by Lola Rivera
I didn’t miss the look that father and son shared. The Cruz men weren’t about to let this attack go unanswered. They had something planned, something that would put an end to this forever. Please, I thought anxiously. Please don’t get hurt.
Outwardly, Gage looked calm and collected as he stood to the side of the room and listened to the detective talk to his father and my mother, but I knew better. Inside he was seething with fury. He was enraged that someone had dared to shoot up this house. He looked like he was ready to kill.
For me. He would kill to keep me safe.
Not long after sunrise, I was hugging Mom and Aunt Vicki as Gage tossed our suitcases into the cargo area of his Tahoe. The concealed pistol he carried when traveling was on his hip today, right out in the open and easily accessed. I suspected there were other weapons hidden away under his jeans, probably at his ankle, and another gun or two in the glove box and console. He wasn’t taking any chances.
“Let us know when you get back to Houston,” Mom insisted as she hugged the breath right out of my lungs.
“I will.” I rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Do whatever Gage tells you, Megan.” Her imploring gaze bore right into me. Did she know? Or was she guessing? “He’ll keep you safe.”
“I know he will.” I hugged her one last time. “I’m so sorry about the windows and your Hummels.” A couple of stray bullets had torn right through her curio cabinet and destroyed a shelf of her little porcelain M.I. Hummel figurines. I had taken pictures of each one of them so I could hunt them down and find replacements for Christmas.
“They’re just tchotchkes. They’re easily replaced.” This time, she embraced me hard enough I was sure she was going to break one of my ribs. “You’re not.” She kissed my cheek. “Okay. You better go. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I backed away and smiled at Aunt Vicki before walking toward the Tahoe. As I neared the passenger door, I overheard Jack talking to Gage at the rear of the SUV.
“I’ll set up a meeting with my cousin. We’ll get this shit sorted out. You need to stay calm and be careful. Don’t do anything hotheaded to protect your girl.”
“How did—?”
Jack laughed, the sound sharp but amused. “You think I’m blind, mi’jo? I can see what’s happening right in front of me.” He paused. “Do you?”
I couldn’t hear Gage’s reply. The cargo door was slammed shut and then Gage was striding toward me, opening my door and helping me into the passenger seat. He gave my leg a squeeze before closing the door. I waved at my family—our family—as we backed out of the long driveway.
When we reached the stop sign at the end of the street, Gage reached across the console and took my hand. He didn’t have to say anything. That one touch—and the soft and tender look cast my way—said everything. All my questions and all my worries could wait.
Right now, with him, I was safe.
We were in this together—and nothing else mattered.
Chapter Eleven
Upon our return to Houston, we only spoke about the shooting twice. Once, that first night back in his—our—house, we talked out the whole thing, from the moment we heard the first shots to the moment we left Dallas. We went over every detail and every possibility. I had even worked up the courage to ask him about the cousin his father mentioned. Gage had been vague but had admitted that his father’s family had ties to a dangerous outlaw motorcycle club. I had sensed it wasn’t a subject he wanted to dwell on so I hadn’t asked anything else about that connection or their plans.
The second time had been four nights later when I had woken up from a horrible nightmare. Earlier that day, the lead detective on the case had called to tell me that there were no leads on the case, and he wasn’t optimistic about finding the culprits. The news had rattled me so badly. A nightmare had been the expected outcome after an evening of anxiously peering out the windows while wondering if my hometown troubles were going to follow me to Houston.
Thankfully, Gage had been home that night, on-call but off shift. His own experiences with bad dreams and anxiety after his time at war had prepared him to help him. He had known exactly what I had needed to hear and what I had needed to help me feel better and grounded in reality. He had been so good to me. Holding me, talking softly to me, reassuring me and then loving me until all those terrible memories had been washed away and replaced with only the beautiful memories we were making.
Now, almost two weeks later, I pulled into the driveway after a long day of taking exams. I checked my rearview mirror, but I wasn’t panicked or anxious. I felt safe here and refused to spend the rest of my life glancing over my shoulder and jumping at shadows.
