Chapter 48

Thursday, 6:21 pm

My phone rang as Helen and I rode the elevator to my apartment. It was Henry.

I answered the phone, “Psalter. What’s the news?” I was on the proverbial edge of my seat.

“She’s gone,” he replied.

“Fuck.”

“It’s strange,” Psalter said. “All of her belongings are still here. Her suitemate, Tamara, assumed she had spent the night at a lover’s place or perhaps returned home.”

“Do you think Roger has her?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Henry said, sounding pensive. “It certainly appears as if she disappeared suddenly, but Tamara said the last time she saw Ashlee VanCamp was Tuesday. It leads me to entertain the possibility that this has nothing to do with Roger.”

That would have been the day after the board meeting ... the evening I slept with Carla. “Do you think Tanaka has her?”

“It’s a possibility,” Henry admitted, but I can’t fully understand why he would have cause to abscond with Roger’s daughter ... unless he was looking to leverage Roger against you somehow.”

“Any way of tracking her?” I asked.

“We’re working on it now,” Henry said. “If she used any electronic payment, I’ll know about it within twelve hours.”

I pressed my fingers to my eyes, tried to contain my frustration, and remembered that Psalter didn’t have a magic wand. Finding one girl on a planet of billions wasn’t easy ... even for a man with Henry’s resources. He was incredibly resourceful, though, and if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have been able to confirm Roger’s involvement in my kidnapping. If there was a way of finding Ashlee, Psalter was my best bet.

“Okay. Thanks. Keep me in the loop.”

“I will,” Henry said and hung up.

“Ashlee?” Helen asked as she slipped her arms around my chest and pulled me back against her. I felt her lay a kiss on my shoulderblade.

“Roger might have her,” I said, not wanting to expound further on it. No longer having access to Roger VanCamp, my next best course of action was to have Psalter’s people grab Ashlee to interrogate her for whatever she knew. With Roger out of the picture, it was probably the best window of opportunity I would have to act. Unfortunately, someone had beaten me to it, leaving me with nothing.

The elevator doors rolled open, displaying my foyer/living room. I took Helen by the hand, and we walked into it; the lawyer immediately took a deep breath, and a gentle smile overtook her features. “It’s good to be back here,” she said.

“This is your home, now.” I looked at her, dropping her hand to slip mine behind her head, directing her to me so I could kiss the newest addition to my apartment’s residents. She came willingly and placed her hands on my chest as her lips met mine. They were warm, soft, and pliable for half a second until I could feel her smile into my mouth. Her tongue playfully flicked at my upper lip as we spent a few moments tasting each other now that we were safe within the confines of my apartment.

A squeal broke through the soft moment we shared. I broke off the kiss and looked around just in time to see Erin coming at us in a blur of motion. She launched herself at the two of us, wrapping her arms around us as much as she could as she buried her face between our bodies. Her dark, liquid eyes peered up at us, shining happily, and she wore an ecstatic smile.

“You’re here!” She squealed as she attempted to squish us even tighter together. “Are you here for good?” She looked at me. “Is she here for good?”

Despite my frustration, I couldn’t help but smile at my assistant. “Roger’s gone. Helen’s here for good. She’s part of the family now.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket again, and I pulled back from the pair to see who was calling. It was Chloe. Even though the paramedics were concerned that she might have a concussion, she wouldn’t go to the hospital and threatened to fill more body bags if anyone tried to take her. Instead, she followed the police down to the station to give them a full report of what happened, all while coordinating the return of Emily and Natashya to my apartment. After what happened, I’d asked her to make sure Jonathan got the girls back here as quickly as possible since we weren’t sure who took Roger or who else might be on their radar. Considering the fact that Ashlee was gone, I thought it was a good call.

The two women practically ignored me as I stepped away from them. Erin slipped into Helen’s arms and cupped the older woman’s face in her hands as she drew their lips together for a kiss. The pair immediately started to make out as I answered the phone. I watched them go at it, slowly rotating around each other as they held each other close, moaning and cooing into each other’s mouths as they engaged in sapphic affection. It continued without interruption, even as they slowly reached the nearest couch.

“Hey,” I said, answering my phone, still watching the two women.

“Hey,” Chloe said.

“What’s the news?”

“Jonathan’s on the way to the apartment with both ladies. Apparently, they decided to spend the day upstate, so it’ll be a few more hours before they make it home. I sent a couple of others in another car to back him up just in case.”

“Thanks. What about the cops?”

