Freed

by Stacey Kennedy

  She was flawless.

  He glanced over her, as she stood in only a garter and black stockings, and her exposed flesh sucked the air from his lungs. It took all of his strength not to go to her. The past hurt between them made him stay in his seat. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She laced her hands behind her head, widening her legs and standing in the submissive posture he had once told her he preferred. Her breasts rose, her perky nipples puckered, ready for his mouth. “I’m here, naked before you, baring it all. I am hiding nothing.”

  He hesitated, not letting her off easy. “Why?”

  “To ask your forgiveness.”

  Warm happiness rushed into his mind, as did hope. Though he’d already made enough assumptions that had left him hurting. “Why?” he asked again.

  Tears welled in her eyes. “To be yours, Elliott.”

  Nothing was more stunning than a vulnerable submissive. There she stood, pouring her heart out for him and putting it all on the line. So damn beautiful. He didn’t move from his seat, letting her give him this moment and offering herself to him. He would damn well make sure her apology counted. “How can I believe you see me, not Charles?”

  “I’m…” Her lip quivered before her voice strengthened. “Your touch felt like his. Your mastery reminded me of him. But I cannot have Charles anymore. I want what you give me, not what I had with him.”

  Elliott placed the scotch on the table next to him, then rested his arms on his legs, staring at her intently. “What do I give you?”

  A single tear slid down her cheek. “You make me want to love again.”

  He noted her wobbling on her feet, and not wanting her to strain, he ordered, “Kneel. Hands on your thighs.”

  She slowly lowered to her knees, then peered up at him through her thick lashes. “What you did…that card you gave me…” She shook her head and said softly, “You reminded me to live.”

  The pain in her voice, matched with the tears on her face, pulled him forward. He could no longer avoid her, needing—always needing—to be close to her. He squatted before her and tucked his finger under her chin. “I did nothing but give you a way toward healing. A way for you to see that you belong with me now. That the only thing that was standing in your way to happiness was you.”

  “Yes, there is that,” she whispered. “But without you, I never would have seen that I died with him. I would never have allowed myself to put Charles’s memory to rest and to see that I’ve been lucky enough to have had not only one soul mate, but I’ve been blessed by having two.” Tears streaked her face, and her expression was as honest as he’d ever seen it. “I died with him. I don’t want to be dead any longer.”

  “You’re not dead, darlin’.” He cupped her face, staring into her beautiful big brown eyes. “You are more alive than any woman I have ever known.” Wiping the tears off her cheeks, he added, “I can share your heart, but only so far. I deserve to be seen, not because you are forgetting Charles, but because I mean just as much to you. There is room there inside of that sweet heart of yours for both of us.”

  Her breath hitched with her tears and she shook her head. “I don’t want you to be Charles. I want to experience something new. I want you, Elliott. I want the hands on my body that freed me when I thought it could never happen again.”

  A hot burning rushed through him, and he rose, lowering his hand from her face. Words could say a thousand things, but action was stronger. As a submissive, Mary was asking for her Dom’s forgiveness, and he needed to allow her the right. He saw her slight tremble, the longing in her gaze that she didn’t need a hug or a kiss to apologize.

  She craved to do something more.

  Mary needed to please her Dom, and make them both feel better.

  She was requesting to take what belonged to her.

  He had to allow her to.

  A swell of submission crossed her face, reflecting in her soft gaze, and as her jaw relaxed, he experienced the exact moment when she let it all go. When she welcomed him right into her soul would be a memory he’d never forget.

  Mary no longer fought her submission.

  She ached to please her Dom.

  Standing over her, he knew exactly what she needed, and he was more than willing to see that regret cleared from her eyes. He gestured to his pants. “Show me that you’re now mine.” He brushed his finger over her bottom lip and she sucked in his finger, her gaze speaking of purpose. “Yeah, darlin’, drink me right into your soul.”

  —

  The hard wood pressed against Mary’s knees as exhaustion ran through her, both emotionally and physically. She was also aroused and burned in every place possible. Forgiveness, she needed that. His touch, she craved it. His cock, she desired to prove to him he was the only man that mattered to her.

