Temporary Master (33 page)

“It’s
not going to happen, Vayarti. My partner has already called the cops.” As if by
magic, the sound of sirens screamed in the distance. They had to be close for
the two men to be able to hear them inside of the club. “That’s probably them,
heading up the private drive right now.”

Louis
laughed. “What are they going to do? Arrest me for giving the little whore what
she wanted? You and I both know how well assault charges against a Dom stick.
All we have to do is say she asked for it. The law is so easy to predict. Even
if they did believe her, the right amount of money can assure all kinds of
things will show up, like a name on the Sex Offender Registry, and paying off
an artist to do a rendition of a naked submissive.”

“It
was you?”

Louis
tossed his head back. “Of course it was me.” He boasted. “I paid that ass in
New York to slip Sabellla’s name on the registry. Hell, I even paid for the
rendition of Sabella that whore of a mother found in her brat’s folder. You see
everything is easier when you have money.”

“All
the money in the world isn’t going to change the judge’s mind when he views the
video tape of your confession…”

“It
won’t matter because there’ll be no witnesses.” Louis suddenly lunged for an
object on the counter, coming up with a gun Ethan hadn’t been able to see under
the mess of whips. In horror, Ethan, who was too far away to stop him, watched
as Louis opened fire on the woman restrained to the cross. Red holes bloomed on
her back as bullets riddled her body. In his ear he heard Davis screaming, as
he launched himself at the other man. Just before he reached him, Louis turned
the gun on himself. “Now you get to live with the guilt because you couldn’t
save her.” He shoved the barrel of the pistol in his mouth and pulled the
trigger. His body fell with a thud to the floor.

Knowing
there was no helping the fool, he rushed to the cross, tears running down his
face. He was just reaching for the body when the room was flooded with police
officers.

“Police!
Freeze!”

* * * *

Leaning
against the side of one of the police cars surrounding New Beginnings after
giving his statement to the officers, Ethan was barely holding it together as
Davis dealt with the cleanup.
New Beginnings wouldn’t be open
tonight and probably not even the rest of the weekend.
But for once he
didn’t care. His world has just exploded around him. He’d found happiness, and
it had only lasted five days. His sweet little Sabella was gone, and Louis was
right, he hadn’t protected her. He’d known that danger was stalking her and
probably shouldn’t have let her leave town to go shopping with Lauren, but he’d
been unable to resist the plea in her eyes. Raking his hands through his dreads,
a whimper escaped him, as two uniformed people from the Coroner’s Office rolled
out a gurney with a zippered black bag on it.

“I’m
sorry, little
one,
I should’ve done more….” More tears
spilled down his cheeks. He didn’t care if grown men weren’t supposed to cry.

“And
what exactly could you have done, Sir?” The sweet melodic voice of his Sabella
whispered in his ear. For a long moment, he thought perhaps her ghost had
chosen to visit him.

“Something….”
He pushed away from the cop car, needing to leave to find a place where he
could grieve in private. Davis would have to handle this mess.

A
very real hand grasped his arm and spun him around. He stared down at Sabella,
utter shock rolling over him. She looked so real in the long leather coat he’d
bought her just the day before, when he’d realized her old coat wasn’t thick
enough. Her dark hair blew in the breeze, and her dark eyes were full of love
and
concern
for him
?

“Davis
told me you did everything you could. There was no saving that woman. You may be
my superman, but even you aren’t faster than a speeding bullet. So you’re
either going to forgive yourself, or I’m going to go get the paddle.”

“Submissives
don’t paddle their Masters.” The trite statement was all he could think of to
say.

She
smiled up at him. “They do if their Master is too busy wallowing in grief to
see what’s right in front of him.” She picked up his hand, slipped it under her
shirt, and pressed it over her heart. “Feel that? That’s my heart. It’s beating
for you.” She cupped his cheek with her other hand. “I’m very real, very much
alive and unhurt, and have no intention of ever leaving you, Sir.”

As
the warmth of her body registered, he finally dared to hope. “But I saw…”

“It
wasn’t me. I don’t know who the unfortunate woman was. Davis said she was quite
similar in build and coloring to me, but when Louis approached Lauren and me at
the gas station before we left town, I made it clear in no uncertain terms I
was finished with him forever. Then we left town and went shopping in San Francisco.
I lost my cell, so it wasn’t until we got back to Lauren’s place, that we heard
Davis’s message. I raced over to assure you I’m still very much alive.” She
leaned up on tiptoe and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Not only did I lose my
phone, but also I visited an interesting shop there and found the most
delightful leather corset. But I went way over my budget to buy it. Perhaps you
need to spank me?”

Jerking
her against him, he growled in her ear. “I know what you’re doing, Sabella.
Trying to distract me from the thought of losing you.”

She
wiggled against him, rubbing her body all over his. “Well, is it working?”

He
speared a hand into her hair and jerked her head back. “I’ll let you know in
the morning.” Then tossing her over his shoulder, he headed back up to the
house. He had a woman he needed to assure himself in every way possible was
very real, very alive, and very much his.

Two
months later at the Kinkfest

“Now
that my
nawa jujun
has both the
Shinju
and
Sakura
ties
firmly in place, both Sabella and I will be taking questions from the crowd at
this time.”

