Page 6 of James

After a pause to calm herself, at least a little, she asked, “Are we done?”

“No.”

“What is there left to say?”

“That’s up to you, honey.”

A mix of frustration and disappointment welled up within her. She had let her guard down, allowing herself to be vulnerable in his presence, and for a moment, sure, it had been just like something from her books. But if shelooked at it another way, what had she really done? Showed a man whose name she’d known less than an hour her almost naked ass and let him spank it solely because he knew who Cherise Sinclair was. Now she was going to have to find a new laundromat because she’d never be able to look him in the eye again and that meant walking four more blocks out of her way in the summer heat and the winter cold, and why,whyhad she done it?

It was the weather, she decided, listening to the storm fill up the stifling silence in the storage room. Crazy weather made people do crazy things, but the crazy had passed, even if the storm hadn’t. Laura crossed her arms over her chest, a shield against further emotional damage. She felt the familiar urge to retreat into the safety of her guarded world, but his silence was deafening and she had to risk a peek.

One look at him made her wish the tornado would tear off the roof and sweep her away. It wasn’t anger she saw in his unflinching brown eyes. She knew how to take anger. But not this. No, he wasn’t going to yell at her. He was just going to wait.Oh, Lord!

CHAPTER FOUR

Laura huddled against the shelves, wishing the room was big enough to let her pace. She wasn’t a pacer, but she had to do something with all this nervous energy so she could think. She felt so confused. What was wrong with her? Wait, why was she blaming herself? He was the one who’d spanked her! But only after she went willingly over his knee. He didn’t use his strength to overpower her and he easily could have, if that was his goal. But on the other hand, he didn’t stop spanking her when she asked him to stop. Although… she’d said ‘stop,’ not ‘red’. And she couldn’t pretend she’d forgotten it in the heat of the moment. It was her safeword, and it had been burning in her mind throughout the spanking, but she’d never said it.

He probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. She closed her eyes, shutting out the sight of James watching her so patiently while she mentally maligned him. Of course he would have listened. He knew the lifestyle, at least well enough to call it the lifestyle in that easy manner. And if he had nothing else, the man had self-control. Jake had no such discipline. He had a hair-trigger temper and she had been his favorite target.

James hadn’t been angry, even when she’d given him reasons. If she had to put a label on it, she would say he was concerned. After her initial outraged reaction to his first threat of a spanking, he’d backed off at once, explaining he thought she was into the lifestyle… and it was only after she didn’t tell him off for that assumption that he’d brought it up again, given her a safeword and made sure she understood what it was. Let her put herself over his lap. And when she had broken down and begged him to stop… well, he hadn’t, but hehadpaused. Had he been waiting for her to use her safeword?

She opened her eyes and studied him. He watched her with nothing predatory or frightening in his demeanor. He remained seated with his arms resting on his knees and his hands open, relaxed, patiently waiting for her to come to terms with what had happened between the two of them.

She was beginning to feel a little silly, but she still needed to think about this. He’d spanked her, how did she feelabout that? It had hurt, but not more than she could bear. She felt embarrassed about being over his knee. He had treated her like a disobedient child, but she hadn’t been acting like a responsible adult, had she? She had kind of deserved it and he had stopped as soon as she had been repentant. He comforted her right away and that had felt really good until her brain kicked in.

She made eye contact with him again. “I’m sorry,” she said and he gave her a smile that bolstered her confidence. “I guess I freaked out for a minute.”

He studied her face, his eyes piercing hers. “Are you all right now?”

She nodded.

He opened his arms, and she went willingly into his embrace. For a long moment, they sat there. A hyper-awareness of James and his subtle movements came over Laura. Some of the burdens lifted from her chest, and warmth spread through her body as the comfort of being held settled her mind.

The wind was still howling outside. The tornado had passed, but the thunderstorm still raged. A tiredness that was fulfilling rather than exhausting took over her limbs.

James cleared his throat and asked in a low tone, “Can you tell me a bit more about your ex? Jake is his name?”

“Please, no.” She shuddered and struggled to take a deep breath. “I don’t want him in here with us. I worked so hard at forgetting him. It was difficult getting over the things he did and said.”

Unfortunately, even though she didn’t have to talk about Jake, it didn’t keep the past out of her head. Just mentioning his name brought it all back. Her body tensed as the memories cascaded through her mind. He had seemed so sweet when they were dating. Attentive, very much involved in her life, protective, even a bit possessive in a manly way, and on those rare occasions that they quarreled, well, he might get a little mean in the moment, but afterwards, he was so sorry, showering her with gifts and praise. Yes, he did rush the relationship, but he justifiably pointed out that she wasn’t getting any younger and with looks like hers, she couldn’t really afford to be choosy, could she? Then, after the first year of marriage, he became angrier and angrier and routinely took his feelings out on Laura. First, in words, and later with his fists.

Laura worried her bottom lip and James caressedher cheek and pressed her head to his chest. She sighed contently, as he stroked her back.

“Okay, honey,” he relented. “I hope you’ll feel safe enough to discuss him with me at some time later on. I would like to get to know you better. You said ex, so you’re divorced.”

She nodded. “Six years now.”

“Do you have kids?”

“No. He didn’t like children or the thought of sharing me with them. He was unhappy enough with the amount of time I spent with the rest of my family.”

He nodded, an act felt rather than seen. “Your family?”

She shifted to sit where she could look at his face, feeling much better and more animated as the subject veered away from Jake. “Yes, I have a younger sister and she has two children. Her husband died about 4 years ago. Pancreatic cancer. Suzie is great and I adore Tim and Abby. Every Saturday, they spend time with me. Lately, we’ve gone swimming a lot. They’re so much fun.” A bit of the light disappeared from her heart as she added, “Then there’s my dad. He’s alone now and he’s having trouble adjusting without Mom. Suzie and I visit and I cook some of his meals for him, but… Wait, am I boring you? Of course I’m boring you,” she said with a forced laugh. “Let’s talk about you.”

“You’re not boring me,” he said with a quiet intensity that brought the heat back to her face. And other places.

“Well, let’s talk about you anyway. My bottom knows you better than I do,” she joked. “Who is James Black?”

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