“I got you. Do you trust me?”
She swallowed and took in a large breath of air, nodding. I didn’t say anything else, simply wrapped my arms around her and guided her into the water. She cringed but followed me step for step.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Trust me. Just look at me and focus on what is under your feet.”
She lifted her right foot and cautiously moved it forward. Her next step was just as measured. I continue to brush my thumb back and forth on her wrist as each step of hers became more cautious.
Her shaking steadily grew worse the farther we moved through the water. I circled around her, pulling her back flush against my chest. She jumped when I finally spoke again.
“Lay your head on my shoulder, close your eyes, relax, and let your body float.” I kissed the top of her head. “Remember, I’m never leaving you.” It didn’t escape me that the promise meant more than just the here and now.
She placed her head back onto my shoulder and closed her eyes instantly, but it took her a few minutes to relax enough to let her body slowly float to the top of the water.
“I want you to focus on me not the water. I want you to tell me all about you. Your favorite color, your favorite pet, and the school you went to when you were little. I want you to talk until I tell you to stop, understand.”
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes, temporarily taken back by the fact I didn’t have to inform her that this was a scene in the game we were playing. She understood.
“Good girl,” I said and kissed her forehead again. “No one can see us here. Billy comes here at times. Understand?” I asked as she nodded her head. “Talk.”
“Ruby is really a great kid. She is just going through a tough stage.”
I fondled my hand over her breast and worked the top of her bathing suit over, exposing her perfectly shaped left breast. I rolled her nipple between my fingers before baring down and tugging.
“Oh,” she yelped out.
“Not your kids, I want to hear about you.” I gradually released the grasped I had of her breast before moving my hand down her waist. “While you are talking I’m going to touch you; at times I will cause pain. When I do I want you to stop just long enough to tell me where, then I want you to go back to talking. Is that okay?”
She slightly turned her head, snuggling her forehead against my jaw. “Please, Master.”
A yearning for something intangible rolled violently and vastly through my body. My dick went hard as steel. I had to remind myself this time it wasn’t about sex but trust and facing her fears.
She nibbled on her bottom lips until I brought my hand down on her left breast, hard.
“Breast,” she squealed then instantaneously started telling me about her parents. “My childhood almost seems too perfect. My parents were college sweethearts and had me only two years after they were married. My dad worked for NASA as an engineer and my mom stayed home with me.”
I scraped my nails across her bare shoulder, relishing in the marks I left behind.
“Shoulder,” she said, before continuing with her story.
She told me about the black cat, Fluff, she had as a child. She used to dress him in doll clothes and push him around in a little baby buggy. One day her dad decided that a black cat was bad luck so he carried him to the local Co-op where they took care of stray cats. She cried for three days. Her mom decided not having the cat was bad luck so they drove to the Co-op, and Cherry didn’t even have to scream for Fluff, as soon as she opened the car door the cat jumped in. The cat lived with her for another sixteen years. She finally shared about her fear of water. Her dad had drowned when Noah was only two months old. She had been unable to get into more than a bathtub since that day. Not once did she miss calling out a part of her body.
Now it was time for the true test, I got her talking about James.
She told me about her mom losing it after her dad died and following some asshole to Florida. “That was about the time James pulled away emotionally from me, I felt like I had lost everything.”
I started to move around her, changing both my position and the angle at which I made contact with her body.
She had done remarkable, twice she started to sink, and once she grabbed for me, but not once did she miss where I touched her.
The game was a success. I had learned even more about Cherry. No wonder she had such sadness in her eyes, James not only cheated on her but left her side when she needed him the most.
But I couldn’t dwell on that fact. She was there trusting me. I leaned down and kissed her cheek. She didn’t realize it but she had been floating for the past few minutes without any assistance from me. All she needed to know was I was there.
“See, you got this.”
I stepped completely away from her. Her breathing picked up, but she didn’t show any evidence of panicking. I paused for a few seconds before stepping back closer to her, and breathed a line of air across her ear.
It took a few seconds before she finally murmured, “Thank you, Sir.”
Keeping my face close to hers, I moved my mouth down the line of her jaw until my lips hovered over hers. I didn’t kiss her, I waited for her to kiss me.
I counted to one hundred and ninety-eight before I finally felt her moved. I wrapped my arms around her waist and helped her back to her feet. Cherry’s lips sought mine. We came together, and I willingly let her take the lead. Her mouth moved over mine so innocently it was hard to hold back. I pushed my hands through her hair, fighting my inner demon to control.
I proudly disciplined myself and waited until she pulled back from me.
Her lower lip disappeared into her mouth as her eyes lit up in a happiness I was determine to see more and more of.
I allowed my fingertips to linger over her collarbone for a moment longer than even I found comfortable.
“Ready for more?”
“Yes, Master.”
I softly traced over her lips with mine, savoring the sound of Master coming so easily from her kissable lips.
I started to back away from her into the deeper water. She hesitated before following me without a word between either of us.
