by Tara Sue Me
But as soon as he tried to straighten up, a sharp pain pierced his side, and he cried out in shock.
“Orson?” Kiara asked, suddenly awake and aware in that quick way only those in the medical profession and armed services could ever master.
“I’m fine,” he said, even though he knew he wasn’t because it shouldn’t hurt this much to breathe. He clutched his side, but that didn’t help at all.
“No, you’re not.” Her sharp eyes missed nothing.
And, damn it, she was the one taking him to the chair and not the other way around.
“Kiara,” he tried again. “I’m fine.” He wanted to hold her in his lap, wrap her up first in a blanket and then in his arms. To make her feel warm and safe, and then he would tell her how much he enjoyed their time together today. Then, if she wanted, he’d lead her back to his bed and this time he’d take it slow and bring her all the pleasure she could stand before showing her how a Dom could be soft and tender as well as hard and rough.
But instead, she was pushing him onto the chair and she was the one wrapping him up in a blanket. It was wrong. So, so wrong. He let her do it though, because as much as it hurt to do as she said, it’d hurt much worse if she stopped.
“Kiara,” he tried again because she hadn’t answered the last time.
“Don’t,” she said, going so far as to hold up her hand. “Don’t even try to tell me you’re fine, because I can see with my own eyes you aren’t. And before you think you’re going to stand there and try to argue with me, I want you to think back on what words came out of your mouth no more than an hour ago about how important it was for me to be honest. The way I see it, that road runs both directions.”
She was right, and he was smart enough to admit it. No way would he attempt to argue with her on those points.
Seemingly satisfied that he agreed, she asked, “Now, tell me what happened and where it hurts.
She wanted him to be honest with her? He’d be honest with her. “I think I broke my ribs again fucking you.”
Chapter 14
Kiara
It was her fault, no matter what Orson said to make her think otherwise. She was a nurse, damn it. She was supposed to be helping Orson heal, not make him worse. They should never have gone into the playroom in the first place. Had she been thinking about her job at all instead of how awesome it was that Orson was going to give her one of her fantasies, she’d have put a stop to it.
Even if she hadn’t stopped it then, she should never have let him fuck her the way he did. She should have told him no or used her safeword. Absolutely anything would have been better than what she’d done - gotten all weepy and begged him to fuck her. Nope, no matter what he said, the blame was hers to carry.
At the moment, he rested in the living room on his couch while she sat in the armchair beside him, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Which for the time being meant he was sitting there doing nothing. Until today, she didn't understand how hard it was for that man to do nothing. Especially since she told him he hadn’t re-broke anything. Technically, she’d told him, since his ribs hadn’t healed from the first fracture yet, he hadn't broken anything for the second time. He’d just made what was healing worse. Because of her.
She’d tried to apologize, but he refused to let her. He was a grown man, he said, and she didn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to do. She didn’t argue with him, but she still knew it was her fault. Between the two of them, she was the one with medical training. She knew the kind of stress his body could handle and for how long. Likewise, she knew the kind of stress his healing body couldn’t handle for any length of time.
“Will you at least let me have my phone?” Orson asked from the couch.
“After you rest a little longer.” She’d swiped his phone from the floor where it had fallen out of his pocket. At the moment, she had it in her pocket. Orson knew she'd taken his phone, just not where it'd ended up.
“How could I possibly hurt myself with a phone?” he asked.
“It’s not that you’d hurt yourself,” she tried to explain. Again. For the third time. “It’s that you wouldn’t be resting and resting is what will help you get better, faster.”
He scowled, but didn’t argue anymore. Hopefully that meant he understood and would do as she asked, even though he didn’t like it.
“I’ll rest for an hour and then you’ll give me my phone back.” He didn’t ask her, or her opinion. Nope, he just told her.
She rolled her eyes. “Who do you need to call so badly, anyway?” She’d been living with him for over a week, and he’d never seemed like the sort to have an unhealthy addiction to his phone. She couldn’t think of what or who was so important he felt like he needed it or them right now, this minute.
“Just some business I need to take care of.”
She had a feeling there was more to his request for his phone than just some business he needed to take care of, but she wouldn't pressure him as long as he rested for an hour. When he tipped his head back and closed his eyes, she allowed herself to relax, not knowing until that moment how tired she was. It seemed as if days had passed since she waited in the playroom for Orson and Jedidiah, even though it had been mere hours.
Her eyes grew heavy as she thought back over the day. Deep inside, she still thought her actions caused Jedidiah to leave as quickly as he had. Closing her eyes, she ran through the morning again, trying to remember anything that could have set him off. Finding nothing, she let herself drift off to sleep.
“Kiara,” someone with a voice kinder than the one she’d been listing to called. “Kiara, wake up.”
She opened her eyes, expecting Randy, but finding Orson. “Orson?”
“You were having a bad dream,” he said, and when he spoke, the shadows of her past fled.
