Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) (13 page)

Zeb cocked his head. “Okay, hit me. Do I
have to call you the great Poo-Ba or something like that?”

A grin tugged at Nicky’s lips, and Steph
couldn’t stop the giggle that passed her lips.

“Well, I’d prefer you call me Sir, and
Steph, Ma’am.”

“I can do that, Sir.” A frown furrowed his
brow. “But are you certain you don’t want Master and Mistress?”

“Not until you’re ready to commit yourself
to us fully, Zeb.” Steph kept her voice gentle. “Sir is what I called Nicky
while we were training, and until he collared me. Master has a special meaning
to him. It’s not a title he brandishes about with submissives.”

“Okay, Sir and Ma’am it is. Now about the
condition?”

Nicky’s hand left her knee before he
addressed Zeb. “You’ll have a safeword and use it. Whether it’s mere service or
not, I won’t allow any submissive to be with me or Steph without one.”

Zeb looked bewildered, his confusion
evident by the way his brows rose and lips thinned, but he finally lowered his
head and nodded. But not before she caught a glimpse of disbelief in his gaze.

Nicky shifted away from her and picked up
Zeb’s hand. “Look at me,
il mio colibrì.”
When Zeb finally raised his head, Nicky continued. “If you don’t understand
something, I expect you to question me. I won’t get angry if you don’t
understand. I
will
get angry,
however, if you keep it from me. That’s how accidents or misunderstandings
happen. What is it about having a safeword that’s hard to understand?”

Zeb’s tongue darted out to lick at his
lower lip. “Safewords are great in theory, but if the Dom or Domme ignores
them, they’re worthless…”

“Then they need to be shot.” Nicky growled.
“A safeword is one of the founding tenements of BDSM.”

It dawned on Steph what was the root of the
problem. Zeb didn’t trust the safeword his former mistress had ignored. “I
think what you need to do, Zeb, is pick a new safeword. One with no bad
memories associated with it.”

“A new word?” He pursed his lips. “I hadn’t
thought about that. I’ve been using the same word since I entered the scene. I
had a hard time choosing one, because I wanted it to mean something to me.”

Nicky nodded. “Then how about we use the
standard ‘red’ until you’ve come up with a new one? If we ask you to do
something you’re not comfortable with, you have a way out.”

Zeb seemed to think it over, before
nodding. “Red it is, Sir, Ma’am.”

Relief mixed with excitement flowed through
Steph. Tonight was turning out to be better than she’d expected - other than
seeing Zeb in pain. “Good, now that we’ve gone over that and Nicky has had his
say, I have one stipulation I’d like to add for tonight, Sexy.”

“Yes, Ma’am?” He looked up to her
expectantly.

“I don’t want to see you on your knees
again tonight. You may sit as I am, or on your sexy little ass on the floor…”
She patted the arm of the couch. “…if you wish, but until we can make sure
there’s a cushion for your knees, and you’re once more used to kneeling for
long periods of time, I’d rather you stayed off your bad knee.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He rubbed his knee. “Thank
you, Ma’am. You’re most generous.”

Nicky chuckled. “You won’t be saying that
later.” Nicky patted her knee. “She can be a demanding little minx.”

Steph pretended to be affronted by her
Master’s accusation, but knew it was true. She could be more than demanding
upon any occasion when Nicky allowed her to top. “I’ll take it easy on him,
Master. I won’t ask him to stand on his head until the next time he decides to
sub to us.”

A grin crossed Zeb’s face. “You know,
somehow I don’t think she’s joking around, Sir.”

“You could be right. No worries, I’ll keep
her reined in.”

Chapter Twelve

Nicky
watched from his sitting position next to Steph as Zeb chatted with Davis, who
was manning the large grill. He and Stephanie had commandeered one of the
picnic tables nearest to the water, and while he was sitting on the seat with
his back against the table, she
’d perched
herself on the table next to his shoulder. It gave them both the perfect view
to watch Zeb as he serviced them. Of all the things he’d expected to come out
of Zeb’s mouth today, the sexy little twink asking to be a service sub hadn’t
been one of them. He figured the request for the meeting was because Zeb wanted
to slow down after their phone sex, but he’d been totally blown out of the
water when Zeb had wanted the opposite.

