Master No (6 page)

I’m glad your flight made it in on time. I thought I would check on you. I sent you an e-mail. Did you get the contract?

The Sanctum contract. The one that basically gave large portions of her life over to this man. Of course, it was only a piece of paper. It was the symbol of it all that was making her stomach flutter with anticipation. Or anxiety. Maybe a bit of both.
I did. I’ve read it over. I would like to talk to you about some of the points of the contract when you have time.

Of course, but for tonight, you get some sleep. You’ve had a long day. Write me when you wake up.

I don’t want to disturb you if you’re sleeping, Sir. Why don’t you give me a good time to contact you?

I’m always awake. Contact me when you’re ready. Good night, Faith.

Good night, Sir.

She sat back and read through the brief correspondence again. Master T. Her Sir. He’d known when she was scheduled to get in and he’d waited to welcome her back to the Western world.

“Hey, we’re going to head to bed. I’m afraid I’m going to be horrifically jetlagged tomorrow. You need anything?” Erin asked as she poked her head through the open doorway.

She turned and smiled. “No, I’m good.”

Erin frowned. “What happened? That’s not a smile I’ve seen on you before.”

She stopped herself from covering her face in a deeply girlish gesture. God, she needed to get a handle on this. Just because the man was hot—okay super hot, like Hollywood hot—and polite didn’t mean she should lose IQ points when she thought about him. She was a doctor. She’d been to medical school and done her residency and ran a clinic. She was not a giggling schoolgirl. “I talked to Master T.”

Erin grinned and walked through the door, setting herself on the bed across from Faith. “Seriously? He already called you. Eager beaver.”

So she did kind of sound like a schoolgirl. She had to admit it was refreshing. It was far from the doom and gloom of the last few months. Months? She’d been doom and gloom for years now that she thought about it. It was kind of nice to have this bubbly feeling. She was thirty-two years old and it was fun to feel sixteen again. “He sent me an instant message. But I thought it was kind of sweet that he remembered when I was getting in. You know him, right?”

“Yeah. I work with him, though not specifically with him. Usually I work with a man named Liam. He’s like my big brother. Well, if my brother was Irish and nice and had the coolest wife in the world.”

“Don’t you have a bunch of brothers?”

Her smile faded a bit. “Yeah, three. Trust me. Li is way cooler than my brothers. The place where I work…it’s like a family. It’s the best place I’ve ever been. I joke a lot. I know I have a dark sense of humor, but I really love where I work. I have to warn you though. Your man can be a dickwad. And he thinks he’s the shit at covert ops, but we took his ass down.”

“What?” Covert ops? He was supposed to work for a security firm not the freaking CIA. God, that was the last thing she wanted to get involved in.

Erin shook her head. “Sorry. Every now and then Master T and Big Tag play war games. A couple months back T decided to invade the office and dude got his ass kicked. Oh, he got some good licks in on Tag, but he lost and now Big Tag gets to punch him at random.”

She felt her jaw drop. “What?”

“Sometimes I forget you’re a civvie, Doc. It’s all fun and games. Well, and broken noses. But hey, that’s just cartilage and I personally think T was too pretty before Tag broke his nose.” She leaned in. “I kind of wish someone would break Theo’s nose. He’s so fucking pretty I find it intimidating. He’s even prettier without all those clothes. It’s not fair.”

Faith was getting into a world that she didn’t understand. But maybe that was all right. She’d spent all her time around serious scholars and super-ambitious people. They never broke each other’s noses. Ever. Of course, most of the super-ambitious people she’d spent her life around hadn’t looked like Master T or Theo. And most of them wouldn’t have remembered when her flight was supposed to land and wouldn’t have stayed by the computer to make sure she’d gotten in. They had important things to do.

Roger had only paid attention to her in clubs. He wouldn’t have called or contacted her during this isolation period.

“I think a lot about what Master T will look like naked,” she confessed. She’d seen pictures of him. After she’d agreed to the Sanctum membership and talked to a man named Kai, who apparently was the club psychologist, she’d been sent a couple of photos of Master T along with a very sweet letter about T’s philosophy of D/s. There was no one way to practice and play, so it was important that their expectations be somewhat similar. T seemed pleasant. His philosophy centered on giving a submissive what she needed. He’d written that “while giving a submissive the support and discipline she requires to enjoy our time together, I receive the positive impact of aiding in a sub’s journey.”

