Authors: April Zyon
Chapter Twelve
Taking
her hand in his, Bracken helped her out of the conveyance in front of her
ancestral home. Looking up at it, Sadie felt any number of emotions rushing
through her. “Hey,” he whispered, slipping an arm around her waist. “You okay?”
he asked while pulling her in closer to him.
“I
am,
thank you.” She moved in closer and leaned against
him. This was what she needed, to be close to him. “You are all that I’ve ever
needed, I just have been waiting,” she said with a grin. “Just knowing that you’re
here with me is everything I could have possibly needed. We’re in this
together.”
“Nowhere
else in the universe I’d rather be than by your side, Sadie. Come on, let’s go
and see this house of yours, shall we?” Moving his arm up around her shoulders,
he walked with her up to the front door, only letting go when she needed to get
in close to the pad to put in her codes.
Once
she had the codes in
she
looked over her shoulder at
him. “We both need to add our biometrics as well. Once we have a security team
in place we’ll add the biometrics to the head of our security but no other. I’m
hopeful that you will have a helpful lead on that part?”
“Of course.”
He nodded. “Get
yours in there, and then we’ll do mine. As to the security, I have some people
we can meet with. It will be up to you whether we hire them, or another group
I’ve investigated. Both have impeccable reputations, but I get a better gut
feeling from the first group.”
Sadie
nodded. She put in the codes that she needed to input her biometrics, allowing
the scanner to scan her eye, her hand,
then
take a
drop of blood. “Your turn,” she told him with a grin.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Stepping in, he
leaned over to scan his eye,
then
put his hand on the
scanner. Wincing, he lifted his hand to suck on his finger. “Damn, that thing’s
vicious. Now, let’s get inside to take a look around.”
“The
good thing about the ancestral homes is now that it has our biometrics it will
be able to keep tabs on our health. Let us know when and if we need medical
care.
Which reminds me, I might need to update some of the
software and hardware in the home.
”
“I’ll
leave that to you for sure. I can work the vid screens and data pads, but
anything beyond that is beyond me. I never did very well in the encoding
classes we had to take at the academy. It all sort of went over my head.
Tactics and strategy were my forte.” Opening the door for her, Bracken waved
her inside, following on her heels.
“I
can handle the coding but strategy is not for me. I guess it’s just another
reason that we fit so well together.” She winked at him and entered the home.
Pausing, she took a deep breath and frowned. “Well, that’s odd…”
“Sadie?
What is it?”
“That smell.
It almost smells
like…my grandfather’s pipes. But that’s not possible. My grandfather’s been
dead for years and no one has lived in this house for at least three decades.”
Glancing around the entryway, she sniffed again. “Do you smell that, too?”
Bracken
shrugged. “It’s probably just because the house has been closed up all this
time.”
“You’re
probably right,” she said, taking a step forward.
Rubbing
a hand to her back, he let her guide him through the house as they explored the
rooms together. He seemed very impressed by the kitchen, giving her a grin and
a wink after checking the cooking top. “Needs a little updating, but I can work
with this when we’re here.”
“Ready to check out the upstairs?”
He
nodded and took her hand in his. Heading up the stairs with her, he let her
lead the way. When she pushed the first set of double doors open he let out a
low whistle. “Wow,” he said softly. Stepping inside, he turned slowly as he
took everything in. “I think I’m in what the
Imarians
refer to as Heaven. Or at least like a kid in the toy store. This is amazing.”
He moved to the whip rack and picked one up. He slapped it to his palm,
then
flexed it slightly.
Sadie
moved to the large X-like structure in one corner. “This is amazing.” Her hands
moved over the heavily padded leather and touched the silk bindings. “We will,
of course, want to add our own items, but I think this is fabulous, don’t you?”
“It’s
a lot like the one you saw in the shop at the moon base.
A
little older, with a few more interesting features, but quite similar
nonetheless.”
His heat warmed her back as he pressed up against her. An
arm slid around her waist to hold her tight against him. “This one allows for
the one tied to it to either face out, or face in. It has a joint that can be
unlocked to bend the person over while still strapped to it. It even rotates to
a degree for even more play options. Once I check it over to ensure it’s in
perfect working order we could give it a run. Maybe play with a few other items
I’ve spotted around here, like the whips, or the wax.”
She
shivered at that and nodded, licking her lips as she did so. “I want to be able
to play with everything.
With you.”
Only
with him.
She leaned back into him and sighed. “You know everything that
I want and need, don’t you?”
“If
I don’t, I soon will,” he said. She felt his lips brush to her neck before he
pressed a kiss to her skin. “We have our whole lives to learn about one another
and all the things that make us want.”
“Agreed.
And at least when we
aren’t on board our home on the ship we will have this to come back to.” She
glanced at keypad near the door
door
, then back at
him. “It looks like each room is fully securable so that no one can enter when
we aren’t here. Now, let’s go and look at the other rooms on the opposite wing
so that we can see if you feel it would work for your sister?”
Another press of his lips to her skin before he stepped back
from her.
He took her hand in his, lacing their
fingers together, and followed her out of the room. In the other wing he looked
around at the sleeping room, the bathing room, and every other part. Finally,
he nodded. “I think she’ll be more than comfortable here. It’s private, allows
her all the space she could want, and yet is still a part of the house.”
“Now
we just need to somehow figure out how to get her free of your mother. This
isn’t going to be easy, you know that, right?” His mother was going to fight
tooth and nail to keep his sister, if for no other reason than to thwart
Bracken.
