“Maybe.”
“Lucas, I’m fine. Just do it already.”
She heard him sigh, and felt the air shift around her as he lifted the belt into the air. Suddenly, she had a vision of the leather flying through the air towards her and she bit back a scream. This was Lucas. The man she loved and trusted. The man who loved her, and who would never cause her undue harm. If she panicked, he would stop, and she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to overcome this. After today it seemed like the final step in putting her past well and truly behind her.
“One,” Luke’s voice rang out into the silence a second before the thick leather met her tender skin. The slice of the leather was not a feeling she was unfamiliar with, but the peace that filled her as the biting pain danced across her skin was. She didn’t move or make a peep, for fear that he would stop too soon. She would take no less than five. It wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t meant to be. It was enough.
“Two.” By the time the lash of leather hit the second time, she was in the correct mindset. All her thoughts and energy were focused on accepting Luke’s version of events and forgiving herself for the sins she had been holding onto for so long.
“Three.” This time, when the stripe of fire lapped her skin, she allowed herself to feel, and even react. Raising up on her toes, she let out a hiss of breath. She could feel Luke’s eyes on her, gaging her response before continuing. She quickly eased back into position, planting her feet flat on the floor and relaxed her body so he would know it was okay to continue.
“Four.” She welcomed the pain, releasing her emotional anguish as the physical pain enveloped her from the inside out.
“Five.” The breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding rushed out in a broken sob. She had done it. A wave of pride and relief rushed through her. She started to get up, but Luke’s firm hand on her back anchored her in place.
“One more,” he announced.
She was shocked, but she accepted his edict with a shaky nod. Luke had more or less allowed her to be in charge throughout, and now that he knew she could do it, he was exerting his dominance, and reclaiming his control.
He didn’t count the last one, and she didn’t try to hold back her reaction. The fire blazed across the underside of her cheeks, and she screamed as the leather fell away from her skin. As was Luke’s style, the belt fell to the floor the second he was done, and he was on her in a moment, pulling her into his arms.
“Caro,” he whispered reverently into her ear. “You are the bravest, strongest woman I know.”
Gulping air, she looked up at him and smiled. “You make me brave, Lucas. You make me better.”
Epilogue
Carolyn awoke in her own bed, startled out of a deep sleep by a stinging slap delivered to her upturned bottom. Rolling over to glare at her husband, she silently cursed the fact that the only way she seemed to be able to sleep comfortably these days, was halfway turned onto her stomach with a pillow propped under her left side. Her husband seemed to view this position as an open invitation to wake by slapping her bottom every chance he got.
And since she was now doing school online from home, and napping often, he got a lot of chances.
“What?” she groaned sleepily, annoyed at being woken.
Lucas grinned in that Cheshire cat way of his. “I just came in to make sure you were decent.”
“Yes, I’m decent. Of course, I’m decent,” she grumbled, sleepily pulling herself into a sitting position and tucking the covers in around her. “Is it time already?”
Lucas bounced on his heels, nearly rolling with excitement. “Nope. Still an hour to go.”
“Then why did you wake me?” She stared at him blankly as he seemed to ignore her, making a gesture of invitation in the direction of their bedroom door. Before she could question him, her mothers appeared behind him, with eyes full of tears as the gazed at her.
Carolyn’s own eyes welled up instantly, and she bounced in bed, waving them over as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It had been a year since she had seen them.
“What? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, child!” Myra exclaimed, sitting on the bed and pulling Carolyn into a hug, squishing her into her ample bosom. “Did you really think we would miss this?”
“I… I didn’t think you knew!”
“Well, you didn’t tell us, now did you? But not to worry, Rosa called and invited us. She said she wanted to make your day as special as you had made hers and she didn’t think she could do that if we didn’t make it so here we are.”
“Is it just you two?” Carolyn questioned peering around them, looking for more surprise visitors.
Heddy giggled, nudging Myra out of the way, taking her own turn for a hug. “It’s just us, honey. Your father couldn’t get away. Important church business and all, but he sends his love.”
