by Piper Stone
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I just hope I didn’t poke you too hard on the way down.” She knew her weight couldn’t crush him, but elbows and knees jabbed in sensitive places hurt no matter how big the victim was.
Jeep put a hand to the most convenient place on her anatomy and practically launched her onto the lip of the pool. “You can kiss it and make it all better once I get out this wreckage. For right now—” Interrupting his own sentence, Jeep unceremoniously swept Jenny back down into the water with a splash, shouting, “Deep breath!”
He held her under. If it had been anyone else, she would have panicked, but since it was this man, this one man in all the world, this man who loved her more than she ever could have hoped for, she obeyed that tone without question, without thought. Instinct had her filling her lungs before she hit the water. She drew in her arms and legs, trying to become as small a target as possible for him to protect so that his own large frame could find maximum cover under the water. It was only later that she understood mentally what her body had done in that instant.
“What was it?” Jenny used her first available breath to ask that burning question, ignoring the hand behind her neck that had guided her up above the water.
“Back under,” was his only reply, but at least this time they both submerged together. He kept his hold on her, but she bent her knees and let him take her down again.
She knew he was as safe as she was, as safe as they could be in the face of whatever threatened them. She knew the best thing she could do to help him was to comply, follow orders immediately, and save her questions for later. It was easier to do knowing that he was safe under the water as well, but when he surfaced without her, she started to struggle against his hand. The pressure eased and suddenly she was being held against him, the water making it possible for her to put her head next to his rather than nestled on his chest as it usually was. She could hear his breath, hardly accelerated at all. Even at his age, he could still react and respond naturally to any crisis the way most people could tie their shoes.
“What was it?” Jenny asked again, knowing that he was waiting for her to indicate her readiness to talk. For his answer, he turned to claim her mouth with his. As his hands ran up and down her for the second time in less than five minutes, he mingled his kisses with queries. “Are you okay? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. A bit soggy, but fine. What was it?”
“A drone. Just a drone. At first I thought…”
Jenny could only imagine what nightmare from his past had visited him in that split second before he had sent her into the water. “A bomb?”
“A rocket launched grenade makes that kind of sound from way off… or a missile from even further, of course. I thought we had longer than we did. When the flash came so fast and without a bang I realized the thing was a lot closer and a lot smaller than I first calculated.” He started to chuckle. “A darn drone. I’m gone obliterate that jerk Tob.”
“Tob? You think it was his?”
“Had to be. He’s got a perimeter set up to disable any electronic access within a kilometer radius of the house and any outbuildings.”
Jenny’s pent up breath came out in a whoosh of laughter, tinted heavily with outraged disbelief. “What was he thinking?”
“Probably wanted to take some candid photos for our scrap album.”
“I’ll scrap his album next time I see him.”
“I’ll let you. You wreak whatever vengeance you want on him. I won’t object. He interrupted at a very inconvenient time.”
“Inconvenient? We had just fallen into the pool and broken his expensive, special order chaise lounge.”
Jeep turned her and put her up onto the side of the pool. “I was thinking about the moment before that.” Effortlessly, he twisted himself up out of the water and settled next to her. The next minute had her wondering how he could position her wherever he wanted her as if she weighed no more than a rag doll. She had tried to keep her figure, but it had a lot more curves than it had when they were first married. Still, he never had any trouble sliding her over his knee and holding her there.
In the turmoil, the leather strap had landed on the molded stone floor, contrasting sharply with the sandy rose flower petals depicted there. “Jeep, really. We’ve got to—”
“We’ve got to enjoy our vacation. No annoying plot of Tobin’s is going to put a damper on our fun. I’ll give you the five I meant to and then five more for fighting me in the pool.”
“I didn’t fight you.”
“You thought about it.”
She had thought about it and had actually fought his hold on her when he stuck his head above the water to look around. “Just ten then.”
“Just as a reminder.”
The leather strap felt strange against her wet skin and sodden bathing skirt. Jeep flipped it up to reveal the form-fitting panties underneath. “I liked it back in the eighties, when the only kind of bathing suits available were these kind, that fit snug. These skirts are such a tease.”
“I could go back to that old kind, but these thighs are better left to the imagination.”
“Only because other men don’t need to see what’s mine. That’s why I like the new styles of suits. I can keep my treasures all to myself.” He ran a hand along those treasures, making her feel like the most desirable woman in the world. His hand was soon replaced by the strap. He applied two swift strokes to the right side of her bottom, causing her to jump. Another two to the left had her squirming in earnest. That strap meant business and he was using it with more force than he usually would when there was no real punishment on the table.
“Okay! I get it! That hurts!”
“At least I haven’t lost my touch.”
“I thought this was just for fun. You know, just for fulfilling my promise.”
“It was partly that, but even before the attack… the drone attack, I mean, I was going to use this strap to get your attention.” He applied two more swats, this time angling so that most of her bottom felt its bite. “Have I got it?”
“Yes!” Just four more to go, thank goodness. If she could just hold still she wouldn’t earn extras. “I’m listening.”
