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

  I’m sure it does. But what does it mean to me? Other than more heartbreak heaped on top of more heartbreak. Falling in love with a couple of kids on top of falling in love with you—it just may be more than this poor old heart can take.

  Chapter Eight

  With Jason’s help and Dr. Gonzalez’s recommendation, the temporary custody proceedings went quite smoothly and rapidly. Trent was given permission to relocate the twins to Ocala as soon as their medical conditions warranted.

  During their stay at the hospital in Manta, the press had been extremely interested in their plight, the surgery, and their aftercare. The twins, known locally as “Las Dos Pobrecitas,” had achieved a certain amount of celebrity status in the local press. The staff at the hospital was going to be sorry to see them leave, but they were all delighted that Dr. Trent was going to be taking them home. The affection between the handsome American doctor and the precocious twins was apparent for all to see. They climbed him like a tree, and he loved every minute of it. The soft-hearted nursing staff and local doctors were sure there would be a happy ending. Between medical procedures scheduled by the organization to take maximum advantage of Trent’s skills while he was available and time spent with the kids, he was constantly busy and tired. He spoke with Paula and his friends at home late at night.

  “Everything is almost ready here,” Paula told him. “I’ve had Calleigh design a nursery and playroom area on the first floor with a small bedroom for the nanny where the second parlor was. I am sure the twins will want to be in the same room, at least for a while,” she said. Trent was pleased that she showed more understanding of the situation than he would have expected of a single woman who had not shown any particular desire to be a mother to date. “Calleigh, Kelly, Robbie, and I have been shopping up a storm. I never knew kids needed so much stuff!”

  “Paula, I really appreciate your help. I couldn’t have gotten all this together without you and everyone one else there as well. I am hoping to be able to bring the kids home next week. I’ve arranged for a short stay for evaluation at the medical center in Gainesville, and then they will be coming home.”

  “That’s excellent, Trent. I’m sure everything will be ready by then.”

  “Do you think you could come down here and help me bring them home?” he asked in a tentative voice. He knew something was up, but he didn’t know what. She just didn’t sound right. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew there was definitely something wrong.

  * * * *

  Paula hesitated. “I’ll see if I can make arrangements to take a couple of days off,” she said, not sounding too enthusiastic. Okay, so there are two things we still have to do together—bringing these kids home next week and baby Emily Rose’s christening in a few weeks. I can get through this. She assured herself she could buck up and handle it.

  “Justin is going to bring us home in his jet. You can fly down with him, and we will all come home together,” he said hopefully.

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said. “Everything will be ready.” Everything but me. She was dreading the confrontation to come.

  Chapter Nine

  Since his return from his honeymoon and Jamie’s departure for New Orleans, Justin Devereau had been busy getting Jester back into shape for his first love, Yoseikan Bajutso, the Japanese martial art performed on horseback with a sword and bow, as well as scheduling practices for his new polo team.

  With the help of Max Warrick, his butler and property manager, he was also keeping tabs on Mark Taylor, the previously homeless fifteen-year-old young man that Jamie had befriended. As someone famous once said, “It takes a village,” and Justin had found that to be absolutely true. Although Jamie’s heart-to-heart session with Mark when he had first come to their attention at the farm had been very beneficial to Mark’s attitude and work ethic, it still took time and attention to keep a teenage boy on the right track. Jamie and Max had installed Mark and his mother in a staff cottage at the farm, and Mrs. Taylor’s job on the household staff was working out very well. Mark had been enrolled in Catholic school, over his vociferous objections. As the school year was coming to a close, he was doing well and making friends.

  Justin strode into the barn and over to Jester’s stall for the obligatory rough scratching, patting, and sugar cubes. The eleven-year-old, black Friesian stallion was Justin’s pride and joy. His personality had the entire staff of the farm in his thrall. With a flowing, black mane and tail, feathers on his legs, and weighing in at around eighteen hundred pounds, he was a sight to behold. Justin had purchased the light draft horse for his fiancée Alexa Davis’s use as a dressage horse, and had ended up with him when Alexa had been killed in a car accident over a year previously.

  “Mark, get Jester groomed and tacked up for me—use the old dressage saddle and double bridle. I’m going to give him a workout at the targets, and you can help me,” Justin said to the teenager, who was currently cleaning stalls.

  “Really? Yes, sir!” Mark had been anxious to see Justin and Jester work out. He had a boy’s fascination with weapons and had been dying to see Justin in action.

  Alexa had been showing Jester in dressage at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, when she had her fatal car accident. After the accident, Jester missed Alexa and had become depressed. He was off his feed and losing weight, so Justin decided that the horse really needed a “job” and started training him to be a war horse by doing sword and bow work with him. The strenuous training regimen had helped both of them work through their grief. Jester’s dressage training made him especially suitable to the sport of Yoseikan Bajutso, an equine sport harkening back to Japanese samurai warriors and currently gaining popularity in Europe. Justin was adept at the art of shooting the whistling arrows called kaburaya at full gallop at the three targets which represent the three kingdoms of Korea.

