The Finest Line

by Catherine Taylor

  Mairead heard him groan. To hear his pleasure was overwhelming and she found herself crying again. Even with all the physical sensations still lapping against every nerve in her body, it did not compare to the joy of her conviction, that every doubt of his love and forgiveness was gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  When she was finally released from her bonds, Mairead found herself subjected to further attentions. James tended her thoroughly, lying her face down over his thigh so that she could rest on the bed and he could tend to her wounds. The towel was cold and wet, running between her legs and over her backside. It was only removed when he was ready to examine her. His hands very lightly explored her vagina and buttocks, before applying an antiseptic cream. His fingers massaged it gently into every surface and crevice.

  Mairead moaned, still ready to accommodate should his administrations became more urgent. She felt the movement of his penis against her thigh and she grinned with delight. She opened her legs wider, only to receive a light slap to her bottom.

  “Stop it,” James told her sternly. “I am trying to make sure that there are no significant injuries. You’ve got some bruising and your backside looks like bright red bubble wrap.”

  Mairead laughed and quickly gasped as she felt his finger run along her vagina. It lingered on her clitoris.

  “Your clit is still quite prominent but I suspect that isn’t from your hiding.”

  His finger rubbed for a moment before returning to her backside.

  Mairead challenged him. “Are you trying to get me horny?”

  He lay back to look at her. “I want to make love to you. No rough stuff, just slow and gentle, where I can look at you and kiss you and watch your face as you come.”

  Her heart swelled. “I’d like that so much but I don’t think I can lie on my arse.”

  He grinned. “How about I keep your arse off the bed and you employ some of your flexibility”

  “Sounds good to me,”

  She barely noticed the pain each time his body came down on her with his penetration. She was too occupied by the sight of the muscles in his arms that held him up, caging her between them, holding her legs up enough to keep her bottom off the bed.

  Her eyes moved to his chest, smooth and muscled with some hair around his nipples. Her gaze moved further upwards where the most impressive sight was the intensity of the enjoyment on his face.

  Only when they had received everything they needed from each other, to renew their passion and confirm their love, Mairead was content to fall asleep in his arms.

  She woke up alone the next morning and immediately went in search of James. He was sitting fully dressed at the dining table writing something. He looked up as she approached and smiled approvingly at her nudity. Grasping her hand he pulled her close to him.

  “I was just writing you a note.”

  She read the start of it. “Are you leaving me?”

  “As much as I like you just as you are, I need to buy you something to wear.”

  His hand wandered up the back of her thighs to her bottom. He turned her around and continued the exploration with his eyes.

  “Not looking so bad this morning. Bit bruised.”

  Mairead rubbed her cheeks. “Hurts like hell when I sit down.”

  James grinned. “Good. It will be your incentive to behave yourself today.”

  She gave him a seductive smile as she put her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against his face, “It’s an incentive alright.”

  He paused and took a deep breath before shaking his head. “Too much to do and I’ve already showered and dressed.”

  He got up quickly before he could change his mind, picking up the car keys.

  Mairead stuck her lip out. “Take me with you.”

  James shook his head. “For a start you have nothing to wear and while I have no problem with you walking around with a bare bum beneath one of my shirts, it would not be productive if we were to be caught by the media.”

  He kissed her, grinning at her miserable face. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  As he went to leave he stopped in his tracks and walked back to her. “You are not to leave the house under any circumstances or get into any mischief whatsoever. Do you understand?”

  Mairead sighed. “Oh damn, I was hoping to go for a walk like this and introduce myself to the neighbours.”

  His frown was back. “I’ll introduce my hand to your backside if you keep that tone up with me young lady.”

  “Too late,” Mairead turned and skipped out of reach. “They are already well acquainted.”

  She felt too happy to do anything to upset him. She helped herself to toast and coffee and sat very carefully down on the couch, shifting her weight to lean to her side. Being alone with her thoughts was not as tormenting as it had been.

  She was able to think of Joshua and not want to hurt herself. Instead her anger flared as she thought of Richard Lewis. She had never thought herself capable of hating anyone but he dismissed that theory.

  At least she would have the satisfaction of knowing that his days of hurting anyone would soon be over. He would be locked away for a very long time. The West Auckland development would come to a crashing halt and her father’s tireless work to save a community of struggling families would be fulfilled.

  When she thought of Mark, it was difficult to hate him, even after everything he had done to her. How much had Mark been involved in Joshua’s death? She wondered if he even knew what had happened the night at their engagement party. She doubted if Richard had confessed to kidnapping her for his own sick intentions.

