“Yes, sir. I thought you would like to know. They performed a scene and left. Ms. Moore was reportedly very upset.”
Julian’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Lexi Moore was rapidly becoming a problem. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about those two. He’d thought about calling her mother, but Lexi was twenty-three. Though she didn’t have a membership at The Club, Lucas did, and he acted as her Dom. Unless he was willing to seriously argue with Lucas, he had to allow it to continue. He’d offered to talk to Lucas. Lucas had declined. That boy was wading into dangerous waters. Lexi Moore was on an emotional ledge after breaking up with her fiancée, and she and Lucas seemed to think they could solve her problems with public spankings. Julian sighed and felt tired at the thought of trying to deal with it. If he revoked Lucas’s membership, he and Lexi would more than likely find another, perhaps more dangerous club. Julian didn’t like the thought of that. At least this way, he and Leo could keep an eye on the situation.
“Thank you for telling me, Candice. Please call me if the situations, either of them, worsen. I’ll see you in a week. Until then, I will enjoy my vacation. You needn’t worry. It appears absolutely nothing interesting ever happens in this town.”
He hung up the phone as he looked in the rearview mirror again. He felt his eyes widen. It appeared as though a large marshmallow was barreling down Main Street. The frothy confection had a blonde head sticking out of it. Julian stared in the rearview, unable to look away. A man raced after the white puff ball. He wore a tuxedo and screamed something that sounded like “Annie” at the top of his lungs. A large crowd was pouring out of the church. Very interesting. He wondered if the marshmallow intended to run all the way to Mexico to get out of her wedding. Julian didn’t blame her. He probably would do the same thing if he had been foolish enough to agree to something like a wedding.
He had to admit that the puff ball had stamina. Though he couldn’t see her legs through the sea of taffeta surrounding them, he knew they had to be pumping overtime. As she came into sharp view, Julian could see that her mascara was running in dark rivers down her face. Her ridiculously long train trailed behind her. The man, who seemed to be the groom, tried to chase down his frothy prize. He would probably make it. All he had to do was get within twenty feet of the fleeing bride and he could put a foot down on the satin trail behind her. If he had any sense at all, he would have a length of rope on him. Julian always had a length of rope. The groom could tie up the fleeing bride and drag her back to the church. If he was really serious about this whole marriage thing, he would spank her first to start the marriage on the right foot.
Julian sighed. It wasn’t his concern. Still, he enjoyed a good train wreck as much as the next person.
The marshmallow steamrolled down the sidewalk. Her arms pumped, her legs strained. Her eyes widened and locked on…him. Before Julian could think to gun the engine, he was assaulted by a sea of satin and lace.
“Drive!” The woman practically screamed the words as she threw herself into the front seat.
Julian struggled to find his way through the cloud he found himself caught in. Why hadn’t he thought to keep the top on? Oh, yes, because it was a beautiful day and he hadn’t expected a stranger would jump in and attempt the high-jack him. “Excuse me?”
“I said drive.” The words were strong, but the tone was shaky.
“Yes, I speak English. I wasn’t asking what you said. I was rather shocked that you had said it. Were you raised in a barn?” He shoved down the mountain of fabric that covered his face. He looked at the woman now in the seat beside him.
“Please drive,” she beseeched him. Her tearstained face went straight to his gut. “I am begging you to please drive and quickly.” She hiccupped through her tears and managed one last word. “Sir.”
Julian practically growled. She’d said the one thing that he couldn’t ignore. She’d called him Sir in that oh so sweet way that let him know she would be soft and submissive if he played her properly. She would submit and lie beneath him with no demands of her own except to please him. Perversely, it made him damned determined to meet her needs. She’d done the one thing guaranteed to manipulate him each and every time.
He thought about it. Waiting would do the trick. The tuxedoed groom was close. Another few steps and he would haul this sugary piece of trouble right out of his convertible. Then Julian could drive on to Jack’s ranch and spend the next week catching up with friends. He wouldn’t get involved. He wouldn’t get in trouble.
“Please, Sir. I am begging you.” Her breath hitched and blue eyes pleaded with him.
The groom closed in as Julian gunned the engine.
Trouble, it seemed, just followed him.
* * * *
The man beside her finally gunned the engine and took off down Main Street. Dani took a deep breath and tried to get her hands to stop shaking.
What the hell had she done? She’d panicked and fled, leaving 122 wedding guests sitting in the pews at the First Methodist Church of Willow Fork. Only they hadn’t been in pews at the end. She’d looked back long enough to see the wave of people coming out of the large doors to gawk at the idiot running out of her own wedding.
She tried to shove down the ridiculous amount of satin and lace currently assaulting her. God, she couldn’t breathe. She glanced out the rearview mirror of her handy getaway vehicle. Finn had stopped running. He stood at the stoplight, his face contorted in concern. She turned to look back at him.
“Dani!”
She shook her head as best she could with Jimbo Smart’s great-grandmother’s monstrosity of a veil. It had been bedazzled within an inch of its sad little life. Of course, the whole damn dress was that way. She had rhinestones everywhere. She weighed an extra fifty pounds. Finn was running a hand through his dark hair and pulling out his cell. She knew who he was calling, but she couldn’t answer. Her phone, along with her purse and everything else she had brought, was in the bride’s room at the church.
