CHERISH (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 12) (2 page)

Cullen was with them, his bedside manner
impeccable, calming, soothing the weary family.

Ivy wished she didn’t have such horrible
news to tell Cullen in what should have been a time of victory and vindication.

When they left Becca’s room a few moments
later, an older doctor came over and intercepted Cullen.

“Dr. Sharpe,” the man said, extending his
hand.

Cullen shook the man’s hand.
 
“Doctor,” he said.
 
“Good to see you.”

“I just wanted to tell you that word has
already spread about the job you did saving Becca Woodhouse’s life.
 
Not one in a million surgeons could’ve
done what you did today.
 
It’s an
honor to have you practicing medicine at our hospital, and I just thought I
should say that.
 
There are many
here who feel like I do.”
 
He
smiled.

“Thank you,” Cullen said.
 
“That means the world to me.”

And then they were walking again, and Ivy
couldn’t help but notice the heads of the staff turning to watch them—to
watch
him
.
 
It was like he was a celebrity.

It occurred to Ivy that she really
couldn’t know just how great a surgeon Cullen was.
 
She knew nothing of medicine or brain
surgery.

But the reactions of those who were in
the field—the look of awe on their faces—told her all she needed to
know.

He’s
that good.

He’s
that great.

She felt her heart soar to new heights.

***

It was only when they got outside the
hospital that Cullen turned to Ivy and took her in his arms.
 
“It’s you,” he said, softly.
 
He stared into her eyes, and his cool blue
eyes were like deep pools that were inviting her in.
 
Finally, truly inviting her in.

“Me?” she said, not knowing exactly what
he meant—only knowing that the love she saw in his gaze was worth
everything to her.

“Without you, I never could have operated
on Becca Woodhouse and certainly not successfully,” he said.
 
He raised a hand to lightly stroke Ivy’s
cheek, touched her hair.
 
“But every
time I doubted myself, every time I thought we were going to lose Becca—I
thought about you.
 
And I knew I could
do anything for you.”

“Oh, Cullen.”
 
She dropped her gaze, because looking
into his eyes was so emotional that she could hardly stand it.

“Look at me, Ivy.”

She did as he said.
 
They stared at one another, and despite
the fact that people were still coming and going nearby—it was as if nobody
else existed on the whole planet.

It’s
just us now.
 
Just
Cullen and me.

“I love you, Ivy Spellman,” he said, his
breath a whisper against her cheek.
 
“I love you because of everything you are and everything you make me
aspire to be.
 
And I want to spend
every second of the rest of my life showing you that I mean it.”

“You’re everything to me,” she said,
smiling, and her heart was filled to the brim with love for this man.

And then he was kissing her out in front
of the main entrance of the hospital—and his lips were fire, his eyes
were deep and warm and softened.

Then he broke off the kiss, grabbed her
hand, and walked her to the car.

She was so happy in that moment, and
Cullen seemed so light and buoyant, that she couldn’t bear to ruin it all by
telling him about his father’s capture.

But her smile faltered as they got into
the car and Cullen began driving them home.

He turned the radio on and began singing
to her—some cheesy R&B tune that she couldn’t believe he even knew
the words to—and Ivy laughed and shook her head at his silliness.

But the truth was, she loved every minute
of it.

***

When they pulled up and parked in front
of their home, Ivy knew it was time to tell Cullen about his father.

She couldn’t avoid this any longer.

“Cullen,” she said, turning to him.
 
“I need to tell you something.”

He stopped moving and looked at her, his
brow furrowed.
 
“Yes?”

She took a deep breath, licked her
lips.
 
“It’s about your father.”

“Tell me.”
 
His tone darkened.

“He’s been caught by the FBI.
 
He’s in custody.”

Cullen’s entire body seemed to deflate,
and in that brief second when she’d caused him so much pain, Ivy hated herself.

“Are you sure?” Cullen said, as the pain
radiated to his face and he looked like someone had just driven a stake through
his heart.

“Fairly certain,” she replied.
 
“While you were in surgery, Lucas showed
up in the waiting room and told me.
 
I guess he wanted to rub my nose in it.”

“What exactly did he tell you?
 
Is my father hurt?”

She shook her head.
 
“I don’t think he’s hurt.
 
Lucas said that he was about to get
aboard a private plane when they caught him.
 
Lucas also claimed that your father was
in the process of telling them the whereabouts of many different hackers and
cyber terrorists.”

Cullen looked up.
 
“Just when I think things are finally
improving…”

“They are,” she said, trying to take his
hand.

But he pulled away from her, and now his
gaze was wounded.
 
“Why did you wait
to tell me?” he asked.

“I just couldn’t hurt you,” she
muttered.
 

“You couldn’t what?” he asked, shaking
his head in frustration.

Ivy raised her voice.
 
“You were happy for once.
 
I wanted to let you have your moment.”

“It’s not about me,” he said, and his
hand slammed the steering wheel.
 
“My father needs me.”
 
