by BJ Wane
“Yes, she’s the one,” the woman returned with a sneer that got Skye’s back up.
Betrayal cut like a knife through her abdomen, and Skye nearly doubled over. Refusing to give in to the pain and despair consuming her, she straightened her shoulders and glared at the woman. Right now she had nothing left to lose by pushing for answers to clear up her fear and confusion. “What plan, and what inheritance?”
“For Alex to marry you then, when your mother dies, divorce you after you’ve collected your inheritance. Everything was going great until the idiot lost his temper and smacked you around when you discovered he’d been with someone else. That was me, by the way.” She smirked and goaded Skye further by admitting, “We never stopped sleeping together after you started seeing him. You were always just a means to an end, a very profitable end that I still intend to collect.”
The woman is delusional. That was the only explanation she could think of for her scheme. “Where on earth did you get the idea I would come into money? My mother had nothing but a meager savings, which went towards her medical bills.”
“Not from her, your grandfather, Owen Marshall.”
As the woman related the visit from her mother’s estranged father, a dull roaring started in Skye’s head. She’d heard of the national electronics chain Owen Marshall owned, but never imagined she was related to him or that she’d someday inherit it. Her mother never spoke of her family except to reveal her maiden name and that she’d left home at eighteen without looking back.
Shaking her head in disbelief at the diabolical plan to take advantage of her grief then rob her of an inheritance she didn’t even know about or want, she staggered toward the bed. The image of Alex’s body sprawled on that bed halted her at the bedpost, which she gripped with both hands.
“Who killed him?” she croaked, wondering what she wanted with her now that he was dead, and, with him, her plan.
She waved the gun, wearing a disgusted expression. “I did, after I stopped you from leaving. And now, you’re going to come with me until dear Mommy dies, and you fork over half of your millions. After that, I don’t give a shit what you do because your prints are the only ones on this gun that killed your husband.”
Skye just now noticed the thin latex glove she wore, then everything came flooding back, stunning her with the swiftness and clarity of her returning memories. She didn’t hear other vehicles pull up out front or car doors slamming until the rush of footsteps inside the house snared the woman’s attention.
“Money?” Tears of anger and heartbreak poured from her eyes as she stared with incredulous disbelief at the cold, callous woman in front of her. “Do you have any idea of the hell you’ve put me through these past weeks?” she choked out on a tortured sob. “You uprooted my life, not to mention scared the hell out of me, made me wonder if I’d killed my own husband, sent me running away with nothing…” Skye gasped and lurched forward, releasing a wail, Clayton’s sharp, unexpected voice barely registering through the riot of jumbled thoughts and emotions consuming her.
“Skye, don’t!” Shrugging off Shawn’s restraining arm, Clayton rushed forward, his heart in his throat watching Skye charge the woman holding a gun on her. Before he could reach her, the other woman grabbed her arm and twisted her around, holding her back against her with a choke hold across her neck, now aiming her gun on him. The fear and torment etched on Skye’s face was enough to make him see red. “Let her go. This is over.”
“Not by a long shot,” she sneered, shifting the gun toward Shawn and Dakota behind him.
“I’m Sheriff McDuff. Drop your weapon. Now.”
Skye’s eyes shifted to the bedroom doorway and widened, drawing all three men’s gazes and the woman’s scowl. “Harper?” Skye gasped.
“For God’s sake, Meg, you’ve really flipped. Let her go.” Harper turned to Shawn and blew out a breath when he flashed his badge, then kept a wide berth between her and Dakota, his size and thunderous expression enough to scare anybody.
“She’s going with me until I’m sure no one is following.” Meg tightened her arm on Skye’s throat, and Clayton took another step forward.
“Clayton, don’t,” Skye pleaded. “She’s crazy enough to shoot.”
“Then I’ll shoot her, so what’ll be?” Shawn aimed at Meg’s head.
Before anyone could stop her, Harper ran toward Meg and grabbed her gun arm. Skye broke free of Meg’s loosened hold, and Clayton caught her quivering form against him as Shawn rushed over and managed to disarm and cuff Meg while her attention was on wrestling with Harper.
Yanking on her hands shackled behind her, Meg screeched, “This is all your fault, Harper. If only you’d gone along after I dealt with Alex.”
“Is that a confession?” Shawn hauled her next to his side as he looked at Clayton. “That’ll make our jobs easier, won’t it, Prosecutor?”
Clayton brushed Skye’s hair away from her pale face, ignoring Dakota’s derisive snort when he drawled, “Sap.”
“Maybe,” Clayton answered, “but I’ll still make sure whoever gets the case goes for the maximum sentence.” He pinned Meg with a dark look. “Where is Alex McGregor’s body?”
