Shannon hesitantly approached, reaching into her bucket as if going for a rag. She grasped the wrench firmly, watching him with sidelong glances. As soon as he looked away, she swung with all her might. The thud of the heavy metal against his jaw stunned him and his head whipped around. His hand jerked reflexively as he toppled over, and his finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. The report was deafening as it resounded through the small cabin, followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor.
* * *
From their vantage point in the parking lot, they watched the crowded marina. Yachts of various sizes filled every available slip. After nightfall, there was little activity except for the occasional vessel returning from an evening cruise. Very few people were about, and Gideon could barely make out the black clad swat team that was searching boats throughout the marina. Gideon sighed in frustration as he waited, impatiently needing something to happen. Rife with vexation, his nerves were on edge as he thought of the time it would take to check the nearly two hundred boats docked at the yacht club. What if he had guessed wrong and Reynolds was at one of the other marinas?
Unable to sit idly by, he exited the rental car. As soon as he stepped onto the asphalt, a gunshot rang out across the water. His eyes anxiously followed the dozens of police as they descended on a medium sized boat located halfway down the main dock.
His feet moved of their own accord, pounding across the pavement with solid thuds until he got to the wooden boards. He’d taken no more than two steps onto the floating platform when he saw her. A female officer guided her down the footbridge from the boat, an arm wrapped around her hunched shoulders. She seemed to be walking fine and under her own power. He sent off a prayer of thanks as he sprinted forward.
“Shannon!” he shouted as he rushed forward, slipping by officers who tried to restrain him and dodging bystanders who had exited their boats after hearing the commotion. He reached her in seconds and pulled her into his arms. “Thank God, you’re all right. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you or hold you again.”
“Please, Gid, tell me Eli’s okay.”
“He is safe at home with Betsy, but worried half to death about you.”
His hands instinctively caressed her, checking her everywhere. When his hands grazed her hips and lower back, he felt her tense against him. Her sharp cry made him reflexively react, bringing her closer as his hands tightened around her. Finally, he realized it had been a cry of pain and he pulled away, searching her face in concern. “My God, your face, what did that bastard do to you?”
“He slapped me hard—right across my cheek bone—and then he punched me, even harder and I blacked out. Then he whipped me, Gid. My whole body aches, but my head, it really hurts.” As her hand went to her temple, she grazed the large bruise swelling near her eye and cringed in pain.
Gideon’s mouth fell open in shock. The son of a bitch had beaten her senseless. He’d kill him! Gideon knew that it was not just a platitude or him blowing off steam. He would absolutely kill Ray Reynolds with his bare hands if he ever got the chance—he felt that much rage.
“Are you cut, honey?”
She shook her head as she let out a shuddering sob. “I didn’t take the time to look. He used a riding crop on my bottom and hip, Gid.” As she spoke, she swayed unsteadily in his arms. He suspected she was going into shock and he knew he needed to get her some medical treatment. Who knew what else the fucker had done to her in the eight interminable hours she’d been held hostage.
The police woman heard all of it and said from Shannon’s side, “We’ve got paramedics standing by, sir.”
Gid acknowledged her with a short nod, scooping Shannon carefully into his arms, one placed up high on her back to support her shoulders, the other slipping behind her knees, away from the injuries on her backside. “Hold on tight to me, baby. Let’s get you seen to.”
He carried her swiftly toward the parking lot. His lips pressed against her temple, whispering words of love and comfort while his eyes searched for the ambulance. Finding it parked off to the side where it had unfettered access to the exit, he veered to the right off the dock, heading straight for the uniformed EMTs who were unloading a stretcher from the back of the rig. Gid set her down carefully on her side, giving them a quick run-down of her injuries. .
“She was assaulted. She’s got a head wound and the prick whipped her with a crop.” He took in the horrified faces of the paramedics, who only hesitated a moment before carefully setting to work. She clung tightly to his hand, refusing to let go for vital signs, offering her other arm instead.
“Let’s load her up. We’ll need to get her jeans off to see what we’re dealing with. Sir, you can follow behind in your vehicle. We’ll be going to County General.”
