Page 55 of Echoes of Temptation

“Except it’s an open club,” Steel slams his fist against the wall. “Meaning anyone can join regardless of their background. It’s fucking dangerous to the Subs and even some Doms if their scene partner isn’t completely vetted.”

“Vetting your scene partners is important for a variety of reasons,” Blaze again explains to the room. “Safety, consent, compatibility, trust building, communication, experience level, their emotional state. The list goes on. Knox isn’t supposed to be going to places like that.”

“He wouldn’t have had to if you two would have let him become a member of Obsidian Oasis.”

Madaline is reclining on her hospital bed glaring at my brothers. It took five hours for her to wake up, but the doctors say she’s going to be just fine. They did some scans of her brain as a precaution but they came back clear.

However, right now, she’s one pissed-off woman.

Walking over, I sit beside her and hold her hand. She’s about to blow up on the twins. I can see it in her eyes.

“That man has tried for three years to join your club,” she tells them through gritted teeth. “He has gone through your vetting process only to be denied. Twice. You told him that Oasis wasn’t his scene. All he wanted to do was spend time in the Little’s room. He didn’t want to be stripped naked, spend hours on his knees, or take part in any other scene. He didn’t want anything to do with any of that. He wanted a safe place to go to be himself. To feel safe enough to simply let go.”

Releasing my hand, she stands and slowly makes her way to Blaze and Steel, hands on her hips and eyes angry as fuck.

“Because you two idiots denied him access to the ONLY safe place in town he could go to, he had to look elsewhere. Did you know that The Playpen isn’t the only BDSM club he’s attended? He’s been to several in the past year alone trying to find the one place that fits him. He’s stuck. He can’t regress because he doesn’t feel safe enough to do so. Not even in his own home. That’s why we had a sleepover at my house before all this crap went down. We tried our best to help him. We’ve been trying for months.”

“Bitsy was the only one who could help him, though,” Sophia says from the doorway. She had to have surgery to realign her femur and will be stuck in that chair until she gets used to crutches. “Bitsy was able to regress with him but even that wasn’t enough. I think he pretended just so we wouldn’t feel bad.”

“You fuckers are idiots for not letting him into your club,” Bitsy yells. “He probably got taken by some DD wannabe fuck who he met at one of them.”

“Don’t say fuck, wife,” Viper says. “Our baby can hear you.”

“Really? How many times a day will this baby hear the word fuck in this family.”

“Mr. Knox’s position has been confirmed, Master Michael,”Sen says from a drone that is constantly floating next to Michael’s head.“I have intercepted a call made from Nick Thornfield to his wife Donna Thornfield. Mr. Knox was in the background weeping. I have verified his voice from his audio recordings on his computer. They are located at Mr. Thornfield’s second rental property.”

“Why the fuck was he crying?” Blaze asks.

“Unknown, Mr. Blaze. I did not have a visual of him.”

“Madaline, come and lay back down,” I demand. “I need to go after Knox, and I need to know that you’ll be safe. How’s your head?”

“It still hurts,” she admits, climbing back onto the bed. “But I’ll be fine. Just get him back.”

“You have my word,” I promise. “I love you, baby. With everything I am.”

I kiss her quickly before nodding at my brothers to follow me. Jax, Colt, and Michael are all staying behind to watch over the girls.

“Don’t kill anyone,” I order. “I want this man and the ones responsible for hurting Madaline, Bitsy, and Sophia to check into Hotel King.”

“The chambers are already emptied of the previous trash, cleaned, and prepared,” Ghost says. “Let’s go collect our guests.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

(Ten Hours Ago)

Knox

I’m an idiot. I should have known better. Nick gave me the creeps the second I met him two months ago. He was in the Little’s area of the Playpen one day and asked if I would go on a date with him sometime in the future. I hadn’t been able to fully regress, not even with the other Littles, so I agreed. I had hoped that being around a Daddy Dom would help me but the only thing that happened that day was me freaking the heck out.

I wasn’t feeling any connection with the man, and he just had this weird vibe. I told him that I didn’t think our connection was strong enough for the type of relationship we wanted, and I left. He’s called several times, but I just ignored him. I haven’t heard a single thing from him in over a month, so I thought he had moved on.

I was wrong.

“Is my baby ready for a nap?”

Nick walks towards me with an adult diaper in his hands.