by Keith, Megan
Copyright © Megan Keith 2014
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Cover to Cover Designs
Cover Photo – Shutterstock, Inc. © Forewer
Edited by Renee Kubisch
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real places are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All song titles and lyrics quoted herein remain the property of the respective copyright holders.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the author, unless in quote form.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your retailer and purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This novella is for MATURE 18+ READERS ONLY! It contains explicit sex scenes.
You must read the first five instalments BEFORE starting this!
This story picks up exactly where volume five ended.
“It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder …
It’s never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her ...
It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter ...
It's never over, she's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever.”
~ Jeff Buckley
Mackenzie wasn’t sure she could handle another secret from him. The intensity in his dark eyes showed that he was concerned, whatever it was, it may not go the way he hoped. She squirmed a little under his weight as he lay on top of her. She suddenly wished she wasn’t trapped beneath him, or tied to her bed. She didn’t like not being able to flee, particularly when she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that this wasn’t something she wanted to hear.
He placed his fingers to her lips to stop her from talking when she opened her mouth. He chuckled at her wide-eyed look. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.”
“What is it then?” she mumbled around his fingers, feeling only the slightest bit of relief.
“While I’ve got you right where I want you, I have something I need to say. I love you Mackenzie. I think I’ve loved you from before I even met you – I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. You’re mine and I’m yours. We belong together.” He paused for effect, giving her a sexy smirk. “It’s time we make it official. A contract is in order.”
“A contract?” Mackenzie asked, confused.
“The type that binds you to me for all eternity.” He smiled. “Marry me.”
“Marry you?” she gasped. All the air left her body at once.
“Yes. Make me the happiest man on earth.”
He beamed at her with the widest grin and it tore at her heart to have to voice the answer swimming in her head. She remained silent for as long as she could but he was looking at her expectantly.
“No,” she whispered, almost choking on her words, “I can’t marry you.”
His breath caught. No? He saw a tear leak from one of her eyes and felt his smile disappear. He sat up, straddling her hips. “No?”
“No,” she repeated.
“What do you mean ‘no’?” She remained silent and unable to look at him. “Mackenzie?”
She closed her eyes. She could hear his voice cracking when he spoke, but she didn’t know how to respond. Feeling his weight leave her she softly said his name. So soft she doubted he’d even heard.
He darted from the bed and found himself in the bathroom a second later. He couldn’t understand it. It felt right. It was the next logical step. He loved her and he knew she loved him. So why was her answer a fucking no?
He washed his face at the sink. Staring at his shocked reflection in the mirror, he felt his heart shatter. What the hell am I supposed to do now? He couldn’t face her just yet so he decided to take a shower instead.
Mackenzie could hear the water running. She wanted to go to him. Explain. But she couldn’t move. Even if she weren’t still tied to the bed she doubted she could have faced him right then. The look on his face … oh god, I never want to see that again. He’d crumbled in front of her.
Eventually the water shut off. He took his time drying himself, she couldn’t see him from her position on the bed, but she could hear the way he was roughly working the towel over his body. He walked naked from the bathroom to the closet, not saying a word or looking at her. Mackenzie patiently waited for him to return but was surprised to see him come out in a suit. She crinkled her brow.
“You’re going to work?”
“I have some things I need to take care of at the office.” He avoided looking her in the eye. He walked back to the bathroom, tying his tie as he went and Mackenzie started to panic.
“But it’s Saturday.”
“I am aware of that,” he said from the other room, his tone sharp.
“Nate, please!” Her plea was met with silence.
He braced himself against the vanity. His breathing was shallow and his heartbeat erratic. He didn’t know how to handle rejection of this magnitude. The woman he loved, the one he couldn’t live without, had turned down forever with him. How was he supposed to respond to that? He felt lost. He was confused and he was hurt, more than that, he was angry. He took a deep breath then stopped at the bathroom doorway, finally meeting her gaze where she still lay on the bed.
“We need to talk about this,” she said.
“I can’t talk to you right now, Mackenzie.” He didn’t want to face her in case he said something he would regret.
“You can’t walk out the door and leave me here.” She tugged on her restraints but he already had his back turned and didn’t notice as he left the room. “Nate!” she called after him.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said from the hallway.
Fuck! Panic overcame her. “Nate! Please don’t go!” she cried. No, no no! “ERASER!”
Nate froze at her use of their safe word. He squeezed his eyes shut, took another step forward then faltered.
“Nate!” she cried. “I said eraser!”
He groaned at his inability to walk away from her and stormed back in the direction of the bedroom.
“Mackenzie you can’t safe word me on this. That’s not what-” His words caught in his throat when he entered the room and saw the fear in her watery eyes. Then he realized his mistake. “Fuck!” He rushed to her side and started to untie the ropes bound to her wrists. “Mackenzie, shit … I forgot you were tied up.”
