KING (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (34 page)

With a quiet grace, Whitney glides up to me with a pleased smile on her face.
Her blonde ponytail bounces and she walks. I smile when she self-consciously smoothes her prim dress down.

“Your parents wanted to give you guys the gifts,” I say to Niel. “But they are from me.” I catch Regina’s eye from the back of the crowd and I give her a nod to bring them up.

“I would like to present the Mistress and Master of Misery Castle,” I grandly announce. Everyone stares at me like I’m insane for introducing Regina and Jamie as a couple.

Prissy’s high-pitched squeal cues them in that everything isn’t as it seems. It’s not a second later that three more shrieks of happiness fill the ai
r. Then the toddlers notice, and they run after Regina and Jamie like marathoners.

I take the wiggling tan puppy from Regina and present it to Whitney. “This is Missy. She’s a French
Bulldog. She’s the new Mistress of Misery Castle. Take good care of her. She’s not potty trained yet, I found that out the hard way.” I laugh, remembering the incident with my car interior. Whitney takes the puppy from me and presses Missy to her chest. She makes a
squee
noise while swaying back and forth in a rocking motion and brilliantly smiling.

Turning to Jamie, I pick up the cuddly bundle. This blue guy slept on my chest last night while his sister slept by my hip. Their other brother slept on my belly. But he’s a secret
, so is the fourth puppy in the litter that loved my armpit. Alt needed some watch dogs, too. Not the club, my house. Wicked, the Blue Frenchie, and Vixen, the Black Frenchie, are a surprise that Dalton doesn’t know about yet.

“Niel, this is Mast,
the Master of Misery Castle. Take good care of him. He’s super affectionate and loves swaddled in a blankie.” Niel takes the puppy from my hands as if the sturdy little guy is made of glass. He draws his t-shirt up and makes a nest to hold the pup while he cuddles him.

“Go away,” Niel
whispers to the mass of kids oohing and awing over the puppies. “Mast is mine. Go play with Missy.” He marches off to his chair, hovering over his puppy so no one else can see it. Undeterred, Azriel follows him- chick magnet. Chick magnet with a puppy.

Whitney, in her expensive dress, sits on the grass and makes a V with her legs. Ella mirrors her and they create a pen for Missy to waddle around in. Ava, momentarily forgetting her animosity toward Whitney, joins them. With Itsy and Priss, they create a five-point
girl star with their legs.

Meanwhile, Niel is trying to fend off four chubby arms that are trying to steal his puppy. Learning quickly, Niel realizes you
don’t
say no to Azriel and you
can’t
say no to little Ez. Niel tenderly holds Azriel’s wrist and shows her how to gently pet Mast, while Ezra is just happy watching.

“Consolation prizes for when you leave?” Grandfather says from over my shoulder. “Goodbye, but here’s a puppy. Well played, son,” he says in amusement. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mutter, acting disinterested in our conversation.

“Hmm… so there is another Daniel Whittenhower II that purchased a property on Mayhem Street adjacent to Restraint? I wasn’t aware you had a clone, since only you can access the money in your trust fund.”

“You caught me,” I deadpan, “now what?”

“I just wanted to say that I’m proud of you, is all. Going after what you want while still holding on to what you believe in. I wish I’d had your tenacity. I wish my father had, and then we wouldn’t be in the bind we’re in.
I will admit that I’m an arrogant bastard, but I’m an arrogant bastard that can admit when he’s wrong. I was wrong about you- I don’t think your proclivities make you weak; they just make you who you are… Tis a shame, though,” he sighs.

“What is?” I say in confusion, staring at the man who is an older, smaller version of
myself.

“It’s a shame that
genetically you and your lover can’t make children.” Grandfather sighs again. “Any child from your combined DNA would be devastating- absolutely breathtaking.”

“Where you abducted by aliens and returned deficient? This doesn’t sound like you. You’ve always been baby crazed, but this is nuts, even for you.”

“You both have sisters… that’s all I’m saying.”

“Yuck!
” I almost vomit from the thought. “I don’t even want to dignify that with a response.”

“I didn’t say it had to be…” Grandfather
waves his hands around, looking for a word that won’t insult me. “Just… in the future, should you change your mind. It would be a viable option- clinically speaking.”

“Dang!
” I sing. “You want an heir from me, don’t you? Is that what this is about?”

“No and yes,” he bashfully mutters, a rosy flush tinting his cheeks.
“I was being truthful about how gorgeous your kids would be. Plus, you both love kids. Just a guess, but there are two more puppies in the manse as we speak, isn’t there? That screams of a biological clock ticking. Do you really want to go a lifetime without children of your own?”

“What the hell, Grandfather?
” I cry. I don’t even want to think of what he’s suggesting- the calculating bastard. Jesus help us, because Niel and I are just like our grandfather. I’d come to terms with the fact that I’d never have biological children. Now my grandfather is dangling a perverted carrot within my reach. No, no I won’t even contemplate… ugh! “What do you get out of this, anyway?”

“
I have five heirs… that is all.” Grandfather mumbles, like he’s admitting to only having one kidney. The rich think in multiples. Too bad he is too blind to notice that five is more than zero. If Grandfather doesn’t behave, it won’t matter how many of us there are, we will ignore him.

“
Adelaide will never reproduce. Unless Grant convinces Regina or finds a new woman to impregnate, there will be no more from him. Kate is finished with kids. So I’m waiting for great-grandkids. Should you do as I suggested, all the kids born will be of Whittenhower blood. It’s a win-win for me.”

“You’re a pervert,” I hiss. “You’re pimping out your granddaughter. Your fifteen-year-old granddaughter, who happens to be
my sister- my adopted daughter,” I hiss in outrage. “Just go away,” I growl.

