Mistress's Master: Men in Blue, Book 3 (28 page)

Only when she’d satisfied herself Ramone had been cleaned and rested comfortably did she allow Jeremy to do the same for her.

They shared a deep stare, no words necessary, as he resealed the flap on her outfit.

For now.

Jeremy tucked himself into his jeans as Lily brought Ramone out of the sensual trance they’d induced. She spoke to him softly until a chuckle broke the intimate hush.

“Thank you, Mistress.” The man bit his lip, something Jeremy wouldn’t have expected in the lax aftermath they shared.

“Ramone, is there anything else you need to tell me?” She squinted at her charge. “If you hold back again, I won’t be so lenient next time.”

He grimaced.

“
Ramone…
” She drummed her bright red nails against her leather-coated forearm.

“I don’t mean to spoil your fun. Seeing you this morning, so happy, I couldn’t stand to ruin your glow. Now that’s twice as true.” He laid his cheek on her shoulder. “I’m sorry if this upsets you.”

“What’s wrong?” Lily sat up straighter, managing to maintain her aura of authority while looking thoroughly fucked.

“Last night, when they delivered our dinner, some of the guys were approached with offers…”

“Morselli’s staff solicited sex?” Lily’s face flushed.

“No, worse.” Ramone winced. “Though there were plenty of snide comments. More like a chance to turn the tables. They spread lies about you. Of course none of the guys believed you came here for drugs or that you’d use them to make you a better Mistress. Such bullshit. They said they’d let us try some if we helped them sneak some dude out of the dungeon. A scientist.”

“Fuck.” Jeremy pounded his fist against his thigh, savoring the pain that radiated through his quadriceps.

“Mistress, I know you would never do that.” Ramone grabbed her hand when she would have retreated. “We all heard the rumors back at Black Lily. About…”

“My father.”

Jeremy steadied her with a hand on her back.

“Yeah.” The sub looked like he would have spit on the ground had it been a little less opulent. “And Malcolm. Is…is it true?”

“Yes, Ramone.” She nodded. “Buchanan overdosed on Sex Offender. Intentionally. The coward murdered Malcolm first. They were going to put him away for life.”

“The fucker, sorry, had been killing that poor guy for years.” Ramone shook his head. “I know you tried to protect him but… Maybe this was kinder. Faster.”

“I doubt it.”

Jeremy squeezed her shoulder though he would never dare to hint at the gory images he’d reviewed in the case file pertaining to Malcolm’s brutal torture. The details would destroy her. She already agonized over the submissive’s loss.

“Did anyone take them up on it?” Jeremy couldn’t suppress his cop instincts, nearly as strong as his dominant tendencies. Hell, maybe they ran parallel in some respects. He’d seen his share of despicable cops, as abusive as rotten Doms.

“Hell, no.” Ramone scrubbed his hand over his face. “Fuck. At least not yet. We kicked those losers out. I’m not gonna lie, though. A few of the guys looked like they wondered about it. At the club, it was only for the super elite. Buchanan, Malcolm, a handful of the other top dogs. Even from our group, none of us except maybe Cameron could afford it even if we wanted. Here, it seemed like the rules of the game are different. The drug easier to score.”

Lily winced.

“Is it bad?” Ramone looked as though he would rise to comfort her.

“Stay.” She didn’t try to sugarcoat things or keep him in the shadows. Information would arm him against dangerous lies. “Listen carefully. Sex Offender is
highly
addictive. It will consume you, turn you crazy with desire if you let it.”

“Then it must be true, it enhances your pleasure?”

“Yes.” She planted her spike heels and met his stare head-on. “Those assholes weren’t lying. I did use it last night.”

“What?” Ramone braced one hand behind him as though to keep from tipping over. “Why would you do that?”

“She did it so I wouldn’t have to take it.” Jeremy glowered. “I’m sure I still owe her about five thousand spankings. Morselli trapped us. Set us against each other. It was her or me. It should have been me.”

“Of course.” Ramone sighed. “Is this why you moved us from Black Lily?”

Lily nodded. “Please believe I’ve taken every precaution I can think of to keep you all safe. Insulated. Still, I should have addressed the group. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of my decision.”

“You think we don’t know how many you’ve risked your life for already?” Ramone reached for her hand then stopped short of taking it.

