Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

“Well, I guess I was meant to,” I answered, still terrified. “What is The Barracks?”

“Give me ten minutes, and I promise you’ll know everything.” Devin stared out the window, dread covering his features. “And then you can finally be rid of me.”

We rode in silence, and I peeked at Devin as the shadows from the passing lights moved over his features. He was so insanely beautiful, even at his worst. He remained silent during the trip as I watched him, trying desperately to make sense of it. He finally looked at me as we pulled up. I turned my attention to the shack they had taken me too and went stiff with fear. The building was boarded up, but I could see “arracks “on the sign that was covered by one of the boards. The entrance was lit, but it was completely abandoned. It was absolutely terrifying.

“So this is where I die,” I mumbled.

Both men chuckled dryly as Cedric got out of the car. Looking at Devin, he said, “I’ll give you two a minute.”

I gave Cedric a puzzled look before he gave me a nod. “You are so fucking fired.”

“You don’t need me anymore anyway. You are safe, Nina.”

I sat stunned, wanting to yell at my new best friend some more as he walked away from the car. I turned on the air conditioning, enjoying the cool air as I finally rested my gun in my purse.

“I pictured a lot of things when I met you, Nina Scott, but never in a million years did I picture us in a car with me at gunpoint.”

“Things change, people too, wouldn’t you agree?” That was the Xanax talking. I hoped he was as impressed with my calm demeanor as I was.

Devin, sensing my inability to no longer tolerate any more bullshit, started without hesitation. “Our parents started this club. Our fathers were brothers.” I looked forward, briefly studying the heap of wood, trying to picture the building in its prime.

“It was the first club in Savannah for the sexually promiscuous, and they overcame a ton of hurdles to open it.”

“Lovely, really, Devin. A little gasoline and a match could do wonders for the place.”

Devin chuckled as he always did at my sarcasm. My treacherous heart betrayed me as it reminded me I missed that.

“Are you high?” he asked, still amused.

“Yes.”

“Good.” He paused again, looking at me for a moment. “I’ve missed you so fucking much, Nina.”

“That’s not what I came to hear.” I didn’t believe my own voice as I said it. He nodded before he continued.

“Aiden’s family was the richest in Savannah, or rather his father once was. He had a huge hand in real estate. Their family home was built on the land you own.”

“It was never Eileen’s.”

“No.”

I shook my head, pressing my lips together to keep from reacting before I heard the rest.

“You can imagine growing up in an extreme BDSM household is kind of strange. My parents hid it from me mostly, while Aiden’s parents didn’t…at all. I would spend most summers at Aiden’s house and watch the odd goings-on. I never really thought of it as wrong. I’d witnessed it since I was very young. Women tied to chairs half naked at the dinner table, different men dragging women around the house by their collars at parties. Sex was spontaneous and everywhere in the house. Aiden’s parents took us a time or two inside the club when mine were out of town. By the time we were old enough to play, we weren’t playing cops and robbers. We had imaginary subs of our own.”

I cringed as I looked at him, but he seemed unaffected. “Jesus, Devin.”

“My home was…more normal, I guess you can say, while Aiden grew up in the dark. Literally. The older we got, the more we…well, I realized how wrong things were, and it didn’t change as we grew up. They never hid it, and never planned to. Aiden’s mom was a junkie and wasn’t around much anyway. And soon after the club opened, she stayed there most of the time “keeping the clients happy.” We were told to keep our “fucking mouths shut” by Aiden’s father, who slapped him around a little to drive home the point. He was a real son of a bitch, and he treated his subs horribly.

“As things progressed in the house, I noticed subtle changes in Aiden. He would go away when I spoke to him at times, simply dazed, just not paying attention, but he would always come back. One time I found him bound and gagged in the closet. His father had done it and left him there for an entire day. He was covered in filth. He was only eight. I went home that night and told my mother and the next day my parents took Aiden away, threatening his father with everything under the sun.”

“You were both raised as Doms.”

“I guess you could say that. My father was strict with my mother. I noticed the behavior, and I knew it well. I wasn’t immune to the power he held over her. But I still knew it was consensual between them. Still is.

“Aiden adjusted perfectly at home with us. It was pretty awesome for me to have him around since I was an only child. I’d suddenly gained a brother. His father never came for him, and if it bothered Aiden, he ne

ver showed it.”