Settling Down (12 page)

Every possible answer filled Tim with more dread as he watched Cheri be walked away into the dancing throng. Fucking hell, he couldn’t exactly follow them and tell her. And she was an adult. If she wanted to play with Max, who was he to stop her? He was her boss, not her master.

“Well, shit.” Gloria summed up his feelings perfectly, then resumed the smile-and-pass-out-bags persona. And that was all he needed to get back to work.

Thankfully Jae was sliding up behind the booth once the first burst of partygoers died down. He was hard to miss with those damned ears. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, not bad other than my new employee showing up with my old master.” Tim sighed and stepped back from the front of the booth. Gloria scooted to the middle without missing a beat.

Good, they could talk.

“Ah, thin girl, blue hair, shaved sides, arguing with him a moment ago?” Jae spoke into his ear.

“What?”

“At the bar. I don’t know what it was about, and it stopped before I could approach. I’ll keep an eye on her, just in case.”

Tim pressed his lips against Jae’s jaw in gratitude. “Thank you, Sir.”

Jae grunted, wrapped an arm around Tim’s waist, and kissed him hard. By the time Tim could breathe again, one patron was slinking away, looking a bit despondent.

“Possessive much?” Tim asked with a breathless laugh.

“With you, yes. Is there a problem?”

Tim curled his arms around Jae’s neck and brought their foreheads together. Damn, he even smelled good. “Not at all.”

PULLING AWAY
from Tim to let him get back to work was hard. Kissing him was enough to make Jae want to drag him up to the stage and make it clear for anyone who was wondering or looking at Tim in any way to whom he belonged. Him. Mine. No touchy.

He had no worry Tim would respond to any come-ons with anything less than the polite refusal he did at the shop. Didn’t stop Jae from feeling possessive at the come-ons in the first place.

Right, time to locate that Cheri girl. She was new, had to be. It wasn’t like Jae kept his eye on subs since Tim—he was just as much his after all—but he didn’t remember seeing her before.

Cheri was dancing on the floor with Max leaning on the bar, watching her. Looked as if the little spat was just that. She kept smiling at the blond man, showing off for him in shorts and a leather bra. Hell, even from where Jae stood, he could see that getup was so brand new he bet the music drowned out the squeaks.

Jae glanced over the rest of the crowd on the dance floor. Reggie and David found their quarry for the night and had him between them, taller than them both, shaggy dark hair David had a hand in. Even as they danced, Jae noticed one or the other gazing toward the LE booth. Tim had good friends in the two Doms. Horny friends, but good friends.

Both Tim and Gloria ought to be getting thirsty with all that talking. They could use a drink. Jae took the long way around and through the dance floor to get to the bar for two bottles of water.

“No!”

He turned to see Cheri, now at the bar with Max, pulling away from him. “I told you, I don’t want to go up there.”

“Come on.” Max rolled his eyes. “You were hot to do a little suspension last night. There’s a space right there.”

Cheri shook her head. “That was before I saw the setup. I don’t want to do that up there in front of everyone.”

Reasonable request. Jae shook his head as the bartender brought the bottles to him. “One sec.”

He walked toward the two and noticed David and another person he recognized as a fellow Dom. They were on the ball tonight.

Max had Cheri’s wrist in his hand. “Then how about back at my hotel? We don’t have to stay here. You want to have a good time, you said so last night. Trust me.”

“Right now? No, I don’t.” She pulled at the hold on her wrist.

“Really? That wasn’t what you said last night. ‘Expand your horizons, get out of your comfort zone.’ Sound right?”

“Wait.” Cheri stopped pulling and said calmly, “I don’t want to play with you anymore, and that means you have to let me go. That’s what the e-mail said.”

Max furrowed his eyebrows, and by then the three Doms had surrounded him. “What e-mail? What the fuck is she talking about?”

Jae held back the urge to punch the fucker right in the face. How was he a pro again? “Is everything alright, Cheri?”

“How do you know my name?” Cheri yanked her hand free. “Oh right, you’re Tim’s….”

“Tim?” Max snarled loud enough to drown Cheri out. “Is this what this e-mail is about? That son of a bitch!”

Before anyone could stop him, Max shoved his way into the dancers with Jae right behind him. If he laid one fingernail on his pet, so help him God.

