"What's this guy's name?" Randy demanded, poking and swiping on his cell phone as soon as we were in the cab.
"Um, I think it's Thomas Harker. Dr. Thomas Harker."
He glanced askance at me but didn't say anything, putting his phone up to his ear. "Yeah, George. Have we got a Tom Harker on the membership? How about as a guest tonight? Okay. Hang on."
He gave me an interrogator's inquisitional glare. "What does he look like?"
"Well, average height, average weight. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lean and muscular under his clothes."
"Not helping here," Randy said. "Tattoos, moles, scars, something, anything someone might have noticed in one of the rooms?"
"Um, I don't remember anything. Are you like an owner, or something?"
"Partner," he muttered. Then into the phone, "Get me a complete guest list. Email it. Thanks. And pull the security footage from tonight. We'll check it out in the morning." He tapped the hang-up button, then looked back at me. "So what did you see, exactly?"
"He was standing at the entrance to a hall..."
"Which hall?"
"The one on the far left," I answered, closing my eyes to picture the lobby. "He was glaring at me, then he started toward me. I'm sorry, I just knew he was going to be really mad about me being there. I shouldn't have..."
Randy reached over and grasped my chin the way 'he' did. "Sky, there was nothing wrong with you being there. He had no right to be mad about anything. You need to stop thinking like that." Even in the dark back seat of the cab, I could see the intensity of his gaze. "We'll figure out who this guy is, get a restraining order, hell, file charges if we need to and get you free of him. In the meantime, we'll get whatever you need tomorrow morning and you can stay with DeDe so I know you're safe."
"But you haven't asked her... Oh, right. She's your sub."
He was still holding my chin, studying me. "She will do it because she knows it will please me. I don't need to ask her because I know she has the biggest heart in the world and would do it without being told. I wouldn't tell her to do something that would make her uncomfortable. And she trusts me not to. The vanilla world thinks BDSM is about pain and sex. It's really about trust." He pulled the paperwork out of a pocket. "This is your homework, Sky. I want you to read it. Think about it. And I want you to check off your hard limits. Just as if you were going to use a room at the club. Okay?"
I nodded, which isn't easy to do when someone is holding your chin, but then he graced me with a warm - yes, nerdy - smile. He glanced out the window. "We're here. Come on. Tomorrow starts early. Let's get you to bed."
I was thinking, 'Whoa. Bed?' but it turned out he meant the spare bed in the spare bedroom and I breathed a sigh of relief. My life was complicated enough without two Doms. Well, one Dom and one god-knows-what.
Sure enough, the sky was barely beginning to brighten when he rousted me. I put my clothes back on from last night and we hit the corner coffee shop before hopping the subway back to the south end. We entered through a back alley door, and went down stairs and along a hall to an office. Randy did his IT thing and queued up security footage from different areas of the dungeon. It took a while to spot him, as if he knew where the cameras were and kept his head down at the appropriate times, but eventually, Randy zeroed in on the time period when I spotted him. Apparently, when he saw me, he forgot to avoid the cameras. Nice to know I had that kind of effect on him. He could be seen starting toward me, then when I jumped up and ran to Randy, he made a quick retreat back into a nearby hall. After that, it was easier to backtrack to his arrival. Unfortunately, he'd spent most of his time in a private room so there wasn't much to see until we tracked back to when he got off the elevator with a handful of people at opening time. It wasn't obvious who he came with, and Randy didn't recognize him so he probably wasn't a member. He'd hooked up with a sub that was a regular, looking for one night Doms but there was paperwork filled out before they went to the private room. Randy assured me they'd be able to track him down with the video and info we now had. He did a screen grab and shot an email to the bartender and others. More partners, maybe.
Randy locked up and we took the subway back to my apartment. I had major butterflies, wondering if he was going to be there, waiting. I changed, threw some clothes in a suitcase and grabbed my laptop. I admit I didn't even shower; I was so nervous that he was going to show up any minute. I don't think I would have gone back if Randy hadn't been with me. I just kept seeing his stormy eyes. He'd never really seemed angry at me before, even when I misbehaved, even when I suggested his Dominant thing was a game or an act. Still, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we were back out of the building. Randy insisted on hailing a cab since we now had my stuff to wrestle with. There was enough time that we stopped at DeDe's apartment to drop things off - she'd already gone to work - and then we headed for the office. I actually made it to my desk in time.
Office Cut-up leaned over the cubicle wall. "Whatcha been up to, Sky? You look a little out of breath. Morning quickie?"
"Jeez, do you ever think of anything else?" I muttered. "Some people have a life, you know."
