Held ~ Chapter Seven

"Held ~ Chapter Six" 


Held ~ Chapter Seven

Cradling the phone with her shoulder, Kara rubbed the ends of her wet hair with a towel. Her breath caught as she heard the audible pickup on the other end and Abby Rae's voice washed over her. The normally cheerful reception was replaced with a more aloof and uncertain greeting. Kara tried to calm her hammering heart, reminding herself that it was Rae and she had no reason to be so nervous. They were practically sisters. "Rae Rae?"

She heard the loud intake of breath, and Rae's words came in a flood of relief. "Kara! My God! Is that you? Where the hell are you, girl? I've been worried sick about you! I went to the roach motel and the loser at the desk said you had been kicked out. I looked and called everywhere I could think of and then I found your car in the Wal-Mart parking lot."

"It's me," Kara giggled when her friend paused for a breath. "I'm okay...more than okay. It's a long story, Rae Rae. Nick and I are in California with Ean--the guy from the coffee shop."

"California! Are you nuts?"

Kara's laugh was self-conscious and Rae's radar went up.

"I feel like Cinderella. Ean wants to take care of us. Rae Rae, he's like Vincent. He wants me to call him sir or master," Kara whispered into the phone, her voice a mixture of embarrassment and innocent wonder.

Rae felt like Freud, but knowing her friend's past, she couldn't help it. "How do you feel about that?"

Kara hesitated on the other end of the phone. When she spoke again, she sounded confused yet excited.

"It feels right. I have never met anyone like him--except maybe Vincent--but that is different. He is yours. I don't know what is happening to me, Rae. He pinched my nipples HARD and I got wet. I am whacked in the head." Her voice became muffled and Rae could picture her burying her head but she continued. "We had sex and I liked it. It actually felt good, Abs and it was...it was...well you know. Ummmm it was from behind."

Rae could feel the blush through the phone and grinned evilly.

"Anal sex," she supplied. She could see Kara nodding in her mind's eye as she mumbled,

"Mmmmhmmmm."

"And you liked it," she prodded.

"Well he ummm...he..."

"Stimulated your clit?" she suggested.

"Jesus, Rae!" Kara cried.

"Just the facts, ma'am," Rae replied in a serious tone and both women collapsed into fits of laughter.

The laughter dissolved the last of the tension.

"Do you think I am crazy?" Kara asked softly.

"That has never been in question sis, but there is nothing wrong with what you are feeling." Rae laughed. " I will be the first to tell you that there in nothing sexier than a Dominant male that knows what he wants."

"You would think that I would have had my fill with Bobby."

Rae shook her head and took another drink of her coffee.

"There is a big difference between a Dominant male and an abuser, Kara. Brother-in-law or not, Bobby is an abusive prick that gets off on hurting those smaller than he is." Practically hearing her friend's confusion in the silence on the other end of the phone, Rae struggled to explain the difference. "OK...you and I have talked about some of the stuff that Vince and I do, right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Ok...um...Vince can pull my hair, smack my ass, pinch my nipples, whatever, and my body responds to it as pleasure because it is Vince. On the other hand, if I stub my toe, I am rolling on the floor howling like a baby. It is a totally different thing. Same thing if Vince paddles my ass for fun, because he wants to, because it turns him and I on...I can take a lot because my body processes it as pleasure. The same amount of force when he is angry and punishing and it hurts. It hurts my ass and it breaks my heart, because I have let him down somehow. Does that make sense?"

Kara nodded to herself before remembering her friend couldn't see the gesture.
"It was so different then with Bobby."

"Bobby raped you, Kara. That is not the way it is supposed to be."

"Even when we were living together and I was trying so hard to work it out with him...it was always painful and ...and degrading, Rae Rae," she whispered, the pain so evident in her voice.

Not for the first time, Rae wished she had allowed Vince to kill the bastard. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall as she fought to come up with the right words for her friend.

"Tinkerbella,that is how he wanted you to feel. He needed to demean you to feel better about himself."

"Ean is just so--I don't know how to describe it. I mean it is not like he is sweet or overly romantic. He is just..."

"Confident, aggressive, dominant, sexy," Rae offered with a laugh "AND he knows the secret."

Hearing the mischief in Rae Rae's voice, Kara was almost afraid to ask. "The secret?"

"He knows how to put his finger on the button."

There was silence on Kara's end.

"How DID you grow up with me and remain so innocent?" Rae asked with a roll of her eyes. "I mean the man knows the female anatomy, knows how to make the pussy purr, where the pleasure button is, knows to diddle your clit."

"OK...OK," Kara interrupted. "I get it," she laughed as she heard the deep rumble of Vincent's voice in the background only to be drowned out by a throaty giggle from Rae.

"Vincent says that you didn't have him corrupting you."

"That must be it. He stole your virginity at what...twelve?"

"It was officially fifteen, but who's counting?"

"Officially?"

"Anything before that was just practice and preparation," Rae said with mock seriousness and they both cracked up again.