“Open-and-shut case of self-defense, so they didn’t press charges against me. Vikram showed up to represent me. They asked a lot of questions about who I worked for, where I was going, etc. I told them I worked for you and that whoever hit me took your lawyer, so now they’re looking for VanCamp, too. They didn’t ask a lot of other questions. Rumors about your kidnapping have been circulating all over New York since you got back, so I think they assume it’s just another attempt on a rich man’s life, and the lawyer just got in the way.”

“Good deal. Now, come home and get some rest.’

“I need to talk to Hannon Security and Henry,” Chloe said.

“No. I have Psalter looking for Ashlee. As for your firm, that can wait till next week, or they can get a phone call since you’re coming with me to the Catskills tomorrow.”

There was silence for a long moment, and then she said, “Yes, sir.”

“Thanks for handling this, Chloe,” I said. “I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t know if I could have handled it if something worse happened to you.”

More silence ... then she said, “Thank you.” Then she hung up the phone.

I returned to the two women, who were, to my amazement, sitting upright on the couch. The smaller Erin was straddling Helen’s lap while the older woman talked to her so softly that I could only catch an occasional word. My assistant was being terribly handsy with her while listening intently.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Mmm,” Erin said, leaning into Helen as she pressed her lips into the older woman’s face. “She was just filling me in on what happened at the office.”

The pair was a sight. Erin wore a simple summer dress; the skirt was hiked around her waist as she sat on Helen’s lap. Her bare, golden brown shoulders looked inviting as she flashed her dark eyes over them at me. Helen’s shirt was already discarded on the couch, and her bra strap was hanging off one shoulder. I wanted to take them both on the couch, but something was missing. Something important enough that it was worth staving off carnal pleasure for a few more minutes.

“Take her to my room, Erin. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Erin grinned and looked at Helen. “Shall we?”

“I’d love nothing more,” Helen purred. The two of them rose to their feet and made their way toward the stairs. Helen glanced over her shoulder at me, giving me a genuine smile the likes of which I’d seen more on her in an afternoon than in the weeks I’d known her. It made my heart beat faster.

She really was an incredible woman. Fuck Roger VanCamp for never seeing that, but bless him for letting her slip through his fingers. His loss was my gain.

I headed down the hallway toward the dungeon, but not with that particular room in mind. Not tonight. Instead, I made my way to Bobbi’s room.

Reaching it, I opened it and walked straight in. There was no lock on the door, and she wasn’t allowed the privilege of anyone knocking. She had yet to earn privacy.

She was sitting in a plush chair in one corner of a room that would have thrilled any New Yorker. The room’s window stretched from ceiling to floor, giving her a beautiful view of New York regardless of the time of day. A large rug was stretched across the hardwood floor, and a seventy-inch television stretched across one wall, displaying an animated kid’s movie from VistaVision studios.

Reflexively, Bobbi stood up, the slight smile she’d been wearing fading as a bag of vegetable crisps fell from her lap. She stood there with her hands at her sides, wearing an oversized shirt that went to her knees. The collar hung large and loose, showing off a large expanse of her chest and left shoulder as it hung halfway down her arm. Thanks to the shirt’s length, I couldn’t tell if she was wearing shorts. Her hair hung loose, strands falling over her shoulders while the rest hung down her back. It looked glossy and freshly washed. That, along with the complete lack of makeup, suggested she’d recently showered.

“Hi,” she said.

I looked around the room. It looked less sparse than the last time I’d seen it, which was good. Bobbi had one job—to be at my beck and call. In exchange, she got to live a life almost no one else was allowed to enjoy. I suspected she was still trying to get used to the entire apartment being hers. She could have requested anything to eat from Camille, spent a whole day out by the pool ... literally anything available to her. Yet she ate whatever was put in front of her and barely left her room unless summoned. I assumed Erin was supplying her with her furnishings. Good ... hopefully they would help her get more comfortable with her life.

“Morton and the Incredible Goat?” I asked, glancing at the TV. “Really?”

Bobbi started to smile but overrode it with her typical bitchy frown at the last moment. Of all the ladies in my life, she had one of the most expressive faces. Something that struck me as endearing despite most of her expressions being sour.

“What?” she snapped. “You’re gonna start picking my movies for me now?”

“Whoa! Hey! Watch the tone!” I said, taking a few steps toward her as I raised my hands. “I’m unarmed.” I glanced back at the big screen again. “This a childhood favorite or something?”

Bobbi studied me for a long moment, her frown lessening in intensity over time before she finally said, “I’ve never seen it before.”

