Page 138 of A Very Naughty Christmas

“No, you don’t,” she sighed.

“I know you are the kindest nurse on our staff… always taking extra time with our patients when they’re upset or nervous. I know you really don’t like coffee and prefer chai tea, I know you eat way too much mayonnaise on your sandwiches and drink far too much soda. I know you lost your parents to a car accident when you were nineteen,” he told her with compassion lighting his gaze.

Tears filled her eyes. “I was so lost without them; my grandparents were already gone and I didn’t have any other family. I’ve been on my own a long time.”

“You aren’t alone anymore. I’m your family,” Derek told her, kissing the tip of her nose again.

Kendra shook her head. “How can you possibly know at this point you want to keep me?”

“Baby, I’ve wanted to make you mine since I met you. Every day just adds depth to that certainty. You’re a special woman, Kendra Jacoby.”

“But I’m not really,” she said, worried about the day he came to that realization himself.

“Do you need another spanking, young lady?” he asked sternly. Kendra felt her eyes go wide and she shook her head. “Then there will be no more putting yourself down. You are one of the kindest, most compassionate people I’ve ever met. You warm a room just by walking into it, then your smile lights it up. I know you, Kendra Jacoby.”

She felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes again as she stroked a hand across his cheek with a tremulous smile. “You see me for who I am and you still want me.”

“Absolutely! Feel better?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kendra said as he caught her hand then kissed her palm.

“Good. Now close your eyes and go to sleep like a good girl,” Derek said firmly and to her surprise she did exactly as she was told, closing her eyes with her head cradled on his chest and falling immediately asleep.

* * *

Derek studied the sleeping face of the woman in his arms and smiled. She wasexactly where he’d wanted her since the moment they’d met. He’d never forget the first time he saw her; she’d come in for an interview with him and the other doctors in the practice.

He’d been smitten from first sight, her wavy dark hair framing that little gamine face. Wide blue eyes, tip-tilted nose, and the dimple that winked in and out of sight in her left cheek when she grinned. Derek shook his head as he remembered; add that to her soft rounded body full of delicious curves he would never tire of exploring and he was lost from the word go.

He had been totally honest when she’d asked what was happening; he’d just left out the part about being ready to book the church. Kendra would do a runner on him if she realized as far as he was concerned they were a done deal.

He could see she was a little dazed and unsure about their D/s play; Kendra was clearly submissive but had never been introduced to that side of herself. Derek was a dom in his personal life; he wanted to collar her and make her his submissive as well as his wife.

He would love her to distraction, pamper her, and discipline her when she needed it. He felt certain a part of her understood her need for correction, given the way she’d submitted so beautifully.

Too bad that didn’t necessarily mean she would accept that facet of her personality.

He would have to woo her slowly into the lifestyle; he knew it would be a good fit for them both. In his mind she was already his… he just had to convince her.

Chapter Five

Kendra stretched luxuriously, giving a little kittenish grunt of pleasure as she lengthened her body on the couch. She smiled as she turned to sit up, then yelped as her sit spots came in contact with the couch.

She stood immediately and ruefully rubbed her tender bottom, surprised to find it still a little warm to the touch. That man had a hard hand!

She grinned as she walked toward the office door; obviously Dr. Studly had gotten up already. He was probably rummaging for more food; he clearly wasn’t one for skipping meals.

Kendra couldn’t believe how rested she felt. She’d slept part of the night and most of the day away, given the height of the sun on the horizon. It had to be after one o’clock in the afternoon.

She wandered naked around the clinic not finding Derek; with a frown she finally opened the door to the waiting room, not registering till it was open that she was hearing two voices.

When Derek and the policeman he was talking to turned to face the opening door, she remembered her nudity at the same time that the men reacted to it. Derek frowned and moved to stand between her and the policeman, whose eyebrows had shot so far up they were inside his hairline.

Once the entire situation registered, Kendra gave a yip of embarrassment and slammed the door closed before scurrying down the hall to find some extra scrubs. She had no idea where her bra and panties were.

She found a spare pair in the staff locker room and pulled them quickly on over her naked form. She looked critically at herself in the mirror; if she hunched her shoulders a little, her braless state wasn’t that obvious and you couldn’t tell she was commando.

With a deep breath she squared her shoulders and walked back toward the waiting room, then remembered to hunch her shoulders as she opened the door.

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