Temporary Master (30 page)

“Relax,
I’m not gonna make you talk to him.” She placed a hand on Sabella’s arm, before
shutting off the car. “But I can’t ignore him. Not only could he revoke my
membership, but even if I wasn’t worried about that…” She sighed. “No matter
what he’s done or hasn’t done, he needs to know you’re at least safe. Whether
he’s your Dom or not, he’s still a human with feelings, Bella.”

Sabella
nodded slowly. It made sense. If she were in Ethan’s shoes, she’d still want to
make sure the sub made it home safely and wasn’t in a ditch somewhere, freezing
to death.
“Fine.
But I’m holding you to it. I…” Her
eyes closed. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

“And
I’m not asking you to. Just take my keys and let yourself in. Let me deal with
him and I’ll be right in.” Lauren placed the keys in her hand. Scrambling out
of the car, she headed up the boardwalk to Lauren’s little home. The sound of
lapping water from the running river behind her friend’s house should’ve been
relaxing, but instead, she barely heard it over her pounding heart, as she
fumbled to unlock the front door. Letting herself in, she dropped the trench
coat over the back of the couch. She moved in front of the stone fireplace and
leaned against the mantle. Staring at the pictures of Lauren with her family
and even several with her, Sabella sighed. Picking up the nearest picture of
her and Lauren, she almost wished she was the same girl as the one in the
picture. Taken shortly after they’d both graduated high school, she was so
young and wet behind the ears, you could see the innocence radiating off her.
Tracing a finger over her smiling face, Sabella felt the tears sting her eyes.

“Yes,
she’s with me, and no, I’m not going to put her on the phone. She’s not in any
shape to talk to you or Ethan, Davis.” Lauren entered the living room, kicking
off her shoes. “Besides I thought you weren’t talking to me anymore.” She
stopped next to Lauren and rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what you threaten me
with. You can revoke my membership and it won’t matter. I’m still not going let
you badger her into feeling guilty. Her world was turned upside down tonight,
and until she can come to grips with it, she’s off-limits to both you and Dr.
Tremaine.” She snapped the cell phone shut, before cocking her hip and tossing
it on the mantle. “Now let’s get you out of these ropes, cleaned up and then
we’ll talk about what happened tonight, my Bella-mía.” She guided Sabella out
of the living room and into the master bath.

“Come
on, Ethan, you’ve been in there for two days. You can’t hide forever.” Davis
continued to pound on the bedroom door.

Rolling
into a sitting position, Ethan cradled his pounding head.
Perhaps
overindulging in soju last night wasn’t the wisest decision I’ve ever made.
But
it had dulled the memories of finding his collar on the floor and his
submissive gone. The sense of deja-vu had hit him hard as he’d stared at the
empty bathroom. It had grown even worse when he contacted Security, only to find
Sabella was nowhere on the premises. That’s when he’d broken down and asked
Davis to call Lauren. When his friend had assured him Sabella was safe with
Lauren but didn’t want to talk to him, he was taken back to the time when he’d
called Ryouko to find Tamiko, only to be told she didn’t want to talk to him,
that she was divorcing him. It hadn’t mattered his wife had died mere days
later coming home from a club, because her new Dom hadn’t had the prudence to
make sure Tamiko hadn’t gotten behind the wheel, after imbibing her favorite
rice wine.

“I’m
not going away this time, Tremaine.” The growl in Davis’s voice wasn’t lost on
Ethan, despite his aching head. “Either you haul your ass out here, or I’m
going to come in there and you’re not going to like the consequences.”

“Bite
me, Davis.” He slowly stood, his natural grace gone, as he dealt with the
aftereffects of his little drinking binge. Stumbling to the door, he pushed his
dreads back from his face. Opening it, he glared at his friend. “What the
hell’s your problem? Didn’t Eileen suck you off enough last night?”

Davis
crossed his arms. “I’ll have you know I sent Eileen home last night, when you
decided to tie one on.” He looked Ethan up and down. “You don’t seem any worse
for wear.” He turned to head down the hall. “Take a shower and meet me in the
kitchen. Breakfast is ready,” Davis threw over his shoulder before disappearing
around the corner.

