Pinch Me

Chapter Sixteen

Rob wasn’t at the condo when they returned. After Sully dropped them off, Bill told her what he’d been up to. While they were shooting, Bill had called Dr. Simpson and set up an appointment. “Nine o’clock Saturday morning,” he said. “She’s coming in special to talk with you.”

“I feel bad she’s making an exception for me.”

“Don’t you try to wiggle out of this. I’m driving you there. Got it?”

She sensed the firm set of his jaw meant he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Thank you,” she quietly said before retreating to her bedroom. She turned at the door. “I need to lie down for a little bit. Can we go to the shop after I wake up?”

“Of course, sweetie. Take as long as you need.”

“Thanks.”

Bill watched as she closed the door behind her. He suspected once the pain pill fully kicked in that they wouldn’t be leaving the apartment.

He was also telling Rob to put the kibosh on Laura going out with her friends in the morning. She was still in too much pain.

He slumped down on the sofa, idly stroking Doogie’s head when the dog shoved it in his lap.

This wasn’t their Laura. Nothing remotely like her. His sister would have taken to shooting that morning with a spirit of fun and adventure, pain or not.

Watching her with Sully had been painful. Like watching a dutiful child going through the motions, doing what they’re told.

That wasn’t his sister. Not his old sister. Not the Laura he grew up with.

His phone vibrated. He looked to see Rob calling.

“How’d she do?” he asked.

“Good, all things considered. Where are you?”

“The house. The alarm company is here now. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

“What about installing the alarm here?”

“Tomorrow morning. Don’t worry, Steve said he’d come over while they do it.”

“Won’t be necessary.” He told Rob about her pain. “I think we should either have them come here, or cancel it. She might get pissed off at me for that, but I don’t care. She needs to rest.”

Rob sounded exhausted. “I agree. I’ll call Shayla. No new memories?”

He hated to be the bearer of bad news. “Sorry.”

Bill checked on Laura several times. She never stirred when he opened her bedroom door.

It was after three o’clock when she finally made her way out to the living room, Doogie on her heels.

He looked up from the book he’d been reading as she carefully lowered herself next to him on the couch and put her head in his lap.

“Oh, little sis, you are sooo not going over to the shop today.” He put the book aside and stroked her hair. “Sorry, but I’m pulling rank. You look like you feel horrible.”

“I know,” she softly said.

“How’s the pain?”

“I don’t want another pill. I hate taking them. My brain feels so fuzzy when I take them. I’m having a hard enough time without those on top of it.”

“You need what you need to get through this.” Although it didn’t surprise him. Laura hated taking prescription pain meds even before all of this.

“I don’t want one,” she insisted.

He knew that stubborn tone. “I’ll give you something nonprescription. Okay?”

“Okay.” She laced her fingers through his. “Thank you for coming. For taking care of me.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

Laura felt like she owed him more than just thanks. He was putting his life on hold to babysit her.

“I’m sorry.”

He gently squeezed her hand. “No apologies. You’re my little sister and I love you. You’re family. The only family I’ve got.”

She closed her eyes and thought about their parents’ funeral. It wasn’t the most pleasant memory to have back, but it least it involved Bill and Rob.

“Do you like Rob?”

“Of course I like him. Why?”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Really? You really like him?”

He frowned. “Laur, listen to me. He’s crazy about you. He loves you. We talked after you ordered your wedding invitations, because you were busting my balls about making sure…”

His voice faltered and he reached down to gently stroke her forehead. “You told me I’d damn sure better clear my calendar because I would be there to walk you down the aisle and give you away.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

“Where is he?” She’d hoped Rob would be there when she woke up.

“He’ll be back soon. The alarm company’s at the house.”

“Oh.”

“And, news flash, Rob and I voted. You’re not going tomorrow. Maybe next week. You need to heal up more.”

She felt disappointed, but the amount of pain she was in then robbed her of the strength, or reason, to argue. “Okay.”

They both looked up at the sound of keys in the door. Doogie lifted his head before running over to wait. Laura’s heart sped up, fluttering in a pleasant way at the sight of Rob. Wearing a T-shirt that hugged his torso and showed off his physique, and a pair of cargo shorts, he carried a duffel bag.

