Sinner’s Redemption by Rebecca Joyce

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tessa

Sitting on the bed in my towel, I reached for the lotion I kept on the nightstand, while Montana lounged on the bed reading something on his phone.

After the unexpected birth of Linsey and Vicious’ twins, the club followed them to the hospital. While I wasn’t a doctor with privileges, August allowed me to help get the twins and Linsey settled for an overnight stay. While the older twin weighed a whopping ten pounds, eight ounces, his little sister only weighed four pounds, seven ounces. The doctors decided she would at least stay until she was a healthier weight. Linsey and Vicious weren’t happy about it, but they understood.

Being back in that environment reminded me of what it meant to me, to do the things they trained me to do.

I was a doctor.

A damn good one.

I wanted to help people, not sit at home and waste my days away.

Standing up, I dropped the towel and got under the covers, rolling on my side to face Montana.

“I need you to fix it.”

“Fix what, babe?” he replied, frowning as he scrolled through his emails.

“I’m a doctor. I can’t be a doctor if no one hires me. I need you to find whoever is blacklisting me and make them stop.”

Montana said nothing as his body tensed right before he put his phone down and turned to me. “That’s what I was trying to do.”

“Go faster,” I huffed, rolling onto my back, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked at the ceiling. “What I did today, what I was a part of, was a tiny sample of what my days would be like. The adrenaline, the need to help, the satisfaction of knowing I made a difference in someone’s life. I trained for this for years, Montana, and I refuse to let some asshole stop me from doing what I am meant to do. I don’t care what you have to do but find that son of a bitch and make him stop. I want my life back. I’m going stir crazy sitting here in this fucking mausoleum you call a house. I need to do something.”

When Montana didn’t respond, I looked over at him.

“What?” I snarked.

A slow grin appeared on his face as his eyes heated. Rolling towards me, he pinned me to the bed and growled, “Go faster?”

Gulping, I squirmed. “It was an expression. Not a command.”

“Here’s a command. Kneel.”

“Montana, I’m tired. Today was a shit day that ended on a pleasant note. I was just venting.”

He said nothing.

His eyes locked on mine.

I silently cursed myself for my word choice. I knew the rules. That one rule never changed. Behind closed doors, I was his. His to do with. His to command. The only way to stop him was to say red, and though I wasn’t lying about being tired, my body betrayed me as my cream coated my thighs.

“I said…kneel,” He growled harshly.

Wiggling out from under him, I got up and went to stand in the middle of the room. Looking back at him, I lowered my eyes before dropping to my feet. My knees hit the plush carpet. Spreading my knees, my back straight, my hands, palms up, resting on my thighs, I took a deep breath and lowered my head as all my worries, reservations and fears instantly fled my body.

“I know you’re frustrated, Tessa.” He walked around the room, opening drawers. “I am too. You think I enjoy knowing that someone is out there causing you trouble? It’s my job to make sure that never happens. It’s my job to protect you. I’ve failed once already and almost lost you. It’s not a feeling I relish.”

I gulped.

I wanted so much to speak up and tell him that what happened wasn’t his fault, but I kept my mouth shut as I realized I was not the only one stressed by my situation. I never thought about what it was doing to him. For a man like Montana Stone, who needed absolute control in his life, being unable to protect the woman he loved had to be a crushing blow to his psyche.

The fact was I fell in love with a dominant.

I knew who he truly was from the first moment I met him. Men like Montana had an air about them. A determination, a strength that most men didn’t have. Yet, Montana had it in spades. It was one trait that drew me to him.

On some psychological level, I knew it was because I never had a father. I didn’t grow up with the protective nature of a man who would do anything to protect me. Being with Montana filled some deep, dark void that I desperately needed.

A small part of me needed his validation, his strength, his power. I knew I was capable of many things and didn’t need a man to validate me per se, but at least I was honest enough to admit that having a man like Montana in my corner, helping, loving and protecting me was exactly what I craved.

Even the strongest of women needed someone to lean on. Someone to have their backs in times of need. Someone who willingly wanted to be there to help in any way they could.

Montana Stone was that person for me.

I didn’t look up, focusing my gaze on the ground as his feet came into view. I’ve never given any thought to a man’s feet before but fuck me. Montana had handsome feet.

Stopping before me, he didn’t move. He stood there silently, not moving. The drumming of my heart drowned out every thought, every sound until I saw his hand lightly shake.

“Choose.”

His voice reverberated in my ears like a cannon fire, and I tensed, awaiting the caress of his fingers, somewhere on my body, as was his custom. Searing flames licked my shoulder as his fingertips whispered over my skin, tracing down to my collarbone. Still, I didn’t raise my eyes from his feet. Flames licked along my neck, then under my chin, where he placed his index finger. With almost no pressure at all, he forced me to lift my chin as our eyes connected.

“Choose.”

The intense penetration of his gaze seared me to my core.

Montana Stone was all man. From the tips of his hair down to his feet. There wasn’t an ounce that said otherwise. However, when he looked at me with his sterling blue eyes, something always unfurled inside me, welcoming him so he could see into the heart of me.

