Finding Master Right (12 page)

His voice interrupted the silence, making her jump. Had she almost been asleep? Shit. She should go home. This experience was weird, and she needed some space.

With a groan, she turned over.

Banner was there, leaning over her, wearing a small smile. “There you are.”

“I should go.” Was that
her
raspy voice? Just how loudly had he made her scream?

His brow furrowed. “Absolutely not.”

Her eyes finally focused. Why did she feel sweaty, flushed, and as if she’d just run a marathon, yet he looked as though he’d just stepped out of an ad for shaving cream? And he was wearing a shirt and jeans. Didn’t he know it was a crime to hide that chest?

“I bet you couldn’t even stand up right now,” he challenged.

“I’m fine.”

“No.” He frowned.

Ignoring him, she went to sit up. A groan escaped her when her ass rubbed against the sheet.

“Let me get you a drink,” he said, helping her lean against the headboard. “Then stay and watch the rest of the movie with me. After that, if you still want to leave, at least I won’t be worried.”

“The rest of the movie?” she said with a snort. “As if I saw any of it at all!”

He chuckled. “We’ll start it over.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me.” It sounded like a warning, even to her. Maybe it was. She’d taken care of herself for years now. Needing a man, smelling like desperation, crying into a pillow after sex . . . That wasn’t her. Even though she was sore all over, exhausted, and feeling a little dirty, she was still an independent woman.

Sighing, he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I know you don’t, Trouble. But you’re going to let me anyway.”

And for some reason, she did.

After he fed her, made her drink her weight in water, and snuggled her up to him for the duration of a movie, he reluctantly let her go. The drive home passed in a blur. She desperately needed to talk to Janine, but it was too late to call.

Tomorrow Kate would tell her all about Banner, what they’d done, and ask how she was going to get through this while keeping her heart intact. Being mastered was the last thing she thought she wanted, but she’d be damned if she hadn’t called a man Master tonight. A mistake she could never repeat.

***

The phone rang four times before Janine picked up, sounding harried. “What’s wrong, Kate?”

She bit her lip. “Sorry. It’s not an emergency or anything.” Although, admittedly, she’d called five times in the last two hours without leaving a message. That must’ve been some kind of record for them. She could see why Janine might be worried.

Her friend’s sigh echoed in the phone. “It’s my day off. I was trying to sleep in.”

“Sorry!”

“It’s okay. I’m up now.” She chuckled. “I can tell it’s important. You’re not usually so obnoxious. What happened?”

This should probably be handled delicately. Banner was a good friend of Chris’s, so she should be careful how she talked about him to her best friend, especially after swearing up and down to herself she wouldn’t go too far the first time.

“I slept with Banner,” she blurted.

Crap. Not so smooth.

Janine gasped. “Oh my god!” A squeal followed. “That’s awesome!”

“Noooo. No, no, no.” She didn’t need a cheering squad. What she needed was a slushy to the face and a wake-up call. “Not awesome. He’s a Master. I don’t want a Master. Did you forget that?”

Janine made a dismissive sound. “None of that matters. There are other things that are more important.”

“None of that matters?” She paced the length of her kitchen. “Of course it matters! He wants a slave. I’m not slave material. You know that.”

Silence.

“Right?”

“Well,” her friend hedged. “Not in the traditional sense, but you have to keep an open mind. You haven’t tried much. Who knows what you’ll end up liking?”

“I do. And it’s not being a slave.” Holding the phone with her shoulder, she started making a cup of coffee. She’d need about a dozen of them to get through the day.

Janine chuckled. “He must want to spank you so bad.”

“What?”

“You’re so stubborn! What does it matter what you call yourself? Do you like him? Did you like having sex with him?”

“Um.”
Fuck yeah
seemed too eager a response. “I guess.”

“You guess?”

“It was intense.” She grabbed the cream from the fridge and poured it in her mug, careful not to drop her phone in with it.

“Just don’t overthink it so much. Let what happens, happen.”

“Normally, I appreciate your hippy go-with-the-flow advice, but right now I need a reality check. We weren’t supposed to go that far. I think I made a mistake.”

“It’s only a mistake if you treat it that way. Brush it off and go back to where you’re comfortable.”

