Assumed Master

by Lila Munro

  "Maybe he’s as tired of living under the shadow of someone else as I am," Keegan said, spinning her to face him then caging her back in. "Either you talk to me or I'll call him down on you. That's exactly what’s going to happen and I’ll gladly help him lash you to something. Choose. Now."

  "Why do you have to be so damn nice…Why?" she shouted. "You make me want to trust you. And if it weren’t for liking you so damn much, I’d hate your ass for it."

  "If you like me so much, what’s the problem?" he demanded. When she didn’t answer but instead lowered her head, he tilted her head and looked directly in her eyes, not giving her leave to avoid him any further. "What. Did. He. Do? Why can’t you trust me to be your friend and Dante to be your Master?"

  Julie’s chest heaved with emotion as tears began to well up in her eyes. With her breath coming in short gasps, she managed to answer him before the dam burst. "He. Died. Happy?"

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "You’ve known the entire time she was here, didn’t you?" Dante growled, pacing the space between Allen’s desk in his office and the two King Louis chairs in front of it. Blake had taken up kneeling not far away with his eyes to the floor. Apparently he knew the perfect storm was in the making. Nicki sat on a cushion to the side of the desk, her hands neatly folded in her lap. "And she’s been down here all week with Keegan, hasn’t she?"

  "Yes, she's been here the whole time," Allen admitted. "She told me she needed to clear her head and asked for discretion as to her whereabouts until she felt that was accomplished. As far as the Keegan accusation, I’m not sure when that started and I’m not entirely certain what’s been going on, if anything. But if there is anything going on, who are you to dispute it? You let her leave. You let her uncollar herself and you didn’t do a damn thing to try to rectify the problem. Did you?"

  "Why didn’t you tell me sooner where she was?"

  "Because I didn’t grow tired of her being here until a couple of days ago."

  Dante stopped pacing and walked to the fireplace where flames cast an orange glow across the rug in front of it. He placed his palms on the mantle and leaned forward, staring into the embers piled beneath the grate. No man liked his faults pointed out, but damned if Allen wasn’t right. He shouldn’t have taken no for an answer, as it were, and let this thing get so far so fast. He figured if he kept silent, she’d come back with her heart on a silver platter. He figured he’d take Mason’s method a step further than Mason had when he waited her out and cut off contact altogether.

  "Where is she now?" Dante asked, ignoring Allen’s questions.

  "I believe the last time I had track of her movement she was headed to the creek with Keegan." Allen had an innocent, nonchalant look on his face as he examined the fingernails on his left hand.

  "What happened to keeping watch over her? Making sure things were in her best interest?" Something akin to heartburn ran up Dante’s chest and he rubbed a fist along his sternum willing it away, but the ache persisted. Was this what a broken heart felt like?

  "Look. I can no more control Julie than the man in the moon. Personally, I wouldn’t even want to try. I love her just the way she is and you should, too. Instead you’ve exerted a tyrant’s fist over her and spit in the face of her generosity." Allen reached over and slapped Nicki’s hand which was moving toward her mouth with her thumb extended. "There’s a difference in being a brute tyrant and being a loving Dom."

  So, Allen had a daddy’s girl on his hands. Dante rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "What does that mean? Spit on her generosity?"

  "Do you think I’ve not even spoken with her these past few days? I have. I know all about the graffiti, Gav’s girlfriend, the neighbor, whom she lovingly refers to as, and I quote, "that infernal, overly swollen prick," and the argument that ensued between the two of you." Allen stood and went to the liquor cabinet in the corner, pouring himself a tumbler of Bushmill’s before holding up the bottle in question to see if Dante wanted one. When he shook his head, Allen placed the bottle back in the cabinet and returned to his seat. "Let me ask you something? Do you remember how Julie reacted all those years ago when she found out how much money I have? How much wealth Mason had amassed? Do you think for one minute she’d ever intentionally make someone else feel the way she felt? An outsider? Less than worthy? A poor outcast? Unloved and unwanted? Incapable?"