Contentment
filled Sabella and she raised her eyes to take in her Sir. Standing mere feet
from her, he was the epitome of a Dom in his dark leathers with his beautiful
dreadlocks pulled back at the base of his neck. And for once he seemed to be
relaxed in his role. Since the death of Ana Charlebois, the girl who looked so
similar to her, he’d been over-protective, even when they were at New
Beginnings. The glimpse of the
Dom
who’d won not only
her submission but heart as well, had her nipples tightening behind the soft
leather bikini she’d worn at her Sir’s request. It’d been so long since she’d
seen him, the relaxed and almost playful teaching Dom.
Not that I don’t love
the Dom he is now.

The
investigation into Ana’s death and Louis’s suicide had been rather
anti-climactic. The surveillance cameras had picked up everything from Louis
breaking in with an electronic key to over-ride the security keypad, to the
resulting death of both Louis and Ana after his struggle with Ethan. It even
captured Louis’s confession to planting evidence to make Sabella look guilty.
Not that the circumstances stopped Davis from threatening a legal suit against
Samuel’s mother, who’d gotten off with a slap on the wrist due to the same
circumstances. Either way, Sabella had been mournful at the loss of life in her
Sir’s playroom. Her only consultation was the girl seemed willing enough and
wanted to participate in the punishment Louis had given her at first, before
things had gotten so out-of-control. Well, other than the four bullets to the
back as a result of Louis’s total psychotic breakdown.

She
was jerked out of the unpleasant thoughts when Sir ordered her to come forward,
so one of the observers could see the actual weave work of the ropes along her
spine. As more questions flew back and forth, most were aimed at Sir, and as
usual, he answered them with ease. It still amazed her even after these months
together what a wonderful teacher her Dom was. It’d taken some doing, but she’d
gotten him to agree to
offering
kinbaku
classes
at the club, on top of the more basic
shibari
ones they already offered.
Standing perfectly still at his side, she savored the feel the rope against her
skin, even as the questioning died down. She was quiet, only answering
questions when they were directed to her by her Sir. She was more than willing
to allow people to admire his work.

“How
long have you been working with your model?” A tall, powerfully built man with
bronze hair stood just on the other side of the ropes the people in charge of
the festival had provided, to keep a safe distance between the demonstrators
and the public. But it wasn’t the man who’d spoken. It was the violet-streaked
brunette who could’ve doubled as an Amazon.

“A
little over four months.
Sabella isn’t just my model, she’s my submissive.” His fingers brushed over her
collar, reminding her of their intimate collaring ceremony, which had happened
a few days after Louis’s death. Her Sir wasn’t taking any chances another would
ever try to claim her. It had also been the first time he’d allowed her to
explore his body. She still could remember her first taste of him against her
tongue, and hoped to repeat the experience tonight.

 “Davis
found her through a mutual friend. She’s an absolute pleasure to bind. She
loves the ropes nearly as much as I do.” His words of praise jerked her back to
her surroundings.

The
woman sighed. “Well, she’s quite the natural. You both look like you’ve been
together for years, not mere months.”

Ethan
nodded. “Yes. We have a very special connection, Ms…”

“Stephanie
McKeown, but you can call me Steph and this brute of a man next to me is my
Dom, Nicholaus Tarquinio. We’ve heard lots of good things about your club, and
since we’re moving up to the Napa area, we thought we’d check you out. See if
your club is a good fit for us.”

Ethan
looked from Steph to Nicholaus and back. He arched a brow. “Let me guess?
A switch?”

A
slow grin crossed Nicholaus’s face.
“Every inch of her.”
He gave the slender woman an affectionate smile. “Not to worry, however, she’ll
pay for her forwardness later.” He gave her hip a playful swat.

“Promises,
promises, Nicky.”
She turned back to Ethan. “Am I correct to assume, in light of your partnership
with Davis Clayton, you have no issues with bi-sexuals being members?”

Ethan
blinked slowly. “While I have no issue at all with them, I’m afraid you have
the wrong impression of my relationship with Davis. We’re friends…”

She
crossed her arms over her chest. “Who have lived together for the past five
years, until
your
submissive moved in with you two
months ago.”

A
smile tugged at Sir’s lips. “She’s either the nosiest switch I’ve ever met, or
she’s in the security business.”

Nicholaus
laughed. “Both. But seriously, we’ve checked out several clubs in the area so
far, and while there are a few that happen to cater to gay, there aren’t so
many that’ll actually will cater to my needs for both men and women.” Amber
eyes met his. “I love my sub but I still have needs, we both do - which would
include another male in our relationship. Our last club
wasn’t
so understanding
. So now we’re looking for a place to start over.”

Ethan
clapped his hand over the man’s shoulder. “Believe me, that’s what New
Beginnings is all about.
A place to start anew.”

The End

Dakota is a simple Midwest girl, who has
found her passion in storytelling at a young age. Her father always said she
made up the craziest stories. Most remained unwritten though as writing wasn’t
Dakota’s strong suit. That all changed in junior high when she took her first
typing class. Problem solved for the dyslexic Dakota. There was no stopping her
after that. She wrote her first novel her freshman year about a girl who could
speak to animals on an old electric IBM typewriter her dad found at a garage
sale. Now writing in several different genres, she is a published author with
multiple books under her belt. When she isn’t writing, she’s the crazy mom of
three wild Indians who are posing as her children, a loving wife to the man of
her dreams and a full time Web Design Major at IADT.