Cherish her: Laws of Seduction, Book 4 (11 page)

“Brave words, little girl.”

“Show me.”

James seems startled by my command. He looks at me for long moments trying to discern if I mean what I say. He seems to come to a decision. Putting his hands over his shoulders, he tugs off his t-shirt, revealing his mouthwatering pecs and abs. He lets it drop to the floor before walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Come here.””

Knowing it would be a mistake to show hesitancy, I boldly walk over to him. I stop in front of his bent knees. Taking my wrist in his hand, he pulls me down so that my torso is laying across the bed, and my thighs lay across his lap. The back of my panties consist of a thin, black strip of lace. He brushes his one finger over my bared flesh along the edge of the lace, and my stomach muscles tense in anticipation. I am not prepared for the sting of pain as he lifts his hand and slaps my butt cheek. My automatic response is to get away, but James holds me firmly. “If you don’t lie still, it will only be worse.”

I stop trying to squirm away, but tense for the next slap. It comes immediately, and I turn my face into the comforter to muffle my shriek. The clapping sound of his hand meeting my bare flesh echoes through the room and is punctuated by the cries that I cannot hold back. It is hard to think of anything beyond the sting of James’s hand, but then I become aware of a pulsing need in my inner core. Being dominated like this makes me want to be dominated in other ways. I can’t help but be aware of James’s hard erection rubbing against my stomach with each blow. The surprising direction of my thoughts under circumstances in which I thought I would only feel pain and humiliation leaves me feeling vulnerable. I feel the sting of tears burning the back of my throat, and I ruthlessly swallow them back.

He stops. The only sound in the room is our harsh breathing. His grip tightens, and he turns me over so that he can look down into my face. I know the wildness I see in him reflects back my own desperation for something more. I narrow my eyes at him and hiss. “Did that make you feel better?”

“Yes.” His admission seems to be torn out of a deep place that I want to possess.

“Have you ever done that before?”

“No, I’ve never wanted to.” We eye each other warily. I am burning with the need to feel him inside me, but I don’t want him to know the effect that he has had on me. I am still laying splayed across his lap. He reaches down and gently pushes his hand into my panties. When his fingers reach my wet heat, I squeeze my eyes shut. “Look at me,” he insists.

I open my eyes, and I watch him as his fingers move inside me. He pinches my clit, and that is all that it takes to send me into an intense climax. “Jesus, Lainey.” Tremors still rock me as James tears off the scrap of lace panties and pulls my leg over his lap so that I am straddling him. Easily pulling down his sweats, he raises me up and thrusts into me. I cry out and raise up, trying to draw him in more. He moans, dropping his forehead to my chest and gripping my hips tightly. “Don’t move.”

I remain motionless and absorb the feeling of James in every pore of my being. When he rocks his hips up, I allow myself to move again. Each piston of his hips drives me higher. He nips and kisses the areas of my neck and chest that aren’t covered by the corset. The stubble on his chin grazes over my sensitive skin and makes me burn to feel him everywhere. He growls out my name. ““Lainey, you have to stop if you don’t want me to come.”

I undulate faster and cry out, “Do it.” I feel his cock constrict inside me, and he shouts his release, setting off my own climax. Slowly, my breathing returns to normal, and I shift my weight off of James.

He touches my cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

“I thought you were mad at me.”

“I am, but you are still beautiful. I love watching you come.” James rolls over onto his back. His next words tell me that the post-coital tenderness is over. “We need to talk.””

“I know.” I turn my head to look at James, the all-potent male lying next to me, and marvel at the fact that he is all mine. I have never felt closer to another human being in my whole life, and I doubt that I ever will again. ““Shower first,” I stipulate.

CHAPTER 11

We shower together, and after donning robes, go into the living room. After pouring us each a drink, James sits down on the couch. As I move to sit down beside him, he grabs my hips and pulls me onto his lap. “Tell me,”” he commands.