  Allen paused and took a healthy swallow of his drink, staring at Dante over the rim of the glass. "Do you even think it’s possible that by denying her offer, you may have made her feel less than wanted?"

  No, he hadn't thought of that possibility. He'd only considered his own feelings of inadequacy. That still didn’t make up for the fact he was the Master and she was the slave. No matter what, she should have heeled to his wishes. Dante just needed time to think about their predicament and figure out the most reasonable solution. She’d not given him that courtesy. Instead, she’d done exactly what she was infamous for. She ran away. She hid. She let her past dictate her present actions. It infuriated him. Not to mention she now had Allen in her corner.

  "So you’re blaming all this on me?" It was all Dante could do to sit still and wait for an answer.

  "No."

  "No?"

  "No, of course not. While I understand her feelings were hurt, I’m a Master first and foremost and hold no illusions that what she did was right in any shape, form, or fashion." Slapping Nicki’s hand away from her mouth a second time, he rose and refreshed his drink. "That’s twice, don’t let there be a third, little girl." Once again holding the bottle up to offer Dante some libation, he raised his eyebrows in question.

  "D double," Dante answered, realizing he needed a little something to take the edge off.

  "I wanted you to see the other side of the coin before I tell you what you really need to know. The thing that I was hoping I’d never have to reveal in order for you to keep her under control. I thought perhaps she’d grown enough this would never be necessary. Apparently I was wrong." Back at his desk, Allen set his drink down, thrummed his fingers on the hard oak surface a few times, then steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "Do you know why Mason never had total control of her?"

  "No, I don’t." Truth be told, he never really saw their relationship that way. He always assumed Mason had as much control as he wished and things were just as they wanted them.

  "He never disciplined her."

  "Never?"

  "Only once," Allen said, holding up his forefinger then taking a long swallow of his drink before he turned to Nicki and snapped his fingers. "That’s three." He set his whiskey down, pushed his chair back, planted his feet a few inches apart, and patted his legs. "Up here, sunshine. Daddy’s had enough."

  Nicki pulled her thumb from her mouth and pouted then slowly found her feet. With a few grudging steps, she presented herself before her…well, Dante wasn’t sure of their relationship status or what Allen was to her. Nonetheless, the willing little sub with a daddy complex draped herself across Allen’s knees, balancing precariously, her fingertips straining to hold her body in place as her feet dangled from the other side of his lap. Allen wasted no time flipping the end of her plaid, school girl skirt up and landing the first blow across a very ripe ass cheek, leaving a bright red imprint of his hand before rubbing his palm over it. It appeared to Dante the girl may have gained a bit of weight since being under Allen’s care and he had to admit, it agreed with her.

  "How many times has Daddy told you no thumb sucking?" Allen asked as though he spoke to a mere three year old.

  "I don’t know, Daddy," Nicki whined out in the voice of a tiny girl.

  "Big girls don’t suck their thumbs, do they?" His hand came down twice in rapid succession hitting one cheek then the other, Nicki surging forward, a whimper floating out of her.

  "No, Daddy. I’m sorry."

  "If you’re so sorry, sunshine, you wouldn’t repeatedly defy me," he said, smacking the backs of her legs then running his hand up the insides of them while
he held her down with his other arm. "What happens to bad girls?"

  "They get spanked," she squeaked out over a sniffle.

  "They get spanked, what?"

  "They get spanked, Daddy," she stuttered out as he administered a few more blows to her already cherry red ass.

  "What else?"

  "Daddy gives them something else to suck." Nicki’s voice went from shy little girl to sultry tease without a hitch.

  Allen smiled and chuckled, leaned down and kissed the marks on her creamy flesh, then looked back up at Dante as if she wasn’t still hanging across his knees. "Have you forgotten how to discipline, friend?"

  "No, he hasn't," grumbled Blake under his breath. It was the first thing that had come out of his mouth since they’d crossed the South Carolina state line.

