Chapter Twenty-Five

“So, tonight’s your last night, huh?” Aimee asked, as she rolled over on the blanket they shared. It was a perfect day for the beach, the sun high overhead with a cool breeze coming over the Atlantic. It had been a while since the sisters spent any real time together, so they decided to catch some sun before Florida’s afternoon storms washed the day away.

Paul asked Karla to give him a couple of days to find a replacement, not even bothering to talk her into staying. It was as awkward for him lately as it was for her. She asked him to let her break the news to her mother, so she could explain the reasoning, and he agreed. She didn’t need her mother misunderstanding her motives. She still had a hard time understanding them herself. She would work through Saturday night, and then she would belong completely to Mitch for work and play. That thought alone scared the hell out of her. Mitch wanted her to be his full time starting the very next day when he asked her to come work for him but gave her permission to finish out the time requested. Of course, he also kept her working for him during the day Friday without remorse.

Karla rolled over, allowing the sun to kiss her back, as she balanced out her tanning. “Yup. No more late nights or drunk assholes.” The breeze whispered in off the Atlantic, cooling her flesh as the sun baked it.

“Are you sure you’re ready to be around Mitch that much? To give up so much of your freedom?”

“As I understand it, giving him my freedom is supposed to truly set me free.” She opened one eye, so that she could see her sister staring at her. “Don’t ask me. I don’t get it, either.” She closed her eye again and shrugged. “But I told him I’d give it a shot. To be honest, I want to see how it works out. It sounds ass-backward, but he seems determined.” She pushed herself upward, holding herself up with her forearms. “I’ll tell you this, though; when he’s being all bossy-like and taking control, I get so turned on I can’t even think straight. It’s like I can’t refuse him anything, even if I wanted.”

“Isn’t it a little weird, though? You know, showing you off to his coworker or whoever else comes into the shop?”

Karla nodded. “For normal people, it would be, but not for us. It gets us all heated up, and the sex afterward is out of this world. I couldn’t believe it would be that way, but wow, is it ever.”

Aimee just giggled as she settled back on the shifting sand. “You always were the wild child.”

“And now, I just may have found the man who can keep up with me.”

“I hope he takes vitamins.”

“He doesn’t need them. Trust me. However, if this keeps up, I may very well need them myself.”

Aimee just laughed, as they settled into the comfortable silence, the rolling waves acting as the white noise to their thoughts. Karla could feel the heat between her legs stir just at the mention of what Mitch did to her, and his plans for her. She could almost envision what he meant about freedom within his control. He knew her, knew her likes, desires, cravings, and he allowed her those, putting her in positions where she could act on them without judgment or ridicule.

Or abandonment.

Most men wouldn’t tolerate her behavior or hunger for all things sexual. They would want to control her in order to subjugate her, not free her. Mitch promised the opposite. He really did wish to explore her desires and fantasies. It would be an interesting adventure for sure.

“Look who I found,” Clint’s voice called out to them as he approached.

Both ladies glanced over, Aimee with her hand over her eyes, shading her vision from the sun. Clint held Abigail’s tiny hand as she tried to match his giant steps, her toy bucket and shovel in her other hand. On the other side of the little girl walked Mitch, sunglasses hiding his dark eyes, a towel draped over his broad shoulder, a cooler in his hand. He wore a faded blue T-shirt and a pair of dark blue swimming trunks, his legs a pasty white.

“Don’t get out in the sun much, do you?” Aimee asked with a smart-ass grin on her face.

Mitch glanced down at his legs, then shrugged as he looked back at the others. “I’m indoors more than I’m outside. Doesn’t allow for much tanning time.”

“By the looks of those legs, I’d say it doesn’t allow for any tanning time,” Aimee said.

“I like his legs, especially when they’re…” Karla stopped when she remembered Abigail standing there. “Well, you know…” She winked at Mitch.

Clint spread out a blanket he brought down with him, and Abigail started to build a sandcastle as soon as her father released her from his grip. Mitch joined Karla on her blanket, slapping her ass as he sat down. “Someone gets too much sun, I think,” Mitch said, as he leaned back on the blanket, sunglasses still firmly in place.

“Not anymore, I would imagine,” Aimee said, propped up on her elbows, as she stared at her sister and Mitch. “Karla says tonight’s her last night at Sand Dune, and then she’s all yours. Are you sure you’ve thought that through? Not even I can handle being around Karla that much.”

“Rude,” Karla said.

“But true,” Aimee chuckled. “That’s a lot of Karla time. Don’t come grumbling to me when you get sick of her.”

Mitch stretched his arms out beside him, as he kept his face pointed to the bright afternoon sky. “I doubt I’d ever get too tired of being around your sister. I have too many devilish ways of keeping her busy.” He grinned, as if he ran through the list in his head. “Yes, definitely some twisted ways to be entertained.”

