Chapter Eight
Derek was full of conflicting emotions; he was thrilled his mother’s heart attack had been relatively minor and she would be fine, but he was disturbed that Kendra hadn’t called him.
Her lack of response in his moment of need hurt him more deeply than he’d thought possible. How could he have been so wrong about her? He’d been so sure she was the woman of his dreams… the woman he’d spend the rest of his life pampering and disciplining as necessary and loving her to distraction.
He’d called and asked Mary if she’d given Kendra his message and number. Mary had assured him she had done so. So why was his cell phone so markedly silent?
Derek called and checked in with Jim, one of the doctors in his practice. Jim predictably asked about his mom.
“She’ll be fine. It ended up just being a mild attack. Dad was just scared because she’s never been sick and she’s his rock.”
“Totally understandable, I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to my Susie. Don’t worry about anything, we’ve got you covered until you’re ready to come back,” Jim assured him.
“She was released this morning so I’ll head back tomorrow.” Derek took a deep breath. “Has anything happened to Kendra? I expected…”
“Kendra quit without notice the day after you left,” Jim interrupted him to say. “Mary said she left without any explanation. I have to admit I was pretty shocked; she seemed much more responsible than this when I hired her.”
Derek frowned. “Quit? I don’t understand what could have happened.” Now he was worried because he knew this wasn’t like Kendra. Something had happened after he’d rushed to Denver and he would damn sure get to the bottom of it, or the bottom of a very badly behaved young lady.
He got off the phone with Jim and went to find his parents. His dad had his mom firmly ensconced on the couch and was just laying a tray across her lap.
“I expect you to eat every bit of that, young lady. No arguments,” his father told her firmly.
“Harry, I wish you wouldn’t fuss so,” his mother groused, a slight flush on her still smooth features. “I’m used to taking care of you. I don’t like this at all.”
“Tut! Margaret Malcom, did I just tell you no arguments?”
Derek was beginning to get uncomfortable with the scene unfolding between his parents. There were some things a son didn’t want to be privy to.
“I’d listen to Dad if I were you, Mom,” he said smoothly, coming into the room and leaning down to kiss her cheek. She beamed up at him and patted his hand before picking up her spoon and obediently taking a mouthful of soup. “He only has your best interests at heart.”
“I know, dear, I just feel so useless lying around on the couch while your father does my job,” Margaret said with a little frown as she continued to eat her soup.
His father leaned down over her, caging her between his arms, and looked her right in the eye. “Your only job right now is to get better. Am I understood?”
Derek wanted to groan when his mother blushed like a schoolgirl and giggled, “Yes, sir.”
“That’s my girl!” his father said, obviously pleased with her response and kissing the top of her head before straightening.
Derek cleared his throat. “It’s obvious my presence has become superfluous around here so I think I will head home now.”
His father frowned. “Now? I thought you were waiting until tomorrow.”
“Something is going on with Kendra and I need to get it sorted out,” Derek said honestly. He’d told his parents all about her and that he intended to marry her.
“Has something happened?” his mom asked worriedly.
“I don’t know; she quit the day after I left to come here without a word. I need to find out what happened,” he told them.
His father clapped him on the back. “Go get your girl, son, and bring her home to meet us at Christmas.”
“Yes, sir!” Derek said with a grin. He hugged both his parents, then grabbed his bag and was in his truck on the way back to Colorado Springs within twenty minutes. Suddenly it seemed imperative to get to Kendra.
He had a hollow feeling in his gut that would not be assuaged.
* * *
It had been four days since she’d seen Derek, three days since she quit the clinic. Kendra hadn’t left the apartment; she’d barely left the couch, staring blankly at the TV, sometimes railing at it, sometimes crying quietly.
How could he have left her without a word?
When the firm knock sounded on the door, she tried to ignore it, but whoever it was didn’t give up easily, pounding again and again. Finally with an irritated sigh she climbed up from the couch and made her way to the door; it better not be a Jehovah’s Witness.
She was shocked to open the door to a clearly irritated Derek. He straightened and immediately pushed past her into the apartment.
“I didn’t invite you in!” Kendra yelled.
Derek looked down at her, studying her closely. Kendra flushed and crossed her arms over her chest, knowing all too well he was taking in the unwashed hair hanging in stringy hanks all around her face, her dirty sweatpants and swollen eyes.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
“Don’t talk to me like that, you asshole!” she yelled.
“Watch yourself, little girl,” Derek growled. “I drove straight here from Denver and I’m on my last thread of patience. So don’t push.”
“You don’t get to dictate to me! Go dictate to your little chippy at the office! Maybe you can spank her!” Kendra yelled, holding the door wide. “Get out of my apartment!”
“Chippy? What are you talking about?” he asked as he walked up, took the door out of her grasp, and pushed it closed.
She sighed, crossed her arms back over her chest, and stood ramrod straight. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Dr. Don Juan!”