  "Apparently he has if you think it’s okay to speak without being spoken to, slave," Allen said right before cracking Nicki two more swift ones right on the fleshy part of her backside, which didn’t gain another cry but a moan of longing.

  "Thank you, Daddy."

  "You’re welcome, sunshine, but we’re not quite done." He slapped the backs of her thighs again then ran his hand between them smiling at what Dante could only assume was a positive result. "Funny thing about discipline. Without it, we basically turn into service Doms, only giving our subs half of what they need to be completely nurtured." Allen’s arm worked forward and aft, as he apparently had his fingers stuck up his wards pussy. "Yes, he only punished her one time in the entire time they were together. I’m surprised you weren’t aware of this. I bet slave knew. Didn’t you?"

  "Yes, Master Allen. I knew that," Blake said, beginning to fidget. Normally at this point Dante would have sympathy for his poor knees, but the fact that he’d withheld information stewed his temper a bit and he didn’t offer relief.

  "Stay still," Dante hissed, itching to bust someone’s ass himself. "Are you going to divulge the details of this alleged one time incident, Allen, or am I to guess? Whip it out of my slave perhaps?"

  "The day before Cassie was murdered she called Julie repeatedly and left several messages asking for help. Julie was with Mason, had been for a couple of days, playing. When they played, part of their agreement was she was fully present, meaning no contact with the outside world unless Mason approved it. Julie came downstairs to make Mason breakfast and discovered the missed calls and messages and was going to leave without his permission if she had to and go to Cassie. Mason cuffed her up in his play room and refused to let her go until she acquiesced to his wishes that she not leave citing basically Cassie was a big girl." Allen emphasized the last two words and took the opportunity to give Nicki a few more swats then continued. "He said no matter what, Cassie would never change unless it was what she wanted. He spanked her that day. Not for her pleasure, not for his. For punishment. As a disciplinary tactic. It wasn’t until some months later he admitted to me he would never strike her in an act of discipline again. It seems he went to his grave feeling guilty over not having let her see her sister alive one last time."

  Dante couldn’t formulate a thought, let alone a sentence. That’s what her wailing and thrashing had been about the next day in her apartment. It was what she referred to when she went on about never again letting someone have so much control she was unable to make a decision for herself. In retaliation, she figured out how to top from the bottom so subtlety no one figured it out. Her only sacrifice, which she must have felt was worth it, was her giving up the hope of ever enduring pain at Mason’s hands. Mason had compromised his own dominance to appease her, to have her in his life. As a result, Julie had missed out on a key ingredient in the whole dynamic of their relationship. She’d never truly relinquished herself completely. To anyone.

  A spark bloomed in Dante’s soul. Be damned if she topped him from the bottom in her sneaky little manipulative manner. She was going to give him what she’d given no man. Her complete and total submission. To a Master, this was the equivalent of popping a virgin’s cherry. With his heart racing and his dick paying attention to its current surroundings, Dante stood.

  "I do believe it’s time for me to claim and take what’s mine."

  "Excellent," Allen declared. "Get up little girl and take slave with you to the play room while Master Dante and I go retrieve another little girl that’s been very, very bad." He swatted her ass once more before standing and extending one hand palm up toward the door. "After you, friend. Let’s go find her."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "Well, that’s most certainly not what I expected," Keegan said, taking Julie by the hand and leading her to one of the benches that lined the back patio.

  "Death rarely is expected," Julie said, reeling in her emotions with her jaw set. Damned if he’d wheedle it out of her then see her cry about it, too. "In his case it was totally expected. He was much older than me and sick for a long time. It was what happened afterward that was certainly not expected."

  "Which was what?"

  "I inherited her," Dante said.

  Julie’s head snapped up to see him standing a few feet away, his legs spread and stance firmly planted, arms folded across his chest. A dark look emanated from his eyes and one muscle jumped in his clenched jaw. There was so much emotion swirling and blending in his pupils Julie couldn’t discern them all, let alone give them names. Anger, lust, hurt, and relief all melded there, pouring out of the open window to his soul.

