Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) (3 page)

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.”

Feeling as if the world was closing in
around him, he tried to placate the woman. “Please don’t fight because of me.”
Holding his hands up, he backed away. “I’m not worth it.”

Steph froze and stared at him. “Whoa, we’re
not fighting. Calm down, babe.” The endearment rolled off her tongue, but felt
like a spear stabbing him in the back. Allison had called him ‘babe’ in the
same cajoling tone before she turned ugly and abusive.

“I gotta go.” He turned and fled back up
the path. He didn’t get more than half a dozen steps when a strong arm wrapped
around his waist, halting his flight. He instinctively kicked back at his
attacker. But no matter how much he struggled, the arm remained firm.
Eventually the soothing tones of Nicholaus’s voice penetrated his fear.

“Shhh, it’s all right. You need to relax.
We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Let me go…please.” Tears threatened to run
down his face. How had he thought he was ready for this? All he wanted was the
safety of his bedroom, where no one could hurt him.

“I will when I know you’ll walk calmly back
up the path. With this uneven ground and with your still unsteady knee, I don’t
want you to re-injure it because you’re running from us. Our intention was
never to scare you, Zeb.”

He took deep gasping breaths, his heart
still racing, but what Nicholaus was saying made sense. He was just starting to
be able to move along with some mobility. He didn’t want to backslide. “I
promise I’ll walk.”

A low rumble against the top of Zebadiah’s
head, was the only indication Nicholaus had heard him. Then Stephanie appeared
in his line of vision, her face impassive. He started to struggle again. She
had the same look Allison had the last they’d scened…

“Stop, Zebadiah.” The firm command in her
voice had him freezing, barely breathing, fear waiting to consume him once
more. “That’s good. Now…can you tell me what I did to make you panic?”

Zeb’s eyes widened in surprise. Of all the
things she could have said, that was the one he hadn’t expected and made him
want to explain “I…she called me that…”

Steph’s gaze softened, her fingers brushing
his cheek. The caress startled him. He jerked back. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “You have nothing to be
sorry about. I’m the one who’s sorry. I inadvertently triggered something
painful inside you. So the word ‘babe’ is off limits. So tell me, sexy, what do
I call you?”

His cheeks flushed at her backhanded
compliment. “I’m not sexy. Cute maybe.”

She cocked her head, looking down at him.
Another first for him. He’d never been with a woman taller than him. Men
yeah…hell, he was only five-seven so lots of men were taller than him, but his
last mistress had only been five-four and the one before her had been even
shorter. “I don’t know. What you do you think, Nicky? ‘Sexy’ fits, wouldn’t you
agree?”

“True, it does. But I don’t know if I can
call him sexy, Steph. You could and no one would be the wiser.” He nuzzled the
top of Zebadiah’s head. “While there’s no doubt about it, he’s definitely sexy,
somehow I have a feeling coming from me, it’d be uncomfortable. I think I’ll
call him
il mio colibrì
instead.”

“Or you could call me Zeb,” Zebadiah
offered. He wasn’t sure what the man had said, but the possessive tone in
Nicholaus’s voice had him weakening at the knees.

“No. I do believe I like it. My little
hummingbird.
Il mio colibrì.”
His
hand covered Zebadiah’s rapidly pounding heart. “Even his heart races like a
hummingbird.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Zebadiah’s head before slowly
releasing him.

“It fits. But I’m still gonna call him Sexy.”
Steph hooked her arm through his. “Now why don’t we go back down and feed the
ducks before they take off with the sack and all?”

At first Zebadiah just stood there, his
brain trying to catch up with what had just happened. He’d panicked and tried
to run, and now Steph and Nicholaus wanted to feed ducks with him? “Ah…yeah…I
guess so.” He allowed her to guide him back to his previous spot. He took the
bag with trembling hands and held it as Nicholaus and Steph threw handfuls out
into the water. It wasn’t long before the ducks surrounded all three of them.

* * * *

“Damn, that was close.” Bella stood in
front of Ethan, at the window facing the small duck pond behind their home. “I
thought for a second he was going to run away from them. Are you sure they’re
the right ones for him, Master?” She looked over her shoulder at him.

