Missionary Position (Masters of the Prairie Winds Club Book 7) (17 page)

“No—it’s okay. We’re just surprised—very pleasantly surprised I should add. It’s really rare to find anyone who can sense what you just described—we’ve never had that happen with anyone who wasn’t gifted.” Peter reached over to take her hand in his and couldn’t hold back how right everything about her felt as he pressed a kiss against her slender fingers. “It just proves how perfect you are for us.”

When the driver turned through the stately brick and wrought iron gates onto the lane leading to her grandparents’ estate, Lara felt memories assail her. Looking out over the track that circled the large front lawns, Lara fondly remembered riding the ponies her grandfather kept for her. Looking out over the track she knew if she closed her eyes she’d practically be able to feel the wind blowing through her hair the one and only time she was allowed to ride one of her grandfather’s full sized horses. She’d ridden ponies for years, but it was that one brief sprint around the track on a regular horse before her grandmother had come storming down the front steps of their stately mansion like a Category 5 hurricane that she remembers best—and it had been enough to hook her forever. And even though she hadn’t ridden in more years than she wanted to count, she’d never forgotten the joy she’d found in those precious few minutes.

“
Mi amõre
? Are you all right?” Peter’s softly whispered question brought her back to the moment and when she turned away from the window to face him, he reached over and gently wiped away the tears she hadn’t even realized were falling. She wasn’t sure why she was so emotional, she hadn’t seen her grandparents in a very long time. She’d been told there had been some sort of falling out between her parents and grandparents, and rather than getting pulled into the drama, Lara had opted for the good old Ostrich Theory and simply avoided it altogether. In hindsight, that seemed like a terribly selfish and cowardly decision, but there wasn’t anything to do about that now, so she tried not to get tangled up in the emotions of guilt and regret.

“I am, or at least I will be. But I appreciate you asking. I just got caught up in a memory.” She didn’t want to tell them how much she’d longed for some sort of family connection—how much she envied the fact they had each other and an older brother they both seemed to admire. She’d met the Weston family a couple of times and they seemed like lovely people, but she’d felt like an outsider despite how welcoming they had been. The bottom line was without a commitment from Peter and Fischer, she simply didn’t feel like she was a part of their family. And thanks to her parents’ nonsense with her grandparents, she didn’t really feel as if she was a part of her own family either.

Lara’s physical appearance had made her an outsider in every village her family had lived in and her lack of knowledge of the social mores of U.S. schools had kept her from ever being accepted once she’d started high school. And for someone with a submissive personality—whose soul craved acceptance, it was like living in the seventh level of hell. The friends she’d made at Dark Desires were the closest thing she had to family now—
and isn’t that about as pathetic as it gets. What kind of person centers their life around a kink club? One that needs to get themselves together, that’s who.
Well fuckity fuck, now she was not only talking to herself, but she was answering too—
great.

Until they parked behind another large black car matching the one she was riding in, Lara had forgotten that Jax and Kent had come up early to talk with her grandparents while Micah and Kyle stayed downtown with Gracie and Tobi. John and Elizabeth Hunt had been friends with both Jax’s and Kent’s families for many years and when they offered to lay some of the groundwork for her, Lara had jumped at the opportunity. Jax stepped out of the massive wooden doors to stand on the mansion’s large front porch just as the car came to a stop. But Lara barely noticed him, her eyes locked on the elderly couple standing to his side and it felt as if all the air had suddenly been sucked out of the car.

Somewhere in the distance Lara heard Peter’s concerned voice asking her if she was all right but she couldn’t focus on anything except the faces of the grandparents she’d loved so much as a child. How had she let so many years slip away without coming to see them? The realization of what she’d lost slammed into her and it wasn’t until Peter put his hands on either side of her face and physically turned her face to his did she realize she wasn’t even breathing. “Damn it, Lara—take a breath. Come on, sweetheart, breathe with me.” She felt herself take a gasping breath, but he shook his head, “No, princess. Slow and easy. Come on, three counts in and then three out. Follow me. Focus now, let’s get you settled before we join the others.”

Peter’s hands still bracketed her face when she finally felt her breathing level out and the pounding of blood quieted in her ears, it was only then that she realized they were alone in the car. When she finally looked back out the window, Lara saw that Fischer was shaking hands with her grandparents and warm smiles had replaced the tense expressions that she’d seen earlier. Nodding when Peter asked her if she was ready, Lara took a deep breath and placed her hand in Peter’s as she stepped from the car.

Fischer introduced himself to Lara’s grandparents and was overjoyed to discover they seemed to be as honest and open as Jax and Kent had remembered. Even though he didn’t ask them any specific questions about their daughter or son-in-law, it was obvious their granddaughter was the center of their focus. He wasn’t trying to pick up specific thoughts because the energy around them was so open he didn’t feel it was necessary—as long as they didn’t appear to be a threat to Lara, he and his brother had agreed to respect their privacy.

“Is she okay? We were positively thrilled when Jax called. To be honest we’d almost given up hope we’d get a chance to see her again. Heaven only knows what sort of nonsense her parents have told her.” Fischer wasn’t sure if Elizabeth Hunt was speaking to him, her husband, or herself because her gaze hadn’t moved from her granddaughter as they all watched Peter calm her.

