To Love and Obey (Boundaries) (18 page)

“So, have you set a date for the wedding yet?” a tall Domme, dressed in black latex, asked.

“Not yet,” replied Adam, grinning. “But I don’t want to leave it too long. I want to make her mine before she changes her mind.”

Rachel was just about to add something about keeping him on his toes, when one of the doormen came over and spoke quietly in Adam’s ear. Adam nodded and turned to Rachel. “I’ve just got to sort something out in reception. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t be too long,” said the Domme, “or I might keep her for myself.”

Adam laughed and winked at Rachel before disappearing into the crowd. She chatted with the Domme for a while, until Victoria approached with a worried look on her face.

“Rachel? Adam wants to see you in the office straight away.” Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, and Rachel wondered what had upset her. Well, if she wasn’t prepared to talk to her about it, there wasn’t really that much she could do to help.

“Thanks,” she said, and felt a surge of excitement ignite in her belly. She excused herself from the Domme, and made her way to the office as quickly as she could. She couldn’t help the massive grin that must have been plastered on her face. There was only one reason why Adam would want to see her in the office now, and it wasn’t to look at the accounts.

Chapter Thirteen

As Rachel opened the door to the office, she was surprised to see the room looked empty. She smiled as she guessed he must be playing games with her. Was he going to jump out from some hiding place and grab her? Throw her on the desk and maybe ravish her there and then? She giggled as she stepped into the room. “Adam?”

Then the door slammed behind her, and a firm hand grabbed her by the hair and took hold of her arm so tightly that she cried out in pain. Before she realized what was happening, she was forced farther into the room and thrown against the large desk. This wasn’t Adam. He would never be so rough with her. As she struggled back onto her feet, a hand slapped her across the face so hard that she fell backwards, and her vision blurred for a second as she tried desperately to work out what the hell was going on.

In that split second though, her attacker had clipped metal handcuffs around her wrists then deftly attached them to a chain that had been locked around the leg of the solid, oak desk. As her vision slowly cleared, the image of Dominique’s twisted face gradually materialized in front of her, and her heart sank as she acknowledged that she was in very real danger.

“Karen, for God’s sake,” she cried, “let me go.” She knew her words were futile, but she didn’t know what else to say. Suddenly, the same fear she’d felt the night Karen had attacked her in the club gripped her heart so tightly, she had to gasp for breath.

“Don’t you dare call me that, you fucking whore,” snapped Karen, and threw a heavy punch against Rachel’s right cheek. Fiery pain brought flashes of white light across her eyes and she tried, in vain, to bring her hand up to protect her face.

“What do you want?” gasped Rachel through the throbbing pain of her cheek.

“I want you dead,” growled Karen, as she reached for something behind the desk. “And, once you’re out of the way, I’m going to get Adam back.”

Something changed in Rachel’s fear then. It was as if it hardened into a ball of rock, with fire trapped inside. As the pressure built, the rock exploded like a volcano and the fear turned into angry molten lava, seeping out of her pores with a need for survival, so strong, that nothing would stop it.

“Karen, when will you get it through your thick head that Adam doesn’t want you? Whether I’m here or not, he will
never
take you back.” Her anger simmered dangerously under the surface, ready to explode if Karen touched her again. If her hands were free now, she’d knock her bloody lights out.

“Of course he will. He loves me,” said Karen in a strangely calm voice. “He may think he doesn’t right now, but that’s because you’ve poisoned his mind. Once you’re gone, he’ll realize that it’s me he wants.”

“You poor, deluded little woman,” spat Rachel. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was in serious danger here, she might almost feel sorry for Karen.

“We’ll see.” Karen picked a can up and started pouring some sort of liquid in a large circle around the desk, stopping by the door. As Karen put the can down on the floor next to her, Rachel finally smelled what the liquid was. Shit! It was petrol.

She tugged at the chain securing her to the desk and wondered how much strength it would take to lift the thick, heavy leg of the solid desk. But she knew it would be impossible, that desk was so heavy she could barely push it, let alone lift a leg up with cuffed hands.

“Karen…Dominique, let’s talk about this,” she cried, desperate to buy some time.

