Temporary Master

Temporary
Master

by
Dakota Trace

Ethan Tremaine may be a man in denial
but his desire to dominate has never changed despite his fear of forming a
relationship with his submissive. Instead he now trains them for others and is
perfectly content to do so. He doesn't want to ever risk the pain he felt at
his dead wife's desertion ever again. He's just released his current submissive
to a fellow Dom when he realizes he has no one to assist in an agreed to
demonstration at the Kinkfest coming up, which could be detrimental to their
new club. Frantic he jumps at the chance when his partner, Davis offers to find
him a new sub who loves shibari, never expecting that he's been set up.

As a collared sub, Sabella Johnston
lived for her Master's approval. But now un-collared and back home with her
recovering father, she is at a complete loss. It's been months since she's felt
the familiar feel of rope around her body. When her best friend, Lauren begs
her to help out with a bondage demonstration, she agrees as long as she gets
the chance to meet the Dom, and add her own stipulations. But once she meets
Ethan Tremaine, sparks fly between them and she's having a hard time
remembering her own conditions.

“Daddy,
don’t you even think about dying on me.”

Sabella
Johnston fought the tears stinging the back of her eyes. “I’ll never forgive
you if you do this. You need to open those pretty green eyes for me and tell me
everything is going to be okay. That you won’t leave me like Mom did.”

The
electronic beep of the heart machine was the only answer she received as she
sat next to her father’s hospital bed, holding his thick work-roughened hand
between hers. He was so still, lying on the hospital bed, his normal complexion
pasty white as his chest rose and fell shallowly. Her life, which had been so
orderly a mere forty-eight hours ago, seemed to be a thing of the past as well
as the man who’d been her Master.

The
sound of the door opening drew her attention to the entryway. Her pulse jumped.
She was ready to give the doctor a piece of her mind.
It’s about damned time
he showed up. I want some answers – particularly about why Dad is still in a
drug-induced coma.
As she caught sight of her best friend, her ire died as
quickly as it had ignited. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster since
she’d gotten the frantic phone call from her dad’s neighbor, Ms. Di’Angelo.

Tall
and slender, Lauren Haskell was the epitome of a California blonde and had been
Sabella’s friend forever. Fitting the blonde bombshell cliché to a tee, she was
also was bright, bubbly even to the point of being perky, and now more than
anything Sabella appreciated it. She needed something to lift her spirits
before she caused bodily damage to someone.

“Aw,
Bella-mía, what am I going to do with you?” Lauren tsked as she took in the
wrinkled clothing Sabella wore. Tugging her out of the chair, she crushed
Sabella in a bone-jarring hug. Inhaling the familiar perfume mixed with just a
slight trace of the motor oil from her friend’s unlikely job as an auto
mechanic, Sabella realized how much she’d missed this. Lauren patted her back.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I know I was bugging you to visit but I didn’t mean
under these circumstances.”

Turning
her head to breathe, Sabella exhaled softly while resting her forehead on
Lauren’s shoulder. “I know. I’m just glad you were able to lend me the money
for the flight home.” Finally squirming free, Sabella resumed her vigil next to
the bed.

Slipping
into the chair next to Sabella’s, Lauren set her bag on the floor. “You’re my
best friend in the whole world, Bella. Of course I’m going to help you out when
I can.” Lauren arched a blonde brow at her. “Not that I’m complaining and Lord
knows I have money to spare, but why didn’t that Sugar Daddy of yours buy you a
ticket?” Lauren’s eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. “Is he not treating you
right?”

“Umm….”
Guilt and remorse tugged at Sabella. She had been a gullible fool when it came
to Louis Vayarti. But if she told her friend that, Lauren would fly to New York
to kick Louis’s butt.
Not that he doesn’t deserve it,
but I’d rather have her here with me.

Lauren
sighed.
“Out with it, Bella-mía.”
Her lacquered
fingernails drummed lightly on the arm of the chair. “You have that pensive
‘I’ve been a bad little Catholic girl look’ about you. And you know as well as
I do I won’t shut up until you tell me, anyway.
So spill.”

Sabella
knew her friend wouldn’t but how to even start?
With the
truth obviously.
She finally decided the simple truth would
be the best. “I’m not with Louis anymore.”

Cocking
her head, Lauren gave a matter of fact nod. “Then good riddance. He obviously
wasn’t good enough for you.”

Amusement
bubbled up inside of Sabella at Lauren’s reply. “You don’t even know what I
did…”

Lauren
rolled her eyes. “Girl, you’re the sweetest, kindest and kinkiest girl I know.
If he gave you up, then he’s the idiot.”

Sabella
couldn’t stop the giggle. It escaped, sounding loud in the quiet hospital room.
“Well, if you put it that way, I guess…” She sobered when the machine next to
the bed cycled on, delivering a dose of meds through her father’s I.V.,
reminding her of the seriousness of the situation. “In the end, it didn’t
matter. He asked me to choose between him and Dad.”

The
rat-a-tat of the nails ceased. Lauren’s cheeks flushed before she finally
spoke, her voice nearly harsh as a New York winter breeze. “Oh, no he didn’t.”

