CHAPTER 33
Zeke
“You can’t turn your back on them, Zeke,” Jamie pleaded.
She had spent the past twenty minutes attempting to make me see reason. The only thing I saw was a kid sister sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.
“They’ve got each other,” I told her. “They don’t need me.”
Even as I said it, the words hurt.
Jamie’s eyes widened. “Is that what you think? That you’re the third wheel here?”
“It’s not what I think, Jamie. It’s what I know. They’ll find another Dom who can give them what they need. I’m done.”
My sister’s cheeks darkened, and I could feel the anger inside her. I rarely saw her pissed off, but it appeared I’d pushed her to her breaking point.
Her voice lowered. “You’re an asshole, Zeke.”
“Yes, I am.” That wasn’t news to me.
“Have you talked to them at all?”
“No.” And that was the whole point. I wasn’t supposed to get close to them.
“Do you honestly not see that all three of you are the third wheel?”
That made absolutely no sense.
“That’s what happens when three people are in a relationship, Zeke. There’s no longer a couple. It’s now a triad. It’s hard enough for two people to form a bond. When there are three … it requires more work.”
Jamie sounded oddly as though she knew from experience. I kept my eyes pinned on her. “How do you know that?”
For a moment, she broke the staring contest, her gaze dropping to her lap.
“Just trust me, Zeke. You have to put effort into any relationship.”
“See, that’s where you’re confused,” I stated hotly. “There’s not a relationship here.”
Her anger was back. “Bullshit! I’ve seen the way they look at you. And I’ve seen the way you look at them. You might want to pretend you don’t care, but you’re full of shit.”
We were back to that again. Jamie had ensured she told me as much several times throughout this ridiculous conversation.
“I have work to do,” I told her as I sat up in my chair. “I get that you’re pissed at me, but you’re not gonna change my mind.”
“Have you ever asked Case why he needs you to hit him?” she asked, her tone suddenly changing.
I frowned. “Why would I?”
Her eyes softened. “There’s something you don’t know about him, Zeke.”
I tried to hide my curiosity as best I could, but my sister saw through it. Still, I kept my mouth shut.
“After the first time I came over and I found out they were living with you, I decided to do some digging. I know how you are. I know you don’t refer to them by name because you want to keep your distance. Which meant I had to be the one to protect you in the event they weren’t on the up and up.”
“You watch too much television,” I told her. “I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
“Oh, I know. And what I found out certainly doesn’t put you at risk. However, I get the feeling Brax doesn’t even know.”
I kept my expression neutral. I wanted her to tell me, but I wasn’t about to ask.
“Because if he did,” Jamie continued, “he wouldn’t expect Case to sleep in a cage beneath your bed.”
I frowned.
“Yes, I know about that, Zeke.” She rolled her eyes. “You might think I’m some sweet, innocent kid, but I’ve got as much darkness in me as you do. Only mine doesn’t involve me wanting to hit someone or have them hit me. Why do you think I pursued psychology?”
“Because it interests you.”
“It does. The human brain is fascinating. The way people respond to their surroundings, how they deal with the things that happen to them … I find it riveting. But it was my own desires that drove me to pursue it, Zeke. I’ve never once wondered why you want to beat on a submissive.
I never questioned it. That says as much about me as it does about you.
However, I think some have reasons. Not everyone is simply born with those desires.
I don’t think I was. And I think Case’s experiences have made him the way he is, too. ”
Fucking hell. This was a conversation I could’ve lived my entire life without having.
It wasn’t so much what Jamie said about Case that bothered me.
More so, what she was admitting about herself.
I’d always seen her as the kid with the pigtails and the sassy mouth, the girl who looked up to me because I was her big brother.
This woman sitting in front of me looked older, wiser, and far more in tune with herself than I thought possible.
“You might be able to blow them off, but I don’t think they deserve it.
You owe them an explanation. You can’t change your past, Zeke.
You can’t go back and change the fact that Matt hurt you.
But you can move forward. You can find the happiness you’ve always sought.
” Jamie pushed to her feet, her eyes glassy.
“In fact, I think you’ve already found it, but you’re too damn stubborn to see what’s right in front of you. ”
Ah, damn. I wasn’t sure I could handle my baby sister crying. Please don’t cry. Please don’t fucking cry.
Jamie straightened her spine. “It’s fine if you want to be selfish.
But remember, you’re no longer the only person who’ll get hurt.
Those two have feelings for you, and if you’re not careful, you might push them to do the one thing you claim you want them to do.
” She turned toward the door. “And when they walk away, they won’t be coming back, Zeke. ”
Jamie slipped out the door, closing it behind her. I stared at it for several minutes, her words sinking in. I glanced over at my computer. I considered pulling up a search on Case. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to find out the details Jamie had evidently unearthed.
However, that wasn’t my style. I didn’t like when people snooped into my business. And that meant if I was going to assuage this curiosity, I was going to have to address the situation directly.
I yanked open the desk drawer and grabbed my keys.
The least I could do was stop running. That wasn’t the way I was programmed. I faced issues head-on, so why would I stop now?
Brax (the cowboy)
I was sitting at Zeke’s kitchen table, scanning the Internet for houses.
While I didn’t want to leave Zeke, I knew Case was right.
The man had asked us to go, and it was rude to stay when it was evident he didn’t want us here.
I had held my ground for the past two days, but I knew it would come to an end eventually.
I wasn’t strong enough to power through those thick walls Zeke had built around himself.
Going back to the apartment wasn’t an option.
