by Cox, Chloe
Cate squeezed her thighs around him, and Soren almost lost it. She fought dirty.
“Don’t you tell me I’m not ready,” she said.
“You were afraid,” he said. He held her hands by her waist and looked her in the eye. “Deny it.”
She frowned, adorable little lines appearing between her brows, her hazel eyes almost glowing while that dark red hair fell forward over her face. Jesus. If he didn’t have the discipline of a Dom, he wouldn’t have a chance.
“I can’t,” she said finally. “Yes, I was, but I don’t…”
And then she wilted.
She stopped fighting, let herself fall into him. Soren let go of her hands and she brought them up around his neck, her hair brushing against his face.
“I don’t know why,” she said. “It’s not you, I don’t what it is, I—”
“It’s ok,” Soren said.
“It’s not.”
“It is. It will be.”
Soren let his hands slide softly over her naked back, feeling his way in this new territory. This had become very intense, very quickly. This was new for him. And it was exactly what he had signed up for, wasn’t it? This was what he’d seen in her all along.
He hadn’t felt his heart hammer in his chest like this since he was a kid.
“But I want you,” she said softly.
Oh damn.
Soren took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He’d denied himself before, hadn’t he? He’d managed it.
Not like this.
Didn’t matter. He had to. She had to trust him, trust that he’d do what was best for her, that he’d take care of her, no matter what he wanted.
He dragged his fingers down her back and watched her arch into it, her beautiful nipples rising in the air, everything inside him telling him to lay her down and take her.
“When you’re ready, it’s going to be more than you can handle,” he said.
“Tease,” she sighed.
“Careful,” he said. “I could entertain myself for hours seeing just how red I can get that ass.”
Cate smiled at him and bit her lip.
“If I told you I wouldn’t like that,” she said, “would that be a violation of the One Rule?”
He had created a monster.
“Try me and find out.”
Cate’s smile faded just a bit, only for a moment. But enough. Soren could practically see the gears whirring in that brain of hers, and he knew enough about women—and this woman in particular, though he knew it didn’t make sense—to know not to push her. Not while she was naked in his lap and trying to figure out how to say one thing without giving another thing away, the way women sometimes did.
“What happens if someone breaks the rule?” she finally said.
“I’m not one of those people who can’t see shades of gray, sweetheart,” he said. “I know people sometimes don’t have everything figured out. That’s different from deliberately lying. That’s the thing I have a problem with.”
“And what happens?”
Soren looked at her very seriously. “Then I’m done.”
Cate didn’t flinch. She didn’t even blink.
Then again, she was a lawyer.
“What about lies of omission?” she said, shifting her hips in a way that made his dick scream for more attention.
Yeah, definitely a lawyer.
“Same criteria applies,” he said, the tension registering in his voice again. He was going to have to come soon or he’d lose it.
This time Cate leaned forward, her forearms resting on his shoulders, her naked breasts so close to his mouth he could practically taste them. Hell, he would. His prerogative.
Unless she dropped a bombshell on him.
“What happens if you lie?” she asked. “Even by omission?”
Soren stopped and tore his eyes away from those luscious breasts to look into Cate’s shining, knowing, too-smart-for-their-own-good eyes.
“No one’s asked me that before,” he said.
“Because you do it all the time?” she said. She was smiling, but it wasn’t a happy question. Not angry, either, not accusatory. Soft, somehow. Gentle.
Soren realized he had to work to regulate his breathing. Who was this woman?
“Maybe because they knew there was nothing to tell,” he said.
“I call so much bullshit on that,” she laughed.
Soren shook his head. How could he get this across? How could he…fuck it.
“The past is dead,” he said. “If it’s really in the past, it’s dead.”
She couldn’t know how literally he meant that, but he needed her to know it was true. He didn’t carry the past with him. It had changed him, and he’d dealt with that, but he worked hard not to carry it around, not to make other people pay for his past mistakes.
And it had worked up until now.
Dread blossomed somewhere inside him, dark, rotting dread, and damn it, he couldn’t ignore it now that she’d asked the question, that she’d made him think, that this amazing, beautiful woman was sitting naked in his lap and letting him see more of her than she’d ever shown to anyone else—what if he was carrying it around?
He’d needed Cate as soon as he’d met her. He’d needed to help her, to have her. It hadn’t made sense.
What if he was just trying to redeem himself for what had happened with Julia? Now that all that shit was getting brought up again, with his sister and the lawsuit.
“Soren?” she said.
“That thing, where you don’t have everything figured out yet,” he said, his voice thick, rough. “I’m doing it. The past is past, but…”
“It’s ok,” she said, and touched her fingers to his cheek.
“No,” he said. “It’s not. I’m in charge here, I’m running this show. I need you to know that I’m not going to do anything to hurt you, even unintentionally.”
“‘The past is dead’ is a pretty big loophole,” Cate said. “And I get it, actually. Completely.”
Soren studied her. She looked tense now, when only a few minutes ago she’d been blissed out and relaxed. Tense and distant, and eager to have this be ok.
