Protecting His Subs Read online

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear you had problems with the electricity,” Tinker said quickly and with conviction. “We try to keep everyone up and running in all situations.”

  Tinker was sometimes looked at as a kiss-ass, but he was sincere and charming. There were times he wore his heart on his sleeve, paying some people’s bills just so he wouldn’t have to cut them off. Most of the people who lived in this apartment complex were working people, but there were a few single mothers who barely made it through their paychecks. Sometimes, when the power bills were higher because of heaters being used, or air conditioners running, Tinker helped them out.

  “Oh, really?” Jackson asked, although he didn’t wait for an answer. “It wasn’t anything you could have done to keep it from happening. It was a night like this, and a transformer blew. It just happened at an inopportune time.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” Tinker said as he shook Jackson’s hand. “I hope we got it fixed quickly for you.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I was in the hospital for a couple of days. Broke my leg and messed up my knee, so they made me stay, at least until I had someone at home to help me out.”

  “Your wife wasn’t home when it happened?” Tinker asked.

  Abigail knew that Tinker was searching for information, and she nudged him with her elbow. Apparently, it was too hard, for Tinker nearly toppled over. Jackson grabbed hold of the man before he hit the floor.

  Once he was standing straight again, Tinker looked down at Abigail and gave her a look that said, What was that for?

  She shrugged as she looked down, shame filling her.

  “Well, guys,” Felix began, “I need to run over to the firehouse and thought perhaps you could entertain Jackson for me.”

  Abigail was surprised that her head didn’t fall off her neck with how quickly she turned to look at Felix. He was up to something, but she feared whatever it was was going to backfire since Tinker and his friend seemed more interested in each other.

  “I guess,” she said, defeat evident in her voice. “I’m sure he’ll be well taken care of.”

  Felix’s brows knit together at her words. How could he know she had a crush on the man from the minute she had seen him?

  When he headed for the door, he pulled the hood from his coat up over his head as he went, Abigail following him. Before he opened the door, he leaned over a bit and whispered in Abigail’s ear, “Don’t blow this. He’s interested, has been since the minute he saw you.”

  “But,” she began to interrupt.

  “He’s bi,” Felix went on. “Give him a chance.”

  She was still confused as to what was going on. This visit was obviously a setup. A setup that was going badly.

  The door opened, letting winter blow in in the form of snow, wind, and cold, and was closed in a moment after Felix left. Turning, she saw that Jackson and Tinker were still facing off by the fireplace.

  Shrugging, she went to the kitchen. She grabbed a soda and went to sit down at the end of the couch nearest the fireplace. Perhaps the heat would consume her, and she would turn to ashes, so she wouldn’t have to watch the scene before her.

  As if both men realized that she had sat, they finally moved. Jackson stepped around the table and went to sit next to her, crowding her in.

  “So, how are you holding up in this wicked weather?” he asked.

  He moved to cross his right leg over his left knee but stopped. The move wasn’t missed by Abigail.

  “Are you still in pain?” she asked softly as she touched his knee.

  What the hell are you doing? You can’t just go around touching men you don’t know!

  “A little,” he responded as he moved his arm around the back of the couch, above her shoulders. “The knee is the worst, so doing some of the things that I would do without thought can be difficult, and cause me pain. I have to think before I do some things.” He looked down at her, a brow raised. “Now, I asked how you were holding up in this weather.”

  She was surprised he would remember his original question after she had tried to throw the spotlight off her and onto him.

  “I’m off work for several days, so I just stay indoors. I have plenty of wood for the fire.”

  “She forgot to go grocery shopping, so we’re going to have to figure out some meals until we can get to a store,” Tinker explained for her. He had sat in her recliner that partially sat facing the fireplace this time of the year.

  “Well, why don’t we order some Chinese?” Jackson suggested. “I know I’m hungry.”

  “No!” Abigail said, her voice a bit sharp, surprising even her. “Sorry, I don’t want people out there risking their lives because I forgot to go shopping. I’m sure I can fix a meal with what’s in the kitchen.”

  Both Jackson and Tinker were looking at her as if she had grown a second head. However, the green-eyed monster had taken control of her, and she nearly didn’t care.

  Jackson leaned in so that his mouth was near her ear. She smelled his minty breath as he moved. “Do you really want to make an issue out of something so miniscule?” he asked in a whisper.

  Surprised when her eyes lowered and she was filled with shame, she nearly shouted at him to leave if he didn’t like how she was speaking in her own home. A quick glance at Tinker told her she overreacting.

  Confusion reigned within her. She always deferred to the men that she had dated, not wanting to have to make so many decisions with them around.

  Abigail had everything planned out for herself when she was growing up. Getting good grades was more important than going out and spending time with friends. Her weekends were spent studying for extra credit rather than going to the movies. When she did go out on a date, she felt awkward, so dates were few and far between.

  Medicine had called to her. She had been on the right track when her world fell apart. In her first year of med school, she had gotten a call from the Denver police department telling her that her parents had been killed by a drunk driver. In one minute, her life had stopped.

