Byron-4 (10 page)

Of course, that didn’t help. Byron now had the added worry that something else had happened to her and he would have to take her back to the hospital. If she went back to that club and got hurt again, he was going to paddle her but good. And, of course, that set off a whole new set of images of things he was going to do to the delectable Ms. Bennett.

When he got to the club, he was ready to roar out his disappointment. She was gone and not only that, but she had thrown Bobby to the floor to escape. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Bobby was so impressed with Taylor all he could do was go on about how Byron had maybe misjudged her and she, too, was a Dom. Lynn was putting an ice pack on Bobby’s head while Byron tried to figure out if this would make her not want to come in tomorrow night. He didn’t know if he would be able to make it if he didn’t get to play with Taylor. His cock was at a raging hard-on state now and he thought he would explode if he didn’t get to bury himself inside of her soon.

Byron didn’t know why this woman, of all the women he knew, made him feel like this. Since the first time he had seen her, all pink and rosy from the shower with that big towel almost not wrapped around her, he had wanted her. The sight of her beautiful globes of muscled flesh with marks on them made him want to drop before her and nip at them. He wanted to drag her across his lap or tie her to his bench and turn her ass red with his hand until she screamed out his name. The thought of tasting her, all of her, made his mouth dry. The need to bury himself deep within her made his cock ache so much that no amount of relieving the pressure in the shower helped now. He was having the worst case of lust he had ever had for a woman and didn’t have the slightest idea why.

“Sorry, boss. But she was determined to leave. I’m not sure what I could have done short of hitting her over the head to keep her here. She’s a little scary.” He didn’t tell Bobby that he had probably come on too strong. The man felt bad enough for not helping him out.

“Don’t worry about it, Bobby. But do me a favor, email her and tell her that we’re sorry about tonight and if she comes tomorrow night, we’ll give her a month of membership for free. Hell, tell her we’ll be glad to give her six months if she comes back.”

“I’ll do that, boss, but I don’t think she’ll take the membership. She mentioned that she was leaving the area soon and that she didn’t care if you revoked her invitation or not. She told Lynn that she just wanted to sit in the open area and watch. Then that phone call came in and she looked ready to pass out. If I hadn’t have come up behind her when I did, I’m sure she would have fallen on her pretty face.”

“Leaving? Did she say when or where she was going? Damn it. If she thinks that she’s getting away from me that easily, then she’ll have to think again.” He chose to ignore Bobby thinking Taylor was pretty. He didn’t know why that should have bothered him so much, but it did.

Byron went to his brother’s house, but not before stopping at his apartment in town. He gathered up all the gifts, his camera, and anything else he could think of to take over with him. He was short tempered about Taylor and he was tired. He probably should stay home, but when there was a family get together, then that meant family—

all of them.

Jamie, of course, was the last to arrive. He came in the door with a chip on his shoulder and anyone within two feet of him could tell. When he snarled at Byron, all hell broke loose.

Byron drew back and hit his brother in the face. He had been aiming for his nose, but Jamie had turned and Byron hit his eye. Jamie was luckier in that he hit Byron on the nose and blood erupted, splattering down both men and onto the floor. Fists swinging and bodies being thrown the floor ensued. And when a sudden missile zoomed past Jamie’s head and shattered against the wall just behind them, they both froze in motion and looked at the woman holding another glass in her hand.

“You damned near hit me!” Jamie still hadn’t released Byron’s throat and Byron still had an ample hand full of the Jamie’s hair clutched in his fist.

“Well, I guess my aim is off. Shall I try again?” Cait tossed the glass up in the air and catching it, drew back to throw when Spencer came up and took it from her. She turned and smiled at her husband and both Byron and Jamie relaxed. It was short lived.

She turned back to them so quickly that they staggered back. “Office! Now!” She turned and walked toward the office without turning to see if either man followed. Byron looked at Jamie and then let him go. He was halfway to Cait when Jamie snarled again.

“I will not be told to go to the office like I’m some sort of child. I’m not five years old. I’m out of here.” When he turned to leave, heading for the door, Spencer, Devin, Damon and Nicky blocked his path. They walked him backwards toward the study door.

