by six.”
She glanced at the clock. It read 6:32 p.m.
“Shit!”
“It’s okay,” I said, stroking her arm. “Take a deep breath.”
She breathed next to me, staring at her phone like she was holding a snake. She looked up at me, her eyes full of worry.
“I got another job, Max, with… with him. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did, I felt my heart grow cold for a moment, before thawing once more as I remembered my own loneliness… and my excursion to the club, looking for company to fill the void.
“It’s in the past,” I said. “I don’t want to know what you did with him, and I don’t care. You’re here, with me. That’s all that matters.”
She nodded, her eyes wide as she watched me, gaging my reaction.
“I mean it,” I said, stroking her cheek. “You are planning on quitting, though? Coming back to me?”
“Of course.”
“Then who cares what that asshole thinks? So what if you’re late?”
I laughed at the look on her face—the dawning realization that she could do as she pleased. She grinned back at me.
“You’re absolutely right.”
I kissed her forehead, then looked deep into her eyes—those eyes that seemed to peer straight through me, into my very soul.
“Go meet him, then. After you tell him you quit and gather your things, I’ll take you to dinner before helping you settle back in. How does that sound?”
She jumped up, smiling, the sight of her naked curves in the lamplight enough to make me adjust my cock once again, and ran to the bathroom to get dressed.
“Yes, Sir!”
I lay back on the duvet, smiling to myself.
After all the stress, all the heartache, all the worry, everything was finally falling into place for Lucy and I. Tonight was going to be a perfect night—the first of many.
***
“What do you mean he won’t let you take your things? Are you kidding me?”
I held the phone to my ear and moved onto the balcony to get better cell reception.
“He says I’m in breach of our contract, but that’s bullshit, Max! It said we had a voluntary arrangement, and that either one of us could terminate the contract at any time, but now he’s saying I violated it, somehow.”
“He can’t keep your stuff, Lucy, or force you to work for him when you don’t want to,” I said, trying to keep the rage out of my voice.
My hands were shaking, I was so angry. If I were there right now, I’d have a hard time not caving in this Lucas Alastair’s face. Who the
fuck
did he think he was?
“I know, Max, but I’m not sure what I can do. I’m just going to take an overnight bag, and meet up with you, okay? I’m sure we can figure out what to do next…”
Her voice was tight. Worried. I wanted to hold her so badly right then, to take her in my arms and let her know everything was going to be all right.
“He’s so angry, Max,” she said, her voice a whisper. “I’ve… I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Hurry up and get out of there, Lucy,” I said. “I’m coming to meet you. Give me the address, and I’ll come pick you up ASAP.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but I appreciate the gesture.”
I shook my head. That was my Lucy. She never wanted to accept anyone’s help, even when it was clear she was in trouble.
“Just… be careful,” I said. “I don’t want you to-“
The sound of something shattering on the other end of the phone stopped me mid-sentence. It sounded almost like a door splintering and slamming open.
“Lucy!”
“What are you doing? No! NO!”
“Lucy, what’s happening? LUCY!”
“Max!”
She screamed my name, then there was a clatter, like someone tossing the cell phone to the floor. As I listened, I scrabbled for my keys, then swore, realizing I still didn’t have this asshole’s fucking address.
I heard Lucy swearing in the distance, as well as man’s low voice, although I couldn’t make out what he was saying. There was another piercing scream—a sound that will haunt my dreams—then the sound of fading, scrabbling footsteps, and nothing. Then, suddenly, footsteps approached again.
“Lucy? Lucy, is that you?”
There was a low chuckle on the other end of the call, then the line went dead.
I swore, and threw the phone across the room, shattering it against my bedroom wall. I swore again, and ran downstairs to my landline, hating myself for wasting precious seconds, seconds that could save Lucy’s life, with my idiotic fit.
I dialed 911 and waited…
“Emergency Services-“
“Yes! Hello?”
“What is the nature of your emergency?”
“I…”
What was I going to say? I had no evidence of what I suspected. For all I knew, Lucy was just having a fight with her ex-boyfriend and everything would turn out just fine. But in my heart, I knew without a shadow of a doubt what that bastard Alastair had just done. Knew it with every fiber of my being.
And I knew in that moment, I’d die rather than let him touch a hair on my beautiful Lucy’s head. I’d do it in a heartbeat if it meant saving the woman I loved.
“Sir?”
The operator waited on the other end. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. It was the only way to help her now. I had to keep my head on straight, even though the uncertainty was killing me.
“Yes,” I said. “This is Maxwell Pierce, and I’d like to report a kidnapping.”
Lucy
Darkness.
That was my world now. Darkness, and a sharp pain where my wrists were bound behind me. I slumped against a wall, fading in and out of sleep for a while, not sure how long I’d been a captive. Not sure of much of anything.
My head felt heavy; my mind fuzzy with some sort of drug. The only thing I was sure of was that Lucas Alastair was my enemy. His name was on my lips, burning through the haze of my thoughts. There was hate there, although for a long while, I wasn’t sure why.
Lucas Alastair.