She considered that for a moment. It made sense. If Banner didn’t know it was a mistake to her, they could just start over, being more careful now. Should she tell Janine she’d called him Master?

No. She felt stupid enough as it was.

So where was she comfortable? She let her mind drift back to last night. In his arms after having sex, feeling sated and warm and fuzzy, eating ice cream and laughing at the movie. That was the most comfortable and satisfied she’d felt in a long time.

He wants a slave.

How many times would she have to remind herself of that in the next few weeks of training? Maybe she should text him to find out if
he’s
okay. He hadn’t seemed regretful last night, and he was the one who’d banged her until she bunched the sheets in her fists and screamed, but guys had feelings too.

After a deep breath, she felt a little better. “Okay. I guess it’s not that big a deal.”

“It’s not. Banner’s a good guy. He’ll take care of you.”

Yes. She did believe that. For all his stern looks, and his big palm smacking her ass, he was a gentleman. And when he wore a suit . . . Instant girl hard-on.

“Plus, he ain’t hard to look at,” Janine added in a whisper. “Don’t tell Chris I said that.”

Kate laughed. “Bad girl. I should hold that over your head.”

“Bitch. Now that you have yourself a Dom, I can blackmail you too.”

Sadness sunk in, wiping her grin away. Having herself a Dom sounded really good after last night. But it couldn’t be Banner. What they had together, though hot and fun and amazing, was still only temporary.

“I gotta get to work,” she mumbled, then took a sip of her coffee.

“On a Saturday?”

“Mandatory overtime.” Hopefully, the caffeine would cheer her up. She was still sore and exhausted from the previous night, but she had to force herself through the day. “I’ll talk to you later.”

They ended their call, and Kate sucked down her java while doing her hair and makeup. As much as she loved her job, going in today was the last thing she wanted to do. What she really wanted was a long bath and some retail therapy. Maybe Janine would be up for a shopping trip later.

“Pixie!” She called her dog over and clipped the leash onto her collar. The
click
made her shiver and reminded her of last night. She’d been on a leash, led around like a dog.

Ugh
. She gave her head a shake. How had she let that happen? It was so undignified, but she couldn’t deny the flutter that started in her belly just thinking about it.

On her way out the door, Pixie trailing behind her, she grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. Naming the bulldog Pixie was kind of a joke. The dog was anything but tiny. Short, and like a typical bulldog, stocky and mean-looking. She’d picked the breed because of its low exercise needs. Working all day meant she couldn’t look after her, and having a dog with excess energy tear up the house would suck. Plus, she hoped her low bark would give criminals pause if they tried to break in.

They went on a short walk around the condo lot, and then she watched the lazy dog collapse onto her bed as if she’d just hiked Mount Everest. Minutes later, after Kate had packed her lunch, Pixie let out a long, satisfied snore. She could always count on that dog to make her smile.

She glanced at her phone, sitting innocently on the counter. Feeling more confident now, she grabbed it to text Banner. Her fingers hovered over the keys as she thought through what to write.

It was probably best to keep things light.

Are you awake yet? I feel half-dead and now I have to drag my tired ass to work. LOL. How are you?

Instead of waiting for a response, she forced herself to put it out of her mind and left for work. Just before she started the car, her text alert dinged.

She looked at the contact. Damn, he was fast.

I’m good. I’m sorry I kept you up late though. You didn’t say you had to work today. Give me the address and I’ll bring you some coffee and lunch.

She smiled, and her stomach fluttered. Sweet man. But showing up at the clinic was a bad idea. Not only would her coworkers get nosy, but she was very careful about confidentiality and keeping her personal life separate from her clients.

But, oh the things he might do to her with the office door closed.

Thanks, but that sort of thing isn’t allowed there. Glad you’re feeling well. Have a great day!

It felt like a brush-off, but she was already running late. At lunch she’d open the window of communication again. Maybe she’d invite him shopping. The thought made her laugh. She pictured him holding her purse as she tried on clothes. Would he sulk like most men? Something told her he was secure enough in his masculinity to hold a purse. And he had every reason to be.