He smiled when he saw her. “Hey, sweetie.” He left the duffel by the door and walked over to the couch, where he knelt down next to her. “How are you feeling?”

She reached out for his hand and pulled it to her chest. “I’m okay.”

Bill snorted. “She’s lying. I told her she’s not going to the shop today or to Sarasota tomorrow. And she won’t take another pain pill.”

Rob’s gaze never left hers, even while Bill was talking. “Please take one. It’ll make you feel better.”

“It makes my head fuzzy.”

He looked so sad. She tugged on his hand so he leaned in closer. She wished she could make the sadness in his eyes go away.

She brushed a kiss across his lips. It felt good, right.

He rewarded her with a smile. “I’m going to go put my stuff away. What do you want for dinner?”

She shrugged.

“Spaghetti and meatballs it is,” he said.

She watched as he stood, retrieved his bag, and headed down the hall. Her libido wasn’t exactly revving on all cylinders, but something tugged at her heart.

“Don’t worry,” Bill softly said. “You still look at him the way you used to.”

She looked up into his smiling face. “I do?”

He nodded. “You do.”

She rested her head in his lap again and closed her eyes. It would have to be enough.

For now.

Laura brooked no resistance when Rob arched an eyebrow at her and held out the pill and a glass of water. Bill was in the kitchen helping with dinner, and she was watching the evening news on the couch with Doogie curled up on the floor next to her.

With a sigh she sat up, took the pill and water from him, and swallowed it down. “Happy?”

He pursed his lips. “I’m not happy this happened to you, no. But I’ll do everything I can to take care of you, yes. I can’t stand seeing you in pain.”

“Unless you cause it?” Her jaw snapped shut and she frowned.

His face went blank as he took the glass from her.

“I…I’m sorry,” she said, feeling mortified. “I don’t know where that came from. It just popped out of my mouth.”

“No, it’s okay,” he gently said.

She felt horrible. “Rob, I—”

“Laur, it’s okay,” he firmly said.

There was that tone again. The one Sully had used.

The one that told her Rob wasn’t lying. He wasn’t upset. If anything…

From the crinkles at the outer corner of his eyes, it almost looked like he was trying not to laugh.

But that couldn’t be right.

Could it?

He didn’t have to be at work until six in the morning. After dinner, she left the men to talk and went to curl up in bed. Rob joined her a short while later, leaving a pair of boxers on. She’d opted for a T-shirt and panties.

While rooting through the closet earlier, she’d found several corsets and slinky looking dresses, among other things, tucked in the far back corner.

“Can I ask you something?” she said, struggling to keep her head above consciousness over the effects of the pain pill.

He carefully rested a hand on her hip, trying to avoid her ribs. “Sure, sweetie. You can ask me anything.”

“What are all those corsets and stuff for? In the closet?”

He didn’t answer at first. “We…ah, we like to…play dress-up.”

The little laugh didn’t hurt her ribs. “You mean in bed?”

“Sure.”

She tried to interpret that answer, but felt too tired to think about it. It made sense and felt right despite another of those missing-context moments, so she let it drop. “Okay.” She’d almost fallen asleep when she had another thought. “You can scoot closer,” she mumbled.

When she felt the comforting, firm warmth of his body molded against hers, she crashed into sleep.

Rob lay there long after she fell asleep and listened to the sound of her breathing.

Next to hearing her in the throes of an orgasm, it was the best sound in the world when just a week ago they weren’t even sure if she’d wake up.

Or what shape she’d be in if she did.

He hoped she didn’t question him too much on his answer about the clothes, but he’d made a promise to himself not to lie to her in the process of trying to get her memory back. He couldn’t tell her about the BDSM yet. Not when she was still trying to sort out her life.

He still wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of Tilly’s and Clarisse’s poly triad relationships. Canceling tomorrow’s get-together was a small blessing that bought him a little time to determine how to handle it.

I need to talk to Tony. Between work and getting Laura home and dealing with having alarm systems installed and everything else, he hadn’t had a chance to sit down and call him.

Not exactly a call he wanted coworkers, Bill, Laura, or anyone at Laura’s shop to overhear.

He also added another item to his mental checklist. Get Laura to change her home phone number. Thomas had asked him to wait a little while before doing that, to see if they could trap the caller.

