Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Trace had known immediately when Tori had fallen asleep just by the way her breathing had leveled out. He’d been able to almost feel the tension radiating off her and he had actually been grateful when sheer exhaustion had finally claimed her. Driving up the long tree-lined drive leading to the ranch, he marveled at the almost mystical beauty of the landscape surrounding him and then chuckled to himself when he realized he saw this same view each and every day. But wondering how Tori would see it had changed his perspective and opened up a whole world of possibilities. He’d almost given up on finding that feeling again. After all, what were the chances of finding another woman to love with the passion and depth that he’d enjoyed with Nan? Could lightning strike twice in the same man’s heart? Sighing as he pulled up in front of his log and stone-covered ranch home, he took just a minute to look at the beautiful home he and Nan had just begun building when he’d lost her. Finishing it had been pure torture but at this moment - just knowing he was going to be sharing it, even platonically with Tori, somehow made all those agonizing months of construction seem worthwhile.

Shaking his head at his odd musings, he quickly exited the truck and moved around to the passenger side. Reaching in and releasing her safety belt, he looked at her face, her features were softened in sleep, and she looked exactly like the angel he’d first thought her to be. The wariness was gone, and she looked so beautiful she stole his breath. Her skin was almost luminous in the muted lights coming from the large wrap-around front porch of his home. The amber lights danced giving it a warm hue. The snow was falling heavily and the view in front of him looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Scooping Tori up into his arms and carrying her inside, he laid her gently on the soft leather sofa facing the fireplace and covered her with the worn quilt he kept nearby. That quilt had been a gift from his maternal grandmother and it had been one of his most treasured possessions since he’d been a young boy. He tucked the soft fabric around Tori and let her sleep while he carried her meager possessions to the guest suite. After he’d put his truck in the garage and secured the house for the night, he sat on the low table facing the sofa for long moments and just watched the little snow princess sleep.

The fire in the stone hearth sent light dancing over the dark waves of her hair making the red highlights come alive. Her cheeks were finally showing a healthy glow as they were warmed by the flames. He could see prominent, dark circles shadowing under her eyes and wondered when she’d last had a good night’s sleep. Promising to make sure she got plenty of rest and healthy nutrition, he made a mental note to remind her of the importance of taking good care of herself. He sighed and finally gave in to temptation and drew his fingers down the side of her face in a light caress and enjoyed her small shiver before she leaned in to his touch.
See, princess, your body already knows you are safe with me, now we just have to get your head and heart on board.

Trace carefully scooped her back up into his arms and held her tightly against his chest as he made his way to the guest suite’s lavish bath. There was something about carrying a sub that Trace had always felt conveyed a strong message. In his mind, the small act had a strong dual meaning. First of all it spoke clearly about who was in control and it also ensured a sub felt cherished. Trace knew it was imperative that a sub felt safe giving over her control to her Dom.

When he set Tori on the counter, he leaned her back against the gigantic mirror and had her shoes and socks off by the time her eyelids were starting to flutter open. “Welcome back, again, sweetheart. I thought you might like to take a quick shower and then you can get ready for bed. I’ll get you something to wear and be right back.”

“Wait! You’re going to come back in here? While I’m in the shower?” Her voice sounded like she was frightened, but the arousal in her eyes sent an entirely different message. “I mean, I know it’s your house and everything, but…well, I’m not really that…well, I mean…I know I’m…”

Trace was sure he had to be wrong. This gorgeous woman couldn’t possibly be ashamed of how she looked, could she? He could have understood if she’d felt unsure of having a strange man in the room for safety reasons, but this? Stepping forward again so that he stood directly in front of her, he placed his hands on both sides of her face and said, “Darlin’, please tell me someone hasn’t made you feel like you are anything but a very beautiful woman. You are perfect, and if someone has told you differently, then please don’t listen to their foolishness.”