“Randy,” was all she said about the dream. She couldn’t believe she’d gone to sleep in the middle of the day. It had been ages since she’d done so. “Why are you up? Are you hurting? What time is it?”
His laugh calmed her a bit. “Let’s see if I can get all these in the right order. Because I was napping myself and your cries woke me up. Not too badly at the moment. And about two hours since I promised you I’d rest for an hour.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out his phone.
“Damn,” he said, taking it with a smile. “It’s been in your pocket all this time?”
“It’s the best place for it to be in order for me to know if you’d got it back or not.” She patted her pocket. “If I can feel it, it’s still with me.”
“Sneaky.” He didn’t even glance at his phone to see if he’d missed any calls or texts; sliding it into his own pocket without a second look. Surprising, since he’d made such a fuss about wanting it back a few short hours ago.
“Kiara,” he said, pulling her attention away from the item in his pocket. “Not today because we’ve had enough emotional intensity, but soon, you and I will talk about your relationship with Randy.”
She nodded. She’d been expecting him to say as much, considering what happened with Jedidiah. Talking about Randy wasn’t anything she wanted to do. If she had her preference, she’d bury the ass and all the time she’d spent with him in the far corners of her mind and never think of him again. But she also knew she’d never be able to move on until she faced her time with him head-on. If she had to talk with anyone about that time, she wanted it to be Orson.
“If we had talked about it before today, I would have handled things differently,” he said.
“I’m sorry, sir.” She dropped her head. She should have told Orson everything. Instead, she’d told him nothing, and he’d ended up hurt. “I should have told you.”
“Why are you apologizing? It was my fault. I knew you had a history with that man. I should have been the one to insist on knowing about it.”
In all her time as a submissive, she’d never had a Dom apologize before. She supposed it was because the Doms feared it would make them look
weak or like a lesser Dom if they did so. But apologizing didn’t make Orson look weak or less than anything. In fact, she had more respect for him now than she did before he apologized.
“You’re not like any Dom I’ve ever known,” she whispered.
He grinned and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Based on what little information I have about those particular men, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Kiara wasn’t sure if all Doms were more like Orson than they were Randy, but the truth was she didn’t even care. No Dom she could ever possibly meet would get to her like Orson. No other Dom could ever be as protective, or as kind, or could make her want to do anything for him.
It would probably scare her if she thought about it too much. Hell, they had only been together a few times, and they’d only agreed to explore this thing between the two of only while she was staying at the ranch.
She was some kind of screwed if she couldn’t see herself with any Dom other than Orson. Screwed with two choices. End it now with Orson or hang on and enjoy it while it lasted.
A non-decision, really. She wasn’t about to end the best thing she’d ever experienced or to prematurely give up the best Dom she’d ever played with. She was riding this thing for as long as she could and would hold on for as long as he allowed.
If, when she moved out, that was the end of it, she promised herself she’d accept it and go on. Happy in her heart to have at least had a few incredible weeks with equally incredible Dom.
Somehow.
Chapter 15
Orson
Kiara didn’t let him out of the house for the next two days. Of course, he knew she wouldn’t physically stop him from leaving, and if he’d wanted to, he could have left. By doing that, however, he would have missed her mean nurse routine, and that would be a shame because Bad Ass Nurse Kiara was hot.
Yes, he antagonized her more than he should have, but honestly, who could blame him? To have her stand up to him and in no uncertain terms tell him he’d be leaving the house over her dead body… Probably shouldn’t have turned him on the way it did.
This morning, however, after making sure everything was clean and put away after breakfast, when he told her he was going to go out for a bit, she simply nodded. Surprised and, admittedly, a little disappointed, he took his keys and walked outside.
He’d been going over and over what his next steps would be after Jedidiah left the playroom. Orson thought the other man would have called or sent a text. Something to try to explain what the hell happened. But Orson had heard nothing, and the more he thought about it, the angrier and angrier he got.
Which is why the first thing he did once he walked outside was to get in his truck and head toward Jedidiah’s property. Orson wasn’t going to call or give any advanced warning of his arrival. Jedidiah had plenty of time since the incident to come up with several conceivable excuses, but hopefully Orson showing up unannounced would rattle the man so much he could do nothing else but to tell the truth.
It wasn’t long before he’d found the ranch’s main office. Orson made his way inside and found a woman who looked a lot like Jedidiah at a small desk.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m looking for Jedidiah.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And you are?”
“Orson Kent,” he replied. “I own the neighboring ranch.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kent,” she said in a much politer tone. “Sorry for the third degree. You never can tell these days, and the truth is, we don’t get a lot of foot traffic.”
She sounded genuine, and he had no reason to think she would be otherwise, but there was something else she wasn’t saying. At the moment, though, he didn’t have time to worry what it was if she wasn’t willing to share. He had one thing to talk to Jed about and one thing only. Everything else would have to wait.
“No worries,” he told her with a nod to the doors behind her. “Is he back there?”