“I
n ten years or so… in a lab…” Grandfather stammers as my pissed off glare backs him away from me. “You could give Dalton a son. Just think about that,” he hurriedly says as he creeps away.

Sucker
-punched to the gut, I limp away, looking for Dalton.

Sonofabitch!

Jesus Christ.

Those bastards would do anything for a Whittenhower/Zeitler offspring: Niel and Ava or Spyder and me. Laboratory or not, it would render the same results. Ava’s not even a real Zeitler. She’s a Hunter. Spyder is the only blooded offspring of Marc’s. She needs to be kept safe from those monsters. Niel isn’t my child either. He’s the second born. Any birth child of mine would net a higher price, especially if it was Marc’s biological grandchild.

This was Grandfather’s twisted way of informing me that a new play is on the board- one that involves Dalton, Ella, Spyder, and me.
I’d wager the odds and bets on this game are astronomical.

Not happening.

It’s so wrong and it plays into their hands. But now Grandfather has me overthinking everything. Does Dalton want biological kids? Heterosexuals don’t realize how easy they have it.

~Chapter
Thirty~

“Hey,” I mumble to my surprise guest.
Niel’s sitting on my bed, elbows on his knees, wearing a sullen expression on his face. He looks miserable for someone who was just out partying until dawn.

“What took you so long?” Niel rapidly accuses
me, like we had an appointment and I had the audacity to be late.

“I wasn’t aware you’d be waiting for me,” I grumble. “You look like shit
, by the way.”

“
Thanks, I hadn’t noticed,” he deadpans, and then demands, “Where have you been all night?”

“Wasn’t aware I had a curfew.
” I sneer at him. I hate it when Niel gets all parental on me, like I’m the child and he’s the adult. “My world doesn’t revolve around you, contrary to popular opinion. I
do
have a life outside these walls. But if you really want to know, I was playing tennis.”

“At four a.m.?
” I hate the look of suspicion on his freckled face. “Is that a euphemism for sex?”

“
In this case… shockingly… no.” I heavily sigh, and turn to shut the door behind me. I lean against it and stare at my little brother, who happens to be my adopted son- the kid who’s parenting me. I don’t know why I explain myself, but I do. “I can’t sleep and Ezra can’t sleep, so we play tennis or talk.”

“Or have sex.”
Niel’s accusing glare confuses the shit out of me.

“Sometimes
we do that, too,” I incredulously mutter, not about to split hairs on whether or not lack of penetration means sex. “But it’s none of your business. What’s up with the inquisition?”

“I… I’
m a man,” Niel stammers out.

“I know.
” I eye him over. “I was just at your birthday party last night. I know you can’t remember this far back, but I was there when you were born. I knew right down to the second when you became an adult.”

“I’m a man now,” Niel
stresses. Pointedly looking at me and raising both eyebrows, even bugs-out his green eyes.

“O
OHH!” I draw out in surprise. “OH!”

I finally notice Niel
wild appearance. He doesn’t look like a guy who just had his first lay. He looks kind of sick. His eyes are glassy, clouded. His emerald irises are muted. His peachy skin takes on a gray pallor. Even his lips are too pale. That wild mane of ginger hair is the worst I’ve ever seen it, and not from passionate tugs of feminine fingers either. Niel looks sick, but maybe a little crazed too.

“Why do you look ill? Didn’t you like it?
It couldn’t have been that bad,” I try to reassure him.

“I liked it
, alright,” he growls. “Look at this shit!” Niel stands up and shows me the painful bulge in his pants. He immediately sits, as if he’s embarrassed for sharing that information. The sickly pallor is replaced with the crimson of humiliation.

“
That’s perfectly normal, Niel.” I bark out a laugh and run my fingers through my hair. “Hell, I’m almost seven years older than you and all I can think about is sex. I seek it out constantly. I walk around with a hard-on more often than not.”

“You don’t understand,” he groans in misery. “It was so wrong.
Just wrong. So wrong that it made it right.” He sounds insane. Niel’s eyes skittishly roam around the room, never lighting on anything.

“You’re an adult now
, and you have to take responsibility for your own actions. If you thought it was wrong, then why did you do it?” I want to walk forward and shake him, but I stay by the door instead. Something about his behavior is setting off warning alarms in my head.

“I couldn’
t help myself,” he moans. “All this waiting, and now I understand why I couldn’t do it before. I didn’t even shoot too soon this time,” Niel mutters in amazement, eyes glowing from maddening pleasure. “It’s like I couldn’t get off until she did. I wanted her to enjoy it as much as I did. I took her virginity… Don’t you understand that?” He pleadingly stares at me.

“Um… I get that. What I don’t get is why you look like you’re going to puke.”

“Because I loved it and because I
want
to do it again. But I can’t,” Niel cries, hands flying in the air like he has no idea what to do. I don’t know where this desperation is coming from. “Now it’s all I can think about. How wrong it was. How wrong it would be to do it again… and again… and again. I can’t walk around looking like this for Christ’s sake!” He jerkily motions to his crotch with both hands and grimaces.

“So do it a
gain,” I incredulously offer as a solution. “Did you use protection?”

“Didn’t you hear me?
” Niel screeches. “I can’t do it again!” He punches my mattress and gives a primal scream of agony. Tears glisten in his eyes. I want to help him but I don’t know how. I don’t even know what’s wrong or why it was so wrong.

“Did you hurt her or something?”
I walk forward, trying to think up a way to comfort him, but… I’ve got nothing.

“NO! God, no
oo… I could never hurt her. I love her too much,” he cries. “We did it twice before I came home. And no, I didn’t use protection. I didn’t think of it. And frankly, I wouldn’t have wanted to either.”

“Is that why you’re upset? Are you scared she’ll get pregnant? I’m sure her parents were prepared for this.”