Dangerous Master (25 page)

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Authors: Tawny Taylor

Tags: #General, #Fiction

BOOK: Dangerous Master
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“If I go with you, I’m not going to scene with anyone. I’m good with Zane. He’s the only dom for me.”
“Ah, it must be true love.” Sarah patted Mandy’s cheek. “There’s a bar on the main level. And a restaurant. If we take separate cars, you can leave if you get bored.”
That was the first suggestion that made sense. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go.”
They rolled into Twilight’s parking lot a little before eleven. Sporting a miniskirt that barely covered her ass, Sarah walked with a sway-hipped swagger into the club. Mandy felt a little plain standing beside her at the check-in desk. Wearing a simple black dress and cute high heels, she was dressed for a nice dinner, not a bondage club. The guy at the counter wished them a good evening and buzzed the locked door behind him to let them in.
Sarah led the way, grabbing Mandy’s hand and dragging her through the doorway. “There’s a bar down here, too, serving nonalcoholic drinks. Can’t drink and play here.”
“That’s a good rule.”
“Yeah. Alcohol and bondage gear don’t mix.” Sarah made a beeline for the juice bar. She ordered some guava berry concoction that smelled good. Mandy decided she’d try one, too. Sarah handed Mandy hers and ordered a second one from the bartender for herself.
Sipping, they turned to watch the action going on in the main dungeon.
Mandy grimaced. “This stuff tastes awful. Salty. Nothing like what I thought. What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. A bunch of herbs that are supposed to be healthy. Oh, and some pheromones. You know, to heighten your pleasure.”
“Pheromones, you say?” Mandy took another taste. The second wasn’t quite as bad as the first. “Do you see any promising submissives yet?”
“No. I’ll give it another ten minutes, and then if nothing shakes out, we can go up to the bar.” Something caught Sarah’s eye.
Mandy looked. Zane.
Her heart jumped.
“Hi, Zane,” Sarah said.
“Hello, Sarah, Amanda.” He had a wicked look in his eye as he leaned into Mandy. “What are you drinking?” he asked, reaching for her glass. “Is it alcohol?”
“No, it’s not.” She handed him the glass.
He sniffed, smiled, and returned it to her. “Excellent. Come with me.”
Mandy glanced at Sarah.
Sarah shooed her away. “Go, have fun. I’ll be fine. I think I may call it a night. Nothing’s doing it for me tonight.”
“Call me tomorrow.”
“Will do.” Sarah waved.
Mandy slid her hand into Zane’s, following his lead around the perimeter of the dungeon. “Where are we headed?”
“To my private suite. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Oh.” Clearly, he didn’t have what she’d assumed in mind—a cozy scene with just the two of them. She didn’t want to let on that she was disappointed, so she pasted on a smile. “Who is this person?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Zane walked the rest of the way in silence. He was playing the mysterious dom card. Mandy kind of liked it. She was intrigued. He opened the very last door and motioned Mandy into the suite, closing the door behind them.
As Mandy had become accustomed to seeing, there was a nude man kneeling in the middle of the room. And, as usual, he was beautiful, with a body that would make any girl breathe a little fast and heavy.
“Amanda, this is Bruce. I don’t know if you recognize him, but he is the one I was fucking the day you surprised me at my house.”
“Oh.” That day, she hadn’t gotten a good look at Zane’s partner’s face. In fact, she hadn’t gotten a good look at much of any of him. She had to say, Zane had excellent taste in men. This one could inspire some serious wet dreams.
Bruce stood and extended a hand, his gaze meeting Mandy’s. Oh, yes, wet dreams. Most definitely. “Hello, Amanda. It’s nice to meet you at last.”
Not sure how to respond, Mandy shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too.” When he released her hand, Mandy took a step backward, bumping into Zane. Why’d he bring her back here? What was he up to? She glanced over her shoulder.
“Do you remember what I told you about our relationship—Bruce’s and mine?” Zane set his hands on Mandy’s shoulders.
