Dominque (Knights to Remember) (27 page)

Jacob flinched inside. He had fucked perhaps fifty percent of the subs currently at the club, and if he hadn’t then he’d taken part in scenes with them. How would that go down with Dominque? Both of them had a life before they met, and Jacob hadn’t been jealous over Dominque’s past, but then he would hopefully never have to come in contact with anyone who had shared Dominque’s bed or his body. The same couldn’t be said for his own.

With a sigh, he turned back to look at Krane. “I’ve been with many, and although with any other sub this wouldn’t concern me, with Dominque it does. I would bite my own tongue off through sheer frustration if I were to meet one of the men who’d paid for him. I can't expect Dominque to react any differently.”

Krane took hold of his shoulder in his big paw and smiled. “You’ve both had a life and plenty of men in your beds before you met each other. This is your time now, not theirs. I’ve seen you with random hookups, Jay, and Dominque is far from those. You’ve given him something I'm sure plenty of men have craved from you previously, but never been able to grasp—your heart. Above anything else, that alone shows Dominque how special he is to you, and to anyone who sees you together.”

“There’ll be jealousy in the club over how I feel for Dominque from some of the other subs.” Jacob looked out at the evening streets of London passing by. “Like you said, my attention has been craved by others but never given. He’s an outsider to our club, to the scene. They won't like that.”

“So don’t bring him there. Leave. Do you need this now you have him?”

“It’s not just a place to find someone to hook up with for a few hours. Some of my best friends go there. I’d miss the community if I left.” Jacob scratched his chin, the bristles from his unshaven face thicker than he’d allowed them to become in a good few years. “But… yes, I would leave if that was needed to help settle Dominque.”

Jacob hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but if that was the only option left to him, there was no real decision. Dominque was his only concern and his only choice in life from now on. With Soho approaching, he took a deep breath and began to centre himself into his more controlled state. It had been two months since he was there, a short amount of time, but so much had happened since he’d met Dominque.

J
acob found himself sitting in the private study of his close friend Red. It was a room they’d often found themselves in for their talks through the years, and the warm chestnut wood which clad the lower half of the walls and the bookcases made from the same warm colours which housed the many rows of books, always cocooned Jacob, allowing him to feel enclosed and free to voice whatever was on his mind. Of course, he’d needed an hour in the main part of the club with Krane before he left him in the company of a trusted sub. He couldn’t possibly leave him alone, but then the way Bailey was quickly taken in by Krane was playing on his mind also.

“Take a moment.” Red’s voice was soft, calming and forever low and gravelly. That soft tint of French which rolled off his words always worked, even on the most flighty of subs.

Jacob watched from the comfort of his leather chair as Red leaned back. Those silver eyes were now smiling with that subtle honesty and soothing hold they displayed as Jacob let go of the tension in his frame. “Thank you for seeing me at such short notice.”

“My door is always open for you, Jacob.” Red pulled his fingers through his now silver hair, small strands of the black colour it surely must have been flickered into view and Jacob tried to recall if he had ever seen his friend with anything other than the silvery grey colour, but over the fifteen years he’d been a member, it had always been this colour. “I have the paperwork you requested. The basic contract and requirements for your new submissive.” He paused, sliding the cream envelope over to Jacob. “Tell me about him. Tell me why he’s not here kneeling beside you.”

“He’s wounded.”

Red nodded, obviously already aware of that fact. “Yes, and you are here to help heal him. But that’s not all. You're in love with this wounded bird.”

“Yes,” Jacob replied confidently and with a small smile.

“Your confidence and ease with this new relationship is there for all to see, so I ask you why you are here, and what do you require from me.”

“Your guidance.”

Red smiled, small creases appearing at the edges of his silver eyes. Jacob had always considered him attractive, a feat not many men his age could pull off. He was unsure how old, but he guessed Red was in his fifties. “As always, I am here for you, should you need me. His name?”

“Dominque.”

Red stood, his lean body clad in a navy three piece suit, attire which Jacob was sure he’d never seen him dressed in before. It was usually leather trousers and a loose shirt. He noticed Jacob’s look over his body and chuckled. “Family meal in an hour. I'm afraid my brother wouldn’t condone leather at the table.”

“Then he’s eating in the wrong places,” Jacob quipped back without pause.

