Jasmine (22 page)

Jazzie nodded. She remembered the
cops coming in guns blazing. Tank had just—“He told me that he was going to let
me go. He was taking off my ropes when someone came in the house and shot at
us. I remember the pain…I was shot in the leg the first time then…then my back,
but it was nothing like my leg. Tank rolled me under him and I felt… I think
maybe he was shot too. I felt the bullets hit him when he was shot.”

“Did you see who came in? Anything
at all?”

Jazzie hadn’t seen anything. She’d
had the blindfold over her eyes then Tank had blocked her view. “He told me
that there were three. He said that I had to make sure I told you that. That
there are three in one and that the stronger one was ‘verily.’ I wanted him to
explain, but he was, blood was pouring from his mouth and I knew he was dying. I
don’t know what he meant by that, do you?”

“No. I’m sorry, sweetie. Did he
say anything else?” Cait looked over at Nathan when he cleared his throat. “You
have something to say there, big boy? You’re still on my shit list so spill it
or I’ll have to have you pulled over every time you come through town.”

“No, ma’am. It’s just that I was
wondering if she was going to jail when she left here. Seems she’s a victim,
not the one who killed the man.” She glared at him as he continued. “You have
guards outside her room as well as checking everyone who comes in here. I just
assumed—”

“You stick to your job and let me
do mine,” Cait told Nathan with little heat. “They’re here for protection if you
must know. The man who was killed by my police was Jacob Webster. His father
did some time with yours. We don’t believe that the senior had anything to do
with
the son,
nor do we think that Michael
Ross,
otherwise known as Major, even knew he had a son. There
was a daughter too, but she died of an overdose some years ago.”

Jazzie looked over at Drew and
then Nathan before she spoke again. “He told me…he said he was a bad man and
that he’d killed a lot of people for both money and pleasure. He said that what
was going on with my family wasn’t right. That someone needed to be aware of
what she was doing.”

“She who? Did he tell you who she
was by any chance?” Jazzie shook her head at Cait’s question. “I wonder if he
knew, himself.”

Chapter 21

Cain kept an eye on his sister. He
wasn’t sure, but he thought she knew more than she was telling everyone. He had
no idea what it could be, but he was sure something was keeping her quiet. He
decided that he was taking her out to lunch today to her favorite restaurant
and seeing if he could get it out of her. She’d not been out of the house since
she’d been released from the hospital over three weeks ago.

“It’ll be fun,” he’d told her when
she tried to beg off. “Besides, there are some things I need to ask you about Alyssa’s
birthday gift. I want your opinion on it before I give it to her.”

“Cain, we both know that’s
bullshit. You know your wife better than she does and my opinion has never
mattered one hell of a lot before. I’m fine. I’m fucking fabulous. I just wish you
people would back the fuck off.” She looked at the stairs and he knew she was
going to go back up to her bedroom again and hide. “I’m really tired. I think
I’ll go and—”

“Hant J mine,” Connor said as he
toddled over to Jazzie. “Mine.” He crawled up into her lap and handed her his
favorite truck.

“He loves you very much. And I
think he knows that you’re sad. Tell me what’s happened, Jazzie. Please? You’ve
no idea how much we’re all worried about you. You can’t stop living like this.”

She looked up at him while Connor
took his truck and drove it over her arms and shoulders. “I’m dealing with it. Please
don’t pressure me. I just…I can’t write. Maybe this is the end of what was a
fun ride.”

Cain was shocked. He’d heard her
in the office they’d set up for her. Heard her in there clicking at the keys
and hoped that she was working through the demons that way. He wondered what
she was doing and she told him before he could ask.

“I’m writing my journal. I’ve
never…there was never a need for one before. I seemed to be able to write
whatever I wanted and it always made me feel better. Now, it’s all I can do to
go into the room and sit there.” She gave a bitter bark of laughter. “I used to
be able to write about anything and now all I can see is all the blood that was
covering me. When I close my eyes, I can’t breathe because I’m afraid that
there’s something going to happen and the blindfold is going to keep me from
saving myself or someone I love.”

