Authors: Jan Bowles
“So you like dimples and rough skin, eh?” He raised his brows.
“I’ve a confession to make. I had a crush on you when I was fourteen. I first fell for you when you rescued me from all the aspiring prom queens. They took great pleasure in making fun of the geeky girl and her oddball mother.” She smiled wistfully. “I used to dream about you every night. You were my knight in shining armor.”
“That’s real nice, honey.” He became serious, and his brows drew together. “The money you borrowed, Kat? Did you manage to pay it all back?”
“I’m managing.”
He lifted her chin and looked intently into her eyes. “If you need any help, just let me know. I can easily pay it off for you.”
She shook her head. “Like I said, I’ll sort it out myself. Besides, it reminds me of how stupid I’ve been. Talking of reminding, you haven’t yet answered my question.”
“Which is?”
“What was Angie like?”
He rubbed a hand over his face and into his hair. Kat would not let this go. “She’s tall, slim, and blonde.”
“She sounds very beautiful, Colt.”
“She was,
is
very beautiful,” he replied, knowing full well where the conversation was leading. He supposed he’d just have to go with it.
He guessed Kat must have thought his melancholy was a sign of regret because she said, “It sounds like you had the perfect relationship with her.”
“It’s not what you think. We’ll never get back together again, Kat. What we shared is finished for good.”
“But what happened? You both set the club up, and then you split, almost immediately after the doors opened to the public. Why?”
He closed his eyes tightly shut, trying to keep the memories at bay. “Leave it, Kat. Just leave it.”
Immediately she pulled away and sat bolt upright on the blanket. “Okay, but don’t expect me to reveal any more about myself. If you’re not up for it, then neither am I.” He could hear the irritation in her voice. He guessed Kat would always say it as it was.
He took a deep breath. “After I met Angie, we lived in Minnesota for a while. She had a good job as an air hostess, and we had a child together, a son. When Josh was two years old, he caught meningitis. He didn’t stand a chance. One minute he was a healthy toddler, the next he was in hospital fighting for his life on a respirator. When he died, both Angie and I fell apart. He was our world. He meant everything to us. I found it hard to accept he was dead. I just couldn’t discuss it. Not with the doctor and certainly not with Angie.
“It was as though my life ended that day. We tried to make a go of it. That’s why we came back to the ranch when my parents died. Angie thought if we set the club up it might take our minds off things. It did for a while. We were so busy we didn’t have time to think, but once everything was in place, it all came flooding back. The hurt and the accusations. We said a lot of hateful things to each other.”
He’d treated Angie coldly when he couldn’t cope himself. Instead of comforting her, he’d turned away.
“Angie needed me and I wasn’t there for her.”
“Oh, Colt, I’m so, so sorry.” Kat put her hand on his. “It’s not your fault. People grieve in different ways. We all cope the only way we know how. Sometimes our actions affect others more than we think. We make our decisions, and we have to live by them.” She squeezed his hand. “Do you have a picture?”
He nodded, and then dug into his jean pocket. He pulled out his wallet. In one of the panels was a photograph of his son. He tried not to look, but he couldn’t help glancing at the fair hair and cute, chubby face. “That’s Josh, he was my boy. My beautiful, beautiful boy.” His voice faltered as he handed it to her.
Kat’s fingers shook as she took the photo from him. She wiped a teardrop away with the back of her hand. “He’s beautiful.” Her eyes were huge as she blinked back the tears. She sniffed and breathed deeply as she gazed at the horizon. Her lips trembled. “I had a son, too. I had Bobby’s son. He died shortly after I gave birth to him, but at least I got to hold him in my arms first. That’s why I couldn’t come back home—Bobby raped me, and I was pregnant with his baby.” Silent tears ran down her cheeks and splashed onto the blanket. Kat just sat there cross-legged, not making a sound, just staring into the distance. He guessed there was a whole lot more to tell.
