He adjusted my body so I was lying in the middle of the bed. Once he had me settled to his satisfaction, he made quick work of tying my wrists to either side of the headboard, then ran his hands down the inside of my arms, over my chest, to my hips.
“Spread your legs for me, baby.”
I was completely under his spell and didn’t think twice. My legs fell open and his hand trailed down my inner thigh and calf until it was wrapped around my ankle. He dropped a kiss to my instep before winding the silken bond around my ankle and tying it to the footboard, then he moved to the other leg and did the same, leaving me vulnerable and exposed—entirely dependent on him.
“You were beautiful before, but you’re fucking magnificent like this, Madeleine. The trust you’re showing me right now means more than you’ll ever know, baby. I’m going to reward you for that trust.”
And he did reward me. With his lips and his hands. His teeth and his fingers. He didn’t leave an inch of my skin untouched. He nipped and sucked, leaving love marks all over my body. Then he kissed and licked, soothing each and every reddened spot. It was slow. Thorough. And incredibly arousing. Each time I strained against the ropes, I was reminded of who was in control here. Caleb. Not me. Him.
For years, I’d held myself away from others, but there was no way to hold myself back from Caleb. He didn’t leave me anywhere to hide. I was his to do with as he pleased, and he laid me bare—physically and emotionally.
When he finally lined his cock up to my entrance and slid inside, I was mindless with pleasure. My back arched from the bed as I jerked against the ropes with all my might, determined to bring him as deep as he could get.
“Caleb,” I gasped.
“Open your eyes and look at me, baby. Watch me as I take you.”
My eyes jolted open at his command. I did as he asked, watching the play of his muscles as he hammered into me. His eyes were on me as he fucked me hard and rough, his hands clenched in the sheets on either side of me while his body covered mine. My body jerked with each of his thrusts, held immobile by the ropes as I took what he gave me and reveled in it. I felt my orgasm building inside me, enormous and powerful in its strength.
“Come for me,” Caleb rasped, his fingers grazing my clit and sending me over the edge. I cried out as my pussy clenched around his dick. My eyes locked with his as he continued to pound inside me and I watched in fascination when his head snapped back and he growled low in his throat. Once. Twice. Three more thrusts and he planted himself deep, holding still while he came for me.
Came inside me, unprotected—something I’d avoided thinking about since he told me he made sure I missed my doctor’s appointment. The anger I’d felt at that moment was what had prompted me to tell him I wanted to use the out he’d given me in the contract. But now that I had, now that I was here, like this, with him, I couldn’t find it within myself to stay angry. What he’d done was totally crazy, insane even. And yet, the thought of being pregnant with his baby filled my heart with hope.
When Caleb slid his cock from my body, he moved lower and placed a kiss over my navel, like he knew the turn my thoughts had taken. His lips tilted in a confident smile before he rolled off the bed and strode into the bathroom. He came back with a warm washcloth and gently cleaned between my legs. Once done, he went back to the bathroom. When he returned this time, he untied me, silence looming between us. Not a word was said as he tossed pillows onto the bed. There was no sound as he repositioned my body, covered me with a sheet, slid in, and pulled me into his arms. I listened as his breath evened out, my heart racing frantically.
“I love you.” The admission flew from my lips. I hadn’t intended to say the words, but now that I had, I didn’t regret them. Not even a little bit.
“Finally,” he sighed. “I was beginning to think you’d never realize it, let alone tell me. Thought I might have to leave you tied to my bed forever so you couldn’t get away from me.”
“Never? We’ve only been together a month, if I'm generous with the timeline. A few days, if we count by most people’s standards. Besides, I already realized I loved you on the plane from Paris.”
“Seven months,” he murmured against the skin of my neck. “By my count, we’ve been together for seven months.”
Startled, I turned in his arms to peer up at his face. “We haven’t even known each other that long.”
“I knew you were meant to be mine from the moment I saw you across the crowded ballroom at the children’s hospital fundraiser.”
I thought back to what I remembered from that night. Caleb had been impossible to miss. Whenever he was at an event, he was the center of attention. We hadn’t been introduced, but I knew who he was—who didn’t? And I’d noticed more about him than I’d been willing to admit to myself at the time. “Weren’t you there with some blonde model or actress?”
“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” His smug grin and clear satisfaction were enough to make me want to smack his arm. “Although I like seeing this side of you, that night didn’t end well for the lady in question. She was sent home, alone, while I kept my eye on you all night to make sure you left the same way.”
I laughed softly at the idea of this incredible man shadowing me around a ballroom, me none the wiser. “So, what you’re telling me is you’ve stalked me, swooped in to save my business, kidnapped me to Paris, taken complete control of my body, and done your best to get me pregnant with your child?”
“I know you were pissed yesterday when I told you, but it worked, didn’t it?” He dropped a kiss onto the tip of my nose. “Now I’m a happy man because I’ve got you right where I want you.”
Even after all that had passed, I felt uncertain about what the future would hold for Caleb and me, how I would fit into his life. I desperately needed to hear those three little words back from him.
“And where is that exactly?” My voice was whisper soft, the words slurred in my exhaustion. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but lost the battle. I drifted off to sleep without knowing if he heard my question.
