by Dakota Trace
“Doing just dandy – what the hell brings you down this way? Last I heard you were up north with your little girl. Read any good books from this century yet, Dickens?”
Jude couldn’t help but laugh at the moniker he’d earned in his unit. “Are you ever gonna let it go? I can’t help but love Charles Dickens…not the Black Ops and Mountain Man crap you read. Didn’t you get enough of that blood thirsty shit in the Rangers?”
Ethan smiled. “Hell no! Gotta have something to keep me sharp.”
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Chapter Four
“Damn man, it’s good to see you.” Sitting in the cafeteria with Ethan, Jude reached for the soda in front of him. His friend had invited him to share an early lunch with him. After texting Olivia he’d agreed, hoping his friend would help him.
“I didn’t recognize you at first, man. What’s up with the hair?” He gestured to the long, dark hair pulled back into a club at Ethan’s neck. The man looked every inch the Native American he was and nothing like the man he knew during his time with the Rangers.
Ethan flushed. “Well, my little girls love long hair, so when I got out I indulged them. Not to mention Maria is insistent that the girls know about their daddy’s heritage.”
“Your little girls? When did that happen?” Jude leaned back.
“Two years ago. Maria found out she was pregnant about six months after you left. I ended up getting out shortly thereafter. I couldn’t leave her at home by herself once I found out she was expecting the twins and Momma was too far away taking care of my brother’s kids to help.”
Jude nodded. “How is Maria doing?” He remembered the pretty little Spanish thing Ethan had fallen for during one of their stops in Spain. He’d taken one look at her waiting tables at her family’s restaurant and had fallen head over heels.
“Good. Her family disowned her when she left, you know that right?” Ethan stirred the straw in his own drink. “Well when I found out she was expecting I was recovering from a bullet to the shoulder. I seriously considered leaving the group but wanted to complete my last tour with the guys. But that changed when she nearly lost the girls while I was in the field. I’ll tell you I’ve never been so scared in all of my life. And that was it. I took the early retirement when I found out she had to stay on bedrest or lose them. She and the girls are just as important to me as the guys. Lt. Hardass actually told me if I didn’t go, he was gonna court marshal my ass on some lame excuse to get me to go home.”
Jude emphasized with his friend. “None of the guys would’ve given you a hard time, bud. We all have family and hell, it’s probably time for the younger, more hungry guys to take over for us. Enjoy your girls, my friend, they’re precious gifts.”
“You’d know wouldn’t you? How’s little Deborah doing?”
“Good – five going on fifteen. She’s gonna be joining me down here at the end of the week.”
“That’s great news…bring her by the house. I’m sure Maria would love to see her.” The man took another long draw off his soda. “So what was it you were questioning Motormouth about?”
Jude sighed. “Micah Beaumont. He’s the guy who was dumped yesterday morning and he’s my….” How the hell did he explain his relationship to his buddy?
Ethan continued to watch him intently. “Just spit it out, Dickens.”
Deciding to let the pieces fall where they may, he settled for the truth. “You probably won’t understand but he’s the third in my relationship with my Mistress, Olivia.” If he’d shocked his friend, Ethan didn’t show it. But then again he’s probably assuming that I’m talking about the other kind.
“So what’s he doing down here being attacked and left for dead, instead of in Chicago with you? I know you, buddy. You protect all you consider yours, including above all else your friends. You wouldn’t let a lover of yours wander off to get hurt.”
He gave a brief twinge at the thought his friend assuming he was bi-sexual. But now wasn’t the time to get into semantics with Ethan. He had more pressing issues at hand. “He got a job transfer around Thanksgiving after some seriously fucked- up stuff happened at Olivia’s club. We were hoping he’d change his mind once he got his head on straight. But he obviously didn’t because before we got a call from a mutual friend about his attack, we hadn’t heard even once from him since he’d left.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Believe me when I say Mistress wasn’t happy about his silence.”
Ethan rubbed his chin for a moment as he processed what Jude had told him. “So let me get this straight, you’re in a ménage with a Domme who let the third in your group leave, fly thousands of miles from home where he got attacked and now you’re here to pick up the pieces? That’s one fucked-up situation. You must really love this woman.”
Jude smiled. “With all of my heart. She’s the best thing that happened to me, aside from Deborah’s birth.”
“And let me guess, you’re not going to let the recent attack on this man, Micah, go without a fight are you?”
A feral grin teased his lips. “Would you if the situation was reversed? If it was Maria or one of the girls?”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Hell no!” He tossed his lunch garbage onto the tray in front of him. “Come on. Let’s go to my office and talk about this.”
* * * *
Sitting beside Micah’s bed, Olivia watched him sleep. The doctors had sedated him once more when they’d realized he’d torn several stitches loose during the struggle. Her heart ached as she took in the fresh bruises on his arms and the darkening one around his neck. She was barely holding her tears at bay. It hurt her to see him in such a state and she wanted to feel Jude’s arms around her more than anything, but she knew he was gone looking for Micah’s attacker. That’s more important than anything else at the moment. Jude finding the tupoys who did this to my mal-chick and Micah getting better.
