Enslaved Read online

  “And now everything’s gone to hell,” she mused.

  He laughed, a dry laugh. “Yeah. You could say that.”

  “Instead of bringing me to Trevor’s tomorrow, can you have your driver take me back to Gregory?”

  Roman propped his head up on his elbow, his face creased with a concern she’d never seen there before on him. At least not concern for her. “Elisabeth, there’s no place for you with him anymore. He released you. He has a new submissive.”

  “I know, sir,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to intrude on what Gregory has now. I know I don’t belong with him. But I relied on him for guidance for three years, and I need to talk to someone who doesn’t have a stake in this. Someone other than you or Trevor. Or Marc,” she added, before Roman could suggest it. No need to make this even more complicated.

  “I understand. But I’m going to have my driver wait for you outside, all day if necessary. Then he can take you where you belong.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  She just wished she knew where that was. In the dark, at night, she could easily see herself with Roman. But now it didn’t even matter, because Roman wouldn’t take her, wouldn’t keep her for himself.

  And she already mourned the loss of him.

  “Please, sir,” Andrew said. “Stop obsessing over your ex-slave and pay your new one just a teensy bit of attention?”

  “Brat,” Gregory said, swatting his ass, but it made him smile. How was it that Andrew could read his mind, it seemed?

  “Let’s go out tonight!” The kid was still on an endorphin rush from the ginger-figging Gregory had given him earlier that evening. It was his night off from work and Gregory had the urge to do something unusual and entertaining to him that he’d never experienced before.

  “I could take you to dinner. Sushi?”

  Andrew laughed. “No way! They always serve it with wasabi and strips of ginger. God knows if I never see raw ginger again it will be too soon, sir.”

  “Sushi it is then. We can go tonight.”

  Gregory put the phone down and stood. He still hadn’t heard from Elisabeth, but after his conversation with Trevor he at least knew what was going on with her.

  Andrew had looked so delectable as he writhed, his hands tied to the wall, a large raw and peeled ginger fig sticking out of his tender little asshole. The ginger burned like fire, and whenever Andrew clenched his ass tightly against the ginger, the fire would roar—as would Andrew.

  Gregory had thoroughly enjoyed making him clench and unclench his asshole. Whenever he needed motivation to tighten his ass and feel the burn, Gregory merely had to show him the cane. He’d only had to use it once.

  “How’s your ass, sweetheart?” Gregory asked as he watched Andrew sashay into the kitchen to make drinks.

  “Still on fire, especially where you caned me.”

  “Poor boy. You might have to run away to join the circus.”

  “Good idea,” Andrew said. “I’d enjoy being one of the tigers. Gotta love those men in a top hat holding a whip.”

  “Oh, you like the top hat, do you?”

  Andrew blushed. “I like the whip.”

  Elisabeth didn’t want to call Gregory first, afraid that if she asked permission to see him it wouldn’t be granted. So she just showed up on his front step. Home. At least it had been, at one point. The sounds of music could be heard through the door. They were in there.

  What would Gregory’s new slave be like? She only knew him, and just barely, as the bartender at the club. She couldn’t help but envy Andrew, that he could have Gregory and have his love as well, even though she knew that this was just her desire for familiarity talking. Now she needed her previous Master to guide her once more. She rang the bell and waited.

  Andrew answered the door, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and bare feet.

  “You must be Andrew,” she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m Elisabeth.”

  “Hi,” he said, shaking her hand. He looked at her warily, as if unsure of why she’d shown up on their doorstep.

  “Just to be clear, I’m not here to mess anything up for you. I need to talk to Gregory.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “Come in.” Andrew opened the door wider.

  She looked around. Everything looked the same. The paint still peeled on the high ceiling. The spot where she’d accidentally scratched the wood floor when Gregory had taken her on the coffee table was still there.

  “Elisabeth, what a pleasant surprise,” Gregory said, walking out of the kitchen with his arms open. He hugged her effusively, like an old friend he hadn’t seen in ages. “What are you doing here? You remember Andrew from the club, right?”

  “He’s beautiful,” she said, and Andrew finally graced her with a smile.

  “Isn’t he? Come sit by me, Andrew.”

  Andrew knelt at Gregory’s feet and rested his head briefly on his Gregory’s knee. They looked so happy together. So right.

  “I’m sorry to bust in here like this. But I don’t know what to do, sir,” she said. “I’m confused. My body and my heart want two things at once, and I don’t see how that’s possible.”

  The whole story spilled out. How she loved being at Trevor’s estate, but how the only way he’d give her the pain she needed was to disobey him and be punished, which made her into a disobedient brat instead of a good submissive.

  Andrew tsked at this.

  “I know, not good,” she admitted. “Which is why he asked his best friend to train me to find pleasure in submitting, and he did. Roman did a wonderful job training me.”

  Gregory nodded. “I know about Roman. He’s as gorgeous as Trevor is.” Then, as if realizing what she’d said, he asked, “I guess my training didn’t do it for the BAD Boys.”

