"Yeah, I do. But that's why this is bothering me so much. Tryph, you were...like a different guy. A stranger."

Tryphon's eyes said everything his words didn't. That he was disturbed, confused. He shook his head. "If it wasn't absolutely necessary for Raine to stay here this week, I'd send her home right now. This minute."

"Would you?" Bale countered.

"Sure. I can see she does something to me, somehow. Something ugly."

"But at the same time, I wonder if you'd have the strength to walk away. It's almost like you're...addicted to her. Like she's a drug, and she gets in your system and changes you, blinds you. Then, afterward, you're full of regrets, but only until you get another urge for more."

Expression guarded, Tryphon shook his head. "It's way too soon to be calling this an addiction. We've spent one day together."

"You interviewed her, and completely stepped out of line. You never do that."

Tryphon shrugged. "Yeah, well, like I said, I wanted to be honest because I could tell she was so desperate. I didn't want her to think she didn't have the skills to get a job."

"We've been there. Don't need to go there again-"

Tryphon threw his hands into the air. "So, what are you trying to do? What's your point?" He yanked the towel off his shoulder. "We're in the middle of the f.u.c.king blood bond. We send her away now, you know the h.e.l.l she'll suffer. Not to mention us." Holding the towel in his fists, he dropped his head, burying his face in it.

Bale set a hand on Tryphon's shoulder and let several seconds pa.s.s in silence until he found the right words to say. "My point is that you need to watch out, Tryph. To be aware of what's going on, so you don't cross the line and hurt someone."

After a long moment, Tryphon lifted his head, studied him for a few more tense seconds. "You're wondering if I need more than what we have, is that it? That you aren't enough for me anymore?"

Bale s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand away.

Hearing the man he loved say those words was like a punch in the gut. Tryphon had said them so smoothly, too, not tripping over a single word. s.h.i.+t, what if they were so easy for him to say because they were the truth?

"Maybe," Bale admitted.

Tryphon shook his head, his eyes locked to Bale's, his voice clear and full of conviction. "No way. You are everything to me." Tryphon's gaze dropped to the floor then. "This...whatever it is...has nothing to do with us. I think I'm just struggling a little with the other side of me."

"But that's my point." Bale tipped his head to put himself directly in Tryphon's line of sight. "Maybe it's not enough for you to play power games at the bondage club with your play partners anymore. It used to be, has been for a long time. But you put in the dungeon downstairs a couple of months ago... Maybe you crave it all the time now, a relations.h.i.+p built upon domination and submission. We both know when we're suffering from the Hunger, it brings out our vulnerabilities-"

"I don't know."

"I wonder if you've been feeling this way for a while, but you could hide it. Now, you can't. The Hunger is making it too hard."

Tryphon didn't respond.

Bale pulled in a breath so deep it made his head spin a little. He braced himself for what he was about to say, knowing that even hearing himself speak the words was going to hurt. But he had to say them. Had to get Tryphon thinking. Because until this was cleared up, he was in h.e.l.l. "I think the minute you met Raine, you wanted her. As your submissive. Your mate. Your wife."

d.a.m.n, that hurt.

But what hurt even more was when Tryphon didn't deny it, just stood up and, looking confused, walked out of the room.

Tryphon wanted to punch something. Or throw something. Or break something. His body was coiled tight, his blood blasting hot and furious through his veins.

What the h.e.l.l was he doing? Why was it that he could look at Bale, see the pain in his eyes, and still his thoughts wanted to veer back to that redhead locked in the bas.e.m.e.nt?

Bale was right-she was like an addiction.

Why her? Why now? Just...why?

He didn't want to tell Bale how he really felt, couldn't bring himself to say the words, knowing how devastating they'd be. h.e.l.l, if things were reversed, he'd...what the h.e.l.l would he do? He had no idea. Because Bale had always been his rock.

It wasn't fair that he wanted more. He hated himself right now, despised the selfish a.s.s he was becoming.