  Since they’d met it’d all been about her and what she needed. Now she was desperate for it to be about only Elliott. This was for him, because he deserved to be made to feel good. He deserved to have a woman think only of him. Always of his needs.

  She reached for Elliott’s belt buckle and he unbuttoned his dress shirt, then tossed it to the ground. When she lowered his pants and boxer briefs, his swollen cock rested at her face. She licked her lips, gripped him, and stroked him.

  Veins stood out from the sides of his penis—so aroused for her—and she leaned up, dragging her tongue along the bulging vein. His low groan vibrated through her as he tossed his head back, tangling his fingers into her hair. At the tip of his cock, she swirled the head, loving his scent, his taste.

  She wanted him to feel her appreciation for what he’d done for her and for what he’d shown her. How much she owed to him. His patience, his persistence, it had all brought her back from a darkness that she didn’t realize she lived in.

  His thick cock swelled in her hands as she dipped her head, sucking a testicle into her mouth. When she ran her tongue up the front of his cock, he lowered his head and his blazing eyes held hers. While she knew she had done all she could to show him she was sorry, she knew she needed to do better. She had insulted him as a Dom, not appreciating him. Tonight she would make up for it. “This cock, Elliott, it’s perfection. So big. So hard.”

  “For you,” he murmured, sliding his knuckles over her cheek.

  She cupped both hands over his shaft and he went rock hard beneath her touch. She leaned over him, letting saliva drip from her mouth onto his cockhead. Then she worked both hands over him in a steady rhythm. “So powerful. So seductive. You make me ache for you.”

  He groaned, arching a brow. “Winning me over with pretty words, Mary?”

  “No.” She bobbed on the tip of his cock before her lips popped off. “Saying things you deserve to hear. A man as good, as sexy, as you deserves to be told how incredible you are. Do you like knowing that I’m wet for you? That I’m throbbing for this beautiful cock to drive deep inside me, to fill me and make me scream? That I crave your touch, your ownership of me?”

  His low moan brushed across her and she increased her speed with her hands. She pumped his shaft, sucked on his penis with a long, sensual embrace, drawing in her cheeks around him. “Fuck, Mary,” he growled, fisting his hands in her hair.

  Her mouth slid off him and she jerked him with quick strokes. “Are you going to come, sir? Let me taste all of you?”

  “Yes.” He grunted, gripping her head tight and thrusting his hips. “Put your mouth back on me.”

  Her pussy clenched and her clit throbbed as she drew in his musky scent, returning her lips to his beautiful cock. She sucked him hard and stroked his shaft, and his legs started trembling. His low moans made her so damn wet. So incredibly needy. His fingers tightened painfully on her head and she sensed his muscles stiffen seconds before his cock went rock hard against her tongue. Then he was roaring and bucking against her mouth.

  The warm, salty liquid brushed over her tongue before quickly sliding down her throat. She licked his cockhead, gathering every last drop, and he gasped, breaking
their contact. Dark, lust-filled eyes stared back at her as he slid his thumb over her bottom lip. Seeing him fulfilled warmed her heart. His happiness touched her in places that made her feel equally content.

  He exhaled a long deep breath and winked. “Your mouth, darlin’…it’s damn good. Any Dom would be sending you to your knees often.”

  “No,” she replied, gazing at him and speaking of the truth she’d long fought. “Not a Dom. You. My mouth belongs to you, to please you, and to show you just how wonderful you are.”

  A softness reached his eyes she’d never seen before and it brought forth her tears. As he dressed, Mary waited, watching him, aching between her thighs and feeling the wetness on her sex as she squeezed her legs together.

  Once dressed, he offered his hand. “Come up.”

  She rose and he guided her toward the chair. As he sat down, he tugged her between his legs. His gaze went to the stomach she’d kept from him. She knew why he made such a keen point to look at her; he proved his ownership.

  She’d hidden from him.

  He wouldn’t allow it anymore.

