Freed (Club Sin 4)

Soon the party would be over.

Then he could go home.

As the cool liquid slid down his throat, a scuffing noise caught his attention. He looked ahead of him, and his gaze drank in the sight of Mary. Her dark hair was curled, hanging over her shoulders of creamy skin. A black lace teddy covered the slender frame on top of dark stockings.

He swallowed deeply as Mary held his stare, standing only a foot away. The original strength he’d seen inside her shone in her beautiful dark eyes, only this time it was different…potent.

With a sensual slowness, she slid one spaghetti strap off her shoulder. Then she repeated the move with the other, and within a breath the fabric fluttered to the ground. Elliott’s shoulders straightened as she exposed her naked body to him.

Desperation filled him to examine the stomach she’d hidden from him, but for now he lifted his focus to her eyes, which were surrounded by dark makeup. Her features held confidence and that bit of sass that had originally snagged him.

She was flawless.

He glanced over her, as she stood in only a garter and black stockings, and her exposed flesh sucked the air from his lungs. It took all of his strength not to go to her. The past hurt between them made him stay in his seat. “What are you doing?” he asked.

She laced her hands behind her head, widening her legs and standing in the submissive posture he had once told her he preferred. Her breasts rose, her perky nipples puckered, ready for his mouth. “I’m here, naked before you, baring it all. I am hiding nothing.”

He hesitated, not letting her off easy. “Why?”

“To ask your forgiveness.”

Warm happiness rushed into his mind, as did hope. Though he’d already made enough assumptions that had left him hurting. “Why?” he asked again.

Tears welled in her eyes. “To be yours, Elliott.”

Nothing was more stunning than a vulnerable submissive. There she stood, pouring her heart out for him and putting it all on the line. So damn beautiful. He didn’t move from his seat, letting her give him this moment and offering herself to him. He would damn well make sure her apology counted. “How can I believe you see me, not Charles?”

“I’m…” Her lip quivered before her voice strengthened. “Your touch felt like his. Your mastery reminded me of him. But I cannot have Charles anymore. I want what you give me, not what I had with him.”

Elliott placed the scotch on the table next to him, then rested his arms on his legs, staring at her intently. “What do I give you?”

A single tear slid down her cheek. “You make me want to love again.”

He noted her wobbling on her feet, and not wanting her to strain, he ordered, “Kneel. Hands on your thighs.”

She slowly lowered to her knees, then peered up at him through her thick lashes. “What you did…that card you gave me…” She shook her head and said softly, “You reminded me to live.”

The pain in her voice, matched with the tears on her face, pulled him forward. He could no longer avoid her, needing—always needing—to be close to her. He squatted before her and tucked his finger under her chin. “I did nothing but give you a way toward healing. A way for you to see that you belong with me now. That the only thing that was standing in your way to happiness was you.”

“Yes, there is that,” she whispered. “But without you, I never would have seen that I died with him. I would never have allowed myself to put Charles’s memory to rest and to see that I’ve been lucky enough to have had not only one soul mate, but I’ve been blessed by having two.” Tears streaked her face, and her expression was as honest as he’d ever seen it. “I died with him. I don’t want to be dead any longer.”

“You’re not dead, darlin’.” He cupped her face, staring into her beautiful big brown eyes. “You are more alive than any woman I have ever known.” Wiping the tears off her cheeks, he added, “I can share your heart, but only so far. I deserve to be seen, not because you are forgetting Charles, but because I mean just as much to you. There is room there inside of that sweet heart of yours for both of us.”

Her breath hitched with her tears and she shook her head. “I don’t want you to be Charles. I want to experience something new. I want you, Elliott. I want the hands on my body that freed me when I thought it could never happen again.”

A hot burning rushed through him, and he rose, lowering his hand from her face. Words could say a thousand things, but action was stronger. As a submissive, Mary was asking for her Dom’s forgiveness, and he needed to allow her the right. He saw her slight tremble, the longing in her gaze that she didn’t need a hug or a kiss to apologize.

She craved to do something more.

Mary needed to please her Dom, and make them both feel better.

She was requesting to take what belonged to her.

He had to allow her to.

A swell of submission crossed her face, reflecting in her soft gaze, and as her jaw relaxed, he experienced the exact moment when she let it all go. When she welcomed him right into her soul would be a memory he’d never forget.

Mary no longer fought her submission.