Protege (32 page)

The fire in his eyes softened as the intensity shifted. The moment didn't weaken. On the contrary, it thickened as he allowed this pause for unguarded honesty.

“You're my safety,” she confessed, her voice a raspy whisper. “You're kind and good, and patient even when I know I'm being a handful.
You
make submission effortless, Jude. I don't want to serve someone else. I want to serve
you
. Because you look at me and you don't see my weaknesses as problems. You just see me, all of me, the good and the bad, and you help me become more. You make me want to be more than I've ever wanted to be. When I'm with you I feel like I'm breathing for the first time and I know what life with you can taste like. I'm so hungry for that life, Jude, but I can't take what you won't allow.”

Vulnerability flashed in his eyes as he cupped her face with such loving tenderness. “Do you need me?”

She sucked in a breath and confessed, “I don't think I've ever needed anyone more.”

Leaning forward, he gently kissed her lips. “I can't hurt you, Collette. And I can't promise a life to someone who needs things outside my limits.”

It clicked then. She'd thought the need rested in some form of penance. No one had ever given her something without taking something in return. Yet here he was, this incredible man she loved, offering her all the security she ever wanted with only one request, that she not ask him to hurt her. She chuckled, her mouth smirking and her eyes wet with tears. “Yes. I can live with that.” Though he wouldn't say it, she felt his love in a way she'd never felt anything before. It surrounded her and protected her. That was what she needed above all else. “Jude?”

“Yes?”

Her lips pressed tight, knowing this sense of security might crumble without the cornerstone she desperately needed. “Do you love me?”

His face lowered as he softly whispered, “Collette, I've tried so hard to do what's right.” He shook his head, a pained smile twisting his lips. “Sweetheart, I've been loving you since the day you told me you make your own panties and spoke French in that southern drawl. For a month I've been trying not to love you, but every day you prove to be the perfect woman for me. It didn't matter what I wanted. I
need
to love you and I do very much, peach.”

Her lips trembled as she stared into his eyes. “What about my application?”

“I invented the formula, Collette. I know it by heart and I know you the same. We belong together. Every struggle only proved how much, because whenever I see you hurting or upset, it calls to my need to make you whole again. And when we're together, in sync, communicating all those vulnerable needs and meeting them with the grace of a pendulum in constant swing . . . I know I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.”

She exhaled roughly and smiled, her hands tightening around his neck as he held her close. “But I thought you couldn't do permanent?”

“There were a lot of things I thought I'd never do again. Falling in love was the biggest, and I fought it every step of the way, but here I am madly in love with a Georgia peach. I think I'd kill anyone who tried to take you away from me.” He gripped the back of her neck and looked directly into her eyes. “You. Are.
Mine.
”

His mouth slid over hers as he kissed her without reservation, his sub, his peach, his future. And he was hers. He lifted her and carried her to the window seat, laying her lush body out beneath him.

As he made love to her, words of affection fell from his lips as he licked over every curve, claimed every square inch of her body. Her past was something they'd work with as they were helping each other square away their own demons. She believed he'd do everything he could to teach her that forgiveness came in many forms, so long as she could forgive him for the time it took to learn to trust again. But he did trust her. He trusted her with his secrets, his vulnerabilities, and trusted her to take care of him—her gentle Dom.

They were the perfect fit, the other half to each other's soul. And they were never letting go.

Every day was new and she worked hard at becoming a better person than the woman she'd been the day before. Her first purpose was to serve and love Jude, who thereby met her needs and made the evolution of self all the more achievable.

Settling into Fernweh was simpler than it should have been, but with Jude, nothing was ever too complicated. Together they could solve anything.

He'd run their files, because he was a perfectionist like that. They were not only suited, they were a rarity, separated by only five percent. Collette liked that five percent, thinking it kept things real and interesting.

Like every couple, they bickered. Life was full of stressful situations. There were wars being fought, illnesses occurring, busy schedules to manage, but at the end of the day, when they shut the outside world away and became still, they had each other. He was her safe haven and she was his. Intrepid, devoted, passionately fond of each other, and always honest.

She still got in trouble from time to time. There were even moments she looked for trouble, found it, and flaunted what she'd done just to get his attention, because nothing felt better than being the center of Jude Duval's attention. But the moments for brattiness were few and far between, because not only was she usually the center of his attention, she was the center of his world, his anchor, his peace, just as he was hers.

It never took more than a quelling glance to soothe her, a simple touch to calm her. They had a language of their own, one the rest of the world was not privy to. It didn't matter how she got there or where she came from. All that mattered was that she belonged. To him.

His ongoing presence reaffirmed her security and with every passing day she became more confident she'd found a home that was truly hers. Sometimes, when Jude would fill her, he'd whisper that word—
home
. He said that was what she was to him. It was such sweet words that eased her insecurities, but his actions, his consistent gentleness were what cemented her belief that she was there to stay, and soon, her desires to be punished faded away.

Her security was not a belief, but a truth she recognized deep in her soul, locked in place by her bones, and he reminded her of this truth every day. Not only did she trust this sense of belonging above all else, she trusted that he relied on her being there for him as much as she needed him to be there for her. He trusted that she would always be with him, a home where he could always belong. And she would be his home, because he was hers.

Ezra and Lea still waited for their third, someone Collette hoped they found soon. Lea didn't boss her around anymore after Jude put his foot down. Sometimes Collette missed seeing that side of her friend, but she knew there would be plenty more of that once their trifecta was complete. It wasn't as scary knowing someone else would be on the receiving end.

Brys decided it would be best to travel for a while and was currently summering in Venice with Damien and Sadie. Perhaps Damien could show him what it felt like to be ordered to kneel.

There were so many wonderful couples in Fernweh. The houses, she realized, shifted like time-shares. It was as if everyone was one big happy family, spread across the globe. If one couple went overseas, their home was offered to those looking to visit the States. Jude mentioned traveling over the winter and she trusted him to make the proper arrangements.

She had yet to send out a résumé or return to her career. For the first time she felt entitled to be still and simply exist. She was happy and believed she deserved to relish such a gift. There would be plenty of time to move on with the mundane, but the orphan inside her wanted to see the dust settle and plant roots before letting life shake things up again. For the first time in her life, she had a place to call home.

Lights flashed through the foyer windows and she sighed. Gravel crunched outside and her gaze focused on the knob of the front door. She lifted her body, parting her thighs and extending her spine, her palms open. Her chin lifted, tiny prisms playing off the diamond collar around her neck and bouncing across the wall.

Her body tightened the moment his key slipped into the lock and then—peace.

He smiled and placed his bag by the door. “My favorite part of the day,” he said, as he held out a hand and helped her stand.

She stretched to his height, brushing a kiss along his jaw. “How was your day,
mon Monsieur
?”

His lips traced over hers, his hands tightening on her hips. “Better, now that I have my beautiful wife in my arms. Always better with you, peach.”

Her lashes lowered as his mouth closed over her lips, his hands pulling her into his strength. She sighed against his mouth, knowing, no matter how vulnerable she was, he would guard her always and be her strength, her protector, her gentle Dom.

Lydia Michaels 
writes all forms of hot romance. She presses the bounds of love and surprises readers just when they assume they have her stories figured out. From Amish vampyres, to wild Irishmen, to broken heroes, and heroines no man can match, Lydia takes readers on an emotional journey of the heart, mind, and soul with every story she pens. Her books are intellectual, erotic, haunting, always centered on love. She is the author of the Surrender Trilogy, including
 
Falling In
 
and
 
Breaking Out. She can be contacted by e-mail at Lydia@
LydiaMichaelsBooks.com.

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