Page 13 of Slaved
“A second chance. Having Lanie is like getting my Isabelle back.” Tucking the picture in his pants pocket, he walked away from me to the window.
“If you were looking for a second chance, why didn’t you just outbid me that day at Winston’s mansion?”
“Call it shock. Maybe guilt. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to chance hurting Lanie like I did Isabelle.”
When he turned to face me, I could see that this conversation hit home. Not only with Lanie, but with what happened to Isabelle. Opening the door, he stopped in his tracks. “Now you know why I don’t want you to get emotionally involved with Lanie. I can see how she looks at you, Michaels. My only advice is, don’t let your love for her impede your training.”
I wasn’t Martin, but it was making sense why he would be so concerned about my feeling for Lanie. He wasn’t jealous. He wanted to make sure that what happened to Isabelle didn’t happen to Lanie. No way in hell would I ever let that happen.
♥ ♥ ♥
I knew Lanie was safe with Martin when I left. I assured her that I would return as soon as I could. There were some important matters that I needed to take care of at the club. When Kevin contacted me, he sounded concerned. Stuart Nelson seemed to have kept his word. Thankfully, Kevin was smart enough to leave the police out of the mess Stuart caused to the club. The last thing the club needed was attention.
Driving down the highway, the thought of having Lanie in my life other than as a submissive was consuming my mind. Martin knew about our feelings for each other. There was no way I could ever be anything but emotionally involved with her. She was more to me than any other woman I had trained in the past. I wanted her with me 24/7. I needed her with me 24/7.
The more I thought about it, there was only one thing to do. As soon as I finished with the shitstorm at the club, I would confront Martin and let him know exactly how I felt. He had to know that Lanie belonged with me and nothing would stop me from taking her with me. If he had any feelings for Lanie at all, he would do what was best for her and let her leave with me.
Pulling up to the club, I could already see the damage done to the outside. The glass door was shattered and the marquee above the door was dangling on one bolt. The minute I opened the door, I knew Someone upstairs was looking out for me, as the marquee gave way and hit the edge of the door before falling to the sidewalk.
If the outside wasn’t bad enough, the inside was worse. Spotting Kevin sweeping glass from the floor, I headed in his direction, assessing the damage. “Holy cow, was he pissed off or what?”
“Somebody was,” Kevin remarked shoving the broken glass onto the dustpan with the broom.
“What do you mean somebody?” I questioned.
“Yeah. It wasn’t Stuart that made this mess. He sent those guys here to do his dirty work.”
I was confused as I looked over to Kevin. “Wait… If Stuart wasn’t here, how do you know it was his guys?”
“Because they left his calling card.” Kevin lifted his arm towards the bar.
I couldn’t help but look at what he was pointing at. Plain as day, they painted SN with black spray paint on the mirrors. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what SN stood for. Shaking my head, I promised myself that one way or another Stuart Nelson would pay for what he did.
~Fourteen~
ALANNAH
It had only been an hour since Roman left and already my heart was missing him. When he left, I wanted more than anything to go with him. After what we shared last night, I knew that my heart belonged to him. Martin was kind and a wonderful master, but he wasn’t Roman.
Placing my hair in a pony, I decided it was time that I faced Martin. I wasn’t sure what he had planned for me since Roman had left. The house seemed quieter than normal as I headed down the stairs. Checking the living room first, there was no one there. I thought this was a little odd. Walking over to the window, I looked out to see that Martin’s car was still in the driveway. He had to be somewhere, so I headed to the dining room and then the kitchen to see if he might be there.
With no luck in the house, I knew there was only one other place he could be. Heading down the short hallway to the back door, it was like déjà vu, remembering leaving the house to venture down the path. The only difference was instead of Martin looking for me, I was looking for him.
Reaching the cobblestone house, I found the front door open. Every other time that I had come here, it had been closed. I began to get an uneasy feeling. As I ambled up the steps to the door, I could see that the lights were on. The only explanation was that Martin was here. Pushing the door further open, I entered the house and headed to the basement where I knew Martin would be. When I got closer to the basement door, I could hear music playing. It was soft and I could hear violins and a piano. The music was very subtle and reminded me of two lovers embraced together.
Heading down the steep steps, I couldn’t help but wonder why the music was playing. When I reached the bottom the music reached a crescendo with an intense tempo. My heart began to race as I hurried to the playroom. If I had been smart, I would have turned around and left, but I couldn’t. If Martin was listening to this music, something was wrong and I felt that he needed me.
Pushing open the door, my intuition was right. Martin was kneeling in the middle of the room with his hands over his eyes as if to hide what he was feeling. Rushing to his side, I lowered my body next to his. I had never seen him this way and needed to know what had him so sad. “What is it, Martin?”
He lifted his head and stared straight ahead without saying a word. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I pleaded, “Martin, please tell me.”
When his eyes met mine, I could tell that he had been drinking. Looking around the room, I spotted a half empty bottle of Scotch on a small table next to the chest. Pulling my gaze back to him, Martin grabbed my hand and squeezed it lightly. There was something different in the way he looked at me, but what he wanted was clear. “It’s time. Remove all your clothes.”
Standing to my feet, I wanted to tell him that I didn’t think it was a good idea to resume my training in his state of mind, but the way he looked at me, it wouldn’t have mattered. Doing as he asked, I removed my clothes, never taking my eyes off of his. I thought for sure I could read his thoughts, but there was only a blank expression on his face.
Completely naked, I took my submissive position and lowered my head. Wondering what he would ask me to do next, the chill of the room pierced my skin. I felt uncomfortable being naked in the silence. Going against everything that I was taught, I lifted my head. Martin stood in front of me holding a red rope coiled in his hand.
Walking toward me, he pushed back my hair and leaned in, pressing his mouth to my ear. “Let the festivities begin.”
