chapter Fourteen
Delia took a steadying breath as she settled onto her knees, adjusting her body so her ass rested on her heels. She was barefoot again, which made it easier to stay in this position, but shit, what if she had to run? Not that spiked heels made it easy in the first place, but still.
“You okay?” Colin reached out and stroked her cheek with his finger.
God help her, she leaned into the innocent touch. All thoughts of work flew out of her head with that simple stroke. She was so totally screwed when it came to him. She wanted him, and in spite of what he said about not giving her up again, she didn’t know if she could have him. “Just thinking,” she said finally.
Colin’s voice dropped in pitch. “About us, I hope.”
She glanced up at him, sprawled in the chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Was he really as calm and in control as he looked? “Maybe.”
He laughed, but it died on his lips as Gabe McConnell entered the room, ushering a couple in to the lounge. He was in genial host mode, and she wouldn’t have known he was stressed except that his host’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
The couple looked to be in their late thirties, casually dressed, him in faded jeans and a tight T-shirt, her in a loose, flowing short dress. It was somewhat shocking to see the woman, all five foot two of her and looking like a kindergarten teacher, with her hands wrapped in restraints in front of her.
She wasn’t as calm as she seemed, and Delia knew exactly how she felt. The slightly wild eyes were the giveaway, but her husband was right there beside her, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.
“Jonah and Charlotte Smithson, meet Colin and Delia Reardon.” Colin stood and exchanged handshakes with Jonah Smithson, and Delia smiled at his wife, hoping to set her at ease. The woman smiled back tentatively, but it didn’t stay on her face.
“We’re waiting for one more couple to arrive,” McConnell said. “Once they’re here, we’ll go over the rules, and then you’ll be expected to kneel, like Mrs. Reardon. She learned the rules yesterday. Didn’t you, Delia? Look at me when you answer,” he said, his words sharp as he stood next to her.
Her heart sped up, but she knew what was expected of her, and damned if it didn’t make her wet. He stood so close she had to tilt her head far back to look up at him, to meet his eyes as he’d ordered. “Yes, Master Gabriel.”
“Good girl,” he murmured, squeezing her chin. He turned to the Smithsons. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to take your bags upstairs, and I want to check on the last couple.” He turned again. “And Colin, it’s up to you whether or not you release Delia from her ready position.”
He left, and the room got quiet.
Delia slid a look at Colin, who stood. He held out his hand to her and she grasped it with her bound ones, rising to her feet. He tugged her to his side and she leaned into him, much the way Jonah Smithson held Charlotte.
Colin smiled at the other couple. “So is this your first time here?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s ours. We came last night to get a head start on things. This is our first time experimenting, so I booked some private time for us with Master Gabriel. I have a lot of concerns about dominating Delia.”
In spite of the fact that they were acting, Delia felt a blush crawl up her cheeks. “Colin!”
“Oh, come on, honey. They’re here for the same reason as us, and you’re the one who wanted to come here, not me. I was on the fence.” He turned back to the couple and winked. “Until last night.”
She smacked him with her restrained hands, and the Smithsons laughed.
“We were here about two months ago, for a retreat,” Jonah said. “It was eye-opening.”
Delia inclined her head. “A retreat? Sounds interesting.”
Charlotte’s voice was soft. “It wasn’t what I expected. It was more like a conference with sessions on different things. In the overview at the beginning of the retreat, Master Gabriel mentioned the different things he does here. One of them was this basic BDSM class.” She looked up at her husband and blushed. “I asked Jonah if we could take this one. Most of that weekend was way over my head.”
Jonah Smithson kissed his wife on the temple. “Yeah, we left here a little overwhelmed. Between the guy McConnell had to ask to leave and some of the, er, extreme topics, we weren’t sure this was the thing for us. But Charlotte wants to try again.”
Colin flexed his fingers against her side. Time to ask the questions. “He had to ask someone to leave? Why?”
Jonah Smithson frowned as if he’d tasted something bad. “The guy was a loose cannon, and a real bastard to the girl he’d brought with him. I say girl, because if she was twenty-one, I’d be surprised. She looked a hell of a lot younger, and scared to death. Several of us were in the lounge, and the shouting from the open front door drew us all into the hallway. McConnell was calm, but the guy was out of control. When McConnell said he was calling the police, the guy shoved his girlfriend in the car, then took off.”
Charlotte finished the story. “I was so worried about her. Master Gabriel excused himself and called the police. He continued with the retreat, but I could tell it bothered him.”
It all matched what McConnell had told them, with one exception. She’d assumed that the argument had taken place privately, but it sounded as though several people had seen and heard it. If he was guilty, it could be what had given Hank Whitcomb a reason to go after the people who’d witnessed his humiliation. And if McConnell’s MSP friend Alex had gotten Kayla to leave him, he could have snapped. The piece she couldn’t figure out was how he knew who everyone was, if he’d never made it inside. Hacker, maybe? She made a mental note to have McConnell’s computer systems examined.
