by Khloe Wren
"That it does, I remember it well. Try spending that week with your dad as your boss pushing you around while your little brother's under your feet trying to help." Dominic said with a grin. Adele watched his face loose all humor as she felt her eyes tear up.
"Oh hell, Adele. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. This is meant to be a celebration. Here, have a drink and I'll go order us some dinner. Daily special okay?"
All Adele could manage was a nod. Dominic headed up to the bar to order their meals, leaving her alone to allow her a moment to collect herself. He seemed so in tune with what she needed.
She blew out a breath. Damn, she hadn't expected to react that much. Now she felt like a fool. If every time she heard someone talk about family she freaked out, it was going to be hard to make friends. She took a few deep breaths, wiped away the stray tears and tried to calm herself down before Dominic returned. Deep breath...and more tears. Damn it. Maybe she should have said no to dinner, just gone straight home. She felt, rather than saw, Dominic come back. He pulled his chair around next to hers and placed his hand on her back then started stroking in lazy circles.
"I'm so sorry beautiful, I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's alright Dominic, you couldn't have known. It's just my mother, she passed away four years ago. I've been on my own ever since. She was all the family I ever had; your talk of family just pricked a nerve. I'm sure if I wasn't so tired it wouldn't have affected me. I'm okay now, really. Can we please just talk about something else?"
~ * ~
Dominic was grateful Jenny picked that perfect moment to bring their meals out. Today's special was his favourite, beer battered butterfish with chips and salad. He couldn't help it. All cats love their fish. He was curious to whether Adele liked fish...he was curious about everything to do with Adele. Damn, Conner was right; he was acting like a love sick kitten.
"Oh, cool. Fish, my favourite." Adele chuckled. "I didn't even look at the specials board on the way in; I could have ended up with anything."
"You're pretty safe here. Generally the special is either battered fish or chicken schnitzels, sometimes soup in winter." Dominic said with a gentle smile. He was feeling better now he had her chuckling again; he loved the sound of her giggle. It sounded so carefree and relaxed. The fact she was drinking wine he'd selected and food he'd ordered for her made him want to purr in satisfaction.
They both proceeded to eat in comfortable silence until they were just picking over the last few chips on their plates.
"Well, that certainly feels better. I've never eaten as much as I have in this last week. At least with all the running around I'm doing I won't gain any weight." Adele said as she leaned back in her chair with her drink in hand.
"You would still be beautiful." Dominic said quietly. His mate was stunning, her classic hourglass shape with curves in all the right places. He didn't want her fussing about her weight. She didn't need to worry. She was perfection just as she was.
Adele's eyes flicked up to his. He could read her shock clearly in them. She'd heard his comment, apparently having difficulty believing it. He knew his eyes must be showing his emotions when a look of panic crossed her face. He needed to change the topic. Just pretend he didn't say anything about her being beautiful. He wasn't ready for the evening to be over just yet and she looked like she was going to bolt.
"Kit mentioned you're going to start keeping an eye out for your own place here in town. Does that mean you like it here and you're going to stay on?"
Dominic smiled innocently at Adele, waiting for her to register the change of topic to what was hopefully a safer one.
"Um, yeah, I am just going to keep an eye out in the local paper and check out the agents down Main Street. I won't be able to afford to move for at least another few weeks." Adele stuttered in response. "I love staying with Kit but I've always been independent and I don't want to overstay my welcome."
"I doubt you'd ever wear out your welcome, especially with Kit. But I certainly understand the need for some personal space. How do you like the job? I mean apart from the long hours, are you enjoying it?"
"I love my new job. I've always liked helping people. The work soothes me. I've been volunteering for years and it's great to finally be able to do it professionally."
"Yeah, fire fighting is a bit the same for me. I like being able to help people and I also love the thrill of the fire so fire fighting was the natural choice for me. As Dad's the captain, I knew when there were job vacancies so that helped make the choice even easier."
They chatted for a while longer about their jobs and the week they'd each had when Adele starting to yawn, her week catching up with her.
"I'm sorry Dominic but I really must head home. I'm about to fall asleep at the table." She exclaimed around another yawn.
"Ah well, we can't have that now can we? How about I drive you and your car back to Kit's? I don't live far from her place so I can walk home afterwards."
Adele meant to brush him off, meant to say "no thanks, I'll be right" but apparently her mouth didn't get that message and ran off on its own:
"That would be nice, thanks Dominic."
They both got up and put their jackets on and left the pub heading towards her Corolla. They drove to Kit's place in comfortable silence. Adele felt so relaxed. She was so tired that not having to worry about driving was a God-send. Dominic pulled her car into Kit's driveway and hopped out. He was around her side opening the door before she realized he'd moved--damn that man was fast. He held his hand out for hers and without a moments hesitation she slid her palm against his. He gently pulled her up out of the car, straight into his arms. He moved his hands so they rested on her waist, thumbs around the front, fingers splayed across her lower back. Again, his actions felt possessive, like he was claiming her. She could feel his heat searing through her clothes, sending shivers up and down her spine.
