Indulgence (367 page)

The room I had been dragged to for my punishment after
running.

My stomach clenched and I grabbed the railing, hoping this
wasn’t some kind of joke or worse.

Kirk glanced back, squeezing my hand, but he didn’t slow
down or give me time to pause.

I swallowed the emotions, fighting the clog in my throat,
and keeping my eyes on the floor. We continued across the catwalk past the
stairs leading downward, to a door on the other side.

The room was hot and heavy, and filled with the buzz of electronics.
The blond man sitting in front of the computer panel swiveled in his chair as
we entered and nodded.

Past him, monitors covered a wall, showing hallways, a pool,
the overlook, a grassy area outside, guest rooms….

Kirk wasn’t kidding when he said everything in the place was
being monitored. I figured he’d dragged me here to teach me a lesson about how
hopeless it was to try to get away.

I continued studying the monitors while the men next to me
whispered about a “guest” who had been in a restricted area with one of the
“girls”. The man at the desk rewound some of the footage and showed it to Kirk.

“He was probably trying to get privacy,” Kirk said.

“People don’t really expect that here,” the blond replied,
“and Kat went right along with him.”

Kirk cleared his throat and glanced at me. “Well, we don’t
exactly encourage them to correct customers or go against their wishes.”

“What I mean is, she doesn’t look even the least bit
startled. Usually, I’d expect to see one of the girls to look antsy at least,
as they’re being led into a place they know is off limits. She looks completely
calm.”

“Morton is new,” Miles added, “which is either an excuse or
a reason to be more suspicious. There was no harm this time, but I think we
should keep an eye on him.”

The blond nodded, “I’ll make a note for everyone to keep
track of him. He’s registered here until tomorrow afternoon.”

Miles nodded, “I’ll have someone chat with Kat later.”

Kirk chuckled, “By someone, I presume you mean Alley. I
assume nothing came up in his initial background check, but I’ll see if I can
dig a little deeper.”

Miles nodded then glanced at me.

“She won’t say anything,” Kirk lifted my chin and stared
into my eyes, “Understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Why don’t you bring her down to dinner with Alley and me?”

I twitched and Kirk must’ve felt it because he squeezed my
hand. “I’ll let you know later. Text me if anything else comes up.”

“I’ll take that as a hint not to come knocking on your door
again.”

“Yes.” The edge of Kirk’s lip tipped up, but his eyes were
dead serious.

Miles chuckled and smacked Kirk on the back of the shoulder
as he left. Then, Kirk nodded to the blond, “Take a ten-minute break.”

The man smirked, “Planning a quickie in the security
office?”

“No less chance of being interrupted here than in my own
room. I’ll keep an eye on him, but I also have a lesson in mind for my errant
slave.”

“Don’t make a mess; I’m on shift for another hour, so I
can’t exactly get away with leaving it for the next guy.”

“You have my word,” Kirk chuckled, placing his hand on the
back of my neck. My body stiffened and I tried to read his body language out of
the corner of my eye.

His eyes were soft, even after the blond man left us alone.

“I take it this is a lesson in why I shouldn’t try to run?”

“Partially.” He pulled me to him, smiling as my body reacted
to his nearness. “What are you afraid of?”

“Gabe….” Among other things, but nothing in this room could
address those fears.

“I said I’d protect you from him,” he whispered—it was more
of a promise than an admonishment. With his arm around my waist, he nudged me
closer to the monitors. Holding my back to his chest, he clicked a few keys
then pointed to the desktop monitor. It was the common room where Alley and I
had been waiting on the laundry….

I saw myself standing alone, arms wrapped around my stomach
as the girls crowded around the table. I remembered the fear that swirled
through my veins as I watched Gabe across the room. The video continued, and I
watched myself run out of the room. Kirk switched the video to the
stairwell—where I stood and debated what to do.

“Someone knew from the moment I headed toward the door.
That’s how you found me so quickly.”

“Yes. They paged me as soon as they saw you move away from
the group. Although they didn’t recognize it as panic, until we realized who
you had seen. He wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“Do you think he was looking for me?”

