What He Promises (12 page)

“Because you are who you are,” he said.
 
“You are fearless and you have a strong
sense of right and wrong.
 
That is
what makes you an amazing woman, and that is what will make you an amazing
lawyer.”

My eyes welled up with tears, hearing him say
those wonderful things about me.

“You are everything I have ever wanted,
everything I could have ever dreamed of having.”
 
He stroked my cheek.
 
“We are always going to have challenges,
problems.
 
We’re lawyers.
 
And we’re fucked up.
 
It comes with the territory.”

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against
his as his lips brushed against mine.

He pulled away, and when I opened my eyes, he
was down on one knee on the bleachers in front of me.

“Charlotte,” he said, taking my hand in
his.
 
He reached into his pocket and
pulled out a small black box, then opened the top.

I gasped.
 
Nestled inside was the most beautiful diamond engagement ring I had ever
seen.
 
Set in white gold, it must
have been at least five carats, with tiny diamonds flanking the sides.
 
Despite its size, it somehow managed to
be elegant and understated.
 
It
sparkled under the lights of Times Square, taking my breath away.
 

“I cannot imagine spending my life with anyone
else,” Noah said.
 
“You have taught
me about understanding, about trust, about what real true love looks
like.”
 

I choked up at his words, at the way he was
looking at me.
 
I was dimly aware
that we were in the middle of Manhattan, that there was a crowd of people around
us that were starting to stare.
 
But
a second later they all faded away, and in that moment there was just the two
of us.

“Charlotte,” Noah said.
 
“Will you marry me?”

Everything stopped.

All that existed was
him
,
kneeling in front of me, asking for my hand in marriage.

“Yes,” I cried.
 
“Yes, Noah, yes!”

He slid the ring onto my finger and rose to his
feet and his arms were around me and he was kissing my lips.

I was aware of people clapping and staring at
us, and then suddenly, the rain came.
 
Slow at first, huge, big drops that plopped onto our skin.
 

Noah laughed as the water hit our faces, and
Docket barked at our feet, excited.

“Well played, Mr. Cutler,” I said.

He grinned.
 
“What, now I control the weather?”

“Why not?
 
You want to control everything else.”

“Come on,” he said, squeezing my hand.
 
“I want to show you something.”

***

We dropped Docket off at Noah’s (our?)
 
apartment
, then
stepped back out into the rain, holding hands as we walked through the city,
back toward midtown.

The rain was still coming down, although it had
stopped and was now more of a drizzle.
 
The lights of the city blurred through it, the bright colors bleeding
together into a beautiful, shiny rainbow.

Noah took me back to the new office space he’d
shown me a couple weeks ago, the space that was to become our offices.

“We can change anything you want,” he said as
the elevator doors opened onto our floor.

Once they did, I gasped.

What had once been a completely empty space had
now been transformed into a law office.
 
A modern curved reception desk sat in front of us, cubicles dotted the
room, and the dark hardwood floors had been polished and shined.

There were beautiful brushed nickel letters
hanging on the floating wall behind the reception desk that must have been at
least two feet tall.
 
They spelled
out CUTLER AND CUTLER.

My breath caught in my chest.

Cutler and Cutler.

That would be my new name, once we were married.

Charlotte Cutler.

“Do you like it?” Noah asked, and I looked at
him, seeing on his face how much he wanted me to approve of what he’d done, how
much he wanted me to love our new space.

“I love it,” I breathed.
 
I walked behind the desk, ran my fingers
over the letters.
 
Cutler and
Cutler.
 
My brand new engagement
ring sparkled on my finger, and I turned to look at him.
 
“How did you know I was going to say
yes?” I teased.

He grinned.
 
“Call it a hunch.
  
Come on, I’ll show you your
office.”

I followed him down the hall, to a door that
had my name on it.

Charlotte Holloway, it said.

“We’ll change it to Cutler as soon as we’re
married,” he said.
 

I smiled as he opened the door.

The office was gorgeous, with clean lines,
sweeping views, and modern fixtures.
 
It had been decorated in tones of navy and soft lavender, with accents
of white, giving it a feminine look while also conveying an air of
sophistication and professionalism.

Circular lights were attached to the ceiling,
and a creamy white leather sectional couch was against one wall.
 
There were floor to ceiling bookshelves
stuffed with law books, and in the corner stood a tall plant with tiny white
flowers.

“When you graduate, we’ll hang your diploma
here,” Noah explained, pointing to a space on the wall.
 
Then he gestured to a door off the
room.
 
“And you have your own
private bathroom.”

I walked over to the door and turned the
knob.
 
“Wow,” I said, walking
inside.
 
“It’s beautiful.”
 
There was a shower for long nights at
the office, a brand new toilet, and plenty of storage space.
 
A stack of luxurious-looking navy hand
towels set on the counter next to the sink.
 
Everything was brand new and shiny and
perfect.
 
“I can’t believe you did
all this so quickly.”

I wanted to ask him if Clementine had helped
him, but something about the thought of her picking out my office décor was too
upsetting.

