Alex knelt without a word then pulled off her panties. He’d helped her sit then moved to the door and turned his back. Tara took a deep breath and tried to relax.
She peed quickly then realized there was no way she could stand without help.
“Umm, Alex?”
He turned and helped her stand before pulling her panties up. He steadied her as she washed up and then swung her into his arms and carried her back to the bed.
“Thanks,” she said tiredly as he lay her back in bed. She was exhausted and sore.
“I’m going to get you some more pain killers, and you’ll take them,” he told her sternly, tapping her nose. He hit the buzzer for the nurse and explained the situation. Once the nurse had brought the painkillers, Alex took a seat beside her bed again.
Tara smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said.
“For what?”
“For taking care of me. No one has ever taken care of me the way you do.”
He squeezed her hand. “Then it’s about time someone did.”
Alex stared down at Tara as lay sleeping on the hospital bed. He could have lost her. She’d been shot. It may have only hit her in the arm, but that was awfully close to her heart.
She could have died.
He’d very nearly failed her and she thanked him for taking care of her. If he had been taking care of her properly then she would never have been in harm’s way. Enough was enough. He couldn’t take this anymore. If he had to tie her to the bed then he would. But she would be safe.
***
“Knock, knock.” Tara looked over with a frown as Tim walked into her hospital room, a huge bunch of flowers in his hands.
“Hi,” he said sheepishly. “How are you?”
Tara just glared at him.
“Umm, I’ll just put these down here, ok?” he said, placing them on the windowsill. “They’ll need some water soon.”
“What do you want, Tim?” she asked after a moment of awkward silence. She was not in the mood to talk to her old boss, not after the shit he’d put her through. Plus, Alex was due back any moment. He’d gone home to shower and get some fresh clothes and he would not appreciate Tim being here when he returned.
“I wanted to come and tell you that I’m sorry you got, you know, shot. I didn’t mean for you to get mixed up in this.”
She nodded. She wasn’t really in a forgiving mood.
“I swear I never thought you would bring that stuff in that night. I figured you’d wait until Monday.”
“Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me,” she admitted. “You wanted to catch Eloise on camera trying to look at my laptop and the pen drive?”
“Yes,” he said. “I never thought she’d figure out that we were on to her.”
Tara frowned. “That was a bit risky, wasn’t it? What if she’d managed to send off the information before you caught her?”
“The Henderson bid information wasn’t on there. I just wanted to catch her in the act of snooping. Turns out I didn’t need to bother.”
“So did Eloise create a lot of problems for you?”
“Nah, when we started to suspect her we made sure to move all our important documents. It was all false information she sent out.” Tim grinned. “She did us a favor.”
He stood there awkwardly for a long moment. She didn’t offer him a seat.
“Anyway, I’d better go. If you want your old job back then call me.”
He left before Tara could tell him exactly where to shove his job.
Chapter Twelve
Tara was going insane.
After spending a week in the hospital, Alex had brought her back to his apartment. Even though the gunshot hadn’t been particularly serious, it was still going to be a while before she could work. Thankfully, Reagan was holding her position. Reagan’s current assistant had agreed to stay on until Tara was cleared for work.
Meanwhile, Alex had been waiting on her hand and foot. He’d treated her like a princess, even taking time off work to look after her.
She was totally confused.
Hadn’t she ended things? Was he just looking after her out of pity? He certainly hadn’t made any move to touch her, and he slept in the spare room, despite her protests.
Now that she was feeling better, she knew it was time to leave. Being around him was torturous. Her arm was still stiff and sore, but at least she could use the bathroom on her own now.
“What are you doing?”
Turning, she saw Alex standing in the bedroom doorway frowning at her.
“I’m sorting through my clothes.”
“Leave that, you should be resting.”
Tara sighed. “Alex, I appreciate all your help. You’ve gone beyond the call of duty. But I can’t stay here any longer. I need to go.”
He stared down at her in shock.
“I need to move on, Alex. I deserve to be happy. I deserve to find a man who will love me back. I know you don’t feel the same way I do and that’s fine—”
“Tara—”
“That’s why I gave you back the collar. I’m going to go and stay with Derrick and Jacey. You can find someone who will give you what you need. I’m really grateful—”
“Tara!” he interrupted loudly, surprising her.
