Richard's Reign (Book 6): Enthrall Novella #3 (Enthrall Sessions) Read online

  Richard’s Reign

  Enthrall Sessions

  A Novel

  Vanessa Fewings

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

  Advertencia Antipirateria del FBI: La reproducción o distribución no autorizada de una obra protegida por derechos de autor es ilegal. La infracción criminal de los derechos de autor, incluyendo la infracción sin lucro monetario, es investigada por el FBI y es castigable con pena de hasta cinco años en prisión federal y una multa de $250,000.

  Richard’s Reign

  Copyright © 2015 Vanessa Fewings

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  Editor: Deborah Kuhn

  Cover Artist: Jill Dupont

  Cover photos by Tr1sha, WM_idea, and Dimitri Mihailou at Shutterstock

  Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

  ISBN: 978-0-9965014-0-8

  For

  Mand

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  About the Author

  “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  CHAPTER 1

  FREEFALLING.

  Adrenaline spiking my veins.

  Just how I liked it.

  Wind whipping my clothes, this rush of air, the peacefulness of nothing.

  Thoughts dissipating.

  Gravity owning me as the ground drew near.

  Skydiving, the wind blasting my face, my body pummeled, death nipping at my heels and the arrogance of knowing I’d survive.

  Those painful thoughts returning and my inability to outrun them, or even outfall them, reminding me I’d messed up again.

  And lost my lover to another man.

  The same arrogance that had led me to pursuits like this. The same trust that made me believe giving my girlfriend to my best friend to train was a great idea. A stellar endeavor that was supposed to turn out a world-class submissive. After all, this brilliant dominant who I’d entrusted her to was renowned for his unique talent that turned our lovers into legends. He was also the same person who’d pulled me back from the brink time and time again, saving me in Dr. Cameron Cole’s own indelible way. His psychological craft so effective that those of us who endured his special brand of therapy survived it with a sense of having saved ourselves; a profound statement of his brilliance.

  Though genius was not without consequence.

  This morning I’d told Mia goodbye.

  Left her outside Cameron’s Malibu beach house knowing full well he loved her more than me, and he was fatefully waiting inside.

  No, it wasn’t that he loved her more…he loved her differently. The kind of passion I’d never seen in Cameron before, the kind that made him willing to give her up for me.

  Cameron and I shared an endearing “bromance” - a connection as strong as brothers. Cameron had counseled me back from the edge of madness, back when my life was all about my father’s betrayal and my fiancée’s suicide. I’d been there for Cameron, too, when his life had spiraled after his fiancée Zie had betrayed him and he’d called off their wedding. Together we’d gone on the ultimate bender at Chrysalis which had left subs in our wake, giddy and sated. Cameron, me and Shay - our club’s head of security - had drunk and fucked our way into mythic status.

  Cameron had always been such a private man. A good man. So, I threw myself onto my sword and gave him what he deserved: The love of his life - the woman who was meant to be mine.

  I’d lied to myself that Mia would come round and learn the ways of a high-class submissive and enjoy being subjugated as she bowed down to me as her master. She only responded to Cameron like that. Proof that her soul had bonded with his…that only one man could truly set her free.

  I’d had no choice but to shake my bad boy ways and do the right thing for once. Even if it meant my heart was going to be ripped out of my chest. Getting over her seemed impossible.

  The strike to my back sent me spinning.

  A flash of a face.

  Brendon, my skydiving partner, yelling…something about pulling my cord. Something about deploying my emergency line.

  He shot up and that white cloud of a parachute billowed behind him, sending him rising.

  Yeah, good point.

  My flesh crawling as I realized the danger.

  Fuck.

  Plummeting. Spinning. So close to blacking out.

  My hand tugging, slipping off and trying again, my breath stuttering to fill my lungs with the air it forgot it needed. The cord ignoring these frenzied attempts, palms sweaty, fingers numb as they fumbled.

  Unable to tell which way was up or down—

  Refusing to give up, forming my body into a D-arch to slow my rate.

  Fucking death in the mouth as the ground came up fast.

  A yank backwards and I flew upwards, my canopy cordial enough to respond to that final frantic tug and blasting open, slowing my descent.

  Silence surrounding me.

  The patchwork ground now a solid color of dark green and fenced off boundaries becoming smaller.

  With legs bent, my feet hit the dirt hard and I tumbled into a sprint until the parachute’s drag rescinded. I leaned forward, both palms resting on my knees as I sucked in adrenaline- drenched breaths.

  My grin widened.

  Standing tall I howled my joy.

  CHAPTER 2

  I STASHED MY parachute in the back of the van, grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

  God, now I felt better.

