Dom Wars - Round Four Read online

  Presenting

  Dom Wars

  Round Four

  By Lucian Bane

  © 2014 by Lucian Bane

  All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lucian Bane or his legal representative.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  **Translation: If you make a copy of this file and share it with friends, whether it is one or one million friends, you are breaking the law, even if you receive nothing in return. If you receive this file from a friend, both you and your friend are breaking the law. No readers’ clubs, groups or associations are authorized to distribute this book on behalf of the authors. Amazon.com is the only authorized online distributor. If you need a different format, please contact the author.

  Author’s Notes:

  This series contains explicit scenes of sexual activity. There are scenes of BDSM (kink) activity that may not be for everyone.

  Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, by any of the characters within is entirely accidental.

  Finally, I genuinely hope you enjoy reading “Dom Wars” as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Acknowledgements:

  This book is dedicated to the love of my life, the real life Tara, without whom, none of it would be possible.

  Thanks to all the lovely ladies on my street team for getting the word out about Dom Wars!

  Chapter One

  I yanked my phone off the nightstand for the fourth time, scrolled to Steve’s number for the third time, then finally hit send.

  “Lucian?” The best-buddy thrilled voice on the other end reached straight through the phone like a reassuring pat on the back.

  “Steve, hey.” I shot up, a little surprised he answered between Dom Wars Rounds, and began pacing the familiar I’m so fucking lost path around my apartment. The same path that led me to audition to compete for the title of Top Dom, and in turn led me to Tara.

  “What’s up buddy?” His caring curious tone revealed his uncertainty. He couldn’t imagine why I’d call him maybe. No, that wasn’t exactly right, since he’d proven himself a willing partner in crime. Maybe he worried he wouldn’t like what I might ask of him.

  I paused and stood there with my mouth open, frozen with a shit load of unspeakable, unnamable emotions as it all rushed in on me like a tide of poison.

  “Take a breath.” In an instant, he had gone from being my detached limo driver to an unusually perceptive man who seemed to care about more than winning. He’d saved Tara’s and my asses more than once during the last round.

  I let out a huge sigh and looked down. “I’m…” I shook my head, feeling like an idiot. “It’s like I’m Jesus fucking Christ at the hour of my goddamn death, this stupid demon domination has me…” I began pacing again. “I’m sweating blood here.”

  “Okay, okay, you’re fine.” Steve put on his trained paramedic tone. No matter the occasion, he had an expert voice to fit the need.

  “I’m not fine. I’m…what if I cave? Crack? Every bit of me knows that at the end of this stupid week, I’m going to find myself in a place worse than hell, facing something worse than a demon.” I laughed. “Demon? I mean if only it were a demon I had to face and not that…that male…human… listed on the paper from the hospital in the spot labeled father. Fuck!” And it was true. I’d rather face the worst Hell could offer than have to deal with my old man.

  “You won’t cave. You won’t cave!” Steve comforted.

  “God Steve, I miss her.” Finally I got to the real point. “Only a day in and my body hurts like I’ve been in a fucking car accident! Is that normal?”

  “Abso-posi-lutely! That is called love my friend.” The half-laughing tone rubbed me the wrong way. No one should get that much joy out of someone else’s misery.

  “Fuuuuuuck.”

  “Call her?”

  “I can’t. No contact.” I spat the evil words wanting to drive over to that stupid place and unload a shotgun in their stupid faces.

  “No contact, huh?”

  I paused at the sneaky lilt in Steve’s voice. “What? Tell me.” My heart took off like a Thoroughbred out of the gates on Derby Day.

  “Welllll,” he began, nonchalantly, and I could easily imagine the casual shrug. “I do just happen to know where she is. You could…maybe just go…see her. From a distance. No contact doesn’t mean you can’t see her. Only that you can’t talk to her.”

  “Oh God, fucking come get me, can you? Will you?”

