48 Hours

by Callista Arman

  Her climax slammed into her. She screamed. Felt Patrick jerk and tremble. Rafael came soon after, his hoarse shout of triumph ringing in her ear. He sagged atop her, pinning her between his body and Patrick’s.

  Maddie couldn’t imagine any place she’d rather be.

  Chapter Eleven

  Patrick was gone. Rafael informed Maddie of his departure shortly before ten p.m.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She’d expected Patrick to stay to the end, perhaps drive her home. She wanted to talk to him, try to sort out what had happened between them before the weekend fantasy faded. Now the next time she’d see him would be under harsh fluorescent lighting in the offices of KK&R. Nothing would look the same.

  Nothing could ever be the same.

  Only a few more minutes before she had to leave. Rafael had removed her wrist and ankle cuffs, but the silver collar was still fastened around her neck. Since her own dress had been burned, she was wearing one Rafael had given her. It was a deep indigo blue cashmere knit, very soft and clinging. Since she’d put it on, Rafael had been staring at her oddly. She suspected she knew the reason why—the dress had belonged to Mariella.

  She examined his face. His beautiful dark eyes were pensive, as if trying to come to some decision. Did that decision have to do with her future?

  Maddie bit her lower lip. “Master? May I ask a question?”

  He gave her a brief smile. “Of course, cara.”

  “Will we see each other again?”

  “I imagine we will,” he said. “Any time you wish to dine at my club, you may do so at my expense.”

  “And will we share…anything else?”

  He looked at her for what seemed a very long time, then sighed. “I know what you are asking, Madeline. And at one time in my life I wouldn’t have hesitated to give you what you wish. But now…” He shook his head. “You must trust me when I tell you I wouldn’t make you happy.”

  “Oh, but you would! You’ve already made me happier than I’ve been in my whole life.” Impulsively, she took his hand. “Please, give us the chance for more.”

  “Forty-eight hours is a fantasy,” Rafael said. “Not a lifetime. I’m sorry, Madeline, but as in all things, you must accept my judgment on this.”

  “But—”

  “Silence,” he ordered.

  Maddie bit her lip. Rafael guided her through the foyer to the front door. A taxi was waiting. Rafael handed her into the backseat and gave instructions and cash to the driver. Then he surprised her by pressing her driver’s license and keys into her hand.

  “I thought you burned everything,” Maddie said in bewilderment.

  Rafael smiled. “Not everything.” Just before he shut the door, he bent and brushed the lightest of kisses on her lips. “Goodbye, cara.” His fingers caressed her jaw. Then, with a swift motion, he unsnapped the clasp on her collar and slid the chain from her neck.

  Tears blurred Maddie’s vision as the car sped home. Robbed of both the men who had warmed her for the last forty-eight hours, she felt cold to her soul. Rafael was lost to her, and Patrick—could she ever have a chance for happiness with him? She’d dismissed the notion, but now she realized the thought of losing him hurt just as much as her failure to win Rafael. She was in love with both men—how had that happened?

  Just a few hours earlier, two men had filled her heart and her body. Now she was alone. Rafael had rejected her, but the reason for Patrick’s abrupt departure was unclear. Had Patrick rejected her as well?

  The light of day brought her an answer. At noon, after a morning packed with meetings, Maddie learned Patrick McIllhenny had called personnel at seven that morning and quit his job. He’d stopped in briefly to pack his belongings, then left for good.

  Maddie called Patrick’s apartment that evening and got a recording saying the line had been disconnected. The same was true of his cell phone. She tried to email him, but the account bounced. She checked at the post office, but he’d left no forwarding address. She tried a couple other leads, but the results were the same. Always a dead end. Patrick just did not want to be found.

  As the weeks went by with no word from him, Maddie was forced to face the truth. Her time with Patrick, like her time with Rafael, was over for good.

