Chapter Five
Merrick
An entire month passed since Tamsyn’s arrival and everything was… perfect.
Well, as perfect as it could be when a man wasn’t having sex, Merrick thought, lifting a hand to Jonah as he passed through the bar. In the two weeks since she signed the NDA, they’d figured out a pretty solid routine.
He came to work, did his job with the same attention to detail as always, but he didn’t touch any of the guests in a sexual manner. He flogged, whipped, caned, and bound them, brought them to orgasm with every single toy at his disposal, only now he denied them his hands, his mouth, and most definitely his cock.
When he went home, Tamsyn was waiting for him. She’d started cleaning the cabin, rendering housekeeping useless because her attention to detail left nothing for them to do. She cooked for him every day, presenting plates of food with a beaming smile, her need to please shining in her eyes.
She was one hell of a goddamn cook.
They spent an hour every day on the books he’d bought her, teaching her how to read—which was more difficult than he imagined when she couldn’t sound out the words for him to praise or correct—or focusing on her writing lessons.
There was the greatest desire to learn inside her. Whatever he taught her, she soaked up like a sponge, drinking in knowledge greedily. She listened to his stories adoringly, her attention rapt and always locked on him.
After her lessons, they watched TV for a while, or she curled up on the couch beside him, her stuffie under her arm, as he read more advanced books to her. Oddly, it was probably the time of day when he felt most relaxed, at peace with everything and everyone.
A week ago, he’d stopped sleeping in the armchair in the living room.
The first night, Tamsyn woke screaming a half-dozen times, her subconscious driving her to the very edge of the mattress. Gradually, she’d come closer and closer to him in sleep until, this morning, he woke with her snuggled under his arm, her butt teasing his cock.
They were making progress on all fronts, and he was pleased, despite the fact she now refused to leave the cabin. Her membership was all set up, ready for her if she wanted to venture out, but the orgy night had sent her scurrying back into her hidey hole where she felt safest.
In one short hour, he’d head home to upset the apple cart, so to speak. There would be no lesson in writing full sentences or reading a segment from one of her books.
Her blank limits list was burning a hole in his back pocket, and it was beyond time he led her gently into his world. Going through the list one by one and explaining what each one entailed probably wasn’t going to happen in one night; he didn’t want to blow her mind or scare the shit out of her, so patience was key.
His radio crackled. “Merrick?”
Because he was in a good mood, Merrick didn’t grunt at the Master of Security. “Yeah.”
“Need you in the clubhouse.”
His schedule was clear until the end of his shift now. He’d made two women very happy and given a Dom a crash course in how not to fling a single-tail whip around like a drunken frat boy. The fool thought he was fucking Indiana Jones; his sub hadn’t agreed with that notion when he managed to leave a nasty cut around the side of her hip.
“On my way.”
Luck was on his side today. He’d drawn an early shift, which meant he could be home at six instead of two, giving him some much needed downtime with Tamsyn. Stepping over the threshold to the cabin drained all his stress, tension, and frustration from the day like pulling a plug, even though it was immediately replaced with a deeper, more intense sexual frustration.
Merrick was still figuring out how to get around the pesky issue of his little owl’s virginity. In his mind, she was his now. All his denials, his determination to be nothing more than a supportive stepping stone in her life, his insistence he was not the right man for her, were dust in the wind.
He was the right man for her, just not in bed.
Not the first time.
Maybe not the second or third.
When he walked into the clubhouse and pushed through the double swing doors into the bar, he saw one of the reasons why he needed to be extra careful with Tamsyn.
Liam, Mack, and their beautiful new bride, Sierra, were behind the bar.
Back where they belonged, he thought as a grin spread over his face.
They’d gone home to Phoenix for Christmas, and to get married on New Year’s Eve in front of their family there. They were supposed to be back here weeks ago, but when they hadn’t returned, he’d simply assumed they were either taking an extended honeymoon… or they’d decided their Arizona roots were calling them home to stay.
