by Red Phoenix
Master Anderson brushed his hair back, laughing. “I wouldn’t let you have Ghost if you paid me a million, buddy.”
Sir eyed the cat carrier suspiciously. “Then why is he here?”
Lifting the carrier, Master Anderson smiled at the cat inside. “Ghost likes to join me on my errands these days, so I figured I’d bring him here so he can hang with his old man while I visit you guys.”
Sir raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“What? Don’t you trust me?”
“Four words. ‘Mucking. Out. The. Stalls.’”
Master Anderson burst out in a full-on belly laugh. “Fair enough…”
Brie looked at both men, curious about the private joke. Sir had referenced it before and it always seemed to elicit the same humorous response from Master Anderson. Why cleaning out a horse stall was funny remained a mystery to her.
“You going to let me in or not?” Master Anderson demanded.
“Certainly. In fact, I have a cat box you might like to clean,” Sir replied, stepping to the side.
Master Anderson slapped him on the back in passing. “Only if you join me, buddy.”
Shadow was waiting for them, his tail twitching back and forth as he stared at the large carrier in Master Anderson’s hand.
Setting it down on the floor, Master Anderson undid the latch and Ghost slowly made his way out. He sat on his haunches and the two black cats stared at each other from a distance.
“I wonder what they’re thinking,” Brie mused.
From the other side of the room, Hope let out a happy screech as she made a beeline toward the cats, crawling like it was an Olympian sport.
Unused to a rambunctious child, Ghost stiffened and looked as if he was about to dart back into the carrier for safety.
When Hope reached Shadow, she sat down beside him and stared at the two cats in wonder, clapping her hands together. “Dow…dow!”
Shadow rubbed his cheek against her before walking over to Ghost. Hope followed him and held out her grasping hand to the unfamiliar cat. Ghost looked up at Master Anderson before tentatively sniffing at her fingers.
“Looks like Ghost feels the same way about babies as I do,” he chuckled.
Hope squealed with joy when the cat’s whiskers brushed against her fingers. Ghost backed up a step, staring at her with wide eyes as she scooted in between the two cats.
To his credit, the cat didn’t move when Hope began patting Shadow and then reached out her other hand to do the same to him.
The look of sheer bliss on Hope’s face while she petted the two cats tickled Brie’s heart. “I think our little girl is in heaven.”
Sir stared down at Hope tenderly, telling Master Anderson, “Now that you have our daughter thoroughly entertained, do you mind telling me why you’re here?”
Master Anderson snorted. “Can’t a man come and spend time with his good friends without being judged?”
“As busy as you are at the Center right now, I would say no.”
Master Anderson shook his head. “You are a cynical man, Thane Davis.”
“I noticed you still haven’t answered my question.”
Master Anderson smirked, holding up his hands. “What can I say, you got me.”
“What’s this all about?” Brie asked, intrigued.
“Funny you should ask, young Brie…” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Because it involves you.”
“Spill it, Anderson,” Sir snorted.
Throwing his arm around Sir’s shoulder, he said, “You may not know this, but our mutual Russian friend not only broke into my house but pranked me with your little subbie’s help.”
Brie blushed, remembering that day.
Sir nodded. “I do remember her mentioning it to me, but that was quite a while back.”
“It was,” Master Anderson agreed. “But some things take time to perfect.”
Sir chuckled. “I can’t believe you and Durov still act like children after all these years.”
Master Anderson bumped shoulders with him. “What can I say? It keeps us young, unlike you, who is headed at breakneck speed to wise old man status.”
Sir growled under his breath.
Master Anderson backed away, laughing. “Just stating it like it is, buddy.”
Brie looked at Master Anderson guiltily, confessing, “I do feel bad about breaking into your house.”
He turned to her and grinned. “Admit it. You had fun hiding those whoopee cushions all over my house.”
She blushed a deeper shade of red. “Maybe…”
“Really, Brie,” Sir chided, but she noticed the slight curve of a smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.
“I have a confession of my own to make, actually,” Master Anderson announced. “Even though I was the victim of your little prank, I’ve never laughed as hard as I did while finding those little fuckers all over my house. Hell, the last one was a month ago. It’s like they keep breeding or something.”
Brie giggled.
“What exactly do you have planned?” Sir asked. “Wait, I don’t want to know.”
“Look. It’s really an act of charity. Durov has been in a rough spot for a while now, and I just want to lift his spirits with the perfect prank.”
Sir looked at him questioningly. “Fine. What has this got to do with Brie?”
“Well, I thought it only fair that she helps me pay him back.”
Sir pressed his lips together. “Durov did fail to ask permission when he utilized my sub in such a manner…”
Master Anderson nodded triumphantly.
“As far as I’m concerned, that makes him fair game,” Sir concluded. He glanced at Brie, “But I don’t want to know any of the details so I have plausible deniability.”
“I promise, Sir.” Brie grinned.
Master Anderson slapped Sir on the back. “I’m glad you see it my way.”
Brie giggled, excited at the prospect of being part of another prank. “What do you need me to do?”
Master Anderson winked at her. “I’ll tell you on the way out.”
“What? You mean we’re doing it now?”
