“I hope so.” Sam opened the door to a small restaurant. “I think you’ll like the food here. And I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss case law with another attorney.” They sat at a table and the hostess brought over menus. “And I have a business proposition for you, but there are some things you need to know about Corbin’s Bend before you consider it.”
An hour and a half later, Roy locked the door of the minivan and leaned against it, looking at the front of Melinda and Shane’s home. A community based on a common interest in spanking. Who knew there could be such a thing. Lucky they already had taken up the hobby. And Sam’s laughter at his explanation for his bruised face…and agreement that the scene had required action had lent him confidence.
Through the open curtains, he could see his wife bustling around the kitchen and hear the chatter of a little girl and his wife’s laughter in answer. Had someone stopped by? Corbin’s Bend seemed like the kind of place that might happen. Everyone had been so friendly and helpful. Unlike back home where they knew the neighbors only from association meetings where the hostility level did not encourage friendship.
Who could forget the terrace gnome incident of 2011? The foolish couple whose upstairs neighbor had spied over her railing and discovered the appalling sight of a twelve-inch-high gnome statue on a small table, in clear violation of HOA rules. The offending owners had left the discipline hearing in tears and listed their unit the next day. While he believed in following rules, he also believed in reason and compassion. He missed having neighbors who were kind and friendly to one another.
While everything in Corbin’s Bend was neat and clean, each home offered subtle touches reflecting the owner’s personality. A “Gone Fishing” sign on the door of the place across the street. Shoot, in the City it might as well read “Rob me.” But here it meant, “Keep an eye on the place, would you?”
What an intriguing lunch. Over hamburgers and crisp fries—a lunch he’d never have had at one of the bistros by his own office—Sam had shared his plan to sell his practice and retire within the next year. He’d enjoyed his business, but their kids lived in Florida and his wife’s arthritis indicated a move to a warmer climate as well. They were going to keep their home and return to enjoy the summer months with their CB friends.
The man’s face reflected a serenity and contentment Roy had never seen in any lawyer before.
The afternoon sun’s rays slanted across the lawn’s verdant spread, the oranges and reds of the flowers around the doorway. He could have stepped into the 1950s and the idea did not upset him. Teri had no idea how exhausted he was—at least he didn’t think she did. At least his stomach ached less since he’d arrived.
What if he were to make an offer on Sam’s business?
They could move to Corbin’s Bend and slow down. Enjoy life, as Melinda and Shane evidently had. Raise Ben and maybe a little girl whose giggles would brighten his day and whose hugs would welcome him home.
A crash from inside the house shattered the happy stillness and his wife’s wail made him wonder if he’d imagined the laughter a moment before.
Teri hadn’t even been willing to take time off for a vacation in their entire married life. How could he imagine she would agree to give it all up?
No, they would return to the big city and the rat race and soon.
But he’d probably die young of some stress-related ailment anyway, so he wouldn’t have long to deal with it. He patted his pocket for his antacids.
Teri and her two charges stared at the broken pitcher in dismay. They looked at each other and back at the glass.
“I didn’t do it,” Suzanna said. “My mommy doesn’t let me touch stuff like that.”
“Of course, you didn’t.” No, Teri could take full credit for the breakage. “My hand slipped, but nobody move.” She’d allowed the pair to take their shoes off when they came in. According to Suzanna, her mommy also didn’t allow dirty outside shoes on her nice carpet. So she had two small children standing surrounded by shards of glass and puddles of lemonade. And because she was also barefoot—trying to be part of the group instead of the grownup—they were all in a mess.
“Just stay very still while I think what we should do. I don’t want anyone to get cut.” Sure, her first time alone with not one but two children and she’d already put their lives in danger. The tears that had been so close to the surface since the moment she’d learned of her sister’s death blurred her vision. “Dam—darn it.” What should she do?
“Teri, I’m home.” Thank God! Roy to the rescue. She was torn between relief, embarrassment and discouragement.
