“That’s right, because you love me. Just like I love you.”
“Give me time, James, but I’m getting there.”
“Fight me if you must, but you know I’m going to win. I always win.”
If they could make this work, they’d both win.
Amanda laid her head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. She didn’t know how long they stayed that way. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so content and happy.
“I’d better get back to the front.” She didn’t want to, but it was her job and she felt a sense of responsibility.
“You’re done for the night. I need you to look at some photos. André has been going through the tapes. He’s found the scenes that each of the pictures were clipped from. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation between them. He used a different couple each time. The scenes took place on different nights of the week. We’ve been looking at who has access to the system.”
“I was hoping it was the guy the police arrested last night,” she admitted.
“I doubt it.” James tipped her head back slightly and met her gaze. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you, James.”
He kissed her forehead then scooted out from under her. “I need to clean up in here then we’ll stop by the office. You can check out those photos and then we’ll head home.”
Amanda contemplated what ‘home’ meant as he started winding the ropes and putting them in a gym bag she hadn’t noticed before. As a kid she and her mom had moved constantly—home was a foreign concept. Her apartment certainly didn’t qualify either. She’d known from the moment she’d moved in that it was temporary. She wondered what it would be like to have a ‘home’.
“Let’s get you dressed.” James brought her clothes over to the couch.
Geez, she’d forgotten she was practically naked under the blanket. She couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt around James. It seemed unreal. Amanda readjusted her bra before she stood up. “You’re still dressed and”—she ran her hand over his crotch—“hard.”
“I seem to stay that way around you.”
He helped her get back into her clothing then, as she was buckling her shoes, he stepped onto the stool by the door. While Amanda watched, he did something to the video camera. When he was back on the floor he smiled at her and showed her a piece of aluminum foil. “You didn’t want to scene in public, so I made sure it was as private as possible.”
“Oh, James, you don’t fight fair. Do you?” She had to blink to keep the tears at bay. He was always doing such sweet things. She was definitely falling for him. Heaven help her, the drop was long and scary.
“Your heart belongs to me, subbie. You can deny it all you want, but I know the truth.”
As they entered the great hall, James saw Ted looking pissed and heading their way. He figured he knew what had put a knot in Ted’s tighty-whities and he wasn’t discussing it in front of everyone playing that night. James maneuvered Amanda toward the wax play area. Currently, no one was at that station and it would afford them a measure of privacy. Just as he expected, Ted veered their way.
“What the hell was that about?” Ted’s hands were on his hips and his face was dark with emotion.
James raised his eyebrows in question and shrugged, refusing to be drawn into an argument.
“I want a word with Amanda,” Ted demanded.
“Since it’s your right as a monitor and since you asked so nicely, Ted, I’ll be happy to allow Amanda to speak with you.”
“I’m the dungeon monitor supervisor and you know it.” Ted’s face was turning red.
“Amanda, answer his questions so he can calm the fuck down. I’ll be right over here.” James was pissed that Ted was upsetting Amanda, but he understood why Ted was acting like an ass. He took a couple of steps away, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
“Are you all right, Amanda?”
“Yes.”
James’ heart did a weird flip when Amanda turned and looked at him with love in her eyes. She would say he needed glasses, but he knew the truth.
“Did James do anything you hadn’t agreed to?”
Ouch, that was a loaded question. Technically, she hadn’t agreed to anything. Or maybe she’d agreed to everything except pain… Anyway, he held his breath while he listened for her answer.
“James wouldn’t hurt me, Ted. I don’t know why you’re so angry. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
James pushed off the wall. Ted had heard all he needed to. James walked up behind Amanda and wrapped his arm around her. “If you’re done, we have business in the office.”
“Next time you pull a stunt like that, I will halt your scene.”
He wasn’t arguing with Ted. He gave him a mocking two-fingered salute and urged Amanda out of the great hall.
James appreciated that Amanda waited until they were in the office with the door closed before she asked what that was about.
