Savior (An Impossible Novel) (24 page)

He touched his fingers gently to my throat, tracing the li
ne of the bright red stripe Greg’s arm had left behind.  His hand that wasn’t touching me was clenched into a fist at his side.

“I can’t believe
he did this to you,” he ground out.  “When I find him…”

“What?!”
  I asked alarmed.  “You mean you don’t know where he is?  I thought you had people following him!”

Clayton looked slightly pained.  “That’s the problem, Rose.  He
knew
we were following him.  Apparently he’s sharper than we gave him credit for.  He figured out how to evade us.  We gave him a cell phone with GPS tracking, but he’s ditched it.  Smith is looking for him now.”  He squeezed my hand, trying to reassure me.  “We know he’s going to go looking for a fix, and we know where he’s been meeting the Kings.  We’ll stake out the area and see if he goes there.  In the meantime, Smith is going to be checking elsewhere.  We’re not going to give up on him, Rose.”  His expression hardened.  “Not that I’m not tempted to after what he’s done to you, but I swore to you that I would protect him.  I’m not going to back out on that.”

I hadn’t wanted to cry – I was sick to death of crying – but Clayton’s solemn promise made me break down.  He wrapped his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin as I pressed my face into his chest.

“I’m scared, Clayton,” I admitted, my voice wavering.

His arms tightened around me as his muscles tensed.  “We’ll get a restraining order against him until he’s gotten clean, Rose.  I won’t let him come near you again.  You’re not leaving my sight until this whole mess is behind us.”

“No,” I clarified.  “I’m not afraid of Greg.  I know he didn’t mean to hurt me.  I’m afraid he’s going to die.”

Clayton pulled ba
ck from me slightly so my eyes could meet his.  When he spoke, his voice was tight with suppressed violence.  “I don’t care if he meant to or not.  I’m not letting him anywhere near you.”

I sighed heavily, accepting that Clayton’s protection was probably the best thing for me right now.  “Greg will be angry with you for keeping me away from him.  He’ll be angry with me for choosing to be with you.  He accused me of loving you more than I love him.  That’s not true.”  A sudden realization struck me, an absolute truth that had been hiding in the recesses of my mind until that mo
ment.  “But I…  I do think I love you, Clayton.”

He took my face in both of his hands, and his eyes burned down into mine with a raw ferocity that took my breath away.  “I
know
I love you, Rose.”

I gasped as the power of the words washed over me.  They had never felt so right when spoken from anyone else’s lips.  “I love you too,” I said fervently, fully committing to my declaration.  “It’s a different love than what I have for Greg, but it’s just as strong.  I don’t think I could live without either of you.  Hell, I was barely functioning when I met you.  But you saw something in me that I had never been able to see.”  My smile was lopsided.  “And you were every bit as ruthless as I needed you to be in forcing me to acknowledge it.”

Something sparked in Clayton’s eyes.  “Speaking of my ruthlessness, I think you’re ready to hear something.  I’ve been putting off telling you because I was worried you would get scared and pull away from me.  Here.”  He reached into his jacket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope.

Having no clue as to what was going on, I took it from him with slightly trembl
ing fingers.  If he thought this was something scary enough that it would make me want to run from him, then I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it.  When I unfolded the envelope, I saw my name on it, but it had been sent to Clayton’s address.  I looked at him quizzically.  What the hell had he done?

“Open it,” he ordered.

The seal had already been broken, and I shot him a reproving look.  He was changing my address
and
opening my mail?  It seemed we needed to have another talk about boundaries.

As soon as I pulled out the letter that was inside, my heart stopped when my eyes fell on the first few lines.

Dear Miss Baker,

Congratulations!  You have been accepted at the Fashion Institute of Technology!

A part of me was thrilled, overawed at the fact that FIT would ever accept me.  But mostly I was crestfallen.  And a little angry.  This was just too cruel.

“What is this, Clayton?”  I dem
anded stormily.  “You know I could never afford the tuition.  Are you trying to hurt me?”

To my amazement, he smiled at me.  “Keep reading.”

I glared at him for a moment longer before doing as he said.  As my eyes devoured the rest of the letter, my mouth fell open in shock.

“They…”  I began disbelievingly.  “They want to offer me a scholarship?  Why?  My grades were never all that stellar.”  I glanced down at the letter again.  “Wait.  It says here that they were impressed by my sketches.”  I fixed Clayton with a hard look.  “Explain,” I demanded tersely.

“Working for the FBI allowed me full access to your academic records and your social security number.  And I took pictures of your sketches one night after I fucked you senseless.  That was all the information I needed to submit your application.”

“Aren’t there some kind of laws against that?”  I demanded.

“Against fucking your brains out?  Not that I’m aware of.  And I’m pretty well-versed on the law.”

I rolled my eyes at him. 
“Against accessing my information like that without my consent!”  I clarified hotly.

He shrugged, not looking apologetic in the slightest.  “Homeland Security gives me a lot
of free rein.  I do believe Sharon warned you early on that I’m not above using underhanded tactics when it comes to getting what I want.  And what I want is for you to be happy.”  He was looking at me more seriously now.  “You shouldn’t have to put up with that haughty bitch at Ivory.  You deserve so much better than that, Rose.  You’re passionate and you’re talented.”

I bit my lip, hesitant to admit my fears.  “But what if I fail?”  I
asked, my voice small.

Worthless, useless.
  A disappointment.

My whole life, everyone had told me that I would never amount to anything.  The desire to try to succeed had been stamped out of me a long time ago.

Clayton tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair back from my face.  “Take the chance, Rose,” he urged.  “If you did fail, I would be there to catch you.  But you’re not going to.  I believe in you, Rose.  And it’s time you started believing in yourself.”

