by K. R. Haynes
Randall recognised he needed to do something, to bring back the sexy, sassy little submissive he loved and adored so much. Hopefully one of the little surprises he had in store for her would help with that. Firstly though, he was going to make damn sure she took her medicine prescribed for the pain. Then they could do something relaxing together.
Stopping at the last shop to pick up the last of the items on his list, Randall then headed back home. Hopefully he’d find Chloe and Mary J joking around and having fun, and not pulling each other’s hair out.
Chapter Forty-One
With Randall’s help, Chloe stepped gingerly inside the bathroom. She gasped at the sight of scented candles all alight and a warm bubble bath awaiting her. Turning slowly to face him, Chloe raised her hands to cup his face. Tears stung her eyes, not from the pain, but from the love she felt for him at the thoughtfulness of his actions. A bubble bath was something she hadn’t had in ages and a luxury she longed for now, with him hopefully joining her.
“Thank you, Jon. I don’t know what I have done to deserve this or you, but thank you.”
Kissing her still-healing lips gently, he told her, “You deserve this and so much more, precious, so much more.”
Suddenly feeling nervous at the thought of being naked around him, Chloe paced away from Randall, needing some distance between them. The bruising from the attack still marred her skin. She could still feel the bastard’s rough hands on her body. Knowing that it was going to take time for her to recover from her attack was all well and good. However, had she not gone to her place at all, none of this would have happened in the first place, right? Even that wasn’t guaranteed. The stalker, her attacker, hadn’t been caught yet. She hadn’t heard from him either and hoped he had moved on. The bastard was still out there though. Watching, waiting to strike at her again.
Shuddering at the thought alone, Chloe shrieked at the feel of Randall’s arms gently encircling her waist. God, she couldn’t even relax enough to have him touch her. Trying to calm her mind and her racing heart, Chloe managed to slip out of Randall’s embrace. The puzzled look on his face as she peeked up at him made her wince. She had inadvertently hurt him by pulling away from him.
“Chloe, what’s wrong?”
Two simple words, forming such a simple question, yet for the life of her Chloe couldn’t find the right words to answer him with.
He said her name again. “Chloe?”
She turned away from his gaze and began pacing as she spoke. “I’m nervous, Jon. My skin is still marred. I’m ashamed of the marks the bastard left behind on my body.” She peeked over her shoulder at him and continued on, “What if I can’t get past this, Jon?” She stopped there, too embarrassed and ashamed to say anything else.
“Can’t get past what, precious?” Randall’s voice was so calming, so full of reason it was like a balm to her overwrought senses.
Turning her back to him, Chloe began pacing again. “I want to be intimate with you again, Jon.” She whispered to him, “But what if I can’t get past the feel of that bastard’s hands groping me. I know he didn’t rape me.”
Stopping in front of the bath and gazing down at the foamy bubbles, an ache started to build up in her chest from the loss of closeness to the man she loved. Her attacker had taken away the intimacy she craved from the man she loved. She only had to look in the mirror to be reminded of what the bastard had stolen from her.
“How can I move past this, Jon? I hate that I can’t handle you touching me, when all I want you to do is touch me and make me forget this ever happened.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She didn’t care if they fell or not when she turned to face him. There was no shame in letting him see her tears. Only having Randall see the bastard’s marks on her body shamed her.
“I want to be intimate with you, too, precious. However, there is no need for us to rush into it. Together we will take it one step at a time, day by day, you and me together. Then when you’re ready I’ll make slow, passionate love to you, to the point you’ll be writhing in your own desire and all but begging me to let you come.”
“Promise?” she whispered to him.
“I promise. Scout’s honour.”
Staring up into his loving gaze, revelling in the love he held for her, she whispered to him, “Well, there is one thing you can help me with.”
“And what’s that, lover?” Randall said to her while closing the distance between them.
Heat rose to her cheeks from the smouldering look in his eyes. Swallowing down her nervousness, she uttered to him, “Help me undress, please.”
He kissed both her flushed rosy cheeks then her lips. “It would be my pleasure.”
Slowly Randall undid the buttons on the front of the shirt of his she wore, his lips lightly caressing a path down the bruised skin revealed to him. Beneath his gentle, tender touch, Chloe couldn’t stop her body from trembling with both her desire for him and her nervousness of him seeing her naked. Once he had her naked he stripped himself of his clothing then gently gathered her in his arms and carefully lowered her into the warm water.
* * * *
Randall sat behind Chloe in the bathtub. He could feel the little nervous tremors racing throughout her body, as she leaned against him. Softly he caressed her arms with his hands. He needed to keep touching her to know she was alive and here with him. The knowledge of how awfully close he came to losing her…Well, it was going to take him time to get over the initial shock. Just like it was going to take her time to relearn the enjoyment of his touch.
What had happened to her was something neither one of them could’ve stopped. The bastard threatening her had made the threats and acted upon them unsuccessfully in the end, for now.
