Gaby stared at the computer in front of her, but all she could see was Cal’s face. He’d looked incredibly sincere when he’d turned and told her he’d always loved her. He’d looked like a man who’d just figured something important out and knew the revelation had come too late.

And it was too late. Wasn’t it? She couldn’t go back to the way things were. Cal couldn’t change.

Except he’d left his work behind to pursue her. Never once had he done that before. Work was everything to him. And he’d explained his past with Cassie. The past had been off limits. A no-go zone.

And he’d tried to get her to marry him and told her he loved her. All things he’d sworn he wouldn’t do.

How could he possibly blame himself for Cassie’s death? He’d been a child when they married. Their marriage had been marked with tragedy. Losing a child the way they had, it broke many marriages. He had to be able to see that it wasn’t his fault. Cassie had retreated, and Cal had taken control. Gaby had no doubt that if Cassie hadn’t gotten into a car that night, she would have sought help before letting Cal leave her. Cassie’s dying wish had been one of a desperate woman. He couldn’t be held to it.

Her heart ached at the thought of Cal thinking he was faithless when he was simply human. He deserved the chance to love again, to make another life.

To stand beside the woman he loved and help her through the worst of all times.

In sickness and in health. They hadn’t been married, hadn’t made vows, but she knew what she would have done if it had been him.

Had she taken his rights away because she’d wanted to spare him pain or because she’d been afraid?

Or had there been something more?

“Gaby?”

Gaby looked up to see her admin nervously poking her head in the door.

“I didn’t want to disturb you, but we got these contracts in and I thought you should see them.”

She waved her admin off. She couldn’t think about work right now. “Call Cody. Have him take a look. I think I’m going to take the rest of the day off.”

She would go to the beach and sit. She would think about what she’d done and honestly figure out the whys. It seemed simple in the moment, but nothing about a real relationship was simple. Love was complex and difficult. It was about more than three little words. It was about actions. His. Hers.

Jackie vigorously shook her head. “No. It’s about you. That man who was in here, he signed over his part of the resort to you. You now own twenty-five percent of this place.”

What? The world seemed to still as she tried to process. He’d done that for her? He’d given up the one piece on the board he could hold over her head?

Maybe he was done and he didn’t want to bother anymore.

God, where had that cynicism come from? It wasn’t her and she had to stop putting it on him. Yes, he’d said things that were horrible, but then she looked at what he’d actually done.

What if this was a simple gift from a broken, loving Master? From a Master who couldn’t perform his duties, who couldn’t serve his purpose anymore? He could give her something to protect her. He could give her something to lift her up.

Tears pooled in her eyes. What was she doing? Was she really going to let him walk out because she was afraid? And what exactly was she afraid of? That Cal would take one look at her and reject her because she had some scars?

Jackie placed the papers on her desk and then seemed to understand she needed to be alone. The door closed, and she looked down at what Callum had given her. He’d given her what a true Dom should. He’d given her what she needed—control. Cal thought she needed this place and to be in control of her future. She’d told him as much.

But what she hadn’t said was that she really needed him.

Letting her head fall into her hands, she wept. She wept for what she’d lost. She wouldn’t breastfeed her children. She wouldn’t feel Cal’s lips tug on her nipples again. She’d lost her mother at the age of forty-two to the same disease that ravaged her body. She cried for that. She cried because she should have been brave enough to tell Callum what she needed. She should have stayed and fought with everything she had.

After a long while, she looked up at the clock. It was late morning. She shot out of her chair. Almost noon. She would miss his boat. She left the papers on her desk and ran out of the office, her legs sprinting. She ran past the lobby and out toward the dock just in time to see the boat headed for Freeport take off.

Too late.

Ten minutes later, she made her way back into the resort and headed for her room. She’d tried, but they wouldn’t turn the boat back. She’d thought briefly about swimming but figured that only worked in the movies. She would have to suck it up and take the next boat out. She would get on a plane and fly to Fort Worth. She wasn’t going to let him get away from her again. She would find him and tell him.

I love you, too. I loved you from the moment I saw you. I knew you. I won’t ever leave you again.

Resolute, she made her way to her suite. She would pack and be ready for the next ferry out.

