Third Chance

Third Chance

By Ann Mayburn

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This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Third Chance

Copyright 2014 by Ann Mayburn

Published by Honey Mountain Publishing

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

**DISCLAIMER: Please do not try any new sexual practice, BDSM or otherwise, without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Ann Mayburn will not be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from use of the information contained in this book.**

“A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.”

- Nancy Rathburn

Chapter One

Low, vibrating bass filled the interior of Justan’s black Land Rover, a mellow, trance-like tune that made Emma marginally relax as she drove with her boyfriend’s best friend to her home. Well, to her apartment. That place where she’d spent the last three years no longer felt like her home. She wasn’t safe there anymore. Violence had saturated the environment and destroyed the peace she’d once found inside. Her once-beautiful, comfortable bedroom was stained with Ryan’s blood. At that mental image, her stomach clenched and she forced the picture from her mind. It took more effort than she wanted to admit.

Maybe she would move in with Moira once this mess was over. Emma could use some TLC, and Moira’s unconventional family would spoil her with affection and attention. Chris was the impeccable paternal figure, strong, fair and utterly devoted to his submissive Tanya’s needs. Moira, on the other hand, was the firm hand of discipline with Tanya, handing out punishment and pleasure to the pretty pink-haired girl.

Tanya lay at the heart of their triangle, an vivacious young woman who loved Moira and Chris with everything she had. Fond memories of time spent with Tanya filled Emma, raunchy images mixing with the sweet. Like the cold winter evening they’d all took turns dominating and pleasuring Tanya while she was tied up with Christmas lights and red bows. Afterward they’d watched a couple of sappy holiday movies together, cuddled up on the big couch and ate the cookies Moira’d made. There had been so much love in that room that night, and it had revitalized some dying part of Emma that had been starving for affection.

She needed that kind of affection, that group reassurance right now. Not the sex, but the feeling of someone holding her tight and keeping her safe. Ideally she wanted Ryan’s arms around her, but with his bullet wound he wouldn’t be hugging her anytime soon. Tears threatened as the events of the last twenty-four hours caught up with her and she looked around the car, eager to distract herself.

When her gaze landed on Justan, he proved to be the perfect eye candy to take her tired thoughts off how close she’d come to dying, how close she’d come to losing Ryan.

No, no thinking about that right now.

Justan had an interesting face to go along with his elaborately decorated body. Not only did he have a couple piercings, like a double piercing in his tongue that caught her attention every time he talked, but he also had what she could only describe as wonderfully geometric tattoos that were astonishing in their perfection. Bright, clean lines, and a use of perspective that made her want to stare at them. For some reason, the more she looked at them the more familiar they seemed and she tried to place where she’d seen them before.

The flex of his biceps distracted her from searching her memory as he turned the wheel. Justan was serious gym rat with the cut and perfectly proportioned muscles to prove it. The navy blue of his Mohawk looked almost black in some lighting, but when the sun hit it the dark blue came through. There was no doubt he was sexy as hell, but in an odd, almost nerdy way. For example, the front his t-shirt that had the image of a calculator on it along with the numbers 5318008. At first she’d been puzzled, then she’d remembered in Junior High during math class when the boys would type it in and laugh. When you turned the calculator upside down it looked like the word Boobies.

Meh. Boys.

Glancing over at her, he caught her staring. “What’s up?”

“You look familiar.”

He barked out a laugh. “I don’t get that very often.”

“Mmmm, I bet.” Frowning, she leaned closer and tapped his arm where a blue square began to merge into a yellow circle, forming a perfect shade of green. “I feel as if I’ve seen this before.”

For a second he hesitated, and she noticed the way the tips of his ears turned red. Something about what she’d just said hit his emotional hot buttons. Deciding that figuring out Ryan’s best friend was way more fun than trying to cope with the loss of her safety, she turned more in her chair and gave him ‘the look’.

“Where would I know you from, Justan? Have you done any modeling?”

Oh, now his entire face was a deep red. “Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Kind of. So — hear you and my boy Ryan are getting serious.” He smirked in her direction. “You got that man eating out of your hand already. And you’re doing a way fuckin’ better job with him than his old Mistress.”

Hell, she wanted to continue to question Justan and make him squirm, not the other way around, but there was no way she could resist the lure of knowing more about the woman who Ryan had served.

She tried to keep her voice nonchalant and failed miserably. “The Mistress he trained with?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “She never had his respect, not really. But you? That man lives and breathes to serve your every need. He trusts you completely.”

The open yearning in his voice surprised her. “And I’m honored by his trust and I cherish it greatly. The way he gives himself to me is a gift. Have you ever trusted someone like that?”

She’d tried to phrase the question as delicately as possible, but Justan shook his head and laughed in a not-so-pleasant way, the sunlight catching the ring in his brow while he drove down the main street to her home. “Yep. Got the scars to prove it.”

