RequiredSurrender

by Riley Murphy

“I’ll ah, get the check.”

  It wasn’t until Ted saw Pauline craning her neck in an effort flag down their waiter that he focused back on the present. He needed to get out of here. He needed some space. Alone. “I already took of care of it, Pauline. If you’re done?” She nodded. “I know Jo is. We’ll walk you to your car.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you. Dinner was lovely. Oh and there’s no need to walk me out. Really, I can manage on my own.”

  Ted stood and held her chair while she got up. He didn’t like how he was feeling. Disconnected. You’re in fucking shock that’s what you are. “I’d feel better if we did.” He stepped aside to let Pauline pass. “We’d both feel better,” he added.

  Although he moved to do the same for Jo and held out her chair, he still refused to look at her. At the moment he didn’t trust himself to.

  “This was so nice.”

  By the time they saw Pauline to her car and got in their own, Jo continued to maintain her quiet. So unlike her. And when she did speak to thank him for holding the door and helping her into his Jag, her “thank you” was no more than a whisper.

  They sat in silence until he turned onto the highway and she finally spoke up, “You’re taking I-7? And that’s,” she leaned toward him to get a better look at the GPS, “my address. You’re taking me home?”

  He kept his eyes on the road. “Yes.”

  “But I thought we were going to play in the blue room tonight?”

  “We were.”

  She flopped back in her seat and stared out the passenger window. Ted was relieved she didn’t press the issue. When he confronted her for lying to him he wanted them to be face-to-face. “Excuse me?”

  She repeated the mumble and even this second time around he couldn’t quite make it out. “What did you say?”

  “I said I did see Anjay the night of the awards.”

  His hands squeezed the wheel as he turned down her street. “I know.” Veering into her driveway, he parked and cut the engine.

  “I didn’t tell—”

  He wasn’t going to argue in the car. He got out and walked around to open her door. When they reached her doorstep he spoke, “You lied to me. Why?”

  “I didn’t want to talk about him. I didn’t…”

  Jo saw the hard—no, unforgiving—light in his eyes and panicked. The cold fury pouring off him shook her to the core. Her lying was his nonnegotiable. He’d made that abundantly clear. His one and only hard limit, and yet she’d done it anyway. He was going to end their relationship. Right now. Right here. Tonight. Just the thought had her heart hammering, but not in a good way.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I.” He turned to leave.

  Now her heart thundered. “No. Please…”

  He swung back around. His jaw clenched and unclenched, making his scar shift then tighten. She knew what that meant. He was fighting the inevitable. “You better tell me something. You better give me a reason I can…” He turned away and she realized she’d been right. He didn’t want this. Oh God. What had she done?

  I’m losing him.

  The distance between them was far greater than the mere two-foot breadth they stood apart. “Ted.”

  He turned back. “Help me understand why you did it.”

  What could she say? I didn’t want you to know how worthless I am. That I don’t matter to the people who are supposed to love me. That my parents, who should have fought for me, didn’t. “It was a mistake. I see that now.”

  “Too late, Jo.”

  He was right on the edge. If she told him the full truth, he’d know everything. How her own mother chose not to protect her so she could keep her secret safe. And Anjay? He was the only person in world besides her parents that she’d ever said the words “I love you” to… and look what he’d done to her.

  Don’t abandon me too.

  She couldn’t live with that. Being alone. Again. No, she wanted Ted for her own. She wanted him in a place as far away from all those past disappointments until those letdowns were nothing more than a blur.

  “When I left after you texted me that night, I ran into Anjay and he told me about you calling in his loans, and how you ordered him to stay away from me.” Her words quickly fell into place as the concept snowballed toward the perfect excuse to fix all this. Right now she was desperate and fought for herself the only way she knew how. “He promised he’d leave my family alone if I didn’t tell you that I saw him. It was an accident. Nothing more than a minute. I didn’t think it mattered. And when I got to your place and we were in the bath? I didn’t want to think about him at all.”

  She held her breath as he studied her. Letting it go when he sighed. “I don’t like this, Jo. Not one bit.”

  He stretched his back and ran a hand through his hair. At least he was thinking about things. Not totally prepared to leave her…yet.

  “I made a mistake.” She put her hand on his arm and whispered, “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

  He stared down at her hand for a moment and then shook it off. Without a word he turned and walked away.

  “Ted.”

  Silence.

  “Ted!”

  Still nothing.

  “Please!”

  He didn’t break stride as he called, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow when I’ve had a chance to cool down. Good night, Josephine.”

  Her full name coming from him and echoing up the walkway nearly undid her. He’d never called her that. Never.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  He opened his car door, bent to adjust the seat and then stood up. “Go in the house and lock the door.”

  The relief she felt at his calm words was short-lived because once she was in her house with the door closed, he drove off…and she was all alone. Again.

  By the time Ted parked his ass on the couch at home, he’d already made up his mind. He couldn’t let her go, but he should. He wouldn’t let her go, but he wanted to. This was like some cosmic joke rearing up to mock him. Because this time he’d pointblank warned his woman not to lie to him and she had. What the fuck?

