Saving Micah (Sequel to Conquering Jude) (23 page)

Jude shook his head. “She’s just as much yours as she’s mine. I don’t mind sharing her with you.”

Looking back over the water, Micah sighed. “But that’s always been the issue for me. While you don’t mind sharing, I on the other hand have found that I do – a great deal in fact.”

Tossing another rock into the water, Jude sighed. “What happened to the man who told me a true sub didn’t mind sharing his Mistress?”

“Famous last words, I’m afraid.” Moving towards the end of the pier, he dropped down on the edge of it, removing his shoes to allow his feet to dangle in the water. “I didn’t realize what I was missing until the first time I witnessed you submitting to Olivia and how she reacted afterwards. How she took care of you.”

Jude joined him. “I thought that was common practice with all Doms. Aftercare – isn’t that what you called it?”

Micah nodded. “Yes, aftercare is common in our world but there’s a difference between what I’ve experienced with Olivia and what I saw that day. It was more than just duty that had her caring for you – it was love. While she was never cruel to me, I knew it was because she took her duty as a Domme seriously when she played. Reputation is a funny thing…especially in the BDSM scene. It can make or break a Dom. I got her duty and you got her love.”

“So you left because of it. How could you have ever thought it there was nothing more than duty between you? Do you think that she will allow any sub to dominate her as she did that night?”

Micah shrugged.

“Don’t make me slap you, dude. She would never do that unless she cared about you – a great deal more than you realize. It wasn’t duty or pity earlier that had her allowing you to use her as your personal pillow. She loves you. Our Mistress has a big heart. Did you know that she had another chain like this…” Jude pulled his silver chain out from under his shirt. One that had a small silver triskelion symbol dangling from its end.

Micah licked his lips, recognizing the BDSM symbol for their lifestyle. No matter if you were a top, bottom, or switch, the symbol had a very specific meaning. The fact that Olivia had made the symbol as part of Jude’s everyday collar spoke volumes.

“Mmm-hmm.” He tucked the necklace back inside his shirt. “Did you ever notice that it matches the bracelet she wears on her left wrist? She’s been committed to this relationship since the day that she claimed me. She still teaches at the clubs, but never – ever plays with another sub.” Jude chuckled. “I’ve been used as her whipping boy on several occasions after you left during her training sessions with Keisha.”

Micah’s heart sank. He missed the young Domme and her sub, Carlos. He wondered if the man was still manning the door at
Olivia’s
. The idea he’d been so easily replaced bothered him. “How are she and Carlos doing?”

“They are fine. Keisha is coming into her own and Carlos is over the moon. I think he looks forward to their sessions more than Keisha does. But then he loves the pain Olivia is teaching his mistress to dish out. I damned near swallowed my tongue when I saw the whip, Mistress was going to use on my ass during the last session.”

“The twelve foot one?”

Jude nodded. “I’m glad Mistress took it easy on me. She told Keisha that when they were ready to move to the heavier stuff, she’d demonstrate on you instead. Even then she knew we were going to bring you back with us.” Jude crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re a part of us. It’s why she picked out this symbol. Not just because of its meaning to our culture, but also because of the fact that she saw each part of it representing each of us. A perfect triad – we balance each other.” Jude shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

It felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off Micah’s shoulders. His Mistress had planned all along to bring him home. She honestly had wanted him before he’d been attacked and still wanted him.
And Jude’s okay with sharing her with me. A perfect triad.
The only cloud on the horizon was his job. He’d just moved down here twelve weeks ago.

“Maybe I can work something out where I can be transferred back to Chicago…do you think that Mistress can be patient enough to wait ‘til I can get a transfer? I don’t want to give it up but I will…”

A huge grin spilt Jude’s face. “You’re coming back to us?”

“Yes. I can’t…” the rest of his response was drowned out by the roar of an engine. One of the speed boats they’d been watching earlier sped towards the dock. Micah looked up just in time to brace for the impact of the speedboat hitting the dock. It hit hard enough to send Jude flying into the water. It was only that spilt second to grab a tie-down at the edge that kept Micah from falling in after him.

“What the hell?” Micah paled as Leland jumped off the boat to land nimbly on the dock. Holding a hand out to his mistress, he helped her onto the dock. Cocking one hip, Priscilla gave him a possessive look.

“There you are, baby boy. It wasn’t very nice of you to hide from me.”

Chapter Twenty

Lifting the lid on the simmering pot of gumbo Ethan’s wife had sent with him, Olivia stirred it, inhaling the fragrant scent of shrimp and Andouille sausage. “You’ll have to thank your wife for me, Ethan. This was sweet of her. I’m sure when my subs return from their walk they’ll be anxious for a hot meal.”

Ethan chuckled but didn’t seem uncomfortable with her reference to the guys’ position in her life.
It simply amazes me, he’s so accepting.

“Yeah if I leave any for Dickens and Boy Wonder. My wife makes a damn fine pot of Gumbo. You’d think she was Cajun born.” Pawing through the sheaf of papers sitting on the table, Ethan would pause for a moment to jot something down before continuing on his information hunt. Crossing over to the table, Olivia straddled one of the chairs.

“What exactly are you hoping to find in those files? I told you earlier I didn’t think Micah’s attack had anything to do with
Olivia’s.
I just don’t see what my phone records have to do with anything.”

Ethan glanced up. “There’s some scuttlebutt around the hospital someone tried to bribe the charge nurse for your cell number. The person took off when the nurse threatened to call security. There was also an unauthorized remote access to the security main-frame. We can only assume they were digging for information on Micah.”

