She knew what she had to do. Heart and mind at one and at peace, she returned to the living area…and what she saw almost stopped her heart in her chest.
Cam knew there was only one thing he could do to convince the woman he loved that he’d told her nothing but the truth. For her, he’d do anything. She could be back any minute, but if fate were with him—and it appeared to have been, so far—he’d have enough time to carry out his plan. He yanked off his jacket and tie, toed off his shoes, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and moved around to the other side of the coffee table, so that he’d be the first thing she saw when she came back.
Then, uncaring of the effect it would have on his Savile Row suit, Cam Fraser sank to his knees, placed his hands palm upwards on his thighs, assumed perfect slave position…and waited. If getting her back took letting her flay the skin off his back and walk all over the bloody remains, he’d do it.
Whatever it took, he’d do it.
He heard the sharp intake of breath at the same moment as he saw the feet, shod in elegant heels, stumble to a halt a few feet away from him.
“Cam?”
“For someone who keeps harping on about the importance of clear communication, I’ve made a piss-poor job of it so far. I love you, Stacie, and I’ll do whatever it takes for us to be together.” He bit out the words. “Pushing you away was the single most asinine thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m begging you to give us—give me—another chance, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove how much you mean to me. I’ll give up my work—whatever you want.
“Except for one thing—I’ll never ask you to forgive me for not being here when you lost our daughter. I can never forgive myself for that and I can never expect you to forgive me.”
He fixed his gaze on the feet in front of him, watched them take a couple of steps towards him. They stopped, and as the pencil skirt was pulled up over the knees, the feet stepped out of the shoes, and all of a sudden Stacie was kneeling in front of him, sitting back on her heels, just out of reach.
“Ask me,” she said, her voice clear and strong. “Ask me to forgive you for not being there when our daughter died. Say the words.”
She was looking directly at him, her face betraying no emotion. Cam felt as if she were waiting to drive a knife straight into his heart.
“I’m sorry, Stacie,” he began, dread filling him as he embarked on what was starting to feel like the last conversation he would ever have with the woman he loved. “I’m sorry I pushed you away. I’m sorry, sorrier than I can ever express, that I wasn’t with you when our daughter died. I’m sorry I made you go through all of that alone. I should have been here, with you. Please…” His voice faltered on a rising tide of turbulent emotion. “Please, can you forgive me?”
Her expression didn’t change, not one iota—she simply looked at him as if she were looking into the depths of what passed for his soul. Then she rose to her knees, laid her hands palm down on his, and with silent tears running down her face, she leaned towards him and kissed his mouth, before sitting on her heels again.
“I love you, Master,” she said simply. “How can I not forgive you? You thought you were protecting me, I understand that now. But it doesn’t mean that what you did, how you went about it, was the right thing to do. Staying with you—or not—for reasons of my personal safety was my choice to make, not yours. You took that choice away from me.”
It was then that Cam realised just how badly he’d underestimated his brave sub. He thought of all the things she’d done for him since they met, all the times she could have safeworded out of their relationship and hadn’t. Sometimes she’d been knocked back a step, but only a step. Her core of quiet resilience had always enabled her to come back, and stronger than before.
The woman he saw before him now had strength, grit and determination—she’d proved that when she’d insisted on accompanying Alex on the rescue mission. Submissive though she might be, she wouldn’t submit to just any man. It would only be to the man she deemed worthy. For better or worse, she had chosen him to be that man.
“I’ll never do that again, beautiful,” he promised. “You have my word.”
Her mouth turned upwards, forming that bewitching smile of hers. “You’re forgetting something, Master.”
She let her gaze fall to their hands, still resting palms together on his thighs. With the gentle touch he’d missed so much, she turned his hands over, then lifted them and lowered her head, to touch her forehead to his knuckles. When she remained in that position of obeisance, Cam felt the gift of her power, her control, flow to him.
“Stacie, look at me.”
He didn’t think he’d ever have his fill of looking into her beautiful eyes. Her cheek was soft beneath the back of his fingers, and when she moved to kiss them, he couldn’t hold back any longer. With gentle hands he framed her face, and then lowered his head to kiss her.
“I’ve been a fool, honey,” he began, eyes closed, forehead resting against hers. “I can’t be without you, not now. I’ll make it right, I promise. I’ll give up my work, there must be something else—”
She drew back slowly, her gaze making him feel as if he were under a microscope. Her finger lay gently on his lips.
“You don’t need to give up anything. Master, I told you that I forgive you—and it already is right…almost.”
“Almost?”
Here it comes. Cam braced himself for the worst.
Her hands were gentle on his face, tracing the line of his brow, his cheek, his upper lip…learning his features by touch. “There’s one thing missing. I know a sub isn’t supposed to ask for anything, Master—”
Her eyes were telling him what she needed, and it wasn’t what was in the small box that he withdrew from his trouser pocket. That was the furthest thing from her mind—he knew it even before he saw her stunned expression on seeing the white-gold ring set with three brilliant diamonds for the first time. With a solemnity befitting the occasion, he lifted her left hand and held the ring at the tip of her third finger.
