“That’s a good idea,” Hawk said. “We can’t just wait for him to show up. We should call him out.”
“I’ll write the letter in the morning,” Holt said. “I’m the oldest, and I have the most interest in making sure that Aurora stays safe.”
“Let someone else check it for spelling errors before you send it,” Reed said with a laugh.
The brothers all laughed, and Holt flipped them the finger. Aurora giggled. She was jealous of the feelings they shared for each other, but then it occurred to her that they shared it with her, too. They were willing to stand up for her, to protect her against Stan.
“I’m sorry I kept this a secret,” she said to them all.
“We all keep some things secret,” Wyatt said. “But we’re your family now, all of us.”
Hearing those words come from him made her cry again. He was the one who hadn’t really wanted her there in the first place. Now he wanted to help her.
Holt squeezed her hand. She looked into his eyes and could see he was feeling the same thing she was. She was home.
“I’d hoped to swim tonight,” she whispered when they were in the UTV headed toward the cabin.
“That makes two of us,” Holt said. “But I have something else in mind.”
She knew he had disappeared right after dinner. She had helped Austin clean up the dishes, and when she’d gone into the den, the brothers had been gathered for a movie, as they seemed to do every night. But Holt had not been there. When he’d shown up about thirty minutes later she’d given him a questioning look, but he’d only winked at her.
“Where did you go during dinner?”
“To the table, just like you,” he said.
Aurora couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, after dinner.”
“I had an errand to run,” he said. “Would you like to know what it was?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Keep wanting.” He laughed, and as they drew near to the cabins she realized they were going too fast to stop. He passed them and headed toward the lake. It was growing darker, and she was finding it harder to see the trail as they drove.
He stopped the vehicle near the dock and she could see there were things there. She got out of the UTV, only to hear him say, “Tsk, tsk.”
“Sorry,” she said. But she didn’t stop to see what sort of punishment she’d get for getting out of the vehicle on her own. She went to the dock and found two chairs, a small table with a bottle of wine, and a telescope pointed at the sky.
“Want to watch the stars tonight?” he asked. “I had planned on us swimming and doing it at the pool, but I thought it would be better if we were off by ourselves.”
She went to the bottle and realized it wasn’t wine, but champagne.
“Are we celebrating?” she asked. “It seems to me as if there isn’t much to celebrate right now, since we have to deal with Stan.”
“I’m celebrating you,” he said. “I love you, Aurora. Today, Hawk said to me, why don’t you marry her, because you’ve been happier since you met her. The happiest I’ve ever seen you.”
Aurora swallowed hard. Did he really just say what she thought he’d said? He loved her?
“Can you fall in love with someone in such a short time?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Tell me, Aurora, where do you want to go after here? Where do you see yourself in a few years?”
After here? She hadn’t thought about it. She felt at home here. She had a man who wanted to celebrate her. She didn’t want to go anywhere else. She wanted to stay at the Rescue Ranch, helping women who were trying to get out of bad situations.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else,” she whispered.
He crossed to where she stood and took her in his arms. His kiss was soft at first, but as it deepened she felt as if he was inside her, not between her legs, but inside her soul.
“I’m scared to say I love you.” She pulled away. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m scared.”
“I’ll take care of you, baby bear.” He kissed her once more, then gently placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I just want you to know how I feel. I might have just ignored it if it hadn’t been for Hawk.”
“Yeah for Hawk,” she said. “No one has ever wanted to take care of me.”
“I do,” he said. “I want to hold you tight, and make sure that everything in life is perfect for you.” He stepped around her and took her hand. He led her to the telescope and pointed at the viewfinder. “Look here.”
She did as he asked, and she could see the stars starting to twinkle in the darkness.
“The sky is the limit,” he said. “I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted, take you to places you’ve always wanted to go.”
She turned to face him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, too, but the words wouldn’t come out. She’d said it to Ben a few times when she was younger, and it had turned out so badly. But things wouldn’t be that way with Holt, she was sure of that.
“Where is the first place you’ll take me?” she asked.
“How about bed?” he asked.
“Sounds perfect to me,” Aurora said. “Take me now. Then we can talk about going to Hawaii.”
“Want to go to a nude beach?” he asked.
He kissed her neck, and she shivered. “No,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked. He moved his lips to her shoulder.
“I don’t want to share your muscular body with other eyes,” she said. “It would be fun to go skinny dipping, but not with an audience.”
“We could do it here in the lake.” He pulled her close to him, and Aurora put her hands on his shoulders.
“With the fish?”
“The lake is not that deep,” he said. “Or we can wait and do it in the pool when all the cabins are empty.”
“I rather like that idea.” He continued to caress her hips and sides as he kissed her in various places that no one had ever really paid attention to before. She’d learned a lot in the last few days, but she wasn’t sure exactly what she should do.
“I want you naked.” He sat down in one of the chairs he’d set up. “Undress. Slowly.”
“Yes, Papa Bear,” she said.
