Taken in Hand (25 page)

his fingers dropped down into Chad’s hair, threading

through it lovingly. “Okay, baby?” he asked quietly, and

Chad nodded, giving him a little smile.

Benjamin, sitting across from Adam, caught his eye.

He seemed different tonight, more serious and solemn. “Give

me the word when you’re ready, man,” he said, and Adam

nodded.

Chad glanced up and looked directly at him, though

he knew he wasn’t supposed to, and saw him give him the

briefest of nods. Adam explained that Benjamin, though a

little brash, was an experienced Dom and would never let a

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scene continue once a sub used his safeword, even if they

hadn’t already planned this out carefully.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Adam said. He tugged

gently on Chad’s hair. “Showtime, baby.”

Adam and Benjamin got up, with Chad following

behind Adam. Already another scene was in play nearby,

involving three men and a flogger. A small group had

gathered to watch. Not looking up, Chad followed Adam to a

broad, padded bench, and at Adam’s nod, he stripped off his

clothes, folding them as he went and leaving them in a small

pile on the floor. When he was naked, he glanced up and saw

a few people had drifted over to watch, and a slight moment

of panic hit.

Adam’s hand touched his shoulder. “Look at me, boy.

I’m the most important person in the room as far as you’re

concerned.”

“Yes, Sir,” Chad answered quickly, dropping his gaze

back to the floor and standing in the presentation position,

his hands behind his back. Adam walked around him,

checking his posture, touching him occasionally to correct

some minor flaw.

“Good,” he said. “Good boy. Now get on the table on

your back.” Chad turned and hoisted himself onto the table.

Benjamin and Chad secured him with the cuffs and straps

attached to the bench. With both of them working quickly

and expertly, they had him strapped down firmly in no time.

Benjamin brought out the rods and the disinfectant and

went to work cleaning the smallest rod, while Adam

positioned himself on the far side of the bench at Chad’s

hips.

Adam picked up Chad’s limp dick from his thigh.

“Scared boy?” he said, chuckling. “You should be. I’m going

to fuck your little holes until you beg for mercy. Gonna stuff

this little boy cock and fuck you till you scream.”

Chad swallowed hard, reassuring himself it was all

role play and Adam wouldn’t harm him. Even still, his heart

raced out of control. He glanced over at the group of people

who’d come to watch and saw no one he knew, but one man

at the back of the crowd was wearing a leather hood. As

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Chad watched, the man, one of the dungeon masters, edged

closer and closer.

Benjamin had finished cleaning the rod to his

satisfaction and lubed it, spreading on a thick coat. Time to

put on a show.

Chad groaned loudly. “Nooo, please. I don’t want this.

Please…”

Adam glared at him. “What’s your safeword, boy?”

“Red to stop and yellow to slow down, Sir.”

“Then use them if you’re going to. Otherwise, take

what I’m going to give you.”

“Y-yes, Sir,” he said softly.

Adam lubed his fingers and spread some over Chad’s

limp dick. He hadn’t had to think about anything unpleasant

to go soft. He was no exhibitionist, and the people standing

close by watching had totally taken care of his erection.

Adam fingered him, and he focused on the ceiling. He

wondered briefly if Johansen was in the crowd watching and

decided he didn’t want to know. Adam’s fingers caused him

to grow thicker, and a sharp slap to his balls, caused him to

gasp with pain.

“Settle down, dirty boy, so we can get this first one in.

Such a little slut. You love it, don’t you?”

Chad whimpered and tried to close his legs when the

slap came again. His eyes wide, craning his neck to look

down at Adam. His steady brown eyes were gazing back at

him, and he calmed down. Then he saw Benjamin step over

and hold the rod over him. Adam took his penis in his hand

and held it up as Benjamin lowered it slowly toward his

cock.

“No!” Chad yelled. “No, red-red-red-red-red!”

Benjamin stopped immediately, but Adam snatched

the rod from his hand, lowering it toward Chad’s slit again.

“Nooo,”Chad cried. “Red! Red!”

Benjamin grabbed Adam’s wrist. “What are you doing?

He used his safeword.”

“He’s a silly slut. He wants this. He’s just scared.”

“Exactly,” Benjamin said firmly. “That’s why we’re

done.”

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They wrestled for a moment over the rod, with gasps

coming from the crowd. In what seemed like seconds, two

dungeon masters were there, one taking Chad out of the

straps while another spoke quietly and sternly to Adam,

taking hold of his arm and leading him away.

Benjamin came to Chad’s side and gave him his

clothes, standing in front of him while he quickly pulled

them on. People were pressing in on him from all sides, it

seemed, and he looked around frantically to see where they

were taking Adam, pulling back when Benjamin tried to take

him back to the table.

Benjamin spoke softly in his ear. “It’s okay. They won’t

hurt him, just settle him down and make him leave. We’ll

give it a few minutes and then go outside. He’s going to be

waiting for us.”

Chad nodded and allowed himself to be steered back

to the table, where Paul made a big fuss over giving him

water and rubbing his back. Chad looked toward the

entrance in time to see Johansen’s broad back at the door,

going outside. Good. He didn’t like the idea of Adam being

left on his own in the parking lot with the possibility of a

killer present.

