Sweet Surrender

CHAPTER 35

“You’re a lucky son of a bitch,” Micah said as the two men stood in the kitchen.

Gray shoved a beer at Micah and nodded. “I know. Believe me, I know.”

“If she wasn’t so hung up on you, I swear I’d drag her home and tie her to my bed. I’d never let her out of my bedroom.”

Gray chuckled. He could understand that sentiment, because it was very much the way he felt. His smile disappeared when he remembered just how much he was deceiving her.

“What’s wrong, man?” Micah asked as he sat down on a barstool.

Gray took out a skillet and put it down on the counter with a bang. “I just hope she understands when I tell her the truth about why I’m here.”

Micah went silent for a moment. “I think she will. I mean, I’m with you, I didn’t see a need to keep what was going on from her, but I also understand Pop’s desire to protect her. Who could blame him? Faith just inspires a man to protect and shelter her.”

Gray nodded. “Exactly. I came here determined to tell her the truth and fuck what Pop wanted, but when I got here, I just couldn’t. I found myself willing to do whatever I could to keep her from any hurt.”

“You love her,” Micah said quietly.

Gray paused for a moment, prepared to deny it. But no, he couldn’t. Not when it was true. “Yeah, I do.”

“That certainly complicates things.”

Gray jerked his gaze to Micah. “What do you mean by that?”

Micah shrugged. “You live in Dallas. Your job is there. Faith lives here. Family is important to her.”

Gray stared at him for a long moment then looked away. He didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure what to say. Part of him was ashamed of the fact that since coming to Houston he’d thought very little about his job or Alex. He’d actually been able to get up every morning without having to force himself out of bed. He’d greeted his job with enthusiasm, not dread.

And then there was Faith.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to be a downer,” Micah spoke up. “Just saying you have a lot to think about.”

“Yeah,” he said grimly. “It would seem I do.”

Micah drummed his fingers on the bar. “Look man, I’m going to get on out of here. You two could use the time alone, I think, and I need to get back and see what the hell is going on.”

Gray nodded. “Give me a call. Keep me posted. I don’t want to take Faith back to Houston until we know it’s safe.”

“Sure,” Micah said as he got up. “And hey, if you ever want to do it again, let me know. Faith…well, I don’t have to tell you how hot she is.”

Gray smiled. “See you.” He gave a slight wave as Micah headed for the door.

When he heard the front door close, he looked down at the pan in front of him. Suddenly he had no desire to cook. What he wanted to do was talk to Faith. Tell her he loved her. Tell her the truth about everything.

He glanced at the clock and saw that only a half hour had elapsed since Faith had gone to sleep. She was tired. He and Micah had been hard on her. She needed the rest. As much as he itched to wake her up, he was going to let her sleep.

Instead, he’d cook her a good meal and pamper her when she woke up. And then they could have a long talk about their relationship.

Faith stretched and yawned. Her body protested her movement, but she loved each little twinge and ache. It was too easy to remember how she’d gotten those aches.

She sat up and let her legs dangle off the bed. Gray hadn’t said whether she could dress or not, but with Micah here, she wasn’t comfortable parading around in the nude. They could always undress her later.

With a grin, she stood and walked over to her suitcase where she rummaged for a pair of shorts and a tank top. She slipped the shirt on then shoved her feet into a pair of flip-flops lying on the floor.

Before she left the room, she took in her appearance in the dresser mirror. In a word, she looked rumpled. Well loved. Her lips were swollen, and her eyes glowed with supreme female confidence. The kind you could only get from knowing how well you’d satisfied a man.

She ran a hand through her hair then shoved the locks behind her ears before finally turning to leave. When she walked into the living room, she saw Gray standing at the French Doors, staring over the water.

She watched in silence, enjoying the outline of his powerful body. Then, as if sensing her presence, he turned and saw her.

His face softened, and his eyes lit up. A thrill shot up her spine as she saw his reaction to her.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Did you sleep okay?”