Carolyn didn’t know whether to be saddened or relieved. Her relationship with her father was still a precarious one after everything that had happened. “How is Filmore?” she asked, gathering up the courage to seek out information they wouldn’t voluntarily offer up. They hated to upset her.
Myra, always the one to face things head on, grabbed her hands and smiled. “It’s good. You should be proud of your papa. I wasn’t sure if a revolution was possible, but he’s sure pulling it out, I’ll tell you what. And it ain’t easy either. That man works around the clock these days, but he’s doing good work.”
“You should know,” Heddy added, looking sad. “He always says that he’s doing it for you. That getting you out and putting the prophet behind bars wasn’t enough justice if he couldn’t undo the brainwashing that had been done, and prevent those things from happening in the future.”
Carolyn was silent as she processed the information, conflicted with heavy emotions on all sides of the spectrum. The only thought she allowed herself to voice was the one that was most important, the one that gripped her with panic. It had been a year. “You’re not taking Maddie back with you, are you? You can’t! I promised her she could be here when the baby was born!” Her hand gripped her stomach protectively, as if they might not only try to take her sister, but her unborn baby too.
“Calm, child.” Myra spoke in that no-nonsense way of hers. “We’re not taking anyone. In fact, we’ve been thinking of staying a while ourselves.”
Carolyn eyed her suspiciously. “Really? Why?”
Heddy shrugged, answering before Myra got a chance. “Not a lot for us to do in Filmore these days. Frank doesn’t need our help and we rarely see him anyway. This is where our babies are, you and Maddie. Besides,” she added smugly. “Your father knows better than to try to keep us from seeing our first grandchild come into this world. There is nowhere we would rather be right now.”
Carolyn’s breath caught in her throat as her heart filled with joy. She loved her little family here in Green Valley, but she often mourned not having her parents close by. “You mean it? You’re staying?”
“Well, no.” Myra corrected. “Not quite yet. We’re here for the week, and then we’ll be back in a few months when it’s almost time for the birth. That way we can be here afterwards, in case you need any help.”
She was processing when Maddie appeared in the doorway with Rosa beside her, holding baby James. They were both dressed to the nines, as if they were going to a fancy party instead of just a small gender reveal party in their own living room. James immediately held out his pudgy arms towards Carolyn, and she took him, holding him close as she inhaled that sweet baby scent. It had been just a year ago, right after that fateful weekend in Filmore that Carolyn had thrown a gender reveal party for Rosa, and now it was her turn.
As she looked around her room at the people she loved, the new life in her belly flipped and kicked. “Are you all ready to get this show on the road?” she drawled, giving James back to his mother, and standing. She followed the group out to the living room, playing along so they could all learn what she already knew instinctively. The baby she carried was
a girl. A girl she would name Ellissa—to remind her where she had been and how far she had come. Once again, Luke’s prophetic words from a year ago rang in her ears and she smiled. God most certainly did work in mysterious ways.
The End
About the Author
Rayanna Jamison
Rayanna Jamison has always dreamed of becoming an author. She credits a big move from Oregon to Utah in 2013 as the catalyst that finally began her writing career. She now lives in Southern Utah with her husband, two children, two dogs, and her mother. She writes what she loves to read, which is fun romantic stories about submission in its many forms. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, crafting, and shopping, and that's just in her spare time. When the kids and husband are home, she can be found baking with her daughter, watching her son and his friends, and hosting neighborhood block parties. She loves exploring her new area, and finding fun new things to do with her family.
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Rayanna Jamison and Blushing Books!
Catching Her Cowboy Daddy
Santa, Sir
Cole for Christmas
Other Uses for a Wooden Spoon
Corbin’s Bend Series
A Perfect Partnership
A Holiday Ruse
Ginger UP
Love Multiplied Series:
Green Valley Brides, Books 1 & 2
Luke’s First Bride, Book 3
Vegas Nights Series:
Collared, Book One
Audio Books:
The Bishop’s First Bride
Bride Two Soon
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