Queen (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (123 page)

“Shit,” I swear with feeling. “The next two weeks are going to be interesting.”

“Oh… yeah…” He happily sings. “Bring it on…”

“You’re a lunatic,” I laugh and push at his chest.

He clasps my hands against his chest. The thump of his heart vibrates against my palms. I’m captivated by his gaze, and I feel i
nsanely happy for some reason.

“You made a promise to me earlier t
o say yes,” he says seriously.

“I already did,” I tease with a laugh, but his gaze doesn’t change to light-heartedness.

He leans to the side and stretches out an arm to the nightstand. His hand pressing my palm over his heart shakes uncontrollably. I narrow my eyes at him and uncomfortably smirk.

“What is it, Marcus?” My voice breaks, and then I see it.

My heart stops, my breath ceases, and my body betrays me. I fall back against the headboard with an
oomph
. My eyes are glued to the object in his hand. I start to shake just as badly as he is.

“I’ve never done this before,” he says with a self-deprecating grin. “And you’re the only person who makes me feel like a clumsy idiot, not the charismatic man that I am,” he says cockily.

“I know you’ve done this twice before, and the first time left a scar, and the second time was for all of our safety. I won’t replace him- either of them. This is more of a promise than a definite. I’ll never make you choose, but someday Whitt may want to recognize his mate as badly as I do. Say yes…” he begs and his voice cracks from nervousness. “It won’t be tomorrow or even two weeks from now, but I ask that you put me out of my misery in the next year or two. After all, I’m pushing forty,” he laughs.

I blindly stare at his hand and audibly swallow. I can’t
fucking believe this is happening. Every muscle in my body is quivering in shocked delight.

“Regina Regal,” he doesn’t say my married name, and I try not to smirk. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my lover, best friend, ally, partner-” his voice breaks and he closes his eyes. Slowly he opens them and pins me with his amber fire gaze. A gravelly sound emits from his throat, “My wife.”

My breath hitches at the emotions that one word elicits. I stop shaking, and a nervous calm envelopes me.

“Jamie… Grant asked me out of a fantasy. I don’t know if he ever planned on it, or even wanted me like that,” I say sadly. “I love Whitt so fucking much,” my voice tremors with the force of my statement. “I don’t ever want to hurt him. He gives me confidence, like I could take on the world and win. He’s the light to our dark. I call him my sunshine when no one but him is listening, and he really is. We’re connected, and we always will be- on a soul level. But I don’t need my way paved in light. You and I can walk through the dark as long as we’re side by side, preferably holding hands,” I smile at him and he relaxes. He really thought I’d say no.

“I’m being selfish for the first time in my life and it’s freeing. Whitt has a part of my soul; he doesn’t need to be my husband to know how much I love him. Give me a year and I’ll gladly stand before our family and declare you my man. I’d be honored to be your wife, and even more honored to call you husband.”

“Oh my God,” he makes a girly noise. “I thought you’d say no, even after I made you
promise,” he whispers in awe.

He slides a ring on my finger and I do a double-take. It’s an infinity ring, and it looks suspiciously like the first ring that was slid on my left ring finger.

“Um…” I arch a brow at him.

“I bought that for you. It was always from me,” he says excitedly. “If you’d have married Grant, I wanted you to wear my ring. You were always in my future. I would’ve tried my damnedest to steal you from him,” he chuckles with glittering eyes.

“Jesus,” I curse.

“I’ve been stalking you since you were fourteen. Why do you think I won’t give Niel a hard time? When a man knows what he wants there isn’t a damned thing on this earth that will change
his mind.”
“If we get married that’s a highly incestuous statement,” I chuckle.

“If,” he arches a brow. “Incestuous is what this house was built on. My kids don’t even know they’re first cousins.” He shakes his head in awe. “I’m going to be your husband.” He bounces on the be
d.

A naked, excited Marcus bouncing on the bed is a treat for the eyes that I’ll never forget.

