Dirty News (Dirty Network Book 1) by Michelle Love (9)

Then he was changing gears on me and putting that to the side and taking me somewhere else, it sounded like. I placed the papers in a neat stack and left them on the table. “And where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to a museum tonight,” he said as he pulled the chair out for me and took my hand, just like a perfect gentleman.

“I see.” I had no want to visit a museum but I was so busy thinking about all the rules and what I should do that I went along with him without saying one word.

But one word was upfront in my mind. Slave!

The Broken: Part Three

NICHOLAI

I knew that conversation would be the hardest part of making Natasha into what I craved. And I had another trick up my sleeve to help entice her into my slave quarters.

Leading her out of the apartment, I could smell her sweet perfume. The scent was musky and made me stir as I thought about how the rest of her body smelled. She brought out more animal in me than most women did.

It was obvious that I needed to get her consent to get things going with her so I could stop being obsessed over her all the time. She filled my waking thoughts and my nightly dreams.

I was certain once I had used her body in the ways I wanted that I would stop thinking about her constantly. I just had to get her to agree and sign the damn bond. It was a rule with the BBC.

If one was to take things to a personal level, then one had to have a bond signed. If a woman came into our club, she knew what she was in for. If she was not in the club when you did certain things, you needed to protect yourself.

So I really needed her signature on that document before any of the good stuff could happen. I could still fuck her when I wanted, with her consent, of course. But the rough stuff wasn’t a thing my club members thought was smart to do without the signed bond.

One never knew what might happen if the woman simply got mad and started telling your deep dark secrets. The things we did were not commonplace. And in many ways were not accepted by mainstream society.

The goings on of that night had made many a woman, who was sitting on the fence about the bond, cave in. I hoped Natasha would also be smitten by the dramatic flair which the evening would deliver.

We got onto the elevator and she stood in the right corner, trying to keep her focus on everything else but me. “Natasha,” I turned my head in her direction. Her eyes slowly met mine. I saw the fear and the confusion behind her eyes. And my heart stopped for a moment. “I never want you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. If you don’t want this, I can forget about the agreement right here.”

For some reason, I cared about what she wanted more than my own selfish desires, or maybe it was the way her ass sat in that dress. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a thing I’d ever felt before.

“By forgetting about the agreement, do you mean forgetting about me too?” she asked me with sorrowful eyes.

Could I forget about her? I asked myself. Could she be a woman I could forget?

I’d been away from her for two, what felt like, very long weeks. I thought about her constantly. But without the bond, without the rules, I’d have to let her go.

I nodded and watched her head drop. Then lifted it back up as I held her chin and stroked her cheek with my thumb. “I don’t want to forget about you. You could still have the internship. I’d just have to forego any thoughts of a sexual situation with you.”

The corners of her mouth pulled into a smile. “Do you really consider yourself capable of having me around you and not feeling a sexual pull to me?”

I felt baited by her words. I was a man who dripped self-discipline. If I set my mind to it, I could get past my obsession with her body. “I’d have to find another woman to fill your sexual shoes. But I could handle myself around you if you decide this isn’t a thing you want to do.”

“I’d have to see you around the office and know you were with someone else?” she asked me.

I nodded. “You hold the power in your hands, not to see that happen.” I took her hands and pulled them up, placing kisses on her palms.

She shuddered with the sensation. “Nic, how long do you see this lasting?”

“I don’t think in those terms. I think this will last for as long as we want it to. If either of us tires of it then we end the bond. If we’re still enjoying one another in a year or even five then we will leave things like they are,” I told her.

“I’m 23, I know I’m not a spinster by any means but if we kept up our bond for five years, I’d feel the need to start a family by then. What do your rules say about that?” she asked as the elevator stopped.

The doors opened and we walked out without me uttering a single word. She saw my silence was an uncomfortable one and I was startled by the way her hand caressed my cheek as I opened the door to my Range Rover to let her in on the passenger side.

Her touch was soft, soothing, and made a different heat fill me. Lust was all I’d ever felt, that sensation was completely new to me. So I let her in on a bit about myself.

“If you desire a family then we would have to see where we stood at that time. My mother was my father’s slave and when she got pregnant with me, by mistake, he had to marry her. That is one of our rules,” I told her and watched her mouth drop.

“That’s hard to believe.”

“Well, this will make it even harder for you. You see, a man’s wife has to be treated with a lot of respect. You and I would no longer share the physical relationship we will in the confinements of the bond.”

Her eyes danced as she smiled. “Why do you say that with such a sadness, Nic? Married people still have sex.”

“Not the kind I’m talking about,” I said and watched her shudder with a sudden chill.

“You’re frightening me.”

“You should be afraid, a little.” I closed the door, leaving her with an air of fascination. I was trying to seduce her to my ways. I was trying to make her into the woman I thought I wanted her to be.

NICHOLAI

I got behind the wheel of my truck and headed to a ritual that would hopefully change her views on how things worked.

“What museum are we going to?” she asked, looking at me. “You’ll see shortly.” I rubbed my thumb up her forearm and watched goose bumps form on her beautiful creamy skin.

That was the best part of the initiation for me then, getting to forget about business and other problems that life throws at you. Whoever said more money means more problems was dead on. Even the FBI found their way somewhere in the mix just to let their presence be known.

The FBI was a source of contention for me and my family. They always had been. I suppose when dealing in the weapons industry, that’s to be expected. But the fuckers were all so cocky and sure if they turned over just the right stone, they’d find a goldmine.

Like burrs under my blanket, the people of the FBI irritated me to no end. There was no real threat as we did all of our business above board. They’d gone through our files with a fine-tooth comb only five years before and found nothing. I didn’t know why they were so determined to go at us again.

Glancing at Natasha, I saw she was keeping her attention on the night lights and the beauty of the city. It seemed the city always looked beautiful at night no matter where you were.

But in the beauty hid the madness and scathing villains, lurking in the crevices of the dark alleys. That is how I saw life. Beauty hid the sinister being who resided within.

Some people were the kind who wore their hearts on their sleeves. You knew everything about them within hours if you spent any amount of time with them. I was part of a world full of people with layer upon layer of thick skin which had been made by troubles and turmoil not many know the likes of.

Most see the rich as spoiled, and while some are, the people who actually work for their money are anything but spoiled. The need for a club like The Billionaire Bad Boy Club, a club for wealthy men of all ages, was seen by the founders. My grandfather was one of them.

I should feel a certain amount of shame for that but I don’t. He and his cohorts searched their souls for how to really get away for a little while from the brutal pressure the business world puts on those who surf the huge waves of cash.

Carnal pleasures have always been at the forefront of all activities that tend to take the mind away from troubles to a place where only two people, and sometimes more, exist. In that space of time, the body decompresses. Letting out steam in excess as you release your inhibitions and increase your chances of not dying from a heart attack due to stress.

One could look at my grandfather and the other men like him as healing men. And with their many dollars, they could buy some fun. Some natural stress relieving medicine. Women!

With that thought in my mind, I looked at the woman in my passenger seat, wondering how the young, impressionable, innocent woman sat naive to the evil which clung to her. I was like a mosquito, silently drinking away her blood, while infecting her with my disease.

I couldn’t imagine the secrets and skeletons she must’ve had in her closet. I knew she had some. The way she could turn into another person told me that much. She was truly naïve but she was anything but innocent. There had to be a dark little thing in her past to make her that way.

All of us who practice this lifestyle have a darkness that haunts us. We face the pain and anguish rather than hide from it. I have no doubt in my mind, my darkness came straight from my family.

You don’t hear the things I’ve heard about myself and my poor mother, from the man who is supposed to be your hero, your keeper, your defender and not grow scars on your soul. I was severely scarred and what was worse, I needed to take a fresh, naïve young woman and contort her to fit my will in an attempt to curb some of that evil appetite I had.

Her darkness was well hidden from herself but it was there and I was going to mine it until it came to the surface. Perhaps once that occurred, I’d be full of what I needed from her and able to move on. It wouldn’t leave her in peace, it would leave her in pieces.

With a sultry stare at my intended victim, we pulled up to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, the old Carnegie Mansion. That is where the night would begin and the wonders of the world laid ignorant to the elite’s finest entertainment.

It was yet to hit the air but lust would abound soon. And in that lustful rage, I hoped to gain my prize. My sweet, delectable prize.

Everyone else was just getting there. Some of the richest and most famous people in New York were there.

“Let me put this on for you.” I placed a lace mask on her face. Then I put on my masquerade mask and escorted her into the theater. Her icy-blue eyes darted around, her hand was tight on my arm as she clung to it. Everyone was masked, as usual at anything the BBC did.

A gentleman with shoulder length dirty blonde hair and a tall dark haired woman strolled past us. Natasha leaned in, “Was that?”

I stopped her with a finger to her lips. “We never ask that question.” Anonymity was a courtesy and one never stepped on common courtesies.

Upon our arrival, I could see the Lord in Standing, talking with some of the other members. The only other newbie was with Jon X. She looked nervous with sad eyes as she looked upon everyone else.

She and Natasha were the only newbies from what I saw. “Natasha, I’m going to step over there for a bit,” I told her. It was important she learn to converse with other females at those things. With that lifestyle, one could only confer about certain things with others like them. Building confidential friendships was important lest your mind went to a frazzled state. “Try and talk to this young lady here until I come back. Drinks and Hor D’oeurves are being served inside the ballroom.” I took her to the other young lady after she gave me a nod that told me she understood.

As I went amongst the others I watched as she kept her composure and acquainted herself. I felt great pride as I watched her get along well with the other woman. She would make a wonderful slave if she let herself go with the darkness inside her.

“She is gorgeous, Bill,” Jon. X. told me. “What do you think of my new victim?”

“She looks a little sad,” I had to let him know.

“She’s only sad that I am not near her. She can’t get enough of me,” he said with a growl. “And how’s it going with that vixen you’ve managed to find?”

“You really don’t want to know that,” I said with a chuckle. “On account, I’d have to lie to improve upon what you’ve just told me about your new find. Mine is a diamond in the rough. She will need tons of polishing but I’m up for the challenge.”

His grimace had my insides jittery for a second. “She’s having to be led into it? Not good. But I saw her before, at the warehouse. I’ve seen her there twice as a matter of fact. She has to be into it if she went there.”

“The first time she was duped by her friend, Daniella Day, into coming. She was told it was a fundraiser and nothing more than that. But a delightful experience in the bathroom told me she has it in her to make a good candidate. The second time she was there, was for me. This is all new to her but she’s not running away, screaming.”

“Like she probably should be,” he added with a foreboding chuckle.

As I watched her from across the room, our eyes locked and she mouthed, ‘Save me.’

My knees buckled and I couldn’t believe the stab I felt in my heart. She wanted me to save her and I was trying to do anything but that. I was taking her further into the dark underside of the world.

A place where chains hung on the walls next to whips that were used to tame the spirit and kill the rebelliousness inside a person. Not all slaves are women. There are plenty of powerful women who have male slaves. There is no sexism in our society, contrary to popular opinion.

Her eyes still held mine as she wiggled her finger at me and I took a step forward, like some kind of fool. I shook my finger at her then mock-swatted in the air to show her what that kind of tomfoolery would get her if she kept it up.

A smile flowed over her sweet lips and she blew me a kiss. A simple act it was but it made my heart skip a beat. I had to look away, back to my cronies and had no idea, Jon. X. had witnessed our little back and forth.

