"You don't like my clothes?" She feigned shock.
"Alyssa, I would much prefer you to wear nothing, not a stitch of clothing at all times, that way I could swat your ass when you get too snarky, and suck on your nipples when you get too lusty, and fuck you whenever the mood strikes me. However, it would appear you do need some clothing. So, as part of your punishment, you will be spending the afternoon with me on Michigan Avenue buying a new wardrobe to my liking. Yes, I'm micromanaging this affair— deal with it. But when we return home, there will be no clothing for the rest of the day.”
He stood and held out his hand to help her from the table. She took a deep breath of him as he wrapped his arms around her. There was no place she felt more safe than in his arms.
"You said part of my punishment?" She pulled back and tried to give him a seductive pout. He only laughed.
"Yes. After we get home, you'll receive your spanking. Then this entire thing will be put behind us and we can move forward with our future."
"A spanking?" She tried to protest, but it could be worse.
"No arguments." His voice dropped, but a sparkle in his eyes gave him away. He would deliver the punishment, and she would accept it. He’d spank her, and he’d make her like it. He’d take the ugliness of the last few weeks and throw them away. A clear mind, open heart would be all that was left once his hands had their way with her body.
She was safe. She was protected. She was loved. She found everything she wanted, and everything she didn't even know she needed in him. He would watch over her, he would love her, and he would never give in to her stubborn pride. Although all debts had been wiped clean, her heart would forever be indebted to him. And she was completely fine with that.
* * *
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LIBERATED HEART
Chapter One
"I don't understand." Erin Stamper stood in the middle of their master bedroom, unable to comprehend the scene before her. Jonathan, her fiancé, sat on their bed, the open suitcase beside him half filled with haphazardly folded clothes.
"Jonathan." Her voice cracked. Her chest tightened with the reality. She was losing him. "We can fix this. Whatever the problems, I can fix it. I can be better. I can—"
"Dammit, Erin. I don't want you to fix this, or me, or you. It's just—" He shoved his hands through his already tousled blonde hair. Dark shadows circled his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping well.
By the looks of his sunken cheeks, he hadn't been eating well either. How had she missed this? How had she looked at him every day and not seen this happening to him? To her? To them?
"Look. I know we've kind of drifted a little. You're working a lot with your new job, and my work has kept me busy, too. We've missed a few nights out with the gang. Maybe we should set some time aside for us. You know, maybe a little vacation." A quick two-day getaway to remind them of what made them fall in love in the first place. They needed just a little rekindling; surely that's all it was.
"I'm seeing someone." The words fell between them so softly, so brokenly, she couldn't have heard them right.
"What?" she whispered. The twist in her stomach should have been the acknowledgement she needed that she'd heard him just fine. "What did you say?" Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sank down into the chair at her vanity.
He looked up at her, his dark brown eyes, withdrawn and pitying. "Erin, I'm seeing someone."
The blood left her face, leaving a cold, clammy sensation behind. Her stomach lurched as her mind worked its way through his words.
"Erin."
"Don't." She held up a hand to ward off any further confessions. "Just give me a second." She took deep breaths, feeling his stare on her, knowing he was growing impatient. He didn't like when she took her moments, when she took time to think through what was happening.
"How long?" she finally asked. Tears built, but she did her best to hold them back. Crying wouldn't help now. Now she needed to know how far away he'd gotten and work out how to get him back.
"Six months," he stated flatly.
"Months?" She clenched her eyes shut. Six months. Suddenly all of the late nights at the office made sense. He had an office downstairs. He didn't need to stay downtown to get his work done. "Why? I don't understand. We're getting married."
"Erin."
"Is that why you wouldn't set a date? Is that why when I went looking at wedding dresses you told me to wait to buy anything until you got your bonus?" She'd been a complete fool.
"It's over, Erin." The statement was given like a hammer being slammed over an anvil. Over? They were over? Their relationship had failed? She had failed?