“You’re my past, present, and future,” I murmur to him. “You’re a reality that will forever feel like a fantasy. What a refreshing change.”

Epilogue

The excitement in the air is contagious.  You can feel it seasoning the air, and we all happily breathe in its intoxicating scent. Restraint’s members- my family, adopted and blood related- stand outside of our newly renovated building. Each and every one of us can’t keep smiles off our faces. I can almost hear a drumbeat- the collective beat of our thrilled hearts.
 

“We’re going to have a home,” I bounce on my heels, and all the kids surrounding me snicker. I’m the den mother.
Whether the kids have a mom or not, I was adopted by them. Ava and Niel are holding hands with Cheshire cat grins splitting their gorgeous cheeks. Ella is holding Azriel. The tiny monster of a child is in love with my daughter, and my daughter yearns to be a mom; it’s a perfect fit. Spy holds my hand in a death grip. She’s been glued to my side for the past two weeks in fear I’ll abandon her. The biggest shock is the little guy who burrows his face against my chest. His daddy likes my chest too. He giggles when I tell him that, and thank God he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Lil Ez is the best kid I’ve ever seen- calm, kind, and quiet. He easily giggles, and is ever watchful of Azriel’s every move.

Two weeks with more than twenty people smashed into a luxury apartment is torture, but a torture that bound us as a unit. I can even look at Katya without wanting to spit nails. It’s also been a frustrating week since it was devoid of anything that involves the lifestyle. We have a lot of Masters begging for five minutes alone with a playmate of their choosing, but those sneaky kids follow you around like ducklings. Achingly frustrated…

Marcus is conversing with our large security staff- nearly thirty trained professionals in law enforcement and military services. The retired men serve us proudly out of duty and respect. Marc shares a secret smile with me and tips his head towards Whitt.

I follow the direction of his gaze and smirk. Dalton and Whitt are forehead to forehead reading our newest edition of Generation Next. Whitt’s face brightens when he gets the message the kids and I left him. 

RESTAINT GRAND REOPENING

Our beloved Restraint has been closed for months. While Olivia Fontaine would love to take credit for this, she is mistaken. Restraint was closed for a revamp. When you arrive tonight you will find a brand new club, a redesigned dungeon, and a dozen theme rooms to feed all your needs. The upstairs now houses the Masters’ private rooms and VIP Membership rooms that are available by reservation only. Come out and congratulate the Masters of Restraint.
~Marcus~Devlin~Dexter~Ezra~Cortez~Syn~Whitt~Queen~Dalton~Katya~Aaron~Alex~Greta~Niel~

~Happy 24
th
Birthday, Pretty Boy~

We deviate from our usual parting message

~Good luck storming the Castle~

Checkmate

Please visit www.generationnext.com for subscription details.

May dominance and submission feed your
needs.

Happy controlling and kneeling, boys and girls.

“I’d like to introduce our new security team. You all know Roarke, and this is Gunner,” Marcus introduces the two men who will protect Restraint to the death.

The difference between the pair of them is laughable. Roarke is a tough, retired police officer. He was shot on the job and left to pursuit other avenues. He’s tall and stacked. His Restraint, security t-shirt strains at the seams from the force of his muscles. He has a thousand mile, cop stare that makes me freak out.

Gunner is average height, with light brown hair and blue eyes. He looks like any guy you’d see at a frat house chugging from a keg, that is until his eyes connect with yours. The seasoned Marine veteran brings the strongest to their knees.

The pair leads a team of thirty ex-cops and veterans who need an outlet after years of making a living through violence. The large group of security has a few underlings that they will keep in line. One of them is Levi Wilson, our torture victim. We’ve also taken on the female that helped him with the riots. Sarina isn’t one of our security staff, but a budding Domme whose expertise is mixology. I avoid looking at her since she’s missing a pinky and I blame myself. Every time I see her bile rises in my throat for the lengths I will go to protect my family. We owed Levi and Sarina, and I always pay my debts.

