The Price Of Secrecy (7 page)

Chapter
Ten

Dominic
kissed her again, and then he gazed at her with lust and humor in his beautiful
dark eyes. “Looks like I owe you more swats with the paddle.”

“What
about the flogger?”

He
chuckled and caressed her nipples. “I could swat you with that thing all day
long and it wouldn’t really hurt. It’s too soft. So now I need to think of an
additional way to punish you for coming without permission.”

She
swallowed hard. “Like what?”

“I
don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I decide what to do with you.” He kissed
her again, just a quick one this time, and then he put the blindfold back in
place. “Safeword if you need to, all right?”

“Yes.”

He
struck her five more times with the paddle, and while it really did hurt, it
also excited her in a way nothing ever had. When he slid his dick into her
pussy again, she wondered how he had the strength and stamina to hold off so
long. His power mesmerized her, but he didn’t use it cruelly. He was playing
with her, but not in a way that only gave him pleasure. He made sure she
enjoyed this, too.

When
he withdrew this time, the flogger was back, gently caressing her skin from her
nipples and back, all the way down her legs. Goosebumps broke out over her body
once more with each pass of the thin leather falls.

“You
really are a striking woman, Angela. Please tell me you’re enjoying this.”

“I
love it. Honestly. I’m overwhelmed but in a good way.”

He
struck her with the flogger again, and she realized he’d been right. While it
did sting, the effect wasn’t nearly as intense as the extra swats with the
paddle had been, but she still loved it. She couldn’t wait to experience the
other toys and see how her body and her mind reacted to their touch.

He
kissed her tender ass cheeks. “How are you doing?”

“This
is heaven. Please don’t stop.”

“I’m
not even close to that point, Angela.”

The
cane tapped her ass cheeks lightly, and she gasped. She knew it was the cane
because its touch was unmistakable. Thin bamboo on an area that was already
sore from a wooden paddle left a definite impression. Could she honestly do
this? She wanted to. She wanted to please him.

“Are
you okay?” His voice held a note of concern.

“Yes.
Just … surprised.”

“By
this?”

He
tapped them again, harder this time, and she grunted. “Yes. It’s quite …
unforgiving.”

“Bamboo
is not a beginner’s toy. I’ll be careful with this one. I want this to be
pleasurable for you.”

“Thank
you, but …” Should she ask? “Do you think I’ll ever reach a point where I can
handle it?”

He
kissed her low back. “Of course you will. Do you have any idea how proud I am
of you right now?”

“Really?”

“Yes,
really. I’m so damn excited that you’re letting me introduce you to this.”

She
smiled and then gritted her teeth as he tapped it across the back of her legs.
That hurt. A bit too much, even with a light tap. “Yellow.”

“Was
it the cane itself, or the cane on the back of your legs that caused you to
safeword?”

“Back
of the legs.”

“Then
it’s off limits with this for now.”

“Thank
you.”

He
lifted the blindfold again. “Angela, I told you this wasn’t about hurting you.
It’s about sensations. That’s why I gave you safewords.” Dominic kissed her
again, and then he put the blindfold back in place.

Tears
stained the inside of the silk as Angela went over everything in her mind that
had happened to her today at this man’s hands. Not only had he given her the most
exquisite pleasure she’d ever known, but he’d introduced her to the intriguing
experience of pain and pleasure combined. He was tender but dominant, shy at
times but always in command of every situation.

He’d
taken her to lunch at the most expensive restaurant in town, she had a job that
she knew she would love, and now he was her lover, too. At least she hoped this
wasn’t a one-time thing. What he’d said hadn’t implied that it was. She’d feel
like the biggest fool in the world if it turned out to be.

She
pushed away the doubt once more and just let go, giving over to the emotions
and sensations. It was time she enjoyed her life instead of hiding from it. She
didn’t want to worry or peer into dark corners any longer. She liked being in
the light. She liked being in this room with Dominic and all his kinky toys.
She liked being with Dominic, period. He fed needs within her that she’d buried
for far too long.

Dominic
tapped the cane across her ass several times, increasing the strength each
time, but it never reached the intensity of the wooden paddle. She was grateful
for that because the damn thing stung like mad, even though she knew he was
holding back. When he angled it underneath her to swat her pussy and then her
nipples, she moved away from the pain and he stopped. “I think we’ve done
enough with this for now.”