Leaning back on the arm of the couch so that I can see his face, I pour out the story of meeting Ruby and our subsequent encounter at Macy’s. I stumble over my words when I get to the part about the sins from his past but manage to get it all out. When I am finished, I can’t tell what he is thinking. “What do you think Tobin meant by the sins of your past?”

James looks away from me before answering. “He can only mean one thing. Amanda’s death.”

“How would he even know about that? Didn’t your grandfather go to extreme lengths to keep it quiet?”

“You know he did. The press would have had a field day if they had gotten wind of it. I don’t know how he knows.” As the silence becomes prolonged, I shift around impatiently. Taking me by surprise, James swings me off his lap and onto the couch. In a graceful motion, he stands up to pace back and forth in front of the wide expanse of windows. I watch with trepidation, wondering what is going through his mind. He rakes a single hand distractedly through his hair before stopping in front of me. “I don’t like it.” He starts his pacing again and I start to feel dizzy from watching him. The next time he stops, the look in his eyes tell me that I am not going to like what he says next. “I think you should move back in with Sam.”

“What?” I am sure that I have heard him wrong or somehow misunderstood.

“I said, I want you to move back in with Sam.”

The power of speech seems to have left me, and I stare up at him in stunned silence. When I realize that reason is not going to prevail, and he is not going to retract his statement, I manage a question. “But why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” My eyes grow wide at the sound of his raised voice. I have never seen James so animated.

“No, not to me it isn’t.”

“Tobin has found out about my investigation and is targeting me. You need to be as far away from me as possible.”

“If I had known you were going to react this way, I never would have told you.”

This remark results in a look of such blazing fury that I involuntarily shrink back into the couch. “Watch it, Lainey. You are treading on very thin ice.”

Could he be threatening me with another spanking? My bottom still smarts from his last little demonstration, and I vow he will not find me so amenable to round two. I narrow my eyes at him. “You can’t spank me every time I disagree with you.””

James holds my gaze for a few seconds before relenting and looking away. He resumes his pacing. “I am trying to look out for you. It doesn’t have to be for long. Just until this Tobin threat is gone.”

“When will that be? Next week? Next month? It could go on forever.”

“No, I won’t let it.”

I can see that he is set on this course of action, and I doubt that there is anything that I can do to change his mind. “I go back to live with Sam, and we let the world think that we have broken up. Is that your plan?”

I wait for James to back down and admit it was a stupid idea thought up in the panic of the moment, but he stands resolute. My heart feels like it is being squeezed in two. I am such a fool to have not seen this coming. If the past is any sort of guide to his behavior, it shows that when things get rough, he pushes me aside. He did it after our first night together and again when he found out that Jett was my brother. I make one last attempt to change his mind. ““We are stronger together than apart. We need to deal with this together.”

“No, Lainey, the only way to keep you out of this and to keep you safe is for Tobin to believe that we have broken up. I don’t want him using you to get to me. I would do anything to stop that from happening.”

“That’s not fair. What about me protecting you? You’re the one he is after.”

“What do you think you could do? I won’t be alone. I have Rex and my grandfather with all of his resources.”

His words hurt. I am not sure if it is because he doesn’t think I can help him or that he says he doesn’t need me. “You don’t believe I can help you?”

“You can help me by staying away and staying safe.”

His words gut me, and I am horrified to feel a hot rush of tears that I am powerless to hold back. “That’s it then?”

A flash of pain crosses James’s face, and I feel a small amount of relief that this is not as easy for him as it appears. In a hoarse voice he says my name before clearing his throat and starting again. “Lainey, don’t cry. It won’t be forever. I just need you to be safe.” Hot tears trickle down my cheek, and I brush them away impatiently. “I’’ll call someone in the morning to help you move your things back to Sam’s. Let’s just go to bed. It won’t seem so bad in the morning.”

