Insurmountable (Serpentine #1) Read online

  Above me, the men continued to talk, Ross, Miles, and four voices I didn’t recognize, and as the conversation drifted far away from me, my mind drifted as well. Throughout dinner, Miles slipped me little bites of food, and as they wrapped up the meal, the familiar sounds of sex rose up behind me. I looked up to Miles, waiting for his order, his cue, but he slid his chair away from the table and pulled me up into his lap. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the sounds were coming from above the table, where three other slaves, on their knees, had replaced the dinner settings and were now putting on a show of kissing, sucking, and licking each other.

  Miles kissed my neck, drawing me closer as his hot breath hit my ear. “Up for a show of our own?” His words were only for me. I bit my lip and nodded.

  He resituated me so that I straddled his legs, and I unzipped his black dress pants, freeing his thick cock. With my back to the rest of the crowd, I ran my fingers down his growing erection and squeezed the head. His hands tightened on my ass, keeping me steady while his mouth explored my neck and the tops of my breasts.

  I kept my eyes on him, my mind focused on every sensation until the rest of the club faded. It was a trick I’d perfected over the years. A way of shutting down the world so I could get the job done. But this time, I was shutting the world out of my pleasure.

  Miles pushed the material of my shorts aside and guided his engorged dick into me. When I’d taken all of him inside me, he held me there, slipping my left breast from my top and sucking at it until I arched and squirmed with need. My hips rocked as much as his tight hold on me would allow as he bit down on the tip of my nipple, sending a rush through me.

  His hands moved to my hips, and he guided me along his cock a couple of times to set the rhythm and motion. I held his shoulders to ground myself as I took over, matching his rhythm at first until endorphins clouded my mind. I could feel his eyes on my small breasts as they jiggled from the motions, so I arched my back, pushing them into his face. He took my hands, twisting them behind my back and holding them in one palm while his other hand moved between us, pressing against my clit until I cried out in ecstasy and slammed into him.

  I rocked my hips harder. I wanted him deeper. Faster. He growled against my neck, and I felt my core begin to shake.

  “Come with me,” he hissed, and I let the growing tension in my core erupt into an internal firework show. My eyes were closed, shutting out the club, but I had my own lights show.

  I caught a glimpse of half the table when Miles drew me against his shoulder. All eyes seemed to have been on us, rather than the scene Ross had organized, and I didn’t give a damn.

  * * *

  After Miles and I had showered, we curled up on the couch together, and he turned on some crazy police movie that did everything except calm my mind so I could sleep. I closed my eyes anyway, too exhausted to even try and make sense of the plot.

  “I need stuff to make cookies,” I said.

  “Cookies? What kind?”

  “Chocolate, for the other girls,” I mumbled. “Chocolate makes everything better.”

  “So, you’re going to bribe them,” he chuckled, kissing the top of my head.

  “Not a bribe. A peace offering.”

  Bent to Fly

  Miles

  Alley skipped out of the bathroom and straddled my lap on the couch.

  “I have eyebrows again,” she said, wiggling them.

  It had been two weeks since I’d sent her down to do laundry and she’d returned with her hair butchered and her eyebrows waxed off. I’d refused to let her go back the following week. She’d argued it, but I had been out of the building almost all week scouting a possible new recruit for the security team, and I wanted her to myself that day.

  Or so it made a damn good argument.

  “Really?” I brushed back her hair. “You call those eyebrows?”

  She frowned and rolled her eyes. “You’re an ass.”

  “That’s my job.” I grabbed the back of her hair—still too short to really get a good fistful—and pulled her against me, until her lips waited millimeters from mine. Parted and ready. I could feel her breath on my skin and smell the sweet musk of her body wash. “Your job is to be beautiful and obedient.”

  “Wrong girl,” she whispered, and I flipped her to the couch, pouncing on top of her as she landed.

  I pinned her hands above her head and kissed the top of her exposed chest while she squirmed beneath me. She was learning to push my buttons, just as I’d set out to find all of hers.

