Take a Chance (16 page)

“
Master, whatever you choose
will please me.”

“
Good answer, sub.” His hand
covered her nipple and tugged, sending shards of sensation outward
to infect the rest of her body. With his sure touch, it didn’t take
but a moment or two for her entire body to sing with the need he
conveyed.

The tether holding her wrists to the
headboard allowed room for movement and he used the slack to
reposition her on the bed. Spread wide for him, she waited while he
left the room. A minute later, footsteps sounded and the lights
went out, something soft covering her eyes.

“
There you go, Dena. One
more change, and we’ll begin.” A squishy plug lodged in her left
ear. “This will help you focus on what you’re feeling.” The other
ear was blocked. The edge of panic crept into her head and then a
rough hand landed between her breasts.

Steve.

The texture and size of his hand had become a
welcome pleasure the last few days. The knowledge that he’d never
intentionally hurt her banished the panic and left only
curiosity.

The hand moved away and a different texture,
light and tickling, swiped down her stomach and between her legs.
She wiggled and it stopped, replaced with the flick of a soft
flogger across her abdomen, one frond lashing against her right
breast and making her jump.

A thumb and finger grasped the nipple and
squeezed, taking the pain to a new level of pleasure and a moan
slipped out. The flogger crossed her skin again, then again, her
recognition only from past experience with the toy.

Considering his toys as weapons had fallen by
the wayside early yesterday morning. He’d been more than
convincing. He’d been devilish.

He’d turned her into a wanton woman.

The bed moved as he did, and her nipple was
consumed by wet heat and suction. And then fire lashed through the
tight bud when a hard object took possession of it. She cried out
and he left the bed.

Hot air caressed her other breast and she
tried to control the anticipation of pain. But again, her breast
was taken by his mouth, then a duplicate of what he’d used a few
minutes before. The sting morphed into an intense pleasure when his
fingers played between her thighs, and she hoped he didn’t have
another one of those things for down there.

He pushed her feet further apart, flexing the
knees to splay her like a Thanksgiving turkey, and the bed dipped
as he climbed between them. When he pushed inside, every nerve in
her body went on high alert, erotic pressure zinging in every
direction.

And when he moved in and out…

Heaven have mercy, when he moved within her,
lights flashed in her eyes, no matter the blindfold, and her body
took flight like a jet launching from a carrier.

With no sight or sound, her judgment of time
disappeared and she floated, pulsing with waves of pleasure as he
took her again and again.

Her inner muscles slowed their contractions
and he followed their pace. His body shifted but she could still
feel his thickness rammed deep inside her. Fingertips caressed the
swells of both her breasts, lifted away, and ignited a firestorm of
pleasure.

The rest of her body followed suit, Steve
plowing his way in and out to match her need. When he reached his
climax, there was nothing left of her body but a limp rag, a bag of
skin covered bones and muscles so lax that she couldn’t lift a
finger if the house was falling down upon them.

He eased out of her body, the remnants of his
release coating her labia and inner thighs, and quiet descended.
For the first time in her life, she cherished the complete quiet
he’d given her. Peace and contentment settled over her, every inch
of her body, and even her mind, was relaxed.

She felt his fingers first, and then the
silence lessened as he pulled the plug from her ear. Whispering, he
said, “Sweetheart, we’re going to leave the mask on for a few more
minutes, and I’m going to bathe you.”

The wrist restraints came off one at a time,
the rip of the Velcro an enormous sound after the silence. Strong
arms slid under her body and she settled against his chest for the
short trip to the bathroom. He slipped her into the water, its
temperature perfect, and she lay against a plastic pillow he’d
positioned behind her head while he bathed her. Focusing on the
sound and the feel of his hands or the washcloth, she was content
to let him take care of her as he wished. And he was careful,
easing the cloth over and across painfully sensitive breasts and
between her legs.

“
Beautiful Dena,” he
whispered, “I’m going to take care of you for a very long time, if
you’ll let me.”