Red chuckled again, this time tapping his lips and humming slightly. “He’s never wrong.”

“That just makes me all the more sure he is. No one is right all the time. That’s an unachievable standard to set for yourself, and you're nothing but arrogant if you assume you are.”

Red laughed loudly, leaning back and closing his eyes. It made Jacob smile with him. “How I would love to introduce you to him.” His gaze found Jacob’s again and he shook his head slowly. “Ah, but you see, I had always considered you to be like him in that respect, and Jacob, I'm very rarely wrong in my understanding of my friends. You’ve changed since you were last here. Changes I'm happy to see. I feared you would never let anyone in, and I'm more than happy to see you with Dominque. Though I'm sure as you already understand, the journey won't be an easy one.

“You’ve helped injured subs before, and this isn’t new to you, but what is new is your heart aches for this boy in a way it didn’t with the others. Yes, you have always been caring, the perfect Dom, but unlike many others here, you never wavered in your determination to keep your heart for you and you alone. That’s a lonely place to be. I’ve seen others ache as you have through the years, and it has never ended happily.” Red sat down, the desk separating them as he took a moment to think. “Your boy, has he talked yet?”

“No, only in the barest of details. His safeword was ignored,” Jacob spat out through gritted teeth.

Red flicked his gaze to Jacob’s, both of them instantly stiffening hearing with those words. “At which club did this happen?”

Jacob sighed. He wished it had happened at a club. That way, with Red’s contacts, he would flush the fucker out and have him dealt with appropriately. “It wasn’t in a club, and the guy wasn’t trained. I wish we could find him. I’d like to show him a thing or two. Dominque… he was in the scene when it happened, but his job complicated the matter and allowed him to come in contact with men who abused his trusting nature.”

“And his job?”

“An escort. A good one.”

Red drummed his fingertips on the desk. “I see,” he mused quietly, causing a rush of protectiveness to run through Jacob. “You will not cope sharing him. I would suggest not entering into a contract with him while he continues in that role.”

Jacob sighed internally. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to justify his relationship with Dominque with his true friends, but the fact Red was concerned only over him and how it would affect him made him relax. “He’s already left the agency. Not just for me, though it sped things up. He’d planned on leaving before we met. It was a happy coincidence.”

Red nodded. “That makes more sense.” He paused briefly, then sat back and looked into Jacob’s eyes. “How badly was he hurt?”

“He has scars…” Jacob looked away, staring over Red’s shoulder while he took a breath, the emotion thick in his voice. “Dominque said it was a flogger, but I know the marks left on him and they were caused by a cat o’ nine tails—thin, probably wire. Perhaps the fucker started with a flogger but the scars indicate the tails.”

“And the scars he hides inside? Those which hurt deeper than those imprinted on his flesh.”

Jacob swallowed heavily. “I believe… I believe he was raped.”

“Jay…” Red looked to his hands clasped on his lap and sighed heavily before meeting his gaze again. “Your anger and frustration is plain to see, and if I were in your place, then I would feel as you do. You wish to find this person and make him pay, but you also know that would ultimately leave you feeling hollow and empty. It serves nothing but your own desire to hurt, and knowing you as I do, I don’t doubt you could achieve that, but I also know you would regret those actions. Both of you, you both need peace. I can offer guidance, instruct you in any way you need—though really I doubt anyone would know what your boy needs better than you. I am always here.”

Jacob unclenched his fist and nodded. “Thank you, Sir, and I'm sure I will take you up on your offer, but…” Jacob sighed. “He’s not ready for this life. He may never be ready for this.”

“I agree. I don’t believe the club, or surrounding him with his old lifestyle, would be the correct step to take right now, but don’t discount the possibility he will wish to return and join you here.”

“That’s just it, until he’s ready for this, I won't be here. It may destroy his trust in me in some way if I came here without him.”

“Has he said this to you?” A question which obviously Red already knew the answer to by the soft smile on his lips.

“No.”

Red grinned, sitting back in his chair and opening his arms a little. “You cannot share him.”

Jacob held the humorous gaze for a few moments, then rolled his eyes. Despite the fact he knew he should just go with the truth, he continued to play his friend. “I said he—”

“Yes, yes. I heard you—” He waved dismissively with a hand in Jacob’s direction. “But the unspoken words of what you truly detest is showing through your thinly veiled disguise. You, Jacob,
cannot
share. Even in scenes where you have been invited to play with another Dom’s sub, you have shown great irritation at sharing what you deem as your property.