  I didn’t make a habit of letting the girls get away with that shit, except for Alley. I wasn’t about to drag her back down to that place where she didn’t speak and nearly killed herself. I’d much rather have a mouthy, sometimes bratty, slave who kept me entertained. Pushing each other was a therapy we both needed.

  She was a first for me in so many ways. A completely new experience in a world where those were few and far between.

  I pushed my hand up her shirt, and she arched into my touch.

  “Want to help me bake cookies?” she asked with a smirk.

  “I bought you the stuff, isn’t that enough?” The alarm beeped on my phone to remind me of the appointment I had in town. “Besides. I have to go.”

  I smacked her hip, then shoved up her shirt and kissed her stomach. “I intend to be back before you leave so I can keep an eye on things.”

  “Fine.” She sighed. “Hope your meeting goes well, Master.”

  “Just stay out of trouble, and remember that burned cookies probably won’t earn you many friends.”

  * * *

  I took a seat in the back corner of a local coffee shop, taking a sip of the drink I’d bought solely to divert attention. At promptly ten o’clock the man I’d come to meet, Kirk, walked in the door. He glanced around the room, spotted me, then walked casually over to join me.

  I’d been watching Kirk on and off for the last couple of months. Ever since our old supplier got picked up for being a moron and doubling in drug trafficking. One of my connections recommended that I make contact with Kirk and assured me that he could hook us up with any of the supplies we needed for the Retreat. While some things were just a few clicks away, others required some legwork, and that’s where Kirk came in. His job was to save me time and trouble, and so far, he’d done just that.

  As an added bonus, my supposed second in command, Gabe, hated his guts. I hated Gabe, his asinine comments and lecherous treatment of the women. He soared leaps and bounds over acceptable behavior—even in our profession because it made it impossible to trust him with any of the girls. Kirk had hinted that he’d be interested in a regular job and since we’d brought a regular doctor on staff who’d agreed to make arrangements for medical supplies, I considered bringing Kirk on staff as well.

  Even if only to fuck with Gabe.

  But I had a feeling Kirk could do much more than that. I knew people. I watched people. And my instincts were never wrong.

  Kirk sat back in the seat across from me and crossed his arms. “I was surprised to get your invite. I figured following me around was more your style these days. I’m really hoping you have another job for me.”

  I pushed a manila envelope across the table. “You said you’re interested in permanent employment.”

  “And you want references?” he said sardonically.

  “You can fuck with Gabe all you like, jerk his chain, and get your jollies by pushing his buttons, but—”

  Kirk put up his hands. “Just tell me what you want.”

  “I’m assuming you can do your homework and you know what I do.”

  “I know you go through an awful lot of medical equipment—or used to. Speaking of which, it’s been a while since you’ve called on me. I was beginning to feel a little unloved.”

  I shook my head. What a sense of humor—no wonder Gabe hated him. “Well, I did do my homework. You cross me and you cross an organization that currently spans the world.”

  “In other w
ords—” he drew a line with his finger across his neck. “I’ve done my digging. Everyone who’s anyone knows about the Retreat. I hear it’s the place to be on a weekend night.”

  “Some say it’s the place to be any night.” I flipped open the folder and tapped the first page. “Since you’re familiar with the nature of the place, which of these men would you let in our doors.”

  He dropped his head, taking a moment to scan the first page. “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Drunk and disorderly. Domestic disturbance. He sounds like a pain in the ass.” He looked me dead in the eye, knowing he’d pointed out exactly what I’d wanted. He had gotten one right that my current team had let slip by, but the next shouldn’t have been so easy.

  Or so I thought.

  Kirk flipped the page and immediately snorted. “No, again.”

  He’d picked up on that more easily than I’d expected. “Why?”

  He paused. “I recognize the ink on his neck. Stitch’s gang. Can’t mean anything but trouble.”

