by Khloe Wren
"How you honor me, my sweet Adele," he whispered to her as he slid the straps down her arms. He gently undid the front clasp and peeled her bra back, slowly revealing her lush round breasts and rosy tight nipples that were already hard and begging to be worshipped by his hands and mouth. As her bra landed on the shirt pooled around her elbows, he palmed each breast and groaned in pleasure.
"Oh, my sweet, sweet Adele, you are perfect."
He felt her tense up at his compliment, again. He couldn't allow her to continue to struggle with her self doubts. She needed to know how perfect she was, so he continued to talk to her, to tell her just how perfect and beautiful her body was.
He trailed off his words as he nibbled at the edge of her mouth, trailing kisses down her neck and over her collarbone. He briefly paused to nuzzle his face in her neck, absorbing her scent into his skin and soul. Then he moved slowly down, licking and nibbling his way down the outside of her right breast, around the underside--wrenching a gasp from Adele's throat--before finally taking her nipple into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it. He felt her shudder beneath his mouth as her nipple tightened further. He could do nothing to stop the purr of satisfaction escaping his throat as he savored the taste and feel of his mate burning in his arms.
He felt her tense for a moment before he skillfully distracted her by enclosing her other breast in his hand while he continued to torment the one in his mouth. He felt her shudder and could smell how wet she was for him. Her hands moved tentatively over his shoulders and down onto his chest. He loved the feel of her hands on him. His muscles twitched and flexed beneath her hesitant touch. Her fingers got caught in the material of his shirt and she growled out in frustration.
"Skin...please I want to feel your skin under my hands."
Dominic was more than happy to deliver on her request as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. Before he had his arms and head free, he heard her sharp intake of breath and felt her hot palms land on his chest, stroking his hard pectorals, scraping her nails lightly over his nipples--he breathed in sharply as they tightened beneath her touch. Bloody hell, she was going to have him embarrassing himself if she kept this up. She continued her exploration down past his pectorals then smoothed both her hands over his abdomen. His muscles rippled under her touch. Her face looked like she was totally enthralled by his body. His ego grew as he came to the conclusion that she liked what she saw.
Her fingers kept up their wandering, her gaze burning a path up his body to his face. His lips quirked up in a lopsided grin as a very cute blush spread over her face and down her neck again. She was so innocent and blushed so easily. He loved it. She suddenly pulled back. He felt the absence immediately and missed the contact. He picked her hands up in his, brought them to his mouth where he gently kissed each palm before holding them against his chest where he needed them.
"Don't be embarrassed, beautiful. I love the feel of your hands on me. Nothing has ever felt as good as you stroking my skin. Please, don't stop what you were doing."
He felt her tug on her hands, trying to free them, but he refused to release her. Something was going on here other than a touch of embarrassment and shyness. He didn't have to wait long to get his answer.
"You're laughing at me..." a tear escaped and ran down her cheek as she closed her eyes. "I've never been with a man. I don't know what I'm doing...and you...you are just so beautiful and I'm just so...average and you're saying things to me like that. Mon duei I'm babbling..." He allowed her to pull her hands free as he sat there in shock at her comment. He watched in stunned silence as she pulled her shirt back over her shoulders and lowered her face into her hands.
Dominic couldn't believe how Adele saw herself. Her, average? She was exquisite, stunning in every way. He wrapped his hands around hers, gently peeling them away from her face.
"Look at me, Adele...please."
He waited for her to turn her face up to his. Her eyes were rimmed red from her crying and it broke his heart to think he'd caused those tears.
"I was not laughing at you, beautiful. I would never laugh at you showing your passion. Watching your eyes light up, watching you look so happy, so enthralled, to be simply touching me, it makes me happy...more than happy. It makes me ecstatic."
He moved his hands to cup her face and he thumbed away the stray tears that remained on her cheeks. How could he get her to see what he saw?
"My love, there is nothing average about you."
Running his hands through her hair, he told her what he saw, hoping she would see herself in the same light he did.