Exhausted from a hard round of finals, I locked the front door behind me, dropped my backpack and handbag on the bench in the entryway and trudged upstairs. Gage wouldn't be home for a while. He had taken extra overtime shifts while I had concentrated on preparing for finals. Even though he wasn’t home much, he had made sure that I had healthy lunches and dinners waiting in the refrigerator or oven for me every day. He was such a good man, and I loved the way he showed me how much I mattered to him by doing those small things.
Up in Gage's room, I stripped out of my clothes and hopped into the shower. It was chilly outside and the house was a little cool so I kicked up the hot water until it was nice and steamy. Eyes closed, I leaned my forehead against the tile and let the water rush over my tense neck and shoulders. It had been a long semester, and I was glad it was finally over.
I tried not to think about the upcoming holidays. Mom and Jack had stunned us both by informing us they were planning on taking a four-week cruise starting a few days before Christmas. Empty nest syndrome wasn’t treating Mom very well, and after all the added stress that had come along with my testimony in the case and then the shooting at Thanksgiving, I wanted her to get away and enjoy herself. She and Jack deserved to cut loose and have fun.
After learning about Mom and Jack’s plans, I had assumed that I would decorate the house and arrange a small but intimate Christmas with Gage. That assumption had been blown to hell when I had remembered that Gage took a hunting trip with his Delta buddies every December. It was the reason he never came to the house in Dallas for the holidays.
This year, they had decided they were going during Christmas week. The week was clearly marked on his calendar in the kitchen. My plans for our first holiday together as a couple had been torpedoed, but I wasn’t going to whine or ask him to stay with me. He was a grown man who deserved time with his friends, and I was a big girl who could survive a week without her man.
But I would be a liar if I said it didn’t hurt to think I would be all alone for the holidays. Gage and I had grown so exceptionally close. Neither of us had dared to utter the L-word but we had come precariously close to it. Deep down inside, I knew he loved me just as I'm sure he knew I loved him. What had started as something illicit and forbidden had quickly morphed into something much more complex and real.
Feeling anxious, I finished my shower and slipped into the robe I kept in Gage's bathroom. When I stepped into the bedroom, I took one look at the darkened interior and nearly tripped over my feet. I spotted Gage sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands folded in his lap as he waited patiently for me to finish my shower.
He looked good—damn good. He still wore that black and gray SWAT uniform and those heavy black boots. He exuded badass sexiness, and it made my knees weak. I let my hungry gaze roam from the top of his shaved head to the tip of those mean-looking boots. God, I just wanted to fall at his feet and worship every inch of his ridiculously sexy body.
My gaze flicked around the bedroom. He had pulled the drapes and turned on some music. I noticed the lengths of rope, the toys and the gleaming silver clamps sitting atop the comforter. Apparently, we were going to play.
I lifted my gaze to his face. Gage stared right back at me. He didn't have to say anything. I could see that th
is was my choice. We could play or not. He wouldn't hold it against me if I pleaded exhaustion and turned in early.
But I didn't want to turn in early or spend the evening on the couch watching television. I wanted Gage. I wanted him on top of me, under me, behind me and inside me. I wanted the pain and the pleasure he offered.
Wordlessly, I slipped out of the bathrobe and let it puddle around my feet. I took two steps toward him and smoothly knelt on the floor. I rested my palms on my thighs but didn't try to contort myself into any kind of extremely uncomfortable position. Gage wasn't into the high protocol that some Doms required. In here, he simply wanted my submission and the use of Sir as his title.
"Crawl to the chest and pick out a flogger, Meg."
I gulped at his order but didn't hesitate to comply. I leaned forward and crawled to the chest at the foot of the bed. I lifted the lid on the chest and stared at the top tray that held some of the spanking implements like paddles and floggers. The canes were in a storage box under the bed. I was so glad he hadn't asked me to pull those out this time. I was slowly learning to accept the sharp bite of a cane but there was little enjoyment in it for me.
I had the feeling Gage had decided the canes were outside of my hard boundaries and wouldn't be bringing them out very often, if ever. Though he liked to push my limits and help me grow, Gage was the very best master and took care of me. My well-being came before his enjoyment and pleasure—always.
