Buttons and Lace (Buttons 1)

When I came home from work one afternoon, Lars greeted me by the doorway. “Your Grace, Cane is here to see you.”

My body went rigid. “How long as he been here?”

“Fifteen minutes. I told him to wait in your study.”

I knew he wasn’t in my study. I knew exactly where he was, and I felt sick to my stomach. I took off at a dead run and sprinted up the staircase, two stairs at a time.

“Everything alright, Your Grace?” Lars said.

I ignored him and moved as fast as my feet would carry me. I sprinted to the bedroom and broke down the door with my shoulder, knowing it would be locked without even checking. It crashed down, and I saw exactly what I feared.

Cane had her stripped naked and tied to the bed. He was naked with his hanging cock hard and ready to go. A belt was in his hand, and he had just whipped her thighs.

I saw red. “Get. The. Fuck. Out.”

Cane turned around. “Want to give it a try?” He handed the belt over.

I snatched the belt out of his hands and yanked it around his throat, choking him out until he convulsed in my arms. He tried to kick free but couldn’t. I cut off his air supply instantly, making him drift off.

I dropped him to the floor and came around the bed, ignoring my hard-on in my trousers at the sight of her, tied up and ready to be whipped. I pulled out my pocketknife and cut the ropes free, releasing her from her captivity.

She immediately pulled the blanket over her body, hiding her nakedness from view.

“Are you alright?”

Wet tears were still in her eyes. They glistened like diamonds under the sun, rare and flawless. She wouldn’t look at me. She purposely turned away, avoiding me.

I wrapped my brother in a blanket then dragged him out of the room. She no longer had a working door, so her privacy no longer mattered. Lars came upstairs, concerned about the commotion.

“Fetch me a glass of water,” I ordered.

Lars obeyed immediately.

When he returned with the water, I splashed it on Cane’s face, waking him up instantly.

He coughed before he sat up, the water dripping off his nose. He ran his hand through his hair, slowly coming to. “What the fuck happened?”

Now that he was awake, I gripped him by the throat. “Don’t touch my slave again.” I jerked him hard, hard enough to snap his neck in two. “Do you fucking understand me?” I slammed his head into the ground just to make my point.

“Your slave?” He scooted away from me, rubbing his temple. “What the hell is going on here? We agreed we were going to fuck her and torture her, do exactly what Bones did to Vanessa. But I come over here, and this girl doesn’t have a scratch on her—at least not a new one.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I am worried about it,” he snapped. “That’s what we agreed on. She’s been here for two weeks, and you haven’t done anything with her.”

“I’ve had my way with her plenty of times.” It was easy for me to lie when I was this pissed off.

“You’re full of it, and we both know it. I can tell just by looking at her.”

“Get out of my house, Cane. And don’t touch my slave without permission.”

“Who decided she was yours?” He stood up with the blanket wrapped around his waist.

“I did.” I decided the moment I saw the fight in her. She wasn’t like the others. She didn’t crack under harsh punishment. She didn’t snap in two like a twig. She was resilient. She was strong. My interest in her piqued, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her in that way ever since. “Deal with it.”

Cane didn’t hide his disdain for me. Like a child, he didn’t like it when he didn’t get his way. He was spiteful, vengeful. This wouldn’t be the end of this argument. It never was. “Who made you king of the world?”

“I did.” He was afraid of me, and I knew it. I may talk less, but I was far more ruthless. He’d seen me do unforgettable things. He’d seen me do things that made strong men hurl. He liked to push me but only so far. “I’ll buy you a whore to entertain you. But stay away from mine.”

“I can buy my own whore.” He pointed at the broken-down door. “Next time I come over here, she better be fucked up and blue. She better have scars on top of scars. She better bow to my fucking feet when I walk through the door. That was the plan, and you better stick to it. If you don’t take care of it, I will.”

“Don’t worry about it. I will.”

He searched my eyes until he found my agreement. When he found what he needed, he finally turned away. “Black and blue, Crow. I mean it.” He grabbed his clothes and walked out.