Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  He pulled her close and tried to slow his breathing so she didn’t pick up on the rage coursing through his blood. He swore that if the man wasn’t out of The Club by the time he got to Alex and Zach’s office, he’d take his sorry ass apart piece by piece. How dare he lie to Sally using him as a reason to hurt her. Cort was literally seeing red before he was able to get himself calmed down. He reached for his cell phone and speed dialed Zach, wanting to relay the information as quickly as possible without the possibility of Sally having to face the jackass who has brutalized her.

  After he’d given Zach the information, his bosses reminded him that they had asked him to take the rest of the night off and attend to Sally. They told him that they had reserved a private room and it had been fully stocked with everything they felt he might need for her aftercare. Cort turned to Sally. “Sweetness, did you hear what Master Zach had to say?” Knowing that she had likely heard Zach’s deep baritone voice through the receiver, he wasn’t surprised at her nod. He ran his thumb over her lower lip in a gentle caress and looked deeply into her eyes before he went on. “I want you, Sally. Not as a trainee, but as a submissive woman. I want you to know that if you agree to go to that room with me tonight, it won’t be only for aftercare. Do you understand?” When she nodded slowly, he said, “Sally, that isn’t good enough. I need to hear you say the words.”

  “Yes, Sir, I understand, and I want you, too.” Her voice was quiet, but there was no hesitancy in it, and Cort was on his feet before she’d even finished her answer. He cradled her against his chest and was striding down the hall to the private room Zach had directed him to with the determined look and motions of a man intent on staking a long-overdue claim. He felt Sally bury her face against his neck and breathe in his scent and heard her sigh in contentment and wondered how everything could have seemed so terribly wrong a half hour ago and now things felt so very right.

  As soon as he’d made his way into the Queen Anne private room he set Sally on her feet and kissed her. Cort’s plan to take his sweet time and savor her sweet body was nearly short-circuited by the blistering kiss they shared. When he felt her body melt against his, he considered just making love her for the rest of the night, but knowing how she responded to being dominated was just too sweet to resist.

  Breaking their kiss, Colt stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. Giving Sally his best Dom expression he said, “I want to remind you, my sweet sub, if we continue, you are mine. Are you prepared for everything that means?”

  Cort watched as Sally’s eyes dilated until there was little more than a small ring of color surrounding pupils opened wide by desire. When she slowly nodded her head and quietly said, “Yes, Sir” he found he let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

  “Very good, my sweet. Have you ever used the Fucking Throne, Sally?” He heard her breath hitch and watched the base of her neck and saw her pulse kick up. Aha, I’d say you are turned on by the idea even though I already know the answer to my question. You are in for a real treat, sweet subbie. As she answered, he was slowly leading her toward the large chair in the corner that would remind the casual observer of a typical Queen Anne chair, but this one had a few interesting “modifications” that made it a real treat for a sub.

  Cort watched Sally closely as began securing her to the chair all the while explaining how the chair worked. He was thrilled to see how her breathing had become so shallow she was nearly panting and he hadn’t even finished strapping her in yet. Once she was secured and wouldn’t be able to see behind her, he moved in to place and slid aside the hidden seat panel which bared her pussy to his touch. Finding her more than ready he quickly sheathed a dildo and moved it in to place. Taking the remote control device with him he stepped in front of Sally and slowly loosened his leathers so that his cock was bobbing in front of her. He smiled when she licked her lips.

  “Like what you see, little subbie?” Cort nearly laughed out loud when her eyes never left his cock as she nodded her head. “Sally, I asked you a question. Let’s not start our time together with me being forced to paddle your sweet ass.”

  “Y-yes, Sir. I like what I see.” Cort loved the breathy way she’d answered. Next time he’d make her actually look at his eyes when she answered, but he was enjoying her perusal to much right now to make an issue of it. With Sally’s focus centered on his cock he was able to start the small motor that pushed the dildo into her dripping passage without her having a chance to tense up. When she gasped he chuckled. He stepped forward on to the small foot pads on either side of the chair bringing his cock directly in front of her sweet lips.

  “Okay, sweet girl, you know what to do. But I’m warning you now, I have been waiting so long to feel your luscious lips wrapped around my aching cock that I may not last long.” He laughed softly when he saw her straining against the straps holding her tightly to the chair, her pink tongue flicking out just reaching the outer ridge of his engorged cock head.

  Cort knew Sally had to feel like he was spinning her closer and closer to the epicenter of a huge storm because she was clearly edging toward sub-space. He’d no sooner gotten the words, “Open up, baby” and pushed his raging cock against her lips than she would have felt the machine speed up. As soon as she tightened her lips around him and tried to exercise a bit of control, he slowed the machine and said, “I know what you’re trying to do, you know? And I won’t let you top from the bottom. You know better than that my sweet little sub. Now, unless you want me to light up that beautiful ass of yours, you’ll play by the rules. If you come before I give you permission I’ll move the machine back a few inches and change out the dildo so that it’s not nearly as pleasant an experience for you.”