“I remember the basics.” She recalled him telling her they’d been together a long time. And it had something to do with his being a vampire. Feeding.
“We’ve been talking and we’ve had a thought.”
“What thought?” Her gaze ping-ponged back and forth between Zane and Bruce. She was feeling cornered. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Bruce has had some trouble finding another situation. And because I’ve been feeding from him for so long, he’s become dependent upon my venom. It’s not common—”
“Addicted to vampire venom?” she echoed.
“You could say that.” Zane nodded. He eased Mandy around to face him. “I need you to understand how dangerous this is for him. If he doesn’t have a regular dose, he’ll die.”
Mandy knew Zane wanted her to take this situation seriously, but it was so over-the-top melodramatic that she was having a very hard time. “He’ll die?”
“Yes. And he’s discovered that it isn’t good enough if he finds a new ... partner. Our venom is unique to each individual. I knew this. What I didn’t know is that the substance he’s addicted to within my venom isn’t common to other Dejenen’s venom. In other words, another’s venom won’t stop his withdrawal.”
“What about medicine? Can’t he take something? Like methadone?”
“There is no medicine. I wish that was an option.”
Ugh. “So there’s no getting around it. You’ll have to fuck him indefinitely, right? That’s what this is leading to.”
“No,
I
won’t have to fuck him.” Zane smiled, and a few parts of her body got warm and tingly. Here they were, talking about Zane screwing someone else, a guy, and she was getting hot. “I can let someone else do that for me.”
“Okay.” Mandy tried to imagine how that would work. She pictured Bruce bent over, some man fucking his ass while Zane chomped on his neck. It wasn’t a totally off-putting image. In fact, it was quite pleasant. “So ... where is this leading?”
“I was thinking, because I need to feed two to three times per week, that I’d like to offer you the chance to be a part of the process.”
Was he asking what she thought he was asking? Was he asking her to be the third of his kinky vampire-feeding trio?
“Um ...” She swallowed a huge lump. What exactly was she feeling about this? Zane was doing what she’d asked him to do. He was opening up, letting her see all the secret sides of himself. Wouldn’t she be a bitch if she freaked out about this now? He might shut down. She might never earn his trust again.
Oh, shit, but he was asking her to be part of a threesome. Much more shocking, he was asking her to watch him drink a man’s blood. She hadn’t seen that coming. Maybe she should have, but she hadn’t. When she’d asked him to open up, let her see who he truly was, she was thinking he might tell her some more stories about the past, about what it felt like to be a vampire.
Zane motioned Bruce away and took Mandy’s upper arms in his hands. His expression was darker than she’d ever seen it. “Amanda, I won’t be upset if you’re not ready for this.”
“It is a bit much,” she admitted. Zane nodded. “But we just talked about how I wanted to know you, to understand you. If I don’t—”
“You’re afraid I’ll be upset,” he finished for her.
“Of course.”
“Don’t let that pressure you into making a decision you’ll regret. When I told you I love you, I meant it. And loving you means I’ll do anything for your sake. It also means I cannot allow you to do anything you’ll regret. Do you understand?”
“Sure. What you’re saying is I’ve got to go into this full steam ahead, ready, willing, and able, with a huge smile on my face. Or I need to reconsider sharing a future with you.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“No, you’re not. But that’s the bottom line.”
“You need time to sort this out.”
“Yes. I think I do.” Mandy glanced at Bruce, who was silently waiting at the far end of the room. He’d pulled on a robe and was sitting on the couch, acting like he wasn’t listening. Of course, Mandy knew he was. At the door, Mandy gnawed on her lip as she looked into Zane’s eyes. He was the most amazing man she’d ever met. And she couldn’t stop thinking about him. But was that enough? Or would they both be better off if she walked away? Was their relationship destined to fail because they were so different? “Dammit, Zane.” She palmed his cheek. His stubble scratched. Her fingertip traced the graceful curve of his jaw. “Why do things with you have to be so freaking complicated?”
“I’m sorry, Amanda. I tried.”
