Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) (4 page)

“What kinda of trouble?” Taking the bottle,
he cradled it between his palms.

“Allison is claiming you signed a contract
with her absolving her from any consequences if you were injured during a
scene.”

Zebadiah paled. “The only contract I’ve
ever signed is the one outlining our limits and boundaries.” His brow furrowed
“There might have been such a clause in there, but she was fellating me while I
was trying to read it.” His cheeks flushed. “Shit, I really screwed up this
time. Does that mean the charges won’t stick?”

Davis sighed. “I don’t know. Do you still
have the contract?”

“Yeah, it’s in my lock box at the bank. I
keep all my important papers there. My will, the contract…my nest egg. The
money I had been saving up for my own bakery.” He dropped the bottle. “Dammit,
she’s got access to the safe deposit box. She was the co-signer on it.” He
began to hyperventilate.

“Don’t panic.” Ethan put a hand on his
shoulder. “Let’s get a hold of the bank and see if she’s been in or not. She
just recently made bail on the assault charges, maybe she hasn’t made it as far
as the bank. Is it the same bank as the one where you have a checking account?”

He nodded. “My entire life is in there. My
birth certificate, the title to the small piece of land my grandfather left me
just outside of Napa.” He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Ethan talking on
the phone to the bank. “I’d planned on building a small coffee shop and bakery
once I had enough money saved up…”

“Thank you, sir. We’ll be right in.” Ethan
hung up the phone, and crouched down before Zebadiah. “She’s been in, but
because of the restraining order you swore out against her and removing her
from your checking account, it threw up some red flags at the bank. She wasn’t
able to access it without direct permission from you. She left sixty minutes
ago in a huff.”

Zebadiah’s shoulders slumped with relief.
“I need to get a new safe deposit box.”

“Of course. Either that, or you can bring
all of the contents here and we’ll put them in Davis’s safe. Your choice.”
Ethan helped him to his feet. “But we need to do this now before the bank
closes, or she has her high-priced attorney put a hold on it Davis can’t get
around.”

“I’d like to keep everything here, if
that’s okay. At least here I know she can’t access any of it.” Zebadiah shoved
his hands into his pockets before following Ethan out to his car.

Chapter
Three

Hanging
his keys on a hook next to the door with trembling fingers, Nicholaus paused
and waited for Steph to shut the door behind them before spinning and pinning
her against it
s hard surface. Her startled ‘umph’ was
swallowed by his mouth. The desire that had been riding him hard since they’d
left Zebadiah’s presence burst free. He was aching for the man, but he had to
remind himself they’d promised to wait. Then they would be rewarded for their
patience. Logically he understood, but his body felt like it had undergone
hours of foreplay. Delving deeper into the honeyed depths of his beautiful
submissive’s mouth, he tugged hard on the waistband of her leggings. He had to
get inside her before he lost his ever lovin’ mind.

A low whimper escaped her as his fingers
slipped inside the lacy thong he’d given her. With little preliminaries, he
shoved two fingers inside of her, checking her readiness. As always, she was
damp with her desire. Not wet enough to take him yet, but he’d see to it she
was. Ripping his mouth away from hers, he ordered her to strip as he reached
for the slim hand-tooled Italian leather belt encircling his waist.

“Shit, Nicky.” She shoved her leggings and
panties down to her knees, her lips swollen from his kiss. Her face was flushed
and he could clearly see the hard points of her nipples through her peasant’s
blouse as she unbuttoned it. As usual she wasn’t wearing a bra and the dark
areolae were visible through the material. She was just as affected as he was.

He licked his lips, hungering to feel their
pebbled tightness stab against his tongue. His natural desire for her piled on
top of the lust Zebadiah had stirred in him earlier. He felt like he was ready
to burst as the seams.

“You can’t wait ‘til we get to our
bedroom?” She kicked free of the wadded cloth at her ankles.

“No. I can’t.” He grasped the edges of her
blouse and jerked, shredding the material until her luscious breasts were
exposed to his gaze.

“You bastard! That was one of my favorite
tops.”

“I’ll buy you another one. Submit to
me…please.” The plea in his voice wasn’t easy to overlook, but he didn’t think
he could handle one of her reluctant sub games right at this moment. He was too
close to the edge of his control.

“And if I don’t wanna? Something tells me
your hard cock isn’t just because of me, or is it all those fawning women at
the book signing?” She crossed her hands over her bare breasts, meeting his
gaze head on.

He growled, jerking down his fly. He
immediately sprung free of his slacks. “Like I’d ever fuck around with any of
those groupies.” He hauled her up against him, rubbing his erection against her
stomach. Leaning in until his nose touched hers, he narrowed his eyes. “For
you, for him, what the hell does it matter? It’s your pussy I want to bury it
in.”