“Yes?”
“Shut. Up.” It was the fierceness of his expression rather than the words that had her falling silent.
“I don’t want to hear another word about how
grateful
you are. I don’t want you to be
grateful
to me.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Then what do you want?”
“I want you to love me, woman!”
Tara sat back on the bed. “What? You what?”
She couldn’t have heard that right, could she?
He paced up and down the small room. “I love you. I’m going to rip up that stupid contract.”
“Because I broke it.”
“No. Because that’s no longer what I want. I don’t want a relationship based just on sex. I want it all. I want you to love me the way I love you.”
“You…love me?”
Alex knelt in front of her, clasping her hands in his. “Yes, more than anything in this world. I love you, Tara. Will you agree to tear up that contract and start again? I have been such an idiot. How the hell did you put up with me?”
She smiled a little. “Whenever I got frustrated I just imagined tying you up and spanking your ass.”
He raised his eyebrows then let out a surprised laugh. “Made you feel better, did it?”
She nodded. Then she stared down at her hands which were tightly clasped together in her lap.
“What’s wrong? You don’t seem that happy.” Panic unfurled inside him. What was wrong? Had he waited too long?
“Are you sure about this? I mean, you were pretty adamant that I wasn’t to fall in love with you. Are you sure that you trust me? Because this won’t work if you don’t.”
He sat up on the bed beside her. “You’re right. This won’t work without trust. But I do trust you, Tara. I know you won’t betray or hurt me.”
Clasping her hand in his, he squeezed it gently. There were things he needed to explain to her. “I find it hard to talk about what my ex-wife put me through. Simone was a cold, hard bitch. She married me for my money. That’s all she wanted. She went to others for everything else.”
Tara drew in a sharp breath. “She cheated on you?” The disbelief in her voice soothed something deep inside him. There was a part of him that was still raw over the fact that Simone had rejected him.
“Simone slept with everyone but me. I think she enjoyed the thrill of it, of nearly getting caught. When I finally caught her in the act she told me that I wasn’t enough for her. That she needed more.”
“More than you?”
He chuckled. “You do wonders for my self-esteem, sweet. My pride took a blow.”
“She was a bitch.”
“Yes, she was. Only I didn’t see it for the longest time. I felt like a fool. It hardened me.”
“And made it hard for you to trust anyone else.”
“Yes. I always swore that I’d never let anyone have the power to hurt me like that again. I thought I was protecting myself with that contract. Then I realized that what I felt for her paled in comparison to what I feel for you.”
Sadness filled her. “I’m not her, Alex. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“I know. I do trust you, Tara. You’re too honest, too loving to ever betray me like that. But sometimes my emotions get the better of me and I act before I think, like when I jumped down Issac’s throat the other night at the club.”
Tara stared up at him. “I don’t want anyone else but you. They’re just my friends.”
“I know. It just took me a while to stop letting my past color my actions and emotions. My life is nothing without you in it. So, what do you say? Shall we rip that contract up?”
She grinned. “Let’s burn that sucker.”
He laughed.
“Does this mean we’re going to start going on dates and stuff?” she asked.
“I guess so.” He hadn’t really thought about it.
“I haven’t been on a real date in years.” Her face looked wistful.
“Well, I’ll just have to make our first date memorable, won’t I?” he said. He’d give her anything to make her happy.
Tara leaned over and kissed him. “What do you say we celebrate the end of our contract?”
Alex bit her neck. “I like your thinking.”
He moved, throwing her on the bed and crouching over her on all fours.
“Shit,” he swore. “I just remembered about your arm. Are you okay?”
Her gaze softened. “I’m fine, Alex.”
He frowned. “Still, we’re going to take this nice and slow.”
Tara let out a low moan. “Not too slow. It’s been three weeks. I need you inside me.”
“Flattery will get you fucked, sweetheart. But at my pace and we’re going to go very slowly and gently.”
She pouted. “I’m all better, I promise.”
“Really? Because if you’re feeling good enough to play then you’re feeling good enough to take the punishment you’re owed.”
