Lauren nearly groaned. On the way over she’d been thinking about all the bills which had accumulated while she’d been gone. Her one consolation had been that the electric bill at the Sweet Spot—which was always pretty big—should be next to nothing since she’d been gone so long. Now Lorenzo was telling her he’d been running the lights and air conditioners for hours every single day, ensuring that her electric bill would be as big as always without any profits to help pay it.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, shaking her head. “Why open the shop when we had nothing to sell?”
“Well because…” Lorenzo looked hurt. “You didn’t want everyone to think we went out of business, did you?”
“No, but you could have put up a sign saying we were on vacation or something like that,” Lauren pointed out. Sighing she walked briskly back to the kitchen area and flipped on the lights. “I mean, not that I don’t appreciate the effort but the electric bill is going to be sky high and—” She stopped short as the room came into view. “What the hell is this?”
Every available space, including the stainless steel counters and the island in the middle of the kitchen, was covered in trash. Empty beer cans, some still leaking beer, half-empty pizza boxes, bottles, bags, and cigarette butts were everywhere. Even worse, everything was coated in a fine layer of white. It looked like someone had gotten into her bin of cake flour and flung it everywhere. One of her two professional grade convection ovens, which had cost an arm and a leg and which she was still paying off, was standing open. When Lauren walked closer, leaving footprints in the flour, she saw that hardened cheese was dripping from all its racks.
“What happened?” She turned to Lorenzo, feeling bewildered and betrayed. “Were we robbed or…or vandalized or something?”
“Oh this?” He shrugged uncomfortably. “Nah, nothing like that. I just had a few buddies over the other night. They wanted to see where I worked, you know? We had a few beers and one of their girlfriends wanted to see how the ovens worked. So we reheated a pizza in that one.” He pointed to the open convention oven. “Came out real nice too—crispy.”
“And the flour?” Lauren demanded. “What happened there?”
Lorenzo had the grace to look slightly sheepish. “Uh, well that was kind of an accident. Some of the guys had too much to drink and started fooling around. Sorry.”
“Sorry?” Lauren turned on him. “You used my shop as your own personal party pad while I was gone and trashed it and all you can say is ‘sorry?’”
“Hey, don’t get so touchy.” Lorenzo frowned. “I said it was an accident. Besides, I’ll help clean it up in a little while. You get started if you want and I’ll man the front. I’ll help you once the morning rush dies down.”
“There is no ‘morning rush’ when we don’t have anything to sell,” Lauren pointed out through gritted teeth. “And forget ‘helping’ me clean up your mess—I’m sure you’re as good at cleaning as you are at everything else.”
“Hey.” Lorenzo’s blond eyebrows drew low on his forehead. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I want you out. Right now.” Lauren pointed in the direction of the front door. “But first give me your key. You’re fired.”
“Hey now, babe, you don’t really mean that.” Giving her his most ingratiating smile, Lorenzo put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, we’re a team, aren’t we?”
“Get off me!” Lauren shrugged his arm off and faced him. “I’m not kidding, Lorenzo, I knew you were a flake but I didn’t think you’d do something like this. I want you gone.”
His smile turned into a sulky scowl immediately. “Fine, I’ll go. Just pay me my salary and I’m out of here.”
“Your salary?” Lauren couldn’t believe his nerve.
“Sure, for all the time I worked while you were off.”
Lauren looked at him incredulously. “First of all, stop talking like I took some time off for a cruise or something. I was abducted, Lorenzo. Abducted, got that? I was kept naked in a metal cell and nearly raped several times. I was imprisoned. I was maimed. I was cloned for God’s sake! And after all that I come home and find this.” She pointed at the kitchen. “And you have the nerve to ask me for money? For keeping the shop open when there was no product to sell? Not to mention that you trashed the place while you were at it. I can’t believe you!”
He frowned mulishly. “Facts are facts. You never told me not to come in for my shift. I was just doing my job and I ought to be paid for it.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Lauren shook her head. “Get out. Just get out.”
