Saving My Submission BN (22 page)

Joshua’s body tensed as he followed me over on a
groan. Held tight in his arms, I let the spray fall on my face. We’d never have
forever. But this was one moment I’d never forget. I hoped that as time passed,
and his taste faded from my lips, that he’d remember this solitary moment of
perfection, too.

A long time passed before Joshua raised his head and
inched back. “Mellie, we didn’t use…”

“I know. I’m clean, and I’m on the pill.”

He nodded soberly. “I’ve never forgotten to glove up
before.”

“I’m glad you did. Feeling your release… it was…
beautiful,” I shyly confessed.

A wicked smile curved his lips. “Beautiful can’t even
come close to describing the way you felt. I might have to forget to use them
again… and again… and…”

“Hold up, there. I might have to rest a bit in
between. I’m not as young as I used to be,” I teased.

“That’s my line, girl,” he laughed, then kissed me
again.

Joshua turned off the water. Drying me first and then
himself, he led me back to bed. Just as he reached up to turn off the light, a
light knock came from his door. With a curse, he climbed back out of bed,
slipped his sweat pants back on and opened it.

James bit back a grin as he spied me in Joshua’s bed.
“I need to talk to you for a minute,” James said as he nodded toward the hall.

“I’ll be right back,” Joshua promised before stepping
out and closing the door.

After twenty minutes I realized Joshua’s perception of
‘be right back’ and mine were on different time zones. The longer I waited, the
more curious I became. Climbing from the bed, I rifled through his closet and
found a black silk robe. Cinching the belt around my waist, I tiptoed to the
door and pressed my ear against the wood. Nothing but silence greeted me.

Turning the knob, I peeked around the door, glancing
up and down the long corridor. Joshua was nowhere in sight; in fact, the club
was empty from what I could tell. There were no sounds of smacking flesh
echoing from the dungeon. Even the lights were dimmed, as if the place had
closed up, hours ago.

Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from an
open archway to my right, followed by deep male voices. I held my breath,
straining to hear their conversation.

“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

The voice sounded like James, but I wasn’t certain.

“No,” Joshua replied emphatically. His tone teemed
with disgust. “I don’t believe a word that bitch says anymore, and neither
should Mika.”

“Wait at the bar. I’ll go back upstairs and help him
keep an eye on her until the unit arrives. You’ll need to file a vandalism
report.”

By then I knew James was the man talking to Joshua.

“No problem. I’m going to check on Mellie first.”

Their voices grew louder. I knew that any second
they’d round the corner and catch me eavesdropping. Closing the door quietly, I
scurried back across the room, tossed the
robe
into
the closet and jumped back into bed. As the key jingled in the lock I yanked
the covers around me and sat up as Joshua walked in the door.

“Is everything all right?”

“No, unfortunately not. Someone slashed my tires.”

“Slashed your…Oh my god, who would do such a thing?”

“Ah,” he hesitated and scrubbed a hand through his
hair. “My former sub is upstairs in Mika’s office as we speak.”

“She slashed your tires?”

“Well, she claims she didn’t, but I parked so far back
in the lot, my car was out of camera range so there’s no video proof. James
just happened to be taking out the trash and saw a figure by my car. He went to
investigate and hauled her upstairs. She claims she didn’t even notice the
tires were flat. But she was the only one around.”

“What was she doing waiting by your car?”

“She said she was waiting for me to come out so we
could talk again.”

“She was the blonde at the wedding today, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied on a heavy sigh.

I wanted to ask him if she was coming around to see if
he’d take her back. But I didn’t ask, I wanted him to volunteer the reason… to
share a part of him with me. He didn’t and it chafed.

“Do you believe her?”

“No.” There was a distant harshness in his reply that
told me he’d been burned far deeper by the woman, than Sanna had revealed.

“So now what happens, with her, I mean?”

“The cops are on their way. They’ll question her. I’ll
fill out a report and call my insurance company in the morning.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I need to wait for the police in the bar.”

“I’ll wait with you, if you’d like.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want to risk her
seeing us together. It’s not safe for you.”

His desire to shield me from the girl frightened me a
little. “Is she an axe murderer or something?”

