Hidden Heat: Hauberk Protection, Book 4 (18 page)

Fight him!

Her repeated attempts to buck him off failing miserably, she tried to tell him to use more lube, to use the whole damned tube, to fuck her pussy, anything else. The tissues at her opening burned when he shoved his dick in without waiting for her body to adjust. While he’d used some lube, just like last time he hadn’t used enough.

As he pounded into her abused flesh, he whispered a stream of filth into her ear. The control she’d so desperately clung to shattered and the sobs she’d tried to choke back exploded. She screamed until her lungs burned and her throat seized. Unable to draw a proper breath, her vision greyed and she prayed for unconsciousness. A prayer that wasn’t answered.

By the time he pulled out of her, she’d lost all track of time, trapped in a morass of pain and loathing, for him and for her. A smidgen of hope flickered that he’d finally untie her. Its tiny ray wavered and died when he wandered out of the room without a word.

From the flickering light, she could only guess he’d turned on the television but the lack of sound confused her until she recognized the familiar click of a keyboard and realized he’d taken his laptop from her dresser. He’d fucking raped her and now was sitting on her couch checking his email or playing some goddamned computer game?

She slammed her head into the pillow, cursing Mitch, herself and even Sandy for going away, for having fun while she was here, trussed up, helpless.

Despair replaced anger, leaching all the fight from her body. She was alone. Totally and completely alone. All because she’d been too tired, too stupid, to tell him to go home. To break it off right then and there.

“Yeah, I told you I’d get it for you. Trust me.” Mitch’s voice startled her. She lifted her head only to realize he hadn’t returned. That he wasn’t speaking to her. So who was he talking to? Chills wracked her at the thought he might have invited others to participate tonight.

There was a pause, then he started speaking again. “I understand, but you have to give me some time here. I’m so damned close I can almost taste it.” Another pause. Thank God, he’d not invited someone else; he was on the phone. “No, I couldn’t get it that way but I found another way in that’ll work just as good. Don’t worry. I’ll get the address. Once I find her, I’ll get you the money. I promise.”

The room went silent again except for more tapping. Exhausted, she closed her eyes, trying to marshal her thoughts off her pain, focus on devising a plan to escape. She had no idea if she’d slept or fallen unconscious, but she awoke to him untying her right ankle.

She tested her left leg and found it already unbound. Before she could react, he flipped her onto her back. Her breath hissed from her and she arched at the agony of the fabric touching her wounds.

“Jazz baby, you may not have been the woman I intended to pick up at Rusty’s that night, but you’ve worked out pretty good too.”

When he started to crawl between her thighs she kicked out at him, catching him in the side of his face with her heel. With a curse, he sat on her legs and swiped his hand over his mouth. He stared at the blood on his fingers. “What the fuck? Why’d you do that?”

She tried to spit out the gag and once again failed so resorted to cursing him out through the fabric.

“Aw, Jazz baby, you’re mad at me for leaving you tied up and gagged?” He leaned over and pulled down the gag.

Afraid he might leave her tied up, or worse, if she cursed him the way she wanted to, she forced herself to stay calm. “Undo the cuffs so I can touch you. The key’s in the top drawer.”

He rummaged around for what seemed like forever before finding the key. Instead of immediately unlocking the cuff, he took his time dragging the metal over her midriff and up her cleavage. “I gotta tell you, you’re sexy as hell all tied up like this.”

Jazz started trembling when his cock grew half-hard. No way was he going to get another chance to fuck her. To hurt her. “Come on, Mitch honey. Unlock me so I can take care of that bad boy for you.”

“I don’t know. I think I’ll let you suck me off right where you are.”

“I’ll make it good for you. I’ll get on my knees in front of you, be your slave, just the way you like.”
Tell him whatever he wants to hear to get out of this.
“I’ll deep-throat you. You know I give good head, baby. You’ve told me I’m good at it. And it’s less tiring for you that way. You could sit in the chair if you want.”