  Brendon was busy organizing the equipment in the corner of the vehicle. When he saw me he dropped what he was doing and jumped out the back. He grabbed my arm and guided me around to the front. The other five jumpers didn’t need to hear this.

  “Did your cord fail?” Brendon whispered.

  “Little sticky,” I said.

  “I packed your chute. It passed.”

  If I told him the truth he’d be on my case.

  “What happened up there?” he said.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

  “If your equipment failed I need to know.”

  “User error.”

  “You’re an experienced skydiver, Richard. What the hell’s going on?”
<
br />   “It won’t happen again.”

  “You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Me too.”

  He didn’t need to hear I’d loved every second.

  “Well, as long as you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  He nodded, looking unconvinced. “Any plans for tonight?”

  “Have a couple of invites. Tossing up which one’s best. You?”

  He glanced at the van. “We’re all getting together at Universal City. They hook up the East Coast link on the City Walk so you can watch the ball drop in Times Square.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “We’re gonna eat dinner up there first if you wanna join us?”

  “Thanks, I really appreciate that.”

  “I’ll text you the details.”

  “Great.” I gestured I should go.

  Head down, I made my way on over to my open-top Jeep Wrangler.

  I jolted to a stop.

  A young, petite woman leaned against my jeep door, her arms casually folded across her chest, her deep brown eyes flitting nervously.

  “Can I help you?” I asked sternly.

  She stepped away, realizing the car was mine. “Mr. Sheppard?”

  “I’m afraid you have me confused with someone else,” I said, spewing the well-practiced lie.

  A life lost to the past when I’d distanced myself from my father’s illegal shenanigans, namely convincing strangers to trust him with their investments. An endeavor that had ended up losing millions for the trustees, ruining the Sheppard name, which I no longer went by, and landing my father in a North Carolina jail.

  The main reason I was living in the desert known as Los Angeles and not New York, the city of my birth and the place I’d never call home again.

  “We spoke on the phone?” she said, making it a question.

  Lifting my backpack off my right shoulder, I threw it over the jeep door and onto the passenger seat.

  I gave her a sideways glance remembering her name as Sienna. Our conversation flashed back. Something about her boss, Andrea Buckingham, wanting to talk to me. Probably to discuss her bad investments or those made by a member of her family after trusting the one-time king of Wall Street.

  Fuck. This hell was destined to follow me forever.

  I wondered how they’d found me.

  Being summoned by one of American’s A-list actresses stirred my intrigue. I’d caught a couple of her movies last year that had been surprisingly good. Andrea had been likened to a modern day Audrey Hepburn, but that fame came with an annoying entourage and the paparazzi tight on her heels.

  As a solitary man who hated cliques and cameras we were ill-suited to be friends.

  “How did you know I’d be here?” I forced a smile.

  She shrugged. “When I called you I was outside your home.”

  A stab of annoyance that she’d followed me here.

  Fuck.

  “That was impressive.” She pointed to the plane. “You kind of left it late to pull your cord.”

  “Sure that was me?” I glanced back at the van.

  “I think so.”

  She oozed all those interesting traits of servitude that I admired - soft-spoken, polite, and easy to control with a fresh-faced innocence. From her lack of confidence I could tell she was new to this town, vulnerable. Her jeans and T-shirt were all business and her demeanor was that of a loyal personal assistant.

  Her plump, sunburned lips and flushed cheeks revealed she wasn’t used to this climate. From the way she avoided making eye contact I knew she’d make a stellar sub, a natural. She swallowed her nervousness.

  I’d never go for naive again. A promise I intended to keep.

  “I’ve already told you,” I said. “I’m spending New Year’s Eve with friends.” I cursed myself for breaking her stare though she probably wasn’t smart enough to catch my lie.

  Cameron was with Mia and they’d soon be huddled in a dark corner at Chrysalis, surrounded by mutual friends and celebrating this lord of the BDSM community claiming his prize.

  With no intention of having to endure this spectacle of their happiness and my failure, I was actually going to stay home tonight with Winston, my lovable British bulldog.

  I had an NFL special to watch and a fifty-year-old bottle of cognac chilling on ice.

  “I know it’s last minute,” she said. “Ms. Buckingham apologizes for the short notice.”

  “She’s forgiven.” I opened the door and climbed in.

  Sienna ran around to my side and leaned forward. “Look, most men would give their right arm for a chance like this.”

  “I’m not most men.”

  “I respect that, Mr. Sheppard. I didn’t mean—”

  Hearing that old surname made me cringe. I waved her back from the jeep. “I go by Booth.”

