by Anya Summers
The dread in Jared’s stomach intensified. “Thanks, D. Call me if the storm gets worse.”
He sped the Jeep toward the opposite side of the island, praying that Naomi was safe. In the pit of his stomach, he knew she was in danger and would die if he didn’t get there in time.
Naomi stumbled in the sand as they emerged from the jungle. The palm fronds and trees whipped in the violent breeze as storm clouds darkened the sky, threatening destruction and mayhem. When she spied the sail boat, she glanced at her ex-husband.
“A sail boat? Are you insane, Jon? There’s a hurricane coming that will sink that thing faster than the Titanic.”
If she got on that boat, she was dead, one way or the other. Jon yanked her back up to her feet, almost pulling her arm from her socket. Lightning arced across the sky, fracturing the dark, followed by a booming clap of thunder, and the downpour began. Naomi was drenched within a minute and was having trouble discerning the outline of the boat.
As Jon dragged her by her hair, she fought back. He stumbled a bit in surprise. She’d never fought him. Not once. But this time, she did. She’d rather he shoot her now than get on that boat. An evil glimmer entered his eyes and he smiled. It made her skin crawl because she knew that if she lost the upper hand, he was going to make her wish for death before the end.
Twin beams of light barreled toward them. Hope blossomed in her chest, followed by a gut-wrenching fear as she spied Jared’s face behind the wheel. Jon would kill him. She had to protect Jared.
She fought Jon, attempting to distract him.
Jared leapt from the Jeep, a handgun trained on Jon. “Let her go and you can leave with your life.”
Jon pointed his gun at Naomi’s temple. “Take one more step and I will blow her brains out. She’s my wife and belongs with me.”
“She’s your ex-wife, and is she is no longer yours. The authorities will be here soon, so you can either surrender now, or die. Take your pick.”
Then Jared leapt, rushing the distance like a running back, and barreled into Jon. It knocked them both to the ground. A scream built inside her as they wrestled around. Jared threw a few jabs to Jon’s face, but Jon was ex-military and ex-law enforcement and held his own.
Jared fought dirty, tossing sand in Jon’s face to blind him. Then he leapt off him, grabbed his gun from the sand, and her hand. “Run!” he shouted over the roar of the wind. They plunged toward the Jeep as Jon stumbled to his feet, roaring with anger.
They ran, zigzagging away from the Jeep as Jon fired at them, bullets pinging against the hood. One of the bullets struck the front tire and the Jeep sagged. Jared dragged her into the jungle beyond and Jon screamed behind them as the trees and foliage slapped against them. The rain was a deluge, making their footing slippery. “We have to get to the shelter,” Jared said. “Once inside, there’s a steel door that locks from the inside that he can’t get through.”
Naomi nodded, picking up her pace. They dodged whipping fronds and cesspools of water. They located the trail up the mountain and raced up the steep climb. Naomi had never considered herself out of shape but she’d never huffed so much in her life. And through it all, she heard Jon’s heavy footsteps chasing them.
The storm shelter’s ivory stone stood out like a beacon as they crested the hill.
Jon shouted, “Stop, or I will shoot her. Then neither of us will have her.”
Jared swiveled around, his gun drawn, shoving her behind his massive body. “That’s never going to happen on my watch.”
To her, he whispered, handing her a key, “Get to the shelter now. I will protect you for as long as I can. When I tell you to run, do it. No questions asked, understood?”
Love for him swamped her. “Yes, Sir.”
His hand squeezed hers. “Run, now.”
He released her hand, keeping his gun trained on Jon. She dashed toward the safety of the shelter and heard the pop of gunfire as a bullet whizzed past her head, bouncing off the white stone. Jared returned fire and Jon went down. Naomi’s hand shook as she fumbled with the key in the door, and Jared raced to her side just as Jon stood back up.
“Watch out,” she cried. Jon swiveled toward Jared and pulled the trigger.
Jared staggered and she screamed, Jon’s evil grin dominating his face as he approached. She sank down at Jared’s side, needing to see if he was alive. She put her fingers on his neck and found his pulse. She pulled the gun out of his hand and pointed it at her ex-husband.