She said, “I know you won’t do anything to hurt me, I do.”
“No, you don’t,” he whispered. “Not yet. If you did, I could lay you down and bury myself inside you. But you will.”
Cate closed her eyes and brought her hands to his face, her wetness soaking through the crotch of his jeans.
“I don’t understand this,” she said. “I’ve never felt like this before, I’ve never…I’ve never wanted anyone like this.”
She moved her hips against him, and he groaned, louder this time, his hands digging into the round globes of her ass. Cate stifled a moan, as though she knew what it would do to him if she let it out. It didn’t help.
Fuck. He wanted her so, so badly, so much that it was beyond want. He felt like if he didn’t have her he would… He didn’t know. He didn’t just want to come. He wanted that closeness back, in the moments after he’d held her, when she’d let herself feel something real in his arms. He wanted her to trust him in the way she needed to. He wanted her to be safer than she ever had been before. He wanted to pull her back from whatever place she’d retreated to when they’d started talking about lies.
He wanted her.
With a growl he stood up in one motion, scooping her up with him. She weighed nothing. He loved the feel of her arms wrapped around him, of the way she dug into him, the way she buried her face in his neck.
He couldn’t have her now. But he could get her back.
He set her back down on the table, and unwrapped her legs from around his waist, his hands gentle. He took a moment to touch her face before he kissed her.
“Don’t move,” he said.
It took him only a second to get what he needed. Thank God Volare was well stocked.
When he turned back to Cate he found her eyes wide, her shoulders tense, her nipples hard. She gripped the edge of
the table, her knees together, her back slightly hunched, like she had sensed the change. She didn’t know what was coming, and that made her nervous, that fired up old patterns in her brain. But she was still there.
Soren came back to her and slid his hand between her legs, smiling as her expression softened and she sighed.
“C’mere,” he said, and he kissed her, long and soft and thorough, just so she’d be grounded again. Hell, so he’d be grounded again. His cock felt like it was about to turn on him in protest, but he knew he needed to do this for her. For him, too.
“Down,” he said. He pushed her down on the table and climbed half on top of her, wanting to keep his face close to hers. Wanting to see every last thing.
That was the whole point.
He had to show her she didn’t have to be afraid.
Soren put his weight on her, slowly, inexorably, holding her down. She was breathing hard already, almost hyperventilating, and he’d barely even touched her.
“I told you I wouldn’t until you were ready,” he said. “Are you scared?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I don’t know why I would be.”
He smiled. “It’s because I can see your face.”
Cate stared at him. “Oh God.”
“What’s your safeword?” he prompted.
“Red.”
“Good. I’m going to hold you down,” he said. He held up the purple vibe he’d gotten from the toy chest. “And I’m going to put this inside you, and I’m going to watch you come every damn time I tell you to, until I decide it’s enough. My choice. My rules. You’re not gonna be able to hide, and you’re just going to have to take it until I’m through.”
He felt the shudder run through her. Felt he subtle arch in her lower back, watched her pupils dilate.
“And when I’m done, Cate,” he whispered, “you’re gonna know it’s safe, because I don’t get to have you until you do. You understand?”
She blinked those wide hazel eyes and licked her lips.
“Say ‘yes, sir,’ if you understand me, Cate.”
A soft, breathy laugh escaped from her throat, and she tossed her head Cssep height=" to the side, smiling, until she remembered what he’d said, and turned back to look him in the eye. She was scared and excited and her eyes were shining.
“Yes, sir,” she said.
And then he touched her.
Slowly at first, but she was already so wet, and Soren was so hard and wanted her so much, and this was the best he was going to get tonight, and so it didn’t take him long. He toyed with her a little, let himself watch her face screw up, watch her laugh a little when he tickled her in a new way, watched her gasp, but holy hell, he was only human, and if he dragged this out too long he didn’t know if he could hang on.
He cock hurt, it wanted her so bad. He hurt, he wanted her so bad.
And then it started to get close, and real, and raw, and he saw it in her face. Watched her get a little bit uncomfortable, watched her strain and squirm and try to look away. He held her, and slid the vibrator in inch by inch, his own ragged breathing matching hers as she struggled with the feeling, with knowing he saw.
As she started to moan helplessly.
Jesus Christ, he wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t do this. He needed to do this.
Why did he need her like this? Need to see her up close, to know he was right, that every time he felt like they had that connection, like they understood each other, it was real, like this physical connection wasn’t just in his head.
Goddammit, he wanted inside her.
“Don’t look away,” he growled at her. “Don’t you look away. Come for me, Cate.”
He picked up his pace, sliding that vibe in and out of her, angling it, holding her down while she bucked and jerked. She needed to see that he could do this for her. She needed to be made to come bare and see…
“Fuck!” he shouted and twisted the vibe, his hand on her forehead, his face close to hers, her eyes on his. Begging. “Now!”
And she came all over his hand, the liquid gushing forth like a freaking geyser, drenching him. Cate convulsed with a shattering scream, her eyes dead on him until they rolled back in her head, and Soren held himself perfectly still. Watched the orgasm roll through her, waited until she came back down to herself, dazed, bleary eyed.
