THE SATURDAY BEFORE school started up again, Alex was wound up tighter than a spring. He’d agreed to attend Dallas and Macey’s annual New Year’s party the week before, but I think it was partly because pretty much every man, and a few women, were armed and able to defend me should anything happen. Lily was with my parents, still being guarded by two agents, so he “allowed” the outing.
The threat had not been “eliminated,” so he hadn’t slept the night before, concerned about being split between me and Lily. We’d looked at a couple of houses that week, but nothing really fit, so Gordon had suggested building. Our plan was to look at a couple of model homes in the area on Sunday.
After dinner, we spent time with Lily and then put her to bed. This gave us some precious time alone and we took drinks into the game room and sat down to talk.
“Can you take time off?” Alex asked.
“No, honey. I just had two weeks. Not to mention the time I took when Kris was in the hospital.” I stroked his cheek. “I’m fine, Alex. I’ll have an escort to and from school. Brock’s also spoken with the principal, so he knows I’ll be armed. My gun and holster are small, so no one else will know. I’m covered.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like you being up here without me.”
“Well, you can always stay here. I know it’s not the ideal situation, but Mom offered to watch Lily while we look for a preschool just in case you want to move sooner.”
“I don’t want to do that to your parents, babe.”
“Do you have a better plan?” I challenged.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“Look, I get that you’re not used to taking help, but they’re offering. You’ve been around long enough to know that it’s not offered with strings. My parents do it because they love us. You too, honey. It’s unconditional.”
“I know.”
“So, let’s plan to hang up here for a while. Who knows? We could find a house tomorrow and then some real planning can happen and we’ll all feel more settled.” I sipped my wine. “Who’s with Kayla?”
“Buzz.”
I’d met Buzz at a club night… he had been one of Booker’s recruits but was now a full patch member.
“Well, she’s protected, I’m protected, Lily’s protected. We’re all covered and you don’t have to split yourself in two trying to juggle it all if you stay up here.”
He sipped his beer and stared at the wall.
“You have to let us love you, honey. We’re kind of rabid when people don’t.” One side of his mouth twitched up and I smiled.
“Salvation,” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
He faced me, sliding his hand to my pulse. “You’re my salvation, Payton.”
“Honey, don’t say that,” I said. “Only God can be anyone’s salvation.”
“You light my path, then.” Alex smiled. “Never in a million years did I ever think I’d find someone who could love me… not the way you love me. You humble me.”
“I feel the same way about you, honey. I have never felt love the way you give it.” I leaned into his hand. “I’m just glad you feel at least a little of what I feel for you.”
He rose to his feet and took my wine. “Come with me.”
I didn’t hesitate, following him back to my room. Once inside, Alex set our drinks on my bureau and closed the door, locking it behind us. He stepped into my closet and pulled a box down from the ledge, setting it on the bed.
“I bought something for you.” Lifting a chain out of the box, he smiled. “These are nipple clamps. We can tighten them as we go or loosen them if it doesn’t work.”
I shivered. “I love it when you…”
He chuckled. “I know you do. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll hurt you though. This means you have the power.”
I grinned and pulled off my shirt, unclasped my bra, and let them both fall to the floor. “Show me.”
“Fuck me,” he breathed. “I love how much you love sex.”
“I love sex with you. There’s a difference.”
He kissed me and then rolled my nipples between his fingers before securing each clamp and tightening the little screw. “How’s that?”
“More,” I said, my body already on fire.
He tightened them more and I groaned, reaching for his jeans and undoing the fly. I slid my hand under his boxer briefs and wrapped my hand around his already hardening cock. “Fuck me.”
“Let’s make this last a little, huh?” He tugged gently on the chain between the clamps and I shook my head, pushing my jeans and panties from my hips.
“Screw that,” I said, grabbing his hand and guiding it between my legs. “Feel.”
“Beautiful,” he whispered, and kissed me.
Lifting me onto the bed, he laid his palm to my chest and held me where he wanted me, kneeling between my legs and covering my core with his mouth. I squirmed against his mouth and he raised his head with a frown. “If you can’t stay still, I’m gonna tie you to the bed.”
I licked my lips, my breath leaving my body. “Tie me.”
His eyes widened and then he grinned, stepping off the bed, and heading back into my closet. He returned with two of my robe sashes and ran the end of one across my belly. “Head on the pillows, baby.”
I shifted so my head was up by the headboard.
“Slide down a bit.”
I slid down and he took a nipple, clamp and all, in his mouth. He pressed the clamp tighter with his teeth and I felt the heat pool between my legs. He tied one hand to the post and then the other. I was suddenly glad I hadn’t swapped the guest room bed with the one I’d bought when I’d moved in with Macey. My designer headboard wasn’t conducive to kinky sex. Something I’d need to think about for the future.
“Too tight?” he asked.
I shook my head, and he pushed off his jeans and knelt between my legs again. This time, he lifted my hips and slid into me, falling over me and covering my mouth with his. I wrapped my legs around him, the only way I could touch him.
