Gavin sighed. He still hadn’t found the right way to broach the subject. Aidan would obviously deny their connection had been anything more than a necessary evil to accomplish the mission. Despite the fact they fit like a lock and key, Aidan would distance himself. Gavin just knew it. But how to make Aidan see them as a couple?
And would any of this matter if Aidan lay nearly dead while Gavin mooned over the big guy? Gavin glanced at the bedside clock and made a decision. He had one more hour before he’d been ordered to leave Aidan behind. And no way he’d do that.
After putting on a shirt and shoes, he opened the door and looked at one of the guards. “Excuse me. But my Master told me if I hadn’t heard from him by eleven, I was supposed to ask for Mr. Kerr.” A small lie, but Gavin didn’t want to wait another second.
The guards looked at each other; then the one Gavin had addressed nodded. “Come with me.”
Gavin kept his head down as he followed the guy around several bends and farther into a nearly empty hallway guarded on either side by large, armed men. The place looked beyond creepy. Dark, sterile, and deserted, the hallway could have been the backdrop for an upscale mental ward. A muffled roar and thud sounded out of place in the quiet calm. He moved with the guards closer to the noise and then stopped.
“Go in there.” The guard nodded to a large set of double doors. Then he walked away, leaving the entrance to the grand hallway, a good forty feet away, still secured by Carl’s guards.
Gavin took a deep breath, then let it out. Remembering to play his role, he opened the door and entered into a lavish office. The ceilings were a good twenty feet high, with a few chandeliers providing more than adequate lighting. Except they remained lowly lit, ghosting the room with shadows and dark patterns. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases crammed with books dominated the side walls. And behind the large desk at the back of the room sat Carl Kerr, his hands clasped behind his head as he leaned back in an overlarge leather chair.
“Please, come closer, Gavin, and shut the doors behind you.”
Gavin swallowed hard. He hadn’t been introduced by an actual name to Kerr, not that he recalled, although the guard had taken the fake name Aidan had given. Turning, he closed the doors and noticed two grand oil paintings on either side of the entry. On one side a beautiful man with white wings lay bent and broken before a horde of sexually aroused demons. The other painting portrayed much the same, except in that one, the angel grimaced in pain as a well of seed shot from his cock into the open mouth of a fanged creature.
Lovely art, he thought with a touch of hysteria. Then he forced himself to remember Aidan and assumed a mien of subservience. He turned around and nodded to Kerr. The prick looked way too pleased with himself. His shirt was partially open, and what looked like a smear of blood matted his cheek.
Gavin bit his lip, praying that blood didn’t belong to Aidan. “I’m sorry for intruding, Sir,” he said in a low voice. “But my Master told me to look for you if he didn’t return within a few hours.”
“And good boy that you are, you obeyed.”
Since he didn’t seem to be asking a question, Gavin didn’t respond.
Kerr stood and rounded the desk. He approached Gavin on quiet feet, and Gavin noted the man wore no shoes. Odd. Odder still, a part of the bookcase to Gavin’s right suddenly opened, revealing a pair of suspicious dark blue eyes.
“It’s okay, Samson. I have this.”
A grunt, and then the door closed.
Gavin had a terrible feeling Aidan wasn’t far away.
“Tell me, Gavin. What do you know about your Master?”
Gavin swallowed hard, not having to project any nervousness. Carl Kerr made him feel dirty just by standing too near. Apparently the man sensed it, because his smile widened as he drew closer.
“M-my Master is a generous man,” Gavin said quickly. He met Kerr’s gaze and hurried to look away, wanting the man to feel empowered.
“Yes. What else?”
“I—he found me two weeks ago at a bondage club in Portland. A place I was visiting, hoping to find a new Master. My old one moved away.” The cover he and Aidan had practiced on their trip South.
“And?”
“Sir?” Gavin asked.
“What did your Master tell you about himself?”
“That he’s a successful businessman who has to take a lot of trips. So when we do see each other, we need to make the most of our time.” He nodded and gave Kerr a slow smile. “My Master is very good to me. He invited me on this trip because I aced my last history final.”
“Oh?” Kerr moved behind him and ran a hand over Gavin’s shoulder. He squeezed when Gavin flinched, and Gavin froze.
“Sir?” He hated that his voice sounded shrill, but he must have struck the right note, because Kerr smoothed his hand over Gavin’s shoulder and stroked softly down his back. When his hand reached Gavin’s ass, he squeezed. Not hard, but enough to show Kerr was in charge.
“Your Master is a business friend of mine. That’s why I invited him to our little party. You did an excellent job blowing him earlier.”
Gavin flushed. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re so polite. So sweet.” Kerr leaned close and nuzzled the side of Gavin’s neck. They stood at the same height, but Kerr had a bit more mass on his frame. Not much, but enough that Gavin might have a hard time subduing him if Kerr practiced any form of martial art with skill. “And I do love a college boy. You’re all so lively and fun.”
“S-sir? Where’s my Master?”
Kerr gripped his ass and rubbed between his cheeks, seeking Gavin’s asshole with hard fingers. “I want inside you, boy. Your Master said you’re a little slut. I want to see my dick in that ass and that mouth. What do you say?”
A hard cry that sounded a lot like it came from Aidan pierced the sudden silence.
“Is that my Master?”
“Do you expect me to believe you’re that innocent? That you aren’t part of Aidan’s plan to steal from me?”
Gavin frowned and pulled away, surprised Kerr let him. He did his best to assume an innocent expression. “Sir? My Master would never steal from you. He brought me to pleasure him, so that I might pleasure you as well. He told me this weekend was important, that you’re a very rich man with business ties that can help him. He wanted nothing to hurt his chances to do business with you. You’re too powerful to alienate. That’s exactly what he told me.”
Kerr didn’t blink. “Your eyes don’t lie. And those ripe lips are begging me to believe.” He sighed. “Let’s ask your Master what he thinks I should do.”
Yanking him by the arm, Kerr pulled Gavin with him to the bookcase. He tapped a book, and the door hissed open. Kerr opened it fully, and they stepped through into a nasty chamber full of whips, chains, and sharp objects meant to inflict pain. The walls were bare and spotted with torn, faded wallpaper, the floors made of cold stone.
Aidan stood against a wall, like a human T. His arms were outstretched, his wrists manacled to the wall. He wore only his leather pants, and welts and gouges turned his chest into a bloody canvas. Before him stood Samson and Tyler, both holding weapons. In Tyler’s hand, a studded club matched the marks on Aidan’s left side. Samson fondled a large knife with care, adding another cut along Aidan’s ribs while Gavin watched in horror as the blood dripped down his side.
“We’re engaging in a little blood play, aren’t we, Aidan?” Kerr dragged Gavin by that damn loop in his collar all the way into the room and shut the door behind him. Where an opening had been, now a blank wall remained. Only a faint line showed where the door would open, and if Gavin hadn’t walked through it, he wouldn’t have known where to look.
All around him, bright spotlights highlighted the harsh reality of a torture chamber. Stone floors, textured walls, and marbled tables couldn’t disguise the purpose for the many objects taking up space in the various armoires placed around the room. Floggers, whips, spears, canes. Metal teeth and chains. Dildos of many sizes, gags, and leathers promised pain in a variety of ways.