A Dom and a Sub to Love Read online

  Todd glanced at Victor, a confused look marring his features. Apparently by the looks of it, Victor had hurt two people over something he didn’t remember. He stood quickly and took several steps out of the aftercare area as if extricating himself from being close to Eliza would help her function.

  A tall intimidating man in black leather pants and vest had moved in next to Victor. Authority oozed from him which made Victor nearly kneel again. “What’s going on? Are you all right, Eliza?” he asked, the timbre in his deep voice exuding his Dom-ness.

  Victor remembered the man as being the one who came to the lobby to let the security guard know it was all right to let them in. He spoke to Todd while Victor stood off a bit feeling nervous about meeting a woman he apparently knew. Victor couldn’t remember the man’s name though.

  With a small shake of her head, as if she was clearing her thoughts, Eliza looked up at the newly arrived man. “I’m fine. At least…” She looked back at Victor and then stood. Slowly, she took the several steps up to him, her eyes taking all of him in.

  He knew what he looked like, especially exposed the way he was. Being in a BDSM club, he had to dress in the appropriate manner. He wore a pair of brown leather pants and that was it. Todd was wearing a pair of black leather pants and had opted for a black T-shirt that accentuated his muscular torso, arms, and shoulders.

  The scars had faded over the years on Victor’s body, but they were very visible. The ones on his face were still the worst. There were times when he would be in a store and he could hear people gasp at the sight of him, and then they would turn and whisper, thinking he couldn’t hear them. He looked at himself every day in the mirror when he shaved. He was quite familiar at what Eliza was seeing. By the looks of it, she was appalled by what she saw.

  When she was just inches from him, she stopped. From what little he could remember, the years had been good to her. Her slender but curvaceous body did justice to the corset and shorts she was wearing, and her long legs looked a mile long in those six-inch heels she wore which put her a few inches taller than Victor. Her hair and face were still the same as what he remembered in his head, and her expressive eyes took in everything.

  “What happened to you? You just left me when I needed you most,” she whispered. “How could you do that to me, and to Bobby’s memory?”

  A lump formed in Victor’s throat. Who was Bobby? Did they have a child together?

  Chapter Three

  “I-I…you have to…” He began to shake. Visions began to swim through his head. There was him and Eliza, laughing, doing dishes, making love. However, there was another man with them. A man with dark short hair in an Army uniform who was also making love with him and Eliza. They had been a trio?

  The more he remembered, the more his head hurt. It took him a moment to realize Todd was now standing beside him, an arm wrapped around Victor’s waist.

  Mister Dom-ness to Victor’s left spoke. “Let’s all sit down and discuss this matter so we’re not in everyone’s way.” He raised an arm out towards the aftercare area, indicating where he wanted them. Todd escorted Victor over an ottoman that sat before the couch Todd and Eliza had been sitting on. Todd resumed his seat on the couch, and Mister Dom-ness helped Eliza sit back down.

  Pain and confusion warred on Eliza’s beautiful face as she looked at Victor who was sitting nearly in front of her. A small cry sounded from her before she lowered her eyes. The woman next to her patted Eliza’s forearm and whispered, “It’s going to be all right.”

  Eliza raised her gaze back up to look at Victor. She looked confident and strong, something Victor didn’t have in him at the moment.

  “Eliza, I know seeing Victor must be a shock,” Todd began. “However, due to the injuries he sustained, he doesn’t remember who he is. We’ve tried for six years to find out who he is, but it’s as if there is no record of him. His fingerprints didn’t pull anything up, and whenever we put out pictures of him on the news, no one came forward. We just happened to be watching the news the other night when a story came on about your court case, Eliza, if I may call you that. Victor recalled seeing you before, but not any details. We came here hoping you might be able to clear up his identity, but it apparently seems as if he disappeared on a bad note.”

  When Todd began to speak, Eliza looked at him, and then the confused look she had deepened, Victor felt it was a huge mistake coming here. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say. It would probably be best he remain an enigma. However, he couldn’t bring himself to get up and leave.

