Dark Master (Dark Masters Book 1)

by Shana Vanterpool

  It kind of freaked me out. What was her mind thinking if she wasn’t paying attention to anyone else?

  “Serious,” Jaxon said levelly, staring his aunt down.

  “You never bring girls over. Not since you were a teenager. Why now?”

  Because he was getting spanked by your ex-sister-in-law. And it’s hard to bring a date over when they’ve got a ball gag in their mouth. I rolled my eyes at her and her stupid adoptive kinky son, and ate, cramming rolls and macaroni and cheese into my mouth.

  “Don’t worry about Mom,” Sally said. “She doesn’t trust anyone around Jaxon because of his past. He’s her favorite. Always has been. Always will be. I mean like seriously, at some point, you have to accept the fact that he’s a grown man and take his diaper off.”

  Jaxon pointed at her threateningly, his eyes dark scary orbs. “Shut the fuck up, Sally.”

  She rolled her eyes, completely and uncaring of his threat. “It ain’t love if you don’t tell her about your past. How else is she gonna make the right choice and leave you?”

  “That’s it!” Pyper shouted, slamming her fist onto the table top and glaring at Sally. “If you can’t behave like a half-assed sane human being, then you can eat your dinner in your room. Sans knife. Go!” she shouted when Sally opened her mouth to argue.

  “Good riddance,” Jaxon muttered once she was gone.

  I glanced down the table to find Meyer happily buttering a roll.

  Kline gave me a wink like to say: welcome to the family.

  “You don’t have to share yourself if you don’t want to,” Pyper said.

  I saw a dangerous exchange between them. Coddling Jaxon would only make him right.

  And he wasn’t right. Trauma didn’t make for an excuse not to be human. It made it harder, I knew that, but it wasn’t impossible. I loved my monster, but I loved the man inside of him more.

  “Leave my relationship alone. It’s between Miya and I.” He blasted her with his hard gaze. “I brought her here because I love her, and for some fucked up reason she was willing to come into this house and meet all of you freaks. So chill out, let her be. Get to know her. I promise you’ll love her as much as I do. It’s fucking hard not to.”

  I blushed at my empty plate. Stupid sweet kinky bastard.

  “Looks sweet,” Jaymond purred.

  “Got the sweetest baby blue eyes,” Kline added.

  I groaned at my plate, wanting ten more beers.

  “Miya,” Pyper said, and I looked up to meet her eyes. “I’m not one to sugarcoat things. And I’m not going to now. Jaxon is my son, blood be damned, and I won’t sit back and let another person hurt him again. But, I respect his wishes, albeit hesitantly, so I’m letting you in. If you fuck up once, it’s over. Is that clear?”

  I was Jaxon’s submissive. I wasn’t hers. She had no idea what I had to do to be that for him and that she was making me the bad guy really pissed me off. “I don’t need your acceptance.”

  But she nodded, like I’d given her the answer she was looking for.

  Beside me, Jaxon sighed heavily.

  “Who’s ready to play cards?” Meyer asked, getting up and stacking our plates on top of his.

  “I’ll get the cards,” Kline offered.

  “Miya and I will clean,” Pyper offered too.

  That’s it? I was in? Who said I wanted to be?

  “Behave,” Jaxon muttered under his breath when I crossed my arms over my chest.

  What freaking hell hole had I fallen in?

  Pyper and I stacked plates and dishes and cleaned beside each other quietly, washing dishes and placing them to dry as the men set up a game of poker.

  Jaxon looked much more relaxed now that it was just the men. I suspected that was because Pyper wasn’t at the table grilling him. Because though she wasn’t talking to me, she was grilling me nice and good. Giving me that look that said I was bad for wanting to hurt her son, even though I hadn’t ever done so.

  “Do you know how to play poker?” Pyper asked, cracking another beer and pouring it into a tall cold glass. She pushed it toward me.

  “No.” Giving me that beer was proof my age didn’t bother her. I did. “Where’s the bathroom?” I couldn’t take the plug another second. My anger made me tense and my asshole was screaming for relief. Among other things …

  “Down the hall on the left. Middle door.”

