“We’re good. We still have rough days sometimes. We deal with them together.” She glanced at Seth.

Lucky bastard.

He signed them in, and as they walked through the door to the back, I noticed his demeanor changed. He seemed to grow in height as his arm curled protectively around her shoulders. She leaned into him, her steps perfectly synced with his. I hadn’t watched them scene in many months, knew from our talks that they had shifted into a different style. Their private time together, what she needed, they did at home. What they did in front of others was strictly for play unless they were teaching.

I followed them, wondering what toys he had in the duffel bag slung over his other shoulder. Didn’t look like he had any canes or crops from the way it hung.

They walked to the St. Andrew’s Cross, which I thought was curious. Kaden had rarely played with her on that in public, although they had one at home that received a lot of use. I stopped at a discreet distance and watched as she stood in front of her Master and kissed him, then dropped to her knees with a beautiful look on her face.

Lucky bastard.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“I want to please You, Master.”

“Be a little more specific, girl.”

Her eyes lit up. That was encouraging. She’d seemed so dead at first, I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to pull her through. Frankly, I’d had doubts about his state of mind. I’d warned Ed that if Seth lost her, he might as well plan Seth’s funeral, too, because I knew she kept him alive every bit as much as he kept her going.

“Master, I want to feel the bite.”

He looked bored, examined his fingernails. “Hmm. I’m not sure you do. You don’t sound like it.”

She threw her arms around his knees. “Please, Master? I’ll do anything.”

He playfully cocked an eyebrow at her. “Anything?”

She eagerly nodded, smiling. “Anything.”

I’d noticed his confidence had built since that first time I met him. He also treated Leah differently. Then again, she was greatly changed now, too. Having survived something like that, it shows a person they can take more than they thought. It tempers the soul, and if it doesn’t destroy you, it can make you stronger.

Sometimes the old clichés weren’t just bullshit.

Seth wasn’t hovering over her as Kaden had. I suspected if anyone dared look at her wrong, she’d clock them. Before, Leah would have cowered and needed protection, frozen in fear.

Now, after Kaden’s death, Leah would kick Baxter’s ass, or anyone else who dared speak to or touch her without her Master’s say-so.

Seth dropped the bag and his helmet to the floor, next to Leah’s helmet. He shrugged off his bike jacket. He wore a dark charcoal button-up shirt with his black jeans. He slowly started unbuttoning his shirt. “If you really want it, get ready, love.”

She jumped to it. She ripped her jacket off and dove for the bag, retrieving two leather cuffs from it.

Ah. That explained the cross.

She fastened the cuffs to her wrists and took out the bullwhip. Then she dropped to her knees again in front of him and offered the whip up to her Master.

“Please?”

He tapped his foot and looked like he was thinking about it. “Why should I?”

“I’ve been a good girl this week.”

“That’s true.” He made a big show of considering it again, dragging it out for her. “Well, I suppose. Okay.” He finished unbuttoning his shirt and dropped it on top of the bag. He took the bullwhip from her. “Go on.” He nodded toward the cross.

She jumped to her feet and ran to it, her back to her Master, and clipped her own cuffs to the uprights.

Seth rolled his neck and shoulders and uncoiled the bullwhip. I noticed the new tattoo on his right bicep. A vine design like the one on his left arm, the same one Kaden had, only this one bore Kaden’s name, and the dates of his birth and death were worked into the design. I also noticed they were both now wearing small, matching silver vials on chains. They looked like they were engraved with intricate filigree, and I wasn’t sure of the significance but I could guess.

He’d really come into his own as his confidence built. I could see Kaden’s training and influence in Seth’s manner and ways. Still, he was finding his own path with Leah.

From my talks with Kaden over the years, and especially in the weeks before his death, I’d wondered how Seth would change things up. I remembered how freaked out Kaden had been years ago, frantically calling me for advice when Leah first begged him to strip her at the club. I could laugh about it now, and knew Kaden probably would, too, if he was still around. The fact that Seth stood up to her and refused to allow that… I wondered if he understood what a big deal that truly was.

I knew from my talks with Seth that he had an unrealistic view of Kaden as some sort of all-powerful Master. The truth was, most of what Kaden did, Leah had talked him into it even if it didn’t seem like it to others. He might have had the title and obviously the demeanor of her Master, but it was all because he loved her and tried to control and heal her pain the only way he thought he could.

Not because he wanted to dominate her.

Talk about a reluctant Dom.

Seth cracked the whip. Leah wiggled her ass at him in response. “How many do you think you deserve, love?” Seth asked.

Now a few people had gathered to watch. I kept an eye out and waved some back out of the whip’s reach.

“As many as Master wants to give me.”

He nailed her in the ass. I knew even through the denim it probably stung a little. She’d obviously love that.

“That wasn’t an answer. You don’t give me an answer, girl, I’ll stop.”

“Twenty, please, Master.”

His movements were a thing of beauty. Smoothly fluid, confident, sure. He worked her over, the leather bustier taking the brunt of the higher stokes, the rest landing on her ass and thighs, never landing a throw on her bare flesh.

She squirmed against the cross as he finished the set.

“How are we, love?”

“Green, Master.” From the sound of her voice, I suspected she wanted at least another thirty strokes, followed by a good, hard fucking.

