How Cassie Got Her Grind Back (27 page)

Ivan chuckled as he continued cuddling Cassie and said, “Asks the caveman now, after having his way with you.”

Cassie sniffled and whapped Ivan’s arm lightly. “Hush, you. He’s serious, aren’t you, Samson?”

A shiver ran down his spine as he gazed into her eyes. Tear tracks marred both her temples, but she smiled at him. He’d always,
always
gotten off on that sight. The physical markers of an emotional breaking point attained, the accomplishment of helping the sub, the smile, and the glowing eyes that special release could bring. That rush had always been the pinnacle for him, even more so than sex on its own had ever been. But this…this was different. The emotions she brought out of him. The tenderness and the fierceness. It was all new territory.

She flinched, drawing his attention and distracting him from his momentary epiphany, and she whispered, “Leg cramp. My hip.
Ow
.”

He leaned down, feeling remorse for having to interrupt the moment between them, and kissed her gently as he pulled out. Her pussy was still swollen with her arousal, but she didn’t seem to be in any pain, other than the cramp, so he helped her to slowly lower and straighten her legs and massaged the hip she was grasping.

She grimaced and then giggled. “Ow. That was so amazing. Sorry I interrupted the moment…again. Maybe I should do yoga.”

Samson winced when he rose from the bed and his knee twinged. Ivan must’ve noticed because he said, “Maybe we all should. My shoulder started spasming about halfway through the mauling you just gave her.”

“Mauling?” she said and looked at Ivan in dismay. “What about you and that kiss earlier? Huh? That was not a mauling? He’s going to think you mean it.” She turned to Samson and continued massaging her hip as she said, “You can maul me anytime, honey.”

He appreciated her defending him because she’d forgotten how much Ivan liked to tease. Ivan winked at him. He would’ve been more worried if Ivan hadn’t said a thing. They settled her between the two of them in the bed, with pillows for her head, and then he set about massaging the hip that had troubled her the most. “You okay?”

“Messy,” she whispered with a hint of mirth in her voice. “But otherwise I feel wonderful…so relaxed. Thank you,” she added as Ivan slipped from the bed. Samson leaned down to kiss her while water ran in the bathroom.

“It’s me who should be thanking you, Cassie. I’ve wanted to make love to you for a long time.” She smiled up at him with heavy eyelids, and he knew she was fading fast. Ivan returned with a wet washcloth, and they took care of cleaning her up.

She drifted off with a smile on her face after kissing them both, and Samson pulled a sheet and blanket over them so she wouldn’t get chilled again. That might’ve been part of why she’d stiffened up so much, and he’d have to remember in the future and keep her warm enough.

In soft tones, Ivan filled him in about Bill’s unwelcome visit, but in the back of Samson’s mind, was the flurry of thoughts and revelations he’d had earlier. They stayed in his mind and kept him awake long after he set his alarm clock for the following morning.

* * * *

Samson noticed Cassie was slow to awaken the following morning and watched her for signs of discomfort as they showered and had morning coffee and breakfast, prepared hurriedly by Ivan before he took off for work. He’d been smart and brought an overnight bag, and Samson wished he’d had the forethought, but no, he’d been in too big a rush to get to her house. It was lucky for him he was an early riser no matter what time he fell asleep.

Cassie refilled his coffee cup as the sun rose and then sat down beside him. “I have to open the coffee shop first, but once the girls arrive, would you like to come with me to the hospital to check on Mom? Her lab results should be in by then.”

Once they arrived at the shop, he sat in one of the chairs in her office and checked in with work. He recalled Sunny Tarrington had been brought to the Divine hospital and decided to check on his neighbors while Cassie visited her mother.

Later in the hospital, at the nurses’ station upstairs, one of the nurses told Cassie that Doctor Emma was in the hospital on rounds and would likely be around before too long.

Samson kissed her cheek and said, “You go visit with your mom and wait. I have some acquaintances here that I want to check on. It shouldn’t take long.”

