Lacie Ch. 11

Chapter 11: Lacie's Day Off

Heather didn't let Lacie sleep much that night, due to her concussion. She woke Lacie intermittently, checking on her condition, making sure her head injury didn't worsen. Most of the group stayed in the medical suite, only Lindsey and Master went outside once Master's 'friends' arrived. For a few hours the girls heard nothing about what was going on. Then Master came back with Lindsey in tow. Lindsey had gotten dressed up in an outfit made of nothing but lace and leather, a show for the men outside investigating the breach of Master's property. Two men in dark suits entered the medical suite behind Master. They shook the girl's hands, and Master introduced them as his friends Don Michaels and Brian Edwards.

Brian began checking Lacie's injuries almost immediately, while apologizing for the awkward inspection, tossing question after technical question at Heather. Heather was delighted to have someone else to talk to who knew medicine. Soon the two were so deep in medical detail that it confused Lacie and made her head hurt. Later, Lacie learned that he had been a medic in the army for a few years, before getting out of the armed forces.

His partner fired question after question at Lacie, who did her best to answer. Part of her was irritated at the constant stream of seemingly repetitive questions, but it helped keep her mind off the other man still scrutinizing her injuries. Don wrapped up his questions for Lacie and picked up his radio, speaking rapidly to his men outside. Brian finished with Lacie soon after, reluctantly wrapping up his discussion with Heather. He commended her on her exemplary care of Lacie, and departed with his partner, both men speaking to the assembled women in turn, being as courteous as possible.

Master followed his friends out of the room, and Heather finally gave Lacie permission to sleep. The other girls hunkered down inside the medical suite, unable to return to their rooms due to the uniformed men still swarming the grounds, looking for more intruders. Lacie closed her eyes and smiled, remembering the short, passionate kiss she had shared with Master only a few hours previously. She was out in moments.

The next morning Lacie woke to the soft breathing sounds of the other girls. Looking to her left, Lacie saw Claire and Lindsey cuddling on the next bed, both sound asleep. Callie and Heather were in the bed to her right, though they were facing away from each other.

Lacie's mouth was dry, making her grimace in discomfort. Lacie tried to sit up to get a glass of water, but a sudden, pounding headache made her flop back with a groan. Immediately, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"What do you need, sweetie?" Lacie heard Tara say. Lacie croaked a response.

"Water."

"Let me get you that. You shouldn't be moving around with your ankle. Back in a flash." Lacie heard Tara patter barefoot across the med suite. The sound of running water came from nearby and soon the small girl was back at Lacie's bedside, holding out a glass of water. Lacie cracked her eyes open and lifted the glass to her lips. The water was slightly warm and tasted funny, but it soothed her mouth and throat, quenching Lacie's thirst.

"Thanks." Lacie said, her voice much softer as she looked at the asian girl.

"No worries. I was up anyway. I couldn't sleep at all last night."

Not that she was going to say anything, but it was obvious to Lacie that Tara wasn't exaggerating. The smaller girl's eyes were slightly bloodshot and had dark circles under them. She pulled herself up onto the foot of Lacie's bed and perched there, her legs dangling off the edge.

"I was really freaked out last night. We thought that they had caught you and you'd fought free at first. Then Marie told us what she saw by the door. I didn't know Master could fight like that." a shiver ran down Tara's spine.

"I'm glad he can. I wouldn't be here if he couldn't." Lacie said with a smile. "Lock the door then come here. You can lay down next to me."

Tara gave Lacie a small smile of gratitude before hopping down to lock the door. Once Tara got back, she pulled herself up onto the bed next to Lacie. Laying her head down with a moan, Tara began to fill Lacie in on what had happened since she fell asleep.

"Master's friends came back in a few hours after you conked out."

"Did they find anyone else?"

"No people. Some footprints though. Master's people brought in dogs around midnight. All of the trails ended up circling back to the broken fence. They think that the rest of the poachers got spooked when Master killed those two guys. They're launching an investigation into who they were. Hauled the bodies off right away. Hopefully that will pan out. Master hired a crew of guys to chop the tree up and repair the fence. It should be running again by tomorrow. He doesn't want us going outside the mansion itself till then though. The doors are all barred from the inside, so not even Master can get in unless we let him in. We're safe for now. We don't think any poachers got into the house, but we're traveling in pairs just in case. Bridget went with Ana to go make us some breakfast. I said I'd stay up here in case someone woke up and had to go get something."