Her big, strong husband stood in the doorway, eyes wide. “What on earth happened?”
“I made lemonade.”
He took in the situation and nodded. “How was it?”
The tears spilled out. “I don’t know. I dropped it before we even had a glass.” Irritation replaced the other emotions, a more comfortable sensation and familiar. “Would you please get the children out of here?”
Roy stepped into the kitchen, managing to avoid most of the big chunks of glass and scooped a little one into each arm. He carried them to the doorway and set them down. “Ben, take your friend to your room and play. And put some shoes on, both of you.”
Suzanna tilted her head back and shook it. “My mommy says no shoes in the house. It’s a rule.”
Roy nodded. “Well that’s a rule at your house, but at our house everyone wears shoes.”
“Ben and his new mommy aren’t.”
Watching the byplay, Teri forgot and shifted a foot. “Ouch.”
Roy glanced over and winced. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” She wobbled, holding the foot off the floor and grabbed at the counter for balance.
He returned his attention to the children. “Scoot, both of you. And shoes. I mean it.”
His firm tone did the trick and the two raced off, stopping by the front door to pick up their discarded footwear before disappearing down the hall. “Roy? Can you maybe sweep the glass aside so I can get to the bathroom for a Band-Aid?” The throbbing sting and sharp pain when she attempted to put weight on her foot indicated there was still glass in the wound and she wanted it out. Immediately.
“Hang on, Teri.” Rather than getting the broom from wherever it might be stored, he strode through the wreckage and scooped her into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing things.”
The words resonated as he carried her out of the kitchen and down the hall to the master bedroom. Depositing her in the ancient wingback chair, he left her and returned to kneel in front of her with a bottle of peroxide, a box of bandages, and tweezers. He turned on the reading lamp on the table next to it and pointed the beam of light toward his lap.
“Okay, give me your foot.”
She held out her hand. “I do not need to be cared for like a child. Let me do it.”
He raised the tweezers out of reach. “Your foot.” Without waiting for further argument, he clasped her ankle and turned her leg to reveal a small gash glittering under the light. Her stomach turned.
“Oh no. It’s deep in there, isn’t it?”
He leaned closer, obscuring her view of the carnage. “I don’t know, let’s see.” He probed, sending a jolt of pain through her leg. She bit back a shriek, but not entirely.
Roy tightened his hold on her arch. “I don’t think it’s too bad, but I need you to hold still, okay?”
She closed her eyes. “Do it, fast.” Clenching her fists, she tried to prepare herself and waited. And waited. “Hurry.”
He patted her knee. “It’s done.”
She opened her eyes to see him holding up the tweezers with a splinter in them no larger than a short toothpick. “That was it?”
“Yep. Give me a minute to get some peroxide and a bandage on it then bring your slippers because it might be a little sore.”
“I can go it myself.” She stru
ggled to pull her foot free and he sighed.
“Can’t you, for once, let me take care of you?”
Before she could argue, the doorbell rang and Roy set her foot down and pushed to his feet.
“I’ll get it,” she said, but he was already on his way out of the room. From down the hallway, she heard a female voice then the two kids and a low laugh. Who was out there? Anxious to regain control, she stood up on her good leg and hop-stepped to the door.
Her husband arrived there just as she did. “I told you to wait.” Easing her arm over his shoulder he helped her to the bed and deposited her on the lacy spread with a thump. “And I meant it. Let me see your foot.” He glowered at her, his dark brows lowered and such a fierce gleam in his eyes she shrank back against the piled pillows. “You could have gotten dirt in the cut and it isn’t big, but it’s deep.” Fetching the first-aid supplies, he set them on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the mattress. “First we will take care of your injury then we will discuss why you are incapable of doing the least thing I ask, especially when it’s for your own safety.”
Teri bristled at his high-handed attitude. Her husband fixed her boo-boo as if she were five years old and then dropped a kiss on her instep. Her heart struggled with her ego to keep on top of things. When had he become so pushy?
