MasterinMelbourne (9 page)

“Nick!” said Zoe weakly. “How did you get here?”

It didn’t seem the time to tell the story.

“You think you’re rescuing her, don’t you?” Stu’s voice had
a hint of desperation in it. “Big bad hero. But she likes structure. She needs
discipline. She needs a man who is going to punish her when she messes up. And
that’s me. You feel punished, don’t you, honey?”

“Idiot. Get me out of here, Nick.”

“I’ll get you out.” Nick went to work on her hands. He could
hear sirens in the background. Leaving Zoe in the cage might present a nice
tableau for the police, but he didn’t want her to be there any longer than
necessary. “Where’s the key, Stu?”

“He’s not a real Dom, Zoe,” Stu said, sounding panicked. “I
know what you need. Bondage and discipline, right? Slavery and mastery. You’re
my slave, Zoe. I own you.”

The disgusted look Zoe gave Stu followed by the adoration
her eyes as she turned to Nick left no doubt at all where she stood. He
suspected even Stu could understand that. He got her hands untied. They’d been
tied too tightly and she had marks.

“Send the key over, Stu,” Nick said.

Stu reached in his pocket slowly, obviously mindful of
Juanita and the gun. Stu closed his eyes, then tossed them in a long arc, past
Nick. Nick turned to grab them.

He didn’t notice Stu reach for a light switch and flick it
off until it was too late. Suddenly the room went black, and a moment later he
heard a thump and a cry.
Juanita.

He couldn’t see, but he knew Stu was moving. Something hard
broke on his head, probably a beer bottle. His instinct to dodge had come too
late to save him from the blow or even soften it much. He felt as if his head
had exploded. He dropped the keys.

He got up and fought back a wave of nausea. He could make
Stu out, dimly. There was still a little light coming from upstairs. Juanita
was crumpled on the stairs, but at least she was stirring. He should never have
let her come in. She should have been outside. He aimed a punch. Stu blocked it
with his forearm then swung back with his right. Nick barely dodged out of the
way, but he knew he wasn’t going to last long at this point.

He lost his balance dodging the next blow. He felt as if he
was going to throw up, but he couldn’t do that now. He had to keep fighting. He
reached for one of the beer bottles, intending to use it as a weapon. He was
playing for keeps now, and he’d stab Stu with a jagged edge if that’s what it
took to protect Zoe and Juanita.

“Nick!” Zoe yelled.

The kick caught him full in the stomach and sent him back
toward the stairs. The gun lay just out of arm’s reach. He hadn’t managed to
grasp the bottle. He had nothing as Stu advanced on him. He kicked out with his
legs, but Stu dodged easily and reached for the gun.

Juanita was running away, up the stairs.
Go get the cops.
Even if it’s too late.

He couldn’t land a good blow on Stu’s head, could barely
even move anymore, but he managed to kick the gun across the floor.

Toward Zoe, who had succeeded in getting the keys he’d
dropped and was opening the door of her cage. Nick’s eyes widened for a moment,
and then he turned all of his attention back to Stu. Everything depended on Stu
not noticing.

“I’ll just have to do you in the old-fashioned way.” Stu
smirked. “You’re not going to like this.”

“Come on. Try. I can still take you.” It was ludicrous and
Nick knew it. But he wanted to keep Stu’s attention. Stu pulled him up by the
collar and punched him in the stomach. Nick bent over in pain.

Stu threw him against the stairs and grinned widely. “This
is going to be so much fun. And this time, I don’t even have to stop. Defense
of my own home, and all that.”

Zoe pulled the trigger. The sound of the rifle shot
reverberated through the room. Stu’s eyes jerked wide open for a moment. He
dropped Nick and fell, a patch of blood spreading below his shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” said Zoe. But her voice
sounded shaky, and Nick thought she looked green.

“Fucking bitch,” Stu swore, but he stayed down.

Nick heard a heavy pounding on the door and Juanita’s voice
upstairs. Then he passed out.