“Yes, Sabella. I’ve been a Dom for a long
time. I used to train and then pair up damaged subs with new Doms, remember?”
He smiled down at her. She was the love of his life, and he still couldn’t
believe she’d agreed to move in with him.

She sighed. “Yes, the Temporary Master.
Isn’t that what they called you?”

“Before I met you, yes.” He nuzzled her
neck as they watched the couple flank their guest on either side, then guide
Zebadiah to the water’s edge. “He’s got a long way to go, but he doesn’t stand
a chance between those two. They won’t allow him to retreat behind the fear,
like some Doms might.”

“I hope so. I’d love to meet the Zebadiah
everyone else remembers.” Fresh back from her stint in New York, Sabella hadn’t
had a chance to meet Zebadiah until shortly after he’d been hurt. In fact, her
first night at the club had been the night he’d been attacked, and more than
anything Ethan hoped she had a chance to experience the same submissive he
remembered. Nicholaus and Steph were the key to releasing Zebadiah from his
self-imposed cage.

“He’ll come around. They’ll be good for
him.” Ethan straightened and released her when Davis stalked into the room, a
scowl on his face.

“Now, what’s wrong?” he asked his friend.
Of late Davis had been a pissy mood, and a good chunk of the time it had to do
with Lauren, Sabella’s best friend, and the matchmaker of Napa Valley. “Did
Lauren try to set you up again?” In the past month, she’d made ‘fake’ dates
with him twice, and snuck away during the appetizer course and left him with
some unsuspecting woman. The last time was such a disaster, it had Davis out
for blood.

“No, the little minx is still avoiding me.
I just was served with this.” He tossed a blue sheaf of stapled court documents
on the coffee table before sinking onto the leather couch.

Ethan moved to join him, after motioning to
Bella to fetch his partner a drink. From the slump of his shoulders and their
nearly three decades of friendship, he had gotten pretty good at reading Davis.
“So what is it?”

“It seems Allison’s lawyer is trying to get
the charges dropped by saying Zebadiah is in breach of contract by pressing
assault charges against her.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “What?”

Davis sighed. “Yeah. I have a meeting in
front of Judge Kalicki tomorrow to determine if this contract has any merit.”

“What contract?” Bella asked as she joined
them.

“The one Allison claims Zebadiah signed,
giving her immunity from any civil or criminal charges if Zebadiah is hurt
during consensual play.”

Bella gasped. “Will that stand in court? We
both know he safeworded. There are video tapes of that right?”

“Just video, no audio.” Davis squeezed the
bridge of his nose. “We installed the audio shortly after his attack because we
realized how worthless the videos were without audio.”

“Well crap!” Bella propped one hip on the
corner of the couch and handed Davis his drink. “Was there any witnesses to him
safewording? Perhaps one of the dungeon monitors?”

Davis sighed. “I’m gonna have to call Toby
and find out. He was one of the two DMs assigned to the room that night. He’d
know what Zebadiah did or didn’t do.”

“What didn’t I do?” Zebadiah stood in the
open door, with Nicholaus flanking one side while Steph stood on his other.

“Come in, Zeb, we need to talk to you about
your case. Do you want them to leave?” Davis asked, gesturing to Nicholaus and
Steph.

“I…” The torn look on his face was rather
telling, but Nicholaus was obviously more in tune with Zebadiah than Ethan
realized.

“No worries,
il
mio colibrì.
Steph and I have to get going. I have a
book signing downtown in less than ninety minutes.” He brushed his lips over
the crown of Zebadiah’s head. “Can we call later?”

“Of course.” A hesitant smile crossed Zebadiah’s
face.

“Good. I look forward to it.” Nicholaus
stepped back, allowing Steph to move in.

“Behave, Sexy.” Steph gave him a quick hug.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

A chuckle escaped Nicholaus. “Don’t tell
him that,
cara mia.
There’s not much
you wouldn’t do.”

“True.” She patted Zebadiah’s bottom before
following her Master out of the room. Once the sound of the door opening and
closing reached his ears, whatever frivolity had been in the room died.

 
“What is going on?” Zebadiah moved further into
the great room.

“Well, we may have an issue. Sit down,
Zeb.” Ethan brought him a bottle of sparkling water.