“She’ll be fine, she was just a bit overcome by memories as we came up the driveway.” When John stiffened, Fischer added, “I’m not sure she’d expected all the fond memories that came over her, she’d just been a little overwhelmed, she’ll be fine. Let’s just give Peter a chance to settle her a bit.” Both of them nodded quickly, Fischer was grateful he wasn’t forced to elaborate because at this point he wasn’t sure exactly who he’d been trying to convince.

‘
What’s going on? How long is this going to take? Do you need me to come back to the car?’

‘
Christ, put a lid on it, Fischer. We’ll be there in just a minute. I want her to get some color back in her face, because right now she’d so pale her skin is almost translucent.’
Fischer continued to listen as Peter coaxed Lara to synchronize her breathing with his own. As the middle brother, Peter had often been the mediator and Fischer fought his smile as he thought back on how those skills were still evident today. Keeping everyone around him calm was one of the things Peter did best and he was doing a damned fine job of it with Lara. Pointing out her grandparents’ worried expressions and assuring her that Fischer, Jax, nor Kent would never let her walk into an unsafe situation, Peter was finally able to get her to exit the car.

Fischer watched Lara walk hand in hand with Peter up the wide marble staircase lost in appreciation for the fact she belonged to them when it suddenly hit him that neither he nor Peter had ever told her exactly how they hoped the future would play out. And that brief moment of insight made him realize how lax they’d become—it was something every Dom knew to avoid and they’d done it with the only woman who’d ever really mattered. They failed to give the most important woman in the world—the one they wanted to keep forever—the security of knowing how committed they were to her long-term. Nothing could have held him back at that moment, descending the last few steps to meet her, Fischer stood directly in front of Lara taking her free hand in his and using his other hand to gently lift her chin so he could hold her gaze.

“Baby, I want you to know that nothing is going to happen today that will change the way Peter and I feel about you. Nothing short of your out-right rejection will keep us from keeping you in our lives forever.” When her pretty blue eyes went wide he knew he’d been right. “That’s right, cupcake, you belong to us. I’m sorry we hadn’t laid that out before—but that’s on us, not you.” The relief in her expression was so clear Fischer wasn’t sure whether to kick his own ass for causing her to worry or to praise whatever angel had just whispered in his ear alerting him to a problem that was so easily resolved. Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, he turned and the three of them ascended the final steps together.

Four hours later Lara felt as if she’d never been gone. The easy rapport she’d once had with both her grandmother and grandfather had been so easy to reestablish she wondered why her parents had been so eager to deny her the joy of spending time with them, but she also wondered why she’d allowed it. Her parents had managed to convince her the grandparents she’d loved so dearly had suddenly decided they didn’t want anything to do with her and she’d bought the story, lock, stock, and barrel. But the burning question remained, why had they wanted her kept from a couple who had so obviously adored her? Lara’s best guess was her grandparents had started asking all the same questions she was now asking.

She hadn’t even realized she was staring vacantly out the large leaded glass windows of the dining room until her grandfather stepped up beside her and took her hand in his. When she turned to look at him, Lara was surprised to see understanding in his dark eyes. “You’re thinking awfully hard over here, princess. Come on, let’s you and I go for a walk.” Lara followed him out the door enjoying the feeling of his strong hand holding hers. His hand might have been more wrinkled than hers, but she knew each of those wrinkles proved the self-made millionaire was no stranger to hard work. Having started out as a wildcatter in the oil fields, John Hunt had built a virtual empire by the time he’d turned forty. By his fiftieth birthday he’s expanded the business in so many directions it was hard to find a pie he hadn’t had his fingers in.

Smiling up at him as they stepped out onto the cobblestone walkway that would lead them through her grandmother’s beautiful floral gardens, Lara asked, “Why? I mean, do you know what they were thinking?” When he didn’t immediately respond, she continued, “I keep wondering why they didn’t want me to come here when we moved back to the U.S. I feel cheated and I’m guessing you do too.”

“Oh, you have no idea how much. And we wanted to contact you so many times, but your mother…well, let’s just say she was adamant that we not. Her threats were credible because unfortunately she’d made a lot of very unsavory contacts over the years.” Leading her to a small bench, they sat down and looked out over a beautiful pool with a two-story tall waterfall watching the cool mist drift away as water tumbled over the natural stone structure. The landscaping was breathtaking and Lara couldn’t help but feel calmed by the soft sounds of falling water. She remembered reading once that falling water altered the ions in the air causing people to feel more settled and happier—it was easy to believe that as she let the peacefulness of her surroundings move over her in slow comforting waves.

“I’m sure that you’ve figured out by now that your parents are far more than simple missionaries.” When she nodded, he smiled, “I didn’t think that knowledge would elude you forever, and I knew the minute Jax called he was more than a little suspicious. When we found out, we pleaded with your parents to let you come back to the States and stay with us. We even flew to Athens to meet them in hopes they’d let us bring you back home where you’d be safe.”