Legally Bound (8 page)

“About half an hour ago,” he answered while
filling her cup. “Just before you woke up.”

She picked up her coffee and brought it closer,
cupping her hands around the thin porcelain. Donavan finished filling his cup
then set the decanter down and leaned back in his chair.

“You knew I was faking then?” she asked, finally
meeting his gaze.

“I like to think that I always know when a woman
is faking.”

Her cheeks flushed an endearing shade of red and
she began fingering the rim of her coffee cup. A tell-tale sign of her unease.
He had seen the nervous habit from her many times during their battles in the
courtroom. But this wasn’t a time he wanted her nervous. He needed her at ease.
He needed her to feel safe with him. Whatever her reasons for pretending to be
a Mistress and robbing herself of the pleasures that came with accepting her
true nature wouldn’t come out if she didn’t trust him.

Deciding to keep things casual for the time
being, Donavan reached across the table and removed the shiny dome serving
cover in front of her. On her plate sat croissants, sliced strawberries, and a
dish of freshly whipped cream.

“Wow.” Her eyes enlarged to the size of saucers. “Quite
the spread.”

Her delighted reaction pleased him in a strange
way. It wasn’t often he shared breakfast with a lover. Again, the ritual was
normally too intimate for him to share with a casual fling, yet this somehow
felt…comfortable.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted for breakfast but,
I remembered you and Cait ate something similar at that Psychology Conference
last July.”

She paused in dousing her croissant with the
sinful mixture of sweets and stared at him. “You…you remember that?”

Yes. He remembered it. Although he had only been
running in to drop off a handful of notes for Caitlyn’s lecture that Evan couldn’t
bring down, he remembered it as if it were yesterday. Eve had been wearing a
sleek, one piece business suit with gray pinstripes and a pair of black, killer
heels. However, it hadn’t been the way she was dressed that made him remember
that morning. Upon entering the banquet hall, he heard an incredibly loud burst
of laughter boom throughout the room. The sound surprisingly came from Eve. It
was the first time he’d ever heard her laugh like that. Genuine.
Uncontrollable. To this day, he had no idea what the two women were talking
about, but he remembered the sound with absolute clarity.

“You really do remember that,” she said smiling.

“Vaguely.” He returned her smile then sipped his
coffee.

In silence, Donavan watched Eve eat the first
half of her croissant while he consumed his morning fix of caffeine. Going head
to head with her in the courtroom was one thing. He could manage that by
drinking only two cups. Going head to head with her in the bedroom was turning
out to be a different story. After listening to her scramble around the room in
the dark for an hour in search of the key last night, he needed an extra boost
this morning.

He took one more pull on his coffee then set the
cup down. Beside it, he placed the key on the table. Eve’s eyes instantly locked
on it.

“You really want to leave that badly, hmm?” he
asked with sudden irritation. She redirected her gaze from the key and set down
her croissant. Her expression was unreadable, torn. One minute she looked ready
to launch herself across the table and fight him tooth and nail for the key,
while the next she seemed to want to give in to him.

“Look,” she said softly. “I won’t deny last night
was…wonderful. You were right, after years of built up tension between us, the
sex was explosive. But it’s a new day. We’ve worked it out of our systems and
can turn a new leaf. At the end of the day, you’re still a Dom and I’m still a Mistress.”

“So you keep telling me,” he murmured.

“I know you don’t want to believe it, but it’s
the truth.”

“Mmmhmm.” He folded his arms on his chest and
leaned back in his chair. If she thought he was going to believe her little
lie, she was sadly mistaken. Not after last night. Not now as she sat
practically chewing her nails under the weight of his stare.

“Will you give me the key or not?”

“Tell you what.” He sat up straighter and braced
his forearms on the edge of the table. “I’ll make you deal for the key.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m listening.”

“Well, you said yourself that last night was
wonderful—I agree. Unfortunately, you still think you won the bet and I still
think the opposite. Let’s compromise. If you agree to try your best at being
the good sub for the rest of the day and throughout the gala tonight, the key
is yours.”

Her brows snapped together as she stared.

“That’s practically the entire weekend anyways,”
Eve argued.

“You’ll still have tomorrow to yourself to do
whatever it is you do on a Sunday.” He knew on Sunday’s she often went across
the hall in her apartment to visit the Old Widow Bellingham. Although Eve
insisted she was lured by sugary baking and fine English tea, Donavan knew it
was because Eve couldn’t stand seeing the old woman always alone. She was
compassionate, and giving of her time and of herself. He admired that about her.

When she continued to stare, Donavan decided it
was time to put on the pressure. “That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”

She muttered a curse then snatched up her coffee
cup and downed half of it, all while shooting daggers at him over the rim. The
cup slammed down against its saucer with a rattle and it was now her, folding
her arms on her chest.

“I don’t know the first thing about being a
submissive. I’m a Mistress, remember?”

“You’re a quick study,” he shot back. “And, I’m a
good teacher. Oh, just to let you know, this isn’t an ongoing offer. It expires
in the next five minutes.”

The pressure was getting to her. He could see the
wheels spinning in her mind. She was weighing her options.

“Time’s a ticking, sweetheart.” He tapped his
finger against his bare wrist.

She propped both elbows on the table and buried
her face in her hands. Another minute passed. Finally, she let out a throaty,
muffled groan into her palms and he fought a smile. The sound spelled out her
answer before she even said it.

“Fine.” Eve threw up her arms. “All right. You
win. But, you had better hold up your end of the bargain. And considered
yourself warned, I really don’t know the first thing about being a submissive.
What am I supposed to do, kneel at your feet?”

“Not right now, but you can do something else for
me.”

“If you say shine your shoes or anything to that
effect, the deal is off.”