"Your hair is so soft. The waves glide through my fingers like silk. The color is totally unique, not quite black, not quite brown. When the sun shines off it, like now, it looks like you have a halo..." he ran his thumbs under each eye "...your eyes are like melted chocolate that I just want to dive into and drown in, and your lips..." he started nibbling at the side of her mouth "...just beg for my kisses. I can't resist."
He spent a couple of minutes kissing her with all the passion he felt for her--his mate. When he felt her relax and her hands began to creep up his arms, exploring all the dips and rises of his muscles, he lowered his hands, trailing them down her neck, over her shoulders, pushing the shirt so it dropped back down her arms. He continued his seduction as he whispered against her lips, "Your skin is so soft, pure ivory silk. I can't stop touching you. I will never be able to stop touching you." His hands lowered to cup each of her breasts "Your breasts are sensational. They are round, soft, with beautiful rosy tips that stand up to attention waiting for me. They are just the right size to fill my hands--my very large hands." He nipped her chin before he nuzzled up towards her ear "And I just know, when you allow me the honor of exploring the rest of you, you will be perfection the whole way down to the tips of your dainty little toes."
Moving his legs to kneel, Dominic laid her on her back and followed her down. He began softly kissing his way over her neck, back to her irresistible breasts. He just couldn't get enough of her--he would never get enough of her: His Mate. Oh, how he wished he could claim her, complete the mating right this moment. But he couldn't, not until she knew all about him and accepted him.
He ran his tongue over her nipple then glanced up at her passion-dazed face, waiting for her to look down at him. When she did, he finished his speech, "And the fact that I am the only man who knows your taste, the only one who has it on his tongue--the only man who has seen your perfection, brings me so much joy and makes me feel so honored, I simply don't have the words."
She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a sound out, he cut her off by sucking her breast into his mouth. They both groaned as he felt her nipple scrape the roof of his mouth. Dominic settled himself between her legs and went to work worshipping Adele's body that was laid out beneath him. He felt her arms move up and began to explore his back and shoulders. He couldn't hold back for much longer. The need to claim his mate was so strong. He moved back to her mouth and ravaged her for as long as he could stand the burn. When he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily. She had a pink flush to her face and chest and looked good enough to eat. Right on queue, Adele's stomach let out a rumble and they both laughed.
"I think we need to get you fed, beautiful."
Dominic helped her sit up and get dressed. When he had all the buttons done up, he looked up at her face--her stare was glued to his chest, his pectorals twitched under the intensity of her gaze and her mouth gaped open ever so slightly. Dominic couldn't help the growl that escaped his throat.
He watched her jaw click shut as her eyes flicked up to his face in shock. Damn, she heard him.
"Sorry, beautiful. I didn't mean to scare you. When you look at me like that, with heat in your eyes, it brings out my inner caveman." He threw her his lopsided grin, because he knew that would melt her and she'd forget about his growl sounding more animal than human. Her lips quirked up in a small smile.
"So, caveman, what's for lunch?"
<
br /> ~ * ~
Kelly had been free for two nights and three days. She was tired after all of the walking and so damn sore from her injuries. He had worked her over well. Everywhere hurt. Her body was crying out for her to stop and rest, but she couldn't stop, she had to continue on. She just couldn't go back to that hell. She'd rather die. Her stomach growled and cramped bad enough she dropped to her knees. Damn, she was hungry. She breathed through the pain as best she could, and when it eased off, she dragged herself up using a tree before she continued on. She had been following a creek that had provided her with drinking water, but food wasn't so easy to find. Her head felt fuzzy, and she really wanted to lie down and sleep for a week but thoughts and fear of what he would do to her if he found her kept her going. She came upon a lake and stopped to wash her face in the cool water and have a drink. She was going to have to find food soon or she wouldn't be able to keep going. The cramps were getting worse. She really needed to find a town so she decided she would leave the creek and look for a road.