She smiled and nodded.

He held out his arms. “Come here.”

She went gladly, and she closed her eyes in pleasure as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. He threaded his fingers through her hair and let the strands slide through his fingers. Then he pulled her away.

“Micah’s gone.”

She felt a surge of elation. As much as she’d enjoyed the erotic experience of having two men, she wanted so much for it to be just the two of them now.

“Come sit down on the couch with me. I want to talk to you,” he said quietly as he guided her toward the sofa.

He sat her down and took a spot across from her. He picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips before slowly lowering it to his lap.

She stared inquisitively at him. It was obvious he wanted to say something. Anticipation beat heavy in her chest.

“Faith, the last few days…they’ve been just incredible. I don’t have words to describe them.”

She smiled. “I know,” she said. “For me too.” She took a deep breath and knew that this was it. She wanted to tell him how she felt. It was the perfect opportunity.

She looked down for a moment as she collected her courage, but Gray nudged her chin upward with his finger.

“I hear a but in there somewhere,” he said.

She shook her head. “No but.” She looked him directly in the eyes and hoped he could see the love shining in hers. “Gray, I love you.”

Fire surged in his eyes at her declaration. He started to speak, but she laid a finger over his mouth. “Let me finish. I have so much to say.”

He nodded, and she let her finger fall away.

“I should feel weak right now. Giving up control the way I did should make me feel smaller somehow. But I don’t. In fact, I’ve never felt more empowered than I do right now. More in control of my own destiny. Maybe I didn’t really know before exactly what I wanted, but I do now. I want you. And I realized why another man has never been able to satisfy me. It’s because I didn’t make the emotional connection with them that I did with you. I didn’t trust them. And trust is everything. Without it I couldn’t really let go of that control, and as long as I was holding fast to it, I was destined to remain disappointed.”

He gathered her hands in his again and lifted them both to his mouth. He kissed first one and then the other. “You are such an incredible, honest woman,” he said in a shaky voice. “Weak? I don’t think you could ever be weak. What could possibly be more powerful than admitting your needs and not being ashamed or afraid to embrace them? People spend their entire lives hiding from their true selves, living out farces and fantasies, never embracing reality. By offering your surrender, by meeting your needs and desires head-on, you’ve freed yourself from the worst sort of bondage. And nothing is more powerful than that. Or more courageous.”

He reached out and touched her cheek with the back of his finger. “I love you, Faith. Lord knows I’ve tried not to. I wanted to believe that you were playing games. That you couldn’t possibly give me what I wanted. But you’re what I want. What I’ll always want.”

She stared at him, too overwhelmed to do anything more than gape numbly in shock. She closed her eyes and willed the tears not to come. But one slipped down her cheek.

He tenderly thumbed it away. “Open your eyes, Faith, and look at me.”

She blinked, his face a shimmery glare as she looked at him through a tear-thickened sheen.

“There’s something else we need to talk about,” he said quietly.

She frowned at the worry she heard in his voice. Before she could ask him why, the front door exploded inward. Gray shoved her to the floor and bolted to his feet.

“Don’t move a muscle, or your buddy here gets it.”

Faith looked frantically around Gray from her position on the floor to see a strange man holding a gun to another man’s head. Fear and desperation radiated from the gunman, and his hostage looked pissed. But strangely unafraid.

Gray held his hands up in a placating manner, but on the inside he was cursing a blue streak. Beside him, Faith scrambled up from the floor. Gray grabbed her wrist and yanked her behind him. His first priority was her safety.

“I’m going to take a guess here and say you’re Samuels?” Gray said in an even voice.

The gunman sneered. “Does it really matter who I am?”

“It does if you killed my partner.”

Faith huddled close to Gray’s back, clutching at him with her hands. He still had a hand on her wrist as he held it behind his back, and he rubbed up and down her skin in a soothing manner. He could feel how frightened she was, and it pissed him off all the more.