“Whitt, are you ready?” Marcus asks excitedly. The tension in the air is palpable.

“I’m so ready. I can’t
fucking believe it’s the day. Marc we’ve waited for fourteen years,” Whitt’s voice shakes with unshed tears, and he hops up and down as he speaks.

“Are you ready, Regina?” Marc
asks me and winks.

“I’m beyond ready,” I huskily growl. “Let do this!” I jump up and down, and Lil Ez claps while resting in my arms.

“Ready?” Marcus asks the crowd.

The hoard screams at the top of their lungs
R E A D Y!

“Well,” Marc drawls out. “It’s time to storm Misery Castle!”

Bonus Scene

As a thank you for riding this wild roller coaster with Regina Regal, I have a special bonus scene for you all. This scene was originally outlined to be included in Checkmate, but I felt it best not to include it. The following scene is not in any timeline, follows no rules, and may or may not occur in the future. It was simply an idea I had- a no holds barred idea of epic proportions.

~Thank you for reading Regina’s journey through her nightmarish fantasy to her present reality~

*Master Mash*

-Marcus Zeitler- Master of our Universe-

Standing on the dais I’ve never felt so powerful. I gaze down to my people, the people I’ve trained. They gaze back at me with utter devotion and respect. If I say jump, they ask what bridge. I’ve twisted their will in my iron fist, and pretzeled them into shapes they’ve never contemplated, and sometimes feared. I did it for their own good, and they thanked me through moisture beaded eyes and tear stained cheeks. My God, I feel fucking powerful.

I smirk at the whole lot of them- they have no idea what I’m about to do. Some of them will want to kill be before this night is through, and they have no choice in the matter. I snicker when they get that scared animal look when my eyes capture theirs. Every single one of them looks away- well, not her. She’ll never look away. She’s uneasy, but she trusts me, and she knows the despicable lengths I’ll use to form us into unity.

I chuckle that deep laugh that makes Regina’s toes curl. I’ve perfected it just to see that glazed look in her eyes as it hits her ears and pools in her groin.
Hmm… That’s right, lover, feel it resonate in your body. 

“Welcome, Masters of Restraint,” I say proudly and a bit grandly as I spread my arms and turn in a circle on the dais. I may not be gay-gay, but I have some fabulousness that likes to come out and play- I call it charisma. Regina calls it
cut the shit, you rat-bastard
. I toss her a wink because it confuses the hell out of her, and I like to keep her on her toes.

I pull my cell from my pocket with an evil grin on my face. I type ‘lockdown’ and press send. I’ve captured everyone’s attention.

“In light of recent events I thought we should… bond,” I draw the word out and grin. Every Master freezes when they catch the mischievousness in my shit-eating grin. I type a few more words on my cell and a beat of music interrupts the uncomfortable silence.
Thump… thump… thump… -
The thump of a heartbeat that won’t be calm for long.

“Anyone ever play musical chairs?”  I rhetorically ask, and I get a few shrugs and nervous titters in response. I can hear their thoughts…
What chairs?
The dungeon is empty of everything except the dais. The dungeon is completely devoid of anything but Masters… and not a chair in sight…

I narrow my eyes and grin. I tilt my chin down and raise my eyes through the fringe of my lashes. I know the impact this type of gaze has on them all- Cort and Regina practically melt to the floor, but the rest of them nervously shuffle from foot-to-foot. The gaze screams
beware: shit’s about to get real- really uncomfortable for you all.

“You have two minutes,” I say lightheartedly and think to
myself
two minutes of total fucking chaos- it’s going to be epic!
“When the beat speeds up you have two minutes to get fucked or fuck. I don’t care if it’s a cock in your hand, mouth, pussy, or ass- you will be impaled by a cock. If you don’t, then you better be the impaler. Gay, straight, or indifferent, you will push your limits.” I smirk at their horrified expressions. We are two-thirds guys versus one-third girls. Either those girls will have a sailor in every port, or some guys are going to have to get aboard and touch a fellow man.