Come on, let me go. Do it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he relented. But he was standing between her and the damned panic button. Fine. There was one out in the living room.

As soon as he freed her, she dragged herself to the edge of the bed and stood. Her legs felt like there were no bones within them, her back as if it were on fire, but she forced herself not to sag to the floor. She staggered to the living room, ignoring his calls asking where she was going.

Just another four steps, maybe five. She could do this. She had to. Her arm trembling, she lifted her hand to press the panic button. Mitch grabbed her arm, spun her around. “What the fuck are you doing? You hit that button you’ll have half of Hauberk as well as the police here. What’s your fucking problem?”

“My problem? My
problem
? You fucking raped me, you asshole, and you ask me what my problem is?” God, she couldn’t stop shaking.

“Rape?” He shoved her against the wall, using his weight to once again hold her in place. “No way. Uh-uh. You said you were into rough stuff. You’re the one who suggested being tied up. You could have said no any time. You can’t deny you were moaning and writhing and everything. You were into it as much as me.”

“How could I say no when you’d fucking gagged me? I never said you could whip me like a fucking racehorse. My back hurts like hell and my ass…” Holy fuck, she was so fucking sore. It felt like he’d damaged something deep inside. “I told you last time, I never wanted anal from you again.”

His expression hardened and he released her. “Isn’t that typical. Say yes one minute and then when you’ve had your fun you scream your head off and cry rape. Fucking bitch.” He pressed on her shoulders, forcing her to her knees. “You were the one with the handcuffs, not me. You’re the one who let me gag you. Face it, you wanted my cock in your ass. So it hurt a little. Big fucking deal. You told me before you like a little pain when we have sex, you just don’t want to admit you got off.”

“Then why don’t you turn around and bend over. See how you feel when I shove one of my dildos up your ass.”

He glanced to the side, his jaw clenched. “All right, maybe I pushed things a little hard on you tonight. How about next time we don’t use a gag, so you can tell me exactly what you like?”

“No. There’ll be no next time. We’re through. I don’t ever want to see you again. You got that?”

“Yeah, I got it, bitch.” He released her and headed into the bedroom.

Unable to stand, Jazz crawled across the room on her hands and knees, past the coffee table to the couch. He didn’t know there was another button concealed beneath the side table. “I want you the fuck out of this place. Now.”

He reappeared with his clothes, cursing her with each item he pulled on. Once dressed, he stomped into the living room and shut his laptop without turning it off. “Tomorrow when you realize how wrong you are, you’ll be phoning me. Wait and see. You’re just embarrassed because you got off on it.”

“No. I’m not ever going to call you.” But the cops would. After she filed her report and pressed rape charges against him. “Now you get the fuck out of my place. Before I call the cops.”

He shoved the laptop into his bag and tucked it under his arm. “So call them. I’ll play the cops the videos I’ve made. They’ll prove that you agreed to everything that happened tonight. And the cops will know you’re the liar. It’s not me they’ll charge. It’s you. It’s against the law to lay false charges.”

Video? He was lying. He had to be. Except…her gaze dropped to the laptop bag clutched beneath his arm. The laptop he’d left open on the dresser. Oh God. No. He wouldn’t. Would he?

“Yeah, that’s right.” He tapped his bag. “I taped it using the webcam. I won’t have to say a word to defend myself. Yeah, you didn’t notice my laptop was on the whole time, did you, you stupid bitch? I taped all our other little sessions too. And all those games we played. So don’t threaten me, because it’s all here, Jazz baby. Once the cops see the video, they’ll see that the handcuffs were yours. They’ll see you handing them to me. Hear you telling me you liked pain.

“Oh, and if you blab anything about me to any of your bodyguard friends, I’ll post the entire video on the Internet for everyone to see. Then I’ll set up ads on Craigslist claiming to be you looking for a partner willing to hurt you during sex, talking about how you love pain, how you love to be abused. By the time I’m done, there won’t be a person on earth who will believe a word you say. And they’ll all know you’re nothing more than a whore.”

