King
Page 23
“Fuck, Charlotte,” he cursed raggedly. “I love you too. I don’t deserve to, but I do. You are mine. I’ll never let you go again.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the thin strip of red leather. My heart leapt at the sight of it. His hands shook slightly as he wrapped it around my neck, but his black eyes were steady on mine. Calm settled over me when he buckled it in place. Javier had claimed me again. He would take care of me. I was safe.
His forehead rested on mine, and we stayed like that for long moments, breathing each other in as we both found peace again. His fingers played along the line of the collar, as though he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching it now that it was back in place.
“Thank you, Master,” I said raggedly.
“I’m sorry.” The lines of his face tightened with anguish. “I never should have pushed you away. If I hadn’t, then I could have stopped you. You wouldn’t have gone to the Russians, and…” He swallowed hard and closed his eyes.
I touched my palm to his cheek, calling him back to me. “Is it over now?” I remembered the men who had come into the warehouse with Javier, how they had laid down their guns when the FBI penned them in. “Are the Latin Kings finished? Are you out?”
“Yes,” the word was clipped. “But I would have rather stayed in forever than what happened to you.”
I shivered and curved my fingers into his arm, holding myself to him. “How did you find me?”
His mouth hardened to a grim line. “Reed contacted me to tell me they lost you and Clara. I tracked down some of the Russians and persuaded them to tell me where I could find you. Leaders of the other tribes joined me to come get you out. The insult of the Russians taking my wife united them. The FBI rounded them up after the Kings moved in on the Russians. It’s all over now.”
“But Clara said Dimitri got away,” I said softly.
“He was long gone by the time I got to you. Kennedy is already organizing a task force to hunt him down.” He brushed the wetness from my cheeks. “But none of that matters now. I’m done with all of it.”
“You’re quitting the FBI?”
“I’m quitting being in the field. I’m going back to being an analyst, where I can sit at a comfy desk. I won’t have to torture and kill people from a desk.”
I smoothed the creases in his brow with a light touch of my fingertips. “Oh, Javi, I’m so sorry. You never have to be part of that violent world again. Neither of us do. We’re both getting out. Together.”
I had thought college was my way out, that I could escape the criminal underworld by pretending to be someone I wasn’t. But that wasn’t really freedom. It had taken my captivity with Javier for me to see just how shallow that life had been. Our bond might have been unwillingly thrust upon me, but now I was the one refusing to let the other go.
“Come on, muñequita. Let’s go home.”
Home. Where was home? It occurred to me that the crappy little apartment we shared probably wasn’t actually his; it was all part of his cover with the Kings. But my apartment with Rachel wasn’t home, either.
Then Javier’s lips came down on mine, and I realized: home was in his arms.
Epilogue
Javier
Three Weeks Later
“You’re really cute when you wear your glasses, you know,” Charlotte teased.
“Cute?” I fixed her with a warning look over the top of the rectangular black frames. “I need them for work. Staring at the computer screen all day is hard on my eyes.”
She grinned that perfect smile that was like a punch to the gut. “Okay, they’re sexy then. I like them.”
I was surprised to find I was a touch relieved. “So you still think I’m sexy even though I’m an intelligence analyst? You didn’t just fall for my bad guy act?” I hadn’t realized it had been worrying me.
She snorted. “You’ve always been a sweet softie when it came to me. It took me a while to figure it out, but you were really crappy at pretending to be a bad guy. I’m surprised the Kings didn’t see right through you.”
“So I’m a softie, am I?” I asked, my voice silky and dangerous.
I took off my glasses and slowly stood, prowling around my desk in my home office. Her breath hitched, and she shrank back a little deeper into the plush leather couch. I loved having her in my real apartment. That shithole we lived in when I was undercover had never been good enough for her.
Even better, I had been able to outfit the larger space with some kinky apparatuses that wouldn’t have fit in our old place. I was tempted to use one now. She was being sassy, but I owed her a punishment for more than that. Had enough time passed to bring it up without causing her too much trauma?
Watching the way her pupils dilated to swallow up the breathtaking blue of her eyes, I decided she was ready.
I towered over her where she lay sprawled on the couch, naked save for her crimson collar and cuffs. I loved keeping her like this around the apartment. She was so damn beautiful, and I wanted to savor every inch of her. After almost losing her forever, I never wanted to let her out of my sight. It was a struggle every day to resist shadowing her on her way to and from class.
But she needed a life outside of our relationship. I would never keep her confined with only me for company ever again. Even though she insisted she had been happy, I knew now that it had been wrong. The strain of being immersed in the Latin Kings’ violent world for over a year had driven me to the edge of madness.
My gaze flicked to the gold band around her ring finger. I couldn’t deny I didn’t regret placing it there. And I didn’t regret collaring her. She was mine, and there was nothing wrong about that.
I hooked my forefinger through the silver ring at the front of her collar and pulled her to her feet. Her breathing quickened with her excitement. Fuck, she was made for this; she was made for me. It was why I hadn’t been able to resist her, even when everything in me had told me not to violate her.