Tearing down others had long been one of Trace’s biggest pet peeves. Why people felt the need to hurt others had always been a mystery to him. He’d always believed in the old adage that you reaped what you sowed, so he had always tried to sow seeds of kindness. When Tori continued to stare at her hands, he moved his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face to his. “Princess, you are so beautiful I keep wondering if you are real. Now please get your sweet self undressed and into that shower before I have to do it for you. I’ll be back in just a couple of minutes. Don’t worry about a towel because I’ll be bringing you a warm one from my bathroom down the hall when I return.” He heard her soft intake of breath as he walked from the room and knew he might have surprised her, but the fact she wasn’t cursing and running from the room told him she was either interested or too stunned to react.

When Trace returned less than five minutes later, he stood just inside the bathroom watching her silhouette through the shower’s lightly frosted door. Victoria Paulson wasn’t tall or rail thin, she had beautifully full breasts that would fit perfectly in his large hands and her narrow waist tapered to lush hips that looked absolutely perfect for cradling a man as he stroked deep into her sweet depths. Her ass was softly rounded with just enough padding to be perfect for a little paddling play when the mood struck them. His wayward cock responded immediately when he pictured his hand turning her ass cheeks a nice warm shade of pink. He’d lay her over his lap because that was such a vulnerable and personal position for a woman, then he’d have her part her legs so he could trace her swollen folds and tease her between swats. By the time he’d finished her erotic spanking, she’d be so close to orgasm, he would only need to give her permission before she’d fly apart in his arms.

When it seemed she’d been leaning against the wall for a few minutes without moving, he opened the shower door and reached in and turned off the water. When she realized the water had stopped, Tori slowly raised her face from where it had been resting on her folded arms and turned her unfocused gaze to face him.
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary—she is a damned vision. How can she not know how desirable she is?
“Come here, princess…let’s get you wrapped in this warm towel. I’ll help you dry off, and then I’ll comb out your beautiful hair while you sit on the bed, how’s that sound?”

Trace dried her with gentle pats and then moved her so she was sitting between his legs on the bed as he combed through her beautiful long hair until it was laying in long strands down her back. He had always loved combing through Nan’s hair. Savoring the chance to have a sweet woman nestled between his legs was always a pleasure in his opinion.

Trace had brought Tori one of his shirts mostly because he had simply wanted to see her in something of his. He could have gone in to her suitcases and found something for her, but there was something about seeing a woman in a man’s shirt that he’d always found extremely sexy. Nan had always wanted to wear his shirts to bed, when he allowed her to wear anything at all, and he found he longed to see the soft fabric caressing Tori’s tight nipples, the soft swell of her belly and the dark curls above her sex showing through the shirt that had been thinned to the point it was almost sheer from frequent washings. As he slid the towel from around her and placed the soft T-shirt over her head, he watched her nipples tighten to sharp points and saw her breathing hitch.

Just as Trace stepped back and started to turn to leave, she spoke, “Thank you.” Her voice sounded soft and he had the feeling there was something more she wanted to say but was hesitant. She finally added, “I’m just so grateful to you for all you’ve done…and well…I…” Tori seemed like she was about to give up finishing her sentence when she finally sighed deeply and reached out for him. “Could I have another hug, please? I’ve had, well, it’s been a kind of rough few months and well, your hugs are really…um, comforting and I am…well, I just…” Trace saw the tears starting to flow again and he reached up and slowly trailed his fingers over her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and I cry when I’m tired, and I…” she didn’t get to finish before Trace had pulled her into his arms.

Trace savored the feel of Tori’s softness as he wrapped her in his embrace. She smelled of citrus, sage and sweet woman, and he let her scent fill his senses. He savored those long minutes before he spoke. “Sweetness, I want you to promise me you will never apologize again for needing a hug from me. You are beautiful woman, and I love holding you, and the fact that it’s comforting for
both
of us is just icing on the cake.” He smiled down at her and was pleased to see the relief in her expression while he gently moved her back toward the large bed. He pulled back the covers and settled her in before covering her, tucking the covers in around her.

