I Need You (Learning to Let Go) (11 page)

Pops snorted, as he turned away, “Get over yourself, kid. You ain’t worth nothin’ to me now. I’ll be fine without ya.”

Chris could only shake his head as he walked back out of the gym, wishing that his life had ended up differently. It always seemed like he had managed to sneak away from his father, get everything back together, and then the low-life would pull the rug out from under him. Pops didn’t even need to ask for Chris to come back to help him. He did it of his own volition. The old man was the only family he had left now, and that meant something to one of them.

Chris’ mother had died when he was in high school, begging Pops to make sure that Chris got away from here. Pops did the exact opposite of that. He did everything he could to keep Chris here in Kentucky where he could make sure that his life was miserable. Last fall, when he flew home after Pops was beaten to a pulp, he left behind a beautiful girl that brought out every protective instinct that Chris possessed, as well as many of his other instincts. Lust being the strongest one.

Sara Lonneman was everything his dominant side could want…from her reluctant submission, to her hard to earn trust, to her sassy mouth. Plus she was sweet, kind, and gentle. All of his must haves wrapped up in one neat caramel-haired little package. Now he just had to find her.

Chris had tried unsuccessfully to find where Sara had gone, even scoping out her old apartment for any information. She was from Wisconsin, but that was all anyone knew about her. The Office of Students made it extremely difficult to access a student’s personal information, so that was all Chris had to go on. Dominic had adamantly refused to get involved. He often reminded Chris that Sara had left of her own accord. One night of passion shouldn’t leave that much of a mark on him. But Sara did. She had affected him that night more than any other single thing in his life. Chris needed to find her and make sure she knew that she had brought him to his knees.

“S
o she’s feeling better now?” Darrin asked around a mouthful of bacon, after Sara had finished the story of the last few weeks following Bryn’s breakdown.

“Yeah, she’s getting there. She talked to me last night about having a group counseling session with her doctor. She wants to be closer…ya know, like actual sisters instead of frenemies.”

Darrin smiled as he reached out to grab the rest of the other half piece of toast that Sara had left on her plate. “I think that would be great, doll baby. You both could use some girlie talk with each other. Plus, if I hear Corey talk about feelings one more time, I’m gonna shoot him in the nuts. Bryn’s got him so twisted in on himself, he’s started to sound like a girl.”

Sara playfully smacked his arm as he scooped the rest of the food off his plate, shoveling it into his mouth. “He does not, dickhead!” she teased. “He’s doing the best he can in a shitty situation. His guilt runs deep, and it’s gonna take him a while to let go, too.”

“You a shrink now, Sara?” Darrin teased back after he swallowed the food in his mouth.

Sara huffed before answering, “Nah, too stuffy for me. I’m thinking about doing something with animals, though. I don’t want to run a farm or anything like that. I was thinking maybe becoming a Vet Tech or something.”

“I thought you wanted to go into accounting, or business management? Isn’t that what you were in school for in Colorado?”

Sara shrugged. “I did, I mean, I do. But after working on your books for two solid weeks, I can honestly say that it doesn’t appeal to me so much anymore.” She tweaked the end of his nose as she rose out of her chair, taking their dirty dishes to the kitchen sink.

Darrin started to stutter, “What, I mean, when…Sara, what the fuck are you talking about?”

His tone sounded almost angry and Sara dropped the dish she was holding into the soapy water, splashing the front of her T-shirt. “I’m sorry, Darrin. I shouldn’t have been in your office without you here, I was just trying to keep busy.”

Darrin was out of his chair, standing next to her before she could even finish her sentence. Rough hands gripped her arm, tugging until she turned to face him. “That’s not what I meant, Sara. How did you have time to work full-time at the pharmacy, take care of your sister, and work in my office for the last two weeks?”