  “I’m off work for a few days. So, my time is my time.” He giggled like a naughty young boy about to play a delicious prank on his parents. “How would you like to take a ride with me to…Missouri. I just so happen to have a friend there. That I am not forbidden to see.” His tone said he had that weird grin on, the one that made his freaky eyebrows wiggle.

  I laughed. “Fucking yes.” For the first time since we left the Dom Wars mansion, that sick feeling in my guy lightened a little. I’d see her. That was enough. That was all I needed.

  ****

  “Wow, what a sweet fucking little town.” I watched the old-fashioned buildings slowly go by. The Post Office was the size of a shoe box. “Amazing.”

  Steve turned a corner, his hand gliding over his steering wheel like it were a sacred object. Probably was to him. He’d come in a newer model Toyota, which was a surprise. But then inconspicuously riding around in a limo all over Missouri wasn’t exactly possible.

  “Old fashioned gal. Good roots.” Steve’s warm tone gave away his high regard for Tara.

  “Right? No wonder I love her, she’s…she’s all of this. Originality, authentic.” I grinned at the barber shop with its red and white spinning pole. I hadn’t seen one of those since I was a kid. “Fucking adorable.” I looked around. “Where you headed?”

  “Nursing home. Only one in this town.”

  “Oh fuck.” Mechanical butterflies with bladed wings fluttered in my guts. “Right.”

  “Don’t tell me Lucian Bane, the Top Dom, is nervous?” Steve let one of his hysterical laughs loose.

  “I haven’t won the title.” But he was right. I couldn’t remember ever being so nervous without my old man being in sight.

  “Oh, but you’re competing for it.” Steve’s unusually hard punch in the arm jolted me against the door. “Hop to the crow’s nest and look out. Don’t go for the golden blanket award mate or you’ll find yourself eating dessert chickens.” Steve angled a squinty eye at me. “Me ole man was a sailor once upon a time.”

  I stared at him, suddenly realizing I was meeting the man behind the driver for the first time. “I thought your father was a… minister?”

  “Yep. A man of the cloth.” Steve’s austere tone as he performed an all mirror scan seemed to hold… something more I didn’t quite get.

  My stomach tensed as we slowly passed the Shady Oaks Retirement Home sign. “When… did he become that?” I searched the parking lot for signs of Tara. Or a car that she might drive. So many things I didn’t really know about her. Needed to know. Craved to know.

  “Oh he was called by the good Lord when he was a young lad. Sixteen.”

  “Wow.” I spotted a little Toyota with a busted taillight covered with red tape. That could easily be her. And then again, not. She could easily be the new silver Honda. Doubtful though. “Where are you going?” I looked at Steve, who turned a sneaky grin on me before bouncing his br
ows once.

  “Out of sight. But close enough we can see the entrance.” He whipped his head around and backed into a parking spot at the far end of the lot, then cast me a questioning look. “That’s what you said? You wanted to just watch the place? Maybe see where she goes?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Right.” I looked around. “What if she’s not even here?”

  Steve snapped his wrist to his chest and peered down at his watch. “It’s lunch time on a Saturday, I’m thinking she’d be here.”

  I nodded again. “You’re right.” Then it hit me. “Hey. Why don’t you call her? Check on her?”

  Another sneaky grin. “Excellent idea.”

  I watched him locate her number in his phone. “Find out where she is,” I whispered. “What she’s doing. You’re just checking in to make sure she’s okay. Ask about her grandmother.”

  He put the phone to his ear and nodded with a wink then put a shhh finger to his mouth. “Hello Tara, this is Steve, your driver.”

  My stomach jolted at hearing her sweet voice through the line.

  “No, no, nothing’s wrong. Just calling to check on you and your grandmother.” Steve angled his eyes at me, nodding with that crazy grin on his face while Tara chattered. “Is that right,” he crooned. “Precious woman that you are. You’re with her now?” His brows raised at me with more nods. “Having lunch, bless your heart three times over.” Smiles and slight nods. “Lucian?” He jerked alarmed eyes to me and I shook my head emphatically. “I…just talked to him. He’s at his apartment.” He quickly bit his lower lip and his normally smooth forehead furrowed in agony, like somebody had stabbed him with a cattle prod. Lying to her was definitely not his strong suit. “I’ll…be talking to him soon. I’ll tell him you inquired of him.”