His shoulder nudged mine as he whispered, “You had better watch out, old boy. That one may sneak up on you.”

“Never,” was my fast reply.

Never!

NATASHA

I watched as Nicholai walked over to the older group of members who were laughing and talking amongst themselves when we walked in.

Everyone was dressed formally, making me feel as if I was dressed a little slutty in the dress I was wearing. I saw another girl there who looked to be just as new as I was. That was precisely who Nic steered me toward. He told me I should talk to her as he was going to speak with the men.

I got the gist of what he was saying even though he wasn’t really saying it, ‘Make friends, be nice, make me proud of you.’

Before walking over to her, I grabbed both of us a drink, hoping my nerves didn’t show as bad as hers were. “Here you go,” I said handing her a blueberry vodka and water mix.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it from my hands almost immediately, then guzzling it down.

“I’m Natasha, “I held my hand out to her.

She chuckled a bit. “Oh! I apologize, I’m Trisha.” She shook my hand. Her palms were clammy. “So are you ready for tonight?” she asked, snatching a glass of champagne from one of the servers who was passing by.

“I’m unsure what I’m ready for right now since I don’t know what’s going on.” I said, honestly.

She gave me a mischievous smile. “It’s a ritual initiation celebration of a newbie. I will have mine in a few weeks.” She smiled widely. It took me by surprise as she was looking like she was on the brink of tears. “When is yours?” she asked excitedly.

I almost choked on my drink. “Excuse me,” I said, wiping the corner of my mouth.

“When is your celebration?” she asked again, confirming that I had heard her right.

“Oh no, I’m not having one of those,” I said, laughing.

“I thought you signed the bond. That’s why you’re here, right?” She gave me a confused look.

I stood there for a moment as I knew there was no way I would even consider being a slave. Looking her in her dark green and very pretty eyes, I said, “No, I didn’t sign the bond as being a slave isn’t my idea of romance and love.” I looked over my shoulder to find Nicholai’s back turned toward me as he laughed at whatever was so funny.

“You’re with Bill, right? I saw you on his arm when you walked in. He’s so handsome. I would think you’d be jumping at the chance to enter into a bond with him. Many of the women who frequent the BBC parties lust over him. He’s young and built like a brick shithouse.”

Her candor was remarkable. “You do talk freely, don’t you? And who is your stud-muffin?”

“The man yours is talking to,” she pointed out. “He is my master.” Her words sounded light and airy and not like a thing I ever saw myself saying about something like that. “It’s only a paper, Natasha. It’s just so you two can have amazing sex using amazing things to get you each off. What’s the harm in that?” she asked me.

I downed my drink as I saw a waiter coming with a tray full of something else and placed my empty on it then took a fresh one. “The harm, my dear, is the degradation that document holds you to. He will do what he wants to you when he wants to. You will call him master, for the love of God!” I could only shake my head and take another drink of the purple liquid that tasted a hell of a lot like grape Kool-Aid.

“Then why did he bring you here, I wonder?” she pondered out loud. “If you have no desire to fuck like that then why bother with you at all?”

I looked away as she’d hit a soft spot then she wagged her finger at me and smiled as I said, “It’s not that.”

“Oh! You do like to fuck like that! So what’s the big deal about the paperwork then? Do you have misplaced morals?” She took another drink as if we were having a nice normal conversation as she looked at me over the rim of her glass.

“It’s the other stuff, the controlling stuff that I don’t see eye to eye with. I could have any kind of sex with that man that he’d let me, it’s not the sex at all. I want love though and by the few things he’s said to me, that’s out,” I told her, then took a drink to calm myself down a bit.

“Love makes you weak and stupid. I know all about love. My heart’s been stepped on one too many times. So why not give myself to someone who likes what I like? And you’ll see tonight, you get to have a really dramatic show when you come out as a master and slave. It’s so erotic and sexual. You’ll see. If you’re still around, I hope you come to mine. It’s going to be Egyptian themed. I can’t wait!” she smiled and kind of jumped up and down a bit.

I found myself looking back to see where my man was and I found him looking at me. I mouthed, save me, at him and he gave me this magnificent smile. Then I wiggled my finger at him and he looked as if he was going to come to me then he stopped and acted like he was paddling my ass in the air.

Trisha talking had me turning back to her. “Just think of it as an experience. And you’ll have a friend as a sister slave.” She looked empathetic to my reluctance. Or possibly my pure ignorance of the entire comprehension of that lifestyle. “Don’t over think it and just enjoy the show. That’s all it really is, anyway. All of it is just an act we put on. It’s not all the time, it’s kind of like a hobby. One that’s very fulfilling.”

Until the beatings began, I thought to myself and was about to say out loud. Before I could respond, though, I felt the warmth of his hand on the small of my back. “It’s time for us to take our seats,” he whispered in my ear, tickling the fine hairs on my neck.

He took my hand and we walked through the hall filled with infamous art aligning the walls. I had never been there before due to the fact I never went that far out of the city. Although I loved the arts, I just didn’t think coming this far to see anything like this was worthwhile. But there I was, being proven wrong as it was art I’d only heard of or seen on the Internet and I was adoring it.

We walked into a theater and took our seats. His hand still held mine and when he pulled our hands up and left a kiss on mine as he looked at me, I saw something in those dark eyes looking at me from behind his black mask. It was more than lust and less than love, somewhere in between the two things and I had hoped he’d come over to my side instead of trying to pull me to his.

I looked to see a stage with a cage on it. “What’s that for?”

His voice came from right behind my ear and it sent a shiver down my spine while simultaneously making me wet, “Shh, my princess, you will soon see. Prepare yourself. It is nothing like you have ever seen in your life.”

I turned to look at him, as him calling me his princess was a sweet thing to say and I was unaware he knew any sweet things to say at all. My smile was lopsided as I leaned over and kissed his cheek which I knew wasn’t a thing a slave did without being told to but I couldn’t help myself. “I can’t wait. Thank you for bringing me here tonight, my sweet prince.”

The lights went out and everyone’s conversations ceased as music began to play. I looked over at Nicholai who had an amused look on his face as I sat, watching the stage in excited anticipation of what was about to happen.

Our hands were still clasped, sitting on top of his thigh. I squeezed it as a man with a skull mask began to glow with blue UV lighting. He wore a long black cloak and nothing else. I could tell that as he moved about, flourishing a black silk sheet.

Bits of his well-muscled body made little glows as the blue light hit his flesh. I was pent up with fascination. What would the almost naked man be doing and why was the cage empty?

He tossed the sheet high into the air and like magic, it came back down, settling perfectly over the empty cage. I sat up a little straighter in my seat so I could see every part of the dark as night stage. When Nic’s lips pressed against my neck, I nearly came undone. “Relax, the best is yet to come.”

I watched as the black silk sheet was pulled off by the cloaked man. A woman with wild blonde hair sat in the cage with shackles around her ankles, her wrists were also shackled and she had them wrapped around her knees. Her head was lying on them too, hiding her face.

“Look at me!” the man’s deep voice thundered through the exquisite sound system.

Her head raised slowly, then anther UV light hit her, a red one and it reflected off a metal gag ball that was strapped to her mouth. Hard drums and horns sounded through the speakers. The cloaked man cracked a whip as he made his way to the cage’s door.

My eyes widened as I glanced at Nicholai whose eyes were fixated on the show before us as he held my hand tightly. His muscles were tense and I felt the adrenaline that was running through him with the intensity of what we were watching unfold before us.

The red light illuminated the woman in the cage who wore a leather body holster that covered her nipples and private area but nothing else. A thin black mask, like the Lone Ranger used to wear, covered her eyes. Her lips were plump and stained with black lipstick. Her skin, which looked red in the UV light, glistened with oil. The way she was looking at him nearly made me cry.

Her expression, fear mixed with hope, was apparent all the way to where I was sitting. His expression was of course, unknown as his face was covered by the mask.

After he opened the gate, she stayed perfectly still. “Come to me,” he said with a sinister tone.

She crawled to him on all fours as far as the chains, which were attached to the cage, would allow her to, her head bowed low.

“Get up!” her master commanding and popped the whip for added effects. I gasped and Nic squeezed my hand. I saw a little smile on his face when I gave him a quick glance.

The woman who was plump and round in all the right places walked towards him, her head still held low, not looking at him, until his outstretched hand stopped her progress as it hit her chest. She then bowed low before him.

He looked down at her as she was on one knee and her other leg was merely bent so she could get right back up, easily. He placed his hand on her head as he said, “You are mine.”

“I am yours, Master,” she said with a much softer voice than his.

He brought his head back and stretched his arms to the heavens as he said, “Now I will take you.”

Two men, dressed identically to the Master, unlocked the chains that held the woman to the cage. She was essentially free at that time but waited anyway as she stayed in the same kneeling position. They took the cage and removed it from the stage as a third man placed a chair in the middle of the stage.

I looked at Nic and leaned in to whisper, “Are they about to have sex on that stage? In front of us all?”

His lips quirked into a half smile and his finger moved to his lips. “Shhh. Just wait and see, my princess.”

I was freaking out about watching actual live people doing it right up there on stage. It was too much if they were going to be doing that!

But I was compelled to turn my eyes back to the dark stage with the red light illuminating her and the blue light him as the Master clamped on a leash to the black leather collar she was wearing, making a loud clicking sound over the speakers. He guided his slave as he took her to the chair.

He stood her at the back of the chair, moving her hands to hold onto it. I supposed to brace herself for what was coming. He backed away a few feet behind her and at the break of the music with the sounds of the violins he cracked the whip as it came crashing down on her flesh. Her body didn’t quake under the intense pressure nor did she even look to be in distress.

I thought he must’ve hit to one side of her instead of actually hitting her. That had to be it! No one could take a hit like that and not flinch at least some!

I felt the stir in the pit of my belly as I watched in awe as her demeanor stood strong as another whip crashed down upon her. The strikes looked like they were making contact but the tell-tale signs, like raised whelps, weren’t showing at all.

A tingling between my legs spiked as the drums of the music made a dramatic effect. I looked back at the man who was wielding the whip and found his erect cock was peeking out from his cloak. I leaned forward to see if what I was seeing was real. Were they about to actually do it right in front of us all?

“Are you ok?” Nicholai leaned up and whispered into my ear.

I looked back at him, seeing his eyes calm and I knew mine were as wide as they’d ever been. “His cock is out and ready for business, Nic. Are they really going to…”

His lips were on mine and I stopped talking and thinking, then he pulled them off mine and whispered. “Just watch.” He pulled me back with him and pressed my head to lie on his shoulder as his hand finally let mine go, only to move to stroke the inside of my thigh, which was not helping me to maintain my composure one bit!

My body was reacting to what I was seeing with unbridled passion, the likes I had never experienced before. I’d seen some porn and read racy books but this was live and right in my face and the gorgeous man next to me was touching me in the right way and making me think I could do that too.

I could get into that act. I could let it all go out the window and pretend I was another person. A slave to my master. A fucking hot master who knew how to push my buttons in all the right ways.

But I wasn’t one to take risks and try new things. I liked to be normal and keep the happily ever after dream of love close to my heart. I still believed that my husband was out there somewhere. My Prince Charming cliché was just waiting for me.