Chapter Twelve
Skye stood to the side, leaning against her car, her head still throbbing, watching in numb disbelief as the coroner’s team carried a body bag out of her garage. Hiding a corpse in the freezer – wasn’t that the stuff movies were made from? “I still can’t believe the lengths you three went to to get your hands on an inheritance I know nothing about.” She frowned at Harper, who stood a few feet from her. “Or how gullible I was falling for Alex’s lies. I guess I can’t blame you for that.”
Harper flicked a glance at her sister huddled in the back of a police car. “Yes, you can. If I hadn’t spilled the beans to them about your grandfather’s visit, none of this would have happened. What will you do now?”
Looking at Clayton, who was talking to Meg and taking notes, a heavy weight lifted off her shoulders. Of all the revelations this afternoon, his rush to her defense was the one she would never forget. While waiting for forensics to get through inside the house, he and Shawn had explained how Dakota’s search had led them to Skye. Grateful beyond measure, she’d tried to thank Dakota, but he’d brushed aside her gratitude, saying, “We take care of our own.” Such a simple statement that meant the world to her.
“A lot of that depends on Clayton. I won’t return to this house though. How about you?”
Sadness and regret colored Harper’s voice as she said, “I do believe I’m going to jail first. After that, I haven’t a clue.”
Skye couldn’t bring herself to hate her, not after she’d risked her life to stop her crazed sister. “Your intervention today will help you, and I’ll ask Clayton to put in a word with the D.A.’s office for leniency. I owe you that much.”
Harper huffed a disbelieving laugh and shook her head. “No you don’t, but I won’t turn down the offer. I take it you remember everything now?”
“I don’t know about everything, but enough.” She’d have to remember to tell Clayton how Alex would call her sweetheart, first in a loving tone, then, after she’d confronted him about cheating on her and handed him divorce papers, in a furious, sarcastic growl. “You could go into acting later. Your performance as I was coming to was damn convincing.”
She winced. “Part of me was stunned from hearing what Meg had done. Given how she’d flipped out and lost all control that day when she walked in on you two arguing, it’s a good thing you took off.” Harper stiffened as Clayton and Shawn headed toward them. “Reckoning time,” she murmured.
“Ms. Donaldson, if you’ll come with me.” Shawn took Harper’s elbow, winked at Skye, and left her alone with Clayton.
“What will happen to her?” she asked him.
Pushing his hat back, he cocked his head. “Do you care?”
“Yes, I guess I do. She came through for me today. That should count for something.”
“You
’re more forgiving than I am, but if you want, I’ll talk to whoever handles her case. Right now, I’m more interested in you, and us.”
Skye’s heart went pitter-patter, her hopes soaring. He nailed her with one of those focused, blue-eyed stares that never failed to curl her toes, warm her insides, and stir her arousal. She licked her suddenly dry lips, sucked in a fortifying breath, and braved a suggestion.
“I could use a place to stay and work for a while.” She waved toward the house. “Maybe until I sell this, and make sure I’m there for my mom during her last weeks.”
That boyish grin she loved spread across his face. “I happen to have just the place.” He pulled her against him, fisted her hair and tilted her head back. “My bed is big enough for two, and I have a spare room where you can work.” A wicked light entered his eyes. “I saw your office, and your books, and plan to do a lot of reading soon.”
She laughed, giddy with relief and excitement. “I could use some feedback from an experienced Dom and a sexy prosecutor I’m thinking of basing my next suspense series on.”
“Fun. Can’t wait.”
He seared her mouth and sealed their deal with one of his devastating kisses. For the first time in weeks, Skye looked forward to what came next with this roller-coaster ride called life.
Two months later
Skye slid down Clayton’s torso, his chest hairs tickling her nipples as she traced his ridged abdomen muscles with her hand. A deep moan escaped from her throat as she closed her lips around his straining cock head and tasted his arousal on her tongue. “Mmmm,” she hummed, swirling her tongue under the smooth cap to tickle his sensitive spot.
His hand tightened on her buttock while she felt him remove the blown-glass flogger handle from her pussy. She shuddered, taking more of his cock into her mouth, missing the heated phallus, and craving his flesh to replace the toy. The things he’d introduced her to using that handle had produced some over-the-top orgasms, but none rivaled the heights she’d achieved when he fucked her.
“If you keep procrastinating, darlin’, you’ll be late for the meeting with the executor.”
She sighed, his deep guttural tone coming from above her as the sun rose outside his bedroom window, washing over her. He’d taken to calling her, and just her, darlin’ after she told him about Alex’s use of sweetheart. In the last two months, he’d proven over and over there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for her, and she spent a lot of time wondering how she’d gotten so lucky.
“Don’t care,” she mumbled without releasing his cock. Stroking around his girth, she nipped the bulging, blood-pumping veins and smiled when he cursed.
He pushed two fingers inside her pussy, and she basked in his slow exploration of her swollen sheath and engorged clit. “You should. They’re only trying to do right by you and had adhered to your grandfather’s last wishes instructing them not to contact you until your mother had died.”