“Stacie, I ask you to take this ring and do me the honour of becoming my wife, and as your Master, I offer you my collar. You are free to accept one, both or neither.”
Cam exhaled slowly, subconsciously matching the rate of his respiration to the movement of Stacie’s hand as she slipped her finger into the ring.
“Master, I accept both…with all my heart.”
Epilogue
Cam let his breath go on a peaceful sigh. After the whirlwind of activity that had filled the last few days, it felt good to unwind at last. A vacation in the sun was long overdue. The added bonus was the beautiful young woman currently sleeping in his arms, her deliciously curvaceous body draped partially over him as they relaxed together in the balmy tropical evening.
A whole month of pure relaxation lay ahead of them. They’d arrived on the private Caribbean island by boat just a few hours ago. After taking the time to unpack and shower, they’d walked along the beach to watch the sun go down and run through the crystal-clear waters that lapped at the shore, before returning to the luxurious bungalow that would be home for the next few weeks. Although they were both tired, neither had wanted the day to end just yet.
The double lounger on the sun deck had proven irresistible. From there, during the day, they would be able to see the beach and the blue Caribbean beyond, the curving shoreline with its white sand and fringe of palm trees. For now, though, with the sun well below the horizon, they had the stars for company, along with the odd call of the island’s nocturnal wildlife, and the gentle wash of the waves over the sand that had finally lulled Stacie to sleep.
Cam was about ready to join her. Part of the pre-vacation craziness had been tying up loose ends at work, but knowing that he’d left the business in the safe hands of Alex Lombard was going a long way towards helping him to relax. It was good to have his old friend well and truly back on board, and their plans to revamp the company were already going well.
One of
the first suggestions Alex had made was to expand the business into other related fields, but to provide a service that was more strategic than operational, to act as advisers rather than boots on the ground. Risk assessments were something they carried out as a matter of course for all their own operations, so providing the same for clients was a natural extension. And if Cam’s recent experience in the Middle East was a taste of how crisis management could go wrong, then crisis prevention had to be the better option for any potential client. Cam was as sure as hell that he could have prevented that crisis…unlike the business competitor on whose watch the hostages had been taken.
Since they were examining the possibility of expanding on a consultancy basis, Alex had also proposed extending an invitation to Sir Guy Somerton to join them. The man had extensive and highly valuable experience in the field of security, and an air of gravitas that would lend even more weight to their already formidable professional credibility. According to conversations they’d had with his niece, Ros Edwards, he’d been growing increasingly frustrated with his role as a “glorified civil servant”, so they’d dangled the carrot of a new challenge, one where he could get his hands dirty again.
Guy wasn't the only recipient of an invitation to join Spectrum. Their approach to the recently married Ryan Quinn, another member of Aegis, whose expertise lay in the field of maritime security, had been favourably received, to the extent that plans were already under way for a three-way partnership. Quinn was a former Royal Navy officer who’d also served with the Special Boat Service for a number of years. Widening the scope of the services they could offer their clients—who included high-net-worth individuals with the money to spend on luxury motor yachts and the like—could only be a sound operational move.
But that was business, and Cam really didn’t want to think about that on the first day of what was not just a vacation, but a honeymoon. The wedding, organised as quickly as was legally possible, had been deliberately low-key, just Beth and Alex Lombard in attendance, along with Stacie’s friend Jen as the chief—and only—bridesmaid.
Stacie’s parents had also been there. After their initial meeting, they’d happily accepted that Cam was the man with whom their only daughter had chosen to spend the rest of her life and welcomed him into their family with open arms.
He’d met them for the first time just a couple of weeks after he’d proposed to their daughter and expected them to give him a rough ride—after all, he was the man who’d got their daughter pregnant and left her to go through a miscarriage alone. However, her father had asked him just a couple of questions—did he, Cam, love his daughter, and would he look after her? Cam had looked the other man squarely in the eye and told him the truth—that Stacie was the most important thing in his life and he’d give up his life to protect her. Whatever Stacie had told her father about him before that meeting, she’d clearly convinced him that Cam was good enough to be his daughter’s man.
Now, for the first time in his life, Cam Fraser had a real family. It was a concept that was taking quite some getting used to.
Having attended the wedding ceremony—where Alex had been his best man—Beth and Alex had also been present at the collaring ceremony at Aegis, where Stacie had proudly given him the gift of her submission before all their friends in the community. And most surprisingly, one of those witnesses had been Jen Peterson—slightly bemused by what was playing out before her…and the focus of covert attention from both Dylan Baxter and Conor Devlin. Cam had the feeling that interesting times lay ahead for the petite, raven-haired beauty.
