Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone (22 page)

“Yeah?
Thanks, Lord.”
Nick mulled over the new information. Aidan and Liam sounded like a genuine
pair of star-crossed lovers who’d gone through their own share of daytime
drama. But was he really meant to spend the rest of his life with them? “Do you
know what they’re like? Personally, I mean?”

Heather grabbed another cookie. “I’ve
met Liam a number of times,” she said after a bite. “Good guy, very intelligent.
He’s set to join the Bright Water Elders when he comes of age, and he’ll
probably take over his mom’s slot in time. I only met Aidan once, but he’s a
decorated ranger. He struck me as someone you want on your side when the zombie
apocalypse comes.” She shot him a grin. “Plus they’re both insanely hot. If
you’re their
agapetos
, I think you’ll
be happy with them.”

Norma picked that moment to whine softly,
dancing a bit in place. Nick patted his pocket to make sure he’d brought poop
bags. “I think Norma needs a bio break. Is there anywhere around here where I
can let her pee?”

“Dogs aren’t allowed on the public
beach, but there’s a park about a block down,” Heather said. “Just head towards
the
beach,
and you’ll see it on your left.”

“Great. I’ll be right back.” As Ian and
Heather started chatting about Ian’s book, Nick guided the terrier to the shop
door and back onto the sidewalk. The mid-morning shoppers were starting to get
thick, and he stuck as close to the parked cars as possible in order to give
Norma a semi-protected place to squat if she needed it before she could get to
the park.

He smiled a little as her tail started
whipping back and forth, thrilled with all the new smells coming from the
people and behaving like a princess as little kids came up to pet her and women
cooed over her. Some of the latter eyed him appreciatively after they stood up,
fluttering eyelashes and taking deep, chest-raising breaths. One brunette even
asked for his phone number. He just smiled and gave the old excuse that Norma
was the number one gal in his life.
I
mean, come on
—
I’m a guy in nice
clothes walking a Jack Russell terrier. You do the math.

As they got closer to the beach, he
spotted more and more people walking around in bathing suits. A large
percentage of them were hot guys, including a trio of ripped college hunks that
would have had him doing his best not to drool a week ago. Now, they just
weren’t tripping his trigger.

It wasn’t the mers, he told himself
firmly. Yes, Aidan was gorgeous and so fucking sexy when he was in Dom mode,
and Nick was willing to admit that Liam had an astoundingly hot body and killer
eyes. But that whole
chuisle
thing
was so out of left field that it turned into the world’s most effective boner
killer. He was painfully aware that he had a shitty track record when it came
to men—the scar on his chest proved that. But he didn’t want anyone, even the
Fates, deciding whom he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

Although you’d
probably enjoy it with Aidan
, the sub part of his brain spoke up.
And when he wasn’t trying to kill you, Liam
certainly gave off a big bad Dom vibe, too. And he gave you the best damn blow
job you’d ever had in your life, Aaron included.

Farther down the block, he spotted a wrought
iron fence enclosing a greensward. He guided the now-dancing Norma into a small
square park lined with hedges inside the fence and liberally dotted with a
variety of tropical trees. Norma tugged him over to the base of a palm tree
where she squatted and watered the ground thoroughly.

If that job Heather mentioned came
through, he reasoned, he would be down here for at least three months.
You promised Liam that you’d give him a
chance to earn your trust. And you know damned well you miss Aidan. Why not go
out with them, get to know them?
His heart leapt at the thought.
And yeah, if things work
out, scene with them.
You’ll never know until you try.

Two Doms.
The very thing
he’d dreamed about, had assumed was impossible.
Two loving
men to serve, pleasure, and submit to.
It was almost too good to be
true—

Someone cleared their throat behind him.
He
turned,
ready to apologize for Norma’s peeing on a
tree.

And froze.

“Hello, pet,” Barnard Whitfield purred.