He
sank his dick into her pussy from behind again, and she moaned as the orgasm
that had threatened ever since the first one ended began to grow again. When a
warm, wet finger slid into her asshole, she groaned loudly and fought to hold
on without coming. “Oh my God, that feels so damn good!”

“Feels
pretty good to me, too.” His voice was filled with humor. It was such a new
experience for her to have sex with a man who knew what he was doing, and she
realized that was one of key reasons she enjoyed this so much. Not only was he
skilled, but he knew he was. He was confident in his abilities to pleasure her
and that in turn gave her confidence in her own body, and in her ability to
please him.

His
self-assurance was also sexy as hell because he didn’t lord it over her.
Instead he used the knowledge to make sure her pleasure peaked. He’d said it
wasn’t only about sex, and he’d been true to his word. That meant she could
trust him.

As
he withdrew his finger and his cock, she tried to remember what the fifth toy
was and couldn’t. She was lost in a sea of delicious sensations that made her
dizzy with need. “Last toy, bad girl. Are you ready?”

His
voice snapped her back to the present. “Yes.”

Thick
leather with a nasty bite came down across first her left ass cheek and then
her right. She yelled as the image of the paddle with the holes in it filled
her mind. Now she remembered. He gave her ten swats on each cheek in a row,
barely pausing in between, and then he slid two lubed fingers into her ass
without waiting for her to do more than suck in a deep breath.

“You
are incredible,” he said. “I am so proud of you right now.”

What
could she do but bask in that voice, so full of respect and lust? Her ass was
on fire, but not from his fingers. That damn paddle had stung like crazy, but
as he stretched the walls of her asshole and her desire built again, she wanted
more. She wanted him to use that paddle on her pussy and her nipples.

He
withdrew his fingers, and now she knew he was a mind reader because the nasty
paddle struck her pussy six times. Her whimpers turned to yelps when he hit her
nipples, but fortunately he didn’t strike them as hard as he’d swatted her ass
or pussy. It still stung, but when he finished he licked them, over and over
until her pussy was so wet she felt her juices dripping onto her inner thighs.

Then
he pushed her right over the edge as he moved behind her and licked her pussy.
“No!” she whispered. “I can’t hold it off if you do that.”

“I
know.”

“Dominic
… please…”

“Please
what?”

“Please
may I come?”

“Yes,
because you asked so nicely. Now you have permission to come.”

“Oh
… thank you!” She cried out loudly as he gently pinched her clit and continued
torturing her with his perfect tongue. When the climax started, all she could
do was let it wash over her. She was helpless against it. Powerless in the face
of such delicious torture and perfect skill.

It
was still going strong when he filled her asshole with lube again. She tensed
for a second as he teased the opening with his cock. “Safewords apply here,
too. If you don’t like this, I won’t continue.”

“Thank
you.”

He
kissed her neck tenderly and caressed her hair. “You don’t have to keep
thanking me, Angela.”

“Yes,
I do. You’re so kind and thoughtful. I never expected this.”

She
felt him move next to her, and then he lifted the blindfold again. “What did
you expect me to do? Simply take you?”

She
swallowed hard as more tears threatened. “No. That’s not what I meant. I didn’t
mean to insult you. I’m just overwhelmed by all this. Your skill, your
playfulness, this sexy outfit, all the toys … I didn’t expect it. It’s all new
to me.”

His
gaze softened, and he kissed her. “This is only the beginning.”

She
had to ask. “So this isn’t just a one-time thing?”

“I
sure hope not. I’m planning on spending a lot more time with you, in and out of
bed.”

“I
want that, too.”

He
kissed her again. “May I fuck you in the ass now?”

She
laughed. “Yes, please.”

He
put the blindfold in place and moved behind her again. Angela tried to keep
breathing as he slowly slid his cock into her ass. It didn’t hurt. She’d only
had anal sex once and the memories were not pleasant, but this was fucking
fantastic. He knew what he was doing. Once he started to move, he resumed
teasing her clit, and the orgasm that she thought had ended came back with a
vengeance.

