by Brynn Paulin
“It’s okay. I guess I was spouting crap—incorrect crap, too. He was really pissed.”
Because he loves you.
She added another stop to her agenda. After she talked to Syb, she’d go find Dick and sort this out. It was stupid for two people who really loved one another to stay apart like this, each of them completely miserable.
Oh course, that was speculation on her part. He hadn’t attempted to contact her so… Well, maybe he was living it up.
“I’ve gotta go,” she said. “It was nice to see you.”
Oliver’s brow furrowed. It seemed she was always perplexing him. Well, God willing she’d be doing that for years to come. Stepping around him, she headed into the so called Dungeon, aware of his stare on her all the way. A few inquiries led her to Syb who was in a large room called the costume shop. Entering it, Jane got the impression that the people who came to The Dungeon were serious about their BDSM play.
“I’ll be right out,” Syb yelled from the far reaches of the room, and try as she might, Jane couldn’t see her.
“No rush,” she called. There was a rack of clothes near the center of the room where Syb also had a desk, and Jane distractedly looked at them while she waited.
“How can I—Oh hey! Jane!”
Apparently, “Oh hey” was the Anderson family greeting. Jane grinned, thinking maybe she should pick it up if she stuck around. Hopefully, she would be.
“I was just coming by to tell you I’m sorry about what happened the other day. I know it wasn’t directly my fault, but I feel a little responsible.”
Syb waved away the apology. “It’s not your fault. It’s not Dixon’s fault. It’s not even that much my fault. It’s the fault of that dumb lump who’s sitting upstairs behind a security monitor and pretending nothing’s wrong between us.”
“Except that you’re not dating anymore?” Jane asked.
“Apparently, he thinks I’m going through a phase and he’s letting me. Whatever. I’m not waiting around for him.”
Jane shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”
She recognized this girl. They dressed differently but they were going through the same damn thing.
Syb sighed. “Never mind him. What about you and Dick? He’s being really pissy at the family, and that’s not like him. He’s not talking either. Did you two break up?”
Jane lifted a shoulder and shrugged.
“Was he treating you bad? I thought so. I see Doms all the time who don’t do proper aftercare and their subs walk around acting like they have the flu—”
“Dick took good care of me,” she interrupted. “It wasn’t anything to do with that.”
This family was so…close. She had a feeling Syb would go to bat for Dick at the drop of a hat—or take a bat to her. Before his sister asked another question the door to the costume shop crashed open, and Dick came flying through the door.
“You’re not hooking up with anyone,” he exclaimed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Syb back away and disappear through a door at the rear of the room.
Jane shook her head, drinking him in, Dick in full outraged glory. His eyes flashed, his nostrils flaring, as he stared at her and silently dared her to try to go to another man.
“No, I’m not,” she said, but he wasn’t listening as he stormed toward her.
“You’re mine, Jane. I’m not just letting you go. I’ve been really patient, but this has got to stop. I love you, for God’s sake!”
“I love you, too, Dick.”
“And I want you to come home and stay with me. I would never have sex with you and do what we did out of…revenge…” he said, trailing off. “What did you say?”
Golden light seemed to fill her as she smiled up at the man she adored. “I love you. Sir.”
His eyes closed as if he were sending out a quick prayer, and he dragged her into his arms. “Don’t ever send me away again,” he demanded. “When Olly told me you were coming here… Lord, Jane, my heart stopped, and it was barely beating without you.”
“Dick…”
“I know you’re scared, but believe me, please. Yes, I was angry and I spoke words in anger to my brother way back when, but I never would have acted on them. I’m not that kind of guy. I want you to trust me and believe in me. I’ll never lie to you.”
“Except to tell me a camera’s running,” she chided.
“That’s completely different. Play is play.”
She hugged him tightly, pressing her ear to his thudding heart and sinking into the pleasure of his embrace. He was the other half of her. The dominant part.
Leaning back, she looked up at him. “I believe you, Dick. And I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”
“About that,” he growled.
“Are you going to punish me?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Oh…” she murmured, disappointed. She’d been able to sit without a reminder of him for days.
He laughed. “Spankings aren’t really much of a punishment for you. Denying you is—but I can’t stay away from you tonight.”
