Friday morning was much the same, except Joyce did manage to tell Holly good morning when she arrived a few minutes after Holly.
Holly decided to take the high road and return the greeting, but Joyce still left for lunch without Holly.
Which was fine with her, because she’d brought her lunch again.
That night when Walt arrived at Holly’s after work, he wore a playful grin.
“What?”
“Lookie what UPS brought today.” He held up a box. “Your new TENS unit.”
“I’ll pay you—”
“Stop it,” he gently said. “No, you won’t. Consider this me being a sadist.” He grinned. “Nate sent me the PDF of settings for it. He recommended going with slightly stingy and zappy first, and then switch it to the thumpy, tingly sensations.”
Before he let her start cooking dinner, he had her remove her shirt so he could affix the sticky contact leads to her shoulders. When he first turned it on, he had to tweak the adjustments quite a bit as she fought the urge to squirm and wince against the feel of the current, until she let out a sigh.
“Better?”
“Yeah. I don’t understand why it works.”
“It’s making your muscles move around, for starters. Loosening them up. I’ll get you a good set of rechargeable batteries so you’re not being eaten alive by the price of new ones.” He helped ease her oversized T-shirt on over her head so she didn’t dislodge the electrode pads. “I’ll change the setting in a few minutes, like he said.”
“Thank you.” She fought the urge to burst into tears as she hugged him. “Thank you for everything you’ve been doing for me.”
“Hey, I’m happy to do it. Like I said, I like helping.”
She kissed him. “Remember how you said stuff would only happen at my speed?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I want to shift things into a higher gear. If you want to.”
“I told you, that’s your call.”
“You’re the easiest damn Dom to get along with. You know that?”
“I try.” He gently stroked her arms. “How about tomorrow night we go to dinner with everyone, if you feel up to it, then to the club? Then maybe back to my place after that. If you change your mind at any time, you say so. No pressure. I’m happy to spend the time with you, even if we’re only watching TV.”
She nodded. “Yeah. That sounds great.” She didn’t want him to let go of her. “You don’t think it’s horrible of me to want to do this so soon, is it?”
“Why would I think that?”
“I mean, I chewed Joyce out for sleeping with that guy.”
“This is a different situation,” he said. “For starters, you might not feel like doing anything tomorrow night, so don’t feel that way about something that hasn’t even happened. Secondly, we’ve sort of known each other for a while. Third, you’re an adult, and I’m an adult. We’re not rushing things. If we were talking about the first time we’d met in real-life, yeah, I’d be slowing things down on my end.”
“You would?”
“I don’t like crazy. I don’t willingly invite it into my life.”
“And yet you’re getting involved with a woman whose brother is in jail.”
“Different. Do you know the story of Rachel’s guy, Andrew, and his ex?”
“No.”
“His ex tried to set fire to his car. That was the culmination of a bunch of other stuff. That’s the kind of crazy I’m talking about. Your situation is complex and complicated, but it’s not crazy. Well, that Louis is even in jail in the first place is crazy, but it’s not something the two of you had control over.”
“How do you know I’m not lying about any of this?”
He smiled. “Because Kimbra would have backhanded me upside the head. That woman has a seriously good head on her shoulders.” His smile faded. “It doesn’t bother you that we’re friends, does it?”
She hugged him. “No. I’m glad you guys are still friends. And I’m glad her family adopted me. I had a good time Wednesday night, even if it wore me out.”
While Walt worked on a few other repair projects for Holly, she cooked them a very simple one-dish chicken pasta dinner with veggies. Then they sat on the couch and ate in front of the TV. It felt so comfortable to spend time like this with him.
Like they’d known each other forever.
Part of her was tempted to ask him to spend the night that night. They’d already had the conversations about sexual history and precautions, a conversation Holly honestly hadn’t expected to have again in…ever.
It was a nice complication to have.
Eventually, Walt headed home after helping her clean up the kitchen. They’d touch base tomorrow after she woke up and gauged her pain levels.
As she settled into bed, Holly closed her eyes and tried not to get her hopes up about her body.
Especially now that she had a darn good reason to get her hopes up.
* * * *
Walt had slept well Friday night after going home, taking a shower, and rubbing one out during said shower.
Holly had that effect on him, but it was something he wouldn’t talk about with her unless she directly asked him. He wouldn’t lie to her, but he dang sure didn’t want her to feel like he was pressuring her, or make her feel guilty.
He was a grown man capable of taking care of some things on his own.
Saturday morning, he resisted the urge to text Holly out of fear of waking her up. Instead, he kept himself busy around the house, taking care of some of his own chores. Fortunately he had a lawn service take care of that, but there were a few things he’d neglected while spending time at Holly’s over the past week. She hadn’t been to his house yet, and if she ended up spending the night there with him, he didn’t want her thinking he was a slob.
The long-term picture was now sharply focused in his mind—where he wanted things to go with her. That was all that mattered, and if it meant sleeping alone or using his own hand until she caught up with him, he could easily live with that.