She stopped, and her mouth dropped open at the scene that greeted her when she entered her bedroom with every intention of packing her belongings. There was a naked man bound on her bed. His muscular body was tied to the headboard and footboard. He looked delicious spread out on her sheets, his tanned skin contrasting with the stark white of her bedding. He was laid out, a feast for her delectation.

“Cal? You didn’t leave?” She gasped the question, almost not believing her eyes.

His head came up. For the first time in their relationship, she found Cal was hesitant, nervous even. His gorgeous face with his perfectly square jaw was open to her. His dark eyes took her in, and he licked his lips with a nervous swipe of his tongue.

“I know I said I would, but Gabrielle, I have to try everything. I want to be with you. I couldn’t leave until I was sure I’d done everything I could to make it all up to you.” He inclined his head to the table by the bed. “There’s a gag over there if you want it. I thought it might be uncomfortable, so I had Cody leave it out.”

She stared. She found herself quite unable to move. “Cody did this?”

“Well, pet, I am very talented when it comes to bondage, but I’m afraid I am not capable of tying myself up.”

“And he left you?” A Dom never left a bound sub alone. Anything could happen.

A flush crept across Cal’s skin. “He fought me on that. My lovely pet, I am willing to do many things to win you back. Sitting here naked with your gay nurse reading the latest Us Weekly is not one of them. I need to maintain some semblance of dignity.”

He was spread eagle across her fluffy white comforter, next to a tray of sex toys. She felt a smile cross her face. If he had any dignity left, she wasn’t sure where it was. But she was sure of one thing. “You love me.”

All hesitancy left his face. He turned very serious. “I love you, Gabrielle. I don’t know how good I am at it, though. It might not be worth much.”

A slow happiness built in her veins. Her big, strong Dom was submitting to her. It was more than she would have imagined Cal could give. This went against his very nature, and yet he had done it for her. In her dreams, she’d imagined him on one knee telling her how much she meant to him. But this was Callum. This was more romantic than a thousand roses. “Hush, now, sub. I’ll tell you when you can talk.”

His eyes flared, and it looked like he was going to tell her what she could do with her command. She gave him a moment, and his mouth closed.

“Very good, sub.” Starting at his toes, she let her fingers trail up the firm muscles of his leg. The skin was smooth, and the dark hair on it felt crisp under her hand. “You’re quite a pretty submissive. I wonder what I should do with you. Oh, my, this is a lovely bounty you have here.”

She stared down at his cock. It swelled before her eyes. It had gotten hard the minute she touched him, but now it was reaching the epic proportions she was used to. She cupped his balls, and a pearly drop wept from the tip of his erection. She rolled his balls gently in the palm of her hand. A fine bead of sweat broke out on his forehead.

Gaby grinned. She knew exactly what he was feeling. He wanted to toss her on the bed, force her legs apart, and shove that big dick as far into her pussy as it would go. He wanted to fuck her so hard she would never forget who her Master was. Unfortunately, this was her show, and she planned to play it up before she ceded control again for good.

She looked over at the toys on the table. A bounty of pleasures and she was the Mistress of them all. Actually, she could get used to this. Cody had done a wonderful job. He’d left her with many toys to use on a poor bound submissive. There was a nice-sized vibrator and something else that caught her eye—a plastic plug. She was smiling as she picked up the vibe. She turned it on and sank to the bed next to Cal. He moaned when she used the vibrating cock as a wand, rubbing it over his own weeping cock. Tied up as he was, Cal could do nothing except twist and writhe.

“That’s an impressive array of toys, my sub.” She let the vibe rub all along his skin. Cal’s head fell back. His eyes closed as a low moan rumbled from his chest. He was obviously drowning in sensation, and she suddenly understood why he loved to torture her. He was beautiful like this. Every muscle in his body was tense, his face tight. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were glazed with passion. She was giving this to him. It made her feel powerful, but there was also a sweet warmth to it. “Do you like this, sub?”

His head came up. There was a fire in his eyes as he pulled at his restraints. He would never be able to completely submit. He would be a good boy for now, but there would be hell to pay later. Her pussy wept at the thought of Cal’s revenge. “You’re going to kill me, Gabrielle.”

“Gabrielle?” She mimicked Cal’s arrogant Dom tone.

