Shayla Black: Theirs to Cherish

The lid opened in soft silence. Sean’s eyes fell to the contents and widened. “It’s beautiful. It suits her.”

“That’s why I bought it. I have a jeweler friend, and when I told her I’d been looking for the right something for Callie, she showed this to me. I couldn’t not buy it.” He sighed. “I realized Callie’s identity two weeks later and tried to tell myself it was for the best.”

“Why didn’t you return it?”

Thorpe had asked himself that question a million times. “I couldn’t bring myself to. In my head, it was made for her.”

“It had to have cost you a fortune.”

He laughed. “It did. And at the time, I just didn’t care. She was worth every penny.”

“I understand completely. If you want to see Callie now, bring that with you and be prepared to use it. I’ve got an idea.”

CALLIE looked at the clock again. After eleven. She frowned. If Sean wasn’t assigned to another case, whatever happened tonight had to be about hers. Gawd, she hoped that Whitney and his cronies hadn’t cut short their Mexican vacation to come back and finish murdering her for the hell of it.

Not that Sean had left her unprotected. She more than suspected that he’d hired bodyguards to watch the house day and night. Maybe it should bother the independent woman in her, but he cared about her safety. So even though she’d learned to take care of herself, his precautions made her a little warm and fuzzy.

She focused on her e-reader again, doing her best to lose herself in a cozy mystery. It was either that or wish Sean was home. And miss Thorpe some more.

Sighing, Callie looked out the massive French doors in the master bedroom, over the expansive backyard. Dominion was out there, only twelve point two miles away—she’d mapped it out—but the distance might as well be a whole universe. Thorpe was gone. He wasn’t over his past and he wasn’t coming back. Callie wanted to be angry, but she was mostly sad as hell.

Her saving grace had been Sean. His love, his reassurance, his laughter were all balms to her pain. Despite their travel and hectic schedule lately, he never missed an opportunity to make love to her. His touch—frequent and adoring—always made her feel like the center of the universe. Sometimes, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to fill the gap left by Thorpe’s absence. How did she tell him that he already filled half of her so perfectly that just being next to him sometimes made her cry because she was so blessed? She didn’t expect him to fill the other half of her left bleeding and empty when Thorpe had gone. Her former boss and protector couldn’t fill Sean’s half, either. Neither was a substitute for the other.

She simply loved them both.

Pointless thoughts. Callie tossed the e-reader down and rose, her short black nightie swishing around her thighs.

Across the house, she heard the sound of the garage door opening, the chime of the alarm, the door shutting, the rattle of keys, the sounds of footsteps. She smiled.

Sean appeared a few seconds later, his face unreadable. He crossed the floor directly to her, took her face in his hands, and pressed a rapt kiss on her mouth. With a moan, she melted into him. Now he would take her in his arms and strip off the scrap of silk covering her. He would show her his devotion and she would give it back, opening her heart even wider to him.

Instead, he stepped away. “Kneel for me, lovely.”

Oh, he was in that mood. They hadn’t engaged in any BDSM play since the houseboat. Now that the possibility was in front of her, she realized how badly she’d missed it. Itched for it. Needed to feel as if she could put herself in the hands of the man she loved, knowing he would push her to her limits, yet trusting him utterly not to break her.

“Yes, Sir.” She fell to her knees at his feet, bowed her head, and waited breathlessly. Her body began to bloom with anticipation.

Without a word, he bent to her. She heard a little click, and the wire of white gold lifted from around her neck.

He had uncollared her?

Callie gasped and looked up at Sean with horror. “W-what have I done? How have I not made you happy?”

Sean crouched in front of her and smoothed a hand against her cheek. He held her heart in his hands. He was breaking her in two, and yet he looked so excited. If he left her . . . No! Her chest was already splitting open at the thought.

“You make me very happy. It’s a different claim I want on you now.” He pulled a little velvet box from his pants, and her crushing pain transformed into astonished joy. “Callindra Alexis Howe, will you marry me? God knows I’ve loved you from the beginning, and I can’t imagine spending much longer without making you my wife. Please say yes.”

As he stood and helped her to her feet, Callie teared up. She threw herself into his arms, gripping him so tightly, overwhelmed when he held her with the same intensity. Tears fell so swiftly as her heart overflowed. She pulled back and, through her watery gaze, stared into his eyes. She wanted him to know how much she meant this.

“I love you. I don’t know if you’ll ever understand how much, but I’ll do my best to show you every day. Yes!”

Sean pulled her in and gripped her close again, and she clung for dear life, celebrating what would be now that they’d be husband and wife, what could be once they started a family. And mourning what could never be without Thorpe.

Callie dug her fingers into Sean. She had to stop that. Thorpe could not be the specter between them. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want her, and she had to exorcise him. She’d ached for family, belonging, and happiness since her father and sister had been murdered. Eventually the people responsible would get their justice. But she wouldn’t forfeit the love she shared with Sean now and forever to pine for a man who wouldn’t share his heart.

Gently, Sean pulled back, peppering her face with soft, sweet kisses. Then he opened the box. Callie clapped a hand over her lips, overjoyed at the beauty of the ring—and the moment.

A lovely round center stone winked up at her, surrounded by a circle of smaller diamonds. The band was covered in the same delicate stones. It wasn’t extravagant. It wasn’t anything like the giant rock her father had given her mother—and she was glad. What Sean had given her was absolutely perfect and what she would have picked herself.

The poignant beauty of the event only felt more complete when he slipped the ring on her finger.

“I’m going to make you happy,” she whispered, smiling through her tears.

“I know. I’ll do everything I can to make you happy, too, lovely.” He stole another soft kiss. “I always will.”

She knew that. Her neck felt naked without his mark of possession there. That didn’t make her happy at all. “I could still wear your collar too, you know.”

He shook his head. “It’s not how I wanted to make you mine. I first put it on you under false pretenses. You first accepted it for the wrong reasons. This”—he thumbed her engagement ring—“is for us. For the right reasons. I’m going to cherish you always. Besides, something else needs to go around your neck.”

Sean caressed her cheek, then walked past her, settling himself in the big club chair in the corner. What the hell was he talking about?

“Pet?”

The deep voice that haunted her now rang in her head. She had to be hallucinating. But when she zipped around, Callie knew she wasn’t hearing things.

“Thorpe?” He stood there, fatigued and distinctly nervous, but as commanding as ever with his feet spread, his hands behind his back. His gray eyes penetrated her, reaching all the way to her heart with one glance.