“Can we sit down?” Charlotte’s voice was shaky. “I’m a little nervous.”
Delia started to move out from Colin’s grip, then did something she’d never, ever have expected of herself. It was instinct, not acting, and it made her stomach feel as if it was full of butterflies. “May I, Sir?”
Asking permission for something as basic as sitting seemed incredibly wrong, but it also seemed absolutely right. In a normal situation, like in the office or out in public or even at home on an average day, hell no. But right now, her hands were bound and she was Colin’s sub, her body his to command.
Shock flared in his eyes, but then the corner of his mouth turned up in a sexy smile. “You may. On my lap, so I can touch you.”
Heat flooded her body, thickening her words. “Yes, Sir.”
He sat, knees spread, and pulled her between them so she was perched on one muscular thigh, facing the Smithsons.
“Works for me,” Jonah said, laughter in his voice. He also sat, then pulled his wife onto his lap, steadying her as she settled against him, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Her gut told her they had no idea what was going on, and weren’t involved. They seemed like a nice, happy couple who wanted to experiment. Jonah was attentive to his wife, and Charlotte was just as attuned to him. There was some undercurrent there, but it didn’t seem malicious at all.
She wished she and Colin had a few minutes to confer, but she couldn’t imagine he was seeing anything different than her. He was relaxed on the outside, although she was sure his brain was working top speed.
Her own bubbled up a question. “So, where are you guys from?” she asked. It seemed odd they wouldn’t know about the fires in Maryland, or recognize the names from the news. McConnell had introduced them all by name. She assumed he’d have done the same at the retreat.
“Williamsburg,” Jonah replied. “You?”
Well, that made more sense. Williamsburg was a few hours away, so a fire in Baltimore probably wouldn’t have made the news there.
“We’re from just outside Baltimore,” Colin answered for them. “Also a bit of a hike for us, but completely worth it.”
“A friend originally recommended this place, and even though the retreat didn’t turn out to be what we expected, I was impressed with McConnell.” Jonah laid his hand over his wife’s bound ones, fiddled with a bracelet that hung just below the restraints. “We’re both really interested in this, but Charlotte has a heart condition so we need to be extra careful in how we go about it.” Charlotte let out a small sound of distress, then buried her face in his shirt.
Ah, looked like a medic alert bracelet. That was the undercurrent she’d felt. “That’s smart, really. Yesterday we talked about limits and safe words, and every step of the way with what we did, Master Gabriel checked to make sure I was okay.”
Colin chimed in. “I know, it seems insane to take a class on something like this. Shouldn’t I just know what to do? But I love Delia more than my own life, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her.” He grinned. “Well, hurt her in a bad way.”
She knew he was acting, but God, the words she’d never thought she’d hear from him again brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them back, but she must’ve made some sound, because he turned her so she was facing him only, away from their eyes. He didn’t say the words, just mouthed them.
“I still love you. I never stopped.” He wound his fingers into her hair and kissed her, so sweetly she thought her heart would burst.
When he pulled back and wiped the tear from her cheek, she locked eyes with him. “I love you too.” Heat flared in them, and possession so strong, it would’ve knocked her over if she hadn’t been sitting on his lap.
The timing wasn’t great, not in the middle of a case, but she couldn’t have held it back any longer. She still didn’t know what it meant for them, long-term. After all, she’d loved him a year ago, and look what had happened. But they knew so much more about each other now, such private things. Hope flared but she tempered it. They had to get through this first.
Gabe McConnell came back into the room. “Sorry for the wait. Lunch is ready in the dining room. Jonah, Charlotte, could you give us a minute? I need to speak with Colin and Delia briefly.”
“Sure thing,” Jonah said, helping Charlotte up. “Come on, sweetness.”
Delia smiled at the endearment and the obvious love between the two. When they’d left the room, she turned her gaze to Gabe McConnell, who looked suddenly grim. Her stomach dropped. “What?”
“I don’t know if it’s anything to worry about, but I just got a strange call on my cell while I was up dropping the Smithsons’ bags in their room. It was a woman or a young girl. I couldn’t tell, because her voice was low. My first thought was prank call, but then she called me Master Gabriel.” His brow furrowed in concern. “All she said was he’s not taking no for an answer this time.”
