“I’ll walk her,” Jack said with an indifferent stretch. “I was bored anyway. You guys know I like basketball better.”
“Blasphemy!” Brady yelled. “I call the rest of your popcorn.”
“Have at it.” Jack stood and looked at Lilly. “You ready?”
She nodded briskly and bent down to kiss Nick on the cheek. He held her hand a moment longer, then nodded and released it. Lilly followed Jack out of the stadium.
“I drove,” he said. “We don’t need the T. You think you found something?”
“I might have. If what Brady says is right, then maybe.”
They raced downtown, the city lights sparkling against the endless ceiling of black above them. Jack pulled into a garage and looked over at her.
“Do you want me to wait here?”
Lilly eyed the clock. Most of the office would be empty. The information she was about to show him was confidential, but he was a legal expert, an associate in the field, and they’d talked about the case before. Showing him the database wouldn’t breach attorney-client privilege. And besides—she’d trusted Jack with her body and her heart. She could trust him with this.
“Come with me?”
He nodded and cut the ignition. They were silent as they walked through the empty lobby and into the dimly lit hallways of her office.
“I think the database might have been altered,” she explained when they reached her desk. She booted up her computer as Jack donned his glasses and leaned over her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware of how close he was, but she stayed focused, her limbs taut with nervous energy as she opened the database.
“Here.” She pointed to the screen. “That’s the entry that says our client created the new formula. It’s dated June first. I’ve looked at the digits after it a dozen times. I never knew what they meant, but they look like the numbers Brady showed me.”
“What’s the column titled?”
She scrolled up to show him the heading. “M-o-d underscore d-t. I think it means modified date.”
“And if it had been modified, that means they tampered with the evidence. Do you remember the site to convert the timestamp?”
She copied the numbers and pulled up a browser, typing in the URL Brady showed her.
“Here goes nothing.”
Lilly pasted the digits into the website’s field and clicked submit. The information popped up below.
November eighteenth.
Lilly stared at the screen. “That’s not the same date.”
“No, it’s not.”
She rifled through the files on her desk, checking her facts.
“That’s the day our client had lunch with his former coworker, Jacqui. She must’ve gone back and told the plaintiffs everything, and then they modified the information in the log, not the date it was created. It was such a minor detail I bet they were sure no one would notice.” Lilly sat back, stunned. “Simon is innocent.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Call your boss. Tell him what you’ve found.”
She shook her head, excitement dissolving into unease. “I’ll email Gabe and Cassie. They’ll look over the information and tell him tomorrow.”
Lilly reached for her keyboard again, but froze when Jack put a hand on her shoulder.
“This is your find. You deserve the credit here. I’ve spent my career teaching students how to get to this point. Why would you hold back now?”
It could have been her moment—the opportunity to finally move forward, to show Forrester her worth. The evidence was right there in front of her, but trusting that answer meant trusting herself.
“What if I’m wrong?” Her throat caught on the question. “I’ve been wrong about so many things.”
Jack was silent for a long moment.
“You’re letting your past control you, and I won’t have that.” His voice was lower. The sound drew her gaze upward. “No one controls you but me.”
Lilly shivered as she stared into eyes that had become penetrating and dark. He’d shifted into his dominant side, and she felt herself slipping, her mind quieting, body giving over to instinct and obedience.
“Turn off the computer,” he said. “We’re leaving.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Back in Jack’s car, the doors shut tight in the dark shadows of the garage, Lilly closed her eyes as he wound her hair around his fingers and tugged.
“Don’t think about work now. It’ll be there tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to my house. We will go to the playroom. And you will forget everything but me.”
She sank into his voice, his touch. The feel of his fingers in her hair. She didn’t care that it was a weekday or that this went beyond the limits of their contract. She’d broken that boundary long ago.
“Yes, Sir.”
The drive back to his place felt endless. When they finally stepped inside the playroom, his stare was full of lust and hunger.
“Strip.”
Lilly shed her clothes. Her skin tingled as she pulled off each layer, her body aching for his touch.
“Kneel.”
She dropped into position. Head down, she heard the sounds of Jack undressing. The click of the armoire as it unlocked. His footfalls as he came back to her.
“So beautiful.” His fingers trailed down her throat. “Tell me your safewords.”
Her response came easily, the words so familiar now. “Red, yellow and green, Sir.”
She felt almost boneless when he pulled her up and guided her toward the mirror. He took his time touching her—a sweep along her shoulders, a squeeze at her hips. His fingertips mapped her spine, scraped against her nipples, drawing out the delicious anticipation that sent blood racing to the ache between her thighs. His touch smoothed over her bottom, and she pressed backward, seeking more.
“Always so eager.” Jack reached around to clasp her chin, tipping her backward until the back of her head met his chest. She let herself be pulled, trusting him completely.
“Mine,” he whispered fiercely.
“Yours, Sir.” She was. All of her was his.
“Are you ready to play, little girl?”
“I am, Sir.”
“Then close your eyes.”