Once a week, playing with some submissive who knew the score in advance, like sweet little Jules, or Amber the pain s.l.u.t who loved the whip, should be enough. Why wasn't it anymore?

And why did he feel so compelled to show someone who was so h.e.l.l bent on denying her true nature to accept the submissive he saw? To accept the truth, she'd have to claw her way through layers and layers of denial.

He'd been around the scene long enough to know that people explored power play at their own pace. And only when they were ready to accept the truth, would they start looking for answers. No Dom or Domme could make even the most natural-born submissive submit until he or she was ready.

Raine wasn't ready.

Repeat, Raine wasn't ready.

Mentally shoving all that s.h.i.+t to the side, Tryphon dressed, figuring he'd head into work now. It was late, after midnight, but that just meant the building would be quiet. He'd take care of the matters he'd left unfinished earlier, like scouring the web for property for sale for a new project, handle the few other things that needed to be done for tomorrow, and be home by noon.

It was a good plan.

Unfortunately, the total silence of his office made the voices in his head too f.u.c.king distracting.

It was dark. It was silent. It was beyond eerie. And the only distraction she had at the moment was her thoughts.

Those were as dark as the room.

Crazy, that it would take a situation such as this to make her aware of how desperately she grasped for control in her life. In all ways and in all relations.h.i.+ps. It wasn't a matter of just wanting people to do what she wanted, of getting her way. No, her reasons went far deeper.

Right now, as her heart threatened to beat its way through her breastbone and her blood turned to ice, she was absolutely terrified. Whatever happened to her, it would be decided by those two men. Not her.

Oh G.o.d.

Would they keep her here indefinitely, caged like an animal? Would they dictate her every action?

She felt sick. She felt dizzy. Tears blurred her vision.

How she longed to break out of this effing cage, run out of this house as fast as her legs could carry her.

She shouted, again. Her voice was hoa.r.s.e from screaming but she didn't care. Her throat felt like she'd gargled with drain cleaner. Still, she screamed, as loudly as she could. Kicked the cage bars. Shook them until her arms felt like overcooked noodles.

More screams. More kicks. On and on she went while dark thoughts streamed through her mind like a nightmare. Until finally, who knew how many hours later, she crumpled into a ball, exhausted, and surrendered to her body's call for sleep.

Chapter Seven.

There were no windows in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Raine woke up having no clue what time it was, whether it was morning, afternoon or evening. There was a tray of food in her dog cage. A sandwich, a cola and some snacks. And there was a bedpan for her to use.

How humiliating!

Sure, her captors had thought of all the basic necessities. The cus.h.i.+on in the corner was a lot more comfortable than she'd ever have guessed. And she had blankets. Food. Drink.

But that didn't make the fact that she was locked in a cage any easier to accept. What it made her wonder was how often those two did such a thing. And that led to another, even more perplexing question-why?

Cringing, she plunked down on the bedpan and took care of the most pressing matter first. Then she slid the full pan through the wide slot at the bottom of the cage, still within reach in case she needed it again, but outside where she wouldn't risk spilling it.

Then she forced herself to eat. The sandwich was very tasty, but she ate fast, denying herself the luxury of enjoying it. She wasn't about to let herself appreciate anything those two a.s.sholes were doing for her. Not after they'd locked her up. No way. She was way too p.i.s.sed off for that to happen.

After she'd consumed the last bit of food on the tray and drained the can of cola, she sat on the cus.h.i.+on, a blanket coc.o.o.ning her in rea.s.suring warmth, and studied her surroundings a little more carefully than she had last night.

Only a couple of tinted lights illuminated the room. The sickly blue glow left most of the dungeon in heavy, creepy shadow. When she got tired of staring into the semi-dark, she spread her legs in a wide vee and stretched all the kinks out of her body. Bending first to one side, then the other.

Her muscles ached. Her neck still felt as if it were bruised. And there was that morning-after sensation between her legs, a slightly raw feeling.

What she wouldn't do for a shower right now!