Yet, I sat beside a man who was certainly no Prince Charming. The man I was with, dwelled in a fucked up lifestyle that I could barely understand. I had a small hope that maybe that was a phase and he would soon grow tired of it and learn how to be a better man. A normal man.

The instruments fell to the background, bringing me back to the show that I’d blocked out while I thought about things. I watched the Master as he laid the whip down and dropped his cloak.

I gasped again, and Nic’s hand moved further up my leg. The Master stood naked, in the blue light, his cock erect. He caressed his slave’s backside, placing small kisses upon her skin. Another man came onto the stage, dancing in a funny fashion that had people making snickering sounds. He placed something in the Master’s hand and then the sound of vibration filled our ears.

I looked at Nic with a frown. “Seriously?”

He merely nodded and looked forward watching the show and the woman who was about to get that thing stuck in her while we all watched. I was disgusted!

But I found myself looking back at the stage anyway. The Master pulled the holster between her legs to the side. I leaned forward a bit so I could get a better view of what he was going to do. Surely, it’d be like the whip thing and he wouldn’t actually penetrate her with the device.

She pushed her ass out more for him to get a better view. I watched the thing in her master’s hand, light up. It was a dildo of massive proportions and it was wiggling with the vibrator going. I hated the fact it turned me on. And I really hated the fact that Nic’s hand was slowly but surely inching up my leg toward my personal pleasure zone.

And it hit me. Why he wanted me to learn to be quiet when he pleased me. He wanted to have sex in public places and not get caught by my loud-ass moans. And in that instant, I understood at least a little bit of why they did at least one of the things that had seemed offensive to me before.

I turned my attention back to the woman on stage and watched her eyes close in a pleasured way as the glowing cock disappeared inside of her. He was actually putting it into her right in front of tons of people and she was getting off to it.

As her eyelashes flickered I could feel the intense entrance as if I were the one being pleased in such a way. He moved it in a slow steady motion in and out of her as his other hand rubbed her ass, eventually making its way around to her breast. It seemed as if she wanted to cry out in bliss as she rocked back and forth on the nice sized rubber cock but she kept quiet, only her facial expressions and the way she moved her body told us she was enjoying it.

My body felt as if it was overheating and I might explode with my own climax if I watched anymore. I tried to get up but Nicholai held my thigh with a tight grip. “It’s almost over,” he whispered then licked along my neck. “Don’t make me watch this alone, please.”

He’d said the word, please and that was another sweet thing to do. So I gave him a look of acceptance and tried to calm myself in my seat as I began to focus my mind on the negative aspects of it. But there weren’t any negatives as she was definitely enjoying what he was doing to her.

I refocused back on her to see the look of a powerful orgasm approaching. In which I guess her master sensed the tensing of her body as he took the toy out of her canal. She didn’t have to wait for long because he then inserted himself inside of her. He pulled her hips into his midsection ravaging her as his own rage was taken out inside of her. Their bodies collided as he stroked her.

Her tits bounced up and down as he pushed the thin straps of leather away from them, showing us all her erect nipples. He teased them between his thumb and index finger as she held herself in place, pushing her ass against him.

I could feel my clit pulsate as I felt my own orgasm ready to erupt right there in my seat. Nic’s hand was holding my leg which was jumping as I tapped my heel to the floor in anticipation of the orgasms they were about to experience.

She threw her head back and I could see the trembling of her legs as she shook underneath him. They both climaxed together. He still slammed into her for the perfect friction as he released himself.

He was a man who knew that the most powerful thing while orgasming was to keep the friction going. His strokes were steady and calculated as he made sure they were both satisfied. The last sound was a loud boom, signaling it was over.

I stood as soon as the curtains closed, moving as fast as I could to find a bathroom. I could hear Nicholai calling after me but right then I wasn’t in the mind frame to obey his commands. I needed a bathroom so I could pull myself together.

Finally, stumbling upon a bathroom, I pushed the doors open and went to the sink. I turned on the cold water and splashed my face with it.

I was in a struggle to fight the urge that made me want to fall into the bliss of an erotic affair with the gorgeous man who was offering it to me.

I raised my head up and grabbed a few paper towels to dry my face. When I opened my eyes to look in the mirror he stood behind me. I held my head down, knowing that I had disobeyed him.

“You’re very beautiful.” I heard an unfamiliar voice come from behind me, wearing a mask that was just like Nic’s.

I turned around swiftly on my heels and gave the man a full once over, taking a good look at him. His hair and eyes were dark like Nicholai’s but his body was more sculpted. Nicholai had a nice body, but this guy looked chiseled to perfection and his smooth voice sent shivers down my spine. “Thank you, but I must get back.” I gave him a crooked smile as I put my mask back on.

He let me pass by him but he kept a seductive smile on his face with a nicely trimmed five o’clock shadow. As I made my way out, Nicholai was approaching with an intense look on his face as I happened to be fixing my dress.

To make matters worse the guy came out of the same bathroom, zipping his trousers and giving Nicholai a cocky smile.

Fear spread through me as I shook my head at him ready to explain. “I didn’t…”

He pressed his finger to my lips and grabbed my hand then led me back in the direction of the theater. While my heart pounded in my chest, all I could think about was what that little mishap would cost me.

NICHOLAI

I watched as James Hawthorne, mogul and heir to Hawthorne Publications, came out of the bathroom behind Natasha. Fear filled her expression as she looked at me.

I knew she didn’t do anything with him. The man was just trying to grind my gears as he always did. I’m sure he would one day forgive me for the mishap with his submissive.

It happened a year ago and she wanted out of their agreement, saying he was abusive. I had tried to get him thrown out of the BBC but his family’s influence and personal relationships with some of the members is what kept him in. I managed to get her away from him, though, by claiming her even though she wore his mark.

He was not happy with me after that. Who could blame him? But when I saw the marks he’d left on the poor young woman, I knew I had to do what I could to get her out of their bond. The elders were doing nothing for her, someone needed to step in and help.

And the way he was eyeing Natasha had me knowing I’d have to really watch her. Keep her close or he’d pounce on her in a heartbeat. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen, I recall thinking as my arm tightened around the woman who walked at my side.

“I didn’t...” she tried to explain. I stopped walking and pressed my finger against her lips and took her by the hand. It was time for us to leave and for me to probe her for her thoughts on the ritual.

If she agreed to the bond, then she would soon have her own initiation ritual like they all did. I already had an idea for her intense show that would really bring her into our midst. A place I very much wanted her to be, at that time.

As we made our way back to my penthouse I stroked her arm as she held her gaze intentionally out the window. “Did you enjoy the show?” I asked her.

She turned her head to me. “Did you enjoy it?”

I sensed an attitude and I didn’t know why. “Natasha, I asked you a question. You shouldn’t answer it with your own. You should just tell me if you enjoyed the show or not.” I gave her a hardened look that softened hers.

“Is that what you’re into?” she asked, searching my eyes for any clues.

I loosened my tie in agitation. She was all into it while we were in the theater and now that we were alone, she was growing cold and judgmental. I guess she didn’t know I could feel her pulse racing as she watched. The heat radiated from her, my hand felt it, though it wasn’t that close to her intimate area. She was turned on, I had no doubts about that. So I decided she might need things to be a bit more personal than most did.

“Not the cage and the shackles, but yes that’s a glimpse into what I’m into,” I told her. I didn’t like shackles and cages, it made everything seem so inhumane.

“But what if I like the shackles and cage? Would you use them on me?” she asked with a smile on her lips.

It took me a little by surprise as it seemed like she would think that to be abusive. But I was pretty sure she was baiting me as she had a way of doing. “It’s negotiable.” I kept my eyes on her. “Does that mean you will agree to the bond?” I was shocked by how hard my heart was beating as I waited for what I hoped would be the answer I wanted more desperately than I’d wanted anything.

“No, not until I read everything and we can adjust some of those rules and expectations.” She gave me a no nonsense look.

I nodded my head in understanding. “But I need you to read them tonight and make a list of the ones you want to change or get rid of. You can use that notebook that I gave you with the papers to write them all down. I want an accurate bond, one we both can agree on. You have to know that some of those are unbending rules. And you’ll let me know right away, correct?” I was in physical and mental pain over her making me wait. A thing I’d never been before over a woman. I should’ve seen the signs then. Instead, I was blind to them.

She gave me a feverish smile as she nodded and bit her lower lip. My eyes traveled down to her ample tits as her nipples were erect. I ran my thumb over her left nipple. She quivered at the slight touch. Her mouth slightly parted as she closed her eyes, slowly. I had to pull over and park as my body was on fire for her and I couldn’t wait any longer.

I moved my seat all the way back and pulled her to straddle me. She’d kicked off her shoes and moved easily to sit on my lap, facing me.

I kissed up her jawline, pushing the front of her dress apart to expose her bare breasts. I played with one nipple and pinched the other gently.

Our lips touched lightly, as we gazed flirtatiously at one another, our tongues found their way to one another as neither of us could wait. I could feel her heartbeat escalate as I cupped her tits in the palms of my hand.

She moaned inside my mouth as I continued to fondle her breasts. Her arms wrapped around me as she pulled herself closer to me. I could feel the heat and moisture between her thighs as she moved on my lap with a grinding motion.

I pulled off my suit jacket, keeping our lips locked as she pried at my zipper to release my hardened cock. I felt her nakedness as our skin touched and I couldn’t believe she had no panties on. It made me pissed off at her for going out like that but at the same time, I was glad not to have anything between us.

A loud knock came to the passenger side window. It startled us both and our mouths parted as our heads shot to look at who was interrupting us. An officer stood at the window, he did not look happy. “Shit,” I hissed.

“Crap!” she said as she hurried to get off my lap and I hurried to get myself tucked back into my pants.

Rolling down her window, I greeted the officer, “Hello, nice night, isn’t it?”

“It is. And I’m sure the two of you have a better place you can finish what you started here. Don’t you?” he asked as he grinned at me. His eyes traveled only briefly over Natasha’s heaving chest and it pissed me off to no end. But I held my temper.

“We do and we’ll be going,” I told the man who nodded and walked away.

“Well, that was embarrassing,” she said as she put her seat belt back on.

My mind was still on her lack of underwear as I pulled away and began taking her home. I gave her a look of disapproval as I said in a low and even tone to make sure I had her attention. “Never come out of the house without underwear on, again.”

“The dress was too tight, panties would’ve shown,” she argued, which only made me angrier with her.

“Then why did you wear it at all, Natasha?” I asked as she fidgeted in her seat. “It’s not a thing you look at home in, anyway.”

“You think it’s unattractive?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“I didn’t say that.” I glanced at her as I drove down the street. “I said, you didn’t look at home in it. That’s not your style. But I’ll see to that tomorrow. You’ll get a whole new wardrobe, once you sign the bond.”

“Tell me, Nic,” she said with a bit of an attitude I was not liking. “If I sign the bond, what kinds of changes am I looking at?”

“You will be given a bedroom in my home. I will fill your drawers and closets with everything you will need. You need to merely bring your body to my home once the deal is made. Everything else, I will provide. Your car will be stored in a garage for you. You will only go places, when you go without me, with my driver. No more driving for you, It’s dangerous and you’re not to put yourself into any dangerous situations.”

“Is that so. I’m not sure I like that, Nic,” she said with a light laugh. “I do like to drive.”