  I scoffed and shook my head, thinking he might work out even better than I’d planned. “Maybe he’s reformed,” I said with a smirk.

  “And you scoff at my humor.” He flipped over the page and studied the next sheet. “No red flags. He has money to spare and no prior convictions, but I’m sure he has some dirty laundry somewhere to be dug up.”

  “Why is that?”

  “No one who wants into a sex retreat doesn’t. You don’t just jump right into the deep end without learning to swim—unless you’re a complete fool.” He closed the folder and pushed it back toward me. “I’d make sure I knew something about that dirty laundry in case he gets ugly later.”

  “And what’s your dirty laundry?”

  He sat back again and shrugged. “You said you did your digging. What’d you find?”

  “A few traffic violations and an assault charge for punching a drug dealer.” The latter I certainly couldn’t hold against him—in fact, I appreciated the sentiment behind it—but I wanted to hear his explanation.

  He leaned across the table, his lips white with tension. “He was an asshole who tried to sell to my sixteen-year-old cousin.”

  “No qualms. We don’t tolerate drugs on our property. Do you have a sister?”

  You never really notice how much someone moves until he goes stone still. “I did.”

  So, the girls might strike a chord with him. “You sure you can handle working at the Retreat?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “You ever work in security? I need someone to help me watch over the girls. Make sure no one steps out of line and make sure no one gets inside who will cause trouble. We’re in charge of everyone and everything that goes in and out.”

  “I did a private job for a while. Watching over my uncle’s apartment building down by Waller Street. Until I punched a drug dealer, that is.”

  Consistent with every other time I’d encountered him, his answers were easy, not forced or unnatural, and he didn’t fidget or search the room for answers like he needed time to consider. Rather, he seemed to say exactly what was on his mind. I liked him.

  “You interested in the job?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Do I get to fuck with Gabe?”

  “I’ll pay you extra for it. But to be honest, your mere presence will do that. If you want the job, we’ll be having dinner with the boss at seven tonight.” I gathered the papers and stood. “Someone will be at your apartment to pick you up at six to bring you to meet me before dinner. Formal attire.”

  Hell Hath No Fury

  Alley

  By the time I finished the last batch of cookies, I felt like a baking expert. Four dozen cookies. It wouldn’t feed every single girl in the building, but not all them would be in the Commons anyhow. After they cooled, I packed them all up in a plastic container and slid them down the side of a laundry bag. Perfectly disguised until I needed them.

  Both of the bags were packed to capacity, and there was still dirty laundry in the apartment, but that was Miles’s fault for not letting me do anything the week before.

  Just as I was about to hoist them both up and be on my way, the apartment door opened and Miles stepped in.

  “Thought I told you to wait until I got back,” he said, kissing my forehead.

  “Not in so many words. I just want to get this over with.”

  “I’ll be in the security room in case anything happens.”

  I smiled, but it didn’t really make me feel better. I needed to handle this situation on my own if I stood a chance of gaining any respect among the girls.

  On my own I headed to the elevator, down to the Commons, and right into the group of girls who’d harassed me two weeks earlier. Again, I pressed a smile to my face, greeting them as I passed by and entered the laundry room. While I packed two washers to capacity, I heard the door open behind me and took a step to the side, so that I could see who had entered in the reflection on the dryers.

  Just one girl, Lux, if I remembered correctly. She’d been one of the girls to question Kat as she ripped off my eyebrows.

  “Didn’t think you’d be back,” she whispered.

  “My Master needs laundry.” I snapped the lids closed and switched on each machine. “You all aren’t going to scare me off.”

  I picked up the laundry bags, feeling the weight of the cookies, and moved to the folding table—where I’d been when the girls had attacked me. I pulled the plastic container out of the bag and watched Lux’s eyes widen.

  “I’m not the enemy,” I said, popping off the lid. “I don’t want to be and I don’t think I’m better than anyone.”