I didn’t check her email today. He’d forgotten to ask Bill to do it for her. Before, Laura would have practically had her iPhone attached to her wrist, responding to and deleting email throughout the day, texting with Shayla and others, and only using her laptop, iPad, or the home computer for writing or browsing.

Before.

He tried to erase those thoughts from his mind.

She will get her memories back. I know it.

He refused to believe anything else.

Hopefully, by the time Bill returned to Montana, Rob would have Laura talked into moving into the house. Just a couple of streets over from Carol, and less than a mile from Steve, they could help keep an eye on her for him.

Before, their routine on weeknights when he was home and not exhausted, they would play a little. Something to carry them both through until the next time. Sometimes a little over-the-knee spanking, sometimes more.

And then they’d fall asleep entwined in each other’s arms, both of them naked except for Laura wearing her play collar, and her leather wrist and ankle cuffs.

He was afraid to move for fear of waking her or hurting her. He wanted to drape his arm around her waist and hold her close, wanted to bury his teeth in the curve of her neck where it met her shoulder. Something that usually had her begging for a good hard fucking.

He was afraid to even kiss her now. For fear of hurting her, or worse, scaring her.

In his mind he could feel the curve and weight of her breast in his hand as he dug his fingers in, making her gasp and squirm and beg for more.

He thought about the time in this very bed, just a couple of weeks before the attack, when he’d awoken in the middle of the night and rolled her onto her stomach. How he pinned her down by her neck, while he stroked her between her legs.

Even half asleep, she moaned and arched her back, spreading wide for him as he slowly finger-fucked her.

“Hands behind your back.”

How she complied, without hesitation. He transferred his grip from her neck to her wrists and held on tightly, using her as leverage while he fucked her.

Reaching around her, he pinched her clit as he ordered her to come.

Her moans, muffled by her pillow as her body obeyed him, her pussy squeezed his cock even as she tried rocking her hips against him to intensify the feeling.

She made a soft sound in her sleep, bringing his thoughts back to the present.

Now…

He didn’t know if he’d ever have his sweet baby girl back, or if he’d end up forging a new life with this new woman who, in so many ways, was nothing like the woman he fell in love with.

This new woman he still loved and would die to protect.

After finally giving in to his exhaustion, Rob dreamed. Recalling one of their early nights together after they’d formalized their relationship, they were at his condo, before he’d sold it. He tied Laura facedown on his bed, arms spread, on her knees, ass exposed.

Still a little tentative, he’d spanked her bare-handed, enjoying the way she wiggled her ass for him, the way her pussy got wet, her clit swelling as her desire soared.

Then he donned a glove and picked up a bottle of lube. “Time for me to take possession of somewhere else.”

Laura let out a little mewling sound of anticipation as he squirted lube down the seam of her ass and slowly began working it into her rim with one finger. He hadn’t fucked her ass yet, but it was something they’d already talked about.

Something she’d asked him to do.

She softly moaned into the mattress as he gently breached her tight ring of muscle with one finger. Taking his time he carefully thrust, a little deeper each time, adding lube until after a few minutes he was able to easily slide one finger in and out of her.

Another moan escaped her.

“How’s that, baby girl?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“That’s not exactly the answer I was looking for.”

“It’s good, Sir.”

“Want me to continue?”

“Please, Sir.”

He grinned and leaned in to bite one ass cheek, then the other, hard enough to make her squeal and squirm and leave faint marks. “I’m going to completely own this sweet ass tonight.” He’d ordered a harness and several butt plugs for her, but they hadn’t arrived yet.

The thought of locking her in it for a weekend, with a vibrating egg in her pussy and a butt plug in her ass, made his cock throb.

As he made sure she was loose enough to continue, he noticed how she’d started rocking her hips in time with his movements, fucking herself back onto his hand. She’d done a little anal play on herself in the past, she’d admitted, but no one had ever fucked her back there.

Her virgin ass would be his.

After a few minutes he added more lube and a second finger. She whined a little bit as he slowly massaged and stretched her muscles with the tips of his fingers before repeating the process. Carefully, he worked the two fingers into her tight ass, scissoring them to help ready her for his cock.

It didn’t take long for the discomfort to turn to pleasure. She soon started fucking herself back onto his hand again, her juices now dripping from her cunt. Her bare pussy lips were puffy.

