“What is it, dearest?”
“Master, if I may, would you allow me to fasten your chain with the key on it around your neck?”
Those pesky tears stung the back of his eyes and Saul swallowed down to hold them back.
“I would be overjoyed.”
Saul fished out the chain from his jacket then strung the key onto it. After placing it on Kenneth’s outstretched palm, he turned his back to him. As Kenneth reached around him to clasp the necklace on Saul’s neck, he took a deep breath, savoring the moment. It struck him as odd that such an exchange between them could be so intimate.
After Kenneth had finished, he placed a kiss at the top of Saul’s spine. He reached underneath Saul’s arms to embrace his chest. With his palms flat against Saul’s skin, he circled his hands, gently caressing, barely glancing over his nipples. Saul lengthened and he rested his head back on Kenneth’s shoulder. The heated breath of his lover fanned over his neck, his full lips right next to Saul’s ear as he whispered to him.
“Master.”
Kenneth dropped to his knees behind him. The champagne grew warm as Kenneth worshiped Saul with his mouth and tongue and hands.
Chapter Twelve
Kenneth wiped the sweat from his brow again. The mid-summer heat was as stifling as it always was in Los Angeles, but it was made worse by the fact that Kenneth had been sanding down a large walnut sideboard for over two hours. It was one of Saul’s grandmother’s pieces, and would be the third one that Kenneth had restored in the past several weeks. He was so thrilled to be working with antiques again. Saul had noticed his response to the activity and had suggested that he find some pieces that he might like to work on for himself. They’d even discussed opening up a shop of their own.
He was in the open garage in their backyard so that he at least had some shade, but there was no movement in the air. By habit, he let his fingers trail over the chain Saul had given him. He’d then finger the lock of his collar before lowering his hand again. In his opinion, it was priceless. How much his life had changed in the previous few months was difficult for him to fathom.
After setting the sand paper block down, he swiped at his forehead yet again then reached for the glass of lemonade he’d brought out earlier. He frowned at the gnat floating around in the last swallow at the bottom of the tall glass.
Oh well. Probably warm anyway.
It was easy for him to get lost in the work, hours flying by before he’d even realized it. He’d taken to bringing the Big Ben alarm clock outside to make sure he didn’t forget his other tasks, such as making dinner. Saul was with him the majority of the time, but occasionally met with his attorneys or financial advisor to go over his real estate holdings. Kenneth worried that his Master wasn’t spending time with his friends the way he had before because of him being in the way.
‘We still see one another at the club and we’ll likely plan some get-togethers on occasion. But most of them have their own boys, and now I’m lucky enough to have mine too.’
There wasn’t much more in the way of discussion after that, only the feelings they had conveyed to one another with their bodies.
The stickiness of his skin had plastered the cotton work shirt to his chest. His arms ached and he still needed to get a roast in the oven. Saul had gone to meet with a plumber over at Hampton Road. He wanted to see about adding some extra wash basins to some of the rooms that were used for play. His lover was always searching for ways to improve the member’s experience at the club.
As he was crossing the yard to go back inside through the kitchen door, a noise by the lemon tree drew his attention. The lemonade glass shattered at his feet. His body went numb at the horror of what he saw.
It can’t be.
But it was. Preston stood by the tree with a hideous sneer on his face. Leaning against it with one hand, he repeatedly scraped at the bark with his thumb. Kenneth could see blood on the end of it being wiped against the rough surface with each pass. Preston appeared not to notice.
“What are you doing here, boy? This isn’t where you belong. You belong with me.
To
me.”
Kenneth couldn’t draw in enough air to make a sound and his throat was so damn dry. How in the hell had Preston found him? And more importantly, what did he plan on doing about it? Nausea roiled in his stomach as he recalled the fear and threats his abuser had filled him with from before. Being with Saul had made him stronger, more sure of himself. But the sight of Preston less than ten feet from him had instantly reduced him to that cowering mess he’d been during the four years the asshole had tormented him.
No.
He
was
stronger. Preston’s intimidation of him had been from a place of weakness and his own hidden fears and insecurities. He’d learned that from Saul and had seen the truth of it. When his lies had been held up to him in front of the good men of Hampton Road, he’d run like the coward he was. Yet, somehow even then, Kenneth had known that Preston wouldn’t give up what he viewed as his property so easily.