Not wanting to answer his question, Sara lowered her face until her chin was resting on her chest. Darrin was holding her by the upper arms, her lower back pressed against the counter. Feeling Darrin’s intense stare, Sara willed herself not to appear as meek as she felt right now. It was unnerving how a display of dominance made her feel all tingly, and gooey inside, like a spineless jellyfish.

After a few tense minutes, Darrin relaxed his hold, pulling her into his embrace instead. Sara slumped against him, snuggling deep into his chest, rubbing her cheek on the smooth cotton fabric of his shirt. After resting his chin on the top of Sara’s head, Darrin questioned her again. “I’m not mad, Sara. Please, honey. What’s going on?”

Tears had started to fall as soon as Sara could hear the compassion in his voice. Sniffling, she pulled back from his embrace to look him in the eyes as she answered, “Mr. Ferguson cut my hours when I missed a few days after the fourth of July when I was helping Bryn. He said that he needed someone he could rely on, and since I had other things on my plate, he was going to have me job share with someone else. I’ve only been working two days a week at the pharmacy.”

Darrin’s normally light brown eyes were getting darker the longer she waited for him to speak. Not able to stand the silence any longer, Sara quietly spoke again, “I have filled out countless job applications, and talked with pretty much every business in town. Not a soul is hiring right now, Darrin. I’m so sorry.”

His jaw clench and his nostrils flared before he spoke, “I don’t mean to pry, Sara, but can you afford to not work full-time?”

She barely shook her head from side to side, before leaning back in to bury her face in his chest. Speaking into his shirt, she answered, “I did work at the bar on Friday night and made good money, so I’ll be ok for a while. Something will come up, Darrin. Don’t worry.”

Darrin clutched her upper arms again, pushing her back so that she was no longer hiding in his chest. His face was flushed, his eyes narrowed on her, “Did you think that I wouldn’t pay you for all the work you did for me?”

“God no, Darrin! I told you that I was trying to keep busy. You didn’t ask me for my help, anyway. I’m sorry that I was in your shop without permission.”

Darrin took a deep breath before, gritting out, “How many hours did you work in the shop, Sara?”

“I don’t know, Darrin. Please, just drop it.”

Darrin practically growled at her before he spun on his heels and walked out the door of the house, stomping the whole way. Sara turned back to the dishes, happy to have something to keep her hands busy while Darrin was outside. As soon as she had things cleaned up, she would pack up her things and head for home. Bryn had asked that they have a day each week that was reserved just for the two girls anyway…maybe they could make Sunday laundry day or something.

Once all the dishes were cleaned and in the dry rack, Sara took the dish cloth over to the small kitchen table to wipe it down. The front door flew open as she had her back to it, almost knocking her over as it hit her in the ass. She squeaked as Darrin fumbled for the door handle, carefully pulling it shut.

Darrin started to walk towards her, but Sara took a step back. He paused as he furrowed his eyebrows together, assessing her with his eyes. A sigh full of remorse left his mouth as he looked down at the dish cloth she was holding in her hand. Holding a piece of paper in one hand, he reached out with his other hand, leaving it palm open. Sara wasn’t sure what he wanted, so she carefully dropped the wet and dirty cloth into his hand. Lifting one eyebrow at her, Darrin cocked his head to the side as he dropped the cloth back onto the table, again holding his hand out palm up.

This time, she giggled as she placed her hand into his, before stifling her laughter. The look on Darrin’s face was blank, and she wasn’t sure how to read him right now. He gripped her hand tightly, and slapped a piece of paper into her palm, leaving his hand resting on top of it.

“Now, I feel that this is fair for all the work you did. You are going to work here for me on the days you don’t work at the pharmacy. Fuck, if you want to quit that job, go ahead, you can work out here for me until you find something else. I haven’t been open for a year yet, so I don’t have enough work for you to do full-time, but I will gladly pay for a full weeks’ wages.”

Sara started to protest, but he cut her off with a jerk to his head and a raised eyebrow. “There’s no use arguing with me, Sara. You earned this money, fair and square. Now that you have a back-up plan, you can work on getting a job at a vet clinic, or on a local farm, or somewhere where you can work with animals.”