“Don Juan! You decided to be jealous and threw a fit? You quit because of a temper tantrum?” Derek asked incredulously. “You didn’t call me to check on my mother because of another fit of self-doubt? I’m really shocked… I guess I didn’t know you nearly as well as I thought I did.”
Kendra felt a lump in the pit of her stomach. “Something happened to your mother?”
He frowned at her. “She had a heart attack. Mary told you and gave you my cell number but you never called.”
“What? Is she okay?” she asked, grabbing his arm worriedly.
“Thanks for the belated concern,” Derek said sarcastically.
“Derek, I swear… I didn’t know. Mary said you’d gone to a conference in Denver that had been planned for weeks,” Kendra told him in a rush, hope beginning to bloom in her heart.
“But she told me she’d tell you about my mother and give you my number. She wouldn’t give me yours, said I would be opening the clinic up to a sexual harassment lawsuit,” Derek scowled. “What else did Mary tell you?”
Kendra licked her lips. “She said you and Serena had been dating for months and that you were getting serious and I shouldn’t take heart with anything that might have happened when we were snowed in because boys will be boys.”
Derek cursed roundly and turned around to slap a hand against the wall.
“That’s why I quit. I couldn’t bear the thought of working there and watching you and Serena…” Kendra ended on a sob.
He turned back around at her sob and pulled her tightly against him, rocking her to and fro. “Shhh… it’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. I have never dated Serena or been interested in dating Serena.”
She sniffled and lifted her head up from his chest, looking up at him. “You haven’t?”
“How could I when I’ve only had eyes for you since the moment we met?” Derek asked earnestly, planting a kiss on the tip of her red swollen nose, which made her want to die in embarrassment.
His words warmed her heart and sent her into another crying jag. Picking her up, Derek carried her to the couch and sat down with her cuddled against him while she cried out all the despair she’d felt the last few days.
“I’m sorry… I just felt completely gutted… like I’d died inside and I…” she stammered against him. “And I’m so mad! Y-you needed me and I wasn’t there.”
“That’s not your fault. Mom is going to be fine. I have no idea why Mary lied to you like that but I can promise that I’ll get to the bottom of things first thing Monday. You trust me to handle it?” he asked.
Kendra smiled tremulously at him. “Yes, sir.”
“I also came to tell you I do not accept your resignation,” Derek said darkly.
She blushed. “I hated giving it. I loved that job.”
“You still have it. However, you and I still have a few things to settle, don’t we?” he asked as he tipped her chin up so she was forced to meet his eyes.
Kendra squirmed in his lap. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl, I want you to go take a shower while I find us something to eat. After dinner we’ll have a little chat, you and I,” Derek told her, lifting her off his lap and pointing her toward the bathroom with a light pat on the butt.
“Yes, sir,” she said and started toward the bathroom.
“Kendra?” he called after her, waiting until she turned and looked at him. “No clothes.”
She felt her face heat again and wondered how it was still possible to blush when a man had known her as intimately as Derek. “Yes, sir,” Kendra said again before dashing into the restroom and out of sight.
Kendra took her time in the bathroom, doing her best to dispel the circles under her eyes and the redness in her nose and cheeks. She wanted to look pretty for Derek. She dried her hair and then brushed it till it shone and lotioned her entire body in Lavender and Honey from Bath and Body Works.
Finally satisfied she looked as good as she was going to, she opened the door and walked back into the living room, stark naked.
Derek looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, paging through one of her magazines. “About time, I thought I was going to have to come in after you.”
Kendra blushed. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
He shook his head and got up, walking to her for a quick hug. “I was teasing, baby, you’re fine. I ordered us a pepperoni pizza, does that work?”
“That sounds wonderful,” she exclaimed, realizing she was hungry for the first time in days.
“I’ll serve it up while you go get your phone,” he told her.
“My phone?” Kendra asked in confusion.
“Yes, I intend to make sure nothing like the last few days ever happens again; go on and get it,” Derek instructed.
She ran and got her phone and brought it to the kitchen where Derek was setting a plate with two slices of pizza on it down next to a glass of tea. Kendra handed him her phone as she sat down; it felt weird to be sitting on her kitchen chairs naked with him fully clothed.
“Thank you. Eat up,” he told her with a grin as he began punching numbers into her phone. “I’m entering my cell, home, and my parents’ number. You and I will never be out of contact again, barring a complete phone outage.”
She smiled around her pizza, pleased he was making sure she felt secure. Once he’d entered his numbers in her phone, he called his cell with her phone, then saved the number.
“Now that’s taken care of, I can eat,” Derek told her with a smile. They were both hungry and made short work of the pizza.
Dinner finished, Kendra began toying nervously with her napkin. Derek cleared away the mess. “You stay right where you are, little miss,” he said when she moved to help. Then he moved one of the chairs into the center of the room and sat down.
“Come here, Kendra,” he said firmly, holding out a hand.
She took a deep breath and got up from the table, walking to him and placing her hand trustingly in his.
