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“She will be, she just doesn’t know it yet.” His friend must have seen Mitchell’s own sorrow reflected on his face because he nodded and laid the garment on the arm of the sofa.
“Greg and I will be at the bar with Kelsey. If you need her, or Nan, text one of us.”
Damn, it was good to allow himself the benefits of friendships again. “Thanks. Appreciate it.” As soon as Devin left, Lillian tensed and pulled away.
Dropping his arms, he let her get to her feet and reach for her skirt. She pulled it on in silence, keeping her splotched, tear-streaked face averted. He could empathize with her need to be alone, to work on assimilating through what prompted her loss of control. Once she did that, the questions about her compliance upstairs would start.
“I need to find Nan, see if she’s ready to leave,” Lillian said, her voice scratchy as she turned to face him with a closed expression.
Understanding made him more inclined to give her space, but not to turn over her welfare to someone else. Pushing to his feet, he grabbed her hand. “I’ll take you. Returning to Willow Springs is out of Nan’s way and it’s ridiculous since we’re going to the same location.”
“You’re ready to go? Isn’t it early for you?”
“No.”
They stopped at the bar, where Dan was now serving, to let him and Nan know they were leaving. The satisfied glow in Nan’s eyes and rosy complexion were telltale signs of Dan’s expertise in seeing to his wife’s needs. The smile hovering on her lips reminded Mitchell how much he used to enjoy assuaging Abbie’s cravings. With a jolt, he realized he had derived as much contentment from introducing Lillian to the club scene and public play as he’d had pleasuring his spouse. It was time, he decided, to do some soul-searching and figure out what it was about Lillian that stoked feelings he thought he’d buried with Abbie.
“I’m taking Lillian home,” he addressed Nan before looking at her husband. “Do you mind making my excuses for skipping out on monitor duty tonight?”
One glance at Lillian’s ravaged face was all Dan needed to give his support. “No problem, we have plenty of help even without Caden and Connor. Lillian, I hope we see you again.”
Nan reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’ll call you,” was all she said, but it was enough for Lillian to nod in appreciation.
“Okay, thanks. Goodnight.”
As Mitchell walked her out and she continued to ignore him, he was honest enough with himself to admit to the dent she’d put in his ego almost from their first encounter. He’d had women come on to him over the years, as both a Dom and a doctor, a few disregarding his marital status until he set them straight. Lillian had made her disinterest in him clear from the onset. He enjoyed tonight more than he thought he would, her telling expressions, bravado in going through with a scene and the tight clasp of her wet pussy pleasing him in different ways. Her meltdown affected him on a different level, one that tugged at those emotions he thought had died three years ago.
Because he found himself working through his own affecting upheaval, he allowed her to stay silent until he parked in front of his garage. Turning in the seat, he stated quietly, “Grief isn’t something you can rush or put a time limit on. I can tell you it will lessen and getting through the days will get easier, but not when. How did your sister die?”
He wasn’t sure she would answer, but she took a shuddering breath, let it out on a sigh and said, “A brain aneurysm, followed by six weeks in a coma. I know she never would have recovered, or if she’d come out of it, she would have had severe brain damage and I’m not sure that would have been any easier to live with.”
Mitchell winced. What she described was truly a worst-case scenario for any family member to have to cope with. “I’m sorry. My wife suffered through cancer treatments before she passed away and it took me a long time to see past my grief enough to admit relief that she was free of that agony. Come on. I’ll walk you up. Go to bed, you need the sleep.”
He came around the SUV, not surprised she hadn’t waited for him to open the door.
Sidestepping his reach for her hand, she started for the stairs, her back as rigid as her tone. “You’re ordering me around again, and I don’t need you to walk me up.”
“Too bad.” Moving ahead of her, he climbed the stairs and held out his hand for the key. She slapped it into his palm with an exasperated huff that made his lips twitch. “Good girl,” he praised her and got the rise he’d expected.
“I’m not a girl and don’t need your praise.”
“It’s my job to know what you need.” Opening the door, he flicked on the overhead light and handed her back the key. “I aced anatomy, pet, and seen you naked. Trust me, you’re a girl. What?” he asked sharply, her nose crinkling as she sniffed and frowned.
“Smells funny in here, smokey.”
He caught a faint pungent odor, not enough to pinpoint a source or name it. “Could be the furnace. It’s old. I’ll have someone out to check it this week.” Cupping her chin, he refused to let her jerk out of his hold, enjoying the flash in those amethyst eyes as he examined her face, ensuring she would be okay once he left. The temptation to lean down and kiss that mulish mouth was another indication his feelings for her were reaching a level he never thought to experience again. He hadn’t kissed a woman since Abbie. “Call me tonight if you have trouble getting to sleep.” Brushing his thumb across the plump softness of her lower lip, he rumbled, “Goodnight, Lillian.”
Lillian locked the door behind Mitchell and leaned against it, still working on coming to grips with her shattered physical and emotional control. She had caved to his sexual dominance as fast as she’d crumbled into an uncontrollable sobbing heap afterward. From what she witnessed, he’d gone easy on her, likely due to her inexperience and denial. But there was more than the destruction of her preconceived notions about herself she was having trouble reconciling with. The welcoming comfort of his arms wrapped around her, his caring, protective hold and considerate silence while she fell apart had barely registered until he released her to feel bereft and alone.
Pushing away from the door, Lillian bemoaned the lingering ache for Mitchell’s solicitous attention that was so unlike her. Her body still vibrated with pleasure she’d reaped from taking his orders and his cock, her mind numb from the unexpected meltdown and continuing need for his comfort. She needed to get a handle on this undesirable complication with a man who defined everything she disliked about the opposite sex.
She was too drained to reason it all out tonight, so she padded to the computer to check her email before going to bed. Her agent was working on several promotions for her and the sooner she heard back from him, the quicker she could plan where to go from here. Her nose twitched from the faint odor that was strong enough on this side of the room to make her eyes water the same as she suffered during allergy season. The low hum of the furnace gave credence to Mitchell’s explanation until she sat down at the corner desk and the screen popped up as if she hadn’t shut it down before leaving. A coil of suspicion cramped her abdomen as she inspected the desk and floor for signs someone had been in here.
Not seeing anything, she relaxed and blamed exhaustion for her paranoid thoughts, went through her emails without finding anything from her agent and shut down the computer and her wayward emotions for the night.
Chapter 10
Bryan returned to his motel room, the drink he stopped for after leaving Lillian’s apartment empty handed doing little to ease his frustration. Dropping onto the bed, he locked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, wishing it weren’t too late to call the hospital and check on Brad. The hour he risked searching her computer and then the apartment had yielded nothing. His brother never had made protecting him easy. The lectures during Brad’s rebellious teen years had fallen on deaf ears and he’d despaired of his younger sibling ever putting his high IQ to good use. And then Brad had surprised him by acing four years of college in three and getting accepted into medical school. There had been a few bumps along the way, such as DUIs and two ex-girlfriends who filed assault charges after he’d broken off the relationship.