“I can find someone you can talk
to. You should probably do that anyway. I know of plenty of doctors that would—”

She cut him off. “No. I don’t need
a doctor to tell me that it’ll pass. That this is all a product of what
happened to me. I don’t want someone to tell me that what I’m feeling is
normal. Fuck that shit.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Connor
mimicked his aunt and had them both burst out laughing. “Hant J laugh. Fuck,
fuck, fuck.”

“Alyssa’s going to have a cow, you
know that, right? And you’re going to tell her that you taught him that.” Cain
took his son onto his lap when he started to get down. “Connor, that’s a bad
word. Mommy will beat your butt if you say that again.”

Of course Connor continued to say
it, several more times as a matter of fact. Cain couldn’t persuade her to have
lunch with him, but he did get her to agree to watch a movie with him and
Connor. Alyssa was out at a woman’s committee thing and the two of them had
been assigned to watch the kid. Nathan was working late again.

Cain was worried there too. He’d
heard them argue. Well, he’d heard Jazzie yelling. Nathan seemed to let her
rant and then he’d walk away. Cain thought the two of them would work it out,
but it didn’t look good for either of them. He’d asked Alyssa about it several
days ago and she’d told him to leave them to it.

“But she’s hurting. Hell, he’s
hurting too. And I can’t stand to see them breaking apart like this. What if he
turns to drugs again or she pushes him away so much he leaves? I love them both
too much to let that happen.”

Alyssa sat in his lap. “He
won’t let her. He’ll let her go just long enough then he’ll pull her back. I
have something to tell you, but you can’t share it.”

He wasn’t sure he wanted to
know. There was something so weird about having his wife say those words to him
when he just knew that he wasn’t going to like it, much less share it with
anyone. He agreed.

“They play.” He looked at her,
confused. “You know, sex games. He’s her Master and she’s his—”

“Fuck, Alyssa. I didn’t want to
know that. Shit. Really? He ties her…you know, I don’t want to know any more.” He
closed his eyes against the images that filtered through his mind. Not of his
sister and Nathan, but of the things he’d seen when he’d been younger and
looking up porn on the computer. “Why would you even know that?”

“Nathan told me. He said that
he was building them a play—” She stopped when he glared at her. “Okay, he’s
ordering stuff and wanted to know if he could have it shipped here. He said he
didn’t want it sent to the house just yet as they were still in the remodeling
stages. Some of the boxes came yesterday.”

