Letting Go of Us (Anchored Hearts Vol. 3)

Letting Go of Us

Anchored Hearts

Vol. 3

By: J.M. Witt

Copyright 2014, 2015 © J.M.
Witt

Cover Artist: Kellie Dennis
at Book Cover by Design

Photographer: Michael
Meadows

Models: Matthew Maguire
& Carolina Kenney

Editor: Leticia
Sidon

Publisher: J.M. Witt
Books

All Rights Reserved
2014.

This book may not be
reproduced in any form; in whole or in part, without written
permission by the author.

This book is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or
given away to other people.  If you would like to share
this book with another person, please purchase an additional
copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did
not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only,
then please return and purchase your own copy.  Thank you
for respecting the hard work of this author.

All characters and events in
this book are fictional. Any similarities to real life people and
events are purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014, 2015 J.M.
Witt

All Rights Reserved 2014,
2015

ISBN:
978-0692347881

Acknowledgments

Rick: Thank you for your
support and encouragement. It means the world to me that you’re
proud of me, even if it is smut! Smut to be proud of!

My children: Please get
along and play nicely so mommy can keep writing for her
fans!

Betsy: Thank you times
infinity. You’ve pulled me back from the ledge more than once. I
love you!

Letty: You’ve held my hand
through this process more than you know. Thank you so
much!!

All my friends: Thank you
for taking a leap of faith on me. Your support means the world to
me.

Kellie Dennis: You’ve given
me five amazing covers for this series. Thank you so
much.

Matt Maguire: Thank you for
joining me on this journey. My readers love and hate your
character. Don’t worry, you’ll be redeemed in this book! Thank
you!

Carolina Kenney: Thank you
for stepping in to this with no clue what you were getting
into.

Bloggers: There are so many
of you to thank. I can’t name names because I’ll just shoot myself
in the foot. Without your support I wouldn’t be here today. Thank
you.

Betas: My loves, my bitches.
I love you girls. Angela, Tracey, Tami, Jasmine, Elaine, Betsy,
Marina, Lisa, Melanie, Letty, Jessica, and Rebecca. THANK YOU! I’m
so thankful to have you girls. You’ll never know how much your
support means to me. The last couple months have been wonderful and
I look forward to many more. I can’t wait to meet you
ALL!

Skye & Tyf: What can I
possibly say to thank you? You girls are my rocks and my bff’s. I’m
so honored and blessed to call you mentors as well as friends.
Without you, I’d never be able to shake it off!

My fans: Wow. That never
gets old. Your loyalty has blown me away. Thank you a million times
over. I hope that my words touch your heart. Remember, nothing is
worth having if you’re not fighting for it. Anchor your
heart!

Table of
Contents

Chapter 1
Finished

Chapter 2
Heartbeat

Chapter 3
Lost

Chapter 4
Revenge

Chapter 5
Permission

Chapter 6
Impressive

Chapter 7
Ashamed

Chapter 8
Broken

Chapter 9
Illuminated

Chapter 10
Stay

Chapter 11
Therapy

Chapter 12
Foundations

Chapter 13
Unbreakable

Chapter 14
Fireworks

Chapter 15
Miracle

Chapter 16
Hostage

Chapter 17
Amnesia

Chapter 18
Unhinged

Chapter 19
Alone

Chapter 20
Tension

Chapter 21
Consummate

Chapter 22
Desperate

Chapter 23
Dedication

Chapter 24
Forever

Epilogue

Playlist

C
hapter
1
~
F
inished

~ JAMES ~

Rainbow. I couldn’t
believe she’d said it. We weren’t even doing anything. But she
meant it. She
knew
that if she said that word, it was done, over, finished,
everything we had. Gone. One simple word. I was trying to explain
to her, get her to listen, I was getting ready to do anything just
to have her back. At least, I wanted to try.

Instead, she crucified my
soul with that one word. Now I had a fucking tattoo as a daily
reminder of what happens when you let someone capture your heart.
FUCK. It was the exact reason I had the no kissing, no emotions
rule with all my subs. I was so damn mad. I stormed into the
penthouse, a rage fueling every move. Running up the stairs, two at
a time, I ran into Melissa in the hallway. It’d been a long time
since rage had fueled my desire, except that night at the club with
Cassidy a few weeks back. Not my finest moment. My cock twitched as
I closed the distance between Melissa and I.

Melissa backed up against
the wall shaking her head at me. I wanted to sink my dick into a
hot, trembling pussy, but not hers. Growling, I quickly turned from
Melissa and made my way to my room. Stripping out of my clothes, I
pulled on some shorts and went to my workout room. Taping my hands
the best I could I began decimating the bag.

By the time I was done I
could barely pick my sorry ass up off the floor. Melissa, nowhere
to be found, was either locked in her room or she’d left. I
couldn’t blame her either way. We’d come to terms with the fact
that we weren’t good together, not compatible. Melissa and I had
attempted a Dom/sub relationship, but it hadn’t worked. I was too
Dom and she wasn’t sub enough.

