TogetherinCyn (13 page)

This time I spoke to both of them. “I’ve been waiting for
you. And I don’t ever want to say goodbye.”

“Do you see what time it is?” Jenna mumbled on the other end
of the phone.

“Umm…eight thirty?” I must have woken her on my way to work.

“In the morning?” She groaned. “I’ve only had a few hours of
sleep. You’d better have some out-of-this-world,” she yawned, “juicy stories
for me.”

I traced the collar at my neck as my body tingled in all the
right places.

“Oh, do tell,” she added with a sleepy chuckle. “That sigh
seemed full of details and I want every last one of them. Start at the
beginning and speak slow…and sexy. Plus, if the guys are with you, all the
better.”

Excitement bubbled through me from waking up next to not one
but both my best friends. It overwhelmed me, spilling over into all my
thoughts. I didn’t have a lot of girlfriends growing up, mostly because I was
embarrassed by my family. It amazed me I had someone to share it with now.

“They had to go to the bar early this morning. It was a good
thing—I needed all the rest I could get because they were…insatiable. Hours of
pleasure that no fantasy could come close to matching. Do you know the best
part?”

“Well, let’s see. Two cocks, one long night with nothing to
do but come—on, around and with both those cocks inside you. I can only
imagine. I’m sure you resembled bunnies.”

I smiled, remembering all the ways they took me in the early
morning hours. “It was the bed we slept in.”

“What did that matter?”

“It was the first time either of them had slept in it, and
obviously me too.”

“No other woman has ever been in there, Cyn,” Jenna
corrected.

“Surely that’s not right.” Thinking she must still be
asleep, I barely resisted the urge to gawk at the phone.

“Nope. Not an ounce of estrogen has entered that space until
you. All the workers were male. Decorators, cleaning service.”

I remained silent, unable to fight my grin. If my face stuck
like that, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “I had a typed note tucked under my
windshield wiper with plans for tonight. I’m supposed to meet the guys in the
Kennedy Playroom at nine p.m. and I kind of need your help.”

“If it’s anything to do with kink and dress-up, I’m in. The
typed part is funny. I was giving them a hard time about their chicken scratch
yesterday. Guess I finally got through to them.
Hallelujah.
Did they
tell you what they wanted other than time and place?”

“Hold on, I’m almost to work. Let me park and I’ll read you
the rest. I’ve got to say, I figured they’d ask for something like this but I’m
surprised they asked for it so quick.”

I parked in my usual spot in front of the gym, grabbing the
note out of my purse. “It says, ‘Do you trust us? We want you bound to the wall
when we arrive. No more secrets tonight’.”

“It’s amazing how fast things change after they get a collar
around your neck. But just remember who you’re dealing with. These guys care
about you. They wouldn’t push you unless they thought you were ready.”

“You’re right and they deserve the whole truth. I already
decided I’d tell them everything tonight. Almost two years too late but it’s
time to come clean. You don’t have a clue what I’m talking about and I’m
rambling but I’ll tell you more tonight, if that’s okay. Sorry for waking you
but I really appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“No prob at all. Love seeing the guys so happy and
possessive; it’s pretty cute, in a leather-and-handcuffs kind of way. Toodles.”

I closed the phone and tossed it into my purse before
climbing from the car. I walked inside, beaming from ear to ear. My body ached in
the best of ways and I couldn’t wait to get back to my men and work the kinks
out.

* * * * *

When the clock struck nine, I seriously doubted my sanity.

“How ya doin?” Jenna strapped my other ankle to a spreader
bar.

“Okay so far. Getting nervous about the guys seeing me like
this for the first time but I think it’s the good kind of nervous?” It came out
a question and I hated it.

On the bottom floor of The Library, where the private spaces
were, the air was several degrees colder. The way it crept under my skin as I
stood there, bare breasted, reminded me I was in a dungeon, even more so than
the shackles and equipment that lined the flat-black walls. My wrists were
bound to the wall with stiff leather manacles and raised slightly above my
head.