  “It was different with you. You didn’t have feelings for me like Trevor and Roman do. It’s complicated everything.”

  “So both of these men want you?”

  “Actually, I’m not sure. Trevor sent me away to Roman. Roman sent me back to Trevor. I asked to stop here along the way to talk to someone I could trust.”

  Gregory smiled at her, and leaned over and kissed Andrew’s head lightly. She missed the easy affection, the laughter. But experiencing sex with a man she cared for on an emotional level—and not just as a submissive—had been eye-opening. She couldn’t go back to submitting to a Dom just to have the pleasure of submission.

  No, she needed love too. She deserved love, like Gregory had found.

  “Hold that thought,” Gregory said. “Who are you thinking about right this very moment?”

  “Trevor,” she said automatically.

  “Then he’s the one, darling. He’s the one you thought of when I kissed Andrew with love. I saw your face, and that look was pure longing.”

  Yes. That felt right to her, somehow. She’d go to Trevor’s house. “But what about Roman?”

  “Things will work themselves out. If Roman is voluntarily giving you to Trevor, then he won’t have any animosity toward you two.”

  “Yeah, I guess that does make sense, if he’s given me back to Trevor. You’re right.”

  Gregory laughed. “You don’t need to sound so surprised about it.”

  “He’s always right,” Andrew added, and looked up at his Master with adoration.

  “I’m happy for you both,” she said sincerely.

  “Thank you,” Andrew smiled.

  “As upset I was at the time, I’m grateful now that you dissolved our relationship,” she said. “I always knew I needed and wanted to be a collared submissive, but if the right Dom didn’t want me, then I could leave and live on my own—if I absolutely had to. But it wouldn’t be ideal and I wouldn’t be happy.” Elisabeth smiled. “I like being owned by someone. I like to have a Dom.”

  “I know how you feel, sister,” Andrew said. �
��Hey, and now you’re with a billionaire. That’s nuts.”

  “Yes, it is that,” she said. “Trevor gave me two million dollars to give to the charities that tried to help my mom, so they could help more women. All I did was ask for the money and it happened. He really is good to me.”

  “Do you think helping those women helped you to process your own mother’s addiction, and her death?” Gregory asked.

  Elisabeth hadn’t thought about it that way, but it made perfect sense. The charity she gave through Trevor’s money was part of what helped her let go of the pain of loving and losing her mother. It helped her realize she could love someone again, someone who could return her love.

  “Why don’t we let that driver wait awhile longer,” Gregory suggested. “So we can all have a drink together.”

  “Thank you, sir.” They stood and she followed the couple into the kitchen, where an iPod was playing the music she’d heard earlier. Andrew danced to the beat as he poured white wine into three glasses.

  “Why do you suppose Trevor picked me, sir?”

  “You’re an amazing girl, Elisabeth. I didn’t tell you that enough when we were together, but it’s true. A lot of men would have loved to be with you.”

  Gregory sat and took a sip of the wine. “Trevor and I sat down and had a talk about a month before I introduced you to him.”

  The thought of her ex-Master planning for her to be flogged by her future Master turned her on. Gregory noticed, since he noticed everything, and laughed. “Look at you, crossing your legs like that.”

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about. Anyway, I liked Trevor from the start. He gained my trust during the time we got to know each other at the club, and that’s how it happened. I also had an old college friend who works at the sheriff’s department run a background check on him to make sure he had no skeletons in his closet, real or otherwise.”

  “So I’m guessing he’s not the BAD Boy who was arrested. Hard keeping all those rumors straight.”

  “That might be Marc Wilde, I think. But I brought you to WhipperSnapper a lot then because I had a crush on the bartender,” he admitted, and winked at Andrew.

  “So while I was at the bar, getting to know Andrew, I wanted to make sure you had a good time. One night I put you in the cage on display, the hanging one, do you remember?”

  “Yes. I remember because I had to pee and you told me to hold it.”

  “Well, I am a sadist.”

  Andrew laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe that’s how you kept her busy while you were sitting at the bar drinking lemonades with me.”

  Gregory shrugged. “Either way, Elisabeth, you certainly caught Trevor’s attention. He saw what was happening with me and Andrew, and he suggested I come over to his house to talk.”

  “So you went.”

  “And I was impressed, to say the least. I knew you could be well taken care of with him. I just had to make sure you’d like him, and that he’d treat you right. That’s when I started keeping a close eye on him.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Elisabeth said. “We’ve . . . enjoyed each other.”

  Andrew looked at her with interest. “What was it like, being with another man after being with Sir for so long?”

  Elisabeth shrugged. “Different.” How could she explain the difference it made to be dominated by someone who was sexually attracted to her? “The first thing Trevor did when we were alone was find out my limits and give me his rules.”

  Gregory laughed. “Very proper.”

  “When you put me on that train with a one-way ticket I thought you just wanted to get rid of me,” she said.

  “We both needed space from each other, honey. You never would have moved on without literally moving on.”

  “I know.” She smiled.

