Once Upon a Time in Bliss

by Sophie Oak

“It’s a moose.” Nell’s shaky voice whispered through the woods. “Try not to startle it. I think it’s already afraid because of all the shooting.”

  “Well, we’ll see if he’s afraid of this.”

  “Don’t!” Nell screamed.

  And Bishop stopped fighting his instincts. He took off running, not caring if anyone heard him coming because he knew that Nell was about to do something supremely stupid. She’d already put herself in danger to save Kelly. She would likely do the very same thing for the moose.

  A shot rang out again, the sound ringing in Bishop’s ears.

  Bishop entered the clearing at a dead run and stopped on a dime at what he saw there.

  An enormous creature stood between Warren Lyle and Nell, his massive body a bulwark separating them. The moose huffed, and even from where Bishop stood he could feel the heat coming off the large beast. It was bigger than anything he’d seen before, its magnificent horns at least as wide as Bishop was tall. Lyle looked small compared to the huffing animal. Bishop saw how his hand shook as he raised his weapon.

  It was an easy thing to walk up behind him. Lyle’s whole being was focused on the beast that had him in its sights. The ground shook a little as the beast stomped one mighty hoof, its antlers shaking.

  Bishop had an arm around Lyle’s neck in an instant, the muzzle of the SIG placed firmly at the base of the man’s head. It took everything he had not to pull the trigger, ending it all here and now, but he didn’t want Nell to see the blood, the way the man’s skull would split.

  “Henry, you found me.” Nell’s voice was shaking. From what he could see she wasn’t prepared for the weather, her curvy frame dressed only in a thin robe and her rubber boots. In the moonlight she looked pale, her lips almost blue. “You need to be very still. The moose is gentle, but he will attack if he thinks he’s been threatened.”

  “Drop the gun or I’ll blow your head off.” It was what he wanted to do anyway, but Nell was probably right about the moose. The big-ass animal seemed to have had too much stimulation for one night.

  “I can pay you a million dollars. Just get me out of here and let me have the girl. She took everything from me. I’m a rich man. I'll get you anything you want.” Warren Lyle stood still, his voice a low, desperate rasp.

  He was just digging himself a deeper hole. “The only thing I really want is to blow your head off. The only reason I haven’t done it yet is because of that woman over there. Whatever she did to you it was because she was trying to help someone else.”

  “And because he was evil.” Nell’s teeth chattered as she spoke.

  Where the hell was Mel? He was at an impasse. He needed to get Nell somewhere warm, but first he had to make sure he didn’t get trampled by Bullwinkle.

  “So if he’s evil, I can kill him, right?” Maybe she would be reasonable about this.

  She shook her head. “Henry, we can’t sink to their level.”

  He’d already sunk. He’d likely killed far more than Warren Lyle could conceive of. Nell would be horrified. “Drop the gun or what she says won’t matter to me. Do you understand?”

  Lyle’s gun dropped, falling to the ground.

  Mel stalked up from behind. “You did real good, there, professor. Are you sure you haven’t done some hunting in your time?”

  Oh, he’d hunted a lot—terrorists, killers, rogue agents. “I just got lucky.”

  Bishop kicked Lyle’s gun out of the way as Mel walked straight up to the moose. Logan took his coat off and wrapped it around Nell. Bishop was starting to like the kid.

  “Go on, now. You’ve had your fun.” Mel slapped at the moose’s backside, and Bishop stiffened, waiting for the thing to strike.

  It merely huffed, an arrogant sound, as it shook its horns out and started to walk away.

  “That’s just Maurice. He’s a jokester, that one. I swear, he’s scared the crap out of more than one kid who leaned up against him thinking he was a tree. Logan, here, peed his pants once,” Mel said.

  “Did you see the size of that thing? I was seven. We’re lucky all I did was pee,” Logan admitted. “Rye’s on his way. He just radioed Mel. Rye will take him into custody.”

  Maybe the kid could do a deputy’s job.