He took a step forward, looming over her. “I’m not going without my money.”
Lauren crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “I don’t think so, Lorenzo—I’ve dealt with a whole lot scarier than you lately. I don’t give a crap what you say or do, you’re not getting a cent. And if you don’t leave now I’m calling the police and filing charges against you for the damage you did to my shop.”
Lorenzo’s normally handsome but vacuous face turned suddenly ugly. “Listen here, bitch. You’re gonna pay me now and pay me good or I’ll make whatever happened to you when you were snatched look like a walk in the park.” He started toward Lauren, his eyes narrowed menacingly.
She stood her ground, her hands curled into fists. After everything she’d been through, she didn’t intend to let a brainless, arrogant bastard like her former assistant intimidate her. “You can try it,” she said, glaring at him. “But I guarantee you’ll regret it.”
“You certainly will.”
Suddenly Xairn was standing behind her ex-assistant. His eyes were a steady red-on-black and every muscle in his huge body was tight with anger. His hands were balled into fists bigger than Lorenzo’s head and he looked ready to use them.
“What?” Lorenzo turned to see who was speaking. He looked up…and up…and up. “What the hell?” he demanded, staring at Xairn.
“Did he hurt you?” Xairn looked at Lauren, ignoring him. “I heard you scream.”
Lauren shook her head. “He scared me but I’m okay.”
“Hey man, I just threatened her a little,” Lorenzo put in. “I mean, I put in my time—I should get paid, right?”
“Did you do this?” Xairn nodded at the mess.
“Well, yeah. But—”
“Then I will be more than happy to pay you. Both for the damage you’ve done to Lauren’s place of business and for scaring and threatening her.”
“No need to get all upset,” Lorenzo protested. “And who are you, anyway?”
“I am Lauren’s.” Xairn took a step toward him.
Lorenzo, very unwisely Lauren thought, held his ground. “Lauren’s what? Her boyfriend? What?”
“Just Lauren’s. I am hers and she is mine.” Xairn glared down at the smaller man. “And you are leaving, now.”
Still Lorenzo didn’t take the hint. “Dude, what the fuck is wrong with your eyes?” he asked, still staring at Xairn. “I mean, that’s seriously messed up, you know? Are those some kind of contact lenses?”
A low, rumbling sound filled the room and Lauren realized after a moment that it was Xairn—he was growling. There was murder in his red-on-black eyes as he took another step towards Lorenzo.
The small hairs on the back of Lauren’s neck stood up. If she didn’t do something quickly, she was going to have a lot more than flour and beer cans to clean up. “Lorenzo, please just leave,” she pleaded. “Go now while you still can.”
Lorenzo took one more look at Xairn’s large, menacing frame and finally wised up. “Fine, I’ll go,” he said, edging around Xairn and heading for the door. “You can pay me later.” He started to walk out the door.
“Stop,” Xairn roared. The single word seemed to vibrate in the air and Lauren felt her arms break into goosebumps.
Lorenzo froze where he was, one leg raised to take the next step. He looked bizarrely like a kid playing statues.
“Come here,” Xairn
ordered in that same, strange voice.
Lorenzo turned stiffly and came to stand in front of the larger man. “What?” he asked, his eyes wide. “What the hell do you want?”
“You and I are going to have a talk.” Xairn beckoned to him. “Come.” He led the way out of the kitchen and Lorenzo followed him, moving in a stiff, jerky fashion as though he was doing something against his will. Something he couldn’t help. Lauren heard the bell on the front door tinkle as the two of them left the shop.
She shook her head. What was going on? Why had Lorenzo obeyed Xairn’s commands like that? Had Xairn compelled him in some way? Or was it simply some kind of machismo—facing off against another male and not backing down because it would hurt his pride?