“No!” Shannon clutched his hand as they wheeled her away, begging him to stay with her. “Gid, please don’t leave me!”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry but—” the male paramedic began, but his partner shook her head.
“She’s shook up and panicky, Lance. I’m letting him ride along.”
Gid smiled his gratitude at the female paramedic, not knowing how Shannon would have handled a separation. The death grip she had on his hand told him not well. She was soon loaded into the ambulance. Gid was relieved when Lance got into the cab to transport them to the ER.
The woman, named Beth according to her name tag, went to work on Shannon immediately. She hooked her up to a heart monitor and connected the hose on the blood pressure cuff to another machine.
“I need to get these jeans off you, Shannon,” Beth spoke softly as she eyed her jeans. “It will be much less painful if I cut them off you.”
“Do it,” Gid answered for her. “She’s in enough pain as it is.”
She easily cut one pant leg up the side and peeled the material back, exposing a six inch long welt on Shannon’s right buttocks. The surrounding skin inflamed and discolored in deep shades of purple and red. The other leg went as quickly and exposed another identical wound on her other cheek.
Beth cleaned them gently and applied a soothing ointment usually reserved for burns, the anesthetic effect making Shannon’s initial hiss of pain change to a sigh of relief. “Evil fuck,” she muttered under her breath, but Gid heard and nodded his agreement. “Let me look at your head, sweetie.”
“Wait, there’s another in front.” Shannon’s voice was weak and pain-filled.
Gid growled a low obscenity along the same lines as Beth’s earlier curse. They both carefully rolled her over, exposing another inflamed weal, longer and deeper than the other two, across her right hip and lower abdomen. “I’m so sorry, baby. I should have guessed he’d go off like this. He got more unpredictable as the days passed.”
“How could you know he’d do something like this, Gid? He was a prick of monumental proportions, I’ll grant you that, but he’d never been violent like this.” She looked up at him, tears of pain mixed with love for him clear in her eyes. “What happened to him, anyway?”
“I didn’t even stick around to find out. I was more worried about you.”
“Our call said two victims, a gunshot wound—non-fatal, and another with unknown injuries. That unknown was you, sweetie, so the asshole perp will probably survive.”
“I hope he suffers. That gunshot wound was self-inflicted, by the way. He shot himself when I hit him in the face with a wrench. He fell on top of me, and I landed on my butt. The pain was so bad I passed out until the officers pulled him off me.” She shuddered. “I’d like to get a shower and wash his stink off of me.”
It took a moment for Shannon to realize that both Gid and Beth were staring at her, jaws agape, incredulous expressions on their faces.
“Holy hell, Shannon! You hit an armed man in the face with a wrench?”
“It was either that or let him keep hitting me with that evil crop. I had to do something, Gid.”
Dropping his head to her shoulder, he squeezed her hand. It was his turn to hold onto her like a lifeline.
“Are you okay, Gid?”
“No! I can’t get the image of you bloody and dead from a gunshot wound out of my head.”
“I’m okay though, honey. That makes it over and done, right?”
He raised his head and looked at her. By the worried look on her face, he knew she was talking about personal repercussions for her actions. Never had a spanking even entered his mind.
“Yes, it’s over.” As Beth dug through her kit for more bandage supplies, he leaned close and whispered in her ear. “Your poor bottom has nothing to fear from me for a very long time. I promise you that. I’m also hiring you a bodyguard. I was working on that this afternoon when I got the call.”
“Is that necessary, Gideon? With Ray in custody, it’s over isn’t it?” She sucked in a breath as Beth swabbed her hip laceration with something cold and stingy.
“After today, I’m surprised you have to ask.”
Beth looked at him all of a sudden, “You’re Gideon Eli, aren’t you?” She asked this in awe, recognition finally dawning. “When she said your full name just now…” With exacting detail, she continued to work as she spoke. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Thank you.”
Shannon sighed with relief. Beth was the kind of fan she liked to see, not those pushy college girls. She couldn’t see Beth flashing her boobs and fawning all over him. “I like you, Beth. Too bad all his girl fans aren’t normal like you.”