“I don’t belong to you. Saul’s my Master. Now get out of our yard.”
He almost didn’t recognize his own voice. It was clear that Preston was having the same issue. Kenneth’s declaration had even managed to halt the progress of him scraping his thumb raw. He lurched forward and Kenneth yelped, jumping back. Preston blocked his way to the house, so he turned and raced toward the garage, hoping he could dart down the side, then make it over the fence and into the alley.
Before he’d made it more than a few steps, he was thrown forward by the momentum of Preston’s body slamming into his. They both landed on the grass, the air forced from Kenneth’s lungs as Preston held him down. He struggled with all he had in him and discovered he was much physically stronger than when he’d been under Preston’s rule. The reasoning for the starvation and being chained became clear now that he could tell how easy it would be to overpower Preston.
He twisted in Preston’s grip and looked into the crazed eyes of the man who’d tried to take everything from him. He’d failed, so once again, Preston was attempting to take by force what he could never have. Kenneth would never let him do that again. Once he got the upper hand on his former abuser, he would restrain him then call the cops. Preston was enough of a madman that he was certain any police authority would lock him away without a second thought.
Preston punched him hard in the gut and Kenneth grabbed Preston’s wrist before he could hit him in the face. Right as Kenneth absorbed the meaning of the bloody knife Preston held in his hand, his attacker stilled, his hold on Kenneth changing to an embrace. Before everything faded to black, Kenneth heard Preston’s whispered words next to his ear.
“Now you’ll always be mine.”
* * * *
As Saul pulled into the driveway, the loud report of a motorcar backfiring, along with squealing tires as it raced away, had him turning to see what was happening. His brow creased at the sight of the dark blue Cadillac. There was something disturbingly familiar about it.
That looks remarkably like…
He slammed on the brakes, his head jerking forward and almost hitting the steering wheel. He hadn’t even made it all the way onto his property, but that was of no importance. All that mattered was that he get to Kenneth immediately. After he’d switched the car off, he bolted from the vehicle then ran to the front door. It was locked, but that gave him no comfort. He breathed in deeply, evenly, desperate to steady his nerves. If Kenneth needed him, he couldn’t fall apart.
“Kenneth? Boy? Answer me!”
He darted toward the stairs, but the uncut vegetables, potatoes and pitcher of lemonade on the kitchen counter caught his eye.
The garage.
Kenneth had told him before he’d left that he would be starting on his grandmother’s sideboard that day. He changed his course, racing to get to the back door to verify that Kenneth was all right.
If that rat has touched him in any way…
The blood soaking Kenneth’s shirt was too vast, too much. Saul lunged forward on a wail, tearing off his jacket as he did. He fell to his knees next to him, then in one movement, cradled Kenneth’s head to him as he balled the jacket up against the wound in his lover’s abdomen. There was a slight moan and Saul sobbed out loud in relief. But he had no way of knowing how critical Kenneth’s injury was.
He couldn’t leave him, but he couldn’t call for help from where they were. Kenneth wasn’t a small and delicate man the way many of the submissives at the club were, but Saul’s strength borne of his workouts as a Master, combined with the adrenaline rush, urged him on. He lifted the man he loved in his arms, moving as quickly as he could to get him inside where he could ring for an ambulance.
He gently laid Kenneth on the sofa where he’d been pleasured by him on their first night together. Saul kept a steady pressure on his injury as he fumbled for the telephone. He hoped it would stem the bleeding, and he silently pleaded to the heavens that help would arrive in time. As he waited for the medical vehicle to come, he kissed Kenneth’s face over and over, whispering to him that he would be okay, to hang on, that he loved him. And that he was sorry.
I didn’t protect him. I promised and I failed him.
* * * *
“Saul,” Aaron gritted it through his teeth, his tone urgent but low. He clutched Saul’s blood-stained dress shirt between his fists to hold him steady. “You have
got
to calm down.”