  “And there was one more thing.” Gregory raised his eyebrows. “I had him put money into an account for you, so you’d be financially stable if you wanted to leave.”

  “Money? I have money of my own?” The thought was impossible. Even the two million dollars she’d been given to manage had felt like Monopoly money, something on a computer that she could transfer to the organizations that needed it most.

  “I forced him to put his faith in you into a tangible, monetary amount.”

  “Interesting concept.”

  “It worked. You became an investment to him. He’d been investing a lot of time and energy into being with you. I didn’t want him to ever take you for granted, or to think that I was abandoning you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said quietly. Her wine was almost gone.

  “Did I do right by you, Elisabeth? Are you happy?” Gregory leaned across the table and caressed her face.

  She flinched—years of being with him had taught her that a caress with one hand meant a slap with the other. But he didn’t slap her. She was no longer his, after all.

  “I will be, sir.” Elisabeth stood and gave him a quick kiss on both cheeks. “I’m going to have the driver take me home.”

  Home. She’d meant to say Trevor’s house. But could it be her home, too?

  Chapter Nine

  “This is Trevor,” he said into his cell phone. When it vibrated, he’d hoped it was Elisabeth. But no, just Adele.

  “One of Roman’s cars just pulled up,” she said. “Thought you’d want the heads-up.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

  Finally, Elisabeth was coming home to him. He flew down the stairs, quickly smoothing his hair back into place. He’d spent all day running his fingers through it, unable to focus on work. Only Elisabeth occupied his mind.

  The doorbell rang just as he got to the front hall, and he opened the huge wooden door.

  Roman stood on the front patio, his eyes shadowed with dark circles. “We need to talk, man.”

  Trevor’s stomach rolled. This couldn’t be good.

  “Where’s Elisabeth?”

  Roman stepped inside. “She’s with Gregory. I got a call from my driver that he’s been waiting there for her all day.”

  “She wanted to go back to her former Master?”

  “I don’t know. She told me she wanted his guidance. I was sending her back here, to you.”

  Trevor didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until he released it. Roman wasn’t here to claim Elisabeth as his own.

  “Let’s go have a drink in the den,” Trevor said. “So we can speak in private.”

  The housekeeper who had been dusting a nearby banister a little too slowly blushed and walked briskly out of the hall.

  “I could use a drink,” Roman agreed.

  In the den, Trevor poured scotch into two glasses and handed Roman one. He had to remind himself to savor it and not gulp it down like medicine for a broken heart.

  “So you were sending her back to me?” Trevor asked, praying he hadn’t misunderstood.

  “Yes. Elisabeth and I had a long talk about it last night. She’s just like me, Trevor. I understand her needs on a deeper level than I think you ever will.”

  “If you think that, why would you let her go?”

  “Because I don’t want to betray our friendship or your trust. But I can’t lie. I’ve . . . developed feelings for her.”

  “What sort of feelings?”

  “I think I accidentally fell in love. I’m sorry, brother. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But . . . seeing her with you is going to hurt.”

  Trevor set his drink down in surprise. “We’ve known each other since we were teenagers, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit to a weakness.”

  Roman drained his glass. “That’s true. She’s become a weakness to me. And I can’t handle being anything but in control,” he laughed. The laugh sounded sad, as if the irony didn’t escape him.

  “Y
ou’ve trained her well, Roman. Yesterday with her showed me that if each of us adjusts a little bit, we’re going to be able to make each other very happy. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “You can thank me if she actually comes back to you. Elisabeth is still a free woman. I told her that I won’t take her, but she didn’t believe me, I don’t think. That’s why she went to see Gregory.”

  “If she chooses you, I won’t keep either of you from being together,” Trevor said. “It would hurt, like you said. And I hope like hell she chooses to be with me. But if she chooses you—”

  “Let’s cross that bridge if we come to it.”

  Trevor nodded. Fuck.

  His phone began to vibrate.

  “This is Trevor,” he said, answering the cell.

  “Elisabeth has arrived,” Adele replied without preamble. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I’ll come out.”

  Roman set his glass down. “I don’t want to see her right now.”

  “You can’t avoid her forever. Let’s go.”

  The two men walked out to the grand foyer, their steps echoing on the wood floors in the huge entranceway.

  Elisabeth stood there silently, her bare arms crossed over her breasts. Her eye makeup was smudged, as if she’d been crying.

  “Roman?” she asked, an expression of surprise and confusion on her face when she saw them both.

  “I came to talk to Trevor. I told him that I love you.”

  A single tear rolled down her cheek. “That’s not fair, Roman. I made up my mind, and you can’t go unmaking it for me like that.”

  Trevor wanted to embrace her, pull her away from Roman and into his arms, but Elisabeth had to make her own decision.

  Please, Elisabeth. Choose me. I’ve already chosen you, he thought.

  “Trevor,” she said, looking up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He knew what she meant without her having to explain. The money he’d put in her name. “You already knew that I didn’t own you, not truly. That you were your own woman, and free to leave me if you wished. I didn’t want to hasten your departure with a severance package.”