“Any woman I know?” Darren asked, making his way over to where Paul stood. The other mechanic on the other hand was incredibly greasy from working all morning.
“No, not this one you don’t,” Paul said, wiping the sweat from his brow. The last thing he needed was Darren blabbing to Mitch.
“Oh, is this the one?” Darren held his hands up in mock surrender, smiling.
Paul glared at him, wondering what the heck he was on about.
“One?”
“You know the one. The one woman you cannot get out of your mind and you’re constantly thinking about her, instead of the job at hand. She gives you blue balls just thinking about her, and you know deep down inside that you’re the only one who understands her. ‘The one’, mate. Everyone has heard of ‘the one’,” Darren said, sounding wistful.
“I thought only women were the ones obsessed about the one.”
Darren shook his head. “Nope, apparently guys can be just as obsessed. At least, this guy is.” He pointed at himself before taking a look at the car Paul had walked away from. “There’s no shame in wanting to spend your life with someone else. I know I want to settle down and have a family.”
Paul listened to Darren and nodded. “She could be the one. I don’t think she realises it, but I intend to make her realise it,” Paul said.
“You’ve got a lot to contend with then. Your reputation for a start. I’ve heard the ladies talking and whispering.” Darren didn’t say any more and went under the hood of the car that needed to be fixed that day.
Taking a step back, Paul allowed himself the freedom to think about Rachel. She had been the one woman he wanted and could never have. Everything Darren had described Paul felt for Rachel. There was no mistaking it. Rachel definitely was the one.
Packing up his gear, Paul thought about her. He thought about all his memories of her growing up with him and Mitch. When she was a kid, Rachel would follow him and her brother around all day. He and Mitch hadn’t minded at the time. It was only when they got a bit older and became interested in girls themselves that they started to have a problem with Rachel being around. After a few months, Rachel had simply stopped bugging them and went back to her dolls. She went away and did her own thing. Mitch had been thankful for the loss of his sister’s presence in their lives, while Paul had missed her endless chatter. He liked having her around, and he never found her company a burden. With age, watching her from afar became an obsession. Warning all the guys that surrounded her became an obsession, too.
At the time, Paul had never put his actions down to anything other than concern. Rachel was Mitch’s little sister. She needed them to protect her, and he did. Then the night of her eighteenth birthday happened, waking him up and putting him in his own personal nightmare, a nightmare he could never escape from. It was the same party where Mitch and Rachel tried to get over the deaths of their parents three years before and move on with their lives. Paul had been with them during the most horrid night of their life. He was there for Mitch to rant at and there for Rachel to cry on his shoulder. Mitch had been allowed to take care of his sister. The social worker felt it would be easier for Rachel to stay with her brother rather than enter care for three years. Paul’s family had promised to be there to assist. Both families were good friends prior to the Kramers’ deaths. That same party when Rachel turned eighteen Paul had watched her and planned to make her his woman. He was twenty-eight and had started up his mechanic shop. Paul had planned to marry her and give her a life full of love. He hadn’t spoken to her brother about his intentions. First he’d wanted to know what Rachel thought of being his woman. Looking back, Paul recalled he never got the chance to ask Rachel what she thought.
The shock had come when Mitch took him to one side and ordered him away from her. Mitch had spoken about how Rachel deserved better than a one night stand. Paul never got the chance to put Mitch in his place. He couldn’t, not after everything the two had been through. Paul still had both of his parents while Mitch and Rachel had no one, not even a distant relative to keep them company.
It didn’t matter to Mitch that Paul never had any intention of treating her like a one night stand. Even back then, what he felt for Rachel went far deeper than a quick fuck. The thought of hurting her made him want to tear his own heart out and offer it to her. She was everything to him, and over the course of this supposed teaching he would show her how much she meant to him and make it so she could not live without him. He was a selfish bastard. Rachel wasn’t looking to be with him for anything other than to know about sex.
He left Darren to deal with the last of the cars and went home.
Paul got home with enough time to properly prepare for tonight. He showered and shaved, dressed in casual blue jeans and a white shirt. Before he headed over to Rachel’s he checked through his supply of sex toys spread out over his bed. All of them were still in their packaging. He’d bought them a couple of years ago and kept them in a box marked “Rachel”. All of the toys spread out on the bed had never been used on another woman, and he would never dream of having another woman use them. They were his supply for Rachel alone. The sex toys he’d used on other women were in the trash. The women of his past were staying firmly in his past. Looking through his vast supply, Paul realised he didn’t want to use any on her. The time would come to play with the toys. For now, he just desired their time together. He craved to feel every inch of Rachel wrapped around him, skin to skin and to have no interference from any toys or clothes, nothing.
His body ached to feel her next to him. In the next few hours he’d finally get what he’d been yearning for. Rachel would be his. Mitch wasn’t around at the moment, and Paul was free to love her to his heart content. Feeling happy about what was about to happen Paul gathered up his toys and dumped them back in the marked box. There would be a time and place for them. It wasn’t for tonight. He didn’t want tonight to progress too far. Touching and tasting were on the menu for Rachel and for himself. He intended to get naked and memorise every inch of her.
All he needed was to control his urge to claim her completely. His one goal was to remind himself that Rachel was still a virgin. Nothing about her innocence had changed. Control was so important to him. It was vital to every Dom to stay in control. Glancing in the mirror, he took a deep breath and headed out of his room.
From the floor near the door, he picked up his overnight bag, which he’d packed the night before after he’d walked her home. Grabbing his keys from the stand he made his way out of his home and over to his woman’s house. Gazing up at the stars, Paul knew his prayers had been answered. Tonight was his chance at a future. Tonight was everything to him.
Chapter Four
Rachel sat on the porch steps leading to her house waiting for him. The front yard was overflowing with grass. Glancing over at the length Rachel decided she’d cut it tomorrow. There was no way she was getting all sweaty before Paul arrived. Was she supposed to go to him? She hadn’t phoned him to find out if he wanted her to go to him.
Crap, she wasn’t used to this.
None of the guys she’d grown up with had ever approached her. All of this was too new. Staring up at the stars she wondered if she could really go through with this. Could she let Paul teach her about sex knowing in her heart, he only cared for her, not loved her?