Returning to Her Master

Chapter One

Marc Taite leaned back against the bar top and took a swig of his beer as he cast a dispassionate look around the room. The small gathering of friends invited to celebrate Jack and Morgan’s engagement were having a good time, some taking advantage of the bondage equipment he and Jack set up for the night; others content, for now, to sit around and converse. Satisfied to watch instead of take part, he wondered if his interest and pleasure in the BDSM lifestyle he and Jack had enjoyed indulging in at their mountain lodge would return soon.

He was happy for his best friend, he honestly was, but he could pin the start of his discontent on Morgan’s unexpected arrival on their doorstep six months ago and blame the slow decline of his interest in the lifestyle with Jack and Morgan’s budding relationship. Jack first met Morgan when he took a summer job during high school and went to work for her wealthy parents, his main job tending their extensive acreage. He had befriended the lonely, neglected little rich girl and grew to care deeply for the woman she became, but his preference for dominant sexual practices kept him from acting on her obvious adult feelings for him until she sought his help and his embrace after breaking off an unwanted engagement. Seeing the change in Jack since Morgan had accepted his passions and control had been an eye opener, and of late he’d admitted to craving what his friend had found. Although he’d never enjoyed a special bond with a woman like Jack had shared with Morgan for so long, there had been the hint of one almost two years ago.

The pretty young newbie he’d let down without thinking had been on his mind of late, maybe because Morgan’s easy acceptance of her own submissive nature and her stunning responses to Jack’s sexual dominance despite her naïve innocence reminded him of Cassie. Volunteering for beginner’s weekend at a friend’s club in Omaha, he had taken one look at the strawberry blonde and experienced an instant jolt of lust. The first time he had felt her damp response to her first spanking, he had known he wanted more with her. He had spent the past two years regretting giving in to the urge to push her, going too far too fast during those three short nights so long ago. Given the fact he lived in Colorado and she lived there in Omaha, odds were nothing would have ever come of their short time together, but the ravaged look of betrayal on her face that last night still haunted him, rising unbidden whenever he watched or took part in a scene that reminded him of her.

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as a look of possessiveness crossed Jack’s face when Scott Tyler clasped Morgan’s head and slowly slid his cock into her mouth. She was naked and seated backwards on Jack’s lap, his cock already buried inside her sweet pussy; Jack was allowing her the pleasure of a ménage to celebrate their recent engagement. During the past six months, his friend had kept her more and more to himself, giving Marc only the rare pleasure of her mouth around his cock, his possessiveness of his fiancée a new development both men were still getting used to. But, for Jack as well as him, much of the pleasure of being a dom lay in exploring and reveling in the heights they took their subs to, and tonight, Jack wanted to give Morgan that ultimate pleasure again.

Marc’s smile turned to a full-fledged grin when Jack landed a sharp smack on her thigh and a visible shudder of pleasure went through her plush body. Nothing felt headier than being with a woman who embraced her pleasures, no matter what kink brought them about. The fact that Morgan still tacked on a title such as sir or master more as an afterthought instead of a respectful address often amused both of them. She was a pleasure to live with and a constant temptation as she paraded around in one of Jack’s shirts. She had gotten used to him being a spectator when they played, but still blushed when he jacked off while watching them.

His cock stirred as he watched the two of them bring her to climax, Scott using his fingers to torment her nipples as Jack controlled her lower body with a tight clasp on her hips. Marc swore when she came apart under their ministrations, wishing he could drum up more interest in finding a willing partner among their guests and bury his discontent in her body. Turning Morgan on his lap, Jack soothed her shaking body with soft strokes as he whispered into her ear. Their happiness and contentment defined their relationship, a relationship he envied more each day and wondered if he’d ever experience himself.

Turning his back on the room, he leaned his arms on the bar, wrapping his hands around the half empty beer, glad this was a small enough gathering they didn’t need a bartender. He had hoped the tour group he’d taken hiking up the mountain earlier today would energize him for tonight, perk up his appetite for the decadent pleasures his friends were feasting on, but his interest remained neutral at best.

Maybe he would see if he could entice a sub out to the hot tub before he returned to their loft on the upper level of their lodge. It might be summer in the Rockies, but when the sun went down the temperature turned cool and the hot tub stayed popular year round. It was his favorite time of year and he loved the outdoor activities their lodge offered both regular vacationers and those people in the lifestyle who visited them for bondage weekends or vacations.

“Not playing tonight?” Scott asked him as he came around the bar and helped himself to a beer from the kegerator.