I studied the floggers available to me. My first instinct was to grab the softer suede flogger. It didn't hit very hard and served as more of a warm-up for the heavier, snappier bite of the leather floggers. My gaze slid to those and I chose the middle-sized one. It had a bite that would leave my ass red but wasn't so nasty I wouldn't be able to settle in and enjoy the rush of endorphins that accompanied such play.
Though it was a stretch for my jaw, I clamped the heavy handle in my mouth and closed the chest. With the flogger between my teeth, I crawled to Gage and presented it to him. He took it from me and caressed my cheek. "Nice choice, sugar."
I smiled up at him. "Thank you, Sir."
"Up on the bed."
Like a puppy happy to please her owner, I hopped up onto the bed and rested my weight on my forearms. Ass in the air, I trembled with anticipation. We had never gone straight to flogging without some kind of warm-up. I wondered what kind of game Gage was up to by introducing the flogger before he had even kissed me but trusted that he had a plan and that it was something I would enjoy. That was the price of submission, after all.
My lips parted with a shocked sigh as the leather tendrils whacked my backside. He didn't use much force. The leather tongues licked at my cool skin. Slowly, warmth spread along my cheeks and thighs. Gage took his time tormenting me with the flogger. The strips thwacked my backside and thighs at a slow, steady pace.
Heat blossomed there, and I fought the urge to wiggle or move to escape the increasing force of the blows. My earliest lessons with Gage had included the major rules of play. One: Call Gage Sir. Two: Always use a safe word if frightened or overwhelmed. Three: Never move when being struck.
So I held perfectly still and accepted the falling blows. It wasn't easy. Every instinct within me flared to life and demanded I escape the thudding leather tongues, but I fought the urge. I embraced my need to experience the pain and the pleasure and lost myself in the wicked sensations Gage evoked.
When the flogger delivered its last stinging, heavy blow, I sucked in a ragged breath. My ass ached and my skin prickled with heat. I fisted the comforter in my hands but didn't move. I hissed when Gage's big hands cupped my bare cheeks. His palms were cool against my blazing hot skin.
"Look at this sweet, red ass." Gage hummed with satisfaction at his work. He smacked my right cheek and then the left with his big hand, and I squealed with discomfort. He chuckled and spanked me a few more times. "So fucking pink and pretty."
He placed a noisy kiss on my right cheek. "I figured after all that hard work you've put in the last couple of weeks, you deserved a good flogging and a rough fuck."
I swallowed hard and nodded as a thrill of excitement rocked me. "Yes, Sir." My pussy clenched with need. I wanted his cock in me now. "Please, Sir."
"Soon." He kneaded my aching flesh and bent forward to skim his lips down my spine. The rough edges of the patches on the front of his uniform shirt scratched my tender skin. He embraced me from behind and raised me up onto my knees.
With his arms wound around my waist, he kissed my neck and nibbled my ear lobe. I shivered in his strong arms. He palmed my breasts and pinched my nipples until I gasped and groaned. My clit throbbed as he rolled the sensitive peaks between his fingertips. I clutched at his thick, corded forearms and held on tight as he teased me.
When Gage dragged me onto my back, I didn't fight him. He hauled me up to the head of the bed. I noticed the silver cuffs I had once stolen from the top of his dresser sitting on the pillow next to me. Those simple silver handcuffs had gotten me into so much trouble that night. Not that I would have changed anything, of course. That stupid act had led me to Gage and to this.
I panted and licked my lips as Gage grasped my wrists and quickly cuffed me to the headboard. He threaded the chain through the metal slats and fixed the cuffs to my wrists, securing me in a helpless position. The lengths of rope he had laid out earlier were used to bind my ankles. He pulled my legs into the air and attached the free ends of his ropes to the headboard.
Feet in the air and arms overhead, I gazed up at him. My thighs were wide open, and I was fully on display to him. He stared at my pussy, no doubt seeing the slick nectar of arousal seeping from my core. He petted me slowly and lightly. I held my breath and wiggled my hips in a desperate attempt to coax him to do more.
