Prince of Darkness vs Prom Queen 05

Chapter 1 When Worlds Collide

The calendar was staring again. At least this year it smiling at him.

Donovan's second wedding anniversary was rapidly approaching. When his first anniversary was on the horizon he wasn't certain there would be a second but here it was and he was happier than he'd ever been. Collisions had happened everywhere.

It wasn't that many years ago when Donovan Corbett's life was in control. Each day followed the order and routine of the previous day. The world was quiet and tranquil. Everything had an appropriate place and things were always where they belonged. The hours spent working were productive. The hours spent reading or listening to music were enlightening and relaxing. Victor was an assistant who actually assisted. There were no growling horses. There were no stuffed unicorns with beady, staring eyes. There were no barking, slobbering dogs. He was the very solid, successful and balanced center of his own universe. It was the definition of blissful.

Or so he thought.

Then came the day his world collided with a Prom Queen. He would never forget the first time he saw her. He watched her watching him, surprised that he considered approaching her, even more surprised when the thought of doing it made him nervous.

Donovan Corbett was never nervous. Absurd.

It was about a year later before they came face to face when she came to his home believing she was going to be interviewing him. He also would never forget the events of that evening. He had been furious at her, a person he didn't even know, because he believed she had agreed to be trained as a sex slave. Why should that make him angry? He was a trainer and a Dominant. Training her or anybody who required training was his job. It might have been easier if he had been able to recognize his feelings for her that night but why would he have known? He'd never felt those feelings before.

Somehow the universe suddenly and unexpectedly shifted. There was a new center and her name was Laci. Order, routine and quiet were a thing of the past. Disorder became the new routine. Feelings never before felt were everywhere. Nothing was tranquil and blissful had a whole new definition.

How had it happened? How had the young, very blonde and beautiful Laci taken possession of his heart? Before her, he was a heartless Grinch. With her, he was happier than all the Whos in Whoville.

He did so like Miss Laci Grace. He could so like her any place.

He would so like her here or there. He did so like her everywhere.

Even better, Laci, and her hypnotic, blue eyes, liked him right back.

The first few months were surprising. He wasn't sure he'd ever get to first base especially since she wouldn't even give him a map to the ball park. His internal GPS must have helped because he found his way and had been hitting home runs ever since. Really kind of gave a whole new meaning to the term 'Batter Up!'

Everything was good and then he proposed and everything was better. He knew with certainty she'd say yes, still just hearing her answer was fantastic. Knowing she was going to be with him forever was even more than fantastic. Laci understood him and accepted him for who he was. As time went on he was shocked to discover how much he was changing and while she certainly participated in that change, he could honestly admit, it was never something she forced upon him or expected from him. The evolution of Donovan Corbett was his own doing.

The reality was that their relationship should never have happened. Donovan craved control and Laci was uncontrollable. She knew he was a Dominant even before that first sighting across the room. She knew he was a Dominant when she came to his home to interview him. She knew he was a Dominant when they discovered their feelings and when he proposed. She knew he was a Dominant when she said yes. She also knew she could not possibly be any less submissive.

Donovan knew it too and even though it should have mattered, it didn't. Somehow it worked although he had to give Laci most of the credit for that. He had never once expected to spend his life with a non-submissive woman but he also never expected to fall in love. How she was able to understand and accept his need to be controlling and be a trainer was something he never understood. He couldn't say she was jumping up and down with enthusiasm at some of his choices but she understood his needs almost better than he did. Extraordinary.

Laci was pretty much perfect. Of course she did have that minor problem differentiating between Dominant and submissive although there were times when he had to wonder if he was the one who kept getting it wrong. As much as he wanted to dispute her methods, in truth, they worked pretty damn well. It was really hard to argue with shoe-gasms and tying privileges. Sometimes a little bit of creative out-of-the-box thinking was enlightening. And shoe-gasmic-ly sexy.

Then the universe collided with his world again when he became a father. It wasn't easy at first but, thanks to Laci, Donovan was caring for Matthew, watching him grow, reading to him, playing with him. The patient, tall, dark-haired man with the even darker eyes, and the gurgling, dark haired little man with his mom's bright blue eyes did everything together.

