Shane Read online

  Alexa blinked and then glared at him when he returned with the toy bag he kept on hand for use during the rare occasions he brought a sub to his apartment.

  “So, you do bring subs up here.”

  Shane glanced at her while rummaging through the bag, pleased at the sour tone in her voice that crackled with jealousy.

  “Not often, but there are times I have the desire to feel a warm body cuddle against me throughout the night.” He shrugged. “I am a red-blooded man, after all.”

  “As long as it wasn’t me.”

  “You’re here now, my pet.” His gaze sharpened as he ripped open a bag and palmed an egg vibrator. “It’ll be up to you whether you’ll be the only one to feed that desire in the future.”

  Insecurity dogged her at the edge of her heels. She wanted Shane Sinclair and even though she had masochistic needs, the glimmer in the depth of his eyes made her fear it might not be enough to feed the dark desires of the beast inside him.

  She bore back from his touch as he spread a copious amount of lube inside her pussy.

  “I’d rather you entertain me with your fingers and a certain …” She glanced at his crotch. “Appendage than using that thing—fuck!” she ended in a huff as he pushed the large egg with one heave all the way inside her. She moaned as he tugged on the string to test the resistance.

  “Perfect fit.” He chuckled at the killing look she shot at him.

  “No! The egg is enough. Shane Sinclair, don’t you dare put those … I said NO!”

  “No, isn’t a safeword, Lady S. As a matter of fact, insofar as I am concerned, you’d be well advised to know that it’s a word that usually spurs me on to increase my efforts,” he said colloquially as he shoved … he literally shoved! … goddamned anal beads up her ass.

  And not any anal beads, no, the sadist Master chose monster-sized ones that she could feel pressing against the vibrating egg inside her. She heaved as she attempted to breathe through the pain of having them shoved inside her without the usual care he showed during demonstrations.

  The glowing excitement in his gaze as he watched the pain flash across her face was proof enough that the sadist Master Fox was stepping out of his gilded cage.

  “Shit,” Alexa moaned through clenched teeth as he flicked on the remotes simultaneously.

  “Whether or not you agree, Master Danton’s action has upset you. The bruising is proof that he hurt you, albeit according to you, just slightly. Either way, I want you to relax so that the bruises can start healing.”

  Alexa felt the warmth of his caring smile in the quickening beat of her heart. He always had such an effect on her. She stiffened at the evil smile on his face.

  “The gentle hum of these toys is perfect to aid you. Just remember, Lady S. You're not allowed to come.”

  “I assure you, Master Fox, I’ll be able to relax much quicker without it.” Her voice thinned as he cranked up the strength of the vibrations.

  “Now, now, my pet, there's no need for that glare.”

  Alexa watched in disbelief as he strolled toward the hallway.

  “I have something to take care of. Behave while I'm gone.”

  "You're not fucking serious!" Alexa's furious shriek chased after him. His response was a wave over his shoulder. He smirked as her husky voice shouting his name floated through his mind when he closed the apartment door behind him. “Get back here, you asshole!”

  “Let’s see if you’re as strong as I believe you to be, Lady S.” His deep voice echoed back at him as he descended the stairs. “If you’re not, the bruising around your throat is gonna be the least of your troubles come morning.”

  Danton was nowhere to be found inside the Castle or any of the dungeons. There was only one spot Shane knew he’d find him—the lookout at the cliff over the waterfall behind the castle.

  The soft, ivory moonlight shimmered across the dark waters of the ocean in the distance—the silvery beams guiding his way. Not that he needed it. He’d roamed the island numerous times in the dark of night during times when the talons of unsatisfied sadistic needs threatened to pull him under.

  He found Danton sitting on a large boulder on the edge of the cliff, his feet dangling over the side. The way the large man sat with his back hunched reminded Shane of scenes from the movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He sighed within himself, pushing the anger at war with understanding back with difficulty.