Images and impressions came to me after a few hours in the dark: flashes of things that happened before, fleeting, but insistent.
A phone falling through the air.
Rough hands in front of my face, closing in.
The sting of a needle in the back of my neck.
The sound of Max’s voice, tinny and far away, calling my name…
I couldn’t hold onto one thought for very long. The drugs were strong, pulling me down, down, down, like I was slowly drowning, looking up at the world through rippling dark water as I sank to my doom.
I don’t know how long I sat in the nothingness, my aches and pains my only ties to the real world. After what seemed like an eternity, I snapped awake, feeling cool air hitting my skin. A door was open before me, dim light filtering into the blackness.
“Get up, Toy.”
The gruff voice in my ear made me stiffen, sour breath and the smell of cigarettes making me gag.
Strong hands lifted me from the floor, and I cried out, the pain in my arms singing out, my wrists feeling like they were bleeding where the restraints chafed. Handcuffs, maybe, from the feel?
He pulled me roughly through the doorway and down a hallway. My head was still nodding, my vision blurred, but something about this place seemed almost… familiar.
We reached the end of the hallway, and I looked up at my captor, but his face was obscured in shadow. He rapped on the door, holding me up by the armpit with one hand. I squirmed, his grip bruising, but I was too weak to put up much of a fight. I almost lost my footing, dizzy and sick, but he pulled me back up effortlessly.
“Come in.”
The door swung open, and I made out a woman in black and white—a maid’s uniform?—before being pushed into the room. The door slammed shut behind me, and I startled, almost losing my footing, before swaying upright again.
The woman grabbed my arm and led me further into the room. Crimson flashed across my vision, and the sight of a roaring fire to my left.
Oh, God, no…
The memory of this place was slowly dawning on me, and what it represented. He was here. This was
his
domain. The place where he played with his “toys” in private.
“Ah, Lucy. There you are.”
His voice was like ice water through my veins.
“You look beautiful, as always,” Mr. Alastair said, then chuckled softly.
I made out his shape, sitting in that same wingback where I’d watched him throat-fuck that woman. Where, God help me, I’d played along and helped him do it. Now, the thought of that day made my stomach roil.
“Leave us,” he said, and the woman holding me released my arm.
I whimpered as I fell, my body crumpling to the ground, my arms still helpless behind me. I lay on my side, hurt and confused, my head beginning to spin, and my vision swimming. I heard the door close behind me, then footsteps as Mr. Alastair approached.
I could make out his Italian leather shoes as I lay there, struggling to right myself. If my mouth weren’t so dry, I would have spit on them.
“That’s where I like you, Lucy,” he said. “At my feet, where you belong.”
“Fuck… you…”
I didn’t have my energy, but I had enough for that, at least. Max would have been proud.
Mr. Alastair just laughed.
“I’d like that very much, Lucy: to fuck you again… Would you like that? Would you like to be my little toy, now that you’re here with me?”
“You’re… insane,” I choked out.
What the fuck did he think was going on here? Bits and pieces were still coming back to me, but what little I did know added up to one thing: This motherfucker had me kidnapped! Kidnapped! And now, he was asking me if I wanted to have sex with him?
He really was insane if he thought that would
ever
happen again.
“Hmm, yes, well,” he said. “I thought you might say that. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t warm to the idea in time, my dear Lucy. In fact, I know that you will. You’ll love it here in your new home.”
He reached down and stroked my hair. I shook my head, trying to dislodge him, but ended up only making nausea rise up inside me, and my head start to pound.
What the fuck did he give me?
He ran his finger over cheek, laughing lightly as I struggled. That is, until I turned and bit him hard, holding on like a pit bull until he grabbed a handful of my hair and banged my head against the floor. I gasped as pain shot through me, searing my mind, turning everything black again for the space of a heartbeat, and let go.
Mr. Alastair swore, looming over me, but I didn’t look up. I was stunned, watching my vision go in and out, showing me glimpses of his expensive Persian rug. I heard him laugh again, the sound a little crazed.
“You have fight in you, Lucy!”
He stepped back, watching me as a tear rolled down my cheek and onto the floor.
“I love that wild spirit, my beautiful girl,” he said. “I think I’m going to enjoy breaking it.”
The last thing I remember was his foot swinging toward my face, and then the blackness overwhelmed me once more.
***
Max
“I’ll fucking kill him!”
Just the thought of Lucy, hurt and afraid, was enough to send me into a rage.
“When I get my hands on him, I’ll fucking rip his goddamn head off!”
Chase Drake was on the phone in the background, and my brother stood beside me, his own hands clenched into a fist.
“Have you called the police?”
“Of course,” I said, pacing. “But the fuckers said I had to wait 48 hours before they could declare her a goddamn missing person!”
I prowled through my parlor like a caged tiger, wanting to smash something, wanting to burn something to the ground.
“Besides,” I said. “They had the fucking
nerve
to say that it sounded like a lover’s quarrel to them! Like, she walked out on me, instead of her being dragged away while I was fucking listening to her scream!”