He broke the kiss with a grin, sliding out of me and then in again slowly. “Put your right leg higher around my waist, I’m going to roll you slightly.”
I did as he directed and he tilted me enough that my arm wasn’t hyper-extended, but it opened my upper body a bit more to him. As he rocked into me, he tugged on the chain between my clamps and I hissed with need. He was going far too slow. I lifted my left leg so I could control my lower body and arched against him.
He tugged on the chain again, sending a shot of desire between my legs again. “Greedy pussy.”
“God, yes,” I breathed. “Please, baby, don’t go slow.”
He cupped my bottom and squeezed. “You want it harder?”
“Yes,” I panted.
He smacked me and I threw my head back with a sigh. For the next several minutes, he tugged, slapped, and drove into me while I came apart in his arms. He rolled me onto my back again and slammed into me over and over again, his final thrust combined with pulling the chain down and I shattered.
Alex released me from my ties and I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest.
“Honey, did I hurt you?” he whispered, pulling me close.
“No. It was amazing,” I whispered, hiccupping as I spoke. “Oh, my god, it was amazing.”
He chuckled and held me tighter. “I love you, Payton.”
I dropped my head back to so I could meet his eyes. “I can tell.”
Alex thumbed my tears away and kissed me gently. “I can’t wait to make babies with you.”
I giggled. “Oh, yeah, babies. We haven’t had that conversation yet.”
He removed one clamp, sucking gently on my nipple, then did the same to the other. “How do they feel?”
“Like that’s going to be something regular.”
Alex laughed and climbed from the bed. “We’ll branch out to other toys later.”
“I want something spectacular for our honeymoon.”
&nb
sp; “Done.” He put the clamps back in the box and secured them on the shelf again.
“How many kids do you want?” I asked.
“As many as you want to give me,” he said, and stretched out on the bed again.
I rolled onto his chest and kissed his neck. “Good answer.”
He grinned. “I think I’d like a couple more. I like the idea of doing it with someone this time around.”
“That all sounds good to me.”
Alex pulled the covers around us and settled his hand on my bottom. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”
“Possibly building a home less than five minutes from my parents? Yes. Does that make me weird?”
“No, that doesn’t make you weird… other things make you weird, but not that.”
I grinned up at him. “Bite me.”
“Again?” He pushed me onto my back. “Babe, you’re gonna wear me out.”
I giggled as he shimmied under the blankets and kissed my stomach. He kissed one breast and then the other before pulling me against him again. “We should probably talk about how you want to handle the house situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you should buy it, then I think we should have a pre-nup that states we leave with whatever we came with.”
I pushed away from him and sat up on my knees. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t get upset, baby. I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“In case we don’t work out,” he said.
Out loud. He said the dumbest thing on the fucking planet out loud.
I pointed to the door. “Get out.”
“Payton.”
“No, get out, Hawk. If you’re ready for this marriage to be over before it’s even started, then you better get used to sleeping on the sofa or guest room, or bathtub. I don’t care. Just get out.”
He let out a sigh. “Can we start over?”
“I don’t know, can you get your head out of your ass before we do?”
Alex grinned. “My reasoning is pure, baby, I promise.”
“I’m marrying you, Alex. You’re marrying me. What’s mine is yours and vice-versa. I don’t want or need a pre-nup.” I crossed my arms. “Besides, if divorce is something we discuss, I will be living off of your life insurance policy shortly after that conversation.”
“You think you’ll get away with it, huh?”
“Not a hair or a fiber, handsome. I will make sure of it.”
He dropped his head back and laughed. “Fuck me, I love you.”
I wrinkled my nose to keep from smiling. “Flattery will get you—”
My breath left my body in a “whoosh” as he threw me onto my back and kissed me before sliding his hands to my sides and tickling the shit out of me.
“I’m going to pee!” I squealed.
He grinned and tickled me again. This went on for several seconds before he let me up for air.
“We are never breaking up,” I said, emphatically.
“We’re never breaking up.”
“Say it again,” I demanded.
He grinned. “We’re never breaking up.”
“I need you to mean it, Alex, because if you don’t feel the same way I do, this won’t work.”
“I’m gettin’ used to being loved, babe. You gotta give me a minute.”
I cupped his face. “You have fifty-eight more seconds.”
“Okay, done.”
I giggled. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
“Do you want to watch a movie, or do you want to play some more?”
“Um, I want to watch a movie and then I want to play some more, duh.”
Alex laughed and kissed me again. “Your wish is my command.”
* * *
“We found a house!” I shouted as Alex and I walked into my parents’ house the next day.
“Back here, honey,” Mom called.
I headed to the kitchen and Lily reached her arms up for a hug. “Did you find my room?”
“When the house is built, you get to pick your very own room and Daddy will paint it whatever color you want.”
“First, we need to get qualified,” Alex pointed out. “And then we can go from there.”
I laid the brochure out on the island. “Four bedrooms plus a den, three and a half bathrooms, almost three-thousand square feet, it’ll be perfect for us.”
