The Word Master by Jason Luke Read Free Book Online

Master Jericho James. If you have a question about submission… or if you have a secret, sexy fantasy you want to share, call the open line right now. In the meantime, let’s make this gorgeous guy welcome to our town.”
    April’s voice trailed off and my earphones filled with the familiar sounds of ‘Men at Work’ singing ‘Land Down Under’ . The song was a poignant reminder of home, and of a defining moment in my life.
    In 1983, a yacht named ‘Australia II’ had won the America’s Cup. I remembered being a kid, watching the final dramatic race on television. That moment had begun my fascination with sailing and yacht racing. The Australian syndicate had played the ‘Men at Work’ hit as the team’s theme song, and now, hearing it again, heralded a reminiscent flood of nostalgia.
    April’s eyes twinkled and she winked at me. I gave her a lopsided grin of appreciation.
    “There’s more to come,” she said. “I’ve re-programmed the play list. We’re going to play Australian music all night. Do you like INXS, Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel?”
    My smile broadened. April seemed to bask in the glow like a flower drawn towards the sun. Her expression slowly changed to become somehow more significant and I sensed she was on the verge of speaking again. She fidgeted, and her gaze wavered. She swallowed hard, licked nervously at her lips, and then brought her eyes back to mine. She leaned forward a little in her chair and took a deep tremulous breath.
    “Jericho, I –”
    Suddenly Grover’s deep bass voice graveled through the overhead speaker, breaking the awkward, intimate spell.
    “It’s like December,” he said with a bewildered kind of awe. “The console looks like a Christmas tree! Take line eighteen. The chick’s name is Tabitha and she has a question.”
    The words that had been on April’s lips smudged into an ironic smile. Her enigmatic expression vanished in an instant. She stabbed at the keyboard and then slumped back in her chair with a hollow sigh.
    “Hi Tabitha,” April said. “Thanks for calling the station. Jericho is right here waiting for your question.”
    There was the faintest sound of a ‘click’ and then a middle-aged woman’s voice filled the headphones. She sounded well-educated, and was softly spoken.
    “Hello, Jericho?”
    “G’day, Tabitha,” I spoke warmly, my mouth close to the mic. “How can I help you tonight?”
    “Well…” the woman was nervous. There was an uncertain waver in her voice. “My husband asked me last night whether I had ever considered submitting to him in the bedroom?”
    “And…?”
    Tabitha paused for an instant. “Well, I have often dreamed about submitting,” she qualified, “but just not to my husband! In my fantasies it was always someone darker and more mysterious – not the man I married twenty eight years ago.”
    I smiled. “So what did you tell your husband?”
    “Not that!” Tabitha suddenly chuckled and the tone of her voice seemed to relax. “I told him I was curious…”
    “And are you – curious?”
    “No. I’m nervous,” Tabitha admitted. “You see my husband has never been the dominant type, not in all the years I have known him. Now, quite suddenly, he seems to have this interest in the BDSM lifestyle. I’m not sure I want to put myself in the hands of a man who doesn’t have the experience to make the reality as arousing as my fantasies.”
    I rubbed my chin. “Tabitha, where do you think your husband’s sudden interest in the lifestyle came from?”
    “Me, I guess,” the woman on the other end of the line confided. “I read a lot of those books…”
    “Well is it possible he has developed this interest because he wants to please you?”
    “Most likely,” Tabitha admitted.
    “Then you have to give him credit – and you certainly have to encourage him wherever possible,” I said. “If he is doing this because he knows it is a turn on for you, the best thing you can do is at least give him