Well, I had a few ideas about how I might use her hot little body now. She enjoyed being violated, penetrated. And I knew just what I wanted to take from her.
But first, she needed my discipline. What kind of Dom would I be if I didn’t correct her when she did something reckless? She had to learn that was unacceptable. I might not be in the field anymore, but my job still involved hunting down dangerous people. She had to know I wouldn’t tolerate her interfering in my work ever again, even if she did think it would help me. I couldn’t bear to see her hurt ever again. I loved her too damn much. It was a selfish thing, really.
The image of her strung up in that warehouse, with that bastard touching her, made me see red. I held her through her haunted dreams every night, not letting her know I had nightmares of my own.
Her soft fingertips touched my cheek, calling me back to her. “Hey. I’m right here,” she whispered. Her gentle strength helped me find my own. Her trust in me had allowed me to find my control again when my world was chaos and death, and still she kept me grounded. She was just as essential to me now as she had been in those dark days.
I lifted her up in my arms, needing to feel her soft body cradled against mine. She sighed and tucked her head beneath my chin, nuzzling into me. The show of support made me feel ten feet tall.
I carried her to the bedroom, and she squirmed in my hold when I headed for the new spanking bench rather than the bed. We hadn’t had a chance to use it since I put it together, but this was the perfect reason to break it in.
I positioned her atop it, ignoring her anxious resistance as I folded her torso over the padded bench and spread her knees. Grasping her cuffs, I guided her down and easily snapped her into place so her wrists were secured in front of her. When I was finished, I stroked my fingers down the length of her spine, until she shuddered and relaxed into her bonds. I hardened instantly at the sight of her sweet submission taking hold. She responded best to tenderness, but she also liked a bite of pain.
Well, she was about to get more than a bite.
She stiffened again. “What do you mean? What did I do?”
“I think you know,” I said softly. The shiver that wracked her body let me know she remembered exactly what she had done wrong. My fingers worked through her hair, keeping her calm while I moved into painful territory. “I’m not doing this to hurt you, muñequita,” I assured her. “I want to protect you, but I can’t do that if you keep secrets from me that will put you in danger. Do you understand why I need to punish you?”
She nodded weakly, and another tremor ran through her. It wasn’t from lust. I hated the sight of it.
I gently gripped her jaw, turning her head so she was forced to look up at me. “Stay focused on me. Feel what I’m doing it you.”
I held her in my steady gaze until her eyes softened and the lines of tension around her perfect lips eased. She was trusting me, putting herself into my care. I was relieved she understood this punishment wasn’t meant as abuse, but to show her just how much I cared about keeping her safe.
I liked having my hands on her, but this infraction called for more than that. Crossing to the closet, I retrieved a blindfold from one of my kinky drawers and selected a soft deerskin flogger from where it hung on the wall. I didn’t own any toys that would inflict real damage; this particular whip could be used for pleasure unless handled more forcefully.
My cock remained hard with the excitement of exerting my control over her, but I didn’t relish the thought of her discomfort. I gave a little shake of my head a rueful smile.
I guess I am a softie.
I would never admit it aloud. As I approached her, I whipped the flogger out so she could hear the heavy whoosh of the falls cutting through the air. She drew in a little gasp and flinched, but I didn’t allow it to make contact with her skin. The anticipation of my discipline was punishment in itself.
Leaning over her so she could feel the heat of my body, I slipped the blindfold over her eyes. The loss of her sight would help keep her focused on the sensations I would inflict upon her. Her head thrashed from side to side, and I sank my fingers into her hair, grasping it in my fist to stop her show of defiance.
“Calm,” I ordered. “You’re safe. Stay here with me.”
She took in a deep breath and stilled, but she wasn’t relaxed as she had been before. That would be all right. I would ease her anxiety soon enough.
I stepped back and abruptly brought the full weight of the flogger down on her ass. Her cry mingled with the dull thud. The hit wasn’t hard enough to bruise, but I hadn’t warmed her up, so the deep ache I inflicted wouldn’t be pleasant. I gave her two more in rapid succession. The sound of her hoarse shout knotted my stomach. This was just as difficult for me as it was for her.
But there was something cleansing about the pain. It helped siphon off some of the anguish I felt every time I thought of how I had found her on that terrible night. The mutual ache that bound us now made both of us vitally aware of each other’s nearness, that we were safe together.
I landed a smarting blow across her right thigh and then her left. She threw back her head with a sharp cry, and both of our lingering inner torment seemed to be unleashed at the sound.
I relented, finding my inner calm again. It was deeper and more pure than it had ever been, no longer tainted by the twisted nature of our relationship when lies had separated us.
This time, the hit on her reddened ass was less forceful. After the harshness of the first blows, it would feel like a caress. When I delivered another, she moaned and finally relaxed. I fell into a steady rhythm, working my way back up in intensity, until she arched into the flogger, silently begging for more of the dark heat it awoke deep in her flesh. Her pussy glistened with her arousal, and I knew she was ready for me.