“You did more than try, Zane. I guess I just wasn’t prepared for reality. It’s me who’s sorry.”
He placed his hand over hers and blinked. His eyes glistened. Tears? “Call me when you’re ready to talk. I won’t pressure you.”
“Okay.”
“In the meantime, I’ll ask an associate to keep an eye on you. We still don’t know who wants you dead or why.”
“Thank you.” Swallowing a sob, Mandy let her hand drop to her side. She felt Zane’s gaze on her until she reached the end of the corridor. The hollow echo of a door closing behind her sounded just as she turned the corner.
Feeling like crap, certainly not in the mood to party anymore, Mandy headed out to the main dungeon. Assuming Sarah’d gone home, Mandy headed out to her car.
In the dark parking lot, two sets of footsteps
click-clacked
in the quiet. Mandy’s. And someone else’s. Not sure if that someone else was Zane’s hired help or another hit man or just someone leaving the dungeon, Mandy spun around to take a look.
25
 
A
t the rear of the parking lot, Sarah stepped out from behind an SUV, beaming. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. What happened with Zane?”
“Long story.” Feeling worn out, both physically and emotionally, Mandy kicked off her shoes and barefooted it the rest of the way to her car.
“Want to talk about it?” Sarah asked as Mandy slumped into the driver’s seat.
Mandy powered down the window.
Sarah peered through the opening. “Hmmm, you don’t look so good. Are you okay?”
Mandy shoved the key into the ignition. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just worn out. I need to get home and go to bed. I think I could sleep for days.”
“I hear that. Okay, I’ll let you get going.” Sarah smacked the car door.
“Thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow. What’re you doing here anyway? I thought you left.”
“I ran into an old friend and we were talking.”
“That’s good.” Instead of pulling out of the parking spot, Mandy let her head fall back against the headrest. She was starting to feel a little woozy. Could be exhaustion. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. The flu, maybe.
“Yeah, it was nice to see him again.” Sarah shooed her. “Anyway, we can talk about it tomorrow. After you’ve had some sleep.”
Mandy’s head swam when she nodded. “Okay. G’night.” She shifted her car into reverse and twisted to look over her shoulder. The world tipped back and forth, like she was sitting on a ship, rolling over a huge wave. “Shit.” Holding her head very still, she maneuvered her car out of the parking spot. Once again, the world swooped when she turned around to face forward. She’d never been so dizzy. She shifted into drive and inched her car to the road. She tried looking for traffic, but this time when she turned her head, little stars flickered over her vision, obscuring it. She shoved the gear shift into park and started digging blindly through her purse.
Someone knocked.
She blinked, trying to clear her vision. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well.”
“It’s me, Sarah. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I feel like ...” She broke out in a head-to-toe sweat. “I think I’m going to ...” Her vision dimmed.
“Mandy! What’s wrong?” Sarah said, sounding far away.
Silence.
 
Mandy couldn’t move her arms. She strained to open her eyes. Her eyelids were so freaking heavy. It took herculean effort to lift them at all. When she managed, she saw she was lying on a bed in a bedroom she didn’t recognize. She was on her side, facing a wall covered with tattered 1980s blue and yellow flowered wallpaper. She tried moving her arms again. They were secured behind her back.
Sarah scurried into the room and, seeming unaware that Mandy was awake, started digging through the contents of Mandy’s purse.
“Sarah?” Mandy said. Her voice was raspy, her throat dry.
“Oh!” Sarah jerked her head up. “You’re awake?”
“What’s going on?”
“You’re sick.”
“Where are we?”
“At a friend’s house. Where’s your phone?”
“I don’t know.” Mandy tugged on her arms. “Why am I tied up?”
“Oh, um, well, when you were asleep, you were thrashing around. I was afraid you’d hurt yourself.”
Even though her brain was in a thick fog, Mandy wasn’t buying Sarah’s explanation. “I’m awake now. You can untie me.”
“I’ll get to it in a minute. I need to find your phone first.”
“Why?”
“Because ... I need to look up a phone number.”
“Whose?”