This was the man who had caused her nothing but misery and turmoil, who had stolen her power, her belief in herself, and bullied her into submission. It dawned on her that she finally understood the difference between the two. Jon’s controlling, dominating way was due to fear and lack of confidence in himself as a man, not to mention just being an asshole. Whereas Jared’s desire for her submission was out of a need to protect and cherish.
“Stop, Jon, it’s over. We are over. I will not go anywhere with you. If you come any closer, I will shoot you.”
He sneered. “You don’t have the guts. You never did.”
She aimed and pulled the trigger. Blood bloomed on his arm and he dropped his gun as he roared in agony.
“You frigid bitch. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
“Yes, you should have. Now if you don’t want me to shoot your dick next, I suggest you get back to your boat and leave.” She tried to contain her trembling but the gun shook in her hands.
Jon snarled, “It will sink in this storm and kill me. That’s what you’ve always wanted, you fucking cunt.”
“Not my problem, Jon. You should have thought of that before you came here.”
“Fucking cunt,” he said again, a moment before he charged toward them.
The wind kicked up at that moment and one of the fifty-foot palm trees toppled to the ground. It happened so fast. One minute Jon was on his feet, heading toward her, and the next, the tree had crushed him to death.
She stared at the spot where he’d just been upright. She should feel something other than relief that he was gone but she didn’t have it in her. She tugged at Jared, who started awake on a groan.
“Where the fuck is he? Are you hurt?” he growled.
She shook her head. “No. He’s dead.”
He glanced at her for a moment and then said, “We have to get inside before it gets much worse.”
She helped Jared, all two-hundred pounds of him, to his feet, and they walked the remaining few feet to their sanctuary. Inside the storm shelter, Jared switched on the lights and made sure the front door was securely locked. He grabbed some blankets and she treated his wound with the medical kit. The bullet had grazed his temple and there was an angry, bleeding welt but otherwise he seemed no worse for wear.
She worried that he may have a concussion but until medical aid could arrive, she did what she could. They curled up on the couch together, neither saying much, huddled under the blankets for warmth as the world raged around them.
All night long, Naomi thought about her life before Jared had arrived in it—and after. Everything she had had to go through to meet him. And then, finally, to those final minutes, when she stood up to her ex-husband and fought back.
It was the longest night of her life.
Chapter 19
They spent close to twenty-four hours in the storm bunker before Jared checked satellite images to be certain Hurricane Catalina had passed. He and Naomi emerged to bright light and a coast guard helicopter landing at the airfield.
He guided her down the mountain, past the body of her ex-husband, and toward what he hoped was a future together. There had been massive destruction up and down the island chain, but as they surveyed the island, he discovered just how fortunate they had been. All the structures except the greenhouse had withstood the storm. The pool deck was a mess and the dock would need to be rebuilt, but those things were minimal by comparison.
By nightfall, his squadron of captains and employees had all returned and we
It worried Jared; the distance she had put between them, the wall she seemed to have erected overnight. Franchesca and her sons whipped up a family style meal for all the workers. Jared joined in and ate with everyone but couldn’t locate Naomi. He worked well into the night, wondering the whole time where she was at. It was midnight before he collapsed, alone, in his bed. The next morning, he was out of sorts because he still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Naomi since mid-afternoon the previous day.
Had she left him? Had the storm and her ex finding her been too much? Jared wished he could say he was certain of her affections, but he’d had far too much happen in the past year-and-a-half to fully trust anyone.
Franchesca cooked another family style breakfast Jared attended before he worked alongside Deke, Derek, Shep, and many more to help fix the docks. Jared had some ideas he wanted to run by Tyler as far as extra materials to reinforce the frame they had now were concerned but as it was, by three in the afternoon, their docks were rebuilt. After a shower and a quick bite to eat, he headed to his villa. He had to see if it had survived, especially now that it appeared as though Naomi had vanished from his life as surely as the storm.
His heart ached and he wondered how big a fool he was for falling in love with her. He had no place left to go to get over Naomi. Not to mention he instinctively knew deep in the recesses of his soul that there was no getting over her. He would carry his love for her through all the days of his lonely life. She was it for him.
He entered his front door and stopped at the sight before him. Naomi was scrubbing his kitchen. In fact, the entire place smelled like lemons and disinfectant. She glanced up when he audibly shut the door behind him.