  With deep regret, Bishop relaxed his hold on Lyle. It looked like he would be going to jail instead of a fast grave. Bishop couldn’t bring himself to shatter Nell’s illusions. He was weak around her.

  Of course, it would be easy to make sure the fucker never left his jail cell again. There were lots of ways to ensure that. All a man really needed were connections and cash and he could easily have a threat removed forever, and Nell would never have to know just how bloody his hands were.

  She could still have her perfect vision of her college professor lover.

  Well, maybe not so perfect since he fully intended to make sure her ass was red once he figured out if she had frostbite.

  “Take this asshole for me, Mel.” He needed to get his hands on her. He wouldn’t quite believe it was real until he held her in his arms, warmed her up with the heat of his own body.

  “Is it over?” a voice asked from behind him, surprising them all.

  Lyle kicked back and Bishop, who had been pushing him toward Mel, slipped, catching his foot on a fallen branch. Lyle moved fast, capturing Seth and wrapping an arm around his throat. Lyle had a hundred pounds on the kid. Seth dropped his rifle. It lay on the snow right at Lyle’s feet.

  Three guns came up, pointed right at Lyle, but now he had a human shield. Seth fought, but he was ineffectual against Lyle’s muscle. He held Seth with one arm. His other hand reached into the pocket of his coat and came out with a large, wicked-looking knife.

  “I was going to gut that bitch with this, but I think maybe it’s my ticket to freedom.” Lyle’s lips curled back. He held the knife right at Seth’s throat. Bishop could see the way it pressed in, already starting a delicate red line.

  “Let him go. It’s me you want.” Nell started toward the raving lunatic with the ridiculously large knife. “Let him go, and I’ll go with you.”

  No way. No how. It made him a ruthless bastard, but he wouldn’t sacrifice Nell to save Seth. In fact, he would do the exact opposite. It wasn’t fair, but if he had a choice, he would always choose Nell. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.

  Lyle wasn’t backing down. “Give me the bitch or I’ll slit this kid’s throat. You have no idea how much I’ll sacrifice to see her pay.”

  Bishop had a good idea. Lyle had lost his damn mind, and he would do anything to get his revenge, but Bishop wasn’t going to let Nell play the martyr this time.

  “You have to let me go. I can’t, Henry. I can’t live with this.” Nell tried to struggle, but Bishop just lifted her up.

  He looked back at Mel. “Do you have a shot?”

  Mel shook his head. “No.”

  A brilliant blue flash came through the forest, followed by a flash of red. Rye Harper was here, but he might be too late. Nell kept up her struggle, pleading with him. Mel held his ground. Bishop wondered if he was going to watch Seth’s blood spill on the ground. He was rather shocked to find out the idea made his gut turn. He gave a shit about that kid.

  A shot rang out, and Bishop watched as a neat hole split Lyle’s head, an unbelievable show of marksmanship. One inch to the left or right and Seth Stark would have died, but that shot had been sheer perfection. Seth stood still as Lyle dropped back, his body falling to the snow.

  “Is he dead?” Seth asked, his eyes wide and his whole body shaking.

  Rye Harper charged into the scene, his pistol up. “What the hell is going on? Who took that shot?”

  Logan Green walked up to his friend, his rifle at his side. He put a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “We can’t ever tell my moms I just did that.”

  Harper looked down at the body and whistled. “Damn, Logan, I was trying to come up with some way to keep you from applying for my job when I take over as sheriff. The job’s yours, so
n. This is good work. And we won’t mention this to Teeny or Marie. You boys get out of here. Go home. If I’m going to be the sheriff of Bliss, I might as well start learning how to cover shit up. It’s kind of a way of life out here.”

  “You can let me down now.” Nell’s voice sounded hollow. She lay limp in his arms.

  “No.” Bishop clutched her close. He would have to let her go, but not tonight. Tonight, he would make sure she was safe. It was the only thing he could do for her.

  He started to walk toward the car, ignoring everything else.

  Nell was all that mattered.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two days later, Nell wondered if Henry was ever going to touch her again.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Callie asked. She held up the handcuffs. “This stuff looks pretty serious. Where did you get this from? Never mind. I know the answer. Stef.”

