Chapter 27 : When The Lightning Strikes...

***Adrian...***

“How can you be so relaxed? She hasn't returned yet. We don't even know if she will.”

Mason's annoyed voice gives me a pause. Sighing, I rub my jaw and curse myself for not shaving earlier today when the short bristles brush my skin.

Pivoting on my feet, I face the screen of my laptop, set up on one of the guest tables in the middle of the ballroom. He's peering at me through the camera like all his focus is on me. He doesn't know that I've caught him sneaking glances at the dimly lit room, curious green eyes darting to my left, right and above when he assumes I'm not paying attention.

But the few hours of sleep I managed to snag after an entire afternoon of arrangements and obsessing over the absence of my wild Esclave, I feel much better and more in tune to my surroundings. Especially to the strange vibes I'm receiving from Mason on the other side of the video call.

*Something's bothering him.*

*I just need to make sure it isn't related to what I made him do.*

My business partner needs to understand that my desperation has nothing to do with getting my Esclave back. But it has everything to do with her coming back to me, *willingly*. Without her acceptance and approval, I can't give or take from her. Because for me, she has become more than just an Esclave.

I no longer wish to prey on her body and I'm so glad I didn't take things so far before. This back and forth between us has taught me a lot. And the most important thing I learned; Pearl is not like other girls I've ever met.

Yes, she is broken.

But, she's learned and evolved into something more superior.

A goddess, that's what she means to me and that's how I'm going to worship her, if she accepts me, fucked up in the head and all.

I stroll to the table and stand in front of the laptop. Dropping to my hunches, I meet Mason's conflicted gaze and state, “if you followed my instructions and pushed all of her right buttons, then she'll return to me.” I shift closer, still on his level. “And about me being relaxed? I slept for three hours straight with no interruptions and I feel fucking fantastic, because in over three months, this is first time I slept for so long without feeling like my world is caving in around me.”

“Well, good for you.” He sneers at me and knocks off his chair as he stands up. “I'm glad you can sleep after bribing me into doing your dirty work. Manipulation is also a crime, you do realise that, right?”

*Shit, I should have known he'll see through my trick.*

I study his tense posture in silence, daring not to disturb him. I watch him pace restlessly around the table, knocking off things as his conscience beats him up for listening to me. If I hadn't run out of options, I'd have never dragged him into this. But I didn't have any more choices, except to just let her walk away from me like I was never even there in her life. And I couldn't bear that thought.

After a few minutes of pacing and breaking things, Mason resumes his seat; one of the chairs around the oval table in the conferencing room. Not an hour ago, the room was filled with old and wise business men, whom I had handpicked when I made up my mind to turn my father's estate of sin into a Rehabilitation center for abused and trafficked women.

We had discussed the increasing number of women being rescued and falling short of men for security purposes and staff for care and maintenance of the bases. I proposed to send in my army, as they hardly have any work to do here. Everyone agreed and the problem was sorted within minutes.

I called Lucas and asked him to leave with others. There was a moment of hesitation, like he didn't want to leave for some reason and wanted to argue with my decision. But the narrowing of my eyes kept his mouth shut and he left with nothing more than a taut nod.

I didn't like that. The tension I sensed between us wasn't something I had expected. And now more than ever, it'll send everything I've worked for to hell if this tension kept building.

The Council members have already shown me their disapproval of my being in pursuit of a teenager. Their cold dismissal of my interest in the topics they discussed later on, which were unrelated to the Rehab, proved that my charms won't work on them anymore.

I could have pushed them to make me a part of their discussions. I could have reminded them who's the boss here. But for some reason, that rubbed me in a wrong way. So, I remained silent for the rest of the meeting, and instead came down from my office to the ballroom, where the club gathering is going to be held.

Now, I didn't come here to check on the arrangements. I already had, once before and Mason knew that. That's why he kept shooting daggers at me while I ambled around the room, angling my laptop this way and that way to give the old fellows glimpses of the theme I had chosen to represent this year.

My reward was the occasional hitch in the flow of their conversation whenever one of the men pointed out the other and asked them to pay attention to the topic of discussion and not to the projection screen. They may all act like saints and all good-doers, but if that were their true nature, I would have never chosen them.

Working between hordes of broken women that won't ever stand up to you, appeals to the darker side of men. A twisted truth of men's psychology. This situation may seem repulsive to some, but it evokes primal thoughts and emotions in the form of curiosity in every man. The more they deny it, the stronger their curiosity gets. Only those can hold themselves back and keep their instincts under control who have the courage to accept their feelings and thoughts but never give into the urges.

These aged businessmen are like that. They all have got that dark curiosity, but they all know how to not give into it. *Unlike my father,* who was a self created monster that allowed himself to get too carried away and become something even the strongest woman couldn't survive. *Fuck. Why am I thinking about him?*

“Earth to, Black! Where the fuck are you?” Mason's scream breaks through my reveries, bringing me back to the present.

