Page 28 of Provoking Bryan

The next few days passed in a blur of planning and recovery. Sara spent hours poring over intel, her brow furrowed in concentration as she pieced together their next move. Fitzwallace and Seth checked in regularly, their voices crackling through the satellite phone.

“You need to wait,” Fitzwallace urged during one call. “Rushing this will only get you killed.”

“We can’t wait,” Sara shot back, her voice firm. “The longer we sit here, the more time they have to regroup. Right now they’re scattered, and they’re down at least ten or twelve well-trained guys.”

Bryan watched the exchange silently, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. When the call ended, Sara turned to him, her eyes blazing.

“They don’t get it,” she said. “This is our chance.”

Bryan straightened, his expression unreadable. “Then let’s take it.”

Her gaze sharpened. “You’re agreeing with me?”

“I’m agreeing that we can’t sit here forever,” Bryan said. “I also know you well enough to know you’ll take these bastards on by yourself if you have to. But we do this smart. No unnecessary risks.”

Sara hesitated, her usual confidence wavering for just a moment. “You’re serious?”

Bryan stepped closer, his voice steady. “If you’re doing this, I’m going with you or blowing the whistle with Fitzwallace and pulling rank as your Dom when it’s time to get the hell out of here. If I have to do that, when we get to wherever I say is safe, you’ll owe me ten.”

The air between them was charged and was heavy with the emotions that swirled between them. Bryan held her gaze, his hand brushing hers briefly before pulling back.

“You can’t just pull rank like that. We don’t have a contract, and I don’t have a collar.”

Bryan paused. He knew for submissives, especially those to who submission seemed to be in direct opposition to their skill sets, a collar was important, even more so than a contract.

“I’ll get someone working on a contract. As for a collar…” He walked over to his bag, reached in and pulled out his only clean shirt. He cut it into strips, braiding them together and using his class ring from his medial school as the center piece. He returned to her and lifted her hair. “Hold this.” She reached up to hold her hair up and he wrapped the makeshift collar around her neck, tying it in a secure knot in the back before taking her hair and releasing it to tumble down her back.

“You do know there’s supposed to be a whole ceremony where you offer me your collar and I accept…”

“When we get back to Chicago, you can arrange whatever ceremony you want, and I’ll get you a proper collar…”

“You don’t have to do that…” she said softly.

He leaned down and kissed her gently and possessively. “I know, but I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to call you mine.”

“We haven’t known each other…”

“I don’t care, Sara. I know how I feel. I love you. I’d burn the world down for you if that’s what it took. I’d go through the gates of hell and snatch you from Satan’s grasp…”

She laughed. “I get it. You love me.”

“I do,” he admitted.

“Thank god, because I love you, too, and thought I’d be some kind of pathetic loser…”

“Call yourself that again, and it’s a minimum of ten.”

“You really liked that spanking thing,” she chuckled.

“I did. Far more than I thought I would, but then again, it would seem my sub not only liked it, but she also needed it.”

Sara nodded. “I did.”

“Then let’s get to work so we can get the hell out of here,” he said.

Sara nodded, her focus returning. “Let’s.”

Sara stood by the table, maps and blueprints spread out before her. The light from the single overhead bulb cast a golden glow on her hair, but her face was shadowed, unreadable.

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