I stare at him aghast. Is he truly suggesting that we just go to bed and forget that he will be kicking me out in the morning? Fury flashes through me hot and ugly. I want him to feel my same pain, and the next volley of words roll unbidden off my tongue. “No, if you are kicking me out, I am not staying the night.” Ignoring the alarm on James’s face, I march towards the bedroom. I throw on clothes and then start throwing things randomly into a bag. I pointedly ignore James, who follows and watches me silently. Burning anger sustains me through my packing, and within minutes, I am hurrying back through the apartment to the elevator. James trails closely behind me. ““Lainey, stop. Don’t leave like this.”

“No, it’s fine. You have made yourself perfectly clear.” I don’t turn around.

“I am not breaking up with you.”

I jab at the elevator’s call button. “Then why is my heart breaking?”

Grabbing my arm, James spins me around to face him. I stubbornly stare at his chest, refusing to meet his eyes. “Look at me.” I shake my head and keep my eyes pinned to the folds of his robe. James reaches out and takes my chin, forcing my gaze to his. ““I love you.”

I am horrified to feel a hot swell of tears rush to my eyes. Batting his arm away, I back up a step. “Then prove it. Let me stand by you and help you. That is what people in a relationship do. They help each other.”

The stricken look on James’s face crushes me. “Lainey, this isn’t about our relationship. This is about a lunatic who could hurt you. I can’’t let that happen.”

“And I can’t let some nebulous threat dictate my relationship. James, don’t you see? If you send me away, he is winning.””

“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

My cry of frustration bounces off the walls of the room as the elevator doors open behind me. I step onto the elevator and turn to face James once again. “What makes you so sure that I will be waiting for you when this ‘threat’ is over?”

I watch the color drain from James’s face before the elevator doors close in front of him. Leaning back against the wall of the elevator, I close my eyes tightly, trying to reign in my emotions. I manage to make it through the lobby and into a taxi before breaking down. The taxi driver gives me concerned looks through the rear-view mirror. ““I just broke up with my boyfriend,” I explain.

“You were probably too good for him anyway. A girl as pretty as you will find someone new in no time.” I know the taxi driver means well, but his words only make me feel worse. As soon as he draws up to the curb, I thrust some money at him and jump out of the cab. I’’m suddenly assailed by the thought that Sam might not even be home. Relief swamps me as the door opens and she opens her arms. I throw myself into them and begin to sob.

She pulls me over to the couch, and we sit down. “Oh, Lainey. I’m so sorry.”

My confusion is plain when I ask her, “How did you know?”

“James called.”

Of course, I wasn’t thinking that clearly. She pulls out her phone and starts to text. “What are you doing?”

“I promised James I would let him know when you got here safely.”

My anger returns. “What does he care?”

Sam gives me a reproachful look. “Come on Lainey, you know it isn’t like that.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Oh, so it’s like that, is it? He gives you a call and explains how he’s doing this for my own good, and you are on his side?””

“I am not on anybody’s side. I can just understand that he doesn’t want you to be hurt.”

I roll my eyes. “I am a big girl, and I can take care of myself. In fact, I can take care of him too, but he won’t let me.” Tears of self-pity well up in my eyes again.

“He said it is just for a little while.”

“He doesn’t have any way of knowing how long it will be, and that’s not the point.”

“What is it then?”

I find it difficult to speak past the lump in my throat, and I take a fortifying breath. “What kind of relationship is it if he pushes me away every time the going gets rough? This is his MO. As soon as things get hard, he pushes me away.”

Sam reaches out and takes my hand. “I don’t think you are seeing things clearly. You can’t compare his actions now to what happened at the start of your relationship.””

I consider her words. “It’s true I was thinking of how he ran after our first night together and then again after finding out that Jett was my brother, but that’s not all of it. He shuts me out all of the time. He was investigating Tobin, and I knew nothing about it. It’s not like it didn’t have anything to do with me either. It was all because of the photos that looked like me. Not only that, but I was scared half to death when I thought someone was following me. It turned out to be the bodyguard James had hired to protect me.”