“You’re not feeling well. Why don’t you close your eyes and go back to sleep?” What Sarah had probably intended to be a reassuring smile came off as an empty one.
What the hell was going on?
A distant knock echoed through the house.
Sarah jerked upright. “Be right back.”
“Sarah, what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain everything in a minute.” Sarah rushed out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
Mandy tried to think. She couldn’t. Her brain wasn’t working. She wormed and wriggled until she was sitting upright. Everything threatened to go black again. She waited out the spell, wishing she knew what was happening. Once her vision cleared somewhat, she slowly eased to her feet. The floor beneath her pitched back and forth as she staggered to the door. Turning her back to it, she twisted the knob and pulled. The hinges groaned as the door slowly swung open. Mandy headed into a narrow, dim hallway that led to a steep staircase. She gripped the railing with both hands, leaned into the wall, and prayed she’d make it down the staircase without falling.
She was lucky. She had a couple of close calls and once had to sit down and rest, but she made it to the foot of the stairs without breaking her neck. She followed the sound of voices, coming from around the corner.
“I don’t care,” Sarah said. “You have to do it now. Today. I need her dead within the hour.”
Dead? Who? What the hell?
“This is all fucked up,” a man said.
Mandy couldn’t see him. Who was he? What was going on?
“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” he said.
Please tell me I’m not the “her” they’re talking about.
“Make it work. It’s the best I could do under the circumstances,” Sarah snapped. “I couldn’t very well take her home. And I didn’t think taking her to my place was a good idea either.”
“What happened to our original plans?” the man asked.
“I couldn’t get her out of the bar earlier. Dammit, you’re wasting time. The drugs are already wearing off.”
Holy shit, they
are
talking about me.
Drugs. That was why she was feeling so fucked up.
Sarah wanted her dead? Dead! Her best friend? Why?
Mandy leaned back against the wall and tried to think. What should she do? Where could she go? She had no idea where she was. She was still very unsteady on her feet. She’d kill herself if she tried to run.
“Lady, if you want the bitch dead, you’re gonna hafta do it yourself. Take her the hell out of here. I don’t want no part of this.”
Thank God for small miracles.
“Listen, you asshole, I already paid you. You’ll do what I say—”
The sound of scuffling ensued. Mandy guessed Sarah was being set straight. Mandy’s first inclination was to charge in there and try to protect her friend. But then she remembered that bitch had hired someone to kill her.
She walked in the opposite direction, staggering from one piece of furniture to another until she reached the front door. Out she went, into a dark and moonless night.
Praying to every god she’d heard of, she stumbled and rambled down the sidewalk. Little 1930s bungalows and mature oak trees lined the narrow street. Front yards were cluttered with toys, trash, and in some cases, discarded furniture. To say this wasn’t the best neighborhood was an understatement. She sent up some more prayers and continued down the street. Two blocks later, three encounters with mutant rats that were the size of a beagle, and one nearly fatal fall, she was standing at the intersection of the residential street and a main road. The squatty buildings on the road, most of them industrial, were all dark. Outside of the occasional car rolling past, the area looked deserted.
Just her luck. Her homicidal best friend had hauled her unconscious body to the bad side of town. But at least she’d been able to use the rough edge of a mangled metal fence post to cut the ropes and free her arms.
If her luck continued, she’d find an open party store. There were generally lots of those in areas like this.
She made it one block up before a car rolled to the curb. She knew that car. And there was no way in hell she was getting into it.
“Mandy,” her former best friend called to her through the open passenger window. “What are you doing out here?”
Mandy didn’t say a word. As tempting as it was to tell Sarah what she thought of her diabolical plans to have her killed, Mandy knew that was the wrong thing to do right now. She couldn’t afford to tip her friend off that she knew what was going on.
Sarah pulled the car into a parking lot a few buildings up and jumped out. The two former friends met in the middle. “It isn’t safe out here, especially with someone out to kill you.”
Yeah, isn’t that the truth.
