BigBadDare (11 page)

“We'll start with a spanking because I know how much you like it. Then I'm going to fuck you raw, pet. I'll force you to come in front of him. I'll force him to see all the things I can do that he can't. That mess of a man in front of you wrecked my business and stole my favorite sub. Did you really think I'd walk away without wrecking you, her, everything!”

He bellowed over me, turning his demon eyes in Garrett's direction. The two men locked pupils. I nearly saw lightning colliding in mid-air as their pitch black gaze held, before Michael finally broke it, turning back to me with a ragged chuckle.

Michael shoved the bulge in his pants against my rear. I whimpered.

“Settle down and enjoy it. You're my bitch now, Jessie. And so is your Master.”

He moved his hips away. Spine rattling blows replaced his bulge a second later, striking so hard I thought he'd tear right through my red panties.

My vision blurred. I looked past Garrett, past the cloud of rage between the two bald goons, past the suspicion that I had my Sir's baby growing inside me.

I'd heard about women being raped before. I never thought I'd experience this. Never the killing blow to the senses that shut everything down as the vile thing happened.

Michael slammed his palm into my ass harder, crueler than Garrett ever did, again and again, throwing everything in it. And yet, I couldn't even feel it after awhile. Everything beneath my waist turned dull and cold.

Dead.

His whole hand was scarlet when he brought his fist next to my face. The sudden movement woke me a little from my trance, and I stared, watching the blood boiling beneath his skin.

“Not gonna scream for me like a good girl?” Toxic irritation seeped out in his breath. “That's okay.

When my cock's rammed up your cunt, I know I'll get a rise.”

No, no, no...

He wasn't kidding. Harsh soreness lingered on my ass, billowing up my spine. His savage spanking hadn't bothered me. But the thought of having this animal inside me was something else.

My lips puckered. The strong girl defenses collapsed, and I began to cry.

Fabric shifted behind me, a world away. He was taking down his pants, and then his hot hands were on my flanks, tugging at my panties.

The whole world seemed to churn, smoke, and collapse.

Through my tears, I saw Garrett's huge bulk twitch once, jerking against the rough hands of his captors. Then a blur, huge and sweeping.

He sprang up, uppercutting the bald men with his huge shoulders. They both lifted off their feet, into the air, crashing onto the tile behind him, stunned and shaking.

“Oh...oh, shit!” Michael barely had time to scream.

He froze, dick in hand, staring blankly at the boulder of justice rolling toward him.

More than two hundred pounds of hard, tattooed, and very pissed off muscle collided with his chest, leaping right over the table. I slowly lifted my head and tucked in my legs, watching the men roll on the floor between the table and the cabinets.

The guards behind me were knocked out cold. Garrett fought to pin his rival down with his big body.

Michael didn't go down easy.

He reared up, grabbed the edge of the table, snarling. I screamed.

Then pure rage took over. I kicked him, right in the eye, stamping my sharp heel into his forehead.

He bellowed as Garrett surfaced behind him, throwing his handcuffs across his neck. Michael's head just barely fit in the deadly loop formed by Sir's strong hands.

They fell to the floor again. This time, the only sound was the muffled, slurred roar of Garrett behind his gag.

My heart took off like a hummingbird. Pursing my hands across the table's ledge, I watched as Michael lay on his back with Garrett below, the handcuffs' tight chain pinching into the monster's neck.

Those huge, hateful eyes in Michael's head glowed, bigger than ever before. Except they grew glassy, dull, the light sucked from their pearly centers as his brain lost its oxygen.

Michael's fists beat wickedly at his sides. Each time, the smacks came slower, weaker, until they completely stopped and hung limp.

I spun, making sure the goons were still knocked out.

When I turned around, nobody was moving. Nobody except Garrett, buried and panting beneath the body of the man he'd just killed.

“Oh my God!” I stuttered, as much to him as myself. “Hold on! I'll...I'll get help.”

I kicked my feet to the floor and stood in place, quickly straightening the clothes my foiled rapist had peeled away. I started to go toward the elevator, but stopped dead in my tracks.

This is a fucking conspiracy. There are others in on it...that stupid, gangly man who lied to get me up
here. Who knows what I'll find downstairs?

