Michaels, Skye - Kelly's Challenge [Le Club 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (13 page)

Justin turned and looked deeply into her eyes. He was on edge hoping that she would be receptive to the description of his family background and the explanation of his actions. He knew his hope for a happy future rested with this woman. “Do you think you can forgive me and we can see where this relationship goes? I don’t want to scare you with protestations of undying love or anything at this point, but I think I know pretty much how I feel about you. If you can’t accept the Dom/sub aspects of our relationship, I would be willing to go straight vanilla if you would give me another chance.” He would do anything and give up anything for a future with Kelly. He didn’t want to jump the gun and cause her anxiety with a premature proposal, but a design for an engagement ring was starting to circle in his head.

* * * *

“I’m not a saint, Justin,” she said. “And I’m sure not all ‘sweetness and light.’”
In fact, I’m still pretty damn pissed off right now
. “I’m just a girl who was blessed with good parents and a normal family life. But you will recall that I asked you about the D/s thing. You did not force it on me. I have healthy self-esteem and would never allow myself to fall into an emotional abyss like Alexa. Not even for you.”

“Nonetheless, I should not have…”

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m on a roll. This story is a lot to take in, Justin,” she said carefully. “I would be willing to give this another try. As I told you before, I can’t promise that the D/s stuff will be for me, but I want to see what happens. And of course, as I said before, I reserve the right to opt out if things get out of hand or become more than I can handle.”

Justin grinned with relief and unceremoniously pulled her into an empty stall bedded with fresh pine shavings, closed the door to the stall, and said, “Strip, sub!”

Kelly laughed delightedly. “You are too much, Master!” She giggled as she started to unbutton her shirt.

“Disrespect will be severely punished, sub.” He growled as he took her in his arms and fell to the floor of the stall on his back, cushioning her fall with his body. “I might find it necessary to give you a real spanking this time.”

“Oh, I think the last one was ‘real’ enough for me!” she responded, as she ran her hands down his chest and pulled his shirt from his jeans. She ran her hands up under his shirt and pulled it off over his head.
You are so beautiful
, she thought.
And hurting so much. I hope I can help with that
.

He looked at her with adoration in his eyes as she removed the rest of her clothes, and helped him pull off his jeans and boots.
I have missed you so much
. He kissed her ear and ran his tongue down her throat to gloss over the tops of her breasts, the nipples beaded in anticipation of his touch as her pussy clenched. He ran his hand down her belly and over her eager pussy finding her wet and willing. He looked into her eyes and said, “Oh, baby, I…”

Just then Jester trumpeted a mighty bellow as he smelled the sex pheromones in the air. “Jester, mind your own business! This is my woman, not yours!” Justin said as he rolled Kelly under him. He raised her arms over her head and, restraining her hands in one of his big ones, he thrust the blunt tip of his throbbing, marble-hard shaft into her waiting pussy with a sigh of relief and homecoming as she shifted her hips to accept his deep penetration. A bolt of electricity shot through them both as he held himself deeply imbedded in her hot pussy. He began to pump in earnest, thrusting harder and faster until he brought them both to a shattering completion. She felt the hot spurt of semen jet into her willing womb and welcomed it in ecstasy as her body convulsed around him. He collapsed on her in a nerveless heap, thankful for the cushion of the deep pine bedding in the stall.

* * * *

After they had both come back to Earth, he said sheepishly, “I really had not planned for our reunion to be in a stall.”

“I can’t think of a better place,” she responded.

She’s so open and trusting. Oh God, don’t let me screw this up.
Hopeful for the first time in two days, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again as though his life depended on it.
Which in a way, it does, he thought
. His tongue pillaged her eager mouth as she gratefully lost herself in his kiss.

Chapter Twenty-Two

On Friday morning, Justin met Jason at his office. They were to meet with the opposing counsel and Alexa’s father for a pretrial conference. They were ready. Pertinent passages from Alexa’s many diaries had been photocopied, and the original journals were stored in the firm’s safe.

“Well, are you ready to meet with this son of a bitch?” Jason asked. He had been outraged by the content of the diaries. The fact that Calleigh was newly pregnant made the whole scenario even more disturbing to him. “Try to stay calm, say as little as possible, and let me do the talking.”

“I’ll try. It’s not going to be easy to say nothing to that bastard. But the final outcome is the most important thing.”

Jason’s secretary brought a tray of coffee to the conference room. “Mr. Williams and Pastor Davis are here. Shall I show them in?” she asked.

“Bring them in, Carol. We’re as ready as we’re going to be,” Steele said.

When the two men entered the conference room, Jason shook the opposing counsel’s hand and invited them to sit down. He obviously neglected to shake the pastor’s hand. “This is my client, Justin Devereau,” he said. “We have some discovery materials to share with you. You will find them in those two folders.”

The two men picked up the folders and started to read them. The childish handwriting was hard to decipher at first, but they quickly got the gist.

“How do we know these are authentic?” attorney John Williams asked. “This could have come from anywhere.”

“No, actually, we have all of Alexa’s consecutive diaries starting from when she was ten years old through the date of her death. The handwriting in the journals has been authenticated by an expert in handwriting analysis against various exemplars including handwritten bank checks, greeting cards, tax returns, and other items that are beyond dispute. Our expert is fully prepared to testify,” Jason continued. “Of course, you can get an expert of your own to verify the handwriting. That would mean one or more persons would see the diaries.”

