Waiting on April Read online

  April was pleased when the driver dropped her off practically right outside her door. It was dark and some of the streetlights were out. It wasn’t too dark however, for her to see a dark figure waiting for her on her front porch. Greg Preston.

  “What are you doing here?” She snapped.

  “April, I need to speak to you.”

  “Well, I don’t need to speak to you. Greg, it’s passed two and I’m beat. Couldn’t this wait until a more humane time?”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you’re wiped out. Been at that lousy club again, haven’t you? I’ve told you before, you need to leave that place. I’ll find you a job in a better restaurant than that. I’ve got contacts who…”

  “Forget it! I’ve told you before, I’m happy working there and I’m not leaving for you or anyone else. Now if that’s all you’ve come to say to me I’ll say goodnight.”

  Her key was already turning in the lock when his arms came around her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry. That’s not what I wanted to say at all. Forget I mentioned it. I really need to tell you something, sweetheart. Can I come in for just a minute?”

  “No you cannot. It’s late, Greg. Tell me in the morning.”

  She tried to close the door behind her, but his foot barred the way. “Please, sweetheart, it won’t take a minute. It’s real important.”

  Those big blue eyes were staring at her now and she felt a thud in her stomach. That look used to make her heart melt, but now it just made her feel hurt and angry. He cheated. She believed every word that came out of that lush mouth of his and it was all a pack of lies. He had been seeing someone else—probably saying the same things to her. Her stomach roiled. But she was cold and tired, and he was obviously not about to go anywhere in a hurry.

  “Make it quick. And you’re not getting coffee.” She sighed.

  Greg smirked as he crossed her threshold, and she almost changed her mind.

  “You’ve got five minutes, then I need you to leave, ya hear?” She stared at him sternly.

  “Cross my heart.” He made the sign across his chest and she felt like thumping him. How many times had she heard that?

  She took off her coat and led him into the living room. It was warm and she felt the heat seep into her bones. All she wanted to do now was go to sleep.

  “Well, what is it?” She sat on the large armchair, waiting.

  “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. What I did to you was unforgiveable…”

  “But you’re gonna ask me to forgive you anyway, right?” she sneered.

  Greg got on his knees, one hand on her lap. “I know what you must think of me, but you have to admit we were right together. I miss you, sweetheart. Surely you could feel how great we were. We belong together. I know I messed up and I’ve told you I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Too right it won’t. Forget it, Greg. It’s not happening.” She brushed his hand from her knee and stood up defiantly.

  He shot to his feet and held her by the shoulders.

  “April, won’t you just think about it? That’s all I’m asking.” His eyes were big and watery and she felt anger boil inside her.

  How dare he ask this?

  She shook her head. “It won’t work, Greg. You and I are through. You cheated on me and you don’t get a second chance. Now I need to ask you to leave as it’s late and I’m tired.”

  “No. I’m not leaving here unless you at least agree to think about it. That’s not too much to ask now, is it?” He stared at her beseechingly. Instead of feeling touched, as she used to, she felt angry. She nervously glanced at the clock; he was refusing to leave her house.

  “But there’s nothing to think about, Greg. We were good together, I know that. But then you went and cheated on me. You went with someone else. I’m not about to let that happen again—not with you or anyone else. Now I don’t need to think about it, the answer’s no. I don’t want to get back with you. Got it?” She stood as tall as she could and tried to look determined as she stared up at his face.

  He pouted. Not a good sign. Then he shook his head. An even worse sign.

  “No, I don’t get it, sweetheart.” He was talking softly to her now. “I can see that you still love me. It’s obvious. You haven’t been with anyone else since we had our tiff. You don’t want anyone else. It’s the same with me. I don’t want anyone else but you. You’re fooling yourself to say we’re through, we’ve hardly started. Let me show you how much fun it can be. How much fun we can be.” His grip on her shoulders tightened a bit. “We had loads of good times, remember? We can do it all again. Make a fresh start. I know you still want me, sweetheart, I can see it in your face.

  “You’re trying to fool yourself into believing you hate me because of what I did and I get that. I’m sorry. I made one little mistake that’s all. Surely it’s not worth throwing away our whole future for?”

  He had always been able to sweet talk her no matter what he had done, until now. She remembered how shocked he’d been when she’d first broken it off with him. She guessed no one had ever ended a relationship with him before. He was a really handsome guy, and could charm the birds from the trees, but she wasn’t going to be taken in by him again. No way.

  “I don’t know what you think you see when you look at me, Greg Preston, but you’re wrong. N-now please leave my house.” She gritted her teeth. He was used to getting what he wanted, and she had no idea how he would react to someone actually saying “no” right to his face. She had always given in to him before, or at least been some place she could escape from. How was she going to get rid of him now?

  Silently berating herself for letting him inside in the first place, she shrugged him off her and made her way toward the front door, hoping he would follow.

  “I’m not leaving until you agree to think about it, sweetheart. Come on, what harm can it do?” He stood in her tiny hallway grabbing her arms.

  Fear was mounting inside her as she realized that he really wasn’t intending on leaving unless he had his own way. Bastard! Her mind whirled, but she had to concede that it really was the only way she would get rid of him.

