As predicted the x-rays showed a mass in the little dog’s intestines, and the operation that followed took all of Rissa’s concentration. Fortunately everything came back to her quickly. Besides, she had to work under his direction, and while he barked the odd order at her, on the whole the op went smoothly. By the time they’d cut off the last stitch, Logan, as he insisted she call him, smiled.
“That was good work, Rissa. I feel I owe you yet another apology for doubting you. This is becoming a bit of a habit, I fear.”
Rissa smiled back at him, barely suppressing a yawn. Now that Brutus was out of imminent danger, the lack of sleep and the shock of it all were catching up with her.
“You look dead on your feet. I’d send you home, but…” He put a hand up to stay off her immediate denial as she shook her head and opened her mouth to interrupt her. “Hold your horses, Rissa. Apart from the fact that you look as though you could fall asleep standing, and thus it wouldn’t be safe for you to drive, I dare say you’re not going anywhere until that little guy wakes up. Go and crash in the on call room. I’ll look after him. Bridget will be in soon to open up, by which time Brutus ought to be awake, and as you know what you’re doing, I can see no reason to keep him in here for longer than necessary. Once you’ve both had a kip, you can take him home.”
Rissa breathed a sigh of relief and promptly yawned again.
Logan laughed and taking her by the shoulders, steered her up the stairs and into a small box room. Sterile as it was it held a blessed bed, and against all the odds, Rissa fell asleep the minute her head touched the pillow.
* * * *
“Goodness me, you don’t do things by half, do you?” Peyton smiled at her, while Laura struggled to her feet, having crouched on the floor to tickle Brutus’s ears.
“Poor little guy. He looks like a walking lampshade with that thing round his head.”
Peyton laughed and Rissa smiled.
“Trust me, he manages. That’s the third one I had to fit on him. He destroyed the first one within hours of getting him home.”
Rissa laughed at the comical faces her newfound friends pulled. It was one of the first genuine laughs she had allowed herself since the incident. Three days on from that fateful night, the little guy had made an excellent recovery. Were it not for the lampshade on his head, to stop him from getting to his stitches, and his shaven belly, you’d never know how poorly he’d been. Which was just as well, because Jonas was expected home today. Rissa wasn’t exactly sure when, so every noise at the front door made her jump, which had no doubt been his intention when he hadn’t given her an arrival time. While he’d said a thousand times that he didn’t blame her for what had happened, had praised her in fact, for her quick interference, which had saved Brutus’s life, Rissa still felt unsure.
She couldn’t put her finger on why she felt that way, but she would be glad to see him face to face.
“All’s well that ends well, as they say.” Laura winced as she heaved her considerable bump onto the chair, and Peyton and Rissa exchanged a glance.
“Are you sure you’ve got another month to go,” Rissa asked, earning herself a kick under the table from Peyton, and a glare from Laura.
“I’m not sure about anything, other than the fact that I’m fit to burst.” She rubbed her belly and then grinned in that mischievous way she had that told Rissa she was up to something. “Well, that’s not strictly speaking true. I do know that I want all the dirt on the newest Dom in Club Spectrum. He made his first appearance last night, and lordy me, that man is gorgeous. You’ve been holding out on us, Rissa. Cooped up with that hunk in the middle of the night, huh, Peyton?”
She nudged the dark-haired Peyton, and Rissa rolled her eyes, when she, too, swooned.
“God, yes. The picture he sent in with his application did not do him justice at all. I tell you it was no hardship staring at that while I was processing his references and such like. And he definitively likes you, Rissa.”
Laura nodded and grasped Rissa’s arm when she tried to get up. This was way too embarrassing.
“I’m sure he doesn’t. At least not in the way you’re implying. He’s been perfectly professional the whole time.”
Peyton laughed and pointed to the chair to make Rissa sat down again. Knowing when she was beat, Rissa did just that, and said a silent prayer of thanks to all the deities willing to listen that she managed not to blush under the intense scrutiny of the two women.
