Little Savage

Chapter One-4

“Social skills? It’s not social skills she needs but a master.”

Marcus’ eyes lit up. “Exactly! You can be that master. You know her world. You know how to deal with submissive women and their needs. I’m not suggesting that you make her your slave, just lay down rules, give her structure, enough so she feels stable and able to live successfully on her own. There’s no one I know who’d be better suited for the role. It’s just temporary.”

Daniel looked at him distrustful and annoyed. “No. No. A thousand times no!”

“Are you sure?”

“What? How much more simple can I make it? There’s not an ounce of me that would consider anything so ridiculous. I don’t know the first thing about nurturing a young woman back to sanity. That’s for psychiatrics and counselors, not a former mercenary with a lot of black stains on his character, not to mention his resume.”

Unperturbed, Marcus studied him a moment—looking for another angle of attack—then finally shrugged and breathed out, not hiding his disappointment. “Okay. I understand. It was just a passing thought anyway. A shot in the dark.” He downed the rest of his drink. “But I still need to find an appropriate place for her, which brings me back to square one. She’ll likely end up on the street with no means to take care of herself. You place her with social services, that’s sure to be the final outcome. Maybe a halfway house, or she’ll be…” his expression turned thoughtful and perturbed. He didn’t finish.

“Institutionalized,” Daniel said it without wincing. “Which may be exactly what she needs. It sounds to me as though she might have some psychological problems that have nothing to do with b**m. I’m not capable of dealing with that. I don’t have the time or talent. C’mon, Marcus.”

Marcus shrugged, letting the defeat quickly pass. “Like I said. A shot in the dark.”

“Like you said,” Daniel agreed. It was easy to write people off—he’d been doing it without remorse for years. He’d never even laid eyes on the girl, what did he care about some dispirited waif who put herself in the situation in the first place? She was probably more savvy than anyone was giving her credit for. Leave it to the authorities to figure out. The authorities. As if they knew what any man or woman really needed. Still, he could look at Marcus and be glad she wasn’t his responsibility.

“I’m going to the estate this weekend and I need to take her then. I know it would likely be an imposition but I would be grateful if you’d accompany me just in case I need a little assistance in prying her loose?”

Daniel eyed him suspiciously.

“I promise. I won’t try to dump her on you. I swear. That was a bad idea. However, I’m not sure how she’ll respond to me or to leaving. I wouldn’t want to have to call the police, or even social services just yet. I’d rather ease her out…” He waited while Daniel mulled the thought. “Think of it as a pleasant day in the country. Catch up on old times. You’ll be helping me a lot. I’m not one with…well…you know, who’s use to this sort of thing. s*x for me is strictly safe, sane and consensual, not all that much different than real life… except when my sadistic streak kicks in with a bang.”

Seeing the worry in his friend’s face, he let the poor guy off the hook. “I suppose if you need a hand in dispensing with her I can do that.”

Marcus brightened. “See. There you go. Dispensing with her. Only someone with your mind-set and experience can so coolly refer to what we’ll need to do.”

“You could just start with social services…”

“No. I want her handled gently.”

“And you think they can’t do that?”

“And respect who she is? No. There’s a Domme in Baltimore who’s agreed to be a temporary way station. She’ll take her for one week, although I can hope that something will fall into place there and she won’t have to leave. At least Lady M will speak her language. She should be able to pry the girl open a bit. If necessary, I think she’ll do a better job at explaining her situation to whatever system she ends up in.”

“Why the hell didn’t you mention that before?” Daniel shot back.

Marcus laughed. “You know when I came here, this trip to the estate was all I was going to ask you about…then seeing you with Michelle, I got this crazy notion that you might… Anyway, how about a long day in the country?” Marcus looked cool on the surface but he was nervous and agitated and became more so the longer he waited for Daniel’s reply. Daniel was about to speak, but the younger man suddenly added, “There’s also Brauer’s computer…the one he used for his underground businesses…”

“That’s supposed to sweeten the deal?”

“I’ve not been able to hack into the thing. I thought you might be the man for that, too.”

“I was a well-paid criminal not a techno terrorist.” He purposely downplayed his computer savvy, seeing no benefit for him in spending hours trying to break into Brauer’s files.

Marcus returned the cagey look, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “However, if Brauer’s files were of some interest to you…?” His brows lifted, hoping to see even an inkling of interest from the former mercenary.

“If they were of some interest to me. I doubt that’s the case.”

“But maybe you’d like to know for sure?”

“Brauer’s underworld activities haven’t been on anyone’s watch list that I know of. If he was anything more than a kinky b**m lifestyler I’d be greatly surprised. If he did dump his cast offs on slave traders in the Middle East it wasn’t through anyone I’m acquainted with. As far as the computer is concerned, you can get into it as easily as I can. We have the same resources for that. But this really isn’t about the computer, is it? This is about the girl.”

“But my offer is still on the table…just a day in the county, Dan. And the computer is yours, too.”

There’d always been something sad and vulnerable about Marcus that Daniel despised. He could feel that now, tugging at him like some nagging brat. The girl had obviously gotten under his skin. To save the man from himself he wouldn’t turn him down. If nothing else, he’d be sure that she was taken to the Domme and everything about that situation was nailed down so he wouldn’t find his friend doing something stupid like keeping the girl for himself. He could think of no other reason to make the trip than that. But it was a compelling one. “So, what? Saturday? Should be a decent day,” he said.

“Oh god, man, I really appreciate this,” he fell over himself with relief.

“But you’ll owe me one. Remember that.”

Marcus’ eyes sparked again with his dark charisma shining through. “Yes, yes I will.”