  I locked the bathroom door, sagging gratefully once alone. It was a cozy bathroom. I stared my reflection down as I propped my foot on the toilet, tore the tape off and fondled my backside for the end of the plug. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed my muscles and pulled it free. It was black and surprisingly tiny. No bigger than my pinky but slightly thicker along the base. I was disappointed in myself. Once again, my fears had morphed my expectations.

  I washed the plug with warm soap and water, dried it, and then I wrapped it in tissue and tucked it inside of my bra. I gave my backside a wipe after peeing, and then I washed my hands, feeling much more normal in this abnormal house.

  I opened the bathroom door and peered into the hall.

  “Psst.”

  I turned, finding Sally leaning against an open doorway.

  “I’m your only option, kid. Mom’s probably going to read in front of the fire while the boys play poker and get drunk.”

  “Kid?”

  She smiled and pulled me by my arm into her room. She closed and locked the door, dropping immediately onto her bed. Her room was part comic book with its brightness, and part hidey hole with its blackout curtains and hard rock playing quietly.

  “You can sit down, dweeb.” She was looking up at me in amusement. “You’re super weird. Like haven’t you ever been in another person’s room before?”

  I wasn’t dumb enough to fall for that jab. When I sat down on the end of her bed, tucking my skirt under me without answering, she chuckled knowingly.

  “You’re really pretty. You ever been with a chick?”

  I pulled my skirt down, but it was useless. Sitting on her bed had made it rise to my mid-thigh. “Can’t say I have.”

  “You should try it. Who better to eat a pussy than someone with a pussy?” She sat up. “I have a pussy. And I think you might too.”

  I glared at her. “What tipped you off? Was it the boobs?”

  “Nah, you can buy those.” She crossed her legs, her black torn skinny jeans exposing her knees. “Never trust a nice pair of tits.”

  I nodded half-heartedly, pressing my lips together. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

  She grinned. “You’re fun.” She bounced off the bed and opened her drawer, pulling out a Wonder Woman metal lunchbox and flipping it open, revealing a box of cigar-like things and a strong smell of skunk. “Want to get high?”

  “With marijuana?” I asked, watching her dump a baggie into a square of white paper. “I’ve never been.”

  Her mouth popped open. “You’re shitting me. Who raised you? Wolves?”

  “Yes, actually.” I was so uncomfortable. I wanted to sit with my legs crossed too, but that wasn’t possible.

  “You want a pair of panties, slut?”

  I eyed her ruefully. “Please.”

  “You can have one, but you have to get high with me.” She wiggled her dark brows. “Huh, whatcha say?”

  I couldn’t find a reason not to escape right now. “I say … sure.”

  “Whoop!” she cheered, bounding off her bed and into her drawer. She rifled through her panties until she found a pair with the tags still on. “You’re skinnier than me, but these should fit.”

  I tore the tag off and stepped into the light blue lace boy short’s, sighing in relief. We sat together on her bed with our backs to the wall. She lit the joint and took a drag, pulling smoke into her mouth and handing it off to me. She kept it in, waving me on when I stared at the burning joint uneasily.

  Blowing out a stream of pungent smelling smoke, she glared. “Smoke the damn thing, kid.”

  “I’m not a ki
d. Won’t your parents smell it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Meyer wouldn’t know what weed was if he grew it in his basement, and Mom doesn’t care. It’s better than half the shit Jaxon did growing up, so they can shove it. Go.”

  I wanted to comment on that, but held off. I brought the joint to my lips and breathed in, letting it out with a stream of coughing.

  “Again,” she ordered. “Hold it in this time. Yes, right on, girl.” She took it from me as I coughed a second time, inhaling a thick pull and keeping it inside. “I’m twenty-one, by the way. You are a kid to me. What the hell are you to Jaxon?”

  My third toke went much better and my bones were already relaxing. I felt ten times more human. “His sweet girl,” I answered, giggling.

  She giggled too. “You two don’t do anything sweet, trust me. It ain’t sweet when you’re on your knees.”

  “It’s kind of sweet.” I passed it back to her. “Feels sweet.”

  “Look, I get it. He’s older. Older’s better sometimes. They have more experience, and if you have daddy issues, which you so obviously have, then it’s like getting both worlds. Great sex and healing those missing pieces. Probably why I’m into older chicks. Mommy issues,” she admitted, giving me a look as I pulled from the half-smoked joint. “I love hooking up with hot older women and letting them shit all over my heart.”