He reached under her with his free hand and tweaked her clit, making her jump. “Just wait until I get you ready for my cock,” he warned. “I’m going to park myself inside your ass and use the Hitachi on you. Make you come until I think you’ve had enough.”

She whimpered, but her hips sped up.

That earned her a laugh. He withdrew his hand, mindful of her disappointed whines, and started over again with three fingers.

It took longer, but taking his time, he patiently worked on her until she was once again eagerly humping herself onto his hand.

“Such a good girl.” After he thought he had her ready, he withdrew his hand again and stripped off the glove. He grabbed a condom and slicked his shaft with lube before drizzling more down the seam of her ass.

“Time for me to take full possession of this sweet ass.” She fell still as he pressed the engorged head of his cock against her prepared rim. She froze, but soon started rocking her hips against him once more.

“Good girl.” He let her set the pace, holding still as she began fucking herself little by little onto his cock, until his thighs were pressed against her ass and he was buried to the root inside her.

He grabbed the Hitachi. “Such a good girl. Good girls get rewards.” He switched it on and reached around her to press it against her clit.

She exploded. The feel of her tight channel squeezing his cock nearly made him explode. He held back only through sheer force of will as orgasm after orgasm rolled through her.

Forced orgasm torture, he’d soon discovered, was a favorite of his. He loved nothing more than to watch her body writhe under his hands, under his control as he forced waves of pleasure through her.

He didn’t know how long it was before he finally felt his own impending release subside enough he felt safe switching off the vibrator. Setting it aside, he grabbed her hips. “Mine,” he whispered as he slowly withdrew before thrusting again. “All mine.”

He slapped her ass. “Who does this belong to?”

“You, Sir!” He knew from the sound of her voice she was deep in subspace.

“Yes, it does. Such a good girl.” He knew he wouldn’t last long. Her ass was so tight, felt so good, that it wouldn’t be long before he exploded. “Tell me what you want, baby girl.”

“I want Sir to fuck and own my ass.”

“Good girl.” He sped up, harder, deeper, faster. Then it happened, an explosion rushing through his nervous system as his balls emptied into the condom, filling it with his cum. He braced himself, his arms on either side of her, and feathered kisses along her spine. “My good girl,” he whispered. “I love you so much.”

She turned her head enough she could force an eyelid open and look at him. She wore a sweet, sexy, sated smile. “I love you, too, Sir.”

Laura stirred when she heard the alarm go off Thursday morning, but then it silenced and she closed her eyes again. She hadn’t slept well at all, even with Rob there, because of nightmares running on a repeating loop through her brain.

The only comfort she had was that she was now used to them.

When she next opened her eyes, Rob sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

Fully dressed in his uniform.

“Hey,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t want to leave without saying good-bye.”

“What time is it?”

“Twenty till six.”

She started to sit up then winced as pain took over.

“Stay there.” He left the bedroom, returning a few minutes later with a pain pill and water. “Take it.”

That tone again. Even half asleep and hurting like hell it cut through her soul to some secret place that made her want to curl up in his lap and beg him to stay.

He helped her sit up enough she could swallow the pill and some water before easing her back down onto her pillow. “Why does it hurt more now than it did in the hospital?” she asked.

“You’re not on IV meds anymore. And they were making you take meds on a regular basis in the hospital. Plus you were basically moving between bed and the bathroom and back again. You need to take it easy and not rush it.”

He leaned in and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss to her forehead. He smelled good, his laundry detergent and soap and deodorant filling a gaping void inside her. She reached up and hooked her fingers into his shirt until he leaned close again.

Eyes still closed, she deeply inhaled several times. The laundry room came to mind again, the one she’d pictured before. “I want to go to your house again,” she said.

“I had the locksmith change all the locks after…when he came to do your doors. I’ll leave a key and a note for Bill. He needs to call me so I can walk him through the alarm.”

She opened her eyes. In the dim light, his brown eyes looked dark, deep…

Sad.

“Thank you,” she said.

His brow furrowed. “For what, sweetheart?”

“For not giving up on me.”

He looked like he was on the verge of tears. He knelt next to the bed and gently cupped her hand in both of his and pressed his lips to it. “I love you. The only thing that can make me stop taking care of you is me dying, or you flat-out telling me you don’t want me anymore.”