  The faces of her friends filled her thoughts. She owed so much to Kylie and looked forward to the time when she would see her again, her best friend, her only friend that she had ever had. Now she had three more, wonderful people who didn’t judge her or feel inferior to her. They accepted her for whom she was and she loved them.

  Amiri held a special place in her heart. Thinking of him, she dared to wonder if anything could come of the pole dancing competition. How would James react? The more she thought about it the more it occurred to her that she had a dream of her own.

  She wanted that chance, to be up on a pole performing at competition level, striving to be the best. It was a desire that had never really existed in her for gymnastics, even for Olympic glory.

  In the dark dens of nightclubs where the pole was worshipped nightly, was where she wanted to be. Wellington was where she wanted to be. For the first time in her life she could see a future that appealed to her, loving and living with James, working as a pole dancer and having friends. Training for the championships would be the icing on the cake.

  But what did James want? She had given him charge of her life and his plans for her were probably a lot different to her own. He would probably want to return to North Shore and carry on working for her father.

  There was so much she wanted to discuss with him. Hopefully he would listen to her and not dismiss her dream as another irresponsible choice. She knew that whatever he decided she would abide by. James was all she really needed.

  With her new found love of life, Mairead jumped up and headed for the bathroom. She detoured to take one of James’ clean shirts. After her shower she helped herself to his toothbrush and shaved the hairs from her legs and underarms with his razor. As far as she was concerned now, what was his was hers. On the shelf she spied the Hugo Boss cologne that he wore. Finally she knew what made him smell so damn sexy. She applied a tiny amount to her neck just to be reminded of his presence.

  Feeling clean and refreshed, Mairead wandered restlessly about the cottage. Vanessa was another face that soon sprang to mind. She couldn’t think of her without blushing. Knowing Vanessa’s sexuality only meant that she had probably enjoyed helping James to attend her. The poor woman had come for a holiday and ended up an accessory to kidnapping. Mairead knew she owed her a lot and hopefully would be able to see her before she returned to England. She wondered why
Vanessa had decided to take up residency in New Zealand.

  The pile of questions was building up and still James hadn’t returned. The front door was beckoning to her. Beyond it, as far as she knew, was a beach though what beach it was she had no idea. Where the hell was Vanessa’s cottage situated?

  Surely a little stroll in the front garden could not be considered leaving the house. Mairead weighed up her options. Her bare backside was covered enough by the shirt but was at the mercy of James’ hand should he not agree with her assessment on what was considered ‘leaving the house.’ Enough pain was still radiating to know that a spanking would not be pleasant and there would definitely be no reward of sex afterwards.

  Still she would surely hear his car approaching, giving her enough time to duck inside. Ten minutes of fresh air would do her wonders.

  Tentatively she poked her head out the door and surveyed her surroundings. The garden was beautiful with roses blooming along a white picket fence. A stone path led to the central front gate, bordered by flowering bushes. Two double gates stood open at the driveway that extended to the side of the house. The air was fragrant with flowers and tinged with the faint smell of the salty ocean nearby

  There were other houses around set well back from each other. Some of them looked empty and she guessed that they were also holiday rentals. The house next door showed no signs of life and several newspapers lay unopened on the front lawn.

  With another survey revealing no nosy neighbours and a quick listen for a car on the quiet road, Mairead vaulted the fence. Fast as she could, she went through the papers until she saw one with today’s date.

  Tucking it under her arm she was over the fence and back inside in two minutes. Mission accomplished without being seen and now she had some reading material to pass the time.

  Sitting down gently she unfolded the paper onto the coffee table. Her face stared back at her. Mairead gasped and looked to the headline: Top Gymnast Kidnapped.

  There was a picture of Mark looking distraught and another one of James, a little younger and dressed in army uniform.

  The story read: “After the night of their engagement, Mark Lewis, son of wealthy Australian developer, Richard Lewis is trying to come to terms with the abduction of fiancée and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist gymnast Mairead Kavanagh. Police have now released the name of their only suspect. James Aaron Vaughn, 28 is an ex British soldier, and a decorated veteran of the Afghanistan war, described as 190 centimetres tall and well built with short black hair and brown eyes. He is considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached. Vaughn had been employed as a chauffeur and body guard for Mairead’s father, Development Minister Sean Kavanagh, and is understood to have made continual unwelcome advances to Mairead. It is believed that Vaughn had an unknown accessory that is yet to be identified.”

  Mairead paced the room anxiously, her mind tortured by the absence of James and a complete bewilderment of how this had happened. Why wasn’t she reading that Richard had been arrested? How could Mark even consider continuing the charade of their engagement?