  "You…excuse me?" Keegan asked.

  "I inherited her," Dante repeated slowly. "You see, our little Julie can’t be trusted at all. Apparently Mason…That’s his name by the way, I’m quite certain it’s not graced her lips, has it? Apparently Mason was a very good planner. He fully expected her to be confused and scared and make some wrong decisions after being his part-time bottom for so long. So, he entrusted her to my care." He stopped and turned to Keegan, looking straight at him without so much as a flinch, extending the first of what Julie was sure would be many warnings. "Because I love her. He knew I’d make all the right decisions, even though at the time I had no idea I would or was even capable of it. But then I thought I had. Until two weeks ago when I let her manipulate me the same way she did Mason all those years."

  "Manipulate him?" Julie gasped, standing but unsure what else to do stayed rooted to the spot, her hands in balls at her sides. "Part-time bottom? What in God’s name are you talking about? I was Mason’s true and faithful slave."

  "You manipulated him, Jules. His guilt kept him from ever punishing you. From that perspective you topped him from the bottom. For years."

  "Well, well, well. You’re even more of a brat than I anticipated," Keegan said, taking his feet. "I do believe your more brat than I could ever handle."

  "That’s good," Dante said. "Because you’ll never have the chance to try."

  "Look. I know you think I’ve been down here for the past few days trying to hone in on your territory, but you’re wrong," Keegan said evenly. "I do like Julie, quite a lot in fact, but she’s in love with you. And if you don’t know that, you’re blind. I was in fact threatening her just a few minutes ago with finding you and aiding you in lashing her down for a throttling."

  "Unnecessary." That was all Dante had to say before stepping forward to grab Julie by the upper arm and turn her toward the house. "I’ve got it."

  "Oh, this should be good," Keegan said, trailing a few steps behind. Allen took up the rear an evil look in his eyes.

  "Allen, please…" Julie started.

  "Oh, hell no. You want to play the role of child, you get treated like one," Allen said.

  "That’s right, love. You want to dance so badly, time to pay the fiddler." Dante’s grip bit into her flesh as he led her through the house and down the long hall to the play room.

  Julie felt a bit like she was walking some proverbial mile or other. A convicted sub going to the gallows as it were. When she stepped into the room beside Dante, who hadn't uttered another word, she found several people from the party who'd ap
parently caught wind of her impending doom and gathered to watch. In one corner, Nicki was perched in a swing Allen had rigged for her for when they played lost girl in the park. She swung happily back and forth, a shy smile gracing her lips which were sealed tightly shut around the stick of a lollipop. Her pigtails bobbed with every movement of the swing and Allen grunted in obvious satisfaction at seeing her in such a state.

  "I still have to give that one something else to suck on," he mumbled, following Dante as he pulled Julie across the room to the paddling horse.

  "Blake, can’t you talk to Master?" Julie hissed over her shoulder at the man on his knees beside the swing.

  Much to her dismay and astonishment, Blake didn’t look up, move, or say a word.

  "Did I say you could speak?" Dante asked, stopping at the end of the bench.

  "No."

  "No, what?" he demanded.

  "No, Sir."

  "Try again!"

  Never had Julie seen Dante in such a state. Not in all the years he’d publicly scened with Blake had she ever witnessed him the likes of which he was now. "No, Master?" she squeaked.

  "That’s right. I’m your Master until we mutually agree otherwise. Not before," he explained in no uncertain terms. "You took it upon yourself to do otherwise and you’ve upset me greatly. On the horse, princess."

  Princess? And the way he said it. Did he think that way of her? Like she was some diva sent down to make others miserable? Was she that demanding? She’d never thought so. Her needs were simple. Her needs... Was she really that cold? So calculating that all she thought of was herself?

  "I’m sorry, Master," she said, looking around at all the eyes on her, her voice beginning to tremble as much as her body.

  "Oh, you’re going to be. On the horse, now!"