Indulgence (368 page)

“Silver,” Alley called, shaking my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. What I said wasn’t really meant for you. I
just remembered something.”

“You were drugged? Gabe?”

Rubbing my forehead, I shook my head. “I don’t remember
seeing him. And the two guys I do remember, I haven’t seen here.”

There was a thud at the door, and I jumped. Alley peeked
through the peephole and unlocked the door. Kirk walked in behind Miles, but
his face was red, and his cheekbone and knuckles bloodied.

I climbed up and ran over to them.

Miles stepped out of the way, collecting Alley in a hug. He
looked like he had the beginnings of a black eye, and his right fist was also
bloodied. “Security took Gabe and Drew up to lockup. Go get your Master cleaned
up.”

Kirk leaned against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes.

“What’s going to happen to them?” I asked.

“They wanted revenge, they got it,” Miles said. “They’ll
stay in lockup until Ross gets back, but he’ll probably release them.”

“So what can’t they get away with?”

“Silver,” Kirk snapped, and I pulled back into slave mode.

“Sorry, Master.”

Regardless of Kirk’s admonishment, Miles answered my
question. “Like everyone here, they stay as long as their value is more than
their trouble.”

I took that as a jab at me as well and nodded. Kirk put his
arm over my shoulder and I helped him back to his apartment. He locked the door
behind us and pulled off his torn shirt.

“Shit,” I breathed. “You look worse than I did.”

“They wanted to play with you.”

“Well, I at least hope they look equally bad.” I left him on
the couch and went to the kitchen, grabbing a few bags of frozen vegetables and
wrapping them in dishtowels. Then I filled a bowl with warm water and grabbed a
small roll of paper towels.

I put the icepacks on his chest where the injuries seemed to
be the worst then I used a wet paper towel to wipe away the dried blood on his
cheek.

Kirk caught my hand and brought my palm to his mouth and
kissed it. “This is quite a switch. And, yes, they look at least as bad as I
do.”

“Good.” I finished cleaning his cheekbone and put one of the
smaller icepacks against it, cleaning the rest of the blood from his knuckles
while he held it there. “Anything else I can do?”

“Ibuprofen is in the cabinet above the refrigerator. Bring
me that and a glass of water.”

I had to climb onto the counter next to the fridge to reach
the bottle of pills then I jumped down and filled a glass with water. I stared
down at it for a second. It hadn’t been that long since he hadn’t even trusted
me with a glass, now I was waiting on him.

He took the pill bottle and sat the glass down on the end
table while he dumped three capsules into his palm. He tossed them back and
took a swig of water. Placing one of the cushions on the edge of the couch, he
moved around to lie across it, and brought me down to sit between his
outstretched legs.

“I should get to work,” he groaned.

“You just got beat up in an elevator.”

“And that doesn’t help me figure out who is responsible for
the drugs.”

He kissed my neck and I scooted away so he could get up.
“Can I help?”

“No.”

I opened my mouth, about to let everything spill that I had
remembered while I was in Miles’ apartment, but I thought he had more important
things to tend to at the moment.

Kirk brushed his thumb over my bottom lip then kissed me.
“What were you going to say?”

“It’s not important right now. Go do your job.”

“Then why are you thinking about it?”

“I remembered something, right before you and Miles came
back—about the night I was brought here.”

Kirk sat back, “Tell me.”

“I told you that I was supposed to meet some friends for
dinner but that I didn’t remember going. I must’ve gone, because I remembered
being there with one of my friends, we were having drinks and I felt
strange—especially since we were only on our second drink. Then two men sat
down at our table, and that’s all I have right now.”

“What restaurant?”

“The Pufferbelly. It’s always a quiet restaurant.”

He nodded, “I know the place. And your friend’s name?”

I bit my lip, debating on whether to give it to him.

“Silver, I’m trying to find out what happened and if your
friend is okay.”

“Charlene Wilson.”

Brushing his hands through my hair, he kissed me again,
slower this time. “I’ll find out what they did to you.”

“Thank you.”

