Not chaining the front door was a bad move, and she had done it a few times in the past few days. She had been stupid to let Preston into her home in the first place.
She should have told someone that she was planning to meet up with Preston too. One of the subs should have been waiting on the end of the phone for her if nothing else, but no, she had gone it alone. He understood her frustration at seeing him there when Preston humiliated her in the diner, but she would have been much safer had she allowed him to take her home afterward.
He could see why she would have trusted Trammell. He had been plausible enough to deceive Kayleigh Watson, and she was a couple of years older than April. Kayleigh had told them how convincing he was and how manipulating. April wouldn’t have stood a chance against a guy like him. She was trusting at the best of times.
His stomach roiled at the thought of that bastard being here with her in this room, on this bed. She had done so well today putting it all behind her and accepting him. He had spent days thinking how horrific it would have been had that been April in the hospital instead of Kayleigh. Not that he wished anything bad on the other woman, of course.
But the sight of April with black eyes and bruises down her face was enough to make his skin crawl. He knew she was right to be mad with him for going off half-cocked. He never jumped to conclusions usually and he knew his emotions had badly clouded his judgment. Good thing Dave was the forgiving sort.
He was going to have to come up with some kind of punishment for the beautiful little sub though. She had to know that she had put herself in danger and that wasn’t acceptable on any level. His thoughts drifted to the dungeon at Collar and Cuffs. He knew she enjoyed a good spank or a whipping session, but this was supposed to be punishment. He would have to think of something else…
A knock at the front door brought him back to the present and he glanced at the clock. He grinned. Dave had given him a couple of hours. Good man. He slid out from beneath his sleeping beauty and pulled on his clothes.
“Hey, not too soon am I? I could always take a drive ’round the block if you need a little longer?” Dave’s smirk made him laugh. He was a good guy—and very intuitive.
“Thanks, buddy, I owe you one.” Steve gestured for him to come inside. “She’s just sleeping.”
Dave nodded and headed straight for the kitchen, where he perched on a stool by the counter. “She OK?”
“I think so.”
Steve showed his appreciation for his friend’s concern by pouring them a couple of coffees and grabbing April’s cookie jar. He took the other stool. They’d missed lunch and he’d sure worked up an appetite.
“I dropped by the station,” Dave said as he took a sip of his drink. “Turns out that little Trammell bitch knew a heck of a lot about her brother’s antics. He was keen on bragging by the sound of it, and told her everything.”
Steve whistled. “She must be as screwed up as he is!”
Dave nodded. “I’ve seen the psychiatric reports. She had help when she was younger, but didn’t bother after that. There had been some concern about her at school, though they reckon the parents aren’t much help. Too doped up to care most of the time, by all accounts.”
Steve shook his head in disbelief. “Never ceases to amaze me the scum that are walking our streets.”
“That’s why I need to be more careful.”
The sweet voice came from the doorway and he looked over to see April watching them. She had pulled on some comfy jogging pants and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair was delightfully tousled and she had bare feet. He held out a hand to her and grinned as she went straight to him, snuggling into his side.
“That’s right, darlin’. You’re too trusting for your own good.” His voice was a little sterner than he intended, but he was glad to see she had got the message loud and clear.
“I’m sorry, Master Steve.”
She was staring at the floor and for a moment he thought she was about to drop to her knees. He lifted her chin with one finger and her big eyes stared into his. He could gaze into her eyes forever.
“I know you are, darlin’,” he assured her gently and was rewarded with a smile. “You sit here and I’ll grab you a coffee.”
He got up and offered her his seat, watching her elegantly climb up.
“You did well getting that confession out of the bitch,” Dave told her with a grin. Steve guessed that his friend felt that he was being a little hard on the poor sub, and thought he might be right.
“I didn’t intend to, really. We just got talking.” April shrugged, smiling at him.
Steve felt a pang of jealousy. Dave Preece was a good-looking guy and a year younger than himself. He had seen women gravitate toward his partner when they were together, probably feeling a little intimidated by his own size. It never bothered him. Until now.
“April and I are getting married.” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he had time to think. Looks like he no longer had any trouble speaking his mind.
April gawped up at him as he placed her coffee in front of her and put a possessive arm around her shoulder.
Dave was speechless. “W-well congratulations, brother,” he managed at last. He shot up and shook Steve’s hand. “May I kiss the bride-to-be?”
Damn! Steve hadn’t thought of that. His partner reached over to hug April.
Steve seethed a little as he had to move out of the way, letting go of his woman.
“Congratulations, honey. I’m real happy for you both. You make a lovely couple and I’m sure you’re just what the big guy needs.” Dave kissed April on the cheek, still holding her a little tighter than Steve would have liked.
“Thank you.” April seemed quite bemused, and he wondered if she was mad at him for letting the cat out of the bag. She beamed at Dave.
“Why don’t we take our coffees into the living room? It’s a bit more comfortable,” Steve suggested, trying desperately to change the subject and get the guy away from his fiancé.
Fiancé.