“Surprising, isn’t it, Master?” Steph
sipped on her tea as she nibbled on a carrot stick.

“That Zeb wants to serve us?” He leaned
back to wrap his arm around her waist.

“No, that he seems so animated today. Like
he’s happy as a duck in water.”

“That’s because you’re finally getting a
glimpse of how Zeb was before the attack.” Ethan stopped next to their table.
“Is it okay if I join you?”

“Sure, pull up a seat, Ethan. This is a
great little shindig you planned.” Nicky gestured to the spot Zeb had abandoned
when he’d gone up to check if Davis had any hot wings ready yet.

“It seems to be going over well.” Ethan sat
down with his drink. “I was frankly surprised how many of the regular members
made it.”

“It’s probably because of your
demonstration tonight. Didn’t I hear it’s been several months since you’ve last
done one with Bella at the club?”

Ethan nodded. “About three months. Between
my practice and her budding career as an artist, we haven’t done any
demonstrations. Are you planning on staying for it?”

“Well it depends on Nicky here. The last
part of this tour was brutal.” Steph mussed his hair.

“That’s what Zeb was telling me. You had
some TV interviews in Boston just before you flew out to Vegas for the
conference?”

Nicky nodded. “Yeah, along with a couple of
long meetings with my publisher. They wanted to talk about me making a series
out of
His Reluctant Desire
.
Evidently they’ve been getting requests to see more of Luca.”

“Luca…isn’t that the guy who joined Sonja
and Thane in Rio?” Ethan set his drink down on the table.

“Yeah, he was the rebellion leader Sonja
and Thane had to seduce.”

A devious grin crossed Ethan’s face. “I’ll
have you know that scene had my sub cornering me after Zeb let her read it. I
should be thanking you.” Ethan gave a wicked grin. “While I don’t usually let
my sub top, I’ll have to say seeing my little Sabella wound up enough she tried
to mount me in my own hall was quite…shall we say…persuasive?”

Steph giggled as Nicky’s ears turned red.
While he wasn’t a prude by any stretch of the imagination, the idea of quite
demure Bella virtually attacking her master, because of one of the love scenes
he’d written, was a bit embarrassing.
Wait
a second, did he say Zeb showed the scene to Bella?
Unbelievably, his cock
stiffened.

“Aw look, you made him blush, Ethan. But
I’ll agree with you. It was quite hot to find out Luca, despite being a leader
of the New Freedom group, had a submissive streak a mile wide. Bella wasn’t the
only submissive panting after reading it.” She kissed the tip of one of Nicky’s
ears. His mind detoured around what was proper, and went directly to the gutter
as an image of Zeb jacking off while reading one of his books filled his head.
Gripping the edge of the table, he tried to force his brain out of that
very-same gutter before the little sub came back and he demanded more than hot
wings and potato salad.

“Knock it off, before you get me into trouble,
cara mia
.” He lightly tapped her leg
with the palm of his hand before reaching for his drink behind her.

Ethan laughed. “You causing trouble at my
party? Not likely. We leave that up to Hurricane Lauren. I swear it follows her
around.” He straightened. “However, I didn’t come over here to warn you to
steer clear of her and Davis. I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?” Nicky took a sip of his
lemonade.

Ethan set a hand on his shoulder. “For
giving Zeb back a small part of himself.” He nodded up to where Zeb was now
talking animatedly with Bella as they put food onto the plates they held. “It’s
good to see him smiling again.”

“That it is.” Nicky agreed.

* * * *

“So how’s it going, Zeb?” Bella dabbed some
of Zeb’s special dill dip on the plate she held.

