She reached up to pat my cheek, and I stiffened. I didn't mind Malory doing it, but when my mother did it, it always felt unbelievably patronizing and set me on edge.
"Mother," I greeted her unenthusiastically.
She breezed past me and into the apartment like she owned it, and I followed behind afraid to leave her alone with Malory for even a second.
"I wanted to let you know that I've set a date for my wed-" she began as she walked into the kitchen and jolted to a stop when she set eyes on Malory, who was still standing next to the island and her breakfast in progress on the counter.
I watched my mother's eyes travel down Malory's body, probably noting that she wore my shirt. They hardened judgmentally for a second then cooled with dismissive indifference. She turned back to frown at me.
"Honestly, Gareth, I'm pleased that you finally hired new help, but sleeping with them? What were you thinking?" she said loud enough for Malory to hear.
Instantly angry, I sucked in a breath and prepared to admonish my mother for her rudeness, but Malory jumped in before I could.
"Hi," she said happily as she stepped closer and held a hand out toward my mother. "I'm Malory Burke, Gareth's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you." Malory's tone sounded sincere and so did her disarming smile, but I saw the dawning understanding and the calculating look in her eyes. Damn, maybe I was worried about this meeting for nothing. Did I mention I liked her calling herself my girlfriend?
My mother's eyes widened in surprise for a fraction of second as she turned back to face Malory. Haughty disdain took over her expression as she ignored Malory's outstretched hand. "My dear, just because you're sleeping with a man, doesn't mean you're his girlfriend," she said condescendingly.
"No more then someone making breakfast for your son makes them the help either, I suppose," Malory replied immediately with an arched brow and a pointed look.
Mother puffed up indignantly as Malory's barb hit its mark. "It takes far more than whoring yourself out and making breakfast to get to a man's wealth."
"You would know, Mother," I chimed in to back Malory up. "You've practically made a career out of it."
She gasped in shock as a hurt look that I knew was meant to manipulate me into feeling guilty crossed her features. "I cannot believe you divorced someone with Ryan's impeccable manners and social stature to be with someone like this." Venomous scorn dripped from her lips as she motioned dismissively toward Malory without even looking at her.
"And I can't believe, as a mother, that you would defend someone who hurt your son as much as his ex-wife did." Malory retorted heatedly, her eyes flashing with righteous anger as she defended me. It was breathtaking to watch and inexplicably turned me on. "And I'll take it as a compliment that I'm nothing like her."
"How can you let this woman talk to your own mother this way, Gareth?" Mother asked me as she turned on the waterworks in an attempt to get to me. Thank God, it didn't work.
"Malory always speaks the truth, Mother," I said with a shrug. "What you see is what you get with her. It's one of the multitude of reasons that she's nothing like Ryan, and why I'm with someone like her." I stepped closer to glare down at her. "If you can't handle it, you can always leave." I motioned toward the door. "Or you can choose to be civil with my girlfriend, instead of insulting her and pissing me off. The choice is yours."
Her eyes widened and for half a second, I swear I saw something in my mother's eyes that made me think I'd actually gotten through to her for the first time ever. My God, would I get an actual apology out of her? It was too much to hope for as I watched her eyes gloss over with her usual denial.
She huffed and straightened indignantly. "How I ever raised such an ungrateful child, I will never know."
Are fucking kidding me? My anger finally got the better of me.
"Treating a five-year-old like your own personal dress-up doll and parading him around your society friends is not raising a child, Mother." I glowered down at her. "Ignoring him when you finally get bored and then getting angry when he acts out for attention isn't raising a child." I was practically seething now. "Telling him that little boys don't cry unless they want to be babies forever isn't raising a child. Showing up when you feel like it, isn't raising a child either. Don't insult my father and Viv by trying to claim the responsibility they took over when you couldn't be bothered to be my mother."
