Sebastian: The Complete Series (47 page)

“What can I say? I'm a ‘what have you done for me lately’ type of guy.” With heavy limbs, I scooted forwards, coiling my arms around his waist. “Can you remember how good my lips feel around you?”

“Too well.” He grinned as I pressed my chest harder against his irresistible package.

Before I even got a chance to touch him, he was stepping back and running his hands through his hair. “We should finish eating.”

“Have you gone mental? The only thing I should be putting in my mouth is this.” I rubbed his cock over his jeans and smiled.

“That can wait.” A lingering kiss was placed on my lips, and then I was being re-dressed and pulled onto his knee, a fork hovering in front of my lips. “I have plans, and those plans don’t include you rushing. Later, okay?”

“Fine. But don’t blame me if you’re still excited when our guests arrive.” I nudged my arse over his cock and placed my lips slowly around the fork, playing up the moment and grinning when I felt him shudder against me. “You sure we don’t have time?”

He was thinking about it when the doorbell rang and I let out a long groan of complaint. “I’ll get it. You finish eating.” He let me slide off his knees, adjusting himself as he stood up.

“You’d best cover that monster up or you may frighten them.” I threw him one of his fashionably long cardigans and grinned.

He was pulling it on as he walked to the front door. I continued to stuff my face for a few minutes, not wanting to have an audience while I ate and then downed a glass of water before leaving the table. I found the three of them in the sitting room, standing around and still saying their hellos.

“Seb.” Robert offered me a hand which I took, happy to be pulled to his side while I cast a long look over the two of them.

“You look amazing,” Dominque leaned forwards, kissing my cheek, a warm smile on his face.

“Well, let’s face it, when we met before I wasn’t at my best.”

“You look well.” Jacob nodded, looking up and down me before meeting my gaze. “How do you feel?”

“Awesome. And you?” I cocked a brow and got a shake from Robert.

“I'm… fine, as you're so fond of saying.” Jacob placed both his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly on his heels as he held my stony look.

“I
am
fine. Super fine.” I chuckled at my own joke, watching Dominque biting his lip in an attempt to stop the grin spreading on his face.  “That was funny. Even Dom laughed.”

Jacob smirked, and then turned his attention to Robert. “Let’s talk.”

“Sure.” Robert kissed me. “We’ll be in my study. If you need anything, just come find me.”

“Okay.” It was anything but okay and he knew it. I didn’t want to be left alone with someone I barely knew and who I felt ever so slightly insecure about.

“I’ll make us some coffee,” Dominque offered quietly, slipping from the room, taking Jacob with him and giving us some time alone.

“What’s wrong?” Robert ran his hands up and down my back soothingly.

“I barely know him.”

“He’s very sweet, and you have more in common than you think. He wanted to talk to you, Seb, and I think now’s the right time for it to happen.”

“So… this whole thing, it’s not about you and work, it’s about me and him?”

“Well, not really. I do need to speak to Jay about work. It’s just Dominque is here, and you’re here, and… Talk to him. He’s been through a lot, just like you have, and he’s moved here from Leeds too. He has few people he holds close to him, but in the short time you’ve known each other, he considers you a friend and he cares for you.”

I didn’t get how or why he would feel anything for me, but I nodded and walked Robert to the hall. "I’ll go help with the drinks and sort out the kitchen from lunch. I’ll drop off yours in the study in a few minutes.”

“Okay, baby.” Robert gave me one last kiss, and then headed off.

I stole a quick look in the kitchen, finding Dominque alone and fiddling with the coffee machine. “Hey.”

He glanced over his shoulder, big brown eyes meeting mine. “Hey. How do you like your coffee?”

“Strong with three sugars and tons of milk.” I leaned against the countertop and watched him set up the cups. “I should be doing that. You're the guest.”

Dominque faltered. “I'm sorry, I was just—”

“No-no, I didn’t mean anything bad by that. Thanks, that’s all. I’ll grab the milk.”

