Chapter Fifteen
~ Daniel ~
My head was a bit groggy from the sedative Patty had given me, but I was aware enough to know something was wrong. Patty said I'd be taken to a hospital room and then my master would join me.
This was not a hospital room.
It wasn't even a room.
I wasn't sure where I was, but I could see bright blue sky above me and cold cement below. I was lying on the ground next to something that was cold, hard, and metal.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position and glanced around. It unnerved me a bit that I could see the rooftops of other buildings surrounding me.
The last thing I remember was Patty giving me something to help me relax and then someone wheeling out of the emergency room. I'd woken up here, which I was pretty sure was a rooftop.
How had that happened?
I had to brace myself on the metal structure behind me as I pushed myself to my feet. My legs were shaking and my head was still a bit foggy.
I took a couple of steps to try and figure out where I was and then wished that I hadn't when I saw how far up I was. I quickly backed away from the edge and started searching for a way down.
Down was good.
When I spotted a gray door, I hurried toward it, but it opened before I got there and my worst nightmare stepped out with a malicious smile on his face.
"Hello, Danny boy."
I swallowed tightly and took another step back. "What are you doing here, William? The police are looking for you."
"Oh, I'm sure they are, but they will never catch me. They are looking for William." He pointed to the badge on his pocket. "My name is Harry."
I shook my head. "They'll still catch you." I'd blab as loud as I could the moment I got out of here.
When William started walking toward me as if he was taking an evening stroll—he even had his hands in the pockets of his pants—I turned and took off running, hoping to find another way to get down to the ground floor.
I screamed when I was grabbed from behind. William sank his fingers into my hair and pulled, driving me to the edge of the roof. I grunted when the railing hit me in the stomach. I gripped the edge tightly when William gave me a shove and dropped down to my knees, refusing to move.
"You little shit," William snarled into my ear. "I had the perfect set-up and you had to go and screw it up. Do you know how much money I owe because of you?"
Did I care?
"It's not my fault." I grit my teeth and ripped my hair out of William's hold. "I'm not the one that decided to sell people. It's wrong and the police are going to catch you and make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars."
"Oh, please." William's eyes rolled dramatically. "People get sold every day and no one cares."
"I care."
I sucked in a breath when I heard Jackson's voice. I started to look beyond William to find him, but screamed instead when William grabbed me, putting me between him and Jackson...and a whole lot of other people.
I knew a few of them, but most were strangers.
A few were police officers.
Tears sprouted to my eyes when I saw the person I wanted to see most. "Jackson."
He sent me a small smile. "It's going to be okay, Daniel." His eyes flickered to something behind me. "Just don't move, not a single inch."
Huh?
"Let him go, William," Jackson continued. "If you hurt him, I can assure you that you will get the death penalty. If you let him go, it'll just be prison time."
William snorted. "I'm not going to prison."
Jackson's grin was wicked. "Your choice."
A moment later I heard a grunt and then something wet splashed against the back of my neck. Jackson raced forward and grabbed me, yanking me into his arms.
Before I could figure out what was going on, he swung me up into his arms and started carrying me toward the gray door I'd seen before. Four men dressed in black suits surrounded us, two in front and two behind.
We were ushered off the roof and down a set of stairs to another door. Once through that door, we were escorted to an elevator. I wasn't sure which floor we stopped on because Jackson kept my face pressed to his neck.
As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Jackson carried me out and down the hallway. He stopped at one of the rooms and carried me inside. I didn't realize what it was until he carried me into the bathroom and set me in a standing shower.
"Take off your clothes and hand them to me one at a time," Jackson ordered as he grabbed a large plastic bag off the back of the toilet. "Try not to touch them too much."
Jackson was being weird.
I unbuttoned my shirt and peeled it off before handing it to Jackson and then went to work on my pants. The hospital hadn't given me anything to change into yet so I was still wearing my street clothes.
Once I was naked, Jackson shoved everything into the bag and then set it aside. He reached over and turned on the shower, holding his hand under the water for a moment.
"Okay, I want you to close your eyes while I rinse you off."
Still weird, but whatever.
I closed my eyes and then waited. A moment later I felt warm water spraying on my head and then my body. Jackson seemed to be spending extra attention to the back of my head and my back.
I just stood there, glorying in the feeling of Jackson touching me all over. If he wanted to scrub me down, I wasn't going to argue.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
I opened my eyes to find Jackson standing in front of me with a big fluffy white towel in his hands. When I stepped into it, Jackson started drying me off.
He only stopped when someone knocked on the door.
"Jack, I have some clean clothes for Daniel," Jake called out through the door.
Jackson stepped over and opened the door just wide enough to accept the small pile of clothes Jake held out to him, exchanging it for the bag of dirty clothes.
The two men whispered between them for a moment before Jackson closed the door and walked back over to me. "Get dressed, baby."
Jackson crossed his arms and stood there watching me as I dressed in the clothes Jake had brought. Considering we were in a hospital, I was a little surprised that it wasn't a hospital gown. Instead, Jake had supplied a pair of soft baby blue lounge pants, a white cotton t-shirt, a dark navy sweater, and socks.
