Dominate Me: A Devoured Club Novel (6 page)

It had worked up until now
, and now I needed to go back to London and face my own past; to save Aiden’s future. A knock on my door pulled me again from my thoughts as I stared up at Marcus.

“
Not you again,” I said, turning my attention to the computer in front of me.

“
Well, good afternoon to you, too, darling foot.” A chuckle escaped from his lips as he took a seat in front of my desk.

I rolled my head to one side to acknowledge him
. “What do you want?”

“
I got another call from Kelsey.”

“
What the fuck! I just got off the phone with her no less than fifteen minutes ago, and she goes and calls you?” I slammed my hands on the desk.

“
Well, actually, she called me last night, but I was rather occupied.” A smile formed. “Anyway, she is pretty insistent on you calling her. But you already did.” He sat across from me, waiting - waiting for me to offer up any information as to why she would be calling us.

I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath.
“Let’s say my past is colliding with my future. I have to take a trip back to London.”

“
You can’t. They will realize you haven’t disappeared.” Marcus
’
s concern was apparent over his face, his body now leaning toward the desk.

“
I don’t think I have any choice. I’ll take Kieran with me. I’ll have Sloane work up a fake identity…passport…” I trailed off. Getting to London would be more difficult than originally thought, now that I actually verbalized it all.

“
I thought Thornton had handled everything?” Marcus was now wearing out the carpet in front of my desk.

“
It actually doesn’t revolve around that, although the minute I go back I will have to deal with that. Fuck. What am I going to do?” I banged my head backwards against my office chair.

“
Mind telling me what it is you have to deal with?” Marcus stopped pacing and turned to look at me.

“
It deals with Aiden…” I let the words trail off into the air, waiting for the recognition to hit him.

“
Oh, fuck….”

“
Yeah, oh fuck doesn't begin to explain what is about to happen.”

“
He in trouble?”

“
As far as I can deduce, yeah, and a lot of it. Kelsey doesn’t even know the whole truth. He called and hung up.” I took another deep breath and shook my head. “Marc, what am I going to do? I’ll have to bring him back with me. It’s the only way I can protect him.”

“
I don’t know, buddy, but whatever you need, you know Lucas and I will help.” He sat back down in the chair.

“
I do know that. I do. I guess I have to make a call to Sloane.”

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

“Thanks, man. I’ll pick them up tomorrow.” I hung up the phone with Sloane a couple of hours later, and picked up the phone to make reservations for a flight. I’d asked him to mock up two id’s and passports, one each for Aiden and me. I reserved the one-way flight ticket under the new name, and purchased it with the credit card assigned to the club. The only thing standing in the way now was what I was going to tell Ally.

I grabbed my phone and sent her a quick text message.
I need to speak with you. Meet me at the club tonight at 9.

The response was quick.
I told you I wasn’t going to the club tonight. I don’t feel like talking.

Me:
You will come to the club tonight, pumpkin. We need to talk.

Ally:
I have work to do.

Me:
Be at the club at 9. This is not a request.

Ally: FINE! UGH!

I chuckled to myself - she’d be punished for her refusal tonight. A good spanking before I left should suffice.

I sent a quick message to Kieran that he needed to be pack
ed and ready to go for tomorrow’s departure. He was going with me as my right-hand man, since Mac was still on assignment. We were flying out at seven p.m. - which gave me time to get the passports and settle what we needed here. Marcus was going to ‘run’ what needed to be handled around the security business while I was gone.

I glanced at my watch and realized that it was
already six o’clock, and I was needed at the club at seven. I shut down my computer, grabbed my laptop, iPad and phone, and headed to the club. It was expected to be a busy night.

“Sometimes I really just want to tell him to fuck off,” I screamed as I slammed my phone on the back counter of the bakery. I had gone there after leaving Devlin’s office that afternoon, not wanting to be alone. I knew Emma was working on a huge order, and Nikki was helping out as well.

“
What happened?” Emma asked without losing her focus on the cake she was decorating.

“
I don’t know. I told you about what he said last week at the diner, you know, about being exclusive. Then he goes and gets all weird. Mysterious phone calls, things he won’t tell me. He just seems off.” I fidgeted with a piece of paper that was on the counter.

“
Well, baby cakes, you have to let him be him. Marcus said he is a very guarded person. You should know that. You’ve been with him for a while now,” Emma answered, again without taking her attention away from the project.

“
I get that, but still. If he wants to be exclusive - be in a relationship - why can’t he just tell me things? I’m not going anywhere.” I continued to play with the scrap piece of paper.

“
Again, Devlin has a past that most of us do
n’
t know about. Give him time, Ally. It might be for a reason.”

“
Are you going to go to the club tonight?” I asked her as Nikki walked into the kitchen.

“
Why the fuck is Devlin going to London tomorrow? And why is he taking Kieran with him?” she asked.

I couldn
’t move. I couldn’t talk. I just stared at Nikki as she made her way towards me. “I don’t know what you are talking about?”