“Then I will let you drive sometimes. But with me in the car with you. I don’t want you out and about all alone anymore. You see, I have certain men that would love to get their hands on what is mine and tarnish it.”

“What men would try to tarnish me, Nic?” she asked as she started messing with her hands in a nervous fashion.

I stopped at a light and took her hand, pulling it up to kiss it. “That man who followed you into the restroom, for one. If you come across a James Hawthorne for any reason, just be polite and get the fuck away from him as quickly as you can. Promise me you’ll do that, no matter what happens between us. Stay away from that man. He’s dangerous.”

“And you aren’t?” she asked with a laugh.

She wasn’t taking me seriously and that was rubbing me up the wrong way. “Natasha, I’m being serious here. You don’t seem to understand things in my world, which you are now a part of, whether you like it or not. You walked into that club. You made it seem as if you are into that lifestyle. Now you will be a woman those men will seek out. You are stunning. I guess you have no idea just how much of a prize you are.”

“I’m a prize in your world, Nic?” she asked with confusion on her pretty face. Her head began to shake. “I’ve never been highly sought after. I am no prize.”

The light changed and I took off. I had no idea she was unaware of her beauty and poise. Her body was gorgeous. How did she not see that in the mirror?

“Maybe you were not sought after much because you are of a rare quality. It takes a man with massive self-esteem to have women of your caliber as their own. Perhaps the men you’ve been around didn’t possess that kind of self-esteem.”

She nodded and looked out the window. “Maybe that’s why he did what he did to me,” she mumbled.

“Who?” I asked as I thought she was about to let me in a bit. She had to be broken inside somewhere too, just like I was. I could feel it.

“No one,” she said too quickly. “That doesn’t matter anyway.” Her eyes scanned the area then she looked at me. “Are you taking me home?”

“Yes,” I told her. “I had the package delivered to your dorm. It was placed on your bed. I need you to read the entire thing tonight. I want you in my home as soon as tomorrow. So please get to it as soon as you get in. I want to start this. It’s quite painful waiting.”

“Painful?” she asked as sympathy filled her face. Her hand touched mine as it rested on the steering wheel. “I had no idea.”

Another light had me stopping and I showed her a vulnerability I’d never shown anyone before. “I want you. I want you more than you can possibly understand. So please, do as I’ve requested. Read the bond and make your notes so we can discuss them tomorrow.”

“I will, Nic. I promise.” She looked away again and went distant, retreating into her own mind.

I was still unsure of what she’d do and what I’d do if she didn’t want to sign the bond. It was the first time I’d ever thought about having something other than a bond with a woman. I was positive I’d make any adjustments she asked for. Even if it meant no bond at all. But I wasn’t about to tell her that.

It would be safer with a signed bond!

NATASHA

I unlocked my door to find the apartment empty with no sign of Dani there. Making my way to my bedroom, I started pulling my dress off. It was uncomfortably tight and now that I knew Nic didn’t even like it, I was mad at myself for wearing it. I knew it was too slutty!

I couldn’t believe I gave a shit about what the man thought, but I did. It was as if I was dressing purely to please him without even knowing what did please him. And I had no idea why I was doing it. I had no idea why I was doing any of it.

Sitting on my bed after pulling a thin blue robe around myself, I saw the white box which held the bond, sitting at the end of the bed. I stared at it for the longest time.

Mentally, I was working out how things would go if I signed it. I saw me and Nic in a bunch of crazy positions. Naked, panting, sweating. It was making me hot and bothered and I had already been brought to that place and left dry twice. I wasn’t about to get myself into that trap again.

My cell went off with a text. When I looked I saw it was from Nic. ‘I hope you’re doing as I asked you to. I also wanted to let you know I made it home, safely. This is a thing that you would receive from me and I from you as a courtesy to one another. Have sweet dreams, my princess.’

A command followed by sweetness. Now that showed me where we were going. He may not have been aware of it himself, but the man was falling for me.

And I was falling for him. I knew it was dangerous to be letting myself get that way. He was straightforward with me. There was no place for love. We were to be sexual partners without emotion.

But I tapped back a text to him. ‘I am doing as you asked. Thank you for telling me you made it home, I appreciate that. I hope you sleep well, my prince.’

I put the phone down and that’s when I got the bond out to start my editing of the document that would bind us.

I was going to fix the fine print to exclude that little phrase about no emotional attachments. Why couldn’t emotions be a part of our arrangement?

If physical pleasure was what he was after, what that lifestyle was about, then what about emotions? Not one of those people could say they had none. I saw their faces at that show. They were enthralled. Their emotions were all on display.

If lust was an emotion they allowed, why not allow more of them?

So I opened the box and pulled out the papers and found a layer of white tissue paper laying in between the bond and something else.

I moved the tissue paper aside and there it was. The chastity belt I would have to wear if I consented to his absurd contract. Well, he said it wasn’t a contract but I saw no difference between the two, they served the same purpose.

I pulled out the metal device that resembled the outline of a pair of panties. Even the crotch was metal with large enough holes for me to use the bathroom for both areas.

A smile crept over my face as I was in total disbelief they still had those things hanging around. This shit was used in medieval times and it would serve some use in society at that time as kids were having kids.

What he wanted me to wear it for was another story all on its own. I stepped into the holster and strapped it on, the cold metal against my skin made me shiver with a slight bit of sinister enjoyment.

I made my way to look in the full-length mirror then I twirled around in it. I noticed that it made my ass sit a little higher. “Oh my God, I could get used to this,” I spoke to myself as I smiled in delight.

I tossed a dress over my body and found my ass looked sensational. So I would leave in the chastity belt rule. I’d let him think I was wearing it for himt. Even though it was entirely for me. He could hold the key to the thing, I didn’t plan on having sex with anyone else anyway.

It was time to set my mind on the rules and the rewriting of them. Nic could have me, God knows I wanted him. But he’d have me only as long as he would make some compromises.

Now that I knew it was more an act than anything else, I was prone to accept it all. But the paper would have to read the way I wanted it to or there would be no act.

I opened the notebook and started with the first rule. I wasn’t going to be called a slave. So that had to be ruled out. But I had a feeling he’d fight me on that one.

I put an asterisk by that rule in my notebook. It reminded me that would be a hard one to change and quite possibly, impossible. I skipped over the benign ones. Ones that said I was to wash myself every day. I found it absurd those kinds of rules would even need to be included. Some of the women the elders dealt with must’ve been pigs. There was even a rule about brushing hair and teeth, twice a day.

I found myself chuckling at many of the things I was reading. Some of them were comical, while others were just controlling. But I tried to really get into the ones I found hard.

The gag ball had made its way into my mind as a reasonable thing to use to learn how to control the outbursts of passion. One could get away with much more in semi-secluded areas if one knew how to be quiet.

With that thought, I stopped writing and thought about how the woman on the stage had a look about her that let all of us know she was indeed being pleasured by what was happening to her. Her face and body told us all that much.

And I found myself dropping the pen and turning over on my stomach to think about Nic and how he must think about that. How he must want to see the feelings on faces and bodies instead of hearing things people can merely make up.

I’ve heard plenty of fake orgasms on movies. Anyone can do that. But the body and face don’t lie. And that made me think Nic was much deeper than he knew he was.

I turned over and jotted down a new rule. Must make love at least once a week, using no other objects but only our bodies. We must connect, emotionally, at least once a week.

I had no idea if he’d fight me on the new rule, but I was willing to fight for it. I loved the way he handled my body. But I wanted to feel him handle me delicately too. And if what he said was true, that this was a mutual thing, then I wanted my way too. I was about to throw in the towel, essentially. I was about to become Nicholai Grimm’s slave.

The idea of having an initiation ceremony of our own flew into my mind and I laid back on the bed trying to think about that. Could I really do that? Could I go that far in public? Was I ready for that?

The Battered Part Four

NICHOLAI

I sat at my desk, going over the plans and contracts for the trip to Bangkok. Jennifer sat across from me in one of the overstuffed, black leather chairs, rambling on as if she was going to accompany me on that venture. But that wasn’t happening. I had another person in mind for the task of my personal assistant while traveling.

I needed my cousin, Jen, to stay there, keeping the place in shape while I was gone. My younger cousin, Demetri, wasn’t in any position to take care of business, CFO or not.

He only qualified because he was family. His wife ran him with an iron fist. She was more suitable for that job than he. “Nicholai, you have to close this deal or your father will vote against you. And we both know most of the board is eating out of his hands. He must have something on them the way they’re up his ass.” She laughed at her own joke.

But little did she know she wasn’t far off base with that. I grabbed the contracts and looked them over once again, trying to see what in the contract would possibly be changed by the client. I always felt once you knew what they’d change, it was better to change it ahead of time so it would be easier to gain their trust.

My phone rang inside my suit jacket pocket. I saw her name pop up on the screen and answered it. “Nicholai speaking.”

“I wanted to know if I could see you for dinner to go over a few things,” her sweet voice spoke softly, making my ear tingle.

I had a broad smile on my face. Natasha always brought something out in me that no one ever had. “Of course, I look forward to our discussion. I’ll pick you up at 8,” I said as I trailed my finger over the contract that was on the desk in front of me.

“I’ll be ready. I’ll be wearing normal attire unless you have somewhere you’ll be taking me that will require something other than that.”

“What is normal attire to you?” I asked her, since I’d seen her in over the top attire and business attire but nothing else.

“Jean, tennis shoes, T-shirt,” she said, making my smile go even wider as I thought of her, cute all-American looking and scrumptious.

“I can work with that. See you then.” We hung up and I looked over to see Jen with a wicked smile on her face. “None of your business, Jen,” I said before she even opened her mouth.

Grabbing my briefcase, I stuffed the contract in it and closed it. I got up, then kissed my younger cousin on her forehead like I always did, and headed out of my office to adjust the contract in peace at home where I could also prepare a menu for my cook to make us dinner that evening.

As I headed to the elevators, my cousin Demetri made his way over to me. Ending his flirting with one on the receptionists. “Nicholai, buddy, what’s going on?” He gave me a light punch as I continued to walk towards the elevator.

“On my way home to work on this contract in peace and quiet,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Demetri was like a brother more so than my own brothers, both of whom I wasn’t on speaking terms with at that time due to the fact I'd gained a job they’d been passed over for. “I’ll be right back, Staci.” He winked at the receptionist.

I looked over my shoulder, pulling a little prank on my younger cousin. “Isn’t that Tabitha right there,” I said with a serious look on my face about his wife.

He had a terrified look in his eyes. “Where?” He turned around so quick I thought he might fall. I burst out laughing when he didn’t see his witch of a wife stalking him. “Man! You damn near scared me to death. Tabitha has bionic ears.” He shook his head.

“Look, I’ll catch you later. I have a lot of work to do,” I said as I stepped onto the elevator. “Go back to sexually harassing the staff, cousin.”

He smiled and blushed a little. “Alright, man. I’ll catch up with you later. Maybe we can go out for a few drinks.”

“I’ll let you know when I can do that. See you tomorrow.”

Just as the doors closed my cell rang. I blew out an exaggerated breath then answered the call. “Hello, Nicholai here.”

“Nicholai, it’s me, Jack, down here in the warehouse. An FBI car just pulled in. You might want to come down here,” he said with a worried tone.

“I’m on my way down. I’ll be right there. Tell everyone not to talk to the agent,” I said, hanging up the phone.