She nodded and pointed at one of the numbered doors in the hallway. “You know where I’ll be.”

He inquired about the Tarringtons and whether they’d receive a visitor. After confirming they would see him, he was directed to a room on the same floor. He turned down the hallway leading to Sunny’s room and paused. Soft voices emanated from inside so he tapped lightly and a familiar male voice called out, “Come on in.”

He poked his head around the doorway. “I hope I haven’t come at a bad time, sir, ma’am,” he added as he nodded at the frail woman bundled up in blankets on the bed, who was being tucked in further by her husband.

“Now, Casper, don’t fuss. I’m perfectly cozy,” she said to her husband in her proper English accent.

Casper kissed her cheek and came forward to greet Samson with a handshake. His hand, large and probably strong at one point, was now fragile with age, the joints gnarled. “Good to see you, son.”

Sunny clapped her aged hands together once and beamed at Samson. “How delightful to see you, Samson. It was a relief to hear a familiar voice on the line last night, isn’t that right, Casper?”

“I wanted to see if you were doing all right, if there was anything you need or that I could do for you. My…” He hesitated. “Girlfriend” was such a weak word for what Cassie was to him. “The woman I love has a relative in the hospital as well, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to check on you.”

“Well, besides being poked and prodded, and awakened at every hour through the night, I feel fine. This IV wasn’t pleasant but seems to be doing the trick.” She pointed at the IV taped down to her arm. “It seems I was dehydrated, which led to dizziness, and well…I still blame that infernal Oriental rug.”

“We’re replacing it at the first opportunity,” Casper said, “with something less likely to create a tripping hazard. I’m also adding another lamp in the room so she can see a little better.”

Samson nodded and smiled at them. “Let me know if you need help moving the rug or getting a new one into your place.” He took out a pen and small notepad and wrote down his cell phone number and regular office phone number for them, wondering why he’d never done it before. “And I’m glad there were no other complications. That’s not always the case.”

Sunny nodded and patted her chest. “I’m fit as can be, otherwise. At least that’s what the doctor told me a few minutes ago. She concurred with the emergency room doctor who looked at my X-rays that I’m a lucky lady. Just a scraped knee and bruised dignity. So…you have a
ladylove
visiting someone in the hospital, hmm?”

Samson smiled at her choice of words. Cassie was indeed his ladylove. The thought gave him a light, fizzy feeling in his chest. “Yes, ma’am. She’s visiting her mom, who was brought in yesterday. I know you need your rest. I’m relieved you’re doing well, Mrs. Tarrington.”

“You were a calming voice in our time of need, and you’re a family friend as well as neighbor. You should call me Sunny.” She reached out for his hands, and he ventured forward and gently accepted her frail grasp. “I wish you—
and
your ladylove—all the very best, young Samson. Life is precious and fragile, as I have been reminded. You take a lesson from me and seize the day, all right?”

“You’re right, Sunny. I will. I promise.” He shook hands with Casper again and then said his goodbyes, backing out of the room with a final wave, smiling as they resumed their conversation, in which Sunny declared her interest in skydiving, which Casper promptly pooh-poohed.

Pausing in the hallway, he stopped, thinking of the love he’d seen in Casper’s eyes while they rested on Sunny. He wanted that. He wanted to give Cassie a lifetime of love, regardless of how late they’d started. And he wanted Ivan at his side also taking care of her. Both of them there for her. It made more sense with every step he took away from Sunny’s hospital room. Had they been reunited long? No. But he knew what he wanted.

Squabbling voices drew his attention as he rounded the last corner before the elevators and leading down to the corridor where Delicia Villalobos’s room was located.

“Crud,” he groaned as he recognized Jorge Villalobos and several of Cassie’s family members standing outside the room, arguing all at once with Cassie. Reluctant to interfere, but also not willing to allow her to be berated as she had been in the past, he took long steps to join their group as one of the nurses rushed over to hush them and herd them to the private waiting room down the hall.