Looking over at his friend, he smiled,
easily balancing both plates he was filling for his Sir and Ma’am. One good
thing about having to pay his way through college, was he’d waited plenty of
tables during his pursuit of the coveted culinary degree. “Good. Other than a
small hiccup when they first arrived, it’s nearly everything I was hoping it
would be. I didn’t even mind when Steph asked me to get her a hotdog with just
mustard.” He crinkled his nose up. “How can she eat it without ketchup?” He
moved down the buffet, piling some potato salad on the plate he was making for
Nicky. He added some of the rotini salad on the other plate for Steph.

Bella giggled. “Well considering she’s from
out east, it doesn’t surprise me. I remember the first time I picked up a dog
from a New York street vendor. He gave me the strangest look when I asked for
ketchup.” She added carrots, celery, and radishes to her Master’s plate.

“I can imagine. Probably the same look I
had first time I bit into a Chicago-style pizza while I was in school.”

She added some cut watermelon to the plate.
“So other than the hiccup, you’re enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah. It feels good. Sir and Ma’am aren’t
taking it easy on me either like I expected. They’re giving me exactly what I
wanted.” He added a deviled egg to Nicky’s plate. He looked around the backyard
and the people scattered in small groups for a few moments. “Other than a
hard-on that won’t quit, I’d have to say nothing could be better.”

“I totally understand. There’s something
definitely arousing about serving our Doms. You know, fetching a drink because
they ask tends to make one imagine what it would be like if they asked us for
oral sex using the same tone.” She followed him over to the table, where the
condiments had been laid out.

“Hell yeah.” He groaned. It’d been a while
since he’d tasted pussy against his mouth, let alone cock. “You know you’re not
helping matters, you little wench.”

She giggled as she smeared ketchup and
mustard on the burger. “Aw, was I supposed to be helping?” She placed the top
of the bun back on the burger, as he finished adding the mustard to Steph’s hot
dog. Adding a cup of dipping sauce for the hot wings on Nicky’s plate, he
stilled as the hairs on the back of his neck rose. Glancing up, he was
immediately ensnared in Nicky’s amber gaze. Still seated at the table, the look
of desire in his Sir’s eyes had him wanting to strip down and offer himself
right there. Behind the fly of his shorts, he hardened in such a rush he
swayed.

“Zeb?” Bella’s voice came from far away.

“Shit.” He nearly stumbled as Bella placed
a hand on his arm. God definitely didn’t intend man to think when he had a
hard-on. There just wasn’t enough blood to run both heads.

“What? Did you trip over something? I asked
the guys to make sure there weren’t any broken or loose planks on the deck.”
Concern filled her face.

“No. It’s not that. Just something I just
saw…” He swallowed roughly as Ethan cupped his Sir’s shoulder, drawing the
man’s gaze away from him.

She looked around. “What is it?”

He nodded in the direction of the table
where Sir, Ma’am and Ethan were conversing. “…don’t look now, but it seems like
our Masters might just be cohorts.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Aw, that
can’t be good. Maybe they’re just talking about the party?”

“If the look Sir just gave me is any
indication, he’s either going to bolt right after we eat, or I may be getting
more than I expected when I asked to serve him and Ma’am tonight.”

She moved closer to him, hooking her arm in
his. “Does that scare you? Him wanting more?”

He shook his head. “No. The state I’m in
right now, I might just beg for it, despite all the reasons I should wait.”

“Well, maybe he won’t push tonight. Only
time will tell, but I say we don’t worry about it right now. Why don’t we go
feed our hungry Doms?”

“Good idea.” He turned and picked up both
plates. “I’ll just ignore my dick and enjoy this beautiful late afternoon.”

* * * *

As
night fell, Steph sighed contentedly as she rested her head against her Master
’s leg while she lay on her side, trailing her fingers through
the water. Above her head, Nicky and Zeb talked quietly. They’d moved from the
table down to the wooden dock, a short ways from the rest of the crowd after
they’d finished their dinner. Once there, it hadn’t taken long for Nicky to
remove his shoes and dangle his feet in the water, and Zeb chose to sit down on
one of the wooden posts at the end of it.