“Oh no, this is not your Papa Bear speaking. This is Holt, your Dom. Now, do as I say.”
The commanding tone of his voice made her shiver. She pulled off her shirt, undid her bra, and shimmied out of her jeans and panties. Soon she was naked. She put her arms out to either side and said, “Naked like this?”
“Is there another way?” he asked. He propped his elbow on the chair and studied her. Aurora felt as if she were under a microscope, and she found she rather enjoyed it. Without being told she started to twirl around, doing circle after circle and giggling. She felt free, yet bonded. She was herself, but she belonged to Holt.
She giggled and started to hum, lifting her head to the moon. She was going to get married, and it was to a person who cared about her, who wanted to care for her, to lead her, and to make her his own.
Without being told she ran to him, fell onto her knees and started to undo his jeans.
“What do you think you’re doing, Aurora?”
Her answer came when his hard cock popped out of his jeans. She lowered her head and took him in her mouth.
“Bad, bad Aurora,” he said, his voice husky with need. He put his hands in her hair and gathered it up as she sucked.
Aurora ran her tongue over his shaft, then she lifted her head toward him and said, “Maybe you should spank your naughty girl.” She lowered her mouth onto him again. His only answer was a groan, until he emptied himself into her mouth.
It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been inside her, or that she hadn’t come. Taking him inside her mouth was perfect, and she hoped to do it over and over as they lived their lives together.
Chapter 15
He wants to marry me. He wants to marry me. He wants to marry me.
Aurora repeated the mantra as she broke an egg on the s
ide of the bowl, just like Becky had shown her when they’d been making cookies, but she’d obviously hit it too hard because the shell shattered, and pieces of it dropped into the bowl with the other eggs she was about to whisk, then scramble.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.” Aurora threw her hands up in disgust and pieces of egg flung around the kitchen. “Shit.”
“Hey!” She looked up to see Holt standing there, his hands on his hips. “Do I need to bring out the soap, young lady?”
“No! I’m sorry, Papa Bear.”
“Then watch your mouth. I don’t care to hear cuss words when I come into the kitchen.”
“Yes, Papa Bear.” Her life was so different now. One of the things she didn’t like though, was the taste of soap. “Sorry, Papa Bear.”
She looked up from what she was doing to look at him. He held the chalkboard in his hands, with the words turned toward him.
“What’s this?” He lifted his head and looked at her. “This is supposed to be words that describe you. Instead it’s like a diary entry. I think you wrote it before I asked you to marry me.”
“I did,” she said. She put down the fork she was going to use to whip up the eggs to scramble them.
“Read it for me, baby bear,” he said.
“Do I have to?”
“I think you know the answer to that, baby bear.” He turned it around so she could see it. “Read it for me.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say no. But she decided if she could write it, she could read it. She really didn’t need to look at the board to say the words.
“Papa Bear wants me to write words that describe my attributes. The problem is I have never thought of having attributes.” She took a deep breath. “Until I met him I didn’t feel loved. But he has taught me that I am not my past. I’ve lived through it, and I can be a better person because of it. I can learn more from him now if I let go of things and open myself up to him. I will learn to love. I will learn to laugh. I will learn to enjoy life. Maybe next year at this time I will have one hundred words that describe me in a positive way.”
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. The love she saw in his eyes made her heat seize with love.
“I like it,” he said. “No, I love it.”
“Thank you, Papa Bear,” she said.
Holt held up a finger. “But, if I’m reading this right, you only wrote ‘I am not worthless’ once.”
“You changed the punishment,” she said.
“But you didn’t do it, either.” He set the chalkboard down and held his arms to the side as if in surrender. “I have no choice.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I’m going to have to spank you.”
When she first got there those words scared her half to death. She didn’t want to hear them now, but she didn’t feel as if she should run from the room, screaming.
“Ten swats,” he said. “Go to the sofa and bend over it.”
“Can’t we discuss it first?” she asked.
“We don’t discuss punishments,” he said. “Do as I say, baby bear.”
Ten swats. She could take those. It wasn’t being hit in anger, or perceived anger, it was punishment for not following directions. She hadn’t cleaned up and changed her clothes yet that morning, so she still wore an old t-shirt and her panties. Without putting up a fuss she went to the sofa and bent over. Holt was beside her in seconds. He gently worked her panties down over her hips so her bottom was bare.
“Ten,” he said, “five on each side.” He slapped her bottom on the left, and on the right. It wasn’t so bad, she thought as he swatted her again. The sting built with each one, though, and she knew he was going easy on her. By the time he got to eight she wondered how it would feel if he weren’t taking it easy. Papa Bear was taking it easy on her now, which told her he would build things up for them. She had to trust him, she had to let him take the lead.
When it was over he helped her to stand and turned her so she faced him. He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her mouth.
“Not so bad?” he asked.
“Not this time,” she said. “Will it continue to be just ten swats?” Aurora knew the answer, but she still asked the question.