“Of course. There’s no time like the present, young Brie.”
Turning to Sir, he said with a grin, “Talk about a gift to you. You get to sit back and relax while you watch your kiddo entertain herself with the cats.”
Sir smirked. “Hmm…it seems you thought of everything.”
His eyes flashed with excitement. “Oh, I have!”
Placing an arm around Brie’s shoulders, he started walking her to the door. “This is going to be simple, really…”
He stopped for a moment and spoke to Ghost, who still seemed wary of Hope. “Don’t forget to give your old man some crap while I’m gone. And, remember, you can always escape to the cat carrier if things get a bit much with the kid.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be watching them closely,” Sir assured him.
Shadow broke away from Hope and walked up to Master Anderson. He stared at the Dom without blinking his eyes.
“I’ve never seen a cat so full of himself,” he snorted.
Brie giggled. “Is it possible you’re a little jealous of him because Cayenne loves Shadow more than you?”
Master Anderson looked at her in shock. “How dare you suggest such a thing, young Brie. Of course she loves me best.”
Laughing harder, Brie told him, “Sorry to burst your bubble, Master Anderson, but that’s the fate of protective fathers.”
“I’ll forget you ever said that.” He grabbed her hand, heading toward the door. Taking her to his truck, Master Anderson opened the passenger door and handed her a box wrapped in brown paper. “Be careful with these.”
He picked up a larger box for himself before shutting the door and walking toward Rytsar’s home. “Damn, this is going to be fun!”
Master Anderson was famous for his pranks—his creativity and thoroughness in executing them were legendary. But, in all the years she’d know h
im, Brie had never seen him quite this excited.
“I heard that Durov is back in Russia for a stint and figured this was the best time to strike.”
Looking at the box she carried, Brie asked, “What’s in here?”
“I’ll let you know in a minute.” A crooked smile spread across his face as they strolled up to the porch. He placed his box down and took hers, setting it on top.
“Now, ring the doorbell.”
Brie had no idea what she was getting herself into and held her breath as she pressed it. Little Sparrow started barking, but no one answered.
“No one seems to be home.”
“That’s what I wanted to verify. Could you type in the code to unlock the door, young Brie?”
Her heart raced. “You want me to break into his house?”
Master Anderson raised an eyebrow. “It’s no different than when you two broke into my house, now is it? Turnabout is fair play, but this time there won’t be any interruptions.” He turned away from her. “Go ahead. I won’t peek.”
Brie felt wickedly naughty as she typed in the code and heard the lock slide back. “I hope he can forgive me…”
“He’ll be thanking you, often and profusely. Trust me.”
He picked up the box wrapped in brown paper and smiled. “Now you can unwrap the box.”
Brie ripped at the brown paper and then let out a gasp when she saw what it was.
Master Anderson’s green eyes twinkled in mirth. “The only proper payback for the whoopee cushion incident, wouldn’t you say?”
She put a hand to her mouth, giggling. “You are so bad, Master Anderson.”
“I’m so good, you mean. That poor Russian had no idea what he unleashed when he pranked me in my own home.”
She looked down at the box again. “How do they work?”
“What? You’ve never seen a fart bomb before?”
She laughed. “No, never.”
“They’re a ton of fun. Here, let me show you.” He opened up the lip of the box and pulled out a foiled square that looked suspiciously like a condom except for the smiley face printed on it.
“All you do is squish the little tab inside until you feel it break, and then you throw it.”
She watched as he put the silver square between his thumb and fingers and squeezed it. He then tossed the foil square away from them.
She stared at it, convinced he was pranking her when nothing happened.
“Just wait…” he assured her.
Brie watched as the foil packet slowly grew bigger and bigger until it finally popped and she caught the whiff of an obnoxious odor.
“That smells terrible!”
He chuckled, handing her a package. “Here. You try it.”
Entranced by the magical element of the toy, Brie happily pressed the smiley face, breaking the tab between her fingers, then quickly tossed it, not wanting it to explode anywhere near her.
She watched it slowly puff up, but after waiting several moments, nothing happened. “Huh, I think I got a dud…” She felt a pang of disappointment.
He smirked. “You must be patient, young grasshopper.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Brie heard the satisfying pop, and the air filled with the unpleasant scent.
“Whoopee cushions have nothing on these babies!” Master Anderson grinned like a little kid.
Brie looked down at the box again, shaking her head in disbelief. “It says there are seventy-two in here. Are we going to hide them all?”
“Naturally—minus the two we just used.” He snagged another one and slipped it into his pocket, winking at her. “For good luck.”
When Master Anderson opened the door, Little Sparrow barked at him but immediately quieted down when Brie walked through the door.
“It’s all right, girl,” Brie cooed, kneeling to pet her.
Little Sparrow rushed to her, so happy to see Brie that the dog wagged her entire body and not just her tail.
“I wonder who is taking care of her?”
“A friend of mine. Durov reached out to me and asked if I knew someone nearby who could watch her while he was out.” Master Anderson snorted. “Little did he know he was giving me the perfect opportunity to pay him back.”
