Are we cuddling right now?
“It’s important,” he says, “after intense moments, to offer you comfort. Help bring you down a bit. It would be extremely irresponsible of me to fuck your mouth until you gag and then send you on your way.”
His hand spreads his coat over my backside like a blanket, and my bare flesh is flush with his white button down. The warmth of his skin permeates the barrier and soaks into me.
“You did excellent.” His palm cups my ass and hoists me into him, deeper.
I know none of this is supposed to be romantic, but it’s a sweet gesture, and I could lie here all afternoon and not move and be perfectly content.
“You’re coming to Golden Oak Saturday,” he says, combing his fingers through the ends of my tangled hair. “You’ll be staying the evening at my estate just outside of the city.”
The bar-be-que. Cortland’s parents are coming over Saturday.
“Oh? This Saturday?” I stall, trying to think of an excuse. “That’s kind of short notice.”
“You have plans?”
“Family plans,” I say. “We’re having a cookout.”
His lips curl. “This is a bit more important than a family cookout.”
“I have no doubt,” I say. “But we have company coming, and I’m not sure I can get out of this.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know. Probably noon?”
“Okay, so you should have no problem doing both.” Dane cups my ass and leans into my ear. “And I’m not entirely sure why I’m allowing you to argue with me right now and speak to me without addressing me properly, but consider yourself lucky I’m not getting the gloves out again.”
I smile into his chest, where he can’t see.
“What if my car isn’t fixed by this weekend?” I know for a fact I won’t be able to hitch a ride to some mansion Saturday night. I couldn’t come up with a plausible excuse even if I tried.
Dane sits up, gently pressing me off him, and I miss his warmth in an instant.
“I was going to wait, but since you brought it up.”
He is not giving me a car. There’s no way.
He strides to his desk, opening the second middle drawer on the left and pulling out a set of keys with some weird green emblem on the keychain.
“While you work for me, you’ll drive a car from my fleet.”
I flip the keychain over and read Land Rover.
“It’s a black Discovery, and it’s parked in the underground garage in spot forty-seven. You can take the elevator down and it’s right there.”
“Dane…Master...” The rectangular fob is smooth and pristine cupped in the palm of my hand. “Thank you. This means more than you could possibly know.”
No more commuting with Cortland. That’s what this means.
“I have an offsite unscheduled visit at one of the wind turbine factories over in Greenwood,” he says, dipping his hands in his pockets. His gaze indicates he appreciates the fact that I’m still very much naked.
I tug his jacket off my shoulders and hand it back, taking my time dressing before him because he seems to enjoy the show.
“I won’t be back before the end of the day,” he says. “But feel free to take the afternoon if you’d like. We’ll train a bit more the next couple days, and then Saturday night will be our final compatibility test.”
Oh?
“It’s just as much for you as it is for me,” he says. “Though my ability to leave a woman satisfied has never been an issue in the past, and I don’t anticipate it being an issue for you either.”
So that’s what Saturday is. He’s going to screw me.
I’m going to lose my virginity…
In a mansion…
To the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on…
A tingling sensation fills my chest, working up to my neck and settling in the top of my head like bubbles. Nervous excitement expands every part of me, and there’s a hitch in my breath accented by a flush in my cheeks. I turn so he can’t see it. I’d hate for him to know I’m this excited.
Sneaking out with Cortland always gave me a rush, but this goes far beyond anything I’ve ever felt before.
I’ll have to sneak my dress and shoes into the house, which shouldn’t be a problem. I can shove them in the enormous Louis Vuitton weekender bag he got me, and now it’s making sense as to why he’d get me that bag.
He wants me to spend weekends with him.
That might be tricky.
“Could I come over later than nine?” I’m not sure if I can sneak out any earlier than ten. “Just to be safe. I’m not sure how long our company is staying.”
Dane’s eyes flick up before narrowing at me. “I suppose. But from here on, you’re to keep your weekend schedule completely open. You’ll find I’ll almost always need you on weekends.”
He checks his watch and glances out the window at the traffic.
“I’m going now.”
There’s no hug or kiss goodbye of course. There’s no prolonged fanfare or scene. He just leaves. I’d kill to know if he’s ever had a girlfriend or shown an ounce of warmth to anyone who wasn’t a line item on his yearly accounting audit.
It felt good to lie in his arms earlier, even if it only lasted a short while.
I roll the key fob in my hand and leave his office, pulling the double doors shut behind me. After shutting down my computer and locking my space, I take the elevator down to the parking garage and find the shiny black Land Rover parked in spot forty-seven.
It makes the most adorable beep when I unlock it. I inhale a lungful of the buttery leather and warm, new car scent. Only when I slide into the seat, do I realize this car fits me perfectly. Dane probably has every car imaginable in his fleet, and he chose the one that suited me the best.
For a man who hardly knows me, he truly does take care of my every need without me having to say a word. He wasn’t lying about that.
I press my foot into the brake and start the car, and thank goodness that’s the way my mom’s car starts or I’d have been sitting here for hours trying to figure it out. The car purrs, and I stick it in reverse before pulling out and following the green exit arrows to the street.
Daylight floods the car as soon as I merge into the street, and a little red box in the passenger seat catches my eye. When I get to the next stop light, I grab it and trace my fingers across the Cartier logo on the outside. A little white envelope not much bigger than my hand is taped to the bottom.
I open the card first.
Angel,
This necklace is a symbol. You are to wear an item of ownership at all times. Never fear, the items will be classy and tasteful, just like the submissive who wears them, and this necklace will be the first of many.
Seventy lashes if you’re not wearing this the next time I see you.
Master
The light turns green, but not before I drop the letter and crack the box open to see a gold necklace with a single, bezel-set diamond charm dangling from it. I’m not a jeweler but this looks to be, at minimum, one carat.
Any other girl would drool over the sheer beauty of this thing, but all I see is an animal collar.
I snap the box shut and toss it in the passenger seat.
FIFTEEN
DANE
I should’ve gone straight home after visiting Uncle Leo again, but here I am, back in the office. The sun has long gone down, and the drone of the cleaning crew vacuuming the hallway is the only other sound accompanying me tonight.
My emails are sorted, and I begin attending to the ones marked “high importance” that I’d purposefully neglected earlier in the week.
Just as I suspected, not one of them is that important.