I wanted that man back.
“Nothing to talk about,” he grumbled as he placed the weights back on the rack.
Brax moved over to the radio and turned it down.
“Why’d you leave?” Brax questioned.
Zeke frowned as he glared back at him. “Why’re you asking so many damn questions?”
“Because I’m worried,” Brax replied, sounding as though he expected a perfectly rational conversation to result from this.
Zeke didn’t look rational right now. He looked … hurt.
“About what?” Zeke barked a laugh, but it was laced with venom, not humor. “Did you get an earful from Matt? Did he tell you how the big, bad Sadist was actually a pussy because he’d gone and fallen in love with him four years ago? Did he tell you he walked out on me because I wanted something more? Because I’d been a fool and I told him I fucking loved him?”
Actually, no. Matt hadn’t shared that much because I’d taken offense to his comments.
“No,” Brax explained, “but Trent and I managed to keep Case from killing him if that makes you feel better.”
Zeke’s hands were vibrating, his eyes cold. “It doesn’t make me feel better.”
“How long were you with him?” the brave man at my side questioned.
I couldn’t believe Brax was interrogating Zeke. In all the time we’d been here, never had either one of us asked as many questions as he had in the past three minutes.
“Does it matter? Is there a certain amount of time before I’m allowed to—” Zeke waved his hand. “It doesn’t fucking matter and it’s none of your damn business,” Zeke shouted as he gripped his head and turned away. “I think it’s time the two of you left. Tonight you can stay in one of the guest rooms, but I’ll need you both gone tomorrow.”
I felt a strange ache in my chest. It was similar to the way I felt when Brax had doubts about our relationship. The thought of not seeing Zeke again, not spending time with him in any capacity made my stomach churn. Why were we being punished because Matt was a dickhead?
“No,” Brax snapped. “We’re not leaving.”
Zeke spun around and stalked toward us, his hands fisted at his sides. “You care to repeat that, fuck toy?”
“I said no.” Brax’s words were as rigid as his body. “We’re not leaving you, Zeke. You can push us away, but it’s not gonna work.”
Zeke reached for Brax first, his hand coming around his throat. I thought for a second he was going to strangle him, but he wasn’t. His other hand was reaching for the key on the chain around his neck, which meant Zeke was trying to release the latch on the collar.
Brax jerked out of his hold, knocking his hand away. “You’re not taking my collar.”
In all the time I’d known him, never had I seen Brax as serious as he was right then. When Zeke’s eyes darted my way, I shook my head. “You’re not taking mine, either.”
“Fine. Keep the damn things.” Zeke grabbed the silver chain on his neck—the one he kept the collar keys on—and ripped it off before throwing it at Brax. “But I still want you gone. The contract’s void from this moment forward.”
“No, it’s not,” Brax stated, his voice rising. “I’m not lettin’ you out of it that easily. Just because some little shithead comes into a club and thinks he knows every goddamn thing. No way, Zeke. I don’t give a fuck who he was to you. I don’t care about your past, the same way you don’t care about mine. That doesn’t mean I’m willin’ to walk away. That’s not how this works.”
“That’s exactly how it works!” Zeke bellowed. “I don’t have time for your shit anymore, Brax!”
My heart slammed into my ribs the second Brax’s name was out of Zeke’s mouth. Not once in the entire time we’d known Zeke had he ever called either of us by name. I’d picked up on that a long time ago. He had no issues referring to the people close to him by name, but everyone else wasn’t allowed that privilege.
A noise from upstairs caught my attention and I realized it was Tank. He was whining, a pleading sound that I’d never heard before.
Zeke’s eyes widened and I swore that was fear I saw on his face.
The next thing I knew, Zeke was racing up the stairs while Brax and I ran after him.
Tank was standing by the front door. Another whine followed by a low woof. Then another. Within seconds, Tank was growling and barking ferociously.