We both fell into what felt, to me at least, like an uncomfortable silence while he finished up the coffee and I cleared the plates from the table, oh, and the stray cutlery and salt and pepper pots from the floor.

“You have an accident?” Dominque was leaning against the sink, arms crossed over his chest and a huge grin on his face which told me he knew exactly what we’d been doing.

“It’s not what you think.” I smiled, placing the dirty plates on the counter beside him. “Yeah, that’s not happened yet.”

“Well, obviously you two still need each other. I saw how much Robert needed you when he answered the door.” He laughed and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, I did tell him he should have let me return the favour and get rid of that bulge in his pants, but he wanted to wait. He thinks I'm rushing into stuff, or I'm not ready, or maybe I'm just too damaged and he can't bring himself to…” I faded off, gripping the marble counter tightly.

“It’s okay. I know what you mean. I get it.”

I chuckled. “No you don’t. You don’t have the first clue what’s going on.”

“Seb…” Dominque turned me to face him, wide eyes glistening in the light. “I know. I know exactly what you're going through.”

“Exactly?”

Dominque ran those long fingers through his wavy locks with a sigh. “Exactly, Seb.”

S
itting in silence at the kitchen table as Dominque dropped their coffee off, I looked out of the patio doors and watched the rain bouncing off the decking outside. October weather was never my favourite, too wet and gloomy. Usually I would be looking forward to Halloween and going out in some stupid costume with my mates to get pissed, but I didn’t feel in the mood for it this year.

“Hey, here you go.”

Looking up, I saw Dominque handing me my cup. “Thanks.”

He joined me at the table, sitting beside me and cradling a cup in his hands as he watched the puddles forming outside. “If you're not ready to talk, I understand. And it wasn’t really you opening up to me. It was more me to you. If anything, you know I'm here and I understand. I’ll always be here if you need me.”

He was being sweet, talking to me about a situation which was obviously still raw for him, and I appreciated him trying. “I’ve done enough talking about what happened to last me until the trial at least. I needed a break. I'm not hiding. I'm just
over
the whole thing. Well, not
over
over, but you know, sick to fucking death about reliving it, and I imagine I’ll have to do tons of talking in court, so…”

“I never got my day in court.” Dominque gripped his cup tighter then breathed out. “But… Seb, soon, before the trial, we need to talk.”

“Why?” There was something about this whole thing which felt off. I was a good judge of character and I could tell Dominque had a huge weight on him which he needed to rid himself of.

“I don’t want you to hear it from someone else. I want to be the one to tell you.”

I huffed. “Tell me what?”

He looked at me for the first time since he sat down and thought to himself for a few moments. “Robert mentioned it was through Jacob’s help that he found you, right?”

Yeah, he’d mentioned it, but I'd not really took in
how
it had happened, but thinking about it, I wondered how in the hell Jacob had helped. “He spotted
his
car, right? He knew who to follow.”

“Yes, well, I saw…
him
getting into his car outside Robert’s house.”

“You saw him and… so… what? How did that lead you to me?”

“Because…” Dominque rubbed his eyes and blew out a long breath. “I knew him.” Brown eyes met mine and he folded his arms across his chest. “I knew him from when he raped me.”

We both sat there, motionless. The weight of his words and what they meant to both of us felt like a ton of bricks on my shoulders.

“I’d never seen him here before.” Dominque cleared the emotion stuck in the back of his throat. “Never seen a picture of him and Robert together. But there he was. After all those years, there he was, right outside Robert’s house. I was on my own. I’d driven there to see Robert on the way home from work. Jacob was meeting us there and we were going to keep him company while he worried over you. It was so surreal. I sat there in silence, watching him. I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea why he was there. The thought of him getting away again, it was too much, so I snapped a few pictures on my phone and then watched him drive off. After a few minutes of total numbness, I called Jacob. All I could do was sit and wait as he rushed to get to me. I must have sounded like a nutcase, and I can’t even remember what I said, never mind if he actually got what I meant. I locked the doors and looked at those pictures, almost seconding guessing it was him. I mean, how could it be him? Why was he at Robert’s?”