“What?” I asked. “You never saw it as a kid? Didn’t your mom—”

“What do you want, Marcus?”

Something in the way she cut me off infuriated me, and I snapped my gaze back to her. I could feel my stare become hard as stone. “I said watch the tone, kitten.”

She flinched at my words, but the look on her face didn’t change, and I didn’t move. We simply stared at each other in silence while the cutesy dialog of the movie was juxtaposed in the background.

“Finish the movie later,” I said, turning toward the door. “Come with me.”

I’d expected Bobbi to protest, but she didn’t. In fact, she fell in step behind me almost immediately, and I glanced back at her in surprise, catching her biting her lip in anticipation of whatever I had for her. I enjoyed the fact that she was so eager, but a small part of me found it annoying. I’d put up with Bobbi’s shit for a long time, and I was still holding onto some resentment for her. Seeing her in distress on occasion was cathartic.

That wasn’t what this evening was for, though. I’d let tonight play out however it was meant to, according to Helen’s wishes. It was her homecoming we were celebrating, after all.

“Where are we going?” She asked as we walked through the apartment’s foyer and toward the stairs.

“My bedroom,” I said, pulling out the phone and opening the app to the device around Bobbi’s neck.

“Will Erin be there?”

“Yes,” I replied, making a change to Bobbi’s collar. It no longer said ‘kitten’ across the front, as it had on and off over the last few days. “She’s there already. Waiting for us.”

When she didn’t reply, I asked,” How do you like her?”

Bobbi didn’t immediately answer. I was about to look behind me to ensure she was still following me when she said, “Honestly?”

“I want you to always be honest with me,” I said.

“She annoys the shit out of me.”

I snorted. “Really? Why?”

“She’s too perky ... she’s like a Disney princess or something. Either everything for her is fucking great, or it’s all some kind of joke I don’t get.”

For me, Erin was always a ray of sunshine—the perfect blend of joy, mirth, and warm affection. Now that Bobbi mentioned it, I didn’t think I’d ever seen her as anything other than a ray of sunshine on a cold day, warming my bones with her radiant smile. I could understand where Bobbi was coming from. I imagined that could get old for a lot of people, but when I was the constant target of Erin’s affections and doting, it was hard to find her anything but endearing.

Except for the times she was being stunningly sexy.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she isn’t crazy about you, either,” I said.

“Then why isn’t she leaving me alone?”

“Because you’re hot,” I said. “And Erin is aggressively bisexual.”

“What the fuck?” Bobbi asked. “‘Aggressively bisexual?’ What even is that?”

“That’s what she calls it,” I said, reaching the doorway to my room.

Since it was open, I stopped short of it and gave Bobbi’s leash a firm tug. She cried out in protest, grabbed my arm for stability as she stumbled past me, and stopped in the open doorway. Her loose hair was in her face, and she reached up to tuck it behind her ears as she glared up at me.

“What was that for? I did...”

Her slate-grey eyes caught sight of something in the doorway, and she did a double-take, her words dying on her tongue. I stepped behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, slid my other hand into the loose collar of her shirt, and pulled her against me. Grinding my hardon against her tight little ass, I stared over the top of her light brown tresses at the scene on my bed.

Helen sat at the foot of my California King without a scrap of clothing on. Her legs were spread wide and her perfect nails were gently raking through my assistant’s silver hair, keeping Erin’s face buried in her crotch. Her bottle-blonde hair spilled over one shoulder, gentle golden curls covering one breast completely as she palmed the other in her free hand.

The warmth in her eyes that she had for me was gone, and the Helen I’d known for the past month was back. Her icy stare radiated cold sensuality as she locked her gaze on the small woman in my grasp, and her dark pink lips curled in a predatory smile.

“Helen’s little whore,” she said, reading the words I’d placed on the collar. “Marcus,” she practically purred, “You shouldn’t have.”

I smiled back at her, once again feeling a kinship with the dominant woman. This morning, we’d established who belonged to who, and I would make sure Helen always remembered it, but in my absence, Helen was a queen who needed to be obeyed. I would make damn sure she had subjects.

Speaking of subjects, Bobbi had been speechless the entire time. Her breathing had become rapid and shallow, and I could feel her shiver slightly in my arms. I gave the modest breast a firm squeeze and leaned down to whisper in my pet’s ear, “Go welcome your mistress home, kitten.” Giving her a gentle shove into the room, I watched her stumble two steps before she halted ... and then slowly walked toward the blonde goddess on my bed. I followed a beat later and shut the door behind me.