She complied, feeling him gather her wrists behind her, binding them together with the decadent clasp of his leather restraints. The silky coil of rope around her arms came next, knotted and looped so her elbows met. Then his hands were at her ankles, nudging her legs apart and closing a leather cuff around each one. The heavy scrape of metal clicking into metal sent a thrill through her as he locked her into the spreader bar.
He palmed her breasts, thumbs thrumming over the stiffened peaks. “You have no idea how incredible you look right now.”
“More, Sir.” His touch was soft. Too soft. “Please.”
“You’ll have more.” He pinched her nipples, sending a jolt through her. “Keep those eyes shut.”
His mouth met the tip of her breast with a wet tug, a sharp pleasure-pain she could feel in her clit. He switched to the other while fondling the nipple he’d just suckled, and she was so lost to the sensation she barely heard the tinny rattle of his clamps. He pinched one shut, and the sting only made the throb between her legs that much stronger.
“Fuck, yes,” she whispered, then quickly, “Sir.”
Jack chuckled and fastened the other clamp. “I knew you’d learn to love this.”
The dirty tease in his voice made her smile, but then he pulled on the chain. Lilly’s mouth dropped open, her legs nearly giving out. The wide spread of her legs drew her attention to how embarrassingly slick she was between them, her clit so stiff and swollen and begging to be touched. She wanted him with a desire so raw it was razor sharp, wanted the weight of his body on hers, his teeth at her neck, the brand of his slap. She needed him p
rimitive, for him to use her. Mark her.
Own her.
“Please touch me, Sir.”
He palmed her belly, fingers spreading lazily over her pubic bone. “I know what you want. But do you know what I want?”
“No, Sir.”
His lips met her ear. “I want everything, little girl.”
Jack slipped his hand down to tease her wet flesh, two fingers sliding inside. Lilly moaned, her head sinking back in relief.
“I want to watch you react to my flogger, hear the sounds you make. See you tremble as I roll the wheel up your back, my crop between your legs. I want you to come all over me.”
He was setting a fuse, his words the catalyst to her pleasure, and it wouldn’t be long before she exploded.
“But there’s something else I want first.”
His fingers slipped free, and she groaned, empty and aching. Then she felt Jack’s hands at her face, followed by the light pressure of a blindfold over her eyes. She gasped and flinched, her shoulders rising up to her ears.
No, please not that.
Lilly’s mouth went dry, too dry to safeword. Terror drove the air from her lungs in a full out panic.
“Breathe,” Jack said gently. “Do you know why I want to blindfold you tonight?”
Heart racing, she managed to whisper, “Why, Sir?”
“Because, I told you when it was time, you’d be ready for it. You’ve faced every fear you’ve had and overcome them. You’re ready for anything, my beautiful, strong, little girl.”
She shook her head, but Jack didn’t waver.
“Yes, you are. I know you. Trust that. Trust me.”
The bubble of dread rising in her chest halted, his words of confidence deflating her fears. Her breathing settled, her anxiety dissipating with each exhale, and she realized she didn’t need to safeword. Blindfold or not, she’d never been safer than she was right now.
“What color?” he asked.
Lilly inhaled a deep, slow breath. “Green.”
“Good girl.”
He fastened the blindfold, then held her for a moment before moving away. He chased the deerskin flogger over her ass, belly and thighs, and the lack of sight heightened every sensation. The crop between her thighs came next, and Lilly’s skin grew hot, hips arching, legs shaking, every stroke making her crave another. She’d stopped thinking entirely by the time he rolled the wheel up her spine. Her need was magnified by the knowledge that she was doing as he’d asked, her hunger mixing with a floating serenity that made her mind go quiet.
Jack stepped behind her and stayed silent for a long moment.
“I blindfolded you tonight because you’re in the dark about yourself,” he finally said. “You hold back, because you don’t see yourself as you are. But it’s time to change that.”
He unfastened the blindfold and pulled it free.
“Open your eyes. Look at yourself in the mirror. See what I see.”
Lilly obeyed and took in the sight of her body restrained, bound by rope, leather and metal. Skin flushed, she was sex personified, but her fears and doubts reflected back at her, shining in her eyes.
Her lip quivered. “What do you see?”
“I see someone I’ve watched blossom from a scared girl into the amazing woman before me. You’ve been hurt. You have scars from a man you trusted, who destroyed your faith in yourself, but you’re so much stronger than you realize. I’m in awe of how courageous and brave you are.”
Lilly started to tremble so hard she could hardly stay standing. Jack brought her body flush to his, letting her lean on him, his strength holding her up.
“You submitted to a man who wasn’t worthy of you, who treated you badly, but your vulnerability doesn’t make you weak. You have to be strong to survive that kind of pain.”
The tears swelled, but then he kissed her neck, sweet and soft, palms settling below her belly. Lilly’s eyes fell shut as he pressed down gently with the heel of his hand, putting pressure in just the right spot until her hips started to swivel and her head sank back onto his shoulder.
“And even after all you’ve been through, you’re brave enough to admit that you’re a submissive. That this is who you are.”
