Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) (12 page)

Bella placed a hand over Zeb’s. “I totally
understand, sweetie.” She brushed a kiss over his cheek. “And if these big lugs
have an issue with it, I’ll beat them when they aren’t looking.”

Davis chuckled softly. “You know I think
you need to get a leash on your sub, Ethan. If she comes after me with a sock
and a bar of soap, I’m not going to be responsible for my actions.”

Ethan studied Zeb for a moment before
continuing to slice the cheese. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

He nodded wordlessly.

Looking up, Ethan set the slicer aside and
artfully arranged the cheese on the tray. “Then I say you go for it, Zebadiah.”

Chapter Eleven

Smoothing
a hand over his hair, Zeb paced back and forth between the desk and window.
After their conversation in the kitchen, Ethan and Davis had both decided Ethan
’s office would be the perfect place for him to have a quiet
discussion without other arriving guests interrupting. With the smoker grill on
the deck off the back of the house, and the tables set up in the backyard, it
was a real possibility as the guests began to arrive. In fact, Davis’s cousin,
Toby, and Bella’s boss, Kaleb, had already arrived. Both men were Doms who’d
donated some of their time tonight to help out with the party at the club.

He was halfway between the desk and window
when there was a tap on the door. He froze mid-step, his heart racing. The
facade he’d presented, when he’d told Davis and Ethan he was ready to move on,
cracked. Was he honestly ready for this? Wiping his damp palms on his jeans, he
finally found his voice and bid the person to enter.

When Bella stuck her head in the room, his
body slumped in relief. Shouldering her own way into the room, carrying a tray
filled with refreshments, she smiled at him hesitantly. “Ethan suggested you
might want refreshments for your talk.” She placed her offering down on the
desk. “How are you holding up, Tiger?”

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he
shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Moving over to him, she placed her hand on
his shoulder. “Kaleb just radioed up from the entrance to tell us Steph and
Nicholaus arrived a few minutes ago. I’d say in less than five minutes they’ll
be up here. It’s not that long of a walk from the west field where we’re having
the guests park.”

“Yeah, that’s what Ethan said. Makes sense
though, after the demonstrations at the club, they’ll be close to their cars.”
He walked back to the window and stared out. Ethan’s office faced the north,
and had a beautiful view of neighboring vineyard’s hills. It was rows of grapes
as far as the eye could see. The longer he stood there, the more he wondered if
he was doing the right thing. “Do you think I’m doing…”

“The right thing?” She joined him at the
window. “I’d have to say that’s something only time will tell. Whether it’s
right or not, the important thing is you’re honest with yourself and them.” She
sighed. “Tell me something, Zeb, is this something you want to do because
logically it makes sense, you should be moving on? Or is it something you want
to do to satisfy yourself?”

He rubbed his hand over the back of his
neck. “What if I said it was a bit of both? It’s been over six months since the
attack. I should be able to move on by now.” He dropped his hand. “Before
Allison, serving was my life. I only felt complete when I was taking care of my
Mistress or Master. I miss the connection.” He glanced over at her. “You know
what I mean, right?”

She nodded. “Yep, I sure do. The bond
between a submissive and their Dom…or Doms in your case, is heady. Like
addicts, we crave it until the need to serve can land an unsuspecting sub in
the screwiest of situations.”

Zeb chuckled. “Like me with Allison.”

She rubbed his shoulder. “Or me with that
asshat, Louis. I hope he’s rotting in hell for what he did.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his
eye. When he caught a glimpse of sadness in her expression, he wanted to kick
himself for reminding her of her former Master, who’d not only tried to take
her from Ethan, but in the end killed a submissive in order to hurt Ethan. The
fact Louis had committed suicide after shooting the unsuspecting sub in the
back was of little consequence. “Me too. But enough of that. This is supposed
to be a celebration of Ethan and Davis’s hard work. Why don’t you go help them
before I tell a certain Dom you just swore.”

She giggled before lightly punching his
shoulder. “Don’t you dare! Ethan will warm my bottom for sure if he finds out,
and a red butt is the last thing I want when we have our demonstration
tonight.” A sassy smile tugged at her lips. “Besides if you do, I’ll tell Nicky
about your hidden stash of his books. Won’t he be interested to find out not
only do you read his work, but that you’ve highlighted parts of them that you
want to try….especially the scene where hero of the book gets a blow job from
some strange man, while his wife sucks off the stranger?”