Their soon-to-be business partner Ryan had also been there, standing protectively at the side of the lovely Fiona, his wife and Mistress. They were both relatively new to the scene, learning about it and each other. Ryan was finding peace and freedom in his submissive role, while Fiona still occasionally struggled with reconciling the new-found dominant side of her nature with the person she’d always perceived herself to be.
Cam was among those who were helping her to understand that by embracing Ryan’s gift of sexual submission, she was giving her sub what he needed. What was abundantly clear through it all, though, was her love for her husband - her respect and admiration for him, and her dedication to his care. Cam had seen Ryan at work on joint ops, knew exactly how tough he was and would be willing to go into any life-or-death situation with the man at his side—Ryan Quinn was lethal when it came to unarmed combat, yet Cam had seen him kneel before his Mistress, a slave collar around his neck to match the cuffs at his wrists, and submit to her every desire.
Ros Edwards, an alpha Domme if ever there was one, had been of most assistance to the Mistress-in-training—it was just a pity, Cam reflected, that Ros’ preference for alpha male subs was such a tall order. The available male subs at Aegis tended to throw themselves at her feet, but she had little patience with any of them—they simply weren’t a sufficient challenge for the former military police officer. Ros needed a sub she could get her teeth into—figuratively, if not literally.
And Ros had been the only one of their close friends absent from the ceremony. Her uncle had asked her to take on a special assignment that was strictly off the record as far as his organisation was concerned, and in the latest development, it had unfortunately taken her unexpectedly to France a few days earlier. When she’d called to offer apologies, it had been apparent that she had rather mixed feelings about the trip itself, in addition to being mightily pissed off about missing the ceremony.
For the event, Stacie had been a barefoot vision in white, with the honey of her hair a cascade around her shoulders, the dress a simple affair in silk as pure as snow in colour, V-necked front and back, though not too revealing, with a full skirt that swirled from her hips and fell to mid-calf. Very modest for a BDSM club, but for this almost sacred occasion, that was how he’d wanted her to be. Her wrists loosely, symbolically bound behind her back with a gold-coloured silk rope, she’d knelt before him and vowed to love, serve and care for her Master for the rest of her life. He hadn’t known exactly what she was going to say—the words she chose left him in no doubt as to the depth of her love for him.
As he’d locked the ornate white-gold collar around her neck, Cam had recited the words he’d chosen to express his love and declare his commitment. He’d kept his plans a secret from his precious sub. At the end, when he’d tilted her chin up to look into her eyes, they’d been shining with unshed tears, but what had spoken to him most clearly was the love behind the tears and the smile on her face. He would take that vision of her with him to the grave.
His gaze gentle with all the love he felt for her, Cam looked down at his wife, still sleeping peacefully, trustingly in his arms. She’d been through so much, with the car bomb, losing their daughter, not to mention flying out to the Middle East on the mission to save his worthless hide. She might have forgiven him, but Cam would still never forgive himself for letting her suffer alone. If only he’d known…
We can still have children, Cam.
He’d discovered that that was the one thing she’d really worried about. So long as he had Stacie, he wouldn’t have cared, but right now, being father to a little girl with her mother’s eyes and spirit was his idea of heaven.
Cam closed his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks, for all the good that filled his life. Alex, Ros, Conor and Bax, all of them more than just friends and colleagues—without them, and all the other comrades whom he’d resigned himself to never seeing again while he was held captive, he wouldn’t be here now. And without Beth, he wouldn’t have the woman who was the centre of his world. They’d never given up on him, even when he’d all but given up on himself. Those were debts he could never repay.
And above all else, there was Stacie—his beloved wife, and a future with her that far surpassed anything he could have imagined. He’d been given more than he deserved, but as he kissed her hair, he made one more vow—to devote the rest of his life to this incredible woman and prove himself worthy of her love every day.
***
Thank you for reading the third volume in the Club Aegis series. I hope you enjoyed Cam and Stacie’s story!
If you’d like to find out more about my books, the complete list can be found on my website, christieadamsauthor.com, where you’ll also find the link to sign up for my infrequent newsletters.
If you enjoyed this story, please would you consider leaving a review? It means a lot to an author to know that their work is enjoyed by those who read it. If you do leave a review, thank you so much.
Christie
Other books by Christie Adams
Club Aegis Series (suggested reading order):
The Velvet Ribbon
A Wanting Heart (novella)
Love Is Danger
Passion’s Last Promise
Single Titles:
Spent Love (novella)
Ask Me (novella)
About the author
When Christie Adams, author of contemporary steamy romance, isn't completely absorbed in the writing process, she's probably thinking about it—either the book she's currently working on, or one of the dozen other stories she'll have percolating away at the back of her mind.
In addition to writing, she also loves investing time in reading a good book, or browsing the internet in search of cute videos of puppies, a pastime that often helps with writer's block—or so she claims. On those rare occasions when she can tear herself away from the computer, she has a weakness for James Bond movies and romantic comedies.
Love Is Danger (Club Aegis Book 3) Page 28