The smile she gifted him with nearly did him in. He strode on shaky legs over to the counter as she peeled her gloves off and met him halfway. Then she sank to her knees in a slave pose and his jaw almost dropped to the floor.
“Sir, welcome home.”
Home. He sucked in a breath to settle his rapid pulse and cupped her chin. He ran a thumb over her lower lip and she rubbed her face against his palm like a cat.
“Rise, Naomi.”
She stood with effortless grace and he lifted her gaze up to his. “I thought you left with the coast guard. Why didn’t you come find me?”
“As your sub, where else would I be but your home?”
His sub? She wanted to be his. Pleasure coursed fast and furious through his system, awakening the Dom within. She belonged to him and no other. She had chosen him.
“Why?” he said, stopping her as she was unhooking her bra.
She stared at him like he was missing a few screws. “Because it was what we discussed before the storm made everything go wonky.”
She dropped her bra. Her glorious breasts tempted him beyond measure but if he touched her, he’d be lost. Instead, he tilted her chin and asked again. “Why, Naomi? We agreed on no lies, remember?”
She appeared chagrined for a moment and then he saw something in her eyes that almost brought him to his knees. “Because, you big lug, through all the chaos of the hurricane and my ex-husband trying to kill us, a lot of things finally started to make sense. Like why I couldn’t seem to walk away from you and this thing between us.”
“And?”
“I love the way you try to show me in a million little ways that you care. I love that you take the time to discover what I like. I love the way you treat everyone who works for you like family. I love your brain and tenacity at wanting to keep this place going and rebuilding, even though the odds of another hurricane hitting this place are relatively high. And I love that you are so selfless as to charge after a woman’s insane, gun-waving ex-husband to save her from her own bad judgement. I stayed because I love you, and if you still want me to be your submissive, I’m all yours.”
“Ach well, lassie, how could I refuse such a declaration?” He claimed her mouth in a torrid kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner. That you were forced to endure so much. I do love you, Naomi. Never doubt that.”
He said that because she was going to be calling him a list of names in a minute. He hefted her over his shoulder in a single move and carried her into the bedroom. Since she had already disrobed, it would make her discipline infinitely easier. He sat on the padded bench and moved her body into position across his lap until her ripe ass cheeks were across it. He laid his arm across her lower back as she sputtered.
“Hey, what the hell, Jared?”
“This,” he swatted her rump, “is for not believing I would come for you.”
“And this one,” he put a little extra oomph behind the wallop, “is for not following my direct order and leaving on the first ship of the evacuation like you were instructed.”
He swatted her ass a few more times as she moaned and panted. He really was going to have to up his game on punishments and become much more inventive. A spanking turned them both on far too much to be effective for long.
“And this one,” he gave her another love tap, “is for not telling me where you had gone after the authorities showed up yesterday. I thought you had left me.”
The fight immediately left her body and she accepted the rest of her punishment. When he had finished, releasing her lower back, she turned and repositioned herself until she was straddling him. She cupped his cheeks and gazed into his eyes with tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you would believe I left you. I kept waiting for you to come home and assumed you knew after everything that I wasn’t going anywhere. My place is with you, helping you rebuild, and belonging to you.”
He caressed her back as his heart seemed to grow three sizes in his chest. “You do realize, little one, that while you might belong to me, I belong to you, as well. I love you, Naomi.”
He stood up and she squealed, clasping her arms and legs around him. He smiled as he cupped her delectable rear, rubbing the burning flesh.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Why, I’m taking my sub to get her acquainted with my private dungeon. I promise you will love it.”
She laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh and said, “I’m sure I will, Sir. As long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter where we go. With you, I’m home.”
He searched her face, tilting it up toward him, and was bowled over by the truth in her gaze. He took her lips in a devastating kiss, sealing it with a promise. “Me as well, love, me as well.”
Jared had traveled half a world away from the one place he thought he couldn’t live without, only to find the woman and home that were perfect for him. One day, he would take her to see the wild rolling hills of his homeland, and to meet his folks, who would welcome her as another daughter. One day soon, he would get down on one knee and ask her to be his forever.
But for tonight, he was just going to love her well and be loved in return.
The End
Anya Summers
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.
Visit her website here:
www.anyasummers.com
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Twitter: @AnyaBSummers
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15183606.Anya_Summers
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Submit To Me, Book 7
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