  He wasn’t going there. The past was the past and Jo was the present. Why? Why had she felt the need to lie? He got all the obvious reasons. Fear and stubbornness, but what else was there? Something. He could feel it and yet she didn’t say.

  Buzz.

  His phone vibrated and even though he knew it was her he still looked. Weak.

  I forgot my dragon pillow. It’s in the blue room.

  She went the extra mile by putting a frowning face at the end of her text. He scowled and fired off his one-word reply.

  Tough.

  His thumb hovered over the send button for nearly thirty seconds and then he swore.

  “You pansy-ass motherfucker!” His shoulders slumped, then two seconds later he jerked forward with arm raised ready to launch his iPhone at the wall. Thankfully, he caught himself in time. Two deep breaths and he calmed the hell down.

  A minute later? He called Cam.

  “I need you to do something. Can you swing by and take something to Ms. Nehr’s place for me? No, no, nothing like that. It’s the um, dragon pillow I bought her.” He felt like a complete ass admitting that. Some fucking Dom he was. The woman had blatantly lied to him. Purposely deceived him, and here he was sending his driver over to her house to deliver a stuffed fucking animal so she could sleep?

  Oh hell yeah, this was the fundamental problem. He’d been too soft with her. He thought about that and decided he needed to shore up the balance of power between them. Damn straight. Not only for her benefit but for his as well. He didn’t want to lose her like he’d lost—

  Not going there. At least this time he had a shot to fix things before they went to shit. And there was only one way to do that. He needed more control. Ultimate control. Unbridled control. He needed to Master her. Then if she lied he’d have no one to blame but himself.

  While he waited for Cam, he thought about how Jo would react
when he gave her the ultimatum. He knew she’d accept because she really had no choice in the matter. It was either a three-week trial as his slave and they’d reevaluate the relationship after that time, or it was nothing at all. The arrangement was sure to grate against her, but that was too bad. He was being generous putting a timeframe on it. He’d make sure she understood that.

  After Cam drove off he made another call. This one to Alistair. “Yeah, I know it’s late, but this is important.”

  “Don’t any of you guys do business at regular hours?”

  “No.”

  “What do you need?”

  Ted could be just as brisk. “Do you still have that slave contract that Jade had you draw up?”

  Alistair snorted. “Call it what it was. A questionable human bondage contract.”

  “Okay, whatever. Shoot me a copy, would you?”

  “Is this about that Nehr woman again?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

  “You’re not thinking about—”

  Ted sighed, “Just send me that copy. I’m going to tweak it and then send it back to you to do an official. I need it by the day after tomorrow.”

  “You know it’s after hours and I’ve already shut my laptop down for the night.”

  “Yeah, overcharge me for the inconvenience like you normally do.”

  “You got it.”

  Ted threw his hand in the air, even though Alistair wouldn’t see it, and asked, “Why do I retain you again?”

  “Because I’m the best at what I do. I’ll have that contract in your inbox in twenty. Good night.”

  When Ted heard the click, he shook his head because the arrogant bastard was right. He was the best. Pushing thoughts of his past away, he concentrated on the present. On Jo. On making their new situation work…because it had to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Ow!” Jo jerked forward, trying to escape Lacy’s hands.

  “Sorry. Your hair’s too silky it’s hard to keep hold of.” Lacy readjusted and asked, “Is that better? The braid is totally straight.”

  Jo eyed Lace in the mirror. “This is crazy, isn’t it? The outfit, the hair and the contract. You think I’m nuts for going through with this, don’t you?”

  Lacy didn’t look up. She continued to purposely weave the French braid down the back of Jo’s head while she took her time answering. When she did her head tilted to one side as if she’d given the matter some serious thought. “I don’t think you’re totally wacko. Although that detailed email would have been enough for me to pull out the Zanny. You got any, by the way?”

  “Xanax? No. You’re a vet, can’t you prescribe yourself some?”

  “I was asking for you. After reading that email I’m thinking you’re going to need it over the next few weeks.”

  “Drugs and alcohol aren’t allowed.”

  “Bummer. But to get back to the whole slave thing?” She’d finally arrived to the straight braid part of the hairstyle and had to step back a pace to finish it. “I did a stint as one guy’s slave in college.”

  “Really?” Jo went to shake her head, because her friend was a quintessential enigma, but stopped when she felt Lace tug on the braid. Instead she looked at her friend’s reflection. Just when she thought she knew everything about her, Lace had come out with something totally shocking. To look at her you’d think she was an innocent pixie, but judging by some of the shit she’d done? She was more a sex-crazed vamp.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t all that exciting to tell you the truth. I mean you don’t have to be a slave to serve your man a beer, suck him off when he wants you to and to do his laundry daily. That was the last straw for me. You know how much I hate doing laundry, so you can imagine how teed I was when there wasn’t any of my stuff in the piles.” She paused before circling the elastic on the end of the braid and met Jo’s gaze in the mirror. “In fact, the no-clothes rule, and hence none of my laundry, was the only upside to being a slave if you asked me.”

  That made Jo smile. It also had her feeling better about all this. “I’m glad I asked you.”

  Lace grinned back before she turned her attention back to the elastic. “There. All done.”