Without a word, Colin drew out his phone and pressed a button. “Hey, Butler here. Can you get a trace on any calls that came in to McConnell’s cell phone in the past fifteen minutes? I need to know who called.” He listened for a few moments, his face hardening. “Thanks. Call me when you get it.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Things are heating up. Two odd prints came back from the Wests’ house. One belongs to Hank Whitcomb. When they were shown his picture, they identified him as the man you turned away. Other than that, they say they’ve never met him. The trooper on our task force went to his apartment and his job. No one’s seen him since Thursday. What they did find in his apartment was a hacker’s dream. They’re looking at his computer now, but he had stuff tacked to the walls.” He flicked his finger across his phone and turned it toward them.
“Shit,” she said. The walls were covered with copies of driver’s license photos, and pictures of the houses that had been targeted. Big red X through each of them. She squinted. “Let me see that.”
Colin handed her the phone and she enlarged the picture, sucking in a breath. She turned it back around, showing both men. “That’s this house. And he’s marked it with an X.”
“Jesus,” McConnell muttered. “You think he’s on his way here?”
She looked at Colin, and his answer was written on his face. Well, that’s just great.
“I do,” he said grimly. “Which means we need to get the Smithsons out of here, somewhere safe. You too,” he said to McConnell.
Colin saw the denial on McConnell’s face before the words even left his lips. “F*ck that. My house, my business. I’m staying. I also have state-of-the-art fire protection here. I was on the line for fifteen years. I was careful how I set this all up.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything different,” Colin admitted. “But the Smithsons have to go. We need to get local law enforcement here to take them somewhere safe. I’d like to send Delia off with them, but—”
“Just try it.” She glared at him with mutiny in her eyes, a look that said he’d just declared war. “Not in this lifetime.”
Not that he was surprised by her vehemence. His newly discovered inner caveman wanted one thing, but he wasn’t going to get it. He tried to smile but it came out more a grimace. “Jesus, I didn’t say I would, I said I’d like to. The truth is, that dominant, possessive guy inside me you made me acknowledge wants you the hell out of here. The reality is we’re both cops and you need to be here. So sue me for wanting you somewhere safe, but give me some f*cking credit for not ordering you to go.”
“As if you could,” she muttered, winding his gut tighter. “I’ll go call the locals and get someone over here, then I’ll talk to the Smithsons and let them know what’s going on.” She started to walk away, but she turned and stopped in front of him, practically toe-to-toe.
Her look and her body language was in no way submissive as she stared him right in the eye, breaking the flimsy connection between the two restraints still binding her wrists. She cupped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her level, dropping a searing hot kiss on his mouth, all tongue and teeth and pent-up emotion. He was so stunned he stood there for a long moment before opening to her. As he fell into the kiss, he clasped her hips tightly, not caring if he left a mark there, the caveman inside him hoping he did.
She groaned, he groaned and then she stepped back, breathing harshly. “Be careful. I need you safe too.” She fisted his shirt, tugged for emphasis. “Need, Colin. Not just want. Need.”
Her hand dropped, and as she started to walk away, she made a brief stop in front of Gabe McConnell, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You be careful too, Master Gabriel.”
“If you don’t marry her, you’re a f*cking idiot,” McConnell said, staring bemusedly after her as she left the room. “And you won’t get a second chance, because I know at least ten Doms who’d love to give her what she needs and keep her so busy she won’t have time to think about you.”
Still stunned by Dee’s fervent declaration, it took Colin a second to catch up. “Yeah, they could try. But I’d kill them myself.”
McConnell barked a laugh and then frowned, all levity gone. “So what now?”
“I call my team, and they get things organized on their end. It’s possible he’s not headed here, and I don’t want to take the chance of him targeting somewhere else. And it’s possible it’s not him, either. They need to keep looking for other connections, other suspects. They’ll also get in contact with the right agencies to get coverage out here. In the meantime, make sure your security is up and running.”
McConnell nodded. “It’s in my office.”
Colin followed him down the hall and around the corner into the small room.
McConnell opened an antique cabinet near his desk, revealing a security monitoring system, including cameras at the front and back doors, at the bottom of the driveway and along the walkway to a restaurant next door. No cameras in any of the rooms, but he supposed with the nature of Bondage and Breakfast that wasn’t a surprise. If people realized they were being viewed, would they be as comfortable here? He almost snorted. Probably some of them. Hell, having McConnell watch him with Delia hadn’t been a turn off. In fact, it had been just the opposite. Either way, though, the privacy of the rooms was good business.
“I have the alarms turned off since I’m expecting guests, but I have the cameras running.” McConnell tapped a few keys and enlarged the one focused on the turnoff into his driveway. “I keep a continuous eight-hour loop, but I’ll expand it to twelve hours. This is the spot I’m most concerned about,” he said, pointing to a copse of trees that obscured the line of sight. “I’m not worried about cars, because it’s too thick. But someone on foot could—”
A sudden crash from the dining room choked off his words midsentence.