Epilogue
Jazz
The next six weeks flew by, and Jazz’s life changed more than she thought possible in such a short period of time. It had started with the interview she did. Her mother and sister were arrested and were awaiting trial for fraud. It seemed that she was only one in a line of people they’d blackmailed to get money from. She was going to have to be a witness at their trial, and though she wasn’t looking forward to it, she knew it needed to be done. If there was any silver lining in the entire horrid story it was the fact that Leah had broken down and admitted the abuse she had suffered at the hands of both her mother and David. She was now in court-mandated therapy, and although Leah was not free to carry on as if nothing had happened, Jazz held out hope that someday she’d get her little sister back.
With a little research, they were able to find out what happened to David. Michael hired a PI who dug into the public records and informed them that David had been arrested six months before the articles started. He had hurt a young girl who turned out to be the granddaughter of the state’s attorney. He wasn’t going to see the light of day again for a long time, that was if the inmates let him survive, because everyone knew how they treated men who hurt children.
Jazz wanted to feel good about the information she’d learned, but the guilt was hard to get past. If she’d been able to do something about him herself, then that young girl would never have been hurt, and she still didn’t know if he’d done anything to Leah though she suspected he had. She was working through her feelings in counseling and trying to understand that she’d been a child herself. Michael was her rock and she was stronger every day at his side.
Michael had gotten the paperwork for the sale of his half of the practice started, and this time next month, he would be a free man. Jazz would continue to write and produce for others as long as they wanted her to, and by the looks of the waiting list she had, that wasn’t going to be a problem. Her worries had been unfounded, something which she should have realized. After all, people in the music industry never cared about other peoples’ sex lives anyway.
Their relationship had improved since she had been honest with him about what she wanted, and they’d sat down and gone over everything all over again as if they were starting their relationship from the beginning. It was a fresh start, and they both felt a sense of freedom they hadn’t realized was missing before. Michael had even made reservations to return to Rawhide Ranch in the new year so she could see her friends again and have some time to play with them. And this time they wouldn’t have all the drama surrounding them.
“Michael, we need to leave for the venue in the next twenty minutes. We have sound checks and all the pre-concert things that need to get done.” Jazz went through the house looking for her Dom. He was usually ready well ahead of time, but she wasn’t sure where he was.
Today was the day of the benefit concert, and the nerves were starting to set in. She was equal parts nervous and excited. She loved performing even if it did exhaust her, but it had been almost two years since she’d been on stage, and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself.
“I’m in here. Come join me for a minute, please,” Michael called from their playroom. That was one of the changes they’d made since returning home. Though they still went to Black Light often, Michael had converted the den to a playroom, so they could explore that side of their lives together more fully.
“Yes, Sir?” she asked as she entered the room, her headspace immediately changing as she did. Something about being there with him made her want to submit to him in every way, and that made her heart happy.
“You owe me a debt, my Pixie girl, and I’ve chosen tonight as the perfect time for you to pay up.” He grinned at her.
She knew that look. It was his “I’m going to fuck with you” look so she knew she was in trouble, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why.
“I don’t understand, Sir. What kind of debt do I owe? I’ve been a good girl and obeyed your rules.” She really had. When he called her a good girl, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and she lived for those words, so she worked hard to make sure she got to hear them.
“That’s true, you are my good girl, but I want you to think really hard. Could there be a time when you disobeyed, and I told you that you were going to owe me a punishment when I thought the time was right?” he asked.
Oh shit, he couldn’t mean what she thought he was talking about.
“I see it on your face, you remember. Now tell me, what is it that you owe me a punishment for?”
“I disobeyed and took my phone to Rawhide when you told me to leave it at home.”
“That’s right, my sweet little subbie. So now it’s time to pay the piper.”
“But tonight is my concert, and we have to leave in twenty minutes now or I’ll be late,” she whined.
“No worries, this won’t take long. Take your shirt off.”
