The Doctor's Pet (10 page)

She confronted him with her suspicion as they lay together on Kirk’s bed. He had insisted she rest, even though rest was the last thing on her mind.

“What did you do to him?” She looked over at Kirk, whose expression became inscrutable as soon as he heard the question.

“We just had a talk, man to man,” Kirk said.

“Mm-hmm.” Tess narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Tim never listened to talking before—Tim never listened to anything before.”

“I guess I just have a way of getting through to tough customers.” Kirk gave a little shrug.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t break anything,” Kirk replied.

“You’re being evasive,” she accused. He lay on his back and looked up at her indulgently as she climbed up to straddle him. “What did you do?” She poked his chest gently. “I have ways of making you talk.”

“Do you now?” He smiled up at her. “Let’s see them.”

“Okay, mister, you asked for it.” Tess leaned down and grazed her teeth over his neck before biting lightly.

He ran his hands through her hair and let her have her fun. “Ouch!” he exclaimed when she bit him a little too hard. “Easy, girl.”

“I told you I would make you talk,” she grinned down at him. “What did you do?”

“I really think it should stay between Tim and me.”

Tessa’s face crumpled into a scowl. “I think you should tell me.”

“I put him over the back of your couch and caned his ass.”

Tessa stared at Kirk for a minute, then laughed. “Okay, what did you really do?”

Kirk looked at her with those dark eyes of his. “That’s what I did.”

She stared at him, slowing wrapping her mind around the fact that he very much would do something like that. With the realization that he was telling the truth, a flash of anger ran through her body. As much as Tim might deserve some kind of repercussions, her protective streak was too powerful to accept that he had been caned. “Kirk… you caned my little brother?”

“He’s not that little,” Kirk said. “He’s a grown man and he needs to act like one.”

“So you caned him.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’d do something like that. You hit my brother.”

“I didn’t hit him any more than I hit you,” he said. “Tim was out of control. He needed discipline, and he got it.”

Tessa could not form the words that would adequately describe how angry she was. She got up from the bed and started pulling her shoes on. How dare Kirk do that to her brother! How dare he hurt Tim!

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going out,” she said, aggressively shoving her foot into her shoe. “I need some time to clear my head.”

“You’re angry at me?” He seemed surprised.

“Hell yes, I’m angry at you,” she spat. “You beat my brother.”

“I caned him,” Kirk said firmly. “And he more than had it coming. He knew it. He was less upset about it than you are.”

“That’s because he’s an idiot,” Tessa said angrily.

She slammed out of the house, half expecting Kirk to come after her, haul her back, and beat her. He didn’t.

Tessa took a cab back to her apartment, where she found Tim half asleep on the couch with a can of beer in his hand. He’d cleaned the place up a bit, but it still wasn’t anything like how she’d had it. Marks of vicious acts were still everywhere to be seen, even though the floor had been swept and vacuumed. She kicked the couch to startle him into wakefulness.

He jolted and winced as he woke up, confirming Kirk’s story. She knew the symptoms of a sore ass all too well, and Tim had them all, down to the awkward way he was lying on his hip rather than his rear.

“Hey, Tess, what’s wrong?”

She wasted no time in getting to the point. “Did Kirk… hit you?”

Tim smirked and threw back the rest of his beer. “He beat my ass, yeah.”

Tessa clapped her hands over her mouth. “I can’t believe he did that. I’m so sorry.”

“Eh, I’ve had worse happen.” Tim got up, stretched and walked gingerly over to the fridge. “You want a beer?”

“Yeah,” Tess nodded, dropping down onto a part of the couch that hadn’t been shredded. She rubbed her hands over her face, trying to take stock of everything. Tim came back, beer in hand, and lowered himself with careful slowness down onto the soft couch.

“You two have a fight over me?”

“Not really a fight,” Tessa sighed. “I just… I got angry at him and left.”

“Face it, Tess,” Tim said, cracking her beer for her. “You would have beat me yourself if you could.”

“I would not!”

He gave her that old Tim smirk. “You were mad as hell at me, and you should have been too, I fucked up. Kirk did something about it.”

“You’re not mad at him?”

“Mad?” Tim shrugged. “Naw. I mean, I don’t think we’re going to be best friends any time soon…”

“What a pity.” A deep baritone drawl cut through their conversation. Kirk had let himself in and was looking at the pair of them with a less than gentle eye.