He’d been young and naive when he’d fallen in love with Kimbra. The kid he’d been back then had learned harsh life lessons since, was wiser, calmer, more patient.
Ready to take things slow.
Part of the problem with him wooing Kimbra had been he’d fallen so hard for her that he’d thought their love could overcome anything and everything, make it all okay, no matter what.
Wisdom came with age and experience, and experience came from hastily-made decisions.
While he’d never trade his friendship with Kimbra for anything, he knew he’d placed unrealistic expectations on her and their relationship, dooming it from the start. She’d always been honest with him.
But the more he worked with kids, the more he’d wanted one of his own. Contrasting with that the fact that it wasn’t just enough for him to be kinky in bed, even though he thought it was enough back then.
Now, he knew better. He was a Dominant.
It was who he was, not just something he did.
It wasn’t fair to Kimbra.
With Holly, he had a chance at having nearly everything he wanted. Older and wiser, yes, he understood kids might not be an option, especially with her health. He wasn’t getting any younger, either.
But the rest of it…all of it.
That could be them.
The Dominant could protect and love her, and the sadist could have some fun, too.
Maybe the kindest thing Kimbra had ever done was to divorce him. Otherwise, he’d have never met Holly.
It was nearly eleven when Holly finally texted him good morning.
He opted to call her back instead of texting. “How are you feeling today?”
“Not bad.” She didn’t sound too bad, either. “I’d still like to go tonight.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me, too.”
After chatting a few more minutes, she got off the phone. He wa
s about to head to the shower when the phone rang again.
Kimbra. “Yeesss?”
“Incoming, Fingers. ETA fifteen.”
He silently groaned. “What?”
“That kid from last week? Charlie Hensley?”
“Yeah?”
“We might need to hold his momma back from skinning him alive. He’s in custody. Again. This time, with charges against him.”
Walt rubbed at his forehead. “How long’s this going to take?”
“Not long. Be ready.” She hung up.
He headed for the shower and was still pulling his shoes on when she pulled into his driveway and honked the horn.
He remembered to leave his pocketknife on the kitchen counter as he headed out.
Kimbra did not look amused. “Sorry about this.” She backed out of the driveway while he was still buckling his seat belt.
“FYI, I’m supposed to pick up Holly for dinner later. So if this runs too late, I’m going to have to bail on you.” He texted Holly to let her know what was going on, and to tell her he’d call her as soon as they were done.
“Naw, it’ll just be a couple of hours at the most. Same detectives were brought in. They called me directly so I could get you.”
“Don’t they have a weekend interpreter?”
“They do, but I suspect as mad as the mom sounded in texts when she got ahold of me that we’re going to need your special…talents to keep her from killing the kid.”
“You’re telling me you want me to go Dom on a juvenile suspect’s mother?”
“If necessary. I don’t need Louise ending up in jail for threatening the kid or the cops or whatever. She is beyond pissed off. You’ve already dealt with her once. You have a rapport with her.”
“Okay. It’s your dime.”
This time, Charlie sat wearing handcuffs chained to the interview room table, and the mother was angrily signing at him non-stop when Kimbra and Walt were led in after Kimbra had talked to the detectives.
“I need some time alone with my client,” Kimbra told the cops.
“And can he at least have one hand uncuffed?” Walt asked. “How’s he supposed to talk like that?”
One of the detectives nodded to the guard. “Go ahead and uncuff him.”
When it was just Walt and Kimbra with Louise and Charlie Hensley, Kimbra started talking, Walt interpreting as she questioned the kid. The mother kept angrily interjecting, yelling at her son, which Walt also interpreted for Kimbra.
Finally, Kimbra held up her hands to the woman in a placating gesture. “Momma, I know you’re upset with him, but please let me do my job and see what I can do to help him.”
The woman backhanded Charlie’s shoulder, but nodded and sat back, glaring at him.
“I didn’t know they stole the car,” Walt interpreted. “I swear I didn’t. Mom had to work and they asked if I wanted to go out. I thought it belonged to someone’s parents.”
“These are different kids than the last bunch?” Kimbra asked.
Charlie nodded.
“You really need to pick a better group of friends,” Kimbra said. “You know that?”
“One of them is the brother of a guy I go to school with. He knows ASL. There’s not a lot of kids in my school who sign.”
“I’m going to warn you right now that you’re going to have to testify against those kids if you want to avoid jail time. I might not be able to plea this down anyway. This is the second time in a week you’re supposedly innocent but hanging out with kids who aren’t. How many times you think the cops are going to believe you, huh?”
Louise Hensley backhanded his shoulder again, the kid leaning away from her. She grabbed his shirt, hauled him upright, and angrily started signing at him.
Kimbra once again interrupted. “Momma, please.”
Louise sat back, her gaze shooting daggers at her son.
Walt took over with the mother. “Ma’am, you won’t help your son if you lose your composure,” he signed as he spoke. “We can’t help your son unless you remain calm. If you can’t do that, then you’ll have to leave the room while Kimbra talks with him.”
