Michaels, Skye - Paula's Commitment [Le Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  “Please, Sir! Don’t beat me again. The cat really broke the vase,” she cried piteously. His hand came down smartly on her raised bare bottom, eliciting a surprised squeal of protest. Several more sharp slaps to her now stinging butt followed before he pulled her into his arms for a sensual kiss that rocked her to her core. His tongue invaded her mouth as she pretended to struggle against him. His hands palmed her cheeks as he gently squeezed her bottom.

  “On your knees on the bed, little maid, for the rest of your punishment. No coming until I give you permission. If you do, you’ll get another spanking.” When she was in position with her butt up in the air, he stepped in behind her. He released his rigid length from the confines of his tight jeans and rammed into her with hard, sure strokes as she whimpered her acceptance. He let her body accommodate itself to his length and girth for a moment. When he knew she was ready for him, he began to thrust hard and fast into her willing pussy until they were both ready to explode. He thumbed her little pleasure button until he had her begging for release. When he knew she could hold back no longer, he said, “Okay, come now, FiFi.”

  * * * *

  When the orgasm that had been on the cusp rolled through them, they fell to the bed, weak with release, completely sated, and totally relaxed. He rolled over and pulled her into his arms for a satisfying hug and a deep kiss. When they surfaced, she said, “FiFi? Is that the best you could do, Devereau? You didn’t give me much to work with.” She laughed at his chagrined look.

  “Come on, it was the best I could come up with on short notice. Would you have rather been Marie Antoinette or Madeleine? Okay, I admit FiFi was a little tacky.” He laughed at himself. They really had fun together, and he totally enjoyed her company—not to mention the great sex. He knew his feelings for her had ripened into more than that, a lot more. In fact, he knew that he not only loved her, but he also really admired her strength of character and courage. She had had to deal with breast cancer on her own, overcome her fears, and make a new life for herself. She had a lot of heart, and he knew he wanted it for his own. He was glad that they had the “I love you” conversation before they left on this trip. He hadn’t been quite ready to say the words, but he knew that she needed to hear them, and what the hell, it was how he felt. Jamie was not one to hold back his feelings. He gave of his emotions freely and generously.

  “I think we have time for a quick rerun,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her on top of him and settled her on his shaft, which was once again hard as steel. He supported her back and held her steady as he began to pump up into her. When she got her bearings, she took control. Rotating her groin and plunging against his cock, she rode him to another very satisfying completion for them both before she collapsed on his chest.

  “Okay...I forgive you for FiFi! That was exquisite. Let me get my breath, and then I really do have to get back to the office. The staff here is going to figure out pretty quickly that they can take advantage of the temporary regime change. I really don’t see myself whipping staff asses. ‘Gregory the Terrible’ and I have slightly different management styles.”

  He rolled her under him, kissed her soundly, and jumped up off the bed. “Okay, FiFi. I’ll see you for dinner back at my town house tonight. I have some things to do at my office this afternoon. Do you want to plan on spending the weekend at the plantation? I think you should see it, and Justin wants me to put in an appearance to keep the staff there on their toes as well.”

  “That sounds perfect. Is there anything I can pick up on the way home?” she asked.

  “No. Just bring your sweet little ass home. See you later. You can shower in here, or Greg’s office has a private bathroom with a shower as I’m sure you noticed,” he said with a wink as he let himself out of the room.

  * * * *

  When she got back to the office, she placed a call to “Gregory the Terrible” at the club in Ocala. After exchanging pleasantries, she explained to him that she had heard about the Paggette incident. He apologized and said, “I’ve already taken care of it, Anne. We shouldn’t have any more problems along those lines, at least I hope not. Tasha’s style is not exactly ‘business school approved.’” She could imagine the embarrassed grin on his face. “Just don’t be too lenient up there, or I’ll have the same problem when we get back.”

  “I’ll do my best to keep them all under control, Greg, but I draw the line at beating them,” she said with a smile. “I’ll leave that up to you guys when you get back.”

  Chapter Six

  On Wednesday, Paula and Calleigh were enjoying a quiet cup of tea in Calleigh’s new home office and studio, which was in a converted barn at the new farm, while the baby slept in a cradle next to the desk. Calleigh was working on the plans for Max Warwick’s new residence at Devereau Plantation South. It was Emily Rose’s second day at home. She had been doing so well at the hospital that they had come home a day early.

  “I wish she would wake up so I could hold her,” Paula said wistfully.

  “Bite your tongue! Any time she’s asleep I’m grateful. Who knew this would be so exhausting? If she’s not hungry and crying, she’s wet and crying. I have to say, though, that Jason has been great about ‘poopie diapers.’ He hasn’t balked at all. I was really surprised. I can see that Emily Rose is really going to be Daddy’s girl. The breast-feeding is going well, too. I’m planning to pump and store breast milk so I can go back to work at my office, probably sometime next month, at least part time. I can do a lot here, but sometimes I just need to be in the office. Jason’s paralegal, Barbara, is preinterviewing nannies for me, so I’ll only have to pick from a few prequalified and background-checked candidates.”