The rig turned into the hospital’s emergency entrance where they were met by a crowd of reporters, camera crews, and groupies. When Lance opened the back doors to unload her, flash bulbs went off, and people began screaming questions. Gid and Shannon both groaned. When some girls in the back started shrieking Gideon’s name, Shannon said to a stunned Beth, “See what I mean?”
At that moment, Justin, Sticks, and Johnny came up, and along with Gid, they formed a tall, manly wall around the stretcher. Acting as a privacy barrier, they protected Shannon from curious eyes and intrusive camera lenses as they, along with Beth and Lance, rolled her into the hospital ER.
Epilogue
Feeling like she was floating, she beamed happily up at her new husband as he carried her across their honeymoon suite and laid her gently on the plush, king sized bed. Shannon didn’t get a chance to look around before his mouth came down to claim hers. The kiss was passionate but brief before Gid sat up and reached for a remote on the nightstand. Shannon watched in amazement as the drapes along the opposite wall opened to reveal a magnificent view of the Vegas strip against the lavender night sky. Sitting up, she gazed in awe at the glittering sprays of water shooting skyward from the famous Bellagio fountains.
“Oh, Gid, the fountain and the view are spectacular.”
“I’d say breathtaking, myself.”
As she turned to look at him relaxing on the pillows, she noticed his gaze was fixed solely on her. Gideon was paying no heed to the impressive water and light show outside their window. “You’ve seen this before, huh?”
His arm swept around her and he pulled her down beside him. “We can look at the fountain later. I want you now, Mrs. McCord. “
Agreeing without reservation, Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as their lips locked, tongues entwining in a dance every bit as wondrous as the dancing water stories below.
“Shouldn’t we close the drapes? I feel like I’m in a fishbowl.”
“Nonsense. We’re on the top floor of the tallest building around. No one will see us.”
Gid’s hands busily unzipped her silky white dress and pulled it down her arms. At his urgent command of “lift up”, Shannon bridged her hips, allowing him to sweep the dress down her legs and from her body. She was left in her sexy, white lace bridal lingerie, a gift from Roxie.
“Hot damn, baby doll, those are the sexiest undies I’ve ever seen.”
His eager hands swept over her, paying close attention to the lace covered areas. His long forefinger traced the upper edges of the demi-cup lace bra. It was cut so low that the upper halves of her areolas were revealed. As he caressed and stroked her skin, her nipples hardened and peeked over the top of the lace. Shannon purred with excitement, gasping for breath as his hand glided over her stomach to the white lace that rode low across her hips.
“A peek-a-boo bra, garter belt, and sheer, white stockings—it’s a good thing I didn’t know what you had on under your dress. I would have passed out due to blood loss from my brain.” His hand dipped between her thighs, seeking and finding her swollen clit as it pressed fervently against the thin, lacy layer. He soon discovered that he could remove her panties without taking off her garter and stockings and started tugging them down.
“The garter and stockings stay on. You look incredibly hot this way.”
Impatiently, Gid removed the last barrier between her pussy and his hands, eyes, and lips. Popping open the front hook bra, he pushed aside the cups and bared her breasts for his mouth. Drawing a taut nipple between his lips, he nibble and sucked while his hand teased her other breast. His free hand found the wetness between her thighs and played along the silky smooth folds of her pussy.
“I’m sorry, honey, but I have to have you now.” The next second, he was spreading her wide and gliding into her slickness, sinking into her enveloping heat. They both groaned. Shannon clutched his shoulder and knew that Gideon was ignoring the bite of her nails as they curled into him. Hungrily, he drove into her, his length sinking in fully with that one stroke. As she whimpered uncontrollably, her mouth opened and she began gasping for breath. He dipped his head to take her open mouth, urgently kissing her soft swollen lips.
“I can’t hold off any longer,” he growled. “I don’t want to come without you, though. Are you with me, baby?”
She didn’t have to answer that fervid question, because she groaned and convulsed around him. Her passionate release squeezing him tight and sending him hurtling over the top in an equally intense orgasm.
Collapsing beside her, he curled his arm around her waist, pulling her close while they both captured their breath. “Sorry for the quickie, but I’ve been thinking of that all day and I was kind of wired on a hair trigger.”