Free Desire's Awakening by Gail DeYoung Page B

his room, leaving clothing in his wake.
    * * * * *
    Saturday mornings at the household were quite different than the rest of the week, Kaitlin discovered. Neither training sessions nor chores were done on weekends and everyone had free time to do what they pleased, except for party weekends, where everyone had a hand in decorating and preparing the food for the guests. However, this was not one of those weekends.
    Kaitlin woke early out of habit and discovered the discarded tuxedo on the floor trailing up the stairs. As she gathered it into her arms and hung the clothes neatly on a hanger, she glanced up at the Trainer’s door. It was closed. The tux smelled of smoke and a light tinge of Sir Damien’s cologne. It would most likely need to be dry cleaned before next Friday. She made a mental note to call the cleaners for a pickup when they opened later in the day. In the meantime, she hung the tux in the foyer closet.
    When the rest of the house stirred, she didn’t see Melissa and a pang of jealousy hit her. Whether or not the Trainer was locked away in his master bedroom with the girl between the sheets was none of her business, she reminded herself. So why couldn’t she get the disturbing image out of her mind?
    The groceries arrived at ten o’clock and she spent a half hour putting everything away. Kat had to work around some of the late risers who were in the kitchen getting their breakfast. Though the strict schedule was relaxed on the weekend, apparently the rules of etiquette were still enforced. No one spoke to her as they prepared their meal.
    Mrs. Swenson arrived in the kitchen as Kaitlin put away the last of the groceries. Kat noted five others were present, but Melissa still hadn’t appeared.
    “We will have a volleyball game this afternoon. Meet me on the court at exactly one o’clock.”
    “Yes ma’am,” they all said in unison.
    “Good. I’ll see you then!” Mrs. Swenson left the kitchen and the girls clapped their hands and smiled at each other.
    Kat liked the interaction between the subs, however brief. It was great fun getting to know her “classmates” better before they went on to their permanent homes. It appeared this was a sport the girls looked forward to and Kat got excited.
    At one p.m., the girls gathered on the sand volleyball court. Since Melissa hadn’t arrived to join them, Corinne sat out so that the sides would be even. They separated into teams of three. Kat was joined by the two other girls with matching blue collars. She realized the game would be the owned subs versus the unowned subs. Interesting. Apparently this would be some healthy competition.
    Mrs. Swenson arrived with the volleyball a few minutes later.
    “Points only count when the ball lands within the orange ropes lying in the sand. There will be no talking among yourselves, but you can yell out words like ‘mine’ or ‘I’ve got it’ to your teammates and, of course, you can laugh, cheer and have a good time. The first team to get twenty-one points will win and be entitled to an extended curfew of one a.m. instead of the usual ten p.m. Any questions? No? Good. May the best team win!”
    Mrs. Swenson tossed the ball into the air and the two subs closest to the net jumped to grab it. Kaitlin’s teammate got control. She and the other girl clapped their hands and cheered her on. The girl had a powerful stroke and the ball went sailing over the net and hit the ground inside bounds before the other team had a chance to reach it. Score one for my team! This is so much fun!
    The other team came back with some close shots to the net that Kat and her team could not get to in time. The score was tied in the first fifteen minutes and Kat worried that perhaps she had been a little too confident at the outset. However, a few well-placed comebacks gave her team the lead once again and she was dizzy with enthusiasm.
    Kaitlin didn’t notice Sir Damien watching the game at first for he was standing back from the railing,