Dr. Daddy Dom (Little Lake Bridgeport 2) (15 page)

"No, now stop it."

May frowned and slapped the table top. "No,
you
stop it! Goddammit, she is my friend and I am doing everything I can to help her. I'm sorry that you're so fucking tired, but don't take it out on me."

"Lower your voice and cease with the swearing. I'm not going to tell you again," Caine warned.

"No!" she shouted, standing up. "Like it or not, I am an adult, and I'm not going to sit back and be the perfect little submissive when I have something important to say. You are being a total fuckhead, Caine! I don't know what crawled up your ass and died, but leave me out of it!" With that she smashed her plate onto the floor and stormed angrily outside.

"Holy crap, what the hell just happened?" Layton stared at his equally stunned brother. "She's never acted like that, not since we've known her."

"Something triggered her. I know I've been irritable lately, but it's not the first time. Something's going on and I need to find out what. Stay here. This calls for Dr. Daddy Dom."

"You're an idiot," Layton said with a grin. "Good luck."

"May? Maybelle? Answer me!" Caine shouted, walking quickly through the woods.
Where the hell did she go?
he pondered, standing with his hands on his hips and turning around in a circle while muttering to himself.
Okay, I need to think like a daddy. Something set her off to throw this tantrum. She probably didn't feel like she was being heard, so where would she go to find her voice?

He looked up and started scanning the trees. Sure enough, he saw her huddled in the branches of a giant oak and walked calmly to its base.

"May? Honey, come down. We need to talk."

"I don't wanna talk to you," she yelled. "Not ever!"

"Listen, I'm sorry I've been a jerk lately. I know you don't understand how tired—"

"Go away!"

"No," Caine said, grabbing the knobs on the trunk and quickly climbing up to the heavy branch where she had secured herself. "Don't look so surprised that I can climb a tree. You forget that I was raised in Texas, and all boys climb trees, skip rocks over ponds, and shoot spitballs through reeds. Tell me what happened in there."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Did you feel that I wasn't listening or taking your concerns seriously? I really was, baby. I'm sorry I was so gruff about it."

"It's not that," she said, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees as tears dripped slowly down her cheeks. "All you ever say to me is 'no'. You keep pushing me away when all I want is to be with you."

"Is this because of the morning wake-up call?"

"It wasn't just this morning that you rejected me. It's constant!" She began to sob. "You worry more about Savannah's needs than mine. She's my friend and I want her to be happy, but she spends more time with you than I do."

Defending himself served no purpose except to make her feel invalidated, which would lead to mistrust. Caine chose his words carefully. "I didn't realize that, baby. I'm sorry. Honest to God, I would never do or say anything intentionally to hurt you. I know I'm an idiot sometimes, and I need to remember that you're much more sensitive about things than I am, and that I need to be more patient." He looked down at the gold wedding band on his left hand and twisted it around his finger.

"When Layton and I picked out your original wedding band, we got into a huge fight. I wanted gold, he wanted platinum. The only thing that we could agree upon was the inscription." He took her hand in his and kissed her ring. "It says '
Together
'
.
We had this ring made of both metals intertwining each other so neither one outshone the other. You're right. I've been neglectful in my duties because I was taking care of Savannah, and I allowed Layton to outshine me. I'm truly sorry."

"It's fine," she said, pulling her hand away and refusing to look at him.

"Say the word right now and I will ask for another doctor to care for her. You're first, baby. You always will be."

"I just miss you and when you're home, you're always either tired or grumpy. I have to initiate everything, as both a big girl and a Little. It just feels like you are bored with me and just have sex because you have to, not because you want to."

"I love having sex with you. You make me feel things that no other woman has ever done. I swear on my honor that I'm telling you the truth. I've just been burning the candle from both ends for a while, and I guess it's finally caught up with me. Usually it's Layton being the asshole, but this time it's me. Please forgive me," Caine said. She didn't answer, continuing to look away from him. "May, I know you're hurt and angry, but I want to make this right. What do you want me to do?"

