Page 73 of Dauntless

We hadn’t reached the car before Elliott kissed me passionately on the lips. Truly, Elliott was better than a romance book. He was real. And he was mine.

***

Our visit to Palm Springs was to see my dad, but also for our own break. We headed to the hotel resort where we planned to stay in Rancho Mirage. A private suite near the top with a view overlooking the mountainous desert valley. The balcony was where Elliott took me the moment we were alone in the suite. He guided me outside on the balcony to one of the lounge chairs to lay there in his arms and relaxed in peace.

“This is what I want,” I whispered against his chest. “I want us to be together. I don’t want to date to try to fit into something we’re not. If anything, I learned not to waste my life. I know how I feel about you. I love you.”

He tilted my face up to his, and the strength of his gaze took ahold of my heart. “I know, and I know I love you, Gia, and I was serious when I told your dad I want to marry you.”

“You told him you will, without even asking me,” I replied with a lift to my brow.

“I said I’d marry you because I believe it,” he said and smiled. “Even if I’d have to convince you forever. You’re mine.”

His confidence and certainty harmonized with mine. However, there was still a part of me that wanted to hear him say the words.

“I’m already convinced,” I said. “But you can ask me anyway.”

He kissed my lips tenderly, then whispered against them. “Will you marry me, sweetheart?”

My answer was sure, and I didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I will marry you, Elliott.”

Our lips met, starting as a tender caress, with slow slides of his tongue as he stroked it against mine, transforming our kiss into fiery possession. I moaned into his mouth, as the need for more scorched through me. Elliott had me turned over onto my back, his need for me just as encompassing. We went back inside, and he quickly removed our clothes, then placed me on my back, on the bed. I wrapped my legs around him, and he entered me. He ground his hips, short, sweet strokes until he was deep inside me. He held himself there, bringing his lips back to my own, in a hot searing kiss. I writhed under him in a plead for more, and he gave it. He was in command, but tonight, there was no denying me.

I gripped him tight, my orgasm taking me over, and Elliott rocked into me, grinding his cock in deeper than he’d ever been before. “I love you.”

My heart soared in ecstasy as I climaxed, and Elliott followed.

We came apart and back together as one. Afterward, we returned to holding each other, and there was no place or time in the world I’d rather be.

***

I wish I could say that Elliott and I went on to live happily ever after we returned home. But the agency for kidnapping and human trafficking case came with us. Most of the criminal cases against the men were sealed. Partly to protect the women survivors, but also to protect the powerful men of influence involved. Many of the men chose to enter a guilty plea, and quietly awaited their sentences. Others, like Patrick, chose to take their chances in court.

As for the women survivors, some refused to participate in the case. While others, like Angel, wanted to speak, but had been robbed of their voices. Then there were those like me, not only willing to speak, but keen to add their voices with my own. That was what I decided to do. Because no longer did I feel embarrassed or ashamed, about having a sexual relationship with Elliott and Dane. I was alive and still here. I would stand in public as the face of the survivors for change.

Once again, I was in the social spotlight. To say the media coverage had been bad would be an understatement. However, I was ready. Thanks to Stuart, and his foresight to hire Attorney Joshua Stone. He became my warrior, slaying anyone who dared to speak or write anything except the truth about what happened to me.

And what was the truth?

For me, it was that I was not different than most woman post-divorce. I sought to restart my personal life, and try new experiences. I, like the rest of the woman targeted, didn’t deserve the horrors that had befallen us.

Whatever was to come, I believe I won, and the best part was I wasn’t alone. I had the love of my life, Elliott Carmichael, family, and friends. I was eternally grateful.

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