“Baby, I will always forgive you. I may get mad, but I’ll never hurt you, and I’ll never leave you. You are my life, my love, my woman. Now rest,” he told her, pulling her closer.
Rachel snuggled closer to Craig. She’d really said it out loud. “I do love him,” she thought. It didn’t matter that he didn’t acknowledge it or react. She had still said it and she did, she did love him. She’d loved him for a long time, she realized.
Pushing back from him so that she could look in his eyes, she smiled and said, “Craig, I love you.”
Smiling back at her, he told her, “I love you too, baby,” and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. Pulling her close to him, he pulled a light blanket over them, and they slept through the night.
Chapter Twenty
Waking the next morning, it was back to reality. Craig had to tell Rachel what Evan had discovered about the cleaning lady and what they had heard happened at the motel.
Her car had been trashed and set on fire. They had also found a body in her car. At first, the police had thought it was Rachel, but when the man they had sent after her car explained, they figured out it was the receptionist from the motel.
Someone had destroyed the room Rachel stayed in, and there was blood everywhere. That blood also belonged to the receptionist. The police didn’t have any leads, but both Craig and Evan suspected Mike Hawkins. The man was more dangerous than they had figured.
Craig sat Rachel down after brea
kfast and explained everything to her. At first, she was in shock. “Do you really think it was him?” she asked in a small voice.
“We don’t know for sure, but since so much violence was centered on your room and your car, I don’t see how it could have just been a random act. Don’t ever do anything that stupid again!” Craig was yelling by the time he finished. Not how he had wanted to deal with this, but he had been so scared for her.
“That poor girl was killed because of me. If I hadn’t been there, she would be fine. This is all my fault.” Rachel was sobbing.
“Rachel, none of this was your fault. You are not responsible for the actions of another person. If it was Hawkins, he did this on his own, not because of anything you did. I don’t want you to feel guilty about this,” he said pulling her into his arms for a tight embrace. “Now, we need to talk about the consequences to your actions the other night.”
Sitting on his lap, she took her bottom lip between her teeth, and said, “Oh,” quietly.
Using his thumb, he pulled her lip away from her teeth and told her, “Lamb, you know I won’t hurt you.”
“Yes, but I know what I did was wrong, and I’m a little scared,” she told him honestly.
“Love, I don’t want you to be scared, so I’m going to tell you what is going to happen. I wouldn’t normally tell you, but because of your history, I’m afraid of triggering a response, and I want you to be somewhat prepared.”
“And the anticipation of what was going to happen wouldn’t hurt either,” he thought.
“We are going to do a public scene in the club Friday night. I put us on the schedule and have reserved one of the main alcoves. I won’t tell you how many you’ll get, but I’ll be using a flogger, a paddle, and my single tail. Do you think you can handle all of that?” He wasn’t going to tell her everything, he wanted to keep part of the scene as a surprise.
Rachel swallowed and took a deep breath. “Yes, Master,” she answered with a hint of trepidation in her voice, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth again.
“You’ll do fine, and you can always use your safe word if it becomes too much,” he told her, pulling her lip free and rubbing his thumb back and forth over it.
“Yeah, I can use my safe word and look like a fool in front of the whole club. First public scene I’ve done in ages, and I chicken out of it? I don’t think so. No matter what, I will do this,” Rachel thought to herself.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next few days passed quickly, and Rachel’s trepidation grew. Her biggest worry was how she would react to the whip. They hadn’t practiced, and she was afraid that it would trigger memories from her past. She wished she could talk to Tina, but the woman was still out of town and no one had heard from her.
Taking a chance that maybe Tina was back and had been too busy to call her, Rachel decided to call Margaret again.
“No, Ms. Greene, I haven’t heard from Dr. Springs, but she isn’t scheduled to check in for another few days. I will give her all your messages when I hear from her. Have a nice weekend, dear.”
Rachel thanked the woman and disconnected the call. Something still bothered her, but Margaret seemed to be her normal self, so Rachel blew it off.
That night was the night Craig had scheduled them for the club. He took her shopping that afternoon for a new outfit to wear.
Shopping with Craig was a blast. He followed her into the dressing rooms and made sure everything fit to his satisfaction. He played with her constantly, and she was so aroused by the time they got back to the club that she was whimpering with need. Just where he wanted her.
When she whined, cried, and demanded release, all Craig said was, “All the better for tonight, my love. Patience, and you will get what you’re asking for.”