Switched (19 page)

“Laura…” he started.

She gave him a silent glare, then spit
in face. “Rot in prison you fuck.”

Agent Salazar gently took her by the
elbow and pulled her away as they wheeled Victor toward the ambulance. He led
her back into the house. As they passed one of the SWAT guys he looked at Kali
and said, “Good job, Ma’am.”

She gave Salazar a puzzled look. “Good
job?”

“That little self-defense move not only
saved your life, but gave our snipers the shot they needed to take him down.
One bullet to the right shoulder,” Salazar even sounded a bit proud as he said
it.

An unbidden sigh of relief escaped her
lips, until she remembered that both Alexi and Brocco had been shot, too. “Did
he kill anyone or did the vests protect them?”

“They’re gonna be hurting for a few
days, but I think everyone is fine,” the agent assured her.

“Oh good. I want to get out of this
dress and back into my own clothes, and I need to get Amy,” she told him.

He nodded.  

As she passed through the living area
saw Alexi and Brocco both sitting up waiting for the paramedics. “I’m going to
go change,” she told Gary. “Sorry about the dress.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “Don’t worry about
the dress. Just leave it on the chair.”

“Okay,” she said, passing him on her way
to the doorway and the staircase beyond. She made her way up the stairs and
down the hallway. The other guy was still sitting there next to the door with
Amy behind it. “You can probably go downstairs. It’s over.”

The guy looked a little anxious.
Obviously he’d heard the gunshots.

“No one died. Alexi’s okay. I’m going to
change and grab Amy. We’ll be down in a minute,” she assured him.

She went back into the room where her
clothes were and stripped out of the dress, upset that she’d ripped the strap.
She set the dress and the stockings on a chair and took off the shoes. After
inspecting them, she put them back where she got them from. Then she took off
the necklace and earrings and put them back where they belonged. Then she put
on her own clothes sans the bullet proof vest which she merely carried. The guy
hadn’t left. He stood there, uneasy.

She opened the door. “Ames, come on,
time to go.”

Amy jumped up, unsteady, and with a huge
smile threw her arms around Kali’s neck. “I thought you were dead. I heard
gunfire!”

“No one is dead. But people did get
shot. Just not me.” She took Amy by the hand and led her from the room and down
the hall. The man followed.

When they arrived back in the living
room, the paramedics were attending to Brocco and Alexi.

“I’ll be fine,” Alexi was saying.

She saw the huge bruise on his chest and
visibly cringed.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Alexi. “It
looks that bad, yes? Do you think my fiancée would notice?”

“Yeah, you’re not hiding that from her,”
she told him. Then she looked at Brocco who was just putting his shirt back on.
“You won’t be able to hide that from your significant other, either.”

Brocco winced as he stood. Evidently
movement triggered pain. “I’ll be feeling this for a few weeks.”

“Maybe someone can take Amy and I home?
We’re exhausted and the sooner we put this night behind us, the happier we’ll
all be,” she said.

No one argued that point.

Chapter Thirteen

Brad paced the living room furiously.

“Man, seriously. Sit down, you’re
driving me crazy.” Eric glared at him.

Neither of them had gotten any sleep.
What they did finally get was a phone call from Kali saying she and Amy were
safe and sound, and being driven home by a few agents. The other two agents had
been called away since the FBI surmised the danger was past.

“Sorry, I can’t. I drank that Monster in
the fridge. I’m bouncing off the walls,” he said. “Oh, I see headlights!”

Eric groaned. “I don’t know how she puts
up with you. You realize how lucky you are, right?”

Brad lifted an eyebrow. “Of course I
know how lucky I am. Thinking of moving.”

“What?”

“The Russian mafia knows where I live. I
think moving might be me and Kali’s best interest.” He stared at the window,
disappointed when the headlights passed his house and kept going. “That wasn’t
them.”

“Bookstore isn’t doing so good. We could
always sell it and cut our losses. Maybe start a web store for our special
merchandise. Work from home,” Eric said offhandedly.

“We wouldn’t move far away. Maybe a town
or two over. Or maybe out into the country. Get some chickens or something.”

Eric chuckled. “Chickens? Serious?”

“Why not? We could live a simpler life,”
he said, still staring out the window.

“Sounds nice. Quiet. I don’t know how
Kali will like leaving Amy. They’ve become close friends,” Eric pointed out.
“Not to mention your sub likes being a Domme to mine.”

Brad nodded. “True. So maybe the
outskirts of town instead of something rural,” he quickly decided.

While he liked this house, he knew it
was only a bachelor pad. He had known for years that the minute he met that
special someone he’d likely move. That’s when it hit him. Was Kali the one? He
told her he loved her and he meant it, but she hadn’t responded.  Was it fear
that made her too scared to say it? It was time he sat her down and had a talk
with her. No more dancing around and no more secrets. He had to know if they
had a future together because in his mind, they were already married with a
couple of kids.
A couple of kids who weren’t allowed in dad’s ‘study’
,
he quickly told himself. But for all he knew, Kali was just having fun and
enjoying playing house. They hadn’t actually excelled at communication lately.
Tonight that was going to change, it had to.