“I couldn’t stand that. Not tonight,” she agreed. She needed him too much. She had to feel his arms around her while they assured each other that they were together and that they’d stay together.
And she knew what he ultimately wanted. Her submission and her love. In their house. The place they shared together. He wanted them as one.
“Dick,” she whispered. “Take me home—to our home.”
“Are you sure?” he breathed. “There’s no turning back. I won’t let go easily.”
Thank God for that. She still had issues, even if she was working to resolve them. “I’m sure. I’m completely sure. I want you, Dick. I want to be yours.”
“Jane…” He grinned even though his piercing blue eyes looked a little shimmery. “How many times do I have to tell you? You’re mine. All mine.”
Epilogue
“What are you doing the second weekend of September?”
Surprised at Dick’s question, Jane paused the process of brushing her hair and looked up at him in her dressing table mirror. He sat behind her, on the bed. Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, he watched her.
Things had been beautiful between them since he’d brought her home from The Dungeon six months ago. She’d moved in, and every day he proved to her that revenge was the last thing on his mind—not that she needed proof. They loved each other, and their actions naturally extended from that.
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug and resumed brushing her hair. “It’s a ways off.”
“Do you think you can get vacation time?”
“I don’t see why not. What’s up?”
He shrugged, much like she had, and she smiled. They were picking up each other’s habits—some of them anyway. His small grin set her heart beating faster, just as it always did.
“I was hoping you could come to a wedding with me.”
“Oh,” she replied, setting down the hairbrush and turning toward him. She was wearing one of his pajama shirts—he never wore them, so she’d commandeered all of them when she’d taken residence. Now, the top drooped to the side as she moved, revealing the top of a breast. “Whose wedding?” she asked, wondering which of their friends was tying the knot. Most were already married or not ready to take that step. Perhaps it was a relative.
“Yours.”
She blinked at him, then her head cocked. Did she mishear? “Dick?”
“And mine,” he added.
“Dick!” she exclaimed, flying from her chair and crashing into him. They tumbled backward onto the bed and he rolled her beneath him, his hips wedging between her thighs right where she liked them. His mouth caressed the upper slopes of her breasts. She buried her fingers in his hair as he kissed his way up her neck.
He lifted up on his elbows and looked down at her. “Is that a yes?”
She laughed. “Was there a question?”
Dick sigh
ed as if much put upon, and she suppressed another giggle. They always had so much fun together, whether sensual or goofing off.
“I asked you to go to a wedding,” he said.
“Oh…that. Yeah, I think I can probably go.”
Shaking his head, he shifted his body weight then pressed her wrists to the mattress above her head. His cock lined up with her pussy and slowly he pushed inside her to the hilt. Jane groaned at the total fullness.
Leaning down, he nipped at her shoulder with just enough pressure to send ripples crashing through her. “You’re mine,” he rasped in her ear.
“Yes, Sir,” she replied—and it wasn’t part of the games they played. This was their life, and he’d claimed her. Instinctively, she moved her hips against him, wanting even more than the already perfect invasion.
“Jane Harper,” he said so quietly, so intensely, that she was forced to look into his blue gaze. It captured her and held her suspended with him as he spoke. “I love you. Will you marry me? Will you be mine forever?”
She nodded, her teeth sinking into her lip. The joking had passed. This was serious. This was the rest of their lives. “Forever and a day.”
That might be long enough. As he held her stare and started to move, she revised her thought. Forever and a day would never be long enough with this man she loved beyond all things. But it was a good start.
About the Author
When it comes to books and movies, Brynn has one rule: there must be a happy ending. After that one requirement, anything goes. And it just might in her books.
She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children, who love her despite her occasional threats to smite them. They humor her and let her think she's a goddess...as long as she provides homemade chocolate chip cookies on a regular basis. Brynn has conducted workshops at several writers’ conferences around the country and enjoys mentoring and meeting new people.
According to Brynn, her writing success can be attributed to an eclectic collection of music, her local road construction crews, a trusty notebook, and of course, her husband, Mr. Inspiration, who puts up with a lot in the name of research.
Brynn loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.brynnpaulin.com.
Also available from
Resplendence Publishing
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