Surrender
33
G age came to, pain hammering in his temples. He could hardly breathe with the dead weight on top of him. The last thing he remembered were Brynne’s eyes, huge in her ashen face, staring at him, lying to him. His left shoulder hurt like a motherfucker. Some of the blood on the deck belonged to him, but he had to find a way to reach the gun. If it was the last thing he did, he would stop Dimitri from getting on that helicopter with her.
One officer spoke. “We have taken down your crew, Ivanov. If you try to board the chopper, our sniper will take the pilot out.”
“Will you take that chance when I can end her life with one bullet?”
They had their weapons trained on him but had no clear shot.
Gage was a few inches from the gun when he saw something raw and resigned in Brynne’s eyes, right before she sank her teeth into Ivanov’s arm.
Seconds ticked by in slow motion.
The pain faded into the background, and he felt like his blood was injected with nitrous. He shoved the dead man’s body off and reached for the gun.
Dimitri screamed in pain, rage clouding his features. When he flung Brynne away from him and raised his gun, Gage took the shot. Dimitri fell to his knees but fired a shot before another bullet took him down.
Gage watched in horror as Brynne launched herself over the railing.
The officers moved forward to subdue Dimitri and get the pilot out of the helicopter. Gage dragged himself up unsteadily. He had to get to Brynne. Cold water shock could kill even the strongest swimmer in minutes.
“Gage! Stop!” John rushed up behind him, pulling him back from the railing. “The Coastguard will go after Brynne. You can’t help her like this.”
“You don’t understand. She could drown in seconds.”
“So could you—you’ve been shot.”
“Just get these cuffs off me.”
A floodlight was shining into the inky darkness and Gage was preparing to dive in when one of the two divers yelled at the other. “I’ve got her!” He watched helplessly as they pulled her limp body from the water.
“God help me John, I need to get to her.”
A paramedic arrived and started asking him questions.
“I’m okay. It’s just a flesh wound.”
The man looked at him skeptically. “Are you sure—you’ve lost a lot of blood!”
“It’s not all mine, for Christ’s sake.” He pointed to the man whose body had shielded him, then almost crushed him. “It’s his.”
John held up his hand. Someone was talking in his earpiece. “Yes. Agreed. Go. MacLeod is okay. She is your priority.” He turned to Gage. “They’re airlifting her to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. They have a trauma unit. I told them to go.”
“Good, good.” Gage sank to the deck, overcome with exhaustion. His heart ached like someone had cut open his chest cavity and left him to bleed. She’d put herself at grave risk. For him. She had to come through this.
Four days later
If she was dead, why did her body hurt so much? Brynne felt like a rock lay on her chest. Breathing hurt like she swallowed shards of glass. Her eyes refused to open; there was no reason to try. The man she fell in love with was gone. He would never know how she felt or how he made her world better. He cracked the ice around her heart, and she would never be the same.
Why was she so cold? She didn’t remember getting pulled from the water. Maybe she didn’t. Did she care? No. She didn’t care.
Something warmed her icy hand. It felt nice. The incessant beeping noises were annoying. She wished they would stop. Her delusions were getting more elaborate. She could smell his spicy citrus scent. Maybe this was Heaven, and he was there, too.
Don’t be an idiot, Brynne. You are imagining things.
Now she was hearing his voice. The fall must have damaged her brain.
God, she missed his grumpy, sexy excuse for a smile.
“Doc, if she’s breathing on her own, why hasn’t she woken up?”
“Mr. MacCallum, her body is on the mend, but her mind could be protecting her from the trauma she experienced. Give her time. You need to go home and rest. You still have a concussion and a healing wound.”
“No, I’m not leaving. I need to keep talking to her.”
John and Jared returned from the cafeteria with a sandwich and a bag of crisps for him. They arrived together the day before. As a couple. He was happy for them because John finally came out to his family and friends.
John put a hand on his shoulder. “Gage, you look like hell. You need a shower and a proper meal. We will stay and call you if there is any change.”
His body was crooked from sleeping in the recliner for a week. He rubbed his scruffy jaw and stared at Brynne’s pale face. He’d almost lost her to the cold North Atlantic, and it still made his pulse race. If the Coastguard diver hadn’t been right there, they might not have found her in time. The diver had just pulled the body of the crewman out of the water and saw exactly where she went in. When they pulled her out, he started praying to a god he barely believed in. And he had not stopped.
“I must be here when she wakes up. There is a lot to explain.”
Twenty-four hours later
“Brynne. God damn it, I am out of patience. When I am done with you, you won’t be able to sit down for a week. You can’t give up, for heaven’s sake. I need you.”
She stirred. “You need me?” she croaked. “Ow, my throat hurts.”
Gage made a sound of anguish from deep in his chest. “Oh, thank god. Bree, can you hear me? I’m here. You’re safe. Don’t you dare leave me again—my heart can’t take it.”