His face flushed. He never should’ve showed
her what he was reading during the long days of recovery after his second
surgery. “You wouldn’t dare…”

Before he could finish his reply, a knock
on the door cut him off. Bella gave him a one- armed hug of reassurance as the
door opened. When Steph, dressed in a light summer weight dress, and Nicky, in
khaki shorts and a polo came in, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek
and whispered low enough only he could hear. “You can do it, I have faith in
you. Now just pretend you’re thanking me for the refreshments.”

“Yeah…thanks for the refreshments.” He
stumbled over the words, before she slipped away with nothing more than a quick
greeting to Nicky and Steph. The door slowly closed behind her with a soft
snick.

* * * *

Steph
’s heart skipped a beat as she watched Zeb struggle. It didn’t
take a degree in rocket science to realize he was nervous. She was tempted to
go open the door, but forced herself to remember he’d asked for this meeting.
It was his job to see it through. She’d just have to have patience. Next to
her, the tension seemed to roll off Nicky. Taking her master’s hand in hers,
she gave it a squeeze, hoping he’d realize how tense he was and would relax.
When he did, she sighed.
Now to put this
meeting on equal footing. To remind Zebadiah we’re still his friends, despite
the totally awesome phone sex we had.

Taking the lead, she joined him at the
window. “Hey, Sexy. It’s great to see you upright and moving under your own
power.” She placed her hand on the crook of his arm. “What do you say we skip
this shindig and go down and feed the ducks?”

Zebadiah seemed to relax as a chuckle
escaped him. He drew his hands out of his pockets and moved out from under her
hand. “Yeah that’d be fun, except for the fact Ethan and Davis set up the
tables on the back lawn. Those greedy little bastard ducks won’t be content
with our bread crumbs when there’s a smorgasbord of goodies less than ten feet
from the water.” Stopping next to the tray, he poured himself a lemonade.
“Would either of you like a drink while we talk?”

“Sure. Lemonade is fine,” Nicky replied,
before joining him at the desk. Steph watched as her master accepted the drink.
Lifting the glass to his mouth, he seemed to study Zebadiah before taking a sip
of the pale yellow colored drink. Then he moved over to stand in front of the
window.

“And you, Steph?” Zeb looked over his
shoulder at her. “Tea, lemonade or…me?” He winked at her.

Stunned, she stared at him before placing
her hand on one hip. “You really shouldn’t tempt me. I might just take you up
on it.” She joined them at the desk and poured her own glass of tea, then
joined Nicky at the window. Taking a sip of sweet tea, she gazed outside, unsure
how to take Zeb’s new attitude. “You know, Nicky, I don’t think I’ve ever been
on this side of the house before. Ethan has a spectacular view.”

“Yeah he does, it almost rivals the one at
home.”

There was a rustling behind them, and out
of curiosity, she turned to see what Zeb was doing. She nearly swallowed her
tongue as Zeb, now bare-chested, was awkwardly lowering himself to his knees.
The sheer physical beauty of his torso, slender but tightly muscled, had her
wishing he already wore their collar, that she would be able to touch and tease
at her discretion. His dark little nipples just begged for clamps or the lash
of a crop against them, as she’d imagined so many times since he had caught her
eye nearly two months ago. So his submissive posture, as he knelt before them,
took her breath away. It was like the fulfillment of one of her fantasies. One
which she hadn’t expected to see it this soon.

“Zebadiah?” Concern flowed through her when
he hissed in pain. She went to go to him, when her Master caught her arm. She
glanced up at Nicky, not understanding why he’d stopped her.

“Wait.” Nicky’s face was tight. “Just
wait.”

There was a short bout of low cursing as
Zeb fought with his bad knee, but he finally managed to get into the low leasha
position, his thighs spread shoulder width and his palms resting face up. The
beads of sweat dotting his brow showed how much the move had cost him. She
wanted to jerk him to his feet, and make him swear he’d never try this again
until his knee was completely healed, but Nicky’s restraining hand kept her
still.