Aimee groaned, as she plopped back down on the blanket. “I should have known. You’re as bad as she is.”

Clint leaned down and kissed Aimee’s nose. “What? You wouldn’t want to entertain me like that? It could definitely be something I could get used to. Want me to hire you on?”

“You can’t afford me,” Aimee said.

“We could work out a barter system or something. You know, a mutually beneficial trade.”

Karla let out a bark of laughter. “You act like you haven’t been dating my sister these past couple of weeks.”

Mitch smacked Karla’s ass, making her give a little yelp. “Behave,” was all he said.

“But…”

He smacked her on the ass again. “I mean it.”

Karla could hear her sister giggling from the other blanket. “This is going to be fun to watch.”

Clint smacked Aimee’s ass. “You behave as well.”

Aimee jerked her head up. “What the..?”

Clint just winked at her. “It seems to be working well for Mitch, so I thought I’d try it.”

Aimee rolled her eyes, and then glanced to where Abigail built her sandcastle. “You’re lucky she’s here.”

Clint smacked her ass again. “I know. And I plan on taking full advantage of it.”

Karla just shook her head as she listened to the two of them. Aimee was in deeper than even she realized, and Karla would enjoy watching it all unfold. If Clint was even an inkling like Mitch, Aimee was in for a wild ride. The only hindrance was Bonnie Asher. Karla lifted her head, about to ask about the reappearing runaway, then remembered Abigail and changed her mind. Karla had yet to be able to talk to Aimee about what she would do with the other woman continuing to come around. The fact that Clint and Aimee were at the beach said that Aimee must have listened to Karla the other day and not given up. Clint deserved a woman who loved him, and Aimee was that woman. She’d just have to deal with an ex in the picture on occasion. Still, there was always a chance that Bonnie would run away again. They could only hope. Of course, Aimee would scold her for even thinking such a thing, believing that Abigail needed her mother, even if the woman didn’t deserve the job. Karla didn’t trust that all Bonnie wanted was to be a mother. There was an ulterior motive in play; they just hadn’t discovered it yet.

“Daddy, I want to go in the water,” Abigail said, as she dropped her bucket and shovel and ran over to her father, kicking up sand with her tiny feet as she did. “Please.” The last word came out in a long whine and Karla gave a soft chuckle. That little girl is well on her way to having control. Karla could do that to her father…

Until she did it once too often. She laid her head down on her arms, which were folded under her cheek like a pillow. She felt a twisting in her gut at the memory of him standing there in the front door when she tried to make a stealthy return after being out one night when she shouldn’t have been. He gave up on her right then, knowing that no matter how many times he told her she deserved better, she was just going to sneak out and do it again. She never heard his words, because he was the only one who ever said them. All the men in her life proved to her the exact opposite, and once she surrendered to that, she gained all the control she needed to get by in this life without the help of anyone.

She felt soft lips kissing her upper arm. Turning her head, she glanced at Mitch as he laid beside her, his soft gaze fixated on her. “You okay?” he asked.

She was about to lie to him and tell him she was just peachy. It’s what she would normally do, hide the inner turmoil twisting inside of her. Yet, he told her to trust him with everything, so she went against her gut feeling and shared her pain. “I was thinking of my father, that’s all.” She glanced down at the beach to where Clint and Aimee stood at the edge of the ocean, an excited Abigail between them. “I could get anything I wanted from my father, just like Abigail, with just the right amount of pouty lips and whine in my voice.” She returned her gaze to where he lay, staring at her, interest in his eyes. She gave a half-hearted shrug, as she laid her head back down on her arm. “Until I pushed him just one too many times. He tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. I was too busy twisting boys to my whims to realize I was losing my father in the process.”

“Did you really lose him?”

She thought about it for a moment before answering. Did she lose him? “In a way, I did. He never stopped loving me or trying to help me when I needed it, but he took his hands off and turned me loose, so in a way, it was like I lost him. When he died, though, I stood there, holding one of his hands, crying like a little baby.” She felt a tear slide down her face and hadn’t even realized she was crying. “I would have given anything, changed anything about me, just to keep him in my life at that point, but it was too late. He died thinking the worst of his little girl.”

Mitch reached out and touched her cheek, lifting a tear away from her skin. “I doubt he thought any such thing. Real fathers never give up on their baby girls.”

“He had a right to give up on me; I was a royal bitch.”

“I don’t know. I kinda like who you are. I think I’ll keep you.”

She just gave him a weak smile, afraid of saying anything that would ruin their morning. She just wished she had as much confidence in herself as he seemed to have in her. If history was any indicator, she was bound to screw it all up. What then? She highly doubted he’d be as forgiving as he said he would.

