Rachel chewed on the end of a strawberry. “Hmm, that’s a weighty allegation, Ben. And everyone in the office is behind this rumor?”“Well it started with Patricia, you know how chatty she can be but then again everyone at the office loves to gossip so maybe it’s just a rumor?”The Allen Brothers often fought with Rachel when they thought she went too far with her interviews. They weren’t exactly the most upstanding citizens in the state but in Rachel’s book they were good enough and sex trafficking wasn’t something they were capable of. Yet, it was something to look into to get back at them for replacing her so easily with Dana.The fashion show had been a success and Rachel was feeling very optimistic. She had gotten to interview a couple of pop singers, actresses, business moguls, and models, all of whom had attended dressed in elaborate clothes. Thanks to Larry and the camera he provided she was also able to do her amateur photography. She was her own camera crew and scriptwriter
When she woke up the next morning the sun was already warming the surface of the river. A cool breeze settled, blowing through the partially open windows. Rachel lay on the bed feeling at peace. The countryside was tranquil and relaxing. The air was clean. It was still as busy as main Gem Hills but far quieter and she found herself thinking about tomorrow and days after tomorrow when suddenly she caught herself. Shit, what am I thinking? she thought. As soon as this charade was over she would be out of his life and back into her busy life. That’s how it’s supposed to be! There was no tomorrow for her! At least not one with Nate involved.Maybe by then, she would have the divorce Jacob was still stalling to think about.With that thought in mind, she climbed out of the comfortable bed and went into the bathroom where she stood for almost an hour under the cold shower. It wasn’t a cold day still she needed the shock factor of the cold water to wake her up from her stupid reverie. When s
No amount of preparedness could have prepared her for the sight that met her eyes. It was…something. Incredulous was how she could put it. And to think there was a room like this embedded in an unassuming library. It was large.Nate left her hand to go into the room and tap on a switch that turned on the lights. As if her surprise wasn’t bad enough, she could now clearly see everything. It was a room designed to make the sickest of minds proud.The walls were black, padded and soundproof. It was cool as she stepped barely an inch inside. A chill ran through her body, not from the cold, as she looked around slowly as if trying to picture the things that may have happened there in the past.Right before her eyes was a padded bench with 4 Velcro straps on each side attached to poles jotting off the sides of the bench. There was a sex machine on the floor, a black contraption with a small projection just big enough to resemble a mini dick. On one wall were a lot of clips and on each of th
She was still shaking from the intensity, her moans were almost whimpers of mercy, when she felt the soft towel drying her up. Her inner walls spasmed a little less intensely now. She felt sensitive and raw. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. When she finally managed to open them Nate had finished cleaning himself and her and was returning to the bed with the wet towel firmly clutched in his hand.“I’m sorry,” she whimpered softly.He came to sit beside her. With his free hand, he moved wet strands of her hair aside, a small smile on his face as he did so.“You shouldn’t be sorry for what your body can do.” His fingers traced the line of her hair down to her chin. “Did you like it?”Rachel watched his face, the solid beautiful lines of his face. He knew she enjoyed it yet he wanted to hear it from her. The warmth in his voice compelled her to answer. She nodded.“Answer me when I talk to you, Rachel.”“Yes sir.”He traced the line of her mouth, his eyes settling on her lips. “
It wasn’t long after she woke up that Nate invited her to the living room again like he did the first time. There he handed her a fairly thick wad of papers. Rachel was dressed in a sweater that belonged to him. She crossed her legs on the couch and without a word and with a beating heart collected the papers from him to read.Dominant/Submissive ContractI, Rachel Rivers, with a free mind and open heart accept Nathaniel Madden, submitting my will to him and accepting him as my Dominant. I ask that as my Dominant, Nathaniel Madden takes me into his care and guidance and encourages growth together in lust, trust, and mutual respect. It is my desire as a submissive to satisfy his needs and desires whenever possible, in hopes that I will be found pleasing to him. In order to do so, I offer him the use of my body, abilities, and purpose. I also vow to subdue myself to the lessons my Dominant will teach me.Section One: Code of Conduct• Duties of ServitudeAbove all, the primary duty of R
“You didn’t state here how long you’ll be gone.”“Francis isn’t sure either, sir,” Rachel responded. It was a whole new chapter in a world she wasn’t used to. She had stood in front of the mirror as she dressed up for her meeting with Francis that morning and practiced the words, sir, mister, and master trying to get familiar with them. The last time she had ever had the compulsion to refer to anyone as such had been in elementary school. She felt like a schoolgirl. She realized as the words began to flow easily out of her mouth that she liked feeling like a schoolgirl.They were seated in his car. Tom was driving them to the temporary office Francis had set up. She was excited about the prospects his offer provided because Francis had caught a lot of media attention as one of the prominent designers thanks to his bold and dynamic designs during the fashion week and she was ready to take advantage of that.Surely, he would send the pictures of her to major magazines and that would giv
Rachel had let herself out of the car as it came to a stop in front of the small complex with the temporary office Francis had rented for the day.She didn't think Nate would want to be seen in front of the complex with her, maybe a back alley packing would have been more appropriate. But then again, she had been seen with Nate more than twice now but she still found it surprising that he didn’t care to be seen with her – must come with the knowledge of knowing the public loved him whether or not he found himself in a scandalous situation. Since he didn't worry about it, she forced herself not to worry too.He hadn’t kissed her goodbye but then again they were hardly romantically involved and he hadn’t kissed her since the last time, he wasn’t a man to kiss after all.All he had said as she came down was, “Make sure you’re here when Tom arrives.”She arched a brow guessing this was a situation where resistance from her side was necessary as he wanted. “What if we are not done by then?
