He glared at her. “ Thirty minutes! We need to be long gone before they start looking. And no show.”
“Ten,” she countered. “I want to live through this, you know. It can’t be too obvious that I’ve helped you. And no way you’re getting out of here without giving me that show.” Her eyes flicked to Dominic. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
“Your beef’s with Saul, not Dominic,” Adam reminded her.
She laughed. “No, my beef’s with you. You’re going to enjoy this despite yourself, and you’ll hate yourself for it afterward.”
Adam looked like he was one heartbeat away from killing her, but somehow he restrained himself as she turned to look at Dominic.
“Who knows?” she taunted. “Maybe you’ll enjoy it, too.”
Adam’s lip peeled away from his teeth in a feral snarl, and he took a step toward Shae. Obviously, she was insane, because she didn’t back down.
“Those are my terms,” she said. “Take ’em or leave ’em.”
Why would this bitch be willing to help us anyway? She was an illegal demon, after all, and Lugh wanted to make her kind as illegal in his world as they were in ours. Then again, she was a mercenary. She didn’t give a damn what she was fighting for, so long as she got paid.
Adam visibly controlled his rage, then he turned to Dom and asked a question with his eyes. I was still holding Dom’s hand, so I could feel how clammy it was. He didn’t want to do this, though he might consent.
Looking up at his pale, scared face, I knew what I had to do. This wasn’t his battle. It was mine. And for the second time in two days, I was going to have to let Adam hurt me.
“Leave Dom out of it,” I said. My voice came out froggy with fear and disgust, but I soldiered on. “Whatever has to happen should happen to me, not him.”
To my surprise, Dominic barked out a definitive “No!”
I blinked up at him.
Color rose to his cheeks. “I may not want to do this, but it would hurt far worse to be forced to watch Adam fuck someone else.”
Now my own cheeks blazed. I hadn’t really thought about what I was offering. I’d focused on the whole pain thing, had allowed myself to forget what this place was really all about.
Would I have let Adam fuck me to save Brian? And would Brian ever have forgiven me if I had? I’d never know-thank God.
“It’s a deal,” Dominic said, directing his words to Shae.
She smiled that unwholesome smile of hers. And I vowed to myself that if I lived through the night, I’d find a way to pay Shae back for this.
CHAPTER 24
Shae left the three of us alone, slipping outside to sit on the bench and look in the window. I’d have liked to get the hell out of there, too, but that didn’t appear to be among my options. Dominic looked miserable, but determined, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. When Shae beckoned the crowd of perverts over to our window, I seriously considered storming out of the room and punching that malicious little grin off her face.
Adam looked at me, then at the gathering crowd, then at Dominic. “We’re not doing this.”
My heart lurched, but as desperately as I longed to save Brian, I didn’t have it in me to protest. That Dominic would even consider doing something this degrading for the chance to help a total stranger-and it was a chance only, for who knew if Shae would hold up her end of the bargain? — amazed and humbled me.
“Yes, we are,” Dominic said. As miserable as he looked, there was no hesitation in his voice. “I’m not leaving a helpless, unwilling victim down here.”
“Dom-”
“No, Adam. I could never live with myself if I just walked away.”
“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this,” I said.
He waved that off. “It’s ultimately my choice.” His eyes locked with Adam’s. “And I choose to do it.”
Adam cut a look in my direction. I had a feeling this was one more sin he was going to blame me for. I had a feeling I would blame me for it, too.
“Stand over there in the corner,” he barked at me. “Stay out of the way.”
His tone would ordinarily have raised my hackles, but I sympathized too much with his anger to object to it. I meekly obeyed. Adam cupped his hands around Dom’s face and looked into his lover’s eyes.
“Forget about everything,” he said, and the anger had disappeared from his voice as if it never existed. “Forget about everyone else. It’s just me.” He laid an almost chaste kiss on Dom’s lips. “And if you need me to stop, say the word and I will.”
Dominic swallowed hard and nodded. They both looked toward the table, and Dom heaved a heavy sigh. Then, with Adam’s arm around his shoulders, he moved to stand at the table’s foot. Adam stood close behind him and ran his hands over his chest, moving downward until his fingers found Dom’s belt buckle. Dom leaned back against him and closed his eyes as Adam undid his pants and pulled them down.
Not surprisingly, considering how tight those pants had fit, Dom wasn’t wearing any underwear. My eyes slid away, but they soon returned to the spectacle. I’m not sure if it was morbid fascination, or whether I wanted to punish myself for putting them through this by making myself as uncomfortable as I could possibly be. Whatever the motivation, I watched as Dominic bent over that table and allowed Adam to cuff his wrists and ankles to the table’s legs. Adam whispered something in his ear that made him smile briefly.
From the corner of my eye, I saw movement behind the window, but I didn’t allow myself to look. I didn’t want to think about how many people were out there, witnessing this. Bad enough that I was witnessing it.
Adam left Dominic bent over that table, his ass bare for everyone to see, as he selected a paddle from among the many choices. He slapped it hard across the palm of his hand. The noise, far louder than I’d expected, made me jump. Adam frowned at the paddle and put it back, making another selection. He tried a few others, his hand getting redder and redder as he hit it. Was he punishing himself? Or was he really just testing them out? I didn’t know.
He finally picked one and went back to the table. He smoothed his reddened hand over Dominic’s butt, the gesture unmistakably tender.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Dominic’s hands tightened into fists. I felt a fist-sized lump in my throat, and I pressed myself as tightly into the corner as I could, wincing in anticipation.
The table was positioned parallel to the window so that the watchers outside could see both his butt and his face. Unfortunately, my position gave me a really clear view of his butt-not that it wouldn’t have been nice to look at under other circumstances! But I got to watch as the blows rained down on him and his skin glowed an angry shade of red.
Dominic was very quiet, though every once in a while a soft whimper escaped him. I don’t know if it was because of the audience, or the taint of Shae’s malice and blackmail, but no one watching could think he was enjoying himself. His hands stayed clenched, and he struggled feebly against the bonds, trying to avoid Adam’s blows.
Adam’s face was as red as Dom’s ass, but it wasn’t from exertion or pleasure. Fury radiated from him. If I’d been in that audience, watching for pleasure, I’d have run like hell when I caught a glimpse of that face.
Finally, Adam hurled the paddle across the room so hard it broke clean in half when it hit the wall. Even with the insulating glass, I could hear the audience outside gasp.
Then, God help me, Adam attacked his pants, getting them open and down in about five seconds flat.
I couldn’t help admiring him. I just couldn’t, no matter how sickening this spectacle. He had an ass a body double would kill for, lean and rounded and very, very firm. And his cock… Well, let’s just say my earlier cucumber analogy was surprisingly apt.
He had to stroke himself awhile to get himself to full tumescence-which he did while baring his teeth in a feral snarl at the audience. I guess Shae was wrong about him enjoying this against his will, though from the look in his eyes it wasn’t much consolation. He went through two condoms in his bid for safe sex, the first one tearing from too much rough handling. Then he was finally ready for action.