Slowing Daisy to a trot then a walk, Hannah wondered if Mitch had turned to his on again off again lover after she left. The anger that shook her at the thought surprised her, but it shouldn’t have. At first it had been the startling revelation of all that had been missing from her ten year marriage bed that drew her, followed slowly by discovering all that had been missing from her and Caleb’s relationship. She had entered into their affair wanting and expecting nothing but friendship and a chance to explore what she had been missing out on. She has known for some time that her feelings for Mitch have grown, but she didn’t realize until just now, at the thought that she might have lost him to someone else, that she loved him with her whole heart. She should have seen it sooner, should have known she couldn’t do the things she had done at his club unless her heart was involved. It was Mitch’s baby too. She did him a grave injustice and now, if she wanted him back, she knew she was going to have to come up with a way to convince him of her feelings.
Hannah called Anna first thing in the morning after arriving back home late Friday night. She knew Mitch was at work, and she didn’t want to talk to him there nor discuss their relationship over the phone. It had taken some groveling, but Anna finally agreed to meet her for lunch at the First Watch Cafe, but warned she was bringing Kayla and Olivia also and that none of them were too happy with her.
She could tell by the looks on their faces when Hannah entered the café that their longer friendship with Mitch came before their budding friendship with her, but she didn’t let their unsmiling welcome deter her. Taking the fourth seat at the table, she said sincerely, “Thank you for meeting me.”
“Hannah,” Olivia reached over and clasped her hand, “I am so sorry about what happened to you. How are you?”
Hannah felt tears threaten as Olivia looked at her now with compassion and concern. Of the three of them, she sensed Olivia was the peacemaker and had the softest heart. “I’m better, thank you. It took me awhile, but by the time my head cleared, I realized the grave injustice I did to not only you, but to Mitch, which is why I asked you to meet me today. I need your advice and help, even though I know I don’t have any right to ask for either.”
“Let’s order then talk,” Kayla said briskly, but her eyes warmed when she looked at her.
Anna asked about Roxy after they had given the waitress their orders and relating her dog’s antics around her grandparents farm amused them all, especially when she told them how Roxy thought the head butting goat was playing with her and insisted on sneaking into the pen whenever Hannah had her back turned.
Laughing, Anna said, “Just picturing a three legged ball of curls bouncing around an irritated ram is hysterical. No wonder Mitch missed that little runt so much.”
Hannah sighed in remorse. She hadn’t thought of how attached Mitch had become to her dog or how he must have missed her when they left. “Do you think he’ll forgive me?” she whispered sadly.
The three of them shared a look she couldn’t decipher before Anna replied, “I think Mitch would probably forgive you about anything. In truth, we’ve only seen him once and that was when he stopped into the club the week after you left only long enough to tell our husbands that he was turning in his membership. He didn’t think, after all you had been through, that you would want to return there.”
Shocked that Mitch would be willing to give up something that was such an important part of his life for her, Hannah felt even guiltier for the way she left him without a word then refused his calls. Even after ten years of marriage, Caleb would never have considered giving up any part of his life for her and she just now realized how much that hurt. “But, he loves the club. It, and all of you, are such an important part of his life.”
“Apparently, you’re more important,” Kayla stated, her tone cool. “Did you know he had Crystal banished from the club?”
She assumed Crystal was Mitch’s ex-lover and hearing how far he went to make sure she didn’t cause any more trouble bolstered her determination to try to win him back. “So how do I convince him otherwise, that I want him and his…?” She paused, not sure how to explain she wanted him just the way he was.
“His kinky preferences?” Olivia supplied with a grin. “I think we can come up with a way to convince him. After all, the three of us had to jump through hoops to convince our
husbands to take a chance on us, and look at us now. Married, knocked up and happy as clams.”
“Anna, you too?” Hannah asked her with a smile, shoving aside the pang of longing that her nod brought on.
At the look of yearning Hannah hadn’t been able to suppress quick enough, Anna quickly changed the subject. “So, how about if I pick you up after work, around two, and we’ll get together before going to the club. I’m sure Donovan or Brett or Colin can talk Mitch into coming out tonight on some pretext or another. They’ll do anything to see him fall the way they have,” she said with a smirk.
“I’ll be ready.” At the thought of returning to the club and what Mitch might subject her to there, her body quickly warmed and pulsed with desire, making her even more anxious to see him again.
Mitch leaned back in the wide chair, crossed his ankle over his knee and scowled at his so-called friends, wondering yet again what he was doing here. Last week he had told them he wouldn’t be returning to the club. He couldn’t expect Hannah to jump right back into their relationship and certainly didn’t expect her to want to return here. He imagined the trip back to Ohio had reinforced her moral objections to not only their affair but to his dominate, alternative designs. Once he dragged her back here where she belonged, he would respect that and any limitations she put on their sex lives as long as she allowed him to be there for her.
