His Submissive Jewel [The Martinis and Chocolate Book Club 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (23 page)

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “You had to rescue me. Again. This is the third time. I’m sorry I got lost and ruined your surprise.”

Cam leaned forward and captured her full lips with his. He had to kiss her. He had come too fucking close to losing her. The crushing anguish he had felt in his chest as they had frantically looked for her would live with him the rest of his life. If he lost this woman, he was losing his heart.

Cam lifted his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You shouldn’t have been out there to begin with. The weather was going to turn bad. We knew the storm was coming.”

Her brow knitted. “Then why did you have me go riding?”

Cam scraped his hand across his face. She was going to find out sooner or later.

“I didn’t. The note you received wasn’t from me. Where did you find it?”

“On the bed. What do you mean it wasn’t from you? Who the hell has been in our bedroom and why would they send me out in a storm?”

She didn’t look angry, only confused. Cam was sure anger would come later when the shock receded.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out. As for the other times I’ve had to rescue you, only one was really your fault, that first time. These two are something different. I’ll get to the bottom of this. I haven’t done a very good job of protecting you, love. I wouldn’t blame you if you took the first plane back to Florida.”

Cam steeled himself for her response. He’d wondered whether this would be one thing too many. Being with him was one thing, but being with him and in danger was something completely different. What woman would stay when someone obviously wanted her hurt?

She reached up and traced his jaw with her fingers, leaving a trail of heat wherever she touched.

“I’m not going anywhere. Do I look like a quitter to you? No one is scaring me away from the man I love.”

The band around his heart loosened. She wasn’t angry or disappointed with him, and she wasn’t leaving as soon as she could. She was going to give them a second chance. He started to pull his shirt off to join her in the hot, swirling water when he heard a knock at the door. He groaned with frustration. He wanted to be with Noelle right now. Just to hold her and know she was going to be okay. He pulled open the door and was surprised to see Julie there, pale and shaken.

“Cam, I think you need to come downstairs. We have to talk to you.”

“I don’t want—”

Julie placed her hand on his arm urgently. “You’ll want to hear this. Abby is coming up here to stay with Noelle. Please, it’s important.”

Something in Julie’s expression made him nod in agreement. He ducked back and gave Noelle a smile. “Abby’s coming up here. There’s something I need to take care of downstairs. I’ll be back as soon as I can, love. I promise.”

He headed out into the hall with Julie, passing Abby on the way up.

“So what is it I want to hear? I need to get back to Noelle.”

Julie turned to him, her face covered in tears. Her hand flew to her mouth as she choked back a sob.

“It’s John! Cam, John is the one who hurt Noelle.”

Blood thundered in his ears, and he turned to bolt down the stairs, but Julie grabbed his arm with a beseeching look.

“Please, Cam, he’s just a boy! Please hear him out. We don’t condone what he did, but he’s my son. He’s my boy, Cam.”

Julie was sobbing, and Cam felt his whole body tense, the emotions in him conflicted. He finally sagged against the stair rail and gave her a grim look.

“I’ll listen, Julie. Because of you and Colt, I’ll control my temper and listen. But this better be one hell of a good story.”

Noelle was warm and cozy, tucked into bed, with a full tummy and her hunky cowboy stretched out next to her. She was also gobsmack surprised. Cam had just told her that John was the one who had been trying to hurt her. She was still trying to come to grips with the fact that a senior in high school she had only met weeks ago had tried to kill her.

“He wasn’t trying to kill you, apparently. He was trying to scare you into leaving.”

Noelle sat up and shook her head tiredly. It had been a long fucking day. It seemed like weeks ago she had been talking to her friends in her book meeting, but it was actually less than ten hours ago.

“Because of Gwen? Gwen convinced him to do it?”

Cam’s cheeks were streaked with red. He was obviously ashamed of his nephew.

“Do you remember the day John went to help Gwen with her drapes? Apparently, she convinced John she was attracted to him. That she wanted to submit to him. She’s a conniving bitch and didn’t want to see me happy. So she lured John in with promises of a relationship if he helped her scare you into going back to Florida. The night we saw him at the restaurant he was there to meet Gwen. That’s why they both tried to pretend they didn’t see us.”

“So it was John who shot the gun and scared Turismo?”

Cam nodded. “Yes, it was late afternoon, and he had just come home from school. Nobody would suspect John if he took off in one of the ATVs for a ride. He likes to blow off steam that way. He swears he didn’t want to see you get hurt. He just wanted you to hate Montana and leave.”

“He wrote the note?”

Cam pulled her close so she could feel the heat of his body and hear the beating of his heart.

“Yes, he wrote it. Gwen was pressuring him, telling him they couldn’t be together if you didn’t leave. He says he just wanted you to get lost out there by going for a ride in unfamiliar land. He swears he didn’t know about the approaching storm. He was guilt-ridden and frantic when he heard what happened and admitted everything to his mom.”

Noelle was still trying to make heads or tails of everything.

“He believed Gwen when she said they couldn’t be together if I was here? What did I have to do with anything? And isn’t she a little old to be attractive to John? He’s eighteen for fuck’s sake. She’s old enough to be his mother.”

“I’m going to let the swearing go since you’ve already been through more than enough tonight. Gwen’s still an attractive woman if you don’t know her too well and if she never talks or anything. John’s heard about cougars so maybe this was his Mrs. Robinson. As for believing her, common sense has nothing to do with a horny teenage boy. He comes from a family of Doms, and he wanted to prove he could dominate a woman, and he wanted to get laid. He wasn’t thinking too damn clearly until tonight.”

She sighed and cuddled closer. “Un-fucking-believable. So what happens to John and Gwen now?”