I'd been staring at the screen, but his face has come into focus right now, as I really look at him. His faded eyes flicker on the screen, an unexpectedly open expression of worry blankets his face. I clear my throat and rise to my feet, numbly buttoning up my jacket. “Sorry. I'm here.”

“What happened to you? Couldn't you hear your phone? It's ringing like crazy in front of you, Goddammit! Pick it up!” He yells at me from the other side, jumping in his chair like he wants to crawl through the small screen and give me a tight one.

Finally, the shrill ringtone of my phone registers in my head. Ignoring Mason, who's going apeshit crazy on the screen, I shut the lid and pick up the call.

“George, what's going on?” I say in a terse voice and just as I finish talking, a lightning bolt slashes out of the clouds outside the tall uncovered windows of the room, followed by the heated rumble of the clashing clouds. The empty rooms and walls of the house amplify the noise.

But my heart doesn't start to pump harder until I hear the fear and panic in the old pilot's screaming voice. “Sir, Mr. Black, I'm sorry, sir. I can't find her. I looked everywhere. She's not here!”

“What do you mean "she's not here"?” I insinuate in the phone, my fingers curling from the tension building in my body and clenching into a fist around the phone. “She's got no way to escape from there. No money or even a cell phone to ask for help. She must be there only. Find her and bring her back to me, George.”

I hang up, dragging in deep breaths to calm down my rapidly escalating temper. *Shit. This can't be happening now.*

It has to be a mistake on his part. She must be on the plane only. He'll find her eventually and bring her back to me. Then I'll talk to her and explain everything to her. She'll listen and understand, then let me inside her mind and body. Everything will work out.

*It has to.* I won't think about what'll happen if she doesn't come to me. *I refuse to think that.*

***She's mine.***

*She can't deny me what's mine.*

*I fucking own her and she knows it.*

*She'll come to her master like a good slave.*

*She'll come to me.*

*Keep telling yourself that, you weak bastard*, my father's dark voice whispers from the void, ceasing my movements, *you allowed yourself to become a pussy, as always, and let her travel without security. It's your fault. You're not man enough to make a woman want you. Now even a little lost girl has ditched you the one time she got to decide for herself. Nobody will ever want your twisted, depraved soul. You've suffered alone and you'll continue to suffer alone, if you didn't learn to take what you want.*

*No! That's wrong!*

I cover my ears, refusing to listen to the fucked up things my father tried to thrill in my mind when I was young and couldn't stand to even look at women, let alone hurt them in any way. I tried to stay strong and courageous, fight off his mind-bending games with silence. But he broke me. And my mother let him.

Maybe this is what I am meant to be.

A monster, a savage, an animal.

The reason that kept me fighting my own sickness for so many years, isn't providing any kind assurance now. *She left me… didn't she? And it's all my fault. I put my trust in that bitch and this is how she pays me off… she's no different than others. They all need to be leashed and dominated, in order to stay in line for their own sake.*

And that's exactly how my Escalve needs to be dealt with right now.

*Fuck worshipping and devotion.*

She doesn't want that.

If she did, she wouldn't have escaped.

I drop my arms as a sense of finality settles over, slicing off any doubts and hesitation I've ever had. Everything is crystal clear now.

I know what I want.

And I know how to take it.

With no further delay, I storm out of the ballroom and go straight down to my garage. Pulling out of there in my jaguar, I set off for the airport. She couldn't have gotten too far away with nothing to sustain her travel. If I hurry, I may catch her at the airport only.

I shift to the last gear, just as the clouds break and rain over my car. *Shit. Not now.* Frustration over my Conniving Esclave and this disastrous weather makes blood boil. Swallowing back the string of curses, I slow down a bit and peer through the side window. I don't spot a single soul on my way to the airport, except for a few deers and bunnies skittering off the road to seek refuge under the thick shade of the tall trees on either side of the road. Hopefully, my Esclave won't make the same mistake. Or maybe she has, and I've already missed her.

I accelerate the speed, crossing all the speed limits as my heart palpitates from all the rush. The steering wheel keeps straying out of my control whenever I get too lost in squinting at the side of the road in hopes to find her standing somewhere.

But it's hopeless. I reach the junction that cuts off into two ways, one that leads to the back of my private hangar and the other that'll take you to the public area.

*What if she left from the back doors?* Because if she had come out from the front, George should have found her. I should've asked him if he had checked the back exit. Could have saved myself all this fast and furious shit.

Despite the low chances, I take the left bend and zoom down the narrow makeshift road to the very back. No street lamps or any source of light illuminates this path as nobody uses this. Practically, it comes under my possession with the hangar as I am the only one who uses it when I want to avoid the front terminal crowd, which I always do. If my Esclave chose that way out too then I might find her.