  Quite the opposite, in fact. I’d been on the verge of breaking when Miles had taken me in—in my mind that made me weaker than the other girls.

  Taking a cookie for myself, I slid the open container across the table. “Truce?”

  “Kat will be pissed.” She chewed on her lip for a moment, staring at the cookies. Then her hand shot out, grabbing a cookie and shoving it on her mouth. “Oh, my god.”

  She closed her eyes and slowly chewed.

  “Good, I hadn’t made cookies since I was like eight,” I said.

  Lux covered her mouth, laughing while she still had a mouthful of double chocolate chip cookie.

  Two more girls came in, both carrying bags of laundry, but they each stopped as soon as they saw the cookies. I inched the container in their direction. They looked at each other, dropped the laundry, and each grabbed a cookie.

  I didn’t know either of their names and as well as I could remember, neither of them had been around the day I was attacked. “I’m Alley,” I said.

  One of them snorted. “Everyone knows who you are.” She had jet black hair straight to her waist and beautiful golden eyes. “I’m Tryst, and this is Doll.”

  None of us ever used our real names, just the stupid names given to us when we were “acquired.”

  Doll waved but didn’t speak.

  “Doll never talks,” Lux whispered. “And, I know a few other girls who’d love some cookies.”

  Her eyes sparkled as she waited for me to nod, then she darted out the door.

  A few other girls in Lux terminology actually meant more than a dozen, and by the time I’d finished laundry, the room was packed with chattering girls snacking on the last of the cookies. They’d all introduced themselves and thanked me with the looks on their faces when they took a bite of chocolate.

  I hoped that meant I’d at least have someone to watch my back if Kat went at it again.

  When I folded the last of Miles’s clothes, the door burst open one final time.

  “What the hell are y’all doing?” Kat asked.

  “Having a nice afternoon, for once,” Tryst said, rolling her eyes. She was standing next to me folding clothes and nudged me with her elbow. “Any way you can turn this into a regular thing?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Kat scowled at me. The cookies cer
tainly hadn’t won her over. I picked up the container—two cookies remained—and offered them to her, but she batted it out of my hand.

  “Fuck off, Kat,” Gabby said. Unlike many of the other girls in the room, she had been one of the girls who’d joined with Kat to terrorize me. She hadn’t mentioned it, but dropping the whole issue was fine with me. “We all know that’s what you’re best at.”

  * * *

  I got ready in the bedroom while Miles sat in the living room with some strange man who’d showed a little after six. Strangely, he’d seemed as surprised to see me as I had been to see him.

  Ross had sent down a package for me, making me dread the evening even more—black high heels, a sheer black robe, and a bunch of chains and clamps. I had a feeling I was to be the main course rather than an observer this time, and why not since Miles and I had stolen the show last time.

  I’d never win.

  With my hair and makeup finished, I stared into the mirror. Miles entered the room, coming up behind me to squeeze my shoulders, then he leaned over me for a kiss.

  Maybe I might win a little bit, I thought with a smile.

  “Almost ready, Little Dove?” he asked.

  I nodded toward the bed. He took my hand and led me to the bed, then he picked up the chains and took a seat in front of me. He drew my thick black robe open, and closed his mouth around my left nipple, sucking until I had to bite my lip to hold in my reaction. But what came next wasn’t quite as pleasurable. He placed the cold metal over my hardened nipple and tightened until my eyes watered. Then he repeated the process on the other nipple. The chain between the clamps hung down in a Y, connected to a third clamp. The worst clamp.

  Miles pushed my legs apart slightly, then slid his fingers between my legs, rubbing my clit until I could feel the tension build. Then, he took the third clamp and tightened it on the tender and sensitive bundle of nerves.

  “How fast do you think we can get this over with?” I asked, dropping my thick robe to replace it with the sheer one Ross had sent down. Then, I strapped the black heels to my feet and did a little spin for Miles. Every movement nudged or pulled at one of the clamps, but all I could do was push the sensation out of my head.