He was shaking, so I took hold of his hand and moved closer. “That’s how they found me?”

“Yes.” Dominque wiped the beads of sweat forming on his brow. “I’m sorry, this is all… It’s been difficult for me reliving this, but it’s important to me to do this.”

“It’s okay. I appreciate you telling me. I know it’s difficult.”

“When Jacob got there, and made some sort of sense out of my mad ramblings, he didn’t know what to do. He’d been hoping he would find the man who raped me since I told him about it almost a year ago, but actually seeing him, knowing him… That made us both pause. I had to be sure, and I was second guessing myself all the time. I didn’t want it to be someone he knew, someone so involved with his friend. It took Jacob talking me down from the ceiling and his belief in me was what pushed me to be confident in my gut reaction. I remembered him. I would never forget him. He wasn’t some random attacker. I
knew
him. He was a client who I saw several times before he hurt me.”

“Did Robert believe you when you told him?” He must have done eventually, but I didn’t see him just going with the whole ‘his ex was a serial rapist and murderer’ right off the bat.

“He didn’t know what to think when Jacob explained everything. All he did know was that he didn’t trust Leo and he wanted you back. That’s why they drove to his house, and on to his grandmother’s place to see if they could find him and talk to him. Jacob wouldn’t have talked.” Dominque laughed. “I'm pretty sure he would have knocked him out for the count on first sight.”

“He did.” I smiled at him. “It was a good thing to see.”

“So I heard.” He grinned back.

“If you hadn't seen him, if he hadn't been your attacker, I would have died, Dom. You saved my life.”

“I always believe everything happens for a reason, and if my time with Leo in any way helped you, then that’s a good thing. I just wish it hadn't happened at all. I wish I'd not listened to Harriot and gone to the police after he hurt me. I’ve gone over and over that time in the last three weeks, and even finding out he covered his arse and used false details, it didn’t help me feel any better. People have died…” He wiped the tears rolling down his face. “Those deaths, they’re partly my fault. I’ll always have that on my mind. The guilt. Guilt about you, Damien… Harriot always told me no one would believe me, that people like me didn’t get raped.” He scowled. “We were
paid
for our time. What they did to us during it could be justified some way in her mind. And… it was bad for business to have the police around, as I'm sure you’ve heard from her.”

“I did.”

“But you didn’t listen to her. You told the police. You walked away from her.”

“Only because I had help. I doubt I could’ve done it if the job was all I had.”

Dominque nodded sadly. “The job was all I had for so long. I relied so much on it. It wasn’t until Jacob I found out how brave I could be. Without him, I'd still be there.”

“If you were still there, I would never have got the job. I only got it because they were looking for someone to fill your shoes.” I offered a small smile.

“Really?” Dominque looked into my eyes. “Funny, isn't it, how everything seems to be connected in some way?”

“Spooky.” I chuckled softly, before placing a kiss on his cheek. “I think you’ve been brave for a long time. You just didn’t see it.” We both took a drink from our coffee, and then I turned to him. “Did he hurt you like he did me?”

“No, not as bad, but then he didn’t have as much time to play.” He pursed his lips together in a thin line. “I have scars which he left behind, inside and out. The psychological part is much harder to get over than the physical. Those heal and fade without much thought, but in here—” He tapped his head and gave me a smile. “Well, that took longer, and I really didn’t have a choice to take my time with it.

“I had to go back to work after my body was okay. I lost myself in the clients and took date after date, keeping myself too busy to think or feel. After initially telling Harriot what happened, I never spoke those words again. To say I was raped, even inside my own head where only I could hear, it was too hard. The next time I said them was to Jacob, and I was so scared he would reject me or he would treat me differently because of it, but he never did.”

“I can't say it either.”

“I noticed.” Dominque smiled again, softly touching my shoulder. “And that’s okay. You don’t have to.”