While Ben had assured me it was still available when I called him earlier, I couldn’t possibly put Case through that one more time, let alone many.
I’d never seen him react to anything like that before, and I wasn’t sure I could bear to witness it again.
So the only option I had was to find a place for us to go. Buying a place was ideal, but that meant finding somewhere to stay in the meantime. We could stay in a hotel for a few weeks if we had to, but I was hoping to avoid that at all costs.
The sound of a vehicle pulling up caught my attention, and I pushed to my feet to see who it was. Case had insisted he had to go for a training session with Trent, although he’d told me this morning he didn’t have one scheduled. Figuring he needed some time to himself, I hadn’t tried to stop him.
However, Case’s truck wasn’t the one that had pulled into the driveway.
A minute later, the front door opened, and Tank came charging into the room, making a beeline for me. I squatted down to pet him as I usually did.
“Hey,” I greeted Zeke, eyeing him in an effort to gauge his mood.
“Where’s the pretty boy?”
“With Trent. Had a session.”
He looked skeptical. I couldn’t blame him. I’d had the same reaction.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked when I stood to my full height. “Are you hungry?”
He watched me for what felt like an eternity before he moved closer.
My breath lodged somewhere in my chest as he neared.
The man was imposing whether he was wearing a pair of jeans or that damn suit he was sporting now.
However, I’d long ago learned it wasn’t the clothes that gave him the air of danger.
Nor was it the bald head or the tattoos.
Zeke’s intimidation factor was all in his black eyes, the way they took in everything around him, assessing.
My first instinct was to drop my gaze to the floor, gearing up to submit to him in any way that he wanted.
“I only want one thing right now,” Zeke stated, his tone as dark and rich as his eyes.
“What’s that?” I found myself asking.
Zeke took another step closer until there was only a breath between us. I wouldn’t back down no matter what. Not this time.
The next thing I knew, Zeke’s hand went around my head, and he jerked me to him. I thought for a second he was going to remove the collar again, but his hand didn’t move once it cupped the back of my head.
“I don’t know what you and your boyfriend have done to me,” Zeke whispered. “Whatever it is, I don’t much care for it.”
His actions said otherwise. The way he tilted his head down, his gaze never straying from mine.
“I wasn’t supposed to want you,” he whispered, the dark tenor of his voice sending shockwaves rippling down my spine. “That wasn’t our deal.”
I couldn’t speak. He was too close, too warm, and he smelled so fucking good. Like musky man and erotic promises.
“Fuck it all,” Zeke rumbled before he jerked me close and slammed his mouth to mine.
I whimpered as I gave in to him, his embrace securing me to him as our lips met in an eager attempt to get closer.
My arms went around him, my hands sliding beneath his suit jacket.
I couldn’t resist him even if I’d wanted to.
And I didn’t. The only thing that mattered was that he wasn’t pushing me away.
“Christ Almighty. You make me want things, Brax. Things I’m not supposed to want,” Zeke growled before changing the angle of the kiss and thrusting his tongue back into my mouth.
He said my name. It was the second time in as many days, and it felt the same as before. My entire world tipped on its axis, and I was completely overwhelmed by how good it felt to hear him say it.
Unable to speak, I simply kissed him back, although there wasn’t anything simple about this kiss. It was rough and brutal, everything I’d come to know Zeke to be. But there was something deeper, an underlying hunger that belied all the kink I’d ever experienced.
His kiss was intoxicating. Pure, raw lust fueled us both.
It had me hanging on for dear life as he ripped my T-shirt up over my head before he tossed it somewhere behind me.
Somehow, I managed to maintain my balance as he backed me toward the wall.
My shoulders slammed up against it, but he didn’t stop.
Zeke was on a mission, his hunger sharper than I’d ever seen it.
Even the other night when he’d taken me bare in his bed.
That had been as raw as it got, but there was something more here.
A deeper, darker hunger. It made me feel powerful even as I felt overpowered by him.
When his fingers dipped into the waistband of my jeans, I inhaled sharply. He didn’t fumble with the button. Instead, he jerked it open, then practically ripped the zipper down before his big, rough hands slid inside the denim at my hips. He shoved hard, forcing my jeans and boxers down my legs.
Zeke’s black gaze lifted to mine, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was… It was as though he was trying to peer into my soul, drawing every emotion I’d ever had to the forefront. I fought for air, my chest heaving when he went to his knees before me.
I wasn’t sure what I expected. Perhaps for him to jerk me roughly, or maybe for him to use his teeth, because that was his sadistic nature. Instead, Zeke’s lips wrapped around the head of my dick, and I groaned long and loud, the sensation far more intense than I expected.
I drew air into my lungs as my hand suddenly curled around the back of his head, smooth skin gliding over my palm. I held him there, and he didn’t try to move away.
“Fuck, Zeke,” I said around a moan. “Ah, fuck, that feels good.”
Every second he sucked me, I expected him to jerk away, to throw me to the floor, to pin me to the wall.
Anything except for him to continue. The man sucked me like he was starving, as though I was the sustenance he needed to survive.
My hand slid over his head, my skin soaking up the feel of him.
He had rarely allowed me to touch him, but I’d dreamed about it plenty.
His tongue glided over the underside of my shaft and I hissed, my head falling back as the sensations overwhelmed me. It was more than I ever thought I’d get from this man, and every second felt like an eternity, but still not enough. I wanted more of him. I wanted all of him.
And I prayed like hell he wasn’t going to discard me, because, although he’d tried to break me physically, I wasn’t sure the man was aware that he had all the power to break me in so many other ways.
Ways I feared I would never recover from.