A little grin crossed his face. “Mistress.”

“Better.” His cock was straining. The vein that ran on the underside was pulsing. He was getting close, and that just wouldn’t do. She pulled the vibrator away. Her sweet, arrogant sub groaned in frustration. “Not yet, sub.”

She picked up another toy. It was a very flexible toy that tapered on one end and on the other end had a bulbous head to keep it locked inside the wearer. She knew it well. “A butt plug, Cal? Seriously? You want to walk around with a plug up your ass?”

“No, Gabrielle…Mistress.” He seemed flustered. His hips pumped up as though his cock longed for the touch of the vibe again. “I think it sounds perfectly dreadful, but I’m willing to take it if it pleases you.”

She straddled him, rubbing her core against his straining cock. Even through the fabric of her shorts, she could feel how hard he was. She rubbed her clit along his dick and sighed at the sensation. She leaned forward and shook that little piece of plastic in his face. She came out of her mistress role for a moment. “This is tiny, Cal. This is half the size of what you lovingly shove up my ass on a regular basis.”

His voice came out in breathless pants. “That is exactly the size I started you on, pet. I worked you up to a larger size so you could gradually accommodate this.”

He pushed up against her, leaving no doubt as to what he meant.

“You know this is very good therapy for us. I’m beginning to understand why you love this. You love being able to watch me, to know you’re the one making me moan and groan and that I wouldn’t do it for anyone else.”

His eyes flared. “Then know that I’m beginning to understand you, too. You love this because you trust me like no one else. Because no one on earth makes you feel as vulnerable as I can and as powerful, too.”

“Then we, my love, are making some serious headway because I never thought we could do this, could understand each other on this level. I thank you for this gift.” She tossed the plug on the tray. She wasn’t about to use it on him, but there was something he might enjoy. She leaned across him and picked up the lube. She coated her hands and then kneeled between his bound legs. She had read about this, but this was the first time she was in a position to try it. She winked at him as she leaned over and very deliberately licked from the base of his cock to the head. Cal’s breath came out as a long hiss.

“Relax, love.”

She leaned forward and took the head of Cal’s cock in her mouth, teasing it lightly. While she ran her tongue all along the head, Gaby very gently parted the muscled cheeks of his ass. She licked the slit of his cock, sucking lightly to draw out the salty essence. While Cal moaned and strained, she started to work her middle finger into Cal’s tight asshole.

“Gabrielle!”

She looked up as Cal squirmed. She remembered all the times they had played Master and slave games. She knew exactly what to say to him. “You hold still. This is my plaything to do with as I like. Your cock is mine. Your ass is mine, too. If I want to fuck your ass with my fingers, then I will. Unless you want to use your safe word. Just say ‘red,’ and I’ll stop.”

His face turned very stubborn, his sensual lips forming a flat line. He stopped moving, and his head found the pillow again. He seemed to try to relax. She licked his cock like a lollipop. Her tongue curled around the ridge where the head met the thick stalk of his dick. All the while, she teased her finger into his tight hole. His anus resisted, trying to push her out. She rimmed the rigid hole with her well-lubed finger and pressed in. Cal groaned when she finally pushed past his initial resistance and sank in. She sucked at her treat and twisted her finger deep inside his ass.

It was time to give her Master the ride of his life.

 

* * * *

 

Cal strained against the ropes. Cody had been right about his skill with the bondage arts. The restraints were perfectly tied to hold him but keep the circulation flowing. It was too perfect. He wished the nurse had proven a bit looser in his habits. Then he could pull his hands out and do what he wanted. He could take Gabrielle, throw her on her hands and knees, and fuck her like the animal he felt like. He needed her on a primal level. He’d been insane with the need to get inside her since she walked in the door and he’d realized she wasn’t walking back out.

But then, no. Like she’d said, they needed this. They needed to understand each other, and this exercise put him in the position to do exactly that. He hoped he looked down at her like she was staring at him. When she was bound for his pleasure, he prayed he looked at her with the same wonder and lust and love she’d shown him. He felt frustrated and cherished and adored.

It was a gift to see things through her eyes.

