“I never met Simon’s brother.”
“That was Simon’s brother? Fuck.”
She nodded. “He wasn’t too pleased that his parents were arrested, and he demanded fifty thousand dollars or he would turn the entire stack of disks over to the highest bidder. The box of DVDs is in there. He actually brought them.” She sobbed again, fighting to control herself enough to continue.
“Baby, why on earth did you come here alone?”
She inhaled sharply. “I didn’t know he was here, Gage. I’m not that stupid. All I got was a series of e-mails that shook me up. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
“Baby…” He stroked her hair again and then rubbed his thumb under her eyes to wipe away the tears.
“I’m sorry. It was stupid. It never occurred to me he was here in Vegas. I just opened the e-mails and saw his name. He ranted about what a bitch I was and how he was going to make me pay. I had no idea he was here in my condo.”
Gage pulled her head in to his chest and blocked the commotion behind him. He watched Thor nuzzle her from the other side and wiggle his face into her lap.
Kayla reached out and clutched his fur. “Your dog is the bomb.”
“Yes he is, baby.”
“He saved my life.”
“Mmm hmm. That’s what he’s trained to do.”
“How did he know?”
“No idea what goes on in his head, but he loves you to pieces and won’t tolerate any threat to you. He knew before we got in the house.”
“Amazing.” She leaned down and held him closer, kissing his fur and squeezing him tight. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if he stayed with me twenty-four seven from now on.” She grinned.
“Wish he could, baby. Close. But he does work in my part of the building. He’s a great watch dog, but he sucks at front desk work.”
Gage held his dog and his woman close, taking deep breaths and thanking God for both of them.
Epilogue
One month later…
Kayla cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted through the crowd at Gage. He’d taken several hits to the head and chest, but none powerful enough to throw him off his game. He was clearly the better contender in this fight. “Go, Gage. Come on, babe. You can do it.”
Jenna stood next to her, chuckling. “Lord, we’ve created a monster.”
Kayla glanced at her and grinned before turning her attention back to the cage.
Katy spoke next. “I blame Emily. She’s a bad influence in the fighting department.”
Emily hip-butted Katy to the right of Kayla. “Don’t listen to them. They don’t appreciate good masculine sweaty chests when they see them.”
“Oh, I appreciate the chests all right. I just prefer mine to be dry and clean and hovering over me in bed. The bloody parts make me squeamish,” Jenna said.
Gage threw a serious leg kick, landing on the other guy’s side and making him buckle. They were only two or three minutes into the first period, but Gage took the opportunity, swept the guy with one leg, and forced him to his knees. He then grappled for a dominant position and knocked the poor guy out with one direct hook to the face.
That part Kayla hated. She cringed when someone was seriously injured. And she held her breath waiting for the guy to get off the floor even though her man had won the fight.
She finally let out an exhale when the opponent stood on wobbly feat and nodded at Gage.
But Gage, Lord he was magnificent. All firm muscle and sexy tattoos. She loved to trace the lines of the words across his abs and on his biceps with one finger while they lay in bed on a lazy day.
That didn’t happen often, though. Gage was a busy man. Between work, the gym, the club, and making Kayla’s eyes cross with need, he didn’t have much time for lazy.
Kayla didn’t either. She’d signed up for two on-line classes the week before, and she was loving getting back into school. Gage had wanted her to quit working and go to school fulltime, but she wasn’t ready for that much change yet. She’d only given up her lease last week and officially moved in with him. Letting him support her so fully made her nervous.
He shook his head when she expressed her feelings about that, but didn’t argue. Instead he set his foot down. “One semester, baby. You can juggle these two classes and work for one semester, and then when you’re comfortable and back in the swing, I want you to give up your job and concentrate fully on your studies.”
She’d opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand. “We’re a team. I don’t want one member of my team too tired to have sex with me at the end of the day because she’s burning too many candles.”
“It’s gonna be expensive, Gage.”
“And we’ll handle it.”
Kayla could afford it, but she hated to chip away at her savings while not working. Without rent and utilities, she was in much better shape, though. And Gage hadn’t permitted her to give him a dime to help out with his house yet. She was still negotiating that one. Although, Gage was not so much.
By the time she had everything settled concerning her finances, she wasn’t in too bad of shape. She no longer had to make enormous monthly extortion payments, and there was a chance she might recoup some of the money she’d lost for the last two years. The Bollings, including their son, were in jail without bond awaiting trial.
Oh, and the new car in the driveway gave her peace of mind. Gage had done that behind her back also. She’d shot daggers at him with her eyes for two hours when he came home with it, but he did nothing but chuckle at her ranting and raving until she gave up and thanked him with her lips and her body.
She was the luckiest woman on Earth, and she didn’t hesitate to thank Gage every single day.
Kayla waited for Gage outside the locker room at the arena. Some of the women she saw even went into the locker room. She cringed every time she noticed. Gross.
He came out fifteen minutes later, hair dripping wet and a smile spread across his face. He’d told her he had plans for her that night, and whatever his plans were, he was certainly excited.