With her free hand she caressed his cheek. Despite it hurting, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips, lingering, savoring it. “Thank you for being patient with me.”

“Forever, sweetheart. I promise.”

“I want you.”

His jaw worked, as if he had to swallow. “I want you, too. More than anything.”

“I don’t know how long…until…I can…”

He kissed her hand again. “It doesn’t matter. You’re in no condition to even think about that, anyway. And if it takes weeks or months or even years for you to get to that point, then that’s how long it takes.”

“Did we…on our first date?”

He actually laughed. “No. For starters, I’m not like that, and neither are you. Secondly…” He let out another laugh and shook his head. “If I had time, I’d tell you the story. Let’s say our first date was a true disaster. Fortunately, we kept trying until we got it right.”

After one more kiss, he stood and carefully freed his hands from hers. “Do you need Bill to show you how to work your phone?”

She felt her face heat. “Yeah. I think so.” She’d barely looked at it, overwhelmed. Frustrated that she knew she’d easily worked it before…

Before.

Everything before.

“I’ll put that in the note, too. I walked Doogie already.” The dog was curled up on the bed on her other side, in the space Rob had occupied. The Lab looked from him to her and back again.

“Love you,” he told her.

She let out a deep breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “I love you, too.” That much she knew. She’d take it on faith despite whatever rumbles tried to traipse through her mind.

Deep in her heart, she knew she loved him.

She closed her eyes and let the pain pill kick in.

Her stomach was growling when she pulled herself out of bed close to ten o’clock that morning. Bill was sitting in the living room and working on his laptop.

“There she is. How you feeling?”

She made her way over to the couch and eased herself down onto it before leaning over to rest her head against his shoulder.

“That bad, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah. Please don’t ask me to take another pain pill. I want to go to the shop today.”

“Your presence there is not requested. Steve and Carol said they’d both help load you back in the truck so I could haul you home.”

She didn’t want to cry. She’d done enough of that. She also didn’t want to stay cooped up at the condo. Frustration set in.

“When do I get to decide what I do with my life? Or is this who I was before, just letting everyone tell me what to do?” Despite the pain it caused her, she stood and headed for the kitchen. “I’m sick and tired of everyone else telling me what to do. And worse, I’ve got a psycho who wanted me dead keeping me in fear for a life I can’t even fucking remember!”

He followed her to the kitchen but she turned and pushed him out. “Go. Just…go sit down and leave me alone. I’ll make my own breakfast. I’m not helpless.”

She couldn’t exactly storm, but she plodded over to the fridge and yanked it open, ignoring the pain in her side as she did.

Then she…stood there, staring at what was eye level.

Bill, who hadn’t moved from the kitchen doorway, watched her without speaking.

She let the refrigerator door swing shut and rested her head against the cool surface as tears rolled down her cheeks. On the upper freezer door, there were several magnets. One from Yellowstone.

A magnet she’d bought on her trip out there after their parents died.

She remembered stopping in the visitor center by Old Faithful and buying it, one just like it for the fridge at the house, and several others for Shayla and…people she couldn’t even remember. Maybe Sully and Clarisse had one on their fridge, too.

But she knew the one on Rob’s fridge sat just a little lower than eye level, toward the right. The door handle, opposite of this one, was on the left, and it opened to the right. This one swung open to the left.

His fridge was stainless steel, and matched the stove and dishwasher. He’d taken her with him to pick them out when he bought them several months earlier.

“Laur?” Bill softly asked.

His voice shook her out of her thoughts and the remaining pieces swirled out of reach, once again, into the abyss.

“Take me to Rob’s,” she said.

“I can’t. The alarm company will be here any minute. We have to wait until they leave.”

She nodded as her eyes once again settled on the magnet. “I’m sorry.”

He took a step into the kitchen. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice still low and gentle. “No one blames you for feeling out of whack. I’m surprised you’re handling it as well as you are.”

She reached up and touched the surface of the magnet, tracing its embossed image. “You took the time off then, too.”

“Yeah.” He edged closer, so he could drape his arm around her shoulders.

“Do you still have the horses?”

“You remember that?”

“I remember something about riding.”

He smiled. “Yep. Those two big mooches are still hanging around.”

She looked up into his eyes. “Will this get any easier?”

“I wish I could tell you that.”