Her Secret Betrayal (9 page)

“It’s already done, pet. You won’t believe
me, but I’ll be very sorry to lose your companionship. I don’t want
you to go.”

“You think blackmailing me will get me to
stay? You are sorely mistaken.” I scoffed and looked away. What was
I thinking, getting into bed with this man? Men like Marcus
Giovanni didn’t understand the world in which they don’t get what
they want. I was a little fool to ever believe otherwise.

“You’ll change your mind. I know you Kara.
One taste of what I have to offer and you’ll change your mind.” His
eyes twinkled, the bastard, charming even himself. He smiled, knew
he had me, knew I couldn’t afford to say no.

Even as my heart dissolved into a million,
guilty pieces, I nodded.

“One night.”

He pushed himself suddenly to stand, tall
but not as tall as Sean. He crossed the space easily and moved in
close, too close, so that his cologne overwhelmed me. His shampoo.
The smell of Marcus that was so very
Marcus
. Rich in every
sense of the word.

“I promise you won’t regret this.” He tucked
a finger beneath my chin and raised it to present my mouth for him.
I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t soften either. He kissed me
gently, a kiss that would have once melted me into the floor. Not
now. Now it seared almost painfully. “We’re going out tomorrow.
I’ll send an outfit by messenger. Wear it. I’ll pick you up at
nine. Make sure you’re shaved. I want you bare in every way.”

He kissed my mouth again and I felt sick at
the insinuation. I closed my eyes when he let go and did not open
them again until the front door closed.

____________

I stared at the package Marcus sent over for
twenty minutes before getting up the courage to open it. The box
was from an expensive boutique that catered to bigger girls with
money. The package itself was shiny silver with a white bow.
Innocent. Right.

I turned the soft paper aside to reveal a
breathtaking silvery dress in a fabric I would never have dared
wear on my body. Too flimsy. Too revealing. Sumptuous and soft but
it would reveal every curve, ever bump, ever unflattering pillow of
flesh. There was hardly anything to it.

Beneath the dress my heart plummeted as I
discovered the lingerie he’d handpicked for me, no doubt. The
bustier was black and pink with boning to support my large breasts.
It laced in the back like a corset, but buttoned in the front. It
would have been pretty if I wasn’t filled with such dread.

The panties, though. Oh, my god.

Keyhole style panties that didn’t so much
cover anything but wrapped me like a very pretty present. A little
heart shape of fabric covered the middle of my bottom, barely hid
my most forbidden opening. From the heart stretched black silk
cords to my hips, draped prettily but completely revealing of my
large globed cheeks. The cords were decorated in tiny pink beads
which dug into my soft flesh when I moved and sat down. A thin
strip of silk covered the space between my legs and up over the
front, but none of it covered very well at all.

Putting on the dress was difficult. It
halted at my breasts and the widest part of my hips. I shimmied and
adjusted until the beautiful fabric hung right across my plump
body. I’d never have considered wearing something like this, but I
was stunned by the beauty in the full length mirror of my bedroom.
It didn’t hide my imperfections, but the expensive dress didn’t
make they look so imperfect after all. I looked curvy and feminine.
Gazing at myself, I was shamefully impressed with Marcus’s taste
even if I hated him with my whole heart.

I waited at my kitchen counter for the car
to pick me up. I went through my mail and discovered something I
hadn’t been expecting.

An invitation to the Wonderland opening.

I dropped the rest of my mail and held the
invitation between my fingers, purple, like the one I’d received
more than a week ago.

The invitations had not been sent out.
They’d been stolen the day they were made. And, what as more
surprising, was that I hadn’t been on the guest list, according to
Taylor.

But here was my invitation, despite all the
impossibilities of it.

I slid the invite out, and a small receipt
fell out with it. I picked it up, turned over. A pick-up ticket for
a costume at a shop on Beltham Drive I’d never been to. Black
marker at the bottom left a single command.

Wear this.

A knock on my front door startled me and I
dropped the receipt and the invitation on the counter. A second
knock encouraged swiftness. I teetered in my silver heels and
hurried to open the door for Marcus’s driver.

