William brushed his fingers across his impeccable silk shirt and watched Emily running along the street, his eyes skimming across her delectable legs and mouthwatering ass. She might have thought she'd escaped, but no fucking submissive was ever allowed to leave William Collado. Especially not this one. She was his, and she would always be his. She'd signed a contract, and he owned her. William sighed deeply, tamping down the constant rage he'd suffered since she'd escaped his home, his life. She would be his again, he knew it and his cock stirred in his pants as he considered the punishment Emily would receive for betraying him. And once he'd finished with her, he'd sell her. There were thousands of perverts in the Middle East and other overseas countries, who would pay good money for bitches like Emily. William had sold other women and he was looking forward to seeing the expression on Emily's face when she released he was selling her into slavery.
≈≈◊◊≈◊◊≈≈
Emily pulled up in front of the neat residential home and turned off the ignition, studying the house with interest. It was picture-perfect, an older place with blue shutters at the windows and bright flowers filling the garden beds bordering the home. There were a number of cars parked outside, but she couldn't see Matt's truck. She suffered a flutter of nerves, and wondered if she should turn the key in the ignition and drive off again. She could text Matt, tell him something else had come up and she couldn't make it. A glance at her watch confirmed it was nearly ten after six, she'd hoped that by arriving a few minutes late Matt would definitely be here. It was apparent that wasn't the case.
The front door opened and an older woman hurried out, walking directly towards Emily's car. She was wearing blue jeans and a pale yellow shirt, her grey hair cut into a casual and modern hairstyle, which framed her handsome features. As she approached the car, Emily was in no doubt this was Matt's mother and she unclipped her seatbelt and opened the door.
“You must be Emily – Matt's running a little late. He told us to watch out for you, because he was worried you would be anxious if you didn't see his truck.” The woman extended her hand, and offered Emily a warm smile, her blue eyes sparkling. “I'm Matt's mom, Clare Pendleton.” She grasped Emily's hand firmly and drew her out of the car in one smooth movement. “Matt was having a little drama with Courtney – his eldest daughter?” The words were posed as a question and Emily nodded to confirm she knew of Courtney before Clare continued. “She's turned into quite the little hellcat since her mother died. I swear, Matty gets a little greyer every week.” Clare chuckled, drawing Emily towards the front door. “And believe me, at my age, you don't want to see your son getting grey – it's a reminder of your own advancing years.”
Emily was led through a living room filled with people and she found herself wishing she hadn't taken so long to deliberate, and had started the car and left before Clare Pendleton came outside. She tugged self-consciously at the t-shirt she'd chosen, pleased that Matt had told her the party would be casual. At least she didn't stand out amongst the other guests, but she would willingly have the floor open up and swallow her, and quietly prayed Matt would turn up soon. He'd said a family dinner – he hadn't mentioned that there would be dozens of people attending.
The kitchen was open and airy, and again, filled with people. There were some women standing at the counter, preparing salads, and a group of children sitting around a table in the center of the room, decorating what Emily could only assume was the birthday cake. The cake was two tiers, covered in bright red icing and assorted children were currently covering the icing with a variety of candy from a bunch of bowls scattered across the table.
Clare did some quick introductions, making Emily's head spin. “Everyone, this is Matt's friend, Emily Coulter, she's joining us for Jim's birthday.” Clare pointed towards the four women standing at the kitchen counter. “Emily, from right to left – that's our daughter Paula, and beside her is my sister, Meg. The one with her hair pulled up in a ponytail is my other daughter, Gina and her corn-shucking companion is my sister-in-law, Lorraine. Over at the other counter are my Aunt Mary and my Mom, Louise.” The two white-haired women were slicing up watermelon and cantaloupe, placing it on a large tray between them and both waved their knives in the air, offering Emily a warm smile before returning to their task. “And the bunch of kids at the table, well, I won't introduce them all individually, I bet you're confused enough as it is. The extended Pendleton family can be a little overwhelming. Suffice to say, they're the younger generation of Pendleton's, and right now,” she eyed the cake and laughed aloud, “they're in charge of decorating Joe's cake.”
