The Dangerous Hero (28 page)

"And he believed that?"

"He's a pussy. A bully, but a pussy. So he comes down here for our usual fishing jaunt, and I tell him we're going to the boathouse to get our gear. He buys it. Once we're in here, I ask him to open that chest over there. I quietly lock the door behind us. Then I take him down.

"He's not expecting it, but even if he were, he doesn't know how to defend himself. Seems he's only good for attacking women. So I chain him to that post...the same one." Percy opened the chest and pulled out a set of metal manacles and chains that looked as if they belonged in the Tower of London.

"Whoa," Stephen said, eying them with interest. "Those look authentic. Where'd you get them?"

"You can get everything online now. Back then it was harder, but not that hard. He knew he was fucked when he saw those irons." Percy pulled out a single-tail whip. "I used this baby on his back. Didn't harm the fucker
too
seriously...SSC was too deep ingrained after all these years to fuck him up internally, but I put some nasty lacerations into his skin. Probably still has the scars."

Stephen laughed again. He knew he probably shouldn't be laughing, but damn, he'd remembered now why he'd liked and admired Percy. He took no shit from anybody.

"I used the camera and filmed the whole thing for posterity. Especially his begging me to stop. His confession of everything he'd done. His blubbering about how sorry he was. Captured the whole fucking confession. Told him I'd turn it over to the cops. I had kept my face out of the camera lens during this whole thing and disguised my voice, so I wasn't too worried about any ramifications. Anyway, I've got friends in the local cops. One of 'em's a fishing buddy.

"I told ole Derek that if he didn't quit his job and leave the fucking country, his whiney confession would go to the police. I threatened to put it up on YouTube, too. And if he ever so much as spoke to my daughter again, I'd bring him back to my torture chamber, only this time he wouldn't survive. This time I'd kill his ass and dump his body out where the sea gets deep, weighted down with stones. Told him I knew all about killing people and getting rid of the evidence from my research.

"Creep fled for Australia before the week was out."

"You never told Viola what you did?"

"Hell no. And I don't want her knowing now, either. You can just let her know that she's safe from the guy. He's not coming back."

"Good," Stephen said, his own voice just as fierce. "I'm glad you took care of him. Otherwise, I'd have had to."

They eyed each other. Percy stuffed his things back in the chest. "How about that drink?"

This time Stephen accepted.

Chapter 28

The next weekend when she arrived at Stephen's place on the beach, Viola found him out on his deck with his laptop, typing furiously. He grinned broadly at her, saying, "Almost done with this chapter. Will you let me finish? If I don't get the rest of this scene down now I might forget the brilliant plan that popped into my head about ten minutes ago."

"Of course," she said, giving him a kiss on the top of his head, and then greeting Rusty, who was looking out the screen door and whining for attention. "I'm early anyway...the traffic was light. Shall I take Rusty for a walk while you finish?"

Rusty must have heard his name and the word "walk," because he began barking enthusiastically. "He's all for it," Stephen laughed. "Thanks."

The day was fine and the beach quiet. Because the tide was out, she and Rusty walked on the hard-ridged sand that marked the sea bottom at high tide. On this side of the Cape, the Bay side, the water was shallow, so the tide retreated for several hundred yards. On the other side, where her father lived, the drop-off was much more extreme.

It was too early in the year for tourists. She wondered what the summer would bring. Stephen had a great deal of privacy here in the off season. Would he find it harder to work when there were more people and more noise?

Well, she would know the answer to this soon. She grinned as she realized the implication of this thought—she and Stephen would be together, both here and at her place in Rolling Meadows. It was a real relationship now.

Rusty found several shallow pools that were filled with water and happily splashed around, getting himself wet and shaking himself vigorously, which got her wet. She laughed. She'd never met a retriever yet who didn't take great delight in playing in the water.

"C'mon, boy, let's head back and see if your master has completed his latest 16th century torture fest."

He had. He was putting the computer away when they got back. Rusty bounded up the three steps to the deck and started licking Stephen, who laughed and patted him. When Viola reached them, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. Her body went into "oh my god he's touching me" mode. And from the way she felt his cock springing up to press against her belly, she knew it was the same for him.

"I missed you," he said.

"I missed you even more."

"Ha! I'm gonna make you prove it."

She leaned back, still holding her hands together behind his neck. This made their lower bodies press even more firmly together. "I don't know how, but you can try."

He kissed her again and said, "Okay, I'm gonna try something right now." He let her go long enough to unclip Rusty's leash from his collar and put him inside, where he looked out through the screen door and whined a bit before deciding to lie down. Stephen pulled her to the top of the three steps that led down to the beach. He went down a step. "Turn around so your back is toward me."

"Why?"

"Because we're going into D/s mode and I'm ordering you to."

"Yes, Master." She was still a little wary of D/s mode, but she did it.

"Good. What we need," Stephen said, "is a way to build up more trust in each other."

"I trust you."

"You don't yet. Not entirely. And you don't trust D/s mode much yet, do you? Be honest," he added when she hesitated.

"Okay. Not so much. But I'm trying."

"I know. But here's something we haven't talked about much: I've got a trust issue, too. You need to prove that you don't give up at the first sign of trouble. That you're worthy of my time, energy and attention."

She blinked. "Wait. What?"

"Just reminding you that there are two of us in this relationship. We should both be getting what we want and need."

She felt abashed then. Most of their relationship discussions had been all about her. Help me, free me, heal me. "Oh wow. You're so right. I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head. "I'm all me, me, me, aren't I? Here you are, trying to make this work, and I'm always throwing up obstacles."