“Oh, Kat, I’m so sorry, baby.” Colt pulled her into his arms and held her tight. He didn’t want her to see the moisture in his own eyes. His lips sought hers, soothing, comforting, and giving. Their kiss felt bittersweet and tinged with sadness. Filled with might-have-beens and silent regrets, with missed opportunities and shattered dreams. He wrapped his legs around her and rolled her on top of him. Her tears quietly dripped onto his face. “Shh, baby. We’ll be fine. We’ve got each other now.”
He cupped her chin, kissing away her tears. One large tear plopped straight onto his cheek and trickled down his neck. When she eventually focused on him, she looked so sad.
“I’m so sorry about your little boy, Colt. He looked so beautiful.”
“He was. I’m sorry about your loss, too. What was his name?”
“I named him Ethan Tyler Masters. He was beautiful, too. He came about for all the wrong reasons, but I loved him like any mother would love their child. He was just perfect.”
Colt held her tightly to him, and she buried her head against his chest. His hand shook as he smoothed his fingers down her hair. Their lives may have been worlds apart, but they shared one fundamental thing. Colt gritted his teeth. They both knew what it was like to lose a child.
He was just about to speak when a long gray snout nudged his neck. Kat shrieked with laughter as both wolfhounds made their presence felt. Curiosity had got the better of them, and they’d come over to see what all the fuss was about.
Colt laughed, too, as much in relief as sadness. “Hey, boys, get lost, will you?” He looked at Kat and smiled. “I think they’re hungry. Guess we’ll have to make a move soon.”
She put a hand on his. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“Helping me to trust you. I’d never told anyone before.”
Chapter Ten
Saturday night was in full swing at Club Fusion. Occasionally, the steady beat of music would drift through to where Kat worked on reception. There was always something to attend to, coats to collect, and cabs to call. The complimentary business cards were looking a little depleted, and she leaned down to retrieve a fresh batch from the cupboard below her desk.
Aware that someone had walked up to reception, she called out, “Just a moment, and I’ll be right with you.” When she stood back up, her eyes widened as she came face to face with the law. She felt a little shell-shocked but tried not to let it show. “Sheriff Bunty, it’s been a long time, what can I do for you?” Kat remembered him well. When she’d been a young girl, he’d featured a lot in her life because he’d constantly been sniffing around her mother. She guessed she’d always known, even as a child, that Sheriff Bunty and her mother had been intimately involved. Twenty-five years ago, Sheriff Bunty had a young wife and two children of his own. She’d always had a low opinion of the local lawman.
His eyes scanned her from head to toe. Kat wore a low cut dress that displayed her breasts to good effect, and she couldn’t help noticing, Sheriff Bunty let his gaze linger a little longer than necessary on her exposed cleavage. “Kat, you’re right, it has been a long time. Almost eighteen years I reckon.” He lifted his hat from his head momentarily. “I’m real sorry to hear about your mother. She was a lovely, gentle lady.”
Kat nodded. “Yes, she was, but I didn’t see you at the funeral, Sheriff.”
“Public duties prevented it. I did send some flowers, wrote the card myself, too.”
Kat remembered the bouquet of flowers placed on her mother’s casket with the simple words,
You’ll be greatly missed, all my respect, Abe
. It was hardly a great send-off for someone who’d shared her mother’s bed for the best part of ten years.
“I heard you were working here,” he said after a long pause.
“That’s right,” she answered defensively. She’d never trusted the cops and least of all Sheriff Bunty. “There’s not a law against working here is there, Sheriff?”
“That depends on what you do here.” He looked smug as he studied her.
Aware that he’d just insulted her, she smiled sweetly. It wouldn’t do to sound off. “I don’t need to justify myself to you, Sheriff.”
“I’d just like to take a look around.”
“Why?”
“I’d like to see that everything is legal and aboveboard.” Colt had warned her that the potbellied lawman had been making a nuisance of himself. She figured, as Fairfax was a pretty law abiding town, the old guy just had time on his hands and most likely dropped in to Club Fusion on the off chance of seeing some young naked flesh.
