Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) Read online

  A panic hit Zebadiah at the finality of Ethan’s words. Even as much as he hated the restrictions the men had put on him, he wasn’t ready to be alone again. He’d settled into a comfortable routine at the house up the hill from the club. One which had allowed his knee to heal after the second reconstructive surgery he’d needed, when the first had failed to fix the badly torn ligament. The same household that had given him structure as he’d dealt with first the pain of his healing body, and then the emotional upheaval Allison’s betrayal had caused. He wasn’t ready to give up the security it offered just because he was horny.

  “I didn’t mean to suggest I felt like a prisoner, Ethan. I’m just frustrated. I need release and there’s something about Master Nicholaus. Something that calls to me, even though I know he already has a submissive.” His shoulders slumped. “I’d share with her if it would allow me to bask in Master Nicholaus’s dominance.” Sinking into the chair across from Ethan, he angled his bad knee to keep undo pressure off it.

  “Which is exactly what concerns us. You want him to the point you’ll accept his submissive as part of the deal. Is that fair to Stephanie - to share her master with another sub who’ll merely tolerate her presence to get what he needs?”

  Zebadiah lowered his eyes as confusion and embarrassment set in. “She’s his sub. She has no say in what her master does.”

  Ethan drew a sharp breath. “Not all masters are like Allison!”

  Ethan’s reaction shocked Zebadiah and he looked up in surprise. “It’s just not Allison. I’ve heard it many times in the clubs. A submissive has no claim on their master—”

  “Other than the claim the master allows. And in the case of Nicholaus and Stephanie, they’ve been together for a long time. She wears his permanent collar and is very possessive of her Master. She has been known to hiss at other submissives who approach Nicholaus.” Ethan tapped his fingers on the desk. “And that possessiveness extends beyond the scene. Did you know she is also his personal bodyguard in their vanilla life? She protects him from harm when he does his book tours.”

  His reply came out barely above a whisper. “No, I didn’t. Perhaps you’re right. He’s not for me…I’d never hurt him, but neither do I want to compete with her for a place in his life.”

  “I didn’t say he wasn’t worth the effort, Zebadiah. Just that you’re not ready yet for what they want.” A kindly light shone from Ethan’s eyes. “However, once you’re ready, I could see you being a perfect third for them.”

  Zebadiah latched onto Ethan’s words like a lifeline. “You think so?”

  Ethan nodded. “Yes. You used to love to submit to both sexes. You were and are a true bi-sexual submissive. I think you can be active again with the right amount of training. Training is the key because Master Nicholaus isn’t merely looking for another submissive for himself. He’s looking for a male submissive to share with Stephanie. Whatever third they end up taking, she’ll dominate him as much as Nicholaus will. So when you give yourself over to Nicholaus you’ll be submitting to both of them. Now the question is, at this time with your demons, could you give yourself over to both of them?”

  His blood ran cold at the idea of being under the control of a woman again. True, at times they’d be together as a threesome, and he couldn’t see Nicholaus allowing Stephanie to hurt him, but what about when they were alone. She could push him too far…refuse to honor his safeword. “I…no. I’m not ready for that.”

  Ethan nodded. “And now that you’ve accepted the idea you’re not ready, we can begin on your training and recovery.”

  “Training?”

  “Yes. It’ll take time and patience, but Davis and I’ll make sure you’re ready to be what Nicholaus and Stephanie need. It won’t be fast or easy, but neither of us will give up on you.”

  “But what if they find a third before I get there?” His true fear, more than anything else was that Nicholaus would find another before he was ready, and he would lose his chance with the only Master who’d appealed to him since his accident.

  “Then he wasn’t the right Master for you.” Ethan smiled for the first time since Zebadiah entered the room. “But somehow I think Master Nicholaus will wait for you. If I can see the potential in you, I’m sure he can as well.”