“Ted is in charge tonight. It’s his job to make sure everyone plays safely. By covering the video camera, I took away one of his tools. While we were scening, I saw him stalking the halls. He cut me some slack by not barging in, but he was well within his rights. He was only worried about your safety. I understand where he’s coming from and he doesn’t know what factors played into my decision to break that rule. I’ll discuss it with him later.”
Amanda was biting her lip and looking at him worriedly.
He didn’t like it. He wanted her to be comfortable sharing anything with him. “What are you thinking?”
“You don’t think Ted could be the stalker, do you?”
James took a moment to consider the possibility. It didn’t feel right, but he couldn’t rule him out either. “What makes you wonder about him?”
Amanda pulled out the wheelie chair and sat down. “He seems sad.”
That wasn’t a word he would ever associate with Ted. Ass, pompous, power-hungry, yes, but not sad. “How so?”
“Underneath all his bluster, he just seems sad. Like he isn’t sure if he belongs.”
James was surprised by her insight. The more he considered her description of Ted, the more he thought she might be right. “You’re very intuitive. Do you get the feeling the person who sent you those pictures is sad?”
“He seems angry at me. I’ve wondered if he somehow figured out I’m morally opposed to BDSM and wants to punish me.”
“Do you still feel that way, Amanda? Do you still think BDSM is about abuse?” He cupped the nape of her neck in his palm and drew a finger along her jaw.
“You didn’t hit me, James. Yeah, you tied me up… I don’t know. What we did doesn’t count,” she stammered.
“Not every couple engaged in BDSM likes the same activities, Amanda. Bondage definitely falls into that category.”
“You’re messing with my head.”
“I think you have a misguided interpretation of the lifestyle. I’m asking you to open your mind and consider there may be more to it than you first thought.”
She nodded. “I’m trying.”
“Thank you.” James pulled a file from his briefcase lying on the counter. He spread out six pictures. “Do you recognize any of these men?”
Amanda pointed to a couple of pictures. “These two.” The first photo was of a man in his mid-fifties, wearing a suit. The second showed a younger man wearing jeans and a polo. “This older guy was here once or twice when I first started working at the club. I think he sells something. André could tell you more about him than I can. I remember he was sleazy. He looked at me like I was a specimen, not a real live person.” She shivered. “This one”—pointing to the younger of the two—“I think he lives in my building. I’ve seen him in the parking lot, getting the mail, throwing out the trash, that kind of thing.”
“Do you know his name?”
“No, I’ve never talked to him.”
“He doesn’t live in your complex, Amanda. He lives near Glendale.”
“That’s weird. Maybe he’s friends with someone at the apartments.”
“I hope it’s just a coincidence, but I doubt it. These men all worked in some capacity with the video system.” James gathered the photos and returned them to the file. “I need to make a few phone calls and then we’ll head home.”
Chapter Six
As they started out of the parking lot, Amanda remembered the homework she had to work on tomorrow. “Can we swing by my apartment? I forgot to grab one of my textbooks.”
“Sure. When is your lease up?”
“The end of May. Why?” Was he going to ask her to move in? It was too soon, but it was very tempting. She felt relaxed there…and with him.
“I don’t like you living there. Aside from everything else, it isn’t the greatest neighborhood.”
“It’s close to school and works with my budget. I’m not home enough to justify a huge rent payment each month. I’m socking money away so I can buy a home once I graduate.”
“We should do some research on flipping houses. There’s quite a fan base for mid-century homes in Arizona. I’ve had several people approach me wanting to buy my home and it isn’t on the market.”
“You don’t intend to sell, do you?” She loved his home and hated the idea he would sell it. It was foolish to be emotionally vested in someone else’s house, but there was no denying the feeling.
“Hell no. I love my house, but there are still a lot of mid-century homes that need some TLC. We could buy one, fix it up and flip it. With the proceeds from that house we could make a small profit then do the same thing. If we’re smart about it, we can make some good money and have fun doing it.”
James was handing her her dream. But at what price? She knew when something looked too good to be true, it usually was.