"So we stopped them?"

"Sounds that way." Tara said, rolling over to face Lacie. "Thank you for that. If you hadn't seen the tree, we'd have never known they were here till it was too late. Heather says you nearly killed yourself trying to get back here to warn us." Tara's eyes clouded with unfallen tears of gratitude as she held her arms out to Lacie. "Thank you."

Lacie smiled, holding her arms out to the shorter girl as Tara enfolded her in a hug.

"You'd have done the same for me." Lacie responded, knowing it was the truth. A different voice croaked out from the next bed over.

"Touching. Now can you two please quiet down so I can go back to sleep?" Lacie couldn't see who it was, but she did see Tara lift her head and stick her tiny tongue out at the offending speaker.

"Oh, zip it Claire."

Lacie could hear muffled snickering from the next bed over as Claire lay back down.

"Anytime you want to put that tongue to better use, let me know, cutie."

Tara flushed scarlet all the way to the tops of her ears as she ducked back behind Lacie. Both girls could hear Claire's muffled laughter as the older girl buried her face in a pillow to keep from waking the others. Lacie smiled to herself. Everything seemed like it was back to normal.

A soft tapping came from the door, and Lacie recognized Ana's distinctive, slightly timid knock.

"Open up!" Bridget called from the other side of the door. "We're back with breakfast."

Lacie heard Claire sigh and get up. Looking over her shoulder, Lacie flushed when she saw that both Claire and Lindsey apparently had slept in the nude. Claire winked at Lacie before throwing the covers back over Lindsey, who was still fast asleep. Reaching down, Claire picked up a robe and slipped it on. Another insistent knock came from the door and Claire responded irritably.

"Yeah yeah, hold your damn horses. Gimme a sec to put some clothes on. Safe Code?" Claire queried. There was a small sigh outside and they heard Ana speak up in response.

"Claire, be for opening the damn doors of please. Is cold out here and I are not for wanting to waste my timing of playing word games with silly little girls. Is just us for being out here and food are getting cold."

Claire's look of incredulity made Lacie giggle. It was probably the first time either of them had ever heard Ana cuss. The stunned look remained on Claire's face as she unlocked the doors. The handle turned and swept inwards as Bridget and Ana pushed their way into the med suite. They were hauling a large cart between them, and it was absolutely full of trays, plates, glasses and utensils. As Ana brushed past the slack jawed Claire, she lifted herself onto tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on Claire's cheek, teasing the older girl again.

"Thanks you." she said, a huge grin on her face.

Claire was so confused, Lacie swore she could have blown her over with a feather. Bridget and Ana were giggling up a storm, and Lacie could feel Tara shaking with silent laughter as she lay next to her. Finally, Claire seemed to come out of it and turned to Lacie, a querying look on her face. Lacie simply held up her hands and shrugged. The confused girl shook her head and closed the door again, locking it once it was shut. Bridget and Ana were gently shaking girls awake all around the room, passing out plates from the cart they had pushed in with them. Claire sidled up to Ana and bumped the shorter girl with her hip.

"Silly little girl? You're at least four inches shorter than me, missy." Claire said to her, cocking one eyebrow at the grinning Ana.

"Really?" A teasing light grew in Ana's eyes. "Perhaps I are meaning little in other ways." she said suggestively, turning to face Claire directly. Ana ran her hands up Claire's robe, stopping right as her hands slid over the once-again stunned Claire's chest. Gently pushing, Ana backed Claire up to the counter, her hands gently squeezing Claire's breasts through her robe. Leaning in, Ana moved as if to kiss the taller girl, slowly angling her head back, lifting herself onto her tiptoes as Claire moaned weakly. Less than a hairsbreadth from making contact with Claire's lips, Ana smiled and suddenly tweaked Claire's nipples, winking at her before dancing back, dodging Claire's questing lips as the other girl instinctively leaned in, trying to kiss Ana.

"See? Silly." Turning and skipping away, Ana once again left Claire standing there, gaping like a stranded fish. Laughter echoed through the small room as the rest of the girls began to giggle at the expression on Claire's face. It was rare to see someone teasing Claire, since she was usually the one doing the teasing. To see one of the most shy and awkward amongst them do it to her made it even more funny to the assembled girls.