She arched a brow at him. “So?”

He released her with grumble, wanting to
punch something. Why did she have to be so contrary when he needed her? It
normally turned him on, but after sitting through three hours of a book signing
with a hard-on from hell while women flirted with him, he was desperate. Desperate
enough to even take matters into his own hands. “Dammit, Stephanie. Either
submit or safeword.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Fuck it. I’ll go jerk
off.”

Evidently his frustration and desire
must’ve finally registered with her. Her expression softened. “Whoa, calm down,
tiger.” She placed her hands on his chest. “I didn’t realize you were so close
to the edge. I wouldn’t have teased you if I’d known. Let me take care of you.”
She ran her hands down his chest towards his groin.

Hissing, he caught her hand before he came
from nothing more than the brush of her fingers against him. He’d never been so
trigger happy before, not even when he first bedded her, and it pissed him off
until he lashed out at her. “I’m the Master here, slave. Remember that. You
touch me only when I say you can.”

She froze, tears welling in her eyes.
Confusion filled her face. “Master?”

He cursed under his breath. He knew he was
sending out mixed signals. He wanted to kick his own ass. Hurting her was the
last thing he wanted to do. Regret warred with his lust. Releasing her hand, he
roughly shoved his cock back in his pants. “Forget it. I’m too close to the
edge.” He turned and stomped down the hall towards his study. He needed to get
a grip on himself before he did more than hurt her feelings.

* * * *

Standing
in the hall, half undressed, wearing nothing but her shredded top, Stephanie
narrowed her eyes as she watched Nicky retreat to his man-cave. How the hell
had that just happened? She wanted to stomp after him and demand to know what
the hell had crawled up her Master
’s
ass, but knew from experience, until he calmed down, approaching him would make
things worse. And after his reprimand, something she was unused to, she wasn’t
ready to lay herself open to another rebuff.

Gathering her clothing up off of the foyer
floor, she dropped the wadded bundle into the laundry room off the kitchen.
Thanking her lucky stars she’d put a load in the dryer before they’d left, she
pulled out a pair of exercise shorts and a tank top. She didn’t want to beg for
permission to enter his study to get to their bedroom because of the unique
layout of their home. Slipping into the clothing, she tossed the shredded shirt
into the garbage can before entering the kitchen. She made short work of
preparing herself a cup of her favorite Irish Breakfast Tea.

Ignoring the tremor in her fingers as she
carried it across the kitchen to slip out on to the back deck, she wandered
down the stone path Nicky had helped her install. Reaching her favorite spot on
their property, she sank into the glider swing. Sipping on the steaming cup,
she pushed off with one foot, sending the glider into motion. She wasn’t sure
what had happened in the hall with her Master, but she’d somehow managed to
push one of his buttons. It didn’t happen very often but when it did, it
usually found them like this... Nicky in his study and her on the glider in the
backyard.

Both as a security guard and woman, she was
realistic and knew her faults. She was what most considered a bratty sub, but
her Master loved her despite it. While the little scenario they’d been playing
out in the hall was a familiar one, Nicky’s reaction today wasn’t the same as
it normally was. Any other time she’d find herself pinned to whatever near-by
surface was handy, while her Master fucked her raw as she begged for more. “So
what was different today?”

Even as she spoke the words her mind was
whirling while she reviewed the events of the day. They’d come home exhausted
the night before from Nicky’s ten day tour on the East Coast. Then he’d dragged
her out of bed this morning to go and see Zebadiah. Not that she hadn’t been
just as anxious. She’d mumbled something about going over early if Nicky could
drag his carcass out of bed before their noon book signing. A soft smile
flitted at her lips as she thought about her growly morning bear. Nicky wasn’t
a morning person at all, so she’d been surprised when he’d had her out of bed,
dressed, and fed by nine.

When they’d arrived at New Beginnings, a
surprised Bella had mentioned she’d seen Zebadiah heading down towards the duck
pond. After being ushered in by the lovely sub, Bella had urged Nicky to go
down while she and Steph got some bread chunks from the kitchen for the ducks.

Taking another sip of her tea, she hummed
at the memory of seeing the men so close to one another for the first time. Of
course her Master towered over the smaller man, but they’d looked good
together. She’d watched them from the path for several moments, loving the way
Zebadiah seemed to sway towards Nicky. When it finally became too much for her
to wait any longer, she’d joined them.