Chapter Nine

“They what?” Zoe sat up in the hospital bed. She was hoping
to be released today. She looked a mess, she knew, but the welts were fading
and her broken rib was healing nicely. Nick had scolded her for keeping the
break from him, but in truth she had no idea Stu had broken a bone. She just
knew it hurt like hell where he’d punched her. BDSM, indeed. He had no clue.

“They released Stu on bail,” Nick repeated. “He’s still in a
hospital though. Fortunately not this one. Sounds like he’ll be there for a few
weeks. You missed his heart by inches.”

“I was aiming high to make sure I missed you.”

Nick smiled. “It’s appreciated. You saved my life.”

Zoe shook her head. “I think you were there saving mine.”

“We’re even then.”

Zoe didn’t see it that way, but she wasn’t going to argue
she owed him more. She sighed. “I can’t believe they let him go. I knew he had
connections, but this is ridiculous.”

“It’s really screwed up.
He’s
really screwed up,
isn’t he?”

Zoe nodded. “He wasn’t always this bad.”

“I figured, or you’d never have hooked up with him to begin
with.”

“I was stupid.”

Nick shrugged. She wasn’t sure she could take it if he
argued with her on that one, and she was pleasantly surprised he didn’t.

“What do I do, Nick? I’ve lost my job—something about not
showing up for two weeks. They’ve already hired a replacement and don’t want me
back. Stu’s gonna go hunting for me. You can’t protect me forever, even if you
moved to Texas.”

Nick shook his head. “I have no intention of moving to
Texas, darlin’.”

“Oh.” Zoe’s heart sank. Just because he rescued her didn’t
mean they had a relationship. It hadn’t the first time in the casino either.
She knew he’d sat with her in the hospital overnight, but she hadn’t been
coherent enough for much of a conversation even before they’d shot her full of
morphine. He’d had to spend the next afternoon with the kids he’d brought with
him, and she understood he didn’t have a choice about that. He’d been there
when she needed him most, and she’d be forever grateful.

Why did he have to look so calm about it though? Her life
was a mess, and even though she couldn’t ask him to do more, couldn’t even
imagine what he could do, it’d be nice if he at least looked distressed about
it.

I probably don’t look very attractive at the moment, with
all the stripes and the bruises, and this ridiculous hospital gown.
She
slumped back against the bed. She knew she’d pull herself up again, even if he
was rejecting her. Didn’t he know that the kind smile made it worse? She’d
start hunting for a job the moment she got out of the hospital. Juanita had
offered to put her up again until she got on her feet. She’d start carrying a
pistol. Maybe she’d go back to Western Michigan, where her parents were, but
she hated the cold, hated the idea of falling back on family, and the job
market wasn’t very good there at the moment. But it would be farther away from
Stu.

“
I
want you.”

It took a moment for his words to get through to her
consciousness. She blinked at him.

“As a slave?” She wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t ready to dive
into the deep end, not so soon. Maybe someday. She looked at the line of his
jaw and thought about the risks he’d taken for her. Hopefully someday.

“As my partner, girlfriend and housemate. And I want you
safe. So I’m taking you back to Melbourne with me. I already got you a ticket,
and we’re out of here in three days. I have a friend in immigration, and he
says your visa’s good for a few weeks yet, and we can get you a more permanent
one in that time. We’ll have you in Oz before Stu can find you.”

He was telling her, not asking. She wasn’t sure if she
should resent that or if it was okay to like it. “But.”

“Juanita will pack up your stuff. She says there isn’t too
much, and neither of us want you staying here to pack with that idiot walking
the streets.”

“Just like that.” She couldn’t figure out what was wrong
with it. She’d miss a few friends. But she knew she needed a new start too.
Still, to move ten thousand miles, to another country even. She had to admit it
was farther away from Stu than Michigan.

“Just like that,” he agreed. “I wish I could ask you without
the threat of Stu looming over your head. Without you having lost your job. But
the one makes it more urgent, and the second makes it more sensible.”

“Did you ask me?” She meant to sound reproachful, but
somehow she started grinning as she said it.

“Nope. Did you want me to ask you to ask you?”

