Shadow Men – 1 – Rafe and Steele

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," Rafe de Lorca growled as he grabbed the man's arm.

"You and what army's going to stop me?" the huge man replied. His other hand gripped the wrist of the blond beside him while he glared at Rafe.

Rafe smiled evilly and then expertly brought the man to his knees with a sharp twist of his arm. "Army of one." When the man struggled to regain his feet, Rafe shook his head in disbelief and brought the edge of his hand down fast and hard on the man's collarbone. The sharp crack of bone breaking and the man's shout of pain told Rafe it was safe to release him for the moment. He did not, however, take his eyes off of him as he told the blond young man to get out of there.

"He'll… he'll just find me later," the blond said fearfully.

Rafe cocked an eyebrow. "You his sub?"

The blond nodded, his eyes lowered.

"Not anymore. Now beat it, and next time, boy, find a Dom who'll respect you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." With a frightened look at his now former Dom, the blond scurried out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"As for you…" Rafe ignored the man's cry of pain as he hauled him to his feet. "You and I are going to have a long, serious talk about a certain person I'm interested in."

* * * *

An hour later Rafe strolled casually out of the room. He had the information he needed and the man he'd talked to would undoubtedly think twice about abusing a sub again, now that he understood exactly what true pain felt like. If not, well, Rafe knew someone who would be willing to administer another lesson to him; to wit, the owner of this particular club.

Rafe saluted said owner when he arrived on the ground floor of the club. The owner tilted his head in question and Rafe nodded. After he received a thumbs-up from the man, he left the building.

The street was dark between the weak streetlights. Rafe waited until his eyes had adjusted to it before he moved on, every sense alert. He heard a brief sound behind him and whirled around, then chuckled when a large rat stared back at him defiantly before it continued on its way.

When he reached his car, which he had parked in a lot two blocks from the club, he paused to consider his options. He could go after his target on his own or call in his partner. No grandstanding, he told himself and took out his phone. A call and a quick text message let Steele know where to meet him. When Steele texted back to acknowledge he'd be there, Rafe closed his phone, slid into his car, and took off.