Haynes, K. R. - The Light in Her Eyes [In Her Eyes] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

“What I want from you, little girl, is for you to strip and present yourself. Then you will take your punishment as I see fit. That, Chloe is what I want from you, now!” he growled to her.

“Well, that may be what you want, Jon. It certainly isn’t what you’re going to get from me, now or ever,” she yelled back at him.

Her eyes never left his as he advanced on her. She didn’t give an inch as he came storming up to stand nose to nose with her. Randall was more than aware that Chloe was prepared to argue whatever point she wanted to argue with him. They were both past the point of controlling their own frustration at some unknown element this morning. Hell, even last night, too.

Something was still troubling her and she was keeping him in the dark about it. He had had enough of her evading his questions and her unwillingness to open up to him. Chloe needed to learn and learn fast that there wasn’t anything she couldn’t share with him. That there wasn’t anything she couldn’t say to him. And most importantly there wasn’t anything she couldn’t trust him with, including her life.

He knew Chloe couldn’t control her fiery emotions the more worked up she got. They spilled from her thick and fast. It amused him how much he loved hearing her heated fighting words. Her aroused state flushed her skin. She seemed both surprised and annoyed by the fact that she found herself aroused.

If he thought his dick couldn’t possibly get any harder he’d been wrong, so bloody wrong. His dick was so hard it was on the verge of being painful. Why had he found himself in this state? In one word, Chloe. She was making him so crazy with lust and desire for her. He couldn’t think straight. Her sassy, mouthy comments and attitude had his dick hardening within seconds of the words falling from those pouty, soft lips of hers.

He was going to take her. There was no question about it. Randall could sense Chloe’s arousal rising by the second. He would bet her pussy was thoroughly wet and ready for him to take her now if he wanted to. He couldn’t wait to feel her heated warmth wrapped around his dick. To feel her come apart underneath him, while he thrust harder and faster with his hardened cock, only to then explode deep inside of her filling her with his seed, while she shattered around his dick with her own orgasm.
And that was
if
he allowed her permission to come. That all depended on how well she took to her punishment. If she pleased him, he would then offer her a chance to come. If she doesn’t please him, well, Chloe would learn to bear her punishments more graciously next time.

“I gave you a command, little girl. I expect you to follow through with it.”

“Well, maybe you expect too much from me, Jon. Ever think about that?”

Shit. No, he hadn’t. It never even crossed his mind that he had demanded too much from her too soon. “You have a safe word, Chloe. If I push you too far then use it.”

Squaring her shoulders and narrowing her eyes at him, Chloe uttered the one word he never thought he would hear her say to him. But in the heat of the moment the word fell from her lips. “History,” she uttered to him.

Releasing his hand on her arm and dragging a hand through his hair, Randall cursed out loud. Just like that Chloe had uttered her safe word to him. They were meant to stop whatever they were doing. However, all they had done was argue. He swore again and began pacing around the lounge room floor.

Turning, he stopped and glanced over to where Chloe stood with her back to him. The reason she had said her safe word was something he needed to get to the bottom of right now. “Answer me this one question, Chloe. Why did you say your safe word then?”

Shrugging her shoulders at him, she remained silent. Slowly, Chloe glanced back over her shoulder at him. Randall could see in her eyes that she had never meant to say her safe word, that it had been said in the heat of the moment. “Why, Chloe, why did you say it? What was it that you wanted to stop?”

Lowering her gaze from his, her answer was a softly spoken one to him. “I don’t know why. I was angry and wanted to do something that would piss you off.”

“You do realise what the safe word is for and the importance of using it properly?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered quietly to him.

Randall knew in that moment they had both pushed each other too far this morning, hell, even last night. A week’s separation from your lover made you do some crazy shit. Before either of them pushed each other any further, it was time to discuss what had happened last night. Because it was obviously still playing on Chloe’s mind. She needed to tell him something. Randall hadn’t given her the time to say it to him in a calm manner.

Walking over to her, resting a hand on her lower back, and leaning in, he whispered into her ear. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I know it’s been hard on you these past few days I’ve been away. Come sit down and talk to me, precious.”

He guided her over to the sofa, and Chloe took a seat on the far end of the sofa while Randall parked his ass down on the low end table in front of her. Taking both her hands in one of his, he used the other hand to cup her face gently.

“Talk to me, Chloe. Let me in. Tell me what has you so worked up this morning and last night.”

“I don’t know, Jon,” she uttered to him. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“Why did you leave the house alone last night then?”

“I couldn’t stand being there anymore.” She sighed heavily. “It felt like the walls were caving in on me. I had to get out of there, Jon. I just had to. I know I disobeyed you. I know I have to take whatever your punishment you decide for me is.” She looked up at him then, and Randall could see the tortured expression in her hazel eyes.

Yes, he would still follow through with his punishment and she would take it without questioning him. But he needed to remove that tortured expression from her eyes first.

“I am sorry, Jon, for leaving the house when you told me not to. I am sorry for disappointing you, too, by defying you. I know the command you gave me was for my own protection.” Shaking her head, Chloe didn’t say anything further to him.
He could tell she wanted his forgiveness. He would give it to her. After hearing her sweet apology to him how could he not forgive her?

Reaching out and tucking the fallen locks of hair back behind her ears, he ran his hands down her arms, squeezing them gently. “I accept your apology, Chloe. I know you will accept the punishment I decide upon for you. What I want to understand though is why you felt the need to leave the house. What was it that made you feel like the walls were caving in on you?”