Ethan
wanted to groan as his stomach heaved at the thought of food, but still headed
for the shower. A strong cup of tea and some ibuprofen were in order.

Twenty
minutes later, Ethan walked into the kitchen he shared with Davis, feeling
clean if not human. Seated at the table, his friend was reading the Sunday
morning paper. As he sank into one of the chairs, Davis looked over the top of
his paper at him. “There’s tea on the stove and a bottle of pain killers on the
counter.”

Ethan
nodded slowly, continuing to stare at the polished wood. Everything ached, not
only his head but his heart. This was why he didn’t do more than temporary. It
hurt too damn much when they left him.
And they always leave. They never
stick around, they use me for what they need, and then they’re gone…

“Here.”
Davis shoved a cup under his nose and two white pills. “We’ll talk when you feel
a bit more human.”

Ethan
nodded, picking up the pills. Popping them in his mouth, he took a sip of the
tea and nearly spit it out, but forced it down. Lifting gritty eyes, he met
Davis’s gaze. “You know for a guy who spent nearly thirty years in Japan, you
make a lousy cup of tea, Davis.”

Davis
shrugged his massive shoulders, before reaching for the paper. “Just because I
grew up in Japan doesn’t mean I can cook a decent pot of rice either. Not every
man from the Orient can make tea like you do, dude. Now drink it up, so I can
chew your ass and not feel guilty.”

Ethan,
who had been lifting the cup to his mouth,
paused
mid-lift. “I haven’t done anything to warrant an ass chewing.”

Folding
the paper up, Davis sighed. “You went off the deep end, Ethan. You promised me
the last time I pulled you out of that bar in
Okinawa,
you’d never do it again.”

“And
if I hadn’t listened to you, I wouldn’t have touched another drop of Soju.”
Fury consumed him. He slammed the teacup down on the table, splashing the tea. “But
I let you set me up with her. You and your talk of letting the past
be
in the past, that it was time for me to move on. That
there were better options! I would’ve been better off with Ryouko than the
viper you found. She got what she wanted, then left me, and didn’t have the
common decency to face me. Instead she ran like a coward. So don’t you dare
remind me of a promise I made before we came back over, when it’s partially
your fault.”

“Are
you done?” Davis’s cold tone did little to
faze
his
anger.
Which made him even angrier, as his friend looked past
Ethan as if he found the whole discussion boring.

“Not
really.” He smirked. “But look on the bright side…
it’s
better I found out now than before I did something utterly stupid like offering
her a permanent collar. I’d have been truly screwed then, trapped in another
relationship by my honor. I never should’ve thought to look for more than a
temporary relationship with a submissive. No, Sabella burned me but good. If I
were a vengeful man, I’d say she could go…”

“Don’t
say it, Ethan…” Davis pleaded, his eyes going to the door behind him once more.

“What…that
she should burn in hell…and what the hell
are
you
looking at?” He twisted around to catch a glimpse of Sabella.

Standing
in the doorway with angry, humiliated tears running over her cheeks, she
brushed one away. “I can’t believe I let Lauren talk me into coming back here.
That I was wrong about what I thought I heard…obviously I’m not welcome
anymore.” Then she turned and was gone. A moment later the front door slammed
shut.

He
was tempted to follow her, to find out why she was crying when Davis tossed the
paper at him. “You stupid fuck. You’d cut your nose off to spite your face. Do
you realize how fuckin’ long it took Lauren and me to convince her to come
back, after she overheard part of your damned conversation with that asshole?
She thought you were going to share her with him. That you were pulling your
‘temporary Dom’ shit?”

Shock
now competed with anger, as his headache returned with a vengeance. “Why would
she think after what we shared, that I would give her over to that slime?”

Davis
held up his hands and began to count off with his fingers.
“One,
your damned reputation.
From the first night she visited the club, she
was told you not only did you only play on short term, but you also picked out
your sub’s next Dom. Two, she told me she feels like she’s been taking
advantage of your nature by turning to you, with this business about the sex
offender registry. Which is utter nonsense and I told her that.” He held up
three fingers. “Three, you dumb
fuck,
you’ve never
told her you wanted her for anything more than a few scenes and that damned
demonstration. Lauren and I both believe she fell in love with your stubborn
ass, despite all the many reasons not to. But not once have you ever given her
an inkling of your true feelings towards her.”