When the doorbell rang, I damn near came out of my skin. With all the lights off and the dog going crazy, it scared the shit out of me.
“Tank, heel,” Zeke commanded.
Tank’s ass hit the floor but he remained where he was, continuing to growl, his eyes forward, tail straight. The dog looked as fierce as his owner.
I prayed there wasn’t some unsuspecting trick-or-treaters on the other side of that door. If there was, they were going to get a surprise. Then again, I wasn’t sure which was worse. The growling dog or the growling man.
Zeke jerked the front door open and you would never fucking guess who was darkening Zeke’s front door.
The very man who obviously was looking for me to kick his ass. After all, why else would he be here?
THIRTY-ONE
ZEKE
SON OF A FUCKING BITCH.
“What the fuck do you want, Matt?” I snapped when my eyes registered who was standing on my front porch.
Matt smiled. “Trick or treat?”
I glared back at him, not amused by his childish antics. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. In fact, I wasn’t in the mood for him, period. I could’ve spent the rest of my life happy never seeing him again.
He must’ve realized I wasn’t in the joking mood because he followed with, “Can we talk?”
“No. I have nothing to say to you.”
“But I have a lot to say to you, Zeke.” His tone softened, his amusement gone. “Please. Let me come in.”
Knowing I would never get him to leave otherwise, I took a step back and motioned him inside. “You’ve got three minutes. Then your ass needs to be gone.”
Matt moved past me, his eyes instantly going to the pretty boy and the cowboy, who were still there, completely ignoring every command I’d made tonight.
“Would you mind giving us some privacy?” Matt asked them in that haughty tone that irritated me.
“No,” Brax snapped. The man had shocked me with his backbone tonight. He wasn’t backing down from me and he clearly wasn’t backing down from Matt.
“No, they can’t,” I stated firmly. “Whatever you have to say, they can hear it.”
Matt’s wary gaze turned toward me, and I flipped on the living room light.
His eyes scanned the room as though he was looking to see what was different from the last time he was here. He wouldn’t find anything because I’d left it exactly the way it had been. Since he’d rarely been to my house, I had never associated it with him.
Matt turned back to me, his gaze darting to them briefly before finally coming to rest on me again. “Is this thing with them serious?”
“They’re of no concern to you. Now tell me what you came here to tell me.”
He was silent for a moment, his eyes never leaving my face. Like all those years ago, I saw the man behind that front, the man I thought had given a shit about me. But he was the same man who had walked out on me, taking my heart and smashing it into pieces on his way out the door.
“I didn’t know you were a member of Dichotomy, Zeke. I honestly was just looking for a new place to play.”
“Funny,” the cowboy snarled. “You said you’d heard a rumor he was there.”
Matt glared at him, then shot a pleading look to me. “I didn’t believe it. And I don’t want you to think I’ve been stalking you or anything.”
“Never crossed my mind,” I answered truthfully. “You’re the one who left me, remember?”
He nodded, his eyes softening. “And I’ve regretted that every single second since that night, Zeke.”
“I didn’t get the
feeling you gave a shit,” the pretty boy said. “Based on the bullshit coming out of your mouth at the club.”
Matt rolled his eyes at the pretty boy. “I was caught off guard. It was a knee-jerk reaction.”
“Not buyin’ it,” the cowboy stated.
Matt turned back to me and motioned around him, a small smile forming on his lips. “We were standing right here that night. Remember, Zeke? You made me dinner, told me you loved me, and I … I ruined it.”
“That you did,” I confirmed.
My chest constricted as those fucking feelings ghosted through me. I had long ago gotten over Matt, but the memories still hurt. I certainly didn’t feel an ounce of love for him now.
“I love you, Zeke,” Matt said, his tone so soft, so irritating. It was a lie. I knew because I could read him like a fucking book. “I should’ve told you that night but I didn’t. You scared me and I … I wanted to tell you I loved you back, but I panicked.”
