The comments began appearing almost too fast to read their screen names. He didn’t read those who weren’t from Incog. When his popped up, Rory’s heart sped up faster in fury.
I can beat her until her juices run red.
Only Elizabeth’s well-being kept his control intact. Instead of kicking the fucker off the stream, Rory situated himself behind Jewell’s back. Flipping her braid over her shoulder, Rory placed a mic on the floor, out of sight of the camera. Then, swishing the crop toward her back, he brought it down onto the palm of his hand, creating the sound that would be misinterpreted by the viewers watching, them thinking he was hitting Jewell’s back.
Her expression didn’t break at the unexpected sound.
“She has the beauty of the finest ruby. She only needs the right Dom to make her shine.”
Her ass will shine ruby red when I’m done with her.
Seeing that Incog was engaged, Rory brought the stream to a close, afraid to excite him to the point that Elizabeth would pay the price.
“I’m going to close this session. I have a more deserving sub waiting for her turn. When Jewell makes her selection, I will DM, so keep watch. It could take five minutes … or five hours for her to decide. I won’t know until I talk to her. If I don’t get a quick response showing your eagerness, we’ll move on to her second choice.”
Closing the live stream, Rory reached his hand out to Jewell.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Jewell ignored his hand as she rose.
“How is that sham going to work? You could have done more. Instead, you did a beginner’s guide.”
Unhooking the computer from the monitor, Rory started repacking the ring light into its case. “I didn’t want Elizabeth to have to pay the price for the fuse we’re trying to set.”
Her face turned pale before she turned and grabbed her robe, as if she was disgusted with herself. “How long do we have to wait until you DM him?”
“At least four hours.”
“That’s four hours he won’t be paying attention to Elizabeth.”
“We can only hope at this point.”
Her pale complexion had him moving behind her to rub her shoulders. She tensed at his touch, but didn’t pull away.
“I should have thought about him using her as a stand-in.”
The self-recriminations coming from Jewell exhibited another facet of her character.
No one jewel could characterize her; she was fire on the outside, like a rare ruby, while her personality had depths like an imperial jade with a variety of wide-ranging tones from lavender, blue-black, to colorless. Both jewels were highly prized for a reason.
Being familiar with how motorcycle clubs work, he didn’t have to second-guess how she had been given her nickname. Men would have been taken in by the flashy fire that could be seen and felt outwardly while not taking the time to discover her hidden depths.
“Incog is a sadomasochist; streamers like me are a small community. We’ve formed friendships and talk to each other just to weed out dudes like him. It’s why I haven’t blocked him—to show him the correct way to treat and care for a sub. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more we can do until he crosses the line and the authorities become involved.”
Jewell tightened the belt of her robe with a hard jerk. “By then, it’s too late.”
“You can drive past a fire hazard every day and say, fuck, that piece of shit is going to burn and take everything within and around it down, but we don’t call 911 until we can see the flames.”
“Why would the person who kidnapped Elizabeth trust Incog?”
“They probably weren’t aware what he was saying online.”
Rory turned the screen of his computer so Jewell could read the message Incog had just sent, wanting a session with her.
“Fucker,” Jewell snarled after scanning what Incog had typed out, her eyes narrowing vindictively. “He needs a taste of his own medicine. Make sure you take that crop … Never mind. I’ll take my own. The only blood that fuckwad is going to see is his own.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rushing out of the room, Jewell went directly to hers.
“What the fuck?” she said out loud to the empty room, taking deep breaths to rid herself of Rory’s masculine scent. Every breath she had taken had heightened her awareness of him.
Changing into faded blue jeans and a chunky gray sweater, she chose a blue headband to hold her hair back after tugging on thick, black boots. Grabbing her leather jacket from her closet, she went downstairs to go outside.
The sight of her suitcase sitting beside the door was a painful reminder that she wouldn’t be heading out to Ohio today.
Moon moved away from the doorway when she came barreling out.
“Whoa … Something on fire?” he asked, staring behind her.
“No.” Jewell curtly hurried past him to go down the steps. Walking to the back of the factory, she swiped her card to open the back entrance, where the club managed their security. Turning on the overhead lights, she strode to an orange motorcycle that had been parked at the back.