  Chapter Twelve

  Maddie’s nine a.m. was late, which was a good thing. Her notes were a mess and several important papers were missing from her file. She’d left them at home, but there wouldn’t be time to retrieve them. She’d just have to wing it.

  She let her forehead drop forward on her desk. She was losing it, big time. Six long months had passed since her weekend with Rafael and Patrick. Those forty-eight hours had been the most vivid she’d ever lived. Her real life paled in comparison. Work, sleep and solo sex. She’d fallen into a rut so deep she couldn’t seem to climb out.

  She hadn’t gone back to Montevale’s, despite Rafael’s invitation. Seeing Rafael would hurt too much, and she wasn’t so foolish to believe he was the kind of man who wanted his women to seek him out. No, Rafael preferred to make the first move. She’d tried to find Patrick, though, with no luck. He’d moved out of his apartment. Probably out of the city, too. He’d left no forwarding address.

  She felt his loss like a hole in her soul. She wanted to see him in the worst way. She wanted to make love to him, yes, but it was more than that. Sometimes she thought she’d give her right arm just to talk with him. She missed his quick grin and his easygoing manner. To make matters worse, the new tech guy KK&R had hired wasn’t worth shit. Her computer locked up constantly and no one in support seemed to know what to do about it.

  Sometimes she dreamed she was back at Rafael’s mansion. In those dreams, it was always Patrick she was with, never Rafael. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she treasured those dreams and always shed a tear or two after she woke. The pervading sense of sadness followed her to the office, affecting her work. She’d kept it together for six months, but only just barely. Something had to give, and soon.

  The words on her computer screen blurred. She blinked angrily. This was for shit. Crying at home was one thing, but she couldn’t let herself go at the office, too. But her heart didn’t seem to care it wasn’t the right time for it to break. It went right on bleeding.

  She sniffed loudly, swiping a hand across her nose. Damn. She needed a tissue. She rolled her desk chair back and yanked out her bottom desk drawer. It slid right out of the desk and overturned sideways, dumping its contents onto the floor.

  Shit. Maddie went down on her knees and flipped the drawer upright. Rummaging around in the pile on the floor, she found the packet of tissues and blew her nose. With a resigned sigh, she slid the drawer back into the desk and started tossing the junk that had fallen out of it back in. Eye drops. Feminine protection. Nail clippers.

  She was reaching for a bottle of ibuprofen that had rolled beneath the desk when the door to her office banged open. What the hell? Her secretary, Janice, might be new at KK&R, but she knew better than to let someone barge in unannounced. Maddie’s head came up sharply, smacking the edge of the desk.

  “Wait, sir—” Janice’s voice was frantic. “I told you, Ms. Brindisi is not available at this time.”

  “She is to me.”

  Maddie froze, her heart pounding double-time against her rib cage. Patrick.

  He came around the side of the desk and looked down at her. She sat there, ass on her heels, too stunned to do much more than gape up at him. God, he looked good. His hair was shorter, the curls tamed. Gone were the baggy clothes he used to wear. He was dressed in a dark suit—and not a cheap one, either. His tie was a splash of silk color against his tailored shirt. His shoes, which were just a few feet from her knees, looked imported and handmade.

  Their eyes met. His were bluer than she remembered. The lustful expression in them was unmistakable. Her pussy responded, drenching her panties with moisture.

  Janice hovered behind Patrick, hands moving ineffectually in the air. “Sir, if
you’ll just step back into the waiting area—”

  “It’s all right, Janice,” Maddie said, not taking her eyes from Patrick’s face. “I’ll see Mr. McIllhenny.”

  Janice looked from Maddie, who was still kneeling on the floor, to Patrick, who stood with legs braced wide and arms crossed, an amused expression on his face.

  “If you say so,” Maddie’s secretary said, clearly uncertain.

  “I do. Shut the door and hold all calls.”

  Janice gave one more curious glance down at Maddie and fled the room. The door snicked shut behind her. Maddie didn’t rise. She tilted her head back as Patrick drew closer. He seemed so large, so real.