“Only if you wish me to ask you to ask me to ask you.”

He chuckled. “You’re definitely ready to travel.”

“What about if my rib gets worse, or—”

“No excuses, darlin’, if it’s what you want to do.” He
touched her lips gently with his finger as if to shush her. “We have hospitals
in Australia. And I checked with the medical staff, they are definitely letting
you go today, and you are definitely fine for a plane trip. In fact, they are
letting you walk out with me and spend the evening in my hotel room. I have a
detailed list of what you are and are not allowed to do from the nurse. She’s a
very matter-of-fact woman. We’ll have to share the plane with a bunch of youngsters
who will probably be talking football nonstop—both ours and yours—so no chance
of joining the mile high club, anyway.”

She laughed. “You wouldn’t.”

He fixed her with a stare, and she laughed again, even
though it hurt her rib every time she did it. “Okay, you so would,” she
conceded.

“Glad we got that straight.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
“What if I don’t like it? Or I can’t get a job? Or…?”

“I have an opening for an office assistant, if you’re
interested.”

She stared at him. “You’re serious,” she said at last, once
she decided he might be.

“Yes.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

“Then I’ll help you come back.”

She shook her head to clear the cobwebs that seemed to be
forming in it. The painkillers were still affecting her some, more slowing down
her thoughts than anything else. “It’s crazy, you know. I don’t mind the idea
of Melbourne—I had a wonderful time there. But I hate the idea of running away.
I ought to wish I killed him. I gave him everything and he gave me nothing. And
yet, I don’t.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Well, you’re not that kind
of person, I think. I’m glad one of us is good.”

“You could have done it too, and you didn’t.”

“Do you wish I had?”

She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it, and then
decided she felt up to sitting up and kissing him properly. It wasn’t until
their tongues had a chance to swirl together for a long minute that she pulled
back and answered his question. “No, I don’t. It’d make things simpler, but I
don’t wish him dead. I wish he’d get a frigging clue. And it doesn’t bother me
that he’s hobbling around right now, nor that you beat him up. But I need a man
with some gentle in him too, as well as a healthy dose of strong. I know that
now. I wish I’d known it then.”

He smiled. “Now is the part of life we can do something
about.”

“Then let’s.” She took a deep breath, ignoring the way her
rib complained. The pain reminded her she was alive, even though it definitely
wasn’t good pain. “What time is our flight?”

“Leaves here at noon, stopover in L.A.”

So easy. Leaving everything she knew except for one man
should be harder than that. But she wasn’t sure she could do it right now if it
was. She was suddenly feeling very tired. The cumulative effect of her
injuries, the stiffness she still had from spending days in that horrible cage
and the painkillers were all taking their toll. “Don’t leave me. Not for a
minute.”

“I’m staying by your side from now on, and all the way to
Melbourne, love. Don’t worry.”

“Can he come even there to chase us?”

“I mentioned his name to my friend, and I believe he is
getting put on a do-not-fly list as we speak.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. Free to start over, from
scratch. Well, from scratch plus Nick. A few seconds later, she was asleep.

* * * * *

“What must they think of me, Nick?” She’d worn a long-sleeve
T-shirt and jeans, but she still felt as if anyone who looked at her would know
her whole story. Her lip was still swollen from where Stu had smacked her, and
her eyes felt swollen too, although that was from lack of sleep rather than
being hit. She felt the stares of the teenage boys when Nick had introduced her
to them at dinner. It had been worth it to have a juicy blackened steak instead
of hospital food, but now that Nick was taking her to his room, it all seemed
decidedly odd.

“I imagine they think you’ve been roughly treated. And I
wouldn’t normally take a woman to my hotel room on a field trip like this, but
obviously these are special circumstances. They can guess you need taking care
of. I talked to Bill and Connie, and they agree. You’re staying with me.”

“Yes Sir.” She looked around. It was a simple enough hotel
room. One bed. Not that she wanted to sleep anywhere else but with him, but it
made it hard to pretend she wasn’t.

