The Dom on the Naughty List (7 page)

Sabrina

“You two look like you’re about to face a firing squad,” Jude smiled as they walked into the kitchen.

Despite the circumstances, his wide grin made Sabrina’s heart flutter. “We might be,” she mumbled.

Her heels clicked on their new tile floor as she crossed the room. Decked out in a bright red A-line dress with a black bow tied around her waist and a sequinned black cardigan, she looked the part she was supposed to play tonight. And Jude’s freshly pressed navy pants, light blue shirt – to bring out his eyes – and red tie fit perfectly too.

Then there was Q. Sabrina turned to look at her.
Stunning, if you only looked at her face. Long, black hair a dark contrast to her pale skin, electric blue eyes, and though she always complained about her big lips, they were very “in” right now and screamed sexy. Past that, her plain black shirt and dark jeans were nothing special. Oh, wait. She had earrings on. Apparently she’d dressed up after all. Sabrina shook her head and sighed.

Q stared back at her
. “What? I’m wearing my fancy shoes.” She lifted the leg of her pants to show the low-heel ankle boots Sabrina had bought her for Jude’s dad’s funeral back in the spring.

“You both look gorgeous,” Jude said.

He swung Sabrina into his arms first. “Mmm,” he hummed in her hair, nuzzling his nose in her neck. She relaxed the smallest amount. Being in Jude’s arms always made her feel safe and protected.

He set her aside and reached for Q. Holding her face in his hands, he kissed her forehead. “I missed you two today.”

“Long day?” Q asked.

“Yes.”

Sabrina took the opportunity to check out his ass. “I forgot how good you clean up.”

He spun to face her. “Has it been that long?”

“Yes. You rarely take us out. Bad Dom,” she teased.

Q rolled her eyes
. “He’s a man. He’d much rather have us naked and barefoot, ready to obey his every command.”

He raised his brows. “Now that sounds like a perfect evening. Why do we have to leave the house again?”

Sabrina sighed. “Family obligation.” She stared at the floor. Her hands had been trembling all day. Her chest felt tight and uncomfortable. Never before had she felt this nervous. She’d picked the timing of the big reveal carefully. Every year, after the church’s Christmas concert, her family had a big dinner at their Italian restaurant. It was the perfect place to tell them about Q. Her mother wouldn’t dare make a scene in public. Sabrina could calmly state that she loved Q and the three of them had been living as a family for the last year, answer any questions during dessert, then leave quickly while her mother processed the news.

Jude pinched her chin and forced her head up. He gazed down at her, warmth in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this
, you know.”

“I know.”

He studied her a moment. “Brave girl,” he finally said, then pecked her on the lips. “Ready to go?”

Q and Sabrina no
dded and headed toward the front door.

“
Wha –” Jude said from behind them.

They turned to see him staring at the naughty list, his mouth hanging wide open. Sabrina stifled a giggle. Earlier that day, she’d added tongues and
mohawks to all the frowny faces under her name.

Brow arched, he looked them over, obviously waiting for an explanation.

Her chest hurt from holding in her laughter. “Um,” she cleared her throat. “Christmas elves?”

Q chuckled.

She pretended to look at a watch – though she didn’t have one on – then yelled, “Shit! We’re late. Hurry!”

Jude inhaled a deep breath then looked at the ceiling and mumbled what sounded like a prayer.

Grabbing his arm, she told him, “It’ll work better in church. Let’s go.”

Jude drove
while Q sat in back with Sabrina, probably thinking it would help settle her nerves. She grasped Sabrina’s hand and squeezed.

“You don’t have to treat me like I just found out I
have a terminal illness,” she said to Q. Still, she didn’t pull her hand away. The momentary distraction of the naughty list wore off and dread filled her again. It must’ve been visible because they both kept casting her sympathetic looks.

Jude glanced at her from the rear view mirror. “Just before you’re ready to tell them, I want you to close your eyes and say to yourself, ‘Jude an
d Q love me and I am a good person no matter what my family says.’ And I want you to feel it and believe it. Understand?”

She smiled shakily.
“Yes, Sir.”

“Good.” The twinkle of amusement in his eyes made her grin
as he looked back at the road.

Q squeezed her hand again. Though it made her want to roll her eyes at them
for handling her with kid gloves, it felt nice at the same time. They cared about her feelings, but gave her the freedom to make her own choice about her family. She couldn’t have been more blessed to have found them, to be loved by two of the best people in the world. And
that
was something worth telling the world about.

The church was more crowded than usual and Sabrin
a, Jude, and Q were running late, as usual. She was in for a lecture from her mother later. The seats were filled in the front of the large cathedral. She spotted her mother’s primped, brown up-do in the third row. Her father sat beside her and two of her aunts sat on the other side. A few cousins were in the row behind them, packed into the pew shoulder-to-shoulder.

“We’ll just sit in back,” she said to Q and Jude, who both looked lost and a bit intimidated. She chuckled at her
Doms, afraid of church.

They settled into an almost full pew a few rows from the back. Sabrina was squished between Jude and a large man who smelled like tobacco.

A crucifix stood behind the pulpit like a beacon to remorseful sinners, reminding her of the time spent kneeling in front of it as a child. Despite her disappointment in some of the church’s beliefs, it did make her feel warm inside. There was something that felt right about being in church, especially at Christmas. She even hoped there’d be communion tonight.

The organ music started and the church choir, dressed in dark red robes, filed out of the side doors and stood in rows on the slightly raised stage. Her
church was one of the few in the state with a full choir. People from the surrounding towns came every year to the Christmas performance, as it was usually an impressive show.