She thought about arguing with him, but she knew in the end he would win. She loved his playful side and knew he would never do anything to jeopardize her career, so she decided to just trust him.
After pulling her shirt over her head, he took it from her and laid it on the chair behind him. “Arms behind your back please.”
She did as he asked placing her arms at the small of her back. She was now beyond curious as to what he had planned for her, but remained quiet, as she knew that was what he expected of her.
He pulled her breasts from the cups of her bra, torturing her nipples by twisting and pinching each of them before bending over and taking turns licking and biting each. “Do you have any idea how much I adore these breasts? They are so beautiful. In fact, they deserve to be adorned, don’t you think?” He turned to the table behind him and returned with his hand closed.
“You see, I’ve always thought you needed more jewels, in fact, I want to drape you in them, but you’ve been reluctant to let me spend my money on you. Then recently with the change in our relationship, I realized that as your Dom, I get to treat my good girl in any way I would like to, and unless you use your safe word, you get to accept my gifts with a grateful heart.”
He pinched her right nipple, this time it was hard enough to make her moan. “So, as your punishment, and to remind you who you belong to, tonight until the end of the concert, you are going to wear this beautiful jewelry I had made especially for you.” He opened his hand in in his palm sat two diamond-encrusted nipple clamps.
“Are you serious? You want me to wear them all night?” She blurted out without thinking.
“What makes you think I wouldn’t be serious?” he asked. “Now hold still, I wouldn’t want you to be late. You know L.A. traffic; we need to get going.”
He set about putting on each clamp which was round and surrounded by diamonds like a ring. Each had a small chain that hung down, and when he was finished, he tucked them into her bra, and she could feel them moving around in each cup. She would be unable to move at all throughout the night without feeling the clamps, which would have her turned on all night long. Damn him.
“You are even more beautiful when you are flushed, you know that?” He helped her with her shirt then led her from the room. “Let’s get out of here, we’ve got places to go and things to do.” He laughed. She couldn’t help but think how much lighter he seemed since they’d returned home from Montana.
The next several hours were a whirlwind, and her twenty-minute set went by without a hitch. She finished it with the world premiere of her song “Justifying Jazz” which she sung to a standing-room only crowd.
Jazz had recorded the song prior to the concert and sold the single with all proceeds going to Project Trevor. In fact, her proceeds would continue to go to that worthy cause indefinitely.
Stepping off the stage, she ran first into Jamie and Dom. “Pretty girl, that was amazing! Are you sure you don’t want to start touring again? I heard a rumor that man of yours is planning his retirement. He could always go with you.” Jamie hugged her tight against him.
“Yes, I loved every minute of it, but no, I have no plans to ever go back on the road. I love my life just as it is and see no reason to change it.”
“Well, I can see one reason to change it,” Michael interrupted, pulling her from her best friend’s arms.
“I don’t understand, why would you want to change our lives?” She turned to face him. They’d had too much change of late, and they had finally found their groove, what could he possibly be talking about now?
“Well, I told you of my plans to drape you in jewels, right?”
Now she was really confused. “Yes?”
“I think it would be best to start with this one.” He took her left hand an slid a large cushion-cut diamond ring on a very important finger.
She stared at it, unable to speak.
“Marry me,” he said. It was not a question. Of course, it wasn’t.
“Are you seriously doing this backstage at a concert?” Jamie asked.
“It seemed like the right time. Besides, I’m not taking no for an answer, so she might as well say yes now, before I kidnap her and do wicked things to her until she agrees.”
Jazz continued to stare at the ring. She’d always seen her future with Michael, but never thought he wanted to get married, so she stood there in shock.
“Jazzy girl, I think you need to answer him. If you want to say no, just let me know and I’ll help you escape.” Jamie nudged her.
“Like I would ever tell this man no. He stole my heart three years ago on Valentine’s night and never gave it back.” She turned to Michael. “You weren’t asking as much as demanding, but in case there was an actual question buried in there somewhere, yes, I will.”