The Virgin Master (9 page)

“They’ll never believe this one, sir. First you actually leave the building
...
and then you bring home a hot piece of ass on a dolly.
And I have to say it's good to see you smiling.
”

Evan flipped him off with a grin
,
as the elevator door sighed to a
close. Jeremy giggled from his p
osition on the dolly.
 
Evan smiled at him and ran a
finger tenderly
across his new slave’s sharply
defined cheekbones. Jeremy leaned slightly into the touch
.
Evan’s smile faded
.  H
e snatched back his hand as if he had touched fire. Jeremy frowned slightly, but then his eyes closed lazily, just as the elevator reached their floor.

Evan dollied Jeremy down the hall and managed to get him safely into his penthouse condo. He rolled Jeremy directly to the guest room, thankful for his competent housekeeper, who always kept fresh bedding
on the bed whether or not anyone u
sed it. Since Evan had not had any guests for the past four years it had seemed to him like an exercise in futility
. B
ut, since he didn’t engage in any conversations that weren’t absolutely necessary
, meaning
business related
,
he just shrugged and let Marta do whatever she wanted to do.

Now as he folded back the pleasant smelling comforter and helped Jeremy lie down on the soft clean sheets, he was glad. He found himself brushing Jeremy’s hair back out of
his eyes and pulled back yet again. He hoped this wasn’t going to become a problem.
It’s just…been a very, very
long time since
I’ve touched anybody. Jeremy needs me right
now, so it’s natural to want to comfort him, isn’t it?

Evan set Jeremy up with water and a
flexible
straw
."

“Are you hungry?”

“
I’m just really, really tired.”

“Too tired to shower?”

“
’
Fraid
, so.”

He suddenly realized that the damn vet hadn’t prescribed anything at all for pain. He felt more than sure that Jeremy would wake up in considerable pain. Swearing under his breath, he went to his medicine cabinet and found some Tylenol with codeine left over from when he fractured his wrist a little over a year ago. That should probably be enough to take the edge off.
He carried the bottle back to Jeremy’s room and set it on the nightstand next to the water. Then he realized that Jeremy shouldn’t be taking it on an empty stomach. He frowned.

“Are you in any pain?
”

“No. Not if I stay still.”

“That’s probably a good thing. If you wake up, and
you’re hurting, please call me. T
he only pain killers I have shouldn’t
be taken on an empty stomach.”

             
“If you want, you can just leave a box of crackers or something on the nightstand. I would hate to wake you up.”

Evan hovered indecisively. “No. Please. I want to take care of you. It’s not like I have any place to be tomorrow or
 
anything. So…call for me. Don’t try to get up
.
I’m really sure
   
that’s going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Okay. Leave th
e door open, all right?”

Jeremy
paused for a long minute looking confused.

“Do you want to ask me something?”

Jeremy swallowed hard. “This probably isn’t any of my business,
 
but….where’s Justin?”

Evan felt slapped from the inside out. “I’ll explain in the morning.”

“But….”

Evan sighed. “He isn’t here, Jeremy. He
…
died. About four years
 
ago.”

A long silence ensued while Jeremy searched Evan’s face
, apparent
l
y unsure
how to let the topic go.

“Died?  Oh, Evan….”

“We’ll talk more in the morning, okay? It’s been a long time and
 
I’ve made peace with it.  Sleep all you can. Good night, Jeremy.”

“
G’night
, Mr. James.”

“For God’s sake, it’s
Evan
.”

Jeremy grinned at him. “Or, Master.”

Evan
's face flooded with heat and he tried
desperately to ignore the electric jolt ripping through his body at the sound of that word on Jeremy’s lips.

“Right.”

He lingered for a minute watching Jeremy awash in moonlight, drifting off to sleep, wishing Jeremy had never mentioned Justin. He had just about been able to pretend things really were okay. He sighed. Jeremy fell asleep fast, drugged and physically and emotionally exhausted. In sleep, Jeremy looked about fifteen years old
, all his
pain and worry lines rinsed away
b
y deep restful sleep. Evan suddenly thought maybe he had better stay in here with him. What if he woke up in pain and Evan didn’t hear him?
NO, that’s a really bad idea.

He chewed at his bottom lip, and
reluctantly went to his own room. Normally, he slept naked, but tonight he put on a pair of pajama pants he had almost forgotten he had, and left his door open so he could
hear
Jeremy. Planning on just lying down to
r
est and listen for Jeremy, he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

Evan woke up to a tentat
ive tapping on the frame of his
door.
Jeremy!
He thought and bolted to a sitting position. Marta, his housekeeper jumped at the suddenness of his movement, putting one hand over her heart.

