Kingdom Come

Sadness filled Eliza’s eyes. My guess was even though she remained my number two, she’d felt the distance between us. “We have a situation which bears watching. I know how you like to be made aware of these situations.”

I nodded then swallowed the rest of my drink before getting to my feet. It wasn’t often we had situations that needed my personal attention because the rules were clear. Anyone who broke them was out. My team could handle it. But if I was around, I liked to be notified. Not all situations were problems. But there were times when the lines of consent could be called into question.

When I’d remade the place after I’d bought it from the previous owner, my goal had been to make sure it was a safe place for every member to be themselves while respecting everyone else. Once the word was out a premier club had replaced the former one, I’d had no problem filling my membership quota.

On a side stage, A man stood above a sub with a flogger in the air, ready to strike. Since I made it my business to know all the members by face, I recognized them both. Tears smeared the makeup on the sub’s face as she begged him to stop.

Eyes glazed with the gleam of a true sadist, he barked, “You haven’t said the safe word.”

Security could have handled it. If she’d said the safe word and he hadn’t stopped, they would have interceded. But when the lines were blurred like this, we paid attention in case we needed to jump in. If I was in, I was usually called to diffuse the situation.

The woman continued to cry but said nothing. I watched her carefully. She hadn’t passed out. She was conscious and able to speak. Though I didn’t get off on causing others pain like this, I did nothing because no rule had been broken.

When he was done, he spoke to his sub. She nodded before he walked off the stage unapologetic for his actions. I had a team who would go in and take care of our subs if the dominants didn’t. Tonight, I took that honor and kneeled next to the woman.

“Sweetheart,” I said instead of her name, for privacy’s sake. I wouldn’t assume she gave out her real identity here. “Are you okay?”

She choked out, “Yes.”

But I knew it wasn’t that simple. I made quick work of her bindings and took her gently in my arms as if she was a baby. I stalked past the gawkers and back to my office. I settled us on the sofa and let her cry as she curled into me. Before long, her tears turned into a need I didn’t feel.

When her hand slid down my chest, I caught it before she embarrassed us both. It wasn’t that I was unsympathetic of her need. I would have loved nothing more than to move on with a willing partner, but my cock was having none of it.

What she really wanted was to be close to someone, or maybe what we both needed was just to be held. Or I was projecting my own need on her as I clung tighter. I kissed her head as she cried harder. Her tears represented something I’d felt all my life. A deep-seated loneliness I only acknowledged now. Until Lizzy’s abandonment, I’d been able to ignore it. Not anymore.

A few weeks later, I wasn’t able to avoid the one woman who’d been able to put a crack in the armor I’d forged long ago.Twenty-SixLizzyI’d stopped counting the days, weeks, and months it had been since I last saw Connor. It hadn’t been easy. A dark part of me had hoped he’d call me on our bet. One more time was all the sadistic part of me said I needed, then I could stop thinking about him.

“Where are you?”

I looked into Bailey’s kind eyes. Here I was worried about myself when I should be focusing on her and all she’d been through. “I’m here. Sorry. Don’t worry about me. Today’s your day, not mine.”

“I know. I can’t believe it.”

“I can,” I said with a grin. “It was written in the stars, no matter you were both fighting it.”

She twirled in her wedding dress. “You were right.”

“You were always in love with that man.”

“Maybe. I guess.” She sighed. “Yes. I loved him and now I’m getting married. Can you believe it?”

Kalen hadn’t given up, even when the odds were against him. He’d won her mind, body, and spirt. After a long-fought battle of wills, at least one of us was finding her happily ever after.

Today was about their happiness and how they got here. So I got to my feet and we squealed in delight.

What I hadn’t shared with my bestie was my fake marriage plot. Not because I was keeping it from her, but because she’d been going through her own worries. She hadn’t needed to hear mine. Besides, the press had cooled not two days later. A senator had been arrested on charges related to sexual abuse of his mistress and shifted the media’s focus off of me. Plus, Hans had gotten engaged a week later to his former girlfriend. So much for his undying love. I was off the hook.