“Let us out here
, w
e’
ll run it. Come on, Reeses, we have ten minutes before that plane takes off with my heart on it,
and I lose her forever.” He
jumped from the still moving car, but waited for it to come to a complete stop before watching Evan lean over and kiss Rissa. Hurrying them along, he yanked open her door and grabbed her hand, running toward the airport door. Tickets in her hand, they showed their IDs and scanned their tickets, rushing through the security checkpoints and making a break down the terminal for the gate. Myles was in a near panic, running like hell with Rissa apologizing and trying to explain to everyone he left in his wake, hoping
they’d have enough heart to understand the desperation of nearly losing a love when you’ve just found the courage to tell them.
“Last call for flight 1091 to Houston.” The flight attendant was
already closing the door as they clamored for attention.
“Wait! We’re here! We made it! We made it!” Leaving Rissa
behind to show their tickets, he tore down the plank walk and out onto the tarmac. The swollen clouds above the airport ruptured as buckets of water blew around him. Squinting into the blinding rain, he caught a glimpse of wet red ringlets tucked into a tan trench coat.
“ANNIE!!!!” He shouted through the crowd of people and hoped she’d hear him, but she climbed the stairs and entered the plane without
turning around. Sprinting up the stairs, maneuvering through people, he heard Rissa shout at him as she ripped out onto the tarmac behind him, trying to keep up.
“Annie! ANNIE! Wait!” She stopped and turned around, a look of
shock etched into her damp features.
“Myles? What a re you doing here?” He couldn’t answer her, couldn’t find the words, so he did the first thing that came to mind
. Stalking toward her, in the middle of a crowded airplane, he wrapped his hand around the side of her neck and tilted her to face up to him before crashing his lips down on hers, plundering her mouth with his tongue while the world around them felt like it began to disappear. Pulling back only when lack of oxygen made him, he silenced her unspoken question with an act of desperation. Bending down, he threw her over his shoulder then turned back toward the door, hauling her back down the stairs as she struggled and demanded to be put down.
“Sorry
...
I’m just going to take her luggage back…have a nice flight!”
Practically squealing, Rissa tried to smooth over the captivated and increasingly impatient audience.
“He loves her!”
Delicate fists pounded against his back, landing close enough to his kidney to make him stop in the middle of the tarmac in the pouring rain. Setting her on her feet, he started to explain when she cut him off.
“What are you doing, Myles? I said goodbye. Why are you making
this worse?
I won’t ask you to love
me. I just wanted you to know that I
love you before I go.” She was shouting over the pounding of the rain
against the concrete, but even through the rain, he could see she was crying, and it tore at his heart, still tight and aching in his chest. His stomach in knots, he tried to explain, wishing they were anywhere but in the pouring rain with an audience.
“Don’t go, Annie
. Why are you leaving? Why does it have to be goodbye? Stay. Please.
For me?” He was begging, but right now was not
the time to let his pride or his rules get in the way.
“
I have to, Myles!
I can’t stay
.
I can’t stay here and pret
end that what we have is enough. I
t’s not
! I want more, I
…
I
…
need more!
I…
you
don’t know…I just…just go, Myles
! Let me go!
” Her head dropped and the
tears fell faster, harder. Gut wrenching sobs spilled from her unabated as he wrapped his hands around her shoulders, leaning to look in her face.
“You what, Annie? Tell me. You can’t leave me without a reason
! I
can’t let you go
,
don’t you see that!? I can’t lose you!”
“I’m pr
egnant, Myles.
”
Exasperated and beginning to weep uncontrollably, she said the words as though they hurt her to say them. She tried to turn away from him, but he pulled her into his chest, wrapping his body around hers and cradling her close.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Annie? You should have told me. But I
should have told you something too.
”
He pushed her back just a bit, lifting her chin to look at him.
“I love you, Annie
. I always have. The moment I saw you in the foyer of my club, I knew you were made to be mine; my
perfect match, but I pretended I didn’t need love
. I was wrong. I need love. I need you, Arianna Marshall.
Say you’ll s
tay. The rest
…we’ll figure
out
…t
ogether.
”
He held his breath waiting for her to answer him. She sobbed harder, but threw her arms around his neck, and he lifted her off her feet, turning her in a circle.
“Yes, Myles
.
Yes, I’ll stay!” Cheers and whistles sounded over the
rain and thunder from the plane behind them as he set her on her feet. Looking into her eyes, he pressed his lips against hers in a tender kiss, tangling their tongues and losing himself in her. When Rissa came up behind him to interrupt, he pulled away and looked where Rissa was pointing. The plane was trying to taxi, but they were in the way. Taking
Arianna’s things from Rissa, he wrapped his arm around her
, walking her back to the steps of the plank and back into the airport to a cheering crowd. The blush on her cheeks made him laugh before he leaned down.
