Take Me (The Submission Games Book 2) Page 9

  “The hell I can’t. You’re going to hurt me instead of yourself.”

  “What, you like pain? Does it get you off?” Anger flung the words from my lips.

  “I hate pain. Can’t stand it.”

  “Then why—”

  “Because I love you more than I hate pain, Tessa. I’d bear anything if it made you feel better.”

  Of all the things he could have done to me with his tongue, using it to tell me he loved me was the sexiest, kinkiest, and most devastating. He’d never even kissed my lips, and he was saying he loved me?

  How could someone love me without wanting something from me in exchange? Wasn’t that how it worked? Wasn’t that how things had always worked up until that point with the guys I’d met? Everyone wanted something, an angle, a favor, an advantage they could use to step higher up the ladder to their ambitions.

  Everyone but Mark. He actively avoided me, didn’t take advantage when I wanted him to. It was like he actually gave a shit. Why did he care what happened to me?

  Because he did? Because he actually loved me as a person and not for what I could do for him or his career?

  Because he loved me back.

  Or I thought he had.

  And am I going to sit here like a pathetic woman with icing on her ass all night? I get up and walk to the bedroom, stripping clothes as I go. Despite the strut in here, I end up tossing and turning. I’m mentally drained, but the past shoves itself into my face no matter what position I lie in.

  I shouldn’t give a fuck what he thinks, but I hate how he still sees an old version of me when he looks at my face. The way he looked at me like I was broken pisses me off more than anything he said. I want him to see me now, see the things I’ve overcome. See my strength.

  It feels like my actions have shown him I’m over everything and I’ve forgiven him. Maybe a part of me has, but I need him to acknowledge what he did and more than that, I need him to see how strong I am now. I want to carve my heart from my chest and show him how badly he scarred it when he left me. I want to scream in his face, ‘see what you did and I’m still here breathing!’ I had to be stronger than he ever knew I could become, just to survive the way he betrayed me by leaving.

  People who love you don’t leave so easily as though you’re less than nothing. Maybe he redirected me to BDSM all those years ago—I hadn’t thought about that in years. Maybe he planted those seeds and is the reason I’m into kink, I don’t fucking know.

  All I know is it worked.

  It still works.

  I get up and get dressed, texting English as I put my shoes on: Underground, one hour.

  English: Yes, Mistress.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Mark

  I’m still sitting in my car trying to pull myself together when Tessa storms out of her apartment building and strides to her car.

  One guess as to where she’s going at this hour, and I’m the asshole who upset her again tonight, sending her back to the place where she lets people hurt her.

  Sloane texted me the address to The Underground, but I follow Tessa at a distance for a twenty minute drive until she parks at a fairly nondescript location. The better to avoid notice.

  I approach the door Tessa disappeared behind, looking up at the camera. Whoever’s watching should be expecting me, though I’m days early. Sure enough, after a moment the door swings open and I step into a hallway with faint music pulsing through it. Something vaguely dance-y, I don’t know what.

  The heavy steel door closes into place with a heavy kind of finality. No one’s getting in here that isn’t expected. Maybe no one gets out either. Someone cares a lot about privacy or security. Are they keeping people out or in? I’m about to find out.

  The only place to go is down the steps in front of me, and I follow them, listening for Tessa, but her shoes make no sounds on them. She’s already inside.

  The walls are rough, gray stones that look like someone took a pickaxe to them years ago. Every few feet, four-by-fours vertically bolster the structure. The wooden steps seem solid, long and fairly shallow, leading up to an archway at the entrance to a longer hall.

  There’s a man at the door, looking at me as though he’s been waiting for me to arrive.

  Maybe he has been.

  He’s well-built, about five-nine or ten, in a crisp white shirt and the pants of a suit that probably costs more than two month’s rent on my apartment. His face is made of straight lines, no softness. Firm lips set into a hard line, square jaw and chin dusted with reddish stubble that doesn’t match his dirty-blond hair. Beneath eyebrows with no arch to them, his slate blue eyes are hard, taking everything in and giving no glimmer of expression back. Twin frown lines mark the space between his brows. Here is a man who has seen worries.

  There is no denying it, no second guessing. This isn’t some security guy, some nameless drone bee. Even without a stage to stand on, he’d have everyone’s focus. Hell, he’s stolen mine away from finding Tessa.

  “I’m assuming you’re the one in charge here?” I ascend the last steps and stop in front of him.

  “Reiley Gunn.” He lilts in an Irish accent I can’t place beyond that. “And you’re Mark James. I wasn’t expecting you until Saturday.” He holds out his hand, exchanging pleasantries when I want nothing more than to push him out of my way and drag Tessa out of here as quickly as possible. He shrugs and drops his hand.

  “I’m not here to make new friends, Reiley. You’re got a couple of my friends neck deep in this place. I want to see it for myself and make sure they’re okay.”

  Reiley scrubs at his beard. “I see. And what exactly is it about my establishment that makes you think they’re anything but fine? I’m assuming you’re referring to a certain set of twins you’ve a history with.”

  I doubt this man cares about my motivations or Tessa and Sloane’s wellbeing, but maybe I can somehow convince him it’s in everyone’s best interest if the girls walk away from here and never look back. “You know who their father is?”