“It looks beautiful, honey,” Mom said.
The rest of the day was spent planning and dreaming. Since the weather was mild, Lily got to run off some energy in the backyard, and then the rest of the kids arrived with their parents for our bi-monthly Sunday dinner. As we sat at the dining room table, I smiled at Alex and leaned over to kiss him. “Life’s pretty freakin’ perfect, huh?”
He chuckled. “So it would seem.”
“I love you.”
Alex linked his fingers with mine. “Love you too, baby.”
I focused back on the conversation at hand and let myself bask in my glorious life of love and happiness… I had no idea how quickly things could change.
THE WEDNESDAY OF my second week back at work, I packed up my desk and headed out of school, my mind on Alex. We’d gotten the paperwork signed for our loan application and been approved, found a preschool for Lily, at least temporarily, and everything appeared to be going our way. I couldn’t wait to start our new journey together. And on top of the house stuff, the wedding plans would start this weekend. Life was still perfect.
Alex and I were heading to the builder’s office tonight to pick options and appliances, then it was off to the carpet place tomorrow to pick tile, carpet and such. As I walked out the front doors, I was met by a new agent, Kyle Cobb, and he smiled in greeting.
“Hey, Kyle.”
“Payton. How was your day?”
“Not bad. Yours?”
“Good,” he said. “We have a few leads, so that’s a positive.”
“Awesome,” I said. “Does that mean you guys are close to shutting this thing down?”
Kyle didn’t get a chance to answer because he was suddenly on the ground, blood pooling from somewhere. I screamed and knelt beside him, only to find my body lifted and jerked away, then black.
* * *
“Daddy?”
“Hey, baby girl. Is everything okay?” Hawk asked, pouring a cup of coffee in the compound kitchen.
“Hawk, I have your girls,” the deep Russian voice came over the phone.
Hawk’s body locked. “Who the fuck is this?”
“I will send demands in two hours. You contact the police or FBI, I will kill both of them.”
The phone went dead.
“Fuck!” he bellowed. “Binky!”
Binky came running. “What’s up, boss?”
“I want Booker and Mack here now. Some fuckhead has Payton and Lily. Get me a burner.”
“On it,” Binky said, and left the common room.
Hawk headed toward Crow’s office, pushing open the door and finding his president slamming the phone against the wall.
“Crow?”
“The Russians have Ash.”
“Shit,” Hawk said. “They’ve got Payton and Lily.”
“I’ve called an emergency lock down. Families are staying here for a few nights.”
A knock at the door brought Binky with a burner. “Mack’s here, Booker’s five minutes out.”
Hawk nodded and dialed Brock.
“We know, Hawk,” Brock said. “Team’s movin’.”
“We’re movin’ too, Brock.”
“Don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Don’t give a fuck.”
“Try to keep it legal, Hawk,” Brock warned.
“I’m doin’ whatever it takes to get my girls.”
Brock sighed. “I hear ya.”
Hawk hung up and headed to the common room.
* * *
I came to with a splitting headache and a dry mouth. I registered the sound of sniffling a
nd opened my eyes, turning my head to find who was crying.
“Lily?” I rasped.
She sat up from her place on the dirty mattress. “Mama! I fought you wew dead.”
“Come here, baby,” I said, and held my arms out. They were secured with a zip tie, as were my ankles, but at least my hands were tied in front of me so I could hold her. I was grateful for small favors.
Lily, unbound, crawled into my lap and hugged me gently. “Awa you okay, Payton?”
“I’m fine, honey.”
“Daddy’s comin’.”
“I know, baby girl.”
I scanned the almost barren room. On the floor were two single mattresses and in the corner a bucket… I looked up… only one window too high to reach, then to my right, concrete stairs, which indicated we must be in a basement of sorts.
“Lily, can you touch my back and tell me if you feel anything?”
She patted me down and shook her head.
“Okay, baby. Thanks.”
They found the gun. Not surprising, but I would have really liked a miracle right about now. I heard scuffling and pulled Lily closer as light appeared above us and a body was hurled down the stairs. If I didn’t have Lily, I’m pretty sure I would have allowed my panic to overtake me. Lily whimpered and I gave her a gentle squeeze. “I’ve got you, honey, but let me check on this person, okay? Can you just sit on the mattress for a minute?”
She nodded and climbed off my lap and I shuffled to the woman, gently pulling the pillowcase off her head. She looked a little familiar to me, but I couldn’t place her right away. She had a nasty bump on her head, but I was surprised she didn’t have worse damage from the trip down the stairs.
“Fucking bastard,” she hissed as she opened her eyes and let out a groan. “What the fuck?”
Her hands were tied behind her back, but her legs were free.
“Asswee,” Lily said, and rushed to the woman’s side.
“Hey, Lily,” she said, and rolled in an attempt to sit up.
“Try not to move,” I said. “I can’t tell how bad you’re hurt.”
She frowned. “You’re Hawk’s woman. Payton, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Ashley. Crow’s daughter.”
Road to Redemption Page 18
