Going Home [Party on the Prairie 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Redrae Gunn

  “I left the big ones outside of the shop because they were addressed to go to the business.” Chad panted and then looked at the five packages. “Two of these are for you and the other three are for Rock.”

  Kira nodded and thanked Chad.

  Chad came into the kitchen and looked around the corner at Sherriff Morgan. “They are starting to close the roads,” he offered. “Just letting you know. Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Pyre. See you soon, Kira. Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas,” Rock and Kira said in unison.

  Kira glanced at Rock. She noticed that he was eating as if Sam wasn’t even in the room. Kira refilled Rock’s coffee, made him another two slices of toast and then waited for Sam to leave.

  Rock finished his food, deliberately taking his time. He left his plate on the island. Kira took it from him and started to do the dishes. It was their morning routine and Sam wasn’t going to interfere with it. Rock knew that routine was important to Kira and he was sticking to the routine to keep her nerves from getting the best of her.

  “Anything else, Sherriff?” Rock asked as he turned in the stool and looked at the man that was casting curious glances at Kira. Rock wondered if it wasn’t something else. The guy didn’t look like a hardcore prick. He looked more like a Dominant that didn’t know what he needed.

  “N-n-no,” Sam stammered as he pulled his gaze from Kira and looked at Rock. “I best be checking on others. Speaking of which.” Sam paused. “I passed Gunner on the road and he looked like he was swerving a little.”

  Rock watched Sam watch for Kira’s reaction. Sam knew that Kira had a soft spot for Gunner and he was using it to his full advantage. Kira kept doing the dishes without a pause. Rock also saw that Sam didn’t look happy about threatening Kira. Complete contradiction of words verses body language. That was interesting indeed.

  “If you thought that he was swerving why didn’t you pull him over?” Kira asked without turning around.

  “I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Sam said, touching the star on his chest.

  “I would think that you would be in more trouble if he killed someone on the road,” Kira said.

  “Next time I see him swerving, I will pull him over.” Sam smirked and cringed. “Is that what you want?”

  Rock stood and escorted Sam to the door. “I think that Kira is just saying that she would feel more comfortable with you out on the road, keeping drivers safe.”

  Sam scowled at Rock but pulled on his coat.

  When the door closed, Kira turned to Rock. “He’s going to follow you now, on the roads,” Kira warned.

  “As long as he isn’t here harassing you, then I am fine with that,” Rock said. He kept his opinion of Sheriff Morgan to himself. The man wasn’t a bully. He was looking to catch Kira do something wrong. He was also curious about her.

  Rock watched Kira move through the kitchen. Her mind was in another world. She would smile, then frown, then smile again. Playing out or wrestling with whatever emotions she was feeling as she stored the cookies, buns, and muffins in containers.

  “We should shower now,” Kira suggested once the kitchen was cleaned. “The power could go out if they are closing the roads already.”

  Rock nodded and followed Kira down the hall to her bathroom. She didn’t seem at all upset by the fact that he would be showering with her. The flirty glance back at him proved that. Rock noticed that she had drained the Jacuzzi from the night before and there was now four five-gallon pales of water sitting in the tub instead.

  The flirting continued in the shower with the washing of each other. The slick soapy skin sliding across one another as they maneuvered in and out of the water. Once out of the shower, Kira looked at the outfit she had been wearing earlier. It wasn’t going to work if she had to be adding firewood to the wood burning stove.

  Rock walked directly into Kira’s room without asking for permission. She followed him, still trying to dry her hair. He turned on the light to Kira’s closet and looked through the dresser that held her shorts. It wasn’t what he was looking for. She would need to be warm.

  Finally he settled on a pink pair of tight sweatpants that said PINK on the butt and a black t-shirt with a pink skull on the front. He topped it off with a black thong, matching bra, black ankle socks, and black tennis shoes with pink laces.

  Rock placed the clothes on the bed and watched Kira’s reaction. She looked mildly amused with his selection.

  “Pull your hair back into a ponytail,” Rock said and he went to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway waiting for her to respond as he expected.

  “Master Rock, may I ask why?” Kira asked. She made sure that she kept her question light and not demanding. When Rock turned and looked at her she saw the playful smile twitch at his mustache and knew that she had done the right thing by using his title first.

  Rock nodded his head. “I want you ready for the workout I’m going to give you later.”

  * * * *

  Kira was finishing up the rest of the dishes when Gunner honked his horn in the driveway. Rock went to the window and sounded the air horn like he had heard Kira do. Gunner filled up his tank and then came inside without knocking.

  Gunner sat at the kitchen island and looked at Kira. “Rock’s presence is required.”

  Rock strolled into the kitchen and sat a chair away from Gunner. Damn guy spooked easily and Kira had a soft spot in her heart for him so Rock didn’t want to intimidate him.

  “I have been assigned a new social worker,” Gunner said as he handed over a letter. “They require to meet with my next of kin.”

  “Okay,” Kira said.

  “You are Gunner’s next of kin?” Rock asked Kira and she nodded her head.

  “I was given up for adoption when I was born,” Gunner replied. “I have been a ward of the state. Karl was my guardian and then when he passed, Kira accepted the responsibility.”