James slowed down to go over the speed bump near the entrance to her apartment and Amanda got a good look at her car.
Whore
was written in white paint, a sharp contrast to the black finish. The taillights were smashed and the tires were flat. “My car! Do you see what that motherfucker did to my car?”
“Motherfucker?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, shocked. “This from the girl who thinks dang is a curse word?”
“It’s not funny, James. Look at my car.” She wanted to hit something, preferably the stalker. She’d really liked that car.
“I know it isn’t, sweetheart. We’ll make it good as new. I promise. I just wasn’t sure you even knew that word,” he chuckled.
“Knowing it and using it are two different things.” She recognized that he was trying to distract her. It wasn’t going to work, but she appreciated his effort. His calm, ‘I can handle this’, demeanor helped a great deal.
James pulled out his phone and texted something. Almost immediately he got two responses. “I want you to stay in the car while I check your apartment. Some of my friends were close by, they’ll be here in a minute.”
“Absolutely not. Call the police and let them do it. He already trashed my car, he’s not going to hurt you too.”
What the eff is he thinking?
“I appreciate that you’re worried about me”—he paused as Captain Bradley appeared at his window—“but you needn’t be.”
As he reached for the door, she reached for hers as well. Instantly, his hand shackled her wrist. “Stay in the car. Captain Bradley’s going to stay with you. A few of my men will go in with me.” He pointed to a car just pulling into the parking lot.
“James, I don’t want you hurt. Let them check it out and you stay with me.”
“Not this time, Amanda.” He cupped her cheek and gave her a quick kiss. “Joseph won’t let anything happen to you.”
James and Captain Bradley quickly traded places.
“Hey, Amanda, we’ll just sit here for a few minutes while they check everything out. It’s going to be fine.”
So many things were going through her mind she didn’t know what to say. She liked Joseph and didn’t want to be rude, but if something happened to James nothing would be fine again.
“I knew James had it bad for one of the subs, but I couldn’t tell which one. I should have guessed it was you. He’s a good guy, Amanda.”
“He’s an idiot. Why didn’t he wait for the police?”
Joseph chuckled. “Last time I checked, this badge means I
am
the police. If it helps at all, I have a uniformed patrol on the way.”
“You were following us, weren’t you? Did you expect trouble?” It was the only thing that made sense. They’d gotten here too quickly.
“We considered that his behavior might escalate.”
“Did you know James is injured? He’s not a cop and he’s hurt. Why did you let him go up there?” The only thing keeping her in the car was the fact that other men had gone with him.
“Honey, feel bad for the other guy. James is one of the biggest badasses I know and I’m in a field full of ’em.” He touched something near his ear. “Roger that. Come on, it’s clear. You can go up.”
Amanda threw the seat belt off and opened the door. Before she could cross the street, James had caught up with her.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. He’s been in your apartment.”
She stopped in the middle in the driveway, unsure what to do. James pulled her out of the street. “We’re gonna have to make a police report and file an insurance claim. You have renters’ insurance, right?”
“I think so.” She was numb. Her brain seemed to be moving in slow motion.
“Come on, Amanda, let’s get this done.” He was nudging her toward the stairs. “It isn’t safe to be out in the open.”
“How bad is it?” Almost everything she owned was in her apartment, not that it amounted to much.
“I’m sorry, Amanda, he destroyed just about everything.”
At the top of the stairs, he put his hands on her shoulders as moral support. Peering in, she mostly saw men—large, serious-faced men. On the ground by the door she found her books, shredded and torn. She turned away and went to the railing just outside her apartment. James came up behind her and put an arm across her chest as he whispered in her ear.
“We can replace your possessions. The important thing is you weren’t hurt,” he tried to reassure her.
Red and blue lights flashed through the stairwell. The sound of footsteps were getting louder as more people made their way up to her apartment.
“Don’t touch me. Not right now.”
Instantly, he pulled away from her. She turned to face him and knew immediately she’d hurt him. She hadn’t meant to.
“If you do, I’m going to cry. I can’t protect myself when you touch me.”