by Anna Edwards
Freddie laughed. "I said tie them up. Miss Easton here just provided us with the firewood we need."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Callum
The muffled voices echoed in his throbbing head. Callum tried to remember what was happening but everything was so confused. He wanted to sleep but couldn't move to turn over. Why was Owen screaming?
Recollection flooded back.
He opened his eyes. The bright light stung his eyes. The metallic taste of blood was at the corners of his mouth. And what the hell was that smell? Petrol?
"Well, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. You must have a pretty thick skull." Freddie loomed over him.
"You won't get away with this."
" Jesus. You are really boring. Honestly, Marie. We could've been so much better together. Shame you prefer limp dicks rather than a real man."
"You a real man. My sister had to go elsewhere to get pregnant and a find a decent fuck."
Callum struggled to try and get up as he watched Freddie jump at Marie. The increasingly sinister drug dealer pulled her up, so her head was just by his cock. She screamed as whatever pain she was in ripped through her body.
"If I didn't know what a slapper you are I'd feed every inch of my serpent into the fuckable little mouth of yours. But we don't have time for that. I have a buyer for my son, and he's waiting so let's get on with this." He threw her back down onto the floor. Callum wanted to rip this man's fucking head off. If he could get just a hand free, this would be over in a matter of seconds. Callum seethed. He shouldn't have let Matthew handle this his way. He should've insisted that this shithead was killed at the start.
"Take the pictures and post them. It's time to start a fire." Flashes went off from the phones around them. "You know, I feel I need a theme song for this. Let everyone know that if they mess me with, then I'm going to go crazy on their arse."
"Avenged Sevenfold, Shepherd of fire?" One of the guards added.
"Not crazy enough."
"What about that Eminem song with that sexy chick in it. The one where she keeps singing burn."
"Nah, too sissy. I think Prodigy, Firestarter. Get our vibe on while we fuck people up."
Callum's head was thumping again. He could feel the darkness starting to wash over him. In a dreamlike state, he watched Freddie pull a box of matches out of his pocket. He swiped one, and it burst into flame. It mesmerised Callum.
The screams of the women around him drowned out as he watched the match fall to the floor, fluttering down in slow motion till it caught on the pool of petrol and raced towards the firewood. Footsteps echoed through his dreamlike state when the gang started to file out of the room. His eyelids fluttered. He could hear Marie screaming his name, but he couldn't focus on her. Freddie's demonic laughter reverberated around the edges of his consciousness. A loud blast rang out. Freddie's eyes went blank. A trickle of life giving blood fell from the hole in the centre of his forehead. The dealer gurgled. The haze around Callum's brain dissipated.
Silence.
Nobody moved.
"I knew I should have killed that bastard the first time I saw him."
Everyone's heads whipped round to where Matthew Carter stood with a smoking gun in the doorway. Specialist police flooded in the door and started to help everyone free. Matthew came to him.
"Can you walk? We need to get out of here. The fire brigade is on the way, but it's going to explode soon."
"Yeah. Help Marie."
"She's alright. Sonia’s got her."
"How did you know?" Matthew had his arms free, and they were both working on his legs. He could feel the heat of the now-burning pile of debris.
"No time for that now. Out." Matthew helped him to his feet. His legs were wobbly, but he managed to stand. He was almost at the lounge door when Marie screamed. He turned quickly to see her running towards the fire. What the hell was she doing? Sonia tried to go after her but was quickly beaten back as the fire spread and started to engulf the curtains.
"We need to get out of here." Matthew held him tight.
"Marie."
"We have to wait for the fire brigade."
"I can't, Matthew."
"Callum no, you're in no fit state."
"I'm sorry." He pushed Matthew away and sped off through the rapidly swelling flames towards where Marie had run. He could hear his mother scream behind him. Then silence, nothing but the crackle of the fire as it feverishly engulfed everything in its path.
"Marie?" He coughed. The blaze was rampant now, dense smoke started filling the room. He got down low, the oxygen was at the bottom. He needed to stay close to the ground. All the safety training they'd gotten when they'd moved into Number ten came in handy for something. His head thundered the effects of the pistol whipping, a terrible migraine distorted his vision, but just in front of him, he could see Marie. She was frantically trying to get a box out of a dresser. The edges of the wooden piece of furniture were ablaze.
"Marie?" He called again. She turned to look at him. She was crying inconsolably.
"My sister." She coughed into the suffocating air. "This is all I have left of her. We need to get it out. They’re mementos of her. Please Callum, help me. I can’t lose her completely; it’s all I’ve got left. She’s my sister. My baby sister. I miss her so much.” Tears appeared, running down through the sooty covering on her face. “Please. I can’t have nothing of hers. I have to. I have it for Owen, for mum…for myself. I know this is stupid but help me.” She was bordering on hysterical with the grief and need. She been stupid but she had reasons. They would discuss it later.
He yanked the box out of the dresser and pulled her to him.
"We need to get out of here. The ceiling could fall in at any minute. Get on the ground and crawl. Try to keep a hand over your mouth to stop the smoke." They turned to go back the way they'd came, but an explosion forced them back.
