Need (14 page)

She hadn’t woken while I was in her room, so eventually I went back to my own bed in hope of a good night’s sleep. It wasn’t easy. My mind kept replaying the evening in vivid detail, and my body liked the images just as much as it had the first time. I refused to give in, however. One session of self-pleasure a night was all I was allowing myself. I did manage to get a little sleep, but it was taken in short naps rather than one long, deep rest.

Brianna was in the kitchen making breakfast when I strolled into the main room of our home. She was still wearing the shorts and tank top she’d worn to bed. The shorts ended just a little too low for my taste, but were loose enough to provide easy access should it be needed.

It was difficult not to think of all the things I wanted to do to her when she was like this, and totally oblivious to my presence. She was beautiful and sexy standing there cooking, and she wasn’t even trying.

Whenever I thought of her not being here with me, there was a sharp pain in my chest. That had never happened to me before. But then again, I’d never been in love with anyone. I could only hope that she felt the same way, or at least was beginning to.

We ate quietly before I picked up my briefcase and headed for the door. She followed behind.

I set my case down on the table next to my keys, and turned to face her. Brianna looked up at me, her eyes so full of emotion. I wrapped my arms around her waist to pull her closer. She melted into me and I began to wonder if she’d been nervous about my reaction to her this morning. “Are you all right, Brianna?”

“Yes,” she sighed.

“You have nothing to be nervous about. I’ll take care of you. Every part of you.”

I felt all the tension leave her as she buried her head against my chest. “I want . . . that,” she whispered.

I smiled. “I’m very glad to hear that.” I pulled back and placed a kiss on her forehead before tilting her head up. “You’ll be okay today?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” I said, leaning closer. “Now, give me a kiss before I go.”

Brianna’s lips met mine. She wasn’t hesitant. She was almost eager.

The kiss only lasted for a minute before I had to separate us. I was still worked up from last night, and as much as I loved her lips on mine, it was not helping my heightened state.

Jamie greeted me with her usual, cheerful smile when I arrived at the office. The morning was busier than usual since I had to oversee the finance department now that Karl was no longer in charge. I hoped that human resources would have some candidates for me to start interviewing next week.

Just before noon, Jamie knocked on my office door to let me know that Jimmy had arrived.

Gino’s was packed with the lunch rush when we arrived. Being a regular meant that the hostess found us a table quickly despite the crowd. It wasn’t private by any means, but as this was just a friendly lunch between old friends, I wasn’t worried. Jimmy wasn’t Daren. Just thinking of my Mentor made my anger surge. He should have told me he’d be attending the hospital dinner.

I forced myself to push my ire for Daren to the back of my mind as we took our seats. Our server came to our table almost immediately and took our drink orders. Leaning back in my seat, I enjoyed being out of the office.

Jimmy was quiet as we waited for our server to return. As was becoming normal for me, my thoughts drifted to Brianna. I wondered what she was doing with her day. Would she give me the green light to take things farther tonight, or say she wasn’t ready? Although, I was trying to prepare myself for the possibility of her wanting to slow things down, I was hoping that wasn’t the case.

My thoughts were interrupted when Jimmy asked, “What’s going on with you and Dr. Cooper?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as our server returned with the drinks.

It didn’t take us long to order food, and we were on our own again. I barely managed to take a sip of my water before Jimmy returned to his inquiry. “Samantha thinks you’re reliving your rebellious teenage years.”

“I’m not rebelling, Jimmy. I also don’t appreciate your wife trying to psychoanalyze me.”

He chose to ignore my comment about his wife. “I was talking to your uncle. He seems concerned about you. I know we’re not as close anymore, but if something’s wrong—”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Before he could start again, I changed the subject. “How’s your residency going so far?”

Jimmy gave me a long look, and then sighed. If he remembered nothing else from our high school years, how stubborn I could be should be burned into his brain. “Exhausting. I thought med school was grueling.”