The screams started up in her head—screams of frustration, of anger. “You fucking bastard.” He was right. Everything he’d said was true. She had handed him her handcuffs, sat quietly while he’d put them on. Agreed to be gagged. They’d never believe her.

He ran the back of one knuckle down her cheek. “So when I call and ask to see you again? And I will call—you’re going to invite me back.” Not a question. A statement. The fucker was that sure of himself.

“You’re never coming back here, you bastard.” She balled her fist, pulled back her elbow and let fly. The satisfying sound of bone crunching, the warmth of his blood spurting over her knuckles, was worth the pain in her hand. “Next time, I’ll have more than a fist for your face. I’ll have a gun.”

Music and laughter engulfed Cooper Davis when he walked through the Rouge’s double doors. “Any problems tonight, Fred?”

“No, sir.” The club’s doorman helped Cooper off with his coat. “I’ve notified Miss Delayna that you’ve arrived, sir. She’ll be here momentarily as you’ve requested.”

No sooner had Fredrickson finished speaking than a side door opened and a dark-haired woman joined them. With a nod to Cooper, she shrugged out of the terry spa robe she wore and handed it to the doorman.

“Good evening, Delayna.”

With a soft huff, she handed Cooper a leash attached to the leather collar around her neck. “You’re late. Did you run into problems?”

“Only that Senator Brannally was long-winded in his speech tonight as usual.” He wrapped the leather strap around his wrist. “Did you walk George?”

“Yes, sir. He’s asleep in your office.”

After Fredrickson opened the double stained glass inner doors leading to the club’s common area, Cooper walked down the hall toward the music that mingled with voices and the occasional crack of a whip.

As she’d been trained, Delayna padded after him, leaving the requisite amount of space to keep the leash loose. With her background, she’d never have qualified for admission to the club as a member, which would have been a pity.

“Did tonight’s session in the guest house get recorded?”

“Yes, sir. It’s burning to a DVD even as we speak.”

“Excellent.” The noise of the whip, and the moans of the other members grew louder the closer they got to the central hallway. Ah, yes, one of the billionaires from the west coast had planned a public discipline session with his sub tonight. “McPherson didn’t suspect the cameras existed?”

“He only checked to ensure the regular cameras were turned off.” Obviously he hadn’t found the special ones Davis had ordered installed two weeks before when one of their members had hosted a bachelor party with some very interesting guests. Guests that provided him with footage ensuring he’d have access to information his regular contacts couldn’t provide.

“Baker phoned from Val Varde, sir. He wants you to phone him as soon as you’re in the bunker.”

Shit. He tugged on the leash, not enough to pull her off her feet, but she’d get the message he was not pleased she’d waited to impart that nugget. If she were truly his sub, he’d be borrowing the congressman’s whip. “Did he say why?”

“No, sir, only that it was imperative that you return his call.”

They passed through another set of double doors into the rotunda with its soaring dome. Neither spared the couples in various states of undress copulating in the grotto at the far end even a glance, nor was their passage acknowledged by any of the members. He headed to the marble staircase leading to the Founding Members’ wing. They were halfway to his private suite when another member’s door opened and a couple emerged, the man dressed in leather chaps, the woman leading him by a leash similar to the one wrapped around Cooper’s own hand.

Turning quickly, Cooper shoved Delayna against the wall and captured her mouth with his. His operative tensed until her gaze flickered sideways and found the reason for his embrace. As the couple approached, Delayna relaxed into his hold and accepted the kiss with a moan that shot straight to his groin. Cooper couldn’t help sinking into the kiss, enjoying her honeyed taste along with the feel of her skin against his. If she felt his hard-on against her belly, he had no clue, nor did he care. It couldn’t be helped. She was a sensuous woman with full plump lips to match her luscious breasts and generous hips. Pity she was his employee and not his lover in truth.

The hallway empty again, he stepped back. Without saying a word, he rewound the leash around his fist and headed to the room at the end of the hall. Once inside Delayna shut the door and unclipped her collar.