That seemed to get through to her. She deflated, finally nodding and sitting back, crossing her arms over her chest as she observed.
Unfortunately for Charlie Hensley, he would have to face arraignment. Luckily for him, the detectives were in a charitable mood and let Kimbra talk them into a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony against the other kids, which a prosecutor agreed to.
It was after four o’clock when they got out of there, and Walt called Holly as soon as they were back in Kimbra’s car. “Kimbra’s taking me home now. How are you feeling?”
“I’m still doing okay. I took it easy today, like you suggested. Do you still feel like going out, though?”
“Absolutely.”
“So what happened?”
He filled her in as generically as he could without breaking confidentiality. When he finally got off the phone with Holly, he noticed Kimbra wore a knowing smirk.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothin’. You got it so bad for her, it’s absolutely adorable. You know that?”
“No offense, but there might be times I have to tell you no to my services if I’m with her.”
“I get it, Fingers, don’t worry.” She didn’t speak for a moment. “I’m really happy for you, Walt. Seriously.”
Her tone made him look. She was focused on the road, and her sunglasses hid her gaze from him. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I am. I just want you to know that
“Thanks for putting up with me for all these years.”
“I knew you’d eventually find yourself your Ms. Right. You just needed to open your eyes and actually start lookin’ for her.”
Chapter Sixteen
Excitement.
It was hard to label the emotion, since it’d been so damn long since she’d actually felt it.
Holly had packed an overnight bag, including remembering to grab the TENS unit and Walt’s violet wand kit.
Hopefully both items would be part of their play this weekend.
When he arrived, he’d already made it to the front door before she’d even realized he was there. She opened the door, rising up to kiss him hello.
“You’re like a ninja Dom.”
“I didn’t want you carrying your stuff. Where is it?”
“On the couch. Am I dressed all right?” She’d decided to wear the same sundress she’d worn last week.
“You look great, sweetheart.” He kissed her again. “And that’s a rule, by the way.”
“What?”
“You don’t carry things if I’m around, all right?”
“Why?”
“Because that’s my job. I don’t want you carrying things and hurting yourself.”
It sounded silly, but from the intense expression in his eyes, she could tell it meant something to him. “Okay. Yes, Sir.”
“That’s my good girl.”
A pleasant shiver rippled through her body.
Yeah, she liked it when he said that.
Maybe it was stupid, but it felt good to have someone to lean on. Someone she was scary-fast coming to rely on in many ways.
After years alone and slogging through life on her own, it was a nicely unexpected complication to have.
On the way to dinner, he drove with one hand resting palm-up on her thigh so that she could lay her hand in his.
Another thing that amazed her, that he took great pains to be careful with her, to shield her from unintentional pain.
In a life full of pain, he was quickly becoming her buffer.
She liked it.
Shoving the other “L” word out of her brain for now, she decided she’d let this weekend happen however it happened. She was an adult and deserved this, dammit.
Dani and Todd weren’t at Sigalo’s, but Coop and Hunter had come out. She’d hoped to talk to Dani about her fibro. Everyone was
different, but maybe she could pick up some tips from her.
They ended up sitting next to the couple anyway, and Walt was the one to start the conversation with the men.
“How’s Dani doing?”
“She’s in pain tonight,” Coop told them. “Todd volunteered to stay home and take care of her.”
“While we’re here,” Walt said, glancing in Holly’s direction, “I wanted to pick your brain for ideas about Holly’s fibro pain.”
“To help relieve it?” Coop asked.
“Yeah.”
“TENS unit, cupping, and spankings.” Coop grinned. “And forced orgasm play. The last doesn’t completely take away Dani’s pain, but it sure takes her mind off it for a while.”
Hunter laughed. “True story.”
“I don’t know if spankings are going to be on Holly’s menu,” Walt said, looking her way again. “I think her pain levels are different.”
“Keep something in mind,” Hunter said. “Dani was a dancer. She was used to going hard every day. Different situation. What works for her might not work for someone else. But we’ve also found some over-the-counter supplements that seem to help her.”
Walt pulled out his phone and started taking notes as they listed them.
Holly watched all of this, amused beyond belief. Here was a man she’d known a relatively short time, who was already actively vested in trying to help her.
The sudden prickle of tears stinging her eyes surprised her. She had to take off her glasses and wipe at her eyes.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Walt asked.
She nodded.
“What’s wrong?”
The laugh escaped her as she slid her glasses back into place. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just…adjusting.”
He leaned in, nuzzling his lips along the shell of her ear. “Adjusting to having someone take care of you?”
Now her clit was starting to throb. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered.
“Just remember my promise to you about the first time I get you in bed.” He pressed a kiss against her cheek and sat back, smiling.
Now her clit screamed.
How could she forget that?
* * * *
Walt fought and barely won the battle not to sit there and giggle like a maniac. He already had Holly mentally off balance, which was exactly what he wanted. No, he couldn’t just throw her over his lap and spank her like Coop could with Dani.