His Demands (17 page)

“I know. Look, I need your help,”
Kaela closed her eyes and leaned against Broden’s desk.

“I don’t like the way your voice
sounds. Did something happen?”

“Yes. No. I mean…”

Angel sighed. “What’s going on? You
left without saying anything and Mr. MacGruder is gone and… Oh crap. You’re
with him, aren’t you?”

“I um…well I was and then this thing
happened and I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, now you’re scaring me,”
Angela said quietly.

“I don’t mean to I just…” Fidgeting
with her sash, Kaela couldn’t stop shaking.

“Talk to me. Did something happen?
Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”

A slight moan escaped her lips. “Why
would you think he hurt me?” Angela knew enough about Kaela’s past she was
protective, at times like a mama bear. If her friend really knew the truth,
there’d be no way the woman would allow her to date any man who hungered to own
another.

“I do
not
at all like the sound of your voice. Where the hell are you?”

“At his place.
I’m here because he asked me to and
we were setting this contract and you know how it goes with him. He has to be
in charge but the truth is he’s much more than just our boss. In fact, he’s
really not who you think he is at all. There are some things about him I don’t
understand. I just don’t and…” Her voice trailing off, Kaela knew how
ridiculous she sounded.

“Yep.
Now I’m terrified. Slow down, tell
me where you are and I am coming to get you right now.”

“No!”

“Girl, what the fuck is going on?”
Angel demanded.

Kaela exhaled slowly, her lower lip
trembling. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t have any fucking clue what’s going
on and that’s why I called you.”

“Honey, you’re not making any sense.
Start from the beginning and slowly tell me what’s going on.”

As she began to tell the story,
leaving out a few intimate details, she was grateful Angel remained quiet. By
the end she knew what she was saying sounded like nothing more than a man who
no longer wanted a woman. But she knew better.

“Okay, let me get this straight. You
think something horrible from Broden’s past is keeping him from wanting to be
with you?”

“That’s the gist of it.” How else
could Kaela describe what she was thinking?

“And this probably happened in
Scotland.
Right?”
Angel’s voice was steady.

“I think so.
Had
to have happened there.
He’s only been in the country for about a year.”

“Well then we have somewhere to
start.”

“Do you think your friend can find
anything about?” Kaela wasn’t certain she wanted to hear the answer.

Angel chuckled. “Trust me. My friend
can find dirt on any man or woman, including the Pope. The question is
,
do you really want to know the truth? Do you really want
to after what happened to you?”

Kaela hesitated only a few seconds.
“Yes. I
want,
no I need to know everything. Angel, I’m
falling in love with him.”

“Oh great.”

****

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Kaela
stood glaring at the bleach bottled blond, incensed the administrative
assistant was denying her information.

“As I just said, he’s gone for at
least a week and asked not to be disturbed.” Giving Kaela a look screaming of
perceived authority, the woman dismissed her with a nod and began typing
furiously on her computer keyboard.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?
Bambi or Barbie?”

Jerking her fingers off the keyboard,
the blond narrowed her eyes and slowly lifted her head. “Brittany, but you
already knew that, didn’t you Krissa?”

Okay so score one point for the
vixen in heels.
Time to take a different tactic.
“You’re right. Look, I have some important information I need to get to him
very personally. This is something that can’t wait. May I please have his phone
number?”

Brittany
smiled,
the look coy. “Even if I did have the number I wouldn’t give it to you. I do
follow directions.”

The implied slap was fairly heavy
duty. Sighing, Kaela thought about the last few days. She’d gotten Angel to
pick her up the night he’d raced into the rain, hiding in her house for a solid
two days to try and figure out what was going on. Angel had pried and Kaela had
simply shut down. Even glasses of wine, tears and a heady dose of butter pecan
ice cream hadn’t made her feel any better.

Every phone call she’d made to his
cell phone had been unreturned and she realized she had no idea about anything
in his life other than work. Well, the little crack into his personal life
she’d experienced had been barely enough to see into his world and shut
everyone out, especially her.

“Brittany. I really need to get in
touch with him. It’s personal and I simply want to talk to him. Is he calling
in at all? I mean once this week?” Kaela realized her voice sounded…desperate.
Great.
Now that would be the water cooler
fader later today.

Brittany scrutinized her for a full
minute before leaning closer. “All I know is that he said where he’s going
there isn’t any cell phone reception and that he anticipated being
back
the first of next week.”

“Next week?” It was only Thursday.
She couldn’t wait for a few days to talk with him. She’d go mad.

“That’s what he said.”

“But if he calls in you’re going to
let me know, right?”

“Uh-huh.
Sure
thing.”
Bobbing her head up and down, Brittany smiled brightly.

And right now Kaela wanted to rip
the smirk off her face.
“All right.
Thank.” She wasn’t
just dejected; she was terrified he was going to ask her to resign, thereby pushing
her completely out of his life. That had to be why he was away from the
company, trying hard how to figure out how to ask without sounding well,
sexist. She started to walk away and stopped. There were so many things she
wanted to say, so many emotions hanging raw in her mind. “Brittany, I know you
don’t like me very much. I can understand why given I haven’t even attempted to
get t know you. But I can tell you something very important to me. I care about
this man. I’m risking everything I have telling you this because I know you
could by all right turn around and tell everyone in the company the Director of
Publicity has a thing for the boss. But…” She fisted her mouth, stars floating
in front of her eyes.