Chapter 11
Caleb
The following morning, I woke before Madeleine and took the opportunity to soak up the sight of her naked body next to mine. Her face was soft and peaceful in sleep, glowing with the after-effects of the night before. I was determined to wake up to that sight every day from that moment on.
Careful not to jostle her, I turned to my other side and opened the drawer of the small table by the bed. The morning before, I’d placed the little red leather box in there. I opened it and removed the white gold and diamond bracelet. Madeleine’s arm was lying palm down on the sheet, a little off to her side. It made it easy for me to release the catch and reattach it around her slender wrist. With a few twists of the accompanying white gold screwdriver, the bracelet was secured, unable to be removed without the tool. Cartier had designed this “key” to be hung on a thin chain that would keep it lying on my chest, near my heart. In essence, I held the key to her love.
I shifted until I blanketed her with my body, using my forearms as leverage to hold myself up so I wouldn’t crush her. My mouth brushed tenderly across her lips, cheeks, eyelids, and nose. She gradually came awake, blinking as her eyes focused and she became coherent and aware of her surroundings.
“Good morning, baby.” I nuzzled my face into her neck and smiled when she sighed contentedly.
“Good morning,” she echoed, stretching and causing my body to sizzle.
Reluctantly, I forced myself to get up then bent over and scooped her into my arms.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked with surprise.
“Getting you in the shower.”
“It’s Sunday, Caleb!”
“I’m aware. We’ve got somewhere to be.”
I ordered breakfast while waiting for the shower to heat up. Tugging her into the glass enclosure, I made sure she was very, very clean everywhere...twice. Breakfast was delivered shortly and after the calories we had burned the night before, w
e were famished.
When we were finally ready to head out, I laced my fingers through hers and led her to the elevator. We rode down to the garage where my silver Maserati was waiting for us.
I managed to keep my plans a secret by taking a page out of Socrates’ book and answering her inquiries with questions of my own. As we left the city, she became even more curious and I had to resort to slipping my hand between her legs and giving her multiple orgasms. By the time we reached our first destination, I was in desperate need of release.
We pulled into the driveway of a large, red brick, colonial house. The garage was around back and as I parked, I noticed no one else had arrived yet. Frantically, I unsnapped my and Madeleine’s seat belts and dragged her into my lap, her legs on either side of me. She glanced around nervously. “No one can see us, baby,” I assured her before nibbling on her bottom lip until her mouth opened and I tangled my tongue with hers. I sent thanks above for tinted windows as I whipped out my cock, shoved her panties aside, and slammed into her slick pussy.
I groaned in absolute ecstasy at the heat of her surrounding me. “You’re so tight, baby. You feel like silk. Fuck! I need to taste your beautiful tits,” I panted. “Lift your shirt.” I continued to pump into her as she complied with my request. I dragged down the cup of her bra with my teeth and then latched onto the exposed nipple, sucking before blowing across it, making her shiver.
Tingles started at the base of my spine, spreading to my balls, my orgasm approaching. I brought my hand to her wet pussy and pressed on her clit, swallowing her screams as she let go. I swiftly followed with one last deep thrust before I stilled, my come bursting from my cock and coating her insides.
“Caleb,” she breathed, “that was incredible.”
Burying my face in her neck, I chuckled in agreement. At the purr of another engine approaching, Madeleine scrambled back into her seat, hastily trying to right herself. I laughed and she glared at me.
“There’s a towel in my gym bag behind my seat,” I told her as I tucked my semi-hard cock back into my pants. She didn’t say anything as she reached back to retrieve the towel. While she cleaned herself up, I got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, helping her out when she was ready.
A slender, young woman with long, dark, almost black, hair emerged from the other car. She had the high cheekbones of a model, small, black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, and was wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit. I greeted her while sliding an arm around Madeleine’s waist. I felt her move in closer to my body and glanced down to see her eyeing the realtor with a possessive gleam. Her little display of jealousy had a grin splitting my face.
The woman approached us with a broad smile and introduced herself as Elisa. I shook her hand. “Caleb Sterling.” We’d spoken over the phone, but hadn’t yet met. I tucked Madeleine even closer to my side. “This is my Madeleine,” I said, and kissed the top of her head.
She smiled and gave her a small wave, then tilted her head back to look up at me. “What are we doing here?”
Elisa spoke up. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Sterling, I thought you knew. I’m your realtor. Mr. Sterling set up an appointment to walk through this home.”
Madeleine looked a little shell-shocked. “I’m not M—” I squeezed her, hard, indicating she shouldn’t finish her sentence. She threw me a dirty look, which I responded to with a wink.
“Are you thinking of moving out of the city?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “My apartment isn’t going to work for much longer.
“Oh.” Disappointment colored Madeleine’s tone. “You’d be over thirty minutes away from me.”
Elisa shuffled uncomfortably. “I’ll go unlock the door,” she said and took off in the direction of the house.
I took Madeleine’s chin in my fingers and lifted her face so I could look directly into her eyes. “No, baby. We would be thirty minutes from the city.”
“What?” Her voice became a little shrill with alarm.