During this monologue, Clare Pendleton had kept her hand against Emily's back, as if she suspected Emily would flee if she were given the opportunity. Now she drew Emily towards another doorway and out into the yard. “I won't subject you to too many introductions, in this family it's always better to do it step by step, there're just far too many people to get to know in one sitting.” Clare led Emily across the patio, towards where a group of men stood at the barbeque, laughing and talking. The smell of barbequing steak and hamburgers wafted in the summer breeze, making Emily's mouth water. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and this smelled delicious. “Jim, this is Emily Coulter, Matt's friend.”
A tall man turned away from the barbeque and looked down at Emily with a warm grin. He had the exact same whisky brown eyes as Matt did, and it was easy to see the family resemblance. When he spoke, there was a Texan drawl to his accent. “Hey, Emily, it's a pleasure to meet you.” He handed off the tongs he'd been holding and leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Emily's cheek before he turned his attention to Clare. “Matty's not arrived yet?”
Clare shook her head and rolled her eyes. “He phoned about ten minutes ago, asking me to meet Emily out front and said that he'd be here, just as soon as – and I quote – 'he could drag that hell spawn daughter of his out to the car'.”
Jim Pendleton laughed deeply, the sound echoing around the surrounding area. “Better make sure we have a cold beer ready for him, sounds like he's going to need it.”
“In the meantime, could you entertain Emily, while I go in and get finished up with the preparations? How far off is dinner?”
Jim glanced back at the barbecue. “About fifteen minutes, I reckon.” He glanced down at Emily, who fidgeted in discomfort. “And I'll be glad to sit and chat with Emily, these reprobates can handle a little barbecuin', while I get to know my son's new lady friend a little better.”
* * *
Chapter Eleven
Matt was in a foul mood by the time he pulled up in front of his parents' home some forty minutes later than he'd planned. He was fuming with Courtney, who'd point-blank refused to attend her grandfather's dinner when she'd discovered Matt had invited Emily.
What followed was a standoff, which had Matt pulling his hair out and growing increasingly frustrated with his daughter. Finally, he'd told her either she went with them, or he would ground her for the next six months. While he'd won the battle, he wasn't entirely certain Courtney hadn't won the war, because she had dragged her heels until Matt developed an ache in his jaw from grinding his teeth.
Arriving at his parents place, three quarters of his children unclipped their seatbelts and raced inside, thrilled to catch up with their extended family. Courtney had gotten out with her arms still crossed, a pout on her lips and her eyes blazing fire as she stomped towards the door. Matt took little notice, more anxious about apologizing to Emily for being late and leaving her at the mercy of his family than having any further dealings with Courtney in the next few hours. He and Courtney both needed a break from one another.
It took Matt a good twenty minutes to work his way through the crowded house, greeting people, and exchanging pleasantries. He was growing increasingly frantic by the time he reached the yard, especially as people were already sitting around with plates full of barbecue. He doubted Emily would ever forgive him for dropping her into this mess, without any support.
To h
is surprise, he appeared to have been worrying over nothing. He located Emily, sitting with his Dad and Mom, along with Grandma Louise and half a dozen other relatives. Emily seemed relaxed and happy, laughing at something his Mom had said to her. Standing to one side, he watched as Emily leaned across and spoke to Grandma Louise, and the elderly woman grinned and nodded, patting Emily's knee.
His father glanced up and saw Matt, and waved him over with a flourish of his beer bottle. “Matty, you made it.”
Emily glanced up and smiled warmly at him, and from the sparkle in her blue eyes, she wasn't mad. Matt relaxed incrementally and strode across to her, leaning over to kiss her chastely on the cheek. She was gorgeous. Wearing blue jeans and a casual t-shirt, her hair was a mass of wild curls around her neck and she wore minimal make-up, revealing the fresh-faced beauty he was growing to love.