  * * * *

  She couldn’t believe that Victor was sitting in front of her, especially looking like he did. The doctor had explained how he had come to be associated with Victor, and now, Eliza felt bad for hating Victor for so long. She didn’t understand how she could have missed seeing any of the news reports where they had been looking to see if anyone would come forward to indicate they knew him, but then again, she had been grieving, and then she moved away.

  Looking deep into Victor’s steel-gray eyes, she could see a blankness that hadn’t been there when she knew him before. She had to hope that what Todd had said was true and that Victor wasn’t using an amnesia excuse to get out of knowing her.

  It was evident a lot of damage had been done to Victor by the roadmap of scars on his face and head. The main one, a jagged scar that began to the lower left of his left eye and ran up into his scalp. It appeared as if someone had to cut open his head, which the kind doctor probably had. It gave Victor a harsher appearance, but he seemed unsure of himself, or perhaps it was the amnesia. If he didn’t know who he was, or anything about his previous life, then the injury to his head was probably what was causing it.

  She leaned forward a bit, resting her arms on her thighs, her hands clasped together tightly. She let out a ragged breath. “Six years ago, I lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I was married to a soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division, stationed out of Fort Bragg. We were in a ménage with you, Victor. In fact, you and Bobby were in a relationship when I met you guys at a nightclub.” She scoffed then smiled. “You two were a force to be reckoned with, pursuing me. You guys came at me separately and together. I kept turning you two down, but you didn’t give up. I finally gave in and went out with you both. You introduced me to the lifestyle.

  “Then, one day, before Bobby was deployed for the first time after we got together, he wanted to make sure I stayed with you, and that I’d be there when he got back. You guys proposed to me. We married at City Hall and had to wait until he got back for our honeymoon. We lived in a house about an hour outside of Fayetteville so that people didn’t know Victor was a part of our relationship, not that we were ashamed of how we lived.”

  “You couldn’t let the Army know you were living in an unethical situation,” Alex McDaniels pointed out. He had been a Navy Seal and had known Bobby from a mission they had been on long before Eliza met Bobby. Due to the lifestyle they were both in, the two men had remained friends.

  Eliza nodded solemnly. “We didn’t like it, but that’s the way it had to be. We weren’t close to anyone on base, so we were able to get away with how we lived, so we were happy. Bobby was the head of our household, and our Dom. I was a submissive back then.”

  Gasps echoed through the club at her admission. Everyone here knew her as a Domme and a strong independent woman. The only one who knew who she was before she came to Denver was Alex.

  Trying hard to avoid the tears that threatened to spill, she found it was a lost cause. For the first time in ages, she felt them fall as she resumed her story.

  “I can still smell the pine trees outside. There was a peach cobbler in the oven and a fresh batch of potato salad on the counter. We were going to a Fourth of July picnic the club was putting on at a park. A time when people could bring their kids and enjoy each other’s company.

  “There was a knock at the door. Victor was on the phone, so I answered it. When I opened the door, there were two Army officers standing ther
e. It was a scene I had heard described by people in the area, but I never imagined it would happen right before my eyes. One of the men was speaking, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying as there was a horrible pounding in my ears. I must have said something for Victor showed up, disbelief on his face. Everything went dark, and when I woke up, Victor was sitting on the floor holding me.

  “Bobby had been killed in action in Afghanistan, an ambush while he and his team were heading out on patrol. He had been deployed two months before that, his second tour. I felt as if my heart was ripped from my chest as my other love held me. I was cold despite the heat and the strong arms around me. Victor kept telling me it would be okay, that we would get through this, but I was so empty.

  “The next day we began to make arrangements, but Victor was acting strange. By that afternoon, he was yelling at someone on the phone, but I was so numb that I didn’t pay attention to what was being said. Then, he came to tell me he had to go to work for a while but that he would be home the next morning. He never came back. I called his office, but I was told he was on a special assignment and couldn’t be reached. I had been deserted twice within a twenty-four-hour period.”