“Maybe, no one has mentioned it to him. If he didn’t realize
you were there, it’d confirm his suspicions.”

I felt his breath on my neck as he explained and I shivered.
“He knew I was there. I saw it on his face.”

“If he tries anything, we’ll catch him as quickly as we
caught you, as long as you stay where you belong, you’ll be fine.”

I relaxed, letting my body sink into his. “Are there cameras
in your room?”

“No, only guest rooms and public rooms.”

“So isn’t it possible that—”

“Don’t, Silver. Do you know how much trouble he’d have to go
through just to get you to a room without a camera?”

“Is this how you knew I was here?”

Kirk shook his head. “One of the men with Gabe was supposed
to be on duty here, and the guard at the other station was in on it, too.
They’ve all been taken off security duty, plus Miles and I can access the feed
from our computers. We’re keeping an eye on all of them.”

They’d actually done some in depth investigation into a
single girl being dragged on premises. It proved they wanted to know how and
when anyone and anything came and went on the property.

My eyes scanned the monitors again. “This place is huge.”

“We manage.”

The breath on my neck turned to kisses, and I wanted to pull
away as it sent waves of tension down to my core. I’d only lasted a week, and
now, beyond all rational thought I felt like I’d become obsessed with sex.

I wanted the few minutes of pleasure to numb my brain to the
pain. His acceptance and protection— they were the promise that the pain would
go away.

Kirk stiffened, then leaned around me and tapped a few keys
to bring up a different image.

“Damn it.” Kirk spun toward the door and typed something
into his phone. “Stay close to me.”

Better than getting left behind
. He slid his phone
back into his pocket and reached back to grab my wrist.

“Lesson learned, I’m staying with you,” I promised.

He glanced back with a half-smile and squeezed my arm, then
loosened his grip, moving it down to my hand and pulling me into a jog as we
crossed the catwalk and reentered the hallway on the other side.

I was relieved to get away from that damn basement room as
quickly as possible, but Kirk didn’t slow down. Instead of the elevator he led
me to the stairs, I managed to keep up with him as he jogged to the third
floor, but my lungs felt like they’d caught fire.

The third floor looked like a hotel, and it wasn’t hard to
conclude that these were the guest rooms. But I hadn’t gotten a good look at
the monitor he was concerned with, so I had no idea where we were going or what
the hurry was. The door at the end of the hallway was wide open, with Miles
standing just inside.

I lingered in the hallway as Miles and Kirk confronted the patron
and the slave—Kat. I almost wanted to gloat. Three more men came up behind me,
and Kirk pushed me against the wall, keeping me right behind him.

“We weren’t doing anything against the rules,” the patron
said, crossing his arms over his chest. Kat crouched down next to him, keeping
her eyes on the floor.

Miles motioned to the other men, “Take him to the security
office and search him for drugs.”

My head jerked up in interest. All of this commotion over
some guy with drugs. What kind of criminals were they?

“I got it on site,” he hissed as two of the men wrestled him
toward the door.

“If so,” Miles said, “we’ll find out.”

The guy kept hollering as they pulled him down the hallway,
then I heard a crack and he went silent.

“Stand up, Kat,” Kirk said, holding out his hand. I thought
for a moment he was offering to help her up, but she rose and kept her hands to
her sides.

“I don’t have anything; you can search me if you want.” She
grinned and held up her arms.

“You were with him when he passed off the drugs in the
hallway.”

“Didn’t see a thing. He never seemed intoxicated.”

“You do,” Miles said. “You know the rules.”

Kat scoffed and took a step back. “I haven’t taken
anything.” She glared past them to me.

“You know what happens if we find out that you’re lying.”

“If I’m lying… I’ve never been in trouble. I don’t know what
you saw, but I guess you need someone to take things out of when the favorites
can’t pay for their own transgressions.”

“What are you talking about?” Miles asked, giving Kirk and
me a sideways glance.

“You’re all in here interrogating me, but no one
interrogates
her
.”

I lifted my eyes and found everyone staring at me.