She turned her gaze away from him then.

“Look at me, Chloe. Help me understand. I want to know what is going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

Her gaze drifted down to the hands he held with his. Randall could sense Chloe’s struggle to find the right words to say to avoid making the situation worse than it already was.

“I left because I received another message, Jon, worse than the previous messages left from the sick bastard. I tried to contact you to tell you about it, but you wouldn’t take my calls.” Drawing in a deep breath, Chloe continued. “I wasn’t prepared to sit around and wait for the sick bastard to strike out at me. So I left even though I knew my leaving the house directly disobeyed your command not to leave.”

She tried to move off the sofa to pace
away from him.
Randall stood firm and refused let go of her hands, leaving Chloe with no choice but to stay put. Biting down on her quivering lower lip, she waited for him to say something to her. Knowing that she had displeased him with her disobedience would make her feel even more disappointed in herself for her own actions. And more determined than ever to accept the punishment he dealt out to her.

“How do you mean worse, Chloe? How could it possibly be any worse than ‘die, bitch’?”

* * * *

Glancing away from Randall, Chloe could still hear how enraged the voice had sounded on the answering machine. The message left for her had been pretty clear and straight to the point. The viciousness of the words still rolled around in her head. Try as she might, she couldn’t figure out how the voice knew so much about her.

The maliciousness in this new message alone had the power to rip the beating heart right out of her chest. Because deep down, Chloe knew it had the power to come true this time. Nothing could stop him. Not even Randall could protect her from the sick fuck targeting her.

Taking a fleeting look up at Randall’s face she relayed the latest message word for word. “He said, ‘Not even your officer lover can save you this time, bitch. I will kill you. You will die, bitch. Soon, mark my words.’”

When she first heard this new message she had been so afraid not only from the words spoken but also the menace echoing in his voice. Chloe knew the moment she heard the message that this bastard targeting her would take her away from her Randall. There wasn’t anything she could do to prevent it.

It killed her knowing she would lose Randall after only just finding him. Her heart ached at the thought that Jon would never know how much she loved him. Chloe wished more than anything that she could have had forever in Jon’s arms. Now she only had days, weeks or months left. The stalker after her would choose when she died and how. Chloe had no way to stop her fate. No way to control when her life ended or how her life would end.

She hated the sense of loss of control over her own fate, hated it with a passion. It made her so furious losing what little control she did have over her own damn life. The thing that made her grieve the most was the thought of never seeing Randall’s piercing sky-blue eyes ever again. Never having them gazing upon her. Never feeling the strength of his arms wrapped around her at night keeping her warm and safe while she slept.
And never hearing him whisper his words of love and praise to her ever again.
Her heart broke at that thought alone.

“Oh, god…” A silent sob fell from her lips and just like last night her silent aguish threatened to tear her apart once again. More tears fell, dampening her cheeks as they slid from her eyes. Chloe didn’t move when the sofa dipped as Randall settled down beside her. She needed his strength and ownership now more than ever before.

His strong arms cradled her against him. His words meant the world to her.

Her tears fell from the anguish at the sense of loss so profound it had the strength to shatter something inside of her. She felt broken inside. She knew she had to dig deep within herself to conquer the anguish swirling around inside of her. Somehow she needed to find the strength to fight against the one targeting her. A battle Chloe was determined to succeed at and win.

She wanted to kill the one threatening her. Make him hurt like she hurt now. The idea of never seeing Randall ever again, or never having him in her life hurt so much. Being in his arms now was bittersweet, because she knew it would never be forever. And she wanted forever in Randall’s arms and in his heart. God, she wanted it so badly she thought she would die from just the need alone.

Chapter Twenty-Two

For a long moment he held her close to him. Her tears continued to fall freely. Randall knew then this was the reason behind the tortured expression he’d seen in her eyes. She feared the one after her. And the one after her was stepping up his game. The bastard knew enough about Chloe to know who her lover was and that her lover was an officer on active duty.

Randall realised then that in order to protect her, Chloe would need to have someone with her twenty-four-seven, to eliminate any chance of the this asshole getting close enough to her take her away from him. He would call Mick, maybe even Mary J, to see if they could help out in the area of ‘babysitting’ his woman. Randall would personally make damn sure Chloe obeyed every command given to her in order to keep her safe and protected.

There was no way he was planning on losing his woman to some crazed lunatic. No fucking way was this bastard getting his hands on his
woman.

Chloe was
the one person Randall loved with all his heart and soul. The only person he had ever loved.
He had always been in love with her
, ever since the day he bumped into her at the local cafe after school one day. A chance meeting when they were young teenagers which ended up changing their lives forever.

He had only ever loved one woman in his life. That one woman was in his arms now. Until his last dying breath, Chloe would always be his, mind, heart, body, and soul. She was his and had always been his. No one would take her away from him. No one, and that included the one threatening her.

Chloe would forever be a part of his soul and forever be embedded in his heart. There was no way Randall would walk away from her. There was definitely no way he would let someone take her from this earth. Chloe would survive this attack on her life. He would make sure of it. He would also make damn sure she was protected at all times, and obeyed every command given to her. Otherwise, she would feel his full wrath on that bare arse of hers if she so much as defied him this one time when her life was truly at risk. “I will stop him, precious. I won’t let him take you from me, I promise you,” he murmured into her ear.