“
Are you sure? He is your boyfriend?” She grabbed a tray of pastries from behind me, and began filling the shells.

“
Yeah, Nik, I am sure. I can’t believe this. Why wouldn’t he say something to me earlier?” I looked at Emma, who had now stopped the decoration process on the cake to look at me. “Oh, my God. I’m a fucking idiot. No wonder he wanted to meet at the club tonight. Tell me on neutral ground.” I hit my forehead with my palm, fighting the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes.

Emma
’s arms encircled my chest. “You don’t know that. Give him a chance to explain.”

“
Fuck him, and fuck this relationship. I am not going to start a relationship off with secrets and lies.” I picked up my phone and rattled off a text message to him.
FUCK YOU! I am done. Thanks for telling me about London today.

“
I’m going home, and no,you will not get a hold of me.
I’
m turning my phone off, and I will not be turning it back on,” I said, gathering my purse before I completely lost my composure.

“
Ally, you know he isn’t going to respond to that very well,” Emma warned me as I headed towards the door.

“
I could care less. He’s at the club tonight. So fuck him, and fuck everything else!” I slammed the back door as I left, heading to my car to go home. My phone buzzed next to me. I glanced at the screen, alerting me to the fact he had responded. I turned the phone off and threw it into my purse. Fuck him.

I got home about an hour later, stopping off to grab something for dinner, and a bottle of wine. I walked into Emma’s brownstone, the one I had shared with her up until a couple of months ago. The townhouse seemed too big for just me. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the corkscrew. I sat down at the breakfast bar, opening the take out container, and uncorked the wine. I poured myself a nice sized glass of the red Cabernet, taking the first sip, allowing it to slide down my throat. I had always admired the kitchen that Emma had designed. It was her sanctuary when she lived here, always baking or cooking something to make everyone else happy.

One of
my best memories of Emma and I was right here, sitting at the breakfast bar. I had just moved in with her after our parents had died, transferring to Boston University, and was having a shitty day. Emma had just opened the bakery,and called home to make sure
I’
d arrived all right. I was in tears, having lost my phone, getting screamed at by a professor, and ruining a pair of my favorite shoes. (I know trivial, but it was just how the day progressed.) Emma closed the shop down early and rushed home. She made me sit at the breakfast bar while she whipped us up our favorite meal; Penne a la vodka - just the way our mom used to make it. It wasn’t much, but we ate in silence; just sitting next to each other was all the therapy we needed. It was at that moment that I had realized she was all I had left in life. We were not close to our aunts and uncles, and didn’t have any cousins. Our grandparents had passed away years earlier. It was just her and I, and now, when I needed her again - she wasn’t here. She was off living her own life with a man that loved her unconditionally. I couldn’t fault her for that.

I got up and cleared the garbage away, grabbing the bottle of wine and my glass. I climbed the stairs to the upper level
, and made my way to the master bathroom - -it held the Jacuzzi tub. I began to draw myself a bath, scenting the water with lavender oil, bubbles filling the tub.  I undressed and slipped into the warm liquid, drinking down the wine that warmed me from within. I rested my head on the ledge, and closed my eyes, thinking about what happened between Devlin and me today. Cryptic phone calls, sex on the couch in his office, and then finding out from Nikki he was going out of the country. I didn’t know which actually upset me more; the way he had acted today, or the fact he couldn’t tell me he was leaving. Then again, I didn’t give him a chance to, either;, purposely avoiding the club was not going to win me any points, and I knew if I gave in, I definitely would receive a punishment. Did I want to continue on this road? Could I continue in a relationship with him where everything was secretive? Where everything was hidden? I just didn’t know the answer.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

I must have lost track of time, slipped into a dream, because the next thing I remember was Devlin bursting through the bathroom door, pissed as hell. Rage was apparent in his face; his lips perched together, his eyes dark in color.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing, pumpkin?” He leaned his body against the vanity and crossed his arms in front of him.

“Don’t call me pumpkin.” I stood from the cold bath water and wrapped a towel around my self.

“I will call you whatever I want.” He shifted and stood up straight.

“No, you won’t. I can’t do this right now. Please leave.” I stood in front of him, a little distance back, and placed my hands on my hips.

“I’m not going anywhere. We need to talk
, and your little stunt today got my attention.” He took a step towards me. I took a step back.

“There’s nothing to talk about
, Devlin. If you can’t be honest with me about things, then I can’t be in a relationship with you.” Air quotes around the relationship. “Now leave.” I attempted to walk by him, but his arm circled around my waist and pulled me close to him. I could feel the tension in his body, the heat radiating from it. He was trying to control his temper, and his arousal.

He brought his mouth to my left ear
. “We
are
going to talk, pumpkin. But first, you deserve a punishment.” He ran his hand over my ass, and a shiver went down my spine. As much as I tried to fight him, he did things to my body that I had no control over. My fucking hormones kicked into overdrive the minute he was around. It was like they could sense the pleasure I would receive.