Merrick had been part of a five-Master intervention for Sierra a couple months back. Suffering from hirsutism, she was cursed—or blessed, depending on how one looked at it—with a pretty auburn beard to match her hair.
Bullies had been so cruel to her, she’d dropped into a listless funk, briefly reverting to suicidal inclinations, and Liam organized the intervention swiftly. He’d rallied Merrick, Levi, and Fordham to the cause, using Shibari and sex to hammer some home truths into the girl.
Merrick had taken her after Liam; neither of Sierra’s new husbands were deficient in the cock department, yet he’d struggled to get inside that snug pussy without hurting her. Of course, by the time he was done with her, she’d been drooling.
He grinned at the memory.
Grit caught sight of him and jerked his thumb up in approval before leaning over the bar for… was that a karaoke mic? Feedback screeched through the room speakers, silencing every conversation, and he grimaced. “Now that we’re all deaf, can I please have your attention for a minute.”
All eyes were on him as requested.
“Now I know many of you haven’t met our resident bartender, Master Liam, or his fellow Daddy Dom, Master Mack. So it gives me great pleasure to introduce you all to Mr., Mr., and Mrs. Carradine-Morehead.”
A row of spotlights lit up behind the bar as a small explosion of colored confetti and white glitter deployed with a poof above the happy trio’s heads. Giggling madly, Sierra spun in a giddy circle, holding her hands palms-up to catch the shiny debris.
Thinking of the shy, withdrawn sub she’d been just before Christmas, Merrick decided marriage was definitely good for her. Maybe it was the security of the ring on her finger or the lifelong commitment of the men by her side, but she was thriving.
Whistles and applause rang out—it was a good crowd of guests tonight.
A couple at the end of the bar snagged Merrick’s attention. The Dom was close to six feet, his back to Merrick. Fit and lean, he carried the bearing of a man who was comfortable in his skin, wearing dominance like a crown. But it was the shock of white-blond hair that piqued Merrick’s curiosity.
He only knew one other person whose hair came close to that color.
The man’s partner was on the shorter side, her own blonde hair tumbling to her shoulders in darker shades. Her profile was familiar—Merrick was sure he’d seen her here before, but couldn’t quite place her.
Grit strode over. “Nice to have them back, right? Jonah’s learning but he still hasn’t mastered Liam’s charm yet.”
“Bartending with social anxiety can’t be easy.” Merrick glanced at Sierra and smiled. “Don’t know who’ll be happier—Sierra being reunited with her stuffies, or the horde of Littles waiting for the Sanctuary to open again.”
“There’s definitely been some disappointed Littles over the past few weeks,” Grit agreed, then lifted his hand to gesture to the couple Merrick had been watching. “I’d like you to meet some friends of mine, Merrick. I worked with them both for years in Phoenix.”
Oh, that’s where he’d seen them before—twice, actually. The first time was when Tabitha returned to Serenity after a long, grueling absence that almost ruined Grit. The second was the night of Liam, Mack, and Sierra’s engagement.
“Thought they looked familiar.”
Merrick folded his arms over his chest as the pair approached, measuring the Dom. He had the stealth and grace of a leopard prowling through a jungle. Every step held a purpose. But it was his eyes, sharp and blue, that were a weapon all their own.
“Archie, J, this is Merrick.” Grit flicked his hand toward his friends. “Merrick, meet Anarchy and Jasper Fairfax.”
“We’ve heard good things about you,” Jasper said smoothly.
Big brown eyes shining with intrigue, Anarchy nodded. “Sorry we’re late. We were supposed to be here two weeks ago but our oldest gremlin made a grievous life error by attempting to achieve global domination from the garage roof.”
“I, uh…” Baffled, Merrick frowned. “Sorry?”
Jasper rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Don’t be. Kaylyn is a law unto herself. This month’s ambition is to become the supreme global leader by the time she reaches ten. Apparently POTUS doesn’t have nearly enough panache for her.”