“I promise, the next time you’r
e blushing in public, it will be for a
completely different reason.” She tucked herself under his arm and into the
crook of his body as they made their way, drenched and freezing, outside to
Evan’s waiting hummer
. When he came around despite the rain to open Rissa
’
s door and help her up, she leapt into his arms and kissed him deeply. With everyone settled in the car, Evan turned back to Myles and Arianna in the back seat.
“He’s one lucky man to have found his soul mate
. Even luckier that he was able to catch you before you got away.
It’s nice to finally meet you, Arianna.”
The drive back to his house was
uneventful, but it wouldn’t stay that
way for long. As soon as he got her into the house and to the bedroom, he
wasn’t letting her out from betwee
n the sheets for a very long time. He loved her. She loved him. And he intended to prove it to her over and over again until they both understood just how much they belonged together.
Chapter Ten
Even though it felt like weeks since he’d dragged her caveman style
off of an airplane to confess his love for her, it had been only three days. Three blissfully lazy, pleasure-filled days of sex, pampering, sex, sleep, and more sex. Her body ached all over, but it was a wonderful soreness. She would be content to stay in his bed, ravished by him every minute of every day for the rest of their lives, but Rissa had helped him bring her back, helped them keep each other, and they owed her too much to miss the wedding and collaring.
The wedding had been beautiful, and the reception equally so. But now, sitting in a red velvet-
lined chair in the decadence of Evan’s opulent
club, nestled close to Myles, she felt like she was about to witness something truly special. Her fingers intertwined with his, she held onto his hand and watched as Evan stepped up. The love that Evan and Rissa had for each other shined from deep within their souls, and they seemed like nothing else mattered but each other. Wrapped in their own little world, theirs was the kind of love that legends and the greatest romance stories of all time were written about. Truly connected on another level altogether, she could see that those two belonged together. And when Myles squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head, she could feel that she and Myles belonged together the same way. Laying a hand on her belly where their child was growing, still too early to show anything, but far enough along for her to have already fallen in love, she leaned her head into his shoulder and closed her eyes to savor the moment before the collaring began.
A beautiful red and black baroque collar wrapped around Rissa’s
neck as she knelt before Evan and he knelt before her, whispering his promise. Promises to love her, cherish her, protect, and keep her always. To cherish the gift of her submission, to earn her trust, and never break it. When he stood, Rissa stayed on her knees beside him and whispered her promise to always honor and obey, to treasure each gift he gave, and to love him always.
Between
Rissa’s whispered promises, Myles leaned over, murmuring into Arianna’s ear while she turned to him. Taking his hand, he stood and
led her away from the ceremony; far enough away so as not to disturb the collaring. He pushed the door open to a private room and closed it behind them.
“Myles? What is it? What are we doing here? We’re going to miss the ceremony…” He shushed her with a firm finger placed across her lips.
Looking down as he held out his hand, she sucked in a soft breath. In his hand lay two gifts, making her jaw drop slightly. A bright blue teardrop crystal with silver branches crawling up the side hung from a short silver chain. Next to it, a platinum band served as the setting for a beautiful cushion-cut diamond lined with bright blue stones. Her eyes watered, and she could barely find a word. She looked up into his eyes anthend wrapped her hand around his empty one, holding on tight as he sank to his knees.
“My sweet Annie
. I used to think that love was something that came into your life and left on a whim until I met you, and I learned, finally, what real love is. I found the other half of my soul in you, and I never want to feel the panic or pain of losing you again. However unplanned or unexpected, we are a family, and I never want to be without you or our child. I promise I will love you until time stands still. I will cherish you and protect you; I will take care of you for the rest of our lives if you will let me. Will you marry me, Arianna? Be my wife,
my submissive, be mine?”
Her heart stopped beating, and she had to remind herself to breathe. Days ago, she was trying to convince herself leaving this man behind was for the best, and now, there was no way she could imagine her life or the life of their child without him in it. Sinking to her knees, she looked into his eyes and nodded, smiling as he slipped the ring onto her finger and the necklace around her neck. It fit close, like a collar. She lifted her hand to the cornered stone, fingering the silver branches that wrapped around it, seeming to grow up the side, growing together the way she and Myles had.
“I would be honored to be your wife and even more so to be your
submissive, Myles. I would like nothing more than to be completely and utterly yours in every way. I love you.
”
With a kiss, he stood up, and she stayed kneeling at his feet.
“Well, in that case, my love, this room is ours for the night
, and there is a restraint table with your name on it. What do you say we start this new chapter of our life together the right way
—
with you writhing in ecstasy
against my cock until we’re both fully satisfied?”
Leaning down, he whispered roughly in her ear.
“You’ve shown me what it is to really love
. Let me show you what it is to reall
y be loved.” When she nodded, he lifted
her from the floor and set her on her feet.
“Then strip
. Let me see you bare, on your hands and knees on the table. Let me see your anticipation
glistening, my sweet Annie.” There was only one thing he needed to hear —
answering him made her slick with the excitement and expectation of what was to come.
“Yes, Sir.”