When my phone rang a little bit later, I jumped, still a bundle of nerves. It turned out to be Randy. He explained that he had a late meeting with a vendor and wanted to know if I would be able to get back to DeDe's apartment by myself. He assured me she would be home by the time I got there, and would be waiting for me. I wrote down her cell number and address, just in case. I used part of my break to figure out which bus got me closest and I finally began to relax at least a bit.
When it was time to go, I tarried, trying to avoid running into my friends. I knew there would be an inquisition because I had foolishly told them I had a 'date' last night when they wanted to go out for pizza. I didn't want to have to explain what my date really involved. It had been hard enough to duck them at lunch time.
When I finally strolled outside, shadows were falling in the city. I turned in the opposite direction of my usual bus, and started walking. A moment later, someone hooked their arm in mine and pulled me out of the milling sidewalk crowd toward the street edge. I yanked my arm free and turned to give the asshole a piece of my mind, except it was Tom Whatsisname and my words caught in my throat. He wrapped one arm around my waist, pulling me hard against him and the other hand was at the back of my neck as he planted a deep long kiss. My hands were on his chest, trying to push him away without any luck. He hadn't kissed me like that since the first night that we met; in fact he hardly kissed me at all after that. And damned if it didn't send a jolt right through my vitals. I tried to tell myself it was just the adrenalin, but I was pretty sure that moist feeling down below was composed of a different hormone. Just when I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to let me come up for air, he pulled away only far enough to softly caress the tip of my nose with his lips.
"What are you playing at, cherie?" he whispered.
I pushed harder, but he only tightened his grip and I wondered if my neck was going to be bruised. "I don't want to play anymore. I'm through," I said bravely.
"You don't want to play, but you go where players gather? I thought I made clear. You are mine and mine only. You 'play' with your gangly friend, I will hurt him and then I will hurt you."
"He has a sub, he's not interested in me," I protested.
"Then come home with me and I will administer some corrective behavior modification so you don't make such a mistake again."
"No!" I yelled, loud enough to attract at least some passing attention from the sidewalk horde. "Let go of me!" A few more heads turned our way. He didn't even glance at the crowd, but his eyes had turned dark and stormy again, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach.
"You will not win at this game," he said softly, but he finally released me and I ran into the street, waving at passing cabs until one slowed down enough for me to yank the door open and jump in. I knew the cost would mean mac and cheese for dinner for the better part of the last week of the month, but I couldn't take a chance on him following me to DeDe's. I even watched out the back window of the cab most of the way as if I had any chance of recognizing a tail in rush hour traffic. The cab let me out on the corner and I practically ran to DeDe's apartment building. She must have been watching for me, because she met me on the stoop.
"Sky, what is it? What happened?" She was hugging me and pulling me inside as if we'd been friends for years.
"He was waiting for me after work," I blurted out, without even thinking she might have no idea what I was talking about.
Apparently, she had an inkling, because as soon as she got me into the apartment, she threw the deadbolt and pulled me over to the couch. "You're safe here," she assured me. "I'm going to text Randy and let him know what's going on. You just relax." She pulled out her phone and headed into the kitchenette, tapping away at the screen. A minute later, she was pushing a glass of wine into my shaking hands. "Randy says he's got it covered," she assured me.
"I'm so sorry about all this," I apologized.
"No, don't be like that. I'm glad to help. Us girls gotta stick together," she said. I wondered if that could be translated as us subs, but I didn't say anything.
I was just starting to get my nerves under control when there was a knock at the door and I jumped, sloshing my wine. DeDe scurried to the door and peered through the peephole. "It's just Maurice," she explained, opening the door before I could say 'Maurice who?' Maurice turned out to be the bouncer from the dungeon. I figured even Doctor Tom would show him some respect. The dude was big. He nodded at DeDe.
"Randy asked me if I could hang around for a while. Okay with you?"
"Damn straight," she agreed. "I've got my granny's famous lasagna in the oven and garlic bread fresh from the bakery."
So that's what that mouthwatering smell was. I jumped up. "What can I do to help?"
"Nothing," she told me sternly. "This is my... job."
"As a sub?" I asked quietly.
"If you will," she agreed, with just the tinge of a defensive tone. She seemed to search for words for a moment. "This is how I serve my Master. It is what fulfills me," she added after a moment. Then, to expound on that, she said, "It makes me feel complete." Suddenly, she sat on the couch next to me and took both of my hands in hers. "Did you have that? Ever? With him?"
"Feel complete?" I asked, confused. I glanced askance at Maurice. "I came. A lot," I admitted in a whisper.