How the hell had Samuels found them? And for that matter, how did Mick end up mixed up in this? Mick’s threat about taking Samuels down himself echoed in his mind. Damn fool was going to get them all killed.

“What do you want?” Gray demanded. “How the hell did you get here?”

“I want the girl,” Samuels said.

Gray felt Faith tremble against his back, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“That’s not going to happen,” Gray said in a dangerously low voice.

“Let her go,” Mick said bitterly. “She doesn’t matter.”

“Shut the fuck up, Mick,” Gray growled. “What were you thinking, going after Samuels alone? Are you just trying to get us all killed?”

“Both of you shut up,” Samuels barked. “The bitch’s mother is anxious to see her. I’m sure her old man will be willing to cough up some cash if he wants to see her alive again.”

Faith stiffened, and before he could pull her back, she stepped from behind him and stared at Samuels. “What does my mother have to do with this? What’s going on?”

“Faith, get behind me,” Gray said slowly.

Samuels tightened his grip around Mick’s neck and pointed the gun at Faith. “Move over,” he ordered, gesturing to the left with his gun. “Move, or I’ll shoot you.”

Faith stood stock-still, whether out of fear or the fact that she was in shock. “How do you know my mother?” she demanded. And then understanding flashed in her eyes. “You’re the man my mother was with. Why she was calling and asking for money. You’re the one I heard in the background.” She turned her confused gaze to Gray. “But what does that have to do with your partner?”

“They used you as bait, sweetheart,” Samuels said. “Too bad they’re so incompetent. Now, get moving. I don’t have time for all the drama.”

Gray’s heart clenched at the confused, hurt look in Faith’s eyes. But more than that, things were getting desperate. He couldn’t take Samuels down, not when he was pointing a gun at Faith.

“What do you mean, used me as bait?” she said.

“I sent him to Houston,” Mick said, his face growing red as his anger exploded.

“Mick, shut up,” Gray said.

“Sent him to Houston why?” she asked softly.

“To get close to you.”

“But why? I don’t understand.” Her voice echoed her bewilderment.

In a flash, Samuels shoved Mick, sending him stumbling across the living room. He reached out and yanked Faith to his chest, repositioning the gun at her temple.

“Now, that’s better,” Samuels said, satisfaction lining his voice. “Let me make this simple for you, sweetheart. Just so you know what a bastard your lover is. The old man over there sent lover boy to Houston to cozy up to you because he knew I’d hooked up with your mother. And then lover boy brings you out here to lure me out.”

Samuels looked over at Gray. “Were you planning to take me out yourself? Bet you didn’t tell your buddies in Houston that. Quite the sting operation they were running. The decoy looked remarkably like Faith. I probably would have fallen for it if the old man hadn’t let it slip where you were holding her. But then I guess that was all part of the plan. Only I decided to change things up a bit. I’m not entirely stupid.”

Faith looked shell-shocked. Hurt and confusion emanated from every part of her body. “Is it true?” she whispered.

Gray wasn’t going to waste time begging for her understanding. That could come later. Right now his focus was on keeping Samuels from taking her. He ignored her question and tuned out the betrayal in her stare.

“You won’t get very far,” he said evenly. “You’re on an island, for God’s sake. How do you think you’re going to get off with a hostage?”

“The same way I got on with one,” Samuels said with a chuckle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mick make a move. Gray tried to reach him, to prevent the stupid action, but Mick hurtled himself forward, like an out-of-control lunatic. He didn’t care about Faith or whether she got hurt, he only saw his son’s killer.

It all happened so quickly. The loud report of gunfire. Faith’s scream. Mick crumpling to the floor. It was the night of Alex’s shooting all over again, and he was powerless to stop it. Another shot sounded, and a searing pain blazed through his arm. The last thing he remembered as he crumpled to the floor was the look of fear and betrayal in Faith’s eyes.