by Brynn Paulin
Sliding away from her, he disposed of the condom in the wastebasket then fished around in the cupboard of the bedside table. Shortly, he came up with a small bottle. The click of the lid was loud in the silence. He poured a small amount of lotion into his palm then warmed it between his hands. Taking one of her wrists, he rubbed the cream into the flesh. Her skin tingled at the tender touch of his fingers. He repeated the action with her other wrist. Afterward, she curled her arms into her while he kissed the faint marks on her hips.
“Roll onto your tummy, sweetness,” he coaxed.
“I’m okay,” she murmured. “Really, you don’t have to—”
“I want to,” he replied, drawing her hand to his mouth and kissing the middle of her palm. “Come on now. Over.”
His care was so foreign, she didn’t know how to handle it. She settled her chin on her arms and let it all sink in for sorting later. No one had done anything like this for her. Her home had always had a policy of shrugs not hugs. Scrapes and bruises had been met with a suck it up attitude. Dick seemed intent on soothing each inch of abused flesh. His large hands splayed over her sore ass as he gently worked in the tingly lotion. Not leaving anything to chance, he moved down to her ankles and attended the skin there, though she was sure it was just fine and he’d already tended her once.
A few minutes later, he settled beside her and pulled the comforter over them. Sleepily, she opened her eyes to look at him. She must have been dozing. He smiled then lightly kissed her nose. His arms tightened as he pulled her to his chest.
“Thank you,” she sighed. “That was…good.”
“You were good,” he complimented her.
“I…yes?” It pleased her beyond her comprehension that he’d enjoyed their encounter—or should she call it “scene”?
“Yes,” he reiterated. “I’m very satisfied with you.”
There was that warm pleasure again. It reminded her of when she’d gotten gold stars in school. Gold star for Jane in sex and submission, scene one.
She grinned into his chest. “Thank you. I, um, you made me really happy, too.”
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “We’re gonna be good together, Jane. I know it.”
His hand stroked up and down her back, and she wondered what he was thinking. Probably that she shouldn’t fall asleep and she should get her ass out of his bed and go home.
She started to draw back. “I should—”
“Stay, Jane.”
She froze, and he pulled her back to her former position.
“Stay with me tonight,” he said, though she sensed a bit of question in it. If she said no, he’d let her go. She wasn’t afraid of his coercion. She certainly felt cherished and protected in his embrace.
“I’d like that.” She really did.
Chapter Six
Jane adjusted her sunglasses and smiled as she headed across the parking lot to Dick’s office. She was a little early, but they were going to dinner after his last patient. Since her final appointment for the day had been in this area, they’d decided for her to meet him here.
A wall of noise hit her as she entered the waiting area. Apparently, there were lots of well-child appointments this evening. Dick had three partners, and tonight was his night to leave at a halfway normal time. Some nights though, he was here until almost eight.
Over the past few weeks, she’d gotten quite familiar with his schedule. She’d had to. She spent more time at his house than she spent at hers. Since the night she considered their real reunion, everything had been perfect. Just perfect. There was no other way to think of it. He gave her what she needed, and she gave him what he did. They rarely disagreed though she had a habit of “misbehaving” on purpose.
She liked his punishments, and her ass had been sore more often than not lately. The “not” was the worst. Sometimes, Dick purposely punished her by not physically punishing her. Sometimes, he even put her in the corner or time out. Once he’d even tied her to the bed and made her watch while he pleasured himself. The whole time, she’d gotten more and more aroused, waiting for him to fuck her. Instead, he’d come then climbed into bed beside her and left her tied up while they slept so she couldn’t take care of the deep need roiling inside her.
But she shouldn’t be thinking about that here. There were children all around her. Reining in her errant thoughts, she headed for the receptionist desk. A pretty, brown-haired girl slid open the glass window shutting off the office area from the loud reception area.
“Can I help you?” she asked pleasantly, no doubt noticing Jane had no child in tow.
“I’m here to see Dr. Anderson. Can you let him know that Jane Harper is here?”
The receptionist nodded, her eyes chilling slightly. “Have a seat, and he’ll be right with you.”
Perplexed by the change in the woman, but shrugging it off, Jane turned toward the reception seating. There were a few empty chairs along one wall, not too close to the play area and she chose the one furthest from the children. Settling her purse on her lap, she pulled out her eReader to pass the time. Dick couldn’t leave for at least fifteen minutes or more.
“Nice,” a voice said across the aisle. “Way to ignore me, Jane.”
Jane’s gaze shot upward and landed on the irritated visage of her sister, Miranda. “Oh, hi,” Jane exclaimed. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Seriously? You looked right at me.”
She fought back a sigh. So, it was going to be like that. “I’m sorry.”
“So what’s wrong with you? Why haven’t you called me? And what are you doing here? This is pediatrician office. I doubt they can cure what ails you.”
Don’t be so certain. A certain doctor here is just the medicine I need. “I’m here to see Dr. Anderson.”
“Is he selling his house?” Miranda asked, always one to ask a million questions but barely listen.
“No. We have a date.”
