The Reluctant Dom (30 page)

Kaden laughed again. “I know. They're lethal. That's one thing I can't teach you, buddy. You're on your own there.”

Leah wore nothing but her heavy collar because they weren't expecting any company that day. She pressed her body against Seth and squirmed. “Please?”

Kaden's laughter didn't help Seth any. “Dude, stand up to her.”

He looked at Kaden over her shoulder. “You put her up to this, didn't you?”

Kaden leaned against the counter with his fresh mug of coffee and shrugged. “I might have suggested a course of action to her that would most likely get her the desired result.” He took a sip.

“Fucking traitor.”

“Fucking pussy. You're her Dom. Stand up to her.”

She widened her eyes and pouted her lip. “Please?”

Seth closed his eyes and groaned. “I'm so fucking screwed.”

“Yep,” Kaden agreed.

* * * *

That's how Seth found himself nervously staring at Leah's bare ass a few hours later out in the backyard. The six-footer was too big to use in the playroom. With the Christmas tree in the living room, there wasn't enough room there, either. With the lights on the lanai, in addition to the tables, it was easier to take her out back. Neighbors couldn't see them anyway because of the woods.

“Your birthday isn't for a couple of weeks yet. Why can't we wait? Let me practice a little more?”

She wiggled her bare ass at him. She had donned a leather jacket and gloves at his insistence and Kaden's agreement that it might be a good idea. “Please, Sir? I really want it.”

“What if I hurt you? Don't be a smart ass, either. I mean, what if I hit you in the wrong place?”

“You're good. I've watched you. You won't hurt me.”

Kaden sat with his back propped against an oak tree. “Pussy,” he taunted.

Seth turned and pointed the whip at him. “Don't you fucking start on me. I'll practice on you.”

He smiled and shrugged.

Seth took a deep breath. “All right. Just ... hold still, okay? Don't move.” He carefully lined up his throw, choked and stopped, walked in a circle, repositioned himself. “Hold still.”

He took another deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment to settle his nerves, then took aim and threw.

The hit landed squarely in the middle of her left ass cheek, leaving a pink welt behind.

Leah moaned. Not in pain, but in a “oooh, someone's getting fucked soon and I hope it's me” way.

“You okay, babe?”

She wiggled her ass at him. Her voice sounded deep and husky. “Don't stop!”

Kaden laughed. “Go ahead. That was perfect. Could have stepped into it just a hair more. You barely touched her.”

“That was my intention.” He lined up another one. “Don't move a fucking muscle.” He threw, landing the hit in the middle of her right cheek.

She moaned again. “Yes!” she hissed.

Kaden nodded. “Good. Now loosen up a bit. You're too tense. You're going to hurt yourself throwing like that.”

Seth took a moment to roll his neck and shoulders and another deep breath. “Okay, you ready?”

“Yes!”

He threw, then another one immediately after, both hitting their intended target.

“Okay, honey, please. I'm a wreck. Can I stop now?”

“Two more. Please?”

Kaden stood and motioned for the whip. Seth stepped out of the way and swapped him the whip for the video camera Kaden had been filming the practice with. “You'll get more than that,” Seth said.

Kaden took over. “Where are we, love?”

She immediately slipped deep into subspace. Seth had suspected she was close but not that close. “Green, Master.”

“Set of thirty, love.”

“Thirty, Master.”

“Count.”

Seth filmed them, in awe of Kaden's skill. Would he ever be that good, that sure of himself? Kaden told Seth he'd started with the bullwhips fifteen years earlier, after Leah had seen a demonstration and nearly came in her pants at the thought of Kaden using one on her.

Kaden also assured him that, despite his calm, outward demeanor, he'd been just as terrified of using one on her bare flesh as Seth now was.

Leah was in heaven. After the set, Kaden handed the whip back to Seth and walked over to her. She curled in his arms as he softly whispered to her.

Seth almost shut off the video, then decided maybe he should film it. She might want video of them together like that. How he felt filming it should be immaterial.

After a few minutes, Kaden kissed her forehead and she got to her feet. Seth stopped filming. She walked over to him and kissed him, long and deep. “Thank you, Sir. That was wonderful.”

“Hey, Kade did the worst of it.”

“But I knew you could do it.”