Donovan was astonished at his natural skill at being a father. He was probably more astonished at how much he loved doing it. Laci would be glowing as she watched her two favorite men, her eyes full of love for both of them. Donovan smiled and felt some of that glow when he watched Matthew in Laci's arms for a hug or a bit of tender loving care only a mom could provide.

Victor and Marian lived right next door. Victor had married Donovan's cousin Marian and the two adopted Jeremy, who was nearly the same age as Matthew. Jeremy and Matthew spent every day together, gurgling in their own baby language or taking their afternoon naps together. Sometimes the two sat on Uncle Donovan's lap for a story. Sometimes Uncle Victor sang strange songs. Sometimes all four played with Virgil. Yes, indeed! Another collision yielded another Virgil. As if one wasn't enough.

Donovan knew Laci wanted Matthew to grow up with a dog so he started doing research on dogs that would be good around kids and not shed, bark too much, or smell especially doggy for the obsessive neat freak of the family -- himself. After extensive study, he had narrowed it down to two breeds when the entire family, including Victor, Marian and Jeremy, went to a local park. Donovan might have rethought the outing if he had known it was dog adoption day.

There, right in the middle of the activity, was Virgil. Donovan's purebred plans went out the window when Laci fell in love with the large creature with reddish-brownish fur that Donovan swore was part dog and part moose. He was never quite sure if they adopted Virgil or if Virgil adopted them but an overgrown, lumbering ball of fluff had never been part of his original plan although even he had to admit the dog-moose was great with the two little boys. Virgil stood guard while Matthew and Jeremy talked baby talk on their blanket. He tattled on them, alerting an adult if he thought one was in trouble.

He loved the entire family but he was completely devoted to Donovan. When the boys were in a napping mood and didn't require his care, Virgil was always by Donovan's side. He followed him from kitchen to office to kitchen to yard to office to kitchen to bathroom to office to dining room to kitchen and anywhere else Donovan's daily routine happened to take them. He would sit and quietly wait until Donovan was ready to move to the next location and happily follow. He stared at Donovan with his big, brown, adoring, Virgil dog-moose eyes and he slobbered on all of Donovan's designer shoes.

Great. Just great. The one submissive in the house was a slobbering dog-moose.

Then again, perhaps the dog-moose could be useful. Laci's stuffed unicorn, Virgil the First, remained seated on a chair in the master bedroom staring his hateful, black, beady-eyed stare whenever Donovan walked in the room. Virgil the First would make a really good dog-moose chew bone. He just needed a little time to make it all work, but Donovan was already planning a unicorn funeral.

A staring unicorn upstairs and a staring dog-moose who followed him everywhere.

Black beady eyes or brown, adoring dog-moose eyes. What a choice.

Thank goodness for Laci's big, cornflower-blue eyes that would get that special look whenever she felt sexy and Laci always felt sexy. For a man who had spent most of his adult life involved in the business of sex, he was amazed at how much Laci loved sex. He wasn't complaining. Far from it. He just wondered why she never got tired.

Sometimes Jeremy spent the night with Matthew. Donovan always had a hard time wondering what Marian and Victor did on their date nights. Other times Matthew and Virgil spent the night with Jeremy. Donovan never had to wonder what he'd be doing on those nights. It was actually quite perfect for each of the adult couples to have their own private time and Laci always knew how to make theirs extra special. For a long time he had been curious about her prowess in their bed and out of their bed and in their shower and wherever else they happened to be. She had seemed just a few steps from virginal when they first met so he was rather relieved when she finally confessed about her time working at the ranch and how many nights she would sit and listen to a group of nearly drunk ranch hands talking about what they liked from their lady friends. She must have taken copious notes because she tried things he'd never even thought of. She knew every secret place on his body and could touch him with the tip of her nail or a flicker of her tongue and drive him into a frenzy.

Donovan Corbett was a very happy man. Even if Virgil the unicorn hated his guts, he had a loving and wonderful wife, an adorable young son, an extended family, a successful business, and a slobbering dog-moose who worshiped him.