He liked the sound of that almost as much as he liked the sound of ‘wife’.
They got up and went through to the cozy little room. April sat on the sofa, dutifully waiting for Steve, while Dave took the chair. For a second Steve was afraid that Dave was about to sit next to his girl, and he was sure he’d considered it too, judging by the smirk on his face as he slowly moved over to the armchair.
Steve sank into the soft fabric of the old sofa. He loved April’s house; it was real homey. Not like his apartment. With only himself to worry about, he had never done much with the place. Even when he had the odd relationship in the past, it had never been too serious. Certainly not enough to have a girl move in with him. He supposed the right one just hadn’t come along.
He looked over at April as she drank her coffee. He didn’t want to ruin the day after all that had just happened between them, but it had to be done. If they were going to keep the Trammells locked up, they needed to have all the paperwork up-to-date.
“You want to talk about last night?” She spoke calmly, reading his mind.
“Sorry to spoil things, darlin’ but we need to get it over with.” Steve nodded.
“In your own time, honey. Just tell us what you remember.” Dave’s voice was soft and Steve wished his had been a little gentler.
She slowly put her cup on the little side table and turned to face him. God, she was beautiful!
“I only opened the door because I thought it was you coming back,” she began. Her eyes were wide, as though pleading with him to believe her.
He felt a jolt in his gut. He had promised to be back later to see her. It had been his intention to get back here before she had to go to work, but they had got caught up with trying to find the bastard. If only he’d come here… He shook his head. That sort of thinking didn’t help anyone. Focus, Ratner.
“I’m sorry. We were actually looking for the fucker at that time,” he told her with a grimace.
She nodded and gave a fai
nt smile. “I know.” She always was forgiving, even when he didn’t think he deserved it.
“Did he say why he was here?” Dave leaned forward, placing his cup on the little table next to him.
Steve watched her beautiful eyes widen even more and she flushed slightly.
“He was real mad because Greg had been over and they’d had a fight. Greg was furious because he thought Mark had told you guys that it was him who hit me.” Her hands were trembling as she clasped them tightly in her lap.
“Why would he think that, darlin’? We never told him that.” Steve knew something was off.
Tears were in her eyes when she looked up at him again. “I did.” Her voice was quiet, but it was enough.
Steve felt sick. He knew he’d done the wrong thing going after Greg without all the facts, but now it seemed he’d really landed her in a whole load of trouble because of it.
“Why?” Steve knew there had to be a good reason for her to say a thing like that, knowing how violent these men were.
April took a deep breath and wiped her face with a handkerchief. She wasn’t wearing make-up today and it made her look a little younger, somehow. He longed to put an arm around her, but this was work. He had to remember that.
“I didn’t actually say he told you, I kind of implied it. I had to get Greg out of here and he was refusing to leave. I didn’t expect him to go after Mark. I don’t know what I thought, to be honest.”
She sniffed and his heart went out to her. She was such an honest little sub.
“Well, I think that’s fair enough,” Dave said, quietly reassuring her. “Had you told Greg it was Mark who hit you?”
She nodded.
“Makes sense. Greg probably suspected him in that case, anyhow, if he had half a brain cell.” Dave sat back in his chair.
Steve wished he’d said that, as April seemed to brighten immediately. She dried her face and actually smiled over at Dave.
“So it was all down to revenge!” Steve fumed as he struggled to remain in his seat.
“I’m sorry.” Small sobs wracked her tiny body.
That was enough for Steve. He leaned over and scooped her up onto his knee, work be damned. His little sub needed him—his fiancé needed him—and he wasn’t going to sit by and let her suffer. He held her against his massive body, nuzzling her hair while she wrapped her arms around his neck as she had earlier. She felt all soft and warm in her casual clothes and he couldn’t get her close enough to him.
“I’ll leave you to get the sordid details in your own good time,” Dave murmured as he quietly made his way to the door.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
April must have fallen asleep in Master Steve’s arms as she woke to find herself lying on the sofa with a soft quilt lain over her. Delicious aromas permeated from the kitchen, and she could hear him humming as he moved around, clanging pots and stirring.
She smiled as she got up and went to investigate. This guy sure knew how to mess up a kitchen, but it didn’t matter as the smell was to die for. As was the sight of him without his shirt on, now in just his jeans, moving eloquently around as if he owned the place. She liked the thought of that, him owning this house, belonging here. He seemed quite at home already from what she could see. Hmm, she could really get used to this.
He looked up and gave her a dazzling smile. “Hey, darlin’, I was just about to come wake you. Dinner’s almost ready.”
He gestured proudly to the large pan of spaghetti as he stirred the sauce. It looked as good as it smelled. She grinned and went over to him. The sink was piled high with pots and pans, and utensils were spread all over the counter. She giggled.
“Something funny?” He followed her eyes and grimaced a little at the pile of dishes. “Ah, yeah, sorry about that. I’ll see to it later. I couldn’t decide what size pan I needed and think I got it wrong a couple of times. You don’t have much in the way of cookware, do you? I guess you don’t do much home cooking?”