As soon as her arms were freed she threw them around his neck and tried to pull him down on her. Her cheek pressed into his and he felt a wetness there.
“I didn’t mean to leave you like that. I’m sorry.” His voice was cold, detached. He untangled himself from her, then abruptly stood and turned away.
She watched him silently walk out of the room and heard the front door slam shut a short time later. She lost the will to fight. Falling back on the bed, she curled into a tight ball and cried.
By mid-afternoon he still hadn’t returned. Mackenzie was going out of her mind with worry. She’d called his cell numerous times but he never answered. She tried the office but only got an ‘out of office’ recorded message. She’d even called Simon but his phone went straight to voicemail. So when her phone finally rang, for the first time all day, she bolted from the bathroom and tripped over the edge of the floor rug in the
living room, in her hurry to get to it.
“Hello?” she answered, slightly breathless and rubbing her shin that had collided with the coffee table.
“Is this a bad time?” Alex’s cheery voice said in her ear. Mackenzie was too busy trying to catch her breath to answer. “What exactly are you doing? Wait. Don’t answer that.” He chuckled.
Though Alex was being his usual happy self, the joke he made didn’t make her smile, it only brought a pain to her chest.
“What’s up Alex?” she said, trying to sound cheery.
“Mel called in sick tonight and I was wondering if you could possibly cover for her?” he spoke slowly and with trepidation, before hurriedly adding, “I’d do it myself but I’m in Rockford at Tina’s parents place for the weekend.”
“Sure thing. I have nothing else to do.”
“Are you sure? ‘Cause you sound kinda pissy-”
“It’s fine. Really.” Mackenzie cut him off, trying to school her emotions. “It’s the least I could do, you all covered for me for weeks.” Plus I could do with a distraction.
“Thanks Mack! I owe ya!”
So that’s how she found herself working at the bar on a Saturday. She didn’t normally work weekends and now she remembered why she’d traded those in long ago, it was their busiest time. Luckily, the hustle and bustle kept her so occupied she managed to keep her thoughts from straying to Nate too often. Unfortunately, it also meant the night went very fast and ‘reality’ was waiting for her shift to end - he was gone and she had no idea when, or if, he would return.
Still, she managed to do her job with focus, most of it spent avoiding ‘the spot’ behind the bar – where there should have been pleasant memories from the night before, she was instead left with bittersweet ones in the aftermath of her day.
She stared at her beautiful heart necklace in the reflection of the mirror in the staff bathroom. “I gave you my heart a long time ago, Mackenzie.” She felt the tears welling in her eyes again at the memory of how Nate got choked up when he gave her the stunning piece of jewelry. They’d gone on to have a wonderful evening, dressing up, the limo, the extravagant restaurant Délicieux … it was magical. They’d had fun catching up with Tom, it was a celebration ... oh shit - realization hit. The ‘special occasion’. She sucked in a lungful of air, covering her mouth with a gasp. Nate was sweeping her off her feet so he could propose!
I fucked it up. I invited Tom to join us. How could I be so blind? She felt selfish and stupid. Why didn’t I see it before? She’d used Tom’s interruption as an excuse to avoid a particular conversation and she’d effectively blocked an even more intense one. Maybe that was a good thing. Turning him down in a restaurant could have been far worse.
The intensity of the hurt in his eyes when she had said no to his proposal flashed in her mind.
Either way he would have been hurt.
Either way she would have disappointed him.
And now she had no clue what to do.
Nate was pacing Mackenzie’s small apartment. It was after one in the morning and he had no idea where she was. He’d finally dragged himself in the door twenty minutes ago expecting to see her. Where the fuck is she? He tugged on his hair and groaned in frustration. He’d knocked on Andrea’s door but she wasn’t home either. Nate only hoped the two of them were together somewhere. If anyone can talk sense into Mackenzie it’s Andrea.
A memory of Mackenzie flashed before his eyes. She looked petrified this morning when he almost left her tied to the bed. If she hadn’t said ‘eraser’ he knew the consequences would have been dire, far less favorable to this current predicament. Fuck! I almost left her like that! Nate shuddered at the thought.
He heard footsteps and the jiggling of keys out in the hall and yanked open the door.
“Hey Nathaniel!”
“Is Mackenzie with you?”
Andrea turned her head from side to side with a smile on her face. “Nope. It doesn’t look like it,” she joked. “Why?”
“ARGH!”
Immediately Andrea’s face dropped. “What’s wrong?” she asked, taking a step toward him. She stilled when Nate’s hands flew through the air.
“She’s fucking gone! Have you seen her?” He knew he looked like a crazy man and the look of bewilderment on Andrea’s face confirmed it.
“No, I haven’t seen her today at all. What do you mean gone?”