Cassie made eye contact with him and gave him a small nod and a little smile before she went back to arguing with her father, who was having none of it. There was fiery spirit in her eyes, and it did Samson’s heart good because he could remember times when Jorge had succeeded in dominating her sweet nature.

“No, Dad. I don’t care who brought you over here,” she said, eyeing a couple of the men who had aged in the years he’d been gone but whom Samson recognized. “Mom needs her rest, and she doesn’t want you here. Why would she?”

Mr. Villalobos glowered at her, and his jaw jutted forward. “I didn’t raise my daughter to be so disrespectful. It’s time your mother came to her senses and resumed her place in the family.”

“As what? Your servant? Don’t you remember you were the one who divorced her?” Cassie asked, her frown deepening as she glanced at her uncles, who shrugged. Samson recalled her telling him it had been many years.

“I don’t care what I did. She should come home.”

Cassie arched her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “So you can take care of her?” She glanced at the aunts and uncles, who looked down guiltily. “Or so she can take care of you? Cook and clean for you? Drive you around and do your laundry for you? I think she’s done enough for you, and you’ve definitely done and said enough to her. You should hire a housekeeper or find a girlfriend.”

“She is your mother and my wife. I want her home!” he shouted. His hands were fists raised in the air as if he was about to have a temper tantrum.

Another nurse hurried into the waiting room. The name on her hospital ID tag identified her as Tracey. “Sir, this is a hospital, and there are sick people here recuperating from surgery or illness. You’re upsetting many of them with all this ruckus. Now, do I need to call security, or are you going to settle down?” She set her hands on her hips, looking capable of subduing him all on her own.

Mr. Villalobos grunted dismissively and then nodded at the nurse, who rolled her eyes and then pegged him with a look that would’ve made any Dom proud. Mr. Villalobos raised his hands and waved them as if in surrender, and she nodded and walked away. A security officer appeared in the opening door of the elevator and settled his gaze on the waiting room, not advancing but waiting to see if he was needed, if the noise level rose again.

Seeming defeated, Mr. Villalobos sank into one of the chairs and put his head in his hands. Cassie reached out and took Samson’s hand, a concerned frown on her face as she watched her father. She glanced at him and said, “When he’s mean as a snake, I know how to deal with him, but this…”

“He seemed confused earlier. His memory…” He hated the desolate look that entered her eyes.

“I know.”

One of the uncles, Antonio, he thought, came over to them. “Cassie, he’s been like this for several days. The forgetfulness is worse lately. When he moved in with us, we didn’t realize how bad he’d gotten.”

“What? With his memory?” she asked, her brows rising.

“No,” Antonio’s wife, Rita, whispered. “He’s horrible to our grandchildren when they come to visit. He yells at me when I don’t cook everything the way he likes it. He’s
mean
.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes and stared at her uncle and aunt. “That’s how he’s always been, and only
just now
the two of you are concerned? Try being
raised
by him.”

Antonio looked at his hands and then glanced at her. “We thought he complained all the time because you were a difficult child and teenager. Sorry.”

“Out of sight, out of mind,” Cassie said with a grimace before she rolled her eyes. “So what are you saying?”

“Well, if he can’t come live with you, we think he should move into an assisted living community.”

Even Samson cringed at that thought. If things weren’t perfect enough for Mr. Villalobos in the bosom of his family, being in a facility would be a misery for him and everyone who had to deal with him.

Cassie blinked at her uncle and shook her head as she pointed toward her mother’s hospital room. “Right now I’m more worried about my mother, Uncle Antonio. If I move her in with me, I certainly can’t have him in my home, too. I’d never have any peace.” She glanced at Samson, apology in her eyes. “I’m sorry, honey. It’s not a done deal yet. We’ll talk more about it once I’m finished here.”

“Of course,” Samson said, hoping she understood he’d never give her trouble for taking care of her ailing mother. Family was the foundation of everything, and he’d always liked Delicia. “Whatever you need,
chiquita
.”