TIM WASN’T
ready to meet a furious Max, not without warning. First, he was waving off another potential customer with her bag of supplies, and then he was nose to chin with hot breath pouring over his face. Was Max leaning over the table? Was there a table?

“What e-mail are they talking about?” Max roared. “What the fuck did you do, you little shit!”

“I didn’t do a damn thing!” Tim shot back, taking a step backward just to get some space.

Gloria had him by the shoulder and was pulling him even farther back behind her. “Excuse me, fuckface, but what is your problem?”

“Get out of the way.” Max started to walk around the table. “Ruining my reputation in Georgia wasn’t enough, was it? You had to try to do this shit here too? And online? You’re as stupid as you’re a shitty sub!”

Tim’s nostrils flared. Oh, that was fucking rich. It was nice Gloria was playing human shield, but this was his battle to fight. He stepped around her just in time to see Jae and Reggie grab Max’s arms and yank him back from the table. Oh good, more help. Too much help? Well, at least Max couldn’t physically hurt him now.

“Look here, jackass.” Tim pointed a finger at Max as he struggled. “I’m about tired of your bullshit. Coming in here, throwing your damn weight around, threatening me, calling me a bad sub. You know not one damn thing how I live now after what you did to me.”

“What I did was an accident. Those happen. This e-mail bullshit? This is all you, isn’t it? Couldn’t find anyone to deal with you, so you pull this shit?”

Tim opened his mouth to respond when Jae spun Max out of Reggie’s grasp, the front of his shirt balled into one fist. “I’m. His. Master.” Each word was spat out right into Max’s face.

Max burst out laughing, much to Tim’s surprise. And annoyance. “Seriously? He’s got no collar, so what? You all pass him around or something?”

And it was Jae’s turn to be held back as Reggie grabbed his arm to keep him from punching Max in the face. As much as Tim would have loved to see that, as sue-happy as Max was, the last thing they all needed was an assault charge.

“Enough!” Mistress Rarity’s voice rang out again, this time followed by her imposing presence. Even dressed as the Queen of Hearts, when she ran a dungeon on six-inch heels, Rarity’s presence made everyone stop in their tracks, even Max. With an arm around Cheri’s trembling shoulders, she stepped in front of the table with two bouncers.

“I’m so sorry, Mistress Rarity.” Tim was quick to speak. “There seems to be a misunderstandin’ here.”

“Misunderstandin’,” Max replied in a whiny-sounding mockery of Tim’s accent. “I’m pressing charges for slander against him, and you’re all witnesses.”

“For?” Rarity asked as calmly as one pleased. Oh, she did remind Tim of himself dealing with Ms. Pantsuit. Butter wasn’t melting in that mouth.

Max pointed at Cheri. “Who sent that e-mail about me?”

“It was a post on the Leather Aid Submissives’ forum. And it didn’t mention your name at all.” Even afraid, Cheri was tart, and Rarity gave her a little side hug.

“She’s right. You can have a copy of the post if you wish. It was a general warning to watch for anyone who tried to pressure a sub out of their boundaries. It isn’t Tim’s fault that you’ve matched the description this evening and behaved so poorly.”

“Tim isn’t even on the forum,” Cheri added, then looked over at Tim. “Right?”

Tim nodded. “Right. I’ve stayed away from anything kink related online. I remember the details of the restraining order just fine. And you can double-check that shit for yourself.”

Max looked around at the group, then yanked out of Dom Joseph’s grip, straightening his shirt. “So all of this bullshit….”

“…is of your doing,” Rarity finished for him. “Let’s see, you’ve attempted to violate a sub’s boundaries on my watch, insulted one of the more willing, intelligent, and giving submissives I have met—who happens to be a sponsor of this event—on my watch, and offended his Dom. On my watch.” She lifted her mask, revealing that the design allowed her to keep her glasses on underneath. “I give no shits who you may be on the East Coast or how you earned your leathers or your patches, Master Max, but around here, we don’t allow such behavior from anyone. Any damage to your reputation here is all on you. You may leave. Now.”

As she smoothly replaced the mask, the two bouncers approached Max. He held up his hands. “I’ll see myself out. Never seen a more pathetic group of so-called kinksters in my life. It was waste of my time coming here.”

