The Last Woman (All That Remains #1)

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The Last Woman (All That Remains #1) Page 15

by S. M. Shade


  Airen is in a mood when he comes back inside with two wasp stings on his arm, so I decide to keep my little spying game to myself for now.

  “It was one of those big red ones,” he says, as I hold an ice pack on his stings.

  “Mahogany Wasps are aggressive. They’ll sting you more than once, and they hurt like hell.”

  “Have you been stung by one?”

  “Mmm,” I agree.

  “Where did it get you?”

  “Under my eye.”

  “Ouch,” he whispers, blanching.

  “They’ll feel better by tomorrow. At least you aren’t allergic.”

  He nods. “Let’s go to bed, and you can make me feel better tonight,” he suggests, giving me that smoldering stare.

  Trying to conceal the instant desire that fires in the pit of my stomach, I reply, “We’ll see.”

  “Tease,” he accuses, playfully.

  “You know you like it,” I counter, using his line.

  The next day is one of those days that make you want to crawl back into bed and nap. It’s been pouring rain all morning with no sign of stopping anytime soon. The kids play video games, happy to have a day to hang out and play. Joseph and Mandy decide to go to her house to begin painting the kitchen. Airen decides it’s not raining too hard to fish and heads out to the lake.

  “What are you going to do?” he asks.

  “I have a new book calling my name.”

  “See you in a few hours.” He kisses me goodbye and saunters out. It’s a perfect opportunity to retrieve the recorder from under Mandy’s bed. Stretching out on my bed, I flip the switch and settle in to listen.

  “I’m tired,” moans Sara. I can hear her yawn. Wow, this little toy picks up every sound.

  “So go ta sleep,” Mandy snaps. She has no intention of letting Sara sleep, however. “Ya wouldn’t believe what those guys tole me! They act like I should be kissin’ Abby’s ass cause she let me come back here, and she’s the one that attacked me!”

  “Really?” Sara asks, sounding bored.

  “Yes! Said she was worried about you! Bullshit! She’s scared Airen will sneak off to my house when she’s not watchin’! She should be worried.” Her laugh is cruel.

  “You think Airen would do that?”

  “Sugar, let me tell you somethin’ about men. They all give in eventually. Show a little cleavage, shake your ass in front of them, and they all fall in line.”

  I’m so engrossed in the recording I don’t hear the bedroom door open and close.

  “Ahem.” Airen clears his throat, and looks down at me with a stern expression. Fuck. I’m busted. I press pause and meet his gaze. “Care to explain?” he asks. He looks serious, but there is a glint of amusement in his eyes.

  “I...uh...I’m worried about Sara and how Mandy treats her when we aren’t around. She was giving her such hateful looks whenever she spoke to me.”

  “You think this is the way to go about it? Eavesdropping?”

  My cheeks ignite, but I stand my ground as I’m studied by those beautiful, dark, disapproving eyes. “Do you have a better idea? Look, I know it’s not right, but she’s given us every reason to distrust her. I think Sara should stay with us when Mandy moves.”

  “Sara is welcome as long as she wants to stay.” He’s still staring at me, making me self-conscious.

  “You know I’d never record you or Joseph, or anyone else like this,” I plead defensively.

  “I hope not,” he says with a smirk. “You eavesdrop on me and I’ll put you over my knee.”

  My mouth drops open. “Over your knee?”

  “Yep.”

  “Like a child?” He has to be kidding, but if so, he’s doing it with a straight face. He looks dead serious.

  “It’s a childish thing to do,” he teases, enjoying my shock at his unexpected threat.

  “Well, it’s a moot point anyway since I’d never do that to you. Besides, I’d probably like it.”

  Now it’s his turn to look shocked. “I’ll remember that.”

  “Are you going to listen to this with me or not, Mr. I’m-Suddenly-So-Moral?”

  He smiles and shakes his head as he relents. “Rewind it.” He shoots me a wary look when Mandy talks about him sneaking to meet her. “You know I’d never,” he begins.

  “Hush, I know,” I order absently, focusing on the recording.

