Sir Avery's Wish to Keep Him Safe

Prologue

Eli grinned as he drove back home to the Valley from West Hollywood.

His friend Lenny was right. Kiss of Leather was an amazing kink club, the exact kind of place he’d been looking for.

Even though he was a complete newbie to the scene, he hadn’t felt uncomfortable there at all.

The last two clubs he’d checked out hadn’t seemed very keen on protocol, and he’d bailed.

“Thanks, man. That place was sick.” Eli thought his wide smile might split his face. He chuckled at the visual.

Lenny sleepily glanced his way. While Eli watched a demonstration with tickling and spanking, Lenny had gone to a private room and gotten a good flogging. He was still all blissed out.

“Hey, no problem. This Dom I hooked up with on a kink site told me about it. I figured you’d dig it.” Lenny let out a huge yawn, complete with an operatic sound effect.

“Damn, dude! My ears.”

They both fell into a round of laughter, then Lenny groaned. “Ow, my head. The Dom I worked with gave me great aftercare, but I haven’t been so good about getting enough sleep lately. Too much going out.”

Eli signaled to connect to the next freeway heading west across the expansive San Fernando Valley.

“I thought Doms were supposed to make sure you took care of yourself and all that.”

Lenny stretched and yawned again, but this time without the sound effect. “Well, yeah. If you have a contract. This was just a one-off. He took care of me after the flogging, but then we both went our separate ways.”

“Oh. Okay.” So far, all Eli had done was hang out and watch demos. He had a vague understanding of everything, but he was still learning. And oh, how he ached to learn by doing. “So you’re not going to see that guy again?”

Lenny gave a small shrug. “I dunno. Maybe. He was all right. We didn’t exchange info or anything. We might hook up if we happen to be at the club together again.”

Eli was too embarrassed to comment that he was searching for something steadier.

He didn’t think he could be that vulnerable with different guys all the time.

If he got with a Dom, he’d want to at least go into it with the idea of trying for a long-term thing.

However, he didn’t want to admit that to his buddy in case it sounded too judgy.

Maybe he was being naive. Maybe that wasn’t how it worked in the kink community.

Not that he expected forever and ever on a first date.

But if he was going to tread into new and scary territory, he didn’t want it to be with someone who wasn’t hoping for something more eventually.

And now that his twenty-fifth birthday was around the corner, kink or no kink, he was getting weary of the hook-up scene.

Eli signaled again, this time to exit the freeway.

Only a few more blocks and they’d be at Lenny’s Encino apartment, which he shared with two other guys.

It was the only way he could afford to live in the nice neighborhood.

Even waiting tables at one of the trendier cafes on Ventura Boulevard barely kept him afloat.

Eli knew how he felt.

Lenny straightened in his seat as if preparing to move his body once they reached their destination.

“You wanna crash tonight?” Lenny cracked his knuckles. “I have a shift at eleven, so we could grab breakfast at Denny’s before I go in.”

“Can’t.” Eli turned down Lenny’s street. “I have to be at the hotel by six. Gotta get all those sheets and towels sparkling white before check-in at two.”

“Ugh. No offense, but I couldn’t do that job. Why don’t you let me ask my boss if there are any openings? You could make bank there.”

Eli sighed as he pulled into the alley next to the apartment and shut off the engine.

Parking spaces on the street were a miracle that rarely happened.

But he wanted to take a few minutes to ask Lenny about where he worked.

Maybe he should try something different, even though he had no restaurant experience.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe one day he’d make a decision. Eli rolled his eyes. He’d have a better chance of finding a parking space.

He angled his body toward Lenny. “That place is pretty fancy. I doubt your boss wants someone who’s never waited before on his staff.”

Lenny rubbed his chin. “Well, you’d probably have to start off as a dishwasher, then move up from there.”

Eli arched his eyebrows. “So instead of washing fabrics, I’d be washing china. Got it.”

Lenny smirked. “At least you wouldn’t be in a dark, damp basement all day.”

“I could be in a hot, stuffy kitchen instead. I see your point.”

Lenny gave him a playful punch in the arm. “Whatever, dude. I’m just trying to help.”

Eli laughed and rubbed his arm. “I know, I know. One of the problems is that unless I got out of there in the early afternoon or only worked weekends, which wouldn’t be enough hours, it would interfere with my class schedule.”

“Oh yeah, that.” Lenny winced. “Again. please don’t take offense. But how many different majors have you had in the last six years? Three? Four? It might be time to pick a career that doesn’t require schooling. Because at this rate, you’ll be in school until retirement.”

Eli was about to make a retort, but the words stuck in his throat. Lenny had hit too close to home.

Lenny dragged his palm across the top of his head.

“Look, man. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a dick.

