Leda,

Good afternoon. I hope this day finds you well. I’d like to meet at Seven tomorrow night to get to know each other better. No expectations just a friendly chat. Let me know.

Colt

I had read Colt’s email about a hundred times, trying to decipher all five sentences. By the end of my one-hundredth read, I had no additional thoughts on it as I had after the first read.

Chastity and Wade will be furious. They warned me that Colt was dangerous and dark. I don’t have anything to lose by going and talking to him. I typed out my response and hit send.

I wandered out to the kitchen where Chastity was putting the final touches on a cake. I took a seat at the table and tried to figure out how I was going to start this conversation.

“What’s up, Leeds?” Chastity asked as she looked up from her cake decorating.

“Nothing much.” I paused and then blurted it out. “Colt emailed me and invited me to Seven tomorrow night for a chat. I didn't even know he had my email. Do you think Ray gave it to him?”

Wade had a knack for popping in at terrible moments, and this was no exception. He just walked in from work and asked how our days had been.

“Colt invited Leda to Seven tomorrow,” Chastity said calmly.

“Just to talk,” I added.

The crease in Wade’s forehead become more prominent as he swore.

“God dammit, Leda.”

“What? I didn’t realize talking to another person was a crime.”

“Did you already accept the invitation?” Wade asked through clenched teeth.

“Yes! Again, I figured there was no harm in talking to him.”

Wade began pacing the floor with his fist clenched. I really don’t understand why he’s so bent out of shape.

“Why are you so worried? I talked to him once and watched a scene of his once. He seems experienced, and when the girl said her safe word, he stopped and took care of her. Colt hasn’t given me the impression that he’s a monster.”

Wade stared at me for a few moments and shook his head.

“He breaks girls, Leda.” Wade was silent for a moment. “Each time he plays, the girls get pushed too far and they safeword.”

I swallowed hard as I thought about it. Still, I had a burning need to explore the possibility that Colt might be able to give me what I needed and wanted. Maybe Colt could prove that I'm not as damaged as I fear.

“If there is one thing that Colt is great at, it’s fucking with minds. Concentrate while you’re with him. Don’t get distracted. Pay attention and think before you answer anything he asks.”

* * *

On my long drive out to Seven, I tried not to think of Wade’s warnings about Colt almost making a hobby out of breaking submissives. Wade didn’t understand though…Colt can’t break someone who is already broken.

“Ow, that hurts.”

“Leda! Quiet!”

He pinched my sides, causing me to cry out again. His big, rough hand clamped down over my mouth, and I struggled against it. His hands smelled like his pipe and traces of alcohol.

“Leda! Stop moving and stay quiet! Do you want the strap young lady?”

I shook my head rapidly, but the pain was too much, and I moved again. This time, grandpa was furious, and he let out a growl.

“That’s it!” he angrily stumbled away from me, causing me more pain.

I’m pretty sure he was drunk. Whenever I had smelled the liquor on him, our walks in the woods were rougher.

He clumsily yanked the belt from his belt loops and folded it as he walked towards me.

“Lie down on that log, Leda.”

I looked down at the log that I had just been pressed against, and I began to whimper.

“Leda! You didn’t let me finish because of your crying and noise making. You’re getting the strap. Now lie down on the log. I’m not going to ask you again!”

I looked at the rough log and climbed on as carefully as I could so it didn’t cut my skin.

“Wrap your arms around the log.”

I stretched my arms down as far as they would go and braced for the belt.

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!

I closed my eyes as tight as I could. If I fought back or cried, it would only make it worse. My body naturally moved as the beating went on. I eventually fell off the log, scraping my stomach on the abrasive bark.

I was bleeding.

“Leda,” my grandfather looked down at me, and I started to cry as I clutched my stomach.

I flinched and tried turning away when he approached.

“Leda, let me see it.”

I removed my hands to reveal the damage done by the bark. Scratches and scrapes decorated my stomach and some were bleeding. He pulled out his filthy handkerchief, spat on it and roughly wiped it over my skin.

“Ow,” I cried out again.

“Quiet!” He slapped my mouth and went back to rubbing my stomach. “If you had stayed still like I told you, this wouldn't have happened.”

By the time I arrived at the gates of Seven, I was a bit unnerved by the crap I had running loose in my head. With a shaky hand, I pressed my driver’s license to the box at the gate until it had been scanned. The gates creaked open, and I proceeded down the winding path the led to Seven.

I parked, shut the car off and took a few minutes to gather myself. Reaching into my purse, I retrieved my cell phone and sent Chastity the text I promised to send, letting her know I arrived safely. I flipped the phone over to silent mode and tossed it back into the purse.

It was dusk, and the shadows of the trees cast eerie dark lines on Seven. From my car, I glanced out into the thick of the trees. Immediately in front of me, I could make out trees, but the further I looked, it was pitch black.

Fuck. I hate the woods.

A couple got out of a car and were slowly heading toward the stairs of the porch to Seven’s entrance. Safety in numbers, I thought and got out of the car. I hurried across the gravel parking lot, keeping my back to the woods and not once looking over my shoulder.

The couple in front of me saw me and waited. As the man held the door open for me, I noticed that his hand bore the same tattoo that Wade, Colt, and Ray had. His was a little different though and had several lines or slash marks around it. I wondered if the marks surrounding the tattoo emblem were for all of the submissives he had initiated into Seven. He had a lot of them. Everything here seems to mean something and is full of history.

“Thank you,” I said and gave him a slow nod of appreciation.

I checked in and handed over my purse and jacket over to the coat check attendant. There were restrooms in the lobby, and I decided after my long drive that I needed to give myself a once over before coming face to face again with Colt.

I had a silent conversation with myself as I checked my makeup and washed my hands. Wade’s words rang out in my head. He breaks girls.

“I'm already broken,” I whispered to the mirror and then took a deep breath.

I was to meet Colt in the bar area. The club was busy, and I carefully made my way towards the bar, gazing around, hoping to be able to spot him.

A gleam caught my eye, and I turned to face the direction it came from. And there he was. I swallowed hard as my eyes held his. His posture was that of a confident man. His hand curled around a glass, and as he brought it to his lips, his watch caught the light again and shined in my eyes. He set his glass down and stood as I approached.

My heart pounded as I neared the table. I had a feeling I was walking into the devil’s lair. And yet, I felt no fear. Instead, hope lanced through my system. I felt the energy radiate from his body the closer I got…and the warm sensation spreading between my legs.

Colt was exactly as Wade described; a different breed.