I had fallen into that primal headspace where base needs to fuck and possess and dominate took over my mind. My little doll and I were the only real things in the world, and her body needed to be plundered by mine as badly as mine needed to own every inch of her.
I had been preparing her for this for weeks. Tonight, she would finally surrender every part of herself to me.
I tossed the flogger aside and drove into her swollen and waiting pussy, pounding in and out a few times, coating my dick with her wetness. Her ragged moan and the quivering of her inner muscles told me she was on the edge of orgasm. But I wasn’t ready to allow her release. Not yet. I had trained her to find pleasure when I violated her ass, and I didn’t intend to change that.
My cock was larger than any of the plugs she had worn, but she would take me. I pulled out of her and pressed myself against her asshole. Satisfaction flooded me when she pushed back into me rather than tensing up. She was just as eager for this as I was.
My cockhead eased in, fighting past her tight ring of muscles. She hissed in a sharp breath as pain bloomed through her pleasure, but she determinedly remained relaxed for me. I rewarded her by rubbing her clit, pressing my thumb against it in a practiced, demanding rhythm. Just as my head pressed all the way in, I wrung an orgasm from her body. She convulsed around me as her body twisted with her pleasure, and I almost lost my control.
Gritting my teeth, I slowly pressed forward, easing my desire-slicked cock deeper inside. She whimpered, her body trembling in the aftermath of her orgasm. Her fingers curled into the padding on the bench as she accepted all of me.
I shoved the last inch home, and she rippled around me. It was all I could manage to relish pumping in and out of her for a few quick strokes before pleasure pushed me over the edge. As I released myself inside her, I found her clit again, coaxing another orgasm from her body.
“Master!” She screamed out my name, writhing beneath me as ecstasy tore through her. My vision went white with the intensity of my bliss. When the world slowly came back into focus, I was lying atop her, breathing hard. I stroked her sweat-dampened hair back from her brow and nibbled at her shoulder. She whimpered as the last little flares of pleasure rolled through her.
It took me long minutes to catch my breath, but I finally managed to roll off her and unclip her cuffs where they kept her tethered to the bench. I picked her up and carried her the short distance to the bed, setting her down gently. Leaving the blindfold on to keep her in her peaceful, blissed-out state, I planted a swift kiss on her cheek.
“I’ll be right back,” I murmured against her soft skin.
I showered quickly so I could return to her side. When I tucked my body into bed behind hers, she stirred with a satisfied hum and turned into me.
“Master?” She slurred, still drunk on the pleasure I had given her.
My lips found hers in a long, languorous kiss. She sighed, her fingers blindly exploring the lines of my body as though for the first time. I made a mental note to blindfold her more often. She was so sweet like this, curled up submissively in my arms, touching me with a seemingly unquenchable innocence.
Affection swelled within me, and a question I had been mulling over suddenly burned on the tip of my tongue. No longer able to hold it in, I eased the dark cloth back from her eyes. She blinked up at me, her shockingly blue eyes adjusting to the light. She smiled when I came into focus. Fuck, I would never tire of her looking at me like that, like I was the only thing that mattered in the entire world. I needed to make sure I could always have it, to keep her forever. She wore my collar and my ring, but the circumstances under which she had accepted them had been less than ideal.
“Will you marry me?” I asked, my voice coming out in a strangely husky rumble.
She let out a soft laugh. “I think we’ve already covered that.”
I couldn’t help returning her smile. “Okay, we reaffirm our vows, then. We didn’t exactly put much thought into them the first time. I want to give you the wedding you deserve.”
Her eyes shone with the beginnings of tears, but she
was grinning. “I would love that. Derek could be there. And your family should come, too.”
“Of course Ana and Miguel will come,” I answered. That was a foregone conclusion.
She brushed her fingertips along my jaw. “No. I mean your other family. Clayton and Reed and Kennedy.”
My lips twisted with anger at the mention of the men who had failed me, but she forestalled my rising ire. “I know they mean a lot to you. Don’t let what happened ruin that.”
I wavered, wistfully remembering the bond I had shared with the men I worked alongside. Once, we would have died for each other. Looking deep within myself, I knew I still would.
“Okay,” I said finally. “But I have to punch Clayton and Reed first.” They owed me that much, at least.
She kissed my cheek. “I’m sure they’ll understand. They seem like decent guys.”
“They are,” I admitted. “More than decent, really.”
Damn it, I supposed I would have to invite the bastards to my wedding. After they took their punches. That was definitely happening.
Charlotte hesitated, watching me carefully. “And your daughter. She should come too.”
My chest squeezed. “You know that can’t happen,” I said, my voice heavy with regret.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” she said quickly. “And yes, it can happen. You said your wife forced you to leave by threatening to claim you abused her through your BDSM relationship. Well, I’ve learned a thing or two about the men in your unit, and I know they would testify on your behalf if Maria pushed the issue. I’m pretty sure a judge would see them as reputable character witnesses.”
Now my own eyes burned. I blinked hard. “You really think that would work?”