  “A prick,” he spits out with a sneer.

  Okay, that almost made me not hate this guy. “You’ve met the Governor?”

  “Not personally. I try to swerve men of his ilk.”

  “So you know he wants them out of here. By any means necessary.”

  “How cute of him. And you’re here to, what, fulfil his demands?”

  “I’m here to look around and ascertain whether or not this place is what you all say it is. Are you going to let me in or are you going to throw me out?”

  He cocks his head. “Should I throw you out?”

  If I see something here I feel the need to step in and stop? I won’t hold back. “Maybe.”

  Reiley grins. “I find your honesty refreshing. Come with me.”

  He steps inside the door to the hallway with three doors on the left, two on the right, and one at the end—the source of the crappy music if the flashing lights are any indication. He fobs us into the first door on the right, leading us down another damn hallway.

  I’m over this shit already. Where are we, in the honeycomb hideout?

  We take another right into a large office with dark wood paneling and hunter green walls, decorated with heavy leather furniture. Reiley moves behind the desk and indicates I should sit in the seat opposite him. “I didn’t intend on starting this place. It just sort of...came into being, organically.”

  I need information, but I’m in no mood for a chat. Who knows what’s being done to Tessa as we speak. “Uh huh. So you’re good at making sex dungeons. What a great skill.”

  “Thank you. My real skill, however, is more to do with reading people.” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest.

  Preying on them, more like, the same way a cheetah herds the weakest gazelle away from the herd before taking it down. “That’s one word for it.”

  “Mark, I’m not here to harm anyone. I ensure everyone in my premises play safely with each other. I’m responsible for
every member’s wellbeing and safety, and that’s not something I take lightly. Tessa especially.”

  “Why her especially?” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I shouldn’t give anything away, not even curiosity, but he already knows I’m here for one person, so fuck it.

  “You and I both know Tessa’s history—more privileged than some, but rougher than most. Sloane as well. But Tessa means a lot to everyone here. She’s become a vital part of my organization and more than that, she’s become like family to me. Meaning, I’m not certain your presence here is a good thing for her.”

  Meaning he won’t let her go easily. “Look, if you really care about her, why keep her here?”

  Reiley laughs. “I haven’t been able to make Tessa Winters do a damn thing she doesn’t want to for a very long time.”

  Jealousy slithers inside my gut. “Are you in love with her?”

  Reiley inclines his head. “I love her. But not in that way.”

  That makes him an idiot, but also pleases me.

  He raises his eyebrows. “Are you still in love with her, after all these years?”

  No. Yes. I don’t know. “Her safety is the thing that matters to me. I’m not here to win her back like some white knight on a horse.”

  He narrows his eyes, thoughtfully. “Maybe you should. Maybe that would do you both a world of good.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I think you’re carrying around more than you’re letting on. You should talk to someone.”

  “What are you, a shrink? A relationship expert? Only I don’t see a degree on the wall. I want to talk to Tessa, not be psychoanalyzed by a guy with a sex dungeon.”

  He smiles and it’s like a different person’s appeared in his place. Somber to kind of goofy in the flash of teeth. “Then I shall take you to the woman herself. But fair warning, you’re not going to see what you think you are.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  Reiley’s eyes fucking twinkle. “Fair enough. But expect the unexpected. And I expect you to keep your hands and thoughts to yourself when we enter the club. Everything that happens in the club is consensual, and I’ll not have you interferin’ with scenes. Deal?”

  “If you take me to Tessa right now, I won’t interfere.” Unless I change my mind based on the shit going down.

  Reiley shakes his head like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, but he stands and leads me out the door and down another hallway. Did they set this place up like a labyrinth on purpose, designed to make you disoriented?

  Some twisted journey later, we emerge back on the floor with the music—the main bar by the looks of it. Other than the clothes the patrons are wearing—bits of leather and metal—and the strange devices people are suspended by or tied to, everything seems like a normal bar. Any other club. It’s tasteful even, which is the most off-putting thing of all. Light hardwood floors, walls painted the same, rich hunter green as the walls of Reiley’s office. Tasteful cream baseboards and crown moldings. Maybe slightly brighter lighting than most clubs I’ve seen.

  I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.

  People sit at tables together, chatting. Others dance on the dancefloor.

  “Get on your knees.”

  My belly tightens when I hear that sultry voice, thickened by lust.

  Tessa.

  There, to my right through a crowd of people, I catch sight of her face, though the rest of her is obscured by the circle of people surrounding her. I take a step in her direction, and Reiley grabs my arm.

  “Remember...it may not be what you think.”

  I tear my arm away and maneuver my way closer, trying not to draw attention by bulldozing my way through people. If Tessa knows I’m coming, she could run, or someone could take her. Best to get close first.

  I stay slightly behind her, out of her line of sight.

  Surprise at the scene in front of me when I get through the crowd kicks me in the gut. Instead of finding Tessa tied to a bed, or table, or anything, she’s got a young man tied spread-eagle on his back on some kind of bench with built-in restraints.

  He’s...she’s...

