Angel Among Sinners (The Garden Book 1) Read online

“So, care to fill me in on the plans?”

  “I’m going to represent you in court. I’m good, Eden, and I’ve only lost one case in all the years I’ve worked with Eden.” Maverick shook his head as if shaking away a bitter memory. “I’ll keep working on this on my end, getting as much information as I can, and keep all of you informed. The case is on the docket, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be called up for at least a month.”

  “He isn’t going to be satisfied with that, especially if he is doing this for the reason you think he is.” Embry bit her lip. “He’ll do anything he can to find out where I am and gain back the control he’s lost. To prove I need him or owe him something. Everything.”

  “That’s where we come in.” James’ face was somber. “You’re under our protection now, which means you have a few extra rules and the consequences to go with those rules.”

  “Do I get any say in this?” Embry asked, trying her damndest not to pout over the loss of her newfound freedom.

  “Of course, you do,” Eden started, her hands folded on the desk in front of her. “You get a choice of whether or not you want to be able to sit without discomfort.”

  “Eden,” A look quickly passed between James and Eden but only for a second.

  “What? You’re the one who said she was part of the family. You want to back out on that statement now?” Eden pointed out.

  James looked back at Embry. “You always have a choice here. Unfortunately, it isn’t an easy choice.”

  Embry’s belly knotted. “Meaning, follow the new rules and accept the consequences for breaking them or leave.”

  “Essentially, yes.” Eden stood, rounded the desk, and knelt in front of her. “You’re not the only girl here, Em, not the only one who needs protection. I cannot put their safety at risk because you don’t like having a few extra rules.”

  “I don’t want them in danger,” Embry answered immediately. “How bad is it?”

  “What? The new rules?” Eden questioned

  “No, the punishment when I break them because I guarantee I will.” A blush spread across her face in an instant.

  “You know we don’t just go around spanking people all willy-nilly, right?” Eden asked.

  “You may not, but he will,” Embry stated.

  Maverick simply shrugged. “I spanked her one time in high school, and you’d think I killed her.”

  “You’d think she liked it,” James countered, a wicked smirk on his face.

  “And what makes you think I know the answer to that?” Eden’s cheeks were tinted slightly.

  “You’re the boss, aren’t you?” Embry asked. “Will I be fired?”

  “No.” Everyone in the room answered at once, unknowingly loosening a few of the knots.

  “So…”

  “You’ll survive it,” James reassured.

  “So, back to my original question. How bad is it?” Embry watched the color in Eden’s cheeks brighten. “He’s your Dom, isn’t he?” She nodded toward James.

  “Who said you would be spanked?” Eden’s blush still shone bright and hot, but she had managed to effortlessly turn the tables.

  “Well, no one.” Fighting embarrassment of her own, Embry fought the urge to shrink in her seat.

  “Your ass is safe,” Eden reassured.

  “Thank God. When you dug your talons into Prim’s ass, I thought she was going to take off running.” Embry shuddered at the thought.

  “Really? You know she hates that,” James turned an annoyed look on Eden.

  “And you know how much I love seeing her squirm,” Eden reminded him as she stood tall once more. “I know what she can take.”

  “And you push that line.”

  “Do we even exist at this point?” Embry asked Maverick.

  “Not in the slightest.”

  “I hate to interrupt this, whatever it is,” Embry started, doing exactly that, “but I think you forgot we were still sitting here.”

  Eden threw her head back in laughter. “James, I didn’t know you could still blush.”

  The man in question growled, “It’s rare, but it happens.”

  Embry watched as the couple held each other’s eyes. Their love was clear in the simple look they shared.

  “Guys, her rules,” Maverick persisted.

  “Mav!” Embry’s harsh whisper was accompanied by a smack to his shoulder. “You ruined their moment.”

  “I know it was a long time ago, but do you remember what happened the last time you hit me?” Maverick turned his chair to fully face hers.

  “Um, I think so.” Did she remember? Hell, yes, she did. How was she ever supposed to forget that?

  Maverick’s hands grasped the arms of her chair and turned it, so she had no choice but to fully look at him, their knees touching. The heat in his eyes all but forced her core to clench.

  Fuck, she was turned on. All remaining hope that seeing a nearly naked Prim had turned her on the other day was slashed to shreds in a few short seconds. Who was she kidding? She knew why she was turned on, both then and now. It hadn’t been the first time a spanking had her squirming, and if the look in Mav’s eyes were anything to go on, it wasn’t going to be the last.

  “Care to share?” Maverick's mouth was set in a hard line, disapproval clear.

  “Um, no, thank you.” Embry allowed her eyes to drop to one of his hands. The knuckles were white from the grip he had on the chair as if he was afraid to let go.

  “Let me rephrase. What happened the last time you hit me, Embry Grace?”

  She wasn’t surprised he used her middle name or when he grasped her chin the way he did. He had done that before. What did shock her, though, was the look in his eyes. The sweet, slightly nerdy teen from high school was there, ready to protect her, to keep her safe from it all as if she had never left the safety of his old beat-up truck.

  “What happened the last time, Angel?” Maverick’s voice was soft, his eyes trained on her lips.