  He smiled a little, then placed a finger on the top of her head, pressing down until she lowered her gaze. “I see you’ve forgotten a lot in six months,” he said.

  “Not so much,” Maddie whispered.

  “Get up,” Patrick said.

  Maddie gripped the edge of her desk and rose, keeping her eyes averted. It was hard, though. She wanted so much to look at him.

  “Take off your clothes. All of them.”

  She did look then. “Here?”

  He raised his brows.

  Hastily, she reached around to the back of her skirt for the zipper. Her hands shook so hard she almost couldn’t grasp the tab. She yanked it down and stepped out of her skirt. Then she undid the buttons on her blouse and let it fall to the floor. Underwear, shoes and stockings followed.

  She snuck a glance at Patrick. His hard-on was tenting his pants.

  “On the desk,” he said tightly. “Legs wide.”

  She complied eagerly, spreading herself for his view. He stepped close, stroked one finger, then two along her slit.

  “Dripping,” he said.

  “Yes. For you.”

  “Look at me.”

  She did, and nearly lost her breath. The expression on Patrick’s face was so fierce, so intent. He undid his buckle and took out his cock. Slipped on a condom. Then he stepped between her legs and positioned himself at the entrance to her slick, wet core.

  She sighed as he sheathed himself fully with one long, masterful stroke. Her insides went liquid. Her legs wrapped around his torso, her hands explored the contours of his chest. He pumped into her body, his hands gripping the desk on either side of her hips.

  The coupling was short and quick. Explosive. Maddie cried out as her climax crashed over her. Patrick swallowed the sound with a kiss, taking her mouth like a starving man. He held her as her tremors subsided.

  After a time, Maddie lifted her head. “Why are you here?”

  “You seem happy enough to see me,” Patrick said.

  “I am.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “As you can tell. What I mean is, why are you here now? I tried for weeks to contact you after…” Her voice trailed off. “You were nowhere to be found.”

  Patrick shifted but didn’t pull out of Maddie’s body. They were still joined intimately, his shaft semi-rigid inside her.

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Does the monkey suit you’re wearing have anything to do with that?”

  “I suppose you could say that. I’m downtown to meet one of my more important clients. I own a web design business now. It’s doing rather well. I’ve just bought a condo in Lakeside Heights.”

  Maddie’s eyes widened. “Wow, I guess things have really changed for you.”

  Patrick grimaced. “I wasn’t doing shit before…” He inhaled. “…before that weekend. I was a loser and I knew it. That’s why I haven’t let you contact me, Maddie. I didn’t want to face you until I’d turned my life around. Until I’d earned the right to ask you a question.”

  Maddie’s breath caught. “What question?”

  “Will you marry me?” His hips rocked forward, reminding her that he was still inside her.

  Her heart rose into her throat. “You want to marry me?”

  “Yes. But I don’t want a typical marriage, Maddie. I want what we shared that weekend in Rafael’s mansion. That time meant everything to me. It was then that I started to realize that it wasn’t enough for me to worship you from afar. I had to turn myself into the kind of man you needed. One who would love you, guide you, push you to the limits of everything you can be. Rafael helped me discover the truth, Maddie. He’s helped me since then. He even loaned me the capital for my new business.”

  “You’ve seen Rafael?”

  Patrick eyed her. “Yes. We have lunch or play golf about once a week.”

  She let out a breath. “How is he?”

  “About the same as that weekend. He’s a very private man, but I think deep down he’s lonely. I wish he would find someone special.”

  Maddie smiled sadly. “I thought for a while I could be that person.”

  He exhaled. “I know you did. But he’s not for you, Maddie. Not in that way. He needs someone more…” He let out a short laugh. “You know what I think Rafael needs? Someone who’ll stand up to him. Put him through hell.”

  “That’s an interesting thought.”