I stood in nothing but tiny white panties and the collar
surrounding my neck and was thankful the guys had thought to heat the concrete
floors. I’d stepped out of my slippers onto the bronze-stained surface,
expecting to shiver but surprised to find it warm under my bare feet.

“A little nervous is okay, especially considering what
you’ve been through.” While Jenna had helped me get ready, I’d told her some of
what happened with my ex-boyfriend’s buddy. It was a distraction and I wanted
to share it with someone before I told the guys.

For months, I’d convinced myself to keep it a secret because
I was an adult and could take care of my own problems. But it was because I was
embarrassed beyond reason and didn’t want them to know I had made such a huge
mistake and compromised my safety at the same time. Thankfully, I was older and
wiser and had roped Jenna into helping make sure everything went well tonight.

She stood. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Well, no, but I want to be okay with everything that
happened before. I don’t want to be afraid of trying something new with Jared
and Chris because of some asshole wannabe who got off on hurting me. I’m not
going to let him win anymore.”

“I’m so envious of you.” Jenna went to the closet and
grabbed something small off a hook beside the door.

My new slippers and black robe hung beside her, taunting me.
“Good lord, why? Because I’m neurotic and have the fashion sense of a gnat?”

She laughed and came close again. “No, though your fashion
sense will greatly improve the longer you hang out with me. You have two men
who want you and will go to any lengths to please you.”

“But I didn’t think they…saw me, you know? And if they’re my
future, it is high fucking time I bury the past and move on.”

“Sometimes jumping in with both feet is the only way to do
it, so let’s get this party started, shall we?”

She mashed what seemed like a solid cinderblock panel beside
me, but it gave way. A door that matched the rest of the wall popped open. She
inserted a key then twisted it. The chain attached to my hands tightened,
jerking me to attention. The cuffs dug into my wrists, lifting me nearly off
the floor. Jenna extracted the key and closed the panel.

“I’m actually doing this, huh?” I asked, trying to make
light of the situation.

“And doing it in style. Ready to rock and roll?” she asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” I added with a nervous laugh, “Ready for
my close up, Ms. DeMille.”

“Now don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” With a parting wink,
she let the door close behind her.

My insides trembled. My thundering heart reminded me of a
flag blowing in the wind, whipping violently with the threat of tearing apart.

I tried to calm my breathing and distract myself. Panic and
sweat dampened my palms despite the cold. Seeing a whipping bench in one corner
and a St. Andrew’s cross on the opposite wall didn’t help me find my happy
place so I closed my eyes, concentrating on keeping my dinner going firmly in
the right direction.

I pictured Chris and Jared with me, next to me, holding me.
Whispering to calm me down. It helped for a few minutes but fear made time pass
differently. Every second felt like hours. Every minute like days.

The tang of earth hung in the air. I tasted it, choked on
it.

Where were the guys?

I prayed they hurried and hadn’t been held up somewhere.
Worried that I would need a nice white coat in a padded cell if they didn’t
make an appearance soon.

“Jenna will surely check on me,” I whispered, shifting my
weight from foot to foot, trying to alleviate some of the pressure in my
shoulders. She knew how rough this was and they would certainly call and let
her know if they were going to be late,
right
?

Air stuck in my throat, my heart hammering as the door
snicked open. A leather-clad leg came into view, along with an arm that snaked
out, hitting the light switch, plunging the entire room into darkness.

The light from the open doorway highlighted his silhouette
when he cleared the threshold. I should have reveled in the anticipation after
waiting so long but pure terror eclipsed everything else.

“Chris? Jared? This wasn’t such a good idea. I can’t handle
this.” A panic attack hammered at my frontal lobe.

He clicked on a small penlight, cutting a path across the
open floor.

“I don’t know why I agreed to do this. I have too many
issues about the last time. Let me go,” I demanded weakly, dread seeping into
my voice.
Why aren’t you talking to me?

The light tracked to my foot and I tried to move away when
it flickered onto my skin. He highlighted my legs, up to the tops of my thighs,
stomach, breasts. He stalked closer until the warmth from his light bled across
the inch that separated us. Ice settled in my veins.

“Chris?” His name slithered out of my throat. Fear locked my
vocal cords, cutting off everything else.