She’d run out on her wedding. She’d run out on her whole freaking future.
What had she done? What the hell had she done? Her chest ached.
“Breathe.”
Dani turned to look at the man driving the car. She hadn’t thought that through, either. She’d known that Finn was going to catch her, and she couldn’t face him. She was with a complete stranger. Her hands shook, and her breath hitched again.
“Calm down and breathe. Focus on one thing and one thing only. Let the world narrow to a single point.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. The man next to her commanded. His deep voice ran over her like warm, rich chocolate. She took a long, steadying breath, filling her lungs with humid air. She gripped the door but found herself doing exactly as he ordered. She settled her eyes on the air conditioner vent. Four little lines. That was all that mattered. She stared at them.
“Excellent. Now concentrate on slowing your breathing. Flex your hands. Remind yourself that you are in control of your body. It does not control you. Say the words for me. Hear them for yourself. I am in control.”
“I am in control.” The words felt foreign. She hadn’t been in control for a long time, most of her life. Most of her life had been about outside forces controlling her.
Her concentration slipped. Panic threatened again. She panted. What was she going to do?
The car came to an abrupt stop. Dani looked around. They were on the edge of town, just off the highway. Was he going to leave her here?
The man beside her turned in his seat, and Dani got her first good look at him. Holy crap, she’d gotten in the car of some damn movie star. He had to be. He was absolutely perfect. She felt her jaw drop. He had dark brown hair that was pulled in a low ponytail at the back of his neck. His silvery eyes dominated a face made of strong bones and sharp angles. From what she could see, his body was long and lean. His shoulders were encased in an expensive-looking dress shirt, though he wore no tie, leaving a V of smooth, tanned skin exposed.
/> He looked a bit like an angel, but one who had fallen from grace long ago.
He took her hand, sliding it between both of his. Her hand, so cold a moment before, was surrounded by warmth now, and that warmth started creeping up her skin.
“Focus on me, Annie.”
She thought about correcting him, but the panic was a tidal wave threatening to drown her again. It had been like this for six months. The panic attacks were getting worse. She’d nearly passed out the night before. Finn had held her and asked her over and over if she was sure she wanted to do this. Damn it. Finn was part of her problem.
She’d started down that aisle, and he’d been beautiful standing there. Her groom. Finally she was where she belonged, walking down the aisle toward her love, Finn. Only Finn wasn’t there for her. He never had been, not that way. Jimbo was the one standing there, and he’d been wrestling with his bow tie.
In that instant she’d seen her whole life play out like some tragic movie. She would have a few kids. He would drink a lot and go out with his buddies while she took care of the kids. He would do as he liked and she would do her duty. She would waste her life on him. She would spend all the good years either taking care of kids or nursing him because he would drink and party his life away.
She would still be alone, even with a ring on her finger.
She’d turned and ran, and now she was in a car with a gorgeous god of a man who might be a serial killer. The way her luck went, he probably was. She would end up chopped up and buried all across East Texas.
And it still might be better than the life she would have had with Jimbo.
“Oh, you are such trouble.” He sighed, those gray eyes rolling, and then he pulled her close. “Luckily, I know how to handle you.” He let go of her hand and twisted in his seat. One hand captured her face, cupping her cheek, and the other went to her waist. He pulled her in, a mountain of tulle between them. “The key is giving you something to focus on.”
She was focused all right. But if his plan was to get her heart rate under control, he was going about it all wrong. She could feel it pound, though not in panic anymore. It was something else, anticipation. Was he going to kiss her? He leaned in. She could see the dark beard beginning to come in all along his jaw. She could smell the mint on his breath and feel the heat of his body. She was completely paralyzed as he pressed his mouth against hers. He moved his soft lips along her mouth gently, as though simply exploring. Dani felt her shoulders relax. This was so nice. This was in another league from Jimbo’s sloppy, halfhearted attempts at kissing before he gave up and simply stuck his penis in. This was meltingly sweet. Dani gasped a bit, and her mouth opened.
He took immediate advantage, his strong tongue invading. Dani heard herself groan and let her whole body go soft in his hands. As his tongue danced around hers, she realized she’d never been kissed, not once in her life. She’d been pecked and assaulted by men who didn’t know what they were doing, but this, oh, this was a kiss. This was an overwhelming request for her every sense to come alive for him. His hands didn’t move, but she wanted them on her skin. She wanted to be under him. She wanted this to never, ever end. She didn’t know his name. He didn’t really know hers. It didn’t matter because for the first time in her life, she wanted, really wanted, to spread her legs and let someone in.
Not even Finn affected her the way this stranger did. He’d never wanted her physically, but this man was kissing her five minutes after they’d met. She felt her nipples get hard, begging for his lips to find their way there.
He raised his head in a smooth motion. Dani stared at him. Her skin felt flushed and alive.
“Now, are you more in control, Annie?”