"You'll make it up to me. You think I'm going to make things easy for you? Think again, sweetheart. If I'm going to train you as my submissive, you'll be expected to abide by certain rules. Now lift your arms high over your head and hold them there."

She did it. In the distance, she could hear sea gulls cawing, but otherwise it was quiet on the beach. She sensed Stephen moving down the rest of the steps, but wasn't sure if he was moving away until he spoke. He was there, but it sounded as if he was on the sand at the foot of the steps.

"Relax your body. Just let yourself go loose, but keep your arms over your head."

She tried, not sure what he was up to. Did he have a whip in his hand?

"Take half a step back, still facing away from me."

She hesitated. She knew she was near the top of the stairs, but she wasn't sure how close to the edge she was.

"Do it," he said, his voice suddenly hard in that way it got when he was fucking her.

"I'm afraid of falling."

"When you're with me, nothing is going to harm you. You might know that intellectually, but you have to learn to feel it. To know it deep down. Do as I say and take half a step back."

Now she understood. Carefully, she backed up. She wasn't sure how many inches half a step was, but she did what she guessed was right. The deck surface was still firmly under her feet, but she sensed she was now right on the edge.

"Good. Take a deep breath. Center yourself. Are you okay?"

She nodded. She was pretty sure what was coming next.

"You know what I want you to do, don't you?"

"I think so."

"I think so,
Master
."

She repeated it.

"Just relax and trust me. When I say 'fall back,' you're going to lean backwards and just let your body go. No fear, no tension. Just drop into my arms."

She didn't pose the questions that jumped to her lips. What if you don't catch me? What if I'm too heavy? What if I hurt myself? What if I hit my head? Anxious thoughts almost always began with the words, "What if?"

"I'm ready."

"Good girl. Fall back."

It was the strangest feeling, leaning backward and letting herself go. Her brain did not like doing such a seemingly irrational thing. Her center of balance started screaming for her to right herself as soon as she began to fall, and the need to grasp for the banister on the side of the stairs was so strong that she felt her body scream. But although one arm shot out wildly to the side, the other remained still. She fell backward and down. It only lasted a split second, but in that time there was a glimmer of freedom...a sense that she could maybe learn to fly.

Then Stephen's arms were tight around her and his strong body broke her short fall. He felt more loose and relaxed than she was. "If you bend like a supple tree with the wind," he whispered, his mouth against her ear, "nothing can break you."

Recovering her balance, she laughed out loud. She twisted around in his arms and beamed up at him. "That was awesome. Can I go again?"

He laughed, too, and kissed her hard.

* * *

That night, after dinner, he told her what he'd found out about Derek.

"I have a friend, Max, a computer guy. I may have told you about him."

"Is he the guy who was supposed to be at that party at Jeff's? The phantom who didn't show up?"

"Yeah, that's Max. Very shadowy dude, for all his billions. Anyway, I asked him to check to make sure your ex is really far away in Australia. Max confirmed it.
Derek is definitely in Australia. He's living in Melbourne, and working as a lecturer in anthropology at Monash University."

"That's a relief."

"As for those hang ups on your phone, they weren't from Derek. You were right—they were marketing assholes. Nothing to worry about; I get those calls, too."

"Your friend Max ran my phone records?"

"Yeah, sorry. Privacy is dead and all that." He paused, and then added, "Derek is getting married again, which means you're finally safe from that asshole."

"He's getting married?"

"Yeah, to another young woman in her twenties. His pattern, clearly."

"Wow," she said. Her expression looked distant for a moment, but then she began to smile. "I feel sorry for her, but happy for me." She jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you, Stephen!"

"You are most definitely welcome." He had decided not to tell her about what Percy had done to make sure Derek never came back to the States. Percy had asked him not to, and he figured that if he wanted his daughter to know, he could tell her himself.

"So I'm safe, and all that crap is really in the past."

"It is. Except for one thing."

She leaned back in his arms and studied his face. "What thing is that?"

He let her think about it. She tilted her head to one side, her red hair sweeping across her chest as she moved. He wanted to wind strands of that hair around her breasts. Tease her nipples with her own hair. It was long enough. He thought of other things he could do with her hair and got hard. It didn't take much to get him hard around her.

As usual, she understood him without further words. "You still want to punish me for lying to you, don't you?"

"I do. You'll have to ask for it, though. There's no rush. I want you to be ready, to trust me, and to know that anything I do is meant in a loving way."

She looked down for a moment, then back at his face. "I do trust you. Okay. I'm asking. Since we're putting all the bad behind us, let's get take care of that too."

"Kneel before me." He stood and pointed at the carpet in front of him. "Now," he added, snapping the word out like a drill sergeant.

She hesitated. He hoped he was keeping his features neutral, but he was watching every slight movement she made, every shifting expression on her face and in her eyes. It was a tricky moment. He knew she still had her doubts about this. He also knew she was afraid to let him take her back into his dungeon.

She could resist. Or she could obey. He waited, his heart racing. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like a turning point. How deeply into submission was she? Would she really give herself up to be caned?

She chose to obey.

Relief swept over him as she sank gracefully to her knees on the floor. She looked up at him for a moment, then bowed her head.

Relief was ousted by the torrent of lust that roared through him. He slid one hand into her beautiful hair and grabbed a significant chunk of it. Pulling hard, he tipped her head back so she was forced to look up at him. When she did, her eyes were shining and her full lower lip was moist and wet. He was willing to bet hard cash that her sex was growing wet too. Viola had loved being dominated at seventeen. Eighteen. She might not be as twisted as he was, but she was no fucking vanilla.