The conversation continued along those same lines throughout our lunch. It was good seeing Jimmy again, but I wasn’t going to discuss my issues surrounding my uncle with him. He was right, we weren’t that close anymore. Even if we’d continued our friendship during our college years, I doubted this would be something I would confide in him. Not only did I think he wouldn’t understand my lifestyle, there was also Samantha. She’d never cared much for me, nor I her. The fact that she was now training to become a psychiatrist only added to the problem.

My history with psychiatrists was not good. Richard had insisted I see one about a year after my parents died. If I never met another one in my life, it would be too soon.

I walked back to the office alone and found it much like I’d left it, with only one exception. There was a bright pink note on my desk where I couldn’t possibly miss it.

Talk to your uncle. Please.

There was no signature, but I would know that handwriting anywhere. Diane didn’t like this rift in her family, and she wasn’t above begging to get what she wanted.

With a sigh, I picked up the phone and dialed my uncle’s office. His receptionist picked up the phone on the second ring. He was with a patient, of course, but I was told he only had patients scheduled until two o’clock today. After hanging up, I looked at my workload. I really shouldn’t leave early, but Diane was right. Richard and I needed to come to some sort of understanding.

It took some doing, but with Jamie’s help, I was able to delegate a couple of things to other executives. I was taking the rest home with me. Bringing my work home was not a habit I wished to start; however, it couldn’t be helped in this case. I needed to talk to my uncle, and there was no time like the present. Besides, it would make Diane happy.

His car was still in the parking lot when I pulled into a space in front of his office. There were two other vehicles in the lot besides his. One, I knew, belonged to his receptionist. It was almost a quarter after two, so I was hoping my uncle would just be finishing up with his last patient.

Janice, his receptionist, greeted me with a smile as soon as she saw me walk through the door. “I wondered if we might see you today, Stephan.”

“Hello, Janice. How have you been?”

“Good. Great, actually,” she beamed. “Would you like to see the latest pictures I have of the grandkids?” Janice didn’t wait for me to answer her. She took out two pictures from her wallet, showing them to me like any proud grandparent would.

Her daughter had married a military man, so they moved around a lot. Last I’d heard, he’d been stationed in Florida. 

“They’re growing up,” I smiled.

“I know! I can’t believe Jason will be starting school this fall. It seems like just yesterday I was with Amy and Andrew in the hospital waiting for him to be born.”

Before I could comment, my uncle walked around the corner with a middle-aged man about the same height as me. They were talking, but it didn’t appear to be serious as they were both smiling. 

“Janice will get you set up for your next appointment.” He turned to look up at Janice, but paused longer than was natural when he saw me standing there. After a few seconds, he seemed to get a hold of himself again. “Can you get Mr. Thompson scheduled to come back and see us in three weeks?”

Janice nodded. Then Richard patted his patient lightly on the shoulder and motioned with his head for me to follow him.

Nothing had changed since the last time I’d followed him down this hall over a month ago when I’d brought Brianna to see him. Just remembering that night brought with it all of those protective feelings. They were so much stronger with her than they had been with anyone in the past. I wanted to get this over with and get home to her.

My uncle took a seat behind his desk. He gestured that I should take the one opposite.

No matter how old I was, sitting there took me back to being a teenager. Whenever I’d done something serious, I’d always end up in his office. He’d say he’d brought me there so as not to upset my aunt. I’d believed him at the time. Now I thought it had more to do with the air of authority sitting behind that desk gave him.

I wasn’t going to be intimidated today. “We need to talk.”

“Yes.” I waited to see if he was going to say anything else, but he remained silent.

As much as I wanted to keep him in the dark about what was happening—what had happened to Brianna—I’d come to the conclusion that he would have to know at least some of it, or else our relationship might possibly never repair itself. 

“You don’t think that I’m good for Brianna because of what I am.” I let that hang in the air for a minute before continuing. “I know what Tami told you, but I’m going to tell you what I tried to tell you months ago. Everything she and I did was consensual. We had an agreement. It’s in writing if you’d like to see it. I didn’t do anything to her that she was not on board with, and it was consensual in every aspect. Including the bruising she showed you.”