  “He brought over a whole bag of toys. That’s what he called them, but some of those things don’t look like a ton of fun.” She pulled out what looked like a riding crop. Stef seemed to have thought of just about everything.

  Now if she could just tempt Henry into using them.

  For two nights he’d held her, stroking her hair until she fell asleep, but beyond kissing her silly, he hadn’t made a move.

  It was starting to worry her. She was starting to think that he would leave without ever making love to her again.

  Callie helped turn the sheets down. “Has he said anything?”

  Nell shook her head. This little seduction was her last play. “No. He took me to the hospital, and even though they said I just needed some rest, he hasn’t seemed interested. Do you think he figured out just how much trouble I am? Is that why he doesn’t want me anymore?”

  Callie pushed her glasses up. “You aren’t trouble, Nell. I think he still wants you. I’ve seen how he looks at you, and it’s not like he’s left you alone. I had to pry him away from you this afternoon. I think he’s…thinking.”

  She was pretty sure she wouldn’t like what Henry was thinking about. She was pretty sure he was thinking about leaving. “I want one more night.”

  A long sigh came out of Callie’s chest. “Nell, I hate to tell you this, but one more night won’t fix anything if he’s intent on leaving. Believe me. I know. One more night is just going to be something else to remember. Another memory that nothing else and no one else can ever compete with. It might be better to just let him go.”

  “Would you do it? If you could go back, would you take away the time you spent with those guys?”

  Callie stopped, pain etched on her face. She sat down on the bed, her hands in her lap. “Their names were Nate and Zane.”

  Nate and Zane were idiots because Callie was one of the sweetest women Nell had ever met. What had called them away? “Do you wish you hadn’t met them?”

  Callie reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “No. I would do it again. I fell in love with them. It wasn’t their fault that they couldn’t love me back. Nell, I dream about them every night. I just wish…I wish it would end differently for you and Henry, but I think he’s going to leave.”

  Nell was pretty sure that would happen and never once had he mentioned her coming to visit. “I know.”

  “We’re so dumb.” Callie wiped away her tears. “But I’ll be here for you. I want you to know that. We can cry together.”

  She reached out and hugged her friend, grateful that she wouldn’t be alone. “Thank you. I’m afraid I’ll take you up on that offer. I wish I could be more practical, but I want one more night.”

  She knew it wouldn’t solve anything, wouldn’t fix the problem, but she wanted it because she loved him.

  “Okay. So get naked and I’ll cuff you. God, I never thought I would say those words.” Callie took a long breath and stood up. “Go on. Drop the robe, but don’t expect me to attach these.”

  She held up two long dangly earrings. Nell frowned as she shrugged out of her robe. “Do you think those are diamonds? Why did Stef send me earrings?”

  Nell settled herself on the bed and spread her arms out. She and Callie had carefully placed the handcuffs. Callie leaned over, a smile on her face as she snicked the cuffs over Nell’s wrists. “Not for your ears, hon. Those are nipple clamps, and I bet Henry loves them. He’s a pervert, right? He looks all upstanding and professory, but he’s a complete freak under that, I bet.”

  Nell felt a smile cross her face as she lay back. “He seems very interested in Dominance and submission. And he deeply enjoys spanking me. I would totally protest that, but it feels really nice.”

  Callie laughed as she placed the spreader bar between Nell’s legs. “This is totally insane. And your wax job is really nice.”

  “Polly. She was reluctant at first, and then she really got into it. Now she has the Bare-Assed Brazilian on her menu. I mentioned that she shouldn’t have used the word ‘ass,’ but she just left it there.”

  Callie placed the last cuff and stood back. “Okay. I’m going to go and get him. I’ll be fast because Stef would be so upset if I left you all bound like that for very long. I’m not into the lifestyle, but I know that much. Don’t like die or anything. Someone will be right back.”

  The door opened and closed, and Nell was left alone and spread wide for a man who she hoped wanted to take her for pleasure.