Master Anderson set his box down and nodded at Little Sparrow. “This pup reminds me of Kiah, one of my favorite companions when I was younger.” He reached into the box and pulled out a leash, along with a large meaty bone wrapped in plastic. “While we hide the evidence, she’ll be happily munching on the bone outside.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” Brie stated, truly impressed.
Little Sparrow stared at the bone in his hand, licking her lips excitedly. Master Anderson clicked the leash to her collar and led her outside.
Brie watched through the large windows as he secured Little Sparrow and then, with a stylish flourish, unwrapped the bone for her.
The dog jumped up and down excitedly when he presented it to her. Taking the large bone in her mouth, she lay down and began gnawing on it contentedly.
Master Anderson returned and washed his hands, smiling as he watched Little Sparrow enjoying her treat.
Brie loved that about the sexy Dom. His love for animals was part of his charm.
After drying his hands, he walked to her and took one of the silver packets out of the box, stating solemnly, “You get the honor of placing the first one, young Brie.”
“Thank you, Master Anderson.”
“You’ll need to place it where it will get enough pressure to break the tab or it won’t work.”
“Understood.”
Brie took the packet from him and looked around the room. Walking to the couch, she slipped it under the cushion, strategically placing it on the frame of the furniture so it would receive enough pressure when someone sat down. She then carefully repositioned the seat cushion and smiled at him.
Master Anderson nodded his approval. “Well done.”
“What else do you have in that big box you brought?” she asked, looking over at it.
“I’ve created little booby traps, so to speak,” he stated with pride. “While you place these in unusual places around the house, I will be setting them up in more obvious places. The only catch is he won’t be able to prevent the bomb from exploding once he triggers it. Would you like to see what I mean?”
“Please!”
Master Anderson took a small contraption out of the box and walked to the kitchen cupboards. He searched through them until he found the jars of pickles. “Since we know Durov loves these with his vodka, it seems only appropriate to christen them with this gift.” He placed the contraption inside the cupboard next to the jars of pickles.
“Toss me one of those babies.”
Brie fished out a foil packet but didn’t trust herself to throw it to him without mishap, so she walked it over to him instead.
Master Anderson placed the packet into his contraption and carefully set it before closing the cabinet door. He grinned at Brie. “I suspect Durov will have activated a couple by the time he goes for the pickles. When he opens the cabinet door, the bomb will be activated, and he’ll know it’s about to blow—that’s when the fun begins!”
Brie could just imagine Rytsar sprinting to the door with the bomb in his hand, hoping to make it outside in time.
“You really are an evil genius.”
Master Anderson tipped an imaginary hat at her. “I wear the name proudly.”
Brie looked down at all of the smiling packets and shook her head. “You do realize you’re going to have an irate Russian on your hands.”
He smirked, shrugging. “I’m not worried. When he threw down the gauntlet, he knew there would be consequences.”
Because Master Anderson had never reacted to the whoopee cushion prank Rytsar had pulled on him with Brie’s help, Rytsar wouldn’t see this coming. Although there was a chance he might never forgive her, Brie was enjoying this practical joke a little too much.
“I�
��ll start placing my contraptions while you figure out where you are hiding yours.” Master Anderson grabbed a large handful of the foil packets and tossed them in his box.
Feeling inspired, she walked to the barstools lining the kitchen counter and lifted the front leg of one, slipping the foil pouch underneath it and gently setting it down.
“Nice,” he praised her while booby-trapping the trash can.
“Poor Rytsar,” she giggled.
“Think of every fart bomb as an expression of our admiration.”
Brie laughed as she headed to Rytsar’s bedroom. She walked into his closet and looked at his row of shoes. Placing them in the toe of the shoe would hide it but it wouldn’t provide the pressure necessary, so she chose his leather boots in the back. Brie slipped it inside the heel of his boot and carefully set it back in place. With luck, months from now, Rytsar would slip it on without thinking and the pressure of his heel would end up breaking the tab before he could prevent it.
Satisfied, Brie wandered into his bathroom. Spying the toilet, she burst into giggles. Although it was obvious and had no chance of tricking him, Brie lifted the lid and placed a silver packet smiley side up on the lip of the bowl where the bumper from the toilet seat would make contact. She gingerly put the seat down and stepped away.
The fact that it was a fart bomb made this placement the funniest yet. Brie figured Rytsar would see the humor in it when he lifted the lid to pee.
Moving out of his room, Brie headed down the hallway and caught Master Anderson staring at the bedroom Rytsar had designed for Hope. Turning to her, he said, “As tempting as it is, there are some lines that must not be crossed.” Then he grinned, “However, he will go crazy assuming that I’ve crossed them.”
Master Anderson chuckled as he moved on to the laundry room instead.
As much as he hated babies himself, Brie appreciated that he respected Rytsar’s love for Hope.
Just like the whoopee cushion adventure, Brie had fun while she walked around Rytsar’s home, placing the silver packets in places she hoped would surprise him.
Hours later, when they were finally done hiding all sixty-nine of the bombs, Master Anderson let out a satisfied sigh. “I can’t tell you the feeling of accomplishment I am experiencing right now, young Brie. Durov is in for some fun times ahead.”