“That’s up to you, love. If we call in the Sheriff, Gwen will get in trouble, but so will John. Personally, I’d like to handle this inside the family. But, Colt, Julie, and I will understand if you want us to call in the law. Don’t push me on the language, by the way.”

“So much for giving me a pass tonight. How will you handle this? I don’t want Gwen to get away with this, but I don’t want to see John go to jail. He’s just a kid.”

“Ranch work is hard, honey. It can be the worst job in the world if you’re given all the shit jobs on a ranch. Colt and I talked about it, and we think John should work from sunup to sundown, free of charge, seven days a week on the ranch, doing every messy, hot, terrible job there is this summer.”

Noelle arched an eyebrow. “The sentence would be twelve weeks of hard labor? I like it. What about Gwen?”

“I’ve been on the phone with all the area clubs. She’ll be persona non grata in every club west of the Mississippi by morning. The best punishment for her is to cut off what she needs the most. Pain. No Dom will go within ten feet of her from now on. She’ll be shunned by the entire community.”

“You’ve already done this? What if I had decided to call in the law?”

His arms tightened around her. “It wouldn’t have mattered. I’m tired of Gwen messing up my life. From now on, she stays far away from me and my family. And most especially from you.”

Noelle giggled and ran her hands up his chest. “Especially me, huh? You in love with me or something, you big, handsome cowboy Dom?”

He rolled her on her back, trapping her with his large, heavy body.

“Hell yes, I love you, Noelle. When I thought I might lose you, I was scared, really scared, for the first time in my life. You’re everything to me.”

She ran her hands down his muscular back, reveling in the feel of him. “I love you, too, Cam. So much. Promise me you’ll always rescue me every time I get myself into a stupid situation.”

“I promise, sweetheart. I’ll always be here for you. I’m your man, and you’re my woman. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.”

Noelle chuckled. “Nothing about this is going to be simple, cowboy. But you’re worth it.”

Noelle had been right. It wasn’t easy. The last six months had been a blur of racking up frequent flyer miles, terrible loneliness when they were apart, and crazy, frantic sex when they were reunited. Even their week in Disney together hadn’t been enough. It would never be enough. This was the man she was meant for.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she unpacked her last suitcase in the big bedroom she would share with Cam from now on. She wouldn’t be returning to Florida to live. This was her home now.

Her darling waterfront condo had been sold to a newlywed couple, and her business had been transferred here. Cam had set up an area in his large office where she could work during the day while he was outside working on the ranch.

She and John had made a tentative peace. It had been one sad, pathetic young man who had begged for her forgiveness. She had cried with him as he told her how he had fallen for Gwen and had been willing to do anything to win her. They were working to build a relationship, and she was proud to see how hard he had worked over the summer. He had even decided to put off leaving for college this fall, to continue helping on the ranch.

Gwen had decided to move to New York City after she realized she was shunned from the BDSM community in this part of the country. Noelle couldn’t help but be relieved she was out of their lives. She was only sad that it had come to something so extreme.

Abby and Brody’s wedding had been beautiful. Noelle’s parents had been happy for her and Cam especially when they found out he had a law degree. He simply smiled and said it came in handy when running a ranch of this size and complexity. Noelle had been shocked when he had revealed that little tidbit, but her parents now had an attorney in the family. Abby and Brody were deliriously happy and trying for a baby. She couldn’t help but imagine the baby she might have with Cam. Maybe a little boy with Cam’s dark hair and sky-blue eyes or a little girl with her red hair.

“I like that smile on your face. That means you’re happy to be here. At last.”

Noelle whirled around and threw herself at the sexiest cowboy that ever lived. He was all hers, too.

“I’m damn happy, cowboy. I hope you are, too.”

Cam growled, pulling her closer. “Watch your language, sub. You get in bad habits when you’ve been away for a while. But I think I have something that will be a reminder for you.”

He pulled away and reached into the nightstand. He held out the box with a twinkle in his eye. “Let’s call it a homecoming present. Open it, pretty sub.”

She loved presents and ripped the wrapping off in one tear, opening the box with a gasp of delight.

“Do you want to put it on?”

She couldn’t get out of her clothes fast enough. The belly chain she had designed so many months ago lay in the black velvet, winking up at her. She couldn’t wait to put it on.

He held it up, showing her the diamond-encrusted tag. “This says ‘Cam’s heart,’ because you truly are my heart. I was only half living until I met you. This clasp is exactly as you designed it, love. Once I fasten it, the chain will only come off if it is cut off. Are you sure?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She had never been more sure. Each time they were together, it only cemented their bond, not just as Dom and sub, but man and woman.

“Yes, my Master, I’m sure.”

Cam’s throat worked. He loved it when she called him ‘Master’, and his expression showed how pleased he was.

“You’re my treasure, Noelle. I’ll devote my life to caring for you, loving you, and protecting you.”

His hands brushed her skin, leaving it tingling as he wrapped the slender chain around her stomach and fastened it with a click.

“Now you’re mine. I love you, Noelle. I hope you love me as much.”

He pulled her naked body close to his, the heat from him radiating and warming her.

“I love you, Master.”

Cam shook his head. “No, not Master at this moment. Just Cam and Noelle. I, well, fuck, I just want to ask you a question. Aw hell, Noelle, will you marry me?”

Cam looked like he might pass out if she didn’t answer him quickly. Her cowboy Dom was damn nervous she might say no. Not a chance of that happening.

“Of course I’ll marry you. I love you, Cam. You rescued me not once but three times. There’s magic in the number three, you know.”

Cam lifted her and carried her to their bed.

“Three, huh? I can do better than that, sub.”