  Despair exuded from Danton in waves so strong Shane felt the pain of it reaching out to him and encapsulating his soul.

  With natural agility, he jumped onto the boulder and sat down beside him. He stared out over the torrents of silvery water pouring over the rocky edges of the mountain to swirl in a plunge pool below. It was a favorite spot to many of his cousins. They were drawn to its beauty, as much as by the danger it represented. From the bottom it was awe-inspiring, and from the top it was brutal and terrifying—deep enough to drown in—if you survived a fall.

  “How is she?”

  “Bruised.”

  Their voices drifted in low guttural tremors through the atmosphere. They sat quietly, not looking at each other.

  “I could’ve hurt her badly, Shane—killed her even.”

  The silence that followed Danton’s self-recrimination was harsher than a crack of a whip against exposed skin. He sighed heavily as he briefly caught Shane’s eyes who was shaken by what he saw. With him, Danton had never hidden his feelings. He was comfortable with him as a confidant and friend to open up—but not this time.

  His eyes were frozen over like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual warmth. He was in there, that much Shane knew, but it was like he’d taken a huge step back from life.

  “Fuck, Danton.” Shane wished he could reach in and tell him it wasn’t hopeless, but since he had no idea what was haunting his friend, it would serve no purpose. He had come back from the ordeal of the bomb explosion empty and cold, but no matter how hard he tried to convince them otherwise, Shane knew his insides were damp with uncried tears. Since the horror of the final tour in Iraq many years ago, he always knew Danton carried pain inside, but he hid it from the world. He blinked and in that brief moment he showed vulnerability filled with such torment it rocked Shane.

  “What can I do to help you?” Shane kept his voice low. He knew better than to push but he needed Danton to know he was there for him.

  A raw grunt crawled from Danton’s lips.

  “I wish you could, but this time …” The words hung in the air. “It’s been thirty years, but there are still days that I wake up in a sweat.”

  Shane frowned at him. “The visions from the Gulf War are back?”

  “They never went away, but I learned to cope. Since the bomb … I find myself back in that hellhole, standing in the middle of chaos, watching families digging out their children from the rubble, lifeless and gray. I’ll never forget the little bodies lined up in size order like grotesque Russian dolls.” A shudder shook his large frame. “We arrived in that village a week after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the name of Arab nationalism and Islam. They bombed that entire community on pure speculation that they hid Iranian fundamentalists.” His body was strung as taut as a wire. “I can still smell them rotting in the sun and I can taste the vomit from hurling as I stumbled through the devastation. I felt lifeless then, wondering how I could still be breathing when so many innocent children were dead.” He drew up his legs and wrapped his arms around his knees. “It’s back … the emptiness. The belief that life isn’t worth living. That I should’ve died in that explosion.”

  “No, Danton. We don’t get to make that choice. It’s made for us the day we are born. All we can do is hope for the best life has to offer.”

  “If that’s the best life has to offer, I’ll pass.” He fell silent as he gazed out over the ocean. Shane respected his need for thought but was concerned that no one seemed to be able to penetrate the wall of self-loathing that his soul was cocooned in.

  “Danton
Hill isn't the man I thought I knew. The man he's become ... he scares me.”

  Shane suddenly recalled the words Vera Thorne had said when she’d called him to tell him to come and fetch Danton. There had been more than fear in her voice at the time. She had sounded sad.

  “What happened with Vera, Danton?”

  He didn’t respond for a long time. When he did, his voice was devoid of emotion. “They say we exchange beauty for wisdom as we age, and so perhaps that is a root cause of societal narcissism—in a philosophically-poor culture we lack what we need to gain wisdom and so cling to the ephemeral.” He shook his head. “I always thought I had the wisdom of a life well-lived. I had Ace, who brought balance and reason to my life. All of you, who showed me there’s beauty and pleasure in our world. With Vera … I think I fucked up, Shane.”

  “You think?”