Whatever the reason, any kind of confrontation didn’t bode well for Lorenzo. Xairn had looked mad enough to kill her ex-assistant or at least maim him. Then again, looking around at the mess in her once pristine kitchen and food prep area, she was inclined to think Lorenzo deserved a little maiming.
Suddenly everything seemed to come down on her at once. In coming back to work, she was trying to get her life back on track—to get back to normal. But nothing was ever going to be normal again. Not really. For the first time she began to wonder if she ought to get some counseling after all. She’d been through a lot—maybe she hadn’t processed it yet. Maybe she never would.
If only things were going better with Xairn, what Lorenzo had done might not bother her so much. But nothing was working and lately she was wondering if he even wanted to be here with her at all. Maybe he would be happier if she just gave him back the silver O-ring she was wearing and let him go. You were supposed to do that, if you loved someone—give them the freedom to leave. But God, just the thought of it, of Xairn leaving, made her feel like her heart was being ripped out.
“God, what a mess,” she whispered, and she wasn’t talking about the trashed kitchen. Putting a hand to her face, she started to cry, low, wrenching sobs that felt like they were being pulled from her gut. Please, she thought. Please, I just want to make things all right. But I don’t know how…
“Lauren?”
Xairn’s deep voice took her by surprise. She did her best to stop crying and blotted her eyes quickly on her sleeve before she turned around. “Hi,” she said brightly, trying to smile. “Where’s Lorenzo? I hope you didn’t break his legs and leave him in the dumpster.” She was only half kidding—from the look on Xairn’s face when he took after her former assistant, broken legs weren’t the worst Lorenzo could expect if he pissed Xairn off.
“I let him go after I extracted a promise that he will never try to see or talk to you again. He’s lucky he didn’t harm you or I would have killed him.” Xairn frowned and came toward her. “Are you injured after all? I heard you crying.”
“Injured? Oh no, no I’m fine.” Lauren sniffed and tried to smile. “Just a little shaken up, that’s all.”
He shook his head. “It’s more than that, I can tell.” He held out his arms and then let them drop, helpless to his sides. “I…I want to comfort you but I’m not sure how to go about it.”
Lauren looked up at him. “Hold me,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “If…if you can stand it, I mean. I just…I need your arms around me now. Please, Xairn.”
“Of course I can stand it,” he said roughly. Coming forward, he swept her into his arms and held her tight against his chest. “I love you, Lauren,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry I don’t show it the way I should. I feel like I’m doing everything wrong but please know that I do love you.”
“I love you too.” Putting her arms around him, she buried her face in his broad chest and breathed in the warm, spicy scent of his skin. God, he always smelled so good, so perfectly right, somehow. It was as though the deep, masculine musk he exuded was part of her—just smelling it could make her feel better.
Xairn held her for a long time and she reveled in the feeling of being close to him for the first time in ages. A few more tears leaked down her cheeks but they were more tears of exhaustion than anything else. She’d been up all night analyzing their relationship and now she had a huge mess to clean up. Lauren sighed. Well, no time like the present.
Reluctantly, she disengaged herself from his embrace. “Thanks but I think I’d better get to work now. I’ve got a hell of a mess to clean up before I can even think about making any cupcakes.”
Xairn nodded as he let her go. “I’ll help.”
“You don’t have to,” she protested. “It’s my shop, I can do it.”
“I want to.” He looked around the kitchen. “Besides, it won’t be the first time I’ve cleaned. I helped in the urlich kennels when I was a boy—you should see the mess that fifty untrained animals can make in a night. It’s not pretty, I assure you.”
Lauren gave a little laugh. “Okay, well that does kind of put things in perspective.” She reached for the industrial sized garbage bags she kept in a box on the counter and tore off one for Xairn and one for herself. “I, uh, have a question,” she said, looking at him from the corner of her eye as she shook the bag out.
“Yes?” He copied her motions with his own bag, found the opening, and began to load it with the flour-covered trash.
“You were just, uh, holding me pretty close a minute ago.” Lauren concentrated on filling her own bag as she talked, almost afraid to look at him as she asked what was on her mind.