“I knew from the first time we met, this was what would truly hold you back finding a partner in the scene. You thought you would always have to share who you loved, or thought they would feel you held them back if you stated your need to be the only one. You could never tolerate anyone touching your boy. He is yours, only yours. It would destroy you seeing him in the arms of another, or God forbid,
submitting
to another.”

Jacob was clinging onto the arm of the chair so tightly his fingers had gone white. No, he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Dominque kneeling for another. It could be only him.

“Jacob, I have always known men like you. I have one for a brother.” He chuckled lightly. “I’ve seen what happens when they’re forced to share the one they love. Even in a full time relationship, it doesn’t mean a full time
committed
relationship with just them.

“You have a person who is willing to be everything you crave in your life. Although I will miss you at the club, it doesn’t mean we have to end our friendship. I would love to meet Dominque. Perhaps at my home, with Nicholas. It’s an open invitation for whenever you and your boy are ready. Perhaps when you’re feeling more confident in… yourself, you will bring up the idea of coming here. You must put his needs above your own, and I believe he found something here that he didn’t elsewhere in life and may wish to regain that. Consider it.”

Red stood, offering his hand to Jacob, who slowly rose from his seat. “Be careful, Jacob. Obsession is dangerous. And you, my friend, are obsessed. Don’t let that grow until you become controlling. This wounded bird needs to be set free, not caged up.”

“I understand.” Jacob couldn’t look him in the eyes, instead staring at the crisp whiteness of Red’s shirt. Without voicing his ultimate concern, Red had seen it all along. As he always did.

Red pressed his index finger under Jacob’s chin, tilting his head back and making eye contact. “This meeting would never have been about your boy. As we both know, you don’t need to seek out others to help you see what he needs. This was always about you, my friend. In all the times you’ve visited me, sat right there in that same chair, it has always been about you… Boy.” Red leaned in and stroked his cheek gently with his. “You make a wonderful Dom, but you made an exquisite sub.”

“Only for you, Sir,” Jacob breathed out with a smile.

“Anytime you need me, Boy, I'm always here.” With a last look, Red placed a soft kiss on his cheek and then opened the door, ushering him into the corridor.

Jacob walked down the long hall, feeling the gaze of his once Dom on his back all the way until he walked through the double set of leather clad padded doors and back into the lounge. It was there he stood stock still, taking a moment to consider Red’s words before he looked up and searched for Krane. It had only been half an hour. Surely the big oaf couldn’t have got himself into any trouble in that amount of time? With a shake of the head, Jacob smiled. Of course he could.

Jacob rarely drank booze at the club, but as he wasn’t playing, he made his way to the bar and ordered a beer—to the surprise of the sub tending it. With a slight raise of his brow, the sub hurried off to retrieve a bottle of beer and came back with a smile.

“Dom Jacob. Welcome back.”

“Thank you, David. I don’t suppose you’ve seen my brother, the tall big bloke with ink running down both his arms around anywhere, have you?”

David bit his lip, a coy smile on his lips. “He had a few drinks here. He’s very… friendly.”

Jacob fought the urge to roll his eyes. “A few, huh?” It had been half an hour, he reminded himself. “And then?”

“Oh, and then he went for a wander around with Bailey.” David leaned in, his slight frame only covered by the tight leather shorts clinging to his arse, and his wide eyes rimmed in thick eyeliner holding Jacob’s gaze as he edged closer until he was leaning on the bar. “Bailey seems quite into him.”

“He’s not a Dom.” Jacob did mention that when he introduced Krane. He frowned. He hadn't mentioned it to Bailey though. “Where did they go?”

David nodded his head to the right and Jacob hissed slightly.

“Don’t tell me Bailey took him to the private rooms?”

“Well, what else is down there? You think maybe he took him for coffee and cake with his mom?” David immediately cursed under his breath as soon as the words left his mouth, wiping his jet black hair from his eyes with shaking fingers.

David was new to the club. A playmate one of the regular Doms had picked up on his travels around the US and brought home. He had a temperament which grated on Jacob’s nerves, but others found it amusing and he’d obviously got away with his blatant level of disrespect toward the hierarchy on the scene. Until now.