Jackson nodded, his eyes far away, as if he were lost in thought. His calm demeanor grated on me. I knew he was here to help, but goddamn it, I wished he would get angry. We needed to
act
, before it was too late!
Chase hung up the call and turned to both of us.
“My friend down at the station has agreed to file a report,” he said. “But he said that even then, there’s not much they can do. They’ll go check out Alastair’s place, but without any evidence of a crime, they can’t search it without his consent, and they can’t get a warrant.”
“
Fuck
,” I said. “Then I’m going over there, myself.”
“
Stop
,” Jackson said, his tone sharp enough to make me pause in my tracks. “We have to stop and
think
for a second. You’re not doing Lucy any good if you’re dead or behind bars.”
I paced again, feeling like I could punch through the wall, but his words penetrated through the rage. I ran my hand over my face and sighed.
“You’re right,” I said. “Who do we know who may be connected to this guy?”
“He’s got a law firm downtown,” Jackson said. “I could someone from my campaign office check it out. Pretend they need legal help, and maybe do a little snooping.”
“We need to find a way into his house,” I said. “That’s where Lucy was calling from.”
“But would he have taken her there, if he did, in fact, kidnap her?”
Chase’s voice was low, his eyes reflecting back my anger and worry. He was a good friend, to be here for me now, when I needed help the most.
“Good point.”
“Let’s start by asking around about him,” Jackson said. “I’ll send someone downtown this morning.”
“And I’ll check into his social calendar,” Chase said. “I’m sure we run in similar social circles. Someone at my company may know him as well. He was invited to the masquerade, after all.”
“I’m with you, Jackson. I want to know
everything
about this fucker ASAP,” I said.
“Alright, but if we see him, don’t confront him,” Jackson said. “He could be armed.”
I gritted my teeth, but nodded, even though everything in me was rebelling. Because he was right. One punch to the teeth, and I’d be in jail for assault, cooling my heels while Lucy was out there, helpless to do anything to save the woman I loved.
“I’ll call as soon as I know anything,” Chase said, putting his hand on my arm. “And, Max?”
I looked up, my jaw clenched tight.
“I’ll… I’ll tell Isabeau,” he said. “We’ll both be in touch.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Isabeau… I hadn’t even thought about her. Lucy’s sister.
“Thank you.”
“We’ll find her,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. “We will.”
“Goddamn right,” I said, gripping his shoulder right back.
I couldn’t help but think, as we each left the mansion, jogging to our cars in the pouring rain, that I needed to find her for my own selfish reasons, as much as anything. Because, now that I had her back in my life, I knew one thing, one truth, with every fiber of my being: I couldn’t live without Lucy Willcox by my side.
And I’d die trying to get her back before I’d ever let her go.
***
Lucy
I stood, holding a tray in each hand, my wrists captured in the cuffs of a metal bar that ran across my shoulders, linked to a collar bound tightly around my neck. My arms were spread wide at shoulder height, my hands beginning to tremble from holding the trays—trapped in one position like I was—but I didn’t dare let them drop.
The last girl who dropped a tray had been licked with a whip, long streaks of red opening up on her back as she screamed, begging them to stop, to please, have mercy. She was dragged from the room, and never returned.
I eyed the guards who stood at the entrances to the room, all of them huge men in tuxedos, neck muscles bulging, watching the girls as we served Mr. Alastair and his guests. One of them looked toward me, and I hastily looked away as his eyes slid down over my body.
I felt my cheeks burning, and tears threatening to fall, and took a deep breath, willing myself to stay strong and not let myself descend into despair. I heard the one guard whisper something to the other, and closed my eyes, pretending I didn’t see them. Pretending I didn’t hear… Pretending I wasn’t standing there, naked and shivering, the collar and arm-spreader bar the only things I was allowed to wear.
A couple dozen party-goers moved about the intimate ballroom, champagne flutes in their hands, dressed to the nines, mostly men, but here and there a woman in a slinky, elegant cocktail dress wandered by. One stopped and took one of the liqueur-soaked figs from my tray, sucking it slowly as her eyes crawled over me, a cruel smirk on her lips.
She reached out and kneaded my naked breast almost lazily, groping me as she ate, watching me with a cold intensity that made my skin crawl. My nipple hardened against her palm, and I wanted to cry, to kick her, to run away and never look back. But I knew if I did, I’d be beaten… maybe even killed, from the looks of things.
As it was, I was a prisoner here, enslaved against my will. Two things were clear: Lucas Alastair was capable of anything, and he was balls-out fucking
insane.
How the hell did he think he was going to get away with this?! I mean, sure, he was a high-powered lawyer, and a billionaire… but surely the police would still be doing something to find me. And I knew that Max would come looking for me, no matter what. In my heart of hearts, I knew he wouldn’t let me down.
Not this time.
I winced as the woman’s hand crept lower, brushing against my naked stomach. She laughed, watching my face.
“Do you like it here, slave?”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t look in her eyes.
“Speak when you’re spoken to, slave,” she hissed, gripping my chin and forcing my eyes to hers.
“Yes, Mistress.”
I’d heard one of the other girls use that term and silently prayed it was right.