“What are you doing here, Kirk?” Tessa asked the question angrily.

“You and I have an agreement,” he reminded her. “Or did you forget that?”

She had forgotten, actually. It seemed so long ago that she’d agreed to be his, be owned by him, obey him in all things. In the midst of everything with Tim, Kirk had started to feel more like a boyfriend and less like the master he had once been.

Tessa cast a quick glance over at Tim. Tim didn’t seem to have any clue what Kirk was talking about. That was good. Some things needed to stay private.

“Do you have some professional need for me, doctor?” She took a long swig of beer. “I’m afraid I can’t come on duty, I’ve been drinking.”

Kirk raised his brow a fraction. She had never really tested his disciplinary resolve, not since their agreement had come into effect, but right at that moment she wasn’t feeling very submissive, subordinate, or anything else.

“Hi, Kirk, want a beer?” Tim tried some hospitality and charm, which was more than Tessa expected from him. He seemed to mind the whole caning thing a lot less than she did.

“I’m good,” Kirk said.

“No, you’re not,” Tessa muttered into her can. She sat sullenly on the couch, figuring she was fairly safe with Tim there. Kirk wouldn’t grab her and spank her in front of her brother.

“I should let you two talk,” Tim said. “I’ll go out for a bit, shall I?”

“Thanks,” Kirk said.

“No,” Tessa said at the same time. “You can stay here, Tim. He can leave.”

Kirk frowned at her. “You know your protective streak is misplaced here, don’t you, Tessa? Tim is fine.”

“Yeah, next time I’ll bring the cuffs though,” Tim joked.

“He cuffed you!?” Tessa’s voice rose to an outraged squeal. “Jesus, Kirk, did you fuck him too?”

“Settle down, Tessa,” Kirk growled. “There’s no need to get so upset.”

“Yes, there is. He’s my baby brother and you beat him,” she said, her eyes narrowed with anger. “You didn’t even talk to me about it. You just took it upon yourself. You think you can fix everything with your canes and your cuffs and everything else. Well, you can’t!”

She stood up, threw her beer in his face, and stormed out of the apartment.

* * *

Kirk stood with beer dripping down his face, wondering where he’d gone wrong. Everything had been going so smoothly. He’d gotten Tim in hand, made arrangements for a rehab that would help him. Tessa should have been thrilled. Instead she was angrier than she’d ever been.

“I’ll get you a towel,” Tim said, rather kindly given the way he was clearly still sore from the caning.

It was Kirk’s turn to sit down on the couch with a perplexed expression.

“What’s gotten into her?”

“She’s been looking after me our whole lives, more or less,” Tim said. “Our parents weren’t up for much in the way of parenting. She doesn’t like it when I’m hurt.”

“You’re not hurt,” Kirk said. “Can’t she see that?”

“You messed with mama bear’s cub,” Tim smirked and tossed a towel at him. “You’re lucky you only got beer thrown on you. I won’t tell you what she did to the kid who bullied me in high school. I think they’re still finding parts of him.” Tim grinned at his own joke and leaned against the wall, keeping a respectful, perhaps wary distance from Kirk.

“Is that right,” Kirk said, wiping himself down. “Well, I guess I can understand that.”

“She’ll calm down,” Tim said. “She won’t stay mad at you for long. She likes you too much to stay mad. And she’s not good at it anyway.”

“I think this is our first real argument,” Kirk mused.

“Oh, yeah? Not been dating her very long then?”

“We’ve been seeing each other a while, we just never had a significant disagreement before,” Kirk said, not sure why he was explaining himself to Tim.

“Yeah? Where do you see things going with her?”

Kirk smiled. “Are you asking me what my intentions are, Tim?”

“I guess I am,” Tim shrugged. “I might be a fuck-up, but she’s my sister and I care about her.”

“My intentions are to look after her,” Kirk said. “And, well, can you keep a secret?”

“My life is secrets, Kirk, I can add one more.”

Kirk reached into the breast pocket of his coat and pulled out a ring box. He flipped it open to reveal a glowing golden band with a bright diamond set in it. It was like Tessa—simple, but beautiful, shining with a light that could not be ignored.

“Wow,” Tim said, eyes widening. “That’s some ring.”