  “I kissed a girl,” I revealed, apparently as open high as I was drunk.

  She smacked my thigh. “No way. Did you like it?”

  I shrugged. “It was different than kissing Jaxon. Softer, silkier.”

  “Ohh, yeah.” She fell to lie on her back. Her eyes were narrowed, but I thought that was the pot. “I kissed a boy once,” she revealed, too, covering her face with her hands as if that were mortifying.

  I fell to my back beside her, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air. My brain was muddled and my limbs felt hollow. I liked the feeling. Of being detached from myself. It was a lot easier to feel that way. “How was it?”

  “Scruffy and slobbery.”

  “I like Jaxon’s scruff.” I rubbed my cheek, yearning for him so strongly in that moment my heart stuttered. “He was my first kiss.”

  “Why’d you waste it on him?”

  “I didn’t waste it. I saved it for him. Be nice to your brother.”

  She snorted. “He’s an asshole. Why should I be nice to him? He was always such a prick to me growing up. He got kicked out when I was eight, but he still came by a lot. He didn’t start being semi-nice until he stopped doing drugs.”

  “Was he really an addict?” I peered at her, watching the smoke flowing from her nose as she nodded.

  “He was addicted to everything. That’s why Mom kicked him out after he got expelled. She caught him shooting up in his room with a girl. He’d done like three months in juvie before that for possession and was always getting into trouble. He was scary.” She shuddered. “Now he’s an a-hole.”

  I rolled over and into her side, wanting to hug her and Jaxon. I tucked my head against her chin and listened to her angry breathing. “He’s broken. He can’t help it.”

  “Oh, bull. We’re all broken. He uses his breaks as a reason to break others. Like it doesn’t make sense to him unless they’re broken, too. That’s bad for you. He’s gonna break you just to understand you.”

  She was so right it hurt. We lay there. My mind thankfully turned to mush and I forgot what had saddened me enough to want to keep going.

  “You wanna roll another one? Pop your weed cherry in real good?” She reached down to rub my thigh, trailing her index from my knee to the bottom of my skirt. “Or other cherries?”

  “I’ll stick to weed.” I shoved off her with a giggle when she sighed dramatically.

  “Go get us some beer. Meet me in the garage. We’ll smoke and hang out in there.” She took two tries getting up, slipping on her backpack strap.

  I laughed, but I was worse than her. Using the bed to pull me to my feet. I was still giggling when I stumbled into the kitchen. All four men looked over, but only Jaxon’s gaze stayed. He narrowed it and scanned my face and body. He’d rolled his sleeves up and had five cards in his hands, spread out and hidden from their eyes. He looked so hot playing poker with his family.

  I blew him a kiss, to which he frowned deeper, making me giggle as I took two bottles out of the fridge. “Sourpuss,” I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. I felt rubbery and happy and wondered why the hell I didn’t do this more often. “Later hater.”

  He quirked an unimpressed brow at me.

  I waved the beer bottles at him and took off where I’d come from.

  “I fold,” I heard him grumble. In the hall, he took hold of my elbow and leaned close, sniffing the air around me. “You smell like pot.”

  “Pots don’t have a smell. Unless it’s a potted plant, then maybe manure. Wait, you think I smell like shit?”

  He rolled his eyes and steered me down the hall. “Fucking Sally.”

  “Ugh, Jaxon. Let go of my arm.” I pulled free, but he grabbed me right back up. “I can walk on my own.”

  “You don’t even know where you’re going.” He led us past a laundry room and then a heavy door, pushing it open with fury in his eyes. “Sally!”

  “Yes, big brother?” She was rolling a joint at a bar-like setup in the corner of the garage. There was a black SUV parked on the right and bikes and fishing gear crammed in the other corner.

  “You got her high?” He shook me for proof, spilling beer onto the floor. “She doesn’t need to do that shit. And you!” He turned to me. “Are in so much trouble.”

  A flood of warmth settled in me. “You promise?”

  He tried to fight it, but the lust in me was the same lust in him; it searched for any excuse to erupt. A sinful glimmer shimmered in his eyes. “Don’t you worry.” He leaned in, moving to grasp my face and bringing his lips close. “A punishment you want, a punishment you will get.”

  Sally cleared her throat. “Barf.”