The thought almost dropped him to his knees. Wait – what? Love? It was way too soon for those sorts of ideas. He shook the notion from his mind and offered Emily a warm grin. “I'm so sorry, Emily. Courtney was being a pill.”
Emily smiled up at him, shaking her head. “It's not a problem, Matt. Your family has been looking after me.”
“Emily's been telling us about her studies, Matty,” Grandma Louise waved a forkful of salad at him. “She's quite the accomplished young woman.”
Matt smiled at Emily, relieved things were going well. “Yeah, she is, Gran.” He was mesmerized by how beautiful she was, and grateful that he'd worn a loose t-shirt over his jeans again – already he was sporting an erection and he'd only been around Emily for two minutes flat. He couldn't ever recall being so affected by a woman before. “Will you be alright for another few minutes, while I grab some chow and a beer?”
Emily nodded, even as his mom spoke up. “Of course she will, Matt. We don't bite.”
He grabbed a plate of food and a beer from one of the coolers, checked that the kids had all gotten a bite to eat, and went to sit cross-legged on the grass in front of Emily. “How was your day?” he asked quietly, flipping the lid off the beer and slugging down a mouthful. The icy cold liquid went down well after the stress of the past couple of hours and he was pleased to see his family appeared to approve of Emily.
“Pretty average. I went jogging this morning, did some homework, and this afternoon I went with a friend to the movies. What about you?”
Matt shrugged. “Oh, the usual. Housework, grocery shopping, contemplating murdering my eldest daughter.”
“She'll settle, Matty. It's going to take time,” Jim Pendleton said. He leaned back in his seat, his gaze on Courtney – who was standing with a group of the teenage fraternity, her arms still mutinously crossed over her chest and a sulky expression on her face. “What was her problem tonight?”
Matt shook his head firmly. There was no way he would reveal that Emily was the cause of this current fight. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable, and certainly not now, when things seemed to be going so well. He'd been fretting all day about this get-together, wondering if he was throwing Em into the lion's den – but she appeared to be handling his family beautifully. “Just the usual stuff.”
“Has she given up on the belly-button piercing yet?” his mom asked.
“Did you say belly-button?” Grandma Louise questioned. She was getting a little hard of hearing, and with the crowd congregated on the patio, Matt wasn't surprised she was struggling to hear individual voices. She was certainly doing well for a woman of her advancing years, but her hearing was deteriorating. “Courtney wants to get her belly button pierced?” To his surprise, Grandma Louise slapped her knee, nearly tipping the plate she had resting on her lap. “Oh, Matty, that's an absolute hoot.”
Matt frowned, wondering why his grandmother was finding the idea so entertaining, and then he glanced at Emily. Color had risen in her cheeks, and she had lowered her gaze to the ground. “Emily, are you okay?”
Emily glanced up and nodded sheepishly. “I've got a navel piercing, Matt.”
His initial reaction was to tell her he had never seen it, but that announcement would let the cat out of the bag regarding just how much of Emily he'd actually seen, so he decided to remain mute. “You have?”
Emily nodded and pulled the bottom of her t-shirt up to reveal an emerald, piercing the top of her belly button. “I can take it out, so Courtney doesn't find out. I would hate for this to cause more trouble for you.”
“You leave it right where it is,” Clare announce firmly. “For starters, it's a pretty little thing, and secondly, you're clearly an adult. Our granddaughter needs to learn that she can't always get her own way, and that some things have to wait until you reach adulthood for good reason.”
Matt squirmed uncomfortably on the grass, wondering again how he could possibly get this situation to work. It was apparent his parents and extended family were accepting Emily into the fold, but he had to wonder, how long could he keep the truth from them? And worse, Courtney had made her feelings regarding Emily painfully evident this evening when he'd been fighting with her. While his other three kids had taken to Emily and already seemed to be developing a liking for her, Courtney was a different story. She had made it clear that she did not intend to accept another woman in the house, especially one who was as young as Emily was. Courtney had guessed, correctly, that Emily wasn't much more than twenty, and Matt could only imagine how much worse things would get when Courtney discovered that not only was Emily young, but she also had a navel piercing, exactly what Matt had refused her. Sure, there was a difference – Emily was a grown woman and legally old enough to have a piercing, but he could imagine Courtney's reaction, and it wasn't going to be good.
