ReclaimedSurrender (5 page)

She knew she wanted to text him about the night he made his
deepest desire known. An admission or rather an action that sparked something
to life inside her. At first she’d thought it was silly. Playful. But then when
he was done a chord was stuck and she knew there was nothing funny about what
she was left feeling.

It happened the night she was preparing to leave on her
first business trip away. This had been the first time since they’d been
together that she was going to unfamiliar surroundings while Rene stayed at
home. He talked at length about expectations and schedules and when he’d
finished he’d stripped her naked and had her lie on his bed.

He’d stroked her from head to toe. Heating her up until she
was ready to do anything for him.

“You know this trip is different from when I travel and
we’re apart because I can’t leave you safely in my bed. In my condo. Sleeping
with my things. You’ll be on your own, so I need to give you a small reminder
of me, don’t I?”

He always knew where to touch her to get her to agree. That
night had been no exception. He’d gone straight for her neck. Right to the soft
spot below her ear as he licked and bit her.

“Yes, please.”

“But you have such beautiful skin. So white and soft and
smooth.” He’d leaned over and collected the permanent black marker off his
nightstand. When he’d uncapped it, it had made a popping noise she recalled.
“It’s a shame I have to mar this beautiful landscape.”

He’d slid down low in the bed and spread her legs. “Stay
still, Alexis. Hold your breath for me.”

She’d done it. She’d let him write words on the inside of
her right leg first.

“You can breathe now.”

She had, but then he instructed her to hold her breath again
as he wrote on the inside of her left leg.

When he was done he said, “There.” He’d kissed each of her
thighs and then nipped and sucked his way to her center, paying some serious
attention there until she’d violently come.

Quivering, she asked, “What did you write?”

“Owned by Rene Tanner.”

The kiss he’d given her then had branded her as surely as
his words had. “Rene.”

“When you go to bed at night, I want you to place your palms
over those words. I want you to remember their meaning. In the dark before you
fall asleep I want you to say them aloud three times. Do you understand?”

Just recalling that night, her heart pounded. She licked her
lips and checked the time. Five o’clock sharp. With shaking hands she sent her
last text to him.

The night before I left to go on my first business trip
away from you, you wrote on me with permanent black magic marker. The words you
used and the place you put them took my breath away. Between my legs you wrote,
Owned by Rene Tanner.

Rene replied,
Text those last four words to me again.

Owned by Rene Tanner.

Again.

Owned by Rene Tanner.

Again.

Owned by Rene Tanner.

She had to fan herself, but when she was sure he wasn’t
going to text back, she left instructions with her secretary and then made the
trek over to Michael’s office.

“Jennifer, will you tell Michael I had to leave early
tonight? If he needs me he can call my cell.”

Jenny blinked and nearly knocked over the stack of papers on
her desk. “Yes. I’ll tell him.”

“Great.”

“Ms. Tanner?”

Alexis turned back and found Jennifer standing with her hand
outstretched.

“He left this for you.”

Frowning, she accepted the small sealed envelope and asked,
“Why didn’t he come by my office? It’s not a very long hallway.”

Jennifer shrugged. “I told him I’d take it to you, but he
said no. So…?” She shrugged again and sat down. Without another word she
returned to typing on her keyboard.

Alexis shoved her purse under her arm and tore open the
envelope as she made her way to the elevator. She half expected it to be an
“I’m sorry, it will never happen again” notecard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a
card at all. Just one piece of paper that read,
I am not sorry.

Under normal circumstances she probably would have taken
more of an exception with the sentiment, but right now she figured she was
feeling sorry enough for the two of them, so she’d let it go. He had to know
that there was no way she’d ever consider anything between them. She was a
married woman. And even if she and Rene couldn’t work all this out, she didn’t
look at Michael that way. Once she told him, he’d understand. He’d have to
understand.

When she got to Morelly’s she checked her coat and walked
into the busy lounge, not stopping but going directly to the bar. Whenever she
met Rene she always waited for him at the stools. She ordered a ginger ale and
looked around.

Did she imagine it or were these after-office crowds getting
younger? She took a sip of her soda and scanned the other side of the room.
Nope, no imagining about it. Some of these children didn’t look old enough to
drink, let alone be wearing thousand-dollar suits.

“Hello.”

She half expected it to be Rene, but it wasn’t. The guy who
shouldered in next to her was chunky and blond. “Hi.”

“Would you like another drink?”

Looking down at her three-quarter-full glass, she shook her
head. “No thanks. I’m waiting for someone.”

He smiled. “Aren’t we all?”

She was just about to say she didn’t think so, but then she
spied Diane, one of the team members from work, and she seized the opportunity
to escape.

“Diane?”

“Alexis. I didn’t know you were coming.”

Alex looked at blondie and shrugged. “Gotta go.”

She hopped off the stool and grabbed her drink.