"The kitchen." They sped as fast as they could into the kitchen. He held her close. They could see barely a foot in front of them due to the smoke. There was a window that faced out onto the street. He grabbed the nearest thing which happened to be the microwave and threw at it to smash it. He wrapped a kitchen towel around his hand to move the jagged glass so they could escape.
Matthew appeared at the window with Sonia.
"Pass me Marie." He shouted in. Callum could feel the darkness coming again. The smoke, the head wound.
Matthew pulled her out, still clutching the small box of photos, covered head to foot in soot and blood. Callum swayed. His eyes shut, and he started to fall.
"Oh no you don't!" Matthew was there. Next thing he knew, he was on the grass outside the burning building. A paramedic ran to him, an oxygen mask was placed over his face, and he shut his eyes again. Marie's voice whispered into his ear.
"I love you."
It must have been a few hours later when he woke in the hospital. Marie sat on one side of his bed holding his hand. His parents on the other.
"Owen and your mum?"
"At Downing Street," Marie spoke. "Apparently Owen likes the cat and wants one."
"As long as I can get a dog." He managed a little laugh but winced when it hurt his head.
"Just rest, son." His father spoke. "You have a concussion and smoke inhalation."
"And there was me thinking I'd got severely drunk after one sip of Champagne."
"I wish." Marie winced in the chair next to him.
"What happened?"
"Freddie threw me into the table. I've got some stitches but nothing too bad."
"Freddie?"
"Dead" Matthew stepped forward from the shadows.
"You still lurking?"
"Always. He's at the morgue. We got him out. Should've let him burn, but I wanted to make sure he was dead. Makes a better example to the gangs of London that way."
"Let me guess. His photo has been released on the Internet to replace ours."
"I can't confirm or deny that Mr Ashworth," Matthew smirked.<
br />
"How did you know?"
"Our friend Miss Bridgewater. She was found at her flat this morning."
"Dead?" Even though that woman had threatened to destroy her life, Marie sounded worried about her.
"No, but she won't be doing any reporting for a while. She'll have to wait for them to unwire her jaw and fix her broken arms first."
"Ouch." Marie shuddered.
"I can think of a few people that have wanted to see that happen to her for a long time."
"Callum." She lightly thumped him on the arm.
"I'll leave you to family time." The bodyguard grinned.
His father said, "We’ll go with you. I'm supposed to be going to Buckingham Palace tomorrow."
Marie sunk down into her chair. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
"Oh, honey don't be so silly. Despite the nearly dying, we had a great time. Welcome to the family." His dad pulled his fiancée up into his arms and gave her a big, big hug.
"Yes, welcome to the family. Your mother and Owen have already decided on rooms at the house. I'll spend tomorrow tidying Callum's, we can't have you staying in a pigsty."
"Mum! My room is not a mess."
"It's not suitable for a young lady to stay in either. Needs more femininity. Now get some rest. “I 'll pop back with some clothes in the morning for you both,” his mother added.
Callum and Marie were left alone.
"It is over, isn't it?"
"Yes. Freddie's dead. The message has been sent that you are protected and to leave you alone."
"Owen? Matthew did a rush DNA test. Freddie was his father."
"It's all biology. You've been a mother to that little boy since he was born. You've earned the right to be called his mother. I would like him, when he's ready, to call me father. We'll build a family around him. Give him brothers and sisters to play with when we're ready. Your sister had her faults. She caused a lot of trouble. But she produced an amazing little boy. She lives on in him. We'll never forget her."
"I love you, Callum."
"I love you too."
"I've been so confused all my life. I lost my way completely. You saved me. You've made me whole again." She brought her lips to his. They shared a kiss. It wasn't just one of passion, of love, of friendship, of hope. It was home. Marie was his home, and he was hers.
LOVING CONTROL
A CONTROL SERIES NOVELLA
JAMES AND AMY BECOME PARENTS
CHAPTER ONE
James
"James?" Amy called out from where he’d left her collapsed like a beached whale on the sofa. She was tired after spending all day following the cleaner around and making sure the house was spotless. "Can you please get me a jar of pickled onions and chocolate spread."
He groaned. He had better do as he was told, or his heavily pregnant wife would string him up by his balls. He opened the cupboard to the numerous jars of silver skins and put some out on a plate. He took some cocktail sticks out of a drawer, poured the chocolate sauce into a little dish and put that in the middle of the plate. This craving part of her pregnancy was very odd. Amy was due in less than a month. She was at the stage where she was bored now and just wanted to meet their baby but knew she had to keep it protected a little further longer. If he had to help her with prenatal yoga once more, he was going to barricade himself in his office. He grabbed a beer, balanced the plate on his palm and pushed the kitchen door open.
"Here you are, beautiful. Just remember to clean your teeth before you come to bed. You stunk our bedroom out with vinegar breath last night."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Pass those over here and get on the floor and massage my ankles."
"Er. You do realise I am the dominant, and you are the submissive?"
"Floor. James. Now." There was to be no arguing with her in this frame of mind. Secretly he actually enjoyed it. Although as soon as the baby was out she was going to get severely punished for speaking to him this way.