“Matt, are you okay?” Emily leaned over and asked the question, keeping her voice down to avoid having everyone hear it. She'd known his family for about an hour, and already she had gotten a handle on the dynamics, seemed to sense that they would automatically want to know what was going on if she made her concern too obvious.
Matt nodded and offered Emily a warm smile. “I'm fine. Just a bit tired after dealing with World War Courtney for about the fifteenth time this week.”
“Stand your ground, son,” Jim advised. “If you start giving in to her, you'll have hell to pay.” He winked. “That's where I went wrong with Gina.”
“Dad!” Gina shrieked. “You never gave in to me, not on any single thing when I was growing up!”
Jim waved his fork at his eldest daughter. “Now that's where you're wrong, young lady. I seem to recall giving in to you over that fool car you wanted to buy when you first got your license. I spent the next six months hauling your sorry ass out of about fifteen breakdowns a week—”
Gina shook her head and laughed. “It was about five breakdowns, in the space of six months, thank you very much—”
“Still, if I'd stood my ground against you and your mother—”
Clare held her hands up in front of her body in protest. “Hey, don't drag me into this—”
“And you didn't get annoyed when Matt brought that heap of shit truck when he turned sixteen—” Gina argued.
“Hey, don't drag me into this, either!” Matt protested mildly. “Besides, that truck was legendary!”
Matt's other sister, Paula piped up with a malicious grin. “Yeah, it was really legendary when you got it bogged down at Patterson's Creek that weekend you snuck off camping with Caroline. You had to send an SOS to Dad and he had to get some farmer to bring his tractor down and haul you out—”
“And the interior never did smell the same, I was convinced a fish had up and died somewhere in the car and we'd just never discovered its rotting carcass,” Gina added.
“And Mom nearly killed you, for taking Caroline away for a dirty weekend when you were both only seventeen!” Paula laughed.
Matt finished his meal and dropped the empty plate on top of some others that were piled up beside his father's chair. “Hey, how did this get to be all about me?” he grumbled. He snuck a glance at Emily, worried
the conversation about Caroline might have made her uncomfortable. It was second nature for his family to speak about Caroline – they'd agreed from the beginning to keep talking about her for the kids' sake – but it seemed awkward to have her mentioned in front of Emily. It seemed Emily was taking it all in stride though, and she offered him a warm smile when she caught him eyeing her. He got to his feet and held his hand out. “Come on, Emily – let's get out of here before they spill all my dirty secrets.”
To the howls of protest from his family, he pulled Emily to her feet and walked away, determined to escape somewhere that his family couldn't fill Emily's head with a mountain of other embarrassing stories about his childhood.
≈≈◊◊≈◊◊≈≈
It was practically impossible to find any privacy in the house, but Matt eventually led Emily out through the front door and they sat on the stoop, enjoying the comparative peace. The sounds of the party still filtered out to them, but here, Matt could hear himself think and more importantly, do what he'd wanted to do from the minute he'd first seen Emily.
He leaned across and caught her cheek in the palm of his hand, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. Emily hummed her approval, pressing her small hand against his chest and Matt wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. “I'm so sorry, Emily – I never intended for you to deal with my family for the first time without my support.”
Emily shook her head and smiled. “Honestly, Matt, it's been fine. They're wonderful people; I've enjoyed getting to know them.”
“You haven't had to field any awkward questions?”
To his surprise, Emily chuckled. “What were you expecting them to ask? I've been very discreet, they know I'm studying and I told them I work part-time in a bar. Were you thinking I'd tell them about the escort work? Or the fact that I live over a BDSM club?” Emily leaned towards him and offered him a wry smile. “I got the impression you'd rather I keep that part of my life private… but if you want, I can tell them…”
Contrasting Lives Page 12