“I don’t trust you around my kids. I’m not going to let you hurt them like you hurt me. You stay the hell away from my family.” David was getting angrier by the second. How dare his parents show up here today? How dare they stand here and ask to see Rebecca or his kids? How dare they act like they deserved anything from him? He wasn’t going to stand for it. He wasn’t going to let them hurt his family any more than they already had. “If you two don’t leave now I’ll press charges against you and get a restraining order. You’re not welcome here. You’re not welcome in my home, and you’re not welcome anywhere near Rebecca or my kids. You two are dead to me.”
Laura jerked back, releasing a pained gasp while Sven’s face paled. They’d hoped that over the months of silence, the distance David had put between them since learning the awful truth, that his anger might have cooled a little. They’d hoped that he’d been using the time to try and forgive them so that they could try and rebuild their relationship, but that was obviously not the case. David’s eyes were filled with contempt and bitterness. He was looking at them like they were the lowest of the low, and at the moment that’s how they felt.
David, wanting to make his parents understand exactly how he felt about them, took a step forward to glare at them with all his anger and pain. “You two are a disgrace to parents everywhere. You don’t even deserve to get to be called parents, because real parents would never do what you two did. You’re selfish and disgusting. I can’t even stand to look at you. I don’t want anything to do with either of you ever again, and I don’t want you to come anywhere near my family. From this day forward you are nothing to me. You don’t exist to me or my family. I want you to leave right now and never come back. I will never forgive you for what you did, and I don’t consider myself to be your son anymore. In my heart I consider myself to be an orphan.”
Having said his peace, David stepped past his parents, ignoring his mother’s sobs behind him and came to stand at the nurses’ desk. From the look on the three women’s and two men’s faces it was obvious they’d heard the altercation, but he didn’t give a damn. He simply told them, “My name is David Johannessen and my fiancée and triplets are in Room 315. We are not to be disturbed, and no guests are to be admitted if they aren’t cleared by Rebecca or me first. Is that understood?”
One of the older nurses cleared her throat, her eyes darting between David and his parents, before she replied, “Yes sir. I’ll make a note in your chart. Uh—do you need me to call security?”
“Those two are not welcome near my family. If they don’t leave, by all means have them thrown out.”
David didn’t say any more as he strode away from the nurses’ desk to rejoin Rebecca in her room. He needed to see her and his babies to wipe away the darkness seeing his parents had brought over him. He felt dirty now, their presence had made him feel dirty, and he needed to wash it away with the love he had for his family. When he entered the room he shut the door softly behind him so as not to wake Rebecca or the triplets, all of who were still sleeping.
Moving to gaze down at his newborns he promised, “I’ll never do anything like that to you guys, I swear I’ll protect you with everything I am. I love you.”
“David?” Rebecca had been woken by the soft sound of David’s voice, more so because she hadn’t been sleeping that well. She couldn’t seem to get comfortable in the hospital bed. When he turned to look at her she could tell that something was wrong. “David, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep. You need your rest.”
“Don’t bullshit me, David Johannessen. What happened? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
David debated with keeping the truth from her for all of a second before he reminded himself that they didn’t keep secrets from each other. Moving to sit beside her bed he took her hand and whispered, “I just saw my parents. They were coming to see you and the triplets. I made them leave and alerted the hospital staff that no one is allowed to see you guys without permission.”
“Oh David. I’m sorry.” Stroking her fingers through his hair, Rebecca soothed, “It’s ok. We’re ok.”
“They shouldn’t have come. They didn’t have the right.”
“No, they didn’t.”
“Who the fuck do they think they are to come here today? How dare they act like they have any right to be a part of our lives?”
“I don’t know, David. The way your parents think is beyond foreign to me.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah. That’s putting it lightly.”
Trailing her fingers along his cheek, Rebecca said, “Don’t think about them anymore, David. Don’t let them ruin this time for us. Don’t let them take our happiness away from us. This is our time right now. Don’t let them take it away.”
Leaning into her touch, kissing her palm, he relented, “You’re right. I can’t let them win. This is a happy day. I’m not going to let them ruin any more of my life.”
“That’s the way to think. And guess what?”
“What?”
“As a prize, you get to help me go to the bathroom!”
He laughed a real laugh. “Oh goody for me. Do I get to wipe too?”
“Aren’t you privileged?”
He laughed some more as he helped Rebecca out of bed slowly. He winced with her when her stitches pulled and asked, “Should I get a nurse? Do you need some more pain medication?”
“No. I’m ok. Besides, Dr. Martin said that moving about a bit will help to decrease the soreness as long as I don’t overdo it.”
“You want me to carry you?”
“No. Just keep hold of me, and move slowly.”
“No problem.”
As David helped her into the bathroom, Rebecca teased, “So how sexy did you say I look in this hospital gown?”
* * * *
Outside of the hospital Sven and Laura were sitting in their car after being asked firmly to leave by the nursing staff when David walked away from them. They could both still hear the hateful words he’d said to them, and they were both still reeling from his announcement that they were dead to him, that he considered himself to be an orphan.