Jack dipped a finger down to her heat.
“God, please, Sir.”
“See how you beg me now? How far you’ve come?” He traced her slippery lips, grazing her clit.
“Yes—oh, fuck…please, Sir.”
He gave her what she needed, one finger rubbing over her in a rapid, wet swirl. She cried out loudly, feeling like his plaything, but also like she was the center of his universe, used and treasured and adored.
It was how a submissive was supposed to feel.
“I’m amazed by you, by both sides of you. By the woman who has rebuilt her life, and the one you become in here. You feed my passion with your begging and your pleading, your whimpers and your moans. Every time you submit to me, your hunger to give yourself over excites me. It empowers me. You heal me.”
“Oh God.” Tears welled in her eyes, so many words bubbling up inside her, but pleasure put her on lockdown, stealing any hope of reply.
“I see your admiration, your desire, your lust,” he said. “It intoxicates me. Feel the same thing from me now. Feel how much I want you, crave you, need you when you’re like this. When you’re mine.”
Her body bowed, so close to release, and Jack helped her chase the feeling, stroking the same spot with a quickened motion of his fingers.
“Come for me now, but open your eyes first. See how breathtaking you are.”
Lilly tried to obey, catching their reflection in the mirror, but her eyes squeezed shut again with the force of her orgasm. Jack locked an arm around her, keeping her standing as her legs buckled, whispering words of approval in her ear. When the last spasms left her shuddering, he eased her from his grip and unclasped the cuffs, then the ropes. He bracketed her hands against the wall for support as he released her legs from the spreader bar. Then his hands were on her again, guiding her to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Deep breath,” he encouraged before removing the clamps, one at a time. She hissed as the blood rushed back to her skin, and Jack soothed her by kissing the tender flesh. It was too much. She started to cry, needing him inside her. Around her. Above her. Protecting and taking her, blocking out everything else, making her whole again.
“Shhh,” Jack murmured, laying her down until he hovered over her and parted her legs with his knee. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
He slowly sank inside, letting her acclimate to that exquisite burn and stretch until he was seated, deep and perfect, then clasped their hands together. There was no bondage, nothing chaining her to him but her heart to his, every thrust and retreat bringing her closer to him.
It wasn’t close enough.
She clutched his hands. “Need you. Please, Sir.”
“I need you too, sweet girl.” Jack pressed his lips to her throat, kissing the words into her skin. “You may be mine, but I’m yours too.”
He was hers. The simple words were so beautiful, made more so by the connection of their bodies. She wanted to tell how much the sentiment meant to her, but her words got lost on a moan of surprised pleasure as another release started to crest.
“I can feel you coming,” he rasped. “Give it to me.”
She crumbled beneath him, and Jack lost his rhythm too, his thrusts turning to quick, jerky movements. He shuddered and cursed, groaning into the sweaty hollow between her shoulder and neck. After a few quiet moments, he pulled out and checked her over, fingertips at the places he’d bound and flogged. Jack curled himself around her, and Lilly grew drowsy. The words she’d tried to say floated outside her grasp, sleep taking her.
When the first pink slivers of daylight streaked across the room, Lilly stirred and reached for Jack
. He was still asleep, and she turned to watch his face, so peaceful in slumber. She felt rested, the anxious jerk to consciousness that usually that tore her from her nightmares completely absent.
Lilly sat up, searching her memory. She hadn’t had a nightmare that night. In fact, she couldn’t recall having a single one since the night before Jack’s birthday.
Another liberation, and maybe the last shackle chaining her to her past coming free.
With a faint smile, Lilly got dressed and cleaned the playroom as quietly as she could. She picked up the blindfold, amazed at what Jack did for her—how he kept her in the dark only to let her truly see herself. Now she was ready for anything, ready to go to work, to tell everyone what she’d found, and to show Forrester her worth.
Ready to tell Jack how she felt.
She was going to tell him she loved him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
At the end of a long day, Jack locked his office and took the stairs two at a time, eager to get home. His afternoon had been full of appointments. Two weeks left before the end of the semester meant meeting with frazzled advisees worried about their exams, and for some, the bar in July. He’d counseled and given advice, but he’d been distracted the whole time, wondering how Lilly was doing.
He pulled into his driveway and closed his eyes. Every time he had a moment to himself, the guilt over what had transpired in the aftermath of her punishment tugged at him a little more, like a ripping thread in a piece of clothing. He felt awful for how upset she’d gotten, but how could he have known that would happen? If she’d been honest with him about Damien’s treatment, he never would’ve left her alone like that.
Then again, he wasn’t exactly being honest with her, either.
Jack rubbed his eyes and put his face in his hands. He’d nearly had a slip of his own that night, coming close to divulging Eve’s final wish.
Nearly. Thank God he hadn’t. You don’t tell the woman you’re naked in bed with that your wife’s dying request was for you to fall in love again, especially when you don’t harbor those feelings for her.
His Contract: Legally Bound, Book 1 Page 26