  “To be honest … I’m fucked if I know what happened but I do know I did something to hurt her—badly.” His hands curled into fists. “For the first time in my life, I don’t have the courage to face what I did, to find out just what evil deed I committed to make the sweetest woman look at me with fear and torment in her eyes.”

  “And earlier? Why Alexa?”

  Danton ran a hand over his face. He looked tired and old beyond his years.

  “I don’t know. One moment I was leaning against the wall thinking it’s time you marry the chit and the next … I don’t even remember walking toward her. I only realized I had her by the throat when Ace spoke to me.”

  Shane frowned as he studied the distressed man. “Does that happen often?”

  “More than I’d like to admit.”

  “Do you suffer from any other symptoms?”

  “Hand tremors, vertigo, and lately I have constant headaches.”

  “From what Vera said you refused to go for treatment or tests.”

  “I had to keep President Grayson safe, Shane. I still do. If any of those SPEONUS fuckers who managed to escape the raid find out he’s still alive …”

  Shane shared Danton’s concern. They had managed to foil the attempt of a coup d’état by SPEONUS, an acronym for Special Executive Order for the New United States. As a result, they took responsibility for protecting the president as part of the full cover security package they offered to the White House and government. To protect the data and safety of the people of the United States. That they had failed to do so and the president nearly got killed in the process, weighed heavily on their hearts—especially since this man who was family in their eyes almost died as well.

  “I agree, but you’re not alone in this anymore. We’re all here to help you carry that burden … if you let us.”

  “Yeah, I think I do. Something is wrong, Shane, and for the first time in my life I’m too scared to face whatever it is.” He looked at him. “I have never been afraid of death. Even when that bomb went off and I almost drowned, I was at peace … but since I came back … I’m not ready. I have Ace and I want nothing more than to hold his children in my arms. I know and accept that I wasn’t meant to have a child of my own blood. I was a lucky man to have him fill that void but ...” He smiled wanly. “Strangely, the one thing I suddenly want above all else is to find a woman to love and to be loved.”

  “That’s not that strange at all, Danton. Especially in light of almost dying.” Shane laid a hand on his shoulder. “Let me help you, my friend. I’ll be by your side, no matter what.” He squeezed gently. “You need to have a neurological examination as well as a CT scan and an MRI done, urgently.”

  “I can’t afford to go to a hospital. It’s best for all of us if no one knows I’m still alive.”

  “I agree, but I’ll speak to the cousin of an old friend of mine, Ethan Brodie.”

  “Brodie? Isn’t he one of the co-owners of Club Devil’s Cove in DC, along with Rhone Greer?”

  “Yes. He also owns a private clinic in DC. I’m sure he won’t mind that the tests are conducted in secret. He has one of the top rehabilitation facilities in the States.”

  Danton released his legs and leaned back on his arms. “What do you think is wrong with me?”

  “I’m hesitant to make an assumption, but based on how you act and what you just said, I suspect there might be pressure on your brain that sparks the mood changes, personality disorder, emotions, and your erratic behavior.”

  “So, I have cancer?”

  “That’s not what I said. The pressure could have formed from debris hitting you against the head during the blast or even the impact of falling into the water at high velocity when you managed to get President Grayson overboard in time.”

  “Yeah, I recall I got hit by something so hard that I passed out before I went underwater, which is why I almost drowned. If not for the President, I might have.”

  “So, that’s why you’re so adamant to guard him?”

  “I owe him my life, but more than that, I committed to keeping him safe. I never renege on responsibility like that and I’m not about to start now. Pressure on the brain or tumor be damned.”

  “So? Do I contact Ethan?”

  Danton’s gaze drifted over the waterfall. Shane knew better than anyone how private a person he was. He never showed any weakness. To be helpless in the claws of an unknown ailment must have been debilitating to a man who always took charge of his own destiny.

  “Yes. I’m not ready to die. At least not until I fix whatever the fuck I did to Vera Thorne.”