  She wanted to run from the house, hoping to see James’ car approaching but she didn’t know how long he was supposed to be gone. What if he had been arrested? Surely they would have to take her word that she was with him voluntarily.

  For the next half hour she was left alone with her torment. When she suddenly heard a car in the driveway, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it was James. She watched the front door, trembling and tears running down her face.

  He walked in and saw her immediately, and the paper lying on the table. Mairead flew into his arms and he held her quietly until she had calmed down. He picked her up and carried her to the couch, sitting her down on his lap.

  He was frowning, “How did you get that paper?”

  Mairead looked at him angrily. “It doesn’t matter how I got it. What matters is what the hell is going on. Why do they still think that you’ve kidnapped me and why hasn’t Richard been arrested?”

  James sighed, “Because I don’t have the evidence anymore to convict him. My laptop was destroyed in the fire.”

  Mairead shook her head furiously, clenching her teeth against her anger and frustration.

  “That means Richard will go unpunished for killing Josh. It means Daddy will lose to him as well. All those people will lose their homes. That’s just not right.”

  “There’s nothing we can do babe,” James tried to comfort her.

  “And you,” she looked at him fearfully. “What’s going to happen to you?”

  “I’m going to be fine,” he assured her. “Your father will be here sometime today with an army of lawyers and I’ll be turning myself in.”

  “When were you planning to tell me all this?” she leapt up from his lap, her face contorted with grief. “When they were dragging you away from me?”

  James got up and tried to take hold of her but she dodged away from him. “Why can’t we just be together? Why can’t they just leave us alone?” Her voice grew small and frightened. “They’re going to take you away from me.”

  His second attempt to grab her was successful and he pulled her into a tight embrace until she stopped struggling against him. He returned her to the couch and his lap, cradling her so he could see her face.

  “I’m not going to lie to you Mairead,” he caressed her hair as he spoke. “The media attention is going to be horrific and they are going to imply things about us that are going to have a serious impact on both our reputations.”

  “They can say what they like,” she replied angrily. “The people I care about know the truth.”

  He nodded, “With your help, the kidnapping charges will be dropped. As far as I am aware, Richard has kept quiet about his part in this. The fact that Mark has gone ahead with this whole kidnapping charge is because he genuinely believes that I just took you and he still thinks that he has something over you.”

  “Why would he bother? He can’t still believe I would go back to him now.”

  James smiled. “I suspect it’s because he has fallen in love with you and men in that state usually don’t think clearly.”

  She looked at him as if he had gone insane.

  “That is ridiculous. The bastard doesn’t even have a heart.”

  “I saw him when I confronted you at the party. He knew he didn’t have a hope in hell of winning a physical attack against me, but if I had continued to berate you, he was ready to have a go.”

  Mairead winced. “That just makes me feel sick.”

  “You have that effect upon men Mairead,” He studied her proudly. “You’re beautiful inside and out. Only those who take the time to get to know you, ever get to see the real you. Mark obviously had enough time because the way that he was looking at you...”

  “I don’t want to talk about him,” Mairead insisted, frowning at him. “You’re not going to start doing some jealous thing where you keep bringing him up?”

  James shook his head. “I’m sorry babe. When it gets down to it, I’m still just a man.”

  “But you’re the only man that I love and want to be with for the rest of my life if these arseholes ever leave us alone. I’m not going to let them separate us.”

  “Mairead,” his tone had become sombre. “We are going to be separated whether we like it or not, but it will be for the shortest of times. You are going back with your father to North Shore and I’m going to stay here and sort this business out.”

  She shook her head firmly, “I am not going home. I’m staying with you.”

  “No you’re not.” He told her sternly. “I don’t want to have to worry about you. Back home you will be safe and your father will up security to keep the media away.”

  When she went to protest again he quickly cut her off, his voice raised considerably, “Mairead, you are going home and that is final.”

  She was immediately quiet, frowning and looking away.

  James sighed. “Mairead please, I hate yelling at you, but s
ometimes it’s the only way I get you to listen.”

  “I listen,” she challenged. “But I don’t have to agree.”

  “But you do have to do as I tell you.” His voice lowered. “Isn’t that what we agreed?”

  When she wouldn’t look at him, he turned her chin towards him. “Answer me.”

  “Yes,” Mairead growled her affirmation. “But I don’t have to like it.”

  Pulling her chin closer he kissed her softly. “A few days away from me will give your bottom a good rest, because it’s going to need it.”