She
cried out loudly as it exploded throughout her body once again. Dominic
whispered her name, and then he increased his thrusting and speed until she had
to grasp the side of the chair cushion just to hang on. It was the dirtiest,
most animalistic sex she’d ever had, and she never wanted it to end.

“Oh,
Angela … baby … this is so damn good! I’m going to come inside your ass, baby.
Oh my God…”

His
thrusting grew jerky and quick, and then she felt his body shudder. He grasped
her hair and tugged on it as he finally came. The man’s stamina was amazing.
When he withdrew, she heard him take off the condom, and then he removed her
blindfold. She was off her feet and in his lap before she could process the
fact that he’d moved her.

He
leaned back in the chair and pulled her closer, cradling her in his strong
arms. “I still owe you a punishment for coming the first time without
permission.”

“You
mean all those swats with the toys wasn’t it?”

He
opened one eye and grinned, then closed it again. “Nope. Remember I said I needed
to think of another way to punish you?”

“No.”

This
time he opened both eyes and gave her a droll look. “Really?”

She
couldn’t lie to the man. She was too damn transparent. “Oh yeah. Now I recall
something about it.”

He
laughed, deep and sexy, and then he drew her close again. ”Give me a few
minutes to rest and I’ll think of something.”

A
few minutes? She’d need a few days to recover from this. Maybe a few weeks.

Her
life had changed forever in the space of mere hours, but this time, instead of
bringing fear and uncertainty, the change brought something incredible.
Something she’d always fantasized about. Angela welcomed it because this one
included the strong, sexy man who had just fucked her into next week, and into
whose arms she was now snuggled. She never wanted to leave them.

Chapter
Eleven

Dominic
carefully rose from the chair with Angela in his arms once he realized she’d
fallen asleep. He was sore in places he hadn’t known could get sore, so he
could only imagine what she’d feel like when she woke up. He placed her on the
comforter and then put away the food in the refrigerator under the mini bar.
Placing the water on the nightstand where she’d be able to easily find it, he
went into the bathroom and took care of business, then wet a washcloth with
warm water.

He
cleaned her up as slowly as possible so she didn’t wake. Then he rubbed some
ointment on her ass cheeks that would help with the bruising and pain she’d
have there soon. She’d taken so much, and it had been way too easy to keep
going because she’d obviously been enjoying it so much. For now, he’d have to
back off on the impact play for a while and ease her forward slowly once the
bruises he was certain she’d have healed a bit. He didn’t want to hurt her or
frighten her.

He
considered removing the skirt and blouse, but was sure that would wake her, so
instead he grabbed a spare blanket out of the dresser and curled up behind her.
Pulling it over both of them, he wrapped his arms around her warm, lush body
and closed his eyes.

Physically,
he was exhausted, but mentally his mind wouldn’t stay quiet. He really wanted
to tell Angela about Becca, but not unless he figured out a way to do it
without mentioning how close his family had come to finding him because of what
that woman had tried to do. He wanted Angela to know that his reputation mostly
gossip twisted into stories that were either outright lies or huge
exaggerations.

Most
of the other Weathermen flaunted their sexual prowess and didn’t mind that the
world knew they dated lots of women. Always one at a time, though. They each
had that unwritten rule, but most of them moved from lover to lover more
quickly than Dominic could keep up. Except for Ace and now Emmett. Both had
found true love. Ace was engaged, and last Dominic had heard, it sounded as
though Emmett was headed that way as well.

He
rose and put on his robe, casting a quick glance toward the bed. Angela was
sound asleep. He drew the drapes closed and left one small light on in case she
woke before he returned. The fake sun would be setting soon, and he didn’t want
her waking up in a dark, unfamiliar room alone.

His
cook and housekeeper were only in the apartment three days a week and this was
not one of those days, but Dominic had never minded looking after himself.
Unlike most of his friends, he preferred not to have a staff living with him
full time. He valued his privacy and didn’t allow people to get close to him
easily.

He
was hungry, so he made himself a sandwich and poured a glass of bourbon. Then
he sat down in his office, leaving the door open in case Angela woke and
started walking around the apartment in search of him. Since Emmett was on his
mind, he called him. It was late in evening where Emmett lived, in SouthEast,
because it was three hours ahead, but he knew the man slept even less than he
did.

