Owned by Him (7 page)

“Okay.”

“Take the day to think about
it,” he said. “I’ll be waiting tonight after work for an answer. There’s no
pressure, and I can wait.”

“Okay,” she said, repeating
the word. “Is there anything else you want to say to me?”

“No.”

“Isn’t dating between colleagues
bad?” she asked, frowning.

“It’s not encouraged, but we
all understand when you work in this job and are putting in long hours then
attractions are going to start and develop. I hope my interest hasn’t offended
you,” he said.

“No, it hasn’t. I’m
surprised. I better get started back to work. I don’t want anyone to be giving
me problems for slacking off.” She stared at him for several seconds before
standing. “I’ll see you tonight.”

****

Elijah sat inside his
sister’s house, staring up at the ceiling. He really needed to get a job or do
something with his time. Staring at a ceiling all day was driving him stir-crazy.
There had to be something he could do. Over the years he’d been doing odd jobs,
but his main job had been in the BDSM clubs. Club Kink was not the only club
he’d been part of. He’d not taken a sub, but he’d trained other
Doms
on how best to approach their
submissives
.

Rubbing a hand down his
face, Elijah wondered how he was going to get a job in his current situation.
His last employment was at Club Kink.

Working at the bank was a
no. He was good at math and with communicating with people, but he’d go mad
staying in four walls.

Elijah wasn’t a bum. He
worked well with his hands and loved helping people out. In college he’d gained
a business degree and could do anything he wanted. At thirty-five, he was undecided
on what he wanted to do with his future. He wasn’t hurting for money as he’d
been sane enough to save from a young age.

The sound of the door
opening had him jerking to his feet.

“And he said what?” she
asked. “Oh my God, Amber, why didn’t you say yes?”

He tensed at the sound of
his woman’s name. Leaning against the door frame he watched his sister drop her
bag onto the floor. She was slowly moving out and in with Julian. He helped
when he could.

“You’ve got to go out with
him even if it goes nowhere.”

Silence fell on the house.
Heather glanced up and finally saw him looking at her. His sister let out a
sigh. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk some other time.” Silence again. “No, my shit-head
brother is staring at me. He needs to get a job. Yeah, okay, bye.”

Heather folded her arms,
glaring at him.

“Who was on the phone?” he
asked.

“You know the answer.”

“So, Amber has a hot date?”

“Yeah, well, she’s thinking
about it.” Heather walked past him to go straight toward her kitchen.

“Who with?” he asked,
following her.

“A guy
from work.
Why are you so interested?”
She filled the kettle, keeping her back to him.

“No reason. She’s your
friend, and I’m trying to be supportive.” Jealousy coursed through him. Amber
was his woman. No other man should be allowed to touch her.

“It will be good for her.
I’ve never actually seen her with a guy. She’s not even been on a date. This
should be good for her.”

Heather turned to him,
smiling. “How are you?” she asked.

“I’m good.” He was pissed
off. Finding out Amber had a date had really made him angry.

“Any luck on the job front?”

“No. I’ll find what I’m
looking for soon enough.”

“Good. You shouldn’t be
sitting around here waiting for stuff to happen. Julian and I are going to
Wade’s tonight. Do you want to come along?”

He knew his sister was
trying to build a relationship with him. At that moment, he couldn’t care about
her effort. His thoughts were filled with Amber and her proposed date with a
guy from work.

“No, I’m going to stay
around here. I’ve not got anything planned at all.”

“All
right.
I’m going to grab some more stuff. Are you still good
paying the rent, or do you want me to pay it?” Heather asked.

“I’m good.” They stared at
each other. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you soon.”

She smiled, and he turned to
leave.

“Love you,” she said, making
him pause.

“I love you, too.”

He left then with a smile on
his face.

Checking the time he saw it
was after lunchtime. He went to the nearest café he could find and ordered
himself some food and a coffee.

His thoughts were all over
the place. Amber had a date. He didn’t like it. Why would she accept a date
after the weekend they’d shared together? None of it made any sense. He stayed
in the café for a long time. The waitress kept smiling at him. Elijah ignored
her and only wished to know the answers to his questions.

When it was about to close,
Elijah paid his bill and left. He couldn’t handle not knowing the answers.

Before he could turn around
he hailed a cab and headed toward her apartment.

It was insane the way he was
feeling. He’d never been jealous of anyone, and yet in the last few months of
living in Heather’s home, he’d grown jealous of both his sister and the guy
who’d asked Amber out on a date.

He arrived at Amber’s
apartment a little after five. Elijah knocked to discover no answer. Biting his
lip to contain his anger, he sat down by the door and waited.

The time passed slowly, and
his heart broke with every minute that passed. At a little after six, the
elevator pinged and suddenly Amber was walking toward him. Her head was lowered,
and she hadn’t spotted him. Elijah stayed on his butt, waiting to see what
would happen.

Her head lifted, and she
paused.

“What are you doing here?”
she asked. Her steps turned slow.

“I needed to come and see
you.”

He stood back up waiting for
her. She grabbed the keys from her bag as she approached.

“I didn’t think I’d see you
today,” she said, slotting the key in the lock.

“It has been a pretty
strange day.”

She nodded, opening the
door.

“I heard you got asked on a
hot date.”

Amber tripped over her own
feet. He caught her before she hit the floor. Elijah went hard at the scent of
her subtle perfume and the feel of her warm curves flush against his.

