Page 55 of Rogue Royal
Douglas gave Freddie Quinn’s address and helped Kendal from the house. He knew his brother would see they secured the house before he left. Helping Kendal into his car, Douglas encouraged them to lay on the back seat with their face towards the back of the seat. It would, hopefully, stop their back from touching anything as Douglas drove them. It wasn’t ideal, but he couldn’t think of any other way of transporting them without hurting them too much.
The journey was around twenty-five minutes with the traffic that had accrued on a Saturday night, but once he parked the car outside Quinn’s house, the man himself flung open the door and raced to the car.
“Is Kendal okay?”
Douglas climbed out of the car and shut the door before responding. “Not great.” He opened the back door, helping Kendal to slide out. Instead of holding Kendal as he would a sub he was caring for, he told Kendal to hold onto him. It meant Douglas wouldn’t hurt them unintentionally.
When they were in Quinn’s front room, Kendal lying on the sofa and Douglas and Quinn in armchairs, Douglas asked Kendal if it was okay for them to wait for Freddie to arrive. They agreed, and Quinn made drinks for them. Douglas helped Kendal to take small sips of orange juice and small bites of a biscuit. He hoped the sugar in it would help Kendal counteract the potential sub-drop they might feel.
A knock sounded, and Quinn answered the door, coming back with wide eyes, and Freddie followed by Douglas’s father.
“I wasn’t expecting you, Father.”
“It’s the least I can do when a sub has been hurt.” King Andrew went to his knees next to Kendal, who murmured in denial but hissed when they tried to stop him. “Calm, Kendal. All is well.”
Douglas watched as his father cupped Kendal’s jaw and stroked his hand through Kendal’s hair. Without changing position, his father focused on Douglas. “What happened?”
He explained receiving the phone call, racing to Kendal’s house and what he saw. His father’s mouth turned white the more Douglas spoke.
King Andrew turned to Kendal. “Can you tell us what happened, little one?”
At that moment, Douglas saw what his father must have been like as a Dom in the club when he was younger. The kindness, softness, easiness with which he spoke and held Kendal was apparent. At sixty-five, his father no longer frequented the club unless it was a special occasion.
Kendal wiped their eyes. “I’ve been seeing Master Talon—”
“Just Talon. He no longer uses Master.” The king’s voice brooked no argument.
“I’ve been seeing Talon for several months on and off. I hadn’t been able to visit the club this last month because of work, and we came to an agreement. We would scene at my house during the day when I needed it. He’s been training someone to be a Master, and I agreed the guy could watch and sometimes take part.” Kendal inhaled shakily. “He’s been pushing my boundaries further and further each time, but I called him on it three days ago. He apologised, and they left.”
Kendal didn’t seem like they wanted to continue, but the king prodded them, “Why was he there today?”
Kendal closed their eyes. “He wasn’t supposed to be. As I said, our scenes were during the day, not at night. I was getting ready to go to work when he arrived. We got into an argument when he refused to leave so I could get ready. He…slapped me, and I fell to the floor.” Kendal huffed, “He has more muscles than me. It didn’t take him long to position me as you found me.”
“Was he alone?”
“Yes. Harvey hadn’t been there the previous session either.” Douglas made a mental note of the guy’s name to check it out later.
“Did he say anything in particular?”
“I couldn’t understand his words. Although he mentioned…” Kendal’s gaze darted to Douglas’s.
“He mentioned me.” Douglas knew throwing Talon out would come back to bite him in the ass, but he never expected it would involve another sub.
“Yes, sir. I heard your name several times, along with Prince Christian and Prince Patrick, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying about you.”
“What happened once he tied you down,” the king asked.
“He pulled out a whip from a bag I hadn’t seen him bring in.”
“Premeditated,” Freddie mumbled, barely audible.
Kendal’s breathing increased. “He started hitting me, again and again, no respite between.”
Douglas frowned. “How did you know Kendal was in trouble?” He faced Quinn.
“Kendal rang me, but there was nothing on the other end. I was about to hang up when I heard what I assume now was the slap and the phone dropping to the floor. The call was still connected when…” Quinn swallowed hard, and Freddie settled onto the arm of the chair, sliding his arm around Quinn’s shoulders. “I had to hang up to call the club.” He glanced at Douglas. “I knew you’d help, though you were working. Sorry.”
“Never be sorry for that, Quinn. You did a great job.”
