“Or me,” Seamus finished for her. “Except I don’t have a choice, I think.”
“You do, but your problem is a much larger issue,” Vicky sighed. “Your memories have started to surface on their own. Your mind is starting to reject the memories that you manufactured to replace them. That’s why you are having nightmares, part of you is rebelling about not knowing the truth.”
He rocked back in his seat, his chest tightening. “Truth?”
“Things like your father’s first heart attack, and the letter he left you,” Vicky replied.
His chest stopped aching, a ragged breath escaping him, “Oh.”
“Are you going to go forward with Stacia’s offer?”
He sat there for a minute, thinking, “If I don’t, I’ll keep having nightmares, won’t I?”
“Yes, though you might then come to grips with things yourself. Or you might break,” Vicky said softly. Her hand reached across the desk imploringly, “Please, let her help you.”
Looking at her hand, Seamus felt himself agreeing with her assessment. If he broke down mentally, he wouldn’t be able to stay with Stacia. They would probably yank him from the game and call long term immersion a failure. Kaylee wouldn’t have the chance at something like a normal life.
He met her eyes, “I will. Please send me back now.”
Vicky met his eyes, hers wet with tears, “I will be here if you need an ear to lean on, Seamus. I think of you like family, so please don’t think that you’re alone.”
He frowned, wondering at her depth of feeling as he was whisked away from her.
~*~*~
He blinked as he discovered that he was still in Stacia’s arms. “Sorry, Kitten, I’m back.”
“Do ya nay wish me to help ya?”
“I want you to help me, Kitten, and to help Fluff. Just go slow with me, okay? I’m afraid of what I might find now.”
Stacia locked eyes with him, hers full of fear, joy, hope and worry. “I will do me best to protect ya. Come over to the bed, we need ya stripped an’ comfortable before we begin.”
Once he was naked and on the bed, Stacia lightly touched his head and began to sing to him. It was the same song she had used with Fluff earlier. He felt his mind slip away as he was drawn into the melody.
~*~*~
Blinking, Seamus found himself standing behind David’s couch. David was in his normal chair and Seamus watched himself sitting on a sofa. He felt like a ghost watching himself and David chat away about nothing important.
A door behind them opened and Kaylee came into the room, dressed in a simple, conservative black dress. “What do you think?” She spun in place for them, a cheeky smile dancing on her lips.
David shook his head, “You’re growing up too fast, that’s what I think.”
Seamus laughed, “You look good. What’s the occasion?”
“I have a date tomorrow,” she told them. “Richard asked me to go see the latest blockbuster with him. He seems like a good guy and I figured I might as well. Otherwise I might end up like you two.”
The guys both laughed at her attack on their single status. “Oh, is the child not respecting her elders?” Seamus asked, as he made a motion like he was going to get up.
“Ha, I respect the elderly. I just think you need a walker.”
David laughed harder, “My eyes aren’t so good. Come closer, dear.”
Kaylee danced back with laughing eyes, “Nope. Okay, that’s enough. Let me go change and we can go get some dinner. I just wanted your opinions if the dress was a bit too much.”
Both men shook their heads, as the dress did nothing to accent her figure. “It’s fine,” David told his daughter.
“Much better than what I see the girls your age wear normally,” Seamus shook his head.
“I’m just going out with a friend,” Kaylee told Seamus. “Not like the other girls who are trolling for a fun time.”
“Good,” both men said in unison and laughed about it.
The scene froze and Stacia ghosted over to Seamus where he stood behind the couch. “Why did ya hide this away?”
Seamus shuddered as he felt tears start to fall from his ghostly face. “I miss her so much, Kitten. She was basically my daughter. This was the last time I saw her before…”
Stacia held him as he began to cry in earnest, “Shh, I be here for ya, Asthore. We will leave it here for now, ya need to rest.” She began to sing as he sobbed into her chest.
He felt the world dissolving around him as darkness reached up and embraced him gently, like an old friend welcoming him home.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alburet woke to a warm body pressed against his. He pulled her closer with a sigh, “Morning, Kitten.”
“Morning to you too, Al,” Karen snickered into his ear.
Eyes snapping open, he found Karen in bed with him, thankfully wearing her underwear. “What the hell?”
“Stacia is making breakfast, but she thought you might need someone to wake up with. We compromised, I got to snuggle you for the last half hour, but only if I was wearing these.” She fingered the edge of her panties. “I would rather have been here skin on skin, but Stacia felt that might send you into a panic.”
Letting out a ragged breath, Alburet was acutely aware of his traitorous anatomy, responding to the sexy woman he was still holding. “Karen, please. I know what you want and I know what Stacia wants. I am trying to come to terms with my stance on things, but it isn’t going to happen overnight. I’m asking you to not push me. You are sexy as fuck, we both know that. If things had been normal I very well might have gone after you instead of Stacia, but due to…” His lips snapped shut as he cut off his explanation.
Her eyes traced his face, “NDA?” At his nod she sighed, “Figures, all my relationships have been bad. I’m not trying to push you though, I just…” She stopped as she tried to get her thoughts in order and off of his growing problem that she wanted very badly to offer a helping hand with. “You saw a piece of Fluff’s past last night. Mine isn’t anywhere near as bad, but it isn’t pretty either. I’ve been trying to find a strong man who will care for me for a very long time. I thought I had, then you went and got married to someone else. I don’t have your hang-up about multiple partners, and when we were all together I thought, maybe, that I had found perfection. A sexy woman who’ll bend to my will and a man who’s strong enough to make me fight for what I want.”
Alburet started to speak, but she put her hand over his mouth silencing him. “I’m not done yet. When you set me aside, I was hurt. I tried to play it off, but it stung. I thought maybe Fluff was an answer, she’s submissive, which I like in my female partners. But she can’t deal with that kind of relationship right now, and that is like having a wonderful meal sitting in front of you, but behind glass, so you can’t get to it. I know why now, and I can understand why she is the way she is, and that fucker is lucky he’s already dead.” Her hand left his mouth as it clenched, “Then I thought maybe Marian would be the answer, but she went with Violet instead. It hurts. I hope for what Stacia hints at, that maybe you’ll follow through and we can go back to what we had. At the same time, I have to try not to hope, so I won’t be disappointed again.”
Stroking her hair, Alburet sighed sadly, “I’m sorry, Karen. I never meant to hurt you. I had thought you just wanted a good time.”
“As did I, but you pulled at me,” she nuzzled his neck. “You unknowing bastard. You draw me to you like iron filings to a magnet. You tick off all the right boxes for me, your possessiveness, your stern nature, the way you can take a loss but still come right back out for more.”
He leaned back so their eyes could meet, “Karen…”
“Master?” Stacia said from the doorway.