“Miss.” He nodded and I nodded and neither
of us said anything about how weird it was that Marcus didn’t
bother to come get me or that I was going out with him instead of
staying in. I grabbed my jacket and locked the door behind me. The
driver offered his arm which I accepted in case I went spilling
down the stairs in my impossible shoes.

He opened the back door for me and I found
Marcus sitting stoically, staring out the passenger window opposite
me. My heart thudded heavy in my chest as I slid in beside him. He
turned his eyes to me, and down me, a look of approval sweeping
away the apathy.

“You look gorgeous, darling.”

I shifted, unable to get comfortable on the
beads on my underwear. I looked out the window and clasped my hands
over my clutch in my lap. “Don’t.”

He slid closer, wrapped one arm around my
shoulders, the other he used to grasp my chin and yank my attention
back to him. Not hard, but firm, and he held me there like he was
chastising an obstinate child.

“Remember your place, pet. Tonight who do
you belong to?”

Sean. Always Sean.

“You,” I replied flatly.

He smiled, but the smile didn’t quite meet
his eyes. “We’ll see.”

We drove the rest of the way in silence. He
offered no hint at where we were going, but we left the city night
life behind us and drove into a neighborhood I wasn’t familiar
with. Large, mostly empty industrial buildings loomed on both sides
and blocked out the sky. I stared at the unsavory feel of the
neighborhood. There were a lot of homeless hiding in the shadows of
the alleys.

“Where are we going?” I asked, apprehension
working its way into my shoulders. “This doesn’t look right.”

“A private club. Don’t worry, darling,
you’re perfectly safe. It operates for clientele that like their
privacy.”

I didn’t relax though. One turn after
another and I had no idea where we were anymore. Nothing looked
familiar. Most of the buildings looked long abandoned.

The car rolled to a stop in front of a
nondescript brick building crushed on both sides by empty
warehouses. Lights dimly glowed through windows on four floors, all
with privacy film over them to mute the glow. A single man the size
of an ogre stood outside the front doors, the only indication we’d
arrived somewhere.

“We’re here,” he said and gave my hand a
squeeze. My fear needed the reassurance and I didn’t pull away.

“Marcus,” I said and stopped him by not
letting him pull his hand away. “Answer me something before we go
in.”

“Anything.” He relaxed, glad maybe that I
was finally acknowledging him.

“Did you know about me and Sean before I
told you?”

He hesitated then nodded. “There’s not a lot
I don’t know about things that are important to me.”

A shiver passed through me. “Did you have
something to do with the break-ins at Zach’s office or Sean’s
condo? Have you had someone following me?”

His brow furrowed. “Someone has been
following you?”

The look on his face seemed genuine, a real
concern I hesitated to question. I shook my head. “I don’t know. I
think so.”

He leaned close and squeezed my hand. “Kara,
I would never make you afraid of me. I want you to want to be with
me.”

“Then why are you making me be here with you
now?” I whispered back and for a moment his businessman front
dropped and he lowered his gaze.

“I…this is probably the last time I can have
you. Once we are inside, you’ll want to be here. You’ll want this,
I promise. I know you. I know your body. You won’t want to say
no.”

I hesitated. He seemed so sure of himself.
Was he so sure of me that I didn’t know myself? Did I know myself.
I touched my lips with my free fingertips and considered this
uncomfortable true.

No, I decided. I wanted to be with Sean. I
gave myself to Sean.

“You’ll hurt Sean if I say no.”

“Only financially, darling. No one gets
something for nothing. If he gets you, I get his restaurant.”

I shook my head, unable to marry this
businessman with the attentive, imaginative lover I’d spent the
last six months with.

“Let’s get this over with.” Sickness sunk my
stomach as he got out of the car and came around to open my door.
Sometimes when we played Sean called me his little whore, an
affectionate term that let him treat me like a dirty plaything
while reminding me he loved me as a man too. Now I felt the whore
part, alright.

When Marcus opened the door, I swatted his
hand away and got out on my own. I wobbled all the way up to the
door without his help. He watched, mirth playing his handsome young
features. The bouncer, all muscle no-neck and scary, watched me
fight my way up the stairs.

“Mr. Giovanni.” The big man nodded and
stepped aside. Marcus took hold of my elbow, a firm hold and nodded
back. So this was not his first time coming here, wherever here
was.

