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My curiosity was at an all-time high, but there was no sense in annoying Master with questions. He’d tell me what we were doing when he was ready and not a second before. Also, he has experience living his life as Will without being seen as Lord Byron, so I told him, “I trust you to keep us safe, Master.”

“And I value that trust more than you can possibly know.”

We ate at this wonderful barbeque place, and then drove to a cool waterfall we could see from a bridge. Master said it was called Bald River Falls, and I’d have liked to get out and spend some time there, but we were on a schedule, so we were only there maybe five minutes before we headed to the Cherohala Skyway entrance, which it turned out was pretty close to the falls.

And the views from the top of the Skyway were magnificent. I got some great pics of the falls, but nothing compared to the pictures I got from some of the Skyway pull-offs. I did a three-sixty video at one stop, and it was just views and scenery no matter which way you looked.

But then Master sat in the passenger seat, and I shook my head at him before I realized what I was doing.

He lifted his brows a second and then frowned. “Fuck, Davy. Now I’m going to have to punish you tonight. You know better than to refuse an order, and me sitting over here was damned well an order for you to drive.”

I looked at my feet, and he said, “Punishment just doubled. Am I wrong about you understanding your orders?”

My heart was in my feet, but I somehow managed to walk to the driver’s side and get into the seat. Master had shown me where the controls were for the doors, and he’d sat me in the car while it was in his other garage, the one at the back of the property, and helped get the steering wheel and pedals in the right place. The seat doesn’t move or adjust, but everything around the seat does. I closed the doors and then pushed the memory button for my settings, and everything moved towards me.

“Drive us to the next pull-off. It’s only a few miles, so if you need to make adjustments, you can do so there. Mirrors look right? You can see where you should out of all of them?”

“Yes, Master. I apologize for my actions.”

“I appreciate that, but I can’t have you refusing to follow orders, slave.”

“You haven’t had to punish me yet, Master. I’m sorry if I’ve messed up some of our trip.”

“We’ll handle it as soon as we get checked in. Start driving, Davy. I’m not mad, just disappointed. No one’s perfect. I’ll never expect perfection, but that doesn’t mean I can let it go when you refuse an order.”

I didn’t expect to enjoy driving the car, but I did, despite my anxiety. Master had explained how you let off the gas a little before going into a curve, and then get into the gas partway through it, and he talked me through doing so when we came to curves.

I made some small adjustments at the next pull-off, and everything was perfect when I started again. Once, on a long straightaway, Master told me to floor it. No way was I going to refuse an order again, so I double-checked to make sure the road was clear far in front of me, and I pushed the pedal all the way down.

And then removed my foot as fast as I could because I was plastered to the seat. A quick glance at the speedometer told me we were going one hundred and ten, which meant we’d been going faster than that while I had my foot still on the gas — and I couldn’t have had it floored for more than two or three seconds. Probably three, because it was hard to pull my leg back towards me with all the g-forces.

“Master! I don’t want to do that again.”

“And you don’t have to, at least not today, but it was important you understand the kind of power at your beck and call. On the next straightaway, I’d like you to speed up to around eighty if it’s safe to do so. Play around with how hard you can push the pedal and still be comfortable. You’ve been driving it like an old man, taking off slowly, and this car is meant to be played with. Safely, of course, but you can go a little wild and still be safe.”

“Yes, Sir.”

I drove a long time, probably forty or so minutes, and Master thankfully went back to the driver’s side when we got out at an overlook. I breathed in relief because the onboard map had shown we weren’t far from the end of the Skyway.

Once Master was back in the driver’s seat, he told the onboard system to call the chase car, and I wondered if his security chase car always had the same number, or if someone reprogrammed it every time he went somewhere.

When they answered, he said, “I’m going to do the Tail of the Dragon before we check in at the resort.”

“You two have fun, and remember we’re in an SUV trying to keep up while you’re on the Dragon’s Tail.”

Master chuckled. “I’m going to need thirty to forty minutes in the cabin before we eat. Also, help me remember to remind them of our six o’clock breakfast request when we check in. I want to be back on the Dragon’s Tail by six thirty in the morning.”

“Got it. Looks like it’s going to get down in the thirties tonight here, but we’d planned your clothing for that tomorrow. We have some jackets you can wear if you need them when we get out.”

I hadn’t even thought to check the weather. It’d been in the sixties or maybe even the seventies when we left Chattanooga. I’d noticed it was a little chillier on the Skyway, but nowhere near cold. I guess March in the mountains could probably be all over the place. I’d never owned a heavy coat in Florida, but I’d had to buy one my first winter in Chattanooga.

Master handled a couple more details before pushing the button on the steering wheel to hang up, and before long, he pointed to the left and said, “That’s where we’re staying tonight. It’s a really old Lodge with great food. They have some new-ish cabins down on the river, and we have one of them for the night. It’s a two-unit cabin with a door between the two, so we’ll have one unit and our security will have the other.

“On tour, I usually have Panda and Mira on me. A lot of people think Mira is a groupie I frequently fuck, and we let those rumors run rampant. In reality, Mira is a little scary and I’m not even atinybit interested in fucking her.” He shrugged. “I guess this is time off for them, too. The idea is that Mac and Ranger are with Will while Panda and Mira are with Lord Byron. It’s nice that Ghost travels with us, so we don’t need to have a Drake person inside the bus with us, but sometimes he flies home for a week or two, and then Mira is usually in the bus with us.”

“I’ve actually met Mac and Ranger before, Sir. Their girlfriend is Gen’s best friend, so I see them sometimes in the restaurant. I usually eat by myself, but if Matty’s there, he makes me eat in the VIP section with everyone.”

“You and Matty are close?”