Blowing her nose into a tissue, Laura asked, “Do you think he meant it? Do you think he really considers himself to be an orphan, Sven?”
“No. That was the anger talking. He’s just not ready to work past this with us.”
Even to his own ears, the words sounded hollow. Sven had seen his son’s disdain for them in his eyes. Seen it in his eyes and heard it in his voice, and he’d realized that David might never forgive them. He didn’t want to think such things, but he couldn’t help but carry that fear.
“Do you really think that? Do you really think he just needs more time?”
Hearing the plea in his wife’s voice, sensing her need for reassurance, Sven said, “I really do. Too much has happened too soon. We’ll get our case against Natasha squared away and prove to David we’re trying to make up for what we did. We’ll give him some time to settle into his new life and after a while he’ll be ready to work past this with us. I’m sure of it.”
“I shouldn’t have told Rebecca. I should have kept my mouth shut. We could have just kept paying Natasha, and none of this would have ever happened.”
There had been some moments where Sven felt the same way, but they were fleeting because he knew that it had only been a matter of time before David either figured out the truth himself, or something else happened to bring their dirty deeds to light. So while he was upset that Laura went behind his back to tell Rebecca, he didn’t blame her for David being mad at them.
Reaching across the seat to take his wife’s hand, Sven said gently, “Laura, he would have found out the truth sooner or later, and it is better that it was one of us fessing up to it. Besides, it was my idea to start down this path in the first place. You never wanted to make the deal with Natasha. I was the one that talked you into it. If anyone is to blame for this mess, it�
��s me. We’re going to get past this. It’s just going to take time.”
Giving her husband a sad smile while squeezing his hand, Laura replied, “I hope so, Sven. I really hope so.”
Chapter 16
“Are you sure about this?”
“Definitely. Are you?”
“Oh yeah.”
David and Rebecca stood in the foyer of their house. It had been six months since the triplets were born, and tonight was the first night they had alone. After coming home from the hospital Rebecca had been laid up in bed for about 7 weeks recovering from her C-section, and during that time David and Nadira waited on her hand and foot, taking care of the things she couldn’t because of her limited movement. Bringing the babies home had caused some initial tension in the house with the older kids, but that soon went away and everyone settled into the new environment.
Natasha had lost her case against David’s parents, and had been put on two years’ probation for blackmail. She’d been ordered to repay every cent Sven and Laura Johannessen had ever paid her, and the judgment against her had helped David’s civil case when he sued her for pain, suffering, and mental anguish. By the time everything was said and done, she’d lost the house David had given her after their divorce as well as her car. Her personal possessions had also been inventoried and much of her jewelry collection was auctioned off to pay a bulk settlement to David. She was now living in a two-bedroom apartment in Monroe, and rarely showed her face in Peachfields unless it was to see her sons on her scheduled visitation days. She was on her best behavior while at David’s house because she knew he would cut her off completely if she tried to start any trouble. No one was exactly sure how it was she was paying her bills, and none of them cared. She’d made her bed, and she could lie in it for all Rebecca and David cared.
David still refused to speak to his parents, and they’d stopped trying to contact him when Rebecca made it clear to them in a phone conversation if they approached David or their family again they’d file for a restraining order. Since then, they’d put their Peachfields house up for sale and had moved into a house closer to Johannessen Construction in Savannah. Again, neither David nor Rebecca cared as long as the two stayed away from them and their kids. Due to the court cases against Natasha the whole town pretty much knew exactly what had happened to drive David and his parents apart, and Sven and Laura weren’t exactly welcome there anymore to begin with.
The first six months at home with all their kids had involved a lot of compromise and learning curves for David and Rebecca. She’d had to learn to be a little less rigid when it came to her rules and ways of doing things since David was far more laid back, and David had to learn to be a bit more strict about some things that were especially important to Rebecca. All in all they’d found a common ground and rhythm that fit them both, and things had settled down fairly quickly. Raising six kids, three of them triplets under the age of one, wasn’t exactly easy, but together and with the help of Nadira and their families they were doing a pretty admirable job. R&D Properties was booming with David having to hire three more construction crews and several assistants to help Hillary in order to keep up with the demand and speed with which the business was growing. Rebecca had taken an extension for her next novel after bringing the triplets home but was close to turning it in for publication. Her second graphic novel had been released two months prior and was doing just as well as the first one. All in all their lives were going great, but tonight? Tonight was the first night that David and Rebecca were going to truly have alone since she’d come home from the hospital.
It was the middle of summer and the three older kids were all spending the night at friends while Nadira had taken the triplets to spend the night at Rebecca’s Gran’s. With all the children out of the house tonight was the night that David and Rebecca were finally going to enjoy themselves in the bedroom again. They’d been able to sneak in the quickie from time to time, and they had the occasional shower sex, but for the most part their sex life had been severely limited of late. So they were both looking forward for the sexcapades they had planned for the evening.