"Claire," Bridget said, trying to get the bewildered girl's attention. "Don't worry about it. She's been acting like this all morning. I think she might have gotten into some of the drugs that Heather keeps around here."

"Not likely," Heather yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she stretched. "I keep those under lock and key."

"Nope. No druggings for me. Just having for good day. We all still here, thank yous to Lacie, and we happy, safe, mostly unhurt, and still being living. Is good day." Ana explained.

Lacie had to admit, Ana had a damn good point. Considering the very real danger they had all been in, a moderate concussion and a twisted ankle were a small price to pay for their continued safety. The rest of the girls were soon swept up in Ana's good mood, though Claire looked slightly uncomfortable as she sat and fidgeted in her seat. Curious, Lacie watched Claire and saw the rocker girl cast furtive glances at Ana from time to time. Lacie almost laughed out loud when she realized what was bothering Claire. She had the good sense not to draw attention to her discovery though. Ana really had gotten to Claire, in more ways than one.

Ana ducked into the cart she had been pushing, pulling out a huge covered tray. It took both her arms to carry, and the tiny Russian girl almost fell twice while carrying it over to Lacie. Setting the huge platter on Lacie's lap, Ana stepped back and grasped the handle topping the lid.

"And this, be for Miss Heroine of house." Ana said with pride, sweeping the lid off the massive tray. Immediately, Lacie felt a huge burst of steam waft up into her face. The smell of sugar and cinnamon, mixed with the delicious scents of fresh bread and other warm spices, made Lacie's mouth water as she inhaled deeply. Looking down, Lacie saw a huge tray of food. Eggs, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage, syrup soaked waffles, apple slices, strawberries, grapes, and in the center of the tray, a cluster of steaming, spiced cinnamon rolls. The soft, gooey bread was literally dripping with the warm sugar glaze that Ana had slathered on top of the aromatic treat.

Lacie's mouth dropped open as she looked at the freshly baked rolls. Reaching out, Lacie picked one up, biting into the soft bread, moaning in rapture as the flavors mixed in her mouth. Ana stepped back and grinned, practically glowing with happiness and pride. Lacie looked down again at the tray. Realizing there was more food there than Lacie could eat even if she had a few days to accomplish it, Lacie waved the other girls in, inviting them to share her feast. All of the others rushed up to try some, and Lacie giggled as she held the tray out.

By the time the rush was over, all the girls had full plates and were sitting back down. There was one cinnamon roll left on the tray, and Ana picked it up to set it on a spare plate nearby, along with a few of the remaining pieces of food. A few minutes later, Bridget's ever-present tablet buzzed, and she set her plate aside. Picking up the tablet, Bridget grinned.

"Master's finished outside, the crews finished clearing the tree. Now they're waiting on the guys who'll be fixing the fence. Master wants to come back in."

"I'll go with you." Claire jumped off the foot of the bed she had been sharing with Lindsey, pecking her lover on the head. Lindsey reached out and grabbed Claire, pulling her in for a quick, sugary kiss on the lips. Claire smiled at Lindsey before heading out the med suite door with Bridget. The girls continued to eat, waiting on their friends to return with Master.

It wasn't long before they heard a knock at the door and Ana stood up to answer.

"Who being it?" she called out playfully.

"Just let us in, you crazy Russian tease." Claire's voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Ana giggled while unlocking the door. Bridget and Claire came through the open door first, followed by Master. Oddly, he wasn't wearing his usual business suit. Instead he was in heavy leather work boots, blue denim jeans and a black t-shirt. It was obvious from the tiny scratches on his hands and the windswept look of his hair (which had a few twigs still stuck in it) that he had been helping the crews clear the tree away from their disabled fence. As he passed Ana by, the tiny blonde crouched and jumped, landing right in the middle of Master's broad back. His eyes widened in surprise, but he managed to maintain his balance, even sweeping one arm behind him to playfully swat at Ana as she clung to him.

"Hey, get off!" He grumbled, while angling his arms behind him to lift Ana into a more comfortable position, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Looking back over his shoulder, he grinned at the small girl, letting her know that he was happy to play along. Ana lifted her hands and slid her fingers into Master's thick hair, shaking her hands as she did. Master leaned forward slightly, and specks of sawdust and a few tiny leaves and broken twigs cascaded down. Straightening, Master grinned.

"Well, would you look at all these lazy bums. Not a one of you has done one thing today, save monkey girl back there." Master jerked a thumb behind him, indicating Ana, who still clung doggedly to Master's back. Ana smiled, but like a shy child, she hid her face behind Master's head.