A limb floated by, and I reached out, gripping it in my hand.
“Again talk, only this time I will use this limb to tap you. Tell me about the night you left James. Understand?” I asked, and with the flick of my wrist, I brought the stick down across her shoulder.
“Shoulder, the night I left, Sir, or the night I caught him with Linda?” Her intake of air was so sharp she almost choked.
I was stilled on the spot. She tried to hold on to him even after she learned what a dirty bag of shit he was. “Linda,” I managed to say.
“Linda had been my best friend since the seventh grade. She had recently left her husband, and I often found her alone with James but told myself she was just waiting for me.” Her voice took on the same monotone tone she used when she was trying to distance herself from the situation.
“Th…Then. One . . . night . . .”
I snapped the stick over her chest, knocking her out of the trance she had gone into.
After saying the appropriate body part, in an even more lifeless tone she told me about Ruby and her coming home after dropping the boy’s off at James’ parents’ house, and finding Linda bent over the couch with James’ dick shoved up her ass. She could still hear the moans then Ruby’s screams.
“I can’t . . . arm . . . let my kids get . . . hip . . . hurt anymore. Don’t hurt us.”
She stumbled as she forced the last part out. That should have gotten me but it was the single tear running down her cheek that did.
I tossed the stick to the side, and treaded through the water closer to her, pulling her into my arms. She hadn’t even realized she had walked out to chest level water. The fear of being hurt was far greater than her fear of water.
Leaning her over onto my chest, I was hoping to soothe her but instead
of calming down the tears came freely. I held her tighter and let her release what had been brewing inside of her all along. My insides were ripping to shreds, sure when she learned the secret of how she even came into my life, I would hurt her all over again.
The water wrapped around us and my shoulders started to chill before her tears begin to slow. “Why did you say the night you found him with Linda or the night you left? Please tell me it was one in the same.”
She held onto me tighter and took another deep breath. “I had to try for the kids.”
Cherry paused for a moment. She appeared to be remembering something. And then, as if she was reminding herself, she whispered. “I was always trying.”
I thought I would enjoy breaking her then I realized you can’t break what was already broken.
“So am I, sweetie. So am I.”
She seemed startled at my response.
My hands came up to cup her face. “Look, babe, look how far in the water you came.”
She glanced around, running an arm over the water. I was so proud of her for not panicking.
“See, babe, together we can overcome all our fears.” Kissing her forehead, I mumbled against her skin, “Want to get back to the kids.”
Her head popped up, her back straightened. “The kids. I forgot about them.”
She flipped around to return to the shore. I took her hand and had her face me. “Babe, let’s straighten you up first.” I adjusted the top of her bathing suit and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Thank you, Sir.”
It didn’t take her long to make her way back around to the kids. It amazed me how much more confident and steady she walked going back then coming. It was the kids. Her strength lay in protecting her children.
Billy had to know I was up to something because he had carried the kids to the smaller cliff and continued to watch them as they each took a turn at jumping. Well, except for Grace who sat firmly in Billy’s lap, laughing as each of the boys took their turn.
We sat on the rocks across the stream from them. I kissed a red mark left on Cherry’s shoulder from the stick earlier. It excited me to see her marked, knowing I was the one who branded her.
“I love to hear you call me Master.”
“I thought we were going to have sex. I like how you control me when we do. I guess you still controlled the situation.”
“Babe, sex is only a small part of a true Dom-sub relationship. That was a scene but it was to teach us both a lesson. I would never ask you for sex when you are with your kids.”
She slightly turned to face me and smiled. “What did we learn?”
“You learned your worst fears are in your head.”
I reached over, running a fingertip slowly down the length of her neck. Leaning in, close to her ear, I whispered, “I learned sometimes your worst fears are hiding in plain sight.”
She lifted her head and our eyes locked. The air around us suddenly thickened with a tension so tangible it threw me. At that moment, we were no longer at The Falls, there was no one else around but her and me.
At the sound of a joyful, child-like squeal the bubble busted, jolting us both back to reality.
“Drakie, did you see us? Billy helped me,” Grace said, plopping down in my lap, letting her soaked hair slap against my chest.
I didn’t see anything but the lovely lady sitting beside me but I couldn’t find it in my heart to tell Grace. “If I didn’t know better, I would say Uncle Billy was cooler than me” I held Grace close to me, and tickled her small stomach,
I loved Grace’s giggle. “No, Drakie’s the coolest ever.”
“I agree. Now convince Mrs. Cherry of that.”
Cherry Webb
“Mommy, Mommy, did you see me? I did it all by myself. Billy didn’t help me. Can I go up there with Noah? Please Mommy, I won’t be scared,” Henry said. Or I thought he said. He was talking so fast I was not quite sure.
“No, how about I get your brother and we go get something to eat.”
Drake nudged Grace’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear.
“Can we go too? Drakie will be good,” Grace said then laughed. “I promise.”
