Chapter 1 When Worlds Collide
The calendar was staring again. At least this year it smiling at him.
Donovan's second wedding anniversary was rapidly approaching. When his first anniversary was on the horizon he wasn't certain there would be a second but here it was and he was happier than he'd ever been. Collisions had happened everywhere.
It wasn't that many years ago when Donovan Corbett's life was in control. Each day followed the order and routine of the previous day. The world was quiet and tranquil. Everything had an appropriate place and things were always where they belonged. The hours spent working were productive. The hours spent reading or listening to music were enlightening and relaxing. Victor was an assistant who actually assisted. There were no growling horses. There were no stuffed unicorns with beady, staring eyes. There were no barking, slobbering dogs. He was the very solid, successful and balanced center of his own universe. It was the definition of blissful.
Or so he thought.
Then came the day his world collided with a Prom Queen. He would never forget the first time he saw her. He watched her watching him, surprised that he considered approaching her, even more surprised when the thought of doing it made him nervous.
Donovan Corbett was never nervous. Absurd.
It was about a year later before they came face to face when she came to his home believing she was going to be interviewing him. He also would never forget the events of that evening. He had been furious at her, a person he didn't even know, because he believed she had agreed to be trained as a sex slave. Why should that make him angry? He was a trainer and a Dominant. Training her or anybody who required training was his job. It might have been easier if he had been able to recognize his feelings for her that night but why would he have known? He'd never felt those feelings before.
Somehow the universe suddenly and unexpectedly shifted. There was a new center and her name was Laci. Order, routine and quiet were a thing of the past. Disorder became the new routine. Feelings never before felt were everywhere. Nothing was tranquil and blissful had a whole new definition.
How had it happened? How had the young, very blonde and beautiful Laci taken possession of his heart? Before her, he was a heartless Grinch. With her, he was happier than all the Whos in Whoville.
He did so like Miss Laci Grace. He could so like her any place.
He would so like her here or there. He did so like her everywhere.
Even better, Laci, and her hypnotic, blue eyes, liked him right back.
The first few months were surprising. He wasn't sure he'd ever get to first base especially since she wouldn't even give him a map to the ball park. His internal GPS must have helped because he found his way and had been hitting home runs ever since. Really kind of gave a whole new meaning to the term 'Batter Up!'
Everything was good and then he proposed and everything was better. He knew with certainty she'd say yes, still just hearing her answer was fantastic. Knowing she was going to be with him forever was even more than fantastic. Laci understood him and accepted him for who he was. As time went on he was shocked to discover how much he was changing and while she certainly participated in that change, he could honestly admit, it was never something she forced upon him or expected from him. The evolution of Donovan Corbett was his own doing.
The reality was that their relationship should never have happened. Donovan craved control and Laci was uncontrollable. She knew he was a Dominant even before that first sighting across the room. She knew he was a Dominant when she came to his home to interview him. She knew he was a Dominant when they discovered their feelings and when he proposed. She knew he was a Dominant when she said yes. She also knew she could not possibly be any less submissive.
Donovan knew it too and even though it should have mattered, it didn't. Somehow it worked although he had to give Laci most of the credit for that. He had never once expected to spend his life with a non-submissive woman but he also never expected to fall in love. How she was able to understand and accept his need to be controlling and be a trainer was something he never understood. He couldn't say she was jumping up and down with enthusiasm at some of his choices but she understood his needs almost better than he did. Extraordinary.
Laci was pretty much perfect. Of course she did have that minor problem differentiating between Dominant and submissive although there were times when he had to wonder if he was the one who kept getting it wrong. As much as he wanted to dispute her methods, in truth, they worked pretty damn well. It was really hard to argue with shoe-gasms and tying privileges. Sometimes a little bit of creative out-of-the-box thinking was enlightening. And shoe-gasmic-ly sexy.
Then the universe collided with his world again when he became a father. It wasn't easy at first but, thanks to Laci, Donovan was caring for Matthew, watching him grow, reading to him, playing with him. The patient, tall, dark-haired man with the even darker eyes, and the gurgling, dark haired little man with his mom's bright blue eyes did everything together.
Donovan was astonished at his natural skill at being a father. He was probably more astonished at how much he loved doing it. Laci would be glowing as she watched her two favorite men, her eyes full of love for both of them. Donovan smiled and felt some of that glow when he watched Matthew in Laci's arms for a hug or a bit of tender loving care only a mom could provide.
Victor and Marian lived right next door. Victor had married Donovan's cousin Marian and the two adopted Jeremy, who was nearly the same age as Matthew. Jeremy and Matthew spent every day together, gurgling in their own baby language or taking their afternoon naps together. Sometimes the two sat on Uncle Donovan's lap for a story. Sometimes Uncle Victor sang strange songs. Sometimes all four played with Virgil. Yes, indeed! Another collision yielded another Virgil. As if one wasn't enough.
Donovan knew Laci wanted Matthew to grow up with a dog so he started doing research on dogs that would be good around kids and not shed, bark too much, or smell especially doggy for the obsessive neat freak of the family -- himself. After extensive study, he had narrowed it down to two breeds when the entire family, including Victor, Marian and Jeremy, went to a local park. Donovan might have rethought the outing if he had known it was dog adoption day.
There, right in the middle of the activity, was Virgil. Donovan's purebred plans went out the window when Laci fell in love with the large creature with reddish-brownish fur that Donovan swore was part dog and part moose. He was never quite sure if they adopted Virgil or if Virgil adopted them but an overgrown, lumbering ball of fluff had never been part of his original plan although even he had to admit the dog-moose was great with the two little boys. Virgil stood guard while Matthew and Jeremy talked baby talk on their blanket. He tattled on them, alerting an adult if he thought one was in trouble.
He loved the entire family but he was completely devoted to Donovan. When the boys were in a napping mood and didn't require his care, Virgil was always by Donovan's side. He followed him from kitchen to office to kitchen to yard to office to kitchen to bathroom to office to dining room to kitchen and anywhere else Donovan's daily routine happened to take them. He would sit and quietly wait until Donovan was ready to move to the next location and happily follow. He stared at Donovan with his big, brown, adoring, Virgil dog-moose eyes and he slobbered on all of Donovan's designer shoes.
Great. Just great. The one submissive in the house was a slobbering dog-moose.