“Then I guess I can put this away.”

“Nooo! Please, Master! Don’t stop!”

He laughed and walked up to her, caressed her cheek and whispered something to her no one else could hear. She moaned. An “I reeeeally want to get fucked hard” moan. She nodded.

He laughed and swatted her ass with his bare hand. “All right. I suppose I can give you a few more, love.” He returned to his position, checked his clearance, and threw another twenty strokes without hesitation. Every one hit what I suspected was its intended mark.

By this time a small crowd had formed, standing far enough back to avoid the whip.

It was no wonder their classes were always full.

Seth walked back to Leah and talked with her. She nodded. I watched him take a small remote out of his pocket. He thumbed the button before returning it to his pocket.

Ah. The old butterfly.

Leah loudly moaned. Seth returned to his spot, rolled his neck and shoulders again, then cracked the whip. “Twenty more, love?”

“Oh…yes…please, Master!”

She moaned as he nailed her square in the ass. By the tenth stroke I suspected she was close to coming. When she cried out at fifteen, I knew he had her. He quickly finished the set and coiled the whip, used the remote to turn off the vibrator, walked over to her, and freed her.

She wrapped her arms around him, and he tenderly held her for a moment, standing there, a beautiful sight.

A slave and her Master.

When she caught her breath she smiled up at him. The love I saw in her eyes nearly took my breath away.

Damn, he was a lucky bastard.

I’d seen her look at Kaden like that. Now, with the worst of her grief behind her, she looked happy again, almost the way I remembered her being before Kaden’s world crashed down around him.

After they finished and packed they walked over to where I stood. Seth casually draped his arm around Leah’s shoulders. “Why don’t you come over for dinner this weekend? Feel free to bring a friend if you want,” Seth invited.

“I’ll take you up on it, but I’ll be coming solo.” We made arrangements, and I followed them outside and chatted briefly before he kissed the top of her head.

“Let’s go home, babe. Time for you to pay the piper,” he said with a sly smile.

She laughed. “We’ll see you later, Tony.”

I nodded. “Drive safe.”

They donned their gear. Seth secured the duffel bag on the Harley, mounted, and cranked it. Leah waited for his signal to throw her leg over the bike and smoothly slide on behind him. He backed them out as she placed her feet on the pegs and wrapped her arms around him. Then he lifted a hand to me, and they pulled out of the parking lot.

Lucky bastard.

I walked back inside. After having seen them play together my heart wasn’t in it anymore for the evening. Tonight there were mostly part-time players, nothing outstanding or even interesting.

How do you even try to compare that to what I just witnessed? It was like trying to choke down a crappy hamburger after getting one bite of the best filet mignon you’ve ever sampled in your life.

I apologized to Becca for bailing on them and bade my leave.

On the way home, I thought about my talks with Kaden over the final months of his life. I could never claim to be as close a friend as Seth had been to him. I was more a trusted confidant because of our shared lifestyle choices and common interests, but I never deluded myself that he saw me in a different light than he saw Seth.

Frankly, I was surprised and shocked when he asked if I would be his backup in case Seth couldn’t be Leah’s Master. Kaden never had doubts about her loving Seth and the two of them ending up together as husband and wife. He hadn’t been sure at first if Seth could give her the other things she needed.

At the time I’d been involved with someone and agreed to help if I was really needed, partially relieved when Seth stepped into the role.

And, I’ll admit, a little disappointed. While I don’t mind a purely business arrangement, so to speak, I didn’t know if I could handle Leah’s grief and the full-time love and care she would obviously need. I also realized that in her heart and mind I never would have been her first choice, only her last option, and only for a very specific reason.

Now…

Well, one day, maybe I’ll find the right woman, too.

If I’m lucky.

* * *

I pulled into their driveway and parked behind the Ridgeline. I suspected Seth would drive Kaden’s truck for years, until the wheels fell off.

Leah greeted me at the door, barefoot and dressed in jeans and a blouse.

And her collar.

“Hey, come on in.” She took the bottle of wine I’d brought and hugged me. “Thank you, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Is that Tony?” Seth called from the kitchen.

“Yes, hon.”

I followed her through the house and slid into my usual seat at the counter. She turned. “Should I put this in the fridge?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Probably wouldn’t hurt.”

Seth was putting the finishing touches on the salad. “Oh, babe, I put the steaks on. Can you go grab mine before—”

“Done,” she said with a smile. She walked out the sliders onto the lanai.

As I watched her, I noticed Seth’s sly smile. “How is she? Really?” I asked.

He shrugged. “We have mostly good days now. Both of us. The anniversary was sort of rough, but Kade even planned that, too.” He wistfully smiled. “In some ways it’s like he’s still looking out for us.”

“Ever going to redo the vows?”

He shook his head. “No. We both decided we’d rather keep the wedding we had.” He smiled again, this time without sadness. “As whacked out and weird as it was, we don’t want it any other way. He left messages for my brother and his to watch, so we didn’t even have to explain anything. Anyone else, we just tell them we went and got married by a judge.”

We both laughed. I pointed at the chain around his neck. “What are those? They’re new. If you don’t mind me asking.”

“They were Leah’s idea. She was reading this book where this woman’s lover died and she put some of the ashes in something like this. She asked me if she could do that. I sort of liked the idea.”