A child’s scream snapped both their heads toward the water, hearts beating as they pushed up, ready to run to help. They paused as they witnessed Clint pulling his daughter from the water, her little body dangling from his arms as she spun, giggling. Aimee was just laughing as she stood there watching. Karla smiled. She was happy for her sister and the normal life that seemed to be almost in her grasp, envied her even. Karla wished she could get that one day, a notion that shocked even her. When did I start thinking of family and a normal life? The icy realization shivered through her, sending fear to cloud her determination. And her smile.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once everyone was pretty well sunburnt for the day, Aimee went back to Clint’s condo and Mitch joined Karla at her place. Karla remained quiet most of the day while they were out under the sun, her memories dousing the happy spirit she had earlier. She was glad when Aimee entered Clint’s condo instead of coming home, needing time and quiet to regroup for the evening ahead.

As soon as they were through the front door, and locked it behind them, Mitch pulled her into his arms, kissing her softly. “It’s time to wash some of the grime away,” he said, as he gazed into her eyes.

“Yeah, the sand has slid into places that are pretty uncomfortable.”

“I bet, but that’s not what I meant.” He took her by the hand and led her into the bathroom. Once inside, he turned her away from him, pulling the string on her bikini top loose. Turning her back around, he smiled, as he slid the suit from around her neck and allowed it to drop on the floor. “You seem to think your life consists of everything in your past.” He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her bikini bottoms and slid them down her legs until she stepped out of them. “But, to me, life is what lies ahead of you.” He reached into the shower and turned the water on, giving it a moment to heat up. “I very much like who you are now and even the type of person you are. I like the twistedness of your mind and darkness of your desires. I love how playful you can be, as well as how serious, and I love how sexy you are and that you love showing it off. I don’t care about your past, and neither should you. The future is what’s important.” He tested the water with his fingers, nodding when he was satisfied with the temperature. After stepping out of his bathing suit, he stepped into the water, pulling her in behind him, his eyes still sparkling with his ever-present smile.

Karla shivered as the water hit her, contrasting with the cool air from the vent above the bathroom door. She went to duck her body under the hot stream, but Mitch stopped her. “I thought we were going to clean up?” she asked, her expression holding her confusion.

“We are, in more ways than just physically. I want you to close your eyes.”

She stared at him, her head tilted to the side, perplexed.

“Trust me, and just do what I say.”

Karla closed her eyes and waited, more curious than nervous.

“Now, picture your body and when you do, picture it with everything you don’t like about your past, the way you think others treated you, the way you feel you disappointed your father, even the way you hurt other people. Every painful thing.”

She heard the water splash behind her as if he stuck his hand in it, felt the warm drops hit her sun-kissed skin. She did as he asked, picturing the harshness of her life. Why he wanted her to relive it now made no sense, but she did what he commanded. Then she felt his hands on her, felt the soap on his palms as he rubbed it into her flesh.

“Now, picture my hands on you as they are, and everywhere you feel me caress you, using the soap in my hands, picture that part of your past being washed away, cleansed. Envision it flow from your body and down into the tub with the water. Watch as it twirls at the bottom of the tub, the darkness sliding down the drain and out into the sewer to mix with the rest of the world’s waste. Witness it leaving you and let it go. Don’t hold onto it. Just, let it go.”

She stood there, allowing him to wash her, lift her arms and turn her anyway he needed to get to her entire body. He washed her hands and arms, her back, her legs and feet. She felt him rub at her ass and deep between her legs. He washed her face, neck and then even her hair, making sure to scrub behind her ears. She felt it all, and stood quietly, tears streaming down her face as he washed more than just her flesh. She obeyed him as well, picturing the cruelty she allowed herself to be a part of, to endure, as well as to inflict, saw it all twirling in the muck at the bottom of the tub until the shower washed it down the drain and away, along with her tears.

Once he finished, the water losing most of its heat, she felt his arms go around her, pulling her against him as he kissed her cheeks. “Now, when you open your eyes, picture the clean Karla Harper, the new and unstained version. Don’t worry about what was washed away. It doesn’t matter. It never really did, except for the power you gave it. Now is a new day and a new future. What we explore, we do together, no matter what it is. You can’t do wrong by me unless you just don’t tell me. Silence is the only unforgivable here.”

She opened her eyes, the water making her blink a little to clear her vision. She stopped crying, her tears turning into a smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He kissed her nose. “My pleasure. Now, you can wash me up before this water turns to ice.”

She squeezed him tight against her, her cheek pressed hard into his chest. “It would be my pleasure, sir.”

It wound up being both of their pleasures.