Now if he could just figure out something special for Laci. This was their second anniversary and her first as a mom, so he wanted it to be something remarkable. But what?

It was hard to buy something for her because she never really asked for anything and he didn't want to give her something just for the sake of giving her something. She had made such a huge impact on his life and he wanted to do something spectacular and memorable.

The calendar was smiling its happy smile and waving. He needed sensational. He needed dazzling. He needed stupendous. And he couldn't think of one damn thing.

Chapter 2 Helpful Advice

Even though Matthew was rapidly approaching the five month mark, Donovan still had a hard time believing he was a father but wrapping his head around the idea of his cousin Marian as a mom was an even harder concept.

Other than Donovan, Marian was the only member of their family to work for anything and achieve a goal. He never really understood her choice to run a small tourist bureau in the Georgia town she called home, but it was a place she loved and she wanted to see it thrive. He wasn't at all surprised when she decided to start her own magazine because that was something she had talked about for years. When Laci started working for her, the two got along as if they had known each other forever.

Marian was as driven to succeed as Donovan and was even more of a workaholic. Her life was about phone calls, proofreaders, deadlines, and more phone calls. She was tough and focused and there were times when it seemed as if she knew every single person in the state of Georgia on a first name basis. Her ability to recall the most insignificant details was second only to Donovan's own abilities.

Then came the day her world collided with Victor. Victor traveled everywhere with Donovan so he and Marian had known each other for years. They always got along well but Donovan never noticed the undercurrent of attraction between them. Marian was like a sister and Victor a slightly insane brother so the two, together, just didn't compute in Donovan's mind. When Donovan and Victor took up permanent residence in Marian's beloved Georgia town, Victor wasted no time. Marian turned from a tough as nails, focused and driven business woman, to a . . . girl. The computer in Donovan's brain crashed. Victor and Marian? Marian and Victor? Hell, he was still trying to figure out himself and Laci.

Actually, he was also still trying to figure out the day his own world collided with Victor. Donovan had been looking, without much success, for a reliable assistant. Victor never actually explained how he knew this but he showed up and started assisting. It felt like the two men had always known each other as Victor anticipated every one of Donovan's needs. Over the years, Victor had dropped a few small comments about his colorful past which seemed to skirt the boundaries of legal and illegal but Donovan trusted him and could not deny his work ethic.

Victor thought Donovan was crazy, which seemed fair because Donovan thought Victor was insane. Looking after Donovan and his needs was easy and helping to train sex slaves was a new experience but one Victor adapted to easily. He was straight forward and took no nonsense from anyone including Donovan.

Victor's greatest fun was holding up a figurative mirror to show Donovan his own idiosyncrasies. The best day had been when Laci and her rainbows appeared to shock Donovan's black and white world. Poor guy never had a chance but he also had never smiled so much.

Donovan Corbett, the man of habit and routine, maintained iron like control of every inch of his life having to do with work and business. Donovan Corbett, dad to Matthew and uncle to Jeremy, was confident, caring and endlessly patient. Donovan Corbett, man who loved Laci, was a romantic, scattered, unsure mess. Victor enjoyed the many moods of Donovan and making him just a little crazier.

Still when Donovan needed advice he turned to Victor even if he usually ended up with a headache but maybe Victor could help with his anniversary gift dilemma. If not, Donovan had a brand new bottle of aspirin. When Victor was involved, advance precautions were always wise.

He was sitting peacefully in his office when Victor entered. "Hey, Daddy-bug! Whatcha doin?

"Victor, I have repeatedly asked you not to call me that ridiculous name. I hate it. When are you going to stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Stop calling me that name and stop calling Matthew, Noodle-bug. We both hate it."

"He never complains. He's Noodle-bug and Jeremy is Doodle-bug. Works out great," Victor responded.

"Okay Mr. Annoying-the-shit-out-of-me-bug, any chance you can sit down and possibly give me a little assistance?"

"Sure, Daddy-bug. What's up?"