Chuckling, she started the car. Hopefully, the day would go by fast and with minimal interruptions from her overactive libido, despite the reminders of last night creeping into her head. Already, she felt as though she’d been marked, as if she had
BANNER’S FUCK TOY
stamped in big letters across her forehead. If only they wanted the same things from a relationship . . . but they didn’t, and no amount of hot sex or wishful thinking was going to fix that.

Chapter 6

“Was the sex really that good?” Ambrose grinned, and Banner flicked pool water in his face. His friend swam out of range and floated up onto his back. The beer-logo swim shorts Ambrose wore looked trashy in the tastefully decorated indoor pool area. How the guy had made a mint as a shipping magnate was still a mystery. He cleaned up okay, but Banner could still see the roughness in his manners, even when he was in his suit and tie disguise.

With his dry hand, Banner hit the lock button on his phone and tossed it onto his towel before Ambrose destroyed yet another of his phones with his shenanigans.

“I was checking on Rook.”

“Sure you were. I recognize that expression.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ambrose smirked. “You’ve got it bad.”

“Fuck off.” There was no point in denying it. He barely knew the girl¸ and he was angsting over her more than he had right to. Going into their arrangement, he’d known it wasn’t going to turn into anything long term, but after just one day together, he had the most idiotic crush on her.

Ambrose swept his arms across the water, the heavy black Roman numeral tattoos still looking as new and crisp as the Norse tats on Banner’s forearms. The shop Konstantin had picked for them all to use years ago had been a good choice.

Doing a few laps helped Banner burn off some nervous energy. When he was done, he treaded water in the deep end.

“Now, if you’d tell me what you did with her, I could give you a more informed idea about why she’s not returning your texts.” His friend paused, and his gaze sharpened. “You haven’t sent any more texts, right?”

“I’m not telling you anything, perv. And no, I haven’t.”

“Good man. You have to leave the ball in her court now, otherwise you look desperate and creepy.” Leave it to Ambrose to be a smug bastard about women, as though his own love life was healthy and thriving.

“I know that, jerkoff.”

“I don’t think you really know how this works, Banner. When was the last time you wanted a girl and she didn’t jump up and down and clap her hands? You need advice from your wingman to get through this.”

Banner sighed. “Konstantin would know what to do.”

“Well, he’s visiting his babushka, so your sorry ass is stuck with me.”

“I know he won’t be back from Russia for a while, but the next time he goes we have to make sure he gets a fucking Facebook account first. He doesn’t check his e-mail.” Banner swam to the edge of the pool and hoisted himself out. “Although, how exactly would either of you give me advice on this, anyway? It’s not like you’ve had . . .” He grabbed a towel and scrubbed the water from his hair. There was no way to finish that sentence that didn’t sound awkward and pathetic.

“It’s not like I’ve had, what? A girl blow me off? Try having your sub abandon you after six years.”

“Jeez. Do you need a tissue, Ambrose? Shae left you almost two years ago. You don’t get to play that card every time I have relationship issues.” Sometimes it seemed like Ambrose was just using Shae as an excuse to not get involved in anything serious again. Sleeping with Banner’s exes amused him, but he didn’t seem to be ready for more. “I was there for you through that, but you need to get counseling or something if you’re still messed up about it. I have more to complain about at this point. My last few relationships never even got to the point of a collar.”

Ambrose snorted. “Maybe your dick is defective.”

“Fuck you.”

“I think it’s better if we just stay friends. Your defective dick might ruin things between us.”

Banner whipped a pool noodle at him, and Ambrose ducked, laughing. What kind of millionaire trashed up their indoor oasis with pool noodles? Ambrose, that’s who.

As Ambrose got out of the pool, Banner sat in one of the rattan chairs and opened a soda.

“Kate called me Master. Twice.”

The levity drained from the room. Ambrose paused in his toweling, and his brows shot upward. “Seriously? That’s an interesting turn of events.”

“Yeah.” Banner shifted in his seat, replaying both instances in his mind. If it had been a regular situation, Kate’s reactions to him would have been very promising. Instead, she didn’t want him, and the lost opportunity had been making him grouchy for days. He’d tried fishing for information from his friend Chris, since his wife was Kate’s best friend, but he didn’t know anything. “It wasn’t something I asked her to do. It was just a knee-jerk thing for her, I think, but it’s fucking with my head.”