He just smiled and shook his head. "Doesn't work like that, sugar. I run this show, remember?"
"Yes, Sir."
He explored me with his fingers and swirled them around my swollen clit before dipping it inside me. I moaned as desire blazed through me. More, I begged silently. Please, God, more!
"Do you know what this is?" Gage picked up a small hot-pink egg-shaped device.
"A new vibrator, Sir?"
He nodded. "It's wireless. I picked it up over the weekend. You're going to enjoy it."
I cried out in shock when Gage slipped the vibrator inside me. "Oh!"
He held up a small remote controller and punched a button. I gasped as the toy vibrated to life inside me. He had placed it deep enough inside that it rattled that sensitive spot along my inner wall and sent delicious vibrations right up to my clit. "Oh!"
Gage leaned over me and kissed me gently. "You enjoy that while I get undressed." He checked the circulation in my arms and feet by lightly poking me. Seemingly satisfied with his handiwork and my safety, he slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom.
I wasn't worried. The door was open and he had the mirror to keep an eye on me. Gage wouldn't put me at risk, not when I was tied up like this. Besides that damn toy in my pussy was driving me crazy! It vibrated at a low frequency and not nearly hard enough to make me come. It kept me on edge and made me moan.
I tried squirming and wiggling to change the way it stimulated me but it was no use. I was helpless as the toy tormented me. From inside the bathroom, Gage must have hit a button. The vibrator kicked up a few notches. I inhaled a shuddery breath as the vibrations pushed me closer to an orgasm. My lower belly wobbled and I moaned with need.
"No!" The toy went dead inside me. I squirmed and shook but the building orgasm faded. Pouting, I glared at the open bathroom door. A second later, the vibrator started shaking. It was on slow again. I groaned and squeezed my inner muscles, clenching the vibrator with my intimate muscles to get the most stimulation from the slow vibrations.
"Look at you," Gage said with a laugh. He strolled into the bedroom naked and looking drop-dead sexy. Even on the edge of coming, I could appreciate all that hard male flesh, especially the tattoos marking his arms a
nd chest. "Do you want to come, sugar?"
"Yes. Please," I begged breathlessly. "Please, Sir. Please."
"Well," he said carefully and climbed onto the bed. "You have been an exceptionally good girl this week."
"Please, Sir. Please!"
Gage slid down onto his stomach and nuzzled his chin across my pussy. I gasped and curled my toes at the wickedness of it. "All right, sub. You can come all you'd like."
"Ah!" The vibrating egg inside me went crazy. Gage must have hit the button again. When his tongue touched my clit, I fucking lost it. I thrashed and cried out as he fluttered his tongue over my swollen bud. The toy vibrated so hard I could feel my lower belly quivering.
Gage ripped orgasm after orgasm out of my body. With his tongue and the toy, he forced me to come until I was a blubbering, begging fool. "Sir! I—oh! Unnnhhhh!"
He groaned with excitement and approval. He tugged my clit between his lips and flicked that little pearl until I couldn't breathe or think. I was just a big, throbbing ball of bliss. Finally, he showed mercy. Saturated with pleasure, I sagged against the bed and moaned as he pulled the vibrator from my body.
Still overwhelmed with sheer delight, I missed the menacing jangle of the nipple clamps. I hissed as the first clamp bit my nipple. The second made me groan. My nipples pulsed between the squeezing metal teeth. The heavy chain between the clamps slapped against my chest with every movement. I had learned that holding still was the smart thing to do when wearing clamps. Every jerk of the chain sent little fiery stabs right through my breast.
A few moments later, I felt his fingertips searching between my ass cheeks. With my legs in the air, my anus was perfectly available to him. He smeared lube over my pucker and slowly fucked me with his fingers. Still so aroused, I moaned and enjoyed the sensation of his thick digits gliding in and out of my bottom.
He snatched up a condom from the selection of toys and implements he had placed on the bed in preparation or our tryst. When he used a condom, I knew it was going to be a long, rough fuck. He always wore one when he planned to take my ass and my pussy.