I looked at the letter again, longingly.  It was then that I noticed
the stipulation.  “It says I have to come for an interview before they’ll award me the scholarship.”

“I know,” Clayton said.  “And I’ve already informed them that you’ll be there.”

“But…  What if they don’t like me?  What if I’ve gotten so close and then this gets ripped away from me?”  That horrible prospect was too much for me to bear.  “I don’t want to go,” I said quietly.

Clayton gripped my chin firmly, and his eyes bored into mine, pinning me to the spot.  “You’re going, Rose. 
Even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming.  Although I’m pretty sure they won’t be so keen to accept you if you make a scene like that.”  He cocked his head, considering.  “But who knows?  Creative types can get away with being eccentric.”

I couldn’t believe
he was joking about this.  Was he really not going to give me the option of refusing?

No.  No, he wasn’t.  He wasn’t going to let me give up on myself.  And I loved him for that.  Suddenly, I saw a whole future opening up before me that I had never even dared to dr
eam up.  I could have a job I loved and a comfortable lifestyle.  And I could have Clayton.  It was better than anything I could have ever imagined before I had met him.

“I’ll go,” I whispered.  “Thank you.”

He shot me a cocky smile.  “I knew you’d come around to my way of thinking.  I’m always right, after all.”

I shot him a cutting look, but there was no real malice in it.  “In your opinion,” I amended for him.  “But I will concede that you were right this time,” I allowed.

He laughed.  “I can work with that.  For now.” 

His grin was positively devilish as he brought his lips down on mine.  My mouth clashed with his fiercely as I poured all of my gratitude and my love for him into the kiss.  He responded in kind, the possessive strokes of his tongue communicating his devotion to me.

I loved Clayton Vaughn.  And he loved me.  Nothing had ever been so right.

Chapter 16

I sighed happily into Clayton’s mouth as he gently pushed me back onto his mattress.  The feel of his skin against my naked body was delicious.  He had said he wasn’t going to let me out of his sight, and he meant it.  I didn’t mind one bit.

He gently brushed his lips across my injured throat, dulling the soft throbbing by awakening a wonderful tingling on my skin.

“How are you feeling?”  He asked, his voice filled with concern but his eyes clouded with lust.

I smiled up at him and twined my hands around the back of his neck.  “Terrible,” I answered.  “I think I need a good painkiller.”

He laughed softly.  “How can I deny you if you’re hurting?”

“You can’t,”
I teased.  “You want to make me happy, remember?”

His grin turned hard-edged, but his eyes were sparkling with amusement.  “You really are a devious little minx,” he accused.  “But I’m willing to let it slide for now, given your current condition.  In fact, I fully intend to make you so far gone that you’re incapable of feeling any pain.  Of course, getting you there will require me to inflict some pain.  But I think Smith helped you learn how to accept it.”  His voice turned low and rough.  “Would you like for me to push you, Rose?  If you agree now, know that I won’t hold back, and I won’t stop unless you use your safe word.”

I shuddered beneath him.  Yes, I wanted that more than anything.  Clayton had brought me mind-blowing pleasure, but I had never been pushed over the edge into subspace, that elusive, bliss-filled state I had yearned to reach for years.  I found I craved the pain he would give me if he could take me to that place.

“Yes,” I whispered my consent.  “I want that.  Please.”

“Address me properly,” he ordered.

“Please, Master.”  The honorific was a lustful moan as it sunk in that he really would show me no mercy.  He was in full Dom mode, and he was going to force me to take the pain, to embrace it as I fully surrendered my body and mind to his control.

At my pleading words, he was on me instantly, grabbing my shoulders and roughly flipping me over.  I heard his bedside drawer slide open, and I inhaled the scent of hemp just before the rope looped around my wrists, drawing tight and securing them at the small of my back.  Clayton’s fingers dug into my hips, pulling me up into a kneeling position, my ass in the air and my face pressed into the mattress.  Something clanked metallically, and Clayton forced my knees apart.  Cool air danced across my heated sex as he ensnared my ankles in leather cuffs.  Automatically, I tried to bring my legs back together in order to protect my most sensitive flesh, but the unyielding spreader bar that Clayton had secured to my ankles kept me fully exposed to him.

“Looks like someone’s been shopping,” I panted.

His rumbling chuckle drifted down to me and rippled lusciously across my skin.  “Yes,” he said.  “Smith helped me pick out a few things we thought would be good for you.”

Oh, God.  What had the experienced Dom convinced Clayton to purchase?  I squirmed uncomfortably, but I was thoroughly restrained.

Clayton’s actions answered my silent question.  Something hard was pressing against my lips, the pressure insistent and unyielding.  My mouth opened automatically, and the ball gag forced my jaw open as he buckled it firmly at the nape of my neck.  In the next instant, the world went black when he slipped a blindfold over my eyes.

I was completely powerless.  I couldn’t see, couldn’t speak,
couldn’t move.  All I could do was feel and listen to Clayton’s matter-of fact words.

“I’m going to hurt you now, Rose.  I w
ant you to welcome the pain I give you because it’s my will that you do so.  You don’t have any say in what’s going to happen to you; you have no choice but to accept it.  You are free from any responsibility because I am in control.  And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

My moan was half-frightened and half-lustful.  The sound of it being muffled by the gag only further stoked my desire.

I jumped slightly as I heard the sound of something heavy cutting through the air with an ominous
whooshing
noise.  The sound was familiar to me, and I whimpered as I realized that he was going to flog me.  And it was going to hurt.

The first punishing stroke drew a harsh, shocked cry from my throat as the leather tendrils slapped heavily across my ass.  My mind barely had ti
me to process the throbbing it elicited, inflicting a dull but insistent pain deep below the surface of my flesh.  But my lustful reaction was visceral and fierce as my inner muscles contracted in response, reveling in his dominance of my body.