  She’d no longer run.

  He trailed a finger over the smaller stretch mark at her hip. “What child did you get this one with?”

  She glanced down. “Christian.” Sliding her finger over the one on her right hip, she added, “Calvin.” Then she touched the largest stretch mark that went from her belly button down to her sex. “This one is from Cassie.” Lifting her gaze, she laughed softly. “She’s always been the most difficult.”

  He gently smiled and then slid his hands up her thighs, cupping her bottom and dragging her closer. He kissed each mark before he said, “They are the marks of three beautiful children.” His voice dropped lower and went hard. “If I hear you or see you hide these marks again, I will punish you by leaving welts on that sexy ass of yours, so then you will really have marks that result in shame.” His brow arched. “Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “No, Mary,” he said in a low reprimand, swatting her bottom, making it burn. “You call me Elliott. Always Elliott, so I know you are only thinking of me.”

  “Yes, Elliott.” She held his stare, then cast her gaze downward, shame thickening her throat. “I behaved—”

  “Like a woman suffering from a broken heart.”

  A cool tear ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” He tucked a finger under her chin, commanding her gaze and staring at her with warm, soulful eyes. “You came back to me. That’s all that matters. Now tell me what happened at the meeting.”

  Mary wiped away her tears, not wanting to cry anymore. No more sadness. “I sat there and listened to women mourning their husbands, and yes, I understood them. But all I kept hearing and seeing was women who had no hope.” She paused, knowing she had to get this right. “I guess that was me before. I’d given up on life, but then there was you…”

  Another tear that she couldn’t control slid down her cheek, and this time Elliott brushed it away as she added, “I kept thinking I’m not like them. I do have hope, and I have it with you. When Charles died, I promised him to go after love if I ever found it again. I realized in that meeting I wasn’t only letting him down, letting you down, but I was letting down myself, too. I feel something with you. Something that is familiar. Something I lost. Something I yearn for.”

  His smile spoke of heady emotion. “To be mine.”

  “Yes.” He was a man who saw right into her soul and had earned his place in her heart. A man who hadn’t taken no for an answer, because he had seen something special between them that she hadn’t instantly recognized. A man who held enough confidence to give her the space and time she needed, but an arrogant man who hadn’t allowed her to run. “You gave me a safe place to heal and find out what I want, and I want to be happy again.”

  “I want that for you, too,” he murmured. “I want that for us.”

  She sighed. “If only it hadn’t taken—”

  He placed a finger over her mouth. “If you hadn’t thought of Charles when we were together, I doubt I would’ve been so drawn to you. You showing me that type of submission, that type of affection between a Dom and a submissive, is what made me believe it’s possible.” He smiled, cupping her face. “But it’s also something that can’t be faked. You felt it with me, because we share that same type of connection that you experienced with Charles.”

  God, she knew that, too, which made her next move an easy one. She reached for her necklace. “This was once a symbol of Charles and me, but I know it’s time to move on.”

  “Stop.”

  She hadn’t realized she’d shut her eyes, but she forced them open. Elliott’s gaze was in direct line with hers and his brows were drawn together. “Don’t remove the collar Charles gave to you, Mary.” He gathered her hand from her neck and lowered it to his lap. “That is a special part of you. It should always stay a part of you. I never want to take Charles’s place. I just want to be there beside him. I want you with me, at my side.”

  Consumed by him, her heart clenched. “I want that, too.”

  “Ah, darlin’, you have it. You have me, always.” He rose from his seat, pressing his body against hers and taking her into a kiss that stopped time. Passionate, affectionate—it was the beginning of love. When he broke the kiss, he said sternly, “Now let’s go and get your clothing. We are going to leave the party in someone else’s hands. We have something to do.”

  Disappointment pulled her lips into a frown. “We’re not playing tonight?”

  “No.” Sliding both hands into her hair, he held her to him. “Tonight I want you to ache for me like I’ve ached for you. I want you to feel what I’ve gone through, wanting you, nearly going mad in my lust, without any way to quench my need.” He stared at her with a firm look, and she shivered under the regard of her Dom as he continued. “I also want to do what I’ve wanted to do since the first time I saw you.”