“Who was at the door?”
“Suzanna’s mommy. She was going to the library with Suzanna for storytime and offered to take Ben.”
She pushed herself up on her elbows. “You sent Ben off with a stranger? They have storytime when it’s so late in the afternoon?”
“I sent him off with someone he likes for a fun activity. Kirsten says she and Melinda often took the two of them together and the doctor did say he should have as normal a schedule as possible.”
Acid panic surged into her throat and she stood up and loomed over him. “You let a little boy who can’t even talk go with someone who claimed she was a friend?” Arms flailing she paced to the door and back. “We have to go get him. What if she really isn’t a friend?”
“Teri, sit down. Ben wanted to go. He seemed comfortable with Kirsten and Suzanna.”
“He what? How do you know he was comfortable? He might have been scared.” Oh, God what if he was scared? She had to go get him. Her sister’s little boy, off with someone she barely knew. He was all she had left. “Melinda trusted me with him and I’ve already lost him.” She burst into tears and banged her fist on the doorjamb. “I’ve lost everyone.” Her legs gave out and she sank to her knees, deep, wrenching sobs working their way out of her chest. “I have nobody.”
Strong hands gripped her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. She struggled but he pulled her close, and she pounded at his chest. “Leave me alone. I am all alone!” What would she do without Melinda? Hysteria overwhelmed her and she lost all coherent thought, the pain so great she thought she’d die.
Roy’s own panic rose. Teri was the most in-control person he’d ever known. She’d guided every step of their life together, set their career goals, arranged their schedules, their home, even consulted with his tailor on his suits.
And the babbling, sobbing, red face woman pounding on him bore little resemblance to his wife, the closed-off woman of ambition. He tried to pin her arms but she flailed until one hand whapped him in the nose. As pain screamed through his face, he dropped her onto the bed and straddled her hips.
“Stop, stop, stop.” He spoke in slow and measured tones, gripping her shoulders, offering a cadence he hoped would reach through the hysteria clouding her brain. And his. Because as she panted and squirmed, his control threatened to fail. “Settle down, Teri. You can’t keep going like this.”
The strangest keen came from her lips and she stopped breathing. Just stopped. Dear God, what now? She turned blue around the mouth and her eyes bulged.
In a flash of desperation, he rose to his feet, sat on the edge of the mattress and dragged her across his lap. “You breathe or I will spank you.” No inhale, no exhale no…. He lifted his hand and brought it down on her yoga pants clad behind with as much force as his arm had to offer and waited. Nothing. Again, and again. What if she didn’t breathe? What would he do without her?
“Dammit, Teri, I swear I will…”
She gasped and sucked in air and, with total lack of gratitude for his saving her life, pounded on his calf. “Let me up, you bastard. What is wrong with you?”
He roared in frustration and used his free hand to grasp her wrists and hold them in place at the small of her back. “What is wrong with me is I have a wife who is either controlling, nagging, or, her latest trick, hysterical asphyxia.” He jerked her pants down to her knees, taking her panties with them. “And I need one who can keep it together.” His gaze caught her hairbrush on the nightstand and he grabbed it.
“Why don’t you bail then? Leave me and go find the right woman.” She wriggled and squirmed, but he lifted the wood backed brush and brought its smooth surface down across both cheeks. She’d always had these brushes, he’d used it on her butt in college, but that had been for fun and their current situation was all too serious.
“Not a chance, baby. We’re in this together.” He slapped her right cheek then her left. “And there’re no quitters in this operation.”
She shrieked and he held her arms above her back, putting a strain on her shoulders, which shook in response. “Let me go! I’m leaving you.”
No, she wasn’t. Setting up a rhythm, he marked her butt and worked his way down her left thigh and up her right. The thwap thwap calmed him, at least, and gradually she ceased her struggles and lay across his legs, her head hanging down, tears puddling on the hardwood. He dropped the hairbrush beside him and released her wrists. Her hands slid to her sides. “You aren’t leaving me. We are together for the duration.”