Mandy decided to play the too-drugged-up-to-know-what-she-was-doing card. “I was thirsty. Need a drink,” she slurred. “Where’s my car?”
“It’s in the bar parking lot. You passed out.”
Mandy eyed Sarah’s running car. She thought about her wobbly legs, her blurry vision, and her delayed reflexes. It was one hell of a long shot, but why not? “What the hell, I can walk.” Mandy tossed a casual wave over her shoulder and continued up the road, her sights set on Sarah’s car.
“Mandy, how about I drive you to the store?” Sarah called, shuffling after her. “It’s a half mile up the road. You wouldn’t want to walk that far.”
“I dunno.” Mandy stopped at the car’s rear bumper. She squinted at nothing down the street, behind Sarah. “Hey, who’s that? I think that man’s running this way.”
Just like she hoped, Sarah whirled around. Mandy scrambled into the car and threw it into reverse just as Sarah dashed up to the driver’s door. Sarah jerked the door open, but Mandy slammed on the gas. The car zoomed backward. Mandy stomped on the brake, shifted into drive, and hit the gas again. Ten seconds later, she waved at a shrinking Sarah in the rearview mirror.
“So long, bitch.”
Knowing she was in no condition to drive all the way home from wherever the hell she was, she pulled into the first full parking lot she came across. It was a bowling alley. Never more thankful for the built-in phone in Sarah’s car, she called Zane, explained everything, did some crying, and thanked him when he said he’d be there in fifteen minutes to pick her up. After cutting off the call, she did some more crying.
Her best friend, her employee, her confidant, and her companion had hired someone to kill her. Why?
By the time Zane’s fierce black car prowled up, she was almost completely cried out, or so she thought. Turned out she had a few more tears to expend when he hauled her into his arms and held her. She sobbed like a baby, making a mess of his shirt. Thankfully, he couldn’t care less. He merely asked, after she’d stopped, “Are you okay? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”
“I’m okay, but do you think we need proof that she drugged me?”
Zane’s expression changed. Mandy decided she didn’t like what she was seeing.
“I believe in the legal system,” Mandy told him. “You aren’t going to go vigilante vampire on me, are you?”
“I want to.”
“Please don’t. I’d rather do this the right way.”
“Very well.” His tone was clipped. “I suppose, in that case, a trip to the hospital would be wise.”
“Thank you.”
“But if you change your mind ...” He let the rest trail off.
She knew what he meant.
 
Several hours, a blood test, a pee test, and a police report later, Mandy was safe and sound in Zane’s bed. Being a god, he was kneeling, his legs straddling her unclad upper body, rubbing her back and spoiling her rotten.
After letting loose a long moan, Mandy murmured, “I could seriously get used to this.”
“You deserve it.” He angled over her, kissing her shoulder.
“Are you for real?”
“I think we’ve already established that.”
“Yeah.” Recalling the difficult conversation they’d had at the bondage club, Mandy’s happy, floaty mood dampened slightly. “That’s right.”
“Let’s not talk about that until later, after you’ve had some rest.”
“That’s probably wise.” She turned her head to the side, resting it on her raised, crossed arms. “Since I just found out my BFF wants me dead, I might not be thinking too clearly.”
“Exactly.” His hands worked lower, kneading the knots out of her lower back. “Close your eyes. Relax. Don’t think about any of that right now.”
She squeezed her eyelids shut. She could do that much. But shutting down the brain wasn’t quite so easy.
She tried thinking about work.
Her stupid brain switched gears, going right back to Sarah.
She tried thinking about Zane, naked.
Once again, her thoughts shifted back to her bitch of a former best friend.
Finally, she sighed. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t understand. Why would Sarah want me dead? I sign her paychecks, not to mention I’ve been a true, trustworthy friend for ages. This makes no sense. None whatsoever.” She felt her body tensing up, even as Zane worked her muscles with his sure, strong hands. A few minutes later, he slid those hands down over her buttocks. An oil-slicked finger dipped between the globes, teasing her anus. “I can make you forget about her.” The finger slid inside.

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