My driver was waiting for me at the curb and I told him to take me to the warehouse. The FBI was a constant thorn in my side and leaving the country to wrap up this damn deal was not a great idea for me at that time. No one handled the agency as well as I did. I knew the law and I knew we were running our business on the right side of it.

I talked no nonsense with the agents who poked around our business. My father always acted nervously as if there was something to hide. That man had many things to hide, I had no doubts. But the company was a thing he made sure ran above board, always.

Once we pulled up to the warehouse I could see the black Tahoe parked outside. I walked in to see Jack talking to the agent with a nervous look on his face.

When he saw me, he looked relieved that I had come to his rescue. The agent saw his face and turned around to see me. “Nicholai Grimm, right,” the agent asked as he extended his hand to me.

I shook the man’s hand, he didn't look familiar to mer. I had never seen that agent before. “And you are?” I asked in an unflattering unpleasant tone.

He chuckled a bit, looking back at Jack. “Just like you said. He is a busy man who gets right to the point.”

I’d told Jack not to talk and he did anyway, which irritated me. The fact he said anything about me, infuriated me. “Goodbye, Jack,” I said, dismissing the man.

I stood, as the agent took a seat at the table in the break room that wasn’t offered to him. The agents liked to come in as if they owned the place. As if they were in charge of all things in the entire world. “Awe, come on, Nicholai take a seat with me. I was brought onto this case because all others are hitting dead ends here. Help me out, man.”

I did not sit down, as I said, “Did it ever occur to your agency that everyone is hitting dead ends because there is nothing to find here?”

“Well, the people who run the FBI think there is something going on here. Illegal gun sales to be exact. I’d like to talk to anyone I can about that.”

“Well, you could’ve come to my office and I would’ve told you there, just as I told the others, your investigation won’t turn up anything. You’re wasting your time and mine. Which, thank God, isn’t slowing down our production.” I gestured to the door. “You can set up a meeting with my secretary. I’ve asked repeatedly for no agents to come to the warehouse or any of our other facilities. We do business at the office. I don’t know what any of you expect to find by coming down here, anyway.”

“So, what you’re saying, is I need to hang around town until I get a meeting set up with you. I wasn’t planning to be here that long, I live in Nantucket, but I have things I can do to entertain myself while I’m stuck here, waiting on you to give me some of your precious time, Nicholai,” he said as he got up and allowed me to escort him to the door.

“I’m a very busy man. I hope you can understand. So, I do hope you enjoy your stay in our fair city. It may be a long visit,” I said with a chuckle.

“I can wait. I have a daughter who goes to school here. I’m sure she could put her old man up for as long as I need to stay to wait for a meeting with you,” he said and something inside me went cold.

“I have an overseas commitment to tend to next week. After that, we have the holiday season and we close our offices for a week during Thanksgiving, and two weeks starting at Christmas. Perhaps you should go home and come back after the first of the year,” I said as I opened the door and let him walk out first. I followed him out and we stood on the sidewalk, sizing each other up.

“There are three more days in this week, Nicholai. Why not make an appointment for us before you leave? I think that would work out much better for us all. Don’t you agree?” he asked as he put his hands in his pockets.

“Like I said, call my secretary,” I held out a business card and he took it. “We’ll see what she can come up with.”

“I’ll do that, Nicholai.” He started to walk away and I realized I didn’t know his name.

“Hey!” I said, making him stop and turn around to look at me. “Who have I just talked to?”

With a smile, he said, “Oh, yes. I forgot to introduce myself. You can look forward to my presence, Nicholai. I’d hate to be on a no-name basis with you. I am Agent Norman Greenwell. I’ll be seeing ya, son.”

My knees locked and I was frozen in place. The man was from Nantucket, his name was the same as Natasha’s father. He was her father and he was investigating my company.

I never saw that coming!

NATASHA

As I walked out of my last class for the day, I turned my phone off silent and saw I’d missed a call from Nic. I returned it, hoping he wasn’t putting me off about dinner that night. I’d made all the adjustments to the bond and I was looking forward to seeing how he reacted to them all.

“Finally,” he said as he answered the phone. “I need to see you. I have my driver waiting in your dorm parking lot. Bring your notes or whatever you wanted to discuss. Just grab those things and come on. No need to change clothes or primp for me or anything. Just hurry and get to me. And talk to no one. Promise me.”

“Why?” I asked as I got to my car and got in. “And I have those things in my car. Why don’t I drive to wherever you are? It’ll save your driver the time taking me back home later.”

“No!” he said, already sounding pissed. “Wait! Yes, do that. Come straight to me, Natasha. Don’t stop anywhere, please. Come to my home.”

“Jeez,” I said as I got behind the wheel. “You sound a bit dramatic.”

“Don’t,” he said, sternly. “Don’t do that right now. I need to see you and explain things to you. So be careful as you drive but try to hurry. No dawdling. Understand?”

His intense tone had me thinking maybe something really was wrong. So I decided to put on my good girl hat and be the woman he seemed to need me to be at that time. “Yes, sir. I am on my way to you as we speak. See you soon.”

“Thank you. Goodbye.” He ended the call and I tossed my phone on the passenger seat.

I had no idea what could have the man so riled up. I did think it might get in the way of us having a real discussion about the new rules for the bond. And I desperately wanted to discuss those things with him.

The car ride took nearly an hour with traffic and when I made it up to his penthouse, I was met by the doorman who wore a wide smile. “Hello, Miss Greenwell. What a pleasure it is to see you again. And so soon. Please come in, the master is in his office. Have a seat and I shall get him.”

I took a seat on the white leather sofa and placed my purse and the box on the coffee table in front of me. The way the doorman, or butler, or whatever he was, called Nic, the master, had me laughing inside.

That man liked to have the entire enchilada when it came to the lifestyle he was a part of. Even down to living his home-life like an eighteenth century Lord.

Gazing around the eloquently furnished living room, I noticed even more about the way he liked to live. Old paintings, of what looked to be his ancestors, lined one wall. The man in the middle of them had to be his father.

It was larger than the rest and much newer. Such a distinguished looking group of men, I don’t recall ever seeing. His roots were deep. I supposed he could follow them straight back to Germany. His accent was American with the slightest hint of German to it. It was one of the many things that made him so damn sexy and dominant.

That curt way he spoke. It jolted me almost every time when he’d bark a word at me.

“Natasha!” he said from behind me. Jolting me yet again and I jumped to my feet and turned to see him making swift strides to get to me.

I walked towards him to close the distance and found his arms around me, holding me close. His hand cupped the back of my head and held it to his chest where his heart was thumping like mad.

Wrapping my arms around him, I felt him relax a little. “Nic, what’s wrong?”

“My father is coming over in just a little while.” He let me go but grabbed my hand and led me out of the room. I looked over my shoulder as we passed the things I’d laid on the table.

“Nic, I shouldn’t leave that lying around,” I said as I gestured to the white box.

“Nonsense, they’re fine there. I want to talk to you in private.” He continued to pull me with him until we came to a hallway and he opened the first door on the left.

A massive bed sat in the middle. Dark oak wood made up the canopy. Ornate carvings ran down each square post, matching the canopy. The room was all him. Manly, dark, and exquisite.

“Your bedroom, I suppose,” I said as he sat me down on the comfortable bed. I ran my hand over the jacquard print on the deep green fabric which covered the bed. “Is this made of real down?”

“Yes, now I need to tell you about what happened today. I met your father,” he said, making my head snap up.

“Why?” I asked in near horror. My father would never approve of what we were doing. Surely, he didn’t track my father down for some reason.

“He came to one of our warehouses. He’s taken on the case the FBI is struggling to put together on my family’s company. Nearly my entire family makes their living from that company. If we lost it, it would devastate so many people who mean everything to me.” His hands moved over my head, stroking me like a puppy in an effort to calm himself.

“Are you doing anything wrong?” I asked. If he was, then my father would catch him. My father was like a bloodhound. He didn’t stop until his cases were solved.

“No, we’re clean as far as I know. My father has always kept things extremely kosher where the business is concerned. It affects too many people in his family to mess around with after all. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about your father figuring out about you and me,” he said then sat on the bed next to me.

So there it was. He was breaking things off with me because of my father. I understood but I wasn’t happy about it at all. “I see what you’re saying, Nic. I understand your position. I will leave you alone.”

“Leave me alone?” he asked. “No, that’s the last thing I want you to do.”

I was relieved. “Oh, so what do you want?”

“I want you to tell him about us. I want you to tell him you and I met at that interview and we hit it off and are madly in love. I want you to tell him you’re moving in with me and that we are very serious about one another. You can be the person who gets our company off the FBI’s hit list.” His smile was huge and I found it incredible for him to ask such a thing from me.

“You want me to lie to my father?” I asked as I nervously twisted my hands in my lap. “He’s like a human lie detector, Nic. You don’t know the man. He’ll see right through me and when he does he will go after you harder than he would if I was never brought into your little game.”

“I don’t think so.” He looked at me with those dark eyes and took my hands in his. “I think you do love me, Natasha.”

I choked with his words. I felt something for the man but love was too strong of a word. I wanted more than only sex from him but I wasn’t sure I’d ever get that.

The sound of the doorbell ringing had me looking away from him. “But you don’t love me, Nic. And I’m not sure if I love you or merely lust after you at this point. We will never be able to pull such a thing off. It’s better if we stop going any further with our bond until things are settled between you and the FBI.”

“My father is here.” He got up and held out his hand. I took it and went with him. “I’m not stopping things with you now. I can’t. This will work. I am pretty good at acting. And we can still have our agreement, we’ll enjoy that in private, and in public we can be a couple of star-crossed lovers. It will work. And you working for the company is the cherry on top.”

I knew he was wrong. I knew it but he was so sure and upbeat and it felt whimsical as he took me down the hallway to meet his father.

“Father, I’m so glad you made it. I have great news for our company. I do believe we’ve found us something to finally end our battles with the FBI,” Nic said as he took me into the living room.

His father was standing at the bar, swirling his finger around in a short glass of clear liquid. Vodka, I guessed. His light blue eyes penetrated mine as we looked at one another.

“Are you bringing home people you should not be, Nicholai?” he asked his son as he continued to stare at me.

I never let my eyes fall away from his. I held them on him until Nic pulled my face to his and kissed me on the mouth. I was shocked he’d do such a thing. “No, Father. I am not bringing home people I shouldn’t. My good fortune was found at the BBC one night a couple of weeks ago. I had no idea who I was branding that night. The daughter of an FBI agent. The man who has taken over the investigation of our company.”

“I don’t see that as a good thing, Nicholai. I see that as a thing that should end, immediately.” His father took a drink from the glass and moved to sit on the sofa.

Nic grabbed two beers from the mini fridge at the bar and opened them both, handing me one of them. He took my hand and led me to sit on the love seat across from his father. He pointed at the white box. “She and I have a bond. We’re about to sign it.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” his father said as he shook his head. “I doubt her father would approve of such a thing. Most don’t.”

“Her father doesn’t need to know about this part of us. He only needs to know about the part of us that is a happy couple. And she is an intern at the company already so it will work out perfectly. You’ll see,” Nic said with a certainty that his father nor I felt at all.

But I kept my mouth closed as his father was an intimidating man. “A happy couple?” he asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean we will come out as a real couple,” Nic said, as his father frowned.