He blew out a long breath then stood, holding his side as he
moved to the desk. I picked up the ice packs and returned them to the freezer
then I laid across the couch.

*****

I heard something thud against the desk and sat up to look
over the back of the couch.

“Ross is arranging a flight back to deal with everything,”
Kirk explained.

And if Miles was right, I was in trouble. “He’s fond of Kat,
isn’t he?”

Kirk shrugged, “Kat thinks everyone is fond of her.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

He frowned at me.

“She told me that she was the one… with you the other
night.”

“Of course she did.” He rolled his chair over to the couch
and put his hand around the back of my neck. “You don’t have anything to worry
about. Not from her or Ross.”

“Then why is he coming back? And why can Gabe get away with
everything?”

Kirk sat back in the chair and crossed his arms over his
chest. I sucked my lower lip in and gnawed on it, realizing I’d probably
overstepped my bounds again.

“Ross is suspicious of new people, especially when they
don’t listen and cause a fuss. It can get bad for business fast. Kat throwing
you under the bus won’t help your cause, but Gabe attacking me may help, since
it adds credibility to you running because you were scared. Honestly, I knew it
was coming, but I was hoping you wouldn’t be with me. He has a vengeful streak,
but usually once he gets it out, everything goes back to normal.”

“Why put up with it in the first place? You said he’s always
causing trouble.”

“He’s paid his dues. He’s been with Ross a long time, a lot
longer than I have. He knows the right people, and he knows enough about them,
that they know better than to cross him.”

“And you’re sure he’s not the weasel?”

“No, but if he is, he needs to screw up big enough for there
to be no doubt about it.”

“You’ve been watching him,” I realized. “That’s how you
found me.”

Kirk nodded. “And now you know too much.”

“That mean you’re going to kill me?”

He smirked and shook his head. “Keep it up, Silver. You
almost went too far in front of Miles.”

“I was distraught.” I sat back on my heels, still facing the
back of the couch. “I don’t want to piss you off or get in trouble, I just need
an outlet, and you’re kinda the only person I talk to. When you don’t have your
scary face on, you’re not horrible company.”

“I have a scary face?”

“At the moment, it’s more like pathetically bruised face.”

He raised an eyebrow into something that more closely
resembled scary face and I backed down.

“I should be putting you in your place, but as long as
you’re obeying and not causing trouble, I can deal with you talking. It’s far
better than trying to figure out what you’re quietly plotting.” He cocked a
finger at me. “Come here.”

I leaned over the back of the couch. He stood, and before I
could duck back, he dragged me over the back of the couch to stand in front of
him. Then he sat down and pulled me on top of his lap, straddling his thighs in
the computer chair.

“The chair is going to break
,
” I said as it creaked
under us.

“I doubt it, but even if it did, I’d take most of the
impact. You’d probably have a good laugh.”

“You’re already half-broken.” I poked near one of the
bruises and he grimaced, grabbing my finger and twisting both of my hands
behind my back.

“I’m not half-broken.” He took both of my wrists into one
hand, pulling them backward so my back arched and my breasts thrust outward
into his face. Then, he pushed my shirt up and rolled my nipple between his
fingers.

The same one Ross had tried to twist off, but his erotic
movements overrode the pain, and even though I still wanted to wrestle myself
away, I was afraid of the chair giving out, so I held my statue-like pose.

Faster than I could think, Kirk lifted me up and sat me on
my feet. I grabbed the couch to keep my balance and stared at him wide eyed.

He looked away dismissively. “How about being a good pet and
making dinner. Alley and Miles are coming up in an hour.”

At least pet was better than slave, I thought, but— “You’re
doing it again.”

Someone knocked on the door, and I balled my hands at my
sides. It was probably a good thing I couldn’t say my peace, but it didn’t make
it any less frustrating. The office chair spun around, knocking into the desk
as Kirk went to answer the door. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat
against the back of the couch.

Hot, cold, fucked, ignored, friendly, distant. I wanted away
from the mood swings.

And half of them were my own.

A scrawny black-haired man stood in the doorway, I thought
I’d noticed him in passing, but I had no idea who he was or what his role might
be.