The jangle of her phone drew her out of her thoughts. Glancing down, she recognized her brother’s number. She wasn’t sure if she could talk to him without bursting into tears. She let it go to voicemail. She should’ve done what she’d wanted back in Chicago. She should’ve collared Micah’s ass instead of being noble and letting him go when he’d told her that he’d gotten promoted again. But she’d convinced herself he had wanted to go, so she’d had no right to tell him he couldn’t. Her rights over a play sub were much different than the rights she had to Jude.
Letting it ring through to her voice mail evidently hadn’t worked because no sooner had her phone chirped to alert her that she had a message, then the phone rang again. Sighing with frustration, she answered it.
“What do you want, Caelan? I told you I’d call if I needed anything.”
“It’s not Caelan, Olivia.” The sound of her brother’s sub sent fresh tears to stinging the back of her eyes.
“What can I do for you, Nisey?” She rubbed her wet eyes with the back of her free hand.
“Tell me why you aren’t letting Máister help you when he knows you need it? I know you’re letting Jackson take care of the club. But I swear to God if you don’t let your brother help, he’s going to call Master Alastair and your mother.”
Olivia groaned. “Son of a…please tell me he didn’t? Mum will show up here with that dominating ass in tow and I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Well, he’s just locked himself into the study after threatening to call his Mum if you didn’t call him back in a reasonable amount of time. And I know my Máister. He’ll do it.”
Standing, Olivia began to pace, her hand going to her hip where her whip would normally hang. She’d left it at the hotel, knowing the hospital staff wouldn’t let her in if she’d worn it. “And then Mum and Alastair would fly over here….fine - put his stubborn Irish ass on the phone.”
There was a long silence before her brother’s voice came on the phone. The ass had probably been listening on the other extension.
“Olivia?”
“You want to help? Find out what Mistress has the ca
jones to attack my sub, not just once but twice!” She knew he’d hear both the frustration and tears in her tone.
“Finally!” Caelan growled. “You’re the most stubborn ass woman I know. Was it really so hard to ask for help?”
“Yeah. I’m used to…” Olivia sighed, stopping in front of the window. “…taking care of everything myself.”
“But you don’t have to. That’s what we’re here for. We’re family whether you believe it or not. One of these days you’re gonna have to accept it.”
“Not now, Caelan.” She wasn’t in the mood to go into their constant battle about whether or not he was actually her family. Mum never adopted me. I’ll always be the orphaned pickpocket she picked up off the street out of the goodness of her heart.
She could hear his frustration by the loud thump of what she was sure his hand against his desk.
“This is bullshit…but I agree with you, we have more important things at hand. Now why don’t you tell me what you found out about this second attack?”
Keeping her eyes on the fast moving traffic outside Micah’s room, she began. “Apparently, after first rounds this morning, it seems Micah’s two assailants from the other night snuck into his room with the intentions of finishing what they started.” She pressed her free hand against the glass, using the coolness of it to calm her nerves. “He’s got a whole new set of bruises and he ripped out some of the stitches when he fought back. They stitched him back up and he’s resting now.”
“Okay, now what aren’t you telling me, Olivia?”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “And what makes you think that…”
“You always pass stuff off as minor inconveniences – just like you did when you were attacked last year. That asshole broke your wrist and you said it was nothing more than a sprain. Now spill.”
“They tried to collar him, Caelan.” She pressed her forehead against the glass. “Those bastards held him down and tried put some bitch’s collar around his throat. They took something which was supposed to be special and tarnished it. The doctor said they probably would’ve succeeded too if he hadn’t managed to activate the call light.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” The caring in his tone nearly brought her to her knees. The strong arms she felt wrap around her from behind startled her. She looked at her reflection to see that sometime during her call, Jude had entered the hospital room. Dropping her phone from her ear, she turned into his embrace and let the tears flow. She barely felt him gently pry the phone from her hand as he pulled her closer. Under her ear she could hear him talking to Caelan.
“Sure, call him. I’m sure Brigit won’t mind if he reports his findings to you. Get ahold of Jackson, he has her number on file. This is one F.U.B.A.R. mess.”
She couldn’t help but give a small smile when he slipped into the lingo left over from his Rangers days. Fucked up beyond all recognition is right. She was drawn out of her musings as she heard the rest of his conversation.
“I’ve got a buddy on the security team here. We’re gonna figure out how they managed to get in and out without being seen.”
She lifted her head. “How the hell did they manage to avoid all the cameras, pet? In a hospital this size, it’s damn near impossible.”