“I want everything to go back to the way it was before this. Minus the stalker dude and me being an escort, of course.”

He chuckled. “They will. You just need time, and how long is something only you will know. You have Robert beside you. I had no one for a long time. Having Jacob with me, and being able to talk to him like I couldn't with anyone else, it made things so much easier. I feel freer than I have ever done before. Talk to Robert. He’ll help you through this, even when no one else can.”

“I don’t know, you’ve been awesome.”

“I'm glad I helped.”

“You have, and for what it’s worth, I'm sorry he did this to you too. I hope that sick fucker gets what’s coming to him in prison.”

“Karma always finds a way to give back what people have put out into the world. It’s only a matter of time.” He sounded positive about that, and I wanted to believe Leo would get back tenfold what he put out there. “He’s truly a sick, sick man.”

“Yeah.” I thought hard about the men he’d hurt. “We were lucky. Lucky to get away with scars when others lost their lives. I should think about that more often. I could have died! No more me. How sad would that have been for everyone, huh?”

Dominque chuckled over the rim of his cup. “I'm glad you're still with us.”

“Hey, I'm super hard to get rid of. I kind of grow on you.”

“Jacob’s the same. You’ll like him too, given time.”

“I don’t think he likes me.”

“You confuse him.”

“I confuse a ton of people, but none of them react like him.”

Dominque bit his lip. “He’s not been the same since he found you. He’s been… distracted by his own thoughts, second guessing himself and how he lives.”

“I'm sorry it’s affected him. I can't imagine it was nice finding me like that.”

“No…” Dominque looked into my eyes again. “It’s… you see, Jacob and I…” His hand fluttered to his neck, toying with a chain there. “What I should say first is that your experience with Leo is in no way what BDSM is about. He was unstable and mentally ill to… That’s not what it’s about.”

“Yeah, I get killing people isn’t normal, even for people who like that sort of thing.”

“Hmm, and… what do you think of that sort of thing?”

“Well, my one and only experience of it wasn’t really something I can judge by. Why?” I stared at the silver band running around his neck and the penny dropped. It wasn’t just a chain or some trinket, it was a slave collar. I stood up, my hands shaking. “And Jacob is… Jacob enjoys tying you up and telling you what to do, right? Hurting you? Controlling you?”

“He’s not like Leo.” Dominque was beside me, trying to comfort me. “He’s nothing like Leo. Everything we do is consensual. Not once has he
ever
done anything against my will. I enjoy this, Seb. I almost lost this part of me because of Leo, but I got it back, and despite how much this scares you, it’s what I want. What I need.”

“I don’t believe that.” I brushed off his touch, “You're just confused, confused by what happened.”

“No!” Dominque stood firmly in front of me. A sudden shift from demur and submissive into strong-willed and determined happened before my eyes. “I was always this way. That’s why Leo wanted me. The only thing that confused me was him. For a long time I feared going back to this world, but once Jacob showed me the way, I knew I was home. I understand this makes you uncomfortable, but our lifestyle is none of your business. If you don’t agree with it, that's fine, but don’t judge Jacob on the actions of one mad man. He’s the man I love. I’ll do anything for him and that includes standing up for him and our life when it comes to it.”

“So, why is he second guessing himself, then? Since he found me in that dungeon strapped to that bed, cuffs cutting into my skin, dirty and used, bruised and cut. What did Jacob think when he saw me, when he saw what
his
world did to me?”

Dominque stepped back, holding his collar tightly.

“He thought he was wrong, right? He looked at me and saw what could happen.”

“Not with Jacob,” Dominque whispered.

“But he’s questioning it, right?” I could see I’d hit the nail on the head, even though Dominque wasn’t going to agree with me. I was right.

“That’s enough!” Jacob’s voice startled us both, me more so than Dominque, and I turned to find all six foot two of him glaring at me in the doorway, his green eyes blazing. “Anything you wish to discuss, you may do with me direct. You won't bully him into saying what you want, no matter how desperate you are to hear him say it.”