"I had a great night, Adele, thank you." His voice was low, deep and so damn sexy.
Adele raised her head to look into his eyes to voice a response but she didn't get the chance. Before she could get a sound out, his mouth descended upon hers.
Oh, wow. She'd never been kissed before, and even if she had she doubted it would have come close to Dominic's. She slowly put her hands on his chest, ran them up until she had her arms around his neck. He was so strong. His whole body was hard with muscle, except his lips. They were soft, so soft and gentle. His mouth was wooing her with seductive tenderness. He traced his tongue along the seam of her lips and she gasped as she felt it all the way down to her core. Her body came alive for the very first time. He took the invitation; he delved into her mouth, drugging her, pulling her further under his spell. When the need to breathe became more than they could ignore, they pulled apart both breathing heavily. Dominic rested his forehead against hers--his eyes were hooded and smoldering. For a moment, she wished she already had her own place so he could come inside with her.
"Wh--what are you doing to me?" Adele whispered as she lowered her arms placing her hands on his very well defined pectoral muscles, feeling his rapid heart beat and the muscles twitch beneath her palms.
"I was kissing you, beautiful. I like you Adele, really like you. I just thought I'd show you." He said softly as he gave her another light kiss on the lips, trailing his fingers down her cheek to hold her chin while he brushed his thumb over her now kiss swollen lower lip.
"Good night, my beautiful Adele, sweet dreams." He whispered before releasing her, pressing her keys into her palm and stepping away.
~ * ~
Dominic left Adele leaning against her car in a daze. He didn't like leaving her out in the open but if he didn't leave right now, he would be inside her and he knew it was too soon for that. He knew if he'd gone that far she would run, and run fast. He would probably never win her heart if she ran. So he jogged across the road out of her sight and watched as she slowly came back to herself. She looked down at her hand a moment before using the keys there to lock
her car, then headed up to the front door. The whole time she kept touching her lips in a way that made Dominic certain his had been her first kiss. The tentative manner she responded to him made him think it might have been her first but watching her now, he was certain of it. The thought no other man had touched what was fated to be his made him purr out loud with pride and delight.
Once she was safely inside the house he shifted and took off to run along the riverbank. He had never been happier, even if he was more than slightly sexually frustrated.
Chapter Five
Jake answered the phone. As soon as he had the details he hit the button to sound the siren. Dominic, Conner, Kit, Joel and Jordan were on call; they were hanging in the kitchen so within ten minutes they were all geared up in the trucks ready to head out.
Jake jumped behind the wheel of one while Dominic drove the other. Jake hit the door opener, started the truck up and they drove out.
"What have we got, boss?" Joel asked him as they took off.
"Fire at the wharf down at Strahan, logging ship's gone up and all the timber's alight. Don't know we'll be able to save the vessel this time round. It sounds like it's burning pretty hot already. It's a big one; both us and Queenstown are going in to back them up." Jake responded. Once a logging ship full of timber got going, there wasn't much they could do aside from stopping the spread to the other boats and the docks.
"Any casualties?" Kit asked over the radio from the other truck.
"As far as the manager knew, everyone was accounted for. So hopefully we won't find any nasty surprises." Jake responded through the radio.
They were all quiet as they mentally prepared for the day ahead of them; fighting fires was draining both mentally and physically. They needed to conserve all the energy they could as they all knew it was going to be a long day.
They got down to Strahan in under an hour--record time. When they arrived the ship was well and truly alight and burning. Unfortunately, it looked like the boat was only half loaded when it went up so there were still a number of piles of logs on the dock that had been waiting to be loaded onto the vessel. The fire had spread to the pile closest to it. They definitely had their work cut out for them today. Jake backed the truck up as close to the logs as he could. Within five minutes his team was out the truck and had the hoses going. Pumping water on to the burning logs and the piles closest to the flames to prevent any further spreading. The dockworkers had their skates on, moving as much of the timber away from the site as they could.
Three hours later they finally had the fire completely out and mopped up. They headed off to the Strahan station to debrief and re-hydrate. There were easily fifty guys and girls here, all of them having helped to put the fire out. The investigators were still going over the site trying to identify the cause, but that could take days. After the debriefing, Jake quickly gathered his team and they headed to the trucks to head home to get some rest.
~ * ~
Cole had stood back to watch all the action unfold. That will give that damn captain something to think about for a while; he'd been giving Cole crap for months. Never bloody happy no matter what happened. So while everyone was off on their lunch break and the coast was clear, Cole snuck on board and doused the crew's bunkroom in petrol. He'd soaked those mattresses good then grabbed one of the soaked sheets to use as a wick to trail out the door--getting himself lit up or burnt was not part of his plan. He pulled his lighter out and lit the end of the sheet. It had flared up straight away, quicker than he'd imagined it would. It burnt the tips of his fingers a bit but he didn't have the time to worry about it. He'd run like a bat out of hell to get off the damn boat before the fire took hold. Once he got above deck, he slowed down his pace to sneak off the ship and return to his duties.