  Chapter Three

  “Hmm, it seems Lady S has become complacent as a sub and forgets or chooses to ignore the basic rules of Castle Sin.”

  Shane crossed his arms as he looked at the sleeping woman, taking in every detail of her body. He was in awe of the way the soft glow of the bedside lamp cast shadows on her beautiful face and how her breasts rose and fell with each breath.

  His testosterone unfurled as he detected the twitching of her thigh muscles as her hips shifted on the bed, courtesy of the vibrating egg and anal beads that were still silently humming inside her. The fragrant aroma of her arousal tantalized his senses with the whiff of her essence drifting to his nostrils.

  A devilish smirk splayed on his lips as he fetched a pussy whip from the walk-in closet. It was time to test Alexa’s commitment to forming a relationship with him. The following hours would decide their destiny. It would either be the first step to their journey in finding their happily ever after, or the beginning of a very rapid end.

  Crack! Crack!

  "Jesus!" Alexa’s raw scream echoed in the room as pain exploded in her brain. She woke up like she was connected to a live wire … one that burned the living shit out of her pussy.

  She stared through waves of sleep and pain at the gorgeously naked man kneeling between her legs.

  "Who gave you permission to fall asleep?"

  Crack! Crack!

  "Holy shit! Stop that!" she shrieked and yanked on the cuffs, desperate to avoid the brutal strikes from the whip. Normally, a flogging like this wouldn’t be a problem, but since she was totally unprepared and half asleep, she had no way of focusing or guiding the pain to settle where she always needed it … in her hungry loins. Now, there was only pain … stinging, excruciating pain.

  "Really? You should know better, sub. There's only one thing that would end this and telling me to stop, ain't it."

  Crack! Crack!

  "The sooner you start acting like a proper sub of Castle Sin and realize that in our relationship my word will be law, the better.”

  Crack! Crack!

  “Boundaries! What about my boundaries?” she squealed, her hips dancing a tango of painful desperation.

  His smirk was back. “Have I overstepped any of yours yet?”

  The glower should’ve obliterated him on the spot but all Alexa managed was two more strikes as a reward.

  “Owww! For fuck’s sake, Master Fox, just give me a minute to fully wake up!”

  “Since you weren’t supposed to be asleep in the first place, I don’t have to
do shit, Lady S.”

  Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

  “You know the Castle rules, sub, and contrary to the other Masters who have been lenient with you due to your position as Master Eagle’s PA at BSE, with me you won’t be so lucky.”

  Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

  “Holy fuck!” she wailed. She blinked back the tears forming in her eyes. She’d be damned if she gave him the sadistic satisfaction to make her cry.

  “As my sub, you never do anything unless I permit it."

  Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Alexa screamed as he alternated the sharp flicks between her clit, pussy, and nipples.

  “Is that understood?”

  “Yes!”

  Crack! Crack!

  “Yes, who?”

  “Master Fox!” she screamed as two ruthless strikes connected with her clit. “Yes, Master Fox, I understand.”

  Having finally shrugged off the haze of sleep, Alexa managed to relax into the strikes. She reveled in the heat of the pain bursting open a seam of lust through her loins that she had no defense against—exacerbated by the flash of sadistic pleasure in Shane's eyes.

  The excitement that flushed her body stumped her at the thought that he had contained the dark beast inside him for years with the sole purpose of unleashing it on her.

  Shane recognized the moment the shift happened, how the desperation to escape the pain morphed into a need for more to elevate her rising desire. He knew Alexa needed pain to reach a certain level of release, which was why he had quietly evaluated her for years. To establish if she had reached her full potential as a masochist. She hadn’t—nor would she—not for as long as she controlled how far a Dom took her, which was what she had been doing ever since her arrival on The Seven Keys Island.

  It was time she came to full realization. To unleash the female beast inside her that would complement and soothe the one in him.

  He knew she could … now he had to make her see and experience it herself.