“Maybe later.” From Scott’s look, Marc knew his evasive answer didn’t fool him. As the sheriff, Scott knew how to read people, a trait he didn’t bother to suppress around his friends. “I saw you made our girl happy,” he said, changing the subject.

“I can’t take the credit, she’s easy to please as long as Jack’s touching her.” Scott gazed back over at the couple then smiled at Marc. “They do complement each other, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they work.”

“Is that the problem?” he asked with the astuteness of a long-time friend.

Shrugging, Marc gave him an answer as evasive as his feelings. “Who knows? Haven’t you ever gone through spells where nothing seems to work for you?”

“Sure, we all have.” Smiling over his upraised arm before he took a long swig of his brew, he added, “I’ll quit nagging you if that’s all it is.”

“Appreciate it,” he returned in a dry tone.

“I found out something today that should perk you up. The bakery has a new owner and is planning on reopening in about a week.”

“Yeah?” Bear Creek’s bakery had remained closed since Martha retired and moved to Denver to be closer to her daughter over a month ago. Marc had been going through suga

r withdrawal ever since and he salivated at Scott’s news. “Who’s the new owner?”

“Not sure, haven’t met her yet. I just saw her in passing yesterday, a pretty redhead, young. Hope she bakes as good as she looks.”

“I’ll have to plan a trip into town next week and check it out,” he said, his interest piqued.

“Let me know, I’ll meet you for lunch. In the meantime, I see a lonely sub in need of some attention.”

Marc watched him stride across the room to one of the single guests with the group, an attractive blonde who took his outstretched hand with a wide smile of pleasure. The sheriff led her to the St. Andrew’s cross where she shed her shorts and top without qualm, her rounded body looking enticing as he strapped her wrists and ankles to the apparatus.

With a heavy sigh, he turned from the couple and came to an abrupt standstill, stunned to see a small, familiar figure standing in uncertainty at the entrance. Wide blue eyes clung to him and he could detect both wariness and pleasure reflected in them from where he stood. That familiar look had his gut clenching as his breath left his body. He’d recognize that red-gold hair anywhere, as well as that petite, tight body. Eyes locked on the woman he hadn’t seen in almost two years, the one he had sent fleeing from him in fear and distrust. He stood immobile until she took a tentative step toward him, her look remaining uncertain.

“Cassie?” he asked in disbelief when she stopped in front of him. It had been two years, he thought, and his first reaction at seeing her again hit him just as strong, and his desire for her was just as forceful as that first night.

He noticed her the minute she entered the club room with the rest of the beginners. Marc stood up slowly from where he sat, watching with little interest the sexual activities going on in the Omaha BDSM club. He and his partner, Jack Sinclair, owned the Bear Creek Lodge in the Colorado Mountains, a lodge that catered to those with alternative lifestyles, giving them a safe place to vacation and indulge in their passions without judgement from others. The Omaha club was one of several they had frequented before opening their own and they knew a lot of the members. For the last two weeks, they had been making personal appearances at some of the more reputable clubs in the Midwest to promote their lodge and extol the benefits of vacationing in the mountains at a place that not only offered them all the fun activities of a mountain resort, but a safe place to indulge in their alternative sexual kinks if they so desired. This was their last stop before heading home and Marc had been looking forward to returning to the peace and quiet of his mountain. As much as he enjoyed socializing with others in the lifestyle and playing with a willing sub, he was ready for a little solitude. That is until he spotted her.

For the first time, he was glad Jack had promised Wade they would help tonight with the beginners. Wade was a good friend who owned Raven’s Retreat, and he ran a decent place any beginner would find a safe haven for their introduction to the lifestyle. Confident his friend had run a thorough check on IDs, Marc made a snap decision about which little beginner he would tutor tonight.

Stepping forward first to greet the small group, his eyes latched onto a pair of bright blue, wary orbs. Not wanting to risk losing her to another dom, he held out his hand, a simple, non-threatening gesture. “I’m Master Marc. Allow me to show you around.”

He released a relieved breath he didn’t know he’d been holding when she put her small hand in his, her tentative smile revealing her nervousness. He couldn’t wait to be the one responsible for changing her wariness to arousal. Nodding to both Jack and Wade, who watched him with knowing smirks, he led her to a small, unoccupied sofa in a relatively quiet corner. “What’s your name, darlin’?” Pulling her onto his lap, he settled her so she sat sideways, facing him with her skirt-draped legs over his.

“Cassie.”

Marc liked her soft voice but still frowned at her. “Didn’t Master Wade instruct you on how to address a dom?” Her face reddened, which delighted him, as did her quick response.