Jude looked down at her. “I’ll call if we find out anything else, Caelan.” He closed the phone and guided her back to the chair she’d been occupying before getting her brother’s call. He immediately dropped to his knees beside the chair, uncaring he was getting his jeans dirty on the floor. She brushed her fingers through his hair as he looked up at her. His eyes closed briefly with pleasure before opening once more.
“Can this pet introduce you to a friend of his, Mistress?”
His formal request and position shook her out of her the dazed state she’d been in since they’d received the call about Micah being hurt. Her sub was not only admitting for the first time, in front of someone who wasn’t in the lifestyle, of who and what he was to her, but his blatant show of respect made it more than obvious to even those not in the lifestyle. It’s hard to mistake a man on knees for anything but what it is. But it was a major milestone in every sub’s life. Taking the risk with either a friend or family member who had no idea that they were submissive was a huge hurdle - one her pet had finally crossed. Not bad for a man who less than six months ago said he didn’t have a submissive bone in his body.
“Of course, pet.” Composing herself, she looked up and met the direct gaze of the man she hadn’t realized was in the room with them, so lost to the agony of what had happened. He was wearing the standard security guard uniform but it looked anything but standard on his body. The man was obviously of Native American descent. If his dark skin and even darker hair weren’t enough to make people think of a warrior from times long past, the stance which the man held even at ease was enough to proclaim him as not a man to toy with.
“This is my Mistress, Olivia Mejtka. I’d tell you her first name but then she’d have to kill you for using it…so we’ll stick to Olivia.”
The man nodded solemnly before moving forward. Despite his reserved expression, she could see the mirth dancing in his eyes. “I’m sorry to hear about your…friend, Ms. Mejtka.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “But let me assure you, I won’t kill for using my first name – at least not the first time. Now the second time…well, let’s just say they’ve never found the bodies…”
The man threw back his head and laughed. “She’s adorable, Dickens. I can see why you fell for her. Such a feisty thing. She reminds me of my Maria.”
Olivia rubbed her finger over Jude’s warm cheek as she took note of his embarrassment about his nickname. “Because of your love of those musty old books you love to read?”
He nodded. She smiled. “It suits you, pet.” Her fingers left his cheek. “Now why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
“That laughing jackass, Mistress, is Ethan White Hawk.” He nodded towards the still laughing man. “What ever happened to the injuns being silent and sober, White Hawk?”
“They went the way of everything else Indian…it got commercialized…” Ethan finally managed to speak without laughing.
Jude pressed his face against her thigh. She stroked her fingers over his hair, before urging him to his feet. She smiled as he rose gracefully to his feet, his form damn near perfect. He’d come so far in the four months she’d been training him.
“So you met him in the service?”
“He was in my unit when I was with the Rangers. Lucky for us, he retired from the service and now is the head of security here.”
Relief filled her. At least now he wouldn’t have to break into the computers and possibly get caught. “So he’ll help us.”
“Of course I’m going to help. What happened to your friend shouldn’t have happened.”
“I thank you.” She rubbed her hands over her leggings. Even out of the club she’d never be comfortable in anything other than leggings or flowing dresses. “So what have you found out? I’m sure you weren’t going to come up here and tell me that without finding at least a reason on why they weren’t on the tapes.”
“It’s because the computers crashed just before the attack happened. That idiot technician somehow managed to fuck up the computers again.”
She perked up. “Do you think he had anything to do with it?”
Ethan shook his head. “Not likely, Olivia. The boy is a total klutz. This isn’t the first time he’s fucked something up since I’ve been here. If he wasn’t the son of the owner of the company who services all our computer equipment I’d fire his ass. It was just a stroke of bad luck.”
Her heart sank. “So what do we do now? Wait for him to be attacked again?” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I hate to say this, but I don’t trust the security of this hospital.”
“Neither do I, Mistress.” Jude turned his back to the window. “That’s why Ethan and I have come up with a plan. We’re gonna move Micah to a s
afe place, so he can recuperate.”
“Then what happens – we hide?” As much as it galled her to think about retreating – she didn’t know what else to do.
She watched as he moved closer to Micah before tracing a finger over the light bruising around their lover’s throat. Then he looked up at her. “No – then White Hawk and I go hunting.” The way he said it so coldly sent chills down her spine. This man, her submissive, was beyond mad – he was furious.
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Chapter Five
Mistress Brigit Borduex tapped her red lacquered nails against the polished teak surface of her desk. Sitting in her office, the last thing she wanted to be doing was dealing with this. She had a willing sub that would soon be waiting for her in their playroom. But first I have to get off this damn phone! With it pressed to her ear, she wasn’t sure who she wanted to do more harm to, Olivia for siccing Caelan Doherty on her, or the idiotic Jason Wasterson III, one of her new Doms, for having a few too many at the last party he attended and offered a guest pass to a woman he barely knew. Damn it, Bête à Bon Dieu is a high classed members only club – not the damn YMCA.