Anarchy laughed. “I think we’re confusing him, Jasper. He doesn’t know the players in our weird and wonderful family game.”
“Ah, of course. Kaylyn and her sister, Mia, are our twins. They’re almost six. We have a son, Callum, who is eighteen months younger, and prefers building things to plotting mass destruction.” Jasper smirked, hooking his arm around his wife’s waist. “Number four is due in May,” he added in an undertone, “although we haven’t made an announcement yet for… reasons.”
“Sierra?” Grit asked.
“Yeah.” Anarchy teared up. “It feels like a crime to celebrate a fourth child when she’s struggling to conceive even one. So Jasper and I celebrated in our own way until we can share the news with our friends.”
“Hell, guys, congratulations.” Cleverly, Grit stepped forward to hug and kiss Anarchy, then slapped a back on Jasper’s shoulder as though simply welcoming his friends after not seeing them for a while. “The secret is safe with us, right, Merrick?”
“We’re a vault,” he answered dryly. “Congratulations, truly.”
“Thank you. So yes, we were supposed to be here a couple weeks ago, but Kaylyn’s brain thought that in order to attain global control, she needed to rise above everyone else, and the highest point she could reach was the garage roof. She seized control for about ten minutes, according to our nanny, before she fell off the roof into the shrubbery.” Archie rolled amused brown eyes at the antics of her daughter. “Kaylyn broke her arm, the nanny quit, and chaos yet again descended.”
The kid sounded badass, Merrick thought in approval, but he still wasn’t sure why they got the impression he was expecting them at all, let alone earlier.
“Merrick, Archie is my contact,” Grit said quietly.
His—oh, shit. Somehow, he’d forgotten all about that conversation. Or maybe he just didn’t want to think about finding out where Tamsyn came from, having a face to blame for the fear she lived with when her triggers fired.
“You’re the contact?” Merrick asked dubiously, giving her a more thorough assessment. Where were the nerd clothes, the blatant homage to everything tech? Weren’t hackers supposed to be… more out there?
“Not your typical computer geek, right?” Unoffended, Archie grinned. “Trust me, it’s not the first time I’ve been underestimated. Grit thought you might be hard to convince I’m the one you need, so I hacked into your bank account for a peek. How does a guy who works at a BDSM resort get so flush?”
Merrick waited, silently daring her to expose his finances.
Her grin widened, screaming Brat! “I’m not going to blurt out your personal wealth, Merrick. Your middle name, however, is fair game, right?”
Fuck. She wouldn’t.
She was bluffing, he told himself, and she had a damn good poker face at her disposal. There was no way she could know his middle name, because it didn’t exist anymore. He’d made sure of it before he left New York City nearly fifteen years ago.
“Merrick Coleman,” she intoned as though reading from a data sheet. “Born Merrick Coxswain Coleman—”
Grit made a noise like he was choking on a ghost pepper, his eyes widening before he pointedly averted his gaze.
“—to Thomas Coleman and Maryann Coleman, nee Sheridan. Two brothers—Thomas Junior and Reginald Tyrone.” Anarchy paused, meeting Merrick’s eyes with direct amusement. “Is that enough of a reference or shall I continue? I can pretty much relay all your family tree back to around 1957.”
There were two choices at hand; he could get really mad and affronted that she’d hacked into his life, digging into data she shouldn’t be able to get her hands on, or he could be impressed with her dedication.
Bowing his head to her, he heard her laugh in delight. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“Bet you are, Coxswain .” Barely biting back a grin of his own, Grit shot Merrick a faux curious look. “Now, is that spelled with a ck or an x ?”
“That depends on whether or not I knock your front teeth out.” He lifted an eyebrow at Anarchy. “You really think you can find Tamsyn’s background?”
“If it’s there to find. I’d really like to meet her first, get a feel for her.”