When the three of them—Byron, Jamie and Cait—were inside, she turned and locked the door. She walked to the front of the desk, pointed to the two chairs facing it, and waited.

Byron hated being treated this way too. But he was also a little afraid of his sister-in-law. Especially now. A hormonal pregnant woman who carried a gun and knew how to inflict pain was no one he wanted to fuck with. So with that in mind, he went to the chair and sat.

“James Grant, I’m having a really shitty day. You’ve ruined my welcome home party for my brand new niece, you’ve bled on my carpet, and I had to break a perfectly good glass to make you two stop before you hit one of the children running around here. I would suggest that you get your ass over here and sit down right now.”

“Fine. But I’m not talking. This is ridiculous; he started it. Everyone keeps asking me where Taylor is, is Taylor all right? Have you talked to her lately? She isn’t my responsibility. It’s not like I bit her. She’s the one who got herself into this mess in the first place. How the hell was I supposed to know she was a pervert?” He flopped into the other chair and Byron heard it groan.

“I didn’t start anything. I didn’t even ask you about her. I asked you if you liked your new office, you son of a bitch. Then you got all defensive. I guess I didn’t realize you were so sensitive. As for Taylor, you moron, she is not a pervert. I’ll beat the shit out of you again if you so much as think it.” When both of the men stood and started to lunge at each other, Cait simply cleared her throat. When they looked at her this time, she was holding her gun in her hand.

“Are you going to make me shoot one of you in the leg? I’ve had about enough of this shit. Sit down and shut up!” She set the gun on the desk behind her when they both sat back down. “My head hurts, Spencer took away my chocolate milk, and you two are acting like tyrants. I’m going to ask you about Taylor. And before you get all high and mighty with me, it’s because I might need her for something in the future.”

“For the hundredth time! I. Am. Not. Her. Keeper,” Jamie said.

“No, but at one time, you were her friend. That is until she needed you. But like you’ve said, it’s none of your business. I just...I talked her in the hospital that day. I’m assuming now it was after you threw her out of your house. She looked broken and defeated. I...you called her a pervert. Why?”

“She lets men beat her? She gets off on pain? What kind of person...she isn’t anything like I thought she was. A sexual deviant is what she is. I want nothing to do with her, and to be honest, I can’t believe you’d let her be around Meggie. What if she tries something on her?”

Cait’s hand was out and across his face so quickly that Byron nearly tipped the chair back. He didn’t know which of them had a more surprised look on their face. But Cait’s was certainly more angry.

“How dare you accuse me of being an unfit mother. Do you think Taylor wanted to be raped like that? Do you think she had any inkling that he was going to do the things he did to her?”

“Raped? No, she wasn’t raped. She lied to you. She...why does he get to leave?” Byron had had enough of Jamie calling Taylor names and if he didn’t leave soon, blood was going to be shed again. Only this time, it wouldn’t be his.

He was nearly to the door when he turned to Jamie. “You’ve made your opinion of me pretty clear, Jamie. I’m a sexual deviant; I’m not fit to be around my niece and probably the others as well. I’ll not subject you to myself any longer.”

“What are you talking about? We were talking about Taylor. And there isn’t any way she can claim rape when that’s what she wanted. I’ve read enough to know those sort of people—”

“I’m those sort of people, you judgmental asshole. I’m a Dom and not only that, but I own several clubs that specialize in that sort of people’s deviance. Let me ask you something, Jamie, have you ever held a woman still when you made love to her? Have you ever spanked a woman during sex?”

“That’s not the same thing. It was playing around. Taylor purposely went there to be—”

“It’s exactly the same thing. Only in order for us ‘sexual deviants,’ as you called us, to really enjoy it, I need to dominate. I need to exert power over the woman I have sex with. Do they enjoy it? Hell yeah they do. Having a woman bow before me, take me into her mouth while tied down is a big turn on for me. And for Taylor, she wants someone to tell her when she can come, when she can touch or be touched. I haven’t the slightest clue how she was raped, but I intend to find out and...talk to the bastard.”