The door was opened for us and we were
welcomed in a warm, golden lounge room of reds and oranges,
welcoming, a fire crackling in the corner. A woman at a desk
greeted us with a smile. She looked the part of a secretary, neat,
trimmed, modest blouse and skirt.

My eyes fell on her shiny black collar and
the silver dog tag dangling from the ring beneath her chin.

I swallowed.

“Good evening, sir. I have your reservation
already set up and waiting for you. Do you require anything else?”
The woman handed Marcus a key on a golden cord. I couldn’t take my
eyes off it as he twisted the ribbon between his fingers and
pocketed the key.

“Bottled water, a little chocolate. My usual
favorites. Is Conrad waiting?”

“Yes, sir. He’s waiting.”

“Good. Darling?” He gave me a little tug and
I tore my eyes away from the girl and her collar to Marcus’s
waiting eyes. I swallowed.

“Marcus, what is going on?”

“No questions right now. Trust me. I’ll
answer everything once we get to our room. Welcome to Abrasion. A
very private establishment for people like you and me.” He touched
my chin and leaned in to kiss my lips. I stiffened, but he kissed
me anyway. “Trust me.”

“Trust you,” I repeated sharply. The woman
watched us curiously but didn’t interrupt. When Marcus realized I
was still standing stiffly and not willing to move, his eyes
darkened and he gave a rough tug towards him.

“Do as you’re told, Kara.” He gritted his
teeth and pulled me tight against his body. His grip left
impressions in my wrist and I followed him without argument this
time.

A place for people like us. I understood
very quickly as we entered the building. Large, plush rooms held
groups wining and dining, chatting, mostly men in suits accompanied
by beautiful girls, many wearing collars, wrist cuffs. Delicate
accessories to indicate what they were. Submissives. Slaves. One
girl knelt on the ground beside her master’s chair, a spreader bar
between her wrists behind her back forcing her to kneel with her
breasts jutting out. I stared because I’d never seen something so
obvious before, or so beautiful.

My body…betrayed me. The sensation of warmth
between my legs caused tears to fill the corners of my eyes. I
wanted to be that girl. I did not want it to be with Marcus, but I
liked what I saw. I hated that I liked it.

We passed that room, then a line of windows
that watched into rooms with private couples acting out their
scenes. Nothing too brazen, bare breasts and handcuffs, spread
legs. A whip. Nothing I hadn’t seen or felt before.

I couldn’t not watch.

“You like it,” Marcus whispered and touched
my left breast, my nipple to be precise. He scraped his fingertip
across it and I shuddered, embarrassed by how hard it was. “Don’t
be ashamed. They aren’t.”

“Why am I here, Marcus?”

He continued touching the point of my hard
nipple through my flimsy dress. He watched me, loomed over me.
“There’s something I’ve badly wanted to see happen to you since the
day I brought you home that first night. I should have brought you
here sooner, maybe then you wouldn’t have been tempted to stray.
It’s…a fantasy of mine. A private one I’ve not shared with another
submissive before. One of yours too, in fact.”

“Here,” I whispered, as if the idea was so
ludicrous. Why I didn’t realize what we were doing here before, I
don’t know. He wouldn’t bring me here unless he planned to use me
somehow.

“Come. Conrad is waiting for us. But…you are
not allowed to call him that. To you he is sir, or master.
Always.”

“What? I don’t understand.” My voice came
out ragged, I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until I
felt light headed.

“You will.”

He pulled me the rest of the way, my knees
wobbly, my apprehension screaming in my ears. I was afraid, very
much so, and also turned on. How that could be I didn’t know.

Then we came to a single door and he stopped
and I knew. I knew whatever was beyond this door was going to be
too much for me.

He handed me the key. “You do the
honors.”

My hand shook as I obeyed. His hand held
onto my hip, in case I ran, as I clicked the lock and pushed the
door open. I knew Marcus, he wasn’t into anything base and common.
Whatever hid behind this door would be near enough to fantastical,
the very edge of pleasure imagination. That was Marcus. Only the
best. He wanted to be the only man to have whatever was beyond this
door.