I laughed, a sound I imagined the devil made. “You have a fucking strange way of showing it.”
“I’ve wanted to find you—”
“You knew where I lived,” I said, cutting him off.
“I know. But I knew you were mad. I thought maybe—”
“You thought that waiting four years and accidentally bumping into me was the perfect time for you to come over here and spout this bullshit?”
“It’s not bullshit, Zeke!” Matt’s temper flared. “I saw you tonight and it all came back.”
I watched him, noticing the way his eyes continued to dart over to the cowboy and the pretty boy. It was as though he was enjoying the fact that they were here.
And then it hit me.
They were the reason he was here. Matt didn’t want me because I couldn’t live up to his standards, but he didn’t want anyone else to have me, either.
He confirmed my suspicion when he said, “They shouldn’t be wearing your collar, Zeke. I should. That’s my right, my privilege. Not theirs.”
I glanced down at his neck. “Looks to me like you discarded it long ago.”
Matt started to open his mouth but quickly closed it.
I was beginning to think Matt had some psychological issues. I’d thought so the night he left. The way he had turned on me so quickly. It wasn’t normal. This wasn’t either. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in four years and he just drove over here to confess his true feelings. Nope. Like the cowboy said, I wasn’t buying it.
“You need to go,” the pretty boy said, his tone far more rigid than it’d been before.
“This isn’t your house,” Matt countered.
The cowboy stepped forward, that same temper he’d lashed me with shining through. “No, but Zeke is our Dom and we have every right to protect him from those who want to hurt him.”
I swallowed hard, floored by how ballsy the cowboy was. He’d confronted me in the basement and he was standing up for me here. Not that I needed him to, but I was so shocked by his words I couldn’t speak. I’d seen a couple of different sides to him over the past few weeks, but this was new.
Matt’s voice lowered. “I’m not here to hurt him. I’m here to get him back. I never should’ve left.”
The pretty boy was the one who stepped forward this time. “But you did. And that dumb-ass move is something you have to live with for the rest of your life. It’s time for you to go.”
Matt’s pleading eyes shot to me, but I shrugged as I turned and headed toward the back door. I needed some air.
“Come on, Tank,” I commanded and my best friend fell into step with me.
Once on the back porch, I dropped onto the top step and stared into the inky darkness. It was cold, but I ignored the chill. Adrenaline was still racing in my veins. Anger, disappointment, frustration. It churned inside me, making me feel sick. But it wasn’t directed at my fuck toys or even Matt. I was disappointed with myself. How I’d reacted tonight. I shouldn’t have left them but I didn’t know what else to do. Seeing Matt again had fucked me up, caught me off guard.
Who the fuck was I kidding? I hadn’t even thought of them in that moment. I was completely selfish. I didn’t want to deal with Matt’s shit, so I had worried about only myself.
Just another thing that made me human. Something else that would have the fuck toys turning away because I couldn’t give them what they needed all the time.
Tank returned to my side, placing his head on my chest as he stared up at me.
“What’s up, boy?” I asked. “Too much disruption for one night? I doubt you’ll have to worry about it for long. They’ll all be gone soon.”
“No, we won’t,” a voice said from behind me. “Matt’s gone and he’s not coming back, but we’re not leaving.”
I peered back at the cowboy over my shoulder. “You don’t know when to quit, do you?”
“Actually, no. That’s not in my repertoire of skills. I do make a mean pasta e fagioli though.”
I didn’t have the energy to fight with them anymore tonight. I needed to sleep and perhaps everything would look different in the morning.
Pushing to my feet, I turned to face the two men standing there. “Look. I know you don’t have anywhere to go right this minute, so you’re welcome to stay here. I’ve got guest rooms. One or two, your preference. When you find something, just let me know.”
I started to walk into the house, but they blocked my path.
“We’re not sleepin’ in the guest room,” the pretty boy stated.
“Whatever.” I didn’t care if they slept outside. That was their prerogative.