Miranda’s lips parted, but no sound came out. She tilted her head. “He has a date. With you?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know how screwed up you are?”
Jane sighed. “We’re all screwed up, Miranda. Even you.”
“I…” Miranda’s eyes got wide. Oh, sweet Jesus. The waterworks. Save me. “I can’t believe you said that. You know how rough I had it. Why…even Jeffrey left me. All alone with the kids. He ran off with the babysitter. How cliché is that? The babysitter!”
“Oh Randa,” Jane sighed, looking around to see a few people had been sucked into the drama. She moved to sit beside her sister and put an arm around her. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“He said I’m too high maintenance for him.”
“It took him ten years to figure that out?” Jane asked drily, looking over at her niece and nephew as they played on a playset.
Miranda shrugged off Jane’s arm. “Why do you always have to be such a bitch? Just because you’ve always had weight problems, and I’ve always been thin doesn’t mean I have less feelings than you.”
“I meant that ten years is an awfully long time into a marriage to start singing that tune,” Jane defended. Tension strung through her. Why did her sister have to twist everything Jane said?
“It is,” Miranda sniffled.
“Jane…”
Jane looked up to see Dick at the door to the office’s inner sanctum. “Hi,” she said and grinned. Looking back at Miranda, she grasped her sister’s hand. “I have to go, but I’ll call you.”
“Right,” Miranda replied in disbelief, pulling away her fingers as if Jane had crossed a line. An arm around the shoulder, touching a hand…yeah that was over the edge of propriety in her family. But Dick was always touching Jane, and she was picking up on his habits.
“I will. Promise,” Jane told her, standing.
To her surprise, Miranda stood, too. “Introduce us.”
“Randa…”
“You’re ashamed of me. No, wait, you’re afraid I’ll tell your secrets. Don’
Jane’s stomach twisted. She didn’t want any part of her old life—her family and her problems—touching Dick. He knew about the cutting, but she didn’t want to mix past and present anymore. Still, he was looking at her in question as she had her hushed conversation with her sister.
“No, I’m not ashamed of you. C’mon and I’ll introduce you, then Dr. Anderson and I have to go.”
“Do you really call him that? Dr. Anderson,” she echoed in a haughty voice.
“No.” Jane walked over to the door where Dick waited. “Dick, this is my sister Miranda Free—”
“Harper. I took back my maiden name,” Miranda jumped in.
“This is my sister,” Jane amended. “She’s here for an appointment, and she wanted to meet you. Miranda, this is Dr. Dick Anderson.”
“Dick and Jane?” Miranda giggled, shaking Dick’s hand. “That’s so sweet. I’m glad to meet my sister’s beau.”
Beau? Really, Miranda? Jane thought.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Dick said. “Perhaps your family can join us for dinner one night.”
“That would be great,” Jane said quickly, moving to step through the door. “But I’ll call and set it up. We have to go or we’ll be late for our thing, Dick.”
“Oh, right, yeah,” he replied, underscoring her faith in his quick mind. “It was nice to meet you, Miranda.”
In moments, he and Jane were safely behind the reception room’s door. Alone. He threaded his fingers through hers and led her down the passage. He ushered her through a doorway and into a leather-appointed office with his nameplate on the desk. “I have a few things to do, but I figured you could wait in here,” he said, looping his arms loosely around her waist.
“You have no idea how grateful I am for that.”
“You and your sister don’t get along?”
“Far from it. None of us do—except me and my dad.”
He kissed her nose. “Then I’m glad I could save you.”
“My prince in shining lab coat,” she sighed, pressing her cheek to his shoulder and breathing him in.
“More white than shining,” he laughed. “Have a seat and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Alone in his office, she looked around, thinking of all the ways she’d thought of playing doctor over the years. If Dick had one of those stirrup tables and he wasn’t the kind of doctor he was, she’d ask him about acting out some fantasies, but that wasn’t to be. But maybe she could get him to wear his lab coat at home with nothing else on one of these days.
He would. They always had fun together, even when he was deep in Dom mode.
Tonight, he was taking her to some “munch” thing—which frankly, knowing it was related to the BDSM scene, sounded a little obscene to her. Dick assured her it would all be quite tame, just a group of his friends getting together but all of them in D/s relationships. It was at a public restaurant so Jane was fairly certain things would remain PG.
“Deep in thought?” Dick said, startling her as he reentered the room.
“Just thinking about tonight.”
He closed the door then came around to crouch in front of her. His thumb stroked over one of the slightly raised scars on her arm. “It’ll be okay. No stress, okay?”
“Okay.” Ribbons of warmth wove through her. Once she would have flinched away from anyone touching her scars, but Dick offered complete acceptance. He didn’t regard her weakness with disgust.
“I have something I’d like you to wear,” he announced. Standing, he went to his desk and opened a drawer. A moment later, he came back to her and squatted down again. He opened his hand. A velvet choker with a white, oval cameo in the center rested in his palm. No, it wasn’t a cameo at all. An ornate Wedgewood blue swirl decorated the stone and formed the intertwined letters “DA”.
“Yes,” she replied. “It’s beautiful, Dick.”