  She leaned in to him, gazing up into the face of a man who she saw with open eyes now. “Which is?”

  “I’m going to take you out on a proper date.” His smile was both tender and wicked, as one brow slowly arched. “I want to spend more time getting to know the woman who through her body told me she is mine.”

  Epilogue

  The sun beamed down on Elliott at Mary’s lake house, and he inhaled the richness of it. Laughter and splashes of water made him smile. The past six months had settled into a life that he had once dreamed of. That he now lived.

  A quiet life that involved falling in love with Mary.

  He stared at her as she swam in the water just off the bow of the boat with her daughter and her daughter’s friend from the theater. Elliott had given up on his dreams of children a long time ago, but meeting Mary’s children made him feel as if he had a second chance. For the first time in his life, he had a family of his own, a family that had welcomed him with open arms.

  “She looks happy.”

  Elliott turned as Dmitri sat down next to him, and Mary’s sailboat rocked on the water. Dmitri watched Elliott with a keen eye only another Dominant would have. Elliott smiled. “She is happy.” He glanced out to the water, seeing Dmitri’s submissive, Presley, had joined Mary and the others.

  Presley was a young, very sweet woman. And he saw love written all over Dmitri’s face, as he always smiled when she talked. Elliott mused, love was in the air, and it was wonderful.

  Dmitri’s heavy sigh drew Elliott’s focus, and Dmitri raked a hand through his hair. “I think we need to talk about something, since you two are clearly getting serious.”

  Elliott noted the tightness in Dmitri’s expression. “All right. Talk.”

  Dmitri drew in a long breath and then continued in a solemn voice. “Before Charles died, he asked me to provide for Mary and the children. It’s a promise I will never break to him, unless I know she is taken care of.”

  “You give her money?” Elliott asked.

  Dmitri nodded, s
taring out at the women swimming around in the water. “Once a year to her and the three kids.” He turned to Elliott. “Charles was like a father to me and guided me when I most needed it. Mary”—he smiled softly—“she’s made me into the man I am today. I owe them both a great deal.”

  Elliott returned the smile, now understanding more about how Mary and Dmitri knew each other. Over the past six months, he thought their relationship was sweet. Mary had told him that she and Charles thought of Dmitri always as a fourth child, but seeing the love on Dmitri’s face for Mary only confirmed how special the relationship was. “How much do you give her?”

  “Depends how good my year is.”

  “Average amount?”

  Dmitri glanced at Mary as she laughed at something Presley said. “A hundred grand, and about that much into each of the kids’ accounts.”

  Elliott knew Mary didn’t need the money. She made a good income and she wasn’t materialistic, buying only what she needed. Yet he also knew the promise Dmitri made wasn’t about the money, it was about stepping into Charles’s role to see that Mary had a life without worry. Which is why he understood why Dmitri was bringing it up—that role now belonged to Elliott.

  “You’ve been good to her,” Elliott said, placing his hand on Dmitri’s shoulder. “I would imagine that from what I’ve heard of Charles, I would think he’d be very proud of you.”

  Dmitri dropped his head and blew out a slow breath filled with emotion. When he finally lifted his head, the appreciation shone in his young features. “I promised to take care of her.”

  “A promise you didn’t have to keep.” He squeezed Dmitri’s shoulder, sensing a deeper friendship building between them. He understood why Charles and Mary loved Dmitri. He lived up to his word, and that was something to be respected. “You’ve done right by your vow to Charles, but Mary is mine to take care of now.”

  “Which is where we have a problem.” Dmitri gave him a measured look. “I won’t stop providing for her unless I have your word you will step in and take care of her. And Mary won’t allow for you to give her and her children money. She fights me every time I do it, but she knows I won’t break my vow to Charles.” He shook his head in frustration and stretched out his legs over the side of the boat. “But having you take over my promise is something she’ll never allow. She has too much pride.”