“What? What punishment?”
“Hmm, let’s see. For leaving the club without telling me—”
“I left a note!”
“For taking public transportation at night when you’d been forbidden to, for getting shot—”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
“For taking so long to tell me you love me.”
“Hey!”
He grinned. “All right, I’ll let you away with the last one. But the rest of them will be dealt with when you’re better.”
“You’d think getting shot would let me off.”
“You’d think,” he said with false-sympathy.
Alex quickly undid the buttons of her shirt. It was one of his old ones that he’d given her to wear around the house. He carefully stripped it off her, mindful of her sore arm. All she wore underneath was a pair of pink panties which he dragged down her legs. Then he drew off his clothes throwing them into the corner of the room. He moved to stand at the base of the bed.
“Lay back and spread your legs,” he ordered.
A small thrill went through her at his words. This is what she’d been missing. His domination.
He ran his hand up and down his thick cock. Tara licked her lips in anticipation.
“You’re going to keep very still. I don’t want you moving except for when I give an order.”
Crap
.
“Yes, Sir.”
“If your arm hurts at any stage you’re to call out your safe word, understand?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Tara,” he said in a low, warning voice.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Do not come without permission.”
Oh God.
He started at her ankle, kissing slowly up her leg, taking his time when he got to the tops of her thighs. Skimming over her mound, he kissed his way down her other leg.
“Please, Sir,” she begged as he lay between her open legs and pulled the lips of her pussy apart. He simply stared down at her until it became almost impossible for her to lay still.
Then he dipped his head, flicking his tongue lightly on her sensitive clit. Alex thrust two fingers deep inside her and Tara’s hips rose of their own violation.
Alex pulled back. “That’s one.”
She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut as he returned to her pussy. This time she managed to last a whole minute before she started wriggling beneath him.
“That’s two, Tara. I’m just going to add these to the spanking you’ve got coming your way. I suggest you start lying very still.”
“I can’t,” she cried out as he returned to her pussy, using his lips, his tongue, even his teeth to drive her crazy. She lost count of the number of infractions she racked up. Finally, when she was a sobbing, lust-filled mess, he took pity on her. He rolled over onto his back.
“Straddle me,” he ordered, helping her kneel over him.
He held his cock in one hand, using his other hand to help steady her as she sank down onto his thick shaft with a deep sigh.
“Oh, that feels so good.”
Alex grinned up at her wickedly. “Stay still.”
“Why must you torture me?” she wailed as he played with her nipples, twisting them, pulling on them lightly then flicking them back and forth.
With one hand he reached down to tease her swollen clit.
She felt him move inside her and it nearly caused her to come then and there.
“Oh, oh, oh. This is killing me. You’re killing me!”
Alex chuckled. “I don’t think anyone’s ever died from this, sweetheart.”
“How do you know? I could be the first. Do you really want that on your conscience? Oh, please let me move. Let me come. I need to come.”
She didn’t know how much longer she could go on. Need lashed at her in furious waves, pulling her under as she sank further and further into a world where only he existed. Alex. Her Dom.
Alex pulled her up then pushed her back down. She attempted to pull away from him and control the pace but he reached around and gave her a sharp smack on the ass, pulling her back into reality.
“Behave,” he said sternly. “Or you won’t come at all.”
Oh no.
There was no way she could survive that. And she knew he meant every word. He had his stern Dom face on.
So she let him guide her movements, driving her slowly up and down that delicious cock. He ran his thumb over her clit, flicking it softly.
Sobs of need escaped her mouth. Alex’s breathing grew harsh. Her eyes filled with tears of need. One dripped down her face.
“You may come, my sweet.”
They were words she’d been longing for. He drove into her harder, faster, his thumb rubbing her clit. Ecstasy rolled over her and she screamed, slumping forward against his chest as he let out his own yell of relief. Her arm protested as it thumped against his hard body, but she ignored it as she shuddered through the onslaught of pleasure.
Alex rolled them over until she lay on her good side. He snuggled her against his chest as they both breathed heavily.
“Still alive, baby?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she replied tiredly. “Give me a few hours and I’ll let you know.”
She fell asleep listening to him laugh.