  “Well, that should be a help anyway. Things will settle down when you all get on a schedule and get a routine going,” Paula said confidently. “This is really so exciting. She is some beautiful baby, said her doting Auntie Paula, who can’t wait to go out and buy cute little outfits!”

  “That she is. And she’s very sweet…when she’s not screaming. Well, tell me. Do you miss Trent? Have you heard from him yet? How’s all that going?”

  “About that...I’m thinking about...well I have pretty much decided... to break up with Trent and return his collar,” she finally spit out. At Calleigh’s gasp, she continued. “Cal, I love him, but I don’t think he loves me. It’s pretty simple. On my side it’s just self-preservation. We’ve been together almost a year and a half, and I’m still not sure how he feels about me. He told me Saturday that he ‘really cares’ about me. After a year and a half, if that’s not a dead giveaway that things are not as they should be, I don’t know what is. Anyway, I’m still thinking about it, but I’m really leaning in that direction. I have a really tough decision to make.”

  “Paula, I’m sorry to hear that. I think you make a great couple. I’d like to kick his butt.”

  “Says my dear and loyal friend. I’d like to kick his butt, too. And just maybe I will. But you can’t make someone love you if they don’t, no matter how much you wish you could,” she said wistfully. “On a more interesting note, I got the scoop from one of the dungeon monitors from last Saturday. Apparently, ‘Gregory the Terrible’—we really shouldn’t call him that, it might slip out at an inopportune time—was ‘disciplining’ Natasha because she beat the butt of that really cute sub pool boy, Steve Paggette. She caught him sleeping behind the cabana or something. Greg had told her not to do that here, although she probably does it all the time in New Orleans. I can’t imagine. That place must be something else. Anyway, they have one of those more extreme relationships.”

  “That’s an understatement.” Leaning back, Calleigh admired her sketches. “I think this little Tuscan cottage for Max is going to be just gorgeous. You’re going to love the kitchen,” Calleigh said with a sigh. “I wish I had the time to design one just like it for myself. Maybe when things settle down.”

  Chapter Seven

  On Thursday, Trent walked into the state-of-the-art mobile medical unit of th
e Organization of Doctors for the Poor in Manta, Ecuador. It was to be his first meeting with the separation and reconstruction teams for the conjoined twins operation. He was anxious to review the twins’ medical records and hear what the other team members had to say. The twins were conjoined at the chest and abdomen but had completely independent organs and limbs. Two-year-old Maria Christina and Maria Teresa Garcia had been abandoned by their family at a church immediately after their births. Obviously, the horror of their conjoined status was too much for their family to deal with. Their last name had been supplied by the state agency, but their first names had been pinned to the blankets covering them when they were found in the church. No information was available on their family, and the twins had been in state care since their discovery.

  The head of the team, Dr. Jorge Gonzalez, had expressed his gratitude for the help of the international agency and the doctors who had made the trip from the North to participate in this operation. Dr. Gonzalez had separated two other sets of twins during his career, one successfully and one unsuccessfully. The outcome was never guaranteed in a situation such as this. Either one or both of the twins could be lost during the procedure. The operations were incredibly complex, requiring as much surgical work in the reconstruction of the two small bodies as was required in the separation.

  At the meeting, after all of the team members had an opportunity to review the medical records and various X-rays and scans, it was determined that the surgery would commence the following morning at 6:00 a.m. The team members were advised to get a good night’s rest as the schedule would be rigorous and the day extremely long.

  Trent had known Jorge Gonzalez for several years, having been a regular contributor of his time and money to the organization. “Trent, it’s good to see you. I’m glad you could make it. I don’t think your specialty will be required, but it is always good to have another pair of skilled hands available.”

  “I’m glad to be here, Jorge, and I’ll pitch in wherever I’m needed. I’d like to see the twins this afternoon, if possible. I take it they are at the hospital being prepped,” Trent said, smiling.

  “Yes, they are here. I was going to make a visit to the pediatric unit to see them myself this afternoon if you would care to accompany me.”

  “Absolutely. It would seem that you’ve put together an exceptional team. I have every confidence this is going to go well.”

  The twins held court at the hospital pediatric unit. They lay in their crib face to face and seemed to be interacting with each other and the nursing staff in a normal manner. Maria Christina was a smiling charmer with dark, espresso-colored hair and enormous eyes. Maria Teresa had a more solemn, watchful expression in her black eyes, as though she had to take care of her more frivolous sister, and she did not know what pitfalls the world held. They were cute as buttons! Trent’s heart opened to them immediately. Dr. Gonzalez and the nursing staff were quite adept at handling them, even though it was a little awkward. Trent didn’t try to pick them up, but he ruffled their hair and held both their little hands in his large, competent ones for a moment.