As if he could read my thoughts, Noah tipped my
chin up and forced me to look at him.
 
“I had an amazing decorator,” he said.
 
“He works at one of the top firms in the
city.
 
But if you don’t like any of
it, if you want anything changed –”

“No,” I said, shutting off the light and
stepping out of the bathroom.
 
“No,
it’s perfect.”

As the door shut behind me, I noticed a second
door next to it.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Noah hesitated.

“Noah?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key
card, slid it into the holder by the door.
 
It beeped and the tiny light on the keypad turned green.

“Go on,” he said, gesturing for me to enter.

I turned the doorknob and walked in.

When I did, I gasped.

It was a BDSM dungeon.

Well.
 
Dungeon was a bit of an exaggeration.
 

The space was too exquisite to ever be called a
dungeon.
 

It was dimly lit with soft lights from the
ceiling, the floors cherry hardwood,
the
walls red
exposed brick.
 
In the middle of the
room was a bed with a black leather headboard and a shiny red comforter.
 
There was a spanking bench and a rack
filled with whips and floggers and all kinds of other things I didn’t
recognize.
 

“Is that…is that a spreader bar?” I asked,
taking a closer look.

“Yes.”
 
Noah followed me into the room, watching my reaction carefully.
 

I walked around, taking my time to inspect all
of it, peeking into a box in the corner, shutting it quickly when I saw the
assortment of butt plugs and vibrators of varying colors and sizes that were
laid out inside of it.

“Say something,” he said.

“I don’t know,” I said.
 
“I mean, I just…”
 

“We don’t have to use any of this,” he said,
taking my hand in his.
 
“I mean, if
you’re not ready, or you can’t…” His eyes were filled with concern, and I knew
what he was saying – that if what Professor Worthington had done to me
was
too much of a trigger, if the memories of Force, of that
night, were too much for me, he would be okay with never dominating me again.

But I also knew it wasn’t completely true.

He had a need to control, to dominate, to make
me submit.

And I wanted to give him all of me, wanted him
to take my body and use it for his pleasure, wanted him to order me and punish
me.

I wanted to please him.

“I don’t know how I feel about you putting a
sex room in our office,” I teased.
 

“Well,” he said.
 
“Technically, I will be your boss.”

“And what does that mean?”

He moved closer to me, his hands wrapping
around my waist, pushing his body into mine.
 
“It means there will be consequences.”

“Consequences to what, Mr. Cutler?”
 
I could feel my pussy getting wet just
from the words he was saying, just from the mere suggestion that he would
punish me at work.

“To disobeying me.”

His lips touched my skin, sliding over the
hollow of my throat.

“What kind of consequences?” I moaned.

“Spankings.”
 
His hands reached down and unbuttoned my
jeans, his fingers sliding against my belly.
 
“Whippings.”
 
He tugged them down in the back so that
my ass was exposed.
 
“Floggings.”

I moaned again as he grabbed my hips.
 

“Turn around, Charlotte,” he barked.
 
“And bend over.”

I did it immediately, bracing myself on a
leather bench that was sitting on the floor behind us.

He slapped me on the backside with his hand,
harder than he usually did, and I cried out.

“You’ve disobeyed me,” he said, and I knew he
was talking about the letters, about how I’d gone to see Professor Worthington.
 
“And now there will be consequences.”

“Yes, sir,” I cried as another stinging slap
hit my ass.

He continued to spank me, harder and harder,
his hand moving between my cheeks until they were red and sore and my pussy was
vibrating with need.

“Stand up and turn around,” he growled, and I did
as I was told.

He stared at me, his chest heaving.
 
His hair was damp from the rain and he
grinned at me devilishly, like he was deciding just what kind of exquisite
torture he was about to inflict.

“Take down your pants.”

I slid my jeans down to my ankles, then paused,
awaiting further instructions.

“All the way.”

I stepped out of them.

“Now your shirt.”

I reached down and grabbed the bottom of my shirt
and began pulling it up, the cold air hitting my torso and causing me to
shiver.
 

“Slower,” Noah said, and the controlling tone
in his voice made my heart thrum in my chest.
 
“That’s it.”

My nipples hardened as he looked at me, his
eyes searing heat so strong I was sure I could feel it radiating from his body
through mine.

“Take off your bra.”

I reached behind me and unhooked it, going slow
like he’d told me to, letting it fall off my body and to the floor.

“Turn around, Charlotte, and bend over.”

His tone was so commanding, so strong, that I
did what he wanted.

“Arch your back and show me your ass.”

I pushed my ass into the air, and he crossed
the room to me, grabbing my hair and yanking my head back, forcing me to look
at him.
 
He was still wet from the
rain, his white t-shirt clinging to him like a second skin, showing off every
ridge, every ripple of his muscular body.

I went to reach for him, but he grabbed my
wrist and held it tight.

“Not until I say.”

He leaned and kissed me then, his teeth nipping
my bottom lip as he pulled away. Then he picked me up and threw me down on the
bed.