In a few minutes, Benjamin and Paul led him out of

the club, walking on either side of him. As soon as they

made it outside, Chad looked for Adam and found him

standing by the car. He broke away from Benjamin and Paul

and hurried over to him.

“Are you okay?”

Adam smiled down at him. “I’m fine. They suggested I

don’t come back for a while, but other than that, I’m good.”

Adam took hold of Chad’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes.

“What about you? Are
you
okay? I know you hated being

undressed in front of everyone like that.”

“I’m fine.” He hugged Adam again, throwing his arms

around his waist and putting his head on his chest.

Adam said their goodbyes to Benjamin and Paul,

thanking them for their help, and got Chad into the car to go

home. “If the killer wasn’t actually in attendance tonight,

and let’s face it, the odds are probably against it, then we’ll

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have to wait for word to get around. With Benjamin and

Paul, there was no reaction for four days. Did the chief give

you any indication about how much time went by after the

other couple did their scene and the time they were killed?”

“No, but I’ll check into it right away. We might be able

to see some pattern. If the killer wasn’t there, how would he

have known about it?”

Adam shrugged. “Hard to say. Word does get around,

though. The BDSM community is not all that large here in

the area, and a lot of people know each other both in and out

of the club.”

“Well, we’ve done what we could to draw him out.

Johansen didn’t say it, but I know the chief must be getting

pressured by the FBI to turn this case over to them,

especially after what happened to Phillips. I wouldn’t be

surprised if this isn’t our last chance.”

“What will happen then? Will you be…moving out?”

“Leave you there on your own? Not a chance.”

“Oh? The FBI wouldn’t give me surveillance?”

“They would, but it’s not the same as me being there.

Assuming you still want me there?”

Adam smiled over at him. “What do you think?

“Oh, I don’t know. You might get some sexy little FBI

dude to move in. I still have one of those jocks I haven’t used

yet.”

“I don’t know if anyone else would look as good as you

in them, but I mustn’t be too quick to judge. I’d be willing to

give him a chance.”

“Yeah, over my damn dead body. And yours. I carry a

gun, remember.”

They both laughed and talked the rest of the way

home, with Chad feeling like a weight had been lifted off his

chest. The scene he’d been dreading was over and behind

him, and he knew he’d done all he could to bring the killer

out in the open. It was time to wait and see what happened,

and if the FBI did take over the case, at least Chad knew he

would be staying with Adam.

Things were bound to get out now to the entire

department, but he found that he didn’t care so much. There

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would be those who didn’t accept him. If they didn’t, so be it.

Their loss. He was tired of living a lie, to avoid upsetting or

offending other people, who couldn’t care less about his

happiness.

Decision made, he felt lighter, freer than he had in

years. Before he knew it they were arriving in Athens and on

their way back to Adam’s house. It was still fairly early, not

even nine o’clock. All Chad wanted to do was relax and

maybe watch a little television, but as they pulled into the

driveway, a dark sedan pulled in behind them.

“Oh hell. This isn’t something I appreciate tonight.”

Adam put the car in gear and glanced in his rear view

mirror. “Preacher Rubin. Maybe I’ll take out my checkbook

now and head him off before he gets inside.”

“No, invite him in,” Chad said. “Maybe I can get some

information out of him about where his brother may be, if

there’s any connection between him and the club Johansen

hasn’t been able to trace down. I’d also like to know how

much bullshit he feeds everyone and how much is true. His

lies are only making it harder to get a handle on Jeremy.”

“Okay, but get rid of him as quickly as you can. I’m

not in the mood for him tonight.”

They got out of the car and waved to the minister as he

approached, briefcase in hand.

“I’m so sorry to come by so late,” he said. “But I was

visiting some of my flock who also live on the cul-de-sac—the

Robinson’s. Lovely couple, do you know them?”

At Adam’s abrupt nod, he continued, not catching the

hint. “I saw your car pull in and thought perhaps I could kill

two birds with one stone, so to speak. I’m collecting again for

the shelter. We had a new emergency come in to the church

last night, and I so want to be able to offer a better place as

soon as possible.”

“No problem, Reverend,” Chad said. “Come inside, and

we’ll write you a check.”

“So nice of you.” Jason returned Chad’s nod of

greeting, but his eyes didn’t make contact. He followed them

to the door and stepped inside behind them.

“Make yourself comfortable while I get my checkbook,”

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Adam told them and walked away.

“Thank you. This will mean so much to the boys who

have no place to go.”

The man seemed sincere enough, but he irritated

Chad as much as the other men. “How are your plans going

for the group home?” he asked. “Do you break ground soon?”

“I’ve been looking at property, but have found some

resistance among potential neighbors. There is so much bias

with so little understanding.”

“Seems to me that with your family history, you’d have

some prejudices yourself, like your brother does, from what I

hear.”

The minister shot Chad a strange look. “My brother’s

problems started when he walked in on our parents

doing…well, doing something that shocked him. He

screamed hysterically, thinking our father was hurting our

mother. He was screaming, our mother was screaming that it

was okay, that it was just a game they were playing, and my

father couldn’t get either one of them to shut up. He made

my brother and I both go to the basement until he could

um…extricate our mother from the scene they were playing

and she could calm Jeremy down. It was quite traumatic and

affected our father to a degree that he left the next day. We

didn’t see or hear from him for years. When we did, he was