“She is your whore, Nicholai. She is not the material wives are made of,” his father’s words were harsh and I was appalled.

“You do not know her, Father,” Nic defended me. “She was duped into going to the club by Daniella Day, who is her dorm mate.”

“You branded her that night, Nicholai. I was there too if you recall. She allowed you to fuck her that night. I noticed it wasn’t even long after her arrival. That is a whore, son.” He leveled his eyes on me and I looked right back at him with anger in mine. “He may not know what’s best for our company but I do. You and he are through you little bitch.”

“Father!” Nic shouted as he jumped up. “That’s not up to you and I will not stand for you calling her names.”

His father didn’t bother to get up as he took another drink then said, “You are CEO only because I am allowing that, boy. Now sit your ass down and confer with me as a gentleman would or I will have your job.”

I pulled at Nic’s hand and he sat down. His entire body was shaking and I had no idea what to do about anything. “It’s okay,” I whispered to him.

“Okay?” his father asked with a deep laugh. “It’s most definitely not okay. So you have an internship at our company, do you, girl?”

“I do, sir,” I said in an attempt to get him to see I knew some of the rules the kind of man he was required.

“Perhaps that could be of use to us. Perhaps you could tell your father you’d be a spy on the inside for him,” his father said as he looked up, thinking. “If he thought you were taking care of his dirty work, he’d back off and end our troubles. But if your father is anything like most, he will find out everything he can about my Nicholai and he will find out he’s in the BBC and he will come at us with a vengeance only a father can.”

I looked at Nic as I knew what his father was saying was true. “He’s right you know.”

The look on Nic’s face went straight to my heart. He was devastated. And I got the feeling this loving couple he was saying he wanted us to portray was anything but a lie. I thought he was falling in love with me and thought that might be a great way out of the bond and all that went with it.

“I’ll quit the club,” he said as he looked at me. “I’ll end my membership today. How could your father come at me for anything I did in the past? All I have to say is that I was a troubled man until I met you and you pulled me out of a sinful life and into one that was good and wholesome.”

His father and I asked at the same time, “You’d quit the club?”

NICHOLAI

The words had left my mouth before I had thought them through. Would I really quit the club I’d known since I began my career at Grimm Defense and Technology?

The woman who sat next to me was looking at me with shock on her gorgeous face. And I was looking back at her with my soul bared to her. “I don’t want this to end. I don’t want to see you every day at work and not be able to touch you. I can’t do that, Natasha.”

My father stood up with a loud huffing sound. “This is ridiculous, Nicholai. She is just a whore you found in the club. Stop acting as if you’ve found the love of your life. Take it from me, there are no soul mates, no great loves. There are women you use to fuck and women you use to give you children. No love is involved in either.”

NATASHA

Nic’s chin was quivering he was so mad but he wasn’t saying a word as his father paced on the other side of the coffee table, lecturing about things he knew nothing of.

“There is love, sir,” I said, quietly. “I’m sorry you’ve never found it but it does exist.”

“Why are you talking, slave?” he asked me as he glared at me.

I ducked my head and felt belittled and humiliated and Nic’s hand that was holding mine was shaking. It gave me the courage to stand up to the old man who thought he could rule us.

I stood up even as Nic pulled at me not to. “Sir, I will say this one time and one time only, I am no man’s slave. I am a strong woman who will work this out with your son on our own. You should go now.”

His father’s eyes grew to the size of quarters as I spoke to him in a low and even tone that told him it was I who was taking control of the situation. He looked at Nic who’d stood up next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Are you going to allow this?”

Nic smiled and said, “She is no man’s slave, Father. That is the truth. And I’d also like you to leave. She and I have much to discuss and your way of thinking will only lead us to a decision that will leave me more broken than I already am.”

“You think you are broken, boy?” his father shouted as his finger went into the air. “You have to marry a whore because she got her ass pregnant. Then you can talk to me about broken.”

“That’s enough!” I said as I glared at the white-haired old man who was not only insulting me but his son as well. “You will never talk that way to him again. That is his mother. I have no idea why you do what you do but he’s off limits now.”

“I can handle this,” Nic said as he took me by the waist and pulled me to him, kissing the side of my head. “This discussion is over, Father. And she’s right. The way you speak to me has to change. I want to hear no bad things said about my mother. She is a good woman after all. It’s you who should be called a whore.”

I gulped as I watched a vein start throbbing in his father’s forehead. “I will leave and you can be sure of one thing, Nicholai. You will not get to hold your place if you make decisions that will end the company your grandfather worked so hard to build and I worked hard to grow. You have two older brothers who would love a chance at running it. You are being foolish right now over this woman. My advice to you is to get her out of your system quickly or she will be your downfall.”

He left us standing there, holding onto each other as if we’d just weathered a massive storm and lived through it.

I had no idea what the right thing to do was but I had my eyes opened to what Nic had been through that had made him the man he was. And it was ugly, clean to the core.

NICHOLAI

Watching my father walk out the door, although he was shaking his head, I felt a shift in the universe. I had a woman at my side who’d defend me against him. To the Nicholas Grimm!

She was unafraid. Completely!

I was shaking with emotions I had never felt before. “You are one amazing woman, Natasha Greenwell. Even my own mother never stood up for me against him.”

She looked at me with sadness in her blue eyes. Her hand moved over my cheek as she looked at me. “We have so much to figure out, Nic.”

“We do. The main word there, being, we.” I pulled her around in front of me and kissed her with a passion I’d never felt before.

I had a partner. I’d never had one before. I had a woman who’d stay by my side and face the demons with me. She had to see, she and I were something neither of us saw coming.

I picked her up and carried her to my bedroom. She had her arms around my neck, gazing at me. “What are you doing?”

“I am taking you to my bed. A bed no woman has ever been in.” I kissed her as I took her into the hallway.

When our mouths parted she was looking into my eyes. “And what do you plan on doing to me when you get me in there?”

“Kissing you all over and making love to you, Natasha. I want to make love to you. I want nothing between us. I want your skin on mine and I want to feel you. All of you.” I kissed her again as I pushed the door to my bedroom open with my foot.

Her mouth was working with mine to deepen the kiss we shared. It was the first real kiss I’d ever had. A shared kiss. No domination on either side. Just a coalition bent on the same purpose. To express our care for one another.

As I laid her down on my bed, I gazed in awe at how beautiful she looked in my bed. I’d never allowed any woman in my bedroom at all. She was the first and from what I thought at that time, the only woman who would ever grace my sanctuary.

She swallowed then said, “This was in my new set of rules. Once a week, at the very least, I wanted to make love with you.” Her eyes glistened and I kissed a tear that had managed to escape, away from her rose-petal-soft cheek.

I pulled her clothes off her in a slow fashion, touching her exposed body with a reverence I hadn’t before. The truth was I’d never made love before. I’d laid out specific plans for how I was going to take a woman but I’d never relied on going on instinct alone.

After undressing her, I stood back and took my clothes off as she watched me. Her gaze told me she admired my physique. But there was more there than mere lust in those blue eyes. I saw it. She cared for me.

Before I touched her, I told her words I’d never uttered before. “I think I love you, Natasha.”

Her lips went up in a half smile. “That’s funny. I think I love you too, Nic.”

My heart fluttered in my chest as I laid my body down next to hers and stroked her bare stomach as I looked into her eyes. It was as if I was in a dream. That could never be my real life. No woman could ever tame me, break me, call me hers.

Natasha was not a normal woman, in my opinion. She was more than any woman I’d ever known. My money did not make her cave to me so she could have as much of it as I’d bestow upon her. My looks didn’t bring her to her knees in hopes of getting to lay her hands on me.

She was something else. She was the one for me and I was beginning to get that cemented into my stubborn head. Her body trembled as I moved my hands over it.

It was not from fear this time it was from pure unadulterated emotion. She was falling for me. I knew she was from the very start. I could see it in her eyes.

The bond agreement would never work with a woman like her. She was not made to be broken. My plans for her had changed when she showed me that side of her. The protectiveness she had for me was a thing I never even knew I’d like.

But then again, no one had ever been protective over me. Not even my parents. I recalled being bullied in the schoolyard by a boy three years older than the 11-year-old I was then. When I came home with a black eye and busted lip, my father spanked me.

My mother turned away from the scene, leaving me to him. After he spanked me many times, he told me I was to stand up to that boy and if I came home hurt by him again, he’d add to the punishment.

I had no choices then. I had to become brutal if I was to come home unscathed by the older and bigger boy. My father had not taught me how to defend myself in the least. He acted as if I should’ve instinctively known.

That instinct had not kicked in. If there was one at all. I went to school with a rock in my backpack. I put it in a side pocket so I could easily get to it. I knew if I held that rock in my hand my punch would carry more weight and when that boy called to me to face him, yet again. I did so with the rock in my hand.

His face was a bloody mess by the time I stopped and I was unharmed. As I left that schoolyard with kids cheering for me, it was not victory I felt. It was defeat. I had become something my father would be proud of and that made me sick inside.

That feeling just grew as I grew older and found the ways he demanded I be, always brought more sickness to my soul. When I was only 15-years-old, he brought a woman to my bedroom and simply pushed her inside, then closed the door.

I had no idea why he’d done such a thing until the woman came to me and showed me exactly why she was there. My first tutor in the sexual subject. And she was to teach me to lord over her. Not make love to her or her to me. She taught me the ways of my father’s world and I grew sicker inside.

She made me spank her when I did not want to. She made me act like an animal as I plunged my cock into her stinking depths of wet heat. I hated her but more so, I hated my father.

My older brothers clamored for my father’s attention. They have always had hard feelings for me because my father married my mother and he never married theirs. My brothers have two different mothers. It seemed my father never wanted to have more than one child with any woman.

Their mothers came before his tryst in the BBC with my mother which carried rules for such things as pregnancies, else he’d have never made an honest woman of her either.

My mother was a nice woman when my father was not around. She’d do nice things for me and she’d even slip in the word, love, sometimes. A thing my father never allowed, as in his opinion, it would make me soft and he’d never have a soft son. Not Nicholas Grimm!

The touch of her hand moving over my cheek brought me out of my inner thoughts. “You look like you’re a million miles away, Nic. You can talk to me you know. You can tell me anything you want or need to. I’m here for you. Use my ear to your advantage, my prince.”

As I gazed down at her from my raised position, I could feel it enveloping me. The feeling that would be my demise. Complete love for another human being. The straw that would break my father’s back.

NATASHA

For hours we laid in that bed, caressing one another as Nic told horror story after horror story about his childhood. I thought I had a traumatic childhood but his blew mine out of the water.

No tears ever left his eyes when he told me the horrible things he’d been put through. But at times unshed tears shimmered in his dark eyes and brought feelings to the surface I’d been tamping down.

It was bad. I was in love with the man by the time he finished his tale that wasn’t nearly all of his life. I kissed him with compassion when he was done and he kissed me back with hope.

I could feel it welling up inside of him. He had hope that life wasn’t all he thought it was. Darkness was not all there was. There was light and he had hope I’d show it to him.

I wanted to make things better for him more badly than I had ever wanted anything. Our bodies moved together as one entity. Not merely to get all the pleasure we could ring out of the sexual act. No, that time, the first time we’d ever made love, was different.

All of the emotion he’d been taught to ignore, came to the surface. His touch was soft and gentle. The way his hands moved over my body was fluid-like. He was a river washing over me and together we cleansed one another of the things that had tarnished us.