She closed the gap, allowing him to kiss her knuckles.

“We adore you. For how many of us you’ve saved from ourselves and all the others we’ve caught rumors of in the darkness. You gave us all the option of leaving with no hard feelings. You offered to help us find another suitable Domme. No one took you up on it because there could never be another Mistress who would satisfy us like you do. No one we’d rather stand behind. How can we help?”

“By watching out for each other. Stick together and no one can harm you. I’ll have Lucas and Steve tighten security. I’ll bring in our own chef and supplies. They could easily slip some of that shit in the food. Damn it, I should have considered that.”

“Mistress Lily.” Ramone grew serious, his shoulders rolled back as he cleared his throat. “Use us. If they’re hurting innocent people, we would be proud to stop it.”

“Absolutely not.” The strands of the flogger at her hip spread into a fan of leather as she pivoted on her wicked heels. “It’s too risky.”

“Okay. But don’t have them cut off the delivery service. If you do, Mr. Morselli will know you suspect his staff. It all makes sense now. You’re supposed to be helping him, right? He thinks you’ll convince people to try the drug and get rid of the garbage after he hooks them. Is that it? We can dig for information. If that’s all you’ll allow, it’s still something.”

“He has a point, Lily.” Jeremy reached out, snagging her wrist.

To her credit, she considered their arguments. “I don’t like this one bit. It’s too enticing. Even talking about it makes part of me crave another taste. It’s a blur of color, passion and pleasure. All those men, surrounding me. The motion of the suspension rig. Your eyes. Always on me. To burn like that every night.”

Lily shivered.

“I won’t let you expose yourself to the chemical again.” Jeremy groaned when a spark of the total abandon she’d harnessed entered her eyes. He tugged her close and smothered her in his grasp, blocking out the craving, replacing it with his heat. “Never again, Lily. We don’t need to cheat.”

“Damn it. Something that potent will tear through communities.” Ramone clasped his hands, weaving his fingers. “My sister died of an overdose. Cocaine. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else’s family. Please, it’s just talk. I’ll find out more. A location, something. I promise I’ll keep an eye on the others and make sure no one slips up. Leave those two new guys. They have to know the score. Between all of us we can handle this.”

When she still didn’t respond, heat built in Ramone’s entreaty. “Don’t make the mistake so many others have. Our choice to submit does not mean we’re weak.”

“I’ve never believed that.” She shook her head at the man at her feet.

“Prove it, Mistress.”

“You can’t keep fighting this alone, Lily.” Jeremy murmured into her ear. “This is the break you were hoping for. If we pool our resources we might have a chance to shut it down. Keep it contained.”

“Fine.” Lily shoved from his chest. “You’re right. Damn it. I don’t fucking like it, but there’s not a lot of choice left. If we don’t cut this off soon it’ll be too late. It’s building, spreading.”

He wished he could argue, give her some comfort. The hell of it was Jeremy heard the clock ticking as loud as a jet engine. They didn’t have much time.

“Ramone, tell Suz to round up the rest of the boys as soon as they’ve enjoyed their rewards from this morning’s session.” Lily held her hands out, helping her charge to his feet. She tugged him closer, lifting to her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Have someone call when they’re ready for me to address the group.”

“Yes, Mistress.” He hugged her tight. “Thank you. We’ll make you proud.”

“You always do.”

Jeremy waited until the door had shut and Ramone’s bare feet slapped down the marble hall before facing her. “We should split up.”

“What? No.” She evaded his grasp. “This won’t take long. Then we can hunt Morselli. Find out what he has planned for us. You know as well as I, he wouldn’t have asked us here if it were only about handling the fallout. I assumed he was working for The Scientist. Now, though…What Ramone said makes sense. Morselli’s always been about power. He’s trying to take over. He needs something to produce or distribute the drug and he thinks we can get it for him. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Have you ever considered law enforcement?” Jeremy grinned. All through the night, he’d supervised her unnatural slumber between taming the bouts of drug-induced hunger ransacking her tiny body. While she’d dozed, he’d kept his tablet handy, typing in notes, building timelines, running probabilities, drafting reports on his theories for Agent Sterns.

By dawn, he’d come to the same conclusion.