Rubbing her bottom and legs, he felt the heat the red skin gave off and his cock hardened. It was not the right time, with his wife in crisis. He was a bastard. Lifting her to sit on his legs, he brushed her auburn locks back from her face and studied her expression.
Unreadable.
“Teri?”
Fresh tears slipped down the tracks on her cheeks and dripped off her chin. She wouldn’t meet his gaze. What had he done? His arousal faded, replaced by concern.
“Say something to me.”
She blinked. “You mean it?”
He searched his mind for what she referred to. “I mean everything I say.” Way to give a strong front. “But what…?”
“You really want to keep me?” She rested her head against his shirt, wetting the fabric with the sweet liquid of her emotions. “Even after the way I’ve behaved?”
His heart swelled and he stroked her hair, so soft under his palm. “You have been under some pressure. Your sister’s death and having to take on the care of a small boy. I had just about given up on having a child of our own, you know. I was going to talk to you about it on our vacation.”
Teri laughed, a small bitter sound. “The one I was trying to cancel.”
“Right.” Roy embraced her. “Teri, I have never wanted any woman but you. How can you even think you aren’t the ‘right’ one for me?”
“Even when I ignore you and our marriage and work day and night?”
“Even then, but I did want to talk about that.” Perhaps, while her guard was down, he could suggest the change of career Sam’s announcement had brought to mind. Now or never.
But she lifted her face to him again, her bottom lip trembling, and he bent to kiss her. Sweet and warm and yielding as never before. Cupping her chin, he tilted her chin and deepened the kiss. Her lips parted, welcoming his tongue in to dance with hers. His cock hardened, on instant alert and, without breaking contact, he unbuttoned her blouse, the tiny row a challenge with one free hand, but so worth it when the fabric parted and he flicked the front clasp of her bra.
Her breasts spilled out, full and heavy and peaked already. Abandoning her mouth, Roy lay her back over his arm and ran
a thumb over her nipple. Her breasts were another of his favorite Teri parts, pale and soft, with rosy tips that would darken when he worked them with his teeth and lips. Were they the same color as her bottom after he worked on that with his palm and the brush? He thought it might be and with the sensuous image fresh in his mind, he sucked her nipple into his mouth and set out to make it so.
Chapter Eight
Teri’s sore bottom stung and throbbed in rhythm with the suction of her husband’s mouth on her breast. The sensations linked somewhere in her pussy. She struggled to part her legs, hoping to invite Roy to finger her, but her pants around her knees held them together and she whimpered in frustration.
He chuckled, the vibration sending electricity from her nipple to her pussy and back again. The bastard knew just what he was doing. He played her like a musical instrument. She reached between her legs but he caught her hand and pinned it under his thigh.
Holding her nipple between his teeth he murmured around it, the hot breath making her insane. “No, that’s mine, you hold still. I’ll get there in time.” Releasing the aching peak, he moved to the other and lapped at it. “Like it, baby? It’s been a while since I had you at my mercy, but I’m taking my time.” Licking circles where he was, he captured the other, already stiff and sensitive nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pinched. “I remember liking this.”
Yeah, he had. When she’d been a lot younger and eager to learn. He’d been her first, still her only, and he’d taught her so much. When had she forgotten?
She reached with her other hand but he grabbed that and pinned it under her own bottom. “Mine.” The word thrilled her. And frightened her. “I guess you have no patience. If I play with your pretty pussy, will you stay still?”
“Yes, I promise,” she blurted.
He laughed again. “I don’t believe you. I think I will have to do something to make sure you do.” Dropping her to the bed, he stood. “Stay right there. Remember, I won’t hesitate to punish you if you defy me.”
For Ben (Corbin's Bend Book 6) Page 6