Chapter 17

Dena’s phone rang as Steve was helping her
into the truck and she showed him the caller ID before answering
it. Yes, he was a little paranoid, but she didn’t mind much. He had
more than a few good points, definitely enough to keep him
around.

What really worried her was the caller. Her
friend was known for taking jobs that didn’t start until almost
noon and it was barely seven thirty.

“
Hey, Susan, you’re early.
What’s going on?”

“
Have you seen Sara? She
isn’t answering her phone.”

The anxiety in Susan’s voice echoed in Dena’s
chest. Susan wasn’t the hysterical type, and after the events of
the past week, Dena was already on edge. Swallowing her own fear,
she tried to be a strong friend.

“
No, not for a few days.
Maybe her battery died. What does Kellie say? Have you talked to
her?” A logical step for Dena, since the three of them had shared a
house off and on since their first year in college.

“
Kellie hasn’t seen her in
two days, either.”

“
I thought Sara was living
with the two of you.”

“
No. She got a one bedroom
apartment closer to downtown when she got that job in
June.”

“
Did you check the new
apartment?”

The ragged sigh wasn’t welcome, but Dena
didn’t mind.

Susan was beyond worried.

“
I’m here now, and there’s
no sign of her.”

“
Hold on,” Dena said to her
friend, covering the phone to speak to Steve. “Can you take me to
Sara’s apartment instead of work? Susan’s upset because she can’t
locate Sara.”

“
How long has the girl been
out of pocket?”

Before Dena could reply, Steve said, “Get the
address and we’ll head over now.”

“
Thank you,” she told her
Dom. “Susan, give me the address and I’ll be there in a few
minutes.”

It took them a little more than a few
minutes, since the apartment was in the opposite direction from her
office, but Susan answered the door before the bell finished
ringing.

“
It’s like she walked out
the door with nothing. It’s not like her to go out of town without
telling me.”

Dena stepped into the room and hugged Susan
while Steve went past them into the neat as a pin apartment. Hands
in his pockets, he wandered the open living area and disappeared
into the bedroom. When he came back out, he sat on the sofa and
crooked a finger at Dena. She went to him immediately and Susan
followed.

“
I think you should call the
police. I don’t see any sign of struggle, but that doesn’t mean
much. Have you called local hospitals?”

“
Oh, no. I didn’t think
about that possibility.”

Steve pulled out his phone and paged through
numbers until he found his local emergency room. With an electrical
crew out on jobs daily, he liked to be prepared for any emergency.
He hit send and handed his phone to Dena while her friend looked
for other hospitals to try.

Twenty minutes later, they had nothing.

Steve took his phone back and went into the
bedroom to take a business call. When he returned, he held Dena
tight and whispered, “Go hold onto your friend. She needs a
hug.”

“
Susan, I talked to a friend
with the county. They have an unidentified woman at the morgue.
From the description, she has your coloring. Are you identical
twins?”

Dena sat next to Susan, her arm around her
shoulders. “No, they’re not, but generally speaking, yes. Same
coloring and build.”

Susan’s body crumpled into Dena’s arms and
Steve came to the rescue, squatting in front of them and taking
Susan’s hands in his. “Listen. We can’t be sure yet. We need to go
down there and take a look. It could be someone else, and Sara will
call you in the morning. Okay?”

He walked away and came back with a box of
tissues, and Dena wanted to grab hold of him and never let go. He
dropped to his haunches and spoke soft words of support to both of
them, his hand on Dena’s knee while Susan wiped her face.

She was well past gone over him and it scared
her half out of her mind. But the way he was helping her friend,
taking care of things that had nothing to do with his own life,
putting her needs ahead of his. How could she not fall in love with
him?

They took his truck to the Dallas County
Morgue, Steve paving the way through the red tape and shoring both
women up as much as possible, making him that much more important
to Dena.

One of the techs showed them the body and
Susan confirmed it was her sister. Since she had been found by the
owner of a motel in town and been the victim of foul play, the
police were notified of the identification of the victim.

