Master No (16 page)

Faith turned in her seat, but all she saw was another car, driving sedately down the street. At that moment, Faith’s cell phone trilled. Her sister. “Why do you think we’re being followed?”

“Because that car turned when I did. It’s a Benz. We don’t have those on this street. I think it’s been following us since we left the drugstore.”

Faith slid her finger across the screen. Her stomach knotted. Was she putting them in danger again? It was so easy to sit back and let Ten handle all the nasty stuff, but she had to seriously consider that she was endangering everyone she cared about. “Hey, Hope. I’m going to have to call you back.”

“Or you could stop the car and say hello. Hey, I think you’re speeding, sis. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Faith turned in her seat. Sure enough, she could see her sister’s blonde hair through the windshield. She let out a long breath. At least no one was trying to kill her at the moment. “We’re being followed by my sister. I think it’s safe enough to go home.” She put the phone to her ear again. “Hope, why are you behind me?”

One hand came up and waved vigorously. “I have a seminar at Presbyterian on Monday and I thought I’d say hi.”

“How did you know where I was?”

“Oh, I totally track your cell phone.”

“You what?” She shouldn’t be surprised, but there it was.

“Hey, I once lost you to a rebel army in Ghana. I track your damn cell phone. If I could put one of those pet scanner things under your skin, I would. So let’s get to wherever you’re staying so I can hug you.”

She put her hand over the phone. “It’s my sister. Is it all right for her to come in? If not, I can go with her.”

Erin pulled into her driveway. “No, you can’t. Unless your sister is a trained bodyguard, you won’t be going anywhere alone with her, or have you forgotten?”

She had kind of forgotten. The morning had been more about kisses than someone shooting at her. She hadn’t thought twice about leaving with Erin. Now she wondered. “Are you carrying a gun?”

Erin put the car in park. “Of course. I’ve got one on me and another in my bag. A knife, too. A girl’s gotta accessorize. So you’re sure that’s your sister pulling up in front of my house?”

Hope was already out of the car. It was a Saturday but she was dressed to the nines in a sheath that showed off her slender body and what looked to be five-inch heels. Likely straight from a fashion label’s trunk show. She was carrying her Chanel bag and smiling brightly. “My baby sister! I had to track you down, but I found you.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. When Faith started forward, Erin reached for her elbow.

“Not here. Let her come up. We’ve got cover up here but none in the yard.”

Had Erin really been scoping every place they’d been this morning for assassins? Faith shivered at the thought but did as Erin asked. Her sister strode up the walk. “Hope, I’m surprised, but it’s good to see you.”

“Well, you weren’t coming to me,” her sister complained. “I had to come to you.” She threw open her arms and enveloped Faith in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re home and safe. Tell me you’re never going back there.”

Her sister smelled like money. It wasn’t bad. She smelled really good, but it reminded Faith of everything she’d left behind. She loved her dad and her sister and she didn’t doubt that they loved her, too. But they were all right with the world the way it was. They kind of approved since they were the ruling class. Faith couldn’t live that way. Faith pulled back. “It’s good to see you, too. But of course I’m going back. I’m here through my birthday. I’ll be going home after that. Hope, please meet my friend, Erin Argent. Erin, this is my sister, Hope.”

Erin nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Hope stared at her for a moment. “You were my sister’s bodyguard?”

“She’s still kind of my bodyguard.” Faith didn’t want to explain Tennessee, but she was probably going to have to.

Erin simply smiled. “I’m watching out for her while she’s here. You know with your dad being who he is, I think it’s important that Faith has someone looking out for her.”

Hope reached out, putting her hand on Erin’s shoulder. “You have no idea how long I’ve tried to explain this to her. Daddy’s got some pull. It places her in a bad position. My god, the girl got kidnapped. You would think she knew this. It’s so nice to meet a woman who gets it. So you’re Erin? She talked about you in her e-mails.”

“Really? God, I can’t imagine what she said.” Erin started moving toward the entry. “Why don’t you come inside? Faith’s staying with me until we head out to the islands.”

Faith followed behind. “I invited Erin and her boyfriend to come with me.”