  Cort nearly laughed out loud at her instant response. She refocused her attention to giving him a mind-bending blow job and when he sped up, then tilted the angle of the machine fucking her sweet pussy he could smell her arousal. When she groaned around him, he knew he was too far gone. Sliding the control to the fastest setting, he managed to bark out the command to “Come for me!” The words had to have still been bouncing around the room when Cort saw Sally stiffen and when she screamed her release he felt as if someone had detonated an electrical charge in his balls. His cum pulsed in long streams down Sally’s welcoming throat.

  When he finally felt stable enough to stand without clutching the chair behind Sally’s head he moved back and knelt in front of her and kissed her hoping his lips could convey the thanks his voice wasn’t recovered enough to say. Thank heaven he’d remembered to hit the “kill” switch right away so he didn’t need to worry that she was still being penetrated when they were both gasping for air and trying to recover. When he was finally able to move he quickly unfastened her from the chair and carried her to the bed.

  Cuddling her close he kissed the tip of her nose and then each of her eyes as she closed them letting sleep pull her under. Even though he knew she had fallen asleep he whispered, “You are mine, you know. I’ve wasted enough time, and even if your heart isn’t there yet, your body already recognizes its master.” Pulling her tighter into his embrace he slid in to a contented sleep holding the woman who had just claimed him, heart and soul.

  * * * *

  Trace had made several calls and was horrified at the results of the background check his friends had run on Gary George and case reports relating to Victoria Paulson. Tori had made dozens of police reports concerning stalking and violence, but had received little more than lip service responses and often not even that much. Her dog had been killed, her car damaged several times and ultimately destroyed, her home burglarized and all her belongings destroyed more than once. She had changed her mobile phone number several times and finally just abandoned it in favor of throw-away models that were basically only good for placing emergency calls. She had finally been asked to resign from her position at the law firm because Officer George had harassed her coworkers to the point none of them felt safe. But perhaps worst of all, the sweet woman sl
eeping so peacefully in his bed had lost all but one of her friends because they’d been too afraid to be near her, fearing they or their families would also be targeted. The injustice of it was almost more than Trace would comprehend.

  Mitch Grayson was the computer guru for ShadowDance, and he’d been able to access Tori’s medical records as well as all the police reports despite the fact they’d been buried deep. Doctor’s records showed signs of extreme stress and indicated she would be a prime candidate for PTSD. Mitch was a former Special Forces soldier and had given Trace a brief rundown of symptoms to watch for and suggestions for ways to alleviate the stress the symptoms might be causing her. After Alex, Zach, and Dylan had disconnected from the conference call, Mitch had asked him directly, “Are you interested in her, Trace? Because if you are, I’m going to secure most of this information because I want it to be for your eyes only. There is a lot I didn’t mention in the call with everyone else because I wanted to talk with you first.”

  Trace wasn’t surprised by Mitch’s observation. The man was an empath and often heard the thoughts of other people, but still his consideration was welcome. Trace explained his instant connection to Tori and asked that Mitch follow through with suppressing the information and asked that he also give a heads-up to his wife, Rissa, that he’d be bringing Tori around to dinner and would appreciate if she and the other women would make Tori feel as welcome as possible. Mitch assured him that Rissa would be happy to help and he’d make sure Katarina and Jenna also knew so they could focus on welcoming Tori to their makeshift family.

  After ending his calls, Trace poured himself a small glass of scotch and sat watching the last flames flicker in the fireplace. He was lost in thought about how to best help Tori when her scream pierced the silence. He was sprinting down the hall when he heard what sounded like someone falling to the floor. As he entered the room he nearly panicked when he didn’t see Tori on the bed. He had left the bedside lamp on so she wouldn’t wake up in a dark room, and in its soft glow he caught movement in the corner of the room. Moving to squat in front of her cowering form, he reached out to her, and she screamed and tried to bat his hands away. “No! No! Please! I’m begging you, don’t touch me! I can’t believe you killed her! Why? Why?” She started to cover her face only to curl further in a ball, wrapping her arms over her head as if protecting herself from an unseen attacker.

  Trace moved back a foot or so and spoke to her in soft tones. “Tori, wake up, princess, it’s me, Trace. You are safe now, please wake up. Come on back to me, sweetheart.” Her gasping breaths and sobbing were tearing him apart. “Come on, Tori, wake up and look at me.” He’d used his Dom voice and had heard the quick hitch in her breathing.

  Tori slowly moved her arms away from her head and looked up with wide-eyed fear, and Trace swore to himself that he wanted nothing more than to make sure that look of terror never filled her beautiful dark eyes again. “That’s it, princess, look at my face. It’s Trace and you are safe with me. When you know who I am, reach out for my hand. I don’t want to frighten you further by reaching for you.” This was one of the things Mitch had just told him to use when dealing with a PTSD victim, and he would make a point to thank his friend for his insight and guidance because the shift in her body language was almost immediate after he’d spoken the words to her.

  Slowly he could see her focus return, and she lifted her hand to him at almost the same time she launched her delicate body into his arms. Her deep sobs were gut-wrenching, but Trace held her as they sat together on the floor, and he just let her vent all the pent-up emotion. “It’s okay, princess, let it out. You are safe now, but get out all that fear and sadness. I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.” Trace was sure his heart cracked nearly in two as he held her close. He couldn’t imagine what horrors she’d been through, and he was sure having to do so without any support from friends or family would have been more than most people would have been able to survive.