Chapter Eight

“You were the very devil to track down,
you know,” Barnard said, sounding amused. The financier was elegantly dressed
in a designer polo shirt and tailor-made tropical linen slacks. Even in the
June warmth, he looked cool and in control. “I had you all the way to this
dreadful little town, and then you disappeared. I was afraid I’d have to call
in some favors and have your cell phone tracked, but here you are. It’s almost
a sign from God, don’t you agree?”

Nick’s grip tightened on the leash. “I
thought I told you we were over, Barnard.”

The other man tsked. “You’re still upset
about my slip-up. Well, I suppose I can’t blame you. But in all honesty, pet, I
didn’t hear your safeword. If I had, I would have stopped immediately, you know
that.” Tilted teal eyes shone with innocence. “I’m a Dom, not a monster.”

Yes,
you are a monster. I screamed at you to stop, and you smiled and said “just a
little more”.

"I don’t care," Nick grated.
“Blood and knife play are my hard limits, and you knew that.”

“You know it’s a Dom’s responsibility to
push his sub and find his true boundaries.”

“You don’t involve hard limits in a
scene, Barnard.
You
know that. And I
told you when we started, no knives and no fucking blood play.”

The other man’s hand shot out, grabbing
his wrist and squeezing. “Language, pet,” he warned. “You know better than
that.” He frowned suddenly, staring at Nick’s neck. “Are those … bruises?”

Shit.
Nick
wrenched his wrist loose, stepping back. “I am not your pet. I withdraw my service.
You are not my Dom anymore.” His stomach churned, but he spat out the words
anyway despite Barnard’s increasingly cold expression. “Now get out of here and
go back to Chicago. I’m sure you can find plenty of pain sluts who would love
to have your name carved into their chest.”

Barnard sighed. “Of course I could,
but I don’t want them. I want you, Nicholas.” One hand raised into the air as
if to touch him. “You’re so delightful, with your responsiveness and desire to
serve.
And such smooth, pale skin.
I just want to
bite it until it bleeds.”

Nick took another step back, Norma following
him. “You’re sounding a lot like Hannibal Lecter right now.”

Barnard’s teal eyes went glacial. “I
don’t enjoy being compared to a cannibalistic psychopath, Nicholas.”

“And I don’t enjoy having my safeword
ignored. I’m not coming back.
Ever.
Get that into your
head.”

Unexpectedly, Barnard's expression
changed, and he snapped his fingers. “Oh. Now I understand. You’re staying
with that writer friend of yours, aren’t you?
Ian something?”

Nick went cold. Barnard could make Ian’s
life hell with a single phone call. “That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, Nicholas.”
Barnard blinked
ingenuously at him. “Don’t you see? Your friend never liked me, you know. I
haven’t the faintest idea why, unless he wanted you for himself.”

No,
he could tell right off the bat that you were dangerous. I was fooled by the
nice clothes and the fancy car.
“Ian doesn’t have anything to do with
this. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

He tried to step around the other man,
but Barnard deftly cut him off. “Nicholas, don’t make this difficult. I have a
plane waiting. Come home with me and we’ll forget all about the last three
days, yes?”

Short of a lobotomy, there was no way he
would ever forget the events of the last three days. “Get out of my way,
Barnard.”

His former Dom smiled.
“Pet, try to get this through your adorable little head.
You
are my work in progress. I
own
you,
just like I own every other piece of art in my condo. You don’t get to say when
we stop. I do. And I’m nowhere near ready to stop with you.” He gazed at Nick’s
chest. “Not when there’s so much canvas to cover.”

Norma started barking loudly, dancing on
the edge of her leash and baring her teeth. Already nauseated by Barnard’s
crooned perversions, Nick looked over his shoulder and spotted the two men
approaching them.

Barnard chuckled. “Don’t look so
surprised, pet. You know Pitor and Milan go everywhere with me.”