  Jo stood and examined herself in the full-length mirror. With the peach-colored blouse tucked into her dove-gray pencil skirt she came off as conservative. “I look like an executive. I hope this is the look Ted was going for when he made the stipulations.”

  “Maybe the ‘look’ is not important. It could be the style that he cares about.”

  Jo watched her in the mirror. Waiting until she sat on the edge of the bed. “Style and look, what’s the difference?”

  “Wearing those items, while leaving off others like panties, gives him better access to you. All he’d need to do is unbutton some buttons or stick his hand up that skirt, you know? I’m sure that’s what he was going for.”

  Jo immediately felt breathless and excited. She hated experiencing this kind of acute attraction for him. Hadn’t it been this that made her desperate enough to lie to him again? She didn’t want to think about that. “You’re probably right.”

  “So why does your dad want Patel and you to tie the knot? That guy’s been MIA since I met you four years ago. It’s kind of weird.”

  Kind of weird? If Lacy knew the whole truth weird would be replaced with totally bizarre. “After the accident, my dad started living in the past most days. The traditions he’d left behind when he came to North America became important to him again. His brothers and sister don’t help the matter. They encourage him with this.”

  “You’re not going to marry the guy, are you?”

  “God no.” She patted a few loose strands over her temple and inwardly sighed with relief. At least that part of her living nightmare had been taken care of. “How could you think I would, when I’m getting ready to become Ted’s um…”

  “Slave?”

  “Yeah. But enough about me.” Jo wanted a change of subject because guilt and worry began to swell inside her for the hundredth time. And for as many times she reminded herself she had no choice when she’d only shared half the truth with Ted about the situation. Damn, would Anjay ever be out of her life? “I’ve got a few minutes. You mentioned something about a pickle? Does this have to do with your boyfriend?”

  Jo knew from experience, whenever Lacy used the word pickle it was usually a really, really bad situation.

  “Which one?”

  Jo spun around. “What do you mean which one? I thought David was your guy.”

  “Maybe, I don’t know.” Lacy bit her lip and looked away. That wasn’t a good sign.

  “You’ve been seeing him, haven’t you?”

  “Sort of.” She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Again not a good sign.

  “What do you mean by sort of? I thought you said you’ve had sex with the guy. That’s more than sort of if you ask me.”

  “It wasn’t conventional sex.”

  “Is it ever with these kinds of men?”

  Lacy rolled onto her side, bent her elbow and rested her cheek in her palm. “We had virtual sex once, and he’s talked me into getting myself off at his insistence three times. Four if you count the double O I had the second time around.”

  “Unbelievable.” When Lacy frowned Jo scowled right back. “What?”

  “This you not swearing thing is freaking me out.”

  “Tell me about it. So,” Jo tugged on her sleeves, straightening the cuffs. “Who’s the other guy?”

  “Handy Joe.”

  She stopped straightening. “Your contractor?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you having virtual sex with him too?”

  “No.” She sighed so disgustedly that Jo cringed.

  “But you are having sex with him.”

  “Not really.”

  Jo checked her watch and then said, “Well spit it out. I have to leave in five minutes but I think your pickle is good for me. My stomach has stopped som
ersaulting at least.”

  Lacy made an exasperated face. “I’m glad my pain is healing for you. All right. The truth is I’ve put off having sex with Joe ever since connecting with David. But tonight I’m probably going to have to tell him why.”

  “You’re seeing the contractor tonight?” When she nodded Jo shook her head. “Does David know? Did you at least tell him that you were in a relationship of sorts, and you were going to break it off?” Jo was a little sensitive about this issue as she’d just screwed up major league with Ted. And ever since Colin had settled with Ethan, Jo and Lacy had become closer. She didn’t want her friend to get hurt like she was hurting.

  “I told him I was having Joe over so I couldn’t see him tonight.”

  Jo did a double take. “And he was okay with that?”

  Lacy sat up and grimaced. “He thought I was talking about you and, ah… I didn’t correct him.”

  “What? Lace, I thought you liked him?”

  “I do. It’s okay. I’ll handle getting rid of Joe, and David won’t even know about it.”

  This sounded too familiar. Why was it Jo had a bad feeling about Lacy trying to pull something like this off without getting caught and she hadn’t even blinked when she dove into the similar situation with Ted the night before last?

  “You know what a pushover you are around gorgeous guys. I’ve seen Joe. He’s pretty gorgeous.”

  Lacy sighed again. “I know.”

  Jo scooped up her purse and took a deep breath. “Just remember that David is the quiet one.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The quiet ones sneak up on you. They don’t talk. They listen and think. All of that listening and thinking doesn’t bode well for the person who pisses them off. Don’t piss David off. He may look all metrosexual butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth chic, but my guess is under all that laid-back façade is a real pistol. I don’t want you to get shot.”

  Lacy stood. “All right. That’s enough turning the focus on me. I’m not the one facing the lion in the den. Are you ready?”

  When Lace put her arm around her waist, Jo mimicked the action before they exited the bedroom. “I think so. But one last thing about David. Trust me on this. You don’t want to make a guy like him mad.”