“You startled the life right out of me, Mister Evan.”

Marta?” Evan scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to shed the last vestiges of sleep. “What time is it?”

“It’s a little after ten, sir. Your, uh, guest? There seems to be something wrong with him.”

“Oh, God. Marta, that’s Jeremy, my new personal slave. He was injured when I bought him and had to have some medical treatment yesterday. Is he in pain?”

“Looks to me like he has a
whoppin
’ high fever.”

E
van got up, pulling a robe on and sped to Jeremy’s room.
 
Jeremy made little sounds, almost like whimpers when Evan called
his name. Dropping to his knees by the bed, Evan felt Jeremy’s face and
alarm
zipped thr
ough him. Jeremy’s skin burned.
“Jeremy? Jeremy? Can you wake up for me?” Jeremy’s eyelids flickered and he stared at Evan glassy-eyed.

“Hurts.

“I know.” Evan stood up and got some water for Jeremy. Holding the glass so that Jeremy could reach the straw, he cupped
   
Jeremy’s head in the palm of his hand, supporting him
while
    
Jeremy
drank deeply
.

“Evan?”

“What?” Evan had almost called him “sweetheart.”

“Am I going to die?”

“No! I know you feel like shit right now, but I’m going to get you something to eat and then some painkillers. I’ll call a, uh, vet I know to come take a look at you. I would bet you’ve got an infection where you were hurt
. H
ere,” Evan fumbled with the bottle of antibiotics. “
Take
one of these. You can’t have any pain meds until you eat, though. Can you eat for me?”

Jeremy tried to smile. “Not hungry, but I’ll try.”

E
van patted him. “I’ll be right back.”

He called for Marta as soon as he was in the hallway.

“Yes, sir?”

“Can you make a couple of scrambled eggs and some toast? I need
to try to find a vet that makes house calls.”

Marta stared at him and then smiled. “Of course, sir. These are for the slave?”

“Yes. You don’t mind that, do you?”

Marta laughed. “No, sir.” She continued to smile at him.

“What is it?” Evan scrolled through his contact list
. He
seemed to remember that one of his accountants had a spouse who was a vet.
Yes.
Alexa’s
husband, Tom
. He was a vet. His finger poised over the call button he looked up at Marta waiting for an answer.

“It’s just good to see that you’re back, Mr. Evan.” She turned and headed for the kitchen, smiling to herself at
Evan’s questioning look.

Evan wondered what Marta might have meant, but put that to one sid
e when Alexa answered the phone

Alexa? This is Evan James…is this a bad time?”
"

"
Mr. James? Did you change your mind about firing
me?"

“Firing you? Did I fire you? I’m sorry…why would I do
that?"

A long silence ensued. “Uh, I was ten minutes late with a report
  
that you wanted.”

 
“Damn. Alexa, I’m really sorry. I don’t even remember that. Sometimes I just get lost in a deal and I
’m not aware of anything
I do or say that isn’t directly related to it. I’m sorry. Do you want your job back? When did this happen? I’ll call Human Resources for you and put you back on the payroll, unless you’ve already got another job you like better?”

“I heard you’re on suspension. Can you still get my job back? ‘Cause if you could, that would be really great.”

   
“
The suspension is technical. I can get your job back. Wow, this is awkward. I called you for a favor.”

“Hmmm. What kind of favor?”

“Am I remembering right? Your husband is a vet, isn’t he?”

“Tom. Yeah
. A
damn good vet. Specializes in personal slaves.”

“That’s what I
thought I remembered. I need his services.”

“I thought your family didn’t own slaves.”

 
“We don’t ordinarily. It’s a long story. I have a personal slave I bought yesterday. He was already injured so I had to take him to the all-night clinic on 42
nd
Street…” he stopped as Alexa made a noise. “Was that wrong?”

 
“Those butchers won’t even dispense pain med
ication
.”

  
“I know! I stayed with Jeremy and made sure they gave him pain meds, but he seems to have developed a pretty high fever and an infection. Could Tom maybe, make a house call? And listen, if he can’t,
you’re still going to get your job back. I’m so sorry I’ve been so out of it for the past…well,
I guess it’s been a long time."

   
Alexa was quiet. “Is this really Evan James?”

    
“I swear. Why?
"