“You got a warrant, Sheriff?” She knew the guests wouldn’t like a cop in uniform snooping around. Many of them did not want their real identity known, choosing to use pseudonyms instead. They certainly did not want their sexual preferences made public knowledge.
“Do I need one? This is just a friendly visit. Me and Colt go way back, honey.”
“Sorry, Sheriff, I’m under strict orders from Colt not to let anyone go into the club without his permission. I’m afraid our guests here at Club Fusion wouldn’t appreciate their evening being disturbed.”
The Sheriff looked impatient. “Perhaps, I should speak with your boss, honey. This is man business.”
Kat bristled at his sexist comment, but she didn’t take the bait. “He’s in the club. Wait here, while I get him.”
“Fine. You just run along and do that, sweetie. Tell Colt I want to speak to him, now.”
Kat turned abruptly from the lawman and walked away. She opened the door and strode into the bar area. Club Fusion had become even more popular in just the short time she’d worked here. Every week there’d be new customers coming through the doors. They wore anything from leather trousers to slave gear and chains.
Kat had done plenty of research in the past few weeks. She’d read nearly everything worth reading on the Internet. Some of it was not to her taste, but she had to admit it intrigued her. The idea that she’d allow Colt total control over her made her pussy go wet. The thought that he would be wholly responsible for her needs and basic desires had begun to consume her. Colt excited her like no other man. She wanted to be mastered and controlled by him. In truth, she had fallen in love with him. What better way to show that love than to give herself entirely to his care? There was just one nagging doubt. Did she trust him enough in order to let go completely? She’d stopped trusting men years ago when they’d taken advantage of her generous nature. So why should Colt be any different?
Maybe she’d approach him later and discuss her thoughts. Their relationship had developed recently. Since he’d told her about the loss of his own child a month ago, she’d slowly opened up to him. Little by little, she’d told him nearly everything. There were just a few things she’d left out. Like the money she still owed. It bugged her because she’d been paying back large chunks, but the debt didn’t seem to be getting any smaller. Still, it was her cross to bear. She’d made a mistake, and she had to live with it.
Colt wasn’t there when she scanned the bar area, so she entered Scandals nightclub. The place was certainly heating up. She found him in the seating area of the nightclub, talking to a couple. The woman wore a latex cat suit and the man just wore a leather thong. She guessed the woman was his Mistress. Kat was no shrinking violet, but it still took a bit of getting used to seeing grown men led around on chains by their Mistresses. Now that was why she was glad Colt was a Dom. He was a masculine male, through and through. He wanted to dominate her sexually and not the other way around. In her own mind, it was the natural order of things. Though, each to their own was her motto. It was just her sexual preference.
As she approached, Colt excused himself from the couple. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he strode over to her. “What is it?” he asked, clearly concerned by her sudden appearance.
She breathed in his distinctive masculine scent. Just his close presence made her look forward to when they would fuck again. He made every night special. Holding on to his arm, Kat whispered close to his ear. “Sheriff Bunty’s in reception. He wanted to take a look around, but I told him he couldn’t do that without a search warrant. I hope I did the right thing.”
Colt squeezed her shoulder. “You’re a star. What the fuck does that old asshole want this time? Tell him I’ll be there in two minutes.”
* * * *
“Sheriff Bunty, nice of you to drop in,” Colt said as he came through to reception. His irritation with Bunty was mounting daily, but he wouldn’t show it. He held out his hand. “Come, through, to my office, it’s a little quieter than out here.” He glanced at Kat. “If anyone needs me, tell them I’m otherwise indisposed.”
He guided the lawman into the room, and then closed the door. “So what can I do for you, Abe?” he asked as they both sat down.
The Sheriff removed his hat and smoothed his fingers over what little hair he had left. “The townsfolk are getting mighty vocal on what you’re running here, Colt.”
Colt relaxed in his chair. He hoped he gave the impression of not giving a fuck. “Just tell me what I have to do to get you off my back, Sheriff.”