The Runaway Sub [Libertine Island 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

She’d asked for a week off to come down to the wedding, but had been turned down. In fact, Mr. Abernathy had been shocked that she’d asked. Other than when she’d had pneumonia, she hadn’t taken any time off in five years. And when he’d refused, she felt something in her snap. She thought of the island and her friends, and she had simply scrawled the words
I quit
on a piece of paper, gotten up and thrust the paper into Abernathy’s hand, grabbed her purse, and walked out. She’d left everything behind and had never felt freer or more terrified.

And now she was on her way there.

Thinking about the web link, Jen didn’t know whether to be amused or insulted. She was pretty sure that Aly had sent her the link so that she would be fully prepared for what she saw when she attended the wedding. It was funny in a way. Everyone thought she was such a prude with her conservative clothes and hair and the fact that she hadn’t had a serious relationship since law school. Only Max knew about her other life, and that was because he’d introduced her to Hank. Max was a dear friend, so dear that he’d been the one to hold her as she cried at Hank’s funeral.

She smiled over at Maggie, who grinned back. Maggie was wearing what she considered proper BDSM resort wear, which was a skimpy black thong bikini, which showed off her curves. Jen, on the other hand, had covered her thin form with a white tankini as she was nothing if not practical, and covered again by the floral cover-up which protected her pale skin from the strong tropical sun from wrist to ankle.

Maggie leaned across to shout above the sound of the motor, “You know, I thought I’d have to drag you here kicking and screaming. I can’t believe you took the entire week off!”

“Like I’d miss your brother’s wedding.”

Maggie gave her a quick hug and then shouted in her ear. “I’m going forward to take some photos.”

Jen just gave her a thumbs-up and settled back in her seat. Maggie would be shocked to find out that she was considering staying longer than that. After all, unemployed lawyers with seven-figure bank accounts didn’t have to rush back to the cold, impartial city. She could go back to St. Maarten or maybe Anguilla or St. Barts. Or she could even stay on Libertine Island. The site said that sometimes they took unattached subs for a training period. Maybe she would see if they could match her up with someone for a week or two or three. She had to suppress a groan. She envied Aly and Rebecca. Aly had her Max. She wasn’t jealous or envious except in the abstract. Max was like a brother to Jen, and she was thrilled that he and Aly were finally back together and happy. And Rebecca had not one but two Doms to look after her. Jen did envy Rebecca her two Masters.

She looked at Maggie happily snapping away. Maggie had no interest in settling down. She dated a different guy every month and Marriage or even monogamy wasn’t on her radar. Which left Jen, herself. She’d been happy once. Hank had been her lover and her Master, and then he’d died and she’d thrown herself into her career. And the years had flown by.

A few times a year she treated herself to a visit to a BDSM club, but only to watch and to enjoy the vibe. She and Hank had enjoyed socializing at the club even though their play had generally been private. Max had helped her to keep her membership up to date by vouching for her. It helped, but it wasn’t enough. She missed being in a relationship. She missed submitting. She missed Hank.

But Hank was gone, and she was alive, even though she’d been only half living. She’d taken getting invited to a BDSM resort on the same day she got that big bonus as a sign. She was going to be thirty years old, and she was tired of just existing. She wanted to live again. These few days were about the bride and groom. But once the wedding was over, she was going to start living again.

And she had seven days to figure out how.

* * * *

Dr. Caleb McKenna walked down the dock. He’d been deputized to meet the incoming boat with the groom’s sister and her friend. The wedding was in four days, and everyone else was frantically preparing. Apparently when a person lived on an island, everything was a major production. And when trying to prepare a combination wedding and collaring on an island, apparently things were that much more complex.

Maybe if they weren’t in such a hurry, planning would go more smoothly, but they’d broken up for eighteen months, apparently, and now that they were back together the groom and Master wanted to get his ring and collar on the bride and sub as soon as possible. Not that a collar couldn’t be removed or a spouse divorced, but he understood the desire to make a public commitment of the love.

And he envied it. He was in love. He had what he thought was a life partner, but now he was here on Libertine Island as the resident doctor, and he slept alone every night for the last four months on the island while Rey was back in Miami, as far as Caleb knew, still chasing down bad guys. Hell, it felt like he’d slept alone for longer than that. Rey’s job never seemed to be over and he was gone far more than he was at home.

He felt a throbbing in his side and rubbed it. He knew it was a phantom pain. The bullet hadn’t hit anything major. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time he’d been wounded. Before moving to Miami, he’d been in the army and stationed overseas. It was his military duty that had paid for his medical training. He’d been out of the military for more than a decade, but you never really forgot how it felt to be shot or how to react when confronted with a loaded weapon. But this time had been different. It had been personal and maybe that’s why it preyed on his mind so much. Or maybe it was he associated it with the final loss of the man he loved.

He pressed a hand against his side. It was more of a flesh wound really, and the flesh was long healed, but whenever he felt blue, he felt the ache and remembered the burning and fear when he realized he’d been shot.

But it was the expression on Rey’s face that he would never forget. The gunman had been swinging his weapon between Rey and Caleb and yelled at them not to move. At first he thought that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or maybe as they were coming out of the clinic that it was a junkie looking for a fix. Caleb worked in a really bad part of town where most doctors feared to tread, but he knew he was needed. He’d been confronted by hopped up junkies and gang members and spent years patching up both kinds of patients and was getting burned out. The constant violence was wearing on him and he wasn’t sure how much longer he would continue to work there.

And now there was another gunman, and it was quickly clear that wasn’t this wasn’t like the last three times he’d been confronted. Twice he’d been able to talk them down and the third time his military training had taken over. Junkies and kids with guns didn’t compare to the kind of threat he’d faced overseas. But this was different. The gunman seemed more professional, polished. He wasn’t scared. He looked calculating as he shifted his gun from Rey to Caleb and back again.

