Chained (When Bondage Meets Innocence) (23 page)

“
I know. It’s just different.” she said. “I think I need some time to get used to the idea.”

“
It’s been a long night,” Tyler said. “Maybe you should just go home, get some sleep and see how you feel in the morning.”

“
I think you’re right,” Miranda said. “Will you explain to Krista?”

“
She will understand, but sure,” Tyler said. “Let’s go get your clothes and find you a cab.”

“
Thank you Tyler,” Miranda said. “Truly.”

“
Don’t thank me yet,” Tyler said. “Krista’s going to want to see you soon and I have a feeling, she’s going to be a hard taskmistress.”

“
Give her my number?” Miranda asked.

“
Of course,” Tyler said as the two went off to get Miranda’s clothes.

“
Greg?” Krista asked as she stared at the bartender in the VIP section of the club.

“
Umm, yeah. Do I know you?” he said, feigning ignorance.

“
Krista,” she said, “From Club 318?”

“
Hey,” Greg said. “I remember you. You used to work for us as a waitress, right? On weeknights?”

“
No,” Krista said dejectedly. “I was a friend of Damien’s, sort of.”

“
Oh,” Greg said. “Sorry, I don’t remember.”

“
Nevermind,” Krista said. “Can I just get a few drinks then?”

“
What’ll it be?” Greg asked.

“
Jack and coke, times three,” Krista said. “Put it on Tyler Hale’s tab.”

“
Coming right up,” Greg replied.

As Greg made her drinks, Krista sat down on one of the bar stools, fiddling with a nail she had broken some time earlier that evening. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her.

“
Hello Krista,” Damien said.

As she recognized his voice, Krista felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. She didn’t turn around, fearing that she would find it was her imagination. Before she had met Tyler, she had thought about this happening almost every day.

“
Damien?” she asked, feeling her heart beat increase as he spun her stool around to face him. “How are you?”

Krista had asked the question, but the answer was standing right in front of her. Damien looked haunted. He was still every bit the sexy guy he’d always been, but dark circles now lined his eyes and he hadn’t shaved in probably a day or two. Although, Krista had to admit, two days of growth added a harsh, ruggedness to his appeal.

“
Horrible,” Damien replied. “Honestly. I mean I know I’m not supposed to say that, but these last few months have been awful. How are you?”

“
I’m okay now, I guess,” Krista replied thinking that this was typical of their conversations together. They were never normal. “Different.”

“
I can see that,” Damien said, taking in the fact that she wasn’t actually wearing any clothes. The bondage jewelry was stunning on her though and he longed to touch her.

“
I’ve missed you,” Damien said out of the blue. “Have you thought of me?”

“
How could I not,” Krista snapped, letting out some of the frustration she had felt at his disappearance. “You dropped off the face of the planet after ‘awakening’ me. I couldn’t go back to my old life and didn’t have anyone to talk to about this new one. You left me to figure it all out by myself. Clearly I meant nothing to you.”

“
That’s not true Krista. I didn’t think you wanted to have anything to do with me,” Damien said. “You didn’t seem happy to find out my identity the second night and minutes later you passed out and ended up in the hospital. The doctor said you wanted me to go home. They wouldn’t even let me see you to apologize. I figured that was what you wanted.”

“
Well you’re an idiot,” Krista replied. “I needed you. I tried to find you, but like I said you had disappeared. I didn’t have a number for you. Greg said you didn’t work at the club anymore and Hannah’s boyfriend said you moved out of your apartment. You turned into a ghost.”

“
I lost my job and couldn’t keep my apartment,” Damien said. “I moved in with Greg until I got back on my feet.”

“
I needed you,” Krista said. “And you were gone.”

“
I didn’t know,” Damien said. “I swear I didn’t know that’s how you felt.”

Krista looked into his eyes which were filled with sincerity and something else that she didn’t recognize.

“
So then what are you doing here tonight?” Krista asked.

“
I couldn’t stay away,” Damien said. “Greg told me you were here and I had to see you.”

Krista turned to look at Greg who was drying glasses that had just come from the dishwasher. “You little liar,” she said, smiling a little to know that at least Damien had felt something for her. “You knew who I was all along.”

“
Yeah, well, what was I supposed to say?” Greg asked. “Hey Krista, how’s it going, you’re still smoking hot – oh and Damien’s on his way?”

Damien pulled her back around to face him. “That doesn’t matter,” he said. “You look amazing. Dance with me.”

“
Umm, okay,” Krista said, unable to think of anything else as Damien pulled her out into the middle of the floor. Dancing with Damien was similar to the way she always danced, hips winding sensuously, except instead of caressing the air around her, she was caressing Damien. She got carried away before she even realized what was happening as he ground his body into hers.

Damien pulled Krista’s hair, forcing her neck back and kissed along her throat, drawing a moan from deep within. The feel of his lips against her skin made her tingle all the way to her toes and she pulled his head up so she could kiss him on the mouth. As they kissed his hand reached under her cloak and tugged on the chain attached to her nipple clamps. The sharp pain broke the spell she was under. Quickly she stepped out of his embrace.

“
I can’t. I’m seeing someone.” she said, turning to walk away.

Krista walked quickly back to the bar to get the drinks she had forgotten. She looked around for Tyler and Miranda and wondered if they had seen her. It was one thing for him to tell her to do something with another man. It was quite another for her to just do it. Maybe he would understand if she explained. When she couldn’t find him in the crowd, Krista sat down at their booth. He would come and find her. She sipped her drink in silence, letting her thoughts roam to the weekend when her whole life had changed.

“
Long time no see, buddy,” Damien said, walking towards Tyler as he came back inside from putting Miranda in a cab.