“What does it say?”Downcast Rachel passed the folder to Larry who opened it, peered at it, and drew in a breath, releasing it with a silent ‘fuck’.She had stared at the papers after Jacob’s less-than-polite lawyer had left her gaping at the absurd contract. What’s with me and contracts now anyway? She thought to herself, next I’ll be signing a contract to fucking breathe!Larry had come up to her to tell her that Francis was done checking out the pictures and he thought they were all good when he paused at the fiery teary look in her eyes. Without a word to Larry, she went to Francis who watched her approach with a smile.“I think you should switch careers, Miss Rivers, modeling will definitely put you up there among the number ones.”She wished she could share his enthusiasm but right now she felt like a piece of meat men bargained over with a contract. Okay with Nate he had dangled an offer in front of her and her treacherous body had made her say yes but the offer Jacob was offer
It was two days later before they left Gem Hills. Mabel had been lucky enough to sustain only a first-degree burn on her left foot. She had also inhaled a lot of smoke but that had been purged out of her, leaving her with a croaky voice.Nate on the other hand did have a burn on his leg and his skin stung from the heat of the fire but he was lucky to have gotten out with just that much. Especially considering the fact that he was naked at the time of the fire. It could have been worse given that he had been rescued seconds before the roof came crashing down. Rachel supported Nate as they walked to the car with Tom in front. Once again Tom had his proud father smile for Rachel.He assisted her to get Nate into the car and did the same for Mabel. Behind them was James, Nate’s head of security, and two of his colleagues, ready to go with them to the airport.Tshepo had wanted more security men to go with them but Nate had made him see reasons why that would attract more attention than th
“Nate? Can you hear me?”His eyelids fluttered open. His eyes stung and water seeped from the edges.There was an excited gasp beside him. Suddenly soft hands were cradling his face. At first, he couldn’t see but when he blinked rapidly and the blur cleared he saw Rachel’s tear-streaked face. She was crying and laughing.“You are alive,” she laughed, kissing his face and hair and his nose and cheeks. He groaned. His skin burned and his chest felt tight. He remembered coughing up smoke and being dragged out of the fire. He remembered Mabel hanging limp in his hands. But what he worried about the most was Rachel’s safety. His hand, though heavy as lead, came up to cradle her face. She kissed his palm and cried.“Are you okay?” he croaked. “Are you hurt? The baby?"She shook her head violently. “No I am fine, we are fine. You saved me remember?”He remembered pushing her outside the burning house. He opened his mouth to speak again but could only cough some more. Rachel left his side to
And he was going to do his best not to fail.By the time they went to bed, it was late into the night and their efforts at thinking of a means to stop Jacob was futile. There was nothing they could do.Mabel let Nate stay with them. Rachel wouldn’t hear of him sleeping on the couch so she invited him to her room where he lay on the tiny bed with his legs dangling over the edge and his arms around her.“You are such a large man, do you know that?”“In more ways than one,” he joked.Rachel laughed lightly but she was thinking again. “What if Jacob was to take you to court, hard as his kind of story is to believe, he does have that sheet of paper naming him as Fredrick’s heir, what will you do if you lost your wealth?” she asked. “I can’t imagine you living in a place like this where your feet dangled over the edge of the bed.”“I’ll survive. I don’t worry about the money, I only worry about the children. He will cut off all expenses and enslave them in the mines as Fredrick did.”Rachel
It wasn’t the first time in his life he told someone the story of his birth and everything he had been through, but it was the first time he told the story as it was without making himself the victim of circumstances. He told her facts, plain and simple and her face animated what she thought about his story. When he talked about the death of his mother she mourned for her and held him and when he talked about Fredrick selling him off her eyes showed her anger. When he talked about Tshepo, her eyes had widened in surprise. “You know that GHIA man?” she asked in astonishment. “He is like a brother to me.” “Yeah, I got that. You did kind of grow up together in a sense.” she was amused. “No wonder he was so concerned about me. He is very protective of you.” “Vera said the same thing,” he confessed, burying his fingers in the curls of her hair. He enjoyed the feel of her soft body pressed against his. Rachel rose on her elbow to reward him with a questioning glare. “Vera?” “Ah, I see