  “I’ll have Airen eventually. Ya can count on that. Do you really think he’s gonna stay with that ugly bitch? I mean, really? I don’t know how she had Carson, how she got someone ta fuck her ugly ass before.” She cackles.

  Airen flips off the recorder. He’s furious and obviously concerned about how I feel after listening to her insult me. “That’s enough,” he snaps.

  “I’ve been called worse by far better people than her. It doesn’t bother me.” It’s nothing you don’t already know, my inner voice reminds me. I push play again.

  “Ya can have Joseph when you’re older. He’s cute, but he’s into men too, and that’s kinda gross. I couldn’t fuck him knowin’ that. Airen though, goddamn, I can’t wait until I can get a hold of him. I’ll bet he can fuck like a champ all night long.”

  “Well, she’s right about one thing.” I grin at him, and he flashes me a sexy smile.

  “What if he doesn’t want to leave Abby?” Sara asks softly. My heart goes out to her. She is always stuck in the middle.

  “Then I’ll get rid of her.”

  “How?”

  “I’ll find a way, sugar, don’t ya worry.”

  “You aren’t going to hurt her, are you?” Sara asks, her voice full of concern.

  Mandy snorts. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt everyone’s precious Abby. It’s not necessary anyway. I don’t know what she has over them. I mean what the hell? Does she have bacon flavored tits? Ya watch and see, Airen’s too damn hot to keep on with someone like her. I’ve just been too forward, too obvious. He must be the type that likes to chase. All I have to do is be available. He can’t resist.” We can hear the click as one of them turns off the electric lantern. “He’s gonna be naked in my bed before the end of summer,” she gloats. The recording goes on to catch them waking in the morning, but nothing else is said.

  “That bitch is out tonight!” Airen jumps out of bed.

  I grasp his arm. “No, wait.”

  “Abby, she’s crazy. I had no idea she was that—hateful,” he says.

  “I know, but you need to calm down so we can consider what we should do.”

  “Joseph needs to hear this.”

  “I agree, but I hate for him to hear the part where she calls him gross.”

  “I think he can handle it,” he scoffs, rolling his eyes.

  Later that night, after everyone is in bed, I tap on Joseph’s door. “Can you come with me for a minute?” I whisper. He nods, perplexed, and follows me to the bedroom where Airen is waiting for us.

  “Are we finally going to have that threesome?”

  Airen slaps him on the ass with a laugh. “You couldn’t handle it, buddy.”

  “You need to listen to this.” I explain what I’ve done, and his eyebrows shoot up.

  “Again? You’ve become quite the little spy, haven’t you?”

  Oh Shit. Thanks a heap, Joseph. Airen looks at me expectantly, waiting for my explanation.

  “I may have...inadvertently overheard your conversation with Mandy and Joseph yesterday,” I admit. Is he going to be angry?

  “Inadvertently overheard?” he repeats, amused.

  “I wanted to hear her reaction.”

  “Mmm Hmm.”

  “Are you pissed?”

  “No, but I always keep my promises, Abby.”

  What? Promises? Oh Hell, I eavesdropped on him.

  “I did it before I swore I wouldn’t. It’s grandfathered in.” I grin at him, and he shakes his head, staring at me stone-faced. Joseph looks confused as I blush and try to change the subject. “Ready?” I ask and press play.

  Joseph list
ens closely, stunned as she rails against me. “Abby, I had no idea.”

  “I wanted to drag her out by her hair when I first heard it this morning,” Airen admits.

  “What do you want to do?” Joseph asks me.

  “If we throw her out, I don’t know what she’ll do to retaliate. We don’t know how vindictive she can be. I think we need to be rational and try to come up with a solution. I don’t want to overreact because she called me a few names.”

  “I don’t know. She sounds crazy. She could be dangerous,” Joseph whispers, sounding unsure.

  “She wants Airen, so she knows better than to raise a hand toward me or he’ll hate her. Plus, I can take that bitch on my worst day, and she knows it.”

  Airen’s face softens, and he gazes at me with a mixture of pride and amusement.

  “She says she’s going to stop trying so hard and let you come to her. She’s already doing her phony sweet act toward me. She’s not the only one who can fake a smile.”