They went there next, spending several hours
with detectives at the substation and then at Sara’s apartment. The
day stretched into evening with no break and when Susan was ready
to go home, Steve insisted they stop and eat first. He also
suggested Susan stay in his guest room, but she insisted on going
back to the townhouse she shared with Kellie. She’d called her
parents in Denver and her roommate, but there were still people to
contact. Arrangements to be made.

Steve helped both women out at the townhouse
and grabbed Dena’s hand when Susan went up the walk. “I’m sorry you
had to go through this, sweetheart. I wish I could’ve spared you in
some way.”

She leaned in tight to him, taking comfort
from his warm body and his care of her. “She was a wonderful
friend. I can’t imagine who would do this to her.”

“
There are bad people all
over the world. It’s not fair for whoever did this to walk free
when a beautiful life’s been snuffed out.” He kissed her gently on
the mouth, a soft brush of sweetness after a long, painful day.
Still holding her, they went into the house to help in any way they
could. Much later, he took her back to his home and tucked her
safely next to him, convinced he could protect her and hold her
safe in his arms.

The morning brought more news in the form of
the local paper. Sara’s murder was front page fodder for the
gossips and busybodies, but she’d led an exemplary life, giving
time to people in need on the quiet and working for a company that
adored her, equally mourned her loss, and vowed to help locate her
killer.

The office was quiet, her brothers offering
sympathy early in the day and leaving her alone. Simon had
suggested she take the day off, but she chose to stay busy,
clearing her desk of all the little things she’d put off in the
last week.

The solitude and productivity helped and she
appreciated her family’s care. If only the rest of the world was so
kind. Dena’s cell rang incessantly and she finally put it on silent
to screen the calls.

Steve worried, but his schedule was tight and
he couldn’t stay with her all day. Derek was in the same fix and
Mark had a meeting uptown. His solution, after she shot down the
private security guard, was to have Mark’s driver and longtime
friend sit in her office area and watch for problems.

He was a nice guy, built like a bodybuilder,
with broad shoulders and long, fit legs and he had a mischievous
smile to go with sparkling blue eyes. He kept quiet, keeping an eye
on the doors and on the book in his hand.

With several single friends, she thought
seriously about asking if he was married, but it didn’t seem like
the right time. Besides, if he worked with Mark, there was a good
chance he was a member of Private Delights, and she wasn’t ready to
share the club with any of her friends.

After listening to her complain about her
overprotective, bossy brothers, they wouldn’t understand why she’d
let Steve dominate her. Explaining wouldn’t be easy, so she’d
rather leave them out of that particular part of her life for the
time being.

Chapter 18

Lloyd stumbled out of his bedroom and into
the tiny kitchenette, the need for caffeine pushing his feet
forward more than the thought of work and a steady paycheck. He’d
been up most of the night, trying to break the code for Lindsay’s
damn passwords. He hadn’t heard from Ethan in two days, but it was
coming. He could feel it in his bones, and he was seriously
considering skipping town.

Ethan had ‘bad shit’ vibes all over him. The
kind that ended on death row. The simple robbery had turned into a
fiasco, and the last time he and Ethan were together, the fear of
God had surrounded Lloyd.

The feeling hadn’t dissipated.

And the longer Ethan was MIA, the more Lloyd
wanted to bail.

He booted his laptop while the coffee
finished spitting. A few minutes with the sports page and the
comics would help the coffee wake up his brain. He needed a plan,
and brain power was imperative.

Pouring a hot cup, he scrolled the front page
and stopped at the first major story. Damn. He’d gone to high
school with the Henley girls and now one of them was dead.
Murdered.

He read through the article and his hands
iced up around the coffee mug. The police didn’t have much evidence
at the scene, but the girl’s bank accounts had all been hit in the
last twenty four. One of the ATMs caught a fuzzy picture of the
guy. The picture in the paper wasn’t much to go on, but Lloyd
recognized enough.