Just as she'd worked the last bit of tension out of her neck, the door at the top of the stairs opened with a creak. She shuffled to the front of her cage, ready to do whatever it took to escape.

A light switch snapped, and glaring light bathed the contents of the room with stark brightness. Blinking, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the change, she watched the front of the dungeon, waiting to see who was coming. She hoped it was Bale. Alone. Without Tryphon around, she just might have a shot at talking him into letting her go.

"h.e.l.lo, Raine."

Bale, oh thank G.o.d.

She donned her most convincing woe-is-me expression and cranked on the waterworks, hoping Bale had a healthy conscience.

"Oh, baby," he murmured as he unlocked her cage. He threw open the door, and pulled her into his arms.

She didn't really have to act as she crumpled against him, a soggy, trembling mess of hot tears and angry sobs.

He stroked her hair, her back. "I'm sorry, so sorry. Are you hurt? What's wrong?"

"Scared," she blurted, between hiccup-like snuffles. "Confused." She clung to him, letting him support her as he led her to a nearby chair. Secretly, she calculated her next move.

She'd seen no lock on the door up at the top of the stairs. But Bale was big and strong. If she had to fight her way free, she'd lose. No doubt about it. Her only hope was to catch him by surprise.

This was insane. It had been a loooong time since she'd run, since high school, but she'd once been a pretty quick sprinter. Speed would be her only advantage.

"I know, I know." He sat and pulled her onto his lap. "There's a very good reason why we locked you in that cage, but it's hard to explain."

"I don't understand." There was absolutely no explanation that she'd buy. But at this point, it seemed that the guilt-trip approach was working. At least, his guard was down and she was out of the cage. Two steps in the right direction.

"I have some good news." He tucked her head into the crook of his neck and tightened his hold around her waist. Insanely, even though his secure grip would make it that much harder for her to break away from him, the way he held her felt really good. Safe. Protected. Cherished. A part of her reveled in such strange and unfamiliar emotions, the other screamed in terror.

That safe thing, it was all an illusion, she reminded herself. A dangerous one, at that. Because it made her vulnerable, made her start thinking that she might want to feel emotions about this man, make this more than what it was.

You're a prisoner. And even if you weren't, s.e.x is just s.e.x.

"I've found you a fabulous job, if you're interested." He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tipping it up.

A job. He'd found her a job. Even more confused than before, she met his gaze for one tense second.

A job! Oh thank G.o.d! If it paid anywhere near what she'd earned at her last one, and didn't involve any form of prost.i.tution or illegal activity, she'd take it.

"Have you heard of Omni Enterprises?" he asked.

"No."

"They produce high-end women's clothing."

Women's clothing. How cool!

"The owner of the company is a friend of mine. He's been looking for a new personal a.s.sistant. He's told me about the job, the pay and hours, and I think you'll be very pleased. Not to mention, he's not an a.s.s to work for, like Tryphon can be. I'm confident you'll love working for him. So," he smiled, eyes gleaming with genuine pleasure, "I set up a meeting with him at the end of next week."

"Wow. I...thank you." Dammit, he'd gone and done something so good, so f.u.c.king nice, now she couldn't be quite so furious. It didn't cancel out the fact that he'd locked her in a cage.

But it almost did...

It's women's apparel, not a greasy manufacturing plant.

No...

I'll be the personal a.s.sistant to a business owner. I'm sure the pay'll be good. Perks?

That sounds really good.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention," he added, "that my friend owns several condos in the area, and so if you want, you can live in one of them, rent free. You'll just have to pay the utilities."

A f.u.c.king condo? No rent. Talk about fringe benefits.

He'd almost had made up for the cage thing.

"Plus, you'll have a company car and access to the company jet."

Oh h.e.l.l.

She dragged her hand under her eyes, wiping way the little bit of wetness remaining. The tears had dried up. "It sounds too good to be true. What's the catch? Does he go through personal a.s.sistants like toilet paper?"