Her voice cut off in a gasp as he grabbed her hair from behind and yanked her head back. His cheek brushed hers, rough against her softness. “Stop right there.” His voice was ice, a warning she couldn’t ignore. “I’m telling you something, if you’d stop the childish jealousy and sniping long enough to hear my words. I haven’t been with anyone. Did you hear it that time?” His fingers tightened in her hair. She clamped her lips shut, afraid to move or make a sound. “You had a past, and you changed. You changed for your Master. I would change for you, Molly. But not for this. Not for these lies and ugly petty jealousies. Not for this hollow person you’ve become.”
He released her as abruptly as he’d grabbed her and stalked away. The solid wall at her back was gone, and she was left tottering on her feet. The door slammed with a clap of noise and Molly strained to hear a key turn in the lock. She wanted him to lock her in, to give at least that little sign that he still valued and cared for her, but cruelly, he left it open.
Like her Master, he knew exactly how to hurt her the most.
Chapter Six: Time
Mephisto lingered in the recessed sitting room of a dimly lit boutique as his friend Lorna helped a gay couple outfit their new slave in luxurious—and expensive—leather fetish wear. Lorna’s Boutique had been serving the Seattle community for over a decade, catering to the serious pervert who was willing to pay for the best fetish gear available. It helped that Lorna herself was deliciously twisted. Gay or straight, dom or sub, Mistress Lorna knew how to play along with people’s dynamics and have them even more riled up for one another when they left the shop than when they came in. It was probably the main reason her business was so good.
She’d asked Mephisto many times to become a business partner, but he preferred to remain her friend. Her staunch loyalty was too important to risk on the vagaries of business and work. He came to see Lorna when he was in the mood for fun, when he was in the mood to watch her play with customers, and times like now, when he was conflicted and confused.
At last the gay trio exited the store with their bags of clothes and toys, all three of them in heightened spirits. They’d be fucking like maniacs within the hour, Mephisto thought to himself. Lucky bastards.
Lorna chuckled as she sashayed her way back to him, her feminine hips and breasts the object of so much worship from those who submitted to her. She flicked at one of his dreadlocks and gave a teasing smile as she settled into the chair beside his. “She still has you in chastity, I see.”
“What? Who?”
“Your little kitten. Clayton’s old slave. She is the reason you haven’t been partaking of your various fucktoys with your usual...how can I put it? Fervor? Gusto?”
Mephisto shrugged. “I’ve been busy, that’s all.”
Lorna’s pale amber eyes narrowed and she snickered. “Lying too. You’ve got it bad for her.”
Mephisto relaxed back in his chair and shot her a look. “Okay, what have you heard?”
“That she’s been living in your spare room for months now. That she won’t come out to play, not with you or anyone else. That you moon after her and fret about her, and that the two of you had a fight on Saturday night.” She paused. “That you won’t even sleep with Lila anymore.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Lila told you that, I suppose.”
“I’ve heard it from several people. Is it true?”
“Lila and I have been growing apart for some time.”
Lorna waved a hand. “Forget Lila. What’s going on with you and Molly? Forgive me for saying so, but you haven’t been acting like yourself and everyone knows it. It’s not like you to be...” Lorna’s voice trailed off and she became very interested in her ostentatiously manicured nails.
“Not like me to be what?” he prompted.
“To be topped by a neurotic piece of slave meat. That’s what.”
Mephisto’s hackles rose. “She’s not slave meat. Her name is Molly.”
Lorna laughed. “I know her name. Everyone does. But I notice you don’t dispute the neurotic part. I’ve heard some stories about that girl that make me wonder.”
He knew this was all part of Lorna’s bluntness, her tough love, but it was still hard to keep his temper in check. “Molly is a smart woman, and she’s really good at the lifestyle. She’s just confused right now.”
“She’s confused, or you’re confused?”
His dark eyes met Lorna’s light ones. Contact lenses. He was one of few people who knew her eyes were really as dark as his own. And Lorna...Lorna knew his secrets too.
“Yes, I’m confused,” he finally admitted. “I want her, and I think she wants me, but nothing...nothing is happening as easily as I expected it to.” He sighed and rested his head on his hands. “Me and Clayton had this agreement that I would look after Molly if anything happened to him. And I thought... I guess I assumed she’d fall into my arms and we’d go on very much like she and Clayton did.”
“But you’re nothing like Clayton.”
“I know.”
“And you didn’t take into consideration that she might have some feelings neither one of you could control.”
Mephisto sighed, a great, shuddering, soul-baring sigh. “Yes. She is proving very difficult to control.”
Lorna reached out for his hand and stroked it gently. “Ah, that’s hard. It’s so hard when they don’t do what we want them to.”
Mephisto laughed, her humor a balm for the turmoil in his brain. “It is hard. And I feel like I’m letting down Clayton.”
“You’re looking after her. She’s at your place. She’s not out there getting high and drunk and doing God knows what she used to do before Clayton pinned her down.”
“But she’s not happy. She’s...she’s fighting her nature. She says she doesn’t want to be a slave anymore, that she doesn’t want the lifestyle.”
“Good God.”
“I know. Now she’s met this guy. They talk on the phone, they meet for lunch. He’s taken her out to dinner a couple times. Vanilla ice cream for dessert, I’m sure.” He shook his head and looked up into the eyes of his friend. “And she’s convinced herself this is what she wants, but I know her. I know he won’t make her happy.”
“And you would?” Her incisive words flayed Mephisto’s ego.
“I could try!”
“She’s not polyamorous, my friend. Nor does she love casually. Don’t you remember how she and Clayton were together?”
He stood and started pacing. “We could make it work. I could compromise. She could compromise.”
“Relationships shouldn’t be about compromise,” Lorna argued. “They should be about people fulfilling one another.”
“Fulfilling one another? Me and Molly are way past fulfillment.” He paused, leaning against the wall. “Don’t you get it? We’re just meant to be. I burn so bad for her, Lorna. I always did, even when she was with Clayton. There was this pull between us even then, this excruciating pull, and it’s still there now. When we’re together it’s like something’s eating me up inside to possess her. She feels it too, I know. It’s terrifying, so I don’t blame her for wanting to run away from it. Before, there was Clayton to protect us from each other, but now...”
Lorna stared at Mephisto, a smile playing around her lips. “Are you telling me this girl has the power to drag you into a real relationship? Make you into a one-woman man?”
He collapsed back in the chair. “I don’t know. Maybe. I feel like if I had her, I wouldn’t want anyone else. I’ve dreamed of her service for so long. Dreamed of owning her, having her kneeling at my feet. If I had her, how could I want anyone else?”
“Have you told her this?”
“I’ve tried. Not in so many words, but...”