  She couldn’t help the bitterness in her voice as she directed her next comment to Victor. “I waited six months for you to return. Six months of no phone calls, no news. If you went away on a special assignment, you were only gone for a couple weeks, a month at the most. But six months? I knew I had to get away from Fayetteville, from all the reminders of my disastrous life. With the help of one of Bobby’s friends, I moved here and tried to begin all over again.”

  Looking at Todd, she asked, “How was it you couldn’t find out who he was?”

  Todd cleared his throat. “He came across my operating table after he was flown to D.C. I was told he was found in a ditch outside a small town in Virginia. There was no identification found on him. It appeared he had been in a bad accident, but a lot of his injuries were indicative of a beating with a heavy object. The police took his fingerprints, but nothing.”

  “He worked for the FBI,” Eliza exclaimed. “His fingerprints would have been on file. How could that be?”

  “If he was on assignment, it was possible his handlers would have stopped the release of his information,” Alex said sadly. “If the job would put Victor’s life in danger, they would do everything possible to keep him safe. Did you talk to his boss when you called to find out where he was?”

  “I did. But I never told him about Bobby’s passing because I didn’t want to out Victor.”

  Silence reigned for a few moments as everyone seemed to be absorbing her tale. Eliza realized all the scenes must have ceased for she couldn’t hear any of the usual sounds of moans, groans, whips, or toys. Looking around her, she found she had an audience. Panic began to rise within her as she hated to be the target of sympathy or judgement in her personal life. Besides, now, her life had been laid before people who had taken her class here at the club and she was an authority figure of sorts. She didn’t want anyone’s pity.

  “Excuse me.” She heard Carrie Newton’s voice. Letting her gaze move around the crowd, she saw several people step apart from each other and Carrie came through. She walked up to the couch and then knelt down at Eliza’s feet.

  Carrie was the girlfriend of Thomas Thompson and Gerard Monahan. Thomas was the dungeon monitor here at the club, and Gerard was the head of security. Eliza was certain Carrie was probably just sitting around with Thomas while he worked. Gerard would have been either out front or in the security booth.

  “Are you all right, Mistr…Eliza?” Carrie corrected herself quickly. She had been through Eliza’s class when she first came to the Tiger’s Lair, and that’s where she had met her two men. After a while, Eliza had told Carrie to call her Eliza, to drop the Mistress, as they were too close for her to continue using the moniker.

  Putting on a fake smile, Eliza nodded. “I-I’m just overwhelmed.”

  With the pat of her hand on Eliza’s knee, Carrie softly said, “I know, sweetie. Why don’t we go somewhere private and talk?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, Eliza nodded. A show of force by the women that were in relationships with some of the men from Alex’s old Seal team was evident as the ladies’ stepped forward, all in fetish wear but looking determined to help. The subs were intent on overriding her stature in the club and helping her out.

  “Why don’t you guys go on up to the Roman room. There’s plenty of room to sit and talk,” Jackson Malone, the assistant manager of the Tiger’s Lair, said as he stepped up behind the couch to stand behind his woman, Abigail. Abigail was the one who had come over to exam Eliza after she had fainted. “We’ll bring in extra chairs and some food and drink while you ladies talk.”

  The show of support by the women whom she saw nearly every time she was in the club and who were a part of Alex’s team was overwhelming. Heat rushed through her at the thought of baring her soul to these women for they weren’t close to her, or rather, she wasn’t close to them. But something told her to go for it. Nodding, she agreed. “Okay.”

  Doctor Todd and Victor stood quickly as she began to get up. Todd held her elbow as if wanting to make sure she was steady on her feet, but she still lost her balance and fell into his arms. Tendrils of desire coursed through her body at the feel of more than just his hand or fingers touching her body.