“My apartment is large, but it’s only one bedroom, and I’d like a yard for our kids to play in.”
Madeleine’s eyebrows lifted, practically disappearing into her hair, her eyes wide as she shook her head and tried to back up. “We aren’t ready to move in together!” she exclaimed. “I can’t—that’s crazy. We can’t do that.”
“The hell we can’t,” I growled. “You agreed that you’re mine, you’re most likely carrying my baby, and we will be moving in together. Soon.” I was already contemplating how to make that happen in the next few days.
She tried to back away, but I tucked her under my arm once again. “Just look at the place with me, please?” Ah-ha. The ‘please’ softened all of her features and she mumbled an agreement.
I’d been researching homes for a few months and I was positive this was the one. We walked to the back door where Elisa was waiting to give us a tour. I kept a close eye on Madeleine and despite her efforts to remain unaffected, her excitement bled through. I watched her fall in love with the house and couldn’t keep the cocky smirk off my face. I’d been right. I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist it. This was our home.
With a quick kiss on her lips, I left Madeleine in a room decorated as a nursery with a dreamy look on her face and met Elisa in the kitchen to sign the rest of the forms. I’d bought the house a week ago, but held back on the final closing paperwork until I brought Madeleine to see it.
Once we left and were headed back to the city, Madeleine sat quietly for a few minutes.
“What did you think?” I asked, breaking the silence.
She sighed. “It’s perfect, Caleb. I honestly hope we can find something just like it when we’re ready to take that step.”
I rolled my eyes, but chose not to engage in the argument that would surely ensue if I responded. Besides, I still had an ace up my sleeve.
***
Monday morning, I asked Madeleine to give me some time to draw up a new contract. She agreed without much convincing. In fact, at the reminder of our nullified contract, a shadow passed over her face and her posture slumped with an air of defeated acceptance.
Over the next two weeks, I was barely present at work, my mind always on other things. I’d ordered another piece of jewelry from Cartier for Madeleine and a lovelock item for myself.
I counted the days until she could take a pregnancy test and fucked her relentlessly in case she wasn’t already pregnant. I brought her to work every day and took her home with me every night. When she tried to protest, telling me she needed to go home for her things, I waved it off and assured her it wasn’t necessary. The first night, I’d sent her assistant to her apartment to bring her clothes and a few necessities. After that, I had her bring a little more each time, and while Madeleine huffed with irritation at my high-handedness, she didn’t tell me to stop.
True to my word, I had a new contract drawn up, but I was sure it wasn’t what she’d be expecting.
At last, the day I’d been waiting for arrived, and just in time. I was about to lose my ever-loving mind. I didn’t want there to be any question, no false results, so I dragged Madeleine straight to the doctor. When we arrived, Madeleine made a beeline for the bathroom and lost her breakfast. I barely controlled the impulse to pump my fist in the air and scream, “Victory!”
An hour later, we walked to our car, loaded with pamphlets and vitamins. I couldn’t stop smiling, my chest puffed up with pride as the caveman inside congratulated me on getting my woman knocked up.
Chapter 12
Madeleine
Barefoot and pregnant. I could barely wrap my head around it. I was literally standing barefoot in the kitchen of the house Caleb had shown me a couple hours after finding out he’d successfully knocked me up. A house, it turned out, we owned. Not him. We. Because apparently, both our names were on the deed—the same deed resting on the counter between us and dated the same day he’d first brought me here. The one that referred to me as Madeleine Sterling.
No
body could ever accuse Caleb of moving slowly. When he wanted something, he moved at lightning speed to acquire it—even when the something he wanted was me. Only now that he had me, I felt like he was skipping some important steps. Namely, a proposal and telling me he loved me. And I wasn’t about to make the name on the deed my legal one unless he loved me. Being pregnant wasn’t enough. I wanted everything.
Caleb peeked at me around the open refrigerator door. “Go upstairs and change into something more comfortable while I grab you a snack.”
“I don’t have any clothes here,” I reminded him.
“Sure you do,” he countered. “I had most of our personal items moved from the penthouse while we were at the doctor’s office. The movers were on standby just in case the results came back positive.”
I should have been surprised by his answer, but nothing he did could shock me anymore. One thing did bother me, though. “What if the test came back negative? What would you have done then?”
He dropped the food he’d pulled from the fridge on the counter and walked toward me. “I wanted to have this conversation after you’d changed and eaten, but from the look in your eye, I have a feeling you’re not going to let it go, are you?”
“No,” I whispered. “I don’t think I am.” It might have been akin to cutting off my nose to spite my face since I was uncomfortable and hungry, but this conversation couldn’t wait any longer.
“If you insist,” he murmured. He led me into the living room, settled me on the couch, then went to the foyer and lifted his briefcase from the table near the door. Rifling through it, he withdrew three items and put them on the coffee table in front of me.
A stack of papers eerily similar to the ones I’d signed the night he’d called me into his office at our first meeting.
A red leather box almost identical to the one that had held the Cartier bracelet currently on my wrist, only slightly smaller in size.
Penalty Clause (Risqué Contracts Book 1) Page 6