“Don’t punch the messenger, but I was sent down to let you
know that Ross threw down the order to release Gabe and Darian. Ross will be
back tonight, and he wants everyone in his office—including your slave—when he
arrives. You may want to stay here until—”

“Unless that’s an order from Ross, I’ll damn well do as I
please,” Kirk said.

The other man nodded and made a clicking sound with his
mouth. “Okay, I was just—”

“Anything else?”

Black hair looked past Kirk to me, and I turned my gaze
away, dropping my hands to the back of the couch. I probably shouldn’t have
been standing there, let alone listening, but too little too late.

I heard the door click and the deadbolt slide into place.
Kirk had started leaving the key in the inner lock while he was here.
Apparently he really did trust me not to run, not that I’d make it to the front
door without him noticing.

“Dinner,” he reminded me, waving toward the kitchen.

That was the last thing I wanted to think about, but since
everyone knew about Gabe, I figured they’d all be watching for another attack.
“What am I supposed to make?”

“It’s a full kitchen. Make something good.”

“I didn’t notice any frozen pizzas or fish sticks.”

“Now’s not the time to be a smart ass.”

“I’m being fucking serious. I was never a—” I waved toward
the kitchen, “whatever they call people who are good in the kitchen. You want
me to build a table or cabinet and I’m good, around glass and cooking things
I’m a disaster. I have burned Ramen.”

Kirk covered his face with both hands. “I don’t even know
what to say to that.”

“I always wanted to be at the shop with Dad, not in the
kitchen…” I almost fell to my knees at the thought of never seeing them again.
“Can we forget I said that?”

Kirk tucked me against his chest. I avoided looking at him
as I swallowed the tears and emotions.

“I can’t believe you all even cook anyway.” I shrugged him
off. “Can’t we just order food?”

“That won’t be half as amusing.”

“Right, watching me set fire to your kitchen is going to be
fabulous. Maybe we should ask Miles and Alley to come up now and enjoy the
show.”

Kirk stepped toward me and I dodged his grasp, darting into
the kitchen. He caught my wrist and pinned me to the counter, so I took the
opportunity to rub against him.

“You’re tempting fate,” he warned. “I put some pork chops in
the fridge last night, get them out and put them on a cutting board. I’ll be
right back.”

Cutting board? That was dangerously close to giving me a
knife. I laid them out and threw away the packaging. Then, I saw what Kirk
returned with.

“I’m sorry,” I squeaked.

“Wash your hands, pull down your pants, and lean over the
counter.”

I watched him lube up the plug as I slowly ran my hands
under the hot water. I couldn’t tell if it was the vibrating one or not, and I
shuddered at the thought of trying to cook with that thing having a fiesta in
my ass.

“I’m the boss,” he said as I pulled down my pants and got
into position. “Even if you’re trying to be cute, no trying to
passive-aggressively top me.”

There was no foreplay with this one, but I had been worked
up all day, so it didn’t much matter. He pressed the cold tip to my hole and
slid it in slowly. It was one of the larger ones, so by the time he had it
nearly in, I wanted to climb up the wall. It fell into place with one more push
then he rubbed against it with the palm of his hand. “Put your pants back on.”

He was going to kill me.

I pulled the pants up and buttoned them, the tight material
pressing firmly against the base of the plug. You took control by giving up
your control, I reminded myself, dragging my hair away from my face.

Kirk heated up a pan and poured in some olive oil, and
sprinkled seasonings over the two pieces of meat. I wasn’t sure if it was the
pressure in my ass and the combination of everything else, but watching him
stand over the stove shirtless and cooking wasn’t doing a damn thing to help me
reign in my gung-ho sex drive.

“Grab a baking sheet,” he pointed to a tall cupboard next to
the fridge, “and make some fries. You can handle that, right?”

We’ll see. I nodded. Walking with the plug in made me want
to drop to my knees. Crawling might have even been easier.

Hold it together
.

The fries pinged against the metal of the pan as I poured
out a layer and spread them out.