But Karen ignored her and reached into her pocket, quickly pulling out a lighter which she held up for Rachel to see. “Goodbye, bitch,” she growled, and flicked the lighter on.

Panic tore through Rachel then, as she realized that Karen was deadly serious. She closed her eyes and waited, with sickening dread, for the heat of the inevitable flames to engulf her. But instead, she heard the door crash open and Adam calling her name.

“Rachel!” He froze when he saw her chained to the desk and surrounded by a wet trail of petrol.

As if in a movie, Karen stepped out in front of him, holding the lighter dramatically up in front of his face.

“Karen,” he growled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Give me that lighter.
Now
!”

Karen just laughed and waved the lighter farther out of his reach, taunting him. “I’m getting rid of her for you,” she cried. The madness in her voice was clear. “Then we can go back to the way we were before
she
came along and ruined it all.”

Adam glanced over at Rachel quickly and, somehow, in that split second, sent her a silent message to remain strong.

He turned back to Karen and softened his voice. “Karen. You and I were finished a long time before Rachel came along. You must accept that we’ll never get back together again. It’s over.”

Rachel held her breath as she waited for Karen’s response. But, she couldn’t believe her eyes when it came, as Karen suddenly threw herself onto her knees in front of Adam, in what she recognized as the slave position. “Master. I beg you to take me back. I’ll serve you in any way you require, and I’ll be your loving and faithful slave for as long as I live.” Her voice had become desperate, and along with that desperation—Rachel knew that Karen had become more dangerous.

Adam stared at Karen in disbelief. “For God’s sake, Karen. Get up!”

“But I love you, Master,” she wailed, almost hysterically.

“No, you don’t,” said Adam coldly. “You never loved me.”

Karen looked up into Adam’s face, and finally appeared to see the contempt in his eyes. Her body stiffened, the submissiveness visibly draining away, leaving it trembling with rage.

“Noooo,” Karen screamed, and quickly scrambled back to her feet. Her eyes had a new look of madness in them, a look that was far more terrifying than anything Rachel had seen before now. She watched in horror as Karen suddenly picked up the petrol can and doused herself in the pungent liquid. When Karen had dropped to the floor a moment ago, Rachel had noticed that she’d dropped the lighter, but she had somehow managed to pick it up again as she’d stood back up, because she now waved it scarily in the air with renewed fervor.

“If I can’t have you, then neither will she,” she growled, her eyes flashing with fury. “She’s surrounded with the petrol, Adam, so if I go up in flames, then so does she.”

Adam didn’t have a chance to react because Karen flicked the lighter on and held the flame up in front of his face. There was nothing he could do. Rachel guessed that he might be trying to work out if he could get to her in time if the room went up in flames, but, even if he did manage to reach her, she was handcuffed to the desk and he didn’t have a key. He wouldn’t be able to save her.

Maybe Karen was just stalling for time. Maybe Adam should tell her what she wanted to hear and she’d give him the lighter? But Rachel knew that, even if Adam did play along, there was no way Karen was going to let her go.

Then her worst fears were confirmed when Karen let out a spine-chilling scream and the room lit up with the whoosh of a flame igniting. She wasn’t sure if Karen really had intended to set herself on fire. Had she waved the lighter in the air just to scare Adam? Whatever Karen’s intentions, the flame must have caught the petrol because, suddenly, the room was alight.

Rachel could no longer see Adam or Karen through the flames surrounding her. They had taken hold so quickly that she hadn’t had a chance to see what had actually happened. All she could see now was smoke—thick black smoke and it was creeping closer toward her.

Her eyes stung, her nose stung and her lungs stung. She could no longer see anything for the smoke, and she knew she didn’t have very long before she succumbed completely. Was this really how she was going to die? She thought of Adam, and her heart broke for him. Would he ever get over this?

The strength drained out of her. She couldn’t breathe. Every time she coughed, she just inhaled more of the thick, acrid smoke until she felt as though her whole body was consumed with it. Her eyes closed and she waited for the final breath to leave her body. At least she would die before the flames reached her. Her last thought before the blackness enveloped her was of Adam, and how her love for him would never die along with her. She just wished she could have told him that.