"I calculated the amount of time you've been away for work and with Savannah, and realized that I get the sloppy seconds. I don't even get quality time." She started crying again. "Do I have to get seriously hurt or be an alcoholic to get your attention first? When you caught me smoking last year, you at least had time to focus on me. Now—"

"Do you want me to leave Savannah alone?"

"No."

"Then what? I'm really confused," Caine said softly. "I need your help here. I can't read your mind; I only see your tears and they break my heart. I'm a man and sometimes we need to be hit over the head with a hammer because we are too dense to catch a hint. Spell it out for me. Please."

"I want you to initiate time with me, and that includes sex. I don't like to pursue; it makes me feel like I'm forcing you to make love to me. It also strips me of my sense of submission. If you initiated it, I wouldn't feel like I have to hijack you under the covers at a time when I knew you wouldn't be distracted, and that's only when you're sleeping. I know you're tired, but still…"

"I can do that. I'm also going to reduce my patient load so I can spend more time at home instead of on the road, okay?"

"You need that to make a living."

"Layton and I together do very well, so we'll be fine financially. You don't ever have to worry about that, I promise."

"Is it possible that I can come with you sometimes? I can help. I'm good at taking care of people." May looked up hopefully.

Caine bit his lip. "You would be fabulous, I agree. But as much as I would love to have your help, my insurance and the patient confidentiality laws don't allow an unqualified person to work under my license. I'm sorry."

"What if I went to school? I could get my nursing license and be your assistant, right? I wouldn't even have to get paid."

"You could, but do you really want to do that? You hate school and you've never shown any interest in nursing," he said.

"I'd do it so I can be with you more."

"May, you don't have to sacrifice your happiness to be with me. You are the most important person in my life and I love you so much that it hurts sometimes. Please give me a chance to show you, okay? I know words are cheap, but now that I know, I can fix things."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Might I ask what triggered you? I haven't seen you throw a fit like that since we first met. Frankly, it concerned both Layton and myself."

"I've never really talked about my father and what scumbag he is to anyone, and Savannah's father is the same way. It brought up all that anger and fear, and when you wouldn't let me feel that way, I exploded," she admitted.

"I don't remember telling you not to feel. Did I?" Caine asked with concern.

"You said I couldn't blow up the bastard, and then you jumped down my throat for swearing. I've never felt so much hate as I did for that man. I didn't even hate the men who raped me the way I hated him. This was the first time I've ever really expressed it, and you yelled at me."

"I never meant to invalidate your feelings, sweetheart. That hatred is understandable. He betrayed your trust. Little girls expect their daddies to take care of them and keep them safe."

"And he didn't. He never did. Everything else was more important to him than me," May said.

"So when I got on your case about your wanting to hurt Savannah's father in her defense, you took it as being dismissed."

"Yeah. Like I wasn't allowed to be angry and admit out loud what I wanted to do to him."

"And, vicariously, punish your own father for his abuse." Caine sighed, leaning back against the trunk. "I'm so sorry that I didn't catch on to what you were going through. I'll be honest; I was in the moment, too."

"Why? Your parents were awesome. They loved and cared about you, and never did any of those awful things."

Caine snapped a twig off the branch and twirled it in his hand, contemplating his answer. He decided to abandon his habit of carefully choosing words. "I know how much that son of a bitch hurt you, and when I heard about another girl being treated the same way, I started seeing red. I've been trained to put my feelings aside and solve problems, not react. I imposed that on you. I'll be honest; if either of those bastards were on an operating table and I had a scalpel in my hand, I probably would end up in jail because all I could think of was slicing their throats."

"Then I'd never see you," she said with a little smile. "You swore, too."

Caine held her face in his hands. "I'm human and I need to remember that it's okay to fuck up at times. That includes swearing. I love you, baby. I promise to try to be more of a daddy and less of a doctor, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, too. So am I allowed to cuss now?"