“So, he was just being professional when he specifically asked for you last night, was it, and seemed rather disappointed when Scarlett told him you weren’t due back from holiday until tonight, was he?”
“He did?” Rissa’s mouth fell open in her astonishment, and Laura giggled.
“Oh yes, he did, and he left soon after, once Scarlett had given him the tour.”
“Mind you,” Peyton took up the narrative. “His early departure might also have had something to do with the way Lindsey acted around him.”
Rissa couldn’t help her disgusted grunt.
“Let me guess, she threw herself at him, the minute she clapped eyes on him?” Peyton and Laura exchanged another one of those we know something you don’t glances, and Rissa glared at them.
“Well tell me, already. You wouldn’t have brought it up, unless you think I ought to know, though why you would think I’d care about whatever Logan gets up to in his free time is beyond me.”
She realized her mistake the minute those words left her mouth, because Laura looked triumphant, and Peyton sat back and ticked off an imaginary score with her finger.
“Logan, is it? Whatever happened to Dr. Festher?” Laura winked at her and Peyton burst out laughing when Rissa couldn’t stop blushing.
“Nothing happened, other than me assisting him in surgery, and him asking me to call him Logan. Jeez, you’re as bad as…” She stopped herself just in time. Rissa felt wretched enough about the way Jonas had looked at her when she’d let some of her professional enthusiasm for Logan Festher show in their conversation the morning after she’d brought Brutus back home again.
“As bad as?” Peyton asked, and grinned. “Have you gotten yourself into trouble with Jonas already?”
Rissa shook her head, and desperately tried to change the subject.
“You were telling me what Lindsey did to make him leave last night. Threw herself at him, right?” That question came out much sharper than she intended it to. Really, these two were messing with her brain. Logan Festher could do whatever the hell he wanted. She didn’t care one iota, and her heart hadn’t beaten a little faster at the thought of the eminent vet looking for her. No doubt he’d just wanted to tell her in person that she wasn’t good enough to work for him. Rissa had faxed him over her CV at his request, but she was fairly certain that he had just been kind when he’d asked for it.
A vet with his standing would have vet nurses queuing round the block to work for him.
“Well, that’s just it. She didn’t. If anything she tried her best to avoid him. It was almost comical the lengths she went to. Anyway, they did have a conversation of sorts, when Master Slade called her over to serve him his drink, but it was decidedly odd. She seemed nervous, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought he knew her from somewhere. Anyway, he left soon after, more’s the pity. I’d love to see him in action, though Pedro said he was there to observe, and look for you, Rissa.”
Peyton gave her a meaningful look, and Rissa stuck her tongue out at her.
“He was not just there for me, at all. Master Pedro said he was there to observe, so…”
“Ah, but he might well have asked you to scene with him, had you been there.”
Rissa had no answer to that, other than to shake her head. Looking to Laura for help proved useless, because she was still grinning, intent on stirring trouble, it seemed, as confirmed by her next words.
“Oh no, we want details. Tell us what really happened that night that makes this hunk ask for you specifically.”<
br />
“Yes, please do, baby girl. I’d be most interested to hear that tale, myself.” Rissa gasped and spun round to face the hallway. Peyton and Laura, too, jumped. They’d been so engrossed in their conservation that neither one of them head heard the front door, or noticed Jonas’s arrival.
“Daddy? You’re home. How…” The words died on Rissa’s tongue, seeing Jonas’s expression. Stood in the open doorway to the kitchen, he looked far from happy. Arms crossed over his rumpled business suit, he looked tired, wary, and above all disappointed, making Rissa ignore her urge to throw herself into his arms. If he turned her down in front of Peyton and Laura…
How long had he stood there, and how much of that conversation had he heard? Brutus seemed to have finally caught on to the idea that his Daddy was home, because he came charging in from the garden, skidded on the floor tiles, and crashed sideways into Jonas’s legs.
A small smile kicked up Jonas’s lips as he bent down to stroke the little guy.