* * * *

Rachel opened her eyes and quickly closed them again. Was this Heaven? It must be because she just saw Adam’s pale, drawn face smiling down at her.

“Rachel?”

Yep, that was definitely his voice. Hang on, why was he in Heaven with her? He hadn’t died, had he?

She opened her eyes again and, sure enough, there he was. But her eyes hurt. She needed to shut them again. But if she did, she might lose him. As her lids grew heavy again, she heard his voice, excited, panicky, desperate. “Nurse! Nurse, she’s awake. She opened her eyes.”

Then it all went black again as she drifted in and out of the strange fog which seemed to surround her.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself looking up into the face of a woman.

She smiled efficiently as she spoke. “Hello, Rachel. Welcome back, I’m Doctor Richards. You gave us all quite a scare.”

“Adam?” she croaked. Why wasn’t her voice working? Where was Adam?

“I’m right here, Rachel,” called Adam from behind the doctor.

“Mr Stone, kindly step back while I see to Miss Porter,” said the doctor firmly. Despite everything, Rachel smiled at hearing Adam being told what to do.

When the doctor had checked her over and finally left the room, Adam took her hand and smiled down at her. “I was so worried,” he said, his voice breaking slightly as he tried to hide his anguish. “Thank God, you’re all right.”

“What happened?” she croaked. Her head was foggy. For some reason, she couldn’t quite reach the part of her brain that held her memories.

“You were in a fire,” said Adam softly. “But you’re safe now.”

Oh, yes. It was coming back now. “Dominique…” she cried.

“Karen is dead. She won’t hurt you again.”

Dead?
So it hadn’t all just been a horrible nightmare. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Hmm…I’m not sure I am. She tried to kill you. I thought I was too late,” he whispered. “I thought I’d lost you.” His voice shook as he spoke and tears pooled in his eyes.

“How did you get me out?” She remembered the handcuffs that had prevented her escape. There’s no way Karen would have given him the key, so how did he get them off?

“I cut the cuffs off you. All the Dungeon Monitors in the club, including myself, carry strong metal cutters as a safety precaution,” he replied, reaching out and taking hold of her hand.

It felt strange. She glanced down and saw that it was covered in bandages.

“Your hand…” she gasped.

“It’s only a little burn. It’s fine. I grabbed a blanket, and covered myself as I ran into the flames to get you. Once I’d cut you free, I wrapped you in the blanket and got you out just as the flames closed in. My hand must have got in the way,” he said, with a wry smile.

“You could have died.” She closed her eyes again and a tear escaped from beneath a lid. He’d nearly died because of her. He’d saved her.

“Rachel, there’s no way I was going to let you die in there. I’d rather have died myself.”

The emotion in his voice brought more tears and her throat contracted painfully as she tried to stop herself from choking on them.

“I want to go home.” She desperately needed to get away from the hostile environment of the hospital, and be home in the safe comfort of Adam’s house—their house. She wanted to watch Adam prepare dinner in the kitchen, while Thor and Freya slept in a sunny corner of the garden. She wanted to put the fire behind her and forget about it. As if it had never happened.

“I know, but you’ll need to stay in hospital for another day, because of the smoke inhalation. They want to keep an eye on your lungs.”

She tried to feel the pain of burns, but her body felt numb. “Am I… Am I badly scarred?” she whispered.

Adam shook his head. “You have a nasty burn on your left arm, which might leave a scar, but that will fade in time. You were lucky, another minute and…” His voice broke as he struggled to regain some control.

“Adam, I thought I was going to die.” Her croaky voice was now barely a whisper.

A tear ran down Adam’s face as bent his head to her chest. “Oh, Rachel. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You saved me.”

“Karen was my problem, not yours. I should have realized that she wouldn’t let go so easily.”

“You weren’t to know. How did you know where to find me?” She had a vague memory of getting some sort of message.

“Victoria told me. She literally dragged me back through the club to find you.”

Oh, yes. She remembered now. “But it was Victoria who gave me the message to meet you in the office.” That didn’t make sense. Why would Victoria have given her a message that would have lured her into danger?