She really liked that he’d thought about why he was attracted to the lifestyle. It made her realize she hadn’t thought much about it beyond that she enjoyed the relaxing aspect of giving up control.

“I would bet Master T looks pretty good au naturel,” Erin said. “He looks nice in a set of leathers. He’s got a ton of scars though. Like a lot of us, he’s taken some damage. Is that going to bother you?”

Scars merely proved the body and soul were stronger than they looked. Scars didn’t bother her at all. “I think he’ll be lovely.”

Erin sighed and reached out, patting her hand. “He is and you’re in trouble, girl. I know that look.”

“Because you see it in the mirror?”

“I kind of wish I didn’t.”

“Why? You and Theo are so good together.” Most of the time, Erin and Theo seemed in perfect synch. There had been a few instances when they hadn’t known she was watching them when they’d seemed to fight. Erin would speak to him in low tones Faith couldn’t quite hear, but it had been obvious the redhead was upset. And Theo would always soothe her. He would find a way to get his hands on her and those fights always seemed to end with Erin wrapped around his body and him maneuvering them somewhere private.

“It’s hard for me,” Erin replied. “I didn’t expect to care about him. Honestly, I wish I didn’t. I tried not to, but circumstances kind of forced us together and he’s a sneaky bastard with ridiculously beautiful muscles. Dudes shouldn’t be that pretty.”

This was a side of Erin she hadn’t seen. It was so fun to have a girlfriend again. Again? She wasn’t sure she’d ever gossiped about men this way. Not since she was a kid. Hope was always so serious. She wanted to talk medicine and politics even when they were at a spa. “Circumstances? I thought you two met at work.”

“We did, but I tried to stay away from him. He’s not exactly my usual type.”

“What’s your type?” Theo Taggart was every woman’s type. Of course, so was Master T.

Erin sat back. “I don’t know. I’ve kept most of my relationships casual. I was in the Army for a long time. Not much chance at lasting relationships there. I’ve had a couple of boyfriends, but none like him. I’ve never dated anyone younger than me.”

“He’s not that much younger.”

Erin shook her head. “Ten years. He’s ten years younger than me. He’s shiny. You know the type. Hell, you are the type. You see the world in a way I don’t. Theo thinks people are good. He tries to see the good in them. I know they’re likely to shoot me. The crazy thing is lately, I kind of like the world Theo sees.”

“That’s good. I think it’s good for us to have partners who see the world in a way we don’t. I think you and Theo are adorable.”

Erin looked toward the door as though she thought he would show up at any moment. “I’m not a picket fence kind of girl. Theo’s going to want marriage and babies, and I knew a long time ago that wasn’t in the cards for me. I’m not built for it.”

Faith knew that feeling. “Sometimes I don’t think I am either.”

“You? Nah. You’re the kind of girl who ends up with a nice house and a nice husband and sweet kids. You deserve that.”

But Erin didn’t think she did? Some of her shiny mood faded. She was more like Erin than the other woman could know. She didn’t foresee some peaceful suburban life for herself. She loved kids. God, she looked at babies like most women looked at hot guys. They were precious, and she wasn’t sure she should bring one into this world around her. She’d been born to make it a better place for other people’s kids. “I have high hopes for you two. And you know what? I kind of have high hopes for me. I think Master T and I are going to get along nicely, and I’m going to have a very good vacation.”

She looked at Erin and realized something she hadn’t before. They were going to fly home together. To Dallas. To the home Theo was surprising Erin with.

“You’re not coming back to Liberia with me, are you?”

Erin’s eyes seemed to get the tiniest bit misty. “No. It was a one-time thing. I’m going wherever Ian tells me to, but it won’t be back to Africa.”

So this was the end of their time together, too. Damn. She was going to miss Erin. It seemed like the life she’d chosen meant a constant flow of humanity. No one ever stayed. She’d learned to enjoy life where she could. “So let’s have fun while we can. We’re stuck here so my dad can play the righteous politician who ignores all solid scientific data. We should have fun. I’ll call the liquor store tomorrow and find us the best tequila Germany can offer.”