I turned and went back to Garrett. The best way to help was by freeing him.

It wasn't until I shoved Michael's body off him that I saw the big red puddle. Sir's eyes were closed, a terrible pallor creeping across his skin.

I looked in the corner and saw the sharp switchblade Michael had pulled for one last strike, its ivory handle smeared dark red.

I was on him instantly. I worked off the gag, then started on his handcuffs, but he wasn't responding.

Desperate, I pumped my hands on his side, tracing the wound, covering it. Garrett's thin eyes opened and shut several times.

“Leave me here. You've got to get out...danger...”

“Oh, no, no, no...you can't leave me, Sir. You can't!” My words came in short, intense bursts, almost hushed. “For fuck's sake! Isn't there anyone here who can help?”

My prayers were answered. Sort of.

I had my hands pressed tight to the wound in his side, helplessly fighting to stem the thick red trickle seeping out Sir's beautiful flesh. I barely heard the footsteps creeping up behind me.

I guessed one of the goons had woken up. I waited several seconds to turn around, swearing I'd go down with Garrett if these assholes wanted to finish what they'd started.

Except I didn't see a short, stocky man with a bald head. It was the skinny boy again. His ridiculous eyes bugged out of his goofy face when he saw me.

“What the fuck are you doing up here!” I screamed. “Get over here and help me!”

“I'm real sorry, Miss...they...they made me.” He stammered and slurred his words even worse than I did. “I didn't know it would end up like this. Really! I would've called the police.”

“Shut up!” I bared my teeth, reaching the end of my rope for dealing with idiots. “He's going to fucking die if you don't do something.”

“Wait...” Garrett opened his eyes again. “Tyler knows men...they can clean up...tell him...before I...”

“No,” I whispered, cradling his head.

It seemed like the blood flow was slowing, but what did I know? If he didn't get some real medical attention soon...

Don't think about that. Let a little of his energy, a little of his strength take over. This isn't about
domination and submission anymore.

I spun, facing the beanpole who just a foot away now. “Is this true? You can deal with...this?”

I nodded to dead Michael.

Even in his weakened state, Garrett was right. There was no easy way to bring police and EMTs up here without answering some very uncomfortable questions.

“Yeah...I know some people,” he said softly. “I'll call them.”

“Do it. Quit standing around.”

Finally, he nodded and yanked out his phone. The young man – Tyler – mumbled a few words over the phone and then hung up.

I stood, snatching the phone from his hands. Garrett's eyes had been closed for more than a minute now. A little more beautiful skin had turned to sickly alabaster.

“Wait, Miss...you have to give us some time. Just a little bit. You don't want to risk the police showing up before everything else here is packed in.”

“I don't care!” I whimpered, dialing 9-11.

That look – or rather, the absence of any expression, any soul – on Garrett's face told me time had run out. The fear, the anger, everything blurred together into a numb fog swirling in my brain.

“The address?” I said dully to the operator. “The Red Widow. Top floor. Please, get here as soon as you can.”

VI: Dark and Light

“He's going to be fine, Jess. I'm sure of it.” Ava had her arm around me in the cold waiting room, trying her very best to be reassuring.

“That's not what the doctors say. Well, what little I can get them to tell me. Immediate family only...”

I clenched my jaw in frustration, rolling my eyes.

Garrett didn't have any family. Not just yet.

The last hours had been a horrific blur. Tyler's clean up crew dragged away the bodies and bleached the blood just in time. Somehow, the gangly man and I got my love onto the table, ready for the paramedics, and then I was frantically dialing Ava for a ride.

A lot of things should've been done differently. But nothing like the test.

I should've waited, shouldn't have bought that pregnancy kit in the pharmacy attached to the hospital.

And I certainly shouldn't have done it here, now, when Ava slipped away to grab something to eat...

I cursed myself. Despite all the wonderful changes, all the ways he'd made me whole, I was still my own worst enemy.

I slumped onto Ava's shoulder. Yep. Right down to it, I remained a shy, very scared girl when things hit hard and stung deep. Now I was just a shy, scared, and pregnant one.