“I can ask Craig if I can work at the bar again on weekends. Then I could work for you part-time during the week, and maybe take a few classes at the community college.”

“You’re barely twenty years old, Sara. That’s pretty young to be working at a bar. Why don’t you see about some scholarships or grants if you want to go back to school. Either way, I think you should quit working at the pharmacy.”

“Yes, sir.”

Darrin rolled his eyes, as he let go of her hand, letting her see the check that he had given her. Her mouth dropped open when she saw that he had written it for a thousand dollars!

“Darrin, I can’t…” Before she could even finish her sentence, he crushed his mouth to hers, silencing her protests. When he started to pull back, she again tried to complain. Darrin laughed this time as he kissed her, speaking against her lips, “No arguments, hell cat.” He released her mouth as he finished, “or I will tie you up in my bedroom until you see reason.”

Sara wiggled her eyes suggestively, stepping in closer to wrap her arms around his waist. “Ooohh, could you tie me up so I could be your sex slave?”

Darrin stiffened in her arms, “Umm, ok. Does that turn you on?”

Sara could sense his apprehension, so she laughed it off. “I was just joking, stud.”

Darrin tightened his hold, kissing her hair before he pulled away. “You wanna have Bryn and Corey over for supper tonight? I can set some steaks out to grill. We’ll have to go into town to get the rest of the fixings, but I need to get groceries anyway.”

Sara slipped her fingers into the belt loops on his jeans, pulling him as she walked backwards towards the hallway. “I know that you have had at least five phone calls already today for repair jobs. I will go get groceries while you get some work done.”

Darrin gave her another one of his panty-melting smiles as she continued to pull him towards the bedroom. “Ok, so what are we doing in the bedroom, neko?”

Sara returned the smile as she unhooked the button on his jeans, then eased the zipper down. “Well, if we are going to have company tonight, I need something to tide me over until I have you all to myself again,” she purred.

Slipping her hand into the V of his opened jeans, she was surprised to feel that he was already semi-hard. Using her free hand, she pushed his jeans down over his hips. Sara pushed the cotton T-shirt up until he grabbed the hem, pulling it over his head. Darrin almost fell over when she snaked her hand inside his tight boxer briefs, wrapping her hand around his growing cock.

Darrin moaned deep in his chest as she worked his length back and forth, causing a drop of pre-cum to leak out. Sara continued to stroke his cock, until his chest was heaving, sweat dripping off his brow. Dropping to her knees, Sara enveloped just the mushroom head between her lips. She used her tongue to swirl on the spot underneath, causing Darrin to curse. “Fuck, Sara, that feels soooo good.”

With his encouragement, Sara continued to torment him. Bracing herself on his thigh with her one hand, she fisted her other hand around the base of his cock, knowing that she would choke on his entire length. Hollowing out her cheeks, she applied just enough suction as she pulled back, carefully cupping his balls in her free hand. Sara could feel the muscles tensing in Darrin’s thigh, as she continued to torment him.

His hands wove into her hair, behind her head, “I’ll pull back when I’m gonna come, doll baby. I don’t want to come in your mouth.”

Sara didn’t release his cock as she looked up at him from her knees. Shaking her head no, she begged around the mouthful of cock, “Inside my mouth.”

Darrin just nodded, before he closed his eyes, helping to guide her head in a steady rhythm. Sara concentrated on breathing through her nose as she slid back and forth. The hands in her hair were gripping tighter, almost to the point of pain, but it only was intensifying her lust. She could feel moisture saturating her panties as Darrin took the lead from her, fucking her mouth. One final thrust and Darrin roared as hot cum hit the back of Sara’s throat. It was hard to swallow the entire mouthful, letting some of it drip out her mouth and down her chin. Once Darrin had finally stopped thrusting, Sara released him, sitting back on her haunches. He almost fell backwards, fumbling behind himself, he reached for the wall.