She smiled as he lowered his face to kiss her. “Let’s go, baby. We have stuff to do.”
She’d already prodded him on the way to the arena. There was no sense continuing along that path. Clearly Gage Holland wasn’t a man to divulge his secrets.
Twenty minutes later they were back at home. Kayla lifted a brow as they pulled in the driveway. How was an evening at home so exciting? They did that every night. And it was always heavenly, but Gage had something else up his sleeve this time. And it was a Friday night. So, usually they went to Extreme.
Perplexed, Kayla entered the house, or rather was tugged inside by Gage’s hand. The man was excited. His enthusiasm rubbed off on Kayla, making her giggle. “What the hell, Gage?”
He flipped on the light at the same moment Kayla heard a strange whimpering noise. She startled and glanced around the room. And then she doubled back when her mind caught up and realized she’d seen something that didn’t belong. “Oh my God.” Her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes darted back and forth from Gage to the small cage sitting next to the kitchen table. “Oh my God,” she repeated. “Gage?”
The man wore a grin wider than she’d ever seen on him. “Gotcha something. Happy birthday, baby.”
Kayla whipped her gaze to Gage one more time. “You knew it was my birthday?”
He furrowed his brow. “Of course.”
Tears came to her eyes. It had been so long since anyone cared about her birthday. And the man had gotten her a puppy. Best birthday present ever, hands down.
“You just gonna stand there?”
Kayla pecked him on the cheek and ran across the room. The cutest little fellow she’d ever seen in her life lifted his sweet face to her as she opened the latch on the little door. He came bouncing out and jumped into her lap. His tiny body climbed all up her until he could lick her face, his paws on her cheeks. She giggled.
Gage kneeled beside her and stroked the
little guy’s fur. “You like him?”
“Do I like him?” Crazy man. “I love him to pieces. What’s his name?”
“Whatever you want it to be.”
Kayla glanced around. “Where’s Thor?”
“He’s with Chief Edwards for the night. Chief Edwards picked up this little fellow and brought him over and took Thor home with him. Just to give us some time before Thor gets all territorial.”
“Oh, Gage. I love him so much. Is he the same breed as Thor?”
Gage nodded. “German Shepherd. We’ll train him to be just as possessive, so you’ll never be alone.” He leaned closer and kissed Kayla on the forehead.
She snuggled with the puppy, burying her face in his fur while he squirmed in her arms. She finally lifted her face. “I love you too, you know.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Whatever,” he teased. “Finish playing with your little beast there and then show me how much you love me.”
“Deal.” She set him on the floor, and he trotted around clumsily, sniffing at everything in the vicinity.
“Better take him out to pee. That’s the first lesson he needs to learn.”
Kayla scrambled off her butt and went to the sliding glass door. As soon as she opened it, the little guy bounded out behind her, nipping at her ankles and doing nothing to avoid getting stepped on. “I think he likes me.”
Gage followed her. He leaned against the door as Kayla took the puppy into the yard.
He ran circles around her with his boundless energy.
Kayla lifted her face and looked back at Gage. “Jove.”
“What?”
“His name. I want to call him Jove.”
Gage grinned. “The Roman equivalent of Thor.”
“Uh huh. You like it?”
“Love it. It’s perfect.” He kneeled down to the ground. “Now, come on young Jove. Back in your kennel. I have plans for your mama that don’t involve you peeing on her.”
Jove raced across the lawn and jumped eagerly into his lap.
“Let’s go, baby. You can play with him tomorrow. I want you to myself tonight.”
Kayla followed Gage and watched him put Jove in the tiny cage. “He’s not going to fit in that long.”
“Yeah, but it’s the only way to keep a puppy from peeing inside. They won’t pee on themselves where they sleep.”
“Oh.” She was going to need a how-to manual for this endeavor. Although she did live with the latest version of the dog whisperer, so she was guaranteed a perfectly trained dog within months.
Gage shut the gate and led Kayla to their bedroom. He sat her on the edge of the bed and turned to light several candles around the room. The first addition Kayla had made to Gage’s house was the candles. She loved the lighting and the way they made her feel.
“Strip, baby,” he said as he rounded the bed to light the ones on the other side of the room.
Kayla stood and pulled her shirt over her head. Her fingers trembled as though she’d never slept with Gage before. She had no idea why she was nervous, but with the way he was acting, she had a suspicion she would need every nerve she had.
She unbuttoned her jeans and wiggled her hips to lower them. When she stood in her bra and panties, he stepped in front of her. He reverently reached with one finger and stroked along the upper swell of her breasts. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
“I hope not,” she whispered.
“Do you realize how much I love you?”
She nodded.
“Happy birthday, baby.”
“You’ve said that.”
He grinned. “I’ve also told you I love you. Is once enough for a lifetime?”
“No.” He had a point. She shivered deep inside every time he said it.
Gage popped the front clasp on her bra and slid it down her shoulders to drop it on the floor with her other clothes. Then he hooked his fingers in the sides of her panties and lowered them also. He kneeled in front of her to tug them off and then smoothed his hands up her legs as he rose to his feet again. “Spread your legs wider, baby.” He tapped her hip.