Helen watched Bobbi approach like a lioness watching food; the muscles in her arms tensed as her fingers curled tighter around Erin’s hair, pressing the younger woman’s face a little deeper into her folds. Her hips rolled as she ground herself into the lips pleasuring her. I wasn’t sure what it was about Bobbi that drove Helen to the depths of depraved lust. The angry little submissive was sex in a tight little package, to be sure, but so was Erin, and as much as Helen seemed to enjoy my assistant, there was no denying that Helen was never quite as on fire as when we included Bobbi in our play. It had to be the power I’d given her. God, Roger was a fool to not see what she was capable of.

Or maybe he had, and he didn’t like it. Whatever ... his loss.

In what appeared to be a very reluctant move, Helen released her hold on Erin’s hair and gently pushed the younger woman away. I watched as she reached down and placed her free hand under Erin’s fingers, encouraging the girl on her knees to look up at her. “Erin,” she asked, “Do you mind if my pet takes over from here. It’s been a while since I’ve felt her lips on me.”

“Not at all,” Erin said, scooting away from Helen and then standing up. She slowed while passing Bobbi and ran her slender fingers over the submissive’s far cheek while pressing her lips to Bobbi’s other cheek. “Have fun, kitten.” Then she bounced over to me just as I pulled up a chair from the sitting section—a wingback piece upholstered with soft leather that might have been suede.

As soon as I sat down, Erin slipped onto my lap, scooting her small ass back against my groin as she leaned back against me. She turned her head and pressed her lips against the side of my face, and my nostrils were immediately filled with the heady musk of Helen’s arousal. I could feel traces of her wetness left from Erin’s lips. Erin’s cute little nose brushed up against my ear as she nuzzled me, and then I heard her groan softly as she pressed back against my erection. “Bet you Helen blows her top in less than a minute.”

“What’s the wager?” I asked, slipping one arm around her naked abdomen and palming one of her firm tits.

“Mmm ... blank checks?” she suggested and kissed my ear softly. I shivered as I felt her fingernails graze across my scalp.

“You sure you can afford that?” I growled back, my eyes never leaving the scene before me—Bobbi had walked within a few feet of Helen but hadn’t done anything else. Instead, Helen stood and was currently circling the younger woman, fingering the light, baggy material of her shirt as she looked her up and down. Stopping back in front of Bobbi again, Helen reached between the submissive, and I gave a pretty good guess that her fingers had found the sweet nectar dripping from Bobbi’s folds. Retracting her fingers a moment later, Helen brought her fingers to her lips, inhaled deeply, and then slipped her fingers between her lips, tasting the young woman’s juices.

“I’m sure I can find ways to work off any debt I might incur,” Erin breathed and placed another wet kiss on my ear.

“Deal,” I said, shivering once more. I reached up, placed my fingers on Erin’s jaw, and guided her to look at the sensual scene playing out in front of us. Helen was turning Bobbi slowly, so they both faced us and reached down to grasp the hem of the younger woman’s baggy shirt. In one fluid motion, she pulled the shirt off without a shred of resistance from Bobbi. In fact, I’d not seen a single bit of resistance since the moment she’d entered the room.

It was my turn to press my lips to Erin’s ears. Still holding her jaw in my hands to keep her focus on the two women in front of us, I whispered, “Now, watch this woman work ... I think you’ll learn a thing or two on how to control a collared woman.” I inhaled deeply, picking up Erin’s strong natural scent mingled with Helen’s arousal, and said, “I know I have.”

My lips ran down Erin’s neck, tasting the slight saltiness of her skin and reveling in the feel of her silkiness. Erin was young, with smooth, nearly flawless skin, and I marveled at how perfect it felt to run my lips or fingertips over. I gently sucked and nibbled on her neck, enjoying the feel of her shiver in my grasp while watching Helen toss the shirt aside and mirror what I was doing to Erin; only the object of her affection was the little submissive we shared.

Still palming one pliant breast, Helen wrapped her fingers around Bobbi’s slender neck and pulled her roughly back against her breasts, gazing down the younger woman’s torso as she sank her teeth into creamy skin. Her fingers tightened around Bobbi’s throat, causing the kitten to raise her head, her mouth opening as she wheezed out her next few breaths. Helen released Bobbi’s neck, leaving visible teeth marks where she’d bitten down. “She’s lost a couple of pounds,” Helen observed.