“Yeah. Just don't ask me to do long sets yet.”

“Okay.” She headed to the house. The pink and red welts crisscrossing her ass were clearly visible.

Kaden stopped beside Seth. “She's something else.”

“How did you not lose your fucking mind while learning all this shit?”

Kaden shrugged. “I had a woman who loved and needed me. I was going to do everything in my power to give her whatever she needed to make her happy. She didn't want me to buy her things. We'd be living in a crappy apartment in Tampa still if it wasn't for me insisting on moving someplace nicer. You know she drove that goddamned piece of crap junker car for years. A friend of mine sabotaged it for me one night so it caught fire. She had to let me buy her a new one.”

Seth remembered Kaden emailing him about it while he was still in Iraq. “No shit? I thought that was an accident.”

“So does she. Let's keep that our secret, okay?”

Seth smirked. “Yeah.”

They started walking to the house. “Seth, I know this is all a mind fuck. She's not a complicated person. She wants to feel safe, to trust, to feel secure. She gets that from me, and now from you, too. If she has that, she's happy. The rest she doesn't care about.”

“The pain.”

He shrugged. “That's a coping mechanism. It's a necessity. Some women need shoes. She needs whips.”

“I couldn't have learned as much as I have without you. I never could have ... after.” He stopped and turned to Kade. “I understand. If you'd left me a fucking note or something, I never could have done this.”

Kaden sadly smiled. “I know. Neither could she. I told you, I knew I had to make this happen. I had to show you. It was the only way. You can't begin to explain shit like this and have it make any sense whatsoever.” He clapped Seth on the shoulder. “Now quit harshing my mellow, dude.”

Seth laughed but they continued to the house. “That's my line.”

* * * *

Two days later, Seth was outside alone with Leah, practicing in the backyard. He was about to take his third throw when a wasp dive bombed him. Without thinking, he stepped to the side as he threw in an attempt to avoid the bug.

Leah yelped, a sound he'd never heard her make before. The pained sound sent Seth's heart through his feet.

He dropped the whip and ran over to her. “Oh my God! Babe, are you okay?”

“Yeah, what happened?” She'd rolled over, sitting up, and had her hand clamped to her inner thigh.

“A goddamned wasp almost nailed me. Let me look.” Seth's heart raced and he was terrified he'd wounded her.

“I'm okay. It's okay.”

“No, let me look!” He finally pried her hand away and saw the blood. “Oh ... shit! Oh, honey, dammit! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”

She clamped her hand over it again. “Seth, it's okay.”

“You're fucking bleeding! It's
not
okay! Goddammit, I'm so sorry!”

Kaden apparently heard the commotion and raced down from the house. “What's wrong? What happened?”

Leah proudly smiled and showed him. “My first mark from Sir.”

Kaden examined it and laughed. “Very good, love.”

“This isn't funny!” Seth screamed, trying to get a better look at her leg. Leah kept pushing his hands away.

Kaden shook his head. “I guarantee you it hurts you worse than it hurts her.”

“This isn't funny!” Seth screamed again. “Goddammit, Leah. Move your fucking hand.” He finally got a good look at it, relieved to see it was only a minor cut. “It's not fucking funny! If I'd hit your artery or something—”

She grabbed his chin. “Stop.” Her voice dropped, firmer than he ever remembered hearing it. “I'm okay, Seth.
Sir
, I'm fine.” She pulled him in and kissed him. “Master put far worse and deeper ones on me while He was learning. Trust me, this is nothing. I consider this a badge of honor to finally wear Your mark.” She kissed him again, then let him help her to her feet. “I'll go wash it off and put some ointment on it. It'll be fine. It's all right.”

Seth watched her walk to the house, his entire body trembling from nerves. He shook his head and looked at Kaden. “I can't do this, man. I can't fucking do this! I can't hurt her like that! Goddamned wasp came out of fucking nowhere—”

“Stop.” Kaden's firm tone startled Seth. “It was an accident. I meant it when I said it'll hurt you a lot worse than it hurts her. The pain's already fading for her. You'll be stinging every time you see the scar.” His face darkened. “Trust me on that.”

Seth swallowed hard. “I can't stand hurting her like that, man.”