Damn it. She hated it when he was right. With one last lick, she pulled up with strong suction and released him with one more swipe over his smooth crown. Twisting around dislodged his fingers from her pussy, but she straddled his hips, handing him a condom and waiting while he covered himself before lowering onto his shaft. He swore as she arched above him and worked her body downward, bracing her hands on his thick chest.
“You always feel sooooo good,” she breathed.
“Enough, Skye.” Clasping her hips, he surged upward, thrusting inside her, filling and stretching her more than the dildo, his flesh almost as warm as the heated toy had been when he’d first pushed it inside her. She really loved everything he could do with both ends of that instrument. “Come for me, darlin’,” he rasped, surging inside her again.
“Okay, if you insist.” Skye rode him hard, splintering apart with the waves of pleasure consuming her as she contracted around his steely possession.
Clayton pumped into her, sliding one hand from her hip to breach her anus with two fingers. She cried out from the added stimulation of those sensitive nerves as he pressed deep. His cock jerked inside her with the release she milked from his sac, the fast, hard spasms of her muscles rippling along his erection ensuring she drained him.
The euphoria filling her head was still clearing when he laughed, swatted her butt, and lifted her off him. Rolling off his big bed, she glared at him as he turned and reached for her hand.
“Come on. I’ll shower with you to save time then we’re out of here.”
“Sometimes I think you’re a sadist,” she grumbled, letting him tug her off the bed and into the bathroom.
“Nah, I just know what’s best, and right now, it’s best if you get ready and get to your meeting.”
She turned to him in the shower, pushing her hair back to look up at him. “I can still reschedule so you can be there with me.” That had been her intention when she found out Meg and Harper’s sentencing would take place the same morning as her final meeting with her grandfather’s lawyers. The sale of Owen Marshall’s electronics chain was finalized last week, three weeks after she buried her mother. There wasn’t a day in the last two months she didn’t think she could have gotten through without Clayton and her new friends’ support. She still missed her mother, not the shell of a woman she was at the end but the mother who had raised her alone, finding a way to support them and give her a wonderful childhood without her father’s financial help.
Skye had gotten by without having millions her whole life, and she made a damn good living with her writing, a career she loved. She didn’t need money to be happy; she only needed Clayton and the life they were starting to plan together. After careful research, she would give her list of charities to the lawyers this morning and be done with everything connected to that horrible time in her life that had come close to destroying her.
“No, get it done, Skye. Shawn and I will be back from court later this morning, and we’ll return to the ranch as planned for a celebratory cookout. We’re up to over twenty people now. Theresa plans to stop by on her way back to Montana. Louise still has a long recovery ahead of her, but the rehab Theresa got her into is a good start, so there’s something else to celebrate.”
Pleased that so many townsfolk cared enough to join them, and with that outcome for the sisters, she beamed up at him. “Okay, you win. Let’s get this over with. I still can’t talk you into telling me what you said to Sharon to make her back off?”
Clayton ran his soapy hands down her chest then around to her ass, cupping the soft globes. “The clincher was when I told her how much I love you, and you love me. That’s all I’m saying. And I have it on good authority the judge has agreed to a minimum of twenty-five years without parole for Meg and five years for Harper. That should take care of all the women who tried to take you from me.”
“Good enough, Prosecutor.” Leaning up, she nipped his chin. “Because I’m done running. Here is where I want to be, and to stay.”
The End
About BJ Wane
I live in the Midwest with my husband and our Goldendoodle. I love dogs, enjoy spending time with my daughter, grandchildren, reading and working puzzles.
We have traveled extensively throughout the states, Canada and just once overseas, but I now much prefer being homebody.
I worked for a while writing articles for a local magazine but soon found my interest in writing for myself peaking.
My first book was strictly spanking erotica, but I slowly evolved to writing steamy romance with a touch of suspense. My favorite genre to read is suspense.
I love hearing from readers. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions or comments.
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More Books by BJ Wane
VIRGINIA BLUEBLOODS SERIES
Blindsided
Bind Me to You
Surrender to Me
Blackmailed
Bound by Two
MURDER ON MAGNOLIA ISLAND TRILOGY
Logan
Hunter
Ryder
MIAMI MASTERS SERIES
Bound and Saved
Master Me, Please
Mastering Her Fear
Bound to Submit
His to Master and Own
Theirs To Master
COWBOY DOMS SERIES
Submitting to the Rancher
Submitting to the Sheriff
Submitting to the Cowboy
Submitting to the Lawyer
Submitting to Two Doms
Submitting to the Cattleman
Submitting to the Doctor
COWBOY WOLF SERIES
Gavin (Book 1)
Cody (Book 2)
Drake (Book 3)
DOMS OF MOUNTAIN BEND
Protector (Book 1)
Avenger (Book 2)
SINGLE TITLES
Claiming Mia
Masters of the Castle: Witness Protection Program
Dangerous Interference
Returning to Her Master