Malory must have rubbed off on me, because I'd never been so frank with my mother before. It was goddamn liberating. I'd always tried to be respectful because this was my mother after all, but I didn't give a shit today. She fucked with my Malory, and it pissed me off.
My mother let loose the waterworks in an instant. She looked back and forth between Malory and me with a wounded expression that I suppose was meant to make me feel guilty. Not today. I wasn't going to apologize for telling the truth, no matter how she tried to manipulate my emotions. I stared unflinchingly at her until she finally let out a soft pathetic sob and fled the kitchen without another word. When the front door slammed as she left, it felt like a weight was suddenly lifted from me. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes, relishing the feeling.
I felt a gentle hand come to rest on my cheek, and I opened my eyes to see Malory looking up at me with compassion and empathy in her big gorgeous eyes.
"I'm sorry," she murmured softly.
"For what?" I asked in confusion, since I should be apologizing to her. "It was my mother insulting you. All you did was defend yourself."
"That's not what I'm talking about." She shook her head. "I'm sorry that you didn't have the mother you deserved."
"I did," I whispered sadly, "but I lost her." My eyes stung as I tried to hold in the pain of the gaping wound that I still carried from losing Viv.
She nodded as pain welled up in her eyes too. I watched one single tear trail down her cheek, and I gently brushed it away with my fingertips.
"Me too," she replied, and for the first time in eight long years, I truly realized that I didn't want to be alone anymore. I didn't have to be because I'd found this breathtaking woman. I pulled her hard against me and never wanted to let go.
**********
I let out a slow shuddering breath as the last few seconds of my orgasm faded from my body in a warm rush. I wrapped my arms around Malory and rolled over onto my back, taking her with me as my cock slowly softened inside her. I held her trembling body tight against mine, our sweat slicked bodies sated and spent, and our hearts still pounding. She lay sprawled across me like a limp noodle making happy whimpers of satisfaction. I grinned smugly since I was the cause of those sexy little noises.
After we ate the delicious breakfast of French toast and bacon she'd made us, I'd taken her upstairs to my bed. I wanted to thank her properly for the meal and for defending me against my mother by having her for dessert, and I was very thorough with my appreciation.
"Baby, I don't remember vanilla sex ever feeling this good before," I murmured into her hair. I nuzzled her neck and nipped at her soft skin. She always tasted so good.
She giggled before raising her head to look at me. Her face was flushed, her big beautiful eyes soft and relaxed. I smiled up at her. I didn't remember the last time in my life I'd smiled this much, if ever. It seemed so much of my life I'd been unhappy and in denial about it. Why couldn't I have found her years ago before Ryan? Why did I marry someone just like my mother? I fought the frown that threatened to wipe my smile away. Regrets about the past that I couldn't change were a waste of time.
"Vanilla sex?" she asked in bemusement as she graced me with her gorgeous smile, and I forgot my momentary discontent. "I thought it was more like Rocky Road or mint chocolate chip at least."
I laughed as I reached up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, so I could see her face better. "It's a BDSM term, beautiful," I explained warmly. "It's what people in the lifestyle call sex without all the...extras, if you know what I mean." I waggled my eyebrows at her, and she blushed adorably.
"I really like the extras," she whispered as her eyes gleamed wickedly for a moment.
"Me too, baby," I replied with a grin. "But this is good too."
She slid off of me and snuggled up against my side as she laid her head on my shoulder. I rested my cheek on the top of her head and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked uncertainly.
"Anything."
"Um...what happened to me last night while you...while you were...um...flogging me?" she asked in a chagrined tone. "It was like I was...um...drunk or something."
"Remember at dinner last weekend when I told you about the endorphin high you can get from playing called subspace?" I asked her.
She nodded under my chin.
"Did you notice the further you were into it, the harder I could flog you and the better it felt? It's basically a fight or flight response. It's the body's way of dealing with pain, and it feels damn good too."
She looked up at me with wide eyes. "You mean that's a real thing?" she asked incredulously.