  * * * *

  Nicholaus stared stonily at Davis. He had been so close to approaching the submissive who he and Steph had noticed several times over the past month. There was something about the slender blond which drew both of them. True, the little twink wasn’t as tall as Nicholaus had imagined their third being, but neither was he so short that he’d get a crick in his neck when he kissed him. And more than anything, he’d been wanting to feel the smooth lips of Zebadiah Pellegrino under his, ever since Steph had pointed him out as a potential third. The sexual awareness between him and the little blond had flared each time he captured the man’s pretty lapis-hued gaze with his.

  “What do you mean he’s off-limits? I didn’t see any collar around his throat, Davis.”

  Davis sighed, looking around the room. “He’s…shit I can’t have this conversation here. Would you and your submissive like to join me in my office? I’ll explain everything there. I don’t mind waiting while she comes back.”

  Letting out a sharp whistle to alert Stephanie, who was at the bar fetching him a drink, he nodded his agreement to the plan. “It won’t take more than a moment for Steph to join us.” True to his word she appeared at his side less than a minute later, carrying his scotch. “Master Davis wishes to speak to us in private.”

  “Have we done something wrong, Master Davis?” The leery tone in her voice didn’t surprise Nicholaus. Ever since the night of their confrontation with Kitchner, she’d been waiting for their new club to turn on them as well, despite Ethan’s assurances that no Dom who obeyed the Safe, Sane, and Consensual rule would be turned away from his club.

  “No, he wishes to explain to us why Zebadiah is off-limits, but wishes to do it in private.”

  She visibly relaxed. “All right. Let’s find out why the owners of New Beginnings are protecting an un-collared sub. Lead the way, Master. I’ll follow as always.” Then she took a step forward and to his left. The same position she often took while protecting him. He suppressed a chuckle. While she normally did follow him when at the club, he also enjoyed when she took the point position. With her in front of him, it gave him a spectacular view of her ass, and more than once he’d squeezed, rubbed, and even patted said ass.

  “I do believe that to follow me, you need to be behind me, cara mia.”

  A flush crossed her face. “Of course, Master.” She obediently stepped behind him. Davis’s muffled laugh a second later confirmed what he already knew. The little wench had stuck her tongue out at him. “Two swats for your impertinence.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  The barely contained laughter in her voice had him shaking his head. “I swear there are times I don’t know whether I should beat her or kiss her. Shall we go, Master Davis? I’d really like to understand your reasoning behind the off-limits signs you’re attempting to post around the submissive I crave to know.”

  “Of course. Come with me.” Davis turned towards the door, gesturing for them to follow him. Once they entered the narrow hall, they had to move single file down the tight corridor. While Nicholaus had overcome his fear of tight spaces most of the time, he did give a sigh of relief as they stepped inside of what obviously was the business end of New Beginnings. Two desks sat adjacent to one another. He was surprised to see how cluttered the desk Davis slipped behind was, but didn’t comment on it. He wasn’t here to speculate on how an upstanding attorney lived with such clutter.

  “Have a seat, Master Nicholaus.” Davis gestured to the two chairs facing his desk. “Would you like your sub to kneel? I do believe Ethan has a throw pillow in here Bella uses to protect her knees.”

  “No. This doesn’t require my sub kneeling.” He sat down and patted his knee. “Come, cara mia.”

 
Davis waited until Steph was settled on his lap before continuing. Wrapping an arm around his sub, he tucked her head under his chin, savoring her closeness as he waited for the man to explain why he and Steph weren’t allowed to approach Zebadiah.

  “Do you want the short or long version?”

  “Whichever gets us to point the fastest. Lay it out for me, Davis,” Nicholaus replied.

  Davis sighed before squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Okay, this is the gist of it. The sub you’re interested in isn’t prepared to handle what you and Steph want…”

  “Excuse me, but shouldn’t he be the one to tell us that?” Steph spoke softly.

  Davis made eye contact with her. “That’s just it. He’s impulsive when it comes to offering his submission, and he’s paid for it in the past. So he asked Ethan and me to guide him back into the lifestyle.”

  “So you’re like his pseudo Doms for the moment.” Anger at the thought of Davis having what he wanted made Nicholaus’s voice raspy. “Why the hell doesn’t he have a service collar on then?”

  “Because he’s not our sub,” Ethan answered from the doorway.