“Yes, and?”
“Well…” She cleared her throat. “In the past after we’ve been close you had to, uh, excuse yourself.” She risked a quick glance at him. “But you’re not this time. Why?”
“Are you asking me why holding you didn’t arouse me?”
“Uh, yeah. I guess.” Lauren looked at him curiously.
Xairn frowned, his trash bag held open in one hand. “How could I become aroused? You were in pain, crying. My instincts were to protect and comfort you—not fuck you.”
“Oh Xairn…” Lauren shook her head, not sure what to say. “Honey, I know this sounds strange, but that’s one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said to me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He nodded gravely and then bent to pick up another empty beer can.
“I wonder if the human DNA you got from me is working in this case?” Lauren said carefully. “I mean, from what you’ve told me about your people…”
“Yes.” Xairn sounded thoughtful. “A normal Scourge would have been aroused by your pain. Rather than wishing to alleviate it, he would have tried to increase it. Of course, emotional pain and sexual pain aren’t quite the same thing.”
“Sexual pain?” A shiver ran through Lauren. Part fear and part…something else. “What do you mean?”
“It’s part of the training a female goes through when she is claimed by a Scourge male.” Xairn suddenly seemed very busy with cleaning and wouldn’t look at her. “She is taught to be obedient—to treat her mate as a master to be obeyed at all costs.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Lauren’s heart was racing but she didn’t know why.
“She will be punished,” Xairn said in a low voice. “The punishment takes many forms. Her master might attach weights to the rings piercing her nipples and pussy—so she is reminded of her disobedience with every move she makes. Or he might chain her to the wall and flog her. In severe cases he might employ the torture of a thousand sighs.”
“The what?” Lauren heard the tremble in her own voice but she couldn’t seem to stop it. “What’s that?”
“He puts her over his knee and orders her to spread her thighs.” Xairn’s voice was rough and he still wouldn’t look at her as he spoke. “He spanks her—she’s already naked so he has full access to her ass and pussy, of course.”
“Of course,” Lauren murmured, her heart giving a jump. “Then…then what?”
“He touches her. Pleasures her. Explores her inner pussy with his fingers until she’s moaning and writhing on his lap.” Xairn cleared his throat
. “Then he spanks her again. He alternates pain and pleasure—sometimes for hours, never letting her come. Until…”
“Until what?” Lauren’s breath was coming short and she felt wet and hot and swollen between her legs for some reason. God, was Xairn’s description actually turning her on? But I’m not interested in this kind of stuff, she told herself. Apparently she was, though. Or her body was and someone had forgotten to send her brain the memo because what he was saying was definitely making her hot. “Until what?” she asked again, realizing that Xairn was just standing there, silent.
He shook his head. “We shouldn’t be talking about such things.”
“Why not? You can’t leave me hanging like this,” Lauren protested. “Tell me what he does to her next? How does the torture of a thousand sighs end?”
“It ends when she calls him ‘Master’ and begs for his cock deep in her pussy.” Xairn looked at her, his eyes blazing. “It ends when he fucks her and fills her with his cum.”
“God.” Lauren put a hand to her heart to still the racing. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to speak.” He finished filling the trash bag and knotted it closed savagely. “Your face says everything.” He put down the bag. “I’m going to get a broom.”
“Xairn, wait,” she said but he had already stalked out of the room, his broad shoulders stiff with tension.
Lauren was feeling pretty tense herself. Why did his description of the sexual punishment practiced by his people turn her on so much? It was along the same lines of what her boyfriend in college had been interested in but then it had just seemed silly. With Xairn it seemed…primal somehow. Wild. Intense. Lauren could almost see herself spread out over his knee, her panties down around her ankles while he alternately caressed and spanked her with those big hands…Stop it, she told herself sternly. Things are hard enough for him as it is. It’s obvious he’s ashamed of what his people do. I shouldn’t have made him tell me about it.