As he turned, Rarity said to his retreating back, “Oh, and if you still have it in your head to bring any sort of charges again Timothy, he’ll have the support of Leather Aid behind him, and we too have witnesses.”

That made Tim’s knees weak, and Gloria had to lean him against her to keep him up. Support from Leather Aid meant a lot to him. The group had accepted his limited role as demo sub for years and welcomed his increased involvement, but this was everything.

Gloria shifted, and a more solid presence replaced her. Tim turned and inhaled Jae’s aftershave. Much better.

“Damn, I’m real sorry,” he heard Cheri say. “I didn’t know turning him down would be such a big deal.”

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Rarity replied. “If you are actually interested in knowing more about suspension, my girl ashley enjoys it very much. Come, we’ll have a drink, and she’ll talk your ear off about it.”

“Alright. See you Wednesday, Boss!”

Tim managed a little backward wave, not even sure if he was waving in her direction or not. It didn’t matter. Max was gone and he wasn’t alone.

He’d never be alone again. Ever.

THE SOUND
of the front door opening had Jae grinning even harder. It was 2:00 a.m. His project had been complete and turned in for exactly two hours, which gave him an entire weekend free. Well, “weekend” in Tim’s terms.

He waited for Tim to knock on the closed office door. “Sir?”

“Come in.”

Tim, shoeless and looking exhausted, slipped through the door, walked to the front of the desk, and bowed quietly.

“How was work?” Jae asked as he rose, shutting his computer down for the night.

“Cheri is a fucking miracle,” Tim gushed, as if exhaustion weren’t enough to keep back his joy. “Gloria wants to adopt her, the customers like her, I like her. She’ll be doing store openings in no time.”

Tim was the good sort of tired, in a way Jae hadn’t seen even when they first met. In the weeks after the Leather Ball, his shoulders seemed less tense, and he worried a bit less, as if his support system putting Max in his place took some weight off him. And there was no word from the East Coast save for some phone calls from Raphael.

It wasn’t perfect. He walked into a shrink’s office one day and came out with a diagnosis of PTSD that wasn’t helped by what she believed was OCD. Tim accepted the first set of letters but fought against the second. Jae had him write up as much of his visits as he was comfortable with for Jae to read, and that would be one grand battle to fight.

Later.

Gloria was a full-fledged manager and insisted Tim start taking Sundays off. He was reluctant, still, but so far, there were no complaints.

Jae’s parents mailed a replacement set of the coffee cup Tim dropped on that fateful night. Neither one told them who dropped it, that it was only an accident. And another catalog talking about overseas adoption. Some things would never change.

But that was for another time.

Jae pulled one of the drawers of the desk open. “I have some things for you.”

Tim perked up. “A new cock ring? I know you were looking at them at the shop.”

Jae took out two boxes, one square and flat, the other a cube. He set the flat one in front of Tim first. “Go on.”

He pulled the top off with eager fingers, though they both knew what was inside. A sliver chain, the links about the size of Tim’s small pinky nail, held together by a lock in the shape of an oval with a small hole for a key, laying on a bit of padded red silk. Tasteful, subtle enough to not “freak the vanillas,” but it held a message carved on the underside of the oval.

Jae’s name. Written in Hangul.

“Damn, it’s prettier up close,” Tim whispered, lifting the new collar in his hands. “But where’s the key?”

Jae motioned to the cube. He was smiling so hard the corners of his cheeks were sore. They had picked over what exactly they were going to get until Jae gave Tim five final choices. Small enough so his pet wouldn’t get overwhelmed, but enough so he’d feel he had an actual say in the matter. Tim went from agonizing to making his selection in a day. It was a proud moment for Jae. He was learning how to make things easier for Tim to deal with one moment at a time.

“Why’s the key in a whole ’nother box?” Tim set the collar back where it came from and picked up the cube. “Seems a waste of packaging if you ask me—what?” Tim looked inside the box, then at Jae, then cocked his head to the side. “But I already got a key to your house, Sir. And none of these look like they’ll fit in that tiny hole.”

“Yes, to the front door. But not the back, or the garage, or the shed, or even my car, just in case.”

The jingle of the ring with the newly cut keys in Tim’s hands looked right, and it made Jae’s decision even more firm in his mind.

“But why do I need all of these keys?”