Donovan sighed with frustration. "My second wedding anniversary is coming up and I want to do something special for Laci. Is there any remote chance you might have an idea? Has she perhaps mentioned anything she would like or wants to do? Somewhere she'd like to go? Something she might want but won't get for herself? Any chance Marian might have mentioned something?"

Victor appeared to be thinking hard. If only Donovan could be sure it was pertaining to the question he had been asked. "Nope. See you later."

"Victor! Get back here! I'm trying to get some help. Don't you have any ideas?"

"Actually, I do. I had a dream last night and I have a great idea for a new business. Wanna hear it?"

"Not really."

"Great. I think we should open a club."

"What kind of club and what does it have to do with a gift for Laci?" Donovan wanted to know.

"A BDSM club but ours will be different. Wanna know how?"

"Again, not really. My goal is to figure out how to do something great for my wife, not to listen to one of your nightmare inducing schemes."

"Okay, see, ours will have a theme. We'll call it Club Transylvania."

Donovan could feel the headache starting. Maybe he should buy stock in a pharmaceutical company that made aspirin. Could be an excellent investment. Might even help his stress levels. At least when he downed a vat of after-conversation-with-Victor-aspirin, it would help to know he was making a profit.

"You had a dream about opening Club Transylvania? You can't possibly be serious? What the fuck were you eating before you went to sleep? Never mind. Don't answer that. I probably don't want to know."

"See, you're Master Donovan and I can be Master Dracula, but you can call me Drac for short. It'll be great. I can wear a cape and everything. We can have steaming caldrons and cobwebs and creaky noises. And bats! We can have flying robotic bats. There's never been anything like it."

Donovan was almost certain his head was going to explode. He had to admit, it would be a perfect special effect for Club Transylvania. He was trying not to shout, "Are you crazy? The reason it's never been done is because it's a horrific Idea. For one thing, you're not a Dominant. For another, Master Dracula? Robotic bats? Will there be room in the belfry for you to sit with them? BDSM is a lifestyle, not a costume party. I'm trying to figure out what to give Laci for our anniversary. I'm not interested in opening a club, especially not Club Transylvania. I can't believe I allow you to take care of my child. And yours. I swear, the day Marian comes to her senses and files for annulment, I will be the first one testifying on her behalf. She'll have no problem using the grounds of insanity. No cobwebs, Victor. No cobwebs and no bats. You're all the bats we need around here. No club!"

"Doms need to have fun too, you know. And what's wrong with Master Dracula? Remember that guy you knew who was Master Iron Man?"

"Victor, I pay you exceptionally well. Perhaps you should take some of that money and seek psychiatric advice. A lot of it. And while Master Iron Man was a bit over the top, his real name was Morton. Master Morty doesn't quite have the ring of intimidation a Dominant requires. No club! Now can we get back to Laci and stop talking about the Dom Halloween festival?"

"Great idea. The subs can trick or treat. I'm telling you, Donovan. It will be a goldmine."

"Victor, the only good thing about your goldmine is me pushing you down the mine shaft. No club! Now can you please stop annoying me and help figure out what to do for Laci? Before I dig my own mine shaft for pushing purposes. Do you have any ideas?" FOR LACI!"

"No need to shout. What did you have in mind?"

"Victor that was what I was asking you. Any chance you could listen without thinking about haunted houses? Last year, on our first anniversary, Laci told me we were expecting Matthew. It's been a remarkable year for both of us, I want to do something really special for her and I've been going around in circles trying to think of something. Is there any possibility you might have an idea? One that doesn't involve vampires? Or any bats besides you?"

"Donovan, Laci never asks for anything. She always says she's happy with you and Matthew and there's nothing else she wants."

Donovan sighed. "I know that and that's why I'm taking my life in my hands and asking for your help. Do you take some kind of special Drive-Donovan-Crazy vitamins or is it just the strange things you eat before bedtime that makes you psychotic? Never mind. Don't answer that. I still don't want to know."

Victor ignored the question. "Maybe you can take her someplace special. How about Kalake? You went there for your honeymoon. That was special. It was special for me and Marian. We loved it. All alone on a tropical island. Running down the beach naked. Really special."

"Victor, I don't care to hear about you and my cousin running naked on the beach."