  She’s poured into a black and green satin corset and matching panties, thigh-high heeled boots covering her legs like sexy armor. Everything about her in this moment screams power, assertiveness. Nothing about her says ‘victim.’ She moves like she owns the room and everyone in it.

  I swallow hard, beginning to connect dots Sloane and Reiley provided for me. Dots Tessa herself had provided but I hadn’t seen, too busy painting her as weak, or someone being taken advantage of.

  Tessa trails a riding crop down his body, lightly slapping his nipples. “Has English had enough yet?” she asks the crowd. Reactions are mixed as to whether or not he’s had enough.

  English, the man she’s playing with, groans, and the shiny, clear pink pocket pussy on his erection twitches. He’s very into what she’s doing to him.

  What she’s doing to him.

  Various sex toys sit on nearby tables. Lube, a flogger? Restraints. Some I recognize, others, I have no clue what they are, but it seems Tessa came here and went right to work on this guy. Part of me wishes I hadn’t missed a second of it.

  The only one surprised by this turn of events, is me. Sloane even told me I was making incorrect assumptions, but this? I had no clue. Sloane should have warned me.

  Maybe she did.

  Tessa turns a switch and the device on English’s cock starts vibrating. He grits his teeth and groans as she smiles down at him. “Don’t come.”

  Don’t come? How the hell is he going to obey that?

  She moves up to stand above his head, looking down on his prone form. She threads her fingers through his auburn hair and pulls. His hips buck. “Please, Mistress.”

  Mistress? She’s a dominatrix? Is this something she does often?

  “Please what?” she purrs, savagely twisting his nipples.

  His hips begin thrusting in earnest, seeking release. “Please let me come.”

  How long has she been making him wait?

  “Stop moving, English.” Her gentle but firm tone has the instant effect of stilling his body though his teeth grit together hard enough to make the muscles in his jaw clench and stand out.

  Jesus, he’s obeying her. I wouldn’t be able to do that. Would I?

  How would it feel to be tied down like this, doing what Tessa wanted me to while a crowd watched?

  I shake my head, surprised to be turned on.

  Everyone’s hungry for his release—me included. Somehow I’ve been swept up in the energy of the crowd, become invested in what’s happening in front of me rather than in getting her out of here. I want her to make him come just as badly as everyone around me does. His need is palpable.

  The way she’s controlling his release turns me on, and impresses me, seeing how strong she’s become, how in control of everything.

  She grins. “English? Five...four...three...” She grins and turns up the intensity of the vibration of the pocket pussy. Tears leak down his face from the effort of holding back. “Two...one...come for me.”

  His ass leaves the table and his body goes rigid, finally allowed to come.

  The crowd claps as she strokes his face and chest, murmuring something in his ear for a moment before removing the device from his body. Someone hands her a wet towel, and she cleans him up with it before untying him and embracing him. He nuzzles closer to her in a way that makes me hate their comfort and familiarity.

  Jealous.

  She whispers to him and waves a blonde woman over. The woman puts an arm around English and they head off somewhere together.

  “I need a drink after that.” Tessa turns to do just that and comes face to face with...me. “Mark? What the hell are you doing here? Who let you in?”

  She’s thinking of the apartment earlier tonight as well. “Sloane texted me the location.”

  “I’ll kill her. But—”

  “Hear him
out, Tess.” Reiley’s brogue comes from over my right shoulder, and her death-glare softens slightly as she nods. Reiley fades into the crowd.

  Why is he helping me? I turn back to Tessa, trying not to stare at the way her breasts swell over the top of her corset. “Dominating? You’re a Dominant?”

  Tessa rolls her eyes. “Lower your voice and calm down. For crying out loud, yeah, Dominating. The little broken girl grew up into a big, strong, Domme—why is that so hard to believe? Didn’t you discover that in your little mission from Daddy?”

  “You never Dominated me.” Nor would I have allowed her to.

  She grins in a way that makes my cock hard. “You never begged me to.”

  “I don’t beg.”

  She licks her lips. “You should.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Tessa

  Seeing Mark in the club, in the place I’m the most ‘me’ in the world, does something to me, turns a switch on that I thought had firmly been switched off tonight. Reiley and Sloane wouldn’t let Mark near me if they thought he was a danger to me. Reiley told me to hear Mark out. As much as I’d like to tell Mark to fuck himself, just for the pleasure of doing it, Reiley’s opinion means something to me. It means a lot to me.

  And maybe I’m not ready to say goodbye to Mark again just yet.

  And maybe this is the place where I’ll finally get to tell him off the way I need to. Here, where I’m at my most powerful, whether he sees it or not.

  I smile again.

  “Hey. Sub.”

  In the busy club all kinds of words fly about so I don’t pay much attention to the male voice addressing someone near us until Mark’s gaze zeroes in on the man’s hand touching the woman’s forearm.

  It’s Thomas, a switch with curly brown hair and ice blue eyes. He’s very particular about who he works with, typically choosing Janine since she’s a pain slut. He makes his subs wait until their skin is flawless before beating them again, so the more brutal the sessions are, the longer they’ll have to wait in between. He refuses to work with a blemished canvas, and pain is Janine’s pleasure.