“It was her list, the one she filled out before they let her come inside. He didn’t...she didn’t want him to beat her and he did. As for the bites, that was him too. He hurt her.

And I’m running an investigation into maybe him hurting others as well, men and women.” Byron completely forgot about Cait in the room and flushed with heated embarrassment. She shrugged when he looked at her.

“Why didn’t she use her safe word? If he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to, she should have used her safe word and he would have stopped.” Byron had had it wrong. Taylor wasn’t hard core, she was a victim. And not only a victim, but she had been mistreated by her friends because of it. He wanted to find her, find her soon.

“She did. She shouted it out to the room the first time he hit her with the whip, then the fourth time and the fifth. He continued over and over until she fainted from pain, she told me. He bit her, several times I might add, after she was unconscious. I was able to get a name from the owner, though he wasn’t really happy about it. According to the video of the incident, she said her safe word eighteen times before it was all finished.”

“I...he bit her while she was...that’s sick. How could she let...I guess she didn’t let anyone do anything, did she?” Jamie asked no one in particular.

“No, her rights were taken from her the moment she said her word the first time, and every time after that. They didn’t even call an ambulance for her, but put smelling salts under her nose until she woke then sent her out the door. The owner tried to tell one of my men that she was drunk or on drugs, but that didn’t pan out. She’d had a blood test a few days before and she tested clean. Since I’ve started this investigation, there have been quite a few others come forward. All of them with the same wounds.” Jamie got up. When he started toward Byron, he stiffened, ready for another fight with him. They stood staring at each other for several seconds until Jamie turned back to Cait.

“You’re a good person, Cait. Thanks. I still don’t...I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I’m sorry. Very sorry that I brought it here, to your house.” Jamie turned back to Byron. “Are you seeing Taylor?”

“Not yet. I’d like to, and I’m actually working on it. Is that all right with you?” Byron realized that it mattered to him that Jamie was all right with it too.

“Yes. I think so anyway. I’m still not...I don’t know what I feel about this or her. I don’t even know why I’m so mad at her yet. But if you hurt her, hurt her like I did, or that bastard did, I’ll kill you. Understand me?”

“Yes. Jamie, if you want to come down to the club some night...I can—” Byron started.

“I’m so not ready for that, but thanks. Maybe later. Right now...I’m sorry Cait, but right now, I’m going home. I’ve…it’s too much and I need to get my head on straight.

Byr, I’m sorry for this. But I’d really like to know when you find the bastard. I really want to ask him a few questions of my own.” Jamie opened his arms and Byron stepped into his embrace. He didn’t realize how much he needed his brother until then.

After he left, Byron sat back down with Cait. “Tell me everything you have, please.

If he did that to her, she’s going to need...I’m seeing her tomorrow night at the club. I’ll need to know what I have to deal with to help her.”

~~~

“It’s the best I can give you, little girl. I wish I could help you out, but it just ain’t a whole lot of demand for a thirty-year-old car, even if it is just for parts.” Taylor had been haggling with the scrap dealer for over an hour. He would only give her two hundred for the piece of crap car. She supposed that was better than the one hundred he had first offered her. Sighing, she nodded and took the cash. She would just have to figure out how to get the rest of the money for her ticket.

So far, her list of things to do was getting longer, not shorter. Pulling it out, she crossed out “selling car” and then looked her list over. Of the dozen or so things on the list, she had only crossed out two—the car and going to the club. She wasn’t going there.

The man had tried to keep her there and that frightened her more than she wanted to admit. All she could think about was the other club and waking up hurting and in a strange place. Thankfully, she was healed, but she was still terrified of someone taking advantage of her again. When the cell phone rang again, she decided to answer it.

Devin had called her over a hundred times since yesterday afternoon, she was sure of it.

“What?” Okay, she probably could have been a lot more polite, but she didn’t ask him for the phone nor for him to keep calling her on it.

“I’m going to try my best to be nice to you. Ronnie said that I may have been a little harsh in my telling you about the FBI.” Taylor smiled. She would just bet that’s not all Ronnie had said.