The attorney quickly said, “I need to speak to my client privately.”

Pastor Davis, red-faced and furious, blustered, “Never mind that! You can’t threaten me. I can ruin you! Do you know who I am? I have a national audience. I will have that horse returned to me, or we will see you in court.”

Justin stood up, raised a hand to Jason who tried to silence him, and said, “Over my dead body, you old pervert. I’ve had years of experience dealing with bullies like you. You use your pulpit for your own gain—and not to glorify God. Believe me, if this got out, contributions to your television ministry would dry up in a heartbeat. You can only control a helpless child with your threats. Alexa wouldn’t want you to have Jester or any proceeds from his sale, of that I am absolutely sure.”

Jason interrupted his tirade. “The only concern I have is that these are Alexa’s private thoughts, and we would like to keep them that way. However, I am sure she would rather make the diaries public than let you win this suit. Other than that, if you want to bring all of this out in open court, we couldn’t care less. And be assured, the trial would be very public, and all of the results would be public records, open to inspection by the media. Your celebrity would be a hindrance in this case, not an asset, Pastor Davis.”

“May we please have some privacy to discuss this?” John Williams asked quietly.

“Certainly, John,” Jason said. “We’ll be in my office when you are ready to continue with the pretrial conference.”

Jason and Justin could see the angry exchange between the attorney and Pastor Davis though the glass walls of the sound-proofed conference room. “Looks pissed!” Jason said.

“I’m sure he is. He probably has had a handsome offer for Jester from some dressage rider. Alexa was making a name for herself at the show last year, and the accident received a lot of coverage in the local press.”

Shortly thereafter, Jason’s secretary buzzed his intercom, “They are ready to continue, Jason.”

Jason picked up a folder containing a dismissal of the lawsuit, bill of sale for Jester, and general releases that he had prepared for signature and ushered Justin back to the conference room. “This time I really mean it. Let me do the talking!” Jason said.

“What have you decided, gentlemen?” Jason inquired with a blank expression. He didn’t want to inflame the situation by appearing too confident.

“We feel at this time it would be best to dismiss the suit,” John Williams said.

“I had prepared some documents in anticipation of that result. Here are general releases, a bill of sale for Jester returning him to Justin, as well as a dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice for your review.”

After reading the documents carefully, John Williams looked pained. The dismissal “with prejudice” meant that the suit could not be filed again at a later date, and the broadly worded, reciprocal general releases meant that no further suits could be brought between the parties for any reason.

“I will advise my client to sign these. I think this is the best result we could hope for under the circumstances,” John said.

After the documents had been signed by John Williams and Pastor Davis and witnessed and notarized by Carol, the opposition left. They looked somewhat less confident than when they had entered the office an hour earlier.

Jason turned to Justin and said, “It could have gone another way if you hadn’t found those diaries. Getting witnesses to testify to abuse that happened years ago and may not have been disclosed to anyone could have been a problem,” Jason said. “I’m glad we had a good result and didn’t have to go to trial.”

Although the process had been painful, and Justin had had to face the possibility of losing Jester, he was grateful that it had forced him to confront his demons and his feelings and grief for Alexa. He had also been able to realize and act on his deepening feelings for Kelly which were growing daily. She was an oasis of calm and peace after the turmoil of his life with Alexa, and he found her endlessly delightful. All in all, he felt ready to move forward.

“Good job, Jason. Thanks for all your help. It’s finished and over with, and I’m very glad to be done with this whole mess. I want to get on with my life and let Alexa rest in peace.”

Epilogue

Four months later at the Winter Equestrian Festival horse show

In February, on the anniversary of Alexa’s death, Justin and Kelly took Jester to Wellington for an exhibition of
Yoseikan Bajutsu. The performance
at the showground would be a memorial to Alexa and a final good-bye. Jason, Calleigh, Trent, and Paula accompanied the trio for moral support and also just to enjoy the Wellington equestrian show, which was world famous and drew international-level riders from around the world.

Between freestyle musical tests, the announcer briefed the crowd on the history of Japanese mounted martial arts. He told them that Jester had belonged to Alexa Davis, a dressage competitor who had died in a car accident the previous year. The announcer further advised that the exhibition was in Alexa’s honor, on the anniversary of her death. It would be performed on her horse, Jester, an eleven-year-old Friesian stallion, by Justin Devereau of Ocala, Florida, Jester’s current owner, who held an advanced rank in
Bajutsu
of fourth dan. The announcer explained that samurai warriors needed an excellent seat to remain in the saddle while fighting with a sword or bow and arrow. They rode at top speed while controlling the horse with their legs and body weight. He also stated that
Bajutsu
was currently gaining in popularity as a sport in Europe.

Dressed in an antique suit of Japanese body armor, Justin rode Jester into the arena to the strains of traditional Japanese music. Jester was similarly clad in protective, lightweight armor of leather and steel with a steel forehead plate. They were an extraordinary sight and something the crowd had certainly never seen before. Justin wore his sheathed, gleaming
katana
sword, and carried a short, curved Mongolian bow and arrows.