The khaki Capri's hung low on Rosie's curvaceous hips, leaving a tantalizing strip of dark skin bare below her pink baby t as she bent to help Nick with his breakfast. Ean couldn't resist letting his gaze caresses the swell of her sweet, round ass, even as his palm itched to travel the same path. His lips twitched as he felt his cock do the same. Though he might have embellished a bit in jerking Annabelle's chain, there was no denying his desire to bend her voluptuous granddaughter over. It was unfortunate she was in his employ. His father's follies had taught him all too well; trysts with the help were inadvisable. As for the mutual arrangement with Annabelle...ah well...some family traditions just weren't to be broken.

Stepping into the room, Ean nodded to the young Latina and ruffled Nick's hair.

"Good morning, Mr. Vaughn. I have the things that you requested," she said a little breathlessly.

Ean was too experienced with women to not note the way she turned to display her considerable charms to their fullest, or the not so subtle wetting of her full, ruby lips. For a moment, he allowed himself to flirt with the mental image of those painted lips stretched around his swollen shaft, but when his hands fisted, it was the lovely little blonde upstairs whose image flooded his mind.

Forcing his thoughts to his purpose for being down stairs, instead of upstairs ravaging Kara, Ean lifted the tank dress out of the shopping bag and let it dangle from his index fingers. Rosie had done well. The simple spring green garment would flatter Kara's coloring and be a quick change in the dressing rooms. Dropping the dress back in on top of a pair of strappy heeled sandals, Ean headed for the stairs.



Ean smiled watching the petite blonde pace, brush slowly moving through her long hair. She wore just the nude toned bra and thong from the day before. Freshly laundered, they were all that remained of the clothing she had arrived with--hence the pending trip to Rodeo Drive. Lost in thought, she hadn't heard him enter the suite. She turned then, and ran smack into his chest with a startled squeak.

Staring down at her for a long moment, he cocked a dark brow."Is this going to become a habit?"

Her fingers smoothed his polo shirt over well-defined pecs. A deliciously unexpected laugh escaped her lips and she tilted her head to smile up at him.

"It just might, Master."

The sound of her genuine laughter and the mischievous sparkle in her eyes made Ean laugh. It would seem her talk with Rae Rae had eased her fears. Wrapping his arms about her, he cupped her bare cheeks and gave them a little squeeze.

"Get dressed you little minx, or we may not make it out of the bedroom today, let alone to Rodeo." He murmured, brushing a kiss across her temple before stepping back and handing her the shopping bag.

"Rodeo Drive?" Kara asked, a hint of awe in her tone. Ean just chuckled as she pulled the dress and sandals out of the bag.

"Ah, a true woman. Now I am speaking your language."



A fire crackled in the brazier, casting the terrace in dancing shadows. Ean watched with trepidation as Kara knelt on the stones behind Nicholas, assisting him as he dangled a skewered marshmallow over the flames on a long barbeque fork. He sat forward in concern when the sugary confection burst into flames. Undaunted, Nick shook the dessert with vigor, showering a shimmery trail of sparks in the fork's wild wake. Ean couldn't help but admire Kara's calm under fire as she casually caught the boy's hand, and blew the flames out with a smile. Plucking the now blackened, gooey treat from the end of the fork she gave it another cooling blow and popped it in her son's eager mouth.

Settling back in his chair, Ean contented himself with watching mother and son. It had been an enlightening day in many ways, a day of firsts. Never had he had to force a woman to spend money. Never had he met a woman who would rather shop for another than for herself, or was so appreciative of even the smallest token. A smile curved his lips. And NEVER had he spent the day in public with a rambunctious five year old. He would need get used to non stop questions, piggy back rides, and sticky fingers--same as Kara would become accustomed to two-hundred dollar jeans rather than wardrobes. He shook his head. Her thrifty ways, undoubtedly brought on by a life of poverty, had necessitated he forbid her from looking at price tags during their day long shopping whirlwind when she had felt compelled to tell him she could easily get a dozen thongs for the price he was paying for one. A touch to his knee jerked him from his thoughts, and he looked down at Kara questioningly.

"Would you like one?" she asked, offering up a burnt sugar puff.

He grimaced and she laughed.

"You don't like toasted marshmallows?"

"I've never had one, and I have to tell you, that thing is way beyond toasted."

"They are best burnt! Trust me," she said with an irresistiblely winsome smile.

Cocking an eyebrow at her, he opened his mouth obligingly. Kara stuffed the sticky treat in, giggling as he caught her finger teasingly between his lips. He smiled down at her as he savored the unique combination of caramelized coating and melted center. His little girl was full of pleasant surprises. Today had been like nothing he had ever experienced. He had felt part of something for the first time since leaving the SEALS. She reached up and gently wiped his lip with her thumb. He nipped it, eliciting a startled yelp and a laugh. She was breathtaking when she laughed. She managed to do something that twenty years in the Navy had never done...she scared the hell out of him.

"Held ~ Chapter Eight"