She hoped Theo was still Erin’s boyfriend by the time they got to the Caymans. They were too sweet together. Erin and Theo did a great job of hiding it, but they were the kind of D/s couple she would like to be part of. Theo was a loving top. Erin was a true partner to him. They cared for each other and gave the other what they needed. In and out of bed.

Could she find the same thing with Master T?

Hope smiled. “The more the merrier. As long as I get to spend some time in the sun with my little sis, I’m happy.”

They both started to follow Erin inside.

A heavenly smell hit her nose. It smelled like she wouldn’t have to eat that granola cereal she’d bought. Erin had gotten a box of something a five-year-old would eat for her and Theo. But whatever was cooking now truly smelled magically delicious.

“Hey, you’re in time for breakfast.” Ian Taggart was sitting in Erin’s kitchen, a baby in his arms.

Her damn stupid heart nearly melted. There was something about a big strong man and a baby that got to her.

Of course, there was also something about a man who knew his way around a kitchen that did something to her girl parts, too. Ten was standing at the stove, flipping what looked like pancakes with an expert hand. Theo was pouring a cup of coffee.

It was a lovely domestic scene.

“But we bought cereal,” Erin said.

“Which we no longer need,” Faith added quickly. “It smells heavenly, Sir.”

“Sir?” Hope stood beside her, her eyes wide. “Oh, Faith, tell me you’re not. Oh. Hello.”

Hope had gotten a good look at Theo, and for the first time in Faith’s memory, her sister seemed to go completely blank. She would practically swear her sister was drooling.

Theo nodded her way, but held his hand out for Erin. “Hello. Baby, Ten decided he could do better than our sad cereal. He’s making pancakes and bacon and eggs. I have to say I’m really surprised that he’s got that skill set. So, why don’t you introduce me to the new girl?”

Erin waved her way. “Apparently Faith’s sister is a paranoid freak who keeps close tabs on her.”

Faith felt all eyes on her. “This is my sister, Hope McDonald. I recently found out she tracks my cell phone. Hope, this is Erin’s boyfriend, Theo, his brother, Ian, and my…friend, Ten.”

Ten turned and held out a hand. “Timothy Graham, but my friends call me Ten. And I’m obviously more than her friend. For now, let’s just say your sister and I are involved. It’s nice to meet you. Would you like some breakfast?”

Hope took his hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Graham. Do I call you that or is there some weird lifestyle thing I should call you? Sorry. My sister doesn’t tell me much, but she called you sir so I figured it’s one of those things.”

Faith could feel herself turning beet red. “Sorry. She’s very vanilla. I’ve tried to explain.”

Ten shook his head. “It’s not an issue. Hope, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“And you,” Hope said, though she was still looking at Theo.

Erin seemed to notice. Her arm went around her man’s broad shoulders. “Yes, welcome to our place. Any relative of Faith’s is certainly welcome into our home.”

Theo kissed his girl’s cheek. “Damn straight, baby. Let’s eat.”

Ian slapped a hand on the table. “Now you’re speaking my language, brother. Ten, I’m going to need a fat stack of those pancakes.”

By the time an hour had passed, Faith had found herself completely surrounded by Theo’s crazy family. The women had shown up about fifteen minutes in. Charlotte Taggart had led the way. The gorgeous redhead had strode in, complaining that someone better put a baby on her boobs because her milk was letting down and it had made yoga class very interesting. She’d pulled out a boob and started nursing her baby at the long dining room table. Phoebe Murdoch had simply grabbed a plate and a cup of coffee and texted her husband to join them.

It was a joyous chaos that somehow filled her soul. It reminded her of the way meals went in her clinic in Africa. They all gathered around and talked and ate and complained about the day. The only difference was these people knew each other. Intimately. Completely. They were a family. They didn’t rotate out every six months.

Dinners at her father’s house were quiet affairs. She could barely remember her mother. She’d been five when her mother had been murdered by a mugger. So when she was actually home and they sat down to eat, it was her father, her sister, and Faith talking quietly about how their day had gone.

There were no women breastfeeding. No men ribbing each other. No one marched in and started making out with his wife while he stole her bacon. Phoebe had vowed revenge for the loss of her precious protein.