“Nope.” He kissed her again and she savored the taste of him.
“Now, feed me.”
“As you wish, Papa Bear.”
“So do you want to go to Hawaii on our honeymoon?” He sat down at the table with a cup of coffee.
“Tell me where you want to go,” he said. “Anywhere you want to go.”
“Egypt,” she said. When he didn’t laugh she continued, “I want to see the pyramids, and see the Nile at night, with the moon and stars shining above it. I want to go inside a pyramid and see the paintings on the walls. The ancient culture there fascinates me.”
“Then we’ll go,” he said. “We should apply for passports, but we should do it after we’re married, after your name has changed to Coleman.”
“Can we go to Paris, too?” she asked.
“Yes. We’ll have to save some money, but we can go anywhere you want.”
That made her so happy she almost started crying.
“What are you making?” he asked.
“Scrambled eggs.” She picked pieces of shell out of the bowl. “I have pre-cooked bacon in the oven. I hope I don’t burn it.”
“This weekend I’m going to teach you how to cook bacon, and pancakes,” he said. “Until then, let’s cook those eggs.”
He went to the fridge and Aurora bent to peek in the oven. A wonderful smell hit her nose when she opened the door and she quickly took it out of the oven.
“It’s not burned, it’s not burned!” She repeated the words as she hopped round the kitchen. The bacon, although really cooked by the company who had packaged it, had been warmed to perfection.
“Good job, baby bear!”
“Thank you, Papa Bear,” she said. “I’m so excited.”
“Maybe you just found two words for your board.
Aurora frowned. “What words?”
“I’m not going to feed them to you.” He picked up a piece of bacon and waved it in front of her mouth. “But I will feed you this. Open up.”
The bacon tasted delicious, and she smiled as she chewed, working hard to keep her mouth shut. A glance at the counter showed he’d pulled out cheese, milk, salsa, and a red bell pepper. He’d put it on the grocery list earlier in the week, even though she wasn’t sure how it could be considered a staple.
He scrambled the eggs, adding all the ingredients he’d pulled out. Aurora made toast, happy that the toaster controlled how brown the bread got. After they’d sat down at the table she said, “A hundred words, huh?”
“It will be easy once you get started,” he said. “Don’t overthink it. So what’s your plan for the day?”
“Clean the kitchen, check on my charges, go to the store if need be, then work on my words.” She was rather impressed that she remembered all of it and put checking on her charges in there.
“Good.” He popped the last piece of toast in his mouth. “Time management is a skill that comes in handy. But,” he held up a finger, “if you go to the store you take one of us with you, preferably me, but I’ve got conference calls with Austin today about helping someone set up a ranch downstate.”
With her heart in her throat she asked, “You’re going to be leaving?”
“Me or one of the guys.” He took a piece of bacon off her plate and ate it. “Relax, okay, it’s going to be fine.
“Remember what I said, though,” he said. “I don’t want you in town alone, not with Stan running around. I’m going to write the letter, but Reed and Wyatt will check it for me. They’re much better with the written word.”
“Stan won’t answer. I know him. I’d be surprised if he even read it.”
“It’s documentation,” Holt said. “It will let him know we’re on to him, and that we tried to settle the situatio
n without violence. The letter will be sent certified so we’ll know whether or not he got it.”
Aurora knew they were covering their behinds, but she also knew Stan didn’t give a damn about things like that. He lived his life on the edge, much like his late brother, and he did what he wanted. To him the best thing about this would be her death.
“Time for work.” He stood and before she could join him he kissed the top of her head. “See you tonight.”
“What about dinner?” she asked as he went out the door. She was afraid he hadn’t heard her, but he stuck his head back in and shrugged. What did that mean? How was she supposed to know what to cook when he didn’t tell her? Did he want her to choose something that would be good? Or was he going to bring something? She decided not to worry about it now; she would contact him later in the day. She cleaned the kitchen, then took a shower. Once she was dressed, she went outside and humidity slapped her in the face. She knew he’d talked about storms last night, but so far they hadn’t seen anything.
Aurora knocked on Nancy’s door. Nancy was a new charge who had come in a few days ago and kept to herself. The woman opened it just enough to look outside. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, and Aurora wanted to help her, even though she didn’t really know how.
“Good morning,” Aurora said with a smile. “Can I do anything for you? Do you need something from the store?”
“No,” Nancy said. She closed the door without another word.
Aurora licked her lips and said, “Okay,” softly. With more force she said, “If I can do anything for you let me know. I’ll be at home, and if I go to the store it won’t be until around two or so.”
There was no response. Aurora went to Becky’s cabin, and when the woman opened the door, Aurora was happy to see her bruises were healing.
“Can I get you anything from the store?” she asked.
“We’re fully stocked,” Becky said. “The kids are going to watch movies and stay inside from the humidity today. After lunch I’m popping some corn and settling them down in front of the TV. My lawyer emailed me documents that I need to read.”
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