She struggled to smile, but that hurt, too. She tried to touch her parched lips, but her hand couldn’t reach. “Am I tied to your bed again?”
He groaned. “Not yet, but as soon as you’re better, that’s where you will be.”
Brynne opened her eyes, but the sunlight was like pins and needles in her eyes. “Too bright. Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital in Inverness. You’ve been here for a week.”
Her eyes focused on him, and she started sobbing. The machines beeped faster in her ears. “I thought I had lost you.” She couldn’t catch her breath. “I thought you were dead, and it was my fault. I’m sorry, I was so stupid.”
“Shhh, love, I am fine. The bullet grazed my shoulder and missed everything vital, thanks to your quick thinking. I just can’t carry you to my bed for a while.”
A doctor walked in with a nurse in tow. “You gave us quite a scare, young lady.” The doctor cleared his throat. “No lifting or carrying until both of you are fully healed.”
They checked her vitals, but she waved them off, impatient for answers. When they were gone, she tried to sit up and groaned in pain.
“Bree, please, you need to rest—no sudden movements. You bruised your ribs when you hit the water.”
“That explains why I can’t breathe without it hurting like a mother. Whatever. Did they get Dimitri? Is he dead? I heard gunshots.”
“I shot him in the leg and the sniper got him in the shoulder as you went over the side. What in the bloody hell were you thinking?”
“I…I didn’t want to be his pet. I lied to you. Is he dead?”
“Sadly no. He’s locked him up in a maximum-security hospital. His pilot gave himself up when he saw the rifle trained on him.” He kissed her on the forehead. “You need to rest now.”
“No. How long have I been out of it? We have to talk.”
“We have all the time in the world. I’m not going anywhere.”
She swallowed and winced. “I need to say some things. First, can I have some water?”
He grabbed the cup and fed the straw into her mouth. The cool water soothed her throat. She needed a minute to collect her scrambled thoughts. How would she explain what went through her mind on that yacht?
He squeezed the straw closed. “Not too much at once.”
“Do you remember the last time you rationed my water?”
“I remember it vividly. You called me an ogre.” He smiled, and her heart melted.
“You had me at a distinct disadvantage, strapped down to that spanking bench with my ass on display.”
“You loved every minute of it.”
She snorted. “Ow, don’t make me laugh. This is serious.”
“I’m sorry. Please continue.”
She wanted to sit up but settled for clutching his hand in hers. “I was nervous that night, but I felt safe, too. Because you were there. When he locked me in that cage, I thought I would never see you again. And I realized something.”
Gage’s face paled, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
“Magnus Gage MacCallum MacLeod, I know you don’t feel the same as me, but that’s okay. I want to be with you—not because you’re paying me, not for book research, but because of you.”
He just stared at her as she babbled on.
“If you agree to keep me around, I’ll be the most obedient submissive you’ve ever known. I’ll even learn to cook.”
“Brynne, sweetheart. I need to tell you something, too. Do you remember that day in my office when I interviewed you?”
She nodded, drinking in the sight of him. Disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, and a week’s worth of beard growth… He was the most handsome man in the world.
“That day, I knew I was in trouble. A week later, when you told me you wanted to take me to bed, I fell a little more under your spell.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I didn’t want to believe in your innocence. I thought I could keep you at a distance and protect myself from any real feelings. Can you forgive me for being such a fool?”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and he gently wiped them away.
“Of course I forgive you. Please tell me your investigator found out who wrote the article?”
“Yes. He intercepted Margaret Smythe on her river cruise. Dimitri threatened her family if she didn’t write and submit the story. He gave her the details of everyone at the club. Then he paid her enough money to disappear until the heat died down and bribed the sub-editor to get the story printed.”
“But how did he know where I worked?”
“Two months before he came back to London, he ensured one of his bodyguards, a British citizen, got a job at the club. He was the security guard who left you alone the night Dimitri came into the bar. He planted several bugs around the club and got your name from the recordings.”
“Oh my god.”
“Brynne. I’m sorry. I hired the investigator to prove that I couldn’t trust you. But before he found out the truth, I already knew it. I knew you would never hurt me.”
She squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I understand why you didn’t trust me. That awful, smelly woman lied to you.”
“Smelly woman?”
“That bitch who was spewing insults the day I first met you. Her perfume always gave me a raging headache.”
He laughed and groaned, holding his own ribs. “Red?”
“Yes, sir?”
“I want you with me. Not for a month. Not because of our agreement. But because I love you.”
She choked back a sob. “You do?”
“I’m afraid so. But there is one condition.”
“Anything.”
“I don’t want blind obedience, I want the fiery pixie who challenges me at every turn. The one who misbehaves and gives me countless reasons to take her over my knee.”
Brynne hiccupped. “I think I can manage that.”
He leaned close and kissed her.
Her fingers entwined in his hair and held. “Mags. In case you haven’t figured it out. I love you, too. And you’ve made me the happiest brat on the planet.”