  Trace knew Tori had to feel completely flattened by the nightmare so he kept his words soothing as he held her as the emotions of the past several months bubbled to the surface. When she was finally able to speak again, she kept her face against his broad chest and said, “I’m so sorry, I have nightmares sometimes, but I don’t usually completely lose it like that.”

  “Shhh, princess, I’m so sorry your life has been so derailed by a lunatic. You don’t deserve that treatment, hell, no woman does. But I’m very grateful for your trust in me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe from harm.” He was rubbing his hand in slow circles over her trembling back and noticed how small she felt in his arms. “I’m curious, Tori, I love your curves but I have the feeling you have lost weight or muscles as a result of this stress. Did you have to give up your workouts when all of this happened, princess? His gut feeling was confirmed by her nod. “Well, we’ll see what we can do about getting you back up to your previous fitness level, what do you say? You’ll feel much more in control of things when you’re physically strong again.” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit and was pleased when she tilted her tear-streaked face up and gave him a small grin.

  “I’m not too sure I want to gain any weight because it’s always been hard for me to stay slender, but I like the idea of being able to defend myself. I tried to take a class, but they asked me to not attend anymore when he kept harassing the staff for trying to help me.” Tori sighed, and Trace was completely taken in by her defeated expression.

  “Well, I have some friends that will love teaching you all types of self-defense. There are several Doms at ShadowDance who are former Special Forces soldiers, and any of them will be happy to help.” Grinning ear to ear, he went on, “But, Jenna Lamont, soon to be Jenna Lamont-Matthews kicks the asses of most of them any time she can sucker them into sparring with her. I know she’d be more than happy to help in any way she can, although you may have to wait until after her wedding on Christmas Eve.” Trace was pleased by the smile he saw light Tori’s face at his suggestions. He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text to several of his friends explaining Tori’s need, and despite the late hour, he received affirmative responses from eight different people, including Jenna, within minutes. When he showed her the responses he saw tears fill her eyes again, but he knew they were tears of gratitude, not sadness.

  “Princess, I want you to know that no one in Climax will walk away from you because they are afraid of your stalker. You’re going to see very quickly how we do things in our small town. You’ll have a wall of friends the bastard will have to get through to even look at you. These are good people, wonderful friends who will look this challenge right in the eye and never even so much as blink.” Trace watched her, knowing she was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was no longer being left alone to face the dangers she’d been buried under for so long.

  “Do you really think they’ll help me? I mean, they don’t even know me and well, I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.” Tori’s focus was on protecting others, and that alone was enough to make him fall further in love with her. He was startled by his own thoughts and wondered again at how rapidly his heart was moving. He assured her Jenna would be thrilled to help her since she had learned self-defense as the result of an attack years ago. He didn’t fill her in on all the details because he felt it wasn’t his story to tell, and she seemed to understand that perfectly.

  “We’re going to dinner at ShadowDance very soon so you’ll have a chance to meet everyone then. But for now, let’s get you back in to bed and settled. I’m afraid this floor is awfully hard and my ass is getting cold.” Laughing, he helped her stand and then accepted her hand as she helped his to his feet as well. He smiled at her kindness and pulled her into his embrace before releasing her to use the restroom while he straightened the bed. When she returned to the bed, he wrapped her in his arms, spooning her from behind, loving how perfectly she fit against him, her soft ass nestled against his rapidly growing cock. He s
miled to himself and tried to recite baseball statistics in order to distract his libido.

  Trace was pleased when he heard Tori’s breathing level out as she fell back in to sleep. Breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo and her own sweet fragrance, he closed his eyes and fell into a contented sleep.

  Chapter 9

  New Year’s Eve

  Tori stood in the doorway of The Club and looked around as Trace greeted everyone, calling each person by name. She loved the feeling of belonging she’d come to recognize, but she was still struggling to fully accept it as her new reality, trust just wasn’t that easy for her. Trace had warned her that The ShadowDance Club would be particularly crowded tonight, and he had been right. They had attended several times before, and she had not seen this many people during all of her previous visits put together as she saw in the just the Main Lounge tonight.

  Trace still had not asked her to do anything in public, and she was grateful for that. She sensed a particular unease in him tonight, and she found herself worrying that he was tiring of her already. They’d fallen into an easy routine, she was working with the elderly local attorney to learn his practice while her license was being transferred to Colorado. She’d taken the small test required and hadn’t had any problems after Mr. Sherman’s tutoring sessions. She smiled thinking about her new legal mentor, the man was nearly ninety years old and still a ball of energy and witty wisdom, and they had become fast friends.

  Mrs. Sherman was the light of his life, and after Tori had met her it was obvious the feelings were mutual. As she’d watched them together, Tori had wondered what it would be like to have a spouse who loved you unconditionally, who thought the sun rose and set in you and didn’t make any attempt to hide their affection when in public. Sighing to herself, the noises surrounding her reminded her that she needed to pay attention to what was happening around her so she didn’t inadvertently offend someone with her inattention.