"Yes, dear."
"You’re the one that put this baby in me. So you are the one that is going to damn well massage my swollen ankles and fed me onions."
He chuckled. Even when she was grumpy and pregnant she was still as sexy as hell.
"I actually think it was your fault for not getting your injection, but we won't argue over that." He bowed his head and kissed her ankles. "Do you think it’s possible to get started on making baby number two while number one is still in residence?"
"Don’t even think about another baby. I’m the size of a house. I haven't seen my toes in months. No more children."
"You may be the size of a house but you are carrying our kid, protecting it and as such you are beautiful beyond description."
"You just want in my great big maternity knickers."
He shrugged.
"Seriously, do you think of anything else?"
"I do work on occasions. It isn't my fault my wife is so incredibly sexy. Even if she thinks she isn't."
She groaned and then patted her stomach. "Do you think maybe it knows I am going to be an awful mother?"
"You aren’t going to be a terrible mother. You’ve read all the books possible and probably know more about childbearing than the midwives. And we have my mother around to help. I have Matthew doing initial interviewing of nannies to help us out when needed. Stop worrying, everything will be okay. Just enjoy the peace and quiet before we end up with sleepless nights."
She burst into tears. "I want to meet our baby now. It isn't fair. I have been pregnant for far too long."
"One more month and the baby will be here and you will be complaining you want it back in so that I you can get some sleep." He came up to her side and pulled her into his arms. "Our child will come when it wants to. It has my stubborn genes after all."
"James?"
"Yes?"
"Can we play?”
"Play?”
“Yes, make love to me as a Dom?"
"You said that it was getting too uncomfortable. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't." His wife blushed. "I actually want you to make me come. I miss it."
He shifted her around so that she was looking into his eyes. "If, at any point, it doesn’t feel right, then you tell me, and I will stop. We don't even need a safe word. You say stop and I will."
"I know. You will know my body better than I do so will be stopping before I even realise I want you to."
"Beautiful, I knew what your body wanted more than you did the first time I fucked you."
"That seems like such a long time ago."
"Eighteen months, to be precise. I can probably give you it down to the day, minute and second as well if you want."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
She leant forward and brought her lips to his. "James North, I want you to take me to the bedroom."
He didn't need to be asked again. They hadn't had sex for a couple of weeks now, and he wanted to be inside her. He got up from the sofa and despite the extra weight she was carrying, he scooped her into his arms and took her straight to the bedroom. "Mrs North, that will be my pleasure." He lay her tenderly down on the bed and looked at her protruding belly.
"I think the easiest way will be if you go on top? I will support you and help you move."
"If that is what you want to do." Amy removed her clothes and sat up, ready to mount him. "Come on then?"
"What do you think you are doing?" He frowned, and Amy looked at him with big eyes.
"Waiting for you to remove your clothes?"
"On your back and legs parted." She instantly scrambled to obey him. "You don't just go at it without me ensuring you are ready. I want to eat you first. I am hungry."
"James?"
"Quiet. You are not permitted to speak unless I say." He smirked at his installation of high protocols with his amazingly submissive wife. She wouldn't disobey him. He wasn't able to rip the maternity pants from her body, but he gently slid them down her thighs and off her feet, ki
ssing a path over her soft skin as he went. He didn't know why she thought she was massive. To him, she just looked amazing. There was something about knowing that inside her was their child. He was more in love with her at that moment than he was the day they had married, and that was something he never thought would've been actually possible. He followed his path back up her legs and took a long, slow lick of her labia, teasing each of them between his teeth till Amy was whimpering. He ran his tongue over her clit, exposing it to his tormenting touch. Again and again, he flicked at it until she was writhing under his mouth. Her hands gripped tightly at the sheets, the whites of her knuckles showing. He delved his tongue inside her and lapped up her essence, a sweet honey nectar to his senses. He’d never ever get enough of it. His finger flicked over her clit again, the second he did, she was on the verge of orgasm. He removed his tongue.
"Come."
He increased the pressure on her clit. She exploded in his mouth and all over his face in wave after wave of gratifying delight. Her whole body shook. When she stopped shuddering, he stripped off all his clothes. He opened his bedside table and pulled some fur lined cuffs out.
“I’ve changed my mind about you on top. Hand’s above you head.”
He cuffed her to the headboard, checking that her arms would not be marked. Without hesitation, he then positioned himself and started to push into her. Amy held her head up and watched him all the time.
"Tell me what we look like together? I cannot see."
"When we are together, we look like home." He leant over her bump and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Are you alright in this position or do you want to go on top?"
Amy was away in the glow of her orgasm, no pain, just the need to come again; he could read that on her face without her verbal communication, so he began to thrust. He brought one hand in between her legs to massage her still tender spot and balanced the majority of his weight on the other. He hadn't come in the last few weeks either-- he wouldn't last long. He could already feel his balls tightening. With expert skill, he stroked at Amy's clit again, and she arched her back with a squeal of delight. James pulled one of her legs up over his shoulder, this lifted her bottom off the floor and that allowed him access to it to give five quick smacks to her cheek. His hand smarted at his own strength.