“I bake,” she told him with a smile.
“Oh yeah, I remember your chocolate brownies. They are heaven on earth! You need to make them more often.”
“Yes, Sir.” She saluted him cheekily and giggled again.
“Sit down and eat.” His voice was stern, but she knew he was only playing with her. She took her seat at the small table and he placed a large plateful of spaghetti bolognaise in front of her.
“Parmesan?” he offered.
“No, thank you. This is wonderful, it’s something else we should do more often,” she told him with a delighted smile.
“I intend to, darlin’. In fact, I was wondering about moving my stuff in tomorrow if that’s all right with you? I know you’ve got a lunchtime shift at the club, but I’ll be off all day so I can get it all sorted and have it tidied and put away by the time you finish. What do you think? It’s not too soon, is it?”
He looked anxious and her heart went out to him. He was so worried about saying the wrong thing to her and upsetting her. He needed to know he couldn’t do anything wrong in her eyes. He was her hero. He was perfect.
She shook her head, eating her spaghetti. “It’s not too soon, Master Steve. You can move in whenever you like. I wasn’t sure whether you’d want us to move or live in your apartment though?” She bit her lip a little nervously. She couldn’t bear to give up her aunt’s old house, and the thought hadn’t even occurred to her until now.
“My apartment’s a little too small, darlin’. And besides, I thought you’d want to stay here. This is your home, after all.” He grinned and she guessed he could tell how worried she was about it all.
“Thank you so much, you’re the best.” She reached over and squeezed his hand tight.
“Hmm, I guess I am, aren’t I?” He smirked, kissing the back of her hand. “And you’re too far away all the way over there. Come here.”
Her heart leaped as she quickly got up and plonked herself on his lap.
“That’s better. Now, open your mouth.”
He put a forkful of food into her mouth and she closed her eyes, savoring the taste as well as the moment. This felt so right. He continued to feed her and himself until both plates were clean.
“That was wonderful. Thank you so much.” She reached up and nibbled at his neck. She loved the feel of him, the scent of him, everything about him. And to discover he was also a good cook was just the icing on the cake!
She sighed at the pile of dirty pots by the sink when they had finished their meal.
“We’ll need to get a dishwasher,” he smirked, catching her expression.
The thought immediately cheered her. She had never bothered with one before as she didn’t usually use enough pots and dishes to warrant one, but she could see that if he was planning to cook on a regular basis—and she hoped he would—then it would certainly be a necessity.
“That would be great,” she told him, giving him another hug.
He chuckled. “Good. We can look into it tomorrow when we go to find you a ring.”
Her heart leaped. “Tomorrow? Can we really?”
He laughed again. She loved that sound. “We sure can. You’ve got the morning free so we can do it then. Then I’ll move my stuff over while you do the lunchtime shift and after that we’ll think about telling everyone the good news.”
She felt her jaw drop. “I have to wait until tomorrow evening to tell anyone? But I thought…”
“You thought we could go to the club and tell everyone tonight?” His stern voice took her by surprise.
“Well…yeah.”
He shook his head, lifting her from his lap as he stood up. “Let’s get these dishes done while I explain a few things to you, darlin’.”
She followed him over to the sink where he began to run the hot water. She really preferred to wash then to dry dishes, but thought it best not to object. He clearly had something on his mind, and it didn’t look good. She picked up a washrag and began the arduous job. However, with his big hands, it didn’t take as long as
she had feared.
“You want to go to the club tonight?” He asked as he scraped at the biggest saucepan.
“Yes please, Sir.” Her mouth went dry. She always liked to go to the club when she had a night off—and sometimes after a shift provided she wasn’t too tired.
“All right. You’ve had a tough day and I think it will do us both good,” he conceded.
Relief swept through her. The thought of having a good spanking over the bench or even a single tail on the St. Andrew’s Cross eased her mind. Somehow she knew it would make her feel better. He was right; it had been a tough day, although the bad stuff was mixed in with a lot of really great stuff, like the lovemaking this afternoon when he was so gentle with her it made her cry, and then that proposal, of course.
She had been a little surprised that he had blurted out their news to his partner, but was pleased to note that he was as excited about it as she was. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls at the club. They all loved Master Steve. She was really proud to think of him as hers.
He quickly finished washing the dishes and helped her with the drying. “There’s just the matter of your punishment to consider,” he informed her gravely.
Immediately she stopped in her tracks, almost dropping the plate she was drying. Her punishment? Shit! She’d forgotten all about that. She swallowed hard, staring up at him, stunned.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Had you forgotten, darlin’?”
She felt stupid admitting it, and wondered if he would take it as a sign of disrespect. He could think she hadn’t taken her misdemeanors seriously enough to have let them slip her mind, despite everything else that had happened since.
“Just temporarily, with all the other stuff going on, Sir,” she admitted sheepishly.
He sighed. “Well, I know there’s been a lot to contend with today, but you should still bear these things in mind.” His face was stern, but his voice was soft.
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