Embraced

13

Could she walk away?

Later that evening, Marey stepped onto the back deck of Sax’s home and eased into the hot tub bubbling merrily in the corner.

The hot water wrapped around her, the massaging pulse of the jets beating against her weary muscles. Sax was insatiable. She ached in places she had no idea she could ache. But for the first time in years, her body was relaxed, even if her mind wasn’t.

He was right, she couldn’t walk away. He terrified her. Loving him terrified her. And not because of what she was scared Vince would do, though that was a worrisome aspect. No, he terrified her because she knew she had already given him so much of herself. If she stayed, if she accepted this relationship for what it was, then he would own her soul.

She had been alone for most of her life, even before her parents’ deaths. Sharing it with someone determined to take such an active role wasn’t easy to accept. Sax wouldn’t go his way as she went hers. He was a possessive man, not controlling, but possessive all the same.

He would expect to share her life, not just exist within it.

She leaned her head wearily against the rim of the tub and breathed out roughly.

She loved him. She had always known she loved him, but she hadn’t known how much until he began to fill her life.

“I’m going upstairs to finish up a few reports.” Sax stood at the glass sliding door, chest bare, his teeth gleaming in his dark face as he watched her with a wicked glint in his eye. “Need anything before I go up?”

Marey chuckled at his suggestive tone. “I think you’ve more than taken care of anything I could have needed,” she assured him. “I’m just going to lay here and relax for a while. You go work.”

He moved to the deck, kneeling behind her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Just yell if you need me,” he whispered warmly. “I’ll leave the bedroom window open just in case.”

“Mmm.” She closed her eyes as his kiss moved to the shell of her ear, his tongue lapping at it heatedly. “Get out of here. You’re insatiable.”

He laughed at that, a male sound of pleasure and pride as he rose to his feet and walked back to the door.

“I’ll be back down in about an hour,” he promised. “Don’t overheat.”

“With you upstairs, there’s no danger of that,” she laughed back at him, watching as he flashed her a wicked grin and turned away.

She closed her eyes, fighting the need to call him back.

“I love you, Sax,” she whispered, knowing he was gone, unable to hold back the words any longer.

What the hell was she going to do with him? She couldn’t let him go. She couldn’t walk away. He fulfilled too many parts of her soul. He fulfilled her, period. Laughed with her, loved her, touched her with such passion and hunger that she knew she would never be the same again.

“Well, you look comfortable enough, bitch!”

No.

Her eyes flew open, fear and disbelief clamoring through her as she met Vince’s furious gaze.

“You really have lost your mind,” she said, amazed at his daring. She had pretty much caught on to the fact that Vince wasn’t too bright, but this was ridiculous. “Vince, Sax will kill you if he catches you here. Don’t you realize that?”

His brown hair was still kept shaggy short, but stood on end, unkempt and dirty. His brown eyes narrowed in hatred, his fists clenched. The faded denim shirt he wore was streaked with dirt, his jeans ripped at the knees.

“The son of a bitch,” Vince snarled. “He’s too busy playing his computer geek games upstairs. And you’re not going to scream, are you, Marey?” he sneered. “Little Miss Too Much Pride. I heard you screaming for him, though, didn’t I, you little whore? Him and that bastard he put up your ass!”

She flinched at the fury rising in his voice.

Drawing in a deep breath, she tensed. Sax would be down soon, he rarely left her long while he worked upstairs, checking on her often. Being naked and at the mercy of a man she knew wouldn’t hesitate to kill her with his bare hands was a frightening prospect.

“How did you evade the sheriff?” she asked him, hoping to buy some time, to distract him just long enough for Sax to make his way downstairs.

His thin lips twisted in disgust as a dark, brick flush rose under his skin, barely noticeable in the dim light of the deck. It wasn’t a good sign.

“I can’t believe you actually had the nerve to file charges.” The low, evil chuckle that came from his lips had her shuddering in terror. “That was very bad of you, Marey, you should have taken your punishment and kept your stupid mouth shut.”

“You nearly killed me, Vince,” she snapped, refusing to let him see her fear. “And you tried to frame Sax for it.”

“He shouldn’t have been sniffing around you,” he snarled. “What makes him think he can take what belongs to another man? He’s a trespasser and you’re a whore, always watching him, eating him with your eyes. Did you think that just because you forced that divorce that it changed anything, Marey? The vows were until death do us part.” His lips curled in a feral sneer. “And only death will part us!”

She was rising from the hot tub, a scream on her lips as he tensed to jump for her, knowing her time had run out. As she turned, Daniel rushed from the house, his hard hands gripping her as he pushed her against the side of the house. Sax rushed past them, leapt the distance of the tub, tackling Vince as he moved to run.

Eyes wide, she watched as Daniel quickly followed. His voice rose as he informed Sax of all the legal ramifications of murder. Not that Sax seemed inclined to listen as his hands tightened around Vince’s throat, a snarl of fury twisting his lips.

It was over quickly, too quickly for her to process the fact that Vince was unconscious on the deck, and she was still standing naked in the cool fall air, staring back at Sax in amazement as he rose from the deck.

“I should paddle your ass,” he yelled, staring at her over the churning water of the tub. Furious. His eyes were blazing, anger contorting his expression as she watched him in amazement. “What in the living hell possessed you, woman, to sit and bait him like that? To just sit there, calmly talking to him in a tub of water knowing fucking good and well he was capable of drowning you?”

Screaming. He was screaming at her, his body so tense, so tight, she wondered if something would break.

“I knew you would save me,” she whispered, blinking back at him in surprise. “I knew you wouldn’t let him hurt me.”

Shock filled his face then. “I wasn’t here!” He wiped his hands furiously over his slick head as he yelled again. “How the hell was I supposed to save you?”

“But you did, Sax,” she pointed out. “I knew you would be here. I knew you would be…”

Tears filled her eyes as she stared back at him.

“You don’t leave me alone, Sax,” she said softly. “You’re always close, touching me, embracing me, needing me. How can anyone have a chance to hurt me when you love me so well?”

A heavy frown darkened his brow. “That is not getting you out of trouble,” he assured her through gritted teeth as he stomped around the hot tub, jerking her in his arms and holding her rapidly chilling body close to his warmth. “But God help me, Marey, the next time you do anything so stupid, I’m going to paddle your ass.”

A tearful smile crossed her lips as she tilted her head, her hand reaching up to touch the dark features of his face, the sensual curve of his lip.

“I love you, Sax,” she whispered. “I was going to tell you that tonight, while you held me, while you loved me. I’ve always loved you.”

A hard breath shuddered through his chest as he buried his head in her hair, his arms tightening around her.

“I’m definitely spanking you,” he groaned. “God baby, I love you. So much you terrified the hell out of me sitting there talking to that bastard so calmly, knowing how easily he could hurt you.”

“Knowing you would be there,” she said against his chest as he lifted her into his arms while Daniel called the sheriff.

“You’re cold,” he growled. “You didn’t even bring a robe out.”

“So warm me.” She burrowed against his chest, her arms wrapping around his neck, her head resting naturally on his shoulder. “Warm me, Sax…”