Her mouth closed over his cock and sucked him deep. His cock was enveloped in the heat of her. Just as he adjusted to the feel of her sucking around him, she twisted the finger she’d shoved up his ass. It burned, and then she found some spot deep inside of him that made him twist, trying to get her to hit it again.

Prostate. Cal found the word he was looking for. It helped keep him from exploding in her mouth. His balls felt like they were about to explode. He couldn’t, wouldn’t come until she’d given him permission. He tried to concentrate on the foreign sensation.

He’d been shocked when she’d first done it. He wanted to protest, but a part of him was intrigued, too. He’d only explored a part of his sexuality. His role had been very rigid up until now, but she was opening it up for him with every pass of that curious finger of hers. That little finger fucked in and out of his anus. She pressed deep and then dragged slowly back out. He shuddered as nerves he’d never known he had came roaring to life. There was so much more he and Gabrielle had to explore if he would open himself to it.

She swirled his cock in her mouth as she massaged a second finger deep into his ass. He nearly cried out. His whole body was ready to detonate, but he knew the game. She was going to torture him, and he was going to take it. She wasn’t going to make it easy on him. She dragged her fingers over the nub of his prostate, and he thought he was going to scream. Between the softness of her mouth and the biting edge of her finger, he was losing the battle to not come.

Cal watched her head move up and down on his cock. Over and over again, she sucked him down. His cock was so hard it was a deep purple as it sank into her mouth. She opened as wide as she could when she took him to that soft place in the back of her throat, but she was still small. He could feel the edge of her teeth lightly scraping as he bucked up into her. She paused above him, giving him a wicked smile.

“Do you want to come, sub?”

“Please, Mistress.” He was past caring what she called him. If he’d been able, he would have pleaded on his hands and knees. He just wanted to release the tension. He wanted to flood her mouth and watch her drink him down.

A brilliant smile crossed her beautiful face. “Then come for me, Callum.”

Her mouth sucked him down with sexy greed. He watched his cock disappear, felt her tongue roll. He hissed as she rubbed the nub of his prostate, and he couldn’t hold back. His balls drew up, and he shot off like a rocket. He sighed and writhed as every bit of semen he had flowed from his cock into her sweet mouth. She pulled her finger out and concentrated on licking him clean. He wanted so badly to tangle his hands in her hair, to whisper how much she pleased him.

Instead, she gave his softening cock one last lick and then moved up his prone body. She loomed over him, a dreamy look on her face. She seemed utterly satisfied, and he knew he’d given her something special.

He’d given them something special—the chance to see life, to see their love through each other’s eyes. He’d thought this was a desperate play to get her back, but it proved to be what he needed to see her, really see her as the beautiful partner she was to him. They didn’t need rigid rules. They could move fluidly, each strengthening the other because they had been born to lift each other up.

His sub. His wife. The other half of his soul.

“Thank you, sub.” She leaned down and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was brief and sweet. She reached up and began pulling at his bindings. “Now, I would like my sweet Master back.”

He felt satiated, but far from satisfied. When she’d undone his bindings, he rolled on top of her, crushing her small form beneath his own. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her soundly. Her mouth opened under his. He tangled his tongue with hers, tasting his own salty flavor.

“I love you, Gabrielle. Can you forgive me?” He looked down into her serious gray-green eyes. She slowly pushed up against him, her hands small on his chest. Cal took his weight off her. He rolled onto his back as she got up off the bed. Her face was solemn, and his heart skipped a beat as her fingers undid the top button of her shirt.

He held his breath. He wasn’t worried about what he would see. He knew exactly what she’d gone through on a surgical level. He’d studied up on the protocols for dealing with a cancer like hers and understood what had happened. But he knew how hard it was for her to do this and gave it all the weight it deserved.

Slowly, she pulled the shirt off. She was wearing a pale pink bra beneath it. He could see her hands shaking as she reached around to undo the clasp. His first instinct was to do it for her, but he held back. His Gabrielle was very strong. She needed to do this for herself. The bra slipped from her hands, and Cal smiled.

“Oh, baby, you’re beautiful.” He meant it. There were scars. They began under her armpits and curved around her chest. Though the plastic surgeon had been very skilled, there was no question her chest had suffered a horrible trauma. Livid, raised lines crossed her body, and where her nipples used to be, there was only a flat patch of brownish skin. To Cal, they were lovely. It meant she was alive. They would stand on her body, forever a testament to her will to survive.