“But?”

“But I care about him. I’m sure for all
the wrong reasons and I’m certain I’m not good for him, but I care. I simply
want to find out if he’s okay, tell him some things that he needs to hear. I
know what I’m telling you
sounds
crazy at best. I
just… I just care about him.” Sighing, she closed her eyes. When she didn’t
hear anything she nodded and started to walk away. What an idiot she was.

“For the record, I do believe you
and I understand.”

Kaela looked toward Brittany,
expecting some knowing look as she was ready to pen a wretched email. Instead
she saw a woman who must have experienced her own share of bullshit with men in
her life. “Thank you.” Groaning, she walked back to her office, hoping for some
divine intervention. Without a doubt, she was stymied for the first time in her
life.

She kicked her office door closed
and walked toward her window. All the soul searching and Internet searching on
the man had produced about the name thing, a little bit of nothing. For all
practical purposes Broden MacGruder was a popular Scotsman in his hometown and
the lineage she’d been able to find led him to a mom and dad who were still
living and a sister. She found enough press about his work in Scotland to
support the man he purported himself to be. She found a newspaper article from
the day he left after purchasing the advertising firm, and she even found the
real estate information when he purchased his house. That was basically it.
There was no dirt, nothing to indicate anything horrible, but Kaela knew when
something appeared squeaky clean, the information was usually covered in muck.
Now she just had to figure out how dirty and slimy the ugly truth really was.

She dropped her head, anger and
frustration merely normalcy at this point. Barely sleeping, she was on edge and
determined to hire a private investigator to find Broden.

“Okay, are you ready for this? I
mean really ready”

Hearing Angel’s accusatory tone, she
turned, narrowing her eyes. “Do I really want to know?

Closing the door, Angel held up a
file in her hand. “It took some doing but my friend found some interesting
information about our boss.”

“Interesting?”

“Maybe damning.
Depending on how you look at it.”

“Damning?” Kaela shivered and
glanced down at the file.

“Unfortunately.”
Angel moved closer, her eyes never
leaving Kaela. “Look, are you sure you want to see this? Some of this is pretty
raw.”

Folding her arms, she rubbed both, a
horrific chill racing down her spine. “I think I need to know. Don’t you? I
mean, how bad can this be? It’s not like he murdered anyone.” A haunted look
crossed Angel’s face and she sucked in her breath. “What are you trying to tell
me?”

“Kaela, I’m not trying to tell you
anything. What my guy found isn’t something pretty much anyone wants to let out
in the open. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes. I need to know. No matter what
we’re talking about, I need to know.”

Angel seemed to be studying Kaela,
as if gauging her reaction. “You are aware he’s into BDSM, right?”

Kaela opened her eyes wide. The
dirty little secrets were going to start to roll.

“See, I didn’t think you did. I’m
not even sure if you really understand what that means and I thought that…”

“Wait a minute.” Interrupting, she
walked around the desk, sitting on the edge. “I do know.”

“Hmmm… Okay. What do you think you
know,
whips and chains?”

During moments in her life, Kaela
knew she’d have to be faced with telling someone what she longed for. Angel
only knew the aftereffects of the event that nearly cost Kaela her life, not
the reasons for the attack. There might have been several reasons she’d been
hiding her true inner self, but that just couldn’t happen any longer. “Angel, I
know. I’ve been investigating the D/s lifestyle for years, including aspects of
BDSM. The reason I was so drawn to Broden was simply his commanding ways and
perhaps an innate understanding about his desires. He’s a Dom and I’m a
submissive. I long to be owned and collared, trained to be the perfect
companion for a man. I pushed back with him at first because of what I endured
years ago.

“Then why do you trust him now?”

“Gut and things we talked about.
The way he didn’t pressure me.
What Broden and I shared, at
least I thought so, was the beginnings of something…of something amazing. I
could see being with him in ways few people can imagine. I know what is in his
heart and his mind and I know what’s in mine. I want more. I need more.” She
allowed the words to hang, expecting to see horror crossing Angel’s face.

“All right.
I completely understand.”

“You do?”

Angel nodded. “Yes, my sister is a
submissive and has been owned by a man for almost ten years. She’s told me a
lot about the lifestyle and while I initially balked at the very concept, I’ve
learned not only to respect the D/s relationship, but long for something so
amazing and powerful. I’m not a submissive myself, but I see the connection as
being amazing. I also knew whatever happened to you had to be about giving away
control. Certain aspects just fit. You don’t have to tell me what happened to
you, but I know you’re trying very hard to deal with everything right now. If
you’re sure you want to know more, learn more about Broden, you know you’re
going to have to face whatever happened to you.
Right?”

For a minute Kaela remained silent. “Yes,
that I know and I’m so relieved I told you,” she laughed nervously. Her
feelings weren’t just about relief but a moment of joy.

“I am too. I’m glad you trusted me.”
Angel walked closer.

“Yes. I just…I don’t know girl.
The moment he spanked me and tied me and fucked me I knew what I
had to have.
He’s the man for me.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re opening up
so much. I can tell you’re ready for this.”

“But?”
Kaela didn’t at all like the look
on her face.

“But…” Angel sighed and closed the
distance to Kaela’s desk, setting the file on top. She opened the flap slowly
and smoothed her hand over the picture.

“I’ve seen that before. Who is she?”

“You mean who was she?”