“I
was just thinking about you,” said Emmett. “All of you, actually. I have
exciting news.”

Dominic
raised his brows. “Is that so? Did you buy another failing company?”

Emmett
laughed. “No, not this time. I’m getting married.”

That’s two down…
“Seriously?”

“Don’t
sound so surprised. Last time we talked I told you things were serious with me
and Liane.”

“I
know what you told me, but there’s serious and then there’s wedding serious.”

“What
can I say? I love her. I want to spend my life with her.”

Lucky guy
. “So when’s the wedding? You and
Ace going to have a double one?”

“Are
you kidding? He’d never agree to that. We haven’t set a date, but when we do
I’ll let each of you know.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.
Never thought it would happen to me.”

“I
never thought it would happen to any of us.”

“Well,
you know we won’t live forever. I’ve waited long enough to find someone to love
this much.”

Dominic
felt the same way, but he’d never told any of his friends.

“Not
to change the subject or anything,” said Emmett, “but is this a social call or
do you need my help with something?”

“When
did I ever make a social call to any of you?”

“Exactly.”
Dominic smiled at the humor in Emmett’s voice
..
“What’s
going on?”

“What’s
going on is that I hired the first member of my team to track down IP addresses
and machine IDs. She started today, but during the interview she blew through
that test Merrick and I designed in forty-five minutes.”

“Wow.
Maybe it’s a shitty test?”

“Hysterical,
Radcliffe. Really hysterical. No one else I interviewed broke through and found
the ID in less than two hours. I wanted to call each of you and see if you’re
having similar results.”

“I
haven’t interviewed anyone yet. Liane is vetting candidates for me from among
her former classmates, but I know Blaine and Ace have interviewed some. I
believe Addison and
Viggo
have interviews lined up at
least. You’re ahead of the game, as usual.”

“Well
let me know how the candidates you interview do with the test. If we have to
tweak it, we will.”

“Will
do. So tell me about the new hire.”

Dominic
smiled. He had avoided using a video chat for this call on purpose because he
wasn’t one to discuss his sex life with any of them, and he was certain he
looked like he’d just fucked his brains out. “Her name is Angela Davidson, and
she earned a graduate degree about a year ago. She’s very excited about the
project, and I know she’ll do well.”

“Great.
I guess the rest of us had better get moving.”

“That
would be a good idea.”

He
and Emmett talked about other business-related matters, and then Dominic ended
the call. He was no longer in the mood to call the others. Instead he sent out
an email to each of them, letting them know about Angela. Then he asked the
same questions he’d asked of Emmett about the test and any candidates they were
interviewing.

Even
doing something as innocuous as giving Emmett Angela’s name had brought back
the reality that she was hiding from or terrified of someone or something. He’d
been able to push it away for a while, but now that it had resurfaced, it was
time to dig around a bit deeper than he’d already done.

Dominic
rose and peered into the hallway. His office was close to the stairs. He
listened, but didn’t hear movement. He’d left the bedroom door open on purpose
so he was likely to hear her if she moved around the room or ran the water the
bathroom. He returned to his desk and woke up his laptop, then tried a
different approach to search.

When
she’d told him about learning Italian from her mother and he’d asked if it had always
just been the two of them, he’d caught a quick glimpse of terror on her face.
She had a biological father, even if for whatever reason he had not been named
on her birth certificate. Did she fear him returning to her life?

Or
what if the man she feared would return to her life wasn’t her biological
father, but a stepfather, or perhaps an ex-boyfriend of her mother’s? She’d
lied to him and said she’d learned Italian from a roommate in college because
she hadn’t wanted him to know her mother spoke it. Why not?

A
nasty shiver ran down Dominic’s spine at that thought. She certainly looked
Italian, but that didn’t mean anything. He had no clue what her mother looked
like, so she might have inherited the dark eyes and dark hair from either
parent. Her mother might have been a widow by the time Angela had been born,
and Davidson was her married name. There were plenty of scenarios that
explained everything he knew about Angela so far.