When the car pulled into the driveway it
pulled him from his thoughts. He’d been so contemplative that he hadn’t noticed
them drive up. Kali and Amy emerged from the back seat and waved to the driver,
who politely stayed until he saw the front door open and Brad standing there.

Eric stood right beside him, looking
over Amy for any sign of injury.

She seemed to notice this and hurried
into his arms, embracing him. “I’m fine.”

They went inside, Amy excitedly telling
Eric everything that happened.

Kali paused in front of Brad. She looked
upset.

When he started toward her to wrap her
into his arms, she held up a hand. “Wait a minute. I want to say something
before I lose my nerve.”

His heart sank. This couldn’t be good.

“Before, when I was getting ready to
leave and you said,” she paused. “You said you loved me. I didn’t answer
because I was still thinking like the me who was still running. Like the victim
who didn’t believe in herself and who didn’t believe she deserved love or could
be loved.”

The tears began flowing down her cheeks
freely now. “The truth is that I do love you and that scares me because it
makes me so vulnerable and I’m afraid I don’t know how to do it right. I can’t
be hurt like that again either.”

Brad felt an overwhelming need to
protect her emanate from ever part of his being. He stepped forward and pulled
her into his chest. “I promise I’ll never hurt you. It’s okay to be afraid.
We’ll take it one day at a time, okay?”

She nodded.

He kissed the top of her head and rubbed
her back. “I love you, too, Kali. But we have to have a serious talk.”

She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. “We
do?”

“You have to promise no more secrets and
I’ll promise the same. We need to communicate.”

With another sniff and a nod she said,
“I agree to that.”

“Good. So do I.” He paused just before
they reached the door. “So do I still call you Kali or are you going to go back
to Laura?”

She laughed. “I like Kali better. Laura
was my grandmother’s name. My parents wanted my first name to be Callista but
my grandmother protested. My parents still called me Kali, but I always liked
to spell it with a K and one L instead of a C and two L’s.”

“Good. I like Kali, too. Now let’s go
inside and have some cold pizza and you can tell me everything that happened.”
He opened the door for her. “By the way, how do you feel about chickens?”

THE END

More BDSM
Erotica by

Anne O’Connell

Her
Demon Lover
(coming soon)

Lori Penhall is a bit wary when she
inherits her great uncle's estate in Ireland. After all, she didn't know him.
Leaving Akron and her ex-husband behind, she travels to County Galway to look
over her recently acquired property, fully intending to sell it. That is until
she meets the handsome dark and mysterious Michael O'Siad who rents the renovated
castle on the grounds. One night he invites her to a private
"dungeon" party. Intrigued by what she sees but mortified by how it
makes her feel, Michael shows Lori what it means to truly be free. She begins
to fall in love with him, only to learn he has other dark, intriguing secrets -
darker than a "working" dungeon. Will his secrets tear them apart, or
will their love and desire for each other be enough to keep them together?

Publisher's Note: This book contains
explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may
find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: dubious consent, bondage,
spanking, anal play, voyeurism, and ménage m/f/m.

Training
Amy

When Amy starts her new
job at a book shop she has no idea what kind of merchandise her two bosses have
stored in a private back room for
select
customers. She's never been
allowed back there. There's also another locked door in the back that she's not
allowed through. One night, when she's closing shop alone she decides to take a
look. Big mistake. Brad and Eric (her bosses) catch her snooping around. They
don't tolerate rule-breakers and Amy must be punished. But is it really a
punishment or a fulfillment of all her most secret desires?
Publisher's Note
: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic
language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme
and content includes: dubious consent, bondage, spanking, toys, anal play, and
ménage m/f/m.

My
Neighbor Enslaved

Brittney Cavenaugh has a sexy neighbor
named Bruce who she can't stop watching and fantasizing about. After she meets
him at a block picnic and he offers to be her on-call handyman she immediately
whips up some chores for him to do. Can she convince him to let her tie him up
and have her way with him?

Publisher's Note: This book contains
explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may
find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: femDom, bondage, spanking
and anal play.

Weekend
Captive

Kate's track record with men has been
lousy. Now, she's sworn off them for good. But someone has other ideas.

He's been watching Kate go about her
days indifferent to him and any other man who crosses her path. Tired of being
ignored and unable to cage the burning desire within, he has a plan to make her
his...

When Kate wakes up blindfolded and bound
she knows she has a new set of problems. Will she be able to escape with her
life?

Publisher's Note: This book contains
explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may
find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: dubious consent, bondage,
spanking, toys, anal play, and ménage m/f/m.

Nice
Girls Don’t

Jenny has never led an exciting life.
Everything from her interests to her looks are ordinary. Even her sex life is
dull. That is until she and her boyfriend Darek agree to a night of exploration
at a BDSM club with friends. While there, Jenny learns that Darek has a dark
secret he's been keeping from her and even more than that - she has a
submissive side that yearns to be dominated. Will her resistance destroy her
and Darek's relationship, or will she give in to her carnal desires?

Publisher's Note: This book contains
explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may
find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: bondage, spanking, toys,
anal play, voyeurism, and ménage m/f/m.