Neither one of them had failed each other on the day she had been attacked. Something they both needed to remember. They had both done everything in their power to control the situation with the stalker. In the end the stalker had won out. However, Randall refused to let the attack on Chloe come between them.
He was glad though to see her relaxing enough to rest the back of her head against his chest and close her eyes. She even encouraged him to wrap his arms around her waist, just not too tightly. “Ribs, remember. Sore,” she muttered to him.
Even though his eyes stung with tears, Randall couldn’t help but smile at hearing her words. She was coming back to him, day by day, minute by minute. His sexy, sassy little sub would return to him. The Chloe he loved with his whole heart and soul would return back to him piece by piece.
His heart swelled with emotion.
Leaning in, resting his chin on top of her head and closing his eyes, Randall let his words tumble free from his lips, not caring how they sounded to her. “A long time ago I offered my whole heart and love to one woman, Chloe. That woman is you, precious, only you. Together we will get through this. Just believe in us and it will happen.”
* * * *
His heartfelt words gave her a reason to believe. Here in the bath, surrounded by his warmth and his love, Chloe believed they most definitely could get through this, together. As long as she just believed in herself, in their love, and in Randall himself they would get through this.
Together, one day at a time, just like he said.
All she had to do was believe.
And believe she would. Whatever she needed to do to feel whole again, she would do it.
For Jon, she would do it.
Chapter Forty-Two
Almost a month had passed since her attack. With each passing day, Chloe found herself becoming more and more comfortable being around Randall again. He had shown her a great deal of patience and understanding. More than she thought he could offer her. Looking back on it now, it seemed wrong to underestimate him or his love he held for her.
Now, she was ready.
After accepting the advice Randall had given her a few weeks back, Chloe had taken the plunge and seen the therapist, the one the station he was based at used for post-traumatic stress.<
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She had seen the therapist a few times now. It had helped, much to her surprise. And to her annoyance that Randall had proved to be right yet again.
Nevertheless, she was ready now.
Finally ready to feel his possession of her body with his own.
More than a month had passed since they had last made love.
All the bruising and swelling from the attack had healed.
The bastard’s marks on her flesh were gone.
Mentally and physically, Chloe was ready for the next phase of the healing to process- being intimate with her lover again.
She needed to feel Randall’s possession of her body again, however that came. The ache inside her was too strong to ignore any longer. So tonight Chloe was taking the next step in her healing process. Knowing Randall had been on edge lately, she would give him this gift tonight, the gift of her body, her submission, and, most importantly, her unspoken love. She would surrender her entire being to him tonight. Surrender completely to him.
Dressed only in the soft, lavender lace-and-satin bra with matching panties that Randall had given her a few weeks back, with her long caramel locks flowing over her shoulders and down her back, Chloe padded barefoot into the lounge room. Switching the stereo on and filling the room with an erotic rhythm, she lit a few candles to help create an intimate mood.
Kneeling in the middle of the lounge-room floor in the correct submissive pose, Chloe waited for Jon to come home to her. Sure, he would prefer to see her naked and in her submissive pose, she doubted he would even care at this point when he set his eyes on her.
She smiled to herself, knowing he was in for one hell of a surprise when he came home tonight. He had absolutely no idea she had anything planned for him. Hell, Randall probably assumed they were going to eat pizza and watch a movie on the sofa again. Not Tonight. No, tonight was going to be more than just cuddling up close to each other. Tonight she was going to get hot and steamy with her man, her Dom, her lover. Chloe could hardly wait.
* * * *
It had been a long ass of a day at the station, with the investigations into Chloe’s attack and the case to bring down the Gang of 39 all going nowhere fast. The few raids he and his team had made on some of the warehouses down at the harbour had been, well, an utter waste of time. They had found nothing, zilch. In other words, fuck all. No chemicals, no explosives, not a damn bloody thing.
The Bomb Squad’s team leader was organising yet another raid for a couple of days’ time. Although Randall figured that was just going to be another complete waste of everyone’s time, too. The hell with what their informer said or didn’t say. There was absolutely no evidence that led him to believe any members of the Gang of 39 had even smuggled in any explosive material whatsoever.
As for Chloe’s case, well, that was a whole other story.
The clothing she had worn on the day of her attack had come back with some surprising results. Same went for the evidence collected from underneath her fingernails, which a fellow cop assigned to the case had collected at the hospital when Chloe mentioned she had hit her attacker. A minuscule amount of skin and rubber had been detected. The black rubber would have been easily missed if you weren’t aware that the attacker wore a black rubber mask to shield his identity from his unsuspecting victim. The information regarding the mask and black rubber found was on a need-to-know basis, along with the trace sample of semen found on the letter.
There were also traces of black fibres discovered on Chloe’s clothing, which matched her description of the assailant wearing dark clothing. The skin scraped from her fingernails was still down at the lab. They had no positive results yet, but the lab was still running their tests.
Jake had informed Randall today that he was investigating an interesting link between the Gang of 39’s former leader, Myke Dillon, and Chloe’s stalker. There was no tangible proof that the former gang leader had attacked and stalked Chloe. But Myke Dillon sure did have all the credentials to do it.