  When the horse was tacked up, Justin walked him to the practice field with Mark jogging along behind. He instructed Mark to set the targets up along the fence at the far end of the field. After about a half hour of warm-up and suppling exercises, Justin cantered Jester around the practice field. Then, while controlling the horse with only his legs and body weight, he turned and spurred Jester into a full gallop. He rode toward the three targets set up at the end of the field, and using a short, curved Mongolian bow and arrows, he shot three arrows at the three targets, hitting each one dead center as he steered Jester around the bottom of the field. He wheeled the horse around, and then, galloping in the other direction, he drew his gleaming katana sword from its scabbard. He rode toward three straw dummies standing in a row. Wielding the katana sword with sweeping strokes, he quickly beheaded the three dummies with one stroke each.

  He circled Jester around the field and brought him to a halt at Mark’s side. Mark was astounded. “That’s the coolest thing I ever saw,” he said in awe.

  “It has taken years of training and practice. I have been in martial arts training of one kind of another since I was your age, and I have been working with Jester for over a year now, but he has had many years of dressage training as a foundation,” Justin said. “If you’re interested, we can start you on some beginner’s martial arts training. Maybe some jujutsu throwing and empty-handed combat techniques, some judo grappling techniques, and kendo, modern Japanese sport fencing. Kelly is interested in starting some training as well, and I could teach you both at the same time.”

  * * * *

  “Would you really? Wow! My dad and I used to do some karate. He used to be in the army you know. I never went to karate school or anything. We just worked out at home.” Mark was stunned. He had lost most of his faith in others after his father abandoned the family. Times got tough and they lost their home. He still couldn’t believe his current good fortune. His part-time stall-cleaning job at Devereau Plantation South, and his subsequent meeting with Jamie Devereau, had resulted in him and his mother getting a new home, and him getting a new school, and the mentorship of the Devereau brothers and Max.
Not that they let him get away with much! He had quickly learned the meaning of the term “short leash.” He really didn’t mind the discipline as the boundaries gave him a safe and secure feeling that he had not known before. Someone always knew where he was and what he was doing and cared what he was doing. His mother had tried, but he had to admit he’d been a lot for her to handle on top of her financial problems. His attitude hadn’t made it any easier for either of them.

  “You have to keep up your chores, school work, continue to help your mom and all the rest. Martial arts training also embodies certain elements of honor, heart, character, attitude, courtesy, and politeness which you will be expected to follow. Respect for your teacher, or sensei, is also required. If you want to make the commitment to practice and learn, I’ll teach you.”

  “Wow! Yes, sir! The guys at school aren’t going to believe this!”

  “I’ll ask Max to get you and Kelly the required uniforms and equipment, and we’ll get started as soon as we can. How do you think your riding lessons on Jezebelle are coming along? Manuel says you’re doing well.” Justin dismounted and handed the reins to Mark. “If you think you’re ready, I’ll let you walk Jester back to the barn.”

  “You’re gonna let me ride him? By myself? All the way back to the barn?” he asked in astonishment. “Really?” Mark was amazed that Justin would trust him to ride and take care of this incredible animal. Wow! This is the coolest thing ever. He was really excited that he was going to get judo lessons as well. Although his father had never given him much praise, he had been quite good at karate. This is going to be so great. I just can’t believe it.

  Justin cupped his hands to give Mark a leg up to mount the enormous horse. Once he was seated on Jester’s back and had the reins securely in his hands, Justin adjusted the stirrups for the boy’s shorter legs. “After the workout I just gave him, he should behave for you. Cool him out, hose him down, and put him up for me.”

  Mark relaxed, sat straight in the saddle as he had been taught, and he and Jester moved off with a “going somewhere” walk.

  Chapter Ten

  That evening Kelly and Justin Devereau were relaxing with a glass of wine on the low sofa in the living area of their somewhat Zen-style master suite. The decor was understated and simple. It had clean lines and few accessories, and was rather modern oriental in flavor. Major impact was provided by the two original Georgia O’Keeffe floral paintings over the bed.

  The renovations to the house had been completed while they were at the Devereau farm in Provence, France for their honeymoon. They had been discussing Trent and the twins’ imminent return to Ocala, all of the strange goings on at the club, including the episode with “Gregory the Terrible” and Natasha, the arrival of baby Emily Rose, and the beginning of her martial arts training with Mark Taylor.

  “I just can’t believe all that’s happened in such a short amount of time,” she said, shaking her head and taking a sip of wine. “I didn’t even know you a few months ago, and now I couldn’t imagine life without you, Justin. You are definitely my other half. Yin to my yang.”

  “I don’t waste time when I see what, or should I say whom, I want,” he said, putting her glass on the coffee table and pulling her into his arms for a breath-stealing kiss. “And I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” He laughed as he tickled her ear with his tongue. He had undergone a lot of soul-searching and personal growth in letting go of his relationship with his dead fiancée, and it had allowed him to move forward in his life with Kelly.

  “That’s for sure,” she gasped as his tongue delved into her ear, causing a shudder of delight to streak down her spine and straight to her pussy. “I didn’t stand a chance.” She pulled the silver Celtic knot from his hair, freeing it so she could run her fingers through the silky, dark length. His wavy hair was actually longer than the black, swinging bob that danced around her shoulders.