“Hello there, hell hound. Boy, am I glad to see you up to your usual tricks.” Rissa blinked back tears at the affection in Jonas’s voice. Brutus, of course, was beside himself with excitement at getting Jonas’s attention, until the inevitable sneezing started.
Rissa clapped her hands, and just like they’d been working on, Brutus rushed over to her side, and plonked his butt, looking up at her expectantly.
“Good boy.” Praising the dog, she slipped him one of the dog treats she kept on the kitchen counter for training purposes, and pointed at the cage.
“Now, go lie down.”
Brutus bounded up to Jonas again, but a firm bed from Rissa stopped him, and the little dog slunk off to curl up on his bed in his cage with an almost human sounding sigh.
It made Peyton and Laura both laugh and broke some of the tension in the room. Jonas shook his head at her, when she opened the cupboard where he kept his allergy meds and nodding to her friends, stepped up to the sink to wash his hands.
“Peyton, Laura, I’m surprised to see you here. Haven’t you got Masters to take care of?” Rissa pulled in a sharp breath at the steely censure behind those words, and she quickly jumped to their defense.
“Peyton came to drop off the new uniform, Scarlett has approved for the Spectrum staff, and Laura kept her company, and—”
“I’m sure they can speak for themselves, Rissa. After all they managed just fine before I interrupted your little get together.”
The Rissa hurt far more than she would have thought possible, and it seemed Jonas wasn’t done yet. Arms crossed over his chest, jaw clenched he nodded toward the door, and then fixed his steely gaze on her friends.
Peyton cringed, and Laura looked incredibly guilty, as they both murmured, “Yes, Sir.”
Gone was their earlier playfulness, their submissive sides instantly responding to Jonas’s commanding presence.
“Right, well, I guess we ought to be going,” Peyton glanced Rissa’s way, and helped Laura off the stool.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean anything by what we said.” Laura offered Jonas a wobbly smile, but, if anything, he grew even more forbidding. It made Laura drop her head, and Rissa was pretty sure she glimpsed tears in the other woman’s eyes.
Seeing her friends respond to Jonas’s dominance had a curious effect on Rissa, as her long forgotten temper spiked. Dom or not, he had no right to take out his ire on her friends.
“There is no need to leave, yet, just because Jonas came home in a foul mood.” She sensed him tense up further at her use of his given name, and judging by Laura and Peyton’s worried expressions, that had made him furious. Well, good. Bring it on. Rissa squared her shoulders, and swinging round to face him, glared up at him. She only managed it because he wasn’t looking at her, but at a spot on the kitchen wall, and goodness me, he did look as though he wanted to punch something. His chest rose and fell as though it was costing him to keep his breathing on an even keel and she was pretty sure she could hear his teeth crunch together, his jaw was set so tight.
Swallowing hard past the lump of apprehension in her throat she forced herself to continue.
“Stay and finish your cup of tea, at least.”
Her breath caught in her lungs, when Jonas dropped his gaze at last, and looked at her. His usually so warm eyes could have frozen over the Sahara desert with the chill they gave out, and it took every ounce of her newfound self-confidence to not sink to the floor and beg for his forgiveness. She wasn’t that Rissa anymore, however, due largely to the man who glared at her, as though she had done something unimaginable.
And fuck it all, what exactly had she done to make him this angry? Other than look after his house, save his dog from certain death, and pine away for him. They didn’t have any formal agreement anyhow, so he could just go and damn well sing for it. Never again was she going to be a door mat, and this angry, unreasonable man was not the Daddy, she loved.
That realization hit her with the full force of a derailed freight train, and served to make her even angrier.
“It’s okay, truly.” Peyton touched her shoulder, and Rissa whirled round to face her friends.
“No, it’s not okay. He has no right to talk to you like that. You didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did I.” Taking a deep breath in for courage, she half turned so that she could talk to all three of them. “You want to know what really happened, I fucking tell you. Logan and I saved Brutus’s life, that’s what happened. Is the man gorgeous? Of course he is, I’m not fucking blind, but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna sink to my knees and suck his dick, now, does it?”