"Speaking of which..." Master trailed off, reaching out to pick up the plate which had the last cinnamon roll on it. Tearing a piece off with his fingers, he popped the treat into his mouth as he leaned against the countertop, careful not to squash Ana as he did.

Master's teasing prompted a barrage of glares as the assembled women stared him down. Master began to laugh around his breakfast as he saw the girl's reactions.

"Come on, the crews are all gone, I have a security detail watching the fence. We're as safe as we're going to get. I think a day off is in order. Let's go out to the pool."

A cheer rose up from the women as they dashed towards the door, glad to finally be free of their confinement. Master leaned back over the counter, gently placing Ana down before pulling her arms away. Master popped the last of his cinnamon roll into his mouth as he turned around to lift her off the counter and back down to the floor. As he reached for her, Ana intercepted one hand, pulling his sugar and cinnamon coated fingers to her mouth, gently sucking his fingertips as she gazed straight at his eyes. Giggling, Ana licked her lips and vaulted down off the counter by herself before dashing off, leaving Lacie and Master alone in the Med suite.

Before Master could turn and give Lacie the questioning look that she knew was coming, Lacie spoke up.

"Don't worry about it. She's been like that all morning. I don't know what she was doing in the kitchens around Bridget, but you should have seen her earlier with Claire. "

Master turned with a grin.

"Bridget mentioned something had happened. Wish I could have seen it, I've never seen Claire speechless before."

He walked over to her bedside and sat down on the nearby wheeled stool. The smile ghosted from his face. Leaning over her bedside, Master steepled his fingers in front of his face.

"Look Lacie, I don't know if you're ready to forgive me yet, but I wanted to thank you for last night. You just might have saved everyone here. If you hadn't...."

Lacie covered his mouth with one hand and shook her head. She'd been drugged, but a few things had become very clear to her last night, and she wanted him to know how she felt.

"Shut up. Last night, you saved me. Not the other way around. And it wasn't the first time, either. You saved me at the auction. Yes, you manipulated me, yes, I have a right to be angry, but the end result got me to this place. If you hadn't set me up, I would never have been involved, and I would have ended up a real slave for someone else, someone who wouldn't care about me, someone who... well, someone who wouldn't treat me like a person, like you do. So thank you. I love it here. I always have. I did what I did last night because I had to. As far as I'm concerned, you've saved my life twice. That means I have to forgive you." Lacie smiled impishly, "But, only on three conditions."

Master raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"First, I'm not the black plague. Stop avoiding me." Lacie said, her grin teasing Master.

He laughed.

"Done."

"Two, fix my choker. Please? I want it back. The same one if possible. It might take me a while to wear it again, but I want the option of putting it back on if I choose to."

"I'll see what I can do. I don't know if it can be repaired easily, but I'll do what I can. What's your third condition?"

Lacie lay back, snuggling deeper onto the bed, smiling shyly as she pulled the sheets up around her neck.

"Kiss me again?" She whispered nervously. Lacie could suddenly feel her heart begin hammering in her chest. She was amazed he couldn't hear it.

A smile slowly grew on Master's face as he looked down at Lacie. The same crinkles around his eyes that Lacie found so adorable reappeared as Master stood up. Leaning over Lacie, he slid his big hands under her shoulder and behind her head, gently twining his fingers into her hair as he moved closer. Mere inches away, Master slowed and stopped, Lacie choked off her disappointed whine before he could hear it. A teasing glint shone in his eye as he spoke.

"Yes ma'am."

His open lips pressed against Lacie's and her eyes snapped open wide. The sensation was even better than Lacie remembered. Electricity crackled through every nerve in her body, every fiber of her being felt like it was tingling and burning at the same time, but the sensation was so pleasurable, Lacie's eyes rolled back into her head as she closed her eyelids with a soft moan. Wrapping her arms hungrily around his neck, Lacie pulled herself up, pressing her lips to his so hard it hurt. Even the sweet pain was delicious to Lacie. She felt his arms slide behind her, holding her close to him as he opened his mouth. Lacie's tongue darted out of her mouth and slowly slid against his. Lacie let out a sound that was half whine, half moan as Master kissed her deeply. Lacie's world spun around her and she finally broke the kiss, desperately pulling in air as her breath shuddered in her lungs.