His plan worked better than he ever could have planned. The fire spread to the logs still on the dock. Bloody beautiful. To top it off, the docks would be shut down while the investigation was going so he was going to have a few days off to spend some quality time training his slave. Now that was something worth smiling about. As he watched the fire trucks leave now that the flames were out he took out his keys and headed back to his ute to head home.
~*~
Kelly was curled up on the couch rubbing her arms and legs. She was so sore...but she was used to hurting now. In the months since her mother had died, she'd been at the receiving end of his 'attentions' and was always in pain. She'd already thought her life was pretty crappy, but before her mother's body even had time to cool, he had come for her, sending her world straight to hell. Week after endless week of being tied up and beaten, physically abused beyond anything she could have ever even imagined before. However, he still hadn't raped her. He seemed to like having a 'virginal slave' as he called her. She thought about the times when she would help clean her mother up, the times she had gone out and stolen clothes for them both. How she wished someone would do those things for her. It felt like forever since she'd had clothes to wear. He'd ripped all she had within the first few days.
Now she had nothing.
Was nothing.
Naked and collared.
More pet than person.
Subconsciously her hand went to her neck to grip and tug on the collar locked around her neck. She really did feel like a dog kept on a leash by her master, left to sit and await his return. She glanced up at the clock, 3 o'clock; she had another two and a half, maybe three hours before he would be back. She spent her days cleaning, cooking and watching TV. Tele was her only escape now. She was chained and there was no way to sneak out like she used to. He only ever unchained her when he took her downstairs. How she wished she had run away before her mother had died, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't abandon her mother like that.
She'd spent the first two days of her new hell trying to pick the lock on her collar and the one on the end of chain where it locked into a bolt cemented into the kitchen floor. She'd spent every spare minute trying to get free but she couldn't pick the locks no matter how hard she tried. She wasn't sure what made her think she could; she'd watched her mother try the same thing over and over again for years. So now her only escape was to watch TV, watch what the rest of world did with their days, all those lucky people who had the simple pleasure of freedom. She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a car pulling into the garage. Damn, he was home early. That was never a good thing. He would be in a mood, which meant her beating would be extra harsh. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long afternoon and an even longer night; she was going to need all her strength to get through it.
She leapt from the couch and ran for her room. She wasn't sure why she tried to hide from him. It never worked. On some level she needed to try and escape, even if she knew it was impossible. She'd made it to the back wall, only mere meters from her room, when she heard the rasp of the key in the lock and the handle turn. Eyes wide in fear she pressed herself against the wall. She knew he would open the door in a rush any second; he seemed to like the mind games as much as the physical ones. He knew precisely what to do, to get the maximum effect out of her. Just like she knew he needed to see her reactions to him, hence he would open the door quickly so he could see her.
She cowered down on the ground as he entered, shaking in fear and anticipated horror. He looked calm. On the outside he looked totally in control. That meant inside there was a storm brewing, a storm that would crash right through her. She heard the door close, the lock click into place. She watched as he prowled further into the room, stopping behind the couch.
"You trying to hide again, slave? How sweet." He chuckled, the evil sound sending a shudder through her on a bone deep level.
"Come to me, my slave. Do not make me come and get you, you won't like the consequences if I do." His deep icy voice was enough to give her nightmares all on its own.
She scrambled up to her feet, rushing over to him. It was never in her best interest to further annoy him, especially when he was in a mood. The one
time she decided to push her luck and make a stand, he had beaten her so badly she was sure he'd cracked at least a couple ribs. She learnt her lesson. When she got to him she lowered her head, watching the floor, with her hands behind her back--just like he'd 'trained' her to do. Hell, she really was a pet, a well-trained pet.
Her breath hitched as he grabbed a fist full of her curls. As he tilted her head back, she saw his smirk as he took in the look of fear and horror in her eyes and face.
"Very good, but you have still forgotten something."
Forgotten? Damn, what did she not do this time? And how bad would the punishment be. He only gave her a moment before he pulled on her hair to get her to lower to her knees.
"You need to be on your knees, slave."
Of course, her knees. How could she have forgotten that? She prayed silently he wouldn't punish her too harshly for the error.
He pulled the key-chain from under his shirt and proceeded to unlock the collar around her neck. She did her best not to shudder as he ran his fingers down her cheek, over her neck and collarbone to her shoulder. He pushed firmly at a bruise on her shoulder with his thumb until her shoulder gave out. She groaned in pain until he released the pressure, even then it continued to sting.
"Hmm, your skin looks so bloody good with my marks on it, slave. Me and you are in for some good times. I've got me a couple of days off work. So we need to get downstairs and get to work. You need some more marks--don't you think?"
Kelly starting shaking before he even finished talking. Oh double damn. This was worse than she had thought, a bad mood was one thing, a couple of days of continuous abuse was an entirely different level of hell. She took a deep breath, tried to seal herself for what was to come as he pulled her from the floor and led her down the stairs to her very own personal hell. She couldn't stop the tears that silently ran down her cheeks and fell to the floor--these were going to be the longest days of her life so far.