I had my secrets too and I wasn’t quite ready to talk about them at that time. Mine were still too deeply covered to come up to the surface at that time. They’d show their ugliness later, though.

But then it was like a rainbow was over us, protecting us from the evils of the world while we showed one another what love is. His body felt better than I thought it would as his massive muscles rippled over my soft curves.

Our breathing was like a symphony with high sounds and low sounds and he not once told me a thing about being quiet. He actually said the opposite, “The way you sound makes my heart quiver. I can tell by the way your body is moving in unison with mine and your face glows with emotion that you mean the sounds you’re making. It’s a thing of great beauty.”

I wanted to weep with his words but I didn’t. I kept them closed up inside of me and merely nodded in agreement. “You are a wonderful love maker, Nic.”

“Who knew?” he asked with a chuckle.

His deep laugh shook his body, vibrating mine as he did. Our love went on and on the whole night long. We’d sleep in short spurts but one or the other of us would wake the other with soft kisses, coos, and caresses. It was more beautiful than I even dreamt it would be and I had dreamt about it.

It felt cemented, our love. It felt real. I’d never felt anything like it. But I knew, even in that state of pure emotion, that things would never go easy for us.

His father was obviously against me and I knew he’d detest the new way Nic would be with me. I knew that dominance was far behind him where I was concerned. His father would hate me, even more, when he saw the softness between us.

And I knew my father wouldn’t be happy either. My father was very demanding as well. I suppose one doesn’t get into the FBI while being soft and easy going. My father was neither of those things.

I’d seen my father be more than brutal. It was a scary thing to witness and what made that worse was the man he’d hurt more than necessary was innocent of what I’d accused him of.

I had lied to hurt a man because of teenage lust and it had cost that man his family and more. My father’s fury was such that I never told the truth about it.

No authorities were ever told about what I’d accused the man of. My father took care of it in his own way rather than let the authorities investigate the crime I accused the man of.

Not a day goes by I don’t think about what I did. Not a single day.

NICHOLAI

Soft wisps of her silky blonde hair tickled my nose as I cuddled her from behind. Never had I done such a thing. A sleepy smile broke my lips as I thought about all we’d done during the night. How crazy it all was and how the new day would find us.

We were wrapped in the sheets which were a mess. Kissing the back of her neck to wake her up, I found my cock getting hard again and could hardly believe it. We’d made love for so long and so often that night, I thought I’d be spent up of any juices to create another erection.

I was wrong though and as she turned in my arms with a delightful groan I could tell we were going to do it again. Her sleepy face was slightly puffy and her hair was a mess and she’d never looked more beautiful as I knew it was my love which had her in such a state.

“Good morning, my princess,” I greeted her then kissed her swollen lips. Mine were swollen as well and when mine touched hers it sent a shiver down my spine.

She moaned and wrapped her arms around me, throwing one leg over mine and moving her body to mine until I was solidly inside of her. I cannot explain what it felt like to hold her that way. It was beyond comparison and I knew no one would ever make me feel that comfortable again. She was the only one who could.

“After this, we have to get up, shower and get to work,” I told her as I moved steadily back and forth as she did too.

“Okay,” she kissed my cheek then whispered, “Master.”

I chuckled with her word. “I prefer to be called your prince now if you don’t mind?”

Her eyes opened and she gazed at me as her hand moved through my hair. “My prince. That you are, Nic. My sweet, sweet, Nicholai.”

“I am your sweet Nicholai, Natasha. And you are my sweet princess.”

Our bodies rocked together in an easy fashion. Not passionate, not heated, just comfortable bliss the likes I’d never known existed. When our orgasms came at the same time, I knew we were set. I could’ve married that woman that very day and never thought another thing about it.

But we had at least one man who would be against us and that man had a lot of power over me. I was not fool enough to think I could completely break away from his hand.

Then there would be her father to contend with too. I also wasn’t foolish enough to think he would easily accept our union. But by God, I was going to give it all I had to make them both understand, we were going to be together come hell or high water. I just didn’t know we’d actually have to go through that.

Once our bodies had finished giving to other’s what it needed, I took her to the shower and cleaned her hair and her body as she cleaned mine. Another thing I’d never done in quite the way we were doing. Soft, gentle touches followed by kisses full of love, not lust.

I found myself saying the words I knew she should hear from me. “I love you, Natasha.”

Her eyes sparkled as she said, “I love you, Nic.”

It was a done deal. We were a couple. Not bound by anything but our love for one another. I could hardly believe it but it was true. I was a changed man in the matter of one night of love making.

“We have to get you a passport if you don’t have one. You’re going to be my personal assistant for the trip to Bangkok.” I rinsed her hair out after shampooing it.

Her smile was shy as she said, “I have one. I got it for a cruise my family went on last year. I’ve heard that place is a den of inequity, Nic.”

“It is,” I said then kissed her neck.

“Perhaps you could show me some more of what you did at the show the other night. I have to admit I found that very stimulating.”

Surprise didn’t fill me as I knew she was into darker things than she liked to claim she was. But that would be another country where no one knew her to judge her. “I can show you things to entice you if you want me to.”

Her eyes were bright as she said, “I want you to. I found that very much to my liking. I don’t want to stop doing that. You still want to, don’t you?”

“We’ll have to lay low with the BBC while your father is around. Speaking of him, I need you to forgo any classes you have today and come to work with me. I need you there for the meeting he wants to have. And you do recall how we met, in the little lie we’ll tell him, right?” I ran my hands full of coconut scented conditioner through her long hair as she looked at me.

“We met when I interviewed to be your intern. Of course, I remember that. And just what do you think my presence at that meeting will accomplish?”

“I think it will accomplish more than if you weren’t there. And our news will throw your father off a bit, I’m sure. We’ll have to play it as it goes along.” I rinsed her hair out as she looked at me with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“Play it by ear, huh?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“I have to admit, it doesn’t. But with your help, perhaps we can get the FBI to get off our backs, if only for a little while. I could use the ease in pressure. Especially since now I know my father will be on the war path with me.”

Her eyes fell away from mine. “How bad is that going to be?”

“I have no idea with that man. I just know, I want you with me to be able to protect you from anything he might pull. Nothing is beyond him.”

Sadness covered her face and it made me mad. “So, essentially, I am still your slave as my freedom is a thing that could get me hurt, is that what you’re saying?”

I took her chin in my hand and made her look at me. “You know you’re not a slave to me. You are mine but I am also yours. For now, until my father realizes I will not bend to his will, you are safer with me. So things will go the way I’d planned if you’d signed the bond. Only the new clothes will not go in the other room as planned. They will come into mine. We will share that room. We will share it for a very long time, I hope.”

“This is turning out better than I hoped it would,” she said and I had to nod in agreement with her.

Things were coming along nicely between us. It would’ve been fantastic if there had been no interferences. But there were. There had to be. My life never went easy.

And it seemed hers hadn’t either.

NATASHA

A cold sweat broke out all over my body as I waited in Nic’s office for my father’s arrival. He’d set up a round table for the meeting to take place at. It was in the entrance room just in front of his office.

When my father came in we’d go into that room to conduct the meeting it felt insanely odd to be a part of. But Nic had some idea my presence would end the feud between Grimm Defense and Technology and the FBI. I was not so sure about that.

“I’m letting Agent Greenwell in to see you, sir,” his secretary told him over the intercom.

Nic got up, buttoned his dark suit jacket and gestured for me to go out in front of him. I wanted to hide behind him and maybe stay that way through the whole thing but he was having none of that.

I walked out, with him one step behind me. He’d bought me something suitable in his eyes for me to wear as his personal assistant. A navy business suit which was ridiculously expensive but I really loved it. It fit just right and I loved the way the skirt went to just below my knees and the jacket made my waist look great.

I was looking the part of the billionaire’s personal assistant on the outside but on the inside, I was still daddy’s little girl and pretty scared of what his reaction would be. Well, scared isn’t strong enough to explain how I was feeling at that moment, terrified works a lot better.

Butterflies were swarming my insides as we stood, waiting for my father to enter the room and I knew he’d probably be shocked by what he was about to see.

When Nic’s hand rested in the small of my back, I just about jumped. “Maybe you shouldn’t touch me in front of him.”

“Nonsense,” he said with an air of authority. “I am in love with you. It’s completely natural for us to touch.”

“But we’re trying to be professional right now,” I said as I held a smile on my face, waiting for Dad to come into the room.

“Professional we will be. But I do love you so I will touch you when I want to,” he said through the smile frozen on his face too.

I could see that dominance was not entirely gone at that point and it kind of made me happy. At least he wasn’t becoming a hopelessly in love little puppy dog who his father would despise.

The door opened, my heart stopped and in stepped my father. His eyes were on Nic then they moved down to me. “Tasha, what are you doing here?”

I waved a little nervous wave as I said, “Hi, Dad. I work here now. Just started a few days ago.”

My father stopped in his tracks. “You work here? As what?”

Hooking my thumb at Nic, who still stood behind me, I said, “I’m his personal assistant.”

“She’s in charge of my overseas trips. She’ll go with me on any trips I take so I can leave my normal personal assistant here to oversee things while I’m gone. She told me you were her father. Imagine my surprise,” Nic said. He stepped forward and held out his hand to shake my father’s.

Dad took his hand and shook it lightly as he looked at me. “You work for this man, here?”

I nodded as Nic let Dad’s hand go and gestured to a chair. “Won’t you have a seat, Agent Greenwell. We have much to talk about, it seems.”

“Seems we do,” Dad said then sat down.

I sat down and Nic came to sit next to me, across the table from my father who was looking quite stunned. I wasn’t sure telling him the rest of the news was a good idea at that time as he had so much to take in already. But Nic was in steamroller mode.

“Your daughter and I have been seeing each other since that interview. I found her captivating. We’ve gotten very serious very quickly. She’s actually moving in with me today,” Nic said, making my father go pale.

“You’re what?” Dad asked me as his eyes went wide.

“Yeah, Nic and I are a thing, Dad. I was keeping it hush, hush until we were sure we were really going to go for it. And we are. So it’s going to be out in the open now. Isn’t that great?”

He just stared at me for the longest time then he said, “Baby, do you know what this man is into?”

I had a feeling he’d dig deep until he knew everything there was to know about Nic. “Yes, I do. I’m well aware of his dealings, Dad.”

“That’s behind me, sir. I assure you,” Nic said, quickly. “When I met your daughter my world changed. She’s a bright light in what was a dark storm. She is my princess and I treat her as such. You have nothing to worry about. I would never harm a hair on her sweet little head. I swear that to you.”

Dad’s eyes moved to Nic’s. “I can’t give my consent to this. Not the job or the relationship. You have to understand. I am her father. A very protective father. It’s not personal.” Then he hesitated and looked at me then back at Nic. “Who am I kidding? It is personal. I know all about you, Nicholai Grimm. You could never be the man my daughter deserves. You are evil and she just isn’t seeing it because of your money and looks. I can make her see it. I can show her what I’ve found out about you. This will never be.”

My heart sank as I knew my father would be like this. But I also knew I was not one to be told how to live my life. “Dad, you and I can talk later. And you should know. I’m not about to end things with Nic. I know what he’s been into. I know more than you think I do. His money and looks are not what I see in him. We have a deep connection I don’t expect you to understand or agree with. But I am your daughter, and as such, you have taught me to stand up for myself. I will not be told what to do by you or anyone else.”