“No, he’s not.” Once again something was off about her tone, but again he let it slide. “He’s actually out at the moment.”
“I can wait.” Orson looked around for a chair, but didn’t see one. “When do you expect him back?”
“He didn’t say.”
Of course he didn’t. And Orson couldn’t wait around for God knows how long, not if he wanted to keep Kiara from sending out a search party after him. Which she would no doubt do if he didn’t show back up at the house in what she considered a reasonable amount of time.
“I’ll stop by later,” he told the woman who had to be Jedidiah's sister and walked out. He hadn’t wanted to call before seeing Jedidiah, but he might not have a choice, he had no plans to keep driving back and forth trying to chase the man down.
As he drove back to his house, he realized he should have asked the woman at Jedidiah’s office about the tracks. Kelly had stopped by the house the day before and reported there had been no tracks seen on his property. Odds were good whoever it was leaving tracks on Jedidiah’s property were probably harmless visitors who only wanted to see the well-known caves.
Kiara was in the kitchen when he walked back inside. He’d noticed movement near a front window as he pulled up and suspected it was her on the lookout his arrival. He thought about teasing her and asking how close she’d been to sending out the Calvary, but decided against it when he saw her.
Damn, when she smiled, she could light up the world.
“You’re back earlier than I expected,” she said. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar, so obviously she hadn’t spent the entire time he’d been gone staring out the front window.
“Earlier than I’d planned to be myself,” he admitted. “The person I needed to meet with wasn’t available.”
Her smile dimmed. “Does that mean you’re going back out?”
“No,” he said. “At least not today. Today I’d rather stay in.”
The whole truth was, he’d rather spend the day inside her. They had done nothing physical since the playroom incident. He had to take it easy, but there was no reason for her to have to do the same. There were plenty of things they could do together that wouldn’t be too much for his ribs to handle. Alternatively, there were plenty of things he could have her do alone that would also be an acceptable activity for him.
He had initiated nothing sexual with her, not because of his physical condition, but rather because of her mental condition. Before they went back into his playroom. Hell, before he even touched her again, they would sit down and discuss her past.
Today was as good of a day as any.
“Let’s go into the living room and have a seat,” he told her, leading her out of the kitchen. “We have a few things to discuss that were left incomplete or untouched when we spoke last. If you’re ready to talk about it, that is.”
Kiara sat down beside him with a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready. I just have to tell myself the only way I’ll move on is if I talk about it.”
Chapter 16
Kiara
She’d been seeing a neurosurgeon for about a year and thought things were getting serious. He’d met her parents, and they were making tentative plans to visit his parents in Pensacola, Florida. Though she would deny it to anyone who asked, she’d even looked at engagement rings, but only on her own computer and when there was no one around.
“I didn’t want to be that girl,” she said. “The one who nags constantly about a diamond.”
She convinced herself he would pop the question on New Year’s Eve. Early in the morning on December thirty-first when he got an emergency call from the hospital they both worked at, she assumed it was step one of his proposal surprise. But when nothing else happened, she chalked it up to a real emergency. He ended up calling at ten-thirty that night to let her know he’d been working on a complicated case all day and was exhausted. Did she mind if they didn’t do the “New Year’s thing” this year?
“Of course I told him it was okay,” she said. “How selfish would it be
to insist he get all dressed up to take me out like we’d planned?”
However, she didn’t see any reason for them to be apart. He’d given her a key to his penthouse downtown months before. Excited with her plan, she packed a picnic basket, stripped down to his favorite skimpy lingerie, and completed the look with a long trench coat.
The penthouse was dark when she let herself in, and not wanting to wake him up, she crept into his kitchen to put the food away. It was from there she had a perfect view of his balcony, which he was standing on while fucking the Chief Nursing Officer from behind. A woman who, before that moment, Kiara had considered a friend.
“I turned in my resignation as soon as I made it home,” she said. “And I sent him a text calling him every name in the book and then some. When he replied, he didn’t even apologize. He just said not to worry about giving his keys back because he was having the locks changed.”
She was able to find a job rather quickly in the school system, and didn’t hesitate before taking it, thinking it would be nothing like the hospital. She was right, but she loved it.
After a few months, she played at a local BDSM club a few times, but only in public and never with the same man twice. She'd been a sexual submissive for a good number of years, yet had never found a Dom she truly clicked with. Her friends urged her to get out there and meet some new men, eventually talking her into posting on an online dating app. She was shocked by the number of replies she received. And disgusted by a large percentage of them.
“Just as I was getting ready to throw in the towel, Randy’s email came in. I’ll admit it first caught my eye because it sounded so normal. Although now I appreciate that ‘normal’ is all relative.”
They went out once and seemed to hit it off. Randy was nice, kind, and funny. He was boy-next-door-handsome and treated her like a queen. Everyone she introduced him to loved him, except for her parents and she chalked that up to them not liking anyone who had the real potential to take one of their girls away.