“I know. It sucks. The first time I cut her with a whip I nearly bawled like a baby. You saw how she reacted. She did the same thing to me. She's strong when she needs to be, when she can be, in the ways she can be strong. Don't ever forget that.” He looked at Seth. “There are times, like this, when you have to trust her. Remember, pain is nothing to her when she's in subspace.”

“She was in fucking pain that day she sliced her arm open. I thought she would go into shock on me.”

“That was different. She wasn't in subspace when it happened. She wasn't trying to hurt herself. When she's in subspace, you could probably pull out every one of her goddamned fingernails and she'd beg for more. There's a huge difference. If you hadn't wigged out on her, she'd be begging for more right now, I guarantee you.”

Seth eventually sighed. “I probably harshed her mellow by freaking out, didn't I?”

“Dude. You did.” Kaden smiled. “But that's okay. You can make it up to her later, I'm sure.”

* * * *

Later that night after dinner, Seth willing gave in to Leah's request to not just join them but to spend the night. He spent a long time loving her while Kaden held her in his arms. He gently ran his lips over the welt on her leg, hating himself.

Leah sensed his inner turmoil. She kept her fingers tangled in his hair, or her fingers laced through his, and constantly murmured to him.

When they all fell asleep later, she had her back tightly nestled against Kaden, with his arm around her waist. But she had Seth tucked against her chest, cradled in her arms as he cried himself to sleep while Leah whispered to him.

* * * *

The next morning, Seth still felt like shit. The wound would heal cleanly but the ugly purple bruise surrounding it would take days to fade.

Leah started to get up to make coffee but he grabbed her hand. “No, babe, I'll go do it. You stay in bed.”

She tried to protest. Then, one of the few times Kaden ever overruled Seth.

“Love, go make our coffee. We'll be out for it shortly.”

Leah quickly kissed them both and jumped out of bed. She left the bedroom.

Once Kaden was sure she was out of earshot, he turned on Seth. “Stop it. You can't do that.”

“I fucking hurt her, man! I feel horrible!”

“She's already over it. She was over it minutes after it happened. She humored you last night because she felt bad that you were so upset, but fucking stop it. Enough's enough.”

Seth felt shocked. “You cold-hearted bastard! That's your goddamned wife! How can you sit there and tell me enough's enough?”

He leaned in. “Because that's the way she wants it. Remember how she freaked out over the laundry when you first moved in? I'm not kidding when I say she needs you to man up now.” He dropped his voice even lower. “I've been busting your balls about her leading you around by the short hairs but I'm also telling you it's got to stop. Now.”

A haze of rage clouded Seth's mind. “What the
fuck
is wrong with you?”

Kaden frowned. “You have
got
to get a handle on this. It's okay while I'm still around, because she's got me. But quit this fucking bullshit once and for all before I'm gone! She needs to know you're strong and steady and will take care of her. I'm not talking about grieving, she expects that from you. I'm talking you cannot let her get her way all the time. She needs to feel you're her Master. Right now, you're acting like a fucking pussy!”

Seth opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it closed. He wanted to deck Kaden. Never in his life had he ever felt that before.

Kaden met his angry gaze. “You know I'm right. You've seen her long enough now to understand what I mean.”

“
You
let her get her way.”

“When
I
decide to. In things that don't fucking matter.
This
matters. This is an issue of strength. This is a time when you have to put on your goddamn big boy britches and just suck it the fuck up. It's done, it's over with. She knows it was an accident. Believe me, she understands you're upset about it. It's over, it's done, move on.”

He got out of bed, leaving Seth sitting there stewing. Kaden walked into the bathroom. Seth finally got his wits about him and went to his own room. He started for his bathroom, then turned and locked his bedroom door.

Fuck it.

He used the bathroom before pulling on some running clothes. He listened at his bedroom door for a moment, heard Leah and Kaden talking in the kitchen, and quietly walked down the hall and let himself out the front door.

The morning felt cool but even though it was December the highs were predicted to be in the upper seventies. Seth didn't bother stretching. He hurried down the driveway at a quick, loping pace, wanting to put distance between himself and the house and the sound of Kaden's accusation ringing in his ears.

How could he not feel badly about what he did? Fuck! He'd hate himself every time he saw the mark. Maybe it wouldn't leave one. Still, he'd feel horrible about it.