His
shoulders hunched and he looked away from her.

“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t know what to do.”

He didn’t respond for a long time.
 
“Come on,” he said, finally.
 
And then he was opening the car door and
getting out.

They went into the house together.

Cullen was on his phone, texting rapid
fire.
 
“I need to make some calls,”
he said, his voice professional and harsh.
 
“I’ll be in the office for awhile.”
 
And then he was walking away from her, still looking at his cell phone.

A moment later, the door to the office
slammed shut so hard that she could feel the vibrations in the floor beneath
her feet.

He was ignoring her now, and she felt
angry and hurt and frustrated.

What about all the wonderful words he’d
said?
 
All those things about how
she’d given him strength and he wanted to spend the rest of his life proving
that to her?

Now it was as if she didn’t even exist, simply
because she’d waited a few minutes to tell him this horrible news, which he
couldn’t do a thing to change.

Maybe
Cullen’s right.
 
Maybe I was wrong
to withhold that news, even for just a few minutes.
 
It’s his father, after all.

Ivy went upstairs to the master bathroom
to shower.

While she was showering, Ivy thought
about everything that had gone on in the last few days.
 
It was all such a whirlwind, and the
emotional ups and downs had been extreme.

Yes, Cullen was upset right now.

But she had confidence that he would
bounce back and realize that she had only been trying to protect him when she’d
waited to tell him about his father being arrested.

She got out of the shower, wrapped the
towel around her. Ivy wondered if Cullen was still in his office, making phone
calls or simply secluding himself away from her in his anger and frustration.

As she opened the bathroom door, she saw
a shadow fall across the floor of the bedroom.

“Cullen?” she asked, suddenly nervous.

“Come out here,” he replied, his voice
tight.

She stepped out of the bathroom and
turned to see him standing there in the bedroom, shirtless.
 
He was holding a long ruler with a
homemade handle that seemed to be made out of leather.

Her heart fluttered and her mouth went
dry.
 
But between her legs it was a
different story.

She felt her pussy moisten, as she looked
at Cullen’s toned, tight upper body, and the way he was holding the yardstick.

“Are you upset with me?” she asked in a
small, frightened voice.

“Don’t ask questions,” he reprimanded.

Her body flooded with heat.
 
“I’m sorry, Sir.”

“Drop the towel and lay facedown on the
bed.”

She stood there for a brief moment,
clutching the towel as if it was a security blanket.
 
But then she finally allowed it to fall
to the floor.

Ivy was naked, standing before the man
she loved.

And he was brandishing a ruler.

It was almost enough to make her
smile.
 
But she kept her smile
hidden, and walked to the bed, laying down on it.

She could smell the freshness of the
coverlet, and also feel the texture of it against her naked body as Cullen
approached.

“You’re behavior has led to a great deal
of frustration for me,” he said, each word annunciated crisply and
formally.
 
“You understand
that.
 
Don’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.
 
I do.”
 
Her voice shook slightly, but not from
fear.

Ivy realized that she no longer was even
remotely scared of this man.
 
She
loved him more than life itself.
 
He
was her husband, her soul.

“Good, then.”
 

She could hear him adjust his grip on the
handle of the implement.
 
“I’m going
to give you a good spanking so you learn this particular lesson.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Ten times,” he said.
 
“And then I’m going to fuck you from
behind.”

“Yes, Mister Cullen.”

She readied herself, and then felt the sting
of the ruler whipping across her buttocks, lifting her ass with the force of
the blow.

Ivy grit her teeth, a low groan escaping
her throat.

Her pussy trembled and a spike of
pleasure blew through her center.

Another strike from the ruler.
 
She grunted again, and heard Cullen breathing heavily through his
nostrils from exertion—or was that excitement that caused his breathing
to intensify?

He struck her buttocks again and again,
and then there was a strange pause.
 
She waited anxiously for the next spanking, and it didn’t happen.

Ivy looked over her shoulder and saw
Cullen standing there with his eyes closed and a pained look on his face.

“Cullen—what is it?” she asked,
worried now.

“I can’t do this to you anymore,” he told
her.
 
He shook his head and opened
his eyes, and those blue orbs fixed on her.
 
“You’re the love of my life.
 
You’ve done everything for me, and this
is how I repay you?”

“Cullen—“

“No,” he said.
 
“This is never going to happen
again.
 
You hear me, Ivy?
 
I will never…discipline you…never
again.”
 

He moved as if to walk away, but Ivy sat
up and quickly grabbed his wrist before he could leave.
 
“Stop,” she told him.
 

Cullen turned to face her, confusion
written on his face.
 
“Why?”

“Because,” she said.
 
“You never asked me what I want.”

He looked shocked now.
 
“I just assumed—“

“That’s your first mistake,” she said in
a low voice.
 
And then she let go of
his wrist and turned onto her belly once more.
 
“I’ve been so bad,” she told him,
swiveling her hips slowly on the bed, feeling the sensuality of it.