“I’ll be sleeping on the floor.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“The nurse asked if I was the type to roll over and press
against you, and I said I was, and she told me I better not sleep with you for
a few days. Your ribs. Trust me, I’d much rather be in bed with you.”

She shook her head. “Funny, I always figured if I was in a
relationship with a man where we weren’t sleeping in the bed together, I’d be
the one sleeping on the floor.”

“Why’s that?”

“As punishment? I dunno. I have strange fantasies,
sometimes.”

He chuckled. “You do. Happy to fulfill some of them,
although perhaps not that one. Now that I know your secret though, you’d best
behave. But for right now, I’m afraid you’re safe, whatever you do. You need
the sleep, and you need to heal.”

She nodded and sat on the bed. She didn’t need to be safe
from him. But she loved the way he cared for her.

“What did he do to you, Zoe?”

She frowned at him and then shook her head. “I don’t want to
talk about it right now.”

He crouched so that she was looking down at him rather than
up. “Can’t, Zoe? If it’s can’t talk about it, I’ll respect that. If it’s just I
don’t want to though, I need to know. As your Dom. As your partner. I need some
kind of clue as to where it hurts, physically and emotionally, so I can take
care of you as best I can.”

She sighed. She knew he was right. “He didn’t rape me, if
that’s what you were thinking. I actually offered to get him off a few times,
thinking that would make him drop his guard. He didn’t take me up on it,
although he loved to describe all the things he was going to do to me once my
punishment time was over. If I behaved. Sometimes he’d stroke himself while he
talked about them, and once, he shot his—well, anyway—in my cage.”

He took hold of her hand and stroked it. “Ugh. Bad enough. I
wondered if you held something back from the police because you didn’t want to
be part of a rape trial.”

“If he had raped me, I’d have said so, even though I thought
he’d done enough they’d keep him.”

“His connections.”

She sighed. “His father made a fortune in oil, and makes a
lot of big political donations.”

He nodded and waited for her to go on. She took a deep
breath. “Anyway, you saw the cage. I spent most of my time in there. He’d keep
me gagged for hours, as if he was afraid I might say something to him. I knew no
one could hear me scream from there. He’d take me out to beat me now and then,
usually with a cane. He’d tell me he loved me when he hit me. Never at any
other time.

“I think those words were almost worse than the blows, you
know? I can take pain. In the right circumstances, I can enjoy it, but
regardless I can take it. He’d made sure of that, while we were married. But he
didn’t have a right to say those words to me. He didn’t.”

Nick squeezed her hand. “Pretty fucked up.”

It fit together, suddenly, in a way it hadn’t before she
started talking it out. “I don’t think he even wanted me. He just couldn’t
stand the fact that I’d left him, and he needed to win.”

“You know that I want you, right?”

“Yes, I do. And I won’t make you prove it by getting into
bed with me, because I know you’re right about my rib. Someday I won’t be
damaged, Nick. Someday I’ll be worthy of you.”

“You’re worthy now, Zoe. No talking shit about yourself.”
His voice was scolding but it was gentle too. Nothing like Stu. Nothing at all.
Besides, Stu never minded her running herself down.

“Yes Sir,” she said gratefully.

“How’d he get a hold of you in the first place?”

She sighed. That was the most embarrassing part. “I was
feeling really good about myself after the last conversation we had online,
really strong. Somehow I was convinced that was more powerful than his dubious
hold on reality. I went over there, like an idiot, without bringing anyone with
me. There were some things of mine at his place. Some books, a painting my
grandfather had done. I wanted them back, especially the painting.”

“Where are they now?”

“He’d cut the painting into shreds in a rage when I left.
The books are probably still on his bookcase. I can get new books. Anyway,
that’s it, really.” It was good to talk about it all to a point, but she wanted
to be finished. “He wasn’t very imaginative, really, was he? Just the same
stupid shit, over and over, and for some reason he thought I’d come around. Or
maybe he just wanted to think that. I think he knew it wasn’t working. Any
questions?”

He shook his head and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He
was so gentle with her. As if he was afraid she was too fragile.