Jonas drew in a sharp breath. Peyton grinned, and Laura’s mouth fell open, but Rissa was far from done.
“Quite frankly, I resent the implication that I would have consented to scene with him, had I been there last night and had he asked, which I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have done. The man’s only just getting back into the lifestyle after losing his wife.” She paused to catch a much-needed breath, and shook her head at Jonas when he held a hand out to her.
“No, I won’t. You’re supposed to be his friend. You know this. What makes you think he would be interested in me other than my skills as a vet nurse, and dammit, I’m a good one. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy the work, until I set foot in his practice, and I want to keep that feeling. I’m done with hiding. I’m going to look for another vet nurse position, and I shan’t stop until I find one, and if you don’t like that,” she forced herself to look up at Jonas as she pulled a much needed breath into her lungs. “Then, you’re not the man I thought you were.”
Jonas reared back as though she’d slapped him, and Laura’s and Peyton’s gasps of shock brought home what she’d just flung at him. Tears filled her eyes, as he wordlessly strode past her, stomped up the stairs, and then slammed his bedroom door shut.
“Jeez, Rissa, what did you say that for?” Peyton’s words registered over the roaring in her ears, as clouds of misery descended upon her.
“He’s just jealous, I bet.” Laura’s quietly delivered words made her cry harder. “You know how possessive our Sirs get. Damn it, babe, I’m so sorry. We were only having a laugh. Talk about bad timing. Go after him and make amends.”
Laura sighed when Rissa shook her head.
“No, why should I? He was being an ass, damn him.”
Peyton nodded her head and smiled.
“Well, he is a man, and they do tend to be all asses at some point. However, he wouldn’t be that much of a dingbat, if he didn’t care about you, and you wouldn’t have gone off like that, if you didn’t love him, sooo.”
She pulled Rissa in for a hug, and taking her by the shoulders, marched her down the hallway until she stood at the bottom of the stairs.
“Laura and I are off. Go sort this, and I look forward to seeing you at the club later, waddling no doubt, because your ass is sore. At least I know I wouldn’t be able to sit down in comfort for about a month, if I had spoken to Pedro like that, which I may or may not have d
one on occasion.”
She pulled Rissa into another hug. Laura followed suit, and winked at her.
“Welcome to the brats, by the way. Not good for the color of your ass, but leads to all sorts of other fun. Go, get him.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jonas stood under the hot spray and let it soothe the ache in his tense muscles. Nothing at all the power shower could do for the pain in his heart. That particular organ felt as though it had been ripped in two by Rissa’s anger.
While a part of his rejoiced at seeing Rissa express her emotions so openly, the other, desperately in love with that woman part wanted to shrivel and die. He was losing her, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He’d always known that behind that quiet, shy mask Rissa showed the word was a vibrant, passionate woman. One that had been hurt badly, but it was only going to be matter of time, before someone unleashed the real Rissa. How ironic that the very man who seemed to have finally pushed her over that ledge was the one man she had far more in common with then Jonas himself.
Jonas punched the wall in frustration. The dull pain shooting up his arm was a welcome counterpoint to the sharp knife slicing up his insides.
You’re not the man I thought you were.
Fuck it, that hurt. With that sentence she’d lobbed him into the same category as the last asshole who’d misused her trust, her sweet submission, and her giving, caring nature. Jonas was all too aware of the fact that he only had himself to blame. Ever since he’d spoken to Logan to get his version of events, once a distraught Rissa had phoned him to explain what had transpired with Brutus, Jonas had been unable to shake the green eyed monster.
Hearing the admiration in Logan’s voice for Jonas’s girl had lodged that poison dart, especially when his girl had been full of praises for Dr. Festher. Walking in and hearing the three women discuss Logan like that… it had made him see red. All his own insecurities coming to the forefront and instead of wrapping his girl up in his arms, and simply holding her, his obnoxious reaction had ruined everything.
Auctioned to the Protective Dom [The Spectrum Auctions 4] (Siren Classic) Page 15