  “Okay, sorry. Mr. Booth.”

  I gave her a look that told her it was too late. The damage was done.

  Sienna seemed panicked.

  I remembered the way she’d fawned over her boss at that charity event I’d attended a few weeks ago. She probably served as a loyal friend too. A hard find in this town.

  “Send my thanks.” I shoved the key in the ignition. “Perhaps another time.”

  “I shouldn’t be telling you this,” Sienna burst out, “but Andrea’s going to lose the part if you don’t help her.”

  “Part?”

  “She’s been cast in a secret project and the director’s coming down hard on her because she’s having trouble.”

  “What kind?”

  “It’s a challenging role and Mubarak—”

  “The director?”

  “Yes.”

  I arched a brow, my excitement rising having loved his work since I first saw that Oscar winning masterpiece Nightingale’s Fall. I’d read in GQ that Jack Mubarak was a temperamental Londoner with a special brand of delivering authenticity and pushing his actors hard. His films went well over budget and stretched the schedule way beyond the norm. Being fired off the set could stain an actor’s career.

  “What’s the film?” I revved the engine.

  “It’s top secret.”

  “Not sure how I can help.”

  “That’s what she wants to talk to you about.” Sienna pulled out her phone, the ringtone bursting out a rapper singing that the world could go to hell.

  It made me smile. “Your boss?”

  “Andrea must have changed my ringtone.”

  Which sounded like something I’d do.

  “Say you’ll come.” She handed me a postcard.

  I flipped it over and read an address. “What’s her role?” I tossed the card on the seat.

  “Don’t let it fly out.”

  “What does Andrea want from me?”

  “She’d like to discuss that with you privately.”

  “How about a clue?”

  Sienna glanced around self-consciously.

  That break in our conversation was all I needed. My Wrangler spun its wheels and sprayed up dust.

  I hit a hundred along the dirt path. I couldn’t be bothered to glance in the rear view.

  I already had a date.

  With that Remy Martin, Louis XIII Black Pearl.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE PHOTOG LOWERED his camera.

  Which was a good thing because he was close to getting punched in the face.

  From the way he stared at me warily he knew it too.

  This was one guest he wouldn’t be capturing arriving at Andrea Buckingham’s home tonight. I’d drawn his attention after stepping out of the SUV with its blacked out windows and souped-up wheels. A car Shay had insisted on arranging for me when I told him I wouldn’t be going to Chrysalis. No doubt under the strict orders of Cameron who was probably keeping track of my whereabouts.

  I’d take an Uber home.

  A limo pulled up curbside and the photographer joined his wily paparazzo buddies who were thankfully distracted by the man climbing out the back - a
young actor I vaguely recognized.

  After giving my name to the bouncer at the door, I was allowed in.

  The scent of vanilla air freshener and pot hit my nostrils. A small crowd had gathered at the foot of the steps.

  I regretted coming here now. I knew no one and this promised to be the worst New Year’s Eve on record. I should have trusted my gut.

  I turned to go, ready to face the photographers again as I stepped outside.

  “Mr. Booth,” a female voice said from behind me.

  Sienna signaled from the doorway. “Quickly.”

  A blinding flash.

  Fuck.

  Retreating back inside I cursed the decision to leave via the front door. I’d managed to maintain a clandestine life since I’d left New York. Why the hell had I agreed to this?

  I’d left Winston at home to sulk after promising it’d just be us two. That bottle of Cognac was calling my name. And I thought waiting to pull my cord too long during my jump this morning had been the crappiest decision of the day.

  I wondered which website I’d be featured on by the morning. Blinking against the black spots in my eyes, I took in Sienna’s short, white dress. She’d pulled her hair up in ponytail, her make-up barely concealing her sun-kissed cheeks.

  “You look pretty,” I said sincerely.

  She started to say something and faltered, as though surprised.

  “Nice house.” I tried to lessen the tension.

  Her frown deepened as she took in my ripped jeans and black J. Crew sweater. Yes, I had noted the dress code had specified black-tie.

  I wasn’t in the mood.

  “The invitation was very specific.” Her gaze swept the foyer, taking in the other guests who’d complied as though my faux pas could be undone.

  “Let’s get this over with, Sienna.”

  “This way.” She headed to the west side of the mansion.

  I felt the beady eyes of some of the other guests following us down the hallway. We paused outside a door.

  “Please be more tactful with Andrea than you are with me,” she whispered.

  “How’d you mean?”

  “Less…”

  “Less?” I assumed she meant asshole-esk.

  “Andrea’s very sensitive.”

  “In what way?”

  Sienna’s eyes narrowed and she faced the door.