  Nell closed her eyes and hoped this worked. She wasn’t dumb. She knew he wouldn’t stay because she’d slept with him, but she had to let him know how she felt. It was dangerous, but she’d never shied away from that. She told it like it was, and she loved Henry Flanders.

  It wasn’t more than five minutes before the door opened and she heard a low, masculine curse.

  “What the fuck is going on here?”

  She opened her eyes, looking up at him. He was wearing sweats and a T-shirt, his normal workout clothes. Despite the clothing-optional nature of the gym on-site, Henry insisted that the leather seats on the weight trainers chafed his skin and the towels weren’t big enough. He stared down at her, a deep frown on his face.

  “You don’t think I’m pretty?” She kind of thought he would like her like this. He’d talked a lot about bondage and tying her up. Had she been wrong? Had he decided he wasn’t interested in her anymore? Was he staying close to her because he’d taken her virginity and he didn’t know how to gracefully back out of the relationship?

  His jaw tightened. “You’re gorgeous, Nell, but I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  She was totally open to him, and there was no way she could shrink back. She kind of got the lifestyle now. It didn’t allow for her to hide. Her body was open so it was easier to open her heart. “I love you, Henry.”

  He dropped to his knees, his hands on her body—one on her thigh and one above her breast. “You can’t know what that means to me.”

  Not exactly an exclamation of love, but he hadn’t vomited either. “Maybe we could talk on the phone.”

  He pulled his hands back. “No. That’s not possible.”

  “Why? Henry, are you married?” She’d run every scenario through her head and come up with that horrible thought as the most likely possibility.

  He looked horrified. “No. God, no. Nell, you’re the only woman I’ve ever…felt this way about. Please don’t think there’s anyone else. There won’t be, but I made choices that I can’t back away from. Damn it. I’ve been thinking about this for days. I want to be with you. I want to be this man you need, the kind of man you can love, but I don’t think I can be.”

  “Henry, is it the vegan stuff? Because we can work on that.” She wasn’t going to lose the love of her life because he liked to eat a burger every now and then. “I don’t think I can cook it, but I’m also very tolerant. I wouldn’t force you to live like that.”

  The saddest look crossed his face and his hand caressed her cheek. “I know you are. This goes way beyond my love of a good steak. Baby, if I stayed with you, I woul
d honor that. I wouldn’t touch it again. But there are other considerations and talking about it won’t change things. Sleeping with you tonight won’t make me stay. I’ll still leave in the morning, so why don’t you let me get you out of these cuffs and we can have a nice night together? We can go into town and have dinner.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. “You don’t want me?”

  Henry stood up. “Fuck, Nell. How can you even think that? Look at how hard I am.”

  She looked up and his sweats were tenting, his cock a long, hard line. He wanted her, but he wasn’t willing to stay with her. She knew she should save herself the heartache, but she loved him and there wasn’t anything wrong with it. Her love was valuable. Her love wasn’t dependent on whether he could love her back. If he’d been cruel, she would have turned him away, but then if he’d been unkind, she wouldn’t have loved him in the first place. “Play with me. I won’t do this with anyone else so I want my last night.”

  She could have sworn she saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. “You will, Nell. You’ll find someone.”

  She shook her head. “No. You’re the love of my life and there won’t be anyone else. It’s all right. You have to believe what you will, but right now, in this moment, I know that I won’t love anyone the way I love you, Henry. I’m asking you for one last night. I know what I’m getting into. I won’t beg you to stay. I probably will cry. I won’t be able to help it, but I’ll let you go if that’s what you need.”

  His head fell forward, and just for a moment she was almost sure he would deny her. The seconds ticked away, the silence a drain on her soul.

  And then his head came back up and his eyes were hot.

  She would lose the war, but this battle had been won.

  “Who cuffed you? If you say Stefan Talbot, I might have to pay a visit to him before we get started.” Henry took a long breath and placed a hand on her head. He touched her hair, smoothing it back before his fingers started to trail a long line down her body. He started at her forehead, caressing her nose and lingering on her mouth before moving to her chin. “Answer me, sweetheart.”