  “How much longer before we get the power on at her house?” Airen asks Joseph.

  “I can do it in less than two weeks, maybe a week.”

  “Then we move her out and see how things go,” I suggest. “Can we all agree that Sara stays with us?”

  “Absolutely,” Airen agrees.

  “Of course, I don’t know how she’s dealt with her for this long,” Joseph remarks.

  “Keep an eye on her around Abby,” Airen warns Joseph.

  “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

  If you weren’t here you’d still be listening,” Airen replies and smacks me sharply on my ass. Joseph laughs on his way out of the room as I turn around and stare at Airen.

  “That stung!” I accuse, giggling and rubbing my behind.

  “That was just a taste, sweetheart,” he whispers in my ear.

  “Beast.”

  “You know you like it.”

  “I know I love you.”

  “Mmm, I love you too, but that won’t save your ass,” he replies in a husky voice, squeezing my behind. I grin and shake my head at him before I head to the shower. “When you least expect it, darlin’,” he calls after me with me an evil little half smile. Fuck, he’s sexy.

  * * * *

  Airen and Joseph will not let me out of their sight when Mandy’s around. It’s infuriating, but I try not to complain. I know they’re concerned that she might turn on me.

  After a few days, Airen suggests he and I spend the night at our summer home, a night away from everything. Joseph agrees to keep a close eye on things, and we each have a two way radio to keep in touch if anything happens in the middle of the night. We grab our stuff after dinner and prepare to leave.

  “You have the radio if you need us,” I remind Joseph.

  “Go, have fun, make lots of noise.” He winks at us.

  Mandy sits there with that same smile plastered on her face. It’s creepy. Airen and I rarely get a few hours alone and never an entire night. The hum of a generator reaches my ears as we get close to the trailer, and I look at him in surprise.

  “You installed an air conditioner!” I exclaim as we walk in. It’s hot and humid outside and the cool air against my clammy skin feels wonderful. “You hooked it up to the generator just for tonight?” He went through a lot of trouble.

  “I thought we deserved a little comfort,” he replies, drawing my attention to the small combination TV and DVD player in the corner. “It’s been a difficult week.”

  “Thank you.” I hug him. We spend the next few hours cuddled on the sofa, watching a movie, and just hanging out together. We drink a little wine, and he starts kissing me. Damn, my man can kiss, make me forget everything that’s going on around me. Nothing exists but him, his mouth on mine, his hands caressing me as he works his way down my body, undressing me until I’m wearing only panties.

  “I love these little boy shorts on you,” he whispers in my ear.

  I unbutton his shirt and push it off his shoulders so I can run my tongue across his chest. “Do you want to move to the bedroom?”

  “No, I’d rather spank you on this couch.” A wicked grin flashes across his face, and before I can react to his words, he pulls me across his lap, trapping my legs under one of his.

  “Airen!”

  “Mmm,” he hums, rubbing his hand up and down my back, across my behind, down my thighs, and back up.

  “Let me up.” I giggle as he caresses my behind gently. “Airen, you better never!” I laugh.

  “You may as well relax, darlin’. You’re going to get it either way,” he says, his voice husky.

  Oh shit. My laughter fades with his serious tone. “You wouldn’t dare!” Would he?

  “Unless you care to apologize for eavesdropping on me,” he replies smugly.

  “Let me up, you asshole!” Struggling is pointless, he has my legs in an iron grip. Being restrained, held down and at a man’s mercy, I’d be in a panic if it wasn’t Airen, but I’m not afraid. He’d never hurt me.

  “It’s your choice. Just two little words.”

  “Bite me?” I suggest, trying to turn over. His palm cracks across my ass, once on each cheek, and then rubs away the sting.

  “Ow! Airen!” My face burns. This is so embarrassing! I’m going to kill him!

  “Still not the right two words. I’ll give you a hint, the second one is sorry.”

  “I’m going to kill you!” I swear, trying not to laugh. He swats me again, lower, on each cheek. It doesn’t really hurt. I barely feel the sting through my panties. I can feel him pressing against me, getting hard underneath me, and it makes me giggle.

  “There seems to be something trying to escape from your shorts,” I tease.