The food had been wonderful, and having Zeb
as her service sub had given her glimpse into the complex man who’d attracted
her from the first. She loved his submissiveness nearly as much as the
competent Dungeon Monitor she’d first observed. It hadn’t been until Tianna,
another submissive, had mentioned how New Beginnings was different than most
clubs, and actually allowed seasoned subs to be Dungeon Monitors that Steph had
found out he was submissive.

“I don’t know. Why don’t we ask Steph what
she’d like to do?” Nicky’s voice brought her out of her lazy thoughts.

“Ask me what, Master?”

“Zeb just asked if we’d be free next week.
He wants to take us someplace special.”

Sitting up, she focused on Zeb, who flushed
to the point where she couldn’t resist teasing the other man. “It depends, am I
going to have to defend my feminine virtue if I say yes?”

“Brat.” Nicky pulled her close and kissed
her, smothering the next smart-assed answer on the tip of her tongue. She tried
to mumble something against his lips, but of course, her master took advantage
of the small opening and thrust his tongue inside her mouth. Moaning softly, she
placed a hand on his chest as he proceeded to kiss the breath right out of her.
By the time Nicky lifted his head, her own cheeks were as flushed as Zeb’s, and
the other submissive was chuckling.

“Guess he knows how to curb your tongue,
Ma’am.”

“So he thinks…why don’t you come here,
Sexy?” She beckoned Zeb close.

“Ah….” His eyes widened dramatically. “I
don’t know if that’d be a good idea.”

“Wise man.” Nicky chuckled, helping her sit
up.

“Are you ignoring a direct order,
Zebadiah?” She arched a brow at him.

“Ah…” He slowly rose and came to her side.
When she beckoned him closer, he leaned down, his gaze filled with mirth.
“...no, Ma’am?”

“Good, because if you were, I might just
push your sexy ass into the water.” She placed a hand on his chest, trying to
keep her laughter in as he too struggled not to laugh. “You know what, I just
may anyways.” It was all the warning Zeb got before she curled her fingers in
the front of his shirt, and gave him a gentle tug. His eyes widened as she used
leverage, and sent him tumbling head over heels into the water. When he came up
sputtering, she giggled. “Now look who’s speechless.”

Next to her Nicky roared with laughter, his
broad shoulders shaking. “You two are clowns.” He finally wiped his eyes as Zeb
swam over to the dock. Just before he pulled himself out of the water, she
stopped him. “Come here, Sexy.” She parted her thighs and motioned him close.
When he narrowed his eyes, she smiled. “I don’t have any more dastardly ideas.”

She watched his arms flex as he swam
towards her. The idea of having those strong arms around her was potent. Zeb
made his way over to her. Hesitantly he moved between her legs, still treading
water, she assumed. “Here, Ma’am?” he asked, placing his hands on the boards on
either side of her hips.

“Yep. That’s a good subbie, but I want you
closer.” She tugged him closer, and draped his wet arms over her thighs, giving
him a way to hang on, but still bring him where she wanted him. “There…now I
can reach you.” She pushed his wet hair out of his face. While not overtly
long, it was long enough on top that when it was wet, it fell into his eyes.
His eyes drifted shut with a soft moan as he tipped his head in the direction
of her hand.

“Obviously a Zebadiah hot spot.” Nicky
murmured in her ear. She shivered in reaction. “Can you imagine what it would
feel like to hold his hair back while he laps at your pretty little pussy,
cara mia
?”

“Oh my God, Master,” she gasped, as Zeb
pressed a kiss on the skin of her thigh - left bare by her hiked up skirt. “You
promised no sex…” She gritted her teeth as Zeb’s cool, wet lips traveled up her
thigh, only to be punctuated by the warm rasp of his tongue.