A tall
dishwater blond
with slightly bulging hazel eyes and a scar running diagonally across his chin,
Pitor Dragicevic worked as Barnard’s chauffeur, while the shorter, darker Milan
Kovic served as personal assistant. The men also performed other duties as
necessary, including serving as an audience during one of Nick’s scenes with
Barnard. After his sweating ex had finished and disappeared into the bathroom,
both men had approached the padded bench where Nick had been tied and informed
him that his Dom had suggested they take turns with him. “We make you scream
louder than Mr. Whitfield, yes?” Pitor had said, reaching out and pinching one
of his nipples hard.

The Dom had stormed back into the
playroom at Nick’s panicked shouts for help. When he told Barnard what they’d
said, however, Barnard had sighed and shaken his head. “I simply thought you
might enjoy a little group activity. Obviously I was wrong. Don’t fret—they
won’t lay a hand on you.”

They hadn’t, but both men would stare at
him with cold promise in their eyes. That promise was back as they approached,
falling into place behind him like a sinewy wall.

“Now, you have a choice, pet,” Barnard
said in a reasonable tone. “You can come with us voluntarily, or Pitor and
Milan will persuade you to come. I would strongly suggest you choose the former,
for your own good.”

Frantic, Nick glanced around the empty
park. There was only one other exit, and Piotr and Milan blocked it. “We’re in
broad daylight. You wouldn’t dare try anything.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Those teal eyes had gone
flat, inhuman. “Are you so sure about that, pet?
And speaking
of pets.”
Barnard leaned over, smiling sweetly at Norma. “We’ll have to
do something about that animal of yours. I can’t have her pissing on my
Axminster and shedding everywhere, after all. We’ll drop her off at the nearest
pound.”

Just like that, Nick’s fear evaporated,
replaced by fury. “Lay one finger on her and I’ll kill you,” he snarled.

Barnard tsked. “You still don’t
understand, do you, pet? I will decide what goes on in your life. I was
obviously far too lenient in the past, but I can assure you that will end now.”
He glanced at his bodyguards,
then
jerked his head at
Norma.

 
Desperate,
Nick let go of the leash. “Norma, run!”

It was the command he’d give her when
they were at a dog park or on a beach, when she could run to her heart’s
content. Norma obediently darted off, barely missing Pitor’s foot trying to
stomp on the leash. She paused at the front entrance to the park, barked once,
and was gone.

Barnard just laughed.
“How
convenient.
And who knows—perhaps the little rodent won’t get hit by a
passing car, after all.” He checked his watch. “Now, we really must get
underway. Gentlemen, if you please?”

****

Aidan ambled down the street, feeling
comfortable as he took in the shop windows and the various humans passing him.
The coral transplanting operation had been challenging work, but Lord Bythos
was very pleased with their help. As soon as they all got back to the cove
Aidan and Liam had gone straight to Nick’s cottage, hoping to surprise him.
Finding it empty had been a disappointment until Lord Bythos spotted them and
passed along the information that Nick was in Olympic Beach with Lord Ian.

Luckily there was a mer cache close to
the town. Armed with clothing and human money, the two of them set out find
Nick.

Liam was a walking mass of tension,
brows beetling as he scanned the humans around them. Aidan leaned over, nudging
his
chuisle
with an elbow. “Lighten
up. You look like you’ve got a barnacle stuck up your ass.”

The look he received was incredulous.
“Excuse me, but aren’t you the one who usually tells me to be on my guard and
not talk to anyone?” Liam said. “Why are you so relaxed?”

“Because I’ve
already been here with Nick.
For a human town, it’s pretty nice.” Aidan
spotted a green and white sign up ahead. “And that place is the home of the
best iced drink in the world. You’ve got to try one—”

A small brindle dog trailing a blue
leash broke out of the crowd and dashed to him, jumping up and pawing his
thighs. He recognized her as Nick’s pet.

“Norma?” he said, dropping to a squat
and rubbing the excited dog’s ears. “Hey, what are you doing out here, girl?”