As soon as I was dressed, Jackson swung me up into his arms again and carried me out to the main room. He set me down on the bed and then sat down beside me, grabbed my hand in a death grip, and then faced Jake.
"What did the police say?" Jackson asked.
"They caught William's accomplice trying to escape through the parking garage. He spilled his guts as soon as he was in cuffs."
I frowned. "Accomplice?"
"William wasn't working alone, Daniel," Jackson explained. "We knew this, but we had no idea who he was working with." He grimaced as he glanced at Jake for a moment. "Do you remember the doctor who abused you?"
I swallowed tightly as I nodded.
"He was William's brother. Once his brother went to prison, William stepped up and took over the nasty things he was doing. You weren't the first person that asshole abused before he was caught. There have been others."
"We don't think William knew who you were when he went to work for Jack's father. He wanted the connections he could make in elite social circles. It wasn't until later that he learned you were his brother's victim."
"Is that why he wanted to sell me?"
"Yes, but I think it's also why he tried to throw you off the roof. He was afraid you'd recognize him and he couldn't allow that. If you made the connection to his brother, it could have brought his whole scam down."
I edged closer to Jackson. "Are they going to put him into prison with his brother then?"
I could hope.
Jackson squinted at me before turning so he was facing me. "Daniel, William is dead."
I blinked at him. "Dead?"
"The police used a sharp shooter. I thought you knew that."
I shuddered as I remembered the wet spray that had hit me on the back of my neck. "Is that why you had me shower?"
"You had blood all over you and the police needed your clothes for evidence."
Yuck.
"So, he's dead?"
"William is dead and his accomplice is in police custody," Jake stated. "Like I said, he's spilling his guts as we speak. I imagine by the time the police are done, he'll have given up the names of everyone that was working with them."
I shuddered to think of how many people that might be.
"Can we go home now?"
Jackson smiled as he drew me into his arms. "Yeah, baby, we can go home now."
Home sounded fantastic. I just wasn't sure if it was mine anymore. I glanced up at Jackson with more trepidation than I had ever felt in my life. "Are you staying, sir?"
"Yes, Daniel, I'm staying."
"With me?"
Jackson grinned as he cupped my jaw with his fingers. "Of course with you. You belong to me, don't you?"
I wanted to say yes, but... "I promise I won't touch you anymore."
Jackson sighed and pulled me close again. "I hope you do, Daniel. That night was my fault. Not yours. I left because I felt I had taken advantage of you, that you might not have been with me if you had the choice."
"If I hadn't wanted to be with you, I would have used my safe word."
Jackson brushed the hair back from my face, his smile wobbling just a bit. "I know that now, Daniel, but I didn't know that at the time. This whole master thing is new to me."
Seriously?
"You're good at it," I assured him. "You make a good master."
"Yeah?"
I nodded vigorously.
Jackson made a great master.
* * * *
"Do you know what this is, Daniel?"
I glanced at the black velvet box in Jackson's hand, staring at the silver necklace inside. "It's a necklace?"
The way he asked, I wasn't sure.
"This is a collar, Daniel, with an infinity lock. Do you know what that means?"
Of course I knew what that meant. I'd had collars before. Just never one with an infinity lock. Once it was put on, it never came off.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm only going to ask you this once. Will you wear my collar? Will you be my boy and let me be your master? Once I put it on, it will never come off."
When I opened my mouth, Jackson quickly held up his hand. "Before you answer, you need to know a few things."
I clenched my hands to keep from reaching for the collar and then nodded.
"There will be rules for you. You already know the two most important."
"Always use my safe word if I need it and always be honest."
"Very good, but there will be more rules. I expect you to do all the cooking unless we're not home. You will also be expected to do the day to day cleaning. A maid will come in twice a week to do the deeper stuff, but the day to day stuff will be up to you."
That wasn't a problem, so I nodded again. "Yes, sir."
"I'm going to implement morning spankings for you because I believe it will help settle you down for the day."
I'd been spanked before so that wasn't an issue either. "No whips, right?"
"No, no whips." Jackson shook his head. "This is about centering yourself, not pain. There will be times when I push you, but I will never purposely cause you pain."
"Okay."
"The other thing was something Jake does with Jai and I think it's a good idea. It's going to take some work on your part, however." Jackson paused for a moment as if unsure if he should continue. "There are some online courses I want you to take so you can learn about what I do. The rest you'll learn on the job."
My brow furrowed in confusion. "On the job, sir?"
"You're going to be my personal assistant."
"Isn't Edward your assistant?"
"Edward is my executive assistant. You will be my personal assistant. That means you will be going everywhere with me. When I have meetings, when I travel, everywhere. I don't want you out of my sight while I'm at work. I want you where I can see you at all times."
I knew the kidnapping by William had scared Jackson, probably more than it had scared me, but it wasn't like I had an issue with being with him day in and day out. I didn't like being away from my master anymore than he did.
"Okay."
Jackson's eyebrows shot up. "You agree?"
"Yes, sir."
Jackson grinned as he pulled the necklace out of the case and then clasped it around my neck. "That's master to you."
I was okay with that, too.