  I held my breath.

  “Oh, okay. Oh no, he wouldn’t think that at all. He adores you.” He shook his head then. “I won’t.” Nods. “Do you spend the night with her? Yes. Check on the house, of course you do. Yes, I’m sure. Somebody has to tend to the details. Will you call me if you need anything? At all?” More nods and a smiling wink at me. “Okay. And I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning. Miss Domme.” Boisterous odd laughing. “Yes, yes. You too. Good-guh-bye, yes.”

  He hung up and all the air left his body and he sagged in seat. “I do not like lying to that child.”

  “I see that. So she’s there? This second?”

  “Yes and she’s leaving at around three to check on the house.”

  “God, that’s…four hours from now.” I scoped the place. “Wonder what room number she’s in?” I looked at him. “Call her back and ask her. Tell her…”

  “I want to send flowers?” Steve suggested.

  “Yes! Good one.”

  He quickly dialed and got the details then hung up. “Room 323.” Huge grin. “So you want to go find a flower shop?”

  “What? No, I want to go in there and—”

  “No contact!” He slammed a hand on my arm as if he feared I might run out at that second.

  “I’m not going to… touch her. And there are no cameras.” I held my wrist up. “See, I left my watch at home. So fuck them, I need to see her.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t let her see you. She’ll know you talked to me.”

  I paused, thinking. “How?”

  “Well how else would you know she’s here?” His tone said he thought my brain had gone on vacation.

  “Of course she’ll be here. Her ailing grandmother that she’s playing Dom Wars to save from decaying in a nursing home is here. Where else would she be? She came here last time, it’s not unthinkable she’d be here, more like unthinkable she wouldn’t.”

  “But how would you know which room? And I told her I just talked to you and you’re at your apartment! She’ll know I lied!” And there we had it. He couldn’t bear Tara to be disappointed in him, to know he’d been less than one hundred percent truthful with her.

  I sighed loudly and looked around. “How about I make double sure she doesn’t see me?”

  “Or you could wait…” he looked at his watch, “three hours?”

  I raised my brows at him, hoping he realized that was a definite no fucking go.

  “Well, if you’re going in… I’m not waiting out here.”

  I raised my shoulders. “Then go…visit the old people. Sing to them, they love that shit.” I opened the door, my body already set to Tara auto-pilot.

  Steve scrambled to get going. “Let me lock up. Hold on.”

  “Steve, we’re in Mayberry. What are you locking up for?”

  He looked around like a man having a profound revelation. “Right.” He smiled, apparently liking that fact. “Can we tour the town after? This is just the most precious place.” He suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside the car, whispering harshly, “What if her room is where she can see you?”

  I looked around. Shit. He was right. “Call the place and ask where that room is.”

  He got his phone and mumbled as he searched for the number. “Google talk.” He held the phone to his mouth. “Shady Oaks Retirement Home in Missouri.”

  “Searching for… Dirty Ox Retirement Home in Misery.”

  “What?” He stared at the phone like it were an alien and pressed the button. “SHADY OAKS Retirement Home in MISSOURI.”

  “Searching for… Shaking Oaks Repair Kit in Misery.”

  “Oh my God!” Hand shaking, he held the phone up like he intended to smash it to the ground.

  I snatched the phone from him before he could destroy it. “Fucking stupid smart phones.” I typed the shit in then hit send when I got to the phone number. A voice that could have belonged to an eight year old girl answered. “Shady Oaks Retirement Home, can I help you?”

  “Yes, I’m coming to visit my grandmother. She’s in room 323 and I was wondering which door should I go in to get to that?”

