“No, answer me properly.”
A tingle worked its way from my scalp to my nipples and then straight between my legs, “Yes, Master.”
“Good girl.”
From the corner of my eye I saw Dare’s brother shift uncomfortably from foot to foot and blow out a slow breath.
** ** **
We were at his brother’s farmhouse. I was in a double bed upstairs in the spare room. There was nothing else in the room. After a brief chat with the doctor where Dare did most of the talking he got me here and carried me upstairs and put me to bed, slept beside me, holding me close, and now it was the next day. I was awake, eating toast with PB & J in triangles that Dare had made me and I was drinking coffee. Then he started to talk to me.
“You okay?”
“Yes…” I hesitated. I didn’t know whether to call him Master or not.
He squeezed my hand reassuringly, “I’m sorry that I had to take you back to that time like that in there, Angel, but I couldn’t let you freak out like that in front of the doctors and nurses.”
“I know.” I wasn’t angry. It’d given me a sense of calm and I didn’t want to delve too deep into that but frankly, it was a sense of calm I could use right now. I just did what I needed to and let him worry about everything else. It was easy. I wanted it now because I had a feeling that whatever he was about to say would be big. I didn’t want to ask for it, though. It was time to put on my big girl pants.
He started talking,
“Hold it together now, ‘cuz this is big. You good?”
“I’m good.”
“Jason Frost was responsible for that. He tried to have me killed.”
I jolted but held myself together.
“No one is after your sister. Everyone is all on the same side right now and while that means me and my brother are on the same side as the bad guys, me and my guys apprehended Jason and took down his snipers. That sniper only meant to injure you. Frost wanted me dead, you delivered. He had login details for your tracker, which is how he found out you left Thailand. And how he found you here. He tried to kill Gan Chen. Chen is in the hospital recovering from multiple gunshot wounds. He’s gonna live.
I’ve now got Frost in a holding area. You wanna talk to him you can. You can think on that. He tried to buy you a number of times after his uncle died. He found out that you were recently sold and quietly lost his shit and began plotting so he could get his hands on you. He hired someone to take me out and deliver you. I took down the assassin. We caught another gunman and had him interrogated and led to finding Frost. We haven’t interrogated him yet. I haven’t gone there yet. Before I proceed I need answers. I need all the answers, baby.”
“He proposed to me. He…he…” I started to panic.
“Chill out, baby. I’ve got you.”
I scampered off the bed onto my knees, a little too hard for the sake of my leg wound, but I ignored the pain and wrapped myself around his leg. He started to stroke my hair and shhh’d me. Like this, at his feet, his hand on me, now I felt like he had me.
“I need a collar,” I whispered and his hand went into his pocket and he pulled out a box, “You’re not getting that blue collar back. I refuse to put it back on your throat. What about this necklace. Will it do?”
I glanced at it as he circled my throat with it. It was a thick silver choker with a heart pendant with a keyhole.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, “Thank you. But it’s not right.”
“Why?”
“It needs three strands. One means I’m available. Two means I’m booked to a patron or party. Three means I’m owned.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out two more necklace boxes and put them on me. One was a flat choker necklace with a bow pendant and the other was a longer necklace with charms, like a charm bracelet. It had a little horseshoe pendant, a tiny angel, and a little duck. He stroked my hair, playing with my curls, “We’ll figure something out. These okay for now?”
I leaned into his leg, “Yes. Thank you.” God he was sweet.
After a minute of more hair stroking he continued, “He can’t hurt you, he’s locked down. I had my liaison Stan tell the other powers that be about Chen’s injuries and that we have Frost. Chen said before that Frost and you have history and he suspected Frost was making a move so he came to meet with me. You need to fill me in, Angel. I need your story. I know you’ve been through a lot but I need details and I need them now so that I can figure out what to do to keep us safe. At this point the Kruna big wigs still think of Tommy and I as friends. That has to stay that way for now.”
“Dare, I… it’s so...”
“Please, baby. I need details. I need them now. I know it’s probably gonna break you to talk about this shit Angel but I’m here. I won’t let anything happen. You need to enlighten me so that I can deal with this shit. Give it all to me. Let me take care of you. I’ve got you. You break and I’ll help you get back together, okay my baby? It’s okay to break. I’m here. Trust me to look after you.” He leaned down and took my hand and got me to my feet. He kissed my forehead, “C’mon, let’s get into bed.”