  Rock raised his eyebrows. No wonder his little flower had a soft spot for the man. They were basically in the same boat when it came to having family.

  “Why haven’t they been able to contact you?” Kira asked. The letter clearly stated that they had not been able to contact Gunner.

  “I won’t answer,” Gunner replied.

  “Do you want some brandy?” Kira asked.

  “Blackberry brandy,” Gunner corrected her.

  “I know its blackberry,” Kira huffed. She was pissed.

  Rock saw Gunner cringe under her harsh tone. He was amazed that the man responded to any type of emotion from anything other than a computer, but he was used to Gunner being relaxed and drunk, not on edge.

  “Are you doing something that you have been ordered not to do?” Kira asked.

  “No. Yes.” Gunner answered as he downed the shot of brandy Kira placed before him. She refilled the glass and he downed that one, too. She filled it again and he looked at it.

  “Talk,” Kira said to Gunner. “And that’s an order.”

  “I have found evidence of identity theft based on a vehicle with stolen plates that has frequented your property on three separate occasions,” Gunner started. “The license plates are different each time but the car is the same. The occupant of the vehicle is of the same shape and size each time.”

  “Continue,” Kira ordered.

  “The vehicle was traced to Georgia. It is stolen. The subject in the vehicle has been traced to stopping at many locations in Watford City,” Gunner recited as if he was reading a report.

  “How did you trace the vehicle?” Kira asked.

  “A tracking device was placed on the subject’s vehicle and the cell phone number used on your property was traced to the subject,” Gunner replied.

  “You followed the car?” Kira asked and then she leveled her gaze at Gunner. “That was well within the orders of something that you have been ordered to refrain from. Not. To. Do.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Gunner replied.

  “Have you gone to Sam about the identity the
ft?” Kira asked.

  “Local authorities are aware of the situation,” Gunner admitted.

  “Sam?” Kira asked. “Sheriff Morgan?”

  “He has been advised,” Gunner said.

  “You are allowed to help with local investigations,” Kira reminded him. “So it’s a little problem not a big one. Sam will take the investigation from there and the person will stop nosing around my place.”

  Gunner pulled out his laptop and video surveillance from Kira’s house played. She noted that the times and dates were all times that she and Rock had been gone from the house. The lady had sure been nosy. She came right up on the deck and looked into the sliding glass door.

  “The sheriff obtained fingerprints from your window.” Gunner pointed to the screen. “He ran them through the local database and didn’t obtain the identity of the subject.”

  “Oh my God,” Kira said, looking at Gunner and shaking her head. “So you ran them.”

  Gunner nodded his head.

  “Hacking the national database is something that is on the illegal list,” Kira said and then she calmed herself. “Sam will cover. Jesus, Gunner, really? So it would’ve taken an extra month or two for Sam to request it and get the information. Why?”

  “You may have the subject’s next target,” Gunner said.

  “Well who is she then?” Kira asked.

  Gunner handed Kira a thick file. Kira took it from the kitchen island and sat at the dining room table. Rock stood over Kira’s shoulder as she opened the file.

  Kira quickly pushed away from the table. She nearly ran over Rock in her haste to distance herself from the file. She went to the kitchen island and didn’t bother with a glass as she took two large gulps from the bottle of blackberry brandy.

  “Who is Karla Knudson?” Rock asked. The name sounded familiar but Rock couldn’t place where he had heard it before.

  Kira took another swig from the bottle before answering. “The woman who gave birth to me.”

  Chapter 7

  Rock had gone outside to start clearing the drifts from the front of the shop. He had opened the shop doors to place Kira’s UPS delivery inside the shop. Kira watched him from the sliding glass window and was happy when he slid them inside and locked the door without even stepping inside.

  Rock cleared a path to the Quonsets and checked the locks. Kira was in his bathroom looking out the window at him. When the trees obscured her view, she bounced into the entryway and looked out the screen door at him. He hadn’t gone inside. She smiled.

  When the tractor came back down the path, she watched him from the kitchen window. He cleared the drifts from in front of his garage and then cleared the area in front of her garage. She continued to watch him from different windows in the house, fascinated by the way both of his feet reached the pedals and how easily he had learned how to use the tractor that she hated.

  Rock came inside and sniffed the air. Something smelled amazing. His stomach growled. It was past noon and Kira had been right about that tractor being tough to maneuver. It had no power steering, there was a separate brake pedal for each of the rear tires, and they were stiff. Even at his two hundred and twenty pounds he’d had to use more force than he expected to get the tractor to a complete stop. He couldn’t imagine how she had managed to do it.

  Rock walked into the kitchen after hanging up his clothes and the bright smile he got from Kira chased any cold out of his bones. She was wearing what he had picked out, her hair in a ponytail, high on the back part of her head, the short curls shooting out of it like fireworks.

  Rock sat at his place at the island just as Kira set his plate in front of him. Ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn on the cob. She waited, just as he liked, while he took his first bite. He nodded his head and then Kira dished up her plate and joined him.