Nic laughed, lightly. “She is right about that. Her will is strong. That is one of the many things I love about her. You have raised a wonderful daughter. One with the strength of a bear and the heart of a lion. You should be proud of that accomplishment. There is no other quite like my Natasha.”

His arm ran around me and he kissed the side of my head. I watched my father’s hands ball into fists and I knew he wanted nothing more than to attempt to tear Nic limb from limb.

But then the door opened again and Nic’s father stepped inside. “What are you doing here?” he asked me.

Nic went tense immediately. “Father, we are in an important meeting. Jen should’ve told you that. I can meet with you later. I’ll come to you.”

“Why do you have your whore here?” he asked.

My father sprang out of his chair. “That’s my daughter, Grimm. You better watch your words, carefully. I’ve done bad things to men who’ve said less about her.”

Nic’s father looked at mine with disgust. “You raised this? I’ve often wondered what kind of men raise these women who have little to no self-esteem. A powerful FBI agent has been one who raised a slave. I’d never have thought.”

“She’s no slave,” Nic said and stood up, pulling me up with him but all I wanted to do was run out of there.

“She better not be,” Dad said as he kept his eyes on Nic’s father. “I know all about you too, Nicholas Grimm. And it is you who will burn for the things you’ve done. Perhaps your son isn’t aware of all you’ve done in the name of family and fortune. It was your father who was a founding member of the BDSM club you charmingly refer to as The Billionaire Bad Boy Club. A place where women are taken to be tortured and raped.”

“Dad, it’s not like that at all,” I said to try to bring the terrible situation to some kind of calm place. As it was at that moment, I was afraid a brawl was about to break out between our fathers.

“You have no idea, baby girl,” Dad said. “I’ve seen it, firsthand.”

“You’ve what?” Nic and I said together.

“I’ve been there, recently. With a federal judge’s daughter. We’ve been investigating that club secretly,” Dad said, blowing me out of the water.

He couldn’t have been there the night I was. And he’d said he’d gone with a judge’s daughter. My mind started twisting. “Is her name Daniella Day?”

Dad’s eyes cut to me. “Yes, your roommate is the one who took me into it. During the early evening while no one was there. I simply mingled in once the others started to arrive. And you wouldn’t believe the things I saw going on there. And that man you’re letting touch you was right there with them most of the times I went.”

I knew he was. It was all becoming crystal clear. Dani’s date that day, the one who was driving the black Tahoe, was my father. She’d been working undercover to get that club closed down. But why bring me to it?

No answers were coming to me and I had no idea if Dad knew about her doing that or not. He didn’t seem to know that so I kept my mouth shut.

Nic’s father was outraged. “Have her banned immediately!” he shouted at Nic.”

“Father, I’m no longer a part of that club,” Nic said then pulled me closer to him. “Leave me out of that. I’ll deal with the company. You deal with the BBC.”

The new information about the club being secretly investigated had Nic’s father forgoing the argument there and going to deal with the BBC. I was unsure of what was going on but I knew my father wanted me out of all of it but I was tangled up in both things.

Dad turned to me. “You’re coming with me.”

Nic’s grip tightened. “No, sir.”

My father’s face went beet red. “Have you made her sign one of those illegal Master/Slave contracts?”

“No, he has not,” I said and held my hand up as my father was moving slowly toward me.

I knew he meant to hit Nic and take me from him. “I don’t believe you. I can see him towering over you. I have seen this man in action, baby. You do not belong here. You will come with me. Don’t make me do this the hard way. I’m begging you. I will never stand for this, Natasha.”

After taking a deep breath, I knew what I had to do. Turning to look at Nic, I said, “Let me go. I’ll go with him. He won’t stop until I do and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

My heart was breaking as Nic held tight to me. His eyes searched mine. “Please, don’t go.”

“Nic, this is getting out of hand. He will hurt you.”

“I will, Nicholai. Let her go,” my father said as he took another step closer to us.

Nic said one word then and it tore me in two, “Mercy.”

The Barricade Part Five

NICHOLAI

“That was the last word I ever said to her. Mercy. Then her father dragged her out of my office.”

Her eyes were full of fear and tears as she cried out to me, “Let him take me. Don’t fight him, Nic! I’ll talk to you soon.”

“And how long ago was that, exactly?” my psychiatrist asks me.

“Thirteen months,” I tell him. “We’ve been apart for thirteen, hard as hell, months. I have no idea where she is. I can’t even reach her father. The one good thing about it is the FBI has left us alone, completely. Not a peep has been heard from them about our company or the BBC.”

“I have to let you know, it’s quite possible, the young woman herself, may be the one hiding from you, Nicholai. The story you’ve told me is full of negative treatment of her. You might possibly never see her again, per her wishes. It’s been over a year. You should move on.” I watch him jot something on the notes where he’s recorded everything I’ve told him about mine and Natasha’s past.

He’s obviously not listened to how we spent our last night together. “I told you, we made love. She knew things weren’t going to be the way they initially began.”

“But, with her father’s disapproval, she may have decided it wouldn’t be worth the fight she’d have to put up with her family to stay with you. Your world is one not many parents would approve of for their daughters, nor sons for that matter. You have to understand, you come from a different upbringing than she did.” His light blue eyes search mine as if to find a part of me who understands him.

But there isn’t any. “I am what some would call, a catch, Dr. Freeman. A billionaire with a handsome face and athletic body. And she knew I was forgoing that lifestyle for her. I know she’s not hiding from me all on her own. I have people looking for her and I will continue my search for her. I came to you for help, not judgment.”

He leans forward, re-positioning himself in the plush cushioned chair. His graying hair falls into his wrinkled face a little, making him push it back as he says, “I am not judging you, Nicholai. I am simply telling you the young woman may have her family making it hard for her to be with you. I do not judge people. We all have our little vices and idiosyncrasies, that make us who we are after all.”

I still feel judged, though. “I should go. I need to blow off some steam.” As I get up to leave, I see him frowning. “The frown is for?”

“What are you going to do to blow off this steam?” he asks with his pen at the ready on the pad of paper.

“Take a jog and get some exercise,” I say with a smile. “That is how I blow off steam since she was taken from me. I’ve not stepped foot in the club or been to any event.”

“Cold turkey, huh?” he asks, noting that. “That often doesn’t last. One who goes that route to end vices usually ends up plunging back into the vice with a vengeance. You can expect your will to bend and most likely sooner rather than later.”

I came to the man for help and feel I’m getting anything but that. “Dr. Freeman, I feel as if I’ve paid you to merely hear my story. You’ve done nothing to help me alleviate my worries, my pain, my agony.”

“There is little that can be done about that. You need to let her go. She’s gone,” he tells me as if that’s simple to do.

“I can’t. I need her. I need her like I need air to breathe. I can see looking for mental help is not my answer. I need to find her and will never be whole again until I do. Even if I find her, only for her to tell me she wants nothing to do with me. I will move on if she doesn’t want me. Though that too will take a toll on me. I’ve never needed anyone before. She’s the first and only. I can’t just stop the need I have for her.”

“Then you will stay upset and frustrated, Nicholai,” he says as he pulls a small pad out of his jacket pocket. “I can write you a prescription that will ease your anxiety.”

“Don’t bother,” I tell him as I turn to leave. “I’ll not dampen my thoughts and fog my brain in order to calm myself. That will do me no good in finding her.”

“Her father works for the FBI,” he says, making me stop my exit. “It’s highly doubtful she’s any place you’d find her. Think about what I’ve said. At least think about it. Both of your fathers are against any union between you and Natasha Greenwell. That is a fact. Bringing her back here will only start your father on his mission to break you two up.”

With a growl, I leave his office, three thousand dollars later and with no relief. The walk to the elevator has me pounding the floor with each step I take. I’ve never been angrier.

How could he tell me to get over her? How does he not understand I can’t do that?

The doors open and out steps a tall blonde with a short skirt on. Her legs are long and lean and I look at them as she strides out of the elevator. “Hello,” she says with a soft voice.

“Good afternoon,” I say then get into the elevator and push the button to close the doors.

She stops and looks at me as the doors close, with a smile on her face and a small, flirtatious wave.

I merely nod at her then my eyes go to stare at the floor. Before Natasha, I would’ve been all over that woman. Since her disappearance, my libido has gone south. If I never find her, I don’t know what I’ll do.

Can life go on with never knowing where she is or if she’s okay? And will life be worth living if I never find that out?

I have so many questions that no one seems to know the answers to. All I know is my heart pounds more than it ever has. My head aches more often then it doesn’t. My body feels numb most of the time. This is no way to live. I feel as if I’m just taking in air and little else.

The vibration of my cell phone in my jacket pocket has me drawing it out, ever hopeful it will be Natasha on my screen. Instead, it’s a number I don’t recognize. “Grimm, here.”

“Nicholai, I need to meet with you,” a man’s voice tells me.

“Who is this?” I ask as I step out of the elevator.

“My name is unimportant. You need only to know one thing, Natasha sent me.”

NATASHA

A cool breeze blows my way as I sit in front of the open window at the top of the castle that’s become my prison. The Aegean Sea is sparkling under the sun’s rays. My father has one of his friends keeping me here, in Thessaloniki, Greece.

He took me away from Nic one morning about thirteen months ago. He stayed right with me as he took me onto an FBI jet that moved me from place to place, I suppose hoping to make tracking my whereabouts hard.

The first thing my father did was destroy my cell phone. With that, he destroyed any chances of Nic getting to me. I’ve been under psychiatric care each day to rid me of the brainwashing my father claims Nic did to me.

He tells me, and anyone else who will listen to him, that he did not raise a woman who’d live that kind of a life. He tells me I’m better than that and Nicholai Grimm is one evil man.

No matter the things he says or the psychiatrist, for that matter, I still love Nic and miss him all the time. I don’t feel as if I’ve been brainwashed in the least. I feel I’ve been kidnapped, though. I feel my life has been taken away from me.

With no phones in the castle, I’ve had no way to attempt to contact Nic. No one will send my letters to his company, the only address I could think of to send letters to in an attempt to let him know where I am. I wrote several letters to his personal assistant, who is also his cousin, as I knew they’d never allow anything to be sent to Nic.

The lady who oversees me took them from me with promises to mail them. Only she never did as I found bits and pieces of them in the trash. She is nice to me as are all the people my father has holding me prisoner in this castle that has been abandoned for years.

I think it’s highly doubtful anyone is aware six people are living here. There’s no electricity, no candles light the night for us. When the sun goes down, we all go to bed.

There’s no television or radio, nothing. To entertain myself, I’ve been given many notebooks, pens, and pencils. I draw some and write stories some. I write letters to Nic that I know he’ll never see. I’m more than sad and lonely.

My father visits me once a week. He’s not even told my mother where I am. Only that I am safe. His plan is to keep me here until the good doctor thinks I’ve been successfully rehabilitated.

So, I lie about everything I tell the doctor. I tell him I know what Nic did was wrong and I just want to go back to college and get on with my life, leaving Nic out of it, completely.

The man knows I’m lying. He won’t say it to my face but he’s not told my father I’m cured of Nic’s brainwashing either. That tells me he’s most likely having someone snooping through my things when I’m not in my room to find out what I’ve been writing about.