  Davis smiled at his business partner. “Did it go well with Zebadiah?”

  Ethan nodded. “Yes. After explaining to him, he asked to go back up to the house. Seems he wants time alone to reflect on our conversation.”

  “Conversation?” Steph leaned away from him to question Ethan. That was his sub, never afraid to tread where only angels dared to go.

  Ethan joined them by standing beside the seated Davis. “Yes. He’s very attracted to you, Master Nicholaus. To the point he’s willing to give himself over to you, despite the fact of the damage it could cause him.”

  Nicholaus frowned. Was the man implying what he thought he was? “I’d never injure him, Ethan. I treat my subs with the most utmost care.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a moment. But has Davis explained Zebadiah’s recent past?”

  “I was just getting around to that, Ethan,” Davis interrupted. “Zebadiah had a really bad scene not that long ago. One that ended up with him not only in the hospital, but having to have two separate knee surgeries.”

  “Shit.” Nicholaus’s jaw clenched in fury, at the idea that any Dom would injure a sub in such a way. “Did you kick his Dom’s ass? Surely the asshole at least got expelled from the club. I can’t see you letting in a man who’d abuse a sub in such a way.”

  “Her. And yes, she was banned and is facing assault charges plus attempted murder,” Davis added. “Several witnesses, myself included, heard her threaten to kill him because he safeworded Not that it stopped the beating she was giving him.”

  In his arms, Steph gasped. “What did she do to him?”

  “According to video footage and eyewitness accounts, she tied him to a pillory and beat the hell of out of him. When I first saw him, I thought she’d shattered his thigh, but what she had tried to do was destroy his knee. She ripped the ACL right off the bone by blunt force trauma. The tapes showed she’d taken some sort of modified mace from her bag and struck him just above the knee with it, because he’d refused to allow a stranger to fuck his ass.”

  A low moan escaped Steph, and Nicholaus soothed her with his touch. “You’re not talking about the Mace that comes in a can, are you?” Nicholaus gritted out. “She used an honest to god mace from the medieval ages on him?”

  “Yeah, spiked ball and all.” Ethan answered. “Which is why we’re concerned about him. It was all we could do to get him to press charges against her. He still harbors the belief it was his own fault he got hurt, no matter how many times we’ve told him she was the one who refused to honor his hard limits and his safeword.”

  “The only thing he’s learned from the experience is to not trust women.” Davis rubbed the back of his neck. “Even though men are physically superior to women, he’s stated, more than once, women are more vicious and vindictive than any man he’s ever known. So if what you say you’re after is true…”

  “Then he’d never be comfortable in submitting to me.” Steph’s voice cracked before she turned her face into his throat. He could feel the dampness of her tears against his skin. They’d had hoped Zebadiah would be the one for them. He’d been the only one who’d drawn both of them in.

  “Shhh, we’ll find another,” he whispered into the crown of her head.

  “You may not have to, Nicholaus.” Ethan’s words had both his and Steph’s heads coming up.

  “Explain,” Steph demanded.

  “It’s simple.” Ethan sat down on the edge of the desk. “Give him time to recover. Before the accident, I would’ve suggested him in a heartbeat, when you mentioned your desires at the demonstration. Not only is he a true bi-sexual, he once spoke of finding a couple to serve. But then he got mixed up with the Domme from Hell.”

  “So you think if we give him time…”

  “Once he’s healed, he’ll be the perfect third. If you have patience, he’ll fulfill your darkest fantasies.”

  Steph narrowed her eyes. “How can you be so sure?”

  Ethan smiled. “I watch people. I can tell when a sub suits a Master. And believe me, the old Zebadiah would’ve been a good fit, but the new one, once he’s healed, will be a perfect fit. You just have to have patience while he recovers.”

  Nicholaus turned to Steph. “So what do you say, cara mia, do we wait?”

  She cocked her head, her hazel eyes hungry but determined. “Yes. As long as we get to talk to him. To interact with him.”

  At Davis and Ethan’s concerned expressions, Nicholaus echoed his sub’s feelings. “We need to get him used to us. There’ll be no sex, submission or domination, but we’d like to get to know him, and for him to get to know both of us.”