“Is there something you’d like to ask us,
il mio colibrì?”

“I….” Zeb stumbled over his words, before
clearing his throat and trying again. “If it would please both of you, I’d like
to serve you as my Master and Mistress, while you’re at tonight’s festivities.”
He kept his head level, but with his eyes averted respectfully.

Nicky set his glass of lemonade on the
desk. “Why the sudden change, Zebadiah? If this is because of what happened the
night we had phone sex, let me assure you, we weren’t pushing for anything. It
was hot as hell but it’s not a reason you should feel obligated to offer
yourself to us.”

“I know that, Master.” Zeb’s voice
trembled, even as his face paled from the effort to hold the position.

Sighing, Nicky rounded the desk, leaving
Steph to follow him. “Stop, Zeb. I don’t want you to do this if it hurts.”

“I…you don’t want me?” Zeb’s lips thinned.
“But I thought…”

Coming to stand next to him, Steph took one
side while Nicky took the other. Finally she spoke. “It’s not that we don’t
want you. We do - but you don’t have to wait on us, Zeb. We’re more than
capable of getting our own drinks tonight. We came over to see you, and enjoy
your company.”

“She’s right. What happened on the phone
was pleasurable but we’re not going to demand you offer yourself like this -
especially when we can see it hurts you.”

Zeb paused and seemed to gather himself
before he finally looked up at them, his need to serve in his eyes. “I know you
don’t expect it, and my knee is going to give me fits until I get used to
kneeling again. But I’m not going to let a little bit of pain deter me.” He
shoved a hand through his hair. “It’s no secret I’ve given my submission
recklessly in the past, and I’ve paid for that error. However I don’t think I’m
being impulsive this time.”

Nicky sighed before urging Zeb to his feet.
“If you want to talk about this, please come over to the couch. The last thing
I want you to do is re-injure your knee. We might as well all be comfortable.”

Watching Zeb rise was even more awkward
than when she watched him lower himself. His knee just wasn’t up to prolonged
bouts in such positions, but if he wanted to practice, she’d make sure he
didn’t overexert himself in future. As Nicky guided him over to the loveseat in
the corner of the room, she trailed after them.

Once both men settled on either end of it,
she sat down on the thickly padded arm, draping her arm over Nicky’s shoulder.
He placed a hand on her knee before focusing on Zeb. “So explain what brought
this on. It hasn’t even been a full month since we were told by Ethan and Davis
you weren’t ready for what we had to offer.”

Shifting against the cushions, Zeb moved
until he was sitting in the corner of the loveseat facing both of them. He
absently rubbed his knee. “How do I explain it to you?”

“How about why you wish to serve us? That’d
be a good place to start,” Steph said dryly. “After your last experience with
submission, I’d think you’d be leery.”

Zeb met her eyes. “I am, but I’m tired of
being scared.”

Nicky’s jaw clenched. “Are you scared of
us?”

Even sitting where she was, she was able to
feel the tension rising off her Master. Squeezing his shoulder, she sighed.

“I highly doubt we’ve given him a reason to
be scared, Master.”

Zeb shook his head. “No you haven’t. Which
is exactly why, with your permissions, I’d like to test the waters - to see if
I can serve you on limited basis for the night.” He looked from Nicky to Steph.
“I’m not talking about a full scene here. I’m not quite ready for that yet, but
I want to take care of you.” He sighed. “How do I explain it in a way you’ll
understand?” His fingers flexed against the cushion under him. “It satisfies
something inside of me - when I make my Dom’s life easier.”

Nicky nodded thoughtfully, his shoulders
relaxing under her palm. “So you want to be a service submissive for the night.
Not just to me, but Steph as well?”

Zeb nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t dream of
serving only one of you. You’re a package deal.” A frown crossed his face.
“I’ve known that from the start.”

“Don’t be angry with him, Sexy. I’d totally
understand if you didn’t feel comfortable…”

“That’s just it, I
am
comfortable around both of you. Which is why I want to try
this.” He swallowed. “I trust you. Not just one of you but both.”

Nicky sighed. “Fine, if you’re certain you
wish to do this, we’ll try it. But only on one condition.”