Her mother was very proud of
the church choir. And if Sabrina could manage to sing a song in the right key, her mom would’ve signed her up to join. She’d always appreciated music though and secretly loved the Christmas show.

The choir began to sing, the voices echoing through the large room. The sweet song about Mother Mary
, combined with memories of her childhood, made her a little choked up. From the corner of her eye, she saw Q pass a scrap of paper to Jude.

He looked at it
and smiled. Passing notes? Even that reminded her of her childhood. Still, it was disrespectful and distracting. Jude took a pen from Q’s hand and scribbled something, then handed it back. Q smirked.

The middle-age
d couple beside them glared. Sabrina’s face heated and she tossed Jude a stern look. When Q passed the paper back to Jude, she snatched it, along with the pen.

Sabrina looks like she’s about to cry. How adorable.

She pursed her lips. Bitch! Her eyes widened and she quickly made the sign of the cross over her chest.
Forgive me, Father.
Swearing in church? What the fuck was wrong with her?

Gah
! She did it again! Q was a bad influence. Ignoring Jude’s handwriting, she wrote furiously.

You two better cut it out or God will strike you dead right here in this building.

She handed the note to Jude then gestured to give it to Q too. Jude chuckled and obeyed, then wrapped his arm around Sabrina’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” he whispered and kissed her temple.

Q and Jude behaved through the rest of the concert and maybe even enjoyed it. They skipped communion but Sabrina took it, praying for her family’s acceptance that evening and thanking God for his blessings.

Service finished
and she rushed Jude and Q out of the pew. The strategy was to make her appearance known – her mother would approve of her attendance – but be unavailable to talk. That way they wouldn’t be sucked into visiting all of her mother’s nosy friends, questioning why she wasn’t pregnant yet. Not only was she too young to be a mother, she had no desire to be pregnant. Try telling that to a bunch of old biddies just dying to get their hands on a baby.

From the crowded aisle, she turned and waved to her mom,
who was already searching the crowd for her. She made a gesture that she was stuck, then watched her mother’s face transform to annoyance. Now it was time for their getaway.

After grabbing Jude’s hand, she made for the door, shoving through the crowd.

“Hey, Jude.”

T
he familiar voice made Jude stop, pulling Sabrina to a halt just outside the church. She looked back at the dozens of well-dressed people filing out of the doors and panicked.

Their friend
Cross stood just behind Q, tall and intimidating as usual. His crisp, black button down shirt hid the tattoos that covered his arms. He and Jude were getting to be close friends, especially with their shared interest in kink. Cross had helped Jude get Nico – Q’s psychotic ex – blacklisted from all the BDSM clubs in New Jersey.

“What are you doing here?” Q asked after a quick hug. “I didn’t know you went to Sabrina’s church.”

Cross shook hands with Jude. “I don’t. I’m making the church concert circuit.”

Sabrina tapped her foot. She liked Cross but her mother would catch up any minute. Cross pulled her in for a hug
, then kissed her on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas,
sweetie.”

“Merry Christmas,” she mumbled, scanning the crowd. Then she whispered to Jude, “We’re missing our chance for escape.”

He squeezed her hand. “We’re on the run from Sabrina’s family. Where’s the little sub you were seeing? The one with the big eyes. What was her name?”

“Melody.”
He rubbed his hand through his short hair. “Yeah, we’re done.”

He didn’t seem that torn up about it. He did have a reputation for going through subs quickly. It made her wonder what he was doing to them in that playroom of his.

But wondering was for another time. No sign of her mother yet but that wouldn’t last long. She tugged on Jude’s hand but he ignored her.

Cross looked Q and Sabrina over
, then smirked. “I saw you two passing notes during service. When are you going to finally lay down the law with them?” he said to Jude in a teasing tone. It had kind of become their thing. Cross thought Jude was too lenient. He didn’t believe subs should be brats, though Sabrina could tell she and Q amused him.

But this time, Jude had been the
bratty one! She grunted. “That wasn’t me! That was Jude and Q passing notes like children. I had to scold them.” She shook her head in mock disappointment. “I need to get them on a tighter leash. What’s your trick?”

Cross laughed
. “First, you need to grow a foot or so. Then you need to practice your Dom face.”

Yeah, she was familiar with those. “Shit!” she hissed, finally catching her mom’s profile at the door. “She’s coming. Run!”

This time she pulled hard on Jude’s hand and he gave in. “We’ll catch up later, Cross,” he said then he followed Sabrina toward the parking lot, Q at his side.

“Slow down,” Q said. “I don’t think your mom can move that fast.”

She snorted. “You haven’t seen her at a shoe clearance.”

At the car, she shoved Jude toward the driver’s side and slid in the back with Q. Only when they pulled out did she finally relax. Then she remembered
they were going from one crisis to the next and her adrenaline spiked again.

Deep breaths.
In then out.

Q watched her
and said, “You don’t have to –”

“
Shh!” She didn’t want any outs. Some courage would’ve been good though.

The Romano family
had taken over the family-style restaurant, filling it with happy chatter. The waiters had pushed together three long tables to accommodate them. Jude was greeted with kisses from Sabrina’s two aunts, her mother, and grandmother.

“They’re secretly shocked you’re still with me after a year,” she whispered to Jude as they took their seats.
Q and Jude each took a seat beside her, filling her with the warmth of their presence.

Q was received with a polite
nod and smile. Her mother had expressed several times in the last year her bewilderment at Q’s appearance at all of their events. Sabrina explained each time that Q didn’t have family nearby and since they were best friends, she couldn’t leave her alone around holidays. But it hurt her heart not only to lie, but to make Q sound so pitiful and insignificant.