"Did you think I was joking?" I asked with a wry smile.
"Well, no." She looked perplexed. "I mean, I've read about it in a few erotic books. I guess I just never thought it could happen in real life or to me."
"It can if you have a Dom who knows what he's doing," I replied in a confident and self-assured tone. "That's also why I didn't keep you there for very long, since it was your first time. I didn't want to freak you out right out of the gate."
"Oh." She was blushing again, and it was adorable. Who was I kidding? Everything she did was adorable to me.
"A Dom who knows what he's doing also makes sure to provide adequate aftercare for his sub too."
"Aftercare?" she asked inquisitively.
"It can be emotionally and physically taxing when the endorphin high wears off. Kind of like a hangover. It's called subdrop, and it can be frightening and overwhelming, so being cuddled and cared for helps the sub recover from the high of playing. Without proper aftercare, some subs can be left feeling lost, depressed, and disoriented for hours or even days afterwords."
"But I feel fine today," she said worriedly.
"I know," I replied. "You recovered quickly, but I've been with a few subs who didn't. They were already struggling with these unorthodox sexual needs we have, questioning themselves and feeling guilt and shame over it. Those feelings were intensified when they came out of subspace. It's my responsibility to make sure my submissive is taken care of physically and recovers emotionally from the subspace I put them in."
"Thank you for taking care of me," she said sincerely.
I honestly couldn't remember any sub actually thanking me for providing aftercare before. It suddenly made me question my choice in play partners up until now. She was nothing like any of them. Thank God.
I hugged her. "You're welcome, beautiful. Besides, holding you and taking care of you feels good for me too, so it's no trouble."
She smiled happily then snuggled down next to me again, her warm body fitting against mine like it belonged there. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift contentedly, happy just to lay there and hold my Malory.
"Your mom was something else," Malory finally said out of nowhere in a diplomatic tone.
I barked out a bitter laugh at her understatement. I got the feeling she wanted to use far more colorful words. Melissa Caxton was something else indeed.
"My mother is a narcissistic gold-digger," I said acerbically. "Just like my ex-wife," I added without thinking. I didn't mean to mention Ryan at all. Like Malory wanted to hear about my ex-wife while we were in bed together. I braced for some sort of angry or jealous reaction, but I got something else entirely.
"Then they're both horrible selfish bitches," Malory added in an incensed tone. She threw her arm over my chest and hugged me comfortingly. "I'm sorry," she added in a heartfelt whisper, then placed a tender kiss on my shoulder. Warm pleasure coursed through me.
Why did her sympathy make me feel good, when anyone else's would have pissed me off? Maybe because for the first time it was sincere and not a placating and meaningless gesture. Malory actually cared, and that made all the difference in the world. I kissed the top of her head gently and sighed in contentment. A few more minutes of comfortable silence passed before Malory spoke again.
"What was your stepmother like?" she asked softly.
I stared up at the vaulted ceiling with its massive wooden beams as pain ached in my chest. This was why I didn't talk about Viv. It hurt every time, even after eight years. I often thought it was the guilt I carried that wouldn't let the wound heal. I deserved the pain whatever the reason.
"She was...she was caring and kind," I answered hoarsely as I fought to control my emotions. "She always had my back and looked out for me. She didn't have a selfish bone in her body." I took a shuddering breath then added in a whisper. "She was just like you."
Malory lifted her head and met my gaze with tears glistening in her beautiful hazel eyes. She laid her hand on my cheek as a sad smile spread across her lips. She leaned down and kissed me with soft comforting affection that had nothing to do with sex. It managed to ease some of my pain. I teetered on the knife's edge as the threat of tears stung my eyes, but I somehow fought it down before I lost control.
Malory opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a ringing phone. She sat up and glanced at my nightstand where her phone was plugged in next to mine. It was lit up with an incoming call. She crawled across the bed to look at the screen. I couldn't help staring at her luscious ass.