Morselli had tried to usurp his partner. Maybe he’d acted too soon or underestimated The Scientist. The genius hadn’t evaded police in a dozen countries by being stupid. Now he needed help to finish the job. Somehow he thought Jeremy or Lily would be able to secure what he needed.

“You had it right.” She sat on the edge of her desk, distracting him with the graceful cross of one sleek thigh over the other. “Things are moving faster, running out of control. We should try to force his hand. I only need fifteen minutes tops to guarantee how key the safety of my subs and my staff is and how volatile the situation has become. I can’t take off until that’s done. I’ve earned the right to confront Morselli with you. Don’t take that away from me.”

“Shit.” Jeremy scrubbed his knuckles over his eyes, trying to erase nightmare scenarios. They could break her so easily. Not because she was weak, but because they were ruthless. He forced his respiration into a steady rhythm. “This is hard, Lily.”

“Like giving up control to you isn’t?” She hopped up, slapping her hands on her hips. “No matter what happens when we’re in bed, you have to trust me to take care of myself. Or was everything you said a lie? About needing someone strong enough…”

“No, never.” Their whispered confessions rushed through his memory. How could she think what they’d shared could be false? He spun to face her head-on, cupping her cheeks in his hands, hoping she didn’t notice the tiny tremble in his fingers. “I believe you’re capable. It’s just—”

“Yeah.” She relaxed into his touch. “I know. It’s freaky to trust someone after all this time. Hard to take another risk.”

“I can’t stand to lose again.” He trailed his fingertips over her cheeks to her parted lips. “Not when I’ve finally found everything I want, everything I need. The stakes are too high.”

“If you don’t consider me your equal, and treat me the same, you’ll lose me right now.” The shimmer in her eyes promised it would rip them both to pieces. “I’ll walk if I have to. I have my limits, Jeremy. I’ll surrender to you in everything but this.”

“Damn it.” He smothered her upturned face with butterfly kisses. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll wait. This is so new, Lily. So different. Phenomenal. You’re going to have to bear with me, okay?”

“If you’ll do the same for me.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his tense pecs.

“Always.”

“For so long I’ve worried about getting caught, not wondering
if
it would happen but
when
and how much of my father’s damage I could fix before they stopped me. This is the first time in years, maybe ever, I believe things are going to be okay.” Lily’s whisper tore his heart. “I can handle anything when you stand with me.”

“Same here, Lily. Together. We’ll do this together.”

Chapter Eighteen

Jeremy observed from the hallway as Lily spoke to her intimate family, unwilling to infringe on their private moment or detract from her authority by hovering too close. He wished he’d seen them interact before he and the sultry switch had exchanged midnight confessions. Sitcom actors with false smiles and scripted, laugh-track reactions had nothing on the devout gazes of the men and women surrounding her.

Concern—not for themselves, but for the woman who formed the glue of their bond—wrinkled brows and had several holding hands with their friends and neighbors. The fierce loyalty she inspired in the group couldn’t be forced. She’d earned their allegiance.

“Would you look at that?” Lucas leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb, kicking his foot across the other. “Every last dude wrapped around her little finger. You joining them?”

“None of your business, really.” Jeremy studied the hired muscle.

“Agent Sterns seems to think it is,
Romeo
.”

Fuck.
It hadn’t been his imagination. Lily’s help screamed military. He’d assumed they were the
ex
variety, earning a living with the skills they’d honed while enlisted. Should have guessed they were part of the special task force assembled from an alphabet soup of agencies to tackle what Sterns had codenamed Operation Romeo. “How long has he had you working from the inside?”

“About three months.”

“No wonder that asshole wasn’t in any hurry to put me in the game. Does she know?” Jeremy’s gut burned at the thought of the men deceiving her. She deserved the truth.

“Hell, no.” Steve joined their cluster. “She’d probably rip our balls off and make us eat ’em.”

Lucas laughed. “No doubt. Besides, once we cleared her of any involvement, we couldn’t risk her kicking us out. Manning this post keeps our ear to the ground and her fine ass covered.”

“What you’re saying is
you’re
wrapped around her finger too.” Jeremy raised an eyebrow at the men.

“Pretty much,” Steve growled. “So you’d better convince us you’re not fucking with her just to grab the inside line.”