“
Damien,” Tyler said nervously. “How are you? I thought you weren’t scheduled tonight. Have you been here long?”

“
Long enough to know what you’ve been hiding,” Damien said, dropping his voice to barely above a whisper as he advanced on the man who had once been his best friend. “How could you?”

“
Damien, wait, I can explain,” Tyler said.

“
Really,” Damien said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. “You can explain how you, my best friend, are involved with my girl – the one I wanted from the moment I saw her, but waited for over a year before making a move on so I could get my act together, the one I lost my job over, the one I have been drinking myself into a coma each night for the last four months trying to forget? You can explain that?”

“
I need five minutes,” Tyler said.

“
Five minutes,” Damien said, pushing Tyler out the door he had just entered.

As the door closed, Damien looked down at his watch to mark the time and waited for Tyler to begin.

“
The night I met her,” Tyler started, “she was prowling, dancing here in this club, practically masturbating on the dance floor. She was hunting for a Dom and not being very particular. At least twenty people were watching her, waiting for her to be too far gone to care what happened. I stopped her and invited her back to a private room before I ever knew she was yours. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been someone else. It might have been one of the ones who would really have hurt her, Damien. She’d have taken anything that night.

“
When I realized it was her and what she was looking for, I kept my cool and started her training. I figured at the very least, you would appreciate that it was me and not somebody like Tom or Ralph. She’d be a broken, damaged version of herself by now if either of them had touched her and you know it.”

“
So where was the phone call,” Damien asked. He changed his voice to sound more like Tyler’s and held his fingers up to his mouth and his ear in the universal phone sign. “Hey Damien, guess what? That girl you’ve been mooning over, well she’s mooning over you too and she’s here at the club looking for whatever is she had with you. Or hey Damien, Krista is here and I’ve started her training so she wouldn’t end up with one of the whack jobs. We’re in a private room. Or even, hey Damien. Krista came to the club last night on a mission and I took care of it for her. But she’s still trying to figure out that side of her. She’s gonna need your help.

“
What I can’t handle is how you went from saving her from the big bad wolves in this club to being in a relationship with her? And don’t tell me you’re not because she told me herself that you are.”

“
Somewhere along the way I lost control,” Tyler said. “I pretended it didn’t matter that her safe word was your name. I thought…”

“
Wait,” Damien interrupted. “What was that?”

Tyler mentally cursed himself for being an idiot. Damien would never let her go now.

“
Her safe word, its lance,” he said with a sigh. “I knew what it meant as soon as she said it, but that was before she and I had even started. Now it’s too late. She’s amazing – fiery, strong, seductive. She’s everything I could ever want and dominating her was the most intoxicating thing I’d ever felt. I wanted to keep her. I couldn’t help it. We’ve only been seeing each other for a week, but I think I’m falling in love with her.”

“
You are my best friend,” Damien yelled, slamming his hand into the wall. “You cannot be in love with her, because I’m in love with her and you know it.”

“
I’m sorry Damien,” Tyler said. “I am. I’m a shitty friend, but I can’t help how I feel. There’s this quiet strength under the surface of her that blends with her vulnerability in a way that punches a man in the stomach. Before you even know it, she’s knocked you flat and you don’t ever want to get up.”

“
I know that,” Damien said, grinding the words out from behind clenched teeth. “That’s what I told you!”

“
I guess I thought you were being sentimental or something,” Tyler said.

“
You are my friend,” Damien said again, in a whisper this time. “You know me. And I am NOT sentimental. She’s the one, the way they always talk about in movies or books. She’s the one and she’s mine. I’ve known it from the very first night I saw her. You cannot have her.”

“
One woman can’t be the perfect, happily ever after, soul mate for two men and I feel the same way about her that you do,” Tyler said.

“
I don’t accept that,” Damien said. “You’ve known her for what a week? You will give me a chance with her and let her pick.”

“
How?” Tyler asked, dreading what was coming. The request was inevitable.

“
Invite me to play,” Damien said. “I know you’ve either done it already with someone else or been working up to it. Tell her it’s what you want. Watch her when you say it. It’s what she wants too.”

“
I don’t want to lose her,” Tyler said.

“
Tyler,” Damien said menacingly, as he flexed his fists. “If you don’t do this, you won’t have to worry about losing her.”

“
You don’t mean that,” Tyler said.

“
See that’s where you’re wrong,” Damien said. “Because she is the one person that robs me of anything even close to control. If you don’t do this, I won’t be able to stop myself. It’s been a long, long time brother, since I lost my temper, but you remember what happened the last time.”

“
You wouldn’t hurt one of your friends,” Tyler said, trying to reason with Damien. Both guys were the same size, but Damien had a long history of street fighting and Tyler knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“
If we were really friends,” Damien spat, “we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I’m thinking we stopped being friends the moment you decided you would keep her for yourself.”

“
And if she picks me?” Tyler asked.

“
Then she did so because that’s what she really wanted and knew what she was giving up,” Damien said. “I can accept that. Because as much as I want her to be mine, I want her to be happy more. But I saw the way she looked at me. I’m as much in her head as you are.”

“
Okay,” Tyler said. “I’ll do it. But there’s one condition.”

Damien just looked at Tyler, waiting.

“
We both have to promise not to say anything to sabotage the other,” Tyler said. “Whoever she picks, she picks because that’s who she wants to be with, not because they made the other look bad.”

“
I’m fine with that,” Damien said. “But she’s going to figure out eventually that you knew all about her before you two ever met.”

“
If she does, she does,” Tyler said. “But it won’t be because you set me up.”

“
Would I do that, brother?” Damien asked, feigning innocence.