"Only when in your big girl and in private. Let's get back before Layton starts to worry that you pummeled me with pinecones and left me to die somewhere."

"Caine?" May asked as he pulled her against his chest. "Am I in trouble for the tantrum?"

He kissed her tenderly. "No. But I can't say the same for the plate. You threw scrambled eggs all over the place and we left Layton to clean it up."

"They were dry, anyway." She shrugged. "He overcooked them again."

"Don't tell him that. He'll mope, and I already have one emotional female to deal with. I can't handle another." Caine winked at her. "Don't you dare tell him I said that, either."

Hand in hand, the two walked back to the house where they found Layton sitting on the couch and reading a file.

"Seriously? You brought work with you? Put it away," Caine ordered, sitting next to him and pulling May onto his lap.

"I was just waiting for you guys to get back. Is everything all right?" Layton asked.

"Yes. We had a good talk and I'm going to work on being less of a jerk when I'm tired," Caine said.

"May?" Layton urged. "Are you all right? I'm worried about you. That tantrum was out of character."

"I know. I'm sorry I threw the eggs on the floor. I won't do it again."

"I'm not worried about the eggs, my love," Layton said, lifting her chin. "I'm worried about you. Can you tell me what happened?"

"The conversation brought her past back to life. It was just too much to handle and sent her off the deep end. She also made me promise not to do anything to that asshole that will send me to jail. Do you have any suggestions, Counselor?" Caine said.

Layton stared at his brother in disbelief. "You just said 'asshole' in front of May. May? Did you hear him? He said
asshole
!"

"He said a lot worse earlier. He also gave me permission to swear if I'm a big girl and in private," May said.

"Within reason. I don't want you turning into a potty mouth. It's bad enough I have to listen to Layton. Now, big brother, will you please try to help here? Can you think of anything we can do to prevent this man from coming after Ian and Savannah that won't put us in jail?" Caine asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have. While you were out messing around, I was in here working," Layton gloated. He handed Caine a legal pad that had several numbers and dates written on it.

"What's this?"

"Warrant listings for his arrest. Theft, assault and battery, destruction of private property, public intoxication, disorderly conduct… Twelve counts in all, and most of them are from Vegas. I contacted the sheriff's department up there and apprised them of the situation. They are working on an extradition request right now. I then contacted the Dallas department and they want him, too. He's been dodging the bullet for over fifteen years."

"How?" Caine asked.

"He's changed his name. He's got a minimum of twenty known aliases, and double the amount of false residences. He's not even listed on the one Ian was living in," Layton said.

"You're shitting me! Did you tell them where he is?" Caine asked.

"I have to say, listening to you swear is giving me a hard on…" Layton teased.

"Just answer him!" May scolded. "Do the cops know where to find him?"

"Yes, I told them of his last known whereabouts. However, this
asshole
is slimy." He winked at May. "If they can't catch him, we might have to set a trap."

"You're thinking of using Savannah, aren't you? She isn't going to go for it. He terrifies her. Caine, tell him!" May pleaded.

"Actually, I was thinking about using Ian. Let's have him go to the old construction site and provide a trail for this animal to follow. I'll also send out a private investigator to try to locate his position and the type of car he's driving," Layton added.

"If he follows Ian home, then we can ambush him! You're brilliant," Caine praised. "Of course, that might mean that May will need an arsenal of pinecones to bring him down if he comes on to the property."

"Would you really let me do that?" she asked.

"Fuck, yeah," Caine said. May and Layton looked at each other and then broke into smiles.

***

"I admit that this was a good idea," Caine sighed, stretching out on the inner tube and enjoying the sun. He lifted his sunglasses to peek at his wife, who was floating between him and Layton. "May? My cock is lonely. Come give it some love."

"In public? You are asking for a blow job in public? What is wrong with you?" Layton exclaimed, pushing himself up to stare.

"There's no one around and I adore the feel of her mouth on me."