Rachel was watching him as she spoke and she frowned.“I am ready to tell you everything you need to know. The only reason I could come clean earlier, even after it became obvious that I was falling hard again for another woman was because I was genuinely scared of another Vera situation. I truly was ready to come clean until I came into the study that day and saw that you already saw the videos and emails I kept.”“I was hurt, Nate.”“I know,” he pressed forward and reached for her hand. She wouldn’t let him hold her. He didn’t want to give up just yet. She had every right to be angry but he wanted her back and he was ready to brave through the thorns of her heart to win her back. “I am a bastard for what I did but if there’s one thing I must do right, it’s to make you happy all over again and I cannot forgive myself until I do that.”She bowed her head. “Forgiving you won’t be easy.”“I will keep trying until I die if that’s how long it would take.”She raised shimmering eyes to his
Mabel left reluctantly and only then could Nate breathe a sigh of relief. He watched her go into town leaving just him and Rachel. But once she left he didn’t know what to say or do. All he had in mind when he left the heart of the city was to see Rachel and now that he was here what words could he say? Would words be enough?“You keep losing weight. The last time I saw you your suit hung on you and now…at least you shaved this time.”He smiled at her words. “I don’t think I planned my arrival properly then. I would have fattened myself up on the way if I knew you were concerned about my size.”She stared at him, her brown eyes dark in the dying light. There was no smile for him. He didn’t expect her to smile and welcome him with open hands anyway. He wanted to convince himself she was alright, he was here now he could see she was doing good…he should get back into his car and drive off.But he didn’t.“How is your shoulder?” she asked.He raised his brows, surprised that she remember
After every session, he began to open up well enough to let the darkness in his heart go. But with every ounce of darkness that left his heart, a void appeared and he knew what he needed to fill that void.Even though Tshepo had warned him not to see Rachel for fear of putting her in danger again, he couldn’t help but yearn for her over and over again. He still had the problem of Jacob defaming him, and spreading lies about him and his involvement with Rachel. Tshepo advised that it was best they continued to let Jacob believe she was dead so that they could keep doing their investigation in private and when they had enough proof of his illegal activities and his partners in crime they could pull the rug out from under him. It wasn't just enough to destroy Jacob, they had to take his cohorts with him too.Nate understood the importance of letting Tshepo do his job but he felt he would die if he didn’t convince himself of Rachel’s safety so he did what he knew best. He threatened Tshep
He needed help.He did. He stared at Vera’s head as she bowed her head crying into her hand to muffle her sobs, unable to move. For a long time he could only watch her and when he opened his mouth to speak his voice was a croak.“You really think I need help?”She sniffed and lifted her head to wipe at her eyes. “You do, Nate. I thought about it for a long time and realized I wasn’t fair to you when I left. Our marriage vows were for better or worse and I broke them, leaving you when I could have helped.”“Was I really that terrible?”“You are not a terrible person. What you do for those children in Gabore is more than enough proof of that. You give them hope, you make them smile again, and provide more than they can ever hope for. You are a good person but you do take people who care about you for granted. You perceive us as enemies. For a long time, I thought I could change you, I thought loving you and letting you have your way with me for your pleasure would convince you that I wa
It surprised him how easily the media ate up Jacob’s lies. But Nate thought he shouldn’t be surprised at all. It wasn’t the first time the man lied on national television and he seemed so fearless about it too.Tshepo voiced what he was thinking. “If you are thinking Jacob Henderson has friends in high places you are not wrong. Arresting him will be difficult. I have dug through a lot of his messes in the past and that sex trade of his is far more complicated than you and I can ever think about. We are talking Jeffrey Epstein's type of business. He has senators, tycoons, governors even Monarchs in the palm of his hands. He is an underdog with much more power than the man on the seat.”“So you are saying you cannot put a stop to his evil?” Nate asked, annoyed that he already knew Tshepo’s answer.Tshepo shook his head. “Not until I know what his endgame is. There is a bigger picture here, I can’t tell you the details neither can I tell you about my suspicions but keeping you safe is th