  “Are you really going to make me say it?” Embry’s whisper must not have been as quiet as she had thought because as soon as she stopped talking, Eden’s laugh met her ears.

  “Rebel,” James’ growl was followed by a small ‘ow.’

  Eden leaned in and spoke into Embry’s ear, “I’d answer him quickly before the man decides to show us what we already know happened when you hit him.”

  “He told you?” Embry’s attempt to look at the other woman earned her a growl from the man still holding her face.

  “No, but based on the look in his eyes and the blush on your face, it isn’t that hard to figure out.” Eden’s squeezed her shoulder once before moving away.

  With a sigh, she found Maverick’s eyes once more. “You spanked me. Last time I hit you, you spanked me.”

  “Good girl.” Maverick cleared his throat before leaning in. It was his turn to whisper in her ear. “Remember what I promised you all those years ago? If I ever had reason to spank you again, Angel, it would not be over your clothing? That promise still stands, and trust me, I’m far more equipped to back it up now.”

  Shit. Shit shit shit.

  Embry was afraid to move. Worried if she did, she would throw herself over his knee, right then and there. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but fuck.

  Shit. Say something, Embry. You can’t just sit here silently. Everyone is looking at you.

  What came out of her mouth next was the last thing she needed to say.

  “Please.”

  Silence filled the room as her eyes widened, and her heart picked up speed, but it was Maverick's reaction that had her melting.

  Instead of looking at her horrified or as if she’d just asked a full-grown man to spank her, a full-grown woman, he smiled—a hundred-watt smile lit up his whole face and had her heart fluttering for a completely different reason.

  This was her Maverick. The boy who proclaimed his love to her so many years ago. The same boy who hated when she called him George but had insisted on calling her Angel. “
George.”

  “I think he broke her.” Prim’s voice sounded from the doorway, shattering the moment.

  “Primly,” Eden scolded with a sigh.

  “What? She called him by the wrong name. I’m pretty sure I saved her from total embarrassment.” Prim leaned against the frame with a look on her face that clearly said, ‘You’re welcome.’ “Who’s George, anyway?”

  “I am.” Maverick sat back, finally releasing her chair. “She’s called me George since the day she met me.”

  “Mostly because it annoyed the hell out of him.” Turning her chair around, Embry faced her boss and prayed she would take mercy on her.

  “So, about those rules.”

  Chapter Five

  “So, are you going to fill me in on what all that was back in Eden’s office?” Prim asked as they wandered around the mall, two of the men from security behind them.

  “There really isn’t much to tell. He was…” Embry stopped to look through one of the shop windows.

  “I know, your advisor when you were a freshman, you already told me that. What I want to know are all the juicy details. Like what kind of school thinks it’s a good idea to pair a senior with a freshman? That sounds like a horrible idea, especially when they’re the opposite sex. That’s asking for a pregnancy pact. What?”

  Staring at her friend with her mouth hanging open, she shook her head. “I think you and I went to very different schools.”

  “That’s the understatement of the year,” Prim turned to the shop in front of them. “I’m not ashamed of where I came from anymore. If it weren’t for where I started, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

  “I’m proud of you.”

  Prim’s face split in a smile when she turned from the display. “I’m proud of me, too. Now, we got off-topic. What was all that with you and Maverick?”

  “You’re not wrong, pairing a freshman up with a senior was a horrible idea, I fell for him hard and fast.” She moved into the store, weaving through the racks of clothing.

  “Did he feel the same for you?”

  “I don’t think it was instant as it was for me, but I know he grew to love me.”

  “What happened?”

  Embry held up a blouse. “What about this one?”

  “Wrong color for your skin tone, the blue would be okay, though.”

  Grabbing the blue shirt, she continued her story. “Life happened. He was a senior and had plans for the future.”

  “Drift apart?”

  “No, my dad found something he could use against me.”

  “I hate that man more and more every day.”

  Embry continued, knowing Prim was going to like him even less when she heard the rest of the story. “It was three months into my sophomore year when I walked into the house, and he was home. He wasn’t supposed to be, he should have been at work for another two hours, but there he sat at the dining room table, the newest letter from Maverick laid out in front of him.

  “I could see the satisfaction written all over his face. He loved knowing he had something else to control me with, something else to destroy.”

  “What happened?”

  “He told me I could keep seeing him. ‘The boy comes from a good family.’ That’s the reasoning he gave. I was relieved, actually thought he had changed. I should have known better.

  “He wanted me to get pregnant. Wanted to use my body to get him another cash cow, to trap another person in his web.”

  “Two people,” Prim corrected.

  “Yeah, two people. I agreed, then wrote up a letter the next day while I was at school. I told George my father had found out about us, and he was pissed. I told him we couldn’t see each other anymore, that my father had threatened to press charges because he was over eighteen.”

  “You lied to protect him?”

  “It was the only choice I had. Hell, protecting other people was all I’d ever known. I’d been protecting my mother for as long as I could remember. He was just one more person I needed to keep my father from hurting.”

  “He didn’t know your dad was hitting you, did he?”