“And other than my little oops with the
endearment, it went well, so it couldn’t be what tripped Nicky’s trigger.” Even
as she spoke aloud, her mind continued to race ahead through their meeting with
Zebadiah, and then to their trip to the signing. They’d planned on grabbing a
quickie in one of the bathrooms, risky but they’d both been horny from being so
close to the man they both desired. Unfortunately a flat tire had ruled that
out. By the time they’d changed the tire and gotten back on the road, the
bookstore in downtown Napa had been crowded. A whispered promise of a good hard
fucking was all Nicky had time for before he’d been swamped by his fans, and
she’d had to slip into her security guard mode.

It had been that promise plus the heat in
his eyes each time he happened to glance up at her during the signing which had
kept her wet. So what had happened between then and home that had pushed him to
the edge?

Balancing her cup on the arm of the glider,
she stared off at the grape vines in the distance. Could it have been the woman
who’d protested the gay couple who’d been holding hands in line? Nicky had
stiffened but had still smiled at the young men, and signed their copy of
His Reluctant Desire
as he’d made small
talk with them. When the woman behind them had come up to have her copy signed
he’d been civil, but any warmth he’d shown to the other fans before her was
gone.

Later in the car when she’d asked him about
the incident, he’d just shrugged and said not to worry about it, because he
wasn’t going to let what some judgmental woman said ruin his mood. He’d even
smiled and rubbed his hand up the inside of her thigh with a reminder of his
earlier promise.

“So what set you off, tiger?” She continued
to glide, even as she knew there would be no answers for her until her stubborn
man came out of hiding. She was patient. She could wait or rather ‘out wait’
Nicky. She hadn’t survived Hellweek in the Marines to let a few words knock her
down.

* * * *

When he
felt he had a semblance of control, and his stomach finally protested its lack
of sustenance, Nicholaus opened the door to his study. He hadn
’t jerked off as he’d threatened. He’d just sat in front of his
desk and played umpteen games of solitaire on his computer. It was mindless but
it had allowed him to focus on nothing at all, while he calmed down until his
cock no longer doubled as a tent pole in his pants.

“Steph?” he called out as he wandered down
the hall towards the kitchen. He noticed right away that she’d picked up her
discarded clothing in the foyer. When he entered the kitchen, he saw the
familiar teapot on the stove. Touching a hand to it, he sighed at its warmth
and the crumpled up familiar green wrapper on the counter. If his lover was
drinking Irish Breakfast Tea, he’d stepped in it good this time. She only drank
it when she had a problem to mull over or was upset. He wasn’t sure which he
wanted it to be this time. If it was upset, he knew she’d eventually cool down
and come to him, but if she saw his actions as a problem, he was in for a long
night of trying to explain his actions to her. He loved her dearly, but when
her mind got to whirling she poked and prodded until she got the answers she wanted.
A simple ‘I’m sorry’ wouldn’t work.

Moving to the window overlooking the back
yard, he sighed. As he suspected, she’d retreated to her thinking spot. He
wondered how long she’d been out in the sun as it beat off the top of the
glider. Deciding to man-up, he grabbed two bottles of Gatorade from the fridge,
then let himself out of the house, following the cool stone path until he was
standing next to the glider.

“Can I join you?” The words came out
softly, but he knew she’d heard them by the tightening of her fingers around
the tea cup. “Please?”

She sighed and finally looked up at him.
“And if I say no?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Then I guess
I’ll just stand here under the sun ‘til I pass out from heat stroke, or you
take pity on me.”

“And you would, wouldn’t you?” She sighed.
“Fine, sit. I don’t feel like lugging your butt back up to the house.”

And she could. With their close height and
her military training, she’d done it twice during their relationship. Once to
prove she could when he’d scoffed at her boast, and then a second time when
he’d torn up a knee on the ski slopes in Aspen.

“Thank you.” He settled down on the seat
next to her, close but not touching. He set down one of the bottles next to
her. “I brought you something cold to drink.”

She nodded, but didn’t move to take it.
“Thank you.”

They sat there for several minutes until he
couldn’t take the silence any longer. “So how pissed are you?”

“Pissed? I’m not angry, Master.”

He winced at the honorific. During a scene,
she said the word with utmost respect, but now it seemed out of place here.
Here at home - on their downtime, he was Nicky.

“Then if you’re not angry with me, what are
you?”

“Horny and confused about why you stopped
and pulled rank on me before retreating to your study, Master.”

“Shit.” He’d fucked up royally.

“Yeah, that’s about the truth of it.” She
finally turned to face him. “What changed from the time we left the signing
until we got home, Master? Do I need to tone down the bratty behavior? It’ll be
hard after so long but I can try.”