Part of her wanted to ask if he meant the literal or figurative, but the closer they got to her house the more she found it hard to focus on anything but her increasing unease. They passed the familiar turn onto her street and a fine layer of sweat coated her entire body. Crap, her heart was racing and she shook slightly, trying to figure out why the hell she was freaking out, even as part of her mind insisted that if she went back to where she’d been in danger she would be killed.

This was beyond screwed up. What was wrong with her?

Closing her eyes, she tried to slow her breath. It was a testament to how out of it she was that she startled when Justan said her name then handed her something. When she opened her eyes she saw it was and unfamiliar cellphone with the name “Ryan” displayed on the caller ID. Startled, she glanced and saw they were parked on the side of the road two blocks from her apartment.

Justan carefully nudged her arm. “Talk to him.”

Feeling as if she were in a dream, she raised the phone to her ear and said, “Hello,” in a thick and husky voice.

“Emma,” Ryan purred and inexplicably tears burned in her eyes. “Are you all right?”

All too aware of Justan watching her, she turned her head to the side and lowered her voice. “Yeah.”

“You don’t sound all right. In fact you sound the opposite of all right.” He sighed. “Please, you don’t have to do this right now. Wait until I’m out of the hospital and I’ll come with you.”

“Ryan, I’m okay and I have to do this. I need to get my things.”

“I’ll get you new things, and Emma, you don’t sound okay.”

No, she didn’t sound okay, because she really wasn’t. For some confusing reason, anxiety and panic were building inside of her and she didn’t know how to handle it. She wasn’t scared, at least she didn’t think she was, but her body was gearing up for fight or flight at the thought of returning to her home, where Ryan’s blood still soaked the floor. God, he’d lost so much blood. Would her room smell like it?

“Emma?”

Realizing she’d been spacing out while trying to deal with her body’s rebellion, she cleared her throat. “I’m here.”

Ryan let out a soft sigh and she could picture him, his smooth muscles less chiseled but just as big as Justan’s, the soft curve of his sensual mouth on such a masculine face. When she’d left, his darkly tanned skin had been paler than usual, making his tattoos stand out, and there was just a weakness to him physically that she wasn’t used to seeing. He was a larger-than-life man in many ways, and to see him stuck in a hospital bed like that because of something that happened in her home struck her as wrong on so many levels. In the short time since they’d been reunited, he’d become a part of Emma’s life in such a profound way that it terrified her. If she lost him it would devastate her.

That man knew exactly what to say and do to slip past her emotional defenses without a scratch. He could silence her doubts with a look, and his submission was the most beautiful and erotic thing she’d ever experienced. And she could never, ever doubt his devotion to her. Not only was it in his every move, but also in the extraordinary lengths he’d gone to in order to win her affection. Without a doubt, Ryan was a formidable, determined, and amazingly sweet man.

God, she missed him.

Pathetic.

“Emma, you know I have your back, whatever you want to do. You’re amazing and you can do anything you set your mind to. Justan will take care of you. He may look like a fifteen-year-old boy with rebellion issues—”

“I heard that,” Justan said in a loud voice.

Without looking she smacked at him, and he settled down with a huff. “He’s big enough that I can use him as a meat shield, so I should be okay.”

“Exactly,” Ryan said with a laugh that turned into a hiss. “Shit.”

She flopped back in her seat, cursing herself for forgetting for a moment that Ryan should not be on the phone with her, mentally holding her hand when he should be resting. “Hit that pain pump now, Ryan.”

The words came out in Emma’s no-bullshit Mistress tone of voice. When Ryan responded, she could practically taste his desire. Jesus, this man had an immense hold on her. She’d kill to hear the passion in his husky tone. “Yes, Ma’am. Hold on, I need to grab a blanket. You get my dick rock hard when you say things like that. All sultry and commanding.”

It took her a second to compose herself as memories of Ryan whispering dirty things to her in his husky voice played out in her mind, but when she glanced over at Justan and found him watching her rather intently, she struggled to appear unruffled. Shoot, at this rate she’d have to call up her old mentor and have Dianta give her a refresher course on self-control. Then again, she didn’t think even Dianta could help her with this. Ryan was her ultimate aphrodisiac. “Bad boy.”

The low sound of pleasure that he made went straight to her pussy and she struggled to keep from getting too aroused. Walking around with wet panties while visiting a crime scene wasn’t high on her bucket list. The faint scent of Justan’s crisp cologne filled her as she took a deep breath, then let it out
.

Control.

“Jeeze, Mistress, I thought I was good. In fact, didn’t you say something about me being the best? I thought that’s what you said, but you were screaming so loud during your orgasm that I had trouble understanding.”

For a moment she was stunned, then started laughing — hard. This is what she loved about Ryan, the easy switch from Mistress and sub to just a guy and his girl. He wasn’t a cringing, whining little bitch, he was a man through and through, and she appreciated that. What they had was like no other relationship she’d ever been in, but it felt right. She loved this man so much and she wanted to get back to him as soon as possible, which meant she needed to get her shit together and go get her things from the apartment. Only then would she be able to take Ryan back home to his place and cocoon them both in warmth and safety.