All I wanted was my bed,
and Cassidy. My Blackbird. And I could never have her again. Safe
words were there for a reason. They were the ‘out’ for any sub.
Clearly she wanted out.

~ PAUL ~

Things had been extremely
tense around the office. I had been avoiding James at all costs.
From what Cassidy had told me, when she wasn’t sobbing, they had
ended things. Divorce papers were being drawn up. I felt horrible
for her, knowing the pain she was going through. But, selfishly, I
wanted a second chance with her and it was so close I could almost
taste it.

James and I only discussed
business and we weren’t spending any unnecessary time together. My
spare time was spent at the gym, with or without Cal, and my free
time with Cassidy. It was Easter weekend and I was spending it
alone. Cal, Jane and Cassidy had gone up to their Dad’s place for
the holiday. My own mom had tried to get me to come home, to
Atlanta, but I just wasn’t up for a quick trip back. Cassidy was
expected home the next day and I was already eager to see
her.

My thoughts were consumed
with her, just like they had been all those years ago.

Sitting just outside my
barracks, I was writing Cassidy a letter. I promised her a letter
every day. I hadn’t mailed any yet, but I would soon enough. A
shadow crept over my letter and I looked up to see Cora’s shapely
figure. Her hands were perched on her hips as she smiled at me.
Looking down, I rolled my eyes and chastised myself for ever
sleeping with her. Clearly, my dick had been doing my thinking for
too long. Cora was just a soft place to bury my cock, nothing less,
nothing more. Even Cal had warned me to steer clear of
her.

“
Welcome back.” When I
didn’t respond she whined, “Didn’t you miss me?”

As I gazed at the letter,
I asked her, “What do you want, Cora?”

“
You. I missed
you.”

“
Ha! I highly doubt that.
Dutch-Boy warms your bed when I’m not in it. Everyone knows
that.”

Before I could stop her,
she snatched the letter from my hand. She looked to the letter,
then to me, and back again. “Who’s Cassidy?”

“
Give it back,
Cora.”

“
Tell me who she
is.”

She was bound to find out
one way or another. I didn’t think she’d give two shits so I just
told her. “My girl.” Reaching my hand out, I ordered, “Now give me
back my letter.”

Hesitantly, she handed it
back. “Since when do you have a girl?”

“
Since, I just do.
Jealous?” I looked up and saw what looked like worry all over her
face. She was jealous. Oh well. She’d get over it.

A couple of days later
Cora cornered me as I was headed to mail my stack of letters to
Cassidy. I had decided to mail Cassidy several letters at once,
rather than one every day. Ok, so part of it was that I was lazy.
Cal was still barely talking to me, telling me how I’d better do
right by his baby sister. I had every intention of doing just that.
Fucking Cora was the only thing standing in my way,
literally.

“
Paul, we need to
talk.”

“
Cora, there’s nothing to
talk about. I’m not interested.”

“
Are you interested if I
tell you there’s a baby?”

Christ. I hadn’t thought
about that day in so long. Granted, everything that had gone down
between us all never left my mind, but that day in particular…I
never allowed myself to think about it. If I could go back, I
would’ve mailed those letters to Cassidy. Instead, I made the worst
decision of my life, though at the time I thought I was doing what
any good man would do. What Cassidy would expect from a man she
loved. Fuck, I was an idiot.

~<>~<>~<>~

Over a week later, I still
hadn’t heard from Cassidy. At the gym, with Cal, he’d assured me
that she seemed to be fine. That night, after texting Cassidy as I
left the gym, I decided to go home and shower. When I got out of
the shower and dressed, she still hadn’t responded. I hopped in my
SUV and made my way to her place. The lights were on and her
mustang sat in the driveway. It was a sweet ass ride, but the
license plate—MRSJB3—irked the hell out of me. It was a reminder of
every obstacle in my way.

I really wasn’t trying to
encroach on her marriage. She was someone I cared about and so was
James. But if he wasn’t going to be the man she deserved, then I
would be. Walking up the steps to the door, I knocked and waited. I
could hear the music blaring, nothing surprising. The girl liked
her music and she liked it loud. I couldn’t fault her for that. She
probably couldn’t even hear me knocking. I banged on the door again
and waited before turning the knob. It was unlocked and that
annoyed me. She knew better even though Ryan’s car was parked out
front. Gazing at him he nodded in acknowledgment as I made my way
inside.

Closing the door, I stood
and took in my surroundings. I could smell cleaning detergent. She
must’ve been cleaning and there was no telling where in the house
she was. I let my ears focus on the song playing, immediately
recognizing
Stabbing Westward
. Listening to the lyrics I wondered who she was listening to
it for, or if it was just random selection.