She’d loved every moment of it. She’d especially loved it when Ten had sat down beside her, putting a plate in front of her before digging into his own. She’d waited for him. He’d tried to give her the first plate, but she’d stood by him, helping him. It was her place.

She really liked being Master T’s sub. There was something soothing about it. He was a man who put others first. Someone needed to put him first. He needed to know he was important.

This was what had been truly missing from her other relationships. Master T needed her for something more than sex and submission. He needed someone who really cared about him.

“Those people are crazy.” Hope stepped into her room and away from the chaos. “Everyone but the cute one.”

Faith had to shake her head. Ever since the moment she’d introduced her sister to the gang in the kitchen, Hope hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Theo. “I’m completely shocked. You totally have a thing for Theo. You know he’s taken, right?”

“By that ridiculous tomboy? I have no idea what he sees in her.” Hope shook her chicly cut hair.

“Well, they’re happy together so you need to back off.” She’d been shocked at how aggressive Hope had been. She’d sat by Theo, asking him about his former Navy SEAL days and practically preening like a schoolgirl with a crush. She hadn’t actually eaten anything, simply drank three cups of plain black coffee, smiling whenever Theo would refill her mug.

“He’s former Special Forces,” Hope said with a sparkle in her eye.

“Yes, I know. I hired him.” It was so odd to see her super-serious sister with a full-on crush.

“But you don’t really know what it means.” Hope’s eyes narrowed as she seemed to be thinking something through. “I’ve been working a lot with soldiers lately.”

“I thought you were working with orthopedics. Are you developing new prosthetics?” God, that would mean her sister was doing some good in the world. Her sister had been the single most gifted surgeon she’d ever seen. Top of her class at Johns Hopkins, she was board certified in two fields, but Faith didn’t know of a surgery her sister couldn’t master almost immediately. What did she do with her gift? Was she at a teaching hospital? Was she innovating? Nope. She’d left surgery behind. She worked on whatever paid the most money, and that tended to be things to aid in weight loss, lose wrinkles, or help the overstressed cope. Not that those were bad things, but the world needed better prosthetics, too.

“Something like that. It’s pretty complex. Let’s say I’m developing an overall program to aid soldiers in doing what they need to do. Someone like Theo is the perfect candidate. Healthy. Well adjusted. Strong family background with lots of support. He’s exactly the kind of man we like to work with.”

“Well, except he hasn’t lost a limb, thank god.” Theo seemed to have come out of his Navy days intact. Of course one never knew what was bubbling under the surface, but Theo seemed to have it all.

Hope shook her head as though clearing it and turned back to Faith. “Of course. And that really is a good thing. So who is this Ten person and what kind of name is that?”

Oddly, she didn’t want to go into it with Hope. The story behind his name was so intimate, she didn’t feel like sharing it with anyone. She had to wonder how many people knew Ten’s real history. It was easier to brush it off. “It’s a nickname. I don’t think he likes Timothy too much. He’s ex-military, too. You know they all call each other by their call signs and stuff.”

“How well do you know this man?” Hope asked, her mouth curling down.

Ah, the judgment was back in full force. She might pay Theo to strip off his shirt to distract Hope long enough that she could get away. “I know a lot about him. I’ve spent the better part of a month getting to know him.”

“I don’t like it one bit. I want to put a PI on him. You can’t take him out to Daddy’s place without a full security check.”

“I know that.” She was supposed to submit the names of her traveling companions so her father could run them through various places and ensure himself that they weren’t serial killers or even worse, Democrats. “I’ll send him the names in a week or so. They’ve all agreed to jump through Dad’s hoops. I told them it’s worth it since Dad’s bartenders don’t go easy on the good stuff. So stop worrying. Besides, the club does its own background checks.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to agree to disagree on how much we should trust some kink club to protect you. I don’t like that man.”

“Ten? What don’t you like about him?”

“He’s cold. Far too cold for you.”

“He’s not cold at all. He’s quite charming.” It was why she couldn’t understand how the other subs had taken to calling him Master No. He had a ready grin and a quick wit. He looked far more like a cowboy than the ex-soldier he was. Master T was surprisingly sweet. Even after that jerk had tried to kill her, he’d held her and allowed her to feel safe. There was nothing cold about him.