  “No more pot,” he ordered. “I don’t want you ruined by drugs. You’re too good for that. You hear me? You. Are. Good.” He kissed my lips ever-so-softly while my heart lodged in my throat. “We should get going.”

  “Aww, no,” Sally argued, genuinely upset, her anger and front gone for a moment. “I like her. I never like anyone.”

  For some reason, that made Jaxon laugh. “I’m glad to hear that. Talk to Mom? Get her to loosen up.”

  “Only if Miya agrees to hang out with me again. Laney and I are going to a concert this weekend. I like Miya way more than Laney.”

  He frowned. “Little Laney from next door?”

  “Mhm.”

  “You’ve been best friends since forever.”

  “Ack. She’s been seeing this guy and now she’s all … better. Like we didn’t get drunk and eat each other out that one time.”

  He put his hands up, cringing. “I get it. Fine. Miya would love to go. I’ll send a car to take you both.”

  She smiled, and for the first time I saw how truly beautiful she was with her onyx hair and pale skin, her lips this pretty shade of pink. She was like a gothic Snow White. But I also saw the pain in her and I just wanted to make her feel happy.

  “Thanks.” She jumped up and gave me a hug. “Thanks for not sucking.”

  I hugged her back. “Thanks for the panties.”

  Tittering, she pulled back, giving Jaxon a look up and down, and then returning to the bar and lighting up without acknowledging him further. He grabbed the beers from my hands and set them on the bar.

  He didn’t say goodbye either. In fact, he didn’t say anything to anyone but Pyper. He led me into an alcove and then into a comfortable living room. The furniture wasn’t like Jaxon’s. It was homey, used. It was family. Pyper was reading on her kindle with a fire roaring in the fireplace. The flames lit up the side of her face.

  “We’ve got to go,” he announced, bending to kiss her cheek. “Thank you for dinner.”

&
nbsp; She hugged him tightly around his shoulders, holding him close for as long as he would allow. Some part of me felt sad for her. She obviously cared for him, and he didn’t make an overt effort to do the same. I wondered why, when she seemed to be the one person who saved him.

  “Thank you for coming. We’ll talk soon?” she asked hopefully.

  He looked into her eyes. I expected hard, but his eyes softened and he nodded. “Yeah, we’ll talk soon. Maybe we can do lunch sometime this week. With Miya.”

  She glanced to me, catching his intentions the same way I had. If she wanted him, she had to take me too.

  I sighed quietly. “I don’t have to come—”

  “I would love that,” she interrupted. “Swanson’s?”

  He smiled. “Sounds great. I’ll call you. Now say goodbye to Miya. And mean it.”

  She gave him a withering look. “I’m the one who tried to teach you manners, remember that. Not sure how much of it took.” She stood up, pushing her blanket aside. “Miya, thank you for coming to dinner. We’ll work on the trust aspect.”

  Oh, gee, thanks, I thought, catching the narrowed-eyed warning on Jaxon’s face. He may be rude, but I had to be nice. And to make matters worse, she was in fact his surrogate mother and I did respect her, even if she didn’t trust me. “Thank you for having me.”

  I was so incredibly relieved when we continued down the hall and didn’t stop to say goodbye to his brothers. I didn’t even mind the freezing temperature. I wanted into his car, his zones, his space—where everything made sense.

  We were both quiet until he got on the highway. My mind was still mush, so it wasn’t focused on anything but the glowing lights of every fast-food restaurant I saw in the city. Even though I had just eaten, I was starving.

  “What transgression should I start with first?” he spoke up. “The fact that you took your balls out or the fact that you took your plug out as well? Or how about we start with the fact that you disrespected Pyper? Twice? Or even that you’re wearing panties? Getting high? I could go on and on,” he growled.

  “Pyper disrespected me first.” I gaped at him. “You were rude as well. How about we mention your transgressions? The woman you cheated on me with is really a part of your family? You drug me to your family’s house duct taped and plugged. You’re the bad guy here. Or did you forget that?” I wasn’t in the mood to argue. That’s all we did. Argue and lust. That wasn’t a relationship. That was a constant fight of anger and sex. Which, admittedly, wouldn’t be a problem if they relied on the other. But they didn’t. They ruined the other. “Does your aunt know what Elouise did to you?”