Diane motioned. “We’re over here in one of the booths.”

She was happy to follow as she figured she could keep an eye
out for Rene from a booth just as easily.

“Alexis!” John Woo, the VP of accounting, half stood,
hindered by the tabletop. “It’s great to see you. You just missed Michael.”

“Thanks. I did? How are you?” She smiled, and then turned to
the two other people seated at the table. She recognized them from accounting
but had never been formally introduced. “Hello, I’m Alexis Tanner.”

One of the guys stood and offered her his seat, asking,
“Tanner? Tanner as in Tanner Tools, Tanner?”

She nodded. The poor guy looked as if someone had shit in
his ice cream. She was used to this type of reaction. A lot of people hated to
hang with the owner’s wife. That’s what she always found so refreshing about
Michael. He didn’t seem to care.

For a full hour, Alexis sat with the group, trying to follow
the conversation while at the same time keeping an eye on the door. After
another half an hour passed, and she realized Rene wasn’t going to show, her
heart sank and she made her excuses.

At the coat check her phone rang. Thinking it was Rene, she
didn’t look at the caller ID, just answered, “Where are you?”

“Sitting at your desk. Where are you?”

“Michael?”

“Yes, were you expecting someone else?”

She accepted her coat from the girl and walked toward the
entrance. “I thought you were Rene. He was supposed to meet me at Morelly’s.”

“You’re there? I must have just missed you.”

“Sure, about an hour and a half ago. And hey, what was with
lunch today? I saw you down at Santo’s eating. Don’t I rate an invite?” She
figured if she behaved as normal as possible, maybe he wouldn’t bring up
anything uncomfortable.

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I didn’t join you and the gang because I was busy. Doing
‘our’ work.” That off-the-cuff comment was met with silence. Gee, she sounded
kind of bitchy. Taking a deep breath, she held it for a second then let it go.
“Sorry. What’s up?”

“I need your help.”

After he explained about the problem he was having, Alexis
told him she’d be to the office early in the morning to give him a hand.

“That will be fine. Now, did you say you’re meeting with
Rene? Why?”

Alexis shrugged into her coat, switching her phone from one
hand to the other. “Why what? He is my husband.” She thought now was the
perfect time to remind him of that fact.

“He stood you up, didn’t he?”

She didn’t want to answer that. “Look, I’m kind of in the
middle of something with him.”

“Al, tell me. Did he stand you up?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, but it’s not what you think. It’s
complicated.”

She wasn’t about to explain to him the dynamics of her and
Rene’s
special relationship
. She’d come close to admitting it to him
months ago. So close that she thought he might have suspected. But suspecting
and being told point-blank were two different things. She certainly wasn’t
going to start sharing intimate details now. Especially when she hardly
understood things herself and Michael was “not sorry” about that kiss. “Look,
I’ve got to go.”

“He’s playing you. Tell me, were you looking forward to
seeing him there?”

“W-what?” She needed to stall. He always made so much sense
and knew things.
He’s
a guy, he knows the code.

“You better not have been looking forward to seeing him
there. If you were, Al, I hope you know that’s exactly what he wanted.”

Alexis denied it and by the time she got off the phone and
into her car she really was furious. How dare Rene do this to her? Play on her
weakness for him. Make her all hot and expectant and needy. Michael was right
about one thing. She’d have to be more careful.

* * * * *

Rene was at his desk working on his laptop when Alex stormed
in. She looked awesome. Burnished blonde hair a mass of wavy ribbons around her
face. A face that was dominated by stunning green eyes that sparkled over her
prettily flushed cheeks. He almost groaned when he saw her pout. Her lips were
full at the best of times, but when she pouted the sight was heaven and
reminded him of all the hellishly good times he’d had using that mouth for his
pleasure.

“Are we even now?”

He eyed her over the rim of his readers. “Even?”

“Yeah, you invite me to Morelly’s and then you’re a no-show.
Quid pro quo. Tit-for-tat. And quit doing that with the glasses. You know how
much it annoys me.”

Actually he knew how much it turned her on. That’s why he
did it, but she looked to be royally pissed at the moment so he took them off
and tossed them on the desk. “I didn’t invite you to go to Morelly’s. I told
you to go, there’s a difference.”

“Well, I went and being stuck there all by myself some guy
tried to pick me up.”

He didn’t doubt that. He let his gaze roam over her tight
little black dress, which hugged her many curves until he latched onto the spot
between her legs and focused all his burning attention there. “Wouldn’t blame
him. It was probably the dress that did it. It’s too short.”

She gasped and slammed her purse down to act as barrier
between her and his examining eyes. “You don’t even care, do you?”

“The problem is I do care.” He snapped up his readers and
paused before he put them back on. “Go get something to eat and then go to
bed.”

“Is that an order?”