Erin stood up. “That’s a deal, Doc.” She winked and left, going off to find her too-pretty prince charming.

Faith had given them the master bedroom. She didn’t need it. The smaller bedrooms in this place were more than enough for her. She hoped Erin and Theo brought some love to the place because she was fairly certain her father hadn’t.

She quickly read and responded to her other messages, telling her father she’d made it to the house safely and no she didn’t want to testify in front of congress on the impact of the West African Ebola outbreak and how it would impact the US. He wouldn’t like her answer. She would push for funding for research and better hospitals in Third World countries, rather than his answer to fund pharmaceutical companies who would then take the money earmarked for a cure for hemorrhagic fevers and divert it into the next plastic surgery wonder drug that they would make billions from.

The second was from the doctor she’d left in charge of the clinic, asking about vaccines. She explained where they were stored and instructed him to put the protocols back in place with the singular exception of the flu vaccines from last season. She’d pulled those out of the rotation. She’d explained in the e-mail that those vaccines were not to be used under any circumstances until further notice. She had some questions about them and she would find the answers when she got to the States.

Now that the crisis was dying down, the clinic could get back to its primary focus of well care for locals.

She sighed and closed the lid of her laptop. She would do exactly as Master T had asked in the morning. She would wake up and prepare and then send him a message.

She had a few weeks to get to know this man, to talk to him and let him get to know her. It was good.

It was really good because she was pretty sure she was going to sleep with that man.

When she slept, she dreamed of a man with golden brown hair and a smile that made her heart pound.

* * * *

Ten’s laptop chirped and he forced himself not to fall all over the place trying to answer it.

“Sounds like you have a message, boss.” The reason for his stillness turned his way with a stupid grin on his face. Hutch had a bag of gummy bears in one hand as he looked over the top of his monitor.

Ten continued to his seat. He’d gotten up to grab a cup of that heated motor oil Tag called coffee. He slipped back into his chair.

Big Tag walked in, a cup of coffee in one hand and a thick stack of papers in the other. He looked over at Ten as Ten’s computer chirped again. “You need to take that, lover boy?”

Ten glanced down and forced his face to remain perfectly blank.

Good morning, Sir. It’s afternoon here, but I thought you should know we’re enjoying our last day before coming back to the States.

Another ding and a picture came through. It was Faith wearing an oddly sedate bathing suit. Most women her age would be in a bikini, but Faith’s suit was a one piece with a little skirt around the hips. Still, it couldn’t hide her curves or the way the sun kissed her skin. Her face was up to the sun. He fought the instinct to reach out and brush his fingers over the picture.

He also fought his secondary instinct, which was to write her back, order her to go somewhere private and take that suit off for him.

Weeks of talking to her, flirting with her, were taking their toll. He wanted Faith McDonald. He wanted her underneath him, her legs spread, that warm smile of hers welcoming him deep inside her soft body.

“I think I can handle it, Tag. Why don’t you get started?” He quickly typed back a message.
You look beautiful. I hope you’ll enjoy the sun here, too. I’ve made reservations for the four of us at a friend’s restaurant the night you come in. I’m counting the hours.

He was disconcerted to discover he was actually counting the hours. Given the fact that Dallas was seven hours behind Munich, she would be going to bed soon to get ready for an early flight. He’d thought about picking them up at the airport, but decided to play it cool and simply meet her at Sean Taggart’s restaurant later that night.

So Ian was picking them up. Ian would be taking them to Theo’s new house. Ian would be hauling her suitcases around and it fucking rankled. Which was precisely why Ten wouldn’t give and pick her up.

“All right then. Hutch has gathered some intel on the sister and Chelsea’s been monitoring some activity from within the Agency,” Tag explained as he played around with the computer that was stationed in the conference room. He seemed to be loading something he wanted projected on the back wall. McKay-Taggart was big on graphics. “She’s trying to lay low for the moment so Simon’s going to relay her report. And we might have to stop because we’ve got a couple of guests coming in. Grace is going to show them in when they get here.”