  Patrick grinned. “Yeah, isn’t it?”

  “So now—do you go to Rafael’s private club with him?”

  “On occasion,” Patrick said steadily.

  Maddie wilted in his arms. “Oh.”

  “Hey,” Patrick said, catching her chin and making her look at him. “I’m not going to apologize for that. I’ve gotten quite a few new clients through my contacts there. I went after what I’ve always wanted, Maddie, and I got it. In just six months I’ve grown my business to the point that I’m taking home six figures.”

  “I never knew you dreamed so big,” Maddie said in wonder. “I thought you didn’t care what you did.”

  “I cared,” Patrick said. He sent her a look that could only be described as sheepish. “I just lacked the confidence to make it happen. Just like I lacked the confidence to go after something else I wanted. But no more.” He drew a breath. “Maddie, I love you. I want to be your protector. I want you to give me your complete trust and obedience, be the submissive to my Dominant for the rest of our lives.” He stopped, sucked in a breath and hurried on. “I won’t order you to give up your career, though. I know how much it means to you and God knows it turns me on knowing you shred men to pieces in the courtroom. When we have kids, though, you’ll probably want to rethink the whole thing, at least for a few years. Or you could work from home.” He frowned. “Or we could…”

  “Yes.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  She laughed. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Be your wife. Your lover. Your bed slave.” She gifted him with a wicked smile. “Master.”

  She felt him harden inside her. He grasped her hips and pulled her hard against his body, seating his cock firmly in her pussy.

  “I love you,” she gasped as he withdrew and thrust forward again. “I’ve missed you so.”

  He flashed her a grin. “I missed you, too. More than you know.” He bent to kiss her.

  The intercom buzzed. He lifted his head and scowled at it.

  Janice’s anxious voice came over the line. “Mr. Conroy is finally here, Maddie. Your nine a.m.? What should I tell him?”

  She started to answer, but Patrick cut off her reply.

  “Tell Mr. Conroy,” he said, “that Ms. Brindisi will see him tomorrow.”

  Epilogue

  Madeline was a beautiful bride.

  Rafael watched her walk down the aisle, floating as if in a dream. Beside him, Patrick was sweating.

  “This wedding stuff is shit,” he muttered. “Three hundred freaking guests, including every damn lawyer in the city. Maddie and I should’ve gone to Vegas.”

  “Steady,” Rafael said. “Think of your wedding night. Do you have something special planned?”

  A slow smile spread across Patrick’s face. “Oh yeah.” He gave Rafael a speculative look. “Are you thinking of stopping by?”

  “Are you inviting me?”

  Patrick’s gaze tracked Maddie’s progress up t
he aisle. “I’m not into sharing Maddie with just anyone, but for you…” He rocked back on his heels. “You’ll always be welcome in our home, you know that.”

  Rafael’s throat felt strangely tight. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to take you up on the offer when you return from your honeymoon.”

  Maddie climbed the single step leading to the altar rail. “Maddie and I are together because of you,” Patrick murmured. “I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

  “Take care of Madeline,” Rafael replied. “That’s all I ask. You have a treasure in her.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Patrick stepped forward and took Maddie’s hand. Together, they turned toward the priest.

  Rafael pivoted as well, his heart feeling lighter than it had in the three years since Mariella had died. Was he starting, perhaps, to heal? She would always be a part of him, of course. Only a miracle could bring him a woman who was her equal, but perhaps it was time to reenter the land of the living. The familiar numbness of his heart seemed to have thawed, allowing a sweet hope to flourish.

  The ceremony progressed without a hitch. Rafael’s eyes actually misted as Patrick and Maddie pledged their lifelong love to each other.

  He smiled. The bride’s vows included a promise to obey.

  About the Author

  Callista Arman explores the dark side of the human psyche in tales of sweet love and hot possession. Her stories may take place on far-away worlds, or right next door. Either way, she hopes you enjoy the journey.

  Callista welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.