And he kissed her. He let her up, he held her, and he kissed her until her lips and chin were red from his stubble, until she was breathless all over again. Until he couldn’t stand it one more second.
He nearly propelled himself off the table, sure that if he touched her for one more second he wouldn’t hold out.
“You ok?” he barked. Cont holfont>
“Oh God, yes,” she said. “More than ok. Are you?”
Soren looked away. She was lying there on that table…
“I’m going to go take a shower,” he said, his voice tight. “There’s a bathroom suite attached to this room if you want to do the same. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes for this debriefing you wanna do, and we’re going to do it with all our clothes on, and we’re going to do it in a conference room in the office building.”
“Yes, sir.” He could hear her smile. “Soren?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Her voice changed. Soren looked at her and saw that he hadn’t been wrong—this had meant a lot to her. She looked free, and relaxed, and still maybe a little bit shy after what she’d let him see. Whether it would be enough was another question. But he was damn well going to find out.
He held her eyes and said, “Don’t make any weekend plans.”
Cate grinned, leaning back on her arms while her hair fell in her face. “Why not?”
“You already have them,” he said gruffly. That was it. He had to leave.
As he stepped out the door, he heard her incredulous question: “All weekend?”
And that won’t be nearly enough.
chapter 9
Cate opened the door to the Imperial Gardens restaurant and tried to pretend like she wasn’t full of…what, adrenaline? Girlish glee?
She was definitely full of something. She was only here to pick up takeout for her core staff back at the law firm, who would be working all weekend on the case, and then she was driving out to Soren’s place in Malibu. Ostensibly on business. Sort of. Not really.
Who was she kidding? Definitely not. She wouldn’t bill one hour of it, but no one at the firm needed to know that.
Cate waved at Amy over at the counter and smiled. Coming to this place had become a tradition, over the years—it was only place that had consistently accommodated her crazy orders and fulfilled her late-night cravings when working all-nighters before she made her first big case. In fact, it was practically the only tradition she still kept around from what she had begun to think of as the “Jason years.”
Didn’t mean Amy needed to know she was getting a divorce. Almost no one knew she was getting a divorce, and that was the way Cate wanted it, at least until she c Font hw sheould get Jason to sign an agreement that contained a very robust nondisclosure clause.
“Hey, what happened?” Amy asked as Cate approached the counter. “You pregnant?”
Cate’s mouth dropped open. Instinctively she looked down—no, her stomach was the same as it had been for the past five years. Probably. Approximately.
Amy laughed. “Your face!” she said. “No, you have the glow.”
Cate stared at her. She was glowing? She was glowing. It felt almost…embarrassing to be that affected by just the anticipation of going to see Soren.
On the other hand, it wasn’t entirely irrational, either. She’d be fantasizing about that “meeting” at Volare until she was old and gray.
Amy was still looking at her, clearly expecting an answer.
“Face cream,” Cate said.
“Uh huh. You should invest in it,” Amy said. Clearly not convinced.
“Well, and I’m excited about my case,” Cate said. “Not t
hat I can really talk about it, obviously.”
“I saw you on television!” Amy squealed. Ah. This was what she had wanted to talk about all along. “When do we get to see him?”
Cate just shook her head. “You know I’m not going to talk about it, Amy.”
“Oh, come on,” Amy pleaded. “Did he really do those things? Is that woman really just a liar after his money, like you said? I don’t want to believe he could do it, I mean, he’s just so…”
Amy shivered.
“Well, you know.”
Cate certainly did.
“So did he do it? Is he really a bastard?”
“Amy!”
“Come on, wink or something.”
“He really, really isn’t a bastard,” Cate said. “You know I don’t take cases I don’t believe in.”
“Oh, I hope you’re right,” Amy sighed, handing over Cate’s giant bag of takeout. “That man is too pretty to be one of the bad ones.”
Cate smiled as she handed over her cash, and then froze as she looked toward the exit. A man had just come in. A man who was storming toward her in a blazer and wingtips and perfectly combed hair.
Jason.
“Well, you can’t always tell th Klwan.Cate said softly.
It took her too long to snap out of it. Jason had almost reached her by the time Cate realized that whatever crazy thing was going to come out of his mouth, she didn’t want Amy to hear any of it. Cursing at the fact that Jason would know to find her here, that her staff wouldn’t know to tell him to go away when he demanded to know where his wife was, that she was still stuck in this situation at all, she waved her soon-to-be-ex-husband over to a table in the corner.
It wasn’t until she got there that she realized that being alone with Jason was still infinitely worse than being embarrassed by Jason in front of other people.
Her throat felt like it was about to close up.
“Don’t even want the girl behind the counter to hear what you did, huh?” Jason sneered.
“Her name is Amy,” Cate said.
“Who gives a shit?” Jason hissed.
“What do you want?”
Jason’s eyes bulged a little, the way they did when he’d was outraged at Cate’s insufficient response to some imagined slight. It was overly dramatic and foolish, and if it were anyone else, it wouldn’t be so scary.