  There were two siblings that she needed to finish raising. Her brother had been fifteen and her sister twelve. Abigail had to make sure they had the education they needed to survive in life. While she did what she could to keep their lives at some kind of normalcy, there were moments when she felt jealous of them.

  Quitting med school just about killed her, especially after all that she had given up. Since her siblings were older and were in school, which she made sure they attended, the counselor at the university had talked her into retaining some of the classes she had already taken and continuing to become an emergency medical technician. Being able to help others as she had intended in the first place was a good start, and perhaps, somewhere down the road, she could finish med school.

  Now, her brother, Jake, was in the Army and intending to make a career out of it, and her sister, Jennifer, had chosen to be a hair stylist. They had lived off the life insurance policies, and there was still money being saved for Jennifer in case she wanted to go to college at some point. The sale of the house was difficult in the current real estate market, so for the time being, it was there for Jake when he came back on leave, and Jennifer was living there since the shop she worked at was only a few miles away. Abigail lived where she did because it was closer to the station and not so far away from Loveland.

  With her schedule being as grueling as it was, Abigail didn’t date much. When she did, deferring to the guy gave her an out. It was easy to let him do the picking of the restaurant or the movie. She could get out of her head for a while and relax.

  Sitting next to Jackson, she felt as if he wanted her to defer to him. With all the erotica she had been reading since that fateful night six weeks ago, she now knew that where they had picked up Jackson was a BDSM club. Seeing all those dildos and butt plugs, she had to wonder if he used those types of toys on a woman—or man, if her intuition was correct about him liking Tinker.

  The way he was sitting next to her, his body caging her in
, she felt he was very dominant. The way he spoke to her, he wasn’t talking down to her, but to her, and playing on her demure nature.

  “I’m sorry,” she offered. “I just don’t want people jeopardizing their lives just to bring food. I’ve seen too much out there.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Do you mind if I look through your kitchen to see what all you have?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, she gave in. “Sure.”

  “Why don’t I see what you have, Abi, and if we need to add to it, we can see what I have,” Tinker said as he eyed Jackson. “If you’re in pain, you rest.”

  “I’m not in that much pain. Plus, the doctor told me I needed to go back to my normal routine.” Jackson explained what Abigail already knew. When a person was injured, they needed to be active as soon as possible to keep atrophy from setting in.

  “Well, I’ll scope out the food, and we can go from there.” Tinker stood as he spoke.

  Watching him walk to the kitchen, Abigail found nothing different about the way he walked. He was the manliest gay man she had ever met. She often wondered about him, if perhaps he liked women instead of men, but after that first day and seeing his boyfriend kiss him as if there wasn’t going to be a tomorrow, she was confused.

  “All right,” Jackson said as he let his free hand drift across his body and touch Abigail’s hand. “So, you don’t get like, called in during weather like this?” he asked her as Tinker disappeared into the kitchen.

  “Sometimes. I’m hoping not tonight.” She shrugged as she spoke. “Tinker has more of a chance to get called out than I do.”

  “Oh? What does he do?”

  “He works for the power company. I’m surprised he was able to come home when he did with the weather the way it is.” She didn’t know why she was telling him Tinker’s information, but the way Jackson was looking at her, it felt as if she was supposed to talk to him. “He also tinkers around with wood and makes things.”

  “We have a gentleman at the club who makes wood items also. Paddles and other devices to be used in play.” Jackson didn’t seem to have a problem with talking about where he worked. When she didn’t respond, his left brow rose challengingly.

  Chapter Two

  Abigail was at a loss for words. There was no way she was going to interact with the handsome man sitting next to her about paddles, and other things.

  She had seen the unmentionable items scattered across the floor that night, and she had many dreams about Jackson using them on her. Many nights she had woken from dreams that had her masturbating in her sleep. The connection she had with this man was a mystery to her, and one she feared.

  Jackson’s face was so close to hers that she could feel his breathing. That cobalt stare was back under light brown brows. Abigail felt the need to squirm when he was watching her, especially when he quirked that brow. Not only did he look intimidating, but he looked sexy as hell also.

  He looked like a bad boy with his thick light brown hair streaked with blond which she wanted to run her fingers through. The scruff of his beard gave him the air of a man who has been preoccupied for several days with a woman, and she had to wonder if he took a woman’s aroma with him after being with her.

  A smile appeared on his lips as she heard her name being called. Mentally shaking out of her thoughts, she looked over at Tinker who was leaning against the end of the kitchen wall. His amusement showed just as much as Jackson’s did.

  “Wh-what?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound like a complete idiot.

  “You have a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce, but no noodles. Why don’t I go down to my apartment and get some? I also have a loaf of French bread.”

  “Do you need some help?” Jackson asked quickly, driving a stake of jealousy through Abigail’s heart.

  Jumping to her feet, she started heading toward her room, blinking back tears that were threatening to fall. “You know, I’m not hungry. Why don’t you take the sauce with you and cook for Mr. Malone at your place? I’m going to go to bed early.”