He took his time sliding the glasses up the bridge of his
nose and stared at her over the rims again. “Yes.”

She squared her shoulders and remained standing just like she
was, with her purse as a pussy shield and her eyes narrowed on him. This
scraped-together bravado of hers was really getting old. He’d thought after
their exchange today she would have softened up a little. “If you’re going to
stay, lose the purse.”

“I will not.”

Leaning forward, he placed first one forearm flat on the
desk and then the other. His shoulders shifted, making his biceps swell and
stretch the sleeves of his shirt, testing the seams. It was an intimidating
position, even though he was sitting, and he could tell it was getting to her.
The pulse at the base of her throat beat faster and more erratically as seconds
ticked by. “You will because I said you will.”

For a minute he thought her inner brat was going to win and
she’d call his bluff and move the purse. Not that he’d mind. He could think of
a lot less desirable things to do than stare at the area of her crotch until
she folded.

She glared, and then huffed. “You’re impossible.”

“Make sure you eat something,” he called out as she left and
when he heard her affect a deep tone to mock his last command he added, “Don’t
push me.”

Shaking his head, he relaxed his shoulders. This was the
problem. She always pushed it. That was one of the things he loved best and
worst about her. It was a mess and a wonder all at the same time. That’s why he
didn’t want to lose her. Why he wasn’t ready to give up. They had a unique
relationship. Unlike any other he’d ever had before.

Alex had entered his life quite by accident and took him by
storm. She was smart, sexy and feisty. Just the way he liked his woman, but
unlike the women he was used to seeing, Alex was oblivious to the darker side
of her passions. He’d immediately picked up on her kink and because she didn’t
have a clue, he couldn’t resist the challenge. He’d made it his job to open her
up and establish a new and dirty world for her.

Unfortunately, the demands of real life upset the tenuous
balance of that world and now they needed to find a way back to it. They’d
somehow drifted out of their respective roles and he needed to reestablish
where their limits lay. He needed to readdress the rules and bring her back to
where she was the happiest. He wanted her happy again and he was ready to do
whatever he had to, to make that happen.

First things first. He needed to get her in the right frame
of mind. Once she was there she would apologize. That was a given. He
understood the pressures she faced with the life they’d led behind closed
doors. He faced the same challenges and as such he was determined that she not shirk
her duty to him.

He’d had six long months to do nothing but think about what
went wrong. He knew it was an issue of trust. As if he’d sink low enough to
purposely trap her into motherhood. It was laughable and could have been
reasoned out between them if the seeds of doubt hadn’t been so cleverly
planted. And to think Michael Kavanagh got involved in their personal lives not
to protect her, but to protect himself. That was the kicker. Because if Alex
did decide to slow down and become a mother, Michael’s problem solver and
workhorse would be put to pasture. Then he might have to do his own job for a
change.

Rene picked up a freshly sharpened pencil and tapped it
against the desktop. The fact that her business partner knew intimate details
of the stresses between Alexis and him, to even suggest that Rene could do such
a despicable thing, was dangerous. It meant that Alexis on some level trusted
Kavanagh more than she trusted him, which was really infuriating. But all that
was going to change. Oh yeah. The plan was already in motion. Well, one of them
anyway. The second one he’d start tomorrow.

* * * * *

Alexis had been at the office for no more than an hour the
following day when her text went off.

I want you home.

She read those words three times and texted back.

I’m working.

Now, Alexis.

Should she? She bit her lip, looked down at her files and
then packed them up. A deal was a deal.

“Hi, Jennifer.” Michael’s office door was closed. “Is he
around?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she fully expected to be buzzed right
in. Walking around the side of the desk, she stopped when Jennifer didn’t
budge. “Is something wrong?”

“He’s not in.”

“I see.”

Jennifer’s expression softened and if Alexis weren’t
mistaken she looked relieved. “He’s down in the Atrium with the guys from the
lab. They play war during their breaks.”

Breaks?
The first actual break Alexis had ever taken
since starting work in this new division was yesterday and only at Rene’s
insistence. Breaks. Lunches. Suddenly the idea of leaving these files on her
ungrateful partner’s desk was looking pretty damn good.

“I want to give him these.” She twisted sideways until the
whole bunch of manila folders were visible. “But I don’t want to bother him on
his
break. I’ll leave them on his desk, if I can?”

Jennifer nodded and buzzed her through.

“Thanks.” Alexis put the stack down and left a sticky note
on top of it that said,
I had to go home early. Please make sure these get
done by five. The Telcon brothers are expecting the figures today. If you need
a little extra time, remember they’re three hours behind us.

She was halfway home when the inevitable guilt of dumping on
him surfaced. At a stoplight she used her Bluetooth to make a call, but
Michael’s cell phone went straight to voice mail. Clicking off, she picked up
her phone and dialed his office number.

“Jennifer, it’s Alexis. Is Michael there?”