At the moment Rebecca was standing in front of David in the foyer of their home. She was wearing a brilliant red harem girl costume and giving him the most seductive smile he’d ever seen. She hadn’t exactly returned to her pre-pregnancy weight, remaining curvier than before, but she was still stunning. She’d been concerned about her figure, but she had been the only one. David had told her the month before that he wanted her to stop dieting and exercising so much, that he liked the way she looked. With his encouragement Rebecca had decided that for a woman in her 30’s who had just given birth to triplets she looked damn good, and he was right, she didn’t need to worry about her figure anymore. She’d always been a curvy woman, and now she was more so. David thought she was beautiful, she was healthy, and that was all that mattered.
So she wasn’t embarrassed in the least by her appearance in the costume she and David had picked out for tonight. They’d debated which fantasy they wanted to play out first, and had finally come to a compromise. David wanted to play master and slave girl, but she really wanted to live out her fantasy of him as a Viking with her as his prize. So they’d gone half and half. She was going to be a harem girl that David stole while he pretended to be a Viking. Best of both worlds. Thus while she was in her red slave costume, David had on a leather and fur ensemble that was a near perfect depiction of the Norse warriors of old.
Moving forward to trail her hand up David’s chest, she teased, “I kind of figured you’d be tearing my clothes off by this point, not asking if I’m sure about this.”
Taking hold of her hips to pull her towards him, letting his hardness be cushioned against her, David growled, “Oh believe me, Becca, we’re going to get to the tearing off of clothes pretty quickly. I just want to make sure you’re up for it.”
“I am definitely up for this.” Moving her hand to rub against his hardness pressed between them, she added, “And so are you.”
Loving the feel of her stroking him through the leather pants, David insisted, “We need a safe word. You said we can do anal tonight, but I want to make sure you can stop me if I’m doing something that you don’t like, or if I’m hurting you.”
“Ok. Um—how about bananas?”
“Bananas?”
“Yep. It will be easy to remember and there’s no way you can mistake it for being part of the game.”
“Ok then.” Smiling broadly, David goaded, “Run. Run so I can catch you.”
Feeling her heart skip a beat, Rebecca asked, “And what is my Viking going to do when he catches me?”
“I’m going to claim you. Start running, my beautiful slave, because my cock is aching to be inside you.”
Rebecca let out a giggle before spinning away and darting around the stairs to race down the hallway. “Catch me if you can, Viking! If I make it to the bathroom I’m going to lock the door and spend all night making myself cum without you!”
“Like hell!”
David took off after Rebecca, chasing her around the dining room table, loving the sound of her laughter as she darted into the kitchen to head down the back hallway. He knew she was headed for the stairs. There was no way he was going to let her get away from him, and he put on a burst of speed, his long legs quickly overtaking her. He caught her on the third step, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her back against his chest so he could bury his face into her waist length blond hair. Nuzzling her shoulder, he taunted, “Caught you, and now you’re mine.”
Rebecca let out a delighted gasp as David spun her around and tossed her over his shoulder, his arm banded around her legs to keep her in place as he headed up the stairs. Playing into the game she begged, “Please let me go!”
“No. I caught you, and now I own you.”
David quickly made his way up the three flights of stairs to bring them to the master suite. The display of strength turned Rebecca on more than she would admit, bu
t she wasn’t going to break character. As soon as David put her on her feet she tried to dart away from him, giving out a fake cry of protest when he grabbed her wrist and jerked her back against his chest.
“Let me go!”
Grinning down at her, keeping one arm around her waist so his free hand could cup her ass, he pressed her against his erection and refused. “Never. You belong to me. Now and forever, and it’s time for me to claim my prize.”
She leaned away from him, fighting his hold. “I’m not a prize!”
“Wrong, my little slave girl. You are the ultimate prize. Beauty and grace. Angel and vixen. Everything a man could ever desire in perfect body. Now. You. Are. Mine.”
She struggled against his hold as he backed her towards the bed. Her heart was racing as a steady throb between her legs had her juices flowing. The game they were playing was turning her on more than she could have ever imagined it would. Remaining in character she shoved hard against his chest, doing her best to get away as she begged, “Please let me go! I don’t want to be a slave! My family will pay you money! They’ll give you any ransom you want if you let me go!”
David pushed Rebecca back on the bed, kneeling over her as he pressed her wrists down on either side of the bed. His knees were on either side of her hips, keeping her caged under him. Grinning down at her, he replied, “There isn’t enough money or gold in the world that would convince me to give you up. I’ve lusted after you for a very long time, and I’m not about to let you go now that I’ve finally got you. Surrender to me, Rebecca. Surrender and accept me as your master and I will show you nothing but pleasure. Fight me and I will punish you.”
Rush of heat flooded her belly at his words, and she lifted her chin defiantly, holding his gaze as she argued, “Never! I will never surrender to you!”
“You will.” He leaned down to capture her lips, kissing her fiercely as he poured all his hunger and longing for her into the embrace. His cock was hard and straining in the leather confines of his costume, and he was enjoying their game just as much as Rebecca was.
Reclaimed Love Page 6