Nope. Not a bit. But he was. As far as Dani could tell, he was completely unaffected by the kiss that had blown her mind and had her body begging for more. She swallowed and nodded her head, turning back in her seat. “Yes. I am feeling much better. Thank you.”
“So polite,” he murmured. His hand found the stick shift again. “I don’t suppose there’s anywhere I can take you, Annie?”
“It’s Dani. Danielle.” Her mind raced, but the panic was gone. She needed to think straight. Lust was not an option. “Just drop me off at the diner. It’s called Christa’s Café. It’s a couple of blocks over.”
It was where the bus stopped. Although she didn’t actually have any money for a bus. Maybe she could call from there and her sister could bring her the purse and bag she’d left at the church. She couldn’t face Finn. She might never be able to face Finn again.
“Hungry, are you?”
“No.”
“Then why should you go there?”
It was none of his business, and yet she answered immediately. And then felt bad because she was being rude. “It’s where the bus stops.”
Not that she knew where she would go. The bus could take her to San Antonio or Austin one way. The other way went to Dallas and up to Oklahoma City.
Would she really run that far?
“Ah, you intend to flee for good, then. Well, you’ll have to buy two tickets because I doubt that, um, dress you’re wearing will fit in one. Buy the whole row, little one.” He put the car in first gear and the sports car purred down the road. He turned onto the highway, away from town.
She watched as the street he needed to turn down was left behind. “Hey, the diner is back that way.”
He nodded. “Yes, you mentioned that.”
The car kept on its path.
“You’re not taking me to the diner, are you?” She found herself settling into the seat, relaxing. Any more time in this car with him meant another moment before she had to face the fact that she no longer had a home to go to, or a future. She knew she was being an idiot. She could hear her sister bitching at her. She didn’t think about anything. She wasn’t careful about selecting her friends. She didn’t fit. She was an embarrassment. Now that she thought about it, maybe she wouldn’t call Val at all.
It was easy to push aside her sister’s constant complaints as he drove. She looked up at the wide Texas sky and something eased inside her. She found herself actually smiling. “Where are we going?”
It didn’t matter. Somehow, someway, she knew she would be safe with him. After a lifetime of doing everything that was asked of her and getting next to nothing in return, she felt like she didn’t know what her next day would be like. It was exciting.
His head turned, and he arched an elegant eyebrow as he looked at her. The left side of his face tugged up slightly, and the sweetest dimple formed in his cheek. “We’re going on vacation. You should be glad I packed light since I seem to have found a bit of extra baggage along the way. My name is Julian Lodge, though I suspect by the end of the night, you’ll call me Sir.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Dani had no idea why, but it seemed to fit him.
She sat back and let Julian Lodge take the reins.
Chapter Three
Julian turned the Audi down the long gravel drive that led to the Barnes-Fleetwood ranch. A warm sense of satisfaction poured over his system. Jackson Barnes was a man he admired. Jackson had done well. He’d come from less than nothing and truly built a life for himself. The house in the distance was lovely. He could see a large main house and a guesthouse. From Jackson’s descriptions he knew there was also housing for something Jackson had called the “hands.” It was his first visit to the ranch, and he suspected his former protégé would teach him all about ranching. Despite having been born and raised in Texas, Julian had never been close to a cow that wasn’t sitting on his dinner plate and cooked to medium rare.
“You know Jack Barnes?” Danielle sat up straight in her seat now, her eyes on the house in front of them.
It had taken roughly ten minutes to get from that tiny town she was fleeing to the ranch. He’d been amused at how quickly she’d relaxed and allowed her eyes to drift closed. She trusted quickly. It could be a dangerous thing if she met the wrong person. He had the feeling the woman
beside him was a true submissive. She’d probably been taken advantage of all her life for that reason. She needed a strong, dominant partner. It was a good bet she wouldn’t find one here.
“He’s a friend,” Julian replied simply.
She didn’t need to know that Jackson Barnes used to be the Dom in residence at the sex club Julian owned and operated. The Club was his own personal haven. It was for experienced Dominants and their submissives. This soft little thing was obviously submissive, but she would never see the inside of a BDSM club. It simply wasn’t her world. Despite her attempt at freedom, Julian knew she would end up right back in that church marrying the yokel next door.
People didn’t change.
He studied the curve of her porcelain cheek. She wasn’t a delicate girl. She was all curves and breasts. And the ridiculous gown she was wearing still overpowered her. If he had been dressing her, he would have kept it simple. He would have put her in a simple tailored gown that showed off her perfect skin and what looked to be an hourglass figure. Julian was surprised at how aroused he’d been while kissing the woman beside him. She’d gotten to him, and he wasn’t sure how. Somewhere between making the decision to calm her down and that moment when she sighed and went languid in his arms, she’d flicked a switch on. Julian wasn’t sure he wanted it switched off again. His cock certainly didn’t. He was still hard.
“Are you staying here, or just saying hello?” Danielle asked.
He had an almost irresistible urge to reach out and place his hand on her hair. He wanted to smooth it down and calm the panic he could see was clearly rising in her. He forced his hand to stay on the steering wheel. “I told you I was on vacation. I’m spending the week here with my friends.”
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