  “No.” Embry pulled a few more shirts from another display before turning to the wall of jeans. “I mean, he had his suspicions, but the one time he asked, I blew up and didn’t talk to him for nearly a week. When he finally cornered me behind the school, giving me no choice but to talk to him, that was when I hit him.”

  “And earned your first spanking.”

  “Only spanking, thank you very much. Put his foot on that stupid stump and tipped me right over his leg. It wasn’t very long or even that hard, but shit.”

  “Turned you into a puddle of goo at his feet, didn’t it?” Prim’s smile was all-knowing.

  “It did, but when he promised to bare my bottom, the next time he had reason to spank me, I was conflicted.”

  “We all are torn between exploring our sexuality and protecting our modesty.”

  “I was more worried he would see the bruises and have more questions.”

  “Come on, you need to try these on. If we go back with nothing for you to wear, Eden will have my ass.” Prim steered them to the dressing rooms, her arms laden with garments.

  “Where did you get all of that?”

  “From the racks.”

  Digging her heels in, Embry pulled them to a halt. “I can’t afford those, Prim. Hell, I can’t afford the clothes I have, let alone the mountain of clothing you’ve got.”

  “What did Eden tell you when we left?”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Oh, but it is the point. Are you going to tell her you deliberately disobeyed her? That you refused to buy enough clothing to get you through a week?”

  “Fine, she wants to buy me enough to get me through a week, then let’s go to Target. I may actually be able to pay her back one day if I buy the stuff there.” When Embry turned to walk away, she came face to face with Eden. Spinning back to face her roommate, she whispered, “How in the hell did she get here so fast?”

  “She always comes shopping with us,” Prim shared.

  “You could have told me she was lurking,” Embry whined.

  “And keep me from getting to see you throw a tantrum? Never. That’s my favorite part.” Eden locked arms with the women and propelled them toward the dressing room. “My second favorite part is getting to see the look on your face when you put on clean, well-fitting clothes for the first time in weeks. I have worked my ass off to reach a point in my life where I can do this, and I’ll be damned if I am going to let anyone take that away from me.”

  “Well, then let the fashion show begin,” Prim announced as she pulled free of Eden’s hold and pushed Embry forward with a slap to her ass.

  “Hey, you don’t get to slap her ass before I do, missy.”

  Embry groaned when she heard Eden’s declaration. It didn’t look like her ass was going to be safe anywhere.

  ***

  “Thank God, we shopped before we ate.” Embry leaned back in the booth and rested her hand on her belly. “I wouldn’t have been able to fit into anything if we had reversed it.”

  A snort sounded from the table next to them, one of the guards finding her comment hilarious. They both laughed when she stuck her tongue out at them.

  “I cannot wait to see Maverick and you together.” Prim smiled at her from across the table.

  “Yeah, right. That ship sailed a long time ago,” Embry threw a wadded-up napkin into the smiling woman’s face.

  “I don’t know. We all saw the way the two of you looked at each other this afternoon.” Eden pushed her plate away, “Hell, I wondered for a second if he was going to kiss you or spank you.”

  “Me too.” Embry looked at her nearly empty plate of food, “The sad thing is, I would have been good with either one of those responses.”

  “Why’s that sad?” Eden questioned.

  “Because I haven’t seen him in years, and I was ready to jump him with just a few softly spoken words.�
� Embry shook her head, hating that she felt this way without truly knowing the man.

  “Oh, so you’re saying you’re a human who saw one of the few people from her past who showed her the love and affection she deserved and wanted to go back to those times? The horror!” Eden looked her dead in the eyes.

  “It isn’t that simple.”

  “Of course, it isn’t, life rarely ever is.” Eden leaned forward, lowering her voice as she did so. “Your father, a man who was supposed to love and protect you, beat you, Em. It is no shock to me you’re attracted to the man who actually treated you as you deserved to be treated.”

  “I hate that I want it.” Embry’s confession hung heavily in the air.

  “Why?” Prim questioned sharply.

  “Because I should be okay with not having it. I never had it before, why do I need it now.” Embry looked between the women seated across from her, their expressions conflicting.

  Eden looked as if she understood, like she’d felt the same way a time or two. Prim, on the other hand, looked offended.

  “Someone, please say something,” Embry begged.

  Prim spoke first. “Am I less for wanting just that?”

  “That’s not what I meant. Shit, that’s not what I meant at all.” Embry took hold of Prim’s hand. “I just… damn it, I don’t know how to explain what I’m trying to say.”

  “I do,” Eden cut in. “Just because you’ve never had anything before doesn’t mean you don’t crave it. More importantly, just because you don’t think you need something, doesn’t mean you’re right. It isn’t wrong to want to feel protected, loved, and cherished. It’s a human need, once you get a taste of it, even if it was years ago and the tiniest bit, it’s as addictive as any drug. He was good to you in a time when no one else was, and he has the potential to be good for you again.”

  “He deserves more than a twenty-five-year-old runaway.” Embry watched as Eden’s expression darkened.

  “That sounded awfully close to putting yourself down.”

  “I need to use the restroom,” Embry announced as she scooted to the edge of the booth.

  “Wait, we’re just getting to the good stuff, and after that first morning, I’m pretty sure I’m owed a show,” Prim smirked.