Merrick frowned. “Tonight?”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough,” Jasper interjected. “This is a working vacation, kitten, which means I want to enjoy some time with my wife before she gets sucked into her laptop.” He bent and kissed her neck, adding a possessive bite to punctuate the sentence. “I hear Serenity has a fully equipped dungeon.”
A shiver ripped through the blonde, but her attention diverted swiftly as, per Liam’s normal habit, music filtered through the speakers.
Merrick hadn’t realized he’d missed that routine in the Master’s absence; Jonah tended to play classical shit, which was all well and good for some moods, but became a little monotonous on an everyday, week after week basis.
Liam’s playlists were diverse, switching from upbeat pop music to country, rock to the occasional burst of heavy metal.
As Zayde W?lf’s Walk Through The Fire drifted through the bar, Anarchy’s eyes lit up. She grabbed her husband’s hand, gazing up at him with an expression that struck Merrick in the heart—he knew that look.
Deep, profound love. The kind that weathered any storm and tethered the heart involved like an anchor sinking into the ocean floor to hold fast no matter what.
He knew it because he saw it every day, directed at him.
“Dance with me, Jasper.” Anarchy set his hand on her waist, then wrapped her arms around him, drawing the sadist into a slow, circling shuffle of feet as they swayed together.
Some of the ingrained frost in those blue eyes melted. The man himself softened a few degrees, taking the lead as his arms shifted to hold her more securely. “This isn’t a dancefloor, kitten.”
“Do I look like I care?” She sighed contentedly.
Jasper chuckled and pressed a kiss to her head before slanting a glance at Grit and Merrick. “Excuse us. Merrick, we’ll catch up on business in the morning?”
“Yeah, sure.”
His head was still reeling with the epiphany of what had been staring him in the face every morning over breakfast, in bed, while they watched a movie or he was teaching Tamsyn the basics of what every child should know.
It wasn’t adoration or a simple infatuation.
It wasn’t a little crush.
It wasn’t a survivor’s need to cling to the first solid connection she found.
For whatever reason, Tamsyn deemed him worthy enough to take possession of her heart and care for it, which was fucking terrifying, if he was honest. It wasn’t all banged up and cracked, bruised and dinted from previous relationships.
Despite her physical self being all those things, her heart was pristine, with barely a scuff mark marring the surface, full of innocence and untarnished passion. He felt the metaphorical weight of it in his hands, imagined it resting in his cupped palms like a goddamn grenade ready to detonate and blow them both to smithereens.
There was no going back now.
Rejecting her would do the one thing he wanted to prevent at all costs.
Merrick snorted at his own stupidity. Why the hell was he thinking about rejecting her at all when his own heart was so tied up in her, he’d have to incinerate it to even begin getting over her? Razing it to ash probably wouldn’t work anyway—she was too rooted everywhere else, wasn’t she?
She only needed to be in the same room for his skin to prickle with awareness and the hairs on his arms and neck to rise. The simple touch of her hand on his arm made his muscles tighten as though he’d stuck his finger into a mains socket. The noises she made as she tried to regain her voice brought his cock standing to its full, throbbing capacity.
Christ, he’d masturbated in the shower, ejaculating over the wall, with only her eyes as his fantasy.
He was beyond obsession with her; he was in over his goddamn head.
“Uh oh, I recognize that look.” Slapping him on the back, Grit raised his eyebrows. “Just figured it out, huh?”
There was no point denying it. “Guess I did.”
“Not that you’re asking, but I think she suits you. Loving a woman changes a guy on a basic level anyway, brings out our primal, possessive instincts, but something switched in you over the past month. Looks good on you, buddy.”
Merrick grunted.
Checking his watch, Grit lifted a shoulder. “I start at six—want me to cover your last half hour? She’s been on her own all day; must get lonely for her.”
“Gonna take you up on that offer. Thanks.”
“Have a good night, Co—”
Merrick jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t.”
After welcoming Liam and his family home, congratulating them on their wedding, Merrick headed for the door.
Tonight, he and his little owl were moving forward.
*