Temporary Master (15 page)

“Spit
it out, Sabella. It’s a simple yes or no answer. Are you done spewing at me
like a fish wife or not?”

“Yes,
Sir,” she mumbled, hanging her head.

“I
said present, not hide.” His tone was still harsh.

She
immediately assumed the requested position with ease. Standing with her legs
slightly parted, she kept her chin level to the ground while clasping her hands
behind her and lowering her eyes submissively. Perhaps if she pleased him in
this, he wouldn’t go as hard on her.

“Now,
even as much as I want to bend you over the nearest spanking bench and warm
your ass, Sabella, I’m a firm believer in never striking a submissive when
angry. As such is my current situation, I’m going to send Kaleb, one of my DMs,
back here to escort you to my private playroom, while I help Master Davis deal
with the mess currently happening at the front door. During the time I’m gone,
you need to think about what you did wrong.”

“Yes,
Sir.”
She breathed a
sigh of relief. She was merely being sent away to think. It was like her dad
sending her to room as a child. She…

“Don’t
begin to assume you’re off the hook, Sabella.”

Ethan’s
words had her eyes flying up to meet his. “I…”

“Did
I ask you to speak?”

She
shook her head mutely. “No, Sir.”

He
growled in frustration, before tossing his dreads over one shoulder. “Once I’ve
finished with this situation and have a bit more self-control, I’ll come back
and deal with your punishment.” He moved away from her. “Believe me, you’d
better have a valid reason other than merely wanting attention, or I won’t go
easy on you.” He shut the door behind him. As soon as it was completely shut,
she sank to her knees, hiding her face with her hands.

“What
have I done?”

There
was no answer from the now eerily silent room.

“Thank
you, Master Ethan. I think she was going to kill me this time.” Standing in the
freezing cold next to the open end of the ambulance, Ethan gave Zebadiah
Pellegrino’s hand a reassuring squeeze as the paramedics got ready to load him,
and the gurney he was strapped to, into it. His body was battered and splinted.
The memory of walking into the bondage room and witnessing the odd angle of
Zeb’s right thigh made Ethan want to beat the little sub’s Domme into a pulp.
But in this instance, he was going to allow the local authorities to punish
her. Either way however, her days of clubbing were over, especially if he had
anything to say about. His reach was long in the Pacific coast scene.
She’ll
play like hell finding a club who’ll accept her after I get done.

“It
was nothing,” he assured the young man. Pale beyond his normally fair skin,
Ethan dearly hoped he would stay away from Allison Teleen. As a Domme, the
woman was nothing more than a bully — and a sadistic one at that. Not that he
would have said anything if she’d kept it to willing submissives who wanted her
particular brand of dominance. Unfortunately for Zebadiah, he’d stumbled into
her web as a fresh-faced newbie who wanted nothing more than to please his
Mistress, never realizing there was no pleasing Allison.

“But
it was. What can I do for you in return?” The words were mumbled through
swollen lips, and Ethan knew exactly what the boy was trying to offer. Even if
he swung that way, he could never take advantage of a young man in such a
manner. Zebediah needed time to heal.
Perhaps I can find him a new Domme
after he’s recovered but that’s for later. First, he needs to make it through
the agony of the recovery which is certain to come.

“You
want to do something for me? Press charges against her, and don’t go back - no
matter how much she swears she’s changed, Zebadiah. Do you understand? That’s
all I want in return.” He brushed the youth’s hair off his brow. “Do this for
me and I’ll consider your debt repaid.”

“Yes,
Sir.”
He nodded, his
eyes drifting shut as the meds the paramedics had given him started to kick in.

“Good
boy, rest. I’ll be up to visit you tomorrow.”

Standing
next to Davis, they watched as the ambulance pulled away from the club,
followed shortly by the police cruiser. In the backseat, Allison had her head
tipped back against the seat, her eyes closed.

“She
doesn’t even look like she’s sorry, Ethan.” Davis opened the club door, holding
it for him.

“Because
she’s not.
She’s nothing more than a bully. What she did to Zeb is unforgivable,
especially when he safeworded. No submissive needs that.” He sighed long and
hard, coming to a stop just inside of the entryway. “I don’t know how I’ll ever
forget the sight of it. I walked into the room - the very room where I’ve had
some of my fondest memories of bondage, and saw him hanging there - from the
pillory, standing on one leg while the other dangled limply and he was
screaming and crying, begging with her to stop.” Ethan closed his eyes. “Dear
Lord - the blood.” He opened them slowly. “I’ve closed the room off and asked
one of the other DMs to guard it until the CSI team has finished.” He squeezed
the bridge of his nose. “What a fucked up night and it’s not over yet. Subbie
night is in full swing, and I still have a willful sub to deal with before I
can even help you with the rounds.”

Davis
shoved his hands into the tight pockets on his leathers. “This week has been
hell for you, partner, having to deal with all those rescheduled appointments
on top of your regular ones. Go deal with Bella and then take the night off.
The club will be fine…”

Ethan
drew a harsh breath. “But it’s my responsibility to help…”

Davis
rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t even go there with that responsibility shit. You
do more than enough. Toby and I can handle it. If you’re worried about a
personnel shortage - don’t. I’ll just recruit Kaleb and a few of the other Doms
to help out.” Davis clasped his hand over Ethan’s shoulder. “You need some
downtime before you explode, Ethan. So, as your partner and co-owner of the
club, I’m kicking your ass out of management for tonight.” He gave his friend a
wolfish grin. “Now if you want to tie a certain mouthy little sub to a St.
Andrew’s cross and tan her ass…that I have no issues with.”

