Sweet Surrender (45 page)
Authors: Maddie Taylor
“That is a terrible thing to say.”
“Again, it’s the truth. Fortunately, not having kids makes a split cleaner.”
“So what are you going to do, find someone else to start over with and have babies?” The pain of him with someone else was palpable, but outwardly, she locked it down, as usual, hiding behind her icy façade.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just know I can’t do it here with you.”
“That’s it then, there’s nothing I can say or do? You make the decision and I go along with it?”
“It’s not pleasant from my side of the fence, is it? Oh, wait. There is one more thing.” He crossed to his desk, getting something out of a drawer before returning to stand in front of her. “Giada Sheridan,” he picked up her hand and placed an envelope in her palm, “these are our divorce papers. Consider yourself served.”
She stared at the packet as he pushed by her, still staring as his footsteps echoed down the stairs and the front door slammed. When she heard the faint sound of his car in the drive, she ripped the envelope open. Withdrawing the stack of tri-folded papers, she bent them back at the creases. There at the top of the first page, printed in bold letters, screamed the words ‘petition for divorce’. As she looked down at them, a sharp stabbing pain pierced her heart at the same time a droplet of water landed on the document, smearing the ink. That startled her into movement, her free hand coming up to touch her face. When her fingers came away wet, she blinked in surprise. She never cried—not ever.
The tears did come, however, full force and with gut-wrenching sobs. She fell across the bed—their bed—the one they had shared for a decade. Like Ian, she felt miserable, alone, and unloved. As she lay there awash in her tears, it occurred to her that those feelings weren’t new to her; she’d felt them every single day of her wretched life.
The End
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More Stormy Night Books by Maddie Taylor
Marshal’s Law
When Janelle Prescott is thrown from her car as it careens off of a slippery road, she expects to wake up in a hospital. Instead, to her utter disbelief, she wakes up in a jail cell which looks like something from an old western movie set. It is there, hurt and alone, with no idea what happened or how she will get back home, that Janelle first meets Aaron Jackson. As she regains her wits, however, Janelle realizes that something is terribly amiss, and her worst fears are confirmed when she learns that Aaron is the marshal of Cheyenne County, Wyoming… and the year is 1878.
When an injured, apparently addle-headed woman falls into his lap, Aaron takes it upon himself to keep her safe and nurse her back to health. Truth be told, he is instantly attracted to her despite her sharp tongue and her bizarre story—a story which he is quickly forced by the evidence to accept as genuine. After Aaron takes her under his wing and into his family’s home, the two clash frequently, but Aaron is more than ready to lay down the law… even if that means a good, hard, bare-bottom spanking for this feisty brat from another era.
Having little choice, Janelle must learn how to live as a woman in 1878, including submitting to the firm-handed marshal who, in spite of everything, seems to have laid claim to her heart.
Gideon’s Redemption
Shannon Hughes’ worst nightmare comes true when her rock star boyfriend, Gideon Eli, appears to be cheating on her. Upon learning that she is pregnant with Gideon’s baby, she hopes to salvage a friendship, but those hopes are quickly dashed after she receives from Gideon’s manager a check for $25,000 and a note telling her to move on and leave Gideon alone. Seeing no other choice, she starts out on her own as a heartbroken single mother.
It is not until nine years later, when a chance encounter brings her together with Gideon once more, that Shannon learns the truth. She discovers that their split was based on a terrible misunderstanding, but worst of all, the situation was made possible by her lack of trust in Gideon. Resolved to make them a family after all, he promises that nothing will tear them apart again because things will be different this time. This time, he will be in charge.
Her world is turned upside down when she begins her new life in Gideon’s plush Malibu beach house, and Shannon soon realizes that Gideon’s dominance is very real. That dominance includes the frequent baring of her bottom for a sound spanking, but even after he has spanked her hard and long and assured her that he forgives her, Shannon’s remorse for the nine years she spent away from him is almost too much for her to handle. Can Shannon forgive herself, move on, and begin to live a full and joyous life again, or will the scars of the past never heal?