  He was a handsome man, probably fortyish. Short dark brown hair, like dark chocolate, was a halo as it was backlit by the dim lights of the club. His eyes were just as dark as his hair, if not darker. He had a light layer of scruff on his jaw, but he had a fuller mustache, but one that wasn’t too long. Beneath her hands as she tried to right herself, she felt the hard muscles that must have taken a long time to develop, his T-shirt hiding them on his torso but revealing his arms.

  Todd helped her back up while Victor seemed a bit tentative about touching her. If he had amnesia like Todd had said, Victor was probably seeing her as a new woman in his life instead of the former lover.

  “Are you okay?” Todd asked, his voice curling its way through her body and down to her clit. Her nipples beaded against the silky material that lined her corset, and for the first time in ages, she felt sexy and aroused.

  Nodding, she released her hold on him. She looked at Victor and found him watching her with heat in his gaze. Letting her gaze slip downwards, she recognized the hard, thick ridge in his leathers, and an image of him naked assailed her mind. She was pretty sure she had felt Todd’s cock when she had fallen into him. Was it possible they could be interested in her?

  She didn’t know how she felt about that thought, but it did give her a thrill. Only time would tell how things would work out with Victor.

  A hand on her elbow from Carrie told Eliza the woman really wanted to talk to her. Being a therapist was a big part of who Carrie was, and it seemed as if she was wanting to help her.

  Chapter Four

  Carrie could sympathize with Eliza. It took a lot for a person to shed their personality and rebuild it into a totally new one. Carrie had done it when she had decided to become a self-reliant woman, instead of walking in her alcoholic mother’s footsteps. Not wanting the same life as her mother, Carrie had gotten herself through high school with good grades, and then gotten a partial scholarship for college. Then on top of that she worked through college to take care of herself.

  Eliza had reinvented herself into a dominant woman who was in control of her life. However, that didn’t mean she was weak as a submissive. It took a strong person to allow someone to dominate you. It took trust and gumption to give up control to someone with a whip or even some of your freedom. Carrie had put her trust in her two men, letting them help her, not just financially, but also in taking care of her. Thomas was the Dom in the family, the head of their little menage, and yet Gerard shared in the duties of making sure Carrie was safe, secure, and happy.

  The dominant person from Eliza’s past was gone, and he wasn't coming back. Her submi
ssive counterpart came back and was now seeking a place in her life again. That must be sending Eliza's mind in so many different directions. And, to top it off, he didn’t remember a lot of his past due to the amnesia.

  Looking at Thomas and Gerard, Carrie knew Eliza was going to need to talk this out. Carrie held Eliza in the highest regard as a mentor in the lifestyle, and she considered her a dear friend. With a glance around the aftercare area they were sitting in, Carrie spotted Emma, the owner of the Tiger’s Lair’s wife, along with Abigail, Savannah, Missy, and Clara, and Carrie knew it was time for a girls’ evening, starting now

  “Sweetie,” Carrie addressed a still shocked Eliza. “Let's go on up to the room for us ladies to talk in. I think you'd feel better that way than everyone watching as they are here.”

  Eliza slowly took in her surroundings, turned a bright shade of pink, and then nodded.

  Alex gave a nod to Eliza in support. “We'll wait around for you guys to finish.”

  “But, by all means, take your time,” Jackson said with care. Alex took Eliza’s hand in his. Eliza looked at Victor, gave a sad smile, and then let Alex lead her up the middle staircase. Carrie and the other ladies followed behind, with some of their men taking up the rear.

  As she reached the mid-landing area on the staircase where she could still see the club floor, Carrie saw that all the scenes had ceased, and people were packing up for the night. It was out of respect for Eliza due to the fact she was loved by everyone, and she was the one who had taught a lot of the club members in their entry classes. Some, she had shaped into the Doms or subs they were now, even helping some realize they were the opposite of what they had identified with when they began their journey into the lifestyle.

  As all the ladies settled into the room, Carrie looked around. She hadn’t been in this room before.