He crowded me. His nose, bare inches from mine, came into
view. His sneer filled my nightmares. My heart dropped into my stomach at the
pure malice chiseled across his face. All the terror I’d tried to control
swelled to the forefront. I was going to be sick after all.

“You got my note.”

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. All the synapses in my head
ground to a halt.

After a bit he added, “What? Don’t remember me, Cyn? We keep
running into each other when you’re all tied up.”

“Oh God…”

“I prefer Master but I guess God will do.”

I screamed. Bryce. It was the same asshole friend of Matt’s
who’d gotten away with hurting me. I tried to scream again but he shoved my
chin up, cutting off the sound.

“Shh, shh, shhhh.” For such a gentle noise, it pounded in my
head like a jackhammer.

I wrenched my jaw to the side, dislodging his palm, and
swallowed rapidly, trying not to heave. He latched on to my breast. The flesh
on my chest crawled away from him. I accidentally slammed the back of my skull
against the concrete behind me in my attempt to dislodge him. A sense of claustrophobic
helplessness surrounded me. The restraints on my wrists dug in. I tried in vain
to pull away.

He let go, picking up the penlight that had fallen to the
floor.

“Don’t touch me,” I spat at him.

“Guess you didn’t learn your lesson last time. Don’t worry.
We’ll fix that. Good girls don’t scream. Not if they’re getting exactly what
they’ve been asking for.” He wrapped his hands around my throat and I froze.
His meat hooks cut off my air flow, and with a snap my collar broke apart and
fell away.

A severe pain filled my lungs and the world became a bit
clearer in my sudden anger. “Give. It. Back,” echoed throughout the space. I
hadn’t realized how proud wearing my collar made me, or the security I drew
from it, until he tossed it across the floor.

“You didn’t actually expect me to fuck you while you wore
their shit, did you?”

Comprehension slammed into my fuzzy brain. Jenna and Nick
wouldn’t be able to see me. There wasn’t enough light to illuminate either of
us on the cameras. With the soundproof walls, no one walking by would be able
to hear me. I didn’t know where the guys were. The reality of being truly on my
own focused my mind better than the growing rage.

“They’ll come for me. And God help you when they do because
you’ll regret ever meeting me.” I glared at him. I couldn’t quit shaking. I’d
been so stupid to believe that note had come from Chris or Jared. I’d never
talked to them but they knew I was scared. They never would have pushed me this
far this fast.

The closet door swung open and I blinked rapidly as light
spilled out. “They aren’t coming, Cyn,” he said with a chuckle. “I made sure
they had something to deal with so we’d have time to…play.”

Not coming? Well…
fuck
.

The sound of a thick plastic package being ripped open
turned my blood cold. I yanked on the leather restraints. I wasn’t going
anywhere until someone released me. Shivers racked my spine but I refused to
let him see how afraid I was.

Bryce stepped out of the closet. He sneered at me, stalking
forward. He shoved my jaw aside and crowded in to lick my neck. “I know what
all you bitches want. You want to be hurt. You can’t think for yourselves. So
don’t worry. I’ll give you plenty to think about.”

“And who’s going to help you with the thinking, Bryce? You
can’t rub two brain cells together, you ass.”

He glared and his lips curled up. “Who do you think has been
sabotaging everything here? Who do you think’s been learning their patterns and
schedules? Testing them to see how they delegate things? Me. Because I’m
smarter than your two cocksuckers put together. Right now they’re waiting for a
security firm at a meeting I canceled. Who knows how long it’ll take them to
realize what happened. No matter—I’ll be long gone by then. First I’m going to
take care of that filthy yap of yours.”

He wrenched my jaw open. I tried to bite off his stubby
fingers but bile rose in my throat. I had to concentrate on not choking when he
shoved in a bitter-tasting gag. He latched it behind my head and began humping
his junk against my hip bone like a dog.

“About all Matt did right last time was bring the ball gag.
He told me you were a screamer. Damn, I like that in my women. If you’re lucky,
I’ll take it off so you can blow me. Then I’ll take what’s mine. I loved it
last time when you begged.”