Sweet Salvation
Fresh out of college and looking to escape her painful past in Atlanta, Stacy Altman is in Detroit for an interview when a drop dead gorgeous doctor literally runs right into her. Two years later, when the same man—wealthy surgeon Jared Baker—plows through a door and collides with her again, this time injuring her knee in the process, it seems that fate has plans for the unlikely pair.
To atone for his carelessness, Dr. Baker decides to personally tend to his newfound “Georgia Peach”. As her doctor, Jared instructs Stacy to rest up until she can walk again… and as the firm, loving man she has long needed in her life, he informs her that she can expect to be taken over his knee for a spanking if she disregards her doctor’s orders.
Stacy soon lands a promotion and her life in Detroit becomes everything she hoped it would be, but even after Jared asks her to be his wife, it becomes more and more difficult for her to hide from the trauma she hoped she had left behind in Georgia. Can Jared’s love prove to be the sweet salvation she so desperately needs?
Pleasure Bay (with Melody Parks)
Dimitri De Luca is in the business of meeting needs—the kind of needs that people blush to discuss—and at Pleasure Bay, the BDSM-themed resort he owns on a private Caribbean island, business is good. With the help of his guest relations expert, Mariah Charmant, the pricey oasis promises an experience like no other. But Dimitri has something he needs as well… Mariah.
Mariah has been hurt before, and even as she makes one perfect match after another for others, she wonders if she can trust herself with her own heart. Despite the darkness of her past, she longs for Dimitri to claim her and dominate her completely, but can she bring herself to call him her master?
Lanie’s Lessons
Attorney Lanie Fischer is a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom, but the stress of her caseload has been mounting relentlessly. She puts on a brave face at work, but behind closed doors Lanie has become an emotional wreck, and her husband, law professor Ethan Fischer, is tired of watching her self-destruct. She’s not sleeping, she’s lost weight, and their sex life is starting to suffer. Something has to give, and as far as he is concerned it is time for a radical new approach. From now on, Ethan decides, his wife will be spending quite a bit of quality time over his knee with her bottom bare, learning some lessons she has needed for a long time.
Some of Lanie’s spankings turn out to be purely erotic, ending with the hottest sex she and Ethan have ever had, but others are meant to teach her what happens when naughty wives disobey their husbands and fail to take care of themselves. Unconventional though it may be, to her surprise Lanie soon begins to crave both her husband’s sexier spankings and his discipline as well. But can she live happily as a loving wife and obedient submissive at home even as she battles in court at work every day, or will the conflicting demands tear her apart.
Jackson’s Justice
Twenty-year-old Jenny Harper has been in love with Heath Jackson since the day she saw him leap from a galloping horse to save an old woman when she was eleven years old. Over the years, Jenny has watched the women swarm around Heath, but she has her heart set on him and she is not one to give up easily. One way or another, she will show Heath she is a grown woman, ready for a husband, not the child he remembers tagging along after his younger brother.
Unfortunately for Jenny, ever since he was left at the altar by a foolish girl who ran off to marry a wealthy old man, Heath Jackson has sworn off marriage, preferring instead the company of widows and saloon girls. And in any case, though he has secretly lusted after her for years, as far as Heath is concerned Jenny is too young, too much like family, and too eager to wed.
But when tragedy strikes, putting more on Jenny’s shoulders than she can bear, her only hope of saving her family home lies in marrying quickly. Can Heath sit back while other men vie for her affections? Can he bear to watch in silence as she chooses a weakling when she desperately needs a strong man like him, one who will keep her safe and give her the sound discipline she needs when her impulsive ways place her in danger? Or will he stand up and claim what should be his, even if it means risking his heart again?
Maddie Taylor Links
You can keep up with Maddie Taylor via her blog, her Twitter and Facebook pages, and her Amazon and Goodreads profiles, using the following links:
http://maddietaylorromance.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/MaddieTWrites
https://www.facebook.com/maddie.taylor.121772
http://www.amazon.com/Maddie-Taylor/e/B00DYE6Y54
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7045130.Maddie_Taylor
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