I really needed a break from all things Drake Hart but suddenly, looking out over the water, I had the strangest sensation, one I had not truly felt in years . . . happiness.
Drake Hart was a force that had turned my world on its ends.
“Please, I’ll be good,” Drake teased.
My cheeks hurt from the large smile I was sporting. “Do you even know how to be good?”
“Oh, babe, do I need to show you how good I can be?”
That was my problem, I did know how good he could be.
“Come on, boys. Let’s go. Drake is taking us to Touchdown Wings for dinner.”
Drake got up, and Grace held on to the bottom of his swim trunks.
“You’re sure she’s not yours?”
“No, I’m just the lucky guy who gets to be her Drakie.” Drake ran his hand through Grace’s curls as he looked down at her like she was a bright angel that shone only for him.
“Drakie?” I asked.
“Yeah, I became Drakie when she was about one and a half. Her mom, my sister, is named Katie, so that is how she became Gracie.”
“The three musketeers,” I teased, gathering our things together, and wondering how our stuff seemed to multiply in the sun.
“We’re definitely a team.”
He didn’t smile, something in the tone of his voice was warning me that Katie and Grace were part of the package that came along with him.
Drake picked up Grace with the assurance of a man who had done it a million times. A few steps up the hot rocks, Henry ran up to Drake, arms raised, looking for a piggyback up the mountain. Drake scooped him up, never missing a step.
When they reached the top, Drake put Grace and Henry down and knelt down to check Noah, Thomas, and Jeff’s feet, making sure they didn’t get burned on the rocks.
A sick feeling plummeted my stomach. Drake was too perfect. No man had the capability to rock the bedroom and yet, be this gentle with children. There was a character flaw somewhere, and I was horrified what it was.
Drake Hart
There was no way in hell I was letting her pay for the meal. No one ever took care of me but I had always taken care of what was mine. Cherry may not be ready to hear it but she had most definitely become mine. So I let Billy and her wrangle together the kids and all the gear as I went to the counter to pay.
“Master,” came from a soft unfamiliar voice.
I snapped my head up. Master would be a term used by a semi-regular not one of my clients. I didn’t instantly recognize her. She was a beautiful blonde with very little clothes on and really large, fake boobs.
“Master,” she squealed out again. Grace ran up and pulled at my shirt. “I’ve never seen you not in a suit.”
I lifted Grace up when I remembered she was one of the two girls who kept me company after Cherry walked out of my house. I wanted her to see I was with my family and not playing the part of Master.
“I’ve missed you,” she said, running her hands down my chest as if she was ready to undress me right then. “Cute kid, is she yours?”
“Might as well be,’ I replied, and reached up, pulling her hands for my body.
Cherry was suddenly at my side, taking in the girl who didn’t want to take no for an answer.
The girl started to pout when I use my free arm to wrap around Cherry’s waist. Was this whore for real? Her lips stuck out so far I was afraid she was going to step on them with the six-inch heels she was wearing.
The girl’s eyes finally tore themselves off me long enough to take in Cherry. “Oh, I didn’t realize you already had company.”
She started to do the annoying pout again but then a slow smile appeared instead. She leaned into me and pushed her breast up against my chest. “You know I don’t mind sharing. I’m all up for a threesome. She’s older but . . .”
>
“What the,” I said, behind gritted teeth.
“What’s a threesome?” Grace asked, placing her small hand on my jaw to force me to look at her.
“A game I should’ve never played.” I kept my arms protectively around Cherry’s waist. “I think you need to leave. That’s not my scene anymore.”
My stomach was in knots. The girl bowed her head, and luckily walked away without another word. I was furious. How dare she talk like that not only in front of Cherry but Grace? I would have a talk with Billy about revoking her membership. Rule one in our world was to never talk outside of the club. Luckily, Billy still had the boys in the arcade. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Cherry would have done if her kids would have heard the shit coming from that girl’s mouth. Cherry didn’t know the real me, and I was terrified of her discovering that part of me too.
Cherry relaxed beside me, and I almost let out a breath of relief. “Ready to go?” she asked, but I could hear the strain in her voice.
The sun was setting behind a mountain in the distance, but the heat from the day still vibrated from the parking lot as we walked to the car. Billy sent me a narrow-eyed stare that probably had to do with the job I was scheduled to be at in less than two hours. Not that I was planning on missing it. But it felt wrong after spending the day with Cherry and the kids.
I unlocked the doors, and switched on the air conditioner as Cherry started to strap the boys into their booster seats. Grace was giving my arms a work-out and I needed to say my good-byes to Cherry so I handed her off to Billy.
“Billy, I like that eating place. It has games to play. I didn’t know eating places had games,” Gracie said as Billy carried her off to his car.
I reached over and took Cherry’s hand in mine, lacing my fingers with hers as if it was the last piece to my puzzle. An uncomfortable feeling worked its way into my chest. I had never had a problem telling a girl goodbye, half the time I didn’t say a word just walked away.
Cherry Bomb Page 13