Plus, his release from prison two months prior to Randall pulling Chloe over that night a few months back placed the former gang leader at the top of the list as a prime suspect. The police just needed to find the bastard. Myke Dillon had literally disappeared. This meant he had either been killed by a member of the gang he had once commanded or he was lying low. The fact that there had been no sign of him over the past couple of weeks also justified Randall placing the former gang leader at the top of his list. He fit the time line.
Seeing it was after six pm, Randall pushed back from his desk to head home. He had promised Chloe he would be home by six thirty. Saying his good-byes to his fellow team members on the way out of the station’s front door, he sent a quick text to Chloe letting her know he was on his way home to her from his truck.
Parking his truck up the driveway, something in his gut told him he was in for one hell of a good night tonight. Maybe that’s why Randall found he had a spring in his step walking up to the front door. Maybe, nuh, he couldn’t torture himself into thinking that perhaps Chloe was ready for him to make love to her. It had been so damn long since they had had sex, Randall found himself feeling slightly nervous at the thought of it. Nervous like it was his first time with her. In a way it was.
No matter when she was ready to feel his possession of her body again, he wanted it to be perfect for her. She deserved it more than anyone else after everything that had happened. Chloe deserved nothing but perfection from him.
Stepping inside and locking the door behind him, Randall called out to Chloe. When no reply came forth his heart automatically started racing. Fear gripped him in a tight vise. Had the attacker come back? was the only thought ringing loudly in his head as he stepped further inside the house, while calling out her name. A faint whisper of music assaulted his ears. Soft, almost sensual music, music you could make slow, passionate love to.
“Holy shit,” he whispered to himself. Could this mean she was ready for him? “Shit.”
Well, there was only one way for him to find out. Following the beat of the music, Randall headed up the hall to the lounge room. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, and sweat was beading on his brow with every step he took. If he was wearing a tie he would have yanked it off by now. Breathe, he told himself, just breathe.
Taking a calming, deep breath, Randall stepped into the lounge room.
Finding his Chloe in a submissive pose was the most breathtakingly beautiful sight he could have ever asked for. Her unblemished skin shimmered under the soft glow of the candlelight. Her gorgeous naked body was only delicately covered in the soft lavender lingerie he had given her. In one word she looked stunning, simply fucking stunning. And going by the way his dick hardened almost instantly at the sight of her, his cock obviously agreed with the sentiment as well.
Thoroughly captivated by her, Randall took a few moments to just admire her.
The flickering glow of the candles in the background caught his attention. Staring at them briefly, seeing the flames dancing against the walls and the melted wax spilling over the edges of the candles, gave him an idea. A very wicked idea. He sure hoped Chloe was up for a little wax play tonight.
Standing behind her, Randall swept her long, soft, caramel locks back with his hand, baring her slender neck to him. Bending down, he ran his tongue up the side of her neck, tasting her skin. She shivered from this single touch alone. “Mmm, you taste delightful, precious,” he murmured sultrily to her.
Moving around to stand in front of her, with a fingertip underneath her chin he tipped her head up. Dipping his head he captured her lips with his. Kissing her soundly, he tasted her sweetness thoroughly. His tongue delved into her mouth seeking out hers. He allowed their tongues to duel for a moment, before dominating the kiss by swamping her mouth with his tongue. Her taste surrounded him, ignited him in such a way Randall knew he would never be the same without her.
Releasing her lips from his, breathing heavily, Randall stared down into Chloe’s molten hazel eyes
. Blood surged in his veins. His straining, swollen cock pressed painfully against the metal zipper of his jeans. He was lost to her. His heart, body, and soul all belonged to one and only one woman. That woman was Chloe.
He would be forever lost to her always, only her.
“Chloe.” He whispered her name to her. “Precious, I will ask you one question and you will give me only an honest answer. Are we clear?”
Peering up at him, Chloe answered him with a “Yes, Sir.”
“I want you to totally surrender to me tonight, little girl. Are you able to give yourself completely over to my control tonight, precious?”
She didn’t do a thing, except resume her submissive pose with her hands laced behind her back, knees spread apart, and head lowered with her eyes down. That was all the confirmation Randall needed. Unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it to the side, he toed off his shoes, removed his socks and stood before her in just his faded denim jeans.
Staring down at her, he knew his eyes had darkened with lust and desire she had stirred up inside of him. So goddamn long they had both waited for tonight, and he’d be damned if it wasn’t going to be fucking perfect for her. Giving her the command to rise and remove her underthings, Randall moved the low end table over, placing it in the middle of the room. Clearing the tabletop bare, he pointed to the table and ordered Chloe to lie down on her back and wait for him. Hearing her hiss from the coolness of the timber against her skin had him smirking.
Grabbing one of the low-heat lit candles from the mantle place, Randall went back over to where Chloe lay perfectly still and naked for him. She had the palms of her hands lying flat against the tabletop and her feet planted firmly on the floor. Her hazel-coloured eyes, darkened with her own arousal, peered up at him.