Joshua smiled for the first time since he’d entered
the room. “I don’t think so. But she’s territorial, to an unstable degree. She
thought for a time that I was playing around with
Leagh
.
That’s what ultimately led to me releasing her.”

“I see. Okay, well… I can catch a cab back to Sanna’s
place if you’d like,” I announced tossing off the covers.

“What I’d like is to wake up with you in my arms,
Mellie,” he whispered softly as he eased down on the edge of the bed and tucked
the sheets back around me. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

“I’ll be here.” I smiled.

He bent and placed a quick, chaste kiss on my lips.
“Get some sleep. I’ll try not to wake you when I get back.”

As he left, he turned off the lights. Tugging at the
blanket, I snuggled up with his pillow. The clock on the nightstand bathed the
room in an eerie blue glow. Breathing in his rugged scent lingering on the
pillow, I drifted off to sleep.

I didn’t hear him come back to bed, but when I woke
the next morning he was laying on his side facing me, snoring softly. Even
though the cloudy fog of slumber enveloped my brain, he looked beautiful.
Rumpled sandy blonde hair dusted his forehead and I stared at the tiny lines
around his eyes as I’d done before. Drinking in the golden scruff adorning his
face and the fullness of his erotic lips, I longed to reach out and trace my
fingertips over every inch of his face. Instead, I closed my eyes and branded
his peaceful image to memory.

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was almost noon. My
stomach rumbled, and I was dying for a steaming cup of coffee, but I nuzzled in
against him and exhaled a blissful sigh. The enchantment was severed by the
sound of my cell phone. Joshua woke with a start. Bolting upright in bed at the
unfamiliar sound, he scrubbed a hand over his face as I scurried off to
retrieve my phone.

“Hello?”

“Mellie? Hayes here. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you.
I know you’re out of town. I got your automated e-mail message.” Hayes
Brockman, a rich oil tycoon with more money than sense, prattled on in my ear.
He and his wife Dixie had sold their home in Corpus Christie years ago and
bought a castle in northern England. Every six months or so, Dixie would grow
tired of the décor and Hayes would call to hire me for another one of her
never-ending projects.

“It’s good to hear your voice. How are you and Dixie
doing?”

“Not too good, actually. She’s got a bee in her bonnet
and wants the dining hall gussied up again. Problem is, we’ve got Lord and Lady
Galbraith of
Northshire
scheduled for some pomp and
circumstance shin-dig in three weeks.”

“Three weeks?” I choked.

Joshua frowned as he watched and listened.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I tried telling Dixie that you
wouldn’t have time, but dag-
nabbit
, she put on the
saddest puppy dogs eyes, I couldn’t take it. Besides, you know how she gets
once she sets her mind on something. So I promised her I’d call and see if
there’s a way you can move heaven and earth and work your magic to get us fixed
up in time.”

Casting a wary glance back at Joshua, he sat on the
edge of the bed, naked. His expression looked bleak; his eyes almost vacant. My
heart clutched.

No. No. Not yet.
My head screamed as a wave of despair reached up from my gut and squeezed my
heart. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

“Of course. I’ll catch a flight tomorrow. I’ll call
you from New York with my arrival information.”

Hayes let out one of his infamous hog calls, and
thanked me profusely. When I hung up, I swallowed the lump of grief clogging my
throat. Forcing a weak smile I walked to the bed, straddled his legs and
crawled onto Joshua’s lap.

“Duty calls,” I murmured softly. “I have to leave for
London in the morning.”

Sliding my arms over his shoulders, I nuzzled his
chest. He banded me in a desperate grip, and I fought to hold back my tears.

“I’m sorry,” I choked.

“
Shhh
,” Joshua soothed.
“Just let me hold you, little one.”

The grief resonating in his tone was more than I could
bear. Enveloped in his sheltering arms, I mourned the days and nights we
wouldn’t get to share… the bittersweet taste of submission that would be gone,
and the pain of severing our compelling connection so damn soon.

“It’s only three weeks, right?”

I nodded gloomily.

“Then go do what you need to and come back to me when
you’re done.”