“We have the best marriage I know of, Jenny. It’s a great thing for a man to come home to a solid foundation. I won’t let anything shake that.” He applied a harsh stroke of the strap. The snap of it echoed off the water and glass.
“I agree. I would never try to shake it.” Trying to stay still and fight the pain was costing her so much effort that her breath was coming in progressively shorter gasps as if she were running up hill.
“Try? No, I know you don’t mean to undermine our relationship. You’re trying to help but that winds up hurting. You’re trying to do my job, to take my place. Where does that leave me?” Another swat, lower but just as hot.
“I don’t want your place. I promise, I don’t!” She reached back to rub at her legs, but he trapped her wrists loosely behind her. His hands were big enough to allow this position to be not at all awkward.
“That’s good. I know it’s true. You’re an amazing woman and I count myself the luckiest man on earth every day. I don’t want to lose what we have. This strap will help ensure that you hear what I’m saying, and get the picture. See things from my point of view and adjust your course.” Another hard slap, across her upper thighs this time.
“I will.” Her words went as soft as her posture as she released her resistance to his resolve. He was in charge, just as she wanted him to be. This was her comfort. This was her security. This was home.
“One last swat, just to put the exclamation point on the lesson.” He brought the strap down one last time, then held her motionless until her breathing returned to normal.
Later, when she was cradled in his arms, she wondered how he could stay like that so long, just sitting on the side of the pool with his legs dangling in the water. “Doesn’t this position hurt your back?”
“Nothing h
urts, as long as I’m with you.” Standing easily, as if he weren’t carrying her weight at all, he continued, “But you did mention something about dinner so I suppose we should shower off this salt water before we eat.”
“Do you want to go first or should I?”
“No need to take turns.” Jeep increased his pace down the open-air corridor that led to their room. He deposited her in the multi-headed shower room and turned on the water. She should have known better than to expect a blast of cold water. One of the servants had seen them in the pool enclosure and set everything in the master bath so that at once she was inundated from three sides with gentle showers.
Jeep tried to be helpful by working on her floral blouson swim top, but when she heard the strap seam give way, she realized a bit of strategy was in order. It was her favorite suit and she didn’t want it ruined just because he was in a hurry. In fact, slowing the pace down would increase the pleasure later. “Jeep, wait. I need my new conditioner. The one I asked Tiffany to bring from town this morning. It’s on the desk in our bedroom. Could you get it for me?”
When he finally returned, she thrilled to the look of pleasant astonishment on his face when he saw that she had removed the swimsuit from harm’s way. She had decreased the water to a thick mist and lathered herself in thick, sensually scented bubbles. “Help me rinse off?”
She didn’t need to ask him twice.
As Jenny slept, Jeep checked his phone, a thing he almost never did in bed. It was a point of pride with him that their marital space was inviolate. His work world never touched the area where his heart resided. In this present circumstance, however, he reckoned that the departure was warranted. The urgent texts he had sent had all received gratifyingly decisive answers. Reinforcements were on the way. Now, his only problem was how to explain them to Jenny. Santa’s elves did not wear black cargo pants. She wasn’t going to like him inviting half a dozen thugs to their vacation getaway.
That was one of the reasons he had taken that quick detour when Jenny had sent him for the conditioner. He had considered just telling her what he was about to do, but thought it was kinder to avoid provoking her unnecessarily. She would still be sore from that reminder spanking. He hated to ruin their vacation with more serious punishments. He counted himself lucky that she hadn’t gotten suspicious at how long the errand had taken. If she had asked him where he had been, he would have told her the truth and then been forced to deal with her if she had taken it badly. Better for both of them if he told her in his own way, when the time was right.
After a refreshing snooze and an even more invigorating interlude afterwards, Jeep clapped three times to activate the intercom. “Could we get some dinner in the library?”
Three clear tones chimed in a wordless response. “I’ll never get used to talking to the ceiling.” Jenny cast a skeptical glance toward the intercom screen hidden discreetly in a vent in a far corner of the room. “And that clapping to turn the thing on!”
“We could set the system to voice activation mode and skip the clapping, but I’m not sure that would be a good idea. Do we really want the staff hearing us every time we talk or make other sorts of sounds?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She threw a pillow at him. “Oh, just toss me my dress would you? I left it on the chair over here when we changed to go swimming, but the good fairy must have dropped by and hung it up for me.”
“That same good fairy shined my shoes for me and put them in the shoe section of the island in that ballroom Tob calls a closet. Between the space and the service, a guy could get spoiled around here.”
“Don’t go getting used to it now. The good fairy doesn’t live at our house and nobody is going to pick up your shoes for you once we get home.”
“Good! I feel like I landed in another world here, and while it’s a great place to visit, I wouldn’t want to live here.”
“There are precious few places we’ve been on vacation that I would want to live in. Our home is wonderful.” Having slipped her dress over her head, she glided up to him just as she had always done since their courtship and nestled under his arm as he held the door for her. She continually bemoaned the fact that she could no longer lose weight even when she tried, but he couldn’t tell she was any different from the day they had met. To his eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world, the only woman in fact. The others were just pale imitations and store brands compared to his designer, one of a kind, original Jenny.