“She tries to get out, and—”

“She got her punishment,” Kirk said.

“And yet she’s wondering around—”

Miles growled and grabbed her forearm, pulling her toward
the door. “It’s not your place to make empty accusations, Kat.”

“We’re supposed to tell you everything we know, but not make
accusations?”

Miles swung her around and pinned her to the wall by her
throat. I winced at the soft crack of her body, followed by a hiss as she hit
the wall. “Do not get smart.”

I crept closer to Kirk.

“If you have something to say, keep it simple and make it
good,” Miles growled.

“She’s plotting something. I overheard her talking about a
meeting, then she slipped out while we—”

“Get her out of here, Miles,” Kirk yelled.

Miles pushed Kat out the door to the third man who had been
waiting in the hallway. “Take her up for a blood test then lock her up.” Then,
his attention came back to me. “You’re quickly making a lot of enemies.”

Kirk squeezed my hand. “Kat was looking for a convenient
scapegoat. Silver has only been out of my sight a few times and she’s—”

“I agree, but we should find out who is involved
before
Ross
gets back. I’m not sure he’ll see it our way,” Miles said, rubbing his thumb
over his lips. “I’m going up to have a chat with Alley. Pull up what you can on
Morton, and get the records of every girl he’s requested.”

Scapegoat

Kirk and I took a detour back to the security room so he
could download the data he wanted while Miles headed back to his apartment. I
leaned against his shoulder as the elevator set off to return us to the ninth
floor. We slowed to a stop on the fourth floor and I straightened, moving to my
position just behind him and lowering my head.

I saw two sets of feet enter.

“Well, if it isn’t Kirk and his feisty whore.”

I recognized Gabe’s voice and my stomach dropped. Kirk
didn’t speak as the men flanked him and the doors closed, but he widened his
stance and his body tensed.

Gabe reached around to touch me, and Kirk knocked away his
hand and punched the button for the seventh floor. The other man grabbed Kirk
by the throat. The elevator shook then the doors opened. Kirk broke free and
kicked Gabe, then shoved me out of the elevator. I twisted around trying to
keep my eyes on them and landed on my ass in the middle of the seventh-floor
hallway. Before I could get to my feet, the elevator doors closed.

I ran to the stairs and up to the next floor. Miles’ door
opened just as I entered the hallway.

“I got the call,” he said, still holding a phone to his ear.
He pointed inside. “Wait with Alley.”

I didn’t move, looking back at the elevator.

“One of them pushed the emergency stop,” He grabbed me and
dragged me to the door. “They’re in the control room putting in the override.
Wait here.”

He shoved me through the doorway and tossed a key to Alley.
“Keep it locked unless it’s me or Kirk.”

The door slammed in my face, and Alley slid the key into the
double cylinder deadbolt. “They’ll be fine,” she said, but I could see the lack
of conviction in her eyes.

I paced around the room, rubbing my hands over my face then
wringing my fingers in frustration. I needed something to do other than
standing helplessly in someone’s apartment. My chest tightened and I leaned
against the back of the couch then bent over, pressing my hands into my knees.

“Here,” Alley said, handing me a glass of water. I hadn’t
even noticed that she’d gone into the kitchen.

“I’m fine,” I said, brushing her away.

“You’re panicking, just take a few sips and calm down.”

“Why? Did you drug it?” I regretted the words as soon as I
saw Alley’s face. I knew she hadn’t, but—

“Damn the alcohol is strong tonight,” I said, pushing
away the glass of reddish liquid.

“You’re just overly sensitive since you never drink.”
Charlene pushed my glass back in my direction. “We’re barely two drinks in,
don’t be a pussy during your early birthday celebration. We’re having fun
tonight.”

“And if I drink much more, I’m not going to remember any
of it. I think something is off.” I rubbed my forehead and laid my head back.

Two men came over and sat down next to us. “Evenin’
ladies,” the one who sat next to me said.

“We have friends coming,” I said, but my tongue felt
useless and all of my words were slow. “Oh, god, you drugged us.”

I slide down the back of the couch to the floor, pressing my
forehead against my knees.