Make Me, Sir

“Stay here for a second, sugar,” he said.

She scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to figure out where her spine had gone. In a puddle on the floor wasn’t an answer she wanted to hear.

Marcus stepped away to speak to the blonde who’d offered to get him a drink.

Obediently Gabi waited. Come. Stay. Nice dog. She amused herself with lifting her lip in a snarl and silently growling at the blonde who’d moved close enough to rub her breasts over Marcus’s arm.

When he returned, he touched Gabi’s cheek. “Thank you for your patience, sugar. Now I need to find Sally and-”

“Marcus.”

The deep, rich voice made her spin. Master Z. Oh, hell. Heat rushed into her face as the owner’s gaze ran over her. He didn’t react to her skirt tucked in her waistband, baring her pussy. Why did her exposure feel more embarrassing with someone who knew who she really was?

Speaking of who she was, she needed to pull herself together. No matter how many warm fuzzies she got when Master Marcus complimented her, she mustn’t follow his orders.

“Z, how are you tonight, sir?” Master Marcus said, his slow drawl making his voice even smoother than Master Z’s.

“I’m fine. How is your new submissive?”

“After a few bumps in the road, I believe she’s learning.” Master Marcus’s tone chilled. “I fear she has less experience than you implied.”

“Indeed.” Master Z frowned. “May I speak with her?”

Marcus hesitated and then nodded.

Master Z stepped closer, tipped her chin up, and studied her face. “It sounds as if you’re having a rough time, little one,” he said for her ears only. “Are you all right?”

His sympathy made her eyes burn, and she took a second to steady her voice. “Yes, Sir. I’m fine.” Involuntarily she glanced at Master Marcus and saw his brows had drawn together.

A short blonde standing slightly behind Master Z had the same displeased expression.

Jessica Randall stared at Z in shock. He acted so concerned and had touched that new sub so protectively. I’ve never seen him do that before. Not like that. A knot in her chest hurt as if she’d swallowed something-like jealousy-that kept growing.

“If you’re sure,” Z said to the redhead. He squeezed her shoulder and stepped back.

The arm he put around Jessica didn’t warm her as it usually did. “Jessica, this is Gabrielle, our new trainee.”

A trainee? Not a new sub of Marcus’s? Surprised, Jessica turned to Marcus and hesitated a second. She didn’t really know him that well. Nonetheless… “You brought in a new trainee? She’s not even a member.”

“Master Z is doing someone a favor,” Marcus said, his drawl more clipped than usual.

Jessica pulled away from Z and scowled at him. “But Rainie is at the top of the list. She’s supposed to get the next trainee position.”

“This isn’t your concern, Jessica,” Z said, his voice dangerously low.

“That isn’t fair.” Jessica set her hands on her hips. Rainie had whooped and screamed in delight over the chance to be a trainee. “Why is Rainie getting passed over for someone who never-”

“Silence.” The snap in his voice not only shut Jessica up but everyone else in the immediate area.

She took a step back, knowing she’d gone too far. And with Z that was never a good thing.

He pulled a leather gag from his pocket. “You’ve exceeded my patience, Jessica.”

A gag? She glared at him and shook her head. He’d had it in his pocket-like he’d planned to gag her all along.

His eyes turned from gray to almost black, and her resolve crumbled into mush. When he crooked his finger- come-she obeyed.

* * *

After work on Monday, Jessica drove down the tiny country road toward the Shadowlands. The spatters of rain against the windshield matched her mood perfectly-the mood she’d suffered since Saturday night. How dare he have gagged her? He knew how much she hated that, dammit. She moved her jaw side to side, feeling as if the stupid thing still filled her mouth. She should have punched him.

Instead she’d melted. Like always. The touch of his sure hands firmly tying the gag, the overpowering way he looked at her, the unyielding grip on her shoulder as he kept her right beside him-she’d probably never get enough of that, even if they lived to a hundred.

If we’re still together. The disheartening thought pulled her down like quicksand. Sinking. Inescapable.

After slowing her car, she drove through the iron gates and up the palm-lined driveway. Under the rain, the flowers turned their bright blooms toward the ground, muting the landscape.

Z rarely gagged her, so why had he last Saturday? Because of that woman, Gabrielle? Her eyes narrowed. A new trainee brought in without any warning seemed strange. He and the trainers-first Cullen and now Marcus- usually discussed potential trainees to the point of nausea, wanting just the right person. Aside from Andrea, they’d always chosen them from longtime members.

Why the change? The unease inside her grew. The way Z had looked at Gabrielle had been…different. Of course, he always acted as if all the subs in the club were his responsibility to protect. Jessica loved that…mostly. She did hate the way submissives came on to him, even though he made it clear Jessica was his sub. She couldn’t blame the other subs-who wouldn’t want Z?-but so many were drop-dead gorgeous. She couldn’t help wondering when he’d find one he liked better than her.

But this new trainee wasn’t beautiful. She wasn’t as overly round as Jessica, but still a little on the heavier side. Friendly-looking, with a wide smile and big eyes. And yet, Z had squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her as if she was more than a new trainee. Like they had a secret or something.

Why hadn’t he said anything about doing a favor for someone?

Then again, all this week, Z had acted reticent. She’d even asked if something at work had bothered him. His patients were all children, and sometimes their problems, their pasts, ripped him up inside, but he’d said no.

And then she’d wondered if he was unhappy that her doctor had taken her off the pill last month, forcing them to return to condoms. But he hadn’t seemed upset at the time. She pulled the car into the side parking lot and turned off the engine. The gusting wind rocked the car as she watched clouds blacken the sky.

Maybe she’d blown everything out of proportion. She had to admit she felt insecure right now…with good reason. Z’s sons had arrived yesterday to spend a few days with him before they returned to the University of Florida, and Z wanted her to meet them. Avoiding his children for-oh, a lifetime-seemed a much better plan, but he’d refused to listen to her protests.

“You’ve stalled long enough, pet,” he’d said yesterday morning as she prepared to leave, and she’d seen the amusement in his dark gray eyes. “You might as well get it over with.”

He could be such a jerk sometimes.

Okay. Here goes nothing. She slid out of the car and went through the side gate to the back, hoping to find them on the covered veranda where she could easily escape. No such luck. Great. Her hands grew clammy as she climbed to the third floor. The sprinkling rain and the wind turned her hair into a tangled mass. She sighed. So much for the time she’d spent making herself pretty. Could life get any better?

She reached the third floor and knocked.

Z opened the door a minute later, dressed in his usual black slacks and black shirt. “Did you lose your key?”

“Uh. No. But I didn’t want to…”

He chuckled and put his hand on her lower back to direct her into the house. “You didn’t want my sons to discover their father has a life beyond being a parent?”

“Well. Yes.”

Z turned her to face him, setting his hands on her shoulders. “Kitten, my boys know who you are.”