Then he figured it had to be Rey who was the target. Maybe this was someone he’d arrested before. Whatever the cause, he could feel his lover start to tense before making a move just as the gunman seemed to be taking aim. Instinctively, Caleb had pushed Rey out of the way and gotten shot in the process. The mix of anger, fear, and love on Rey’s face had Caleb trying to reassure him.

“It’s just a flesh wound, and it’s gone out the other side. I’ll be fine, Rey. Just keep the pressure on both sides until someone can stitch me up. Hell, the crack on the back of my head from falling hurts worse.”

Rey had stayed with him until the ambulance came, tears running down his beautiful face. Reynaldo Montoya was the most beautiful man Caleb had ever seen, and he couldn’t believe how lucky he was that Rey seemed to find him pleasing, too. Caleb had no illusions about his own lack of beauty. He was originally from Scotland and had the ginger hair and fair skin of his people. He was always being teased about looking like Kevin McKidd, who played a doctor on
Grey’s Anatomy
and was from the same part of the world. In fact, the comparisons were valid. He had the same craggy looks and coloring as his countryman and same tall, rangy build.

Since he’d come to the island, he’d generally kept to himself other than a couple of disastrous attempts at fitting in. He’d avoided wearing a bathing suit until his wound had fully healed and even now generally wore a tank to cover it up. He didn’t want to talk about it. The one time someone did catch a glimpse of it, he’d implied that it was from his service days and had changed the subject. No one really knew much about him and Rey. A few people had seen the photo he kept on his desk at work, but they also saw the more prominent photo of him and his sister Melissa. They looked nothing alike and some assumed she was his sub. He encouraged the fiction and had even made teasing passes at female subs that he knew were not free to respond. Even after almost four months, he wasn’t ready to talk about his relationship with Rey to anyone.

Caleb could see the boat was on time and just pulling in. JJ knew the waters and he knew boats and steered up to the dock and tied it off with a minimum of fuss. Caleb walked down the dock and arrived at the boat just as JJ was helping the first woman out. She was small and curvy and quite beautiful with dark hair and eyes and very clearly related to Max. She was wearing a skimpy black bikini and carrying a large camera. And she was now arguing with JJ, who was trying to convince her that she couldn’t take any more photos without permission. It was almost funny watching the tiny spitfire try to intimidate their tall, taciturn boatman.

“Take me to your leader!” she demanded as she started walking quickly down the dock.

Caleb chuckled as JJ looked helplessly after her and then turned to Caleb.

“You’d better do what she says. Go after her. I’ll help Ms. Smith and send someone down for the luggage.”

JJ threw a grateful look at him before rushing after Maggie.

Caleb turned to the other woman waiting to debark. She was different from Maggie. Whereas Maggie was all fire and energy, this woman, who he presumed was Jen, was cool and calm and patient. She was standing in the boat watching the scene with mild amusement. She seemed to be average height with light sandy, almost-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. She was on the plain side with her pale hair and skin, and he thought she was a little too thin, but it was hard to tell since she was covered up from head to toe, which was an interesting clothing choice for a BDSM resort. Then again, she might just be protecting her skin. She looked to be just a fair-skinned as Caleb himself, except without the freckles.

When Maggie and JJ were out of sight, she turned to him.

“Seems we’ve been abandoned.” Her voice was smooth and sexy and amused.

Caleb put a foot on the side of the boat and reached out a hand. “Allow me.”

Gracefully, she put her hand in his, took a step up onto the dock, and promptly caught her heel and went down hard on one knee. Luckily, Caleb’s grip prevented her from actually hitting the ground, but it looked like her ankle twisted quite painfully. Caleb swept her into his arms and strode down the dock to a bench where he sat her down gently.

Carefully, he eased the shoe off her foot. It didn’t seem to be swelling. Rotating it gently, he could feel her wince, but she didn’t try to pull away.

“I don’t think it’s broken. I’d like a better look, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” He stood up. “But I can’t believe JJ let you on his boat wearing those things. He’s too professional for that.”

“It’s not JJ’s fault. He made me take them off for the ride. I slipped them back on just after we docked. Turns out they were safe on the boat. It’s dry land that I can’t walk on.”

On impulse, he swept her into his arms. “In that case, we’d better take no chances until I’ve had a chance to do a proper examination.”

She grinned, and it totally transformed her face. He wasn’t sure why he thought she was plain before. The brilliant blue eyes and her wide grin were infectious. She
was
beautiful. And his cock certainly thought so which surprised him greatly. He hadn’t been with a woman beyond some youthful experimentation, but there was something about the delicate bundle in his arms that made him both want to protect her and to spank her ass until it was a glowing pink and she was screaming for him to fuck her. Maybe it was the way she looked at him with complete trust, or maybe it was the way she wrapped her arms around his neck which pressed her small breasts against his chest, or maybe that bang on the head had been worse than they’d thought. He’d had a mild concussion from hitting the ground hard after getting shot. It shouldn’t have caused anything worse than a mild headache, but here he was, for the first time in his life, really aroused by a woman. What else could it be? His brains were definitely scrambled.

He shifted her higher in his arms so she wouldn’t feel his clearly very sexually confused and aroused cock.

“Are you a doctor?” she asked mildly, clearly not bothered at all to be in his arms.

“I am.”

“Then I’m all yours!”

Chapter Two

Jen relaxed in the strong arms of the man carrying her down the dock when she realized that she didn’t even know his name.

I’m Jen Smith, unemployed lawyer.

“Caleb McKenna, doctor. I’d shake your hand, but mine are full right now.”