Despite
everything: the stress of a nearly doubled work load, genuine pain of seeing
one of the submissives he’d offered a safe haven to play come to harm, and his own
irksome submissive, he found his cock hardening at the thought of getting his
hands on Sabella once more. “Don’t remind me. I stuck her in my private
playroom and told her she had better have a good reason for acting the way she
did.”

Davis
sighed. “In all honesty, Ethan, I don’t think she realized when she showed up
here tonight what’d happen. You’ve been out of town and…after talking to her
earlier…well, let’s say she was under the impression the exclusivity thing
was only during your scenes, not outside of them. She seemed surprised when I
flipped out about her showing up for Subbie Night.”

Ethan’s
nostrils flared, irritation chipping away at his barely regained calm. “While I
may have to have another discussion with her about the terms of our agreement,
there’s no way she didn’t know what was going to happen tonight if she
challenged me.” He tipped his head back before rolling his shoulders,
then
once more focused on his partner. “She wants attention,
and like most kids she’ll take any she can find - even if is the result of bad
behavior.”

Davis
stared at him thoughtfully. “You honestly think she’s topping from the bottom?”

“Most
definitely.
She actually screamed at me, told me how after dealing with her father and kids
all day, the last thing she wanted was to deal with a “Dom who’d canceled twice
on her”. So instead she
choose
to blow me off in favor
of hanging out with her friend.”

Davis’s
eyes narrowed.
“Oh really?”

“So
now instead of coaxing her along the next step to the total release she’s been
craving, I have to punish her and send her home.”

“Who
said you have to send her home after her punishment, Ethan?”

“Like
she is going to want to stay with me after…”

A
gleam entered Davis’s eyes. “Do it the right way and she will. Be firm in the
punishment but take care of her afterward. Reassure her you still want her.
Maybe she’ll give you a full body massage. From what the other Doms have told
me, she has a way with her hands…”

Ethan
growled. “That’s not a good thing to remind me of, Davis. I haven’t forgotten
your part in this mess…”

* * * *

Sitting
on the edge of the bondage bed, Sabella jumped up at the scrape of a key
turning in the lock. With her taking off her watch to give massages, and there
being no clock in Ethan’s private playroom, she had no idea how long she’d
actually been left alone. Kaleb hadn’t said much of anything when he’d arrived
in the massage room, other than he had been instructed to take her to Ethan’s
playroom, and its owner would be joining her later.
Basically the same thing
Ethan told me earlier.
Not that it was any consolation considering even
from her location in the back of the barn, she’d heard the sirens.
You know
I really don’t like this ‘lock away the little woman when there’s trouble’ even
if the cage happens to be one of the best appointed playrooms I’ve ever had the
pleasure to grace.

The
door opened as Ethan pocketed his keys. Assuming the leasha high position with
her hands clasped behind her back, she waited patiently for him to speak. She’d
hopefully learned her lesson about speaking out of turn. She listened intently
as the door shut. With her head turned to the left, she couldn’t see what he
was doing. Straining her ears, she listened for the whisper of his clothing,
the tread of his shoes, anything to tell her where he was, because she’s wasn’t
going to bring down more trouble on her head. She’d done as he asked and tried
to figure out why she’d acted the way she had, but found no answers other than
the fact she’d been on edge before she’d come to the club. It wasn’t excusable
and she knew it.
A reasonable submissive would’ve come to a
Dom, even a house Dom, and asked for a session.
Please, Dear Lord,
let him be in a forgiving mood.

The
brush of fingers over her shoulder startled her, but she forced herself to be
retain
her position.
A good sub let’s nothing rattle her.
She’s here to serve her Dom’s needs and nothing less.
She repeated the
mantra in her mind as the fingers left her shoulder to trail over her neck and
down her back, before they climbed once more to rest on the crown of her head.

“Ignoring
me is not an option, Sabella.” His voice came out gravelly, his disappointment
weighing heavily on her.

She
forced herself to concentrate on the sound of his breathing and not the words.
If she could match it as she had in the training room, maybe he would be happy
with her again.

“Look
at me.” The command had her looking up and directly into his green eyes.
“Better.” He sighed. “Your form is perfect, as usual. You have so many things
going for you as a submissive. You have a genuine desire to serve, to care for
those around you. Your body is even incredibly responsive.” He stood tall and
backed away from her. “But you can’t seem to give over to what you need without
fighting.”

“I….Sir…”
She didn’t know how to respond. She’d never fought a day in her life, but she
had a feeling that wasn’t what he was talking about. It was true she had an
issue with patience when it came to her own limitations but…

“No
protests. You’re impulsive and, for whatever reason, you refuse to trust. The
doctor in me would like to explore the underlying issues but I’m not your
doctor, nor do I want to be. And that’s the problem.”

“Sir?”
Panic flooded her. Was he going to
end it before she had a chance to find that “more”?

“Now
don’t tear up on me. I’m not ending things - not by a long shot, but it does
leave me with the quandary of what am I going to do with you.”

Chewing
on her lower lip, she finally whispered a plea of forgiveness. Ethan sighed.
“When I left the massage area, I told you I was going to demand an answer when
I returned. Do you have one for me?”

“No
excuses, Sir.
Just a belly full of bad temper and
frustration.
I shouldn’t have made a scene nor questioned you as I did.
It was very bad form, even if I do think we need to clear up a few things in
our arrangement.” She held her breath as he studied her, his face
expressionless.

“That’s
not what I asked, Sabella. I don’t want platitudes. I want to know what exactly
you thought to accomplish by acting that way.”

She
cringed. He wasn’t going to be forgiving on this matter it seemed. He was
demanding the words, the admission of her guilt, one which was going to end up
with her on the receiving end of his palm or whatever other implement he
thought was appropriate.
“I…attention.
I was tired of
being an afterthought, a person who was good enough to call in a pinch but once
out of sight, I was out of mind.”