  Relief filled both men’s faces before Ethan spoke. “As long as Zebadiah agrees.”

  “Of course.” Nicholaus nodded, feeling a bit relieved the constant blocking by the club’s owners would cease, even if it meant he’d have to wait a bit longer to explore his and Steph’s attraction to Zebadiah.

  Chapter Two

  “Ethan told me I might find you here.”

  Zebadiah tore his gaze away from the small pond behind Ethan and Davis’s home at the new voice, and looked straight into the amber eyes of Nicholaus Tarquinio. His breath caught in surprise. He hadn’t seen either Nicholaus or his sub Steph in nearly three weeks. He’d have almost thought Ethan and Davis had run the couple off, if it hadn’t been for the talk Ethan had had with him a few days after the incident. They wanted to wait for him.

  “Master Nicholaus.” He was torn between standing and kneeling before the massive man. In his pants, his dick stirred. It was always like this when he even so much as thought about the bronze haired man in front of him.

  “There’s no need for that, I’m just Nicholaus today, or Nicky if you prefer. May I sit?” Nicholaus gestured to the open spot next to him.

  Zebadiah’s heart sank, even as he nodded his agreement. How was he supposed to treat Nicholaus? His lack of title bothered Zebadiah for some reason. He wasn’t sure how to handle this.

  “Relax, Zeb. I don’t bite.” Nicholaus moved closer. “I may call you that, correct?”

  “That’s fine.” He shifted a bit as Nicholaus sat down, close enough for Zebadiah to feel the heat radiating off the other man’s body. As they sat there for a few moments, watching the ducks paddle around in the water, he tried to ignore the growing tension between them.

  Finally Nicholaus spoke. “This isn’t going to work, if you don’t relax.” Nicholaus twisted to face him, placing one arm across the back of the park-style bench. “Did Ethan mention I’d be stopping by today?”

  Zebadiah nodded. “Yes… he said you and Stephanie might be arriving after lunch. I wasn’t expecting you to arrive at ten in the morning,”

  Nicholaus smiled, revealing his dimples. “So sue me. I was impatient. I wanted to see you again.” His hand brushed over Zeb’s shoulder. “I just got back from the kick-off leg
of my book tour. I think Steph was a little put out with me when I hauled her butt out of our bed this morning.”

  “I…you shouldn’t have rushed over on my account. The last thing I want to do is piss her off or come between the two of you. Ethan told me you’ve been together a long time.”

  Nicholaus nodded. “Yeah, over ten years. My publisher hired her when I had my breakout book and started getting some threatening fan mail.”

  “And I’ve been protecting his stubborn ass ever since.” Steph joined them, her sleek violet bob fluttering in the early morning breeze. Even as he took in her clothing, black leggings, flats, a leather vest over a crème colored silk pheasant blouse, and the wide silver belt cinching her tiny waist, Zebadiah stiffened.

  “Shhh, don’t let her attire fool you. She’s a pussy cat in disguise.” Nicholaus lightly rubbed his thumb over Zebadiah’s collarbone, sending tingles of awareness through him. “So what’s in the sack, cara mia?”

  That’s when Zebadiah noticed she was carrying a brown paper bag. “Davis told me there were ducks down here, so I cubed up some bread. I thought we might want to feed them.”

  Her thoughtfulness struck a chord inside of Zebadiah. He too had brought bread down with him, although the greedy little bastards had cleaned him out already. “They’ll love you forever.” Zeb stood and offered his seat to her. “If you’d like to be alone, I can always head back up to the house. I promised Ethan I’d make some of my black forest cake for him today. I could…”

  “You could sit back down and not run off like a scared rabbit,” Steph interrupted. “I know I make you nervous, but how are we going to get past that if you run every time I come near?”

  “Steph…” the warning in Nicholaus’s tone did little to dissuade her.

  “Don’t you ‘Steph’ me, Nicky.” Her hands went to her hips. “I know we promised we’d wait for him to be ready. All we asked is that he spend time with us willingly.”