“This is my intention,” Kirk informed him.

“If she doesn’t forgive you, show her that,” Tim suggested. “Hell,
I’ll
marry you for that.”

Kirk laughed. Tim was a complete scamp of a young man, but he had an undeniable charm and obvious intelligence, which if put to something besides gambling and drinking would probably amount to a great deal.

“I think I’ll stick with my plan to propose to your sister.”

Tim nodded toward the broken door. “Then you better go get her.”

Chapter Twelve

There weren’t that many places to run to around Tessa’s apartment. She ended up in the parking lot in front of Kirk’s car, seriously thinking about kicking it. She wasn’t usually the destructive type, but all her stuff was ruined and Kirk had caned her brother and… “Goddammit, you stupid asshole!” she yelled at the vehicle, which sat there mute and smug.

“Tessa…” Kirk came out of the building and ran to her, catching her up in a tight hug, which she struggled to get out of. He smelled of beer and regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said, holding her close. “I did what I thought was best. I guess I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong,” Tessa cried, unable to keep the anger up any longer. Her tears began to flow where her rage subsided. She wasn’t really angry at Kirk for what he had done. She was angry at herself for having failed to do anything for so long. “You were right. I just… I hate that you have to fix everything for me, even my own brother.”

“I like doing things for you,” Kirk said, pressing kisses to her face. “I love you. I want to be able to fix everything for you.”

“But you can’t fix everything,” she sniffed. “Everything is broken. Tim is a mess and one caning isn’t going to change that. I’m never getting my deposit back on my apartment. I can’t… I can’t do anything properly, Kirk.”

“You do a lot of things properly,” he reassured her.

“You’re going to stop liking me once you realize this doesn’t stop,” she said as if she could see the future. “You’re too damn good for me and my messed-up life, Kirk.”

“That’s where we disagree,” he replied, cuddling her close. “See, you see yourself as a mess with a chaotic life. I see someone talented who works very hard and has to deal with a lot. I see someone with spirit. I see the woman I’ve fallen in love with.”

He looked at her as if he expected to see her smile. She didn’t. She burst into gales of tears, sobbing against his shoulder as he held her tight. She was overwhelmed and overextended. She’d been carrying a huge burden and it had taken its toll. She had no more strength left, no more anger, no more anything besides the tears.

“Shh, it’s okay, pet,” he said “I’ve got you.” He picked her up and carried her to his car. She allowed him to do so, hiding her face in his chest as sob after sob wracked her body.

* * *

A short drive later, Tessa sat on Kirk’s couch wrapped in a blanket feeling everything and nothing at the same time. Kirk had bought her hot cup of tea, which was going cold on the coffee table in front of her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said in a dull voice. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

“You’ve been through a lot for a long time,” Kirk said, sitting next to her and wrapping an arm about her shoulders. “I think you’re finding it hard to adjust to not being in charge of absolutely everything. Working two jobs, handling your brother, being bailed up by criminals, that’s more than one person can be expected to deal with.”

“But you’re dealing with it,” she sniffed.

“No, I’m dealing with you,” he reminded her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “It’s obvious that you need an extended break from work and from responsibility.”

That sounded nice. “Like a holiday?”

“Almost,” Kirk smiled. “For the next week, you are not going to work. You are not going to think about any bills, brothers, or anything else. You’re my pet, Tessa. And you’re going to be treated like it.”

She let her head fall back against the couch and groaned. “You mean you want me to wear a tail in my butt all week? That’s my punishment?”

“This isn’t a punishment,” he said. “It’s a treatment, of a kind. You’re sick from stress, and no wonder.”

“A treatment.” She rolled her eyes. He was being nice, but she was feeling petulant for some reason she couldn’t quite understand.

His dark brow lifted in her direction. “Are you sure you want to give me attitude?”

“I’m not giving you attitude.”

“Yes, you are,” he chuckled. “That’s quite alright, Tessa; by the time I’m finished with you, you won’t remember what attitude is.”

The warning sounded ominous, but Tessa was too tired and too moody to pay proper attention. Kirk’s offer to take care of her was nice, but she was so used to doing things on her own that she couldn’t really let herself believe it. The sex between them had been great, the collars and leashes were hot, but it didn’t make any real difference to who she was or what her life was like. Kirk couldn’t change that, not with all the spankings in the world.