“I asked her to …” he started to say, but thought the better of it. “We had a fight. I walked out and when I returned she was gone.”
“She probably hasn’t gone far. How long ago did you leave?”
“About nine o’clock.”
“Oh.” Andrea looked at her watch. “It’s only been a few-”
“This morning. Nine o’clock this morning.” Fuck! What did I do?
“Oh shit.” Andrea’s face took on a look of compassion as she stepped closer to him. “Do you think she’s been gone all this time?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, have you tried calling her?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think that would be a good place to start?”
“I sure do.” Andrea and Nate both turned to see Mackenzie climb the last of the stairs. “I think calling me would have been a fantastic idea,” she said bitterly.
He stormed up to her, grabbing hold of her forearm. “Mackenzie! Where the fuck have you been?” The irate tone in Nate’s voice made a mad Mackenzie turn furious.
“Where the fuck have I been? Are you serious?” she fumed, pulling her arm from his grasp.
“It’s after one a.m.!”
“Exactly! Where have you been, Nate? Why haven’t you returned my calls? I’ve been trying to talk to you all day. And now you stand here and have the audacity to speak to me like that?”
“It’s the middle of the fucking night, Mackenzie!” he shouted.
“Stop yelling at me!” Mackenzie pushed past him but halted when Andrea held her arm out in front of her.
“You two both need to calm down and take it inside,” she said in a soft and soothing voice.
Nate shouldered past them, knocking into Mackenzie on his way back to the apartment. Mackenzie scowled at his back and Andrea gave the top of her arm a consoling rub. Mackenzie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get her anger under control. She reopened them to Andrea’s sympathetically smiling face.
“No Henry tonight?” she asked.
“Nope, not tonight. I’ve got a big job booked tomorrow, wedding,” she said with a shrug.
“Yeah?” Mackenzie’s eyes flicked in the direction of her open apartment door, she couldn’t see Nate from where they were situated. “Whereabouts?” she asked absentmindedly.
“Mackenzie, go talk to him. Shooting the breeze with me isn’t going to fix anything.”
Mackenzie let out a frustrated sigh.
Andrea laughed and shook her head. “He sure is a passionate one. Go sort him out will ya?” She gave Mackenzie a shove down the hall. “I’m going to bed.”
Mackenzie watched Andrea enter her apartment and shut the door but she was reluctant to move from her spot in the hallway. He may be back, but he was so furious with her she didn’t know how to handle him. She heard a crash from her apartment and rushed forward to see Nate righting a glass of scotch on her coffee table. A small puddle of the liquid remained on the wooden top.
“Where have you been?” He glared at her and her anger came flooding back.
“Why didn’t you return my calls?” she retaliated. She dumped her bag on the floor and removed her jacket, hanging it on the coat rack by the door. “You stormed out of here this morning and I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”
“Answer the question!” he bellowed.
“If you had answered your fucking phone you would already know the answer to your question!”
He rounded the coffee table and came to stand in front of her. His stance was rigid and his face full of anger. His tie was gone, the top buttons
of his shirt undone, his sleeves rolled up, exposing the forearms she loved to stare at. It was sinful for him to look so hot when she was furious with him.
“I didn’t want to speak to you over the phone,” he said.
“So you ignored my calls. A bit childish don’t you think?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Where have you been, Mackenzie?” His lips pressed into a tight line.
“Where have you been?” she countered.
“I asked first.” He stepped closer, so close that she could feel the heat from his body.
“You are a fucking child! I was at work, Nate!” She took a step backwards. “If you had answered your phone you would have fucking known that!”
“So the first chance you get, you go running to Alex?” he asked bitterly.
Mackenzie stared at him for a moment, letting his words sink in before she slapped him hard across the face. “How dare you!” she screamed. “You know I don’t see him as anything more than a friend!”
“That’s not-”
“He wasn’t even there! How could you think- you know what? Screw you!”
She turned to go to her room but Nate was on her, grabbing her by the waist. She spun around to push him away, then slapped his face again. He returned with one of his own. She was stunned. Frozen to the spot. She held a hand to the side of her stinging cheek and gasped.
Her green eyes blinked up at him in shock and all he could think about was fucking her.
“I’d much rather screw you, Mackenzie,” he said darkly, closing the gap between them.
He shoved her harshly against the wall and slanted his lips down over hers. She pushed him in the chest with both hands and he took hold of her fingers, interlacing them with his own before pulling them above her head and pressing them against the wall. Mackenzie could feel the warmth from Nate’s body clouding her judgement. We shouldn’t do this. She wanted to struggle, but when he kissed her hungrily her mouth betrayed her mind by kissing him back. Oh god! Her tongue plunged into his mouth frantically. He pressed his body closer, pushing his knee between her thighs, lifting her skirt with the movement, until his thigh was touching her center.