Before I could open my mouth, Joshua tipped my chin,
cupped my cheeks and pressed his lips to mine. His kiss held more than passion…
much, much more. There was adoration, devotion, and promise on his tongue as he
rolled me beneath him.

Just as he’d done in the shower, Joshua set a
leisurely pace, trailing kisses down my throat, over my chest and lower still,
to my breasts. He
laved
, sucked, and scraped his
teeth over my needy nipples, and I cried out.

Repositioning his body, Joshua straddled my chest.
Gripping my hair in a firm but subdued hold, he coaxed my mouth to his shaft.
Guiding my mane with his fist, he dictated the tempo and depth of each slick
caress. His body tensed and relaxed as I worshiped his cock, and all the while
he murmured praise and encouragement. Working my lips up and down his shaft as
he allowed, I basked in the submissive glory he granted.

“Enough. I’m going to come down your sinful throat if
you don’t stop,” he cautioned with a hoarse cry as he pulled from my mouth.
Guiding me onto my back, he snagged my wrists and raised my arms above my head.
“Keep them there and open your legs for me, gorgeous.”

The affection reflecting in his brilliant eyes made me
feel more adored than his words.
 
I
complied with a wistful sigh, and Joshua fed inch after sweet, burning inch,
inside me. My pussy was sore, but I didn’t care. This might be our last time
together. I had no intention of refusing him… not for anything in the world.

With one hand wrapped around my wrist, he feathered
the fingers of his other hand over my clit, fully seating himself inside my
quivering passage. Locked in his gaze, covered by his rugged body, and filled
with his turgid shaft, I ached to stay in this exact moment until the end of
time.

“Remember, Mellie. When you’re across the pond and
alone in your bed at night, remember my hunger; remember my claim. You belong
to me.” As he ended his declaration with a snarl, I shuddered.

Dragging his wide crest over my G-spot, demand sizzled
and hissed. “Yours… yes,” I murmured, lost in a mist of pure pleasure.

He issued a roar, half feral and hungry, the other
half fraught in something that sounded like torment, then he bent and captured
my mouth with his. Devouring and demanding, I yielded to his thrusting tongue
and his driving hips. One minute insistent and frenzied, the next so slow and
velvety it nearly brought me to tears.

Swirling in a vapor of emotional highs and lows, I
clung to his glistening body, riding each crest as it built and blazed.
Blocking out whatever tomorrow might bring, I seized each glorious second he
bathed me in sweet, sublime splendor.

Holding back my release as the pressure built and
throbbed, I stared into his fiery gaze watching as he summoned the strength to
hold back, one painstaking second at a time. A low grumble vibrated from deep
in his chest, and Joshua sucked in a ragged breath. Shaking his head refusing
to concede to the blaze within, he kissed my nose and issued a melancholy
smile.

“Come for me, little one,” he whispered in a tone
suffused in such reverence it nearly shattered my heart. “Look at me and come
undone for me, precious girl.”

Even as his image blurred I stared at him as the force
of my orgasm stole the air from my lungs.

“Mine,” he declared as he released his hot seed,
showering my clutching passage.

Collapsing onto his elbows, Joshua buried his face
against my neck. His thundering heart reverberated against my chest as we clung
to one another, panting and sweating. Clutching him in my arms, I felt as if
the potent connection we shared was being severed in two with a rusty saw.

Long minutes passed, and neither of us said a word. We
didn’t have to. There was silent understanding as we gazed into each other’s
eyes. Begrudgingly he eased off me, then cradled me in his arms and carried me
into the bathroom. Joshua started the shower then lowered me beneath the hot,
silky spray. As his seed and virile scent washed down the drain, a sense of
grief gripped my soul.

“After we’re all cleaned up, I’ll call us a cab and
take you back to Dylan and Nick’s place.”

I smiled and kissed his soft lips. “I’d like that. Can
you spend the day with me… I mean, if you don’t have any other plans?”

“There’s nothing in my life that can’t be put on hold
for a day, Mellie.”

“Thank you, Josh… err, Sir.”

He grinned then pulled me in for another toe-curling
kiss.