“Stephan, I don’t understand how a man of your upbringing . . .”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Uncle, it has nothing to do with my upbringing and everything to do with what I find sexually stimulating.” Some of the color drained from his face. “You don’t understand it. That’s perfectly fine. I’m not asking you to. What I am asking you to do is trust me. Trust in the man you helped raise enough to know that I would never do anything to a woman that she would not allow me to do to her.”

My words were met with silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

Eventually, he sat forward in his chair. “Okay, Stephan. If I believe that—and that’s a big if—what about Brianna? She is my concern.”

I sighed. “As much as I don’t want you to know any of this, I see that keeping it from you is no longer an option.”

“You should know that you can tell me anything,” he said, a little offended.

Nodding, I continued. “I told you that Brianna was in a bad situation before, and that I got her out of it.” It was his turn to nod. “It’s a little more involved than that. She was actually being held against her will by a man, and I got her out of there by . . . well . . . by rather nonlegal means.”

He shifted nervously. “What do you mean ‘nonlegal means’?”

Again, I sighed. “I bought her.”

He shot up from his chair as if the office was on fire, but then caught himself, and sat back down. “Stephan . . .” 

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you. And why it can’t go any farther than this room.”

“But the man who—”

“That’s not your concern.”

“But—”

“Richard,” I said, making sure I had his attention. “It’s not your concern.”

The stare I leveled at him hopefully conveyed my meaning, but I couldn’t be sure. I waited to see what his next reaction would be.

“So, all her injuries? Her fear?”

I knew what he was asking. “Yes.”

“Then Stephan . . . I mean, I know how you feel, but she needs to talk to someone. Someone who knows . . .”

“No.” I saw that he was about to jump in again, and cut him off. “I know you mean well. You meant well with me. But no, she’s fine with me and is getting better every day.”

He seemed to consider his next words carefully. “But you . . .” Then he reconsidered. “Will you do to her what you did to Tami?”

“That will depend on Brianna, and what she wants.”

“Stephan, how could she?” He gasped. “I mean the girl has been through so much. How could she want something like that?”

“It’s simple. You don’t understand Dominance and submission. There is a level of trust and devotion between a submissive and their Dominant. Brianna has many fears thanks to her past, but I can help her face them.”

“By beating her?” he asked, clearly outraged.

“Possibly,” I said in a dismissive voice.

I could see he was gearing up for a rant, so I stopped him yet again. “You don’t have to agree with my lifestyle or my methods. I’ll tell you that when she first came to my home, she was scared to do anything beyond breathing without being told. Her only words were ‘Yes, Master’ and ‘No, Master’ and even the ‘No, Master’ was a challenge to get out of her. She can now carry on a pretty decent conversation once you get her going. She is getting better.”

“I just . . .” For the first time, my uncle looked defeated. He really didn’t know what to do.

“You’re worried.”

He nodded.

“When you talked to her, the worst thing you could have done was tell her that you didn’t think she belonged with me. You proposed to take her from the only person she feels safe with right now.
Me
.” I paused. “You can’t do that to her. I won’t let you. I . . .” Once again, I was going to be putting something out there for the first time. “I love her, and I won’t let you hurt her unnecessarily like that.”

My uncle’s jaw dropped open. It was the only indication that he had in fact heard me. After a few minutes, he recovered himself. “You . . . love . . . her?”

“Yes,” I said with much more conviction this time. “I love her. I won’t have her taken away from me. Not by you. Not by her father.”

“Her father?”

“Yes. Her father seems to be looking for her, but from what she’s told me, he may have been involved in how she ended up where she was.”

Richard cocked his head to one side and gave me the first sign of a smile, albeit small, since he’d spotted me. “You really do love her?”

“I do.”

My uncle tried to press more information out of me, but I refused. He attempted once again to plead with me to let her talk to a therapist, saying that he feared she was developing Stockholm Syndrome. In the end, he still wasn’t happy I had no intention to seek out professional help for Brianna. However, he also didn’t think I was going to do irreparable harm to her in the near future either. We parted ways in the parking lot and I drove home, anxious to see Brianna.