"It's my sister," she announced as she picked it up and unplugged it. She swiped the screen to answer it. "Hi, Lydia," she said in a happy tone as she sat cross-legged next to me. She listened for a moment, and then her face turned ashen in an instant. "What?" she asked in a tremulous voice.
Something was seriously wrong, and I sat up, instantly on edge.
"Is...is he okay?" she asked as tears gleamed in her eyes. I watched her press her lips together as tension fell over her entire body. ""Okay. I'll...I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up and let her phone drop from her lax fingers. She stared off into space, looking lost and despondent. I'd never seen her like this before, and I didn't like it one bit.
"Malory?" I said as I gently touched her leg. "What's wrong? What happened?"
She met my eyes and started to weep. "My...my dad...he's...he's," she sobbed softly. "He's in the hospital." Panic filled her eyes in an instant, and she grabbed my arm in a painful iron grip. Her voice turned shrill and panicked. "What if...what if he dies too? What will I do? I...I can't do this again. I c...can't."
I framed her face in my hands. "Malory," I said gently, but her eyes were darting all over the place as she babbled on hysterically. It was time for desperate measures. "Malory," I snapped out sharply to get her attention, putting dominance behind my words. "Stop!" I barked out forcefully. It was the only thing I could think of to yank her back to reality.
She stilled as her eyes jerked up to meet mine and somehow managed to focus on me.
"I want you to get dressed right now, and then I'm taking you to the hospital. Understood?" I told her in a commanding tone as I eyed her sternly.
She nodded jerkily. "Y...yes, sir," she whispered, falling into the familiar comfort of submission, and relaxing immediately.
"Good girl," I crooned as relief flooded me, thankful that I'd successfully pulled her out of her panic.
She immediately stood and went to get dressed. I followed suit, watching her closely in case she needed direction again. When we were ready, I grabbed her hand and led her downstairs to leave. I didn't know if I was strong enough to hold her together for this, especially if things ended badly. I'd never really dealt with my own grief for eight years, let alone someone else's, but Malory needed me, and I'd do my best and hope I was up to the task.
20
MALORY
"Malory," Gareth's smooth husky voice said in a sharp comma
nding tone.
It managed to snap be back to reality again, and I was grateful for it. I turned from staring mindlessly out of the window of his dark-gray Range Rover to see him eying me worriedly. I suddenly realized that we were parked in front of the hospital. I'd completely lost track of time and pretty much anything else on the drive here.
My father was in the hospital with chest pain and palpitations, and fear was overwhelming me. I kept thinking about the nightmare of my mother's long and painful battle with cancer that finally took her from me, and now the terror of possibly losing my father too was paralyzing me. I felt like lead weights were holding me down, and I couldn't move.
"Eyes on me," he demanded when I started drifting back into my own head again.
I jerked my eyes back to his as tears welled up in them again. "Gareth, I'm so scared," I whispered out helplessly. I felt panic creeping up on me again.
His stern eyes softened. "I know, beautiful." He reached over and gripped my hand and squeezed it firmly. "Relax and breath. Your family needs you."
"Okay." I nodded jerkily. I tried to will myself to get a grip with several slow deep breaths as Gareth got out of the SUV and came around to the passenger side. By the time he opened my door, I was calm enough to take his hand so he could help me out of the vehicle.
He kept my hand in his and led me to the entrance, then put a comforting arm around my shoulders as we walked through the automatic doors together. We went straight to the reception desk of the emergency department.
"Can I help you?" the kind faced woman behind the desk asked us.
"My...my father was just brought into the ER," I told her in a shaking voice. "His name is Conor Burke."
Her eyes softened with sympathy as she checked her computer. She nodded. "He's here. I'll take you back to him."
"Thank you," Gareth said as she rose for us to follow her.
Dark Dominion: Dangerous Desire Book 1 Page 23