“Do you know why you’re about to be spanked?” he asked.
“Because I was rude to Serena,” she said quietly.
“Not because you were rude to Serena, because you were unprofessional and you’re better than that… I expect you to be the bigger person. I will hold you to a higher standard than the rest of the employees, do you know why?” Derek asked.
“Because I’m yours?” Kendra asked.
“Partly, but mostly I will expect more because you’re capable of more. You will be the bigger person because you are the bigger person… a better person,” he told her. Then, cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her lips and smoothed a stray hair behind her ear. “More than that though, I’m spanking you because we need to reconnect in the most fundamental way possible. I’m going to spank you hard then reclaim what belongs to me. To remind us both of how precious this is and that we can never allow anyone to come between us again.”
She shook her head in agreement. “Never again.”
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” Kendra said quietly, then went willingly when with a gentle tug he pulled her face down over his lap.
“Good girl,” Derek said as he tilted her a little further over and scissored her legs between his own. He brought his hand down firmly on her left sit spot, making her jerk with a gasp as an intense sting immediately bloomed in its wake.
His hand fell hard and fast repeatedly in the exact same spot until she was trying to buck off his lap but his legs held her in place. He switched to the other side and spanked it in the exact same way, then switched back to the first cheek until tears were dripping down her cheeks.
The spanking went on and on, the sting building until with a sob she collapsed over his lap and gave herself completely over to his discipline.
It took her a minute to realize the spanking was over and he was rubbing soft circles on her well heated flesh, and she moaned in response.
Derek unclamped his legs and lifted her to straddle his lap. “Undo my pants.”
Kendra reached between them and quickly unbuckled his belt, unfastening his pants and freeing his hard cock. She was desperate to have him inside her. As soon as his cock was free, Derek lifted her by her sore bottom and impaled her on his stiff erection, thrusting up as he brought her down hard.
He stretched her inner muscles wide, giving her no time to adjust to his invasion. She was so wet his way was eased but still the friction was delicious. He began lifting her up and down as he hammered into her from underneath.
She could only hang on to his shoulders and enjoy the ride. Soon the only sounds in the room were the slaps of wet flesh and her mewling little cries of pleasure. Every time he brought her body down he ground up against her pelvis, hitting her clit and driving her need higher until with a little scream she convulsed in his arms as her body clamped down hard, squeezing his cock mercilessly with her inner muscles.
Derek lunged up one final time before he emptied inside her with a groan against her neck. Kendra fell against his chest in a decadent sprawl as her heartbeat slowed to normal.
He caught her face between his hands and kissed her deeply. “I needed that so bad. I missed you, baby.”
“I missed you too,” she told him.
“I don’t ever want to be apart from you again,” Derek told her earnestly. “Marry me… now… tonight.”
Happiness filled her. “Okay.”
Derek laughed and lifted her off him with a slap to her sore butt that made her wince. “Go put a dress on. No panties.”
She hurried to comply and before she knew it they were at the airport chartering a plane to Vegas. By midnight she was Mrs. Derek Malcom and they were flying home.
* * *
Monday, Kendra walked back into the clinic on Derek’s arm, smiling as he ushered her inside. Derek had already spoken to his partners, who were all in agreement with what he planned to do.
He led her straight to Mary’s office.
Mary looked up at them from her desk and frowned. “Is Nurse Jacoby coming back here to work then? You know she left rather abruptly.”
“No, Nurse Jacoby isn’t returning,” Derek said, frowning when Mary smiled. “Nurse Malcom is returning, however.”
“Nurse Malcom?” Mary asked, shocked, paling a little.
Kendra stood there quietly, smiling serenely.
“We were married Friday night in Vegas. After speaking with Jim about her abrupt departure, I was naturally worried about the woman I loved and came straight home from Denver. Imagine my surprise when she told me not only had you not given her my message but that you told her I’d been dating Serena for months and we were getting serious.”
“It was only the truth!” Mary exclaimed defensively.
“Call Serena in here,” Derek instructed.
Mary called her goddaughter over the intercom and Serena was in the doorway a minute later. “What’s going on?”
“I was just explaining to Mary that you and I have never dated at all and certainly have not been going out for months,” Derek said baldly.
Serena flushed. “Well… we have this connection…”
“The only connection we shared was working in the same building, a connection we no longer share,” he said flatly.
“You can’t mean…” Serena started.
“Yes, I can and do mean. You’re fired. Both of you, your services are no longer needed here. I discussed it with the other partners; none of us will tolerate the cruel behavior you’ve both displayed. Please clear your desks,” Derek said firmly. “Darling, would you like to share our news with the rest of the staff while I supervise these ladies in their exit from our lives?”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a grin.
Mary and Serena gaped at her. Mary finally spluttered, “Have you nothing to say?”
Kendra blinked, and then smiled brightly. “I’ll miss your meatloaf, Mary.” She skipped from the room, eager to share her good fortune with the rest of her coworkers.