“I…”
His head was spinning at the idea Sabella might actually have fallen for him.
They hadn’t known each other long enough. Love took time.
Lots
of time, sometimes even years to grow.
“…she can’t love me. She left me
because she got what she wanted.”

Rolling
up the newspaper, Davis slapped him with it.
“You stubborn
ass.
The only reason she left the club is because she heard you talking
to Vayarti, and thought you were going to share her with him.”

He
opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to think of something
intelligent to say, but could come up with nothing which make the messed up
situation better. Finally he sighed. “But as her Dom, I could share her with
whoever
I saw fit…”

“True,
if you hadn’t made your point about being exclusive. Not only did you tell her
you expected her to adhere your standards, but
I
stressed the fact to
her when you were together, that was it for you. She had every expectation of
exclusivity. If you weren’t seeing other subs, she expected to only serve you.
That’s the reason she fled when she heard you offer to share her with another.
She thought you were going back on your word, even though you and I both know
you’d sooner share her with a snake, than that son of a bitch.”

“I
didn’t know she was there…I’d never have said it if I’d known…” He had a
sinking feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with his hangover. If
she’d only heard the first part of his offer, she had every right to be
upset...even feel betrayed.

“I
know, but it didn’t stop her from being hurt.” Davis sighed. “You’ve got to
understand, just before she met you, she made a huge mistake when she trusted a
Dom who couldn’t or wouldn’t keep his promises to her.”

He
groaned, already seeing the writing on the wall. “Dammit. Let me guess,
Vayarti?”

Davis
nodded. “I don’t know what he told you but I’m sure it wasn’t the truth. Lauren
told me he took her out of her comfort zone to New York, where she had no friends
or family. Then he proceeded to systematically cut her off until she had to
rely on him for everything, all the while promising he’d take care of her.
That he’d be her protector, her lover, her Master, her everything.”
Davis gave a bitter laugh. “Then he kicked her out with nothing more than the
clothing on her back when her Dad was hospitalized, and she needed but also
wanted to come home.”

“That
son of a bitch.”
If
he hadn’t detested the man before, he did now. It took a lot of meanness – not
balls to kick out a submissive
who
had put her faith
in you, not to mention it showed what a sorry excuse of a human being Louis
was.

“And
now she’s
lumping
you with him. Just another Dom she
shouldn’t have trusted.” Davis pushed his chair back and stood. “I hate to say
it,
Ethan,
I don’t think Lauren and I are going to be
able to convince her again to give you another shot. It was all we could do to
convince her this morning.”

Cradling
his head between his hands, Ethan wished the floor would open up and swallow
him. Here he was a forty-two year old man, who had acted like a teenager who’d
caught his girl running around on him. He’d jumped to conclusions when he’d
found her missing. Let his past color his reaction to what he’d perceived to be
another abandonment
. He’d
lumped
her with Tamiko, never once thinking she might have overheard part of his
conversation with Louis. “I’m a dumb fuck.”

When
he got no comment from Davis, he looked up to see his friend had left the room
while he’d been mentally beating himself up. Standing, he slowly moved to the
sink, trying to think what he could do to fix things. Rinsing the cup in the
sink, he went over his options. He could go to her father’s apartment, but the
elder Johnston would probably kick his ass before he’d let him talk to Sabella.
And if he tried to talk to Mrs. D., he didn’t know what would happen. She might
brain him with the nearest frying pan, considering she thought of Sabella as
her little girl. And forget Sabella’s friends, not only did he not know any of
them other than Lauren, the little matchmaker of Napa, would probably take a
baseball bat to his knees. And with her not working, he couldn’t even call in a
favor from Kaleb. So where did that leave him? Her dad’s place was out. So
was
Lauren’s and Mrs. D.’s. She wasn’t working, and the only
place she was probably going to show up where he might be able to corner her
was at Davis’s office.