  Rock was tempted to lock her hands together and feed her himself but he still hadn’t seen a pair of cuffs in her room and he hadn’t found a suitable place to even get leather cuffs. He had paid a friend to go to his storage unit and ship him three boxes of his “toys”. But he already knew that none of the cuffs he had would be right for the energetic and happy submissive sitting next to him.

  Kira waited until Rock was finished eating. She cleared their plates and had just finished putting them away when the power flickered. Everything in the house went silent. Kira froze and waited. The power resumed and Kira looked at Rock.

  “We should shut off all electric appliances that we don’t need,” Kira said. “I’ll take care of down here and the basement. I put your UPS boxes upstairs.”

  “I’ll take care of upstairs and be down later,” Rock said. He left the time open. He would be down after he opened the boxes. He looked at Kira as she glanced at him. She needed the security of a time. He could see that in her face. Routine, rules, she needed that from him. He didn’t have to do it, but he decided to give her a time limit. “Three hours maximum.”

  Kira relaxed as soon as Rock gave her a time limit. “That’s perfect.” She smiled at him.

  Rock nodded his approval.

  * * * *

  An hour later, the power went out and stayed out. Kira started the wood burning stove and went to pull the mattress out of her room. It was a king-sized mattress so it was no small task. Once she had the mattress in the hallway, she was pleased with herself and left the tugging for later. She didn’t want to get all sweaty because until the power came back on a shower was a luxury.

  Kira closed the door to her room. Dressing would soon become a very frigid experience but if she needed to, she knew that she could power the electric heater at least for an hour or two every day. She placed thick rugs against the door leading to the garage and pulled the curtain that separated her office and the garage from the rest of the house.

  She rearranged the furniture in the living room, moved the mattress inside the living room, and had the bed all made. The dark maroons, oranges, and browns in the bedspread glowed warmly in the fire that flickered from the stove. It was four already and would be dark in an hour. Kira couldn’t wait to see the tree and fire from the stove lighting up the bed and the rest of the living room.

  Kira made sure that she had the candles out and ready to light. She pulled open the electrical box on the wall and flipped the switch to the generator. The tree and TV came on just as she hoped. A notebook and pen would keep track of the times when she switched the heaters through the house. She stood with her hands on her hips smiling proudly as she surveyed her work. She was as prepared as she could be.

  Rock opened the vent to his room and Kira was right. The upstairs had heated nicely. The trip down memory lane as Rock went through his boxes hadn’t been what he expected. Sure, he had some good memories of using different tools on different submissives but he couldn’t get the thought of Kira wearing the bell earrings out of his head. Suddenly he had wanted to use all of the toys on Kira so that they were full of memories with her and no one else.

  Rock had peered through the antique vent as he heard Kira add more wood to the stove. He got down on his hands and knees and looked through the vent. It was decorated in twisted vines and through the rather large holes in the pattern he realized, for the first time, that he could see a majority of the bay-window side of the living room. He couldn’t quite see the hallway to Kira’s bedroom, but he could see the TV, her stereo, the stove, the entire bay window, and where the couch used to be. He smirked when he saw that the bed was now there.

  Rock had told Kira that they would move it together. That was a punishable offense. He thought to his toys and wondered exactly which of the toys would provide the independent little sub with a healthy dose of learning to ask for help. Anal plugs may just be the way to go. After experiencing her pussy he definitely wanted to mark her ass as his, too.

  Rock came downstairs at exactly the three hour time limit. He had wanted to give Kira her space. His boss had already called and said that they wouldn’t be hauling anything for the next couple of days. That was
great news for Rock. He would still be getting paid, so the extra time off was a mini vacation. He couldn’t imagine a better place to be stranded.

  Kira still had the curtain between the dining room and living room opened. When Rock came into the living room, Kira smiled at him and waved a hand over the living room.

  “Your accommodations, Master,” she grinned with enthusiasm.

  Rock couldn’t help but chuckle at her exuberance. Then he remembered that he had planned on punishing her for moving the bed by herself. Right now, looking at her smiling and pleased face, he couldn’t administer any type of punishment. Despite the gloom and roaring wind outside, her smile had warmed him and brightened the room.

  Rock turned his attention to the TV. The meteorologist was predicting at least two feet of snow. Three feet was a better guess. The system was slowing, stalling, there would be thunder snow with lightning. That was something that Rock had never experienced. He glanced at Kira.

  “Tell me that you don’t have to drive in this,” she said as she stood with her hands on her hips. “The roads are closed and as a licensed driver, you have the right to refuse to drive. You don’t have to risk your life for a greedy oil company.”

  “That greedy oil company sends you quarterly checks,” Rock reminded her, watching her attitude closely.

  “Luck of the draw,” Kira retorted. “I will take their money any way I can get it. You’ve seen my gas bills. I pay it back. Your life isn’t worth what they pay to drill on my land.”

  Rock laughed a little bit harder at the venom in her response. Usually an angry response was yet another reason for punishment, but she was on his side. The oil company that paid her well for the mineral rights she owned was the reason she was angry. Tender little flower was defending her Master.

  “I’m off for the next couple of days,” Rock admitted, seeing relief and concern in her eyes. “When the roads are opened, I will be back to work.”