She dragged herself up the embankment and into an open field. Running her gaze over the grassy area, she saw a couple staring at her. Shock stole her focus, causing her to stumble over a fallen tree branch. Panic swept through her as she fell to her hands and knees. Kelly's breathing raced, causing her ribs to hurt more. She had to get away or they would take her back, but she couldn't get her body to respond. Nothing would move. She heard footsteps rapidly approach and just as she saw feet come into her field of vision, her eyesight began to dim. She managed to groan out, "Please don't take me back to him," before she lost the battle and the darkness took her into a blissful pain free unconsciousness.
~ * ~
Adele watched as Dominic knelt, frozen in shock, looking down at the limp girl in his arms. She was having as much trouble as he was catching up with everything that had happened in the last five minutes. They had been happily finishing off their lunch, chatting away, having a great time then they both heard something moving toward them from the lake. He had stood and turned toward the noise, so fast it startled her. She began to ask what was there when a tiny wisp of a girl came into view. They had both frozen in shock for a moment. Adele slowly rose to her feet with a gasp of horror. She was just a child, couldn't have been much more than eleven years old, and she had been badly beaten. She had an over-sized blood stained t-shirt on with a jumper tied around her waist, some old trackies and ill-fitting shoes, but the sight that held her transfixed was that every exposed piece of her skin was black, blue, green or red. She was thankful Dominic had snapped out of his shock in time to sweep her up before she hit the ground as she passed out cold. Adele laid her hand on his shoulder, needing a connection to him to help her process what was in front of her. He slowly stood up with the child in his arms. He was so gentle, so careful. He looked into Adele's eyes. His eyes were filled with pain, sorrow and horror. Adele was sure her eyes mirrored his emotions.
"She's so light, Adele, so small." He swallowed roughly.
"What kind of bastard does this? To a child? Bloody hell, just look at her!"
Adele's heart was breaking just looking at this poor petit fille in Dominic's arms. As a tear escaped down her cheek, she snapped into paramedic mode. She wiped the tear from her face and moved in close to the child, gently pressed her fingers to the child's neck to check for a pulse. Relief rushed over her as she counted the weak but steady beat beneath her fingers.
"Bring her over to the rug, Dominic, I need to check her over before we take her in."
Adele walked behind Dominic as he headed over to their picnic rug and gently laid out the injured child. She tried hard to remain focused on the young girl and not how good Dominic looked with her in his arms or how gently and carefully he cared for her. As he laid the petit fille out on the rug, she moaned and began to stir.
"I heard her say something about a 'him,' and I'm thinking it might be best if a man wasn't the first person she sees when she comes around. The last thing we need is for her to freak out and injure herself further."
She looked up at Dominic to see his pained expression.
"I know you would never hurt her, but she doesn't know that. I'll be as quick as I can here; we need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible," she whispered.
"I'm going to need you to carry her to the car, so we need to tread carefully."
Dominic gave her a quick nod and he went to stand off to the side out of the child's line of sight. He was so compassionate and considerate of others.
She looked back down at the child, still a little in shock at the sight of such injuries on such a young girl. Children were precious, a blessing, gifts that should be cherished and protected--not abused to within inches of their lives. The child came awake, instinctively curling herself in a ball and whispering, "It hurts, please no more," over and over.
Adele's maternal instincts took over, leaving her medical ones in the dust. She lay down beside the child, gently stroking her hair, coaxing her to uncurl. She murmured gently to her, nothing important just soothing words in both English and French, trying to calm the petite fille into relaxing a little. Adele sighed in relief as the child began to slowly uncurl. She heard Dominic exhale in a rush and looked up at him. It looked like her words were soothing him too. His lids were closed and his face was slowly draining of its fury. He opened his eyes, gave her a quick nod then pulled out his phone as he stepped a little further away from them.
Adele stayed on the ground wrapped around the child, stroking her messy black curls and whispering to her until she had completely uncurled. Raising her head slightly, she found big round grey eyes observing her. Adele's breath froze in her lungs at the depth of the fear, pain and sorrow held in those young grey depths.