Cal sat up on the side of the bed. He drew her in between his legs. She was petite, so his head was in the perfect position to play with her breasts. He traced each puckered scar with his fingers, learning the feel of them. He let his hand find her “nipples.” They were really just circles of a rosy brown color. They didn’t react to touch or tighten when the air got cool. He couldn’t clamp them or pinch them between his thumb and forefinger. Those nipples were nothing more than a simple tattoo, and yet they seemed like a magnificent work of art. He kissed them tenderly.

“Cal, I can’t feel it.” She sounded disappointed and a bit apologetic.

“But I can.” She needed to understand he would still find pleasure in her breasts because they were a part of her. Every part and piece of her was a pleasure to him, a gift.

She sighed, and her hands found his hair. He kissed along one and then the other breast, pushed them up so he could lay kisses along the scars underneath. He reveled in the warmth of her skin and the smell of her body.

He looked up at her, one hand between her breasts. “This has always been my favorite part of you, Gabrielle. That is never going to change.”

She smiled at him with watery eyes. “Thank you, but it’s okay. I know how different they are.”

“There’s no difference at all.” He kissed the flesh in the middle of her chest. “I was talking about your heart, Gabrielle.”

His arms wound around her and pulled her down into his embrace. He flipped her underneath his body and made a place for himself at her core. His cock was already hard again. He would never get used to how much he wanted her. He kissed her like he’d wanted to for almost a year. His tongue mated with hers wildly, showing her what he wanted to do. He fought to pull her shorts down and rid her of the panties he fully intended to burn once their relationship was on a proper footing. He tossed them off the bed. There was no chance that she would need clothes again this day. He came up for air. There was one thing they needed to get straight.

“This does mean you’ll marry me, right?”

There was a distinctly sly smile on her face. “I don’t recall being asked. I recall a very arrogant man telling me I would marry him and follow him back to Fort Worth. The only trouble with that is now I seem to have come into a little property.”

He groaned. He’d made a monster. “We’ll stay here as long as you like, but I’ll need to set up an office. Greg is my biggest client. I can do most of his work from here.”

She looked very surprised. “Cal, I was joking. I’ll come back.”

“I think you need to be here for a while. It’s peaceful. Do you love it here?” He smoothed back her hair, and the glow in her face answered his question.

She nodded. “But not more than I love you.”

“Then, Gabrielle Sullivan, will you marry me?” He grinned down at her. Finally, she was where she belonged, beneath him, grounding him. “You know I don’t like to hear no from my pretty little sub.”

She moved restlessly against him. He could feel how wet she was. He slid his cock all over her pussy, gliding easily around the juicy flesh. “Yes, Callum.”

He pushed her legs apart and slammed home. This was what he missed. He shoved his cock in until his balls slapped at her ass and held himself there. Her pussy clenched around him, a tight vise on his flesh. Her hands dug into his ass. He slipped his hand in between them and toyed with her clit. “Do you want to come, my sub?”

“Oh, yes, Cal.”

He pinched down firmly, making her writhe around him. “What do you call me?”

“Master. Yes, Master.”

He started thrusting into his gorgeous submissive. He reared back and slammed home. He reveled in their connection. “Master in the bedroom, Gabrielle. Husband everywhere else. Partners always.”

Her face flushed. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and her ankles locked at his waist. He stroked her clit again, and she came. He felt every little muscle in her cunt start to milk his cock. It was too delicious to deny. He thrust in one last time and gave over. She gasped and whimpered as he came inside her. When he was completely drained, he fell on her, withholding none of his weight.

“Cal.” She sounded a little panicked. “Oh, Cal, I’m not on anything. I’m not on any birth control.”

He hugged her tightly to him. Now it was his turn to be brave. “I know. I want to have a family with you. Just understand when I’m unsettled.”

Her smile was brilliant. “I’ll be with you. I’ll be with you all the way.”

He rolled her on the bed. She wouldn’t leave again. If she did, he would be right there, running after her. “Of that I have no doubt.”

Cal kissed his bride-to-be and started the process all over again.