No other man had that power over me, and no one ever would. Just like I knew no other woman would ever satisfy him as I could. Only there was something else in his stare. A fear. He was afraid. Why, I didn’t know, but the longer he stood there, never breaking eye contact, a trickle of trepidation seeped into my soul. Something had shifted. An unknown entity had oozed into our world and doubt took root.

It was then that I understood.

He wasn’t asking me to submit to him.

He was asking me to believe in him.

To trust him.

To accept that he would protect me.

The funny part was, I thought I already had, but my actions the last few days said otherwise. Instead of trusting and believing that he would resolve my problem, I berated him.

I felt my cheeks redden as the warmth of my shame traveled from my face, down my neck, to my chest. How could I have misunderstood? I knew who he was. What he was capable of. Instead of trusting that he would fix it, I made things worse. He told me everything, every sordid detail from his past and instead of accepting him, I avoided him, subconsciously blaming him for my troubles. Then, to make matters worse, I made a scene in front of all his brothers. I heard what I wanted, instead of listening to what was being said. I assumed the worst.

Neither of us said a word.

With my gaze firmly held, he removed his finger. The heat radiating from his touch scorched my skin. My eyes did not waver from his.

A brief, pleased smile played across his mouth before it disappeared. “You and our son are my sole purpose for living. There isn’t a moment of the day that I’m not thinking about your welfare and how I can improve, to make it better. I know you want to work, Tessa. You were born to be a doctor. My woman is so fucking smart, but sometimes she can’t see past the tip of her nose,” he scolded softly, as he reached down to touch my lips, stroking gently over my mouth.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

He ran his thumb over my lips and pushed slightly, entering my mouth.

I moaned. My body is a slave to his desires.

His thumb touched the tip of my tongue.

He pushed, gently stroking my tongue until it stroked back, twisting around and licking.

Pleased, he removed his thumb, rubbing the wetness off on my lips before removing his touch altogether.

An eternity lapsed as I waited for his next touch. My breath became shallow, the frustration of this neglect mounting in my body. I dared not move as my frustration dripped slowly down my thighs.

“You look stunning, kneeling before me. My dream came true but even now, you can’t shut it off, can you? Your mind won’t allow you to trust that I know what’s best for you. You fight me every step of the way. I want to give you the world, but a small part of you stops you from surrendering because you don’t trust me to be what you need.”

My eyes snapped open.

He never wavered.

“I could walk out of this room right now, and I know you would survive. Did you ever once consider that it isn’t you that needs me, but it’s me that needs you? Today I brought you into my world and instead of listening, trying to understand what was at stake, you cared more about a man that stole from us and got two brothers killed. Why did you do it?”

I didn’t understand.

Do what?

Fear captured me as I stilled before him. This wasn’t just about me submitting to him. Something else was at play here, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like what came next.

“What?” I whispered.

“All you had to do was trust me, baby, but you couldn’t even do that. Could you? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out?”

He wasn’t making any sense. He was scaring me. I’d seen him angry before, but this was something altogether different. Getting to my feet, I backed away as Montana paced.

“Do you know how it looked when I learned that the love of my life, the woman I picked to spend the rest of my life with, sent a text to the very man who has been blacklisting her?!” He roared.

Backing up more, I flinched at his anger.

“The man you protected. The man who you warned today is the same man who stole millions from the Soulless Sinners and had two of my former brothers killed. The money he’s using to blacklist you is the very money he took from my club. He stole from me!”

What was he talking about?

I didn’t warn anyone.

“Montana, I don’t know what you think I did, but I didn’t…”

“That’s right! You didn’t think!” he ranted, punching the wall. Heaving gasping breaths, he added, “Jesus fuck, woman! All you had to do was sit and wait. I was going to tell you everything, but you couldn’t even wait for me to do that. Could you? You assumed we were fucking wrong and took it upon yourself to fix the situation. Fuck me. Fuck my club. Fuck the truth, right?!”

“Please calm…”

“NO!” he seethed, getting in my face. “I tried to be nice. I tried to include you. I tried to be understanding. Now, you are going to do everything my fucking way. Because of you, I now have a bigger mess to clean up!”

The second he slammed the door behind him, I stared at the closed door, wondering what the hell was going on?

Had he finally lost his damned mind?

He couldn’t seriously believe that I would betray him.

I didn’t even know what the fuck was going on!

Instead of calmly talking to me about it, he accused me of deceiving him, betraying him and his club. Yeah, I would admit I thought about contacting Mr. Graves, but I never got the chance. Linsey went into labor. By the time she delivered the babies, and we got her to the hospital, I forgot all about Mr. Graves.

I just wanted to talk to him about helping me find a job.

That’s all I wanted.

Instead, he used sex as a decoy to get me right where he wanted me. Then he pounced, taking his pound of flesh.

Well, I hope he fucking enjoyed it because it was the last time.

I was fucking done with all this shit.

Trust?

He wanted me to trust him!

Well, trust went both ways.