"Can you tell me your name, cherie? What do you want me to call you?" She kept her voice low, smooth so she didn't startle the child.
"K--Kel--Kelly," the child stammered.
"You're not hurting me? Please don't send me back to him." The poor child sounded confused at the concept that she was no longer being hurt. What hell had she escaped from?
"Oh petit fille, I promise I will never hurt you. My name is Adele. I'm a paramedic. All I will ever do is help you, cherie."
~ * ~
As relief poured through her body, Kelly started shaking. She was safe. This lady, Adele, would look after her; she could feel it in her soul that she was a protector. Her hell was over. She started to cry at the solace of feeling safe for the first time since...well, since ever.
"You promise you won't let him near me--please--don't let him hurt me any more," Kelly pleaded again.
Adele stroked Kelly's hair. "Shhh, cherie, no one is going to hurt you. But we do need to move you. You're hurt and we need to get you to the hospital."
Kelly panicked.
"No, he'll find me there, he'll take me back."
Kelly felt like she jumped a good meter in the air when she heard a low growl. She grabbed onto Adele in fear as she slowly turned her head toward where the sound had come and saw a massive man.
"Shhh, calm down, it's okay, Kelly. That’s Dominic. He’s a firefighter--the captain, he's a good man, and he won't hurt you. He won't ever hurt you, Kelly. I swear it. He's just a little angry, but not at you, Cherie. He's angry at the one who has hurt you so much. Isn’t that right, Dominic?"
"That's right, Kelly."
The man put his hand over his heart.
"I swear to you I will never hurt you, and I will never allow anyone else to hurt you ever again. Will you let us take you to the hospital? Adele will stay with you. I promise she won't leave you, and I promise I'll stand guard. I'll wait right outside your room and make sure no one gets in there who shouldn't. Does that sound good, Kelly? Will you let us help you and keep you safe?" Dominic's voice was so calm and soothing Kelly knew he too was a protector like Adele.
Kelly couldn't help but trust him. His ice blue eyes flared with anger, but like Adele said, it wasn't at her. She could see the p
ain and sorrow for her in their depths too, and it reassured her that this gentle giant would never hurt her. Adele's voice brought her back from the daze she was in.
"Kelly, will you let Dominic carry you back to our car? Or would you like to try and walk?"
"I don't think my legs work any more," she admitted quietly on a sob.
Holding eye contact with her, Dominic slowly crouched by her side on the ground and on the count of three lifted her. Then she was being cradled against a solid warm wall of muscle wrapped in the picnic blanket. He was so gentle with her. No one had ever held her so tenderly, and she wondered if this was what fathers were meant to be like, warm and protective. She was grateful for his gentleness, as every touch, every move hurt. All the stress and pain caught up with her. She didn't fight it this time. Letting herself succumb to the safe feeling of being held lovingly, she laid her head against his hard chest, allowing the darkness to carry her away again.
Chapter Eight
Cole dragged himself to the edge of his mattress and swung his legs over the side. After rubbing his hands over his face, he glanced at his bedside table to check out the time. Bloody hell, he'd slept for five hours. Better go check his slave. He doubted she'd be able to move on her own for at least a couple of days after the work out he put her through, but he'd feel better with her chained. Then he would have a shower, clean up and get ready for the morning's activities. That thought gave him the motivation he needed to get his body and feet moving.
He was in a fantastic mood, humming even, until he reached the stairway down to the basement. The door was open--he always kept it shut. He could see fresh blood smeared on the steps, hand, knee and toe prints like someone had half crawled half dragged themselves up the stairs. He followed the smears across the carpet to the front door where he noticed his shoes were gone. Damn it all to hell. He beat feet down the stairs to double check. Sure enough the basement was empty. Bloody hell, he shouldn't have given in to his worn out muscles. He should have made sure she was chained up and secured before he went to lie down.