“It’s wonderful because you’re there,” he replied, his arm draped over her shoulder as they made their way silently down the luxuriously carpeted hallway. “And because you work so hard to make it wonderful.” This last part he added hastily, not wanting to take for granted the effort she put into making their home life as peaceful as possible. He knew what it cost her to keep things running so smoothly.
“I just wish you had more time to spend enjoying it.”
“I get plenty of time there.” He didn’t like where this conversation was heading.
“The more you put into a place, the more you get out of it.”
He stopped short, right in the middle of the act of pulling her chair out for her. As so often happened, he had made her think of things in a different way. “What do you mean by that?”
“Just an observation.” Jenny seated herself and pulled the chair in under the table.
Jeep took his own place and said grace over the covered dishes that had been laid out for them. He took the lid off the largest pan and put it aside while Jenny served their plates with slices of tastefully seasoned baked fish and crunchy steamed vegetables. “Fish again. Hmm. I haven’t eaten this much fish since that assignment in Thailand.”
“I’ve read in magazines about this kind of cooking but I’ve never thought about what it would be like to eat this way every meal. It’s incredible, the amount of work and research she’s putting in.” Jenny sounded uncertain.
Jeep didn’t want to be the first one to complain. “They’re going all out to impress us. Tob must have told them to spare no expense.”
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful but…”
“Exactly. I appreciate Tob’s hospitality but...”
“I wish he weren’t quite so hospitable,” Jenny finished for him, looking over her shoulder to make sure none of the staff could hear.
“If there was one thing I would change about this place, it would be the food. You’d think we’d get more steak in Texas.”
“Or, knowing the cook, at least some beans and rice. Do you think she’d be offended if I asked her to show me how to prepare some Tex-Mex dishes?”
“Nobody could object if I declare that I can’t last another day without your excellent cooking. It’s the truth, anyway.” Jeep finished off the delicate filet on his own plate and unenthusiastically started picking at the rest of the vegetables. “If it weren’t for the snacks in the wet bar, I’d have starved already.”
Jenny eyed his robust frame sardonically and poked a playful finger at his bulging bicep. “Practically wasting away.”
“A big man takes a lot of filling up. You’ve said so yourself, many a time.”
Jenny’s face melted into a sympathetic smile. “Tomorrow for lunch, I’ll get Lupita to let me make whatever you want. You name it.”
“Anything but this ‘funky food’ or fish. Something fried. Or with gravy.”
“Something southern, succulent and sure to send your cholesterol sky high. Hey, I know! I’ll cook for everyone, as a way of thanking them for the wonderful service. That’s understandable, especially this time of year, so they won’t be offended. Cooking for a crowd makes everything twice as fun. We’ll do it up right: fried chicken, beans, cornbread, the works.”
“Please, have mercy!” Jeep moaned. “I’m not sure I’ll make it to breakfast on these dainty little portions and here you go, talking about a feast.” A thought occurred to him that alleviated some of his suffering. “I know how you could make it up to me, though, starti
ng with the payment of a little penalty.” He pushed his chair away from the table and reached for her.
She pushed his questing hand away from her with a gentle slap. “Not here at the table, if you please. The staff might know about our ways, but still!”
Jeep shrugged and searched the breadbasket for anything bigger than a quarter. Finding a multigrain wafer that looked like it might fill more than half a tooth, he gnawed contemplatively. “What would really be great would be to have a vacation where we could eat exactly what we want and do exactly what we want, when we want.”
“That’s called ‘home,’ dear,” Jenny replied, spearing a sautéed something that Jeep couldn’t identify. Apparently Jenny couldn’t figure it out either, as the expression on her face attested. “Or at least it was. I’ll admit, I let more and more things keep me away from home too. It’s too empty. I’m used to cooking for throngs of thugs, crowds of teenagers and managing the three ring circus they brought.”
Jeep caught movement out of the corner of his eye and was half way out of his chair before he assimilated the fact that the figure approaching the room was not a threat, but rather an old friend.
“Did someone mention ‘circus’?” Salk vaulted into the room over Pepper’s shoulders in a two-story leapfrog movement and landed in the middle of the table, his feet carefully placed between two plates.
Then Pepper added his, “Hup! Hup!”
Jenny leaned down in her seat and Jeep pulled a platter out of the way.
“Have no fear for the crockery.” Pepper reached out, caught Salk’s extended hands and cartwheeled over the table to land in a chair next to Jeep. “If it’s a circus you want, we’re happy to oblige.”
Salk jumped up, twisted in mid-air and perched lightly on the back of the seat next to Jenny, his feet on the cushion. “Some swanky joint you got here, eh?”
“Too swanky for your antics,” Jenny chided with a laugh as she gave Salk’s leg an affectionate pat. Getting up, she continued, “I’ll go arrange for some dinner for you from the kitchen.”
“We had other plans for the rest of this evening,” Jeep commented archly. He pulled his chair back from the table and rested his hands on his knees.