“Lose the sheet.”

Eyebrows arched high up on her forehead, she
gaped. He anticipated as much but wasn’t backing down. That frumpy sheet didn’t
do her body justice.

“I want to look at you,” he added.

“I—I’m not even finished breakfast yet,” she
replied in shaky tone.

“That’s fine. I didn’t say you couldn’t finish
your breakfast. In fact, I can’t think of anything that would please me more
right now than watching you place delicate pieces of pastry slathered in rich
slippery cream inside your mouth, naked.”

“As much as it might please you,” she said,
snatching up her croissant then toying with it, “I think it’s a ridiculous
request.”

“That’s one,” Donavan warned in a low tone.

Eve paused before taking a bite and cocked her
head. “One what?”

“One hard swat on the ass you’ve earned for
disobeying me.”

Her cheeks flushed even further, but it wasn’t
out of anger. Donavan knew exactly what his words did to her. Right now her
pussy would be clenching and her heart would be beating a little faster at the
thought of whether he’d make good on his threat. That’s exactly how he wanted
it. However, she was fighting hard not to let that reaction show.

Ignoring his request, she took a healthy chomp of
her croissant and then wagged the leftover piece at him. “Are you aware that
you’ve lost your damned mind?”

“That’s two. Keep talking, sweetheart. My kindergarten
teacher always told me I was the best counter in the class.”

“You can’t punish me for not wanting to sit here
and eat my breakfast in the nude,” she scoffed. “No normal human being sits
around and eats breakfast in the buff.”

His cock jerked hard with her outright defiance.
Christ, he was going to love spanking that sweet ass.

“You just earned number five.”

“Five?!” Her mouth gaped. “Apparently your
teacher was a liar. What the hell happened to three and four?”

“Three is for trying my patience. Four is because
you’re still wearing the sheet. Five is for good measure. When the count gets
to ten, I won’t be reddening your sweet ass with my palm anymore. I’ll break
out my flog.”

Eve took a sharp intake of breath that undeniably
stemmed from arousal. As did the way she shifted back and forth in her seat,
crossing then uncrossing her legs while stroking her fingers lightly over her
neck. All four gestures on their own might have been innocent enough. But
together, together they sent out a nervous sexual energy that sang to the alpha
male inside him. By trying to play it cool, Eve unknowingly turned him on more
than she would ever know.

When she merely sat there and gave no indication
of complying with his demand, Donavan began to count again. “Six…seven…eight—”

“All right! All right!” she blurted out, then
cleared her throat. Her voice lowered to barely above a whisper. “Just…stop
counting already.”

The muscles in his thighs tightened and his cock
pulsed with her verbal surrender. Round one went to him. But, Donavan knew
there would be many more battles to come. Although her words implied
submission, her stance still screamed defensive. Her back was ramrod straight.
Her supple lips were fused together in a firm little line. If he had to guess,
he’d bet his life on her legs being locked tightly at the knees under the
table. Perhaps round one wasn’t over just yet.

“Why do you hesitate?” he asked, softening his
tone, hoping she would give him an honest answer.

“Because I think you’re just trying to embarrass
me as payback for parading you around on the end of a leash.”

He narrowed his eyes on her. Fuck no. Round one
was far from over.

Flexing his jaw, Donavan put his foot against the
leg of the table and gave a hard shove. Did she really think he was that petty?
The serving trays clattered as the table jumped across the floor, leaving a
gaping vacancy of air between them. Standing, he grabbed his chair and dropped
it down directly in front of her. The iron legs hit the marble tiles and let
out a loud clang. Eve tightened her grip on the sheet. Perhaps she thought he
was about to tear it off and fuck her. If so, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

He dropped his weight into the chair in front of
her and braced his forearms on his knees. He was tired of playing this game. It
ended now.

“No. No,” he grasped her chin between his thumb
and forefinger when she tried to turn her head, “Look. At. Me.”

She tried to twist away from him but he wasn’t
having any of it. Finally she gave up trying to fight him and reluctantly met
his gaze. Her eyes immediately contradicted her actions. They were soft and yielding,
almost pleading with him to take her in his arms while her body was stiff and
immobile. But he didn’t just want submission from her eyes. He wanted it from
all of her.

“Listen to me,” he said, then swallowed hard
trying to reign in his emotions. “Listen closely, because I’m only going to say
this once. I don’t know who you think you’re fooling by trying to pass yourself
off as a Mistress, but you sure as hell aren’t fooling me. Ah-ah, I’m not
finished,” he snapped when she tried to cut in.

“I’ve known you for a long time,” he continued. “You’re
a logical woman. Whatever reasoning you have for concocting such a bogus lie
must have some pretty strong legs so I’m not going to ask you to come right out
and confess. But, last night when you welcomed my cock inside of you, we formed
an invisible agreement. One that demands a certain amount of honesty. If you
leave Eden after this is all said and done and still want to live a lie, then
that’s your business. But, don’t sit here, look me in the eye, and tell me that
I’m the one turning this into a game of petty fucking payback. I’m not doing
this to try and embarrass you. I’m doing it to liberate you.”

They sat staring at each other for a long time
before Eve finally broke the silence.

“If it’s meant to liberate me then why do I feel
so…so…conflicted?” Her words dripped with raw emotion. “Part of me wants to
tell you to go to hell for asking me to sit here in front of you naked like
some wanton whore, while the other part…” She sank her teeth into her bottom
lip and shook her head. “The other part of me seems to thrive on it.”

Now there was the first bit of truth Donavan had
heard from her all morning. It wasn’t exactly admission, but it was a start.
Right now, he didn’t need to hear her say that she was a submissive, but he
wouldn’t put up with her thinking she could spoon feed him bullshit.