  “The 300 hundred rooms are on the back side of the building, but you’ll need to use the front entrance and check in for the safety of our residents.”

  “Thank you.” I hung up. “Back side of the building. We’re safe.”

  Steve smacked my arm repeatedly to get my attention. “Is that her?”

  I jerked and looked. “Ohhh, fuck yes. It is. Where is she going?” My heart pounded so hard I thought it might break my ribs while every fiber of me wanted to go to her.

  “Maybe…to get something out of her car?” We both slouched lower in our seats when she rounded the edge of the little outdoor sitting area and came directly toward us.

  “Shit,” I whispered. “Get ready to hide.” She suddenly stopped on the sidewalk maybe fifty feet away and dug in her purse. I sat up higher and watched. She wore a long flowing yellow skirt with tiny somethings on it, probably flowers, and a simple white t-shirt top. Fucking amazing simplicity, oozing with raw beauty and klutzy awkward grace. She couldn’t get any sexier.

  I sat up taller when she stooped down. “Oh my God,” I whispered. “She dropped her little can of coins? Fucking priceless. She dropped that the first day I met her.”

  “You’re kidding,” Steve said.

  “No. In the line at the audition, with several hundred eyes on her. It’s how I met her, helped her pick them up.” I smiled. “She was so embarrassed. When I tried to give her the money, she told me to keep it.” I chuckled at how fucking priceless that was. “Here she comes!”

  We both ducked again and slowly peeked back up when she never made it as far as us. “Who the fuck is that?” A tall blond dude stood next to her.

  Steve shrugged. “A brother?”

  “Look at her, she’s not acting like he’s a brother. Or uncle.”

  “Well…cousin maybe?”

  Cousin. He chucked her chin with a finger and she looked down and away. “Cousin, my ass.” I opened the door and Steve grabbed my forearm.

  “Wait! Just wait and see a moment, don’t jump the gun.”

  “I’m about to jump something if he do
esn’t leave soon.” My heart hammered my chest with heart attack force while the fire in my gut spread to every muscle. He was clearly hitting on her.

  She pulled her purse to her chest, nodded at him, and looked around like she was ready to end the conversation but wasn’t sure how. I cracked the car door to try and listen.

  “No, thanks…here for…Gramma is better…see you around though.” She began walking away, nodding and talking. Yes, get away from him, that’s it. Take the hint cocksucker.

  My body sagged with relief when the fucktard finally waved and headed toward the building. Great, he was going inside?

  I watched Tara at the car three down from us. An older brown station wagon. Maybe her Grandmother’s? She got in and I shut my own door. “Follow her. At a distance.”

  Steve got right on it, becoming the professional driver again, like putting on a uniform shirt. Then he paused and grinned, as if realizing he didn’t need to go back behind that mask of professionalism with me. “Buckle up, my man, this could be a bumpy ride.” He regarded my concerned expression briefly. “It’s just a figure of speech. Lighten up, dear boy. I’d like to have a little fun on our excursion.” He ended with his scary smile.

  “Did I ever tell you how freaky you look when you do that? Like one of those masquerade ball masks, the ones criminals use to hide their faces.”

  Thankfully, he thought that was funny and boomed out hysterical laughter. “That’s my Scar Face grin. You know, the one from James Bond?”

  I nodded, not making the connection. “Reminds me more of the Joker.”

  His eyes widened with his smile. “Even better! I love that character.”

  “He was a nut job.” I watched Tara pull out and motioned we go.

  “Wait a few seconds. We don’t want to scare her. Just don’t lose sight of her.”

  “I’m not. Worst case scenario, I’ll get the address to her grandmother.”

  I looked at him. “How?”

  He pulled out of our parking spot at a granny’s pace, making me antsy. “They gave me contact information in case of emergency.”

  I nodded and pointed. “Good. Hurry, she went right.”

  Steve stepped on the gas a little more while I tapped my thumb on my leg to a neurotic beat and Steve hummed one of his rest your soul hymns.