But you can’t keep going on like this. You still live with your parents, and…

” He pressed his lips together. “It’s cool that you pay rent there and help out, I’m sure they appreciate it.

But wouldn’t starting your own life before you’re a quarter of a century old be even better? ”

Ouch.

Eli sucked in a breath to respond when the sound of squealing tires behind them stopped him short.

“What the…?”

Lenny twisted around, looking over his shoulder. “Fuck. It’s a black SUV. I bet it’s the cops busting us for being parked in the alley.”

Eli drew his eyebrows. “That’s a crime?”

Lenny huffed. “If they think we’re hiding in the alley to do a drug deal, it is.”

Before Eli could argue that they had nothing to worry about because they weren’t doing anything wrong, a blonde woman in a white mini dress came tumbling from the passenger side of the SUV.

Eli gasped, and Lenny called out, ‘Holy shit!’ as the woman raced past them, screaming.

Eli barely registered the shot to her head before she face-planted in the alley a few feet beyond his car.

The urge to vomit was real.

“Go, Eli! Get the fuck out of here!”

A gunshot shattering the glass of his rear windshield jolted him into action, and he revved up the engine of his restored Chevy Nova before tearing down the alley, swerving around the woman and sideswiping a dumpster before righting the vehicle again.

He gritted his teeth, his fingers clutching the wheel in a death grip.

His heart hammered as another shot rang out behind him. The sound of metal hitting metal—his bumper, maybe his trunk—sent ice through his veins. Eli floored the accelerator, his small sedan lurching forward as he burst from the alley onto the residential street.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

The words tumbled from his lips in a breathless chant as he checked his rearview mirror. The black SUV's headlights blazed behind him, gaining ground. His hands trembled on the steering wheel, slick with sweat.

He had to get to the main road. Traffic. Witnesses. Safety.

Eli took the corner too fast, his tires squealing against the asphalt.

The SUV followed, its engine roaring like some predatory beast. His mind raced—should he head for the police station?

But where was it? He knew of one at the other end of the Valley, but he wasn’t sure they’d make it that far before they were toast.

“Go faster!” Lenny yelled, one hand splayed against the passenger side window, the other against the dashboard.

“Call 911!” That seemed like a better plan. Then a chilling, gut-churning thought hit him. “No, don’t!”

Eli smacked Lenny’s phone out of his hand, and it went flying into the backseat.

“Hey!” Lenny leaned over the seat, his butt in the air as he felt around for the missing phone.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Eli took another corner too fast, the rear of the car fishtailing before righting itself again.

“Whoaaaa…” Lenny tumbled around in the front seat, his body slamming against the door. “Dammit, Eli. That was a stupid move.”

“We witnessed a murder!” Eli wracked his brain, desperate to outrun the SUV, needing to hide somewhere so he could have a chance to think straight.

“Yeah, no shit. That’s the point of calling the police.”

Eli checked the rearview mirror, noting that the SUV was further back now. If he could only make a few more turns without the killers catching up again, he could lose them and pull in somewhere to hide.

“No way,” Eli could barely catch his breath as if he were running rather than driving.

“Don’t you get it? We have no idea what that was all about.

What if it’s like a big gang, or organized crime, or whatever?

Once they found out who we were, they’d send someone to wipe us out before we could testify. ”

Lenny dropped his head in his hands. “Oh, God. I’m going to puke.”

Eli shook, his body vibrating as though he’d jumped into an icy lake. “I think…” He licked his lips, his eyes darting back and forth between the rearview mirror and the road. “I think we might’ve lost them.” He slowed a little, making the next several turns without the sound of screeching.

And without leaving tread marks.

Eli took several deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing. He glanced around to get his bearings, amazed at how far he’d traveled so quickly.

“Okay, I don’t see them anymore. But I’m going to head north instead of continuing west, just in case.”

Lenny raised his head. “Back to Hollywood? Let’s just go to your place. You can put the car in the garage to hide it. It’s not like they know who we are.”

Eli’s eyes burned. A sickening reality slammed into him.

“They don’t know who you are. But what if they got my license plate number?

” He hitched a sob. “How long before they show up at my apartment? And I don’t dare drag my parents into this nightmare.

I’d never recover if anything happened to them. ”

“Daaaaamn…” Lenny crossed his arms over his middle, rocking back and forth. “You’re fucked.”

Eli fought back tears. “No kidding.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Look, is there someone you can stay with for a few days? I wouldn’t go back to your place for a while.”

Lenny snorted. “You mean ever. I’m never setting foot in Encino again, much less that apartment.”

“Well, for now. Where can I drop you?”

“Huh? Where are you going to go?”

Eli’s shoulders slumped, a horrible realization filling him. “The bus station.”