“Easy, Jess. I told you I know a nurse here who can pull some strings. They'll have to let you see him sooner or later, once they've got everything under control.”

I collapsed against her, a crying, spitting wreck. Ava's tight grip was friendly, soft, comforting – and entirely too feminine. I would've given anything to break down on Sir's shoulder just then, bathing in his divine scent, his strength.

I'd suffered too much for one day. Somewhere in the maelstrom, sleep found me.

“Ma'am?” An unfamiliar woman tugged on my sleeve. “You can see him now. Only for a few

minutes. If you want to.”

“Thanks, Rach.” Ava grinned secretly. “Come on. Let's go.”

She gently pulled me up. I was woozy, sick to my stomach, my head pounding.

Still, being able to
see
him...that brought me back to life.

Cold chills swept up my spine as I followed Ava to the heavy metal door separating the Intensive Care Unit from the outside world. She stopped at the entrance, and gripped my hand.

“Go on. I'll be waiting right here for you when you come out.”

The nurse – Rach – led me onward. Darkness, bright lights, and ill odors assaulted my senses the deeper we went into the ICU.

“He's right in there. I'll leave you alone and check back in five or ten. Sound good?”

I nodded. The nurse walked away and I lingered at the entrance to his room, heart sinking, shuddering with fear.

Garrett was hooked to a lot of machines. Most conspicuously, a large rack of bags feeding into his arm. Blood, water, nutrients, all the things he'd lost in the trauma.

When I saw him laying there, his big chest rising and falling, I broke. I came to the side of his bed and grabbed his fingers, pursing them tight in mine.

“Oh, Sir. Garrett. You saved me...wound up here because of me.” My voice trembled, small and shaky, like lonely words in an infinite, empty blackness.

This is not a void. Not an abyss. His touch reminds me of everything we've got. Everything I still
want to give him.

My free hand circulated to my lower belly. I thought about the baby – his beautiful baby – beginning to grow inside me. He'd planted his seed deep, dominant master that he was, and now I swore that I'd make it something beautiful.

“Guess what?” I said, sniffing back tears. I leaned as close to his ear as I could. “We're going to have a baby together. I'm pregnant. I want you to know, Sir. Even if you can't hear me...”

I stopped, holding in another flurry of sobs.

“You did it. You marked me, Sir. Branded me as yours. I love you. And I'll never, ever forget it...no matter what happens.”

I let my head roll down, quietly letting the tears come, slowly stroking the back of his big hand. One monitor chirped next to me.

Steady and stable, at least.

“Miss? Jessica?” The nurse was back.

I wiped my tears and turned, allowing her to lead me away. We were almost at the big metal door when I thought to ask a question.

“Can he hear me? I know this is probably one of those medically induced comas...but do you know if he can hear anything I say?”

Nurse Rach cocked her head. “Coma? What are you...oh, no! That wasn't necessary in his case. He's just asleep. Losing blood like that and going through surgery takes a lot out of a person. Not to mention the anesthesia. Even a big guy like him is gonna need his rest. And a lot of it.”

“Wait, you mean?”

“It's not as bad as you think. Bad enough, of course. But I think when you see him tomorrow, he'll be awake. A little groggy, perhaps, but able to communicate.”

I did a stupid thing. I leaned forward on my toes, threw my arms around the nurse, and gave her a big fat kiss.

Ava had to work the next day. So did I, but I called in, told them my relative was on death's door.

Nobody knew about Garrett except my best friend. I wasn't ready to tell my co-workers, my family about him. Not like this.

What was I supposed to say? I'm laid up because my Dom boyfriend lost a lot of blood killing a man who stabbed him and wanted to rape me in front of him? Oh, and it was all thanks to a bad drug deal to boot.

I shook my head. My skin felt sticky and sore. Too many hours sitting in the waiting room chairs, wandering the lonely commons areas at the hospital. I hadn't even gone home to sleep.

Being in his condo alone haunted me. We'd barely moved in together when all this happened, and I wasn't going back there by myself, alone except for my phantoms.

God. I'm going to have to ease up, take better care of myself soon. There's someone else depending
on me now.

I hadn't internalized the pregnancy in my brain yet. Something about it felt unreal – as unreal as all of this.