  The next morning, promptly at 6:00 a.m., the separation surgery began. It was tedious, meticulous work to separate the two small bodies. The separation procedure took about five hours, at which time each twin was moved to a separate operating room for the reconstruction phase. While Trent’s specialty was not called for during the surgery, the team made use of his talented hands at every opportunity. After another five hours of surgery on each separate twin, the team made the announcement that the operations had been a success. The twins, who were sedated, unconscious, and on ventilators, were stable and doing well. They were expected to be hospitalized for about two weeks, including about a week in intensive care, after which they would be transferred to a facility for additional recuperation. More plastic surgery might be needed in the future, but the twins could be expected to make full recoveries and live normal lives. Dr. Gonzalez thanked the international team of twenty doctors and medical professionals for their generous assistance.

  Over the next week Trent performed several heart surgeries, both in Ecuador and in Honduras, traveling between the two countries by jet. Nevertheless, he made time to visit with the twins in the pediatric unit of the hospital. As they began to feel better, their lively little personalities really began to shine. Maria Christina was an outrageous flirt, quickly wrapping Trent around her little finger, while Maria Teresa maintained her watchful demeanor. She was not as quick to be won over, but before long she, too, was cuddled in Trent’s lap for stories and picture books read in Spanish, a language in which Trent could squeak by but was not fluent. He took lots of pictures of the kids and e-mailed them back home to Paula and his friends with accounts of their antics. They were rapidly gaining a fan club at home in Ocala as well.

  Watching the interplay between Trent and the twins, Dr. Gonzalez shook his head. “If I did not know better, I would think you were a papa yourself,” he said with a smile.

  “Nope, not yet, but it is something I have been considering lately.” He grinned. He had occasionally had visions of himself and Paula with a couple of kids. “Jorge, what do you think the chances are of the government allowing me to take the twins home to Ocala to recuperate? From what I understand, they don’t have any family that has stepped up to claim them, and they may well need additional post-separation procedures as well as more plastic surgery as they grow.”

  “Trent, my friend, did you have something permanent in mind? If so, I can tell you that I would put the full force of my considerable influence behind any adoption proceedings. You know that they will need to be placed with a family that could shoulder the considerable financial and emotional burden their continuing care would bring. If you want to make only temporary arrangements for them, I would support you in that as well, as I know they would get the best of care with you, but I think you should consider that carefully. You might find yourself in love with them but without having any legal rights.”

  “Jorge, let me talk with my friends at home before I make any formal request. But I have to say, my heart is already engaged.” The little ones had wormed their way into his big, soft heart, and the thought of leaving them in state care was totally unacceptable to him.

  That night Trent spent several hours on the phone with Jason Steele, Justin Devereau, and Paula.

  Jason said he would start making contact with the officials in Ecuador regarding temporary custody of the twins and possible permanent adoption proceedings. Justin Devereau assured him that he could count on the Devereau jet to bring them home when they were ready to make the trip and any help he needed in getting accommodations prepared for them. Trent’s large house in the historic district was currently a bachelor pad, but Paula assured him that it could quickly be made child friendly.

  Trent hoped that the possible addition of two little ones to his family would not put a strain on his relationship with Paula. He had not been ready to make an actual commitment to her before he left Ocala, even though that was where his feelings were leading him. They had never discussed getting married or having children. He was beginning to realize that what he wanted was Paula and a family of his own, starting with these two little banditos who had stolen his heart.

  * * * *

  Paula was flabbergasted of course. Twins? Two-year-old ones that spoke no English? She was way out of her league as far as she was concerned. Although the pictures she had seen of them were absolutely adorable, she didn’t know if she could afford to allow herself to get too emotionally involved given the condition of her current relationship with Trent. But she knew herself. As soon as she got her hands on them, she would fall in love. She didn’t have the heart to hit Trent with her decision to end their relationship over the phone and under these circumstances, but it seemed he was somewhat more astute than she had expected. He heard something in her voice, in what she said, or what she didn’t say.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” he asked with a hint of anxiety in
his voice. “I know this is sudden, but I’m going to need to rely on your help with this little project. The kids will need a lot of attention and love—not to mention stuff. I’m sure you’re going to be crazy about them.”

  “Nothing is wrong, Trent. As you say, this is sudden and a lot to absorb,” she said, sidestepping the issue. Splitting up with Trent had been constantly on her mind, and she knew she was going to have to be tough to make herself follow through, especially now with two little kids thrown into the mix! “Can you start inquiries for a bilingual nanny and consult with Calleigh on some renovations to my house. I need to get all that started as soon as possible. Jason is going to be contacting the Ecuadoran Embassy regarding temporary custody and possible adoption proceedings. I’m also going to need to buy a lot of ‘kid’ stuff. Calleigh will certainly be up on that aspect.”

  “As a matter of fact, Jason’s paralegal has been scouting for a nanny for Emily Rose, and perhaps she can help me out with some preliminary work on that. I am sure Calleigh can get started on some renovations at your house, and the girls will all help me with the shopping. We can get this whole project rolling as soon as you give the word.”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I have something definitive from the Ecuadoran officials. You don’t know how much I appreciate your support on this, baby. It means the world to me.”