“Really? How can you be sure it was related to his attack?” Olivia propped her chin on her hand. “Surely he’s not the only person who has come into the emergency room under suspicious circumstances.”

“Because I can be. The searches showed whoever was in the files was looking for any reference to Chicago and a black male patient who was admitted in the last ten days.”

She sighed before picking up the nearest paper. “I suppose it was just wishful thinking on my part. I was hoping this would be over by now and I could take Jude and Micah home. So what are we looking for?”

He reached over to pat her hand when his cell rang. As he answered it, he tipped the chair back on two legs. “Hello. Hey Playboy, what’s shakin’ besides what sounds like a nasty-ass cold?” The chair came back down on the hardwood floor with a resounding thud. “What? Are you sure? Fuck me running, they’re down by the lake. Thanks for the heads up.” He shut the phone with a snap, before focusing on Olivia. “How good are you with a gun?”

“Deadly.” Fear fought with anger but she pushed both emotions aside. Anger or fear wouldn’t be useful – she needed to be calm. “Our location has been blown?”

He nodded as he stood. Walking to the pantry, he opened the door to reach in for a black duffel-bag and the long barrel shotgun. “Yeah. Jackson just got some intel. Apparently the suspect is planning on taking his father’s speedboat out on Lake Pontchartrain. It’s highly doubtful he’s just taking a joyride and Jackson couldn’t reach Jude on his phone.” Setting the bag on the table, he was curt. “Long gun or hand?”

She picked up the shotgun. “This’ll do.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “It’s got quite a kick.”

Giving him a tight smile, she hefted it over her shoulder as she opened the back door when a loud crashing noise carried over the water.
Fuck.
Her men were in danger. “I can handle it. Let’s go.” She took off like a dart towards the pier. Behind her she thought she heard Ethan mutter something about Dickens having one helluva woman but she was too concerned with saving her subs. Nobody messed with them and got away with it.

* * * *

Jude sputtered as his head broke the surface. Spitting out the saltwater, his mind rapidly assessed the situation. The sound of raised voices told him there had to be two other people aside from Micah standing on the pier. He heard a deep male voice and a woman’s husky alto tones. Swimming, he hoisted his good leg up to pull himself on the wooden deck. He froze when he heard the eerily familiar click of a revolver being cocked followed by the press of cold metal against his temple.

“Move another inch and I’m going to pull the trigger.” He looked up to see a woman dressed in denims and low cut blouse, holding a gun on him. Taller than Olivia as far as he could tell by her crouched position, her dark hair and eyes were a dead ringer for his Mistress’s but that was where the similarities ended. He saw no warmth or humor in her eyes. Her features were more rounded and she had crow’s feet bracketing her eyes but from a distance, he could see why Micah had gone home with her. She was a poor carbon copy for their Mistress.
Stupid bastard,
he thought uncharitably as he tried to see around her. He couldn’t see Micah but he could see one of the biggest bastards he’d ever seen in his life.

“Where’s Micah?” He kept his tone even as the cold of the water started to sap his strength.

“My boy’s location isn’t your concern.” She used the barrel of the gun to caress the side of his face. “In fact, I should be greedy but I already have one large sub in my stable - and my Leland only likes smaller men, so be a good boy and stay put ‘til we’re gone.”

He narrowed his eyes. He had to bluff a bit longer. Surely Ethan or Olivia would be checking on them when they heard the crash – hopefully Ethan. The man wouldn’t lose his cool when he saw the situation. He wasn’t sure Olivia would be able to keep her head when she saw the intruders. “Or?”

“Or I simply put a bullet in your skull here. So it’s your choice, lover. Either keep your ass in the water or die.” She slowly straightened. “Personally I don’t have a preference. I got what I came for.” She handed the gun to the man. “Keep an eye on him, he moves – shoot him.” As she moved away, Jude could see Micah standing at the end of the pier, frozen as if in shock.

“That’s what your buddy said too. But you know what? The slut begged for Leland’s big ole cock in the end.” He reached for the tab on his chinos.

“You stick that thing anywhere near me, I’ll tear of the son of bitch off,” he warned just before he saw stars from the butt of the gun hitting his temple. He slid into unconsciousness, losing his grip on the dock and sinking beneath the water.

* * * *

Ethan pulled Olivia up short just before they got in within sight of the pier. “Just a second, let me see what’s going on.” He pulled out a pair of binoculars from the bag he’d brought with after tossing her his cell. She dropped the gun to catch the phone as he lifted glasses to his face. He began to bark out orders. “Call the police and tell them we have a code 207A – attempt to kidnap in progress...” He flinched as he took in the scene with the binos. “…with a code 217 - an assault with a deadly weapon. Fuck. I can’t wait. Dickens is down. Stay put.” Ethan ordered before dropping them to sprint towards the dock.

Repeating his message to the 911 operator, Olivia dropped the phone to the ground as she retrieved the binoculars. “Like hell I will.” Her breath hissed out when she took in the scene. She could see Ethan diving through the shallows to rescue Jude. She took a calming breath knowing he wouldn’t let Jude drown. She turned her field of vision towards the end of the dock. A woman stood between her and Micah. The light bounced off the object in the woman’s hand.

Bring the object into focus, Olivia cursed fluently. The woman was attempting to put a red slave collar on Micah. When he resisted, the other Domme backhanded him and tried again. When he still fought the woman, the bitch took the gun from the man standing behind her. Olivia lost it. Her iron control was consumed by her anger. Raw fury washed over her in ever heightening waves. She headed towards the pier and before she realized it, she was standing on the swaying dock.