“No,
but with Mother collaborating with your ex, who was paid off by your own
mother, I think we have a strong case. Besides, I believe Cecilia will be able
to give us the adequate leverage we need. I spoke briefly with her before our
meeting with the marshal and she’s more than ready to get out of the house. She
did mention a vid diary that could help us with getting her out of the house
permanently and with what our two families appear to be up to.”
“That
would be marvelous.” Sadie began to think for a moment and, looking up at him,
said, “I wonder if I could get into your home’s security and hack into that vid
diary. It’s possible, I just am not certain of the ramifications to our case
should I do that.”
“Cecilia
is going to pull all the data from it. That way we won’t be doing anything to
it. I don’t want the case compromised in any way, or even looked to be
compromised. She’ll get the data, bring it to us, and then we’ll turn it over
to the marshal. If anything it will at least give the marshal the authority
needed to remove Cecilia from the home and put her into my custody. I’d
actually prefer that over having to speak with my mother again.”
She
let out the breath she had been holding. “That’s a very good idea. I’m glad
she’s willing to do this. She’s such a great young woman. I truly do like her a
great deal. I’m happy that she’ll be coming to live with us.”
“She’s
very excited to see you,” he told her. Moving to the windows, he checked them
one by one carefully. He finally turned to look at her and gave a nod. “She’ll
be happy here. I know she wants to go out for the first while with us on the
destroyer. But eventually she’ll want to come back
planetside
to live.”
“I’m
sure she will. Being
planetside
works better for some
people. Myself, personally, I’m happy wherever you are.”
Which
was the truth.
She didn’t care where they were as long as she was with
him. To her that was all she needed.
“Good,
but if you ever want to return
planetside
you say the
word.” Stepping up in front of her, he slipped his arms around her. “I only
want you to be happy, little one.
No matter what it means.”
“I
enjoyed being on the destroyer with you. I really did. I know just how odd that
sounds, but it’s true. There is nowhere else I would rather be than at your
side, but if I ever do want to come home I will tell you. I promise.”
“Good
girl.” He lowered his head to kiss her lightly. “Now, let’s check out the
balance of the rooms. I want to get a feel for this place. Knowing the layout
makes me feel better about us living here. After we finish the house, we need
to see the outside and where our security detail would be residing as well.”
She
slipped her hand into his and once again began to lead him through the house.
Along the way they even found what looked to be a large panic room. By pure
accident they found a small, hidden room and Sadie couldn’t help but wonder
what other secrets the house held.
Once
outside, in the barracks, Bracken looked around. “We may need to do a few
upgrades out here. These spaces haven’t been used for a time and are in need of
some refreshing. But we’ll let our security detail decide on what actually is
needed.”
“Agreed.
Allowing them to
create their own space would be better. That way they can ensure they have
everything they need in their home, because that’s what it will be.
Their home.
At least until they choose to find a mate and
retire to their homes.”
“True
enough.” He wandered through the space for a time before coming back to her
side. “It has good bones, and they can make it whatever they want. I’m sure
they’ll have quite a list of requirements for both here and the main house. It
looks like there are only a couple other buildings on the property beyond what
I’m assuming is a shed I spotted from Cecilia’s new rooms.”
“That’s
probably a groundskeepers’ home, and the other is more storage, I’m guessing.”
“The
shed is closer, about twenty feet from the corner of the house on the east
wing. It’s tucked in under some trees so it took me a moment to figure out what
it was. At least I’m assuming it’s a shed. Could be a lean-to for all I know.”
Tugging on her fingers, he led her out of the barracks, looked around a moment,
then headed off across the lawn. A moment later he pointed ahead of them.
“There. That’s what I saw from the upstairs window.”
She
approached the building with him at her side. Stepping into the obviously
long-unused building, she flipped on a light and stopped dead in her tracks. She
gasped at the sights that greeted them there. “Oh,” she whispered and gulped.
“I.” She didn’t have words, at all. She was stunned. It was very clear that
every single part of this building was for torture.
Nothing
else, torture.
“By
the stars,” he breathed out behind her. “What the hell was your grandfather
doing out here? Or, a better question is, who the hell did he have out here?”
His arms slipped around her, giving her the comfort she needed in that moment
and sheltering her with his heat.
“I
don’t know.” She was shaking slightly. “I know that he did work for our
government, but this…” She looked back at him and shook her head. There were
rows of obvious torture implements in the room, and one single hard seat there
as well. The pan where the feet would be gave her images in her mind of
someone’s feet being in water and electricity that would run through them via
the chair. She felt her stomach lurch. “Maybe he didn’t… Maybe this was here
before…”
“Maybe.”
Squeezing her close,
Bracken turned her back toward the door and walked her out. He turned the light
off and shut the door firmly behind them. Then he pulled her in tight to him
once more, facing him this time, and held her close. “We’ll have it taken down
and everything disposed of. We do not need that here on the property. More
importantly, you don’t need this tainting the good memories you have of your
grandfather.”
“Thank
you for that.” She was shaking, his holding her keeping her grounded. “We will
have it pulled down. The objects in there never have to see the light of day
again.” She would only recall her grandfather as the wonderful male that he
was, not a monster who would torture men for who knew what.
He
gave her a squeeze. “Let’s get out of here for now. We’ll come back once this
is removed. Until then, we’ll see about getting Cecilia out of the house and
preparing for our next journey out around our galaxy.” Another squeeze before
he turned her slightly and walked with her tucked in close to his side.