  “All right. I’ll think about what you said. But you have to leave now, ya hear?”

  His smug look of triumph made her gut roil again and she clenched her fists angrily.

  “That’s better, sweetheart.” His patronizing tone was doing nothing to quell her fury. “Why don’t I come back ’round when you’ve had time to sleep on it and we’ll talk properly? Shall we say about lunchtime?”

  His grip on her had loosened a little and she felt slightly relieved. She wasn’t stupid though.

  “No, I’ve got some stuff to do tomorrow. Well today, actually.” She looked pointedly at the hall clock. It was now after three, for goodness sake. So much for five minutes. “Meet me in town, at Reno’s; I can be there about two.” She was curt, hoping he would get the message.

  “Reno’s? That’s quite a busy place, especially over lunchtime. Shouldn’t we go somewhere more private where we can talk?” He sneered.

  “No, I’ll be in that part of town anyhow. I’ll see you there at two.”

  He huffed, but could no doubt see she wasn’t about to budge on this. He held his hands up in surrender. “OK, if that’s what you want, sweetheart. I was just trying to save your blushes. I know how you hate crying in public.”

  With her arms finally free she swung open the front door, standing back to let him pass.

  “Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” His face was right up close to hers and she felt herself turn red with anger.

  “No,” she spoke through gritted teeth, trying her best not to yell at him in case he changed his mind about leaving after all.

  He sniggered. “You always were hot-headed, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow for our date.” He winked and she couldn’t slam that door shut fast enough.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Steve Ratner wasn’t a happy man. Although he knew it was a little sneaky of him, he had followed April home. He
was worried about the little sub. And “little” was the perfect word. She was shorter than five feet tall and was petite and dainty, much like a china doll. She was also beautiful. Her little round face had big dark eyes which you could drown yourself in. She was so expressionate. He could practically tell what she was thinking by the look on her face most of the time. Not every time though. Not tonight.

  He knew she wanted to play by the way she looked longingly around the dungeon as soon as she arrived, and he was sure those big eyes lit up when he offered. She was so responsive to his ministrations, and he loved watching her lose herself up there on that cross. When she screamed out her orgasm he wished so much that she was screaming his name. They had known each other for a year or so now and he was sure she had feelings for him. The way she blushed when he spoke to her, the way her face shone when she saw him—and the way he let her do untold things with her perfect body!

  What had happened tonight though? He’d had to wake her up from some kind of nightmare. She obviously didn’t want to stay and talk about it though; in fact she couldn’t get away from him fast enough afterward. What the heck was going on in that pretty little head of hers?

  He watched from a distance as she caught the bus home. She didn’t live too far from the club so it wasn’t long before she was pulling up outside her place. He was relieved to see that the driver had the courtesy to drive her right to her house instead of leaving her to walk the rest of the way up the street. His intention had just been to ensure she arrived home safely and then leave. But what he saw made him think again.

  Steve saw the shadow lurking on her front porch before she did. The figure looked familiar and his heart lurched. Greg Preston. It was the asshole that cheated on her all those months ago. What in hell was he doing back here?

  He could tell by the way her little body tensed up as soon as she got off the bus that she wasn’t pleased to see him. She was quite assertive, and although he couldn’t actually make out what was being said, he could hear her raise her voice a little. He was contemplating whether to intervene. He noticed how close to the door the fuckwad had gotten as soon as she opened it, and guessed he had his foot jamming it open. Steve had already started climbing out of his car when he saw April turn back and nod before allowing Greg into her home. He seethed.

  If he went over now and interrupted them, she might not thank him. What if they were getting back together? What if they had already gotten back together and she just hadn’t bothered to tell him?

  Why would she?

  He waited in his car, staring angrily at the house while his mind reeled. Surely she wasn’t seriously going to take him back? That fucker had been her whole life when Steve first met her. She was so happy with him. He wondered at one time whether she was thinking of marrying the guy. About six months ago it had all turned sour though.

  Poor April had come into work looking pale and sick. She wouldn’t tell anyone what was wrong, just carried on with her duties. Dominic Ray, the maitre d’, had later told Steve that it was as if she was working on auto-pilot as she moved around the restaurant, pleasantly smiling at the guests and serving them without a second’s hesitation.

  Afterward she had come down to the dungeon and asked Steve to use the crop on her. He hadn’t wanted to, so he hadn’t been as hard with it as he might have been. She seemed to need it, relished every stroke, and had a great orgasm at the end of it. After that she had cried. She looked like she would never stop.

  Steve’s heart ached now as he remembered holding her while she sobbed her heart out. Her heart was the biggest thing about her. She had been full of apologies to him afterward, but he had felt honored she had chosen him to open up to. When she could finally talk properly, she had told him that she had seen her boyfriend with another girl. They had been kissing in a bar down town. She had gone there to surprise him, but ended up getting the shock of her life.

  She stood up to him though. She went right up to them and asked him what in hell was going on. He had been too drunk or maybe too stupid to bother denying it. What made it worse was that the girl he was with didn’t seem to be bothered; she obviously knew the score. April told Preston that it was over and she didn’t want to see him again.