  * * * *

  Justin stood and picked her up. He carried her to the big bed in the center of the room and deposited her in the middle of it, leaning down to kiss her breasts through her lacy bra as he joined her on the bed. He expertly stripped her out of her silk shirt, jeans, bra, and little matching thong. As she lay naked on the bed, he played with her puckered, raspberry nipples. She raised her hips. His lips blazed a hot trail down her abdomen to her drenched pussy, and his heartbeat quickened. He could never get enough of her. He raised her bottom with his big hands and opened her throbbing, pink pussy to his gaze. He glanced up at the Georgia O’Keeffe paintings on the wall above the bed and once again noted the similarity in anatomy between this beautiful woman and the beautiful pink flower petals. The scent of her arousal quickened his pulse, and he plunged his tongue through her slick, wet nether lips. He was determined to taste her sweetness fully and not allow the thundering erection pressing painfully against his jeans to rule him. Slowly he circled her clit with his tongue, taking the time to delve into her throbbing channel over and over. He stripped out of his clothes impatiently, as his balls tightened against his body, ready to explode, and his erect cock begged for entrance to the gates of heaven buried between her damp thighs. He plunged his solid erection into her waiting pussy and began a powerful rhythm that pounded into her moist center. He blasted over the erotic edge of a mega-orgasm that rolled on and on through his nervous system like a tsunami as he took her with him into oblivion. As he coasted down from the heights and his breathing steadied, he pulled her tightly into his embrace, and with her head tucked under his chin, he cradled her against his sculpted chest like a precious treasure. He remained buried inside her as spasms continued to rock both of their bodies.

  As he and Kelly settled into the comfort of their relationship and married life, Justin found he had less and less of a need or desire for the kink. He found that the obsessive need for pain and extreme sex that Alexa had displayed before her death had soured the Lifestyle for him somewhat. Not that a little fun and games isn’t in our future. He grinned wickedly to himself as they fell into sleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Max Warwick poured Anamaria Sanchez another glass of pinot grigio in the elegant yet very comfortable living room of her town house. A Keith Jarrett CD was playing on the stereo system, and they had a small fire in the fireplace even though the May evening did not warrant it. She snuggled against his shoulder on the tapestry-upholstered couch and said, “This is so pleasant Max. I really enjoy our evenings together.” God, he is so handsome. She leaned against him with a contented sigh. His iron-gray hair was full and thick, and her fingers begged to run through it. He was tall and distinguished looking with chiseled features.

  Anamaria had met Max when she was planning the Devereau wedding, and since then they had really hit it off. She was enjoying this little flirtation. Romance is for the young at heart, not just for the young. When she had come to the United States from Cuba as a “Pedro Pan” child some fifty-five years ago, when Cuba had undergone a regime change to communism, she had never expected to achieve the degree of success she had accomplished. She was later joined by her family, which though wealthy, had been forced to leave everything behind when they fled the small island nation in fear for their lives. She now had some silver strands among the black in her hair, but she viewed the silver strands as a badge of courage and accomplishment.

  “I do as well, Anamaria. I was so busy raising the boys and running the Devereau houses all over the world that I never really had the time or the need for a settled relationship myself. Justin and Jamison were six and eight years old when their mother died, and their father was too busy with business and other personal matters to pay much attention to them.”

  “Well, I can’t say the same. As you know, I was married twice. Both marriages ended in divorce. This just feels different. You are different,” she said thoughtfully.

  “I don’t know about me being different, but this relationship is starting to take on a certain feeling,” he said without elaborating.

  “Tell me the latest news
then,” she said with a gleam of curiosity in her eye in her latest surreptitious attempt to extract information from Max.

  “Hhmmm, well, I have been busy helping the ladies at the club get ready for Trent’s twin wards to come home from Ecuador. That has been fun. The girls are all so excited. They are running in every direction. They really need a ‘general’ in charge of ‘Operation Twins’ Arrival.’”

  Anamaria just let him ramble. She was gleaning ever more intel on the estate on Fort King Street, but she still did not have a clear picture. It’s a club. There are ladies....

  He turned to her and took her in a strong embrace as he whispered in her ear, “Don’t think you’re putting anything over on me, my dear. That has been tried by masters of the art, to no avail.” His deep voice sent shivers down her spine.

  “Oh, Max! I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself,” she said contritely. “All this secrecy is driving me crazy.” She laughed delightedly against his throat as he ran his strong hands up and down her back.

  “I’ll tell you what. If you would like to have dinner with me at the estate on Friday night, I’ll give you a tour, but,” he said sternly, “everything you see there is strictly confidential. In fact, you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement when you arrive. Be aware that breaking the confidentiality agreement would have dire consequences. Very few outsiders are ever permitted on the grounds. I am only making this offer because I think our relationship has long-term potential, and I don’t like to keep secrets.”

  She was flabbergasted. A confidentiality agreement? Dire consequences? What could possibly go on there that would require such a thing? Oh my goodness! Long-term potential? “I would love that, Max, and I promise to abide by any restrictions you place on the visit.”