He leaned forward and fastened it around her neck then kissed her. “Now, everyone else knows you’re mine. And they all know I don’t share.”
She bit her lip. “At all? It might be fun—”
“You want a spanking, don’t you?”
She giggled just as a rap came on the door.
“I’m off-duty,” he muttered but rose to answer.
The receptionist stood at the other side. “I, um, have some files for you,” she said lamely, though there wasn’t a folder to be seen.
“I’ll sign them tomorrow. Annie,” he said as she started to turn away. “This is my girlfriend, Jane.”
Annie frowned. “We met up front.”
There was sadness in her eyes when she glanced at Dick, and Jane figured out the girl had a crush on him. She was probably a little confused as to why he was with someone quite so plain as Jane.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jane,” Annie said, remembering her manners, then swung away toward the front of the office.
“Ready to go?” Dick asked.
“She likes you,” Jane replied, rising. “I think you disappointed her.”
He shook his head, a strange flush creeping up his collar. “I promise I don’t do anything to encourage it. There’s only one woman I want.”
She grinned and rose to her toes to kiss his cheek. “I believe you, but I also think you’re a little oblivious.”
“I’m not oblivious to anything about you,” he growled. He leaned to her ear. “I bought a new paddle at lunch today.”
A shiver of pleasure went through her. “My poor bottom.”
“Oh thank God you’re still here!”
They both looked up to see a harried doctor rushing toward them.
“What’s up, Haydon?”
“I got called to the hospital. They’re calling in all the peds they can. Bus accident. I need someone to cover the appointments here, so I can go in—unless you want to. But it’ll be a late night, and this is usually your early day.”
Jane sighed inwardly though she showed no sign to Dick. She knew all the doctors here also specialized in surgical pediatrics. This was part of being the girlfriend of a doctor. He got paged at all hours, though all the doctors rotated being “on-call”. She had to accept this.
“Jane, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she told him, touching her new necklace. “It’s part of the deal.”
“Go on, Haydon,” Dick said, probably knowing there couldn’t be a delay. “I’ll cover.”
He turned back to her, and she lifted her shoulder with a “whatcha gonna do?” smile. Who was she to complain when it came to saving lives? “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“No,” he said. “You’ll see me tonight. Wait for me at the house. We’ll just have an evening in. Eat dinner, and I’ll text you some instructions a little before I leave here.”
That sounded promising. “Yes, Sir!” she quipped and gave him a mock salute she was sure would bring later retribution. Hey, she had to earn the paddle somehow.
* * * *
As it turned out, Dick got roped into emergency work as well and didn’t get home until the wee hours of morning. Jane was sound asleep in the middle of his bed and wearing one of his pajama shirts when he stole into the bedroom. His heart lurched at the sight of her, and he knew he wanted to always see her here in his home and in his bed.
Giving her the collar today had been the first step. He wasn’t going to be a fool and rush forward—last time she’d rejected him when he’d thought she’d say yes. So he was moving slowly, leading her into this life one bit at a time. Though he hadn’t asked her to officially move in, she was here more and more often anyway. Eventually, he’d point that out and suggest they give up her apartment.
He suspected though that it might be a little bit of a safety zone for her right now. She still had a lot of hang ups and insecurities, and he knew she didn’t see herself as the beauty she was. Thanks a lot, Harper family, he thought. Jane hadn’t told him a lot, but what she had mentioned about her relatives and what he’d seen with her sister made his skin crawl. How did a child grow up and flourish in that environment? It was amazing Jane was as well adjusted as she was now.
He also understood why she absorbed every touch, whether pain or pleasure. She craved it. She craved human interaction.
She also loved their play, and it turned her on, way on.
She wasn’t the only one. With more force than necessary, he slammed down the new paddle and startled Jane awake. She sat up, blurry eyed, and the shirt slid off one of her shoulders exposing a breast.
He steeled himself from pouncing on her right then and there. “So who were we today?” he demanded, getting in his role as Dom. “GI Jane?”
“Wh-what?” she asked, sleep still confusing her.
“That smartass salute.”
She grinned. “Oh.”
He put on a scowl though she amused him. Her antics pleased him more than he’d ever tell her. God forbid she found out. She’d go right out of control.
“I want you naked and in the playroom in one minute.” Without another word, he got up and scooped up the paddle then headed there himself. He heard Jane on his heels.
The room’s door was unlocked since he only locked it if there was a chance of company stumbling into it. Flipping on the light switch, he marched inside and halted in the middle of the space. He dropped the paddle on a bench then started rolling up his sleeves.
Jane stopped just inside the doorway, biting her lip and looking adorably mussed. She’d followed his instruction and dropped the shirt somewhere—probably in the hallway since she’d been right on his heels.
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she went to her knees before him.
“Drop and give me forty,” he said, playing on the soldier theme she’d started.
Her brow furrowed. “Forty…what, Sir?”
“Good question. Certainly not pushups, unless you’re lying over me.” He smiled at the idea of licking her breasts as she did a modified version of the exercise. He’d save that for later. “I want you on your back and pushing those naughty fingers up into your pussy,” he told her. “Slowly…forty times.”
-->