Sabella
shrugged.
“Afraid so.
He wanted me to let the nursing
staff and Ms. Di’Angelo take care of Dad. But you know me, I may be submissive
but it doesn’t mean I’m a doormat. Family is important to me, particularly
after Mom died. There was no way I’d let another person take care of Dad. He’s
all I have. So I told Louis to take a long walk off a short pier before calling
you.” She
flushed,
remembering her humiliation when
she’d been forced to beg her friend for the funds to come home after finding
out Louis had not only removed her from their joint account, but had also
canceled the credit card he’d given her. “I can’t believe how stupid I was. I…”

“…are
too good for an ass like him.
So quit beating yourself up.”
Lauren took Sabella’s hand in hers. “Leave that to the professional Doms. Now,
tell me you’re here to stay. There’s obviously nothing left for you in New
York, and I’ve missed my best friend. The clubbing hasn’t been the same since
you left. Besides I know this perfect job for you. It’s at one of the local
youth centers. They’re looking for someone to teach all that creative and
interpretive art crap you love to underprivileged kids.” Lauren winked at her.
“Besides I know the sexy director of the youth center, so it’ll be a breeze to
get you an interview. Plus, he’ll jump at hiring someone who’s a friend of mine
and just happens to be in the lifestyle. I met him at
a munch
shortly after you left. And while he’s a little too uptight for my tastes, he’d
be perfect for you.”

Despite
everything Sabella had to laugh. Some things never changed, and her friend’s
ferocious appetite for über-dominant men was one of them. “You’re such a loon, girl.
Trying to always set me up, or always thinking with that thing between your
legs instead of the head God gave you.”

Lauren
shrugged it off. “Hey, you only live once, and I plan on getting as much kinky
loving as I can before some man hog-ties me and slaps his collar around my
neck. Speaking of collars…there’s this new club that I just found. It’s called
New Beginnings and it’s out on…”

Sabella
held her hand up. “Whoa…slow down. I’m not going clubbing anytime soon. Until
Dad’s back on his feet, I’m taking a hiatus from the scene. He needs me more
right now than I need sex.”

Lauren
gave her a dubious look as if she couldn’t believe the words spewing out of
Sabella’s mouth. “Everyone needs sex, Bella-mía.”

“Well
I’m ready to give it up ‘til Dad is better. It won’t be that much of hardship
anyway.”

Lauren’s
expression softened. “Not only did the bastard not appreciate you, he couldn’t
figure out how to send you into sub-space, could he?”

“He
tried…I’m starting to think it’s a mythical thing, just like a woman’s g-spot.”
Sabella flushed even brighter red as she spoke. Sometimes her friend had
absolutely no tact.

“One
day, Bella Johnston, you’re going to find a man who can get past those
ridiculous shields and make you face your nature as a submissive woman, and not
just the one you pretend to be. He’s going to find all your weaknesses until he
knows you better than you know yourself, and then guide you until you’ve become
the sub you were born to be.”

She
opened her mouth to reply, but was saved from answering when, after a brisk
knock on the door, a doctor finally joined them.

“Ms.
Johnston? I’m Doctor Chavantez.” Looking to be in her mid-forties, the Hispanic
woman stopped at the foot of her father’s bed. Opening his medical file, she
browsed through it. “I’m sorry we couldn’t have met under different
circumstances. It seems like your father started experiencing chest pains late
yesterday afternoon and was brought in by his neighbor, Louisa Di’Angelo, when
he missed their weekly dinner.”

Sabella
nodded, thinking of the woman next door who’d been like a mother to her. Only a
few years younger than her father, Louisa had been a constant in Sabella’s life
after her own mother had died in a car accident. She’d even tried a time or two
to set her father up with Mrs. D. “Dad and she have a standing invitation every
Thursday night.”

Dr.
Chavantez smiled. “Well, Ms. Johnston, that’s what
probably
saved your father’s life. He had a blockage on the outside of his heart on the
left side. One of the veins feeding the heart muscle itself was completely
blocked. We had to put a stint in last night, and now we’re also monitoring his
blood oxygen levels. But that’s not what really concerns us, even though the
heart attack was relatively minor and is responding to well to treatment. It’s
the fact that Ms. Di’Angelo stated your father is a diabetic who’s refused to
treat his disease in the past.”

Sabella
groaned and wanted to glare at her father, but knew it would do no good in his
comatose state.
“Stubborn old coot.”
She squeezed the
bridge of her nose, before shrugged her shoulders and meeting the doctor’s
gaze. “When Mom was alive, things were different. She did all the cooking, and
because she was a diabetic…” She explained. “She was religious about taking her
meds and maintaining a healthy diet. Dad was always the one trying to slip her
sugary treats, even though he knew she couldn’t have them.” Sabella sighed. “He
thought Mom’s doctor was sweet on her, and made up this borderline diabetic
stuff to keep Mom coming in.”

The
doctor shook her head. “Well, in your father’s case there’s no borderline. He’s
a type one diabetic who should be on insulin shots. Even if this heart attack
didn’t kill him, he’d have been dead within the year because of his refusal to
take the disease seriously. His blood sugars were over three hundred when he
was brought in. Right now we’re monitoring his sugar levels and we’ve
prescribed a low sugar diet for him while he’s here at the hospital. My biggest
concern is when he goes home and has no one to monitor his eating habits that
he’ll slip back into his old routines.”

Sabella
was quick to assure the doctor. “It shouldn’t be an issue. I’m moving back home
from New York and planned on staying with Dad until I find my own place. I can
make sure he gets to whatever classes he needs to go to along with monitoring
his eating habits.”

The
doctor gave her a relieved smile. “Great.” She leaned in close as if telling
her a secret. “I hate to say this, but your dad has been in twice in the last
six months because of high sugar levels. I was really worried about sending him
home this time. He spoke of you the last time he was in. He’s very proud of
you, so I think you’ll be just what the doctor ordered for him. If anyone can
convince him to take his meds and eat right, it should be you.”

Sabella
nodded. Things would be changing or there would be hell to pay. And she was
stubborn enough to see that it did. Andrew Johnston would
either
straighten up and
fly right, or she’d never let him have a moment of
peace. She wanted her father around for a long time to come.