  “Oh, Abby, must you always learn the hard way?” My panties slide down, baring me to him, and I hide my face in the couch cushion, too humiliated to look at him. I know all I have to do is say I’m sorry, it’s his way of giving me a way out, but I just…can’t. I’m trying not to think about how I must look with my big, naked ass in the air when he caresses me and murmurs, “You look so fucking sexy across my lap, Abigail.”

  Suddenly, I’m hot. I’m burning, and it’s not from embarrassment.

  He smacks me the same way, twice, just above my thighs, and I’m surprised by how loud his hand on my bare ass sounds. Without my panties to protect me it stings, but it also feels thrilling. I’m shocked by my body’s reaction. I’m drowning in a myriad of sensations, arousal, humiliation, excitement, and fear. Before I can recover, he does it again, and I moan involuntarily.

  “Mmm, I love to hear that sound,” he murmurs.

  His hand goes back to stroking and caressing, and I’m so turned on. All that exists in the world are his hands on my body.

  “Ready to apologize?”

  “No,” I whisper. His hand falls again, a little harder, making me jump and claw at the cushions. When he lands two more, I instinctively twist away and try to cover my behind with my hand.

  “Oh no, darlin’. You’ve got four more coming.” I can hear the lust in his voice as he holds my wrist and pins my hand against my back. A finger slips between my folds, dipping inside me, sending a wall of heat radiating outward. “So wet, baby. You like this. You like being taken across my knee.”

  “No.” A low, dark chuckle rumbles across my skin at my weak denial. Two hard, firm swats on the bottom curve of each cheek pull a cry from my throat. Oh Fuck, it stings.

  “Two more, you sorry yet?” His palm rubs my cheeks in slow circles.

  “No,” I whisper, barely audible. I shouldn’t like this. I don’t know why I want this, but I don’t want him to stop. The last two swats are the hardest. Ah! Airen!” I shout. My wrist is released and I instantly rub my sore spots until he takes my hand again, running his thumb across my knuckles. Soft lips press against the heated skin of each cheek.

  “Your ass is glowing, sweetheart.” He moves me off his lap, lays me on my back on the couch, and stretches out beside me in one smooth,
fluid motion. Wearing an insufferably arrogant smile, he pushes my hair out of my face and gazes down at me, “I own you” written all over that pretty face. I can’t look him in the eye. I’m appalled at my response to the spanking, but I’m also so turned on I can hardly stand it. My face is flushed, and I’m breathing hard.

  “You okay?” he whispers, gently trailing his lips across my throat. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me.

  “Yes.” When his lips close on mine, I attack. I can’t get enough of him. I want to bathe in his scent, his taste, his body. I have to touch him and feel him inside of me. He returns the onslaught, ravaging my body with his. He thrusts into me harder and harder as I grip his ass and spread my legs, desperate to get every inch of him. God, it’s so primal. A scream tears from my throat as I’m hurled into an overpowering orgasm that leaves me weak and shaking.

  “I’m nowhere near finished with you, baby.”

  Three hours and countless orgasms later, I’m seated between his legs in a tub of warm water, leaning back against his chest.

  “Air? How did you know that I’d...um…”

  “Like to be spanked?” he guesses.

  My face burns, but I nod. I can’t deny it. My reaction was kind of obvious.

  “I didn’t know you’d like it, but I knew you’d stop me if you didn’t.” He runs a soft cloth over my shoulders. “It’s okay to enjoy it.”

  “I’m embarrassed.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I just wanted to try something new.”

  “You’ve never spanked anyone before?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever been spanked?”

  “No, I don’t think I’d like it,” he admits.

  “It is really embarrassing, especially if you have a big butt like I do,” I mumble.

  “Abby! I swear I’ll never understand women,” he says with a sigh.

  “What?”

  “You have an incredible ass. I can barely keep my hands off of it. Why do you think I wanted you over my lap?” Oh wow, really? I lean my head back against him. “Do you want to try it again sometime?” he asks.

  I consider it. It was kind of humiliating, but it awoke something in me, and damn, I came so hard! “You can never tell anyone,” I exclaim, getting to the depth of my real concern over the spanking.

 

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