When Trace started to move away from her, Tori grabbed his hand and looked deep in his eyes. “Please stay with me for awhile. I’m not usually so needy, I swear, but I just don’t want to fall asleep alone. And when you go, please leave a light on, I’ve gotten used to sleeping with a light so I could get to my emergen…um…well, I just need to be able to see where things are…it helps me sleep.”

Tori hadn’t meant to mention the months she’d spent too terrified to close her eyes in to restful sleep. The man who had stalked her had turned her life upside-down, and she wasn’t sure she would ever be the same again. All those nights of lying awake wondering if this would be the night he finally came into her home and did all the vile things he’d promised he would do to her, had taken a huge toll. At one point Tori had been so exhausted that she’d fallen so deeply asleep sitting in her car at a traffic light that she hadn’t even realized people had gathered around her car thinking she’d died. When the policeman they’d called had finally roused her, they’d insisted she be taken by ambulance so she could be screened for medical issues that might cause her to be a hazard to others while driving. The whole thing had been so humiliating Tori had nearly packed up and moved on that very afternoon.

The play of emotions over Tori’s face had squeezed his heart. He wondered who had made this lovely woman afraid of her own shadow. Someone had tried to convince her she was less than desirable, so she’d be humbled and grateful for his attention, and when that hadn’t worked, he’d terrorized her. He didn’t know who, but he’d seen it with submissives too many times to now recognize the signs in Tori. Abusive men were in abundance everywhere but here in Climax.

The small town he called home made short work of any man who thought to abuse a woman or a child with physical or emotional cruelty. Trace had seen examples of both physical and emotional abuse and was convinced the scars caused by emotional battering were far worse because that type of abuse was so easy to hide that it could, and often did, go undetected for years. Emotional batterers whittled away the very essence of their victim until those on the receiving end often couldn’t even recall what their own likes and dislikes had once been. Essentially their true identities had been systematically erased by the person abusing them. He’d sat and listened to Alex and Zach’s mother, Catherine Lamont, tell stories about the women she worked with at the shelter the Lamont family funded in Denver. Those stories had never failed to remind Trace of the importance of the rigid screening and training requirements that were strictly enforced at The ShadowDance Club.

A submissive’s natural desire to please others was often misinterpreted, and as a result, a female sub was often taken advantage of by men who simply wanted to control her. Trace often coached subs on how to tell the difference between a true Dom and a wannabe, who more often than not, was nothing more than an abusive asshole. And at that moment Trace was hit full force with a need to protect Tori that was so strong it shocked him. He’d already set his contacts to work checking her out, and he was willing to bet there was going to be at least one abuser not too far behind all her fears.

“Darlin’, I can only think of a couple of things I’d like better than to hold you while you fall asleep, but I’m not going to mention those just yet.” His smile was meant to let her know she was safe with him, and it appeared to have worked because her expression was sleep soft and just a little bit loopy. He lay alongside her and pulled her closer so her head rested on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her shoulder to hold her tightly against his side. He felt her relax and knew she was drifting off, and the fact that she trusted him enough to surrender herself to sleep while he held her warmed him to his soul. “Sleep, my sweet snow angel. You’ll always be safe with me.” Tori barely heard his softly whispered words through the fog of sleep, but the feel of his soft lips pressing against her forehead warmed her through, and she let herself fall over the edge into deep sleep for the first time in six long months.

Trace didn’t want to leave her, he loved the feel of her cuddled up against him, but he needed to make a few calls and get cleaned up. He would check on her again before returning to his own room, after he’d settled her so she was sleeping again, he straightened the room and then dimmed the lights so there was just enough light she’d know where she was in case she woke up and was frightened. He had just finished his shower after reminding his foreman that he was covering for him tomorrow when he heard a bloodcurdling scream that had him running to Tori’s room like the hounds of hell were hot on his tail.