  It was hard to say why she was feeling this way since there had been no words spoken about anything happening between them. She had developed some type of feelings for Jackson in just the little bit of time she had spent with him, just like she had been interested in Tinker the first time she had seen him. And now, just like three years ago when she had met the latter, a man swept in to grab hold of her feelings, toss them to the floor, and conduct a Flamenco dance on them.

  Bypassing a stunned Tinker, she made it about halfway down her hallway before she came to a halt. Jackson had ordered firmly, “Abigail, stop!”

  She didn’t know why she listened to him. He had no hold over her, or at least, she thought so.

  “Get back here, and drop the attitude.” His voice was low and dominant, speaking directly to her cunt.

  Her body was reacting to the man. Her nipples were hard under her sweater, and she had to hope no one noticed since she wasn’t wearing a bra. Cream was leaking from her pussy, moistening her panties. Thankfully her pants were dark.

  The debate going on in her head was epic, even though she knew it took place within a matter of seconds.

  How dare he speak to me like that! God, he’s so fucking sexy when he’s demanding! I’m not some little slave he can order around! You know damn well you want him! You want him to take you, tie you up, spank you, and fuck you till you can’t move anymore! Admit it!

  “Please?” he asked, his voice kinder and gentler than before.

  This whole time, she hadn’t heard Tinker move or speak. He hadn’t come to her defense, and that hurt.

  Abigail spun around and found Jackson standing closer to the hallway entrance. Letting her anger and confusion drive her, she stomped down the hall toward him. The closer she got, the bigger he seemed, and the slower she found her steps to be.

  His face was set, determination written on it. The stance he held was intimidating, his feet spread, and his hands behind his back.

  When she stood before him, she was at a loss for words. A glance to her left to see what Tinker was doing ended in surprise when she found her friend kneeling on the floor. His knees were spread shoulder width apart, and his hands were behind his back. Tinker had his head bowed, and Abigail knew from the books she was reading lately that it was a pose of submission.

  It didn’t surprise her that Tinker was a submissive. When he was with his men friends, she could see the submissive side of him. That he knew to take the stance near a Dominant did surprise her.

  “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Abigail demanded.

  She was angry. Angry that he had the nerve to come into her home and immediately take control. He had somehow intimidated Tinker, her friend, not his, into thinking he needed to defer to Jackson.

  Jackson continued to stand before her. The only thing that moved was the left brow that arched.

  A couple of moments passed before he took a step toward her. His normal cobalt-blue eyes were now the color of sapphires, showing his anger. Or, it could possibly be from arousal.

  God, she was so confused.

  The urge to laugh at the situation that was unfolding before her was overwhelming. She had to wonder if Felix had set her up.

  “What do you know about BDSM, Abigail?” Jackson finally asked, not moving an inch.

  Well, that’s not what she expected to hear from him.

  “Um,” she began, not certain what she was going to say. Be truthful, or fib? Fib! “I’ve read a little about it in the romance books I read.”

  Damn you! Why are you sabotaging me?

  “And what it the first rule about it?” Mr. Hunky, sex on a stick, asked.

  She had to think for a moment. She tried to look over at Tinker, but Jackson moved quickly, his right hand coming out and sliding across her left cheek. He guided her face back to where she was looking at him.

  “This is between you and me, Abigail. I’ll get to Mr. Tinker later.” As he spoke in that velvety smooth baritone
voice of his, Abigail found herself getting wetter. “Now, I asked you a question.”

  Taking a deep breath, Abigail answered, “Communication.”

  “Good girl,” Jackson praised. The kind words went straight to her girly parts. They didn’t need any more encouragement to get any harder, or wetter, but that’s what they were doing.

  “But, we aren’t in a BDSM relationship,” she pointed out. Quit poking the bear!

  Jackson’s face broke out in that dazzling smile. “No. We aren’t,” he said, letting his hand fall down to hers. He wrapped his large hand that was calloused in all the right places around her smaller one and began to lead her to the couch that she had no more than a few minutes ago vacated.

  “No, we aren’t.” He waited for her to sit down. Once she was sitting, he resumed his place next to her. His right arm found its way around her shoulders. “But, ever since seeing you that night at the club, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

  Trying to hide her surprise at his words, she knew she didn’t do a very good job of it for his brow quirked up again.

  “Honestly,” he continued. “I wanted to contact you long before now, but I knew I needed to recuperate before I came to you. I dreamed about you at night. I dreamt of doing wicked things to you. I want to take you to the club and show you off, and then do a scene with you.”

  She snorted as she laughed. “You haven’t even seen my body. I’m sure there are more beautiful skinny women at your club that you could play with.”

  His left hand reached out and softly gripped her chin. “Do not ever degrade yourself in my presence. I like your body, from what I saw. You have curves that most men want. A real woman has curves. I don’t want a woman who is so skinny I’m afraid I’ll break her when I play with her, or make love to her. You are a real woman.” He spoke with conviction which touched her. “You are a beautiful vibrant woman from what I have seen so far. You have a fire within you and are willing to stand up for yourself. I may be dominant, Abigail, but I don’t want subs who are doormats.”