Chapter 1 of “Slave”
Stephan
Geno’s was a small Italian restaurant about a mile from my office. Theyhad good food and a cozy atmosphere, which made it a great place to havean informal meeting with an old friend.The hostess greeted me at the door and let me know that my party hadalready been seated. She escorted me through a maze of tables to a cornerbooth in the back.The restaurant was busy, but not packed. Still, getting the back cornerbooth with no one sitting at any of the immediate tables surrounding it toldme either luck was with Daren today or he’d pulled some strings. My betwas on the strings.Daren, my college roommate for two years, had called out of the blue thismorning, asking if we could have lunch. He introduced me to the lifestyleI’ve lived for the last five years. Although he’d graduated a year ahead ofme, we’d kept in touch through e-mails and the occasional phone call. UntilI ran into him last month at a BDSM party, I hadn’t seen him since hisgraduation day.My Mentor was always more social than me, so seeing him at a partywasn’t exactly a shock. I just wasn’t aware that he had moved back toMinneapolis. It had been a pleasant surprise.Sitting down across from my friend, I took the menu from the hostess.“Kelly will be around to get your drink orders in a minute.”Thanking her, I set the menu down without looking at it and faced Daren.He was nearly my exact opposite. Where I had brown hair, he had blond.His eyes were a baby blue, whereas mine were a vivid hazel. I was tall andlanky, even though I’d buffed up some since college. Daren, on the otherhand, was four inches shorter and could have easily passed as a bodybuilder.Today he looked nervous, which was rather unusual for him. Not unheardof, but definitely not common either. Needless to say, it piqued mycuriosity.“So do you want to tell me what’s up?”“I will in a minute,” he said, looking over my shoulder. His behavior gaveme a negative feeling. “Do you know what you want, Stephan?”“Yes. I come here all the time.”“Good.” He sounded relieved.And then Kelly was there asking for our orders.As soon as she left, I raised my eyebrow in question, but he ignored me.“You’re still running the family business, I see.”“Yes,” I said, not sure what he was getting at. I doubted it had anything todo with why he’d called me. “I’m still head of The Coleman Foundation,but since it’s a not-for-profit, I’m not sure you could say it’s the familybusiness.”He waved it away. “Same thing.”I waited, but he didn’t continue so I decided to play along. “You’re stillconsulting?”Daren released a sharp breath. “Yeah.” He leaned toward me. “Are youstill looking to collar a sub?”So that’s what this was about? “If I find the right one, yes.” I noticed hisshoulders relax, and he sat back a little. “What does that have to do withanything?” I asked, truly confused.The subject that I did not currently have a submissive came up during ourconversation last month at the party. I hadn’t played with anyone in the lastsix months. No one had struck my fancy, and most of them reminded metoo much of Tami.Daren had been with his submissive, Gina, since college. They were wellmatched in likes and dislikes and were much more open in theirrelationship than I personally preferred. I did not share my submissives, nordid I play with others when in a relationship. Many did, like Daren andGina, but I’d never found it to be appealing. What was mine was mine.Kelly came back with our drinks, so Daren waited for her to leave againbefore answering. “Because I found a girl for you.”“Daren,” I warned, shaking my head. This was another no on my list. Ididn’t enjoy being set up. Logan, my best friend, and his girl, Lily, had triedto set me up more times than I could count. I wasn’t interested.“Hear me out. She needs your help.”This aroused my curiosity. “What do you mean she needs my help?”“I know how much you like to help people, Stephan. I mean, look at whatyou do.”I was in complete disbelief. “Helping fund medical care for those whocan’t afford it is a little different than taking on a submissive. Is she alreadya trained sub? Is she looking for a Dom?”“She’s a slave.”A slave. I didn’t have a problem with that, fundamentally. It was acomplete power exchange. Slaves gave up all control of their lives, theirbodies, to their Master or Mistress. Some women, and even some men,choose to be slaves. For most slaves it was a comfort to have someone elsemake the decisions in their lives for them, to give up complete control tosomeone else. That didn’t sound like the case here if she needed my help.“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word, still not quite sure where Daren wasgoing with this.“I was at a party Saturday night. She was there. Her name is Brianna, andshe belongs to Ian Pierce.”I knew of Ian solely by reputation. I’d never met him personally. He waswell-known in the community, but from what I heard, he was into pain andhumiliation. And he already had a slave. “What happened to his other one?”“Oh, she’s still there. Alex was at the party as well. Brianna is a newacquisition.”“And you don’t think she wants to be?”“No,” he said firmly. “I don’t.”“Maybe she’s into what Ian does.”“Trust me, she’s not,” he said, shaking his head. Then he added, “Iwouldn’t have come to you otherwise. And if you had seen her Saturdaynight, you would know it, too.”I considered this bit of information. There was no doubt in my mind thatDaren believed what he was saying. If this girl didn’t wish to be Ian’s slave,I couldn’t sit by and do nothing. How to help her was the problem. Myoptions were limited.“What do you want from me exactly? It’s not like I can call the police andhave them storm the place just on my word. Or yours for that matter.”He leaned in again, clasping his hands in front of him, but then had topull back when our food arrived. Daren took a bite, and then looked mestraight in the eye. “I have a collared sub, or I’d do it myself. Plus,” he saidwith a smirk, “you have more money than I do.”It was then I got it. “You want me to buy her.” It wasn’t a question, andhe didn’t deny it. The thought of “buying” a woman turned my stomach,but if what Daren said was true, I couldn’t just leave her there.I needed more information and ignored my food as it grew cold on myplate. “What makes you think he’d be willing to part with his property?”Daren gave me a devilish smile. This was the Dom I knew. He could bequite twisted when he wanted to be. “I asked,” he said with a shrug of hisshoulders. “In fact, I told him about you. Said you might be giving him acall.”“You what?” I nearly shouted. I couldn’t believe he’d told this man Imight be interested in anything without talking to me, let alone thepurchase of another human being.Daren looked around us, and I followed his gaze. Everyone in therestaurant was looking at us. That was something we definitely didn’t need,so I lowered my voice to almost a whisper. “Explain.”“Look, when I saw the girl, I thought of you. She has brown hair and blueeyes. I know how much you like brunettes.”I scowled, but he ignored me. “She’s really pretty, and scared to deathfrom what I could see,” he said pointedly before continuing. “So I simplyasked Ian if he was planning to keep her now that she was fully trained. Heasked if I was interested. I told him no, but that I knew of someone whomight be.” He shrugged. “I didn’t tell him you’d be looking for asubmissive, though, Stephan. If you do this, you’ll have to go in acting likeyou’re looking for a slave.”My mind raced. If I did buy her, what would I do with her? What wouldshe be like?I couldn’t just leave her there that was certain, not if she was there againsther will. It just wasn’t in me. If I could help, then I had to.Could I do what needed to be done? Could I treat a woman like a piece ofmeat? Buy her?But how could I not, given the alternative?“Okay.”
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