Kayla did as he said.
“Submit to me, Kayla.”
She nodded and swallowed. “Yes, Sir.” It had become their way. She knew when it was time to play because Gage always began with that line. Submit to me. Whenever he said that, she fell into the role for him, assuming the proper stance he preferred and using the reverent term of Sir when she spoke to him. It worked for them. She didn’t submit to him twenty-four seven, but he did enjoy requiring it most evenings and sometimes before they went to work in the morning.
At other times, no one would know about this side of them. They were just a regular couple in a committed relationship.
“I’m going to push your boundaries tonight, baby. I think you’re ready.”
She stiffened. “Yes, Sir.” Her head dipped lower than necessary to stare at the floor.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Implicitly?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You understand that I’ll never strike you for any reason, right?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I want it to be clear. At no point in our lives am I going to spank or flog you. Not for play. Not for sex. And not out of anger.”
She nodded. He’d said that many times.
“But I want to restrain you.”
She swallowed. Secretly she’d wanted that too for several weeks, but she hadn’t been able to ask for it. She suspected he would balk at the idea and turn her down, and she didn’t want to hear his refusal. “Please, Sir.”
“That appeals to you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’re an excellent submissive in complete control of keeping your hands and feet exactly where I demand them to be. But being restrained is an entirely different element, a deeper level of obedience.”
She trembled, more with need than fear. Her body was so alive, her pussy already pulsed with the thought of coming.
“Safe word?”
“Red, Sir.”
“Do not hesitate to use it.”
“I won’t, Sir.” They’d also had several lengthy discussions about using her safe word. Gage had been almost overbearing with his need to make sure she wouldn’t let things go further than she could tolerate. If she freaked out on him like she had at Extreme that night several months ago, he would be destroyed. She knew that. And she never intended to make him feel that way again. First of all, there was virtually nothing he could do that would cause the same sort of fear to enter her mind again. Gage was Gage. He wasn’t Simon. She’d stopped comparing the two of them a long time ago.
Kayla trusted Gage implicitly. She knew she would even survive a spanking or flogging from him. But that would never happen.
“Climb on the bed and spread your arms and legs toward the corners.”
Kayla crawled up and lay on her back in the center. When she reached her arms toward the corner of the headboard, Gage took the first one and wrapped her wrist in a Velcro cuff. He attached the other end to the bed. Instead of circling her body and repeating the action on her other limbs, he stroked her skin, slowly trailing his fingers down her arm from her palm to her shoulder. He breezed over her nipple and then circled it with the tips of his fingers.
“Your tits are so fucking hot, baby.” He cupped the globe and weighed it in his hand. And then he danced his fingers down her belly toward her pussy. He didn’t linger. He barely touched the hood of her clit and passed through her folds, and then trailed the rest of the way down her leg until he reached her ankle. He wrapped her ankle in another Velcro cuff and affixed it to the footboard. Not satisfied with the amount of leeway she had, he tightened the attachments and pulled her leg straighter. If he did her other arm and leg the same way, she wouldn’t be able to lift even her hips, splayed for his view and pleasure.
Gage circled the bed and wrapped the Velcro around her other leg. He caressed up that leg and back t
hrough her lower lips until he flicked his pointer over her clit.
Kayla squeezed her eyes shut. Already she was so aroused. The restraints he’d been afraid to use on her for weeks on end were making her so aroused, she couldn’t think.
Up her body, he trailed, tickling her belly and then teasing the swell of her breast. And finally her nipple.
When she bucked her chest the few inches left to her, he stopped and pulled her arm tight toward the last corner to join all of its mates in restraint.
“So sexy, baby. You have no idea how horny it makes me for you to let me tie you down. It’s humbling to have your trust like this.”
Did he not have any idea how aroused she was right alongside him?
“Don’t move.” Gage turned and left the room, chuckling under his breath. He jerked his shirt over his head with one hand while he walked and dropped it on the floor.
Kayla rolled her eyes and squirmed to see how much room she had. Almost none. She couldn’t control anything enough to prevent him from doing whatever the heck he chose. Even her pussy didn’t have more than an inch of space wiggling in either direction or up into the air. She was well and truly secured for Gage’s pleasure.
At least that’s what he thought. In truth, the pleasure would be all hers.
When he returned, Kayla jerked her gaze to follow him into the room. He held several items that made her heart rate soar as he set them on the bedside table.
The first thing he picked up was the jar of marshmallow cream.
She bit her lip to keep from giggling. This was not meant to be funny, and even her body agreed there was nothing remotely humorous happening between her legs right then, but she couldn’t help it.
He twisted the lid off, and she flinched when the vacuum seal popped. He climbed up between her legs and got comfortable on his knees. He reached into the jar with one finger and drew out a glob of the sticky white confection. He slowly brought his finger toward her pussy, but at the last second he retracted and sucked the cream from his pointer, so provocatively her eyes widened. By the time he reached back into the jar for more, she was close to begging him to apply it to her. Anywhere.
The Fight Club - Boxed Set Page 84