“You have two choices,” the cowboy said.
I glared back at him. “Do I?”
“Yes.” He squared his shoulders. “Either we continue our nightly routine and we sleep under your bed where you want us”—he paused, his eyes scanning my face—“or we’re sleepin’ in your bed. Those are your choices.”
I barked a laugh because this was fucking ridiculous. “My bed?”
“Yes,” they both said at the same time.
“You’d risk my punishment to defy me?”
“Yes,” the cowboy stated. “If you want to dress me up like a dog or a fucking pony, I don’t care. But we’re not leaving. Not like this. If you truly want us gone, we’ll go. However, that won’t be until you’re acting civilized and under different circumstances. We won’t let you push us away because some dickhead was stupid enough to walk out on you years ago. That’s on him. Not you.”
Rage fizzed in my veins. They were standing up to me and it pissed me off. I preferred the fuck toys who took instruction, not the ones who thought they knew me.
“You feel the same?” I asked the pretty boy.
“I do. I’ve always believed things happen for a reason. We’re here because we were meant to be in your path and you in ours.”
I was too tired to argue about this anymore. Shrugging, I motioned them back into the house. “Whatever you feel you need to do. I don’t give a shit anymore.”
While I wanted that to be true, I knew it wasn’t.
And I suspected they knew it, too.
*
Brax
(The cowboy)
WHILE I WANTED TO PUSH Zeke to his breaking point, I knew it was best to back off. But only a little. And only for tonight.
However, I still wasn’t allowing him to push us away.
When Zeke went upstairs, I followed him. When he went into his bedroom, I was there, too. I waited until he had gone into his closet to change. When he returned, I was standing beside his bed with the chastity device in my hand. He cast a quick look at it, but then ignored me, walking around to the other side of the bed.
I was serious when I told him we weren’t sleeping in the guest room.
So, to prove my point, I got into the bed when he did.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growled, his black eyes slamming into me.
“Going to sleep.”
Case didn’t seem quite as eager to earn Zeke’s wr
ath, but he finally complied, climbing into the bed behind me.
Zeke flopped back on the mattress, pretending to ignore us. I knew he couldn’t, because for the four weeks we’d been with him, not once had we slept in his bed. Not like this, anyway. The time he dressed me up like a dog didn’t count as far as I was concerned.
“Get out of my bed,” he said, but there was no conviction in his tone.
“No.” I didn’t care what he did to me at that point, I wasn’t backing down. I knew Zeke would toss us out at the first opportunity and I wasn’t going to let him do it. Not without a fight. He needed to know we wanted more from him than to simply be his playthings when he wanted to entertain himself.
“Fuck toys don’t argue,” Zeke stated, his tone harder.
“We’re not your fuck toys right now,” I clarified.
He bolted upright, then shot out of the bed. “The hell you’re not.”
This was the Zeke I could work with. The man behind the mask. The man who needed more than to beat on people. Beneath that crusty outer later was a man whose heart beat the same as mine did. A man very much like me and Case. A man with feelings. One who needed to know we were there for him. Not because he commanded us to be but because we wanted to be.
Knowing this could backfire on me in a big way, I inched out of the bed on Zeke’s side and came to stand toe to toe with him. I had to look up into his face to do it, but I didn’t care.
“Right now, I’m not your fuck toy,” I told him. “And you’re not my Dom.”
His eyes searched my face as though he was looking for the lie.
“We’re here because we want to be here, Zeke,” I stated, lowering my voice. I reached up and placed my hand on his wrist. “I’m sorry Matt hurt you. And I’m sorry he showed up tonight. But I’m not gonna let him ruin this.”
“There’s nothing for him to ruin,” Zeke said, but his tone had softened. “We all knew this was going to end at some point.”
“No,” I argued. “We didn’t. Perhaps you did, but Case and I … we don’t want this to end.”
Their Ruthless Sadist (Office Intrigue, 5) Page 32