He
searched a database that listed convicted felons, and this time typed in
Marilyn Teresa Davidson as a general association, to see if any links came up.
Nothing. He was familiar with this particular database because he used it
weekly to keep tabs on the family he was hiding from. He wasn’t afraid of
anyone tracing the usage back to him because the site was so busy that it would
be like trying to sift through sand for one particular grain. There was safety
in numbers where this site was concerned.

That,
and he was ninety-nine percent sure his family didn’t know the name he now used.

After
he spent an hour trying to find evidence that Angela and her mother had ever
done anything other than the generic crap he’d already found online, he came up
with not so much as a damn parking ticket for either one before they’d moved
underground, so he returned to the database and typed in the usual names, just
like he did every week.

Gene
Trapani, his real cousin, had disappeared seven years ago when everyone had
been forced to move underground. Dominic had never found any trace of him that
was dated past 2118, and there was still none.

Leo
Trapani, another cousin, had fled to Europe when Dominic was twenty-three to
avoid prosecution by the FBI for multiple trafficking charges, but had been
apprehended at some point and brought back to the USA. He was now underground
serving time in a federal penitentiary located in CentralEast, underneath the
former Washington, DC.

No
one was supposed to know where such facilities had been built underground, but
Dominic had friends in high places. The former hit-man Leo was in for life for
multiple murders, but Dominic checked up on him anyway. You never knew who knew
who and could do what.

Mario
Trapani, Dominic’s grandfather, had died during a massive flood above ground in
2117. His surviving sons weren’t currently in jail, so all Dominic could find
were their last convictions and time served, plus their last known addresses,
all above ground. He still checked this database routinely just in case they
showed up in a facility again one day.

One
name not in the database because he had never had a felony conviction, or
served time in any jail above or below ground, was Antonio Trapani. The only
information on Antonio available online showed him missing as of age
twenty-three, and his current whereabouts unknown. If anyone searched deeper
for information on Antonio, they’d discover that he was also one of Mario’s
grandsons, but what they wouldn’t find is the reason Antonio had all but
disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Dominic
pushed back from the desk for a moment and listened again at the door, but
there was no movement upstairs. He walked to the wall of windows and glanced
out over the fake night sky.

In
his heart, he’d stopped being Antonio Trapani long before his twenty-third
birthday, two days before he walked out on his family for good. The same day
that he’d stood in his grandfather’s study inside the family mansion in a
suburb north of Chicago, and refused to honor the old man’s request that he
help his cousin Gene kill Frank, Mike, and Danny Rossi.

It
wasn’t that he didn’t sympathize with why his grandfather had wanted them dead,
or that he wasn’t just as upset that Leo, the original hit-man who had never
had time to complete his job, had fled to Europe to avoid prosecution. That was
a betrayal of the family, as much as the Rossi brothers had betrayed Gene’s
trust when they skipped out on a massive drug sale without giving Gene his cut.
Business was still business, even if it was illegal.

The
hit had been taken out on the Rossi brothers by Dominic’s grandfather, they got
wind of it, and then they’d gone to the FBI. Leo had fled the country, but that
left the others behind to face the feds.

Regardless
of his sympathy and loyalty for his family, murder was not something Antonio
had ever wanted any part of. He’d told his grandfather that from the time he
had understood what the word meant, and as soon as he understood the kinds of
organized crime their family was involved in. He wanted to do his part for the
family in other ways. Ways that utilized his skills with computers and logic, but
that wasn’t good enough for the Trapani family.

After
the nuclear war scare of 2072, organized crime enjoyed a resurgence in the USA
and other countries because of the panic. People wanted shelters, and all these
massive underground cities were being built at the same time. That in turn wrought
havoc with the delicate balance above ground between legal and illegal
businesses, and the crime families once again moved in to take over, just as
they’d first done during Prohibition in the 1920s.

By
the time the FBI got their act together, after realizing that there would be no
nuclear wars and mass populations didn’t have to move underground in a hurry,
the damage had already been done. Antonio still hadn’t wanted to resort to
killing people, so he walked out on his family. That simply was not done. Not
if one wanted to live to tell about
it, that
is.

He
changed his name to Dominic Greco, a character in an obscure book he’d read as a
child, and moved to Los Angeles where his good friend, Viggo Ingram, helped him
build a new identity.