He had always admired that independent core of steel that made her want to tackle the challenge’s she faced on her own, but this was one of those times when that determination was more a hindrance than an admirable trait. Since he doubted there was a Dummies book that she could reference about how to cope with being a victim, she should have turned to those who had befriended her these past weeks. His worry and concern for her and what she went through had changed to irritation by the end of the first week of her absence and silence. Damn it, why had she shut him out completely? Didn’t she know how much he cared, how much he grieved for the loss of what could have been? By the time he realized she probably didn’t know any of that, his irritation had turned to anger. The least she could have done was answer just one of his calls, given him the chance to tell her those things he had waited too long to say.
Mitch had known for a while his feelings for Hannah ran deeper than sex, but not how deep until she was gone. He missed her, missed seeing that little frown between her brows that told him she was irritated and that turned him on; missed hearing her laugh over Roxy’s antics or hearing her scold her in a soft, loving tone; missed seeing the disheveled look she often wore when immersed in a project; missed the way her tight pussy clutched his dick and her breathless moans that filled his ears when she came. And he missed her three-legged, curly coated, pain-in-the-ass sidekick. By midway through the second week he had had enough. Instead of wasting his time calling, he’s spent the past three days making arrangements with his on site manager to take over for a few days and he was packed and ready to head to Ohio first thing in the morning. Just let her try to shut him out when he arrived on her doorstep, he thought with a touch of malicious glee. In his mood, the mood she was responsible for, he wouldn’t be above dragging her to the woodshed for a good old fashioned disciplinary spanking before dragging her ass, caveman style if necessary, back to where she belonged. The image of him doing those things stirred his cock more than the scenes taking place along the bench across the room.
“Quit scowling, Burnett,” Donovan snapped when he sat down next to Brett on the sofa opposite of Mitch. “Colin’ll be here as soon as he can. At least you don’t have to worry about Crystal digging her claws into you again.”
Mitch was grateful for Crystal’s immediate banishment from the club, and even though he was dropping his membership, he didn’t feel inclined to suggest they could allow her to come back. Knowing his friends, Crystal had crossed a line she couldn’t cross back over, not with them. “I still don’t see why you needed me. I went back to the dungeon room as soon as I arrived and Jason was back there with Diana. He’s more than capable of keeping an eye on things.” Mitch never could say no to Colin when he asked him to fill in for him, either downstairs at the bar or up here to monitor his private BDSM domain. Colin had done plenty of favors for him in the past, especially when he was struggling starting his business. Colin, and his brothers at his request, had sent so many jobs his way he had more work than he could handle on his own and had to hire a crew years before he thought he would be able to.
“Jason’s leaving early, taking Diana out to see if they’re compatible outside of the club. You wouldn’t begrudge them the opportunity to expand on their relationship, would you?”
“Bite me, Donovan.”
Brett laughed, saying, “That’s his line. So, you’re going after your girl tomorrow?” He wondered what get up Kayla had come up with for Hannah to wear tonight. He was looking forward to seeing her in whatever it was and to seeing Mitch’s reaction when she came out, which had better be any minute now. They weren’t going to be able to keep Mitch here much longer under this ruse.
“Yes, I’m going after her, and staying until she agrees to come back and work this out. I’ll give her as much time as she needs to cope with her ordeal, but she’ll do it with me, not alone like she has been.” He would miss the club, Mitch thought now as he looked around the room at his friends, but he missed Hannah more. He was hoping someday they could get back to where they were before her attack and miscarriage, but in the meantime it was a small enough sacrifice to make after what she’s been through.
“At least she’ll be spared the trauma of having to testify against Gonzalez,” Brett said. “His plea bargain saved him from the death penalty, but he won’t be getting out again.”
Mitch barely heard what Brett was saying as his attention was riveted on the shocking sight of Hannah walking out of the restroom and crossing the large main room wearing nothing but brightly colored scarves. Wrapped above and below her breasts as well as around the fleshy mounds, they showcased their pale fullness and pointed nipples. More scarves crisscrossed around her abdomen, over her hips and around the tops of her thighs. Her shaved pubis was bare for all to see, her slit starting to shine wetly the closer she came to him. He finally had the presence of mind to raise his eyes to her face and was stunned to see her approaching him with a small smile, her fey, silver/blue eyes on him, her face completely absent of any blushing.
Swallowing past the lump lodged in his throat, Mitch resisted the urge to spring up and grab her. This was her show, and as difficult as it was, he would wait and let her play it out before jumping in and taking over.