I struggle to see in the darkness. Only a limited portion of the road can be illuminated by my headlights, which is not enough. I trudge along, feeling more and more hopeless and foolish for deciding to come here. But for some unknown reason, I go all the way back to the airport and get out of my car to search the place.

I enter through the back sliding doors, the front area empty. Nothing new to see here. Despite that, I scan the vacant ticket counters and blinking vending machines. When my gaze drifts towards the waiting space, a figure sitting on the floor catches my attention.

*Is that…?*

I blink my eyes and try again.

*It's really her!*

My Esclave sits on the floor with her legs crossed, rolling around a bottle of water with a heartbreaking expression on her face. Her clothes look vaguely darker than what I recall and hang heavily over her body.

Unaware of my presence, she sniffles softly and tugs her long wet strands behind her ear, allowing me a glimpse of her swollen eyes and rosy cheeks. Blood rushes to my groin area as I watch her. She bites her lips then sniffles again, as if she was crying like a baby not long ago.

Ridiculously fascinated and aroused by her oblivious show of vulnerability, I take a step in her direction, unable to stop myself from reaching for her, wrapping my arms around her and forcing her to draw comfort from me. *Make her need me.*

I don't understand this back and forth of my emotions between dark and possessive. *And I don't even care anymore.*

Lifting her chin, she wipes her nose with the sleeve of her sweater then shakes her head, eyes falling shut as she ponders something. Her palm comes up to pat her cheek, just as her body tenses and I see her expression transform, dark eyebrows knitting together as she suspects something.

Then slowly, her hand drops and she lifts her chin, staring straight through my soul as our eyes connect in one breathless moment.

The most beautiful set of eyes I've ever seen in my life widen with surprise. Then I witness the second most beautiful thing happen in the same moment.

An affectionate warmth spindles into her expression, eyes filling with strangely joyful tears, just as her delicious lips spread into a breathtaking smile.

“*Adrian…*” Her voice cracks and wavers from the intensity with which she says my name.

My thoughts buckle, my control snaps in place.

Clearing my throat, I tighten my stance and beckon her with a finger, “come to me, *Esclave*.”

Her smile dies on her lips, but I see the flicker of fear and desire in her eyes. *That's good enough for me. For now.*

With supposedly a neutral expression, I watch her climb to her feet, kick the water bottle away and sprint into my arms with no more coaxing. I lift her up my body and bury my face in her neck, pointedly avoiding her lips as they seek mine. I grab her buttocks and force her to wrap her legs around. She does, with no hint of hesitation.

“I missed you, Adrian.” She cries in my ear, nails digging into my shoulders as she tries to make eye contact. “Kiss me, please. I'll do anything you want.”

“I know, Esclave. I know you will.” I amend, as I walk us back to the car. “But we need to get out of these clothes first.”

*And I need to tighten my reign so I don't disappoint you again*, I think but I don't say it out loud.

“Just one kiss, please.” She refuses to unlock her legs from around my hips when I try to put her on the passenger seat, fisting the lapels of my jacket in fierce little fingers. “I can't believe you're here. I thought you didn't want me anymore. Please show me I was wrong.”

The desperation and pain in her voice eats at my control, while freeing my darker emotions and compelling my thoughts to revolve only around her.

Unable to deny her again, I press feather light kisses to her cheeks and forehead, hanging onto my control by threads. She moans for more, parting her lips in invitation. It takes every last bit of my self-built control to tear her limbs off of me and secure her seat belts, denying her not with words, but with methodical actions. She whines and tries to get closer, overwhelming my senses with the strange flowery scent of her hair mixed with the freshness of rain.

I let anger take the spotlight for a moment, so that I can get us both back home before I crack and fuck her brains out right here on the curb.

Clasping her chin between my thumb and index finger, I force her to look at me, wincing inwardly when I see hurt in the dark depths of her eyes. Steeling my resolve, I command her, “Behave now. No more moaning or crying. Understand?”

Rebellion shines in her eyes, eliciting more anger from me. “You can't give me a kiss and expect me to give you my obedience. Keep on dreaming, Mr. Black. I should've known you would never change. *Selfish prick*.”

I slap her. *Shit.* I slap her hard.

*She's fucking gorgeous and so infuriating at the same time.*

Palming her abused cheek, she glares at me with all the fire she keeps hidden inside. “I hate you.”

*Fucking stop*, I want to scream but I don't.

“I don't care.” I say instead, as dryly as I can and curl my fingers around the car door so I don't drag her out of the car and bend her over the hood and put us both out of misery. “Just don't make any noises or try to jump out of the car when I start driving. Alright?”

She says nothing and that's enough for me. *For now.* I'll handle her more strictly when I'll start thinking with my head instead of my dick, because I still want to be inside her.

I slam the door on her side and walk around to the driver's side to begin the most excruciating journey of my life.