Okay, he would admit today that he
was interested, but not then. He wanted to see what sort of things came in the
boxes, but not what his sister and Nathan did with them. He avoided the side of
the garage for the three days they were there and, as of yesterday, they were
gone.

~~~

Nathan stood back and surveyed his
room. It was complete. He’d been working on it for over two weeks with the help
of Byron and Taylor Grant and now it was finished. He smiled when Byron clapped
him on his back.

“Looks good. And I can’t thank you
enough for the heads up on the new stuff. I think I’m going to order a few
things from them as soon as I get back from this show.” Byron handed the
catalog that had come in the boxes to Taylor. “And remember my offer. I’m serious
as they come about that.”

He’d offered to let Nathan buy him
out. He’d been both shocked and excited about it. The shops, Taylor called
them, Tightly Bound, was doing well. Very well as a matter of fact, but they
wanted to get out of it and try something different. There were several hundred
of them all across the world and Nathan had been to several of them in his
lifetime. The one in Columbus twice over the past several weeks to see how some
of the toys he’d bought looked.

“I’ll have to talk it over with
Jasmine. She and I are getting married soon and we’d both have to agree.” At
least, he hoped they were. “I’m going to bring her here tomorrow and try to…I’m
going to show her around.”

“You mean bring her in line,”
Taylor said firmly. “She needs it. I was there the other day and she seems to
be half the person she used to be. I love it when Byron gets all masterful with
me. Makes me realize that I’m alive.”

Nathan wasn’t sure what to do with
Jasmine. He sat on the big couch he’d picked out for the living room. He’d
gotten them a big bed too and that was all. He couldn’t seem to get her to be
interested in anything anymore and he’d come up with the idea that maybe it was
time she learned to obey him. He was getting desperate.

They’d made love twice since she’d
been home, but she drew the line at playing. He’d not forced the idea because
he, frankly, wasn’t sure she was ready either. But he’d talked to her doctor a
month ago and she’d told him that Jasmine wasn’t doing as well as she’d hoped
and suggested that she maybe should see a psychiatrist or someone that she
could talk to. Alyssa had suggested that she get away, or maybe she needed
someone to make her see what she’s missing.

He’d told her he could do that. It
had taken a great deal of embarrassing starts and stops to tell her what he
was. She’d only laughed at him when he flushed to what he was sure was a bright,
bright red. Then he blurted out that he wanted to order some toys. She
confessed that she and Cain had some so she didn’t know what he was so
embarrassed about until he told her what sort of toys he wanted.

“Oh,” was all she said then stared
at him. “I didn’t know. I thought when you said play you meant…I’m not sure
what you meant. I never pegged Jazzie as a submissive person. I guess she told you
then.”

“No, she didn’t know either. But
she loves it. And I didn’t force her. She just needed someone to bring out her
submissive side and when I did, she fell right into it.”

“First of all, duh, I never
thought you’d force her and secondly, I’m reasonably sure she’d kick your ass
if you tried. But as for her being a submissive, I guess it makes sense. She’s
always been so odd and high-strung, or so we all thought. Maybe having a Dom
was just what she needs in her life.”

Nathan and Alyssa talked for about
another hour and he left with a spring in his step. He had planned out the room
over the next several days and had visited Tightly Bound a few times too. He’d
never played there, but had gone for ideas. That’s when Byron had approached
him with his offer to help him and the offer on the shops.

Now he had to get her there. Nathan
was sure she’d come to the house and she’d agreed to do so tonight. He’d told
her all about it and the things that were being done. He’d even told her about
the room he was having built. She’d seemed less than interested and hadn’t said
anything.

The house was beautiful too. In
addition to the play room there were seven bedrooms that he’d had condensed
down to five for the extra two bathrooms. There was the master suite that had been
remodeled some years ago and only needed new carpet, which he’d had lain last
week. The kitchen was still under renovations and would be for another two
weeks, but the cook he’d hired had assured him that he could cook them good
meals on a hot plate and a dutch oven. Nathan assured him that he’d have a
better kitchen than that and the man had laughed.

He gave her a tour of the house. She
was still on crutches so he’d had to carry her up the long staircase. She’d
protested, but he didn’t care, he loved touching her. She told him she was
impressed with how much he’d gotten done and then he carried her down to their
bedroom.

The room was complete. He’d done
most of the work in this room himself, wanting everything to be perfect. The
big bed, four posters of solid oak, and the large dressers made him smile when
she ran her finger over them. It also made his cock jump. He wanted her to
caress him that way and soon. When she walked into the adjoining bathroom he
gripped the doorjamb and took several breaths. He wanted her right fucking now.

When she wandered around the room
to the door to their play room, he held his breath when she touched the
doorknob. He was sure she wasn’t going to open it and, when she took her hand
away, he nearly whimpered. Then she took it firmly in her hand and turned the
knob.

“Oh my,” she said. “It’s huge.”

He walked up behind her and
wrapped his hand around her. “I wanted you to see it. What do you think?”

She stiffened in his arms and he
nearly let her go. Instead, he nipped at her neck and laved it with his tongue.
She started to pull away and he continued to hold her. “No. You’re going to do
what I tell you tonight. And when we’re finished in here we’re going to sleep
in that big bed for the rest of our lives together.”

“I don’t want to. I want you to
take me—”

“Oh, I plan to do that. I’m going
to take you hard and fast as soon as I get you naked. Go to the hump and wait
for me.” He let her go, hoping she would do what he’d commanded her. She
hesitated just enough that he thought she was going to fight him, but she moved
over to it.