“I guess that’s true then.”

She pulled out of his arms,
pressing her hand down her front. “I don’t know where you heard it, but yes, I
have a date.”

“Why?” he asked, doing
everything he could not to break down.

His woman looked away from
him.

“Don’t do this,” she said.

“Do what?”

Her arms were thrown in the
air. “This. Stop acting like the jealous boyfriend. You’ve never been jealous
before, and I don’t see a reason for you to start now. This is not the kind of
guy you are, so stop it.”

Elijah gazed at her. He saw
the anger and the upset flit across her face so fast, he almost missed it, and
he suddenly realized the pain he’d caused her over the years. They’d both
walked away at some point, but he’d always been the first to start it.

“I don’t want you to go on
this date, Amber. You’re mine.”

She dropped down, grabbed a
glass vase and launched it at him. He moved out of the way before the glass
could hit him. “Would you stop saying that?” She screamed the words at him. The
glass smashed on the floor. “I’m not your woman, Elijah. If I was your woman
you wouldn’t be treating me like this. You wouldn’t be walking away from me at
every turn. You wouldn’t be meeting blonde women at BDSM clubs hoping to get a
better, thinner, prettier submissive.” She slammed her palm against her chest.
Her face was red with her anger. “You wouldn’t be treating me like your fucking
whore.”

Her words made him gasp.
“Don’t you ever talk about yourself like
that.
”

“Why not?
You use me when you see the need, and when you grow
tired you fucking leave me. I’m nothing but a glorified whore who does what
she’s told.”

Elijah saw the error of his
ways. He’d scarred her in the most painful of ways.

“I never meant to hurt you.
I love you, Amber.” The words left his lips, and another vase was thrown at
him. He shouldn’t have told her the truth.

Chapter Six

Elijah’s words were a lie.
Amber was so angry with herself for allowing herself to feel anything other
than lust. Growling in frustration, she turned around, searching for something
more to throw at him.

His arms banded around her
middle, stopping her from picking anything else up. She fought him, trying to
get away. Amber let loose the pain she’d kept deep down inside. Tears filled
her eyes as she stared ahead of her.

“Let me go,” she said.

“No! I’m not letting you
go.”

The tears finally spilled down
her cheeks. She took a deep breath and cried out. “I don’t want you in my life
anymore.”

She didn’t mean the words. Well,
part of her meant them.

“I’m here, Amber. I’m not
going anywhere, I promise.”

Eyes closed, she took a deep
breath until she finally gained control of her sanity.

“I’m fine. I need you to let
me go.”

Slowly he released her, and
she sat down on the sofa. Pushing the hair out of her eyes, she stared straight
ahead.

“When you fucked me on
Heather’s eighteenth birthday it was the best and worst day of my life,” she
said.

He took the seat next to
her.

“I had the biggest crush on
you, and I wanted you to be my first. In the morning, I didn’t know what to do
and I heard my friends talking, so all I wanted to do was get away.” She licked
her lips. Her throat was dry, and she was exhausted. “You spanked me that day,
and it turned me on. I was confused, and for months afterward I didn’t know
what it meant. I ran away that first time because I was scared. You’re a lot to
take in, and I was only eighteen. Every time we’ve met since we’ve always had
an excuse to run away from each other. The only area in our life that makes
sense is the sex and the domination. I know you’re not the only one at fault.
I’ve never fought for more. ”

She turned to look at him.
Amber saw the tears in his eyes.

“I’m twenty-five years old,
and I’ve not even been on a proper date with a man. Waiting for you has made me
tired. I need to go on this date, Elijah. You may not like it and I accept that,
but you can’t stop me.”

Accepting Dale’s date had
made her happy. He would be the first man she’d ever been on a date with.

“You spent the weekend with
me,” he said.

“Dale knows I was seeing
someone and that it wasn’t official. I never want to hurt you, Elijah.
Regardless of what you think, I do love you, very much.” Amber wiped the tears
from her eyes.

“I love you, and you love me.
Why can’t we make this work?”

Amber gazed at her hands. “I
don’t know.”

She wanted more than
anything to wrap her arms around him and let the future pan out. Their past
together stopped her.

“I’m not backing down, and
I’m not giving up. I love you, Amber. I love you more than you’ll ever know or
understand.” He stood, and she heard him take the steps toward her front door.
“When are you going on a date?”

“This
Friday.
He’s picking me up here.”

“I’m not giving up,” he
said.

She flinched as the door
closed. Grabbing her cell phone, she did something that she should have done a
long time ago. “Hello, Ashley, will you come over? I really need to talk to
you.”

Waiting for Ashley to
arrive, Amber changed into some pajamas and tied her hair into a ponytail. An
hour later, Ashley rang the bell.

“I bought chocolate
ice-cream. You sounded in need on the phone.”

She made them both hot
chocolates as Ashley went to her room to change. Amber’s hands wouldn’t stop
shaking. She needed to tell someone about Elijah, and Ashley was the only
person she knew wouldn’t judge. Heather would get angry at her brother, while
Connie would try to reason with her. Ashley was the only one who would listen
in this situation.

Amber waited for her friend.

“Right, I’m here, and I’m
all ears,” Ashley said, eating ice-cream.

Now that the time came to be
honest, Amber felt a wave of sickness overcome her.

How could she speak the
truth to her friend?

What was she supposed to
say?

“I’ve been sleeping with
Elijah since Heather’s eighteenth birthday.”