"Jonathan. Whatever isn't working, we can fix it." She tried again. They had been engaged for over a year. They'd bought a house together. She'd moved out of the city to the burbs for him, to start a marriage, to start a family. It couldn't just be over.
He let out a ragged breath and shoved himself off the bed. She watched him from what felt like another world, as he packed more of his clothes into the suitcase on the bed. On their bed.
"Were you even going to tell me?" Her hands clenched into fists on her knees. "I left work early today, but I hadn't told you I was taking a few hours off this afternoon. You thought I wouldn't be home until six. You were going to just pack your stuff and leave—what—a note?" Her voice steadily rose as the realization of what she would have come home to had she worked a full day bloomed in her mind.
Jonathan silently finished putting his clothes in the suitcase and closed it. The sound of the zipper bounced off the walls. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean for it to end this way. I really didn't. You deserve better than this."
"Then don't leave me." She hated how pathetic she sounded, but the world she knew slowly began to peel away from her grasp. Everything around her filled with haze and confusion.
Another ragged sigh. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before he pulled the suitcase from the bed. "I can't stay, Erin. I love her."
Erin had heard people explain what a broken heart felt like. She'd nursed Jessica through a few of her own. But until that moment, that second where she watched the man she thought was the love of her life pick up his bag and say those words, she never understood the sharp pain of it. A butcher knife to the chest would have hurt less. Her breath caught in her throat; tears burned her eyes. Her chest ached as though it had been cracked open.
"I'm sorry," he said again as he walked to the door. Unable to move, to breathe, to focus, she listened to him open and shut the bedroom door. Footsteps echoed through the house as he ran down the wooden stairs. The front door creaked as it opened, and the picture frame that hung from the door rattled as he closed it.
"Don't go," she finally whispered into the empty room. His car roared in the driveway, then slowly faded away as he drove down the street. Away from their home. Away from her.
Acknowledgments
First of all, I want to thank you- the readers- for trusting me to take you on a romantic adventure with every book I write. Thank you for taking the time read my stories and play in my imaginary world with me. I am forever in your debt.
I want to give special thanks to my amazing PA, Niki Roge. Dealing with me is like herding cats, and I am eternally grateful for your patience and your ability to kick me back on track when I stray.
I’d also like to thank Laura Hidalgo at Spellbinding Design for the amazing job she did on all the covers for the Windy City Series. Beyond professional in dealing with my last second freak outs and scattered emails. Thank you for your amazing creativity and talent!
Monica with WordNerd Editing, THANK YOU so much for helping me polish this series until it shined. It was no easy task, and you did an amazing job!
Thank you to my ARC team and every member of Measha’s Madhouse. You all give me the support and love I need to keep putting my fingers to the keyboard every day.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Measha Stone is a lover of all things erotic and fun who writes kinky romantic suspense and dark romance novels. She won the 2018 Golden Flogger award in two categories, Best Advanced BDSM and Best Anthology. She’s hit #1 on Amazon in multiple categories in the U.S. and the U.K. When she’s not typing away on her computer, she can be found nestled up with a cup of tea and her kindle.
https://meashastone.com
Also by Measha Stone
EVER AFTER
Beast
Tower
Red
GIRLS OF THE ANNEX
Daddy Ever After
Obediently Ever After
DARK LACE SERIES
Club Dark Lace (Boxset)
Unzoned
Until Daddy
DARK ROMANCE STANDALONES
Valor
Kristoff
OWNED AND PROTECTED
Protecting His Pet
Protecting His Runaway
His Captive Pet
His Captive Kitten
Becoming His Pet
Training His Pet
BLACK LIGHT SERIES
Black Light Valentine Roulette
Black Light Cuffed
Black Light Roulette Redux
Black Light Suspicion
Black Light Celebrity Roulette
Windy City SERIES
Hidden Heart
Secured Heart
Indebted Heart
Liberated Heart
Daddy’s Heart
Indebted Heart Page 22