  Preston came around the next morning to see her, trying to make out she’d got it all wrong but she wasn’t so naive. That little girl gave him his marching orders once and for all. Then she had tried to act as though nothing had happened. But she had underestimated the Doms of Collar and Cuffs. They knew something was off. He was just glad he had been there for her. She had been real embarrassed about all the tears—“April rain” he had called them, which made her smile.

  After that she seemed to be a little distant from everyone, although she got on great with the girls she worked with. They were a nice bunch. Lately though, he thought he had seen a little recognition in her face, a hint she knew how he felt about her and that she felt it too.

  Was he kidding himself? Had he really read her so wrong? His mind reeled as he scanned the street. It was a nice, quiet area with mostly old folk living nearby. Lawns were neatly manicured and cars parked on drives. Well, most of them.

  He was surprised to see a dark saloon parked a short way off on the same side of the road as him. It was difficult to make out whether anyone was in it as the streetlight nearest it was out. It wasn’t parked directly outside any of the houses though, so he guessed it wasn’t a resident or visitor’s vehicle. He shook his head, silently laughing at himself. He must be getting psychotic in his old age! That car could be there for any number of reasons. Why did his training, or paranoia, always make him fear the worst?

  He was surprised when, after a short while, the front door opened and Preston left. He was pleased that there was no goodnight kiss on the doorstep. In fact, April seemed really tense and looked quite angry as she turned her face away from the fuckwad. She slammed the door shut after him, and Steve was pissed to see Preston smirk as he went over to his car. Once the bastard was out of sight Steve toyed with the idea of going over to see if April was all right. The lights soon went out in the house though, and he guessed she must be exhausted. With a heavy heart he drove back home.

  He took a large whiskey to bed with him, and placed his cell on the nightstand. Although it was unlikely that April would phone him, the thought gave him hope.

  He sighed. It had been a long day. Tomorrow was his day off and he planned to catch up on a few errands in town. For now though, all he needed was his sleep.

  Steve didn’t get the good night’s sleep he wanted. His mind was in turmoil. He had really liked April from the day they met, although he kept his distance a little as he knew she had a boyfriend. What had made it harder was that Greg Preston was a member of the club. He wasn’t a very good Dom, but April never complained.

  One night, while he was on duty as Dungeon Monitor, Steve was doing his usual rounds when he noticed one of the ropes on April’s wrist was too tight. Her hand was almost blue. He had flashed his light at Preston to catch his attention. The guy huffed as he went over to ask Steve what the matter was. He was clearly unhappy when Steve told him and argued that it was fine. His sub would have told him if it was too tight. When Steve had pointed out that the little sub in question was wearing a ball-gag, the guy had hit the roof.

  He told Steve to mind his own fucking business and to leave them alone. Steve had no choice but to ban him from the club. He heard afterward that the fuckwad was trying to persuade April to leave her job there. When she had refused things had turned a little nasty, but they seemed to have made it up a few days later. April never bore a grudge with him for banning her boyfriend, and still came down to play from time to time. That was when they started to get a little closer. Steve loved playing with her and he was sure she enjoyed his company. That’s what made everything so hard now.

  Eventually he got up after only a couple of hours’ sleep, and went for a shower. It was already mid-morning when he left the house and drove into town. He did a litt
le shopping and then went to find something to eat. Most of the diners were full, as the whole world and its wife all seemed to be having lunch at the same time. He got back into his car and drove down into the center of town. It was bustling, but he thought it worth a try. He found a large place, Reno’s, right in the busiest part of town and was surprised to find a couple of vacant tables. He chose the one nearer to the window and settled down to enjoy his hamburger and fries.

  Looking up as the waiter brought over his ketchup, he caught sight of a small dark-haired girl sitting at one of the central tables. His eyes immediately darted to her companion and his stomach lurched. It was hard to see the woman’s face from this angle, but he would know her physique and gorgeous dark-brown locks anywhere. His heart sank. So they were back together again!

  He could clearly see Preston’s expression. The guy was waving his arms about trying to make his point, and April was calmly shaking her head and speaking quietly to him. She didn’t seem tense or angry today, just calm and almost matter-of-fact.

  Steve considered leaving; the last thing he wanted to do was invade their privacy, and he certainly wouldn’t have expected to see them in a place like this. It wasn’t exactly salubrious and was quite noisy. Not the kind of place you’d take someone for a date. He decided to finish up his burger and then leave. It was hard not to look in their direction though, so he did his best to stare out of the window.

  His attention was grabbed a few minutes later by raised voices—or, at least, one raised voice.

  “You don’t mean that!” Preston yelled at April, slamming his cup on the table in front of him.

  Then the fuckwad got up and stormed out of the diner, leaving April nervously looking around at the other diners while the waiter fetched her check.

  Steve tried to drag his eyes away from her, but he caught her looking his way and he couldn’t help but stare back. Her face was red and he thought she was about to cry. More April rain. It took her a minute to recognize him, but when she did, Steve watched a look of fury spread across her face. He thought she was about to come over, but the waiter arrived just then and she quickly paid the check and left.