They were in a darkened corner of a hallway at Hollywood Hospital. Kenneth was still in the emergency room and Saul had been creating quite a scene ever since he’d arrived. When Aaron considered it, he was certain Saul had likely been causing a scene way before then as well. Not that he could blame him. He would have ripped everyone around him to shreds if he’d thought Sam wasn’t getting the help he needed.
But they were all in the unfortunate position of having to exercise restraint regarding their lovers when in the general public. There had been plenty of questioning glances when Aaron had shown up—he dared not imagine what Saul might’ve already blurted out about the nature of his relationship with Kenneth. He’d requested that Theodore and Thomas stay with the boys until he could figure out what exactly was going on. It had been disquieting when he’d been confronted on the telephone by a near hysterical Saul. He hadn’t even realized that Saul was capable of such an emotional display.
“Aaron, please. I have to know. I have to be with him in case… It’s all my fault. I could at least be with him so he’s not alone…”
The man was babbling, not thinking straight. Aaron was sympathetic, but Saul needed to pull himself together.
“Saul. Look at me.” Aaron still had Saul’s shirt balled in his fists. “What have you said to the doctors? Who do they think Kenneth is to you?”
Saul shook his head as if he was trying to regain his focus. Then he took a deep breath. “My nephew. I told them he’s my nephew.” Saul’s voice had a calmer edge to it.
Aaron loosened his grip but still held on. “Good. That’s good. However, if what I’ve seen so far is how you’ve been behaving about him this whole time, the hospital staff is going to start to wonder about just how dedicated you are to your ‘nephew’.”
Aaron arched his eyebrows at Saul in emphasis. A look of understanding crossed Saul’s face.
“Of course, old sport.”
He straightened his shoulders and Aaron let go of him completely, but stayed close. Saul’s gaze flitted around the room and Aaron was struck by how lost and helpless he seemed. It broke his heart. It also enraged him that the detestable Preston Cornwall had managed to get to Kenneth at all. He knew Saul blamed himself for supposedly leaving Kenneth unprotected, however Aaron would’ve done the same thing. He’d assumed the way Saul had that Preston was merely a puffed-up coward—that he didn’t have it in him to follow through on his overblown posturing.
They’d both clearly been wrong.
“Now, I just spoke to the doctors and they’ll be taking him in for surgery—”
“Surgery!”
Aaron placed a firm hand on Saul’s shoulder, mindful that he could go off again at any moment.
“They need to check for internal bleeding and to make certain that no organs have been damaged.”
Saul’s face crumpled. “But they’ve said he’s going to pull through, right?”
Aaron swallowed around a lump in his throat. He couldn’t stop imagining himself in Saul’s shoes with Sam as the victim.
“They’re doing everything they can. If nothing else, it’s quite obvious to them that he’s a well-loved man. I’m sure you’ve put them all on alert that they’d better put their best effort forward.”
Saul nodded grimly, his expression slowly changed from sorrow to something Aaron couldn’t quite place. He could almost see what may or may not be a good idea form in Saul’s mind. Aaron narrowed his eyes at him, not sure what to expect from the distraught man next. Saul had always been the epitome of control. He’d managed to hide from everyone, including his close friends, that he was the actual owner of Hampton Road for many years. Aaron still couldn’t get over how he’d never suspected the truth that whole time.
“Will you stay here with Kenneth?”
Aaron was overcome with confusion. He’d practically had to peel him off his lover not ten minutes before.
“Where are you going?”
“I need your support, Aaron. I need to do this.”
Aaron shook his head in frustration. “Do what?”
“Tell the authorities about Hampton Road.”
* * * *
‘Are you out of your ever loving mind?’
Saul had shaken off Aaron’s grip on his sleeve before racing out of the hospital then jumping in his car. He’d stopped by his home to change his shirt—as well as to take five minutes to appear more presentable and less crazed. It wouldn’t do to have it seem as though he were the madman and not Preston.